#92.5% ON THAT CASE STUDY

[studyteeth]

genuinely forgot how amazing getting good grades feels. worth every moment i spent working on that case study.

[acquaintsofttech]

Case Studies of Laravel Teams Who Nailed the Remote Culture

Introduction

Laravel, a robust PHP framework designed for web artisans, has powered countless successful software development projects worldwide and has become a game-changer in web application development.

The landscape of work has been transformed significantly in recent years, with remote work culture becoming a new norm for many organizations. Laravel teams, known for their agility and robust application development, have not been left behind in this shift. Remote Laravel teams have transformed several businesses by delivering cutting-edge solutions.

There is a distinct trend of the shift towards a software development outsourcing company with greater trust in remote developers. This blog post delves into the case studies of Laravel teams that have excelled in fostering remote work culture that is both productive and sustainable.

What is Remote Laravel Development?

Laravel is an open-source PHP web framework that implements the MVC architecture. It is a highly secure framework trusted by many. Besides this, it has tremendous potential. It allows one to develop a wide range of applications. Some of the top features include:

Authentication & Authorization

Eloquent ORM & Validation

File Storage, Queues, Built-in testing

Artisan & Blade

Remote Laravel development refers to the practice of developing web applications using the Laravel framework by a team or individual who works remotely. This can be freelancers or when you outsource your Laravel requirements to an offshore software development company.

Critical Aspects of Remote Laravel Development:

Remote Collaboration Tools

Flexible Work Environment

Focus on Results

Security and Infrastructure

Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD)

Access to a global talent pool

Diverse experiences and backgrounds

Cost Efficiency

Reduction in overhead costs

Increased Productivity

Remote Laravel development is a flexible and efficient way to build web applications by leveraging the power of the Laravel framework. It offers numerous benefits, including access to a global talent pool, cost efficiency, and increased productivity. All this while also presenting unique challenges that can be effectively managed with the right tools and strategies.

Remote Work Trends

Remote development, particularly with Laravel, has seen significant advancements and trends due to evolving technologies and changing work environments. Here are some key trends in Laravel remote development:

Emphasis on Security and Compliance: Increased focus on securing remote development environments with VPNs, encrypted communication, and secure cloud storage. Ensuring compliance with regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA when handling sensitive data remotely.

Use of Cloud-based Development Environments: Adoption of cloud-based integrated development environments (IDEs) like AWS Cloud9, Visual Studio Codespaces, and GitHub Codespaces for remote coding. Utilizing tools like Terraform and AWS CloudFormation to manage infrastructure in a scalable and consistent manner.

DevOps Practices: Embracing DevOps practices to streamline development, deployment, and operations processes.

AI and Machine Learning Integration: Integrating AI and machine learning services to add advanced features like recommendation systems, chatbots, and predictive analytics. Using Laravel packages that facilitate AI/ML integration and provide ready-to-use solutions.

Here are a few relevant statistics:

66% of US Businesses outsource at least one department.

The global outsourcing market is worth $92.5 Billion, while the IT outsourcing market alone is worth 66.5 Billion USD.

The software development outsourcing market is expected to grow to $1.06 Trillion by 2030.

27% of small businesses opt for software outsourcing.

Pros & Cons Of Outsourcing

Outsourcing web development can offer numerous benefits but also comes with specific challenges. Here are the key pros and cons:

Pros

Cost Savings:

Lower Labor Costs: Outsourcing to countries with lower labor costs can significantly reduce development expenses.

No Overhead Costs: Savings on office space, equipment, and other overheads associated with in-house teams.

Access to the Global Talent Pool

Specialized Skills: Access to a wide range of specialized skills and expertise that may not be available locally.

Diverse Perspectives: Diverse team members bring innovative solutions and creative approaches.

Focus on Core Business

Resource Allocation: Allows in-house teams to focus on core business activities and strategic initiatives.

Increased Efficiency: Streamlines operations by delegating development tasks to experts.

Scalability

Flexible Scaling: Easily scale development efforts up or down based on project needs without the complexities of hiring and firing.

Rapid Deployment: Faster project startup times due to readily available skilled developers.

Time Zone Advantage

Round-the-Clock Development: Different time zones can lead to continuous development cycles, speeding up project timelines.

Quality and Innovation

Access to Latest Technologies: Outsourcing firms often stay updated with the latest technologies and best practices.

Enhanced Quality: Experienced outsourcing partners can deliver high-quality work due to their expertise and focus on quality.

Cons

Communication Challenges

Language Barriers: Potential for misunderstandings due to language differences.

Cultural Differences: Different work cultures and communication styles can lead to misalignment.

Time Zone Differences

Coordination Issues: Managing work across different time zones can complicate communication and collaboration.

Delayed Responses: Time zone gaps can lead to delays in responses and decision-making.

Quality Control

Inconsistent Quality: Potential risk of receiving work that does not meet quality standards or expectations.

Limited Oversight: Reduced ability to monitor progress and quality control compared to in-house teams.

Security and Confidentiality

Data Security Risks: Increased risk of data breaches and intellectual property theft.

Confidentiality Concerns: Ensuring that sensitive information is protected can be challenging.

Dependence on Outsourcing Partner

Reliability Issues: Dependence on the outsourcing partner’s reliability and stability.

Limited Control: Reduced control over the development process and project management.

Hidden Costs

Unexpected Expenses: Potential for hidden costs related to project management, revisions, and communication.

Contractual Issues: Costs and complications arising from contract negotiations and legal disputes

Alignment and Integration

Alignment with Business Goals: Ensuring that the outsourced team is fully aligned with the business objectives and goals.

Integration Challenges: Difficulty in integrating outsourced development with existing systems and processes.

Real-World Scenarios

Revolutionizing eCommerce

Background: A leading eCommerce platform faced challenges with handling high traffic volumes. They also had issues maintaining a seamless user experience during peak shopping seasons.

Challenge: The primary challenge was to scale the application dynamically to handle sudden spikes in user traffic without compromising on performance or security.

Laravel Solution: Using Laravel's robust features, including its queue system and event broadcasting, a company implemented a scalable microservices architecture. Laravel Horizon was employed to manage queue workloads efficiently, ensuring smooth and scalable background task processing.

Outcome: The adoption of Laravel allowed the firm to enhance its application's responsiveness and reliability. The platform can now effortlessly handle millions of concurrent users during peak periods, leading to a 70% reduction in downtime and a 50% increase in sales conversion rates.

Remote Work Culture

Prioritizing communication: Regular check-ins and feedback loops are vital components of this approach. Teams that perform weekly one-on-one video calls offer a semblance of face-to-face interaction. They also ensure that nuances and emotions that text-based communication often misses are captured.

Leveraging Agile Practices: Adopting Agile practices has been another effective trend for these teams. It allows for a more dynamic and responsive work environment, which is essential when team members are not physically co-located. Agile practices encourage continuous improvement and adaptability, which are crucial for remote teams to thrive.

Building Team Cohesion: Remote Laravel teams have overcome the challenge of maintaining team cohesion by encouraging informal communication and virtual team-building activities. These initiatives help team members connect on a personal level, fostering a unified team with shared visions and goals.

Utilizing the Right Tools: The correct set of tools is indispensable for remote Laravel teams. Collaboration and project management tools that facilitate seamless communication and efficient workflow management are integral to their success. Teams that have nailed the remote work culture have done so by integrating these tools into their daily operations.

Case Studies

Laravel Shift

Project: Laravel Application Upgrades

Overview: Laravel Shift specializes in automating the process of upgrading Laravel applications. Their team operates remotely and provides services to clients worldwide.

Challenges: Managing remote client relationships and ensuring client satisfaction. Coordinating work and communication within a remote team. Continuously improving and expanding their service offerings.

Solutions: Utilized customer relationship management (CRM) tools to manage client interactions and feedback. Implemented regular virtual meetings and updates to ensure team alignment. Invested in ongoing learning and development to keep the team’s skills up to date.

Results: Successfully upgraded numerous Laravel applications for clients globally. Achieved high client satisfaction and repeat business. Fostered a culture of continuous improvement and professional development.

Vehikl

Project: Custom Web Applications

Overview: Vehikl is a Canadian web development agency specializing in Laravel and Vue.js. They have a strong focus on community involvement and high-quality development.

Challenges: Maintaining high code quality and performance in custom web applications; ensuring team engagement and continuous learning; and building a strong brand within the Laravel community.

Solutions: Adopted best practices for code quality, including automated testing and continuous integration. Encouraged team participation in Laravel conferences, meetups, and online forums. Invested in professional development and training for team members to keep skills up-to-date.

Results: Delivered numerous successful web applications for clients, resulting in high client satisfaction and repeat business. Built a strong team culture with high engagement and continuous improvement. Established themselves as active contributors to the Laravel community, enhancing their brand and attracting top talent.

Beyond Code

Project: Developer Tools and Custom Development

Overview: Beyond Code is known for creating developer tools and custom Laravel applications. They are the creators of popular tools like Tinkerwell, HELO, and Invoker.

Challenges: Develop tools that address real developer needs and provide value. Maintaining engagement with the developer community. Balancing product development with custom client projects.

Solutions: Conducted extensive research and gathered feedback from developers to create tools that solve real problems. Engaged with the Laravel community through social media, forums, and conferences to promote their tools and gather feedback. Leveraged their expertise in Laravel to deliver high-quality custom projects for clients.

Results: Tools like Tinkerwell and HELO have become popular among Laravel developers, with strong sales and positive reviews. There are high levels of community engagement, with developers actively using and providing feedback on their tools. Successful delivery of custom projects leads to strong client relationships and repeat business.

These case studies illustrate the flexibility and power of Laravel in addressing diverse industry challenges. They also demonstrate how a strong focus on community engagement, high-quality Laravel remote development practices, and continuous improvement can lead to success in Laravel software development.

Laravel's comprehensive ecosystem, ease of use, and active community support make it an ideal choice for companies aiming to innovate and excel in their respective domains. Hence, the secret to developing a robust solution is to make the smart decision to outsource software development to a well-established firm that prioritizes communication and maintains good engagement.

Acquaint Softtech is one such Laravel development company that successfully maintains a good work culture when working with clients all over the world. Laravel is ideal for a wide range of applications whether it's enhancing eCommerce capabilities, streamlining educational processes, or innovating in FinTech.

Top Laravel Development Companies

As Laravel continues to grow in popularity, the demand for skilled Laravel developers has surged. Several Laravel development companies worldwide offer a wide range of services. However, the key factors that differentiate them include experience, expertise, skills, pricing, quality of work, and support.

Some of the popular Laravel companies include:

Acquaint Softtech

Unified Infotech

Bacancy

IndiaNIC

Caxy Interactive

Choosing the Right Laravel Development Partner

Selecting the ideal Laravel development company for your project is crucial. Factors such as average hourly rate, Clutch review score, company size, other technology specialties, industry expertise, minimum project size, years of experience, and location play a significant role in this decision.

The success stories of Laravel development companies serve as a testament to the framework's capabilities. From creating sophisticated analytics platforms to building enterprise-level applications, Laravel has proven to be a powerful ally for companies aiming to innovate and excel in the digital space.

As the Laravel community continues to grow, we can expect to see more inspiring case studies that highlight the framework's potential to transform the web application development industry.

For those interested in learning more about Laravel and its applications, the case studies mentioned provide a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. Hire remote developers from Acquaint Softtech. We have a dedicated team of Laravel developers and a QA team to ensure we deliver flawless solutions.

Businesses can benefit from opting for an Official Laravel Partner. These companies offer high-quality solutions and have highly skilled developers and essential resources.

When you hire Laravel developers from Acquaint Softtech you are opting for one of the first and few official Laravel Partners in Asia. We have already delivered over 5000 projects to businesses worldwide.

Conclusion

Remote Laravel teams face unique challenges, such as communication barriers, cultural and time zone differences, and issues with collaboration and cohesion. However, the key is to implement the right strategies and hire the best remote Laravel team. This way, businesses can overcome disconnection and work together efficiently towards project success.

[tipco613]

New Post has been published on http://cryptonewsuniverse.com/the-trust-crisis-of-banks-worsens-ensuing-initial-collapse-of-svb-a-plus-for-crypto/

The Trust Crisis Of Banks Worsens Ensuing Initial Collapse Of SVB A Plus for Crypto

The Trust Crisis Of Banks Worsens Ensuing Initial Collapse Of SVB. A Plus for Crypto

The US banking sector is facing a crisis of trust following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which has left many Americans, particularly those without insurance for their deposits, anxiously trying to determine if their money is safe. A recent report found that more the 186 banks, or 5% of all banks in the country, are in danger of failing. The article outlines the analysis, identifies the risk factors to watch out for, and explains why investing in cryptocurrency could be a genuine safe-haven option.

Source: SSRN Papers-Full Study

As the above screenshot shows, the study is titled ‘Monetary Tightening and US Bank Fragility in 2023; Mark-to-Market Losses and Uninsured Depositor Runs?’  It was written by four academics from distinguished universities in the United States on March 13th, 2023. 

The report begins with a brief explanation of why so many US banks are at risk of going under and pertains to all the assets banks hold on their balance sheets. These are US bonds (US government debt) and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) (bundles of mortgages). US Bonds and MBSs are the safest assets a bank can hold, at least according to regulators, and why banks tend to invest most of their customers' deposits in US bonds and MBSs.

Images sourced at Investopedia.com

These assets earn interest for the banks and thus make it possible for them to offer services with low or no fees. However, when interest rates rise, the value of US bonds and MBSs decreases. The reasons for this are many, but the main takeaway here is that higher interest rates result in US bonds and MBSs crashing. If the value of these assets falls too much, banks can become temporarily insolvent. 

This insolvency is temporary because when US bonds and MBSs mature, meaning the loan terms end, the bank receives the total value of the underlying asset. Again, the mechanics of this are many, but just know that US bonds and MBSs don't lose money if they are held to maturity, and why banks don't report the losses on US bonds and MBSs when interest rates rise. 

Most information about losses on debt securities held by banks is immersed in the glossaries in their SEC filings. It is not considered a significant problem until that bank has major liquidity issues. It’s because it's not a loss until they sell, and in the case of US bonds and MBSs, they won't lose anything if they hold them to maturity. 

This accounting practice is arguably controversial. These so-called unrealized losses are acceptable if the bank isn't forced to sell any of these assets at a loss, specifically customer withdrawals.  It’s what happened to SVB and why it sank. However, there is one crucial detail to keep in mind. 92.5% of SVB's deposits were uninsured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). 

For context, the FDIC only ensures bank deposits up to $250,000 per account. Any amount above that is considered uninsured. SVB experienced a bank run because its uninsured depositors could see that it had many unrealized losses. This led to speculation that SVB didn't have enough money to honor all withdrawals. 

As such, this bank run may not have happened if most deposits were insured, i.e., under $250K per account. SVB had so many uninsured deposits because the bank provided accounts and banking services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. These clients typically require lots of cash liquidity to pay their employees, make acquisitions, etc. 

Around $9 trillion of bank deposits in the United States are uninsured, roughly 50% of all bank deposits. Banks have been happily investing these uninsured deposits into US bonds and MBSs. The problem is that interest rates have risen, and their unrealized losses have proliferated. At the end of 2022, US banks collectively had unrealized losses totaling more than $600 billion. Interest rates have risen more since then, so these losses are likely even more prominent now.

In short, US Banks have lots of unrealized losses and also lots of uninsured depositors who are concerned that banks can't honor withdrawals because of these unrealized losses. The authors examined over 4,000 banks in the study to see which ones were most at risk and why. 

Unrealized Losses

First, the study highlighted that 42% of all bank deposits had been invested into regular MBSs, with another 24% invested in commercial MBSs, i.e., commercial real estate loans, US bonds, and other asset-backed securities (ABS). The authors then tried to calculate the unrealized losses on these assets. After crunching the numbers, the authors found the following, 

“The median value of banks' unrealized losses is around 9% after marking to market. The 5% of banks with worse unrealized losses experience asset decline of around 20%.” 

Note that ‘marked to market’ means ‘assuming sold today.’ In lay terms, the average American Bank has unrealized losses of around 10%, and 5% of the most vulnerable banks have unrealized losses of 20%. 

So if depositors were to rush and withdraw from these banks, they would get 90% of their money back at the average bank and 80% back at a vulnerable bank. Not surprisingly, these unrealized losses were the smallest for Global Systemically Important Banks (GSIB), including JPMorgan and Bank of America. GSIBs have less than 5% of unrealized losses. The average non-GSIB has 10% unrealized losses, and SVB wasn't even the worst. 

The authors found that more than 11% of US banks had larger unrealized losses than SVB when it collapsed. They estimate that as many as 500 other banks could have failed based purely on unrealized losses. The reason why only SVB went down was because of the high number of uninsured deposits. The authors then provide a series of scenarios to showcase how uninsured depositors could react to rising interest rates.

Uninsured Depositors Waking Up

The first scenario assumes that the uninsured depositors stick around and wait. The other three scenarios surmise they withdraw and invest in other assets, which provides a higher interest rate than a savings account. Understand that insolvency fears related to unrealized losses aren't the only reason why uninsured depositors withdraw money from a bank. 

The primary reason why they would do this is that they want to earn a high-interest rate on their large deposits. This desire for yield increases as interest rates rise. Unfortunately for the banks, it's hard for them to provide competitive interest rates on savings accounts without losing lots of money. This is why many US banks haven't increased their interest rates on savings accounts, despite interest rates increasing. They’re making lots of money off their depositors. However, if they were to raise interest rates on savings accounts, they wouldn't make nearly as much money. 

In the study, the authors assume that most uninsured depositors are sleepy, meaning they aren't rushing to withdraw to earn a higher interest rate elsewhere. However, this is starting to change; besides the banking crisis, the high-interest rates that are still rising in other regions tempt those sleepy uninsured depositors into waking up and moving their money elsewhere. If they do this, banks with large, unrealized losses will start going under as they won't be able to honor all withdrawals. 

How Many Banks At Risk?

Naturally, the authors assess whether banks have enough assets to honor these upcoming withdrawals from uninsured depositors. They assume that the FDIC doesn't close down banks that come under stress, which is significant because the FDIC is likely to do this if banks start getting squeezed. 

The good news is that all bar two American banks have enough assets to honor withdrawals from uninsured depositors. The bad news is that the authors don't specify which two banks are at risk, but they conclude that this little risk means additional bank runs are unlikely for the time being. 

For Good Measure

As an extra, the authors analyzed the possibility of what would happen if uninsured depositors ran. They did a number of simulations of bank runs, from 10% to 100% of uninsured depositors withdrawing their assets. 

Source: SSRN Papers-Full Study

What's concerning is that the ten banks most at risk of experiencing a bank run are large. As the authors cite in the study, 

 “The risk of run does not only apply to smaller banks. Out of the 10 largest insolvent banks, 1 has assets above $1 Trillion, 3 have assets above $200 Billion (but less than $1 Trillion), 3 have assets above $100 Billion (but less than $200 Billion), and the remaining 3 have assets greater than $50 Billion (but less than $100 Billion).” 

Unfortunately, the authors don't specify which banks these are but reveal how sensitive US banks are to bank runs. They concluded that even if just 10% of uninsured depositors withdrew their money from banks, 66 banks would go under. If 30% of uninsured depositors withdrew their money, 106 banks would go under. If half of all uninsured depositors ran, 186 banks would fail. This underscores that at least a few dozen banks are at risk of going under over the coming months. 

This is ultimately due to the fatal combination of significant unrealized losses due to rising interest rates and withdrawals from uninsured depositors seeking higher yields from these rates. The final simulation was if 100% of uninsured deposits withdrew all their assets from US banks. They insisted that this simulation is worth doing to assess the state of the US banking sector. Surprisingly only about half of US banks would go under. 

The authors then conclude by highlighting that the value of assets held by US banks is more than $2 trillion lower than what's being reported, thanks to unrealized losses-based accounting. They reiterate that hundreds of banks are at risk of going under if uninsured depositors withdraw. They warned that even small numbers of withdrawals from uninsured depositors could lead to unrealized losses being realized. This would lead to more bank runs, evolving into an even bigger banking crisis than we've seen. They go as far as to suggest regulations to address this. 

For starters, banks should start changing how they report their unrealized losses so that bank depositors have a better sense of how underwater their banks are. Because of the lack of transparency, the authors manually calculated these unrealized losses using complex maths. The authors acknowledge that this won't solve the insolvency risks many banks face, so they recommend that banks be forced to increase their capital requirements. 

This coincides with what Michael Barr, the Fed’s Vice-chair for Supervision, has been busy doing. Michael had been examining capital requirements for banks before the banking crisis began. Maybe he saw the banking crisis coming or was preparing to take advantage of it to introduce regulations. Michael Bar’s anti-crypto speech indicates the second possibility is the most likely. Michael has been desperate to increase his powers, presumably to consolidate the banking sector to assist in the rollout of a central bank digital currency. 

Be Vigilant of The Risk Elements

Which risk factors should you be aware of when analyzing banks? I am not a financial adviser. Still, my research into this convoluted accounting system revealed that the two main risk factors are unrealized losses and uninsured deposits. It is at risk if your bank has many unrealized losses and uninsured deposits. The problem is that it takes work to estimate these unrealized losses. Moreover, not all uninsured deposits are prone to flight. Remember that most of them are required to pay employees at small companies. 

Also, as mentioned above, most banks with many uninsured deposits tend to be smaller, i.e., not GSIBs. In theory, this makes them inherently riskier than GSIBs. In practice, though, when a non-GSIB goes under, it gets acquired by a GSIB. This means your assets could be safer at a small bank. If you read the article about bank bail-ins, you'll know that GSIBs can be risky. 

If a non-GSIB goes under, it gets acquired by a big bank, and customer deposits are kept, but if a GSIB goes under, customer deposits are used to bail them out. As recently happened with Credit Suisse and its takeover by UBS. The arguably political deal required capital from somewhere to satisfy UBS. According to WSJ, the Swiss government was desperate to avoid the appearance that this was a taxpayer-funded bailout.

GSIBs are also more likely to comply with investment ideologies, like ESG. As discussed in this article, the Bank of America is one of the big institutions behind the ESG movement. Some of its affiliates are introducing individual ESG scores for their customers. 

Small banks may also have challenges because around 80% of commercial real estate loans come from small banks. In addition to being wrecked by higher interest rates, commercial real estate is struggling because people must return to the office. 50% of office spaces in the US are empty. This means that small banks are at a higher risk of sitting on larger unrealized losses, which is consistent with the findings of the study. 

If that weren't bad enough, these losses would likely increase as time passes, even if interest rates start coming down because work from home is probably here to stay. Even if uninsured depositors are less likely to withdraw from small banks due to the purpose of these deposits, just a small number of withdrawals could therefore cause severe issues for small banks. 

The findings of the study suggest this risk is already there. All it takes is 10% of uninsured deposits to move. In sum, small and big banks come with their own risks, and it's up to you to decide which risks you'd instead take. Diversifying your deposits is an option, but the fact that every bank operates using this fractional reserve model means your money will never be genuinely risk-free in their coffers. 

Image credit: Markethive.com

Cryptocurrency To The Rescue

This is where cryptocurrency comes in. Cryptocurrencies ostensibly have only one risk: their current price volatility. There are, of course, risks associated with things like improperly written code, but the largest and most established cryptocurrencies have been battle tested every day for over a decade. 

Aside from that, cryptocurrencies are one of the best hedges against the banking system. When you hold a cryptocurrency, there is no counterparty risk. That crypto is genuinely yours, and there isn't some greedy banker going and investing your crypto into a basket of risky, commercial real estate loans behind your back. 

This characteristic alone makes cryptocurrency valuable. Also, cryptocurrency lets you send a transaction to whoever you want, whenever you want, and for however much you want. This is the true definition of financial freedom, and its importance was fully displayed when Nasdaq halted the trading of bank stocks during the recent banking crisis. 

Nobody can turn off the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange and prevent people from trading. You will always be able to trade. Take a second to consider; that blocking transactions, halting trading, and freezing assets will only become more common as CBDCs are rolled out. This will make the financial freedom aspect of cryptocurrency ever more critical, along with the decentralization that underlies it. 

Without decentralization, crypto's value proposition quickly disappears. That's why instead of wasting time assessing the unrealized losses and uninsured deposits of banks, you should learn about what makes a cryptocurrency genuinely decentralized. After all, the days of commercial banks are numbered; the thousands of existing banks will inevitably consolidate into a handful of mega banks, and governments will nationalize these mega banks. 

Financial freedom in the traditional financial system will be gone when that happens. At the same time, economic freedom in the crypto ecosystem will only continue to grow. By the grace of God, it will rise to the point that it's capable of accommodating the billions of people who will pull out of the traditional financial system as it becomes ever more centralized and ideological. 

Both monetary mechanisms will take years to play out, but it's already clear that the global financial system is splitting into two structures: free and sovereign and one that is not. You now have the once-in-a-millennium opportunity to choose which system to participate in. It’s critical to make that decision before it's made for you. 

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

    Editor and Chief Markethive: Deb Williams. (Australia) I thrive on progress and champion freedom of speech. I embrace "Change" with a passion, and my purpose in life is to enlighten people to accept and move forward with enthusiasm. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

          Also published @ Substack.com

[silverringsformenblog-blog]

Silver Rings for Men

Techniques to Select the perfect Silver Rings for Men?

Silver Rings for Men

Silver rings have, of late, turn out to be hugely popular among guys because of durability, attractive appears and economical expense. Get some simple ideas on how to select the best silver ring for males and accessorize your self in the very best achievable way.

Silver ring for males has become more well-liked more than the years, offered that it includes a reduce value tag than that of gold rings. It is more cost-effective. The metal does not experience a modify in colour and is more long-lasting. These do not get effortlessly damaged even with extensive use, and can be worn every day as an accessory. Learn how you can select the best of those rings.

Verify the size

It is essential to consider the size, and make sure that it really is proper for the finger or for anyone you wish to gift it to. In case you are looking for ready-made silver mens rings, this really is applicable. You have to verify the description and find out whether it's for typical men’s finger size. For those who have a slightly thicker or thinner finger than normal, a customized silver ring is what you'd like to get.

Check the grade

You must inspect the silver ring grade before getting. Any ring which is created of sterling silver will come with 92.5% silver certification. This could be engraved on the ring’s internal part or the ring itself might include a label.

Appear in the value

Lastly, you need to also ensure that you might be not getting overcharged. The pricing for silver rings for guys have a tendency to differ across stores, and it is better to carry out some study to be able to discover a single that's more affordable. It is much better to buy on-line, as you will find no overhead and staffing fees, and these savings can be passed on to you.

[copperdigitalinc]

Why Outsourced Product Development is the way forward

Deloitte’s 2020 Global Outsourcing Survey highlights a clear revolution and progression towards outsourced product development. Organizations are likely to accelerate outsourcing as they learn to collaborate in a world where speed and flexibility are more important than locations.

Besides, COVID-19 plays an important role in disrupting the idea of a close-knit working environment and on-site availability of resources for efficient business. Remote working culture is being embraced, which is likely to lead to an increase in outsourcing.

“Overall, outsourcing decisions are more likely to play a significantly more strategic role in short-term resilience and long term growth.” –Deloitte’s 2020 Global Outsourcing Survey.

According to studies from Statista, the global market size of outsourced services is currently worth $92.5 billion in 2021, and this statistic is expected to grow at a tedious rate. This shows that more and more companies tend to delegate certain functions to third-party vendors. Furthermore, some global product companies like Skype, Opera, and WhatsApp have successfully outsourced product development that resulted in success.

What is Outsourced Product Development?

Outsourcing development means delegating specific functions to a third-party vendor with deep expertise and solid experience in a certain sphere. Outsourcing product development often makes sense when you want to get a turn-key software solution fast and on budget. Let’s see how it makes sense in the current scenario.

The changing Job Scenario

According to a recent study, the shock of the pandemic impacted more than tens of millions of jobs. There was also a reported “jobs gap” increment of over 75 million in 2021, likely to fall to 23 million in 2022 – and that is only if the pandemic subsides. With the changing global employment scenario, companies are willing to try more outsourcing product development than ever.

A survey of 700 Chief Human Resource Officers conducted this year showed that outsourcing is here to stay, with a majority saying they planned to increase both activities. As these countries rise in prominence on the global economic stage, their importance as sources of foreign investment for the U.S. grows.

In-house product deployment vs. Outsourcing Product Deployment

Not every company has the technical expertise, physical infrastructure, and most importantly, the tech-agnostic team to turn the idea into a product. It’s pretty daunting to find the required talent, considering the limited budget, time constraints, and geographical limitations.

Here, the company faces two choices:

expanding the infrastructure and getting in more employees and resources or,

building an entire team of in-house experts to get started

Or search for an existing expert in the market and hire them for Outsourced Product Deployment. The real need for companies here is to understand the deployment and product development process to move further to any decision.

Let us give you a teaser of what it will be like. When companies outsource product development, they usually hand over the entire development process to an outsourcing company, or by extension, their technical consultants. Henceforth, the company takes everything from ideation, analysis, creating the roadmap, tech stack selection, MVP development, promotion (in some cases), and perpetual scaling.

On the other hand, you’d need in-house teams or software development teams for each of these functions. This would not only add to the cost aspect of your project but might lead to a headache of finding the perfect solution for product development within the team.

Furthermore, there can be several reasons why outsourced product development works perfectly in the current global economy. Here are some of them.

Reason 1: You can focus on the more important aspects of your business!

One of the greatest perks of outsourced product development is the efficient and streamlined use of your resources. Since you are now dealing directly with multi-disciplinary experts, you can delegate work across several internal teams that are even more crucial to your business.

Reason 2: Experienced Team

Another perk is the experience that you get. An outsourcing partner can add the much-needed expertise that entrepreneurs lack. While you are starting in the industry, your outsourcing partner has already worked on similar products.

Irrespective of the product idea/software idea you have, they might’ve already developed a similar product/software in the past. This provides you with an edge in the game, and your lack of experience is balanced with their expertise.

Reason 3: Cost Reduction

Considerable costs involved during in-house product development come from these major sectors- IT infrastructure, physical space, and resources. These costs that you deploy in these sectors can be marginally reduced with the partnership of third-party vendors. They become your technology partners and help you throughout while ensuring that you don’t create a hole in your pocket.

Reason 4: Faster Speed to Market

The next thing to mention is the speed or time of development. In this case, outsourcing wins as it takes less time to develop. Outsourcing companies initiate product development as soon as you start.

The number of iterations and changes may increase as you are directly in control and want to experiment with several features. However, with outsourcing companies, you work in sprints and get the product within specified deadlines. Whereas in in-house development, you are bound to have other commitments hindering continuous development.

All in all, outsourcing product development is the way forward, knowing that working norms are rapidly changing. Also, now that you know all about outsourcing product development, you can contact us to get started today!

[expatimes]

Is Big Tech the real winner of the US presidential election?

The campaigns for President Donald Trump and Joe Biden spent a combined $ 192.3 million on Facebook advertising in the first 10 months of 2020, with over a quarter of that coming in October alone, according to data from Facebook Inc.

The presidential campaigns for each party more than doubled their ad spending on the social network compared with the presidential candidates in the 2016 race, when experts agreed that Trump outmaneuvered Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton online.

Biden spent slightly more on Facebook than Trump this year, at $ 99.8 million compared with $ 92.5 million, though the president poured more into Alphabet Inc.'s Google, where the two campaigns have spent a combined $ 215.5 million on ads on Google since May 2018. That spending came largely on YouTube, including a wave of Trump ads on the video site's homepage this week.

But even as candidates pour tens of millions of dollars into advertising on the platforms, there is widespread discontent both about the rules the companies have set around the election and the manner in which they've enforced them. Case in point is a policy that Facebook announced in September to ban new political ads in the week before the election.

The ban didn't actually keep campaigns from running ads during that period, only from introducing new ads that could introduce misleading messaging into the campaign's final days. The logic of the move was lost on Gautam Hans, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School focused on the First Amendment. “If we're worried about political ads and their effect on voting, voting is well underway,” he said, noting the wave of early voting that began before the moratorium took effect.

There have also been issues with execution. Facebook blocked thousands of ads, citing “a number of unanticipated issues affecting campaigns of both political parties.” The Biden campaign was affected even though it posted the ads before the cutoff date. The campaign said the disruption, which Facebook attributed to a technical glitch, had likely cost them over $ 500,000 in donations. The company said it has not been able to resolve issues with some of the ads, and is unlikely to be able to do so during the restricted period. Rob Flaherty, Biden's digital director, said the incident made it “abundantly clear that Facebook was wholly unprepared to handle this election despite having four years to prepare.”

The Trump campaign was also affected by the glitch. The campaign had already been trying to get around the policy by doing a limited run of new ads the day before the ban went into effect. These ads included language like, “Vote today!” and “Election day is today,” presumably with the intention of promoting them more heavily when those statements actually made sense.

Facebook blocked the ads, citing a policy that forbids paid messaging that misleads people about the electoral process. But it allowed other ads claiming record economic growth in the US days before the statistics were actually published. Samantha Zager, a spokeswoman for Trump's campaign, accused Facebook of making rules and selectively enforcing them because the company was "working against President Trump."

Daniel Kreiss, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina who tracks political communication, said the platforms have failed to create predictable guardrails for political actors. “We still see way too much uneven enforcement policies, and way too much changing of those policies months or weeks out from a presidential election,” he said, adding that Facebook's performance has been particularly bad. "It never ceases to amaze me that a company with so many billions in market cap can't figure this out."

Facebook, Google, and Twitter Inc. all found themselves at the center of a political firestorm for their handling of the 2016 election. The following year, federal lawmakers made a high-profile push to create new rules for online political advertising, but it failed, leaving platforms to develop safeguards on their own. All three companies created databases where people could track political spending, and began developing other policies.

Last October, Twitter announced it would ban political ads altogether. Facebook and Google, also considered bans, at least for the final days or weeks before an election. Sridhar Ramaswamy, a Google executive who ran its advertising operations until 2018, said he advocated internally for dropping political ads altogether. Google also considered a pre-election moratorium on political ads on YouTube's homepage, some of the most expensive real estate on the internet. Instead, it sold the space to the Trump campaign, Bloomberg reported in February.

Shirin Raza, a former lawyer for YouTube, believes that Trump's ads have been particularly damaging to the democratic process, and said the company itself bears part of the responsibility. “They say they care about election integrity. They say they care about Covid misinformation. But they continue to elevate someone who violates both those principles, ”she said. "Doesn't that make you complicit?"

A Google spokeswoman said it welcomes ads from all political advertisers as long as they comply with the company's policies. It has restricted targeting on election ads, barring campaigns from mixing public voter records with information like searches, web browsing, and YouTube viewing histories. Facebook didn't limit targeting, and has also infuriated Democrats with its policy of declining to fact-check political ads. (Republicans have subsequently attacked the company each time it put labels on misleading posts from President Trump.) Both companies have said they'll stop allowing political ads in the days after the election, in an attempt to stem attempts to confuse people about the outcome. of the voting.

Not everyone who is skeptical of social media companies' handling of political ads has supported restrictions on targeting or outright bans. People who run down-ballot campaigns have expressed concern that restrictions on targeting make it harder for them to afford ads tailored to their constituents. Some felt campaigns that the restrictions on targeting kept them from the kind of granular messaging on Facebook and Google that worked so well in 2016. “It changed buying to actually look more like TV,” said Reid Vineis, a vice for Majority Strategies, a political ad firm.

Some people who study political speech also say a political ad ban would undermine the electoral process. “I think political advertising is important,” said Kreiss of UNC. "Most ads are mobilizational — how else do you get people to turn out to vote?"

. #world Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=13237&feed_id=13847

[kang-yoochanie]

How to survive high school (by a straight A and mentally ill high school graduate)

If this post isn't a way to show that through 4 years of high school I have SUCKED at titling things then I don't know what is.

Anyways, long-ass titles aside, this is a mini guide for kids about to go into grade 9, or any grade really, who want to prepare themselves or change themselves.

Cause boy do I know you change a lot through high school. Thank god. 

Don’t expect this to be formal, or funny (unless you have my sense of humour in which case I think it’s fucking hilarious but that’s besides the point), but hopefully it will be helpful. (tip 1; long intros like this are useless 90% of the times, this time being part of that 90%) 

1) Honestly you may as well just buy yourself two locks for your locker right away. Have one locking your locker, and the other on you or at home. My locks broke so many times, or I forgot what the combo was, I went through so many of those fucking things (except in grade 12, I just gave up and stopped using my locker even though that was against the rules at my school lmao)

2) Dressing nice can be fun and can be a way to motivate yourself to get up in the morning, but don’t stress about what others will think about how you’re dressed or how you look. By the end of the day everyone’s going to look like trash any ways, so don’t bother

3) Those guidance counsellors? Yea. Use ‘em. Even if they’re the worst people on the planet Earth, use them. They can help tell your teachers about your problems, or just give you a quiet place to sit for a bit. 

4) DON’T STRESS ABOUT THE FUTURE. Everyone’s gonna say “you’re in grade 9, you better start thinking about what you wanna be” and they’ll say that every goddamn year. But let me tell you. I knew from grade 7 I wanted to go to art school. I really wanted to be an artist. I applied to an art school this year, I got into that art school this year, and I declined the offer. In my last few months of high school I changed my mind. I decided that I didn’t know what the fuck I wanted to do, so I chose a program that’s sort of like English. TLDR; people change their fucking minds. So don’t stress about it

5) Now this may differ from country to country but Universities and colleges don’t look at your grade 9 or 10 marks. They don’t give a shit if you got a 20% on a test in grade 9 (which I did lmao). They will only look at 11 and 12, and really they only look at your grade 11 marks for early acceptances. If you have shitty grade 11 marks but good grade 12 marks then you’re fine.

6) Speaking of Universities, apply to every single one that you can. I applied to something like 10 different schools/programs. Some of them I didn’t even know if I wanted to go into them. Some of them were incredibly hard to get into and I was sure I wasn’t going to get in. But I applied to everything that caught my interest, so that I could have doors open. (and, as it turns out, the program I’m going into was one of those last minute ‘i’m not sure if i’ll like this or not but it sounds kinda cool so I’ll apply’)

7) Learn new study habits. The jump between grade 8 and 9 (and 10 and 11 so rip your 10ers) is insane. It’s normal for grades to drop a bit (or a lot @ my multiple failed tests in gr 9 lmao) but just take it with grace and learn which way of studying works best for you. (protip: figure out if you’re an auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learner. If you’re 2, or like me and all 3 of them, then your just have to figure out which subject you learn best with which learning style. for example, in math I learn best by doing (kinesthetic) but I suck at learning math by seeing (visual), but in history I learn best by discussing and hearing (auditory) and seeing (visual), but if you make me act out history, write notes or anything like that I won’t learn shit.) 

8) If you’re not a math or science person, don’t take them. Same goes for English, or any other subject. In my school system it was required for you to take english every year, so there was no getting out of that, but I could chose to stop taking math after grade 11, and science after grade 10. A lot of people associate being good at math and science as being “smart”, and I got a lot of comments that because I wasn’t taking them my studies were “easy”. And trust me, if you decide to not take them you’ll hear the same thing. But the thing is, you don’t need them. If you’re going into an English program, then why in the fucking world would you take Chemistry or math?? What’s the use of it? Once you know the basic skills in both subjects I say drop it, unless you need it or find it fun. 

9) Speaking of not doing things that you can’t, each country has different terms for the “upper” level classes and the “lower” level classes. So I’ll be referring to them as just that. If you find that an “upper” level class goes too fast for you or you just aren’t learning from it, go to the lower level. Not all your classes have to be “upper” and not all have to be “lower”, it all depends on you. You’re not smarter for being in an “upper” level class, and you’re not dumber for being in a “lower” level class. It’s all based on styles of learning. That’s it. and 95% of the time, the two levels learn the same things, just at different paces and with different techniques. 

10) If you have a mental illness, let your teachers know. Even if you don’t want to tell anyone. Even if you think it’s embarrassing. Trust me, telling your teachers will make your life 100% easier, a lot of them are very understanding. I had teachers who would let me leave the class with a friend at any point I felt like I was going to have an anxiety attack. And when I went through my major depressive episodes and missed weeks of school, my teachers let me do work at home that was strictly in class work or let me delay tests or just skip units all together, and I often got extra time for everything. But if I hadn’t told them about my situation, I would have ended up being stuck and probably would have failed all my classes.

11) If someone offers you help, take it. ALWAYS ACCEPT HELP. Even if you have a stupid sense of pride (like me) and think you can do everything by yourself (like me) YOU CAN’T (like...you guessed it, me). Trust me, when a parent, teacher, or even sibling helps you with homework, or essays or studying, it just makes things easier. 

12) Take notes. I know I said taking notes doesn’t always help me, or other people, but do it anyways. And not on your computer. Hand write your notes, even if you have the messiest fucking handwriting, just do it. It’s been proven that you’re more likely to retain information that you handwrite over notes on a computer or reading, no matter what your learning type is. 

13) Don’t do things last minute. Don’t do your project last minute, or your essay, or study for a test. Cramming doesn’t work. Basically what I’m saying is manage your time properly. If you have 2 weeks to study for a test, take those two weeks. Don’t take just 10 hours the night before. 

14) We’re almost done, don’t worry. Join extra curricular activities! HAVE A LIFE. Literally it’s one of my biggest regrets that I didn’t do more. If you aren’t a sports person, join clubs. If you aren’t a clubs person, join sports. If you’re neither, join student council or something. If you want access to everything (sports, clubs, etc) join Yearbook, it’s a great way to be involved while also hiding from everyone. But join things, make new friends. Have a life. It’ll make things SO much easier

15) Speaking of friends, don’t worry about them. You’re going to make new friends, lose friends and then repeat. You and everyone else change so much through high school it’s almost impossible to constantly have the exact same friend group. So don’t worry if you lose friends, you’re going to make new ones, I promise. 

14) My last and most important point; GRADES DON’T MATTER. It’s a number (or letter) that is marking you on how you felt the day you were taking a test or doing a presentation. That’s all it is. It’s not testing your intelligence, it’s not something to compete over. It’s just a stupid little number. I’m not saying ignore it completely, still try to work hard to learn things, but don’t do it for the sole reason of getting a good grade. One of the biggest things I learned in my last two years of high school was that when I was stressed about my grades and studied for the only purpose of getting a 90%, and literally gave up my life to study, I often didn’t do well. Those are the times when I failed tests, and also the times where I barely was able to get an 80% average. But in 11 and 12 I decided to take it easy. I studied a little bit every second or third night, but I tried not to stress about it. On nights before tests I would limit myself and never stay up past midnight. I forced myself to not care about grades even though every little anxious bone in me told me to care. And I went from having an 80.2% average in grade 10, to an 88% in grade 11 and a 92.5% in grade 12 (i feel inclined to say it was 95% but I had two hard ass teachers second semester so uh yeah that sucked). SO DON’T STRESS. LET GO OF THE IMPORTANCE OF GRADES. RAISE YOUR MIDDLE FINGER TO THAT A. Just do the best you can and then continue to push yourself to do better. Do it because you want to, not because you want a higher grade.

I hope this was somewhat helpful. High school is what you make of it, it can be fun, or horrible, so try to have fun with it. I have a lot of good memories from it. The best piece of advice I can really give is just be aware that your life isn’t only school, and it doesn’t end after high school. (Also always buy your teachers christmas gifts or end of year gifts, they will love you and you will instantly become a favourite)

[heringstuff]

Looks like the thing about not using your wipers is a myth: https://www.politifact.com/facebook-fact-checks/statements/2019/jun/25/facebook-posts/no-police-are-not-warning-public-about-gangs-throw/

We could also find no evidence that "eggs mixed with water becomes milky and block(s) your vision up to 92.5%." After the email chain started to spread, the Decatur (Ala.) Daily newspaper decided to test the claim in 2009.

"After smashing the eggs on the driver's side of the windshield, a thick, clear film covered the glass. Instantly spraying the glass with fluid and turning on the wipers removed most of the residue. Although making a mess, the eggs would not force a driver to immediately pull off to the side of the road because of reduced visibility."

We even found a YouTuber who tested the claim on video, using his wipers and windshield spray to try to clean up the mess of multiple broken eggs during daylight and night, and found, to quote him, "This is not a problem, not an issue."

TBH, most of the examples in the OP sound like urban legends. Here’s a snopes post about the zipties claim. And here’s one similar to the perfume samples claim, although this one (the idea that people are going around in parking lots with drugged perfume samples), while not really possible, does make a little more sense than just telling people not to smell perfume samples in stores. I kind of liked the one about never talking to someone who comes up to you claiming to be Christian, though! And I wouldn’t just take a child to an address on a paper but I wouldn’t leave a crying child alone either. That said, it’s good to be aware of what is happening around you.

One more snopes page on these types of rumors, and it includes a quote that makes an important point:

“We often think of trafficking in terms of people being abducted, but one study showed that only accounted for 11 percent of the trafficking cases. Over 30 percent were trafficked through offers of help (a job, money, place to live, etc.). The horrible part of that statistic was that over 50 percent of victims were trafficked by someone who pretended romantic interest.”

Trafficking is very real. Human organs for sale are still quite popular even in America.

reblog and stay safe! 

[eyesearchedandfound]

Henryk Winograd

Henryk Winograd was born in Russia. He studied in Poland. He came to the United States in 1973. He produced masterpieces in the art of repousse in pure (.999) silver. This Winograd paperweight is available at my Etsy Shop “I Searched and Found” https://www.etsy.com/shop/iSearchedandFound

Read about Mr. Winograd and his method below.

Winograd was known for the beautiful Mezuzah Cases as well as silver plaques and jewelry.

(From http://www.rebajes.com/content/11-henryk-winograd)

“Henryk Winograd was one of the world's greatest 20th Century masters of traditional silversmithing techniques (he recently passed away in his 90's) and was the leading practitioner in America of the historic art of Repousse. He was born in Poland, of Russian parentage, from a lineage of silversmiths to the Czar. He was trained as a silversmith in Poland and, after serving in the military for several years, he came to the United States in the 1970's. In just a few short years, his works of art found their way into the hearts of serious collectors as well as casual enthusiasts.”

“Mr. Winograd used the art of repousse and each one of his pieces was designed by hammering pure silver sheets into crafted molds. Winograd rarely worked in sterling (which is only 92.5% pure), but preferred the purest form of silver available (99.9% pure silver). As true art forms, his designs have a sharp, high relief. The delicacy of the detail of his work is superb and the quality of his execution is breathtaking. The process requires great talent, patience and dedicated attention to detail.”

“Henryk Winograd recently passed away - he was in his nineties. We were fortunate that his talent was able to create incredible small masterpieces in pure silver until the very last years of his life. Each Winograd piece is unique and is signed and copywritten. Further, each of his works of art is marked with the characteristic Winograd hallmark -- "HW999", which is a combination of his initials and the silver content of the work -- 99.9% silver (considered to be pure silver).”

“Winograd's silver works of art are getting harder and harder to find on the open market as they have been collected worldwide for over 60 years! It's likely his work will grow more valuable since his passing. His work is always of museum quality and, in fact, his work graces many museums throughout the world.”

“Winograd has created silver plaques of every major Civil War battle -- these are generally valued at well over $1000 each. His miniatures easily bring amounts exceeding $500. Winograd is also known worldwide for his Judaica images. He copied some of the best known Judaica paintings into pure silver forms which are considered to be masterpieces and are among his best loved works.”

“IMPORTANT POST SCRIPT: On February 18, 2008 Henryk Winograd passed away after a long illness. We are very saddened by Mr. Winograd's passing and wish his family the best. Our lives were all enriched by Mr. Winograd's talent and his great eye for beauty. He was one of the greatest silversmiths of the 20th century and history will, no doubt, judge him as one of the greatest of all time. We have modified our article to reflect his passing and are deeply saddened that the world will no longer be graced with new added Winograd treasures." - by: lennonhallantiques”

[juniperpublisherscellscienc-blog]

Relationship between serum ghrelin levels, weight loss and quality of life in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer- Juniper Publishers

Abstract

Cancer cachexia is one of the most frequent effects of malignancy, is often associated with poor prognosis, and may account for up to 20% of cancer deaths. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship with serum levels of ghrelin, weight loss, and quality of life in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Methods: A total of 67 chemotherapy-naïve advanced stage non-small cell cancer patients enrolled to study. Demographical, anthropometrical, laboratory data and serum levels of ghrelin were measured. Progression-free survival and overall survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Survival among various factors was calculated using the log-rank test. Patients quality of life is evaluated with several questionnaires.

Results: Ghrelin levels were 4.6 - fold (p=0.009) higher among patients with weight loss at the time of diagnosis. Lower serum levels of ghrelin were associated with better progression-free survival (p=0.011).

Conclusion: Serum ghrelin levels play key role as proinflammatory cytokines in lung cancer and weight loss; however, their use as diagnostic or prognostic markers is not possible yet and further large-scale studies are required to confirm our findings.

Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer; Ghrelin; Weight loss; Quality of life

Introduction

Cancer cachexia is a complicated catabolic process which affects approximately two thirds of cancer patients and is caused by a systemic cascade in which many cytokines and mediators play role [1]. These mediators are often released by tumor cells. Cachexia development in cancer patients decreases treatment response and worsens tolerance, and thus affecting survival and quality of life [2]. Cancer cachexia may account for up to 20% of cancer deaths [2]. In a study conducted on prognostic value of weight loss, it was determined that weight loss was present in 59% of cases with small cell lung cancer, 58% of cases with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and 76% of cases with mesothelioma before the initiation of treatment [3].

Ghrelin is also named as appetite hormone [4]. Seventy percent of ghrelin is produced by X/A cells which are present in oxyntic mucosaand have endocrine logical functions. Ghrelin is a strong orexigenic (increasing appetite) molecule [5]. Ghrelin increases protein synthesis and carbon hydrate utilization, but it decreases fat utilization, so that energy gain and storage are performed [5]. Plasma ghrelin level is indirectly proportional to body mass index (BMI). Ghrelin level is increased in negative energy equilibrium [5]. The role of ghrelin in cancer and cancer induced cachexia is unknown. It is believed that ghrelin levels in cancer patients may be increased due to a systemic inflammation, and as a compensatory mechanism to catabolic process.In the present study, we aimed to reveal serum ghrelin levels in patients with advanced NSCLC, and its role in weight loss, and to evaluate its effects on quality of life as well as whether this peptide is a prognostic biomarker for cachexia.

Materials and Methods

Subjects

A total of 67 chemotherapy-naïve patients who were admitted to Medical Oncology Department for the first time and were pathologically diagnosed as NSCLC were evaluated. A written informed consent was obtained from each participant. The study protocol was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Pamukkale University Medical Faculty (No: 02 / Date: 24.02.2009). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.The patients at advanced stage (Stage IIIB and Stage IV) whose performance status (PS) was 0, 1, 2 according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification were included in the study. The patients whose PS was 3 and worse on admission, those with cranial metastasis or suspicion of cranial metastasis, patients aged 80 and above, those at early stage (I, IIand IIIA), those the patients who were unwilling to give a written informed consent and who refused to answer the questionnaire were excluded from the study.Age, sex, anthropometric measurements, type of tumor, treatment, and the pre-treatment performances of the patients were recorded. The presence of weight loss at the time of diagnosis was questioned. Weight loss at the time of diagnosis was defined as a loss of more than 10% within the past six months.

Biochemical analysis

Blood samples were taken before treatment in the patient group and blood samples were taken between 08:00 and 09:00 A.M. following an 8-12 hour fasting. A complete blood count was measured using the CELL-DYN 3700 Systems and CELL-DYN Sapphire device. Ferritin, C – reactive peptid (CRP), glucose, insulin, and cortisole, albumin was measured with Roche/Hitachi Cobas c Systems, e 601 Module device. For the analysis of insulin resistance, the Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA-IR, Homeostasis Model Assessment) tool which provides practical examination of beta-cell function and insulin resistance using fasting glucose and insulin levels was used. It was calculated as fasting insulin value (μIU/mL) x fasting glucose level (mg/dl)/405. In healthy individuals, HOMA value is lower than 2.7, while values above 2.7 indicates insulin resistance [6].Furthermore, 6ml of venous blood samples were taken from patients, for ghrelin analysis and the samples were taken to vacuumed tubes and the samples were centrifuged at 15,000rpm for 10 minutes. Serum was, then, separated and stored in a deep freezer at -70°C. It was measured by Enzymelinked immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method (Digital and Analog System, DAS, Plombara Sabina, Italy). The cut-off value of ghrelin was calculated using an automatic program. The cutoff value for ghrelin was 1275pg/ml. The values at and below this value were evaluated as low and the values above this value were evaluated as high.

Questionnaires

Patients’ quality of life was assessed by conducting a questionnaire and nutritional status were assessed by subjective global evaluation concurrently with blood sample collection. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30) the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life (EORTCQLQ- C30) (version 3) was performed previously [7]. This tool is widely used in cancer patients all over the world. The scale evaluates health status and quality of life. On the function scale, there are questions about physical function, role function, emotional function, comprehension function, and social function; and functions to sustain daily activities are inquired. On the symptom scale, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, loss of appetite, constipation, diarrhea, and financial status are inquired. The last two questions represent the general health status scaleand show patients’ self-assessment on quality of life as a whole. Functional, symptom, and general health status scores of the patients in EORTC-QLQ-C30 were determined with a scoring guideline created by using formulas [8]. Higher functional and general health status scores and lower symptom scores indicates a better quality of life for the patients.

Quality of life questionnaire, short form 36 (SF-36)

Short form 36, has a generic measurement characteristic among quality of life questionnaires and provides a wide range of measurement; it has been developed by Rand Cooperation and the validity and reliability studies of the Turkish version has been performed previously [9]. It is a self-assessment scale. Lower score indicates poor health status, whereas higher score indicates good health status.

Hospital anxiety and depression (HAD) scale

Hospital anxiety and depression scale has been specifically developed to use in hospital settings. It is a self-assessment scale to determine the risk of anxiety and depression and measure the level and change in the severity of them in the patient. The scale has been applied to various diseases, and compared between clinical groups, and it is shown that it indicates clinically significant results as a screening tool [10]. HAD scale has been translated into Turkish and the validity and reliability studies of the Turkish version has been performed, and it has been reported as a suitable tool in Turkey [11].

Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS-16.0 for windows package program. Results were evaluated at a confidence interval of 95%. The level of statistically significance was accepted as p<0.05. Spearman and Pearson correlation test was used in correlation analyses. Kaplan-Meier method was used for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) curves. Logistic regression was used for analysis of factors affecting survival and progression.

Result

A total of 67 patients diagnosed with advanced (stage IIIb and IV) NSCLC were included in the study. Of patients, 62 92.5%) were males, and 5 (7.5%) were females. Patients were divided into two groups according to weight loss at the time of diagnosis. The main clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with and without weight loss at the time of diagnosis are shown in (Table 1).Ghrelin levels were 4.6-fold (p=0.009) higher among patients with weight loss at the time of diagnosis, calculated with Mann Whitney U test. No significant difference was found between ghrelin and sex, PS, smoking, anemia, CRP, ferritin, cortisole, albumin levels, and IR.

Mann Whitney test. *p <0.05 indicates statistical significance. A: Adenocarcinoma, S: Squamous-cell carcinoma, O: Other subtypes

Patients with low ghrelin levels, physical (p=0.004) and role (p=0.015) function scores of EORTC-QLQ-C30 subscales and physical function (p=0.006), pain (p=0.004), and mental function (p=0.003) scores of SF-36 subscales were measured higher; fatigue (p=0.002) and pain (p=0.023) scores of EORTC-QLQ-C30 subscales were found higher. Besides, in these patient’s anxiety (p=0.023) and depression (p=0.016) scores in HAD scale, and nutritional status (p=0.026) scores were normal.

When subscales of EORTC-QLQ-C30 and SF-36 questionnaires were examined, physical (p=0.008, and p=0.032, respectively) and role function (p=0.009, and p=0.048, respectively) scores of patients with weight loss at the time of diagnosis were lower than those without weight loss. Fatigue (p=0.010), dyspnea (p=0.032), and loss of appetite (p=0.013) scores of patients who had weight loss at the time of diagnosis were higher. However, no correlation was determined between HAD, nutritional condition questionnaires, and weight loss. On a subscale of EORTCQLQ- C30 questionnaire, physical function scores were lower in patients with lower albumin levels (p=0.006).

Patients with low ghrelin levels had the median of OS was 68 weeks, and it was 26 weeks in the patients with high ghrelin levels; however, the difference was not statistically significant (Figure 1). Among patients with high ghrelin levels, the median PFS was 22 weeks, whereas it could not be reached in patients with low ghrelin levels (p=0.023) (Figure 2).

Discussion

Ghrelin is an orexigenic hormone, and it antagonizes leptin which decreases food intake [12]. Serum leptin levels were found significantly lower in lung cancer patients than healthy controls [13]. It is believed that ghrelin administration antagonizes effect of cytokines which act on appetite and weight loss [14]. Ghrelin levels are positively correlated with cachexia conditions like anorexia nervosa [15], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [16] and end stage renal disease [17]. Ghrelin levels have been found lower in weight gain and obesity [15]. It was suggested that role of ghrelin in inflammatory process of cancer was cytokine inhibition, and it had also ant proliferative effects[18]. It was thought that ghrelin levels were increased through compensation caused by its anti-inflammatory effects.

In our study, ghrelin levels were found higher in patients who had weight loss at the time of diagnosis. It might be considered that increased ghrelin levels in cachectic patients were due to compensation of the catabolic process [19]. This hypothesis was supported by another study performed on patients with lung cancer (20). Basal ghrelin levels were determined significantly higher in cache tic patients, and it was observed that ghrelin levels were significantly increased in patients whose food intake was decreased on days 8 and 21 after chemotherapy [20]. These results indicated that anorexia might affect ghrelin levels in patients with lung cancer. In the same study, there was a correlation between PS and ghrelin, and ghrelin levels were measured significantly high in patients with poor PS [20]. In our study, only basal ghrelin levels were measured, but ghrelin levels after chemotherapy were not measured. Also, no correlation was found between PS and ghrelin levels.

It was thought that ghrelin might be increased to compensate anorexia, and short-term appetite loss, fasting, and re-starting food intake might affect ghrelin levels. Although ghrelin level is high in anorexic patients, and high ghrelin levels are expected to increase appetite, it is observed that these patients have loss of appetite. The possible cause of this loss of appetite is that, similar to insulin resistance mechanism, although ghrelin concentration is high in the blood, there may be a loss of ghrelin receptor affinity. Karapanagiotou [21] found that ghrelin levels were higher in the advanced NSCLC patient group. Studies performed on patients with lung cancer, ghrelin levels were higher in-patient groups than control subjects, however there was no statistical significance [20,21]. Basal ghrelin levels of patients with and without weight loss before chemotherapy were measured in 101 patients with advanced lung cancer and 60 healthy controls by Karapanagiotou [21].

Weight loss was observed in 75 patients, whereas there was no weight loss in 26 patients. Ghrelin levels were determined significantly higher in patients with weight loss at the time of diagnosis. In the same study, no correlation was determined between ghrelin levels and age, cancer stage, histological type, PS, PFS, and OS rates. It was underlined that OS rates were lower in patients with low BMI and poor performance despite an insignificant difference. In our study, ghrelin levels increased 2.8- fold in patients with progression. No correlation was determined with OS.In a study performed on 14 breast cancer cases and 26 colon cancer cases, and 20 healthy controls, patients were divided into two groups as cache tic and non-cache tic. Ghrelin levels were found significantly higher in cache tic patients. Ghrelin levels in cache tic female patients were significantly higher than the levels in male patients [22]. In our study, there was no correlation between sex and ghrelin levels, but low number of female patients (n= 5) might be an effective factor in this issue. Jeon [23] compared sixteen cache tic patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer (2 with esophagus, 9 with gastric, and 5 with colorectal cancer), and ten healthy controls.Ghrelin levels were found significantly higher in cachectic patients, whereas no correlation was determined with BMI. The main tissue for ghrelin secretion is stomach, and it has been shown that ghrelin levels decreased after gastrectomy. In that study, 7 patients had total gastrectomy, but no significant difference was found in ghrelin levels in patients with and without gastrectomy [23]. This condition was explained as ghrelin secretion from other tissues (T cells, spleen, thymus, and intestines) could increase after gastrectomy by the compensatory secretion.

In a study performed in cache tic gastric, pancreatic and colorectal cancer patients, ghrelin levels decreased significantly[24]. This suggests our minds that there might be other special effects on ghrelin production in patients with gastrointestinal cancers. Therefore, it was reported that patients with gastrointestinal cancers might be the most suitable group for exogenous ghrelin administration. In a phase II, placebocontrolled, randomized study, ghrelin was administered to cache tic and non-cache tic tumor implanted rats, and 30% elevation was reported in appetite and food intake [25]. Again, in a doubleblind, randomized, placebo-controlled study carried out on cache tic rats with cancer, favorable results of exogenous ghrelin administration were reported [26].

The present study and the other studies suggest that ghrelin has a compensatory role in pathogenesis of cancer cachexia, and it shows its effects through mediators affecting a systemic inflammation rather than mediators affecting fat metabolism. The small sample size and lack of ghrelin measurements after chemotherapy are limitations of this study. This study demonstrated that ghrelin levels were found to be higher in patients with weight loss at the time of diagnosis. Serum ghrelin levels are important in cancer and cancer cachexia; however, the utilization of ghrelin as a diagnostic or prognostic tool is not possible yet and further largescale studies are required to confirm our findings.

For more Open access journals please visit our site: Juniper Publishers 

For more articles please click on Journal of Cell Science & Molecular Biology

[meditativeyoga]

Yoga for Pain Relief: Yoga Offers Effective Relief for Back Pain, Fibromyalgia, and Other Chronic Pain Issues Study Finds

Chronic discomfort is among one of the most common conditions impacting American adults, with 126 countless us experiencing consistent, persisting, often severe as well as debilitating discomfort yearly. Basic discomfort care, frequently including medicine, has a tendency to offer only partial or momentary benefit.

Also, with addiction to opiate medicines reaching staggering percentages, health and wellness suppliers and also customers are more actively seeking corresponding techniques like yoga for alleviation. A new evaluation of the proof released in Mayo Clinical Proceedings, recommends that yoga may play an important function as an efficient remedy, specifically for back pain.

Among grownups in the U.S, back discomfort (28%), joint/arthritis discomfort (21%), neck discomfort (14%) and migraines (14%) are among one of the most common. To deal with this discomfort, a 2012 national study recommends that a huge percentage of Americans (30-40%) rely on some form of corresponding treatment such as yoga, tai chi, as well as qigong (10.1% combined) meditation (8%), massage therapy, acupuncture, and also control (16.6% combined), as well as natural products or supplements (17.7%) in any given year. These complementary strategies are usually used to handle neck and back pain (14.3 million), neck discomfort (5 million), and also arthritis pain (3.1 million).

Due to this considerable usage of corresponding methods, a group of scientists from the National Facility for Corresponding and also Integrative Health reviewed the medical research to see which comes close to may be best suited for health care people presenting with back, neck, as well as joint discomfort, and also fibromyalgia.

To do so they checked out all the randomized regulated trials (RCTs) published from January 1, 1966 via March 31, 2016. To earn findings relevant to United States primary treatment carriers, these studies were limited to trials either carried out in the US, or including American participants.

Yoga Could Alleviate Chronic Low Back Pain

A overall of 6 RCTs were identified in which yoga exercise was made use of to eliminate low neck and back pain. For purposes of their testimonial, yoga exercise was specified as a mind and body exercise with origins in ancient Indian viewpoint in which techniques such as physical stances, breathing methods, as well as meditation or leisure were combined.

These studies consisted of 596 grownups (mainly women) who went to team courses of 60-90 minutes in duration where either hatha, viniyoga or iyengar yoga exercise was provided. The number of sessions varied from 12 to 24, with classes being held either when or two times a week, as well as residence method usually being recommended.

When compared to normal care, 2 studies recommended that yoga exercise was associated with renovations in discomfort and also function, nonetheless these outcomes varied when contrasting yoga exercise with exercise or stretching. Three extra research studies discovered that yoga was connected with small reductions suffering and also useful handicap when compared with either a delay list or instructional control group. No damaging events were reported.

Massage and Adjustment Could Reduce Neck Pain

To date there are no RCTs checking out the efficiency of yoga for alleviating persistent neck discomfort. Of the researches using corresponding strategies, 4 evaluated the usage of massage therapy to alleviate neck pain and disability. In one study, grown-up individuals randomized to 10 massage therapy sessions over 10 weeks reported considerable renovations in neck pain and also disability compared with a no-treatment control group.

Similarly, other studies revealed that normal massage sessions were connected with improvements, with higher advantages demonstrated for those who received 60-minute sessions 2 to 3 times each week contrasted to those that attended a session weekly.

Of the 3 studies where back adjustment was tested as a treatment for neck discomfort, findings were mixed, with some researches reporting renovations adhering to spinal manipulation, while others discovering little to no effect.

Yoga Connected to Reduced Knee Pain Related to Osteoarthritis

Only one, quasi-experimental trial of the results of seated yoga exercise on osteoarthritic knee pain has actually been published to this day. Individuals were senior adults (imply age 80 years old), as well as mostly guys (68.7%). Compared to a benefit sample of matched controls assigned to either a Reiki or an interest treatment, yoga group individuals reported significantly far better decreases in pain, tightness, and also useful handicap. No unfavorable events were reported in this study.

Yoga Assists in the Management of Fibromyalgia

A solitary study of 53 ladies (average age 53.7 years, 92.5% white) contrasted the performance of yoga for relieving fibromyalgia symptoms compared with a waiting list control group. Participants attended 8, 120-minute courses, when per week for 8 weeks. Result data revealed substantial enhancements in fibromyalgia signs for the yoga exercise team at the end of the research, without adverse occasions reported.

Safety

Unfortunately, extremely few of the trials examined released safety information. Of those that did, the most common cases reported were small muscular tissue or joint soreness in the yoga exercise and also tai chi research studies, some intestinal upset in examinations of dietary supplements, and small pain and/or wounding in the acupuncture trials. The lack of constant reporting makes it challenging to draw definitive verdicts regarding the security of these corresponding types of care.

Summary

As is constant with a lot of testimonials of corresponding therapies as a whole, and yoga exercise specifically, verdicts are obstructed by a variety of methodological issues, one of the most remarkable being little, homogeneous (white, female, older grownups) examples. Little example dimensions are more prone to false unfavorable outcomes, as well as homogeneous samples limit the degree to which we can generalize cause a more diverse populace of people in health care settings. In enhancement, a lot of corresponding techniques do not have common treatment procedures, making it hard to identify which facets of the intervention are reliable, and also the dosage needed to attain an impact. Continued, well-funded and also extensive trials will be should offer a clear account of just how these techniques function, why as well as for whom.

[millenniallust4death]

Objective: To report clinical findings and treatments for dogs with supraspinatus tendinopathy (ST).

Background: ST is a term used to describe tears, calcifying tendinopathy, tendinosis and/or injuries in and around the tendon of the supraspinatus muscle, and is a cause of forelimb lameness, especially in sporting and performance dogs.

Evidentiary value: This is a retrospective study of 327 dogs diagnosed with ST.

Methods: Medical records (2006 to 2013) were reviewed for history, signalment, prior treatments, physical examination findings, diagnostic imaging and arthroscopic findings, concurrent shoulder and elbow pathologies, and treatments performed.

Results: Dogs aged 4 months to 14 years (average 6.5 years; median 6 years) were diagnosed with ST. Performance and sporting dogs were 39.4% of the population, with 58.1% of them being agility dogs. Pain was elicited on palpation of the supraspinatus tendon in 49.3% of dogs. Shoulder radiographs in 283 dogs showed mineralisation in 13% of cases. MRI of the shoulder was performed in 31 cases and revealed findings indicative of ST, including hyperintensity of signal on T1 weighted image (or “spin-lattice”) and Short T1 Inversion Recovery (STIR) sequences of the supraspinatus tendon at its insertion on the greater tubercle and mineralisation of the supraspinatus tendon. Common ultrasonographic findings included increased tendon size (76%), irregular fibre pattern (74%), and non-homogeneous echogenicity (92.5%). The most common findings on shoulder arthroscopy were supraspinatus bulge (82.2%) and subscapularis pathology (62.4%). Elbow pathology was recorded in 54.5% of dogs. Treatment outcomes showed 74.6% of dogs failed to respond to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and 40.8% failed to respond to rehabilitation.

Conclusions: These findings suggest concurrent shoulder and/or elbow pathology is not uncommon in dogs with ST. Further, ST often fails to respond to NSAID therapy and rehabilitation therapy.

Application: Other treatments such as regenerative medicine should be considered. Future studies are still needed to assess the use and efficacy of regenerative medicine for ST.

Full-text is freely available. Contains figures: x-ray and MRIs.

Several of my friends have GSDs with this shoulder injury; makes me want to quit doing any toy skills training.

[exjade]

From: source

A detransitioned woman recently conducted a survey of detransitioners (Stella, 2016c). Though the survey was only open for two weeks, more than 200 women completed it. Clearly, there are more than just a handful of people who are coming to re-identify as female. The survey results are compelling.

• 92.5% of those who responded said that their dysphoria was the same or better after detransitioning than during transition.

• Only 8% of respondents felt somewhat or completely positive toward their own transition, whereas 60.2% felt somewhat or completely negative toward it.

Following are quotes from the individual comments included by survey respondents:

• “I used transition as self-harm. It destroyed so many parts of my life.”

• “My seeking medical and social transition led to a deep spiral of depression and lack of identity—and was probably also caused by those things. The social ostracization led to increased anxiety and my grades were devastated.”

• “I was a train wreck waiting to happen and transition fed the insecurities, anxiety and hopelessness” (Stella, 2016c).

The following is a quote from detransitioner and blogger Max Robinson, with her permission:

I transitioned FtM (female to male) at 16, was on testosterone and had a double mastectomy by 17. 

I absolutely am traumatized by what happened to me, and I'm not the only one. I'm a part of support networks for women who stopped transition that have over 100 members, and that's just the individuals who have gone looking for others with this experience and found us.Early in my transition, I went through menopause. This caused vaginal atrophy and drip incontinence that has persisted for years. I piss myself slowly all day now; it's really not cute or fun. I refused to acknowledge it was connected to the HRT-caused vaginal atrophy that immediately preceded its onset until months after going off testosterone. Yeah, I signed a paper saying I knew that could happen. I also thought this treatment was my only hope for coping with the intense feelings of alienation/disgust with my femaleness. I was wrong. Transition didn't help. It did harm, harm that I now have to learn how to live with on top of all the shit I thought transition would fix.

My double mastectomy was severely traumatizing. I paid a guy, a guy who does this every day for cash, to drug me to sleep and cut away healthy tissue. I did this because I believed it would heal all of the emotional issues I was blaming on my female body. It didn't work. Now I'm still all fucked up and I'm missing body parts, too.

There is no surgery that will undo what's been done… adding synthetic materials to resemble the tissue of mine that was incinerated years ago would not help me. It took 3 years of stuffing down every negative feeling about my mastectomy before I was ready to face that what happened did harm to me. I was off hormones for months before I admitted to myself that I deeply, deeply regretted this surgery. I have lost my breasts and I have lost the chance to reconcile with my breasts. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be work worth doing. Now the work before me instead is reconciling with what I've done and with the chest I have now—flat, scarred, asymmetrical, and nerve-damaged. (Robinson, 2016)

Detransitioner and blogger Cari Stella went on testosterone and had a double mastectomy as a teenager. In a video she made, she lets viewers know that she is not just some statistic. Looking right at the camera, she tells us that “I'm a real live 22-year-old woman with a scarred chest, and a broken voice and a five o'clock shadow because I couldn't face the idea of growing up to be a woman. That is my reality” (Stella, 2016a).

It has been demonstrated that pediatric transition can have serious side effects and comes with the possibility of a high incidence of regret. Now I would like to discuss how social factors and therapeutic practices are playing a role in encouraging young people to transition.

In recent years, young people (tweens and teens) have been presenting with dysphoria “out of the blue” without ever having expressed any gender variance before (https://transgendertrend.com/rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-research-study/). An announcement of being transgender is often preceded by anxiety, depression, social isolation, loss, or trauma. This now-common presentation was virtually unheard of until a few years ago. The sudden onset of gender dysphoria seems to be correlated with a couple of factors.

One is social media use. On sites such as YouTube, thousands of homemade videos chronicle the gender transitions of teenagers. The Tumblr blog “Fuck Yeah FTMs” features photo after photo of young FtMs celebrating the changes wrought by testosterone. “I finally have freedom!” posters boast under photographs of their scarred chests post mastectomy. “I'm no longer pre-T!” boasts another under a video of someone injecting testosterone. “My name is Cameron! I'm a nineteen-year-old nonbinary/trans person living in Ohio! I'm excited to say that yesterday was my first injection! I am so happy with the person I am becoming.” Almost all of these posters are under 25 years of age.

Young people can find plenty of in-group validation online. There is an incredibly positive climate around being trans in many places on the Internet. On just one of the hundreds of thousands of YouTube videos that document the poster's “top surgery,” there are 48 comments such as:

“Can't believe how far you've come! You are amazing in every way!”

“So proud and happy for you.”

“You are totally rad.”

“By the way, you are totally attractive.”

Young people are also finding validation online for their self-diagnosis as transgender. The blog transgenderreality.com meticulously details the process by which a questioning young person is encouraged to understand his or her symptoms as evidence of being trans. Young people on reddit and other social media sites explain that they started wondering whether they were trans because they enjoyed creating opposite-sex avatars in online games and liked the clothing or hairstyles of the opposite sex. Commentators frequently respond by telling them they sound like a “textbook case” and congratulate them on “finding out early.”

The second correlative factor is having peers who also identify as trans. We are seeing kids coming out together in peer groups. The following quotes are all taken from parent comments on the blog 4thwavenow unless otherwise noted.

We are a progressive family caught in the teenage transgender wave. It's so scary. I can't even put it into words. What we are seeing are pockets of teens in different towns who are declaring themselves either non-binary or transgender. In many cases, these are teens who showed no gender variance at all, and then they get connected with a group in their high school, and suddenly a large percentage of them are identifying this way. The information they find on the Internet convinces them that physical transitioning via hormones and surgery is not only the only way to go but should also be available to them right now, as soon as they want it. I am very concerned that the medical community is not looking at the sheer number of teens, post-puberty, who are making these kinds of declarations and asking whether this can be genuine or a temporary stop on the process of figuring out one's identity as a teenager. Peer influence is just so huge in these kids. As soon as they turn 18, they are seeking medical intervention, and the model now is informed consent, so we have lots of teenagers and young adults making permanent changes to their bodies when their brains have not yet reached adulthood. Very, very scary.

In my daughter's extra-curricular activity, one of the groups has about 20 kids in it (all teenagers). Seven of those kids are natal females. THREE of those seven females are publicly out as FTM. This does not include my daughter, who has never come out publicly. So four of seven girls have some issue with gender identity. Of the three girls who have socially transitioned, one is on testosterone and has had surgery. All are under 18. All of them made this discovery after puberty.

My daughter befriended some trans kids from her acting troupe. When you look at this group, each year they are something different. There are kids who, upon joining, are just “allies,” the next year they are bisexual, the next year they are gay, and then the final year, they are trans. And at every step of the way, they are being applauded and receiving so much positive support from themselves, each other, the group, the grownups, and the audiences they address (I call this the “echo chamber”). But it's fishy. Why are there so many kids who, the more they hang out, all of a sudden, they are trans too? It doesn't make sense.

My daughter, who is 17, told me last year on Mother's Day that she was now my son. When I began researching this subject, I was extremely concerned with the medical intervention that takes place with these children. Then when I went to a meeting for parents with transgender children, I was shocked about how all of these parents were jumping on the bandwagon of drugs and surgery without questioning. They even complain about wait times for surgeries! Unfortunately, here in Canada, children as young as 16 can make medical decisions for themselves and parents are not allowed to intervene (and surgeries are free).

My daughter decided she is transgender just as soon as she learned of it as a concept, in her senior year of high school. The previous school year she was dealing with a lot of anxiety and stress. She learned of transgender from a small high school group of friends. The university diversity center director took a group of transgender students to a free gender clinic, where my daughter then returned and received, after a single visit, a prescription for testosterone.I am the mother of a young man in his late 20s who, within the space of just a few months of bingeing on reddit and YouTube transition videos, decided that he was transgender, and is undergoing transition at a frightening speed. Obviously, he is old enough to do whatever he pleases, and all I can do is grieve quietly as I watch him from afar as he destroys his physical and mental health.

In my local high school my daughter is in the marching band. She plays an instrument, but she is friends with many girls in the color guard. There are about 25 members of the color guard this year. All of them are natal female. Last year my daughter told me that almost all of them felt they were lesbian. This year, almost all of them feel they are transgender, agender, or, at the very least, are questioning their gender identities. I've noticed that many of them have similar haircuts and that some of them are binding. Many constantly discuss their gender identities and agonize about “coming out” to their parents. Their lives seem to be focused on this subject 24/7, which has driven away certain non-transgender friends. No adults have stepped into help, even though they are aware of what is happening. (Anonymous, Private correspondence, 2016)

[floridaindependentblog]

There have been many metals and minerals throughout human history that have a long history of usefulness and desirability. Silver is a high contender for one of the most significant of those metals.

The history of silver has a lot of interesting moments and facts. From the origin of the word sterling to the bizarre medical uses, silver is a potent metal with a lot of secrets.

There is so much to the history of silver. Eager to dive in? Let’s see what things you can learn from this precious metal.

Understanding The History of Silver

Silver is a precious metal with an interesting past. While gold is commonly thought of as being more valuable, there were times in the past that this wasn’t the case. When was sterling the premier metal of choice? Let’s see…

1. The History of the Word Sterling

Sterling silver is often a word used to describe the purest of silver. It is a catch-all for high quality, but why does it have this connection and where did it come from?

In the 12th century, German merchants would often trade with a high-quality silver coin they called Easterlings. Over time, as the coin became popular and a common piece of trade across England and Europe, many shortened it to sterling.

2. Not Quite Pure

Sterling is a note of the quality of silver and has specific measurement requirements. The interesting truth is that silver, as well as most metals, is never pure.

Few metal products, especially precious ones, are stable enough to contain only the single element. As such, most silver items are not 100% silver.

Sterling silver has a minimum silver count of 92.5%, but non-sterling silver can have a lot less.

3. Silverware and Fine Dining

The word silverware is very literal, as the original silverware utensils were made of silver. This was a popular trend in fine dining for over a century, from 1840 to 1940 with the biggest boom between 1870 to 1920.

This was a big part of Victorian-era dining etiquette, as it was seen as very rude to let even a portion of your food touch your hands.

As such, there was a proper utensil for everything and the silver industry went into overdrive to produce it all.

4. The Science Facts

Silver is an element of the Periodic Table of Elements, known as element Ag. Its atomic number is 47, its atomic weight is 107.8682, and its room temperature phase is a solid.

Ag might seem like an odd abbreviation for silver, but it comes from the Latin word for silver which is Argentum.

5. The First U.S. Silver Strike

While there were a handful of small silver strikes in the United States during the push westward, the first major silver strike was Nevada’s Comstock Lode. A strike refers to a discovery of a major mineral vein network, in this case, silver.

Two brothers had laid claim to it in 1857 but died before they could enjoy the wealth. Between 1859 and 1992, over 300 million dollars worth of silver came out of the Comstock Lode.

6. Silver’s Home Remedy History

Silver has a surprising connection to the medical industry! Silver has anti-microbial effects. This helps it break down and destroy bacterial cell walls, getting rid of bacteria at a massive rate.

There are several downsides, though. You need to break silver down to an ion form or it has no reaction with bacteria. This is a complex process. Turning this form into something you can apply to a wound adds another nasty variable: other elements.

Silver can be very unstable outside of its metallic form, so adding things like bandages, adhesives, and even other antibiotics can reverse the ionization and ruin the purpose.

There have been attempts by homeopathy providers to sell colloidal silver as a health remedy. While it can work to some degree, it has a major drawback of turning your skin blue!

7. Preventing Tarnish on Silver

Silver can be a fickle metal and it tarnishes at a very fast rate. “Tarnish” is a lack of shine due to air and moisture. Even a month or two without polish and silver sill start to tarnish.

Display pieces at the museum don’t have the luxury of constant polish. As such, some museums have taken instead of hand-painting a thin film of transparent lacquers on the pieces of silver. to keep them from tarnishing.

8. Silver Marks of Beauty

Silver has been a popular decorative piece for millennia. From statues in temples to fine jewelry, there have been few cultures that did not embrace silver as an item of beauty when they had the chance.

Archaeological studies have shown silver jewelry of all shapes and sizes dating back as far as 3,000 years or more.

Ranging from Israel, across Europe, and even in the Americas and East Asia, silver sometimes even surpassed gold due to either scarcity or a shift in trends.

While many cultures wore silver in different ways, the modern era is no different. From sterling silver rings for women to silver metallic colors that represent the sleek technology of the future, silver is a powerhouse in modern design.

9. The Rise and Decline of Silversmithing

From a European perspective, silver burst onto the modern era as early as the 12th century with the Easterling trade piece. From there it has gone through a great number of shifts and silversmithing grew as an artisan trade.

Due to silver’s delicate structure, working in silversmithing was often a more artisanal skill than other blacksmith craft.

Silver remained a powerful trade up until the industrial revolution in the 1800s, where the machines could make more intricate pieces of various materials faster and cheaper.

Getting The News You Need

The history of silver provides a lot of fun facts and interesting outlooks. There is a lot that history can teach us, ranging from what we value and why to interesting ideas that came from some simple experimentation.

What did you learn about silver today?

When it comes to interesting facts and important breaking news, the Florida Independent has what you need. Covering all the big stories and important topics from the local to the international, we are the news source you deserve. Check out our other articles today!

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