Daily Archives: November 20, 2023

10 best Reverse 1999 Arcanists to use and build – Sportskeeda

Posted: November 20, 2023 at 7:42 pm

Reverse 1999 is a story-driven game that offers an exciting narrative. Players play as Vertin, a Timekeeper and sole entity unaffected by the Storm. This is a phenomenon that occurs on the last day of 1999 that reverses time. Vertin time-travels back in the timeline to unravel the mystery behind the mysterious phenomenon.

The turn-based gacha offers over 40 characters, of which players choose four to build their squad. This article lists some of the best characters, in no particular order, to use and develop in Reverse 1999.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the opinions of the author.

Pickles first appeared in The Theft of the Rimet Cup event story as a featured Arcanist in the Reverse 1999 banner, Thus Spoke the Border Collie. He can deal massive damage, which is amplified by the Clarified Status effect that activates upon upgrading him to Insight I and unlocking the Inheritance, Proposition. The effect heightens his Nihilism Abuses damage up to 125%, grants a 25% Penetration rate to Hedonism Implement, and extends the Ultimates 30% damage buff to one round.

Additionally, his Hedonism Implement dispels all enemies Status Up, Pos Status, and Counter with two and three-star cards. Pickles' kit makes him a versatile character who is capable of dealing significant damage as a DPS and buff or debuff as a supporter.

Medicine Pocket is one of the best healers in Reverse 1999. They can heal all their teammates (with HP equivalent to up to 200% of allies attacks) with Alchemy Ware. Additionally, it grants the Sturdiness effect, which reduces damage taken, protecting their allies. Their defensive ability is showcased with Inherent Habit, which increases the damage taken by an enemy by 20% and deals up to 450% Mental damage.

Their Ultimate inflicts 450% damage and Daze, producing one Moxie for herself. The Daze effect immobilizes enemies, rendering them unable to use their moves. Equipping Medicine Pocket with That Inquisitive Dear Psychube allows them to heal every time they cast Inherent Habit. Additionally, upgrading Medicine Pocket to Insight I triggers the healing ability after they launch their Ultimate.

Timekeepers get Sonetto when they begin their time-traveling journey. She can debuff enemies, buff her allies, and deal substantial damage. Her Commandment V has a beneficial skill, Disarm, which cancels any number of enemy attacks. This status effect becomes helpful while encountering foes with high attack stats. On the other hand, her Exhortation IV buffs all allies damage-dealing and damage-taken abilities.

Sonetto can fit in most teams with a main DPS and a healer, acting as a crowd controller. The DPS units, such as Centurion and Regulus, and supporters, Medicine Pocket and Dikke, are a perfect combo for your squad with Sonneto. While the DPS deals damage, she can buff their attacking stats and make them take less damage.

A Knight can not only deal severe damage but also generate Moxie. It produces up to three Moxie with Justice and two with Glory. The Moxie generation ability helps spam its Ultimate After AD 778. This Ultimate deals 400% Reality damage, inflicting the Rousing Morale status effect, which grants all its allies a 50% damage bonus.

A Knight is a versatile Reverse 1999 Arcanist who can work well with almost all others. The only downside is that it does not enjoy the extra 30% damage as other Arcanists because one does not encounter Spirit Afflatus often in the storys chapters. However, it can prove more useful in farming stages, where Spirit and Intellect Afflatus enemies are frequent.

Eternity has a rather unique kit that inflicts self-damage. However, the damage can be compensated by Leech Rate, which triggers after casting her Ultimate, Odd Story In Exeter. She can deal up to 500% Reality damage with Vigor Handbag and inflicts a Nasty Wound status effect on one enemy. The effect reduces the capacity to take healing by 50%. Additionally, players can wreak up to 400% Reality damage with Vintage Handfan.

She gains an instrumental passive skill from her Inheritance, 100-Year Solitude, which unlocks after upgrading her to Insight I. The passive makes her immune to Bleed, Corrode, and Poison Statuses. Eternitys kit helps her deal significant damage and prolongs her survival on the battlefield.

Melania debuted in the version 1.1 update with The Theft of the Rimet Cup event. She is a DPS unit capable of dealing burst damage to enemies. Her Silent Takedown can deal up to 400% Mental damage and up to 300% with Clockwork Rats. Additionally, Silent Takedown steals up to three Moxie from enemies while in the Thief Master Status effect.

The effect triggers when Melania casts her Ultimate, Ridiculous Eyewitness Testimony, which also deals a massive 650% Mental damage. Melania also enjoys a 30% Leech Rate to recover her HP with Clockwork Rats. She is the best fit for end-game content and overpowers enemies with her Moxie stealing ability.

Centurion is one of the best Reverse 1999 DPS units that deal burst damage. She also can gain up to two Moxie for herself with Outdoor Superstar incantation while dealing 225% Reality damage. Victorious General, her other incantation skill, deals up to 450% damage, with an additional 20% of her Moxie Reality damage, to one enemy.

Her Inheritance, Hot Sauce Expert, at Insight III, helps recover HP whenever she loses Moxie. At Insight, it grants a 6% damage bonus for one Moxie she owns, amounting to 30%. Her kit helps her to finish a battle in fewer rounds.

An-an Lees kit focuses on buffing and supporting teammates, further amplified with her unlocked Inheritance, Time to Work. She gains Break Time and Exorcism Time statuses from her Inheritance. The former reduces damage taken, while the latter boosts damage and Penetration rate. Additionally, in Exorcism Time status, the rightmost card gets one star.

After casting her Ultimate Scientific Ghost Buster, she enters Empower Incantation I status, which causes a random incantation to get one star. The Ultimate deals 400% damage, which amplifies when upgrading her to Insight I due to Exorcism Time status. The Lily Nectar provides a damage boost and reduces all allies' damage. An-an Lee is AP generous because her skills upgrade the cards level, and she is the perfect choice to pair with AP greedy Arcanists.

Reverse 1999 Arcanist Dikke can mass heal her allies and deal damage to the enemy. Since her healing capability depends on the attacks she delivers, its best to build as DPS. Dikkes Ultimate, Maverick Judge, purifies Stats Down, Neg Status, and Control, making her immune to them for one round while dealing significant damage.

Dikkes healing skill, Justice, heals all allies equivalent to 150% of her attack with a three-star card. Additionally, it increases by 75% if Dikkes HP goes below 50%. Timekeepers can also spam her incantation skill, Maverick Judge, dealing up to 300% damage.

Bkornblume is one of the best supporters and can also deal severe damage. She can debuff all enemies, reducing their Reality defense and increasing damage taken simultaneously with Prying Ear.

The Arcanists who deal Reality damage can benefit from her basic incantation skill. This 5-star Arcanist can deal damage with her Watch Your Sleeves incantation, and it boosts up to 75% if enemies are in Stats Down, Neg Status, or Counter.

Her Ultimate wreaks 550% damage, inflicting Seal status, refraining enemies from attacking with their Ultimate for two rounds. She can also reduce two Moxie if they are immune to the Seal. Bkornblumes attacking and debuffing skills increase with their cards star. This 5-star can act as a main and sub-DPS or Support.

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10 best Reverse 1999 Arcanists to use and build - Sportskeeda

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In defence of the state pension triple lock – UK in a Changing Europe

Posted: at 7:42 pm

Jonathan Portes summarises his recent article in Political Quarterly on the pension triple lock, arguing that the much-maligned policy has in fact been a success.

In the 1990s, well over a quarter of Britains pensioners lived in poverty. It is now fewer than 1 in 5, while the number of relatively well-off pensioners has risen sharply. Meanwhile, spending on pensions has risen from just under 5% of GDP to about 5.5%, while working age benefit spending has fallen by a similar amount. More broadly, a growing proportion of state spending benefits the elderly, with NHS spending growing much faster than that on education. .

This has focused attention on the triple lock which currently governs the uprating of the basic state pension. Introduced in 2011, it provides that the pension should rise each year in line with earnings, prices, or by 2.5%, whichever is higher. The impact of this has been that the pension has risen by a little more than 10% compared to either prices or earnings since its introduction.

This year the triple lock will again result in an above inflation rise, at a net fiscal cost of up to 2 billion, leading to renewed calls for the triple lock to be ended or scaled back. Politicians remain nervous: neither the government nor the opposition has been prepared to endorse it wholeheartedly or commit to reform.

Criticism of the triple lock has several dimensions:

While there is some truth in these criticisms, they largely miss the point. The cancellation of the earnings link by the Thatcher government meant that the value of the state pension fell from a quarter to a sixth of average earnings by the early 2000s. New Labours response was to address pensioner poverty with more generous means-tested benefits rather than boosting the basic pension. Meanwhile, tighter regulation, lower long-term interest rates and higher taxes led to a progressive collapse in the provision of final salary pension schemes in the private sector, only partially if at all replaced by much less generous defined contribution schemes.

The Pensions Commission, established in 2003, was a response to this collapse. Its key insight was that current policy and existing trends would mean that by the mid-2030s, about two-thirds of all pensioners would be claiming means-tested benefits. Benefit spending would soar. Moreover, this would in turn reduce private pension income and coverage, because of the resulting disincentives to save.

So when the Commission recommended the restoring of the earnings link, in combination with the new system of auto-enrolment into workplace pensions, and progressive rises in the state pension age, the objective was to rebalance the system. First, from a state system that built in an ever-growing reliance on means-tested benefits, back towards one where the universal basic state pension was the key pillar for most pensioners; and second, from a private pension system that provided well for a shrinking minority of public sector (and some very well-paid private sector ones) to one that provided a meaningful supplement to the basic pension. The proposals were a package, and, commanding bipartisan support, the key elements were accepted by the Labour government and implemented and, in the case of the triple lock, supplemented by the Coalition.

Two decades on it is difficult to see the results as anything other than a remarkable success. Pensioner poverty has fallen sharply. Meanwhile, about 11 million people are enrolled in workplace pensions; this has increased future projections of pensioner incomes, and reduced the level of undersaving.

So can we say job done and abandon the triple lock? In short, no. While comparing pension provision across countries is fiendishly difficult, the level of the basic state pension is still relatively low in the UK. Thats not problematic if, and only if, we can continue to build up private provision for most future pensioners. The Pensions Commission analysis that this requires a basic pension at a reasonable level, relative to earnings remains valid. Its hard to believe the right level is below 25%.

And, despite auto-enrolment, the need for the basic pension as a floor for retirement incomes is likely to increase, not decrease; the rapid decline of defined benefit schemes in the private sector means that many middle-income earners will see very sharp drops in income when they retire.

Its true that a rise in the basic pension benefits millionaires. But state pension spending makes up a substantially greater fraction of the incomes of poor and middle-income pensioners. And pensioners with substantial private pension and investment income pay income tax at their marginal rate on any state pension increase. Overall, increasing the state pension is relatively progressive.

And further targeting spending has drawbacks. It requires more means-testing, and that in turn impacts on incentives to save among those on lower and middle incomes. Meanwhile, while it is true that benefit cuts have increased poverty and deprivation for working-age people on low incomes, especially the disabled and those with larger families, this is overwhelmingly an issue of inequality within generations, not between them, as the chart below shows. The UKs unequal society is everything to do with socio-economic status and other structural inequalities like gender and ethnicity and very little to do with age.

Complaints about millionaire pensioners in valuable houses are not misplaced. But the issue here is the perpetuation and exacerbation of inequality not between generations but within them, as the children of those with large housing wealth will benefit at the expense of those unlucky enough not to have well-off parents.

Finally, while demographic pressures are very real, pension spending is not the only, nor even the main component. And the primary issue here is not how to restrict such spending, but how it should be financed and managed, whether through the state or privately.

Its true that there is no logic to uprating by the higher of earnings and prices. Theres a case, when and if the pension to earnings ratio has achieved a level that meets the objectives set out above, for returning to a simple earnings link.

However, in the meantime, a clear political commitment, even if suboptimal, has considerable advantages: it seems highly unlikely that the basic pension would have survived the austerity years unscathed without it. The triple lock isnt perfect; but it has boosted pensioner incomes and helped make the broader UK pension system more sustainable.

By Professor Jonathan Portes, Senior Fellow, UK in a Changing Europe.

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Driving an entrepreneurship culture | Print Edition – The Sunday … – The Sunday Times Sri Lanka

Posted: at 7:41 pm

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Magey massina aluth podi viyaparayak patan aragena asarum karapu elavalu saha palathuru geval walata genath denna (My cousin has started a small, new business selling packed vegetables and fruits which can be delivered to your home), he said.

Eh kiyanne eya vyavas yakayek wela (So he is an entrepreneur), noted Serapina.

Eka honda viyaparayak mokada eya sahathika karanawaney asarum karala thiyenne navum eva kiyala (Thats a good business because he is ensuring that when it is packed it means its fresh), said Mabel Rasthiyadu.

COVID-19 kaley podi viyapara kada wetunata honda illumak thibba athya-avashya deval walata (While COVID-19 also saw many small businesses collapse, there was good demand for the supply and delivery of essential items), added Kussi Amma Sera.

Small businesses are an integral, if not, a key part of the Sri Lankan economy. Gone are the days when bankers would frown with disapproval when they spot a shabbily dressed individual coming into the bank, seeking a loan. Now MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) are drivers of economic growth. However, they suffered badly during the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis and sought and obtained government support and that of banks to delay repayment of loans (with the advent of moratoriums). Some banks also have special grant schemes for MSMEs.

According to the ADB, in Sri Lanka SMEs comprise more than 75 per cent of enterprises and account for more than 20 per cent of exports, 45 per cent of employment and 52 per cent of the countrys GDP (gross domestic product).

President Ranil Wickremesinghes budget also had some focus on MSMEs. It said arecent survey revealed that about 20 per cent of such enterprises have either temporarily or permanently closed down. The survey also revealed a decrease in the performance volume of the currently operating enterprises.

We want to fast track the journey towards a production economy. Therefore, SMEs should be further strengthened, encouraged and facilitated. For this purpose, we are introducing a concessionary loan scheme of around Rs. 30 billion with the support of the ADB, the President said.

He said this programme is the first phase of action which will collectively provide a major impetus to the SMEs. In addition to concessionary credit facilities, capacity development programmes have been implemented for the participating institutions. Steps will be taken to link SMEs with the value chains of large companies in the industrial sector. He said a total amount allocated for the development of SMEs is Rs. 50 billion.

As I walked into the kitchen to get my morning mug of tea and a maalu paan, the phone rang. It was Arty, the intrepid entrepreneur, and the timing of the call was perfect as I also wanted to discuss todays topic on entrepreneurs with an expert.

Recently I read an interesting programme on entrepreneurship organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, he said. He was referring to Schoolpreneur 2023: School Entrepreneurship Day launched across Sri Lanka on November 16 by the chamber, the Ministry of Education and the ILO aiming to foster entrepreneurial mindsets among schoolchildren.

The programme will be run across schools in the country, with one district chosen from each province to host the event. The districts are Anuradhapura, Badulla, Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee and Vavuniya

A statement on the event said theinclusion of School Entrepreneurship Day in the annual school calendar is designed to act as a catalyst to promote and highlight entrepreneurism among schoolchildren across Sri Lanka.This initiative is geared towards cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit and a set of skills in youth with the goal of contributing to Sri Lankas sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development.

Small businesses are the drivers of many economies, I told Arty, adding that the US Small Business Administration (https://www.sba.gov) is a gigantic organisation and a useful guide to build entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka.

There is a need to encourage more small businesses as they have a trickle down impact on sustaining small communities, particularly at village level, he said.

What we need is a National Entrepreneurship Council similar to the Export Development Board (EDB) which can be governed by the various trade and business chambers as partners with government facilitation to help grow small businesses and guide MSMEs in all facets of a business, I said.

Many banks are now helping small entrepreneurs. While not wanting to single out any particular bank (as all banks have special MSME schemes), A.K.K. Dias, a Gami Pubuduwa entrepreneur and recipient of the grant, speaking about his long history with a bank said: I was there when this bank branch opened in Kiribathgoda; it was also the first day that I started working with the bank. Over the past 15 years, I have been supported with not just capital but with sound advice to expand my business.

In another programme helping MSMEs, an entity was named Lak Nature a business that manufactures a variety of preservative-free, all-natural, ready-to-prepare food by utilising the abundant supply of fruits and vegetables in Sri Lanka. Lakmini Weerakkody, founder of Lak Nature said, My journey began when I came across a newspaper article on the excessive wastage of fresh produce in Sri Lanka. This inspired me to take action and find a way to utilise and minimise this waste. Im also proud to mention that my factory staff is entirely made up of women, as I strongly believe in empowering and supporting women in the workforce.

There are also special programmes nurturing female entrepreneurs. One such programme is by Hatch which in November 2021 introduced AccelerateHER in partnership with the US Department of State. This initiative serves as an accelerator and gender-focused awareness campaign, with the goal of creating and guiding female entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka. Hatch plans to expand AccelerateHER and many more programmes centred on female entrepreneurship in the hope of being a driving force of economic and social change in Sri Lanka.

As I wound up my column, sipping a second mug of tea and eating another maalu paan, I reflected on the need for a special body like the suggested National Entrepreneurship Council to nurture, guide and develop small businesses in Sri Lanka. There are many examples in the world to follow to build an entrepreneurship culture.

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NTSA embarks on Road safety sensitisation drives as heavy rains … – Capital FM Kenya

Posted: at 7:41 pm

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 19 The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has embarked on a countrywide road safety sensitization exercise as Kenyans head to the festive season.

The authority is undertaking the exercise with key stakeholders as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 2023 is observed globally.

According to NTSA Director General George Njao, everyone should exercise caution on the roads by observing all the traffic regulations to curb the rising number of accidents and fatalities on Kenyan roads.

How many roads are paved in our country? How many people are we losing every other day if we will not do adjudicating continue for road safety as required? he posed.

The theme of this years day is Remember, Support, Act paying tribute to lives lost in road traffic crashes, acknowledging the efforts of emergency services and advocating for safe roads.

National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) CEO Anthony Omerikwa cited Alcohol and drug abuse as one of the key contributors of road carnage in the country urging motorists to avoid operating vehicles while inebriated.

Stay away from alcohol and drug use to promote safety on our roads. We shall work closely with NTSA to draw the publics attention to road crashes, consequences and measures to prevent them, he said.

Various victims of road accidents recounted their experiences of survival and overcoming challenges after road crashes.

If you see me standing before you it is a miracle. My hip was completely removed and I survive with an artificial hip. It has taken a lot of time and resources and maybe your family may end up selling everything. The moment you start your ignition, please, your safety starts with you, said Simon Mwangi a road crash victim.

Ruth Ndungu a Nakuru based survivor called the public to get first aid training so that they can be able to help and take care of victims in case of a tragedy occurring.

The pain is too much. You are working then all of a sudden you cannot and everybody has to take care of you, spending everything that you have just to get well. Do not be in a hurry because you will still arrive, she said.

In October, NTSA unveiled the National Road Safety Action Plan (2023- 2027) which aims to achieve at least a 50% reduction in deaths and severe injuries in designated high-risk demonstration corridors and urban areas.

Mohamed Daghar, the Permanent Secretary in the state Department of Transport, emphasized the urgent need for coordinated road safety efforts involving both national and county governments to enhance the safety of Kenyan roads.

We cannot be losing over 4000 people every year, and that is just part of it. We have people with permanent disabilities, we create widows and orphans. We collapse an entire household because the breadwinner is lost. The net effect of this road safety challenge is beyond understanding, he noted.

Road safety remains a critical issue globally, with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that over 1.35 million people die annually due to road traffic accidents, making them the leading cause of death among individuals aged 5-29 years and posing significant socio-economic burdens on societies worldwide.

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More free home COVID-19 tests available from US government – WCVB Boston

Posted: at 7:41 pm

FROM SELLING TOBACCO, RESTOCKING YOUR SUPPLY OF COVID 19 TESTS BEGINNING ON MONDAY, HOUSEHOLDS HERE CAN ORDER FOR FREE KITS THROUGH A FEDERAL WEBSITE HERE I MEAN IN THE UNITED STATES. HERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, DR. KRISTIN MOFFAT, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST AT BOSTON CHILDRENS HOSPITAL, GREAT TO SEE YOU, DOCTOR. GOOD TO SEE YOU, TOO. YEAH. HI, DR. MOFFAT. YOU KNOW, ITS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE SOME OF US HAVE EVEN LOOKED AT OUR STOCKPILE OF TESTS AT HOME. RIGHT. PROBABLY IN THE CLOSET. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT THEYRE ALL EXPIRED? YEAH, ITS A REALLY GOOD POINT TO BRING UP. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THEY ARE EXPIRED, SO EVERYBODY SHOULD CHECK THE EXPIRATION DATE ON THEIR COVID TESTS. BUT DONT THROW THEM OUT IF YOU SEE THAT THE DATE SHOWS THAT ITS EXPIRED BECAUSE A LOT OF THESE DIFFERENT BRANDS WERE DOING SORT OF POST DISTRIBUTION TESTING TO SEE IF THEY WERE STILL EFFECTIVE BEYOND THE EXPIRATION DATES. AND INDEED, A LOT OF THESE EXPIRATION DATES HAVE BEEN EXTENDED BY SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 6 AND 10 MONTHS. SO THERE IS AN FDA WEBSITE THAT LISTS THESE EXPIRATION DATE EXTENSIONS BY BRAND. SO I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND CHECKING THAT OUT BEFORE YOU TOSS ANY TESTS. I ACTUALLY DID THAT AND THEYRE ALL EXPIRED. SO THATS THAT IS ITS GREAT ADVICE. SO LETS TALK ABOUT THESE NEW ROUNDS OF FREE TESTS THE WEBSITE TO ORDER THEM COVID TESTS.GOV. IT OPENS ON MONDAY. WHY WHY IS THIS BEING OFFERED NOW? YEAH, I THINK ITS GREAT THAT THIS IS BEING OFFERED. AGAIN, IF YOU MAY REMEMBER, THERE WAS A TIME WHEN INSURANCE DID COVER THIS OR THESE WERE BEING OFFERED AT NO COST AND THEYRE EXPENSIVE. WHEN WE GO AND BUY THESE OUT OF POCKET DRUGSTORE, THEYRE NOT CHEAP CASES ARE RISING RIGHT NOW. HOSPITALIZATIONS HAVE BEEN RISING. AND ITS CONCEIVABLE IN THE COMING MONTHS AS PEOPLE SPEND MORE TIME TOGETHER INDOORS WITH HOLIDAYS COMING UP TOGETHER IN THE COMING MONTHS, TRANSMISSION COULD INCREASE EVEN MORE. AND IT REMAINS TRUE THAT TESTING FOR COVID, IF YOUVE GOT SYMPTOMS OF COVID AND ISOLATING IF YOURE POSITIVE, IS A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF KEEPING ANOTHER SURGE FROM HAPPENING. SO I THINK ITS A GREAT MOVE TO MAKE THESE AVAILABLE AGAIN, AT NO COST SO THAT EVERYBODY WHO WANTS THEM HAS ACCESS TO THEM. I THINK ITS ALSO IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT WEVE GOT TREATMENTS AVAILABLE NOW LIKE PAXLOVID, THAT WE DIDNT HAVE AVAILABLE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO AND TREATMENTS LIKE THAT ARE MOST EFFECTIVE IF THEYRE STARTED AS SOON AS SOMEBODY KNOWS THAT THEY HAVE AN INFECTION DUE TO COVID. SO BEING ABLE TO HAVE TESTS AT HOME AND CONFIRM THAT YOUR SYMPTOMS ARE DUE TO COVID, ITS REALLY HELPFUL IN A LOT OF WAYS. OKAY. AND OF COURSE, THE VIRUS, YOU KNOW, ALWAYS KEEPS CHANGING BECAUSE THATS WHAT VIRUSES DO. THIS ONE HAS CHANGED A LOT OVER THE YEARS. ANY CONCERNS ABOUT NEW VARIANTS DOWN THE ROAD OR TESTING OF ANY OF THAT? YEAH, ITS A GREAT QUESTION. IT ALWAYS WOULD BE OF CONCERN. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THE TESTS WE HAVE, IF THEYRE NEGATIVE, CAN WE TRUST THEM? AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE FDA AND OTHER AGENCIES ARE REGULARLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY DOING FOR ALL OF THE AUTHORIZED TESTS. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME INSTANCES OF TESTS THAT ARE NOT THE ONES AS BROADLY AVAILABLE WHERE THEIR PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN DECREASED WITH SOME OF THE VARIANTS. BUT ITS REALLY IMPORTANT THAT THIS CONTINUES TO BE MONITORED. FOR THE MOST PART, THE ONES THAT REMAIN BROADLY AVAILABLE HAVE NOT EXHIBITED ANY DECREASED PERFORMANCE WITH VARIANTS THAT HAVE EMERGED OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO BE EVALUATED. ALL RIGHT, DR. MOFFITT, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SPENDING SOME TIME WITH US.

More free home COVID-19 tests available for order from US government

Updated: 2:15 PM EST Nov 20, 2023

U.S. households are now eligible to order an additional four at-home COVID-19 tests free of cost through the government.As of Monday, residential households in the U.S. can submit an order through Covidtests.gov for four individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. Orders will start to ship on Nov. 27, according to USPS. People without an internet connection can call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) to request tests.The U.S. government had suspended the rapid test distribution program earlier in May, then reopened it in September. Residents who havent placed an order since the program reopened can place two orders, which will provide eight tests in total, according to USPS.COVID-19 rapid tests can be taken at home and can be used regardless of whether someone has symptoms. The tests should work through the end of the year; some of the dates on the tests may show that they are expired, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended those dates.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people test if they have any COVID-19-like symptoms including a sore throat, runny nose, loss of smell or taste, or a fever. People may also want to test before they are going to be a part of a large event, like a concert or a conference, particularly if people are not up-to-date on their vaccines. Antivirals are available to treat COVID-19 and flu, and testing can help determine which medication is needed.COVID-19 hospital admissions and emergency department visits are once again on the rise after a few weeks of downturn, according to the CDC. For the week ending Nov. 11, the percentage of COVID-related emergency department visits was 1.4%, or just over 16,200 people similar to rates seen throughout this month and last month.Overall, outpatient visits for flu-like illness are lower than they were at this time last year but higher than in the previous four seasons. CDC forecasting suggests that this respiratory virus season will result in about the same number of hospitalizations as last season.Seasonal flu activity is also increasing in most parts of the country with flu-like activity labeled as high in New Mexico, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina, according to the CDC. There have been at least 780,000 illnesses, 8,000 hospitalizations, and 490 deaths from flu so far this season, the agency estimates.More than a third of adults and nearly a third of children have gotten their flu shot this year, CDC data shows. About 14% of adults and 5% of children have gotten the new COVID-19 vaccine while 14% of older adults ages 60 and up have gotten the new RSV vaccine.

U.S. households are now eligible to order an additional four at-home COVID-19 tests free of cost through the government.

As of Monday, residential households in the U.S. can submit an order through Covidtests.gov for four individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. Orders will start to ship on Nov. 27, according to USPS. People without an internet connection can call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) to request tests.

The U.S. government had suspended the rapid test distribution program earlier in May, then reopened it in September. Residents who havent placed an order since the program reopened can place two orders, which will provide eight tests in total, according to USPS.

COVID-19 rapid tests can be taken at home and can be used regardless of whether someone has symptoms. The tests should work through the end of the year; some of the dates on the tests may show that they are expired, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended those dates.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people test if they have any COVID-19-like symptoms including a sore throat, runny nose, loss of smell or taste, or a fever. People may also want to test before they are going to be a part of a large event, like a concert or a conference, particularly if people are not up-to-date on their vaccines. Antivirals are available to treat COVID-19 and flu, and testing can help determine which medication is needed.

COVID-19 hospital admissions and emergency department visits are once again on the rise after a few weeks of downturn, according to the CDC. For the week ending Nov. 11, the percentage of COVID-related emergency department visits was 1.4%, or just over 16,200 people similar to rates seen throughout this month and last month.

Overall, outpatient visits for flu-like illness are lower than they were at this time last year but higher than in the previous four seasons. CDC forecasting suggests that this respiratory virus season will result in about the same number of hospitalizations as last season.

Seasonal flu activity is also increasing in most parts of the country with flu-like activity labeled as high in New Mexico, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina, according to the CDC. There have been at least 780,000 illnesses, 8,000 hospitalizations, and 490 deaths from flu so far this season, the agency estimates.

More than a third of adults and nearly a third of children have gotten their flu shot this year, CDC data shows. About 14% of adults and 5% of children have gotten the new COVID-19 vaccine while 14% of older adults ages 60 and up have gotten the new RSV vaccine.

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Seniors made up 63 percent of covid hospitalizations earlier this year – The Washington Post

Posted: at 7:41 pm

People 65 and older constituted nearly 63 percent of U.S. hospitalizations for covid-19, with the rate increasing with age, through the first eight months of 2023, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC found that people in that age group also represented more than half of the admissions to intensive care units in that period and nearly 90 percent of deaths among those hospitalized because of covid.

The hospitalization number reflects an increase from preceding months (March 2020 through December 2022), when about 46 percent of those hospitalized because of covid were 65 or older.

The report found that most older people hospitalized from January through August this year had at least one underlying health condition, and most had two or more. Most common were diabetes, kidney disorders, coronary artery disease, heart failure and obesity.

The report also noted that more than 75 percent of older adults who had been hospitalized with covid this year had not gotten the bivalent vaccine, which protects against the original coronavirus as well as subsequent variants and had been recommended last year for everyone 5 and older. This year, everyone 6 months and older is being urged to keep their coronavirus vaccinations up to date because the virus that causes covid-19 changes frequently.

The risk of contracting covid has been shown to increase with age, which has made older people with covid more likely to get very sick, need a ventilator to breathe and require hospitalization, often in an ICU.

Health experts stress that vaccination reduces the odds of hospitalization, long covid (symptoms or conditions that develop or linger after the initial infection) and dying. But it also protects others by limiting spread of the disease.

This article is part of The Posts Big Number series, which takes a brief look at the statistical aspect of health issues. Additional information and relevant research are available through the hyperlinks.

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KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor November 2023: With COVID … – KFF

Posted: at 7:40 pm

Key Takeaways

The latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey suggests the lack of public concern about getting sick from COVID-19 may be why many people have not gotten the latest vaccine and why half of the public are not planning on taking precautions to limit the spread of the virus during the coming months.

The November KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor investigates uptake for the new, updated COVID-19 vaccine, which has been recommended by the CDC for people ages 6 months and older. Two months after the vaccine became available, about half of adults say they have gotten or will get the shot, but another half say they wont get the latest shot and a third seem steadfast in that decision.

One in five (20%) adults now say they have received the new, updated COVID-19 vaccine that became available in September. An additional one in four adults say they will definitely get (13%) or probably get (15%) the updated shot. Consistent with demographic differences across other COVID-related behaviors, uptake is highest among those ages 65 and older (34%) and Democrats (32%). This is meaningful given that those ages 65 and older are more vulnerable to COVID-19, as theyre more likely to get seriously sick and experience complications that could result in hospitalization. This is in comparison to smaller shares of younger adults ages 18-29 (18%), Republicans (12%) and independents (16%) who report getting the latest vaccine. Similar shares across racial and ethnic groups report having gotten the updated vaccine, including 26% of Black adults, 20% of Hispanic adults, and 19% of White adults. However, when combining the shares who have gotten the shot and those who intend to get it, Black adults (59%) and Hispanic adults (59%) both outpace White adults (42%).

Uptake of the newest vaccine matches closely to uptake of the updated bivalent booster measured in December 2022, just after the updated bivalent COVID-19 booster had become available for use. About two in ten adults said they had received the booster dose (22%).

One in three (34%) adults say they will definitely not get the new COVID-19 vaccine, and another 17% say they will probably not get the vaccine. The share who say they probably or definitely wont get the new COVID-19 vaccination has remained unchanged from the September COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor, which was fielded immediately prior to when the vaccine became available.

Majorities of those who have never received any COVID-19 vaccine (94%), Republicans (77%), independents (59%), those who live in rural areas (65%), White adults (58%), and those under the age of 65 (55%) continue to say they will not get the updated COVID-19 vaccine.

The survey finds that partisanship is continuing to play an outsized role in vaccine attitudes. While nearly six in ten White adults say they do not plan to get the new vaccine, this increases to eight in ten among White adults who self-identify as Republicans. This is more than twice the share of White adults who are Democrats (29%) who say they will either definitely not or probably not get the vaccine. In fact, three in ten (31%) White adults who are Democrats have already gotten the new vaccine, compared to 11% of their Republican counterparts.

Most adults (79%) say they have heard at least a little about the updated COVID-19 vaccine, with one in five (22%) saying they have heard a lot. A small share (21%) say they have heard nothing at all about the updated vaccine.

Awareness is high across demographic groups, including the vast majority (92%) of adults ages 65 and older who have heard at least a little about the updated vaccine compared to a somewhat smaller share, but still a majority, of younger adults, including six in ten of those ages 18 to 29. Larger shares of Democrats are also more aware of the vaccine, with 86% who have heard at least a little compared to three-quarters (74%) of Republicans.

With most people aware of the latest vaccine, many, including large shares of previously vaccinated adults, have not yet received the updated shot and some dont plan to. About six in ten (58%) adults are previously vaccinated and have yet to get the updated vaccine. This group is roughly divided between people who say they will get the vaccine and those who say they are not planning to get the latest shot. The latest COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey explores why this group of previously vaccinated people have not gotten the latest dose.

Around half of adults (47%) have both previously received a COVID-19 vaccine and also say they will get or have already gotten the updated vaccine. On the other hand, one in five (20%) adults are previously unvaccinated and say they will not get the updated vaccine. That leaves three in ten (31%) who have previously been vaccinated but now say they will not get the updated shot.

More than four in ten Republicans (43%) and one in three independents (35%) say they are previously vaccinated but wont get the updated shot, compared to 19% of Democrats. A larger share of White adults (34%) also report being previously vaccinated but not planning on getting the latest shot compared to Black adults (20%). Around a quarter of Hispanic adults (26%) are previously vaccinated but now do not plan to get the latest vaccine.

In 2021, KFF surveys examining initial vaccine rollout found that concerns about vaccine safety were the driving reason why people didnt get vaccine. Even as those concerns dissipated among most of the public, a small share of the public remained steadfast and never received a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet, subsequent booster never reached the same uptake levels as seen in the initial vaccine rollout. And as the country enters its fourth year of COVID-19 concerns, it appears this trend continues.

When asked about a series of reasons that could explain why people are not getting the latest vaccine, not being worried about getting COVID-19 tops the list. About half (52%) of those who were previously vaccinated say lack of worry about COVID-19 is at least a minor reason why they havent gotten the vaccine, including a quarter who say it is a major reason. Getting vaccinated may also not be a priority for some with around four in ten (37%) saying being too busy is at least a minor reason why they have not gotten it yet, and another third saying they are waiting to get it a later date. Experiences from previous doses may also be keeping people from getting the new vaccine with about a quarter saying that bad side effects from a previous COVID-19 vaccine dose is a reason why they have not gotten the new vaccine.

Small shares say there are other barriers to getting the vaccine including 16% who say they cannot take the time off work and 13% who say they havent been able to get an appointment. One in ten (11%) say their doctor told them to wait or to not to get the updated vaccine.

Among Hispanic adults who were previously vaccinated but have not gotten the new shot, about half (55%) say they arent worried about getting COVID-19, they are too busy (51%), or they are waiting to get it at a later date (48%). In addition, a third (35%) of Hispanic adults as well as a quarter (22%) of Black adults cite not being able to take time off work, compared to just one in ten (9%) White adults.

Democrats top reasons for not getting the updated COVID-19 vaccine suggests there will likely still be additional uptake in this group, while Republicans top reasons may indicate more resistance to the latest vaccine. Among those who were previously vaccinated but havent gotten the new shot, half of Democrats (49%) say being too busy is a major or minor reason they havent gotten the updated vaccine yet, compared to 22% of Republicans and 35% of independents. On the other hand, two-thirds of Republicans (66%) and more than half of independents (57%) say not being worried about getting COVID is at least a minor reason why they have not gotten the updated vaccine, compared to a third of Democrats (35%).

With fall and winter holidays coming up, the possibility of a further wave of COVID-19 infections is looming with increased indoor gatherings and time with friends and family. Yet, most of the public is not worried about spreading or catching COVID-19 over the coming months. About three in ten adults are worried they will spread COVID-19 to people close to them (31%) or they will get seriously sick from COVID-19 (28%), and about a quarter (26%) are worried they will get COVID-19 over the holidays. A larger share of the public is worried about increased hospitalizations, with almost half (46%) saying they are very or somewhat worried that there will be an increase in hospitalizations in the U.S. this winter.

Older adults are not more worried than younger adults about the spread of COVID-19 this holiday season except for concerns about increases in cases and hospitalizations. Around half (53%) of adults ages 65 and older say they are worried that there will be an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations this winter, compared to smaller shares (44%) of those under the age of 65.

Around the same share say they are very or somewhat worried about an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations this winter as were in December of last year when there was a similar uptick in COVID-19 cases.

In addition to not being worried about COVID-19 during the upcoming holidays, the public is divided on precautions, with half of adults saying they arent planning to take any of the precautions asked about in the survey, while the other half report they plan to take at least one precaution this fall and winter. The most common precautions people said they planned to take were avoiding large gatherings (35%) or wearing a mask in crowded places (30%). Smaller shares say they are avoiding travel this fall and winter as a precaution against COVID-19 (25%), avoiding dining indoors at restaurants (19%), or taking a COVID-19 test before visiting with friends or family (18%).

The share who say they plan to take precautions to limit the spread of COVID is similar to the share of the public who said they were taking precautions because of the tripledemic back in January of this year. Back then, about half (46%) of adults said the news of COVID-19, RSV, and the flu spreading that winter had made them more likely to take a precaution, including three in ten (31%) who said they were more likely to wear a mask in public and a quarter (26%) who were more likely to avoid large gatherings.

While four in ten (39%) White adults say they will take at least one precaution, majorities of Black adults (72%) and Hispanic adults (68%) report they are planning to take any of the precautions mentioned.

Similarly, partisanship and previous vaccine uptake continue to be strong predictors of whether people plan to take precautions to limit the spread of the virus. Two thirds (66%) of Democrats and half (48%) of independents say they plan to take at least one precaution, compared to three in ten (29%) Republicans who say the same. Just over half (53%) of vaccinated adults say they are taking any of the precautions, compared to four in ten (39%) unvaccinated adults.

Similar shares of younger and older adults report that they will be taking at least one precaution during the fall and winter. However, four in ten (41%) adults ages 65 and older say they plan to avoid large gatherings, compared to a third (33%) of those under the age of 65. While younger adults are less likely to say they will avoid large gatherings, larger shares of younger adults say they will take a test for COVID-19 before spending time with friends of family, with 21% who say so (including 25% of those ages 18-29), compared to one in ten (10%) of those ages 65 and older.

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Fifth Covid-19 wave sees biggest bump in virus detection since … – New Zealand Herald

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New Zealands fifth Covid-19 wave appears to be driving a larger spike in cases than our last bump in April. Photo / 123RF

New Zealands fifth Covid-19 wave appears to be driving the largest spike in infections seen all year, an epidemiologist says - and offers a glimpse of our long-term future with the coronavirus.

Health officials yesterday announced 7881 new reported Covid-19 cases over the week to Sunday, of which 1474 were probable cases that was up from 5947 and 1047 respectively on the week before.

Hospitalisation numbers, too, had ticked upward, from 284 to 349 week-on-week, as had virus detected in wastewater surveillance.

ESR data showed a national average of 5.06 million copies of the virus detected per person, per day in wastewater at November 12 double what was detected just a month before.

Of the indicators that are now the most valid wastewater and hospitalisations both have been at their highest levels since January, if you take their peak values, Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said.

Looking at hospitalisations in particular, it seems to be a bigger peak than what we saw in the fourth wave. This may be showing us what we can expect in the long term, which is peaks and troughs.

Modellers still didnt see this wave reaching the height of the one that took off around this time in 2022 - when case numbers reached the mid-8000s and weekly hospitalisations nearly topped 600 as it was growing off a much lower base.

There was also nothing to suggest any game-changing new subvariant was helping build any wave the size of 2022s largest ones, in what was now a highly-exposed and highly-vaccinated population.

The latest ESR sampling showed a mix of Omicron subvariants albeit with the EG.5 or Eris type and its relatives now making up more than half of genomes sequenced - still driving spread.

It remained to be seen whether infection rates would keep rising as Christmas neared - with wastewater detections having taken a slight dip.

It looks like were seeing the wave perhaps peaking in some parts of New Zealand, but rising in others - so theres now a bit of regional variation, Baker said.

But the overall pattern is really clear. Were in a large wave and we need to respond to it.

Longer term, Baker said a national approach was needed to manage these peak periods.

Thats because a lot of people are getting sick, are going to hospital and putting pressure on the system and unfortunately, deaths are going up too.

The 20 further deaths reported from last week added to a total 3522 since the beginning of the pandemic.

We have already invested extensively in all these surveillance systems, so now I think we need to act on the information that theyre giving us.

He singled out several priority areas he felt required addressing, including promoting boosters; supporting to help people self-isolate, and consistent policy for ventilation standards and mask use in healthcare settings.

Last week, Baker and colleagues called on the Government to set up a dedicated centre for disease control like that in the US, and now being established in Australia - to better prepare for future pandemics.

Jamie Morton is a specialist in science and environmental reporting. He joined the Herald in 2011 and writes about everything from conservation and climate change to natural hazards and new technology.

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David Gelernters Farewell to Darwinism – Discovery Institute

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Image source: Discovery Institute.

A few years ago, the brilliant Yale University polymath David Gelernter wrote an essay entitled Giving Up Darwin A fond farewell to a brilliant and beautiful theory, in which he made a stunning confession: Stephen Meyers thoughtful and meticulous convinced me that Darwin has failed.

Is Gelernter a creationist? No. Is he a proponent of intelligent design? No. Theres no reason, Gelernter wrote in the Claremont Review of Books, to doubt that Darwin successfully explained the small adjustments by which an organism adapts to local circumstances: changes to fur density or wing style or beak shape. Yet there are many reasons to doubt whether he can answer the hard questions and explain the big picture not the fine-tuning of existing species but the emergence of new ones. The origin of species is exactly what Darwin cannot explain.

Gelernter summarizes: is one of the most important books in a generation. Few open-minded people will finish it with their faith in Darwin intact.

That might sound like a scary thought. Some may not be willing to read Meyers book and risk losing their faith in the science weve been told is all settled. But dont you wonder why a brilliant guy like Professor Gelernter would give up Darwin? Read his true confession here.

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Darwinizing the Universe: A Theory That Explains Everything … – BreakPoint.org

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In his book Doubts About Darwin: A History of Intelligent Design, Thomas Woodward described how early detractors of Darwins theory criticized the way it personified nature. After all, according to Darwin, the origin of species, (the title of his book) occurred by means of natural selection. Who did the selecting? Nature.

Darwins argument relied on an analogy between animal husbandry and what nature does when she selects only the fittest to survive, thus driving evolution. However, this analogy conflated the intentionality of human breeders with natural processes, implying that nature has a will and is trying to get somewherewhich is precisely the sort of intelligent causation that Darwinism supposedly refutes.

The result is a theory that often sounds suspiciously circular. Yet there are even bigger gaps in the Darwinian view of nature. The most daunting is how an intention-free universe made the leap from non-living matter to living things in the first place. This is a crucial question because, in conventional Darwinian thinking, only living things are subject to natural selection and thus evolve. The question here isnt just how the fittest survived: Its how the fittest arrived.

But what if natural selection could operate on nonliving matter? What if, instead of a process limited only to biology, Darwinian evolution was promoted to a fundamental law governing all physical reality? Thats exactly what some scientists have tried to do, most recently in a much-heralded paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Entitled On the roles of function and selection in evolving systems, the paper proposes a new scientific principle called the Law of Increasing Functional Information, and its exactly what it sounds like. Lead author Robert Hazen of The Carnegie Institution for Science explains: We see evolution as a universal process that applies to numerous systems, both living and nonliving, that increase in diversity and patterning through time. In other words, everything evolves in a Darwinian manner, including atoms, minerals, planetary atmospheres, planets, stars and more.

How? According to the papers nine authors, nonliving systems evolve toward greater complexity if they are, 1) formed from many different components, such as atoms, molecules, or cells that can be rearranged, 2) are subject to natural processes that cause different arrangements to be formed, and 3) if only a small fraction of all these configurations survives or is selected for function.

Nonliving things, by definition, dont survive, which is the function nature supposedly selects for in biological evolution. So, what function could nature possibly select in an atom or a galaxy? Believe it or not, these authors argue that existence itself is a kind of function, and that systems that tend to go on existing will be selected by nature, and that we know this, in part, because those systems do, in fact, exist.

Hazen explains:

Imagine a system of atoms or molecules that can exist in countless trillions of different arrangements or configurations. Only a small fraction of all possible configurations will workthat is, they will have some useful degree of function. So, nature just prefers those functional configurations.

Writing at Evolution News, intelligent design advocate David Coppedge points out the flagrant personification happening here. Nature prefers functional configurations? It does no such thing, because at least according to Naturalism it has no goal, nor any notion of function.

In reality, the attempt to Darwinize the entire universe, as Coppedge puts it, is little more than a roundabout way of admitting how well-designed the universe is, and trying to come up with a force that allowed it to design itself. Its an admission that, despite nearly two centuries of claims to the contrary, the cosmos acts like it has an end in mind. Its asking us to assume a law that explains how everything came to be based only on the observation that things are. Set aside this circular reasoning for a moment and ask the real question: If theres a law, who is the lawgiver?

This theory gets us no closer to explaining the complexity, function, purpose, design, and beauty we see in the universe if theyre not the handiwork of a Creator. Does nature have a preference for the kind of universe we have? Maybe so. But if she does, then that preference, itself, needs an explanation. Scientists trying to turn evolution into a theory of everything might expect nature to answer, I am who I am. But theres only One who can truly say that. Why not give Him credit for a change?

This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org.

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