Record breaking 2013 for Northern Power Systems
Northern Power Systems (www.northernpower.com(link is external)), a next-generation renewable energy technology company based in Barre, Vermont, reports that 2013 has been its most successful year in its core business ever. Northern Power broke its previous sales records of the NPS 60 and NPS 100 wind turbines with triple digit orders, in terms of number of units, coming from its European markets.Production at the company’s US manufacturing facility in Barre is nearing full capacity and sources are actively being identified to meet additional demand. As a result, Northern Power expects its global fleet of distributed wind turbines to grow beyond 400 units by the end of 2014.The NPS 60 and NPS 100 reliability record continues to improve, recently surpassing 4 million run time hours with over 99% grid-connected median availability without a major incident since coming to market in 2008. This is despite having record cold temperatures in North America and violent storms in Europe. These distributed wind-class turbines are available in a variety of rotor and tower configurations, including two models introduced in mid-2013 that are specifically designed for Class III low wind sites.Northern Power’s strategic partnership with WEG Equipamentos Elétricos S.A., a major Brazilian electrical manufacturing company, is strengthening further. WEG has secured orders consuming full production capacity for 2014 for 2.1 MW turbines based on the utility-scale technology platform licensed from Northern Power.Troy Patton, CEO Northern Power Systems, said, “Our success in 2013 has gone beyond our expectations. By customizing our products to meet specific new market needs, we expect to continue to expand our opportunities for growth in the coming year.”About Northern Power SystemsNorthern Power Systems designs, manufactures, and sells wind turbines, and provides engineering development services and technology licenses for energy applications, into the global marketplace from its US headquarters and European offices.* Northern Power Systems has almost 40 years’ experience in technologies and products generating renewable energy.* Northern Power Systems currently manufactures the NPS’¢ 60 and NPS’¢ 100 turbines. With over 4 million run time hours across its global fleet, Northern Power wind turbines provide customers with clean, cost effective, reliable renewable energy.* Patented next generation permanent magnet/direct drive (PM/DD) technology uses fewer moving parts, delivers higher energy capture, and provides increased reliability due to reduced maintenance and downtime.* Northern Power Systems offers comprehensive in-house development services, including systems level engineering, advanced drivetrains, power electronics, PM machine design, and remote monitoring systems to the energy industry.* Some of the world’s largest manufacturers license NPS next generation technology and IP for their utility and distributed wind products and markets.BARRE, VT–(Marketwired – January 29, 2014) – Northern Power Systems www.northernpower.com(link is external).
Green Mountain Power Corp,by John Herrick vtdigger.org(link is external) Green Mountain Power will be required to constantly monitor sound coming from wind turbines, which could provide the most detailed assessment yet of a noise issue concerning some residents living near wind farms. The Vermont Public Service Board fined the utility $1,000 last week for exceeding sound limits it placed on the Kingdom Community Wind farm, which was approved in 2011. In place of a larger civil penalty, regulators asked the utility to implement a continuous sound-monitoring program for one year. Regulators said it will cost the utility approximately $109,000 to implement the department’s proposal. The board said GMP cannot recover these costs from ratepayers.The utility is required under its certificate of public good to keep the noise level at the 63-megawatt wind project on Lowell Mountain below 45 decibels on average over one hour outside nearby homes. Regulators determined the company violated the sound limits in winter of late 2012 and early 2013. GMP says the sound violations were caused by snow buildup on the turbine blades.Anti-GMP signs are outside a house at the foot of the access road leading to the turbine site. Photo by Andrew Stein/VTDiggerThe company has since installed cameras and weather-monitoring equipment to detect snow accumulation on the blades. Since GMP installed this equipment, no other violations have been reported.The Department of Public Service this spring drafted a continuous sound-monitoring proposal, which Green Mountain Power supports and has agreed to implement. Regulators determined it would be “more constructive” to require the utility to implement this plan rather than pay a larger monetary penalty.Vermonters for a Clean Environment, a group opposing the wind project, told the board the methodology of the sound monitoring proposal is flawed and the experts hired to assist its implementation have developed projects that have caused complaints from neighbors about noise.Public Service Commissioner Chris Recchia said the details of the proposal are still being worked out, but it would be “scientifically based and rigorous.” He said the department does not know when the plan will be implemented.The department is still evaluating the order and has the option to ask the board to reconsider it, he said.GMP spokesperson Dotty Schnure said the company has collected 10,934 total hours of sound monitoring data, and has exceeded the regulatory limit for four hours. She said GMP is committed to operating the wind project within its permit requirements.She said GMP shuts down the wind turbines when weather causes ice or snow accumulation. She said this has always been part of the company’s operating procedure.The utility again announced on Tuesday it had met noise standards for the latest reporting period from August 20 to Sept. 9. The utility hired the research firm(RSG) to conduct the report, and critics say the studies are not scientific because they discard data when wind speeds are high near recording microphones and during certain precipitation events.The department’s proposal requires noise sensitive receptors, or microphones, to be placed around residents homes with direct exposure to the turbine noise. A second microphone would be shielded from the turbines to measure background noise, which is used to control for other noises in the area.The data will be collected continuously and downloaded for review, according to the proposal. The data would then be summarized for monthly reports. The acoustical consulting firm hired by the department, Acentech Inc., drafted the proposal.Outgoing board member John Burke said in his dissent he would have preferred a substantial fine be imposed on GMP and would not have ordered the continuous monitoring.“While the only winner then would have been the State’s general fund, all the parties would begin to realize that working on noise issues is important and that more is gained by working together than by the “my way or the highway” attitude that appears to have prevailed here,” he said.Burke said no matter what data results from this monitoring, it will likely be criticized and its ultimate value will be diminished, in his opinion.Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, does not support the methodology outlined in the department’s sound monitoring proposal. She also said the firms hired by the department have a history in designing wind projects that have caused harmful noise.Wind proponents say studies show wind turbine noise does not cause harm, but some residents in Vermont say turbines interfere with sleep and cause nausea.
Vermont Business Magazine Burlington High School (BHS) has become the second high school in the country to fly the Black Lives Matter flag. More than 700 students and staff participated in a brief and optional ceremony held during noninstructional time on Monday afternoon. Flown below the American Flag and Vermont’s State Flag on the school’s only flagpole, the Black Lives Matter flag is flown in honor of black history month and will remain up throughout the year. “I am incredibly proud of our students for leading this effort,” said Burlington School District Superintendent Yaw Obeng. “For these students, flying the Black Lives Matter flag is not about sending a message of anti-police or anti-authority, it’s a message of anti-bias. It’s a call for change across our nation and in our community. The young men and women in the high school’s Social Justice Union deserve a lot of credit for engaging their peers in the process, working hard and navigating the school system diligently and respectfully, in a manner better than we sometimes see from adults.” “With the overwhelming support to fly the Black Lives Matter flag, we feel that this is an important step in creating a welcoming environment for students of color and is a crucial advancement in the district-level conversation about race,” said the student representatives from the SJU.The ceremony began in the school’s auditorium where several students from the high school addressed their peers, state legislators, students and staff from Montpelier and South Burlington High Schools, and local elected representatives including Mayor Miro Weinberger, members of city council, and the school board. Following the comments, Superintendent Obeng expressed his gratitude to the kids in the school who participated in the event. Following the remarks from students and staff, the attendees flowed from the auditorium to the flagpole, where the Black Lives Matter was flown among cheers, hugs, and the chant stating “Black Lives Matter.” Source: 2.19.2018 Burlington School District (BSD), Burlington, Vermont.
The district’s Center for Academic Achievement.Shawnee Mission Post forum for Shawnee Mission School District school board candidates set for Saturday. To give local voters a chance to hear the candidates discuss the most important issues facing their communities in person, the Shawnee Mission Post is hosting a forum for the candidates of the Shawnee Mission School District Board of Education ahead of November’s election. The forum takes places at Johnson County Library’s Central Resource branch, 9875 W. 87th St., Overland Park, and will run from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. Doors to the event will open at 9 a.m. You can RSVP to the event by clicking here.Former Shawnee daycare owner charged in alleged beating of 6-month-old. A 53-year-old home daycare owner in Shawnee faces criminal charges after a 6-month-old boy experienced a brain bleed and bruising. Katherine Konon has been charged with aggravated battery and causing great bodily harm. Konon is expected to appear in Johnson County District Court on Oct. 4. [Former Shawnee daycare owner arrested, charged after 6-month-old found severely beaten and vomiting — WDAF]Johnson County Community Developmental Disabilities Organization hosting second annual Resource Fair today. The Johnson County Community Developmental Disabilities Organization is hosting its second annual Resource Fair and Marketplace from 2 to 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 3 at the Arts and Heritage Center, 8788 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park. This event is coordinated in conjunction with the CDDO Council of Community Members. The goal of this event is to connect families and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to community resources utilized by this population.
The Florida State University Student Animal Legal Defense Fund and Pets ad Litem announce its Second Annual Writing Competition, with a $500 first place prize, open to students attending an accredited Florida law school and those who have graduated within the past year from a Florida law school.The purpose is to generate interest and recognition of this rapidly growing field of law. All articles must be submitted no later than July 1. Any topic on animal law is welcomed. The awards will be judged based on quality, clarity, originality, and organization. All essays must be typewritten, double-spaced, no less than 12-point Times New Roman font, on 8.5-by-11-inch paper with 1-inch margins. Articles of any length will be considered, however, the document must not exceed 25 pages, including footnotes. Footnotes should be single-spaced, and no less than 10-point font.Submit a hard copy to Derinda Kirkland, FSU College of Law, 425 W. Jefferson St., Tallahassee 32306-1601, and an electronic copy to saldf.fsulaw@gmail.com (insert “Animal Law Writing Competition” in the subject line). Each entrant must submit a cover page indicating name, law school, expected year of graduation or actual graduation date, current employer (if applicable), mailing address, email address, and telephone number.Based on the number and quality of submissions, the winner may also be selected to contribute his or her article for publication.The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund was established to provide information and awareness on a wide array of animal law issues. This competition seeks to foster legal scholarship among all those in the legal field in the area of animals and the law. The competition provides law students with an incentive and opportunity to learn more about this growing field.All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of attorneys and other professionals practicing or involved in the field of animal law.For more information, contact saldf.fsulaw@gmail.com or FSU Law Professor Patricia Matthews at pamatthews@law.fsu.edu. March 15, 2014 Regular News FSU group seeks animal law writing competition entries
FSU group seeks animal law writing competition entries
A great tourist story that definitely restores faith in people. Namely, the group “Renters with a heart” was founded on Facebook, in which members give their accommodation free of charge to families of children with disabilities.The story began when Vjera Matulić from Postira on Brač founded a FB group with the aim of encouraging private accommodation renters across Croatia to offer their apartments for free to children with developmental problems for a few days, and in just a few days the group gathered over 2.000 members.The main goal of the group is to motivate the hosts in the family accommodation to set aside a few days to help children with developmental problems. “A few days in the summer we can all do it, no one will be impoverished, and we can afford a moment of peace and rest from worries for a needy family with sick children. The only rule is tolerance and a peaceful agreement, belittling anyone, will not be tolerated. Let’s show and prove that not everything is in sholds ” writes in the description of the group Renters with a heart.Each of the hosts in the family accommodation has a hole of a few days in the season, and we hereby invite you to join this commendable action to provide free accommodation to families with children with disabilities and provide them with free holidays.It costs you nothing, and you get a lot. Rather, not in money, but in love, and that is the most valuable thing. Good always comes back to good.You can join the Landlord Group with a heart here
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In a stunning discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist. That such vessels could have escaped detection when the lymphatic system has been so thoroughly mapped throughout the body is surprising on its own, but the true significance of the discovery lies in the effects it could have on the study and treatment of neurological diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimer’s disease to multiple sclerosis.“Instead of asking, ‘How do we study the immune response of the brain?’ ‘Why do multiple sclerosis patients have the immune attacks?’ now we can approach this mechanistically. Because the brain is like every other tissue connected to the peripheral immune system through meningeal lymphatic vessels,” said Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, professor in the UVA Department of Neuroscience and director of UVA’s Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). “It changes entirely the way we perceive the neuro-immune interaction. We always perceived it before as something esoteric that can’t be studied. But now we can ask mechanistic questions.”“We believe that for every neurological disease that has an immune component to it, these vessels may play a major role,” Kipnis said. “Hard to imagine that these vessels would not be involved in a [neurological] disease with an immune component.” Email New Discovery in Human BodyKevin Lee, PhD, chairman of the UVA Department of Neuroscience, described his reaction to the discovery by Kipnis’ lab: “The first time these guys showed me the basic result, I just said one sentence: ‘They’ll have to change the textbooks.’ There has never been a lymphatic system for the central nervous system, and it was very clear from that first singular observation – and they’ve done many studies since then to bolster the finding – that it will fundamentally change the way people look at the central nervous system’s relationship with the immune system.”Even Kipnis was skeptical initially. “I really did not believe there are structures in the body that we are not aware of. I thought the body was mapped,” he said. “I thought that these discoveries ended somewhere around the middle of the last century. But apparently they have not.”‘Very Well Hidden’The discovery was made possible by the work of Antoine Louveau, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Kipnis’ lab. The vessels were detected after Louveau developed a method to mount a mouse’s meninges – the membranes covering the brain – on a single slide so that they could be examined as a whole. “It was fairly easy, actually,” he said. “There was one trick: We fixed the meninges within the skullcap, so that the tissue is secured in its physiological condition, and then we dissected it. If we had done it the other way around, it wouldn’t have worked.”After noticing vessel-like patterns in the distribution of immune cells on his slides, he tested for lymphatic vessels and there they were. The impossible existed. The soft-spoken Louveau recalled the moment: “I called Jony [Kipnis] to the microscope and I said, ‘I think we have something.’”As to how the brain’s lymphatic vessels managed to escape notice all this time, Kipnis described them as “very well hidden” and noted that they follow a major blood vessel down into the sinuses, an area difficult to image. “It’s so close to the blood vessel, you just miss it,” he said. “If you don’t know what you’re after, you just miss it.”“Live imaging of these vessels was crucial to demonstrate their function, and it would not be possible without collaboration with Tajie Harris,” Kipnis noted. Harris, a PhD, is an assistant professor of neuroscience and a member of the BIG center. Kipnis also saluted the “phenomenal” surgical skills of Igor Smirnov, a research associate in the Kipnis lab whose work was critical to the imaging success of the study.Alzheimer’s, Autism, MS and BeyondThe unexpected presence of the lymphatic vessels raises a tremendous number of questions that now need answers, both about the workings of the brain and the diseases that plague it. For example, take Alzheimer’s disease. “In Alzheimer’s, there are accumulations of big protein chunks in the brain,” Kipnis said. “We think they may be accumulating in the brain because they’re not being efficiently removed by these vessels.” He noted that the vessels look different with age, so the role they play in aging is another avenue to explore. And there’s an enormous array of other neurological diseases, from autism to multiple sclerosis, that must be reconsidered in light of the presence of something science insisted did not exist.The findings were published in the journal Nature.
The study, online in the Journal of Applied Psychology, is called “When ethical leader behavior breaks bad: How ethical behavior can turn abusive via ego depletion and moral licensing.” Moral licensing is a phenomenon in which people, after doing something good, feel they have earned the right to act in a negative manner.“Ironically, when leaders felt mentally fatigued and morally licensed after displays of ethical behavior, they were more likely to be abusive toward their subordinates on the next day,” said Johnson, an expert on the psychology of the workplace.Johnson and MSU students Szu-Han Lin and Jingjing Ma surveyed 172 supervisors over a several-day period in various industries including retail, education, manufacturing and health care. The goal: examine the consequences of ethical behavior for the leaders who exhibited it.Johnson said it’s not easy to be ethical, as it turns out. “Being ethical means leaders often have to suppress their own self-interest (they must do ‘what’s right’ as opposed to ‘what’s profitable’), and they have to monitor not only the performance outcomes of subordinates but also the means (to ensure that ethical/appropriate practices were followed).”Ethical behavior led to mental fatigue and moral licensing, and this led to leaders being more abusive to their workers. The abuse included ridiculing, insulting and expressing anger toward employees, giving them the silent treatment and reminding them of past mistakes or failures.To combat mental fatigue, Johnson said managers should build in time for breaks during the workday; get sufficient sleep; eat healthy and exercise; and unplug from work outside of the office (which includes shutting off the smart phone at night).Dealing with moral licensing is trickier, as there is not much research on the subject. However, Johnson suggested companies could consider formally requiring ethical behavior. “If such behavior is required, then it’s more difficult for people to feel they’ve earned credit for performing something that is mandatory,” he said. “A sense of moral license is more likely when people feel they voluntarily or freely exhibited the behavior.”Ethical behavior could also be formally rewarded with social praise or money. But the praise or bonus should come relatively soon after the ethical behavior in order to counteract the moral licensing, Johnson said. LinkedIn Share Share on Twitter Is your boss ethical? Does he or she do what’s right, as opposed to what’s profitable?If so, they may turn downright abusive the next day.New research on leader behavior by Russell Johnson, associate professor of management at Michigan State University, suggests ethical conduct leads to mental exhaustion and the “moral licensing” to lash out at employees.
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HHS funds nine regional treatment centers for Ebola, other diseasesTo prepare the nation better for cases of Ebola or other serious diseases, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has earmarked about $20 million to develop nine regional treatment centers across the country, HHS said today in a news release.The funds will help the treatment centers ramp up their capabilities, and ASPR will provide an additional $9 million over 4 years to sustain continual readiness. The centers will involve joint efforts with health departments and partner hospitals in Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Texas, and Washington.”This approach recognizes that being ready to treat severe, highly infectious diseases, including Ebola, is vital to our nation’s health security,” said Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response. “This added regional capability increases our domestic preparedness posture to protect the public’s health.”Each center will receive about $3.25 million over the 5-year project period. The funding is part of $339.5 million in emergency funding that Congress approved to enhance state and local preparedness following US Ebola cases last year.Jun 12 HHS news release HHS announces support for development of Ebola rapid testHHS’s ASPR also announced today that it is funding the development of an Ebola virus diagnostic test for use in a healthcare setting or in the field that is intended to provide results within 20 minutes.The development of OraQuick, a simple, low-cost, lateral-flow test, will take place under a $1.8 million contract with OraSure Technologies Inc. of Bethlehem, Pa., HHS said in a press release. Lateral-flow tests detect the presence of a virus with a drop of the patient’s blood or saliva on a test strip. The contract could be extended for up to 39 months and $10.4 million.”Fast and inexpensive point-of-care diagnostics will improve our ability to control Ebola virus disease outbreaks,” said Robin Robinson, PhD, director of ASPR’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which will oversee the development of the device. “Faster diagnosis of Ebola virus infections allows for more immediate treatment and an earlier response to protect public health worldwide.”OraSure will also evaluate whether the test can be used in post-mortem analyses of oral fluids, which could help in detecting the presence of Ebola virus after death and decrease the problem of disease spread at funerals and in preparing dead bodies, which helped fuel the epidemic in West Africa.OraQuick is the first point-of-care Ebola testing device to receive BARDA support, HHS said in the release.Jun 12 HHS press release China-produced Ebola drug questioned over patent, safety issuesChina late last year rapidly produced multiple doses of a knockoff of the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp in response to the outbreak in West Africa, but some US officials have expressed concern about possible patent infringement and over safety The New York Times reported yesterday.The drug, MIL77, is produced by Beijing Mabworks. ZMapp is produced by Mapp Biopharmaceutical of San Diego and resulted from a collaboration between US and Canadian scientists.”People think international collaboration could easily happen between the U.S. and Canada,” said Beijing Mabworks chief executive Feng Li. “But these days, China could play a role” by making emergency response drugs “better and faster in some cases.”Last summer in response to the Ebola epidemic Chinese officials spurred production of MIL77 plus an Ebola vaccine, which is now in human safety trials. Within 3 months, Beijing Mabworks used information from ZMapp’s patent that it obtained in a licensing agreement to produce antibodies to the Ebola virus. And a month later it had produced 100 doses of the drug, the story said.But some US officials have voiced concern, as the US government holds a patent on one of the antibodies in ZMapp.BARDA Director Robin Robinson, PhD, said the Chinese scientists might have infringed on patents if they tried to sell MIL77 outside China without an agreement with Mapp Biopharmaceutical.He added, “They have not done all the testing that we would normally do for safety before these products would go into humans.” ZMapp is currently in clinical trials.Jun 11 New York Times story
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