The use of x-ray imaging as a diagnostic tool in medicine dates back to 1895, following Wilhelm Röntgen’s discovery that x-rays could be used to create images of internal bone structures. Within days of the German physicist’s discovery, the technique was being adopted by doctors to help diagnose patient’s medical complaints faster and more accurately than ever before.Today there are understood to be over 5 billion diagnostic medical tests performed every year, of which two thirds involve the use x-rays demonstrating the huge medical significance of the discovery and its continued importance in medicine to this day.Advances in RadiologyThere have been numerous advances in technology since Rontgen’s discovery, although it was not until the 1960′s that the first digital x-ray images were first produced. Digital imaging equipment and the accompanying computer software and hardware to store and view images were developed in the 1970′s and 1980′s, and today, these modern x-ray services are being offered in hospitals and major medical clinics the world over.Benefits of Digital X-Ray ImagingThere are numerous advantages to a digital x-ray over photographic film method of recording an image. From a patient’s perspective the benefits are substantial. The latest equipment allows images to be produced in less time and it can be transmitted instantly to a referring doctor. This greatly speeds up the time taken to diagnose injuries and illnesses.However, the biggest benefit to the patient is the dose of radiation received. Photographic film requires exposure to higher intensity pulses of x-rays in order to create sufficient contrast in the image and uses far lower doses of radiation, while producing images of superior quality with greater diagnostic value.Digital images are affected less by under and over exposure and radiographers can check the image instantly while a patient is still present. Should shadows be present on the images, further x-rays can be taken reducing the inconvenience caused to the patient.Radiographers can also subject a digital image to a number of image enhancing techniques to improve image clarity, which results in better quality images with greater diagnostic value. There is also a substantial cost advantage, as the images do not require costly photographic film and chemicals to develop the image.Digital X-Ray Many clinics and hospitals across the country now offer digital x-ray services to patients. However, the cost of new scanners can be prohibitively expensive for some smaller clinics and access to the latest low-dose digital x-ray scanners may not be possible without making a trip to a major city.Fortunately some private radiology clinics are now offering state of the art equipment to residents in the suburbs, with companies such as Insight Radiology now offering digital X-ray. Residents no longer need to travel long distances to have the safest imaging tests performed and can benefit from scans taken on state of the art equipment using a fraction of the dose of x-rays used to develop photographic images.
The Different Types Of Events And Places Listed In The Atlantic City Entertainment Schedule
Atlantic City is the entertainment hub of the eastern seaboard. The coastline is virtually endless because it has an almost unlimited number of entertainment centers, including events and concert halls, casinos, hotels, etc. The following are the top spots in the city that you should keep an eye on because they offer some of the best shows and concerts that you can find anywhere in the country.The Borgata is one of the most popular and most widely visited hubs in the city. It is located in the Marina District just 2 miles from the Boardwalk. Its Event Center has a seating capacity for 2,400, while the Music Box can accommodate 1000 individuals. The list of entertainment events for Borgata is one of the longest in the city. Some of the leading events that you should keep an eye on this year include Mike Marino, Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Tour, James Taylor, and Jay Leno among hundreds of others.Showboat is located at Delaware Avenue on the Boardwalk. This casino hotel is not only a gambling hub in the city, but it also offers a long list of entertainment shows. The upcoming shows that you should keep an eye on are Blue October, Kix Brooks, Weird Al Yankovic and Chickenfoot among others. Caesars is among the most popular venues in Atlantic City. It is also on the Boardwalk, near Christopher Columbus Boulevard and Arkansas Avenue. It is located in the middle of the town and is one of the of leading hubs in the city.The upcoming Atlantic City entertainment schedule at Caesars includes Smokey Robinson, TransSiberian Orchestra, Forum The Bandstand – Live and the witty Bill Maher among others. Trump’s Taj Mahal covers more than 17 acres across the Boardwalk. It is located on Virginia Avenue. It offers more than 1,200 rooms and suits, and is 51 stories tall. The Chairman’s Tower added another set of over 780 rooms and suits in 2008.The tower offers more than 140,000 sq ft of exhibition and convention space with over 20 meeting halls and 3 ballrooms. The Atlantic City entertainment schedule is nothing without the show and concerts that take place in the Trump’s Taj Mahal. Watch out for upcoming events in the Taj including Frank Sinatra, Jr., Joey Yung, Terry Fator, Three’s Company, Arabian Night with Nancy Ajram and Ayman Abib, La Explosion Salsera, Kevin Hart, Grigory Leps and Irina Allegrova Farewell Tour.In addition, don’t forget to check what Tropicana has to offer in its Atlantic City shows this year. Some of the leading events are Sinbad, Whitney Cummings, Victor Manuelle, Bret Michaels and Carlos Mencia. So, if you are visiting Atlantic City seeking live shows and lots of varied entertainment, make sure that you check these centers. However, there are dozens of other entertainment hubs that remain lit round the clock and throughout the year to bring the best from the world of music, comedy and different types of shows. So, the next time you visit Atlantic City, you know where to peep in.
The Japanese Martial Art of Judo
Judo is a modern Japanese martial art and Olympic sport. The Japanese word Judo means “gentle way.” The object of Judo is to throw one’s opponent to the ground, immobilize, or subdue one’s opponent with a grappling maneuver. Or one can force a contestant to submit by applying pressure in the form of a joint lock to the elbow or by executing a choke.Strikes and thrusts as well as weapons defenses are part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms which are called Katas. Katas not permitted in judo competition or free practice. This martial art originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Eventually, the philosophy and successive pedagogy developed for judo became the model for just about all modern Eastern martial arts that developed from “traditional” colleges.The spread of Judo throughout the world has led on to the development of a number of offshoots like Sambo and Brazilian Ju-Jitsu. The history of judo is inseparable from that of its founder, the Japanese teacher Jigoro Kano. Kano was born into a wealthy Japanese family.Small and weak as a boy, he was sometimes picked on by bullies. He initially began studying the art of Ju-Jitsu at the age of seventeen, but only met with minimal success. This was in part due to difficulties in finding a teacher who would take him on as a student. When he went to school to analyze literature at the age of 18, he continued his self-defense skills studies, ultimately gaining a referral to Fukuda Hachinosuke, a master of the Tenjin Shin’yM-ryk.Fukuda Hachinosuke is alleged to have stressed strategy over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano’s stress of free practice in Judo training. Whilst Judo includes a number of rolls, falls, throws, hold downs, chokes, joint-locks, and strikes, the first focus is on throwing and groundwork.Throws are divided in 2 types, standing strategies and sacrifice methodologies. Standing tactics are further divided into hand strategies, hip methods, and foot and leg systems. Sacrifice methods are split into those in which the thrower falls immediately backwards, and those in which he falls onto his side.The ground fighting systems are split into attacks against the joints or joint locks, strangleholds or chokeholds and holding or pinning methodologies. A sort of sparring is practiced in judo, known as randori meaning “free practice”. In randori, 2 adversaries may attack one another with any judo throw or grappling system. Striking methods like kicking and smacking, with knife and sword systems are kept in the kata training.This form of instruction is generally reserved for higher ranking practitioners, but are banned in contest, and often prohibited in randori for reasons of safety. Also for reasons of safety, chokeholds, joint locking, and the sacrifice systems are subject to age or rank limitations.In the US many facilities require that one must be thirteen or older to use choke holds, and sixteen or older to use arm locks. Judo remains a popular martial art with heavy influence on various other forms. Judo is a modern Japanese martial art and sport. The Japanese word Judo can be translated as “gentle way.” Its most memorable feature is its competitive component. The object is to throw one’s opponent to the ground, immobilize, or subdue one’s opponent with a grappling maneuver. Or one can force a contestant to submit by joint locking the elbow or by executing a choke.Strikes and thrusts as well as weapons defenses are part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms which are called Katas. Katas not permitted in judo competition or free practice. This martial art originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Eventually, the philosophy and successive pedagogy developed for judo became the model for just about all modern Eastern martial arts that developed from “traditional” colleges.The spread of Judo throughout the world has led on to the development of a number of offshoots like Sambo and Brazilian Ju-Jitsu. The history of judo is inseparable from that of its founder, the Japanese teacher Jigoro Kano. Kano was born into a prosperous Japanese family.Small and weak as a boy, he was sometimes picked on by bullies. He initially began studying the art of Ju-Jitsu at the age of seventeen, but only met with minimal success. This was in part due to difficulties in finding a teacher who would take him on as a student. When he went to school to analyze literature at the age of 18, he continued his self-defense skills studies, ultimately gaining a referral to Fukuda Hachinosuke, a master of the Tenjin Shin’y?-ry?.Fukuda Hachinosuke is alleged to have stressed strategy over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano’s stress of free practice in Judo training. Whilst Judo includes a number of rolls, falls, throws, hold downs, chokes, joint-locks, and strikes, the first focus is on throwing and groundwork.Throws are divided in 2 types, standing strategies and sacrifice methodologies. Standing tactics are further divided into hand strategies, hip methods, and foot and leg systems. Sacrifice methods are split into those in which the thrower falls immediately backwards, and those in which he falls onto his side.The ground fighting systems are split into attacks against the joints or joint locks, strangleholds or chokeholds and holding or pinning methodologies. A sort of sparring is practiced in judo, known as randori meaning “free practice”. In randori, 2 adversaries may attack one another with any judo throw or grappling system. Striking methods like kicking and smacking, with knife and sword systems are kept in the kata training.This form of instruction is generally reserved for higher ranking practitioners, but are banned in contest, and often prohibited in randori for reasons of safety. Also for reasons of safety, chokeholds, joint locking, and the sacrifice systems are subject to age or rank limitations.In the US many facilities require that one must be thirteen or older to use choke holds, and sixteen or older to use arm locks. Judo remains a popular martial art with heavy influence on various other forms.
Commercial Lender Changes Hurt Small Business Financing Options
Most small business owners are likely to be severely impacted by recent commercial lender changes. In almost all cases, the business lending changes are permanent and cannot be avoided if a commercial borrower wants to continue their present banking relationship. One noteworthy exception is illustrated by a few new and more flexible commercial lending sources.One of the biggest commercial lending changes involves new guidelines for working capital financing. Most banks appear to be quietly eliminating business lines of credit or severely reducing the amount they are willing to finance to a level which is not helpful to an average business. Very few businesses can survive without a reliable source of working capital, so this change promises to receive the highest priority from most small businesses. To replace the disappearing commercial lines of credit, the most practical options for business borrowers include working capital loans and merchant financing from one of the alternative commercial finance sources still active in small business financing programs.Another business lender change is illustrated by the difficulty of locating investment property financing. An increasing number of banks will make commercial mortgage loans only when the commercial property is considered to be owner-occupied (which means that the commercial borrower occupies a substantial portion of the building). Commercial properties like apartment buildings and shopping centers are often owned by investors that do not occupy the property. For many banks, it appears that they are currently restricting their commercial lending activities to those which qualify for SBA loans (Small Business Administration) which generally exclude investor-owned situations.A third significant business lending change is demonstrated by revised guidelines for refinancing commercial real estate loans. In almost all cases, commercial lenders have dramatically reduced the loan-to-value percentages that they will lend. In some areas and for specific types of businesses, many banks will no longer lend over half of the appraised value. The difficulty for a commercial borrower refinancing an existing commercial loan reach a crisis level very quickly when this happens. In many cases the original business loan was based on a much higher percentage of business value than the bank is currently willing to provide. When a current appraisal reports a decrease in value since the original loan was made, the lending problem is further compounded. This outcome is especially common in the midst of a distressed economy which leads to decreased business income that in turn often produces a lower commercial property value.For a fourth commercial lending change example, many small business owners have already discovered an inflated fee structure from most banks for virtually all small business finance programs. Perhaps the bank perspective for some of the commercial financing fee increases is that they need to find a revenue source to replace the diminishing income from small business loans which has resulted from bank decisions to decrease commercial loan activity. Except for unusual and unavoidable circumstances, business borrowers should seek different commercial funding sources when they encounter suddenly increased business financing fees levied by their current bank.Banks changing their overall guidelines for small business financing produce a final and widespread example of commercial lender changes. Many banks have effectively stopped making any new commercial loans to small businesses regardless of business income or creditworthiness. Unfortunately these banks are not announcing publicly that they have discontinued small business finance activities. This means that while they might accept business loan applications, they do not intend to actually finalize commercial financing in most cases. Whenever it becomes obvious that the bank has no real intentions of making a requested working capital loan or commercial mortgage, this approach has clearly frustrated and enraged business borrowers.The five commercial lending changes described above are unfortunately the proverbial tip of the iceberg. As they approach business lenders to obtain commercial real estate financing, working capital loans and small business financing, business owners will need to be especially skeptical and diligent.
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