US flu activity showed little sign of rise last week, though the percentage of clinic visits for flulike illness is growing in some southern states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.The percentage of respiratory specimens that tested positive for flu rose from 5.4% to 7.0%, according to the CDC’s latest update. However, the number is still below 10%, a level that typically signifies that the nation’s flu season is under way.The CDC said it expects more increases in flu activity in the coming weeks, and it urged people who have not been vaccinated to get immunized. The agency and its partners are gearing up for National Influenza Vaccination Week, scheduled for Dec 8 through Dec 14. The event is an annual push that highlights the importance of continuing flu vaccination through the holiday season and beyond.Of the viruses that have been characterized so far, nearly 90% are influenza A, and of those that have been subtyped, most are the 2009 H1N1 virus, a contrast from the last year’s flu season, which was dominated by H3N2 activity.Other flu activity markers remained below baselines last week, including the percentage of deaths from pneumonia and flu. No pediatric flu deaths were reported.Similar to last week’s report, only one of the CDC’s regions saw flu rise above its specific baseline—the one that includes south central states.Looking at outpatient visits for flulike illness at the state level, the hot spots were also in the South, with Mississippi reporting high activity and Alabama and Texas reporting moderate activity. So far no states are reporting widespread flu, but four states—all in the South—are reporting regional geographic spread: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, and Texas.Season begins in CanadaIn Canada, flu activity rose for the fourth week in a row last week, indicating that the country’s flu season has started, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said today in its latest update.As in the United States, influenza A is most common, with the 2009 H1N1 virus as the most frequently detected subtype.Only three regions are reporting localized activity, two in Ontario and one in Quebec. Thirteen of Canada’s regions reported sporadic activity.Activity low elsewhereFlu activity in Europe remained low last week in all 28 reporting countries, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in an update today. So far in the this season there has been no evidence of sustained activity in Europe, the agency said.The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that overall flu activity has crept up slightly in North America over the last 3 weeks but remains at low levels overall. It said that only a few countries in Europe have reported sporadic flu detections in respiratory sampling.In Asia, flu activity picked up in northern China and Mongolia, but decreased in southern China, the agency said. Southeast Asia showed a mixed picture, with activity decreasing in Vietnam but increasing in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, where both influenza A strains, as well as influenza B, circulated.The WHO said the Southern Hemisphere’s flu season is mostly over. However, South Africa experienced a small second peak in September and early October, much of it from H3N2, although over the past 3 weeks influenza B has predominated.See also:Nov 22 CDC FluView reportNov 22 PHAC FluWatch reportNov 22 ECDC influenza updateNov 22 WHO global flu epidemiologic update
Category: tipprtrs
UGN Names Cato Director of Human Resources
AKRON, OHIO — Deborah Cato has been named director of human resources for UGN, a supplier of acoustic, interior trim and thermal management products to the Japanese transplant automotive industry in North America. In this new position, Cato will oversee all human resources activities for UGN, including compensation and benefits, training and development, managing human resource systems and long-range planning to support company objectives. AdvertisementClick Here to Read MoreAdvertisement Prior to joining UGN, Cato was vice president, human resources for The McShane Companies, where she was responsible for strategic creation, direction and success of McShane’s national human resources program. She also has held human resources positions at BVM Olienti and Wegmans Food Markets. For more information about UGN, visit: www.ugnusa.com. _______________________________________ Click here to view the rest of today’s headlines.,Lubrication Specialties Inc. (LSI), manufacturer of Hot Shot’s Secret brand of performance additives and oils, recently announced the expansion of senior leadership. Steve deMoulpied joins LSI as the company’s chief operating officer (COO). AdvertisementClick Here to Read MoreAdvertisement DeMoulpied comes to LSI from the Private Client Services practice of Ernst & Young where he managed strategy & operations improvement engagements for privately held client businesses. Some of his prior roles include VP of strategic development, director of strategic initiatives, and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at OptumHealth, UnitedHealth Group’s health services business, as well as Lean Six Sigma Black Belt at General Electric, where he applied operations improvement principles to customer service, supply chain and product development. A successful entrepreneur, deMoulpied is also the founder of PrestoFresh, a Cleveland-based e-commerce food/grocery business. LSI President Brett Tennar says, “Steve’s success in developing operational strategies that improves the bottom line, builds teamwork, reduces waste and ensures quality product development and distribution checks many of the boxes of what we were looking for in a COO. This, coupled with his career in the Air Force working with highly technical systems and his in-depth understanding of Lean Six Sigma and Business Process Management sealed our offer. As our tagline states, our products are Powered by Science. This data driven approach is one reason why our company has grown exponentially as we employ the most advanced technology to product development. I am confident that Steve is the right person to drive operational strategy for our diverse and growing brands.” Advertisement With more than 20 years of experience across multiple industries and functional areas, deMoulpied has particular expertise in organizations with complex technical products. Combined, his prior positions have required a spectrum of skills in corporate strategy, operations improvement, product quality, and revenue cycle management. He has an impressive history of utilizing data driven problem solving (Lean Six Sigma) and project management (PMP and CSM) to achieve strategic goals surrounding customer satisfaction, operational efficiency and improved profit. DeMoulpied has a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management from the United States Air Force Academy and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Dayton in Marketing and International Business. He served six years with the USAF overseeing the development of technology used on fighter aircraft and the E-3 Surveillance aircraft, finishing his career honorably as Captain.
Going Places – 25 January 2008
Drivers Jonas has appointed Alistair Reason as associate partner to head a new strategic consulting service for the Midlands, based at its Birmingham office. He previously worked as an overseas estates adviser for the Ministry of Defence and brings experience from countries such as Iraq, Kenya and the Falkland Islands.Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets has appointed Paul Harrington as director of its structured property finance team. His is the first of several key appointments the bank plans to make to strengthen its position in Europe. Paul joins from Hypo Real Estate International, where he was responsible for providing finance for property deals throughout Europe.Ross Colson has joined office fit-out and refurbishment specialist Morgan Lovell, based in the firm’s London headquarters. He joins from serviced office specialist Regus, where he was part of the commercial agency team.Yves de Bouttemont has moved from Christie & Co’s French head office in Paris to take charge of the auctioneer’s new office in Rennes, Brittany. It is the company’s third office in France.West Propertieshas appointed Antony Gore as managing director of West Residential. He will be responsible for sales and lettings for West’s luxury flat portfolio. Antony has extensive experience of residential sales in the north and most recently launched a flagship Manchester office for independent agent Hunters.King Sturgehas made several appointments and promotions in its Cardiff office. Helen James has been promoted to senior associate in the valuation department and Nick Richards is now an associate in the asset management team. Ben Winstanley has joined the residential team from Allen & Harris estate agents, and Edward Forrester has become an assistant surveyor in the industrial agency team. Jon Bird has also returned to the building consultancy department as an associate.Altus Edwin Hillhas appointed two graduates in its Birmingham agency team. John Fletcher will focus on office instructions across the Midlands, while James Clement will be involved on the industrial side. They will report to Richard Potter, head of agency in Birmingham.Stuart Walburnjoins the planning division of architect ESA, ESA Planning, as a senior planner. He will be responsible for obtaining planning consent for a variety of mixed-use, residential and commercial projects in London and the UK ESA’s project management arm, ESPM, has also appointed Jason Silvester as associate director with responsibility for various retail and commercial sector projects.DTZhas promoted the following staff to associate director: Ben Clarke, Stuart Hardisty, Sarah Jones, Rekhi Vaibhav, Adrian Cross, Barry Haggerty, Bonnie Minshull, Christopher Turner, Ian Wimpenny, Ned Jones, Gavin Smith, Jon Moore, Paul Mack, Hamish Robertshaw, Eamon Fox, Jonathan Harms, Keith Emerson, Lisa Gribben, Sarah Hodgson, Anne McEwen, Sarah O’Brien, Matt Mirarchi, Matt Rickards, Caroline Searle, Tom Welham and Dan Hughes.Cluttonshas promoted Paula McClinton, Tim Cathcart and Tom Griffin to associate. Lee Clark, Ian Butcher and Lesley Preston have been promoted to partner.Jane Hamiltonis to retire as chief operating officer for Milton Keynes Partnership at the end of March. Appointed to the role in 2004, Jane has presided over an investment of £200m in the city, which has resulted in improvements to housing, roads, the central railway station and the hospital. She also pioneered the introduction of the MK Tariff for key infrastructure.CB Richard Ellis (Scotland) has appointed Fiona Morris as associate director in its Scottish public sector team. She joins from CBRE’s public sector division in London and will be based in Edinburgh.John Laing Projects & Developmentshas appointed Andrew Ballsdon and Howard Chick to its board as finance director and director respectively.J&E Shepherdhas made six appointments: Alistair Buchanan, Colin Campbell, Mark Hall, Donal Henretty, Steven McLean and Jon Thomson become associates.David Palmerhas joined Malcolm Brown and Val Hinchliffe in Poole-based Sibbett Gregory’s town planning department. He has several years’ experience with local authority planning departments.Paul Johnson has joined Berrys as a senior practitioner. Reporting to Nick Bowman and working from the firm’s Kettering office, Paul will help expand its planning and development services throughout the Midlands and the north-west. He has extensive experience in council planning departments.Knight Frankhas appointed Rob Taylor as an associate in industrial agency. Rob has also worked at Lambert Smith Hampton and Colliers CRE.
Upcoming industry events
Get instant access to must-read content today!To access hundreds of features, subscribe today! At a time when the world is forced to go digital more than ever before just to stay connected, discover the in-depth content our subscribers receive every month by subscribing to gasworld.Don’t just stay connected, stay at the forefront – join gasworld and become a subscriber to access all of our must-read content online from just $270. Subscribe
Air Liquide signs contract with Yanchang group
Subscribe Get instant access to must-read content today!To access hundreds of features, subscribe today! At a time when the world is forced to go digital more than ever before just to stay connected, discover the in-depth content our subscribers receive every month by subscribing to gasworld.Don’t just stay connected, stay at the forefront – join gasworld and become a subscriber to access all of our must-read content online from just $270.
Peterbilt expands LNG portfolio
Peterbilt Motors said it is expanding its portfolio of natural-gas powered vehicles with the introduction of its Models 579 and 567 in LNG configurations.The Models 579 and 567 LNG configurations are available as daycabs and production is scheduled for June, the company said on Wednesday.Both trucks are powered by the Cummins-Westport ISX12 G with up to 400 horsepower and 1,450 lb.-ft. of torque.[mappress mapid=”16995″]Image: Peterbilt
Willoughby Spit Beach Nourishment Project 69Pct Complete
Image source: USACEThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, has just announced that the Willoughby Spit and Vicinity beach nourishment project is now 69% complete.Nine weeks into the project, the Corps contractor Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company has placed over 829,000 cubic yards of sand onto the beach.“We now have three dredges working on site,” USACE said in its latest update.In total, it will take around 1.2 million cubic yards of sand to complete this 34.5 million worth beach nourishment project.If all goes according to schedule, USACE expects to complete the beach nourishment this May.
Singapore and back, thanks to SAL
In the first movement, SAL was awarded a contract to transport the largest stinger ramps ever built from Rotterdam to Singapore. The company’s heavy lift ship, Annette carried out this shipment in April.For the oversized cargo with a unit weight of up to 880 tonnes and dimensions of up to 42.50 m × 15.10 m × 18.00 m, SAL’s engineering department designed a complex understructure for weight distribution on deck. The engineering and manufacturing of the weight spreading system had to be completed in a very short time. The stinger ramps were loaded and discharged by floating crane.In Singapore, the stinger ramps will be assembled by Keppel Shipyard in order to complete the building ofCastorone, which will become the world’s largest pipe laying vessel.Earlier, SAL had moved a TLS (Tiltable Lay System) tower from Singapore to Flushing, The Netherlands, for Subsea 7- Offshore Resources. The unit, with a weight of around 450 tonnes, measured 18.86 m × 10.34 m × 33.00 m.Despite the height of the TLS tower, SAL offered to lift the piece in its fully assembled state.For this purpose, SAL’s engineering division had to develop a precise lifting and rigging arrangement, because there was very narrow space between lifting beam and tower.To support the big loads on the hatch cover beams, the engineering team designed a complex grillage as well as a sea-fastening system as it was not allowed to do any lashings on the cargo. The TLS tower was fastened to the grillage with a pin connection only. www.sal-heavylift.com www.keppelom.comwww.subsea7.com
WSS makes crude delivery
The consignment consisted of 31 heavy lift cargoes and seven lots of containers.Some of the heavier units included two boilers, each weighing 65 tonnes and measuring 12.10 x 4.60 x 4.51 m; four crude preheaters weighing 26.8 tonnes each and measuring 13.01 x 1.95 x 1.66 m; and four oil heaters weighing 26.2 tonnes each and measuring 12.41 x 1.63 x 1.92 m.The scope of WSS’s work included route surveys; selecting transport vehicles to deliver the cargo from Fujairah port to the site; temporary removal of obstacles en route; port handling and temporary port storage; Customs inspection and Customs clearance within the stipulated time; transporting the cargo to the VTTI terminal; and offloading of the units at the site.WSS is a member of the Project Cargo Network (PCN).www.wilhelmsen.comwww.projectcargonetwork.com
Jeep taken by the ocean in Myrtle Beach during Hurricane Dorian
Published: September 5, 2019 1:46 PM EDT Updated: September 5, 2019 2:08 PM EDT Do you see a typo or an error? Let us know. The Bahamas still recovering one year after Hurricane Dorian Investigation says NOAA leadership violated integrity policies during Trump’s Hurricane Dorian map scandal MYRTLE BEACH, SC (CBS) Jeep taken by the ocean in Myrtle Beach during Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian isn’t just blowing down trees and power lines, it’s storm surge has claimed other victims.A Jeep was pulled into the Atlantic Ocean surf Thursday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.It has not been confirmed how the vehicle ended up on the beach. One reporter says eyewitnesses told her the owner drove it onto the beach Wednesday, then got stuck.Strong surf washed over the car as it slipped little by little into the ocean.There are no injuries reported, and no one was found inside the car.WATCH VIDEO BELOW SHARE Author: CBS NewspathWriter:WINK News Recommended