The choice of red, white, and blue in national flags often carries historical, cultural, and political significance. Here are some reasons why various nations have chosen these colors:
Historical Connections:
United States: The colors were chosen for their flag in 1777 and have been interpreted to symbolize valor (red), purity (white), and justice (blue). The colors were influenced by the British Union Jack.
France: The Tricolour flag adopted during the French Revolution represents liberty (blue), equality (white), and fraternity (red).
United Kingdom: The Union Jack combines elements from the flags of England (red and white), Scotland (blue and white), and Ireland (red and white).
Cultural and Political Significance:
Russia: The flag’s colors were adopted from the Dutch flag, symbolizing pan-Slavism (red for bravery, blue for faithfulness, and white for honesty).
Netherlands: The Dutch flag’s colors (originally derived from the Prince’s Flag) have historical roots, symbolizing the struggle for independence and liberty.
Czech Republic and Slovakia: Both countries use red, white, and blue to represent their Slavic heritage.
Influence and Inspiration:
Chile, Costa Rica, and Panama: These countries were influenced by the colors and symbolism of other flags (e.g., the French and American flags) during their independence movements.
Australia and New Zealand: Both countries incorporate the Union Jack in their flags, reflecting their colonial history with the United Kingdom.
Symbolism:
Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia: The colors are traditional pan-Slavic colors, representing freedom and national unity.
Iceland and Norway: The colors reflect their historical and cultural ties to other Scandinavian countries.
The exact reasons can vary, but often the colors reflect a mix of historical alliances, cultural heritage, and political ideals.
Many large research universities have significant medical research and healthcare delivery enterprises. The leadership of those enterprises discount the effect of standards like this at their peril. It is easy to visualize that this document will have as transformative effect upon the healthcare industry as the ISO 9000 series of management standards in the globalization of manufacturing.
Standardization in the field of healthcare organization management comprising, terminology, nomenclature, recommendations and requirements for healthcare-specific management practices and metrics (e.g. patient-centered staffing, quality, facility-level infection control, pandemic management, hand hygiene) that comprise the non-clinical operations in healthcare entities.
Excluded are horizontal organizational standards within the scope of:
quality management and quality assurance (TC 176);
human resource management (TC 260);
risk management (TC 262);
facility management (TC 267), and;
occupational health and safety management (TC 283).
Also excluded are standards relating to clinical equipment and practices, enclosing those within the scope of TC 198 Sterilization of health care products.
This committee is led by the US Technical Advisory Group Administrator —Ingenesis. The committee is very active at the moment, with new titles drafted, reviewed and published on a near-monthly basis,
DPAS ballot for ISO PAS 23617- Healthcare organization management: Pandemic response (respiratory) —Guidelines for medical support of socially vulnerable groups – Comments due 16 October
Contact: Lee Webster (lswebste@utmb.edu, lwebster@ingenesis.com), Mike Anthony (mike@standardsmichigan.com), Jack Janveja (jjanveja@umich.edu), Richard Robben (rrobben1952@gmail.com), James Harvey (jharvey@umich.edu), Christine Fischer (chrisfis@umich.edu), Dr Veronica Muzquiz Edwards (vedwards@ingenesis.com)
Four years ago Mom made a surprise visit to the ‘Hyacinth Chen School of Nursing’. Was always her dream that young women, especially from poor families, fulfil theirs to become nurses. The students were ecstatic to actually see a lady they only knew as a painting on the wall. pic.twitter.com/LBHHCLVhKy
The American National Standards Institute — the Global Secretariat for ISO — does not provide content management systems for its US Technical Advisory Groups. Because of the nascent committee, inspired by the work of Lee Webster at the University of Texas Medical Branch needed a content management system, we have been managing content on a Google Site facility on a University of Michigan host since 2014.Earlier this spring, the University of Michigan began upgrading its Google Sites facility which requires us to offload existing content onto the new facility before the end of June. That process is happening now. Because of this it is unwise for us to open the content library for this committee publicly. Respecting copyright, confidentiality of ISO and the US Technical Advisory Group we protect most recent content in the link below and invite anyone to click in any day at 15:00 (16:00) UTC. Our office door is open every day at this hour and has been for the better part of ten years.
Today at the usual hour we introduce the project which will require harvesting power reliability statistics from any and all educational settlements willing to share their data. As the links before demonstrate, we have worked in this domain for many years. Join us with the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
This paper introduced the concept of reliability theory and established a mathematical framework for analyzing system reliability in terms of lumped parameters. It defined important concepts such as coherent systems, minimal cut sets, and minimal path sets, which are still widely used in reliability engineering.
We are tooling up to update the failure rate tables of IEEE 493 Design of Reliable Industrial and Commercial Power Systems; collaborating with project leaders but contributing to an essential part of the data design engineers use for scaling their power system designs. The project is in its early stages. We are formulating approaches about how to gather data for assemble a statistically significant data set.
Today at the usual hour we introduce the project which will require harvesting power reliability statistics from any and all educational settlements willing to share their data. As the links before demonstrate, we have worked in this domain for many years.
“On the Mathematical Theory of Risk and Some Problems in Distribution-Free Statistics” by Frank Proschan (1963): This paper introduced the concept of increasing failure rate (IFR) and decreasing failure rate (DFR) distributions, which are crucial in reliability modeling and analysis.
“Reliability Models for Multiple Failures in Redundant Systems” by John F. Meyer (1965): This paper addressed the problem of reliability analysis for redundant systems, which are systems with multiple components designed to provide backup in case of failure.
“Reliability of Systems in Series and in Parallel” by A. T. Bharucha-Reid (1960): This work analyzed the reliability of systems composed of components arranged in series and parallel configurations, which are fundamental building blocks of more complex systems.
“A Stochastic Model for the Reliability of Modular Software Systems” by John E. Gaffney, Jr. and Thomas A. Dueck (1980): This paper introduced one of the earliest models for software reliability, extending the concepts of reliability theory to the field of software engineering.
“Redundancy Techniques for Computing Systems” by John von Neumann (1956): This report by the pioneering computer scientist John von Neumann explored the use of redundancy techniques, such as triple modular redundancy, to improve the reliability of computing systems.
A dessert popular in the United Kingdom, where rhubarb has been cultivated since the 1600s, and the leaf stalks eaten since the 1700s. Besides diced rhubarb, it almost always contains a large amount of sugar to balance the intense tartness of the plant. The pie is usually prepared with a bottom pie crust and a variety of styles of upper crust.
In the United States, often a lattice-style upper crust is used. This pie is a traditional dessert in the United States. It is part of New England cuisine. Rhubarb has long been a popular choice for pies in the Great Plains region and the Michigan Great Lakes Region, where fruits were not always readily available in the spring
It is impossible to overestimate the sensitivity of this topic but poke at it, we will. At the moment, the less written here; the better. Much of this domain is outside our wheelhouse; though it has settled on a few first principles regarding patents, trademarks and copyrights relevant to the user-interest we describe in our ABOUT.
Many large research universities have a watchdog guarding its intellectual property and trying to generate income from it, and; of course, for branding. We will dwell on salient characteristics of the intellectual property domain with which we reckon daily — highlighting the market actors and the standards they have agreed upon.
Additionally, technical standards developers are generally protected by copyright law, as the standards they create are typically considered original works of authorship that are subject to copyright protection. In the United States, the Copyright Act of 1976 provides copyright protection for original works of authorship, which includes technical standards. This means that the developers of technical standards have the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and create derivative works based on their standards, and others must obtain permission or a license to use or reproduce the standards.
Some technical standards may be subject to certain exemptions or limitations under copyright law. In the United States, there is a doctrine called “fair use” that allows for limited use of copyrighted works for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, without the need for permission or a license from the copyright owner. Almost everything we do at Standards Michigan falls under the fair use doctrine. This is why we have no search feature and most pages are protected. If we err in this; let us know.
Patent Act: This is the primary federal law governing patents in the United States. It sets forth the requirements for obtaining a patent, the rights of patent owners, and the remedies available for infringement.
Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations: This contains the rules and procedures related to patents, including rules governing the filing and examination of patent applications.
America Invents Act: This is a major overhaul of the U.S. patent system that was enacted in 2011. It includes provisions such as the transition to a “first-inventor-to-file” system and the creation of new post-grant review procedures for challenging the validity of patents.
Manual of Patent Examining Procedure: This is a guidebook for patent examiners that provides detailed information on the rules and procedures for examining patent applications.
Vad är en standard? Syftet med standarder är att skapa enhetliga och transparenta rutiner som vi kan enas kring. Det ligger ju i allas intresse att höja kvaliteten, undvika missförstånd och slippa uppfinna hjulet på nytt varje gång. https://t.co/zKhgPXPdpWpic.twitter.com/oKejdKSm47
— Svenska institutet för standarder, SIS (@svenskstandard) July 15, 2019
We celebrated our nation’s 250th birthday at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Director John A. Squires spent time at our exhibit and thanks all who visited. There is still time to come see us and learn about American innovation. pic.twitter.com/yNoVsAo5Ua
Many universities support patent filing for students and faculty through their Technology Transfer Offices or Offices of Technology Commercialization. This often includes covering or reimbursing patent costs, especially if the university owns or co-owns the IP. Some also offer dedicated “gap,” “proof-of-concept,” or “innovation” funds.
University of Michigan — Innovation Partnerships
University of Minnesota — Early Innovation Fund: Competitive grants up to $10K for early-stage innovations (open to faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and staff).
University of Rochester — Technology Development Fund: Supports researchers translating inventions toward commercial opportunities, including patent-related activities.
University of Notre Dame — Berthiaume Institute Technology Development Fund: Awards for precision health and related innovations.
University of Utah — Ascender Grant program: Substantial funding to bridge research discoveries toward market readiness (including IP protection).
Boston University — Technology Development office supports the full process from idea to patent filing.
Note: Support is common at major research universities with active TTOs (e.g., University of California system, MIT, Stanford). Always check the specific TTO or IP policy for eligibility.
The Oxford Union Debating Society, founded in 1823, is one of the world’s most prestigious debating societies, affiliated with the University of Oxford. It has hosted numerous influential speakers and debates, including historical figures like Winston Churchill and Malcolm X. Over the years, it has played a vital role in shaping public discourse and fostering critical thinking among students. The society’s iconic debating chamber and rich tradition of lively debates have made it an enduring institution in the world of debate and public speaking.
“In an era of cancellation and defenestration we sometimes forget that we both cannot go on like this and that we have been here before. We know this because our greatest writers and artists have addressed this question in their own times.
When Roger [Scrouton] was going through his own battle with the shallows I often thought of Shakespeare’s rarely performed but great play Timon of Athens. Timon has the whole world before him. He is surrounded by friends and admirers. He is generous to all. Yet he falls on hard times and when he does absolutely everybody deserts him. He is left with nothing and nobody, and risks being filled with despair and rage. It does not help that he is shadowed by the cynical philosopher Apemantus, who has warned him that just such a desertion might occur.”
Ave Maria University was founded by Tom Monaghan, the founder of Michigan-based Domino’s Pizza, whose Catholic faith—rooted in his orphanage upbringing under nurturing nuns—drove a vision to renew faithful Catholic higher education amid secular trends and doctrinal challenges in existing institutions.
After selling Domino’s in 1998, Monaghan founded Ave Maria Institute (later College) in Ypsilanti, Michigan, that year, committing hundreds of millions to create an authentically Catholic liberal arts university loyal to the Church’s magisterium.Development accelerated in 2003 with a move to an interim Florida campus, followed by the permanent site in Ave Maria Town (2007), built on donated land from the Barron Collier family and Monaghan’s initial $250 million+ investment.
The university emphasizes faith-integrated academics to form ethical leaders. Under Monaghan’s ongoing stewardship as founder and chancellor, he has guided its growth, emphasizing Catholic identity, leadership formation, and cultural renewal, while transitioning day-to-day operations to presidents while remaining actively involved in its mission.
This is your moment: bring it to the world! Registration is OPEN for Ave Maria University’s Summer Leadership Conference. Join high school juniors and seniors from across the country for a week of formation, community, and unforgettable joy. Rising high school juniors and… pic.twitter.com/IE9PKGmmlu
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
