Latest news with #Va
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Validere Launches Intelligence and Automation Features to Drive Efficiency for the Energy Industry
HOUSTON, May 21, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Validere, the enterprise intelligence platform for the energy industry, today announced the launch of Validere Intelligence — a set of new product capabilities designed to leverage industry-specific context and intelligence to help customers transform disparate and complex data into actionable AI-powered workflows, automation, and insights. Energy industry leaders have wrestled with a persistent challenge: fragmented data trapped in disconnected systems, creating compliance risks, operational blind spots, and delayed decision-making. With the launch of the new Validere Intelligence capabilities, the Validere Platform directly addresses this problem by unifying disparate data sources, embedding industry-specific knowledge into the system, and delivering automated, AI-powered workflows. This comprehensive approach has enabled customers to reduce manual data processing by 30% while gaining unprecedented visibility across their operations. "Energy companies today are drowning in complex operational and emissions data while facing unprecedented regulatory and market uncertainty," said Nouman Ahmad, CEO and Co-founder of Validere. "Our customers need more than just another dashboard or point solution with one siloed data set—they need systems that translate their mountain of complex data into clear actions. This most recent product launch continues to establish Validere as an active partner in decision-making rather than just a passive data repository." The Validere Platform's competitive advantage stems from its unique ability to codify deep energy industry expertise across the entire value chain – from wellhead data complexities to regulatory compliance requirements. Unlike generic AI solutions that require expensive pilots with uncertain returns, or legacy systems that struggle with evolving regulations and new data sources, Validere delivers immediate value through pre-built intelligence templates, automated workflows, and industry-specific AI models. This approach has enabled customers to automate complex processes such as emissions calculations and permit management, reducing the time to generate regulatory reports by up to 70%. Key capabilities of Validere Intelligence include: Human-centered Workflow Automation – Reduces routine data tasks by allowing for the Validere Assistant to automate data collection, validation, and reporting while maintaining full audit trails and human oversight AI-powered Validere Assistant – Simplifies operational decision making by surfacing relevant insights on complex workflow actions throughout the product and providing recommendations on next steps Asset Intelligence Templates – Accelerates asset onboarding from weeks to hours with pre-configured regulatory calculation methodologies and reporting logic Embedded Anomaly Detection – Delivers variance analysis and anomaly detection directly within operational workflows, enabling exception-based management "We've architected Validere Intelligence with a dual focus: enterprise-grade security and scalability that our largest customers demand, alongside the agility to rapidly integrate emerging technologies," said Mike Rolfe, SVP Product at Validere. "This unique approach gives operational teams and executives the confidence to deploy our solution across multiple business units and geographies. While most systems force companies to choose between innovation speed and enterprise requirements, we've designed Validere Intelligence to deliver both – allowing customers to standardize their compliance processes while continuously incorporating new capabilities as demands evolve." About Validere Validere is the enterprise intelligence platform for the energy industry. Our all-in-one platform helps our customers drive efficiency and make smarter decisions by unifying data sources, automating workflows, and deploying industry-specific intelligence across emissions, EHS compliance and measurement solutions. View source version on Contacts Mike Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
18-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Carolyn Hax: Does leaving his wife mean he's just like his deadbeat dad?
Carolyn Hax is away. The following first appeared Feb. 6 and 27, 2011. Hi, Carolyn: I'm a proud daddy of two little ones who are 5 and 3. My own father abandoned my family when my sister and I were about the same age my kids are now. I barely remember him, but it has taken my mom and sister years of therapy, fights and other drama to get over it. As everyone in my family now knows, I am separating from my wife and will soon be moving in with the love of my life. In NO WAY does this mean I will not continue to be a full-time father to my children, but my sister doesn't see it that way. The other day, she accused me (in tears) of being our father — of leaving my family to find my own happiness. This is both inaccurate and unfair, but it has me feeling horrible. How do I clear my conscience and ensure that my sister actually is wrong? — Va. Va.: Easy: Don't move in with this 'love of my life.' If your marriage is over, then it's over; I'm not going to jump on the guilt wagon and say you have an ironclad obligation to stay in the home you created. Love and duty do fuse together in the acts of marriage and childbearing, without question. But the duty is to treat your family's needs as equal to your own, to override self- and family-destructive impulses, to own your mistakes and to regard breaking your vows as the very last resort when all efforts to sustain a healthy marriage have failed. It is not a duty to feign love where you don't feel any, or stay 'for the kids' when the only model you're providing for marriage is one of unrelenting dysfunction. That doesn't serve anyone — not your wife, kids or you, though admittedly you're the least of my worries. When you move in with your new love, however, you're not saying, 'My marriage isn't working and it's best for the kids if we raise them in two households.' What you're saying is, 'The wife was okay, but this woman's better.' Also known as, 'I'm leaving my family to find my own happiness.' The only difference between you and your father is that, as a veteran of parental abandonment, you get how wrong it is to abandon your kids in the process, and plan to remain involved. It's a huge, character-fueled distinction, but not an entirely redeeming one. Let's say your marriage really is broken, for reasons unrelated to your falling for someone else. And let's also say your new love — both the person and the relationship you share — is so healthy that it will actually help you create the kind, stable and loving home you so urgently owe your children. Both of these conditions would be better served by your putting the brakes on the rush to shack up with Love II. By concentrating on one major upheaval at a time — and leaving significant time in between for emotions and other dust to settle — your separation will go better; the transition process for your kids will go better; the progress of your new romance will go better. In the last case: I don't mean a better chance of staying together. I mean a better chance at creating something healthy — which can mean anything from being together for life to dating casually to breaking up. Rushing into this new love while still living with the old one means you haven't given yourself any chance to determine whether you and she are good together under normal relationship conditions. Plus, it tells your kids that it's okay to chase greener grass. For the love of your children — literally — please establish separation, home for just you and your kids, custody agreement, divorce, new family equilibrium, warm and civil co-parenting between you and your ex, and personal emotional health — before you go butt-over-handlebars into the next big thing. Dear Carolyn: I have a young relative who has decided to marry in Sweden because her future husband's family lives in the country and they love it. At the very least, I am expected to attend. I find this presumptuous. It will cost a great deal of money, and a significant and cherished amount of vacation time, that could be used for my own young family. I suppose I will give in and attend. But I am most resentful. Can you enlighten future brides on the hardship in such wedding plans? — Attending but Very Resentful Attending but Very Resentful: Sure, but only if you enlighten me on how it wouldn't cost the Swedish relatives anything to travel to the States. Couples with international or even just cross-country ties simply can't get married among family and friends without asking some to travel. In these cases, blaming the couple for your hardship is akin to blaming them for selfishly refusing to find mates from within a two-hour driving radius of your home. If it costs too much, then don't go — and certainly don't go angry.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Veteran advocacy leader defends Trump's shake-ups at VA, calls for reform to support veterans
EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump's Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, has proposed a 15% workforce reduction with a goal of cutting 80,000 jobs at the VA. Retired Lt. Col. Jim Whaley, CEO of Mission Roll Call, a veteran advocacy non-profit, said such VA reform is necessary to improve veterans' lives across the United States. Whaley told Fox News Digital that veterans want to see less bureaucracy at the VA and more "community care" to cut wait times and increase services at local VA hospitals, but "if it was easy, somebody would have solved it." "Every American and politician, from both sides of the aisle, can agree that we want to make sure we take care of our veterans," Whaley said. "We just got out of over 20 years of war, so there are a lot of veterans and their families that need help. We want to make sure that every dollar that the American taxpayer is paying to support the VA is spent wisely, and that veterans are getting the care that they need. And more importantly, that they're getting the care when they need it, where they need it and how they need it." 'Changes That Actually Help Our Veterans': Va Secretary Defends Proposed 15% Workforce Reduction The VA serves only half of U.S. veterans. While Whaley said Collins is trying to reach the other 50% through TV and podcast appearances, he encouraged more transparency about the VA's services to reach the other half of veterans who still need care. Read On The Fox News App "One hundred days into the second Trump administration, and VA is no longer content with poor results. Under President Trump's leadership, we have already stripped away many of the costly distractions that were coming between VA beneficiaries and the benefits they have earned. And we're looking to make even more historic reforms to better serve our veterans," Collins said. Trump and Collins have faced controversy in the media and among Democrats for cutting VA jobs and for their efforts to overhaul the department. Whaley, whose organization conducts veteran polling, said more than half of veterans are worried about VA cuts. 'Down To Zero': Veteran Suicide Crisis Targeted In Va Bill By Bipartisan House Coalition "When all you hear is about the cuts versus what the philosophy is behind why you're making those changes in an organization, there's going to be fear. Change is hard. It's important that the VA stays as transparent as possible and reports on what is being done and what improvements are being made," Whaley said. However, Whatley, a veteran himself, said all veterans want to see an improved VA. "They want to see services improve, they want to see wait times reduced. As time goes on and Veterans Affairs communicate more and more with veterans, they will know a little bit about what's going on, and they'll be a little less anxious about it. I think it's all about making sure that veterans are getting the news, making sure they understand why they're making these cuts." Whaley encouraged Collins and the VA to include more veterans in the conversations surrounding the VA's reform by listening to families and caregivers to learn how to best invest in veteran care. "Veteran affairs are very important to recruitment issues, and that, of course, affects national security. So they're not all separate, it all wraps together. When a veteran gets out of the service after a few years of serving their country, we have to make sure that the transition to the civilian world and finding a job and plugging into the community goes smoothly, because if we don't, then we have an issue," Whaley said. According to the 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, more than 17 veterans committed suicide per day in 2021. "We need to get the number of suicides as close to zero as possible. That's the number one priority," Whaley said, adding that community care is also a top priority, so veterans don't have to drive long distances and wait a long time to get the services they need. "We need to make sure that the Department of Defense and the VA are working together when veterans are transitioning out of the military to make sure they're plugged into the VA and that the transition goes well. Because the fact of the matter is, the majority of suicides among veterans are from veterans that have recently transitioned to the civilian world."Original article source: Veteran advocacy leader defends Trump's shake-ups at VA, calls for reform to support veterans
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dogs could help predict spread of Valley fever in humans: Study
California scientists have determined that dogs might be able to help predict the spread of a dangerous fungus, which has surged in recent years due to the impacts of climate change. Drought conditions across the Golden State have been ramping up the dispersal of a soil-dwelling organism called coccidioides, which causes the flu-like disease known as coccidioidomycosis, or 'Valley fever.' The disease, which can cause grave or even deadly complications, has risen sharply among California residents over the past two decades: Reported cases tripled from 2014 to 2018 and again from 2018 to 2022. Valley fever was previously concentrated in parts of Arizona and California's lower San Joaquin Valley. Rather than passing from person to person, the disease develops from the direct inhalation of these fungal spores. But Valley fever is also common in animals, particularly dogs that dig in the dirt, according to researchers from the University of California, who published a study on Thursday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The scientists assessed nearly 835,000 blood antibody tests taken from dogs nationwide between 2012 and 2022 — and found that 40 percent tested positive for the disease. 'Dogs are sentinels for human infections,' lead author Jane Sykes, a professor of small animal internal medicine at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, said in a statement. 'They can help us understand not just the epidemiology of the disease but they're also models to help us understand the disease in people,' she added. Along with colleagues at UC Berkeley, Sykes mapped positive results by location and found that the presence of Valley fever in dogs surged from just 2.4 percent of U.S. counties in 2012 to 12.4 percent in 2022. 'We were also finding cases in states where valley fever is not considered endemic,' Sykes said. 'We should be closely watching those states because there could be under-recognition of the emerging fungal disease in humans.' The sheer number of cases, the authors explained, cannot be attributed to dogs visiting other states, since the animals travel far less frequently than humans do. Dog cases were also correlated with human Valley fever 'hot spots,' per the study. Arizona was responsible for 91.5 percent of positive tests, followed by California at 3.7 percent; Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas at 2.6 percent combined; and Washington, Oregon and Idaho at 0.6 percent combined. The remaining states reported far fewer positive results, with 1.3 percent combined, the researchers found. The authors also determined that dog breeds that tend to dig, such as medium-to-large animals and terriers, are more likely to get Valley fever. They also exhibit some of the same symptoms of the disease that humans experience, including a cough and lung infection. The fungus can spread to the bones, brain and skin and require lifelong antifungal injections, and can potentially result in death, the scientists warned. By learning more about Valley fever in dogs, Sykes suggested that humans could develop new tests or routes for treatment — potentially preventing misdiagnosis or undiagnosed disease among themselves. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Is measles coming to Maine? Will my vaccination protect me?
Mar. 15—Measles outbreaks are continuing to expand in Texas and New Mexico, with 284 reported cases and two deaths of unvaccinated people so far. Nationwide, there have been 308 measles cases so far this year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday. That surpasses the total number cases reported for all of 2024 — 285. No cases have been reported in Maine yet this year, and the state's high vaccination rate reduces the risk of an outbreak here. But Maine is not totally immune from the disease. The last measles case in Maine was in 2023, when one child contracted the disease. The Press Herald caught up with Dr. Puthiery Va, director of the Maine CDC, to help answer Mainers' questions about vaccinations, the risks of the disease, and reports of alternative prevention methods and treatments. Here is what you need to know. Where is measles showing up in the U.S.? Outside the big outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico, measles cases have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. What is the measles and why is it dangerous? Measles is a viral disease that causes the spotted rash often seen in news photos, as well as fever, cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis (eye infection), among other symptoms. It can cause severe complications. "The measles is harmful. It can cause brain swelling, pneumonia, loss of hearing and loss of life," Va said. About one to three in every 1,000 cases can result in death. Before the measles vaccine was introduced in the 1960s, the infection caused 400-500 deaths per year. How does it spread and how is it stopped? "The measles is incredibly contagious, and one reason it's so contagious and so good at spreading is it's airborne," Va said. "The individual is contagious for longer than they are feeling ill, four days before they have symptoms to up to 21 days after they were exposed to the virus. So people are moving around, going about their daily lives and still very much contagious." Measles is considered so contagious that if one person has it, nine of 10 people in the same room are likely to contract the measles, if they are unvaccinated. "Vaccination is the only, most effective way to prevent measles," Va said. When should my child get the measles vaccine? The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine — MMR — is recommended for children ages 12-15 months, followed by a booster for children ages 4-6 years. If a family is traveling to an area experiencing a measles outbreak, that may slightly alter the recommendation, Va said. For instance, if you have a 10-month-old child and are traveling to West Texas, where measles is spreading, Va said to go ahead and get the shot early. Maine passed a law in 2019 that went into effect in 2021 that requires all school-age children to be vaccinated for measles and a number of other infectious diseases, such as pertussis and chickenpox. Previously, parents could sign a form forgoing vaccination for their children on religious or philosophic grounds. Maine eliminated those opt-outs, and now the only way a family can forgo school-required vaccines for their child is through a medical exemption. Does that mean Maine is better protected? Since the law went into effect, Maine's school vaccination rates have soared, and kindergarten opt-out rates plummeted from about 4% to 6% in the years leading up to the law going into effect, to 0.9% in the 2023-24 school year. Maine's schools also achieved herd immunity for the first time since 2011, with 97% of all students getting their shots for all vaccinations, in the 2023-24 school year. Herd immunity is when immunization levels are so high that it doesn't allow even highly contagious diseases like measles to spread. "Our high vaccination rates are why we haven't seen a measles outbreak here in Maine," Va said. "Because we have such a good vaccination rate, the measles doesn't have an opportunity to spread." Do older adults need to get a measles vaccine booster? Those born between 1957 and 1967 should check with their primary care physician to see if they need a booster shot, because during that time the vaccine given for measles was weaker than later variations of the vaccine. Va said that typically someone born in that time period will take a blood test to see if they have immunity to measles, and if immunity has waned, their doctor may recommend a booster shot. This is a standing recommendation, but has been the focus of more public attention recently because of the measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico. Can Vitamin A prevent or treat measles? Misinformation about measles prevention continues to spread, including about the vaccine and vitamin A. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new health and human services secretary and an anti-vaccine activist, recently told Fox News that the measles vaccine can cause the measles. This is false. Kennedy has also floated the idea that vitamin A can treat measles, but according to Johns Hopkins University, "Vitamin A is not a cure or prevention for measles." Vitamin A can be useful for measles in "populations with a high prevalence of undernutrition and vitamin A deficiency, which is generally not the case in the U.S." In areas with vitamin A deficiency, such as some developing countries, vitamin A supplements could reduce measles mortality by about half, according to Johns Hopkins. Copy the Story Link
