March 2023 1D0-541 Exam Dumps

The following is the Feb. 9, 2023, Congressional Budget Office report, Availability and Use of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Fighter Aircraft.

• Availability Rates by Fiscal Year Are Lower and Declined Faster for Both Types of Hornets
  Than for the Rest of the Department of the Navy’s Fleet. Availability rates of Super Hornets
  declined markedly between the mid-2000s and the mid-2010s; the older F/A-18C/D Hornets
  experienced a longer and steeper drop. Both types of Hornets experienced sharper and steeper
  drops in availability than the rest of the Department of the Navy’s fleet. Because the Super Hornet
  is a newer aircraft, it has a higher availability rate, on average, than F/A-18C/Ds, which were
  introduced in the late 1980s.
• Super Hornets Have Aged More Adversely Than Their Predecessors. When compared with
  F/A-18C/Ds of the same age, the Super Hornet fleet has had lower availability rates. For example,
  Super Hornet availability at age 10 was about 18 percentage points lower than F/A-18C/D
  availability at age 10 and is comparable to F/A-18C/D availability at age 20. These findings
  suggest that age has had a more adverse effect on Super Hornets than it did on F/A-18C/Ds.
• Flying Hours Cannot Explain Differing Availability. Are Super Hornets becoming less available
  faster than their predecessors because they are flying more and thus subject to greater wear and
  tear? The data CBO analyzed do not support this hypothesis. Monthly flying hours of Super
  Hornets modestly exceeded those of F/A-18C/Ds only in the initial years of operation of both
  fleets. By age 10, however, Super Hornets were flying four fewer hours per month than 10-year old
  F/A-18C/Ds flew.
• Availability Rates of Super Hornets May Stabilize or Continue to Decline. The experiences of the
  oldest Super Hornets suggest that their availability is likely to continue to decline as the fleet ages.
  A similar trend has been observed for many fighter and attack aircraft. But some fleets have had
  lengthy periods with stable availability rates. Because the Super Hornet is a relatively new aircraft,
  the Navy could take actions that might increase or stabilize the aircraft’s availability rate, such as
  increasing funding for maintenance.

Download the document here.

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Mortgage credit availability decreased in January according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that analyzes data from ICE Mortgage Technology.

The MCAI fell by 0.1% to 103.2 in January. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012. The Conventional MCAI decreased 0.3%, while the Government MCAI remained unchanged. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI decreased by 0.4%, and the Conforming MCAI remained unchanged.

“Mortgage credit availability was essentially unchanged in January and remained close to its lowest level since 2013,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Similar to December 2023, the availability of credit has been driven lower by declining originations and shrinking industry capacity as lenders have streamlined their operations to cope with lower volumes. Additionally, as mortgage rates declined over the past month, the share of adjustable-rate mortgages has fallen – consistent with a slight pullback in ARM offerings in this month’s results. However, there has been a revival in mortgage application activity over the past month and our forecast is for rates to continue to decline and housing activity – including home sales and new home construction – to gradually pick up as we approach the spring homebuying season. These developments could potentially change the credit availability landscape in the months ahead.”

The MCAI fell by 0.1% to 103.2 in January. The Conventional MCAI decreased 0.3%, while the Government MCAI remained unchanged. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI decreased by 0.4%, and the Conforming MCAI remained unchanged.

To read the full report, including more data, charts and methodology, click here.

The cannabis industry is booming in Connecticut.

“Really strong increase in volume and sales. We anticipated that and prepared as much as we could,” Fine Fettle Dispensary pharmacist Ludwig Rosiclair said.

Adult-use cannabis was legalized in the state on Jan.10, 2023.

The Department of Consumer Protection announced sales for recreational and medical marijuana totaled more than $13.3 million between Jan. 10 and Jan. 31, 2023.

The adult-use market recorded $5.1 million in sales during the month of January, while the medical marijuana market recorded $8.2 million in sales for the same period, according to DCP.

One of the priorities when hybrid dispensaries opened was making sure medical patients are taken care of first.

“Medical has been great. I feel like a king walking past the line for recreational. There's always a line for it. Medical, you walk right in and you're out pretty quick,” Joshua Patrick, of Newington, said.

However, some patients and their families say product availability has changed.

“Ever since Jan. 10th was legalized, people cannot get edibles, they are products that they need,” Maryann Pasquence, of Meriden, said. 

“Our selection as of today is 53 options for flowers. Where before recreational happened, we would have like 100,” Patrick said.

 Dispensaries have received feedback from patients.

“We are hoping and expecting there will be more variety to provide to patients as time goes on but again, we are not in any type of shortage,” Rosiclair said.

DCP said they are aware of the concerns, reviewing complaints and talking to producers.

“Maintaining an adequate supply for a viable market, particularly the state's medical patients, is the department's priority. The department continues to monitor the supply of cannabis products, and will exercise its discretion to set transaction limits appropriately based on market needs as they arise," DCP said in a statement.

Microsoft Corp.’s GitHub unit today made Copilot for Business, its artificial intelligence code generation service, generally available.

The service is based on a tool called Copilot that GitHub first previewed in 2021. Both offerings are designed to increase developer productivity by automatically generating software code. But whereas Copilot is geared toward individuals, the newly launched Copilot for Business focuses on the enterprise market.

“For an organization, developers fixing bugs faster means your product and supply chain is more secure,” GitHub Chief Executive Officer Thomas Dohmke wrote in a blog post. “Developers being able to learn and onboard new technologies means they can deliver better solutions for your customers.”

GitHub has added several new features to Copilot for Business on occasion of its release into general availability. According to the Microsoft unit, the features will help developers write code faster and more easily detect software vulnerabilities.

Copilot for Business generates software code using an AI model called Codex. According to GitHub, developers can write a text prompt describing a software task and have Codex automatically generate the code necessary to perform that task. The AI model supports multiple programming languages.

Copilot for Business is rolling out into general availability with a new, improved version of Codex. GitHub says the upgraded AI model can now deliver more relevant code suggestions and generate them faster than before.

The Microsoft unit has also made Copilot for Business more secure. In theory, configuration flaws may sometimes cause the service to generate insecure code. To address that risk, GitHub has added a mechanism for blocking AI code suggestions that might contain vulnerabilities.

GitHub says Copilot for Business can detect several types of security issues. It’s capable of spotting code that may facilitate SQL injections, a type of common cyberattack involving malicious database queries. Copilot for Business also spots other vulnerabilities, including cases where sensitive data snippets such as encryption keys are stored in an insecure manner within an application’s code base.

Another set of improvements detailed today focuses on VS Code. Developed by GitHub parent Microsoft Corp., VS Code is one of the most popular code editors in the developer ecosystem. Copilot for Business can be embedded into the tool’s interface.

GitHub has enhanced the VS Code integration with a feature that promises to make AI code suggestions more relevant. The feature collects data about developers’ workflow, such as how often they dismiss recommendations made by Copilot for Business. It then uses this data to find ways of providing better code suggestions. 

The Microsoft unit rolled out an initial version of the feature last year. That initial version helped reduce unnecessary code suggestions by 4.5%, it says. Copilot for Business now includes a newer version of the feature that promises to further Strengthen code suggestions. 

“In the coming years, we will integrate AI into every aspect of the developer experience — from coding to the pull request to code deployments — so developers can build their best in a world where all organizations will be more dependent on their success than ever,” Dohmke detailed.

Image: GitHub

A Texas lawsuit with a key deadline this month is posing a threat to the nationwide availability of medication abortion, which now accounts for the majority of abortions in the U.S.

The case filed by abortion opponents who helped challenge Roe v. Wade seeks to reverse a decades-old approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

If a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump sides with them, it could halt the supply of the drug mifepristone in all states, both where abortion is banned and where it remains legal.

FDA TO PERMIT SOME RETAIL PHARMACIES TO DISPENSE ABORTION PILLS

"It could have an immediate impact on the country," said Mini Timmaraju, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "In some ways this is a backdoor ban on abortion."

On Friday, a group of 22 Democratic-led states weighed in, saying the consequences of reversing the approval could be "nothing short of catastrophic. A similar-sized group of Republican states also filed briefs supporting the reversal, saying the ability to order pills by mail undermines their laws banning abortion.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has not indicated exactly when or how he will rule, but groups like Timmaraju’s have been preparing for a possible decision shortly after a Feb. 24 filing deadline. There is scant precedent for a lone judge overruling the FDA’s scientific decisions. A swift appeal of any ruling is likely.

The lawsuit was filed by the group Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to Roe v. Wade being overturned.

"Our representatives in Congress created the FDA and gave the FDA the responsibility to make sure that drugs are safe before they’re allowed on the market … the FDA failed that responsibility," said Julie Blake, senior counsel for the group.

They argue the FDA overstepped its authority in approving mifepristone by using an accelerated review process reserved for drugs to treat "serious or life-threatening illnesses."

But in its legal response, the agency said it didn't accelerate the drug’s approval, which came four years after the manufacturer first submitted its application to market the pill.

The FDA approved mifepristone — in combination with a second drug — as a safe and effective method for ending a pregnancy in 2000. Common side effects include cramping and light bleeding. Cases of more severe bleeding requiring emergency care are very rare.

Halting access to the drug more than 20 years after approval would be "extraordinary and unprecedented," federal attorneys stated in a legal filing.

Kacsmaryk, who previously ruled against a program providing free birth control to minors in Texas, could also issue a ruling rolling back regulators' decisions to ease restrictions on the pill’s availability. Those have been based on scientific studies showing women can safely use the drug at home.

In late 2021, the FDA removed a requirement that women pick up the drug in person. Last month the agency dropped another requirement that prevented most pharmacies from dispensing the pill.

20 STATE AGS WARN CVS, WALGREENS THAT DISTRIBUTING ABORTION PILLS VIOLATES STATE, FEDERAL LAW

Medication abortion accounted for over half of abortions before Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to research from the Guttmacher Institute. It’s grown more important since then, said Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst for the science-based research group that supports abortion rights.

"The clinics that are open in the receiving states are stretched thin, they don’t have a lot of deliver in their capacity and being able to provide medication abortion is very, very important," she said.

Abortion medication is approved for use up to the 10th week of pregnancy. Mifepristone is taken first, swallowed by mouth. The drug dilates the cervix and blocks the effects of the hormone progesterone, which is needed to sustain a pregnancy.

Misoprostol, a drug also used to treat stomach ulcers, is taken 24 to 48 hours later. It causes the uterus to cramp and contract, causing bleeding and expelling pregnancy tissue. The combination has been shown to be more than 95% effective in ending pregnancies up to 10 weeks.

If mifepristone is pulled, providers could prescribe misoprostol alone instead, an approach that is used in many parts of the world, but would be a big shift in U.S. practice and has not been found to be quite as effective.

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Such a ruling could also increase the need for surgical abortion and further increase wait times at clinics, which are already weekslong in some cases after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe, Nash said.

COPS have called in a specialist team of divers who have specialist sonar equipment to help search the river near where Nicola Bulley vanished.

The dog walker, 45, disappeared after dropping her children off at school in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, on Friday January 27.

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Since then there has been no trace of the mum-of-two, leaving her family in agony.

Cops this week revealed their "main working hypothesis" was that Nicola had "sadly fallen" into the icy River Wyre.

And now a private specialist diving group revealed they are on the way to search the water.

Specialist Group International (SGI) offered to help Lancashire Police days ago but the force refused, they claim.

Now, cops announced the group WILL help in the hunt for Nicola.

A post on SGI's Facebook page read: “I have just had a long call with the Lancashire Police search adviser to discuss the search for Nicola. 

“We will work closely with the police search teams who are working long hours to find Nicola.

“The team are leaving shortly from our base in Dorking on route to Lancashire to start tomorrow morning.”

The team will be using a high-spec sonar "which can see every stick and stone lying on the riverbed".

CGI boss Mr Faulding said the company's £55,000 side-scan sonar has a high frequency of 1,800 kilohertz - meaning it will be able to examine every area.

Earlier this week, SGI claimed they contacted the police and offered to help, but their offer was denied.

SGI blasted at the time: “Unfortunately, Lancashire police have responded via the family declining my offer saying they will continue with their own river searches using their current resources.”

But in a statement last night, Lancashire Police announced a U-turn.

The force said: "SGI have reached out to the family and offered to assist in the search for Nicola. Lancashire Police have already liaised with them.

"They will deploy under the direction of Lancashire Police and will join an already large, multi-agency search operation involving a wide variety of search assets and resources.

"Their capability will overlay what has already been, and continues to be completed, in order to deliver extra search coverage along what is an extremely challenging environment to search."

Yesterday, Mr Faulding branded the Nicola probe "a mess" as crucial evidence may have been missed.

He also slammed the cops for not closing off the area where Nicola vanished, saying they were too quick to assume there were no suspicious circumstances.

It comes after the first CCTV images of missing mum Nicola Bulley on the day she vanished were released.

Snaps from Nicola's own Ring Doorbell show her loading her car outside her home just hours before she went missing on a riverside walk.

She is seen on security footage wearing a long dark coat, leggings and ankle boots with her hair tied in a ponytail.

She then hops into her Mercedes 4x4 before taking off on the school run to drop off her two daughters.

A friend of Nicola released the CCTV footage in a bid to find her.

It comes as another friend begged the public to keep their minds open about the cause of her disappearance.

Leanne Grace wrote on Facebook: “I’m about to watch the sunset on another day. 

“The hours are passing so slowly yet have somehow turned to days and now over week. Every day is getting harder for your friends and family and our hearts break a little more. 

“Trying to carry on with everyday life just doesn’t feel right.

"We will not deliver up on you Nicola. Please keep searching everyone.

“Despite the police hypothesis that Nicola may have fallen into the water, please be aware that there is no evidence to back this up. 

“There are still other avenues that have not yet been explored.

"If anyone has any information please contact the police immediately, no matter how small or insignificant you may think it is.

"Nikki has to be out there. Please help to get her home to her family. We love you Nik.”

On the day she went missing the mum-of-two was wearing an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket, a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat which was worn underneath the gilet, tight-fitting black jeans, long green walking socks tucked into her jeans, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit.

New collaborative research led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows reduced krill supplies lead to fewer pregnancies in humpback whales -- a finding that could have major implications for industrial krill fishing.