Become a Smart Traveler Now! STEP is an easy first step to being a smart traveler. You should also always research your destination, and consider additional ways to get safety and security information from the U.S. Department of State, like on social media.
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Plan on spending hours learning the search process, searching, and evaluating results. The length of time spent on your search depends on the complexity of the invention. It is important to carefully record the details of your search process, such as the databases you used, the date and time of your search, the keywords you searched, and which patents/published patent applications were retrieved.
The Patent and Trademark Resource Center Program also provides a CBT (computer-based training) tutorial with a detailed review of the step-by-step strategy. The current CBT covers searching using Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC).
PTRC library staff around the country are available to provide training on U.S. patent search processes and research tools including Patent Public Search. For the PTRC nearest you, check www.uspto.gov/ptrc.
Two-step verification (sometimes called multi-factor authentication) helps protect you by making it more difficult for someone else to sign in to your Microsoft account. It uses two different forms of identity: your password, and a contact method (also known as security info). Even if someone else finds your password, they'll be stopped if they don't have access to your security info. This is also why it's important to use different passwords for all your accounts.
Two-step verification begins with an email address (we recommend two different email addresses, the one you normally use, and one as a backup just in case), a phone number, or any authenticator app. When you sign in on a new device or from a new location, we'll send you a security code to enter on the sign-in page. Learn how you can use the Microsoft Authenticator app or authenticate using Outlook for Android.
If you forget your password when you have two-step verification turned on for your account, you can reset your password as long as we have two ways to contact you, like one of the alternate contact email addresses or phone numbers that you used when you turned on two-step verification.
Depending on what security info you have added to your account, this requirement might mean entering a security code from your authenticator app and entering a security code that was emailed to your backup email account.
If you're looking for info about changing, removing, or updating the alternate email address or phone number where you get security codes, follow the steps in either Security info & verification codes or Replace your Microsoft account security info.
App passwords are only available if you use two-step verification. If you don't have two-step verification turned on, you won't see the App passwords section on the Additional security options page.
At Texas A&M University, we stand together against sexual and dating violence, and sexual harassment. Our core values guide us in all we do, and that includes ensuring our campus is safe for everyone. It's up to us to do what Aggies do: Serve.
Putting a stop to sexual harassment and sexual violence begins with each one of us taking the collective first step toward change. Together, we step in to prevent these senseless acts and stand up to support the survivors. Together, we will change the perceptions, conversations and communities.
Stand with the entire Texas A&M community in creating awareness and action in an effort to prevent sexual harassment and sexual violence on our campus, in our community and throughout our country. See how you can Step In, Stand Up and get more involved.
In this section, you will find a general description of the naturalization application process. Before you apply, be sure that you meet all eligibility requirements and check if you qualify for any exceptions and accommodations. USCIS has also developed responses to commonly asked questions about citizenship and the naturalization process.
What to do: Read the instructions to complete Form N-400. Collect the necessary documents to demonstrate your eligibility for naturalization. If you reside outside the United States, get 2 passport-style photos taken. Use the document checklist (PDF, 178.19 KB) to make sure you collect all the required documents.
What to do: If you need to take biometrics, USCIS will send you an appointment notice that includes your biometrics appointment date, time, and location. Arrive at the designated location at the scheduled time. Have your biometrics taken.
Once all the preliminary processes on your case are complete, USCIS will schedule an interview with you to complete the naturalization process. You must report to the USCIS office at the date and time on your appointment notice. Please bring the appointment notice with you.
What to expect: If USCIS approved your Form N-400 in step 7, you may be able to participate in a naturalization ceremony on the same day as your interview. If a same day naturalization ceremony is unavailable, USCIS will mail you a notification with the date, time, and location of your scheduled ceremony. If you filed your N-400 online, you can also access the electronic notice in your application.
defines the range of models examined in the stepwise search. This should be either a single formula, or a list containing components upper and lower, both formulae. See the details for how to specify the formulae and how they are used.
the mode of stepwise search, can be one of "both", "backward", or "forward", with a default of "both". If the scope argument is missing the default for direction is "backward". Values can be abbreviated.
a filter function whose input is a fitted model object and the associated AIC statistic, and whose output is arbitrary. Typically keep will select a subset of the components of the object and return them. The default is not to keep anything.
the stepwise-selected model is returned, with up to two additional components. There is an "anova" component corresponding to the steps taken in the search, as well as a "keep" component if the keep= argument was supplied in the call. The "Resid. Dev" column of the analysis of deviance table refers to a constant minus twice the maximized log likelihood: it will be a deviance only in cases where a saturated model is well-defined (thus excluding lm, aov and survreg fits, for example).
The model fitting must apply the models to the same dataset. This may be a problem if there are missing values and R's default of na.action = na.omit is used. We suggest you remove the missing values first.
step uses add1 and drop1 repeatedly; it will work for any method for which they work, and that is determined by having a valid method for extractAIC. When the additive constant can be chosen so that AIC is equal to Mallows' \(C_p\), this is done and the tables are labelled appropriately.
The set of models searched is determined by the scope argument. The right-hand-side of its lower component is always included in the model, and right-hand-side of the model is included in the upper component. If scope is a single formula, it specifies the upper component, and the lower model is empty. If scope is missing, the initial model is used as the upper model.
There is a potential problem in using glm fits with a variable scale, as in that case the deviance is not simply related to the maximized log-likelihood. The "glm" method for function extractAIC makes the appropriate adjustment for a gaussian family, but may need to be amended for other cases. (The binomial and poisson families have fixed scale by default and do not correspond to a particular maximum-likelihood problem for variable scale.)
For years, Congress had attempted to pass criminal justice reform legislation, such as the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (SRCA) introduced in 2015 by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). But the SRCA failed to pass in 2016 despite overwhelming bipartisan support, thanks to opposition from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and then-Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).
The FIRST STEP Act initially stalled in the Senate amid opposition from a right-wing minority faction led again by Cotton. And, critically, time was running out in the legislative session, making Republican leaders balk at spending precious floor time on the bill. But another series of compromises quieted opposition from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and garnered support for the bill from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the majority whip, clearing the path for an easy floor vote. After that change and continued pressure from Trump, Grassley, the Koch Brothers, and constituents in Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced in mid-December that he would bring up the bill for a vote before the end of the year, during the lame-duck Congress.
Longtime opponents of reform like Cotton still had a chance to block the bill: They could run out the clock. But a series of procedural shortcuts allowed McConnell to bring the bill to the floor by essentially slotting the text of the bill into another piece of legislation that was already eligible for Senate consideration. And so another hurdle was cleared.
The FIRST STEP Act is consequential because it includes provisions for meaningful sentencing reform, which would reduce the number and amount of people in prison and is part of the starting point of any serious legislation for criminal justice reform. Sentencing laws played a central role in the rise of mass incarceration in recent decades. The federal prison population, in particular, has risen by more than 700 percent since 1980, and federal prison spending has increased by nearly 600 percent. That growth has disproportionally affected Black, Latino, and Native Americans.
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