![]() COVID-19 testing revenues nosedived 80% from the prior-year quarter. On the flip side, in the first quarter of 2023, Quest Diagnostics reported a 10.7% decline in the top line. The company believes that SALSA has the potential to fix PAMA permanently. In terms of Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA), the company is optimistic about the recently introduced federal laboratory legislation, Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA). In addition, to help offset inflationary pressure, the company has been pursuing an operational excellence strategy and closely managing the cost structure through its Invigorate initiatives. The company is helping Pennsylvania-based Tower Health manage its laboratory supply chain in addition to performing reference testing. In the first quarter, Quest Diagnostics witnessed success with contract wins in its reference and professional lab services offerings. This trend is directly related to the company’s ongoing efforts to partner with health plans to actively steer patients to high-quality, lower-cost providers like Quest, thereby saving money for the health plan, employers and plan members. Health plan volumes continued to grow faster than the overall business. ![]() The base business registered double-digit growth, driven by strong performance across physician and health system lab services. Quest Diagnostics reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenues. The stock has declined 0.3% compared with 18.3% decline of the industry. In the past year, Quest Diagnostics has outperformed its industry. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Over the past several quarters, the overall soft industry trends leading to a low-volume environment have acted as a dampener for Quest Diagnostics. A positive demography and cost reduction initiatives are the other upsides. Quest Diagnostics ( DGX Quick Quote DGX - Free Report) has been focusing on areas with high potential.
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![]() ![]() The game takes place in a medieval setting, with rulers of several counties warring. It was first released for the PC on October 31, 1996, and is the second game in the Lords of the Realm series. For all the (Windows) Steam games you own try use one of the 8 Steam Wrapper. Highly recommended, especially to anyone who's interested in medieval history, and fans of Defender of The Crown who want more substance and accuracy in the game. Lords of the Realm II is a computer game published by Sierra Entertainment and developed by Impressions Games. Lords of the Realm: 1 + 2 Royal Edition for Mac OSX. It's unfortunate that Lords of The Realm II is not as addictive as this strategy game (although it is also an excellent game in its own right). Similar to Kou Shibusawa's Nobunaga's Ambition, Lester's Lords of The Realm is not only a labor of love, but a highly personal game where the designer's genuine interest in his country's heritage are fully borne by the game's excellence. The AI is quite competent, and there are many nice historical tidbits in the game, including the simple but effective diplomacy model, to entertain both die-hard and casual gamers. ![]() troops marching to their destinations), and seasonal changes (wheat stalks blow in the summer wind, and wilt with the onset of winter). Although it still crunches a lot of numbers, and you will still keep track of many more statistics than you care to count, Lords of The Realms presents these statistics visually: you will see the graphical effects of all your orders (e.g. What makes the game very addictive is, first and foremost, the fact that it finally broke away from the notorious "spreadsheet-style" syndrome that most previous Impressions titles share. Think of it as a cross between Kingdoms of Germany and Castles II, but with more depth." The "3-Cs" of medievalism are covered: castle construction, crop rotation, and combat. offers an interesting portrayal of thirteenth century politics and military maneuver. Download extras files Manual, map, refcard and misc available Description of Lords of the Realm David Lester's masterpiece and definitely THE game that finally brought Impressions into the spotlight, Lords of The Realms is a great medieval strategy game that strikes a great balance between combat and empire building. David Lester's masterpiece and definitely THE game that finally brought Impressions into the spotlight, Lords of The Realms is a great medieval strategy game that strikes a great balance between combat and empire building.Īs veteran wargamers M. ![]() There’s plenty of action in both the present and the past and as always it’s well done. It really gives some of the previous moments both in the present and the past some extra emotional context. I don’t want to spoil it but splashes of blood have a particularly touching message. There’s also a particularly poignant bit of art later on as we flashback to Bloodshot and his daughter Jessie. There’s a lot to be said of the body language in the art which helps reinforce what we hear in the narration. Little touches of the way Bloodshot moves and gold himself all reflect the way he’s trying to help Verlane above everything. Yet for all the blood and guts in the art there’s also the melancholy, the fact Bloodshot doesn’t blame Verlane at all. ![]() He spends significant periods of this issue with a hole in his chest. The art doesn’t shy away from the sheer damage Bloodshot takes. Well shot, exploded, all those things that lead to messy outcomes. Which means that he gets pretty shot up in the process. ![]() It’s why he looks for a non-violent way of subduing him. It’s not his fault that he suffers traumatic flashbacks that lead him to violence and Bloodshot gets that. Verlane is probably the most sympathetic character we’ve met. When reading you are able to follow along with both and get sense of the loss of both. The two storylines were interweaved really well in both the writing but also the art. I really loved how the parallels were drawn between the present with Verlane and the past with his family. So is Bloodshot as we finally flashback to the event that ruined Bloodshot’s home and family. Verlane is a man haunted by flashbacks to his past. There is a lot of trauma explored here both Bloodshot’s but also that of Sergeant Michael Verlane, the soldier Bloodshot is facing. If there is a theme then that theme is pretty dark and PTSD. There are things that could be expanded upon in the future which is also good. We finally get answers regarding Bloodshot’s family, including an appearance from the dog, yes. ![]() It’s a good ending to a first and possibly only arc. If we do I hope we get something more in this vein. Who knows when we will get more of the character. This has been a solid return for Bloodshot. It’s been a short run but also one packed with quality. Here we are with the last issue of Bloodshot. ![]() ![]() Will the Open Beta be playable via controller for PC, and/or playable via keyboard and mouse for Console? The Open Beta will be available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions What platforms will the Open Beta be available for? ![]() From Ju ly 7 th, there will be dedicated rooms for sharing feedback on the game during the Open Beta. Your feedback is important to the team! Please share your thoughts and experiences over at the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin official Discord server or via the Issue Tracker website. Share your Triumphs Over The Realm of Ghur! ![]() Launch the PlayStation Store and search for Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin – Open Beta.Launch the Xbox Store and search for Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin – Open Beta.Launch Steam and navigate to the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin store page and follow the link there to download.Please see below on how to access it on your preferred platform: Steam The Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin Open Beta will be available for download on July 7th. The Open Beta begins July 7 th at 11:00 am BST ( 3:00am PT) and ends July 10 th at 11:59pm BST ( 3:59pm PT ) Accessing The Open Beta: We want to make Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin the smoothest experience at launch process. So, when accessing the Open Beta on July 7-10th, keep playing, provide feedback, and most importantly, have fun! It’s important to note that the version of the game you will be playing is still very much in development and therefore we expect you will encounter bugs and network issues. You'll engage in 1v1 multiplayer battles, with our available factions, the Stormcast Eternals and Orruk Kruleboyz. Raise blade and banner, warriors! We invite you to the Realm of Ghur, for the Open Beta! Optionally, you can even remove saved passwords, compact databases, site preferences, and saved form information. ![]() Web browser cleaner – A browser cleaner, bundled in this amazing software is able to remove temporary internet files, web browsing history, cookies, download, and form history.CCleaner can remove obsolete entries to your Registry and leave up more work for the system to be more efficient. Registry cleaner – Windows Registry is a collection of databases of configuration settings in all Windows operating systems.Several clean-up sections bundled into this software: This software clears your systems of all unnecessary files, often identifying and removing several gigabytes off your drive. ![]() 64-bit CCleaner is automatically installed, once the installer detects you are using an appropriate system. Lock & LoadĪn instrument sequence, with effects automation. Drum kits each take up a whole Group of 16 sounds, while Instrument patches and loops only use a single sound slot. In Maschine, each sound element is essentially a sampler, which can contain a single sample or a multisample map. An instance of Maschine offers eight Groups, each of which contains up to 16 sounds, so you can layer numerous parts, including kits, instruments, loops or single samples. These examples are complete productions constructed within Maschine. The first thing I did was explore some of the NI factory projects to get a feel for what Maschine can do. ![]() Above the main pads are twin displays and a strip of eight knobs and buttons which make up the main user interface. The buttons and pads are all made of translucent hard rubber, similar to those on Korg's Pad Kontrol, and can all light up. The controller is sturdy, constructed mostly from plastic, with a matt‑black metal front panel. Nearly all operations from this point can be performed from the hardware. ![]() You can then launch the stand‑alone app or insert the plug‑in into your DAW of choice. Installation is via a single DVD for the software and library, and a USB cable for the controller. The Maschine software, with Scene manager at the top, device controls in the centre, and pattern/sequence/sample editor at the bottom. ![]() The workflow and feature set have also been finely honed, although with some notable exceptions that promise to be addressed later this year. Although the hardware has no sound‑generating capability on its own, the tight integration with the plug‑in gives a similar feel to using a stand‑alone hardware device. With Maschine, NI wanted to take the tactile, free‑flowing production style of hardware instruments like Akai's MPCs and add the benefits of the computer‑based music studio, and they've largely succeeded. The software element runs as a stand‑alone application or as an AU/VST/RTAS plug‑in, while the hardware is a controller for the Maschine software, and also functions as a general‑purpose MIDI controller. Maschine is a beat-production workstation with built‑in drum sequencing, sampling and loop slicing, and is the latest result of NI's initiative to build hybrid hardware and software instruments. NI's hybrid hardware and software beat machine promises the best of both worlds. ![]() ![]() Soon you find that she was playing with a fabled “cursed” statue that her father was holding on to for Alyssa’s father, and now she’s basically possessed. Somehow, it’s discovered that her little cousin Stephanie (Chinatsu) has gone into a killing rampage and is attacking everyone in the house. This helps her toughen up to the current scenario until she finds her Amulet (Mikoshi-sama, as she calls it in Japanese), a gift from her father that fends off this other persona inside of her. Upon a gruesome discovery in a bedroom, Alyssa’s alter ego and violent split personality, Bates (Sho), awakens from an apparently dormant state and possess Alyssa. ![]() Upon arriving, somehow hell has broken loose all over, finding bits of pieces of what seem to be her cousin’s remains, and various family members hiding from some terrible force. This bowdlerization is, frankly, the least of the game’s problems.Īlyssa Hale (Midoshima Yu) is a quiet, 17-year-old girl who is spending her weekend at her relative’s house. During localization, the setting was switched to California, and all names anglicized. The major shift is that it now takes place in Japan…at least, in the original Japanese version. In Japan, however, it’s consider a spinoff without a numeral, deemed as such since it moves away from the storyline and setting of the previous games. ![]() In America, it’s known as Clock Tower II, since the real Clock Tower 2 was renamed plain old Clock Tower, because the first game was not translated into English. The title of this game is also a bit confusing. So far, with Van Helsing, I'm really loving the story / setting. (Although I did enjoy Torchlight 1 a lot more than Torchlight 2). I enjoyed Diablo 3 a lot more than Torchlight 2, the gameplay and art style simply sucked me in a lot more. Granted I'm playing it with a controller so it's a completely different experience - actually, ti's the first Action RPG I play with a controller ^^ ![]() ![]() Got the game today and it doesn't feel like either of them to me. ![]() The game was originally released in 1995 ![]() The soundtrack was provided by Tomoko Sasaki, the composer of NiGHTS into Dreams. The working titles for the game included ‘Dexstar’ and ‘Feel’ Ristar was originally intended to be a rabbit with extendible ears "A twinkling star in the vacuous space of platform / beat 'em ups." - Dean Mortlock, SEGA Power #72 (November 1995) "It's all really fast-paced, split up perfectly into bite-sized chunks, and above everything else it's just really good fun." - SEGA Magazine #22 (October 1995) Perform ‘shooting star’ attacks to kill multiple enemies at once! Grab enemies to destroy them or use them to pivot through a level Battle unique bosses across all six planets Use Ristar’s extendable arms to smash, grab, and grapple Greedy’s minions Six planets to rescue, spanning every corner of the galaxy. Ristar joins the SEGA Forever classic games collection, a treasure trove of free SEGA console classics brought to life on mobile for the first time! Use Ristar’s extendable limbs to swing, climb, grapple and grab your way across six planets and end Greedy’s grip on the galaxy! Leaders of every planet have been brainwashed, and only you, Ristar, can free them. Galactic tyrant Kaiser Greedy has enslaved the Valdi star system. Travel the galaxy in SEGA’s classic platformer Ristar, now available on mobile. ![]() Whether you own an original copy, or you have a downloaded ISO somewhere, or you don't have the game at all, the installer is prepared for all these situations. However, Red Alert has been released as freeware in 2008, so the community has built a wonderful installer that should work on the latest versions of Windows, including Windows 11 and Windows 10. Perhaps you can get your Red Alert CDs running with DOSBox or Windows 95 in a virtual environment. You all know this wonderful successor of Command & Conquer. |