fifteenths mexico

Sunday, March 3, 2013

For unemployment comp purposes, employee quits the day she ...

Workers receiving unemployment compensation benefits are encouraged to take available positions even if it looks like the job may be unsuitable. As incentive, taking the job and then quitting within 30 days won?t bar continued unemployment compensation benefits, as long as the worker can also show the job was unsuitable.

The date that counts isn?t the last day worked, but the day the worker gave notice.

Recent case: Ulanda, who was receiving unemployment benefits, took a job with a temp agency. She is a single mom and almost immediately had attendance problems related to child care. She received several warnings.

On her 30th day with the agency, she submitted notice that she was quitting. She ended up working an additional day and asking for accommodations for her child-care needs. Her request was rejected.

Ulanda then reapplied for benefits but was rejected. On appeal, the court considered whether she had quit on the 30th day?which would have allowed her to collect benefits based on her original job?or on the 31st day, the last day she worked.

The court concluded the day that counted was the day she announced she was quitting, not the last day she worked.

The judge sent the case back to the administrative law judge to determine whether the job she had held for 31 days was unsuitable for her. (Wiley v. Dolphin Staffing, No. A12-0383, Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2012)

Like what you've read? ...Republish it and share great business tips!

Attention: Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, Media, Webmasters and more...

We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

The only thing we ask is that you keep the article exactly as it was written and formatted. You also need to include an attribution statement and link to the article.

" This information is proudly provided by Business Management Daily.com: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/34098/for-unemployment-comp-purposes-employee-quits-the-day-she-gives-notice "

Source: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/34098/for-unemployment-comp-purposes-employee-quits-the-day-she-gives-notice

black panthers mauritania obama open mic jefferson county colorado extenze tenacious d steve smith

How To Be A Great Salesperson In Today's Economy - An Interview ...

Inspirational Leaders Q&A.
Meet the Leader: Gavin Ingham, Sales Speaker.

If you're seeking inspiration, sales motivation or sales education then you should investigate the lessons given by Mr. Gavin Ingham, one of Europe's leading motivational speakers, sales authors and sales experts.

With his clear and focussed delivery, you will soon master all aspects of professional sales management. Gavin has helped many clients acquire valuable new skills and identify gaps in the sales process in pursuit of a sustainable sales pipeline ? which is something ?every? salesman should know something about.

You never stop learning and with a client list to die for including; O2, Microsoft, WPA, Royal Bank of Canada, Jaguar, and Blue Fin, you?ll understand why Gavin is in such demand. So what?s his secret..

Q. How do you begin work with a client to formulate a winning sales strategy?

As with everything in sales, all solutions begin with the client. It is easy to jump to conclusions but this is wrong as every client is different and every solution needs to be unique.

Often the brief that I am approached with initially is not the right one. As an example, over the years, many clients have approached me and said that their sales teams need help with closing. It is easy to see how this conclusion can be reached? not enough sales are being made so, voila, they need closing training. But it could just as easily be lack of motivation, not enough activity, misunderstanding of client needs and wants, poor questioning? I could go on.

It's important that all salespeople, sales speakers included, ask the right questions and truly understand their clients. Failure to do so leads to guesses and assumptions and that's never a good thing!

Q. What?s a common mistake exhibited by sales professionals when it comes to client engagement?

Sales is a job that carries a target. Often quite a challenging one. Because of this, many salespeople feel under pressure from expectation and from their managers too. This means that most salespeople are overly focused on making the sale. When they walk into a client meeting, they ?pretend? that they are interested in the client but really their main interest is in making the sale.

Sales superstars are genuinely interested in their clients. They put their clients and their needs and wants first. They ask questions, they listen and they try their best to see things from their client's perspective. You've probably heard the expression ?to walk a mile in someone else's shoes? and that's exactly what salespeople need to do.

When you focus your attention on someone else and their needs and wants, rather than your own, then their defences and barriers come down and they share their real thoughts, feelings and opinions with you. This allows you to tailor solutions and offerings that add more value than those of your competition who failed to engage as well as you.

Q. What?s the most common mistake salespeople make, even after 10 years in the profession?

Even the most experienced salespeople make mistakes as everybody does in every walk of life. Here are three common ones?

Thinking that good enough is good enough. We are in a very competitive market these days and there are still lots of opportunities? but only for the best. Good enough is not good enough anymore. Clients want to work with the best. If you want to make sales, lots of sales, you need to give 100% and be the best that you can be.
Lack of sales activity. Don't get me wrong here. I am NOT saying that people are lazy. Far from it. People are busy doing all sorts of things, particularly salespeople who have been in the job for a while. But are those tasks making sales? All salespeople should periodically consider what sales activities drive sales and ensure that they are doing enough of them.
Not adding enough value. To be great in today's economy you need to add massive value, more value than anyone could ever have expected you to. But value is not determined by you, it is determined by your clients and the only way you can find this out is to ask questions and genuinely care about what your client has to say.

Q. Where do you get inspiration from and how do you persuade your team (or delegates and conference attendees) to run with your ideas?

I originally became a speaker because I enjoyed helping others when I was managing them. Previously to that, I had gained great inspiration and achieved sales success from reading biographies of successful people and self-help books and listening to audios. I still do all of these things and now I also get inspiration from the amazing people that I meet, their successes, learnings and stories and from life in general. I believe that there are many ways to learn in life, you just have to be open to them.

Selling people on an idea is very similar to selling people on a product or a service. Just because you cannot see it does not mean that it's not there! For people to benefit from my work they have to want to engage with it. They need to believe that I'm credible and that I can add value. They need to believe that I care about them, their businesses and their lives. They need to feel that I am talking to them and that my advise will work for them.

I need to help them believe that others have achieved great results and that they can too. They also need to feel that the results are worth the effort. And they are!

Q. Technology is transforming the way we work these days. With the introduction of devices such as the iPhone and iPad, how has this helped sales professional in this working far more effectively?

There are a lot of people who talk exclusively about technology and the changes that this has brought about for salespeople. Whilst I am an early adopter, a lover of technology and someone who loves and embraces change, I like to talk about everything and how it interacts together, not just technology in isolation.

Technology has brought about some huge advantages such as the ability to research clients and prospects far more easily, the ability to access documents remotely, the ability to stay in touch with clients individually and en masse simply and cost effectively, the ability to network, position yourself as an expert, create instant newsletters etc. I have just answered these questions whilst on holiday overlooking the Norfolk Broads on my iPad. I can email them, post them on a blog, disseminate them through social media etc. Amazing!

I often say that the teenage boy in me would have been terribly disappointed that we're not all flying around on hover boards, piloting personal spacecrafts and living on the moon. We were sure these things were coming. And we're not even close to them! But I would never have predicted a smart phone. One tiny little thing that is a phone, email, connects to every PC in the world, tracks every flight, can scan, photograph, video, get train times, take credit card payments? Amazing! All Captain Kirk's communicator did was act as a radio. Pathetic!

But as well as the advantages, there are also disadvantage to modern technology. It can make things much easier for you and level the playing field between the individual and the huge, high-spending corporate but it also has a dark side for salespeople. Social media can eat your time for little reward if you do not know what you're doing, email can become a master rather than a servant, and remote contact, whilst easy, quick and simple, can easily lose something to a ?real? conversation. I could go on.

The simple truth is that now is an exciting, amazing, fun time to be a salesperson and all salespeople, wherever they are in the world have huge opportunity but, as it always did, it requires hard work, commitment, skills and focus; a desire to help customers achieve and a hunger to be the best that you can be.

If you want more articles, updates, audios and videos from me, make sure that you join my success newsletter free.

An Interview With Sales Speaker Gavin Ingham
Audio Interview Of Sales Motivational Speaker Gavin Ingham On ExpertsOnline.tv
See Motivational Speaker Gavin Ingham Live At The Selling Show, 28th & 29th October 2008
Can Hypnosis Create The Perfect Salesperson? Gavin Ingham Interviews Performance Therapist Jamie Panter
Achieve Your Goals From ?Motivate People? By Motivational Speaker Gavin Ingham

Source: http://www.gaviningham.com/how-to-be-a-great-salesperson-in-todays-economy-an-interview-with-sales-speaker-gavin-ingham/

december 21 2012 norad 12/21/12 winter solstice Jabari Parker 2012 australia

Chad says al Qaeda commander killed in Mali

N'DJAMENA/GAO, Mali (Reuters) - One of al Qaeda's most feared commanders in Africa, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, has been killed by Chadian forces in northern Mali, Chad's President Idriss Deby said on Friday.

French officials said they could not confirm the report.

"It was Chadian forces who killed two jihadi leaders, including Abou Zeid," Deby told opposition politicians in the presence of journalists after a funeral ceremony for Chadian soldiers killed in fighting at the weekend.

Chadian soldiers with support from French special forces and fighter jets are hunting down pockets of al Qaeda-linked insurgents in the border region with Algeria after a seven-week French-led campaign broke Islamist domination of northern Mali.

The death of Abou Zeid, who has earned AQIM tens of millions of dollars with a spate of kidnappings of Westerners in the Sahara over the last five years, would be a significant but far from fatal blow to the group.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed mastermind of a mass hostage-taking at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria last month, remains at large. So does Tuareg Islamist leader Iyad ag Ghali, who was this week placed on the U.S. global terrorist list.

Sources close to Islamist militants and tribal elders had earlier said Abou Zeid, blamed for kidnapping at least 20 Westerners in the Sahara, was among 40 militants killed within the past few days in the foothills of the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains.

Algeria's Ennahar television, which is well connected with Algerian security services, had reported his death on Thursday but there was no official confirmation.

A former smuggler turned jihadi, Algerian-born Abou Zeid is regarded as one of the most ruthless operators of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). He is believed to have executed British hostage Edwin Dyer in 2009 and 78-year-old Frenchman Michel Germaneau in 2010.

A trusted lieutenant of AQIM's leader Abdelmalek Droukdel, Abou Zeid imposed a violent form of sharia law during Islamist domination of the ancient desert town of Timbuktu, including amputations and the destruction of ancient Sufi shrines.

"The death of Abou Zeid has been confirmed by several of his supporters who have come back from the mountains," said Ibrahim Oumar Toure, a mechanic in the northern Malian town of Kidal who worked with Islamist rebels and remains in contact with them.

Members of the MNLA Tuareg rebel group, who have been acting as scouts for French and Chadian forces, said Islamist prisoners seized during the fighting confirmed Abou Zeid and another militant leader had been killed.

However, French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said she could neither confirm nor deny the report, and French officials urged caution. An official MNLA spokesman said the group had no evidence to prove he was dead.

French radio RFI and Algerian daily El Khabar reported that DNA tests were being conducted on members of Abou Zeid's family to confirm whether a body recovered by French troops after fighting in Adrar des Ifoghas was indeed the Islamist leader.

HOLLANDE SAYS OPERATION NEARS END

In a speech on Friday, French President Francois Hollande said the operation in Mali was in its final stage and he was not obliged to confirm Abou Zeid's death.

"Terrorist groups have taken refuge and are hiding in an especially difficult zone," he said. "Information is out there. I don't have to confirm it because we must reach the end of the operation."

A U.S. official and a Western diplomat, however, said the reports appeared to be credible.

According to local sources in Kidal, MNLA Tuareg rebels, who are working with French forces, had located Abou Zeid's fighters and handed over the coordinates for French jets to strike.

"They were hidden in mountain caves and were building bombs for suicide attacks when they were killed," Toure said.

Abou Zeid's death will be of particular interest to the French government as he is believed to be holding at least four French citizens kidnapped from Niger in 2010.

After its success in dislodging al Qaeda fighters from northern Mali's towns, France and its African allies have faced a mounting wave of suicide bombings and guerrilla-style raids by Islamists in northern Malian towns.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in Geneva on Friday that a U.N. peacekeeping force to replace French troops in Mali should be discussed as soon as possible.

(Reporting By Elizabeth Pineau in Paris, Lamine Chikhi in Algiers and John Irish and David Lewis in Dakar; Writing by John Irish and Daniel Flynn; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mali-locals-al-qaeda-commander-dead-france-cautious-162338087.html

illinois primary trayvon martin 911 call kiribati vernal equinox mr rogers jamie lee curtis spring equinox

Leaving NKorea, Rodman calls Kims 'great leaders'

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, left, speaks to the media at the airport in Pyongyang, before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Rodman hung out with North Korea's Kim Jong Un during his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.(AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series. (AP Photo/VICE Media, Jason Mojica)

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, left, talks with a woman at the Pyongyang Airport before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Rodman hung out with North Korea's Kim Jong Un during his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.(AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, left, is surrounded by the media at the Pyongyang Airport before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Rodman hung out with North Korea's Kim Jong Un during his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.(AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman speaks to the media at the Pyongyang Airport before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Rodman hung out with North Korea's Kim Jong Un during his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.(AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman called leader Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy" and said his father and grandfather were "great leaders."

Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011, watched a basketball game with the authoritarian leader Thursday and later drank and dined on sushi with him.

At Pyongyang's Sunan airport on his way to Beijing, Rodman said it was "amazing" that the North Koreans were "so honest." He added that Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder, "were great leaders."

"He's proud, his country likes him ? not like him, love him, love him," Rodman said of Kim Jong Un. "Guess what, I love him. The guy's really awesome."

At Beijing's airport, Rodman pushed past waiting journalists without saying anything.

Rodman's visit to North Korea began Monday and took place amid tension between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test just two weeks ago, making clear the provocative act was a warning to the United States to drop what it considers a "hostile" policy toward the North.

Rodman traveled to Pyongyang with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series.

Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls star that he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, said Shane Smith, founder of the New York-based VICE media company.

Dressed in a blue Mao suit, Kim laughed and slapped his hands on a table during the game at Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium as he sat nearly knee to knee with Rodman. Rodman, the man who once turned up in a wedding dress to promote his autobiography, wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses, but still had on his nose rings and other piercings. A can of Coca-Cola sat on the table before him in photos shared with AP by VICE.

Smith, after speaking to the VICE crew in Pyongyang, said Kim and Rodman "bonded" and chatted in English, though Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator.

Thursday's game ended in a 110-110 tie, with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans. After the game, Rodman addressed Kim in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands of North Koreans and told him, "You have a friend for life," VICE spokesman Alex Detrick told AP.

At an "epic feast" later, the leader plied the group with food and drinks and round after round of toasts were made, Duffy said in an email to AP.

Duffy said he invited Kim to visit the United States, a proposal met with hearty laughter from the North Korean leader.

Kim said he hoped sports exchanges would promote "mutual understanding between the people of the two countries," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea and the U.S. fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The foes never signed a peace treaty, and do not have diplomatic relations.

Rodman's trip is the second attention-grabbing American visit this year to North Korea. Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a four-day trip in January to Pyongyang, but did not meet the North Korean leader.

The Obama administration had frowned on the trip by Schmidt, who was accompanied by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, but has avoided criticizing Rodman's outing, saying it's about sports.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-01-NKorea-Rodman/id-4f8ba80fb6144102a04c0dce34d0a6d8

great expectations jake owen oosthuizen louis double eagle bubba masters winner instagram facebook

Saturday, March 2, 2013

A nanogel-based treatment for lupus

Public release date: 1-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Jillian Hurst
press_releases@the-jci.org
Journal of Clinical Investigation

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. Current treatments are focused on suppression of the immune system, but these therapies can leave patients vulnerable to infection. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Tarek Fahmy and colleagues at Yale University report the development of a nanogel-based delivery system that targets an immunosuppressive drug (mycophenolic acid) directly to tissues associated with immune cells. A nanogel is composed of a polymer containing pores that can be loaded with drug compounds. Fahmy and colleagues tested the mycophenolic acid-loaded nanogel in a mouse model of lupus. Mice treated with the nanogel lived longer than untreated mice or mice treated with mycophenolic acid alone. Additionally, the onset of kidney damage, a common complication of lupus, was delayed in nanogel-treated mice. These studies suggest that nanogel-based therapies may be useful in the treatment of SLE.

###

TITLE:

Nanogel-based delivery of mycophenolic acid ameliorates systemic lupus erythematosus

AUTHOR CONTACT:

Tarek Fahmy
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Phone: 203-512-1699; Fax: 203-432-1043; E-mail: tarek.fahmy@yale.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

A nanogel-based treatment for lupus Public release date: 1-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jillian Hurst
press_releases@the-jci.org
Journal of Clinical Investigation

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. Current treatments are focused on suppression of the immune system, but these therapies can leave patients vulnerable to infection. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Tarek Fahmy and colleagues at Yale University report the development of a nanogel-based delivery system that targets an immunosuppressive drug (mycophenolic acid) directly to tissues associated with immune cells. A nanogel is composed of a polymer containing pores that can be loaded with drug compounds. Fahmy and colleagues tested the mycophenolic acid-loaded nanogel in a mouse model of lupus. Mice treated with the nanogel lived longer than untreated mice or mice treated with mycophenolic acid alone. Additionally, the onset of kidney damage, a common complication of lupus, was delayed in nanogel-treated mice. These studies suggest that nanogel-based therapies may be useful in the treatment of SLE.

###

TITLE:

Nanogel-based delivery of mycophenolic acid ameliorates systemic lupus erythematosus

AUTHOR CONTACT:

Tarek Fahmy
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Phone: 203-512-1699; Fax: 203-432-1043; E-mail: tarek.fahmy@yale.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/joci-ant022213.php
asteroid cruise ship Asteroid 2012 DA14 Reeva Steenkamp rubio Affenpinscher Dorner

Friday, March 1, 2013

Kenya's January tea output up 25 pct, exports rise

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's tea output rose 25 percent to 45.3 million kg in January compared with the same period in the previous year, mainly due to favourable weather conditions, the tea board said on Thursday.

Tea exports from the east African country, which is the world's leading exporter of black tea, rose to 39.8 million kg compared with 37.9 million kg in January 2011.

During the month, 27.6 million kgs of tea was sold through the auction at the port of Mombasa, a drop from 28.1 million kgs in the same period in the previous year.

The average tea auction prices rose to $3.28 per kg up from $2.91 in the year-ago period.

"Higher prices were due to improved buying interests by most markets in anticipation of lower production in the first quarter due to dry and hot weather conditions," Sicily Kariuki, the managing director at the tea board said in a statement.

"In addition, demand for tea in most markets was generally higher due to winter conditions."

Pakistan was the biggest buyer of Kenyan tea, at 26 percent of total exports. The top five export destinations - Pakistan, Egypt, Britain, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates - accounted for 72 percent of Kenya's total export volume.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenyas-january-tea-output-25-pct-exports-rise-090152852--finance.html

ryan madson louisiana primary syracuse basketball chipper jones chipper jones mickael pietrus heart transplant

With no pope, Catholic Church leaderless for now

Faithful watch a giant screen showing Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican,Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. The 85-year-old German Pope Benedict is stepping down on Thursday evening, the first pope to do so in 600 years, after saying he no longer has the mental or physical strength to vigorously lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Nuns wait for Pope Benedict XVI to greet the crowd from the window of the Pope's summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, the scenic town where he will spend his first post-Vatican days and make his last public blessing as pope,Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

In this photo provided Friday, March 1, 2013 by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, at center with red skull cap, officially takes over the vacant See as camerlengo, chamberlain, before sealing Pope Benedict XVI's apartment, after Benedict left the Vatican, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign Thursday, ending an eight-year pontificate shaped by struggles to move the church past sex abuse scandals and to reawaken Christianity in an indifferent world. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

In this photo provided Friday, March 1, 2013, then Pope Benedict XVI is saluted by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, left, as leaves Piazza San Damaso inside the Vatican to board a car which will take him to a helipad where he will depart to the pontiff's summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Benedict XVI left the Catholic Church in unprecedented limbo Thursday as he became the first pope in 600 years to resign, capping a tearful day of farewells that included an extraordinary pledge of obedience to his successor. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? The Catholic Church awoke Friday with no leader following the resignation of Benedict XVI, who pledged obedience to his successor and described himself as "simply a pilgrim" starting the final journey of his life.

Now begins a period known as the "sede vacante" or "vacant see" ? the transition between the end of one papacy and the start of another.

During this limited time, several key players take charge of running the Holy See, guiding the College of Cardinals in their deliberations and organizing the conclave of cardinals whose votes elect Benedict's successor.

With the 8 p.m. Thursday end of Benedict's papacy, every department head in the Vatican lost his job ? except for those whose offices are considered crucial for the smooth running of the transition period.

On Monday, the cardinals begin meetings to set the conclave date and discuss problems facing the Catholic church.

Here are the top figures who will run the church in the coming days:

___

THE CAMERLENGO: Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The camerlengo, or chamberlain, takes over the day-to-day running the Holy See as soon as the papacy ends. He places the seal on the pope's study and bedroom and takes possession of the Apostolic Palace, "safeguarding and administering the goods and temporal rights of the Holy See" until a new pope is elected. On Thursday night, Bertone sealed the papal apartment, which will not be reopened until a new pope is elected.

Benedict in 2007 gave the camerlengo job to Bertone, 78, a natural choice given that Bertone is currently the Vatican No. 2 as secretary of state and runs the Vatican bureaucracy anyway. A priest of the Salesian order, Bertone was trained as a canon lawyer and taught in various Roman universities for several years before coming to work for the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the Vatican's doctrine office in 1995.

As secretary of state, Bertone has had Benedict's unwavering trust, but his legacy has been mixed. He had no diplomatic training coming into the Holy See's most important diplomatic and administrative post, and critics blame the gaffes of Benedict's papacy and current state of the Vatican's dysfunction on Bertone's managerial shortcomings. The 2012 leaks of papal documents appeared aimed at undermining his authority further, by exposing the power struggles and turf battles that festered under his watch. In his last speech as pope, however, Benedict singled Bertone out for thanks.

___

THE DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS: Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

The dean is the senior member of the College of Cardinals, the so-called "princes" of the church whose main task is to elect a pope. In one of his first official acts as dean, Sodano on Friday officially summoned cardinals to Rome to participate in the pre-conclave meetings, a formality given that most were already here. The first starts Monday at 9:30 a.m.

The dean oversees these meetings, at which the problems of the church are discussed, and has duties inside the conclave itself, including asking the newly elected pontiff if he accepts the job. But Sodano is 85 and cannot vote, so some of those duties shift to the sub-dean.

Burly and sociable, the Italian Sodano was Pope John Paul II's longtime secretary of state. As dean, he spoke on behalf of all the cardinals in giving a final farewell to Benedict on Thursday, thanking him for his "selfless service."

Still, Sodano and Benedict were known to have clashed when Benedict was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, particularly over the scandal-plagued Legion of Christ religious order. Sodano was a chief backer and protector of the Legion's late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, even though the Vatican had known for years of solid allegations that he was sexually molesting his seminarians. Within Benedict's first year in office, Maciel was sentenced by the Vatican to a lifetime of penance and prayers for his crimes. That same year Benedict named Bertone to replace the retiring Sodano as secretary of state.

___

THE MASTER OF LITURGICAL CEREMONIES: Monsignor Guido Marini.

The master of liturgical ceremonies runs the religious side of the conclave and the installation Mass for the new pope, all of them carefully choreographed rituals. He is by the side of the dean when the newly elected pope is asked if he accepts the election. And as the main witness and notary, he draws up the formal document certifying that the new pope's name and that he has accepted the job.

Benedict appointed Marini to the job in 2007, replacing Monsignor Piero Marini who for two decades was Pope John Paul II's right-hand man for all things liturgical. The shift was intentional. Under Guido Marini, papal Masses became far more reverent, with more Latin, Gregorian chants and the use of heavy silk-brocaded vestments of the pre-Vatican II church.

In changes introduced just before he resigned, Benedict made clear he wanted this more traditional vision of his papacy carried forward for the installation of a new pope. He called for the rites of installation to be separate from the liturgy itself and for the cardinals to make a public pledge of obedience to the new pope during the Mass. Previously, their pledge of obedience was done in private in the Sistine Chapel immediately after the election.

In keeping with Benedict's classical musical tastes, the new rites also allow for more flexibility in musical choices rather than the modern selections previously in favor. The aim, Marini recently told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, was to make "the most of the rich musical repertoire of church history."

___

THE PROTO-DEACON: Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran.

The proto-deacon's main task is to announce to the world that a pope has been elected. He shouts "Habemus Papam!" ("We have a pope!") from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square after the white smoke has snaked up from the Sistine Chapel chimney. He then introduces the new pope ? in Latin ? along with the name the pope has chosen.

The French-born Tauran is a veteran Vatican diplomat who served in the Dominican Republic and Lebanon. He currently heads the Vatican's office for interreligious dialogue ? in other words the Vatican's primary point man for Catholic-Muslim relations. Benedict appointed him proto-deacon in 2011.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield