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__label__cc	0.658452	0.341548	General Health and Longevity Al's papers' citations and possibly links and excerpts or my synopses By AlPater, August 13, 2016 in General Health and Longevity Good diets AlPater Website URL:https://www.crsociety.org/index.php?app=core&module=global&section=register Dairy product consumption and development of cancer: an overview of reviews. Jeyaraman MM, Abou-Setta AM, Grant L, Farshidfar F, Copstein L, Lys J, Gottschalk T, Desautels D, Czaykowski P, Pitz M, Zarychanski R. BMJ Open. 2019 Jan 25;9(1):e023625. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023625. PMID: 30782711 Free Article https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/9/1/e023625.full.pdf To provide a comprehensive systematic overview of current evidence from pooled analyses/meta-analyses and systematic reviews (PMASRs) pertaining to dairy consumption and incident cancer and/or all-cause or cancer-specific mortality. Overview of reviews. Community setting. The unit of analysis is PMASRs. A total of 42 PMASRs was included in this overview of reviews. INTERVENTIONS/EXPOSURES: Any dairy product consumption (eg, milk, yogurt, etc). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES MEASURES: Primary outcome measure is development of any type of cancer. Secondary outcome measures are all-cause mortality and cancer-specific mortality. From 9693 citations identified, we included 42 PMASRs (52 study reports) published between 1991 and 2017. Thirty-one (74%) of these was pooled analyses/meta analyses, and only 11 (26%) were systematic reviews and meta-analyses. There was a wide variability in the type of study designs included within the other PMASRs, thus contributing to variable and, in instances, divergent estimates of cancer risk for several cancer subtypes. For example, only one systematic review and meta-analysis exclusively included prospective study designs. Most PMASRs were of low to moderate quality based on the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) scores. The median AMSTAR score was 5 (IQR 2-7). Our overview identified conflicting evidence from PMASRs on association between dairy consumption and incident cancers or mortality. Heterogeneity in summary estimates reflected the inclusion of variable study designs and overall low methodological quality of individual PMASRs. The association between dairy consumption and cancer risk has been explored in PMASRs with a variety of study designs and of low to moderate quality. To fully characterise valid associations between dairy consumption and risk of cancer and/or mortality rigorously conducted, PMASRs including only high-quality prospective study designs are required. cancer; dairy; dairy products; overview of reviews Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption and risk of all-cause mortality: a dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Li Q, Liu Y, Sun X, Yin Z, Li H, Cheng C, Liu L, Zhang R, Liu F, Zhou Q, Wang C, Li L, Wang B, Zhao Y, Zhang M, Hu D. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2019 Feb 20. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12633. [Epub ahead of print] Review. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1111/jhn.12633 Previous meta-analysis showed an inverse association between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality. However, the relationship between caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption and all-cause mortality is inconsistent. We aimed to identify and review the published evidence updating the association between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality and, furthermore, to investigate the association of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption and all-cause mortality. We systematically searched PubMed and Web of Science for studies published up to 9 November 2017. Cohort studies in which authors reported relative risks (RRs) of all-cause mortality for at least three levels of coffee consumption were eligible. Random-effects models were used to estimate the pooled RR of all-cause mortality with coffee consumption. Restricted cubic splines were used to model the dose-response association. We included 21 cohort study articles (10 103 115 study participants and 240 303 deaths). We found a nonlinear association between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality (Pnonlinearity < 0.001). Compared with no or rare coffee consumption, with a consumption of 3 cups day-1 , the risk of all-cause mortality might reduce 13% (RR = 0.87; 95% confidence interval = 0.84-0.89). The findings of the present study provide quantitative data suggesting that coffee consumption plays a role in reducing the risk of all-cause mortality. Similar inverse associations are found for caffeinated coffee and decaffeinated coffee. all-cause mortality; coffee; cohort studies; dose-response meta-analysis Does Kidney Longevity Mean Healthy Vegan Food and Less Meat or Is Any Low-Protein Diet Good Enough? Kalantar-Zadeh K, Moore LW. J Ren Nutr. 2019 Mar;29(2):79-81. doi: 10.1053/j.jrn.2019.01.008. No abstract available. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1053/j.jrn.2019.01.008 Maintenance of skeletal muscle function following reduced daily physical activity in healthy older adults: a pilot trial. Oikawa SY, Callahan DM, McGlory C, Toth MJ, Phillips SM. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2019 Feb 22. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2018-0631. [Epub ahead of print] Older adults can experience periods of inactivity related to disease or illness, which can hasten the development of physical disability, in part, through reductions in skeletal muscle strength and power. To date no study has characterized adaptations in skeletal muscle physical function in response to reduced daily physical activity. Participants (15 men, 69±2 years, 15 women, 68±4 years) restricted their daily steps (<750steps/d, SR) while being energy restricted (ER, -500kcal/d) for 2wks before returning to normal activity levels during recovery (RC, 1wk). Before and after each phase, measures of knee extensor isometric maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), time-to-peak torque (TTPT), and physical function were performed and muscle biopsies were taken from a subset of participants. Following the energy restriction and step-reduction phase (ER+SR), MVC was reduced by 9.1 and 6.1 Nm in men and women respectively (p = 0.02), which returned to baseline after RC in men, but not women (p = 0.046). Tmax (maximum isometric tension) in MHC IIA fibres (p<0.01) and Pmax (maximum power production) in MHC I and IIA (p = 0.05) were increased by 14%, 25%, and 10% respectively following ER+SR. Reductions in muscle strength could not be explained by changes in single muscle fibre function in a sub-sample (n=9 men) of volunteers. These data highlight the resilience of physical function in healthy older men in the face of an acute period of ER+SR and demonstrate sex-based differences in the ability to recover muscle strength upon resumption of physical activity. Skeletal Muscle Mass as a Mortality Predictor among Nonagenarians and Centenarians: A Prospective Cohort Study. Wang H, Hai S, Liu Y, Liu Y, Dong B. Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 20;9(1):2420. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-38893-0. This study aimed to evaluate the association between skeletal muscle mass and long-term all-cause mortality among nonagenarians and centenarians in China. We used data from the Project of Longevity and Aging in Dujiangyan (PLAD). A total of 738 community-dwelling people aged ≥ 90 years (mean age of 93.5 ± 3.2 years) were analyzed in this study. The appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) was estimated using a previously validated anthropometric equation. The information on the survival status was requested from the local government registries during the 4 year follow-up period following the baseline investigation. The mean muscle mass index (SMI) was 6.11 ± 0.53 kg/m2 in men and 4.00 ± 0.63 kg/m2 in women, respectively. Low muscle mass was associated with a higher risk of death (hazard ratio 1.54; (95% confidence interval [CI]:1.10-2.16) in women; however, no significant association was found in men. Disability in activities of daily living (ADL) (HR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.13-2.63) in men and women and cognitive impairment (HR = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.05-2.13) in men were also associated with increased all-cause mortality. In conclusion, low muscle mass were predictors of long-term mortality in nonagenarian and centenarian women. Effects of L-citrulline supplementation on blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Barkhidarian B, Khorshidi M, Shab-Bidar S, Hashemi B. Avicenna J Phytomed. 2019 Jan-Feb;9(1):10-20. Review. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials that examined the effects of L-citrulline supplementation on blood pressure (BP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, SCOPUS, PUBMED and Google scholar databases from inception to November 16, 2017 and 811 papers were identified, of which 8 trials with 10 data sets met the inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were: (1) application of randomized clinical trial with either crossover or parallel designs; (2) studies conducted in adults (≥18 y); (3) oral supplementation with L-citrulline compared to control group; (4) expression of sufficient data about systolic and diastolic BP at baseline and at the end of the study in each group. BP effects were pooled by random-effects models, with trials weighted by inverse variance. The included studies' sample size ranged between 12 and 34 subjects. The mean age of the participants in these trials ranged between 22 and 71 years. Dosage of L-citrulline supplementation varied from 3 to 9 g/day. Duration of the intervention ranged between 1 and 17 weeks. The pooled changes in systolic and diastolic BP were (MD, -4.10 mm Hg; 95% CI [-7.94, -0.26]; p=0.037) and (MD -2.08 mm Hg; 95% CI [-4.32, 0.16]; P=0.069), respectively. The subgroup analysis showed a significant diastolic BP reduction in studies that used doses of ≥6 g/day (MD -2.75 mm Hg; 95% CI [-5.37, -0.12]; p=0.04). Our results suggest that L-citrulline supplementation may reduce systolic BP. A significant reduction in diastolic BP was observed only in the studies that used doses ≥ 6 g/day. Blood pressure; L-citrulline; Supplementation Ultra-processed food intake and mortality in the USA: results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994). Kim H, Hu EA, Rebholz CM. Public Health Nutr. 2019 Feb 21:1-9. doi: 10.1017/S1368980018003890. [Epub ahead of print] To evaluate the association between ultra-processed food intake and all-cause mortality and CVD mortality in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Prospective analyses of reported frequency of ultra-processed food intake in 1988-1994 and all-cause mortality and CVD mortality through 2011. The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994).ParticipantsAdults aged ≥20 years (n 11898). Over a median follow-up of 19 years, individuals in the highest quartile of frequency of ultra-processed food intake (e.g. sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages, sweetened milk, sausage or other reconstructed meats, sweetened cereals, confectionery, desserts) had a 31% higher risk of all-cause mortality, after adjusting for demographic and socio-economic confounders and health behaviours (adjusted hazard ratio=1·31; 95% CI 1·09, 1·58; P-trend = 0·001). No association with CVD mortality was observed (P-trend=0·86). Higher frequency of ultra-processed food intake was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality in a representative sample of US adults. More longitudinal studies with dietary data reflecting the modern food supply are needed to confirm our results. Mortality; NOVA classification; Nutritional characteristics; Nutritional quality; Ultra-processed food Association of Intake of Whole Grains and Dietary Fiber With Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in US Adults. Yang W, Ma Y, Liu Y, Smith-Warner SA, Simon TG, Chong DQ, Qi Q, Meyerhardt JA, Giovannucci EL, Chan AT, Zhang X. JAMA Oncol. 2019 Feb 21. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.7159. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.7159 Increased intake of whole grain and dietary fiber has been associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and inflammation, which are known predisposing factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, we hypothesized that long-term intake of whole grains and dietary fiber may be associated with lower risk of HCC. To assess the associations of whole grain and dietary fiber intake with the risk of HCC. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cohort study of the intake of whole grains, their subcomponents (bran and germ), and dietary fiber (cereal, fruit, and vegetable) in 125 455 participants from 2 cohorts from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. EXPOSURES: Intake of whole grains, their subcomponents (bran and germ), and dietary fiber (cereal, fruit, and vegetable) were collected and updated almost every 4 years using validated food frequency questionnaires. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for most known HCC risk factors. After an average follow-up of 24.2 years, we identified 141 patients with HCC among 125 455 participants (77 241 women and 48 214 men (mean [SD] age, 63.4 [10.7] years). Increased whole grain intake was significantly associated with lower risk of HCC (the highest vs lowest tertile intake: HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.41-0.96; P = .04 for trend). A nonsignificant inverse HCC association was observed for total bran (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.46-1.07; P = .11 for trend), but not for germ. Increased intake of cereal fiber (HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.45-1.03; P = .07 for trend), but not fruit or vegetable fiber, was associated with a nonsignificant reduced risk of HCC. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Increased intake of whole grains and possibly cereal fiber and bran could be associated with reduced risk of HCC among adults in the United States. Future studies that carefully consider hepatitis B and C virus infections are needed to replicate our findings, to examine these associations in other racial/ethnic or high-risk populations, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation During Pregnancy on Birth Size: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Maugeri A, Barchitta M, Blanco I, Agodi A. Nutrients. 2019 Feb 20;11(2). pii: E442. doi: 10.3390/nu11020442. Review. During pregnancy, vitamin D supplementation may be a feasible strategy to help prevent low birthweight (LBW) and small for gestational age (SGA) births. However, evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is inconclusive, probably due to heterogeneity in study design and type of intervention. A systematic literature search in the PubMed-Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases was carried out to evaluate the effects of oral vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy on birthweight, birth length, head circumference, LBW, and SGA. The fixed-effects or random-effects models were used to calculate mean difference (MD), risk ratio (RR), and 95% Confidence Interval (CI). On a total of 13 RCTs, maternal vitamin D supplementation had a positive effect on birthweight (12 RCTs; MD = 103.17 g, 95% CI 62.29⁻144.04 g), length (6 RCTs; MD = 0.22 cm, 95% CI 0.11⁻0.33 cm), and head circumference (6 RCTs; MD:0.19 cm, 95% CI 0.13⁻0.24 cm). In line with these findings, we also demonstrated that maternal vitamin D supplementation reduced the risk of LBW (3 RCTs; RR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.22⁻0.74) and SGA (5 RCTS; RR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.51⁻0.92). The present systematic review and meta-analysis confirmed the well-established effect of maternal vitamin D supplementation on birth size. However, further research is required to better define risks and benefits associated with such interventions and the potential implications for public health. birth length; birthweight; diet; gestational age; head circumference; nutrition; pregnancy outcomes; vitamin D Dietary supplement of tomato can accelerate urinary aMT6s level and improve sleep quality in obese postmenopausal women. Yang TH, Chen YC, Ou TH, Chien YW. Clin Nutr. 2019 Feb 10. pii: S0261-5614(19)30061-5. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2019.02.009. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.clnu.2019.02.009 The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the ingestion of tomato before bed on obese postmenopausal women's urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) level and sleep quality. We quantified melatonin concentrations in beefsteak tomato, black tomato, and two commercial tomato juices and found that beefsteak tomato contained the highest level of melatonin. In this 8-week open-label, randomized controlled dietary intervention trial, 36 subjects completed the entire trial. The tomato group ate 250 g of beefsteak tomatoes 2 h before sleep for 8 weeks. Blood and urine samples were collected at the baseline and in the 8th week and were analyzed. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in the tomato group significantly decreased with time (p for trend = 0.0297). After 8 weeks of the beefsteak intervention, all components of the PSQI in tomato group had significantly improved, and their aMT6s level was 10-fold significantly higher than that of the control group. Therefore, supplementation with beefsteak tomato before sleep can increase circulating melatonin and improve sleep quality in obese postmenopausal women. Circadian rhythms; Melatonin; Postmenopausal women; Sleep; Solanum lycopersicum Sugar-sweetened and artificially-sweetened beverages and changes in cognitive function in the SUN project. Muñoz-García MI, Martínez-González MA, Martín-Moreno JM, Razquin C, Cervantes S, Guillén-Grima F, Toledo E. Nutr Neurosci. 2019 Feb 22:1-9. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2019.1580919. [Epub ahead of print] Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and artificially-sweetened beverages (ASB) have been inconsistently associated with declines in cognitive function. Because of their low caloric content and replacement of sugar, ASB are often seen as 'healthy' alternatives to SSB. We longitudinally assessed the association between the consumption of SSB or ASB and cognitive function. A subsample of the 'Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra' (SUN) cohort of university graduates aged over 55 years old was evaluated with the Spanish Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (STICS-m) at two-time points, separated by 6 years. Consumption of SSB and ASB was appraised using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Linear regression models were fitted, adjusting for potential confounders, including cardiometabolic variables, with the change in the STICS-m score at year 6 as the dependent variable. A significant association between the consumption of SSB and changes in cognitive function as measured by the STICS-m was observed in the total sample, with a change of -0.43 (95% CI -0.85, -0.02, p = 0.04) in those that consumed >1 beverage/month compared to never/seldom consumers. The association was not significant for the consumption of ASB, but point estimates showed negative values, suggesting declines in cognition. Only the consumption of SSB, but not ASB, was significantly associated with a decline in cognitive function after 6 years. Further longitudinal studies are needed to explore the relationship between these beverages and cognitive function and the potential mechanisms through which they might be harmful. Sugar-sweetened beverages; artificially-sweetened beverages; cognitive function; cognitive screening test; dementia Vitamin D Supplements and Total Cancer Incidence and Mortality: a Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Keum N, Lee DH, Greenwood DC, Manson JE, Giovannucci E. Ann Oncol. 2019 Feb 22. pii: mdz059. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdz059. [Epub ahead of print] Previous meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of vitamin D supplementation and total cancer incidence and mortality found inconsistent results, and most included trials administered generally low doses of vitamin D (≤ 1100 IU/day). We updated the meta-analysis by incorporating recent RCTs that have tested higher doses of vitamin D supplements. PubMed and Embase were searched from the inception to November, 2018. Summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using a random-effects model. For total cancer incidence, 10 trials were included (6,547 cases; 3-10 years of follow-up; 54-135 nmol/L of attained levels of circulating 25(OH)vitamin D [25(OH)D] in the intervention group). The summary RR was 0.98 (95% CI, 0.93 to 1.03; P=.42; I2=0%). The results remained null across subgroups tested, including even when attained 25(OH)D levels exceeded 100 nmol/L (RR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.09; P=.48; I2=26%). For total cancer mortality, 5 trials were included (1,591 deaths; 3-10 years of follow-up; 54-135 nmol/L of attained levels of circulating 25(OH)D in the intervention group). The summary RR was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.79 to 0.96; P=.005; I2=0%), which was largely attributable to interventions with daily dosing (as opposed to infrequent bolus dosing). No statistically significant heterogeneity was observed by attained levels of circulating 25(OH)D (Pheterogeneity=.83), with RR being 0.88 (95% CI, 0.78 to 0.98; P=.02; I2=0%) for ≤ 100 nmol/L and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.70-1.03; P=.11; I2=0%) for > 100 nmol/L. In an updated meta-analysis of RCTs, vitamin D supplementation significantly reduced total cancer mortality but did not reduce total cancer incidence. Vitamin D supplements; cancer incidence; cancer mortality; circulating 25(OH)D; meta-analysis; randomized controlled trial An evaluation of the effects of saffron supplementation on the asthma clinical symptoms and asthma severity in patients with mild and moderate persistent allergic asthma: a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. Zilaee M, Hosseini SA, Jafarirad S, Abolnezhadian F, Cheraghian B, Namjoyan F, Ghadiri A. Respir Res. 2019 Feb 22;20(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s12931-019-0998-x. https://respiratory-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12931-019-0998-x Asthma is a heterogeneous disease which is usually associated with chronic airway inflammation. Saffron has anti-inflammatory effects and may has beneficial effects on asthma. HYPOTHESIS: The present study was intended to survey the effects of saffron supplementation on blood pressure, lipid profiles, basophils, eosinophils and clinical symptoms in patients with allergic asthma. STUDY DESIGN: Our study was a clinical trial. Subjects (N = 80, 32 women and 48 men, 41.25 ± 9.87 years old) with mild and moderate allergic asthma were randomized into two groups: the intervention group who received two capsules of saffron (100 mg/d), and the control group who received two capsules of placebo for 8 weeks. SPSS software (version 16.0) was used for the data analysis. Saffron improved the frequency of clinical symptoms of the patients (i.e., frequency of the shortness of breath during the day and night time, use of salbutamol spray, waking up due to asthma symptoms and activity limitation) in comparison to the placebo (p < 0.001). Besides, asthma severity decreased almost significantly in the saffron group (p = 0.07). It was also found that saffron, in comparison with the placebo, significantly reduced the systolic and diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides and low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Moreover, eosinophils and basophils concentration reduced in the saffron group (p = 0.06 and 0.05 respectively). Saffron seems to be an effective and safe option (in 8 weeks supplementation) to improve clinical symptoms of patients with allergic asthma but the toxicity and/or long-term effects of saffron intake are not known. Registration ID in IRCT (IRCT2017012132081N2). Allergic asthma; Asthma severity; Saffron Dose-response associations of cardiorespiratory fitness with all-cause mortality and incidence and mortality of cancer and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases: the UK Biobank cohort study. Steell L, Ho FK, Sillars A, Petermann-Rocha F, Li H, Lyall DM, Iliodromiti S, Welsh P, Anderson J, MacKay DF, Pell JP, Sattar N, Gill JM, Gray SR, Celis-Morales CA. Br J Sports Med. 2019 Feb 22. pii: bjsports-2018-099093. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-099093. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099093 To investigate the association of cardiorespiratory fitness with all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer mortality and incidence. Prospective population-based study. UK Biobank. Of the 5 02 628 (5.5% response rate) participants recruited by UK Biobank, we included 73 259 (14.6%) participants with available data in this analysis. Of these, 1374 participants died and 4210 developed circulatory diseases, 1293 respiratory diseases and 4281 cancer, over a median of 5.0 years (IQR 4.3-5.7) follow-up. All-cause mortality and circulatory disease, respiratory disease, COPD and cancer (such as colorectal, lung, breast and prostate) mortality/incidence. Fitness was estimated using a submaximal cycle ergometer test. The HR for all-cause mortality for each metabolic equivalent of task (MET) higher fitness was 0.96 (95% CI 0.93 to 0.98). Similar results were observed for incident circulatory disease (HR 0.96 [0.95 to 0.97]), respiratory disease (HR 0.96 [0.94 to 0.98]), COPD (HR 0.90 [0.86 to 0.95) and colorectal cancer (HR 0.96 [0.92 to 1.00]). Nonlinear analysis revealed that a high level of fitness (>10METs) was associated with a greater incidence of atrial fibrillation (HR 1.24 [1.07 to 1.44]) and prostate cancer (HR 1.16 [1.02 to 1.32]) compared with average fitness. All results were adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle and dietary factors, body composition, and morbidity at baseline and excluded events in the first 2 years of follow-up. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with lower risk of premature mortality and incidence of CVD, respiratory disease and colorectal cancer. cancer; cardiovascular; epidemiology; fitness; respiratory Lifetime alcohol intake and pancreatic cancer incidence and survival: findings from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. Jayasekara H, English DR, Hodge AM, Room R, Hopper JL, Milne RL, Giles GG, MacInnis RJ. Cancer Causes Control. 2019 Feb 23. doi: 10.1007/s10552-019-01146-6. [Epub ahead of print] Pancreatic cancer has one of the worst prognoses with 5-year survival below 10%. There is some evidence that alcohol consumption might increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. We examined associations of pre-diagnostic alcohol intake with (i) incidence of pancreatic cancer, and (ii) overall survival following pancreatic cancer. Usual alcohol intake was estimated at recruitment in 1990-1994 for 38,472 participants in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study using recalled frequency and quantity of beverage-specific intake for 10-year periods from age 20. Pancreatic cancer incidence (C25 according to International Classification of Diseases for Oncology) and vital status were ascertained through to 30 September 2015. Cox regression was performed to estimate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations with lifetime, age 20-29, and baseline alcohol intakes. By the end of follow-up (average 20.2 years), 239 incident cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed, of which 228 had died. No evidence of an association was observed between alcohol intake and risk of pancreatic cancer. Higher lifetime alcohol intake was associated with lower overall survival following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (mortality HR 1.09 per 10 g/day increment, 95% CI 1.00-1.19; p value = 0.04). A similar finding was observed for age 20-29 intake (HR 1.09 per 10 g/day increment, 95% CI 1.02-1.18; p value = 0.01) but not with baseline intake. We observed an association between lower alcohol use from an early age and improved survival following pancreatic cancer, but this finding needs to be confirmed by other studies. Alcohol intake; Incidence; Pancreatic cancer; Survival Impact of estrogen monotherapy on survival in women with stage III-IV non-small cell lung cancer. Heilbroner SP, Xanthopoulos EP, Buono D, Huang Y, Carrier D, Shah A, Kim J, Corradetti M, Wright JD, Neugut AI, Hershman DL, Cheng SK. Lung Cancer. 2019 Mar;129:8-15. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2018.12.021. Epub 2018 Dec 24. Women with lung cancer have better survival than men. The reasons are unknown, but estrogen is hypothesized to improve survival. Our objective was to examine the association between estrogen monotherapy and cancer-specific and overall survival in elderly women with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We used the SEER-Medicare database to identify women ≥65 years old who were diagnosed with stage III or IV NSCLC. Estrogen monotherapy (EM) was defined as at least one estrogen claim without any progesterone claims 6 months prior to diagnosis. To assess cancer-specific survival and overall survival, we used Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox modeling with propensity score adjustments. As an exploratory analysis, we also examined the effect of combined estrogen and progesterone hormonal therapy on survival using Cox modeling. We identified 6958 women in our initial cohort: 283 used EM (4%) and 6675 (96%) did not. The median follow-up time was 46.5 months in the EM patients and 49.5 months in the non-EM patients. In a Kaplan-Meier analysis, median overall survival was 8.2 months in patients who receive EM and 6.2 months in those who did not (p = 0.004). In our 1:4 propensity-matched cohort, median follow-up was 46.5 in the EM group and 50.6 in the non-EM group; median overall survival was 8.0 months in the EM group and 6.4 months in the non-EM group (p = 0.02). In a multivariate Cox regression of the matched cohort, EM was significantly associated with overall survival (HR 0.84; 95% CI 0.73 - 0.97). All results were similar for cancer-specific survival. In our exploratory analysis, combined Estrogen-Progesterone did significantly impact overall survival (HR 0.84; 95% CI 0.71-0.99, p = 0.04) but did not appear to effect cancer-specific survival (HR 0.91; 95% CI 0.77-1.09, p = 0.30). EM was associated with a significant improvement in cancer-specific survival and overall survival in women with late stage NSCLC. Estrogen; Locally advanced; NSCLC; Non-small-cell lung cancer; Outcomes Incidence of dementia after age 90 in a multiracial cohort. Gilsanz P, Corrada MM, Kawas CH, Mayeda ER, Glymour MM, Quesenberry CP Jr, Lee C, Whitmer RA. Alzheimers Dement. 2019 Feb 8. pii: S1552-5260(18)33623-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.12.006. [Epub ahead of print] Little is known about dementia incidence in diverse populations of oldest-old, the age group with highest dementia incidence. Incident dementia diagnoses from 1/1/2010 to 9/30/2015 were abstracted from medical records for 2350 members of an integrated health care system in California (n = 1702 whites, n = 375 blacks, n = 105 Latinos, n = 168 Asians) aged ≥90 in 2010. We estimated race/ethnicity-specific age-adjusted dementia incidence rates and implemented Cox proportional hazards models and Fine and Gray competing risk of death models adjusted for demographics and comorbidities in midlife and late-life. Dementia incidence rates (n = 771 cases) were lowest among Asians (89.9/1000 person-years), followed by whites (96.9/1000 person-years), Latinos (105.8/1000 person-years), and blacks (121.5/1000 person-years). Cox regression and competing risk models estimated 28% and 36% higher dementia risk for blacks versus whites adjusting for demographics and comorbidities. Patterns of racial/ethnic disparities in dementia seen in younger older adults continue after the age of 90 years, though smaller in magnitude. Dementia; Disparities; Epidemiology; Ethnicity; Oldest-old; Race Declining cancer incidence at the oldest ages: Hallmark of aging or lower diagnostic activity? Pedersen JK, Rosholm JU, Ewertz M, Engholm G, Lindahl-Jacobsen R, Christensen K. J Geriatr Oncol. 2019 Feb 20. pii: S1879-4068(18)30346-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jgo.2019.02.001. [Epub ahead of print] The incidence of most cancers increases with age from early adulthood into old age but tends to level off or decrease at the highest ages. This decline may be caused by age-related mechanisms or due to lower diagnostic activity, leaving some cancers undiagnosed at the oldest ages. For breast, colon, lung, and all sites except non-melanoma skin cancer, age-specific incidence rates of verified as well as suspected cancer were estimated up to ages 95+ years for a random sample of the Danish population, 1994-2011, based on nationwide health registers (40,008 verified and 9110 suspected cancers). Moreover, for cancers diagnosed in Denmark, 1978-2012 (613,384 cancers), age-specific percentages of tumors with microscopic verification (histological/cytological/hematological examination) were calculated. The age-specific cancer incidence rates reached a peak between ages 65-89 years after which rates declined. The corresponding incidence pattern of suspected but not verified cancer was similar, with a trend of a slight absolute and relative decrease with age compared to verified cancer incidence. The proportion of cancers with microscopic verification decreased linearly from approximately 95% at ages 0-69 years all years to 70% (1978-1982) and to 80% (2010-2012) at ages 90+ years. The lower diagnostic verification of cancer at the highest ages suggests a lower diagnostic activity among the oldest-old. However, the proportion of suspected but not verified cancers did not increase with age, possibly partially due to lack of registration. The declining cancer incidence at oldest ages is probably partly due to lower diagnostic activity. Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Bias; Epidemiology; Incidence; Neoplasms Intake of Individual Fatty Acids and Risk of Prostate Cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Perez-Cornago A, Huybrechts I, Appleby PN, Schmidt JA, Crowe FL, Overvad K, Tjønneland A, Kühn T, Katzke V, Trichopoulou A, Karakatsani A, Peppa E, Grioni S, Palli D, Sacerdote C, Tumino R, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Larrañaga N, Sánchez MJ, Quirós JR, Ardanaz E, Chirlaque MD, Agudo A, Bjartell A, Wallström P, Chajes V, Tsilidis KK, Aune D, Riboli E, Travis RC, Key TJ. Int J Cancer. 2019 Feb 26. doi: 10.1002/ijc.32233. [Epub ahead of print] The associations of individual dietary fatty acids with prostate cancer risk have not been examined comprehensively. We examined the prospective association of individual dietary fatty acids with prostate cancer risk overall, by tumor subtypes, and prostate cancer death. 142,239 men from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition who were free from cancer at recruitment were included. Dietary intakes of individual fatty acids were estimated using center-specific validated dietary questionnaires at baseline and calibrated with 24-hour recalls. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). After an average follow-up of 13.9 years, 7,036 prostate cancer cases and 936 prostate cancer deaths were ascertained. Intakes of individual fatty acids were not related to overall prostate cancer risk. There was evidence of heterogeneity in the association of some short chain saturated fatty acids with prostate cancer risk by tumor stage (Pheterogeneity <0.015), with a positive association with risk of advanced stage disease for butyric acid (4:0; HR1SD =1.08; 95%CI=1.01-1.15; P-trend=0.026). There were no associations with fatal prostate cancer, with the exception of a slightly higher risk for those who consumed more eicosenoic acid (22:1n-9c; HR1SD =1.05; 1.00-1.11; P-trend=0.048) and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3c; HR1SD =1.07; 1.00-1.14; P-trend=0.045). There was no evidence that dietary intakes of individual fatty acids were associated with overall prostate cancer risk. However, a higher intake of butyric acid might be associated with a higher risk of advanced, whereas intakes of eicosenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids might be positively associated with fatal prostate cancer risk. individual fatty acids; prospective; prostate cancer; tumor subtypes Fish consumption and risk of myocardial infarction: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis suggests a regional difference. Jayedi A, Zargar MS, Shab-Bidar S. Nutr Res. 2019 Feb;62:1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2018.10.009. Epub 2018 Nov 4. Review. Limited evidence suggests that the association between fish consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease may be confounded by some regional-related factors. We aimed to quantify the association of fish consumption with risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and to clarify the shape of the dose-response relation in Western and Asian countries. A systematic literature review was performed in PubMed and Scopus from inception to January 2018. Prospective observational studies reporting risk estimates of MI for 3 or more quantitative categories of fish intake were included. A random-effects dose-response meta-analysis was conducted. Eleven prospective cohort studies, comprising a total of 398,221 participants and 8468 cases of MI, were analyzed. A significant inverse association was found for the highest compared with the lowest category of fish intake (relative risk: 0.73, 95% confidence interval: 0.59-0.87; I2 = 72%) and for a 15-g/d (105 g/wk, approximately equal to a 1 serving/wk) increment in fish consumption (relative risk: 0.96, 95% confidence interval: 0.94-0.99; I2 = 65%). A subgroup analysis showed a significant inverse association only in the subgroup of Asian studies as compared to Western studies. A nonlinear dose-response analysis suggested a linear decrement in the risk with the increase in fish consumption in the analysis of Asian studies. A modest U-shaped association was observed in the analysis of Western studies. In conclusion, higher fish consumption was associated with a lower risk of MI. However, considering the observed regional difference in this association, further observational studies are needed to provide more detailed explanations about this difference. Cardiovascular disease; Fish; Meta-analysis; Myocardial infarction; Regional difference The preventable burden of breast cancers for premenopausal and postmenopausal women in Australia: a pooled cohort study. Arriaga ME, Vajdic CM, Canfell K, MacInnis RJ, Banks E, Byles JE, Magliano DJ, Taylor AW, Mitchell P, Giles GG, Shaw JE, Gill TK, Klaes E, Velentzis LS, Cumming RG, Hirani V, Laaksonen MA. Estimates of the future breast cancer burden preventable through modifications to current behaviours are lacking. We assessed the effect of individual and joint behaviour modifications on breast cancer burden for premenopausal and postmenopausal Australian women, and whether effects differed between population subgroups. We linked pooled data from six Australian cohort studies (N=214,536) to national cancer and death registries, and estimated the strength of the associations between behaviours causally related to cancer incidence and death using adjusted proportional hazards models. We estimated exposure prevalence from representative health surveys. We combined these estimates to calculate Population Attributable Fractions (PAFs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and compared PAFs for population subgroups. During the first 10-years follow-up, there were 640 incident breast cancers for premenopausal women, 2,632 for postmenopausal women, and 8,761 deaths from any cause. Of future breast cancers for premenopausal women, any regular alcohol consumption explains 12.6% (CI=4.3-20.2%), current use of oral contraceptives for ≥5 years 7.1% (CI=0.3-13.5%), and these factors combined 18.8% (CI=9.1-27.4%). Of future breast cancers for postmenopausal women, overweight or obesity (BMI ≥25 kg/m2 ) explains 12.8% (CI=7.8-17.5%), current use of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) 6.9% (CI=4.8-8.9%), any regular alcohol consumption 6.6% (CI=1.5-11.4%), and these factors combined 24.2% (CI=17.6-30.3%). The MHT-related postmenopausal breast cancer burden varied by body fatness, alcohol consumption and socio-economic status, the body fatness-related postmenopausal breast cancer burden by alcohol consumption and educational attainment, and the alcohol-related postmenopausal breast cancer burden by breast feeding history. Our results provide evidence to support targeted and population-level cancer control activities. breast cancer; cohort; population attributable fraction; preventable; risk factors Cinnamon supplementation positively affects obesity: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Mousavi SM, Rahmani J, Kord-Varkaneh H, Sheikhi A, Larijani B, Esmaillzadeh A. BACKGROUND & AIMS: Data about the effects of cinnamon supplementation on obesity measures are conflicting. This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to summarize the effects of cinnamon intake on body weight (BW), Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), and fat mass (FM) in adults. Online electronic search engines including PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched to find pertinent articles until September 2018. Data were pooled using the random-effects method and were expressed as weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The non-linear association was assessed using fractional polynomial modeling. Out of 679 records, 12 trials that enrolled 786 subjects were included. The pooled results showed that cinnamon administration significantly decreased BW (WMD: -1.02 kg, 95% CI: -1.66 to -0.38, P = 0.002), BMI (WMD: -0.51 kg/m2, 95% CI: -0.74, -0.28, P < 0.001), WC (WMD: -2.40 cm, 95% CI: -4.48, -0.33, P = 0.02), and FM (WMD: -1.02%, 95% CI: -1.80, -0.24, P = 0.01). Greater effects on BW were observed in subjects aged <50 years old and those with a baseline BMI of ≥30 kg/m2. The cinnamon administrations significantly reduced FM at the dosages of ≥2 g/d, when administered for ≥12 weeks. Cinnamon administration resulted in BW and WC reduction in non-linear fashion (P = 0.04). Cinnamon supplementation significantly affects obesity measures. It could be recommended as a weight-reducing supplement in obesity management. Cinnamon; Dose-response; Meta-analysis; Obesity; Weight Chocolate and risk of chronic disease: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. Morze J, Schwedhelm C, Bencic A, Hoffmann G, Boeing H, Przybylowicz K, Schwingshackl L. Eur J Nutr. 2019 Feb 25. doi: 10.1007/s00394-019-01914-9. [Epub ahead of print] Evidence for the association between chocolate intake and risk of chronic diseases is inconclusive. Therefore, we aimed to synthesize and evaluate the credibility of evidence on the dose-response association between chocolate consumption with risk of all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, heart failure (HF), type 2 diabetes (T2D), colorectal cancer (CRC), and hypertension. Prospective studies were searched until July 2018 in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. Random-effects meta-analyses comparing highest versus lowest intake categories, linear, and non-linear dose-response analyses were conducted. The credibility of evidence was evaluated with the NutriGrade scoring-system. Overall, 27 investigations were identified (n = 2 for all-cause mortality, n = 9 for CHD, n = 8 for stroke, n = 6 for HF, n = 6 for T2D, n = 2 for hypertension and CRC, respectively). No associations with HF (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.94, 1.04) and T2D (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.88, 1.01) per each 10 g/day increase in chocolate intake were observed in the linear dose-response meta-analyses. However, a small inverse association for each 10 g/daily increase could be shown for the risk of CHD (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93, 0.99), and stroke (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.82, 0.98). The credibility of evidence was rated either very low (all-cause mortality, HF, T2D, CRC or hypertension) or low (CHD, stroke). Chocolate consumption is not related to risk for several chronic diseases, but could have a small inverse association with CHD and stroke. Our findings are limited by very low or low credibility of evidence, highlighting important uncertainty for chocolate-disease associations. Chocolate; Chronic disease; Credibility of evidence; Dose-response; Meta-analysis A high methionine, low folate and vitamin B6/B12 containing diet can be associated with memory loss by epigenetic silencing of netrin-1. Kalani A, Chaturvedi P, Kalani K, Kamat PK, Chaturvedi P, Tyagi N. Neural Regen Res. 2019 Jul;14(7):1247-1254. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.251333. http://www.nrronline.org/temp/NeuralRegenRes1471247-3789454_103134.pdf Memory-epigenetics which is the loss of memory due to epigenetic modifications can be due to the silencing of genes involved in cognitive functions and this is the basis of the current study. We hypothesize that a diet containing high methionine and low vitamins can lead to memory impairment by increasing global DNA methylation and therefore, silencing the netrin-1 gene, which encodes the glycoprotein involved in neurogenesis, axonal guidance and maintenance of the synaptic plasticity. Wild type (C57BL/6J) mice were fed with a diet containing excess methionine (1.2%), low-folate (0.08 mg/kg), vitamin B6 (0.01 mg/kg), and B12 (10.4 mg/kg) for 6 weeks. Mice were examined weekly for the long-term memory function, using a passive avoidance test, which determined loss of fear-motivated long-term memory starting from the fourth week of diet. Similarly, an increase in brain %5-methyl cytosine was observed starting from the 4th week of diet in mice. Mice fed with a high methionine, low folate and vitamins containing diet showed a decrease in netrin-1 protein expression and an increase in netrin-1 gene promotor methylation, as determined by methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme-polymerase chain reaction analysis. The increase in methylation of netrin-1 gene was validated by high-resolution melting and sequencing analysis. Furthermore, the association of netrin-1 with memory was established by administering netrin that considerably restored long-term fear motivated memory. Taken together, these results suggest that a diet rich in methionine and lacking in folate and vitamin B6/B12 can induce defects in learning and memory. Furthermore, the data indicates that decrease in netrin-1 expression due to hyper-methylation of its gene can be associated with memory loss. 5-methylcytosine; Alzheimer's disease; epigenetics; memory; methionine; methylation; netrin-1 Activation of vitamin D in the gingival epithelium and its role in gingival inflammation and alveolar bone loss. Menzel LP, Ruddick W, Chowdhury MH, Brice DC, Clance R, Porcelli E, Ryan LK, Lee J, Yilmaz Ö, Kirkwood KL, McMahon L, Tran A, Diamond G. J Periodontal Res. 2019 Feb 25. doi: 10.1111/jre.12646. [Epub ahead of print] BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Both chronic and aggressive periodontal disease are associated with vitamin D deficiency. The active form of vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2 D3 , induces the expression of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 and innate immune mediators in cultured human gingival epithelial cells (GECs). The aim of this study was to further delineate the mechanism by which vitamin D enhances the innate defense against the development of periodontal disease (PD). Wild-type C57Bl/6 mice were made deficient in vitamin D by dietary restriction. Cultured primary and immortalized GEC were stimulated with 1,25(OH)2 D3 , followed by infection with Porphyromonas gingivalis, and viable intracellular bacteria were quantified. Conversion of vitamin D3 to 25(OH)D3 and 1,25(OH)2 D3 was quantified by ELISA. Effect of vitamin D on basal IL-1α expression in mice was determined by topical administration to the gingiva of wild-type mice, followed by qRT-PCR. Dietary restriction of vitamin D led to alveolar bone loss and increased inflammation in the gingiva in the mouse model. In primary human GEC and established human cell lines, treatment of GEC with 1,25(OH)2 D3 inhibited the intracellular growth of P. gingivalis. Cultured GEC expressed two 25-hydroxylases (CYP27A1 and CYP2R1), as well as 1-α hydroxylase, enabling conversion of vitamin D to both 25(OH)D3 and 1,25(OH)2 D3 . Topical application of both vitamin D3 and 1,25(OH)2 D3 to the gingiva of mice led to rapid inhibition of IL-1α expression, a prominent pro-inflammatory cytokine associated with inflammation, which also exhibited more than a 2-fold decrease from basal levels in OKF6/TERT1 cells upon 1,25(OH)2 D3 treatment, as determined by RNA-seq. Vitamin D deficiency in mice contributes to PD, recapitulating the association seen in humans, and provides a unique model to study the development of PD. Vitamin D increases the activity of GEC against the invasion of periodontal pathogens and inhibits the inflammatory response, both in vitro and in vivo. GEC can convert inactive vitamin D to the active form in situ, supporting the hypothesis that vitamin D can be applied directly to the gingiva to prevent or treat periodontal disease. antimicrobial peptide; inflammation; periodontal disease; vitamin D Colonoscopy in Nonagenarians Is Safe and May Be Associated with Clinical Benefit. Shafrir A, Koslowsky B, Wengrower D, Goldin E, Livovsky DM. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 Feb 22. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15832. [Epub ahead of print] Data regarding colonoscopy in patients older than 90 years old is scarce. Yet the number of colonoscopies done on nonagenarians is rising. We aimed to determine the yield, safety, and therapeutic benefits of colonoscopy in these patients. Case-control study of older patients who underwent colonoscopy. Gastroenterology institute at an academic medical center. Patients older than 90 years (n = 128) compared with patients aged 80 to 89 years (n = 218) who underwent colonoscopy. Colonoscopy. Indication for the procedure, completion rates, adequacy of preparation, complications, colonoscopic findings, 30-day mortality, advanced adenoma and carcinoma detection rate, treatment, and long-term survival of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Mean ages were 83.3 and 92.2 years old. Nonagenarians were more likely to undergo a colonoscopy while hospitalized (56.2 vs 23.4%; P < .001) and to undergo the examination due to rectal bleeding or sigmoid volvulus (35.2 vs 25.2 and 10.9 vs 0.5%, respectively; P < .001) and less likely for surveillance or constipation (11.7 vs 25.7 and 0 vs 6.9%, respectively; P < .001). Completion rates and severe adverse events were comparable. The 30-day mortality was 3.9% in nonagenarians and 0.4% in octogenarians (P = .02). Advanced adenomas and carcinoma were more common in nonagenarians (25.8 vs 16.5%, P = .03, and 14.8 vs 6.4%, P = .01, respectively). Increasing age, inpatient status, past polypectomy surveillance, and anemia were associated with higher rates of carcinoma. Half of the nonagenarians diagnosed with adenocarcinoma underwent surgery compared with 100% of octogenarians (P = .01). Among nonagenarians with colorectal cancer who died, mean survival was 605 (interquartile range = 11-878) days in those who underwent surgery and 112 (48-341) in those treated conservatively (P = .055 log-rank test). Colonoscopy in nonagenarians has a high yield and is generally safe. Colonoscopy findings lead to surgery in more than half of these patients and was associated with a median survival of 20 months. Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Stroke, Coronary Heart Disease, and All-Cause Mortality in the Women's Health Initiative. Mossavar-Rahmani Y, Kamensky V, Manson JE, Silver B, Rapp SR, Haring B, Beresford SAA, Snetselaar L, Wassertheil-Smoller S. Stroke. 2019 Mar;50(3):555-562. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.118.023100. Background and Purpose- We examine the association between self-reported consumption of artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) and stroke and its subtypes, coronary heart disease, and all-cause mortality in a cohort of postmenopausal US women. Methods- The analytic cohort included 81 714 women from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, a multicenter longitudinal study of the health of 93 676 postmenopausal women of ages 50 to 79 years at baseline who enrolled in 1993 to 1998. This prospective study had a mean follow-up time of 11.9 years (SD of 5.3 years.) Participants who completed a follow-up visit 3 years after baseline were included in the study. Results- Most participants (64.1%) were infrequent consumers (never or <1/week) of ASB, with only 5.1% consuming ≥2 ASBs/day. In multivariate analyses, those consuming the highest level of ASB compared to never or rarely (<1/wk) had significantly greater likelihood of all end points (except hemorrhagic stroke), after controlling for multiple covariates. Adjusted models indicated that hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were 1.23 (1.02-1.47) for all stroke; 1.31 (1.06-1.63) for ischemic stroke; 1.29 (1.11-1.51) for coronary heart disease; and 1.16 (1.07-1.26) for all-cause mortality. In women with no prior history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus, high consumption of ASB was associated with more than a 2-fold increased risk of small artery occlusion ischemic stroke hazard ratio =2.44 (95% confidence interval, 1.47-4.04.) High consumption of ASBs was associated with significantly increased risk of ischemic stroke in women with body mass index ≥30; hazard ratio =2.03 (95% confidence interval, 1.38-2.98). Conclusions- Higher intake of ASB was associated with increased risk of stroke, particularly small artery occlusion subtype, coronary heart disease, and all-cause mortality. Although requiring replication, these new findings add to the potentially harmful association of consuming high quantities of ASB with these health outcomes. brain ischemia; coronary heart disease; diabetes mellitus; stroke; sweetening agents MEDIA ADVISORY: Longevity and Age Reversal presented by Brian M. Delaney and William Faloon https://menafn.com/1098184037/MEDIA-ADVISORY-Longevity-and-Age-Reversal-presented-by-Brian-M-Delaney-and-William-Faloon Dietary fibers as emerging nutritional factors against diabetes: focus on the involvement of gut microbiota. Gowd V, Xie L, Zheng X, Chen W. Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2019 Feb 27:1-17. doi: 10.1080/07388551.2019.1576025. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1080/07388551.2019.1576025 Diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and other secondary complications, such as nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy, etc. The important risk factors for the pathogenesis of DM are aging, family history, sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy dietary habits, and obesity. Evidence from epidemiological studies also indicates that DM is characterized by specific alterations in the human gut microbiota (GM). GM transplantation in rodents and humans revealed that a specific GM constituent can be the cause and not just the consequence of the DM condition and complications. These findings suggest a potential role of GM in human health, disease prevention, and treatment. Dietary intervention studies using dietary fibers (DFs) suggested that modulation of the GM can suppress the metabolic risk markers in humans. However, a causal role of GM in such studies remains unexplored. Long-term follow-up studies disclosed that the diet rich in insoluble and non-viscous fibers are responsible for DF-mediated antidiabetic activities, while soluble and viscous fibers have little influence on DM despite having a profound impact on glycemia. However, general conclusions cannot be drawn simply based on these findings. Long-term follow-up studies are urgently required in this area to explore the therapeutic potential of different DFs in treating DM and to delineate the exact role of GM involvement. Here we review and discuss the signature of GM during DM, antidiabetic activity of metformin via GM modulation, DFs from different sources and their antidiabetic activity, and the possible role of GM involvement. Diabetes mellitus; GLP-1; dietary fibers; glycemic index; gut microbiota; insulin sensitivity; short-chain fatty acids Association of Maternal Prenatal Vitamin Use With Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder Recurrence in Young Siblings. Schmidt RJ, Iosif AM, Guerrero Angel E, Ozonoff S. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019 Feb 27. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.3901. [Epub ahead of print] Maternal use of folic acid supplements has been inconsistently associated with reduced risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the child. No study to date has examined this association in the context of ASD recurrence in high-risk families. To examine the association between maternal prenatal vitamin use and ASD recurrence risk in younger siblings of children with ASD. This prospective cohort study analyzed data from a sample of children (n = 332) and their mothers (n = 305) enrolled in the MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risk in Babies: Learning Early Signs) study. Participants in the MARBLES study were recruited at the MIND Institute of the University of California, Davis and were primarily from families receiving services for children with ASD in the California Department of Developmental Services. In this sample, the younger siblings at high risk for ASD were born between December 1, 2006, and June 30, 2015, and completed a final clinical assessment within 6 months of their third birthday. Prenatal vitamin use during pregnancy was reported by mothers during telephone interviews. Data analysis for this study was conducted from January 1, 2017, to December 3, 2018. Autism spectrum disorder, other nontypical development (non-TD), and typical development (TD) were algorithmically defined according to Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and Mullen Scales of Early Learning subscale scores. After exclusions, the final sample comprised 241 younger siblings, of which 140 (58.1%) were male and 101 (41.9%) were female, with a mean (SD) age of 36.5 (1.6) months. Most mothers (231 [95.9%]) reported taking prenatal vitamins during pregnancy, but only 87 mothers (36.1%) met the recommendations to take prenatal vitamins in the 6 months before pregnancy. The prevalence of ASD was 14.1% (18) in children whose mothers took prenatal vitamins in the first month of pregnancy compared with 32.7% (37) in children whose mothers did not take prenatal vitamins during that time. Children whose mothers reported taking prenatal vitamins during the first month of pregnancy were less likely to receive an ASD diagnosis (adjusted relative risk [RR], 0.50; 95% CI, 0.30-0.81) but not a non-TD 36-month outcome (adjusted RR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.75-1.75) compared with children whose mothers reported not taking prenatal vitamins. Children in the former maternal prenatal vitamin group also had statistically significantly lower autism symptom severity (adjusted estimated difference, -0.60; 95% CI, -0.97 to -0.23) and higher cognitive scores (adjusted estimated difference, 7.1; 95% CI, 1.2-13.1). Maternal prenatal vitamin intake during the first month of pregnancy may reduce ASD recurrence in siblings of children with ASD in high-risk families. Additional research is needed to confirm these results; to investigate dose thresholds, contributing nutrients, and biologic mechanisms of prenatal vitamins; and to inform public health recommendations for ASD prevention in affected families. The effects of dietary methionine restriction on the function and metabolic reprogramming in the liver and brain - implications for longevity. Mladenović D, Radosavljević T, Hrnčić D, Rasic-Markovic A, Stanojlović O. Rev Neurosci. 2019 Feb 28. pii: /j/revneuro.ahead-of-print/revneuro-2018-0073/revneuro-2018-0073.xml. doi: 10.1515/revneuro-2018-0073. [Epub ahead of print] Methionine is an essential sulphur-containing amino acid involved in protein synthesis, regulation of protein function and methylation reactions. Dietary methionine restriction (0.12-0.17% methionine in food) extends the life span of various animal species and delays the onset of aging-associated diseases and cancers. In the liver, methionine restriction attenuates steatosis and delays the development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis due to antioxidative action and metabolic reprogramming. The limited intake of methionine stimulates the fatty acid oxidation in the liver and the export of lipoproteins as well as inhibits de novo lipogenesis. These effects are mediated by various signaling pathways and effector molecules, including sirtuins, growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 axis, sterol regulatory element binding proteins, adenosine monophosphate-dependent kinase and general control nonderepressible 2 pathway. Additionally, methionine restriction stimulates the synthesis of fibroblast growth factor-21 in the liver, which increases the insulin sensitivity of peripheral tissues. In the brain, methionine restriction delays the onset of neurodegenerative diseases and increases the resistance to various forms of stress through antioxidative effects and alterations in lipid composition. This review aimed to summarize the morphological, functional and molecular changes in the liver and brain caused by the methionine restriction, with possible implications in the prolongation of maximal life span. brain; liver; longevity; metabolic changes; methionine restriction; oxidative stress Fasting reduces oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and fibrosis induced by renal ischemia-reperfusion injury. Rojas-Morales P, León-Contreras JC, Aparicio-Trejo OE, Reyes-Ocampo JG, Medina-Campos ON, Jiménez-Osorio AS, González-Reyes S, Marquina-Castillo B, Hernández-Pando R, Barrera-Oviedo D, Sánchez-Lozada LG, Pedraza-Chaverri J, Tapia E. Free Radic Biol Med. 2019 Feb 25. pii: S0891-5849(18)32438-9. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.02.018. [Epub ahead of print] Food deprivation protects against ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury through unknown mechanisms. In an experimental rat model of acute IR injury, we found that preoperative fasting for 3 days protects rats from tubular damage and renal functional decline by increasing antioxidant protection independently of the NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and by maintaining mitochondrial morphology and function. In addition, further analysis revealed that fasting protects against tubulointerstitial fibrosis. In summary, our results point out to fasting as a robust nutritional intervention to limit oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in early acute kidney injury and also to promote long-term protection against fibrosis. Acute kidney injury; Chronic kidney disease; Fasting; Fibrosis; Ischemia-reperfusion injury; Mitochondrial dysfunction; Oxidative stress Refined versus Extra Virgin Olive Oil High-Fat Diet Impact on Intestinal Microbiota of Mice and Its Relation to Different Physiological Variables. Martínez N, Prieto I, Hidalgo M, Segarra AB, Martínez-Rodríguez AM, Cobo A, Ramírez M, Gálvez A, Martínez-Cañamero M. Microorganisms. 2019 Feb 23;7(2). pii: E61. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms7020061. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/7/2/61/htm Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has been reported to have a distinct influence on gut microbiota in comparison to other fats, with its physiological benefits widely studied. However, a large proportion of the population consumes olive oil after a depurative process that not only mellows its taste, but also deprives it of polyphenols and other minority components. In this study, we compare the influence on the intestinal microbiota of a diet high in this refined olive oil (ROO) with other fat-enriched diets. Swiss Webster mice were fed standard or a high-fat diet enriched with EVOO, ROO, or butter (BT). Physiological parameters were also evaluated. At the end of the feeding period, DNA was extracted from feces and the 16S rRNA was pyrosequenced. The group fed ROO behaved differently to the EVOO group in half the families with statistically significant differences among the diets, with higher comparative levels in three families-Desulfovibrionaceae, Spiroplasmataceae, and Helicobacteraceae-correlating with total cholesterol. These results are again indicative of a link between specific diets, certain physiological parameters and the prevalence of some taxa, but also support the possibility that polyphenols and minor components of EVOO are involved in some of the proposed effects of this fat through the modulation of the intestinal microbiota. butter; gut microbiota; next generation sequencing; olive oil; polyphenols Alcohol consumption and incident diabetes: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. He X, Rebholz CM, Daya N, Lazo M, Selvin E. Diabetologia. 2019 Feb 28. doi: 10.1007/s00125-019-4833-1. [Epub ahead of print] AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prospective association between baseline and 9 year change in alcohol consumption and long-term risk of diabetes and whether these associations might be modified by sex and/or BMI. We conducted a prospective analysis of 12,042 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study participants without prevalent diabetes (55% women, 78% white, mean age 54 years). Alcohol consumption was assessed at visit 1 (1987-1989) and visit 4 (1996-1998). We used Cox models to estimate hazard ratios for diabetes risk by baseline drinking categories and change in alcohol consumption, stratified by sex and obesity status. During a median follow-up of 21 years, there were 3795 incident cases of diabetes. Among women, consuming 8-14 drinks/week was associated with a significantly lower risk of diabetes (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.58, 0.96) compared with current drinkers consuming ≤1 drink/week. Among men, consuming 8-14 drinks/week was associated with a borderline significant lower risk of diabetes (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.70, 1.00) and consuming >14 drinks/week was associated with a significantly lower risk of diabetes (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.67, 0.97) (pinteraction < 0.01 for sex). For both sexes, among current drinkers, there was a significant decreasing trend in diabetes risk as the alcohol consumption increased. The association was modified by BMI (pinteraction = 0.042 for women, pinteraction < 0.001 for men). In women, the inverse association was only seen among overweight and obese participants. In men, the inverse association was more pronounced among obese participants. On average, drinking status did not change substantially over the 9 year period. For men with alcohol intake ≥7 drinks/week at baseline, decreasing alcohol intake was associated with higher risk of diabetes (HR per daily drink decrease 1.12, 95% CI 1.02, 1.23). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: In this community-based population, there was an inverse association between alcohol consumption and diabetes risk. The amount of the alcohol consumption associated with lower risk was different in women and men, and the association was more pronounced among participants with higher BMI. Alcohol; Diabetes Reductions in whole-body fat mass but not increases in lean mass predict changes in cardiometabolic health indices with exercise training among weight-stable adults. Amankwaah AF, Hudson JL, Kim JE, Campbell WW. Nutr Res. 2018 Nov 11;63:63-69. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2018.11.004. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.nutres.2018.11.004 We assessed whether body composition changes with 9 months of exercise training predicted changes in cardiometabolic health indices in weight-stable adults. We hypothesized that within ±5% weight change, changes in whole-body fat and lean masses would predict changes in cardiometabolic health indices with exercise training. Using a randomized parallel design, 152 adults (age: 49 ± 8 year; body mass index: 30.0 ± 2.7 kg/m2; mean ± SD) performed resistance exercises 2 d/wk and aerobic exercises 1 d/wk for 9 months. Participants consumed isoenergetic supplements with 0, 10, 20, or 30 g whey protein twice daily and remained weight stable within ±5% of baseline weight. Body weight and composition were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry pre- and postintervention. Multiple linear regression model was applied for data analyses. Independent of whey protein supplementation, reductions in fat mass predicted increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (unstandardized beta-coefficient [β], -0.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.06 to -0.01; P = .007) and insulin sensitivity index (β, -0.52; 95% CI, -0.95 to -0.09; P = .018) and decreases in waist circumference (β, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.17-1.18; P = .009). In contrast, increases in lean mass did not predict changes in any of the measured cardiometabolic health indices. Health improvements with training that emphasize resistance exercises are typically attributed to increases in lean mass; however, these results underscore reducing body fat to predict cardiometabolic health improvements. Body composition; Body mass index; Body weight; Exercise; Insulin resistance; Linear models; Waist circumference MIND not Mediterranean diet related to 12-year incidence of cognitive impairment in an Australian longitudinal cohort study. Hosking DE, Eramudugolla R, Cherbuin N, Anstey KJ. Alzheimers Dement. 2019 Feb 27. pii: S1552-5260(18)33628-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.12.011. [Epub ahead of print] Review. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.jalz.2018.12.011 Associations between the Mediterranean-DASH diet Intervention for Neurological Delay (MIND) diet and incidence of cognitive impairment have not been evaluated outside the United States. We investigated MIND and Mediterranean diet relations with 12-year incidence of Alzheimer's disease/Vascular dementia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders criteria) and mild cognitive impairment (Winbald criteria) in the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life cohort (n = 1220) set in Canberra, Australia: wave-1 2001-2002; wave-2 2005-2006; wave-3 2009-2010; and wave-4 2013-2014. MIND diet and two alternate Mediterranean diet scores were calculated from the baseline food frequency questionnaire responses. Higher dietary scores signified greater adherence. In adjusted logistic regression models, MIND diet (OR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.24, 0.91), but not Mediterranean diet, was associated with reduced odds of 12-year cognitive impairment. Preliminary evidence suggests that protective effects of the MIND diet are geographically generalizable. Additional prospective studies are needed in diverse samples to determine the relative effects of the MIND and the Mediterranean diets against cognitive decline. Alzheimer's disease; Cognitive impairment; Dietary pattern; Longitudinal cohort study; MIND diet; Mediterranean diet; Mild cognitive impairment Analysis of metabolites and metabolic pathways in breast cancer in a Korean prospective cohort: the Korean Cancer Prevention Study-II. Yoo HJ, Kim M, Kim M, Kang M, Jung KJ, Hwang SM, Jee SH, Lee JH. Metabolomics. 2018 Jun 8;14(6):85. doi: 10.1007/s11306-018-1382-4. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1007/s11306-018-1382-4 Since blood is in contact with all tissues in the body and is considered to dynamically reflect the body's pathophysiological status, serum metabolomics changes are important and have diagnostic value in early cancer detection. In this prospective study, we investigated the application of metabolomics to differentiate subjects with incident breast cancer (BC) from subjects who remained free of cancer during a mean follow-up period of 7 years with the aim of identifying valuable biomarkers for BC. Baseline serum samples from 84 female subjects with incident BC (BC group) and 88 cancer-free female subjects (control group) were used. Metabolic alterations associated with BC were investigated via metabolomics analysis of the baseline serum samples using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-linear-trap quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry. A total of 57 metabolites were identified through the metabolic analysis. Among them, 20 metabolite levels were significantly higher and 22 metabolite levels were significantly lower in the BC group than in the control group at baseline. Ten metabolic pathways, including amino acid metabolism, arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, and retinol metabolism, showed significant differences between the BC group and the control group. Logistic regression revealed that the incidence of BC was affected by leucine, AA, prostaglandin (PG)J2, PGE2, and γ-linolenic acid (GLA). This prospective study showed the clinical relevance of dysregulation of various metabolisms on the incidence of BC. Additionally, leucine, AA, PGJ2, PGE2, and GLA were identified as independent variables affecting the incidence of BC. Breast cancer; Cohort; Early biomarkers; Metabolites; Metabolomics; Prospective study Two days of calorie deprivation impairs high level cognitive processes, mood, and self-reported exertion during aerobic exercise: A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Giles GE, Mahoney CR, Caruso C, Bukhari AS, Smith TJ, Pasiakos SM, McClung JP, Lieberman HR. Brain Cogn. 2019 Mar 1;132:33-40. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2019.02.003. [Epub ahead of print] https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0278262618304597?token=710918DE45E0445AB18FEE1BD7240BFA390C681A02ECADF1E4FDCB182327278B8A79CF34F3E989BFA6303B2CC2BF9D84 Military personnel and emergency responders perform cognitively-demanding tasks during periods of sustained physical exertion and limited caloric intake. Cognitive function is preserved during short-term caloric restriction, but it is unclear if preservation extends to combined caloric restriction and physical exertion. According to the "reticular-activating hypofrontality" model, vigorous exertion impairs prefrontal cortex activity and associated functions. This double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study examined cognitive function during sustained exertion while volunteers were calorically-deprived. Twenty-three volunteers were calorie-depleted for two days on one occasion and fully-fed on another. They completed intermittent bouts of exercise at 40-65% VO2peak while prefrontal cortex-dependent tasks of cognitive control, mood, and perceived exertion were assessed. Calorie deprivation impaired accuracy on the task-switching task of set-shifting (p < .01) and decreased sensitivity on the go/no-go task of response inhibition (p < .05). Calorie deprivation did not affect risk taking on the Rogers risk task. During exercise, calorie deprivation, particularly on day 2, increased perceived exertion (p < .05) and impaired mood states of tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, and confusion (all p < .01). Physical exertion during severe calorie deprivation impairs cognitive control, mood, and self-rated exertion. Reallocation of cerebral metabolic resources from the prefrontal cortex to structures supporting movement may explain these deficits. Borg rating; Executive function; Military; Risk taking; Task-switching Association between vegetarian diets and cardiovascular risk factors in non-Hispanic white participants of the Adventist Health Study-2. Matsumoto S, Beeson WL, Shavlik DJ, Siapco G, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Fraser G, Knutsen SF. J Nutr Sci. 2019 Feb 21;8:e6. doi: 10.1017/jns.2019.1. eCollection 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331251725_Association_between_vegetarian_diets_and_cardiovascular_risk_factors_in_non-Hispanic_white_participants_of_the_Adventist_Health_Study-2 The association between dietary patterns and CVD risk factors among non-Hispanic whites has not been fully studied. Data from 650 non-Hispanic white adults who participated in one of two clinical sub-studies (about 2 years after the baseline) of the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) were analysed. Four dietary patters were identified using a validated 204-item semi-quantitative FFQ completed at enrolment into AHS-2: vegans (8·3 %), lacto-ovo-vegetarians (44·3 %), pesco-vegetarians (10·6 %) and non-vegetarians (NV) (37·3 %). Dietary pattern-specific prevalence ratios (PR) of CVD risk factors were assessed adjusting for confounders with or without BMI as an additional covariable. The adjusted PR for hypertension, high total cholesterol and high LDL-cholesterol were lower in all three vegetarian groups. Among the lacto-ovo-vegetarians the PR were 0·57 (95 % CI 0·45, 0·73), 0·72 (95 % CI 0·59, 0·88) and 0·72 (95 % CI 0·58, 0·89), respectively, which remained significant after additionally adjusting for BMI. The vegans and the pesco-vegetarians had similar PR for hypertension at 0·46 (95 % CI 0·25, 0·83) and 0·62 (95 % CI 0·42, 0·91), respectively, but estimates were attenuated and marginally significant after adjustment for BMI. Compared with NV, the PR of obesity and abdominal adiposity, as well as other CVD risk factors, were significantly lower among the vegetarian groups. Similar results were found when limiting analyses to participants not being treated for CVD risk factors, with the vegans having the lowest mean BMI and waist circumference. Thus, compared with the diet of NV, vegetarian diets were associated with significantly lower levels of CVD risk factors among the non-Hispanic whites. Use of dietary supplements containing soy isoflavones and breast cancer risk among women aged >50 y: a prospective study. Touillaud M, Gelot A, Mesrine S, Bennetau-Pelissero C, Clavel-Chapelon F, Arveux P, Bonnet F, Gunter M, Boutron-Ruault MC, Fournier A. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Mar 4. pii: nqy313. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy313. [Epub ahead of print] Soy-based dietary supplements have been promoted as natural alternatives to menopausal hormone therapy, but their potential effect on breast cancer development is controversial. We examined the relation between the consumption of soy supplements and the risk of breast cancer, overall and by tumor hormone receptor status, among women aged >50 y. In total, 76,442 women from the Etude Epidemiologique aupres de Femmes de la Mutuelle Generale de l'Education Nationale (E3N) cohort, born between 1925 and 1950, were followed from 2000 to 2011 (11.2 y on average, starting at a mean age of 59.5 y; 3608 incident breast cancers), with soy supplement use assessed every 2-3 y. HRs of breast cancer were estimated with the use of multivariable Cox models. Compared with never using soy supplements, the HRs associated with current use of soy supplements were 0.92 (95% CI: 0.76, 1.11) for all, 0.78 (95% CI: 0.60, 0.99) for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, and 2.01 (95% CI: 1.41, 2.86) for ER-negative breast cancers. There was no association between past use of soy supplements and breast cancer. HRs for current use were 1.36 (95% CI: 0.95, 1.93) and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.65, 1.02) among women with and without a family history of breast cancer, respectively (P-interaction = 0.03) and 1.06 (95% CI: 0.87, 1.30) ≥5 y after menopause compared with 0.50 (95% CI: 0.31, 0.81) in premenopause or ≤5 y postmenopause (P-interaction = 0.04). In this cohort of women aged >50 y, we report opposing associations of soy supplements with ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancer risk. Our results also caution against the use of these supplements in women with a family history of breast cancer. Whether the risk profile of soy supplements could be more favorable among premenopausal or recently postmenopausal women deserves further investigation. breast cancer; cohort; dietary supplements; hormone receptors; isoflavones; prospective study; soy; women aged over 50 years Coffee consumption and plasma biomarkers of metabolic and inflammatory pathways in US health professionals. Hang D, Kværner AS, Ma W, Hu Y, Tabung FK, Nan H, Hu Z, Shen H, Mucci LA, Chan AT, Giovannucci EL, Song M. Coffee consumption has been linked to lower risk of various health outcomes. However, the biological pathways mediating the associations remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to assess the association between coffee consumption and concentrations of plasma biomarkers in key metabolic and inflammatory pathways underlying common chronic diseases. We investigated the associations of total, caffeinated, and decaffeinated coffee consumption with 14 plasma biomarkers, including C-peptide, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), IGF binding protein (IGFBP) 1, IGFBP-3, estrone, total and free estradiol, total and free testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), total adiponectin, high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin, leptin, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (sTNFR-2). Data were derived from 2 cohorts of 15,551 women (Nurses' Health Study) and 7397 men (Health Professionals Follow-Up Study), who provided detailed dietary data before blood draw and were free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at the time of blood draw. Multivariable linear regression was used to calculate the percentage difference of biomarker concentrations comparing coffee drinkers with nondrinkers, after adjusting for a variety of demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors. Compared with nondrinkers, participants who drank ≥4 cups of total coffee/d had lower concentrations of C-peptide (-8.7%), IGFBP-3 (-2.2%), estrone (-6.4%), total estradiol (-5.7%), free estradiol (-8.1%), leptin (-6.4%), CRP (-16.6%), IL-6 (-8.1%), and sTNFR-2 (-5.8%) and higher concentrations of SHBG (5.0%), total testosterone (7.3% in women and 5.3% in men), total adiponectin (9.3%), and HMW adiponectin (17.2%). The results were largely similar for caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. Our data indicate that coffee consumption is associated with favorable profiles of numerous biomarkers in key metabolic and inflammatory pathways. adipokine; coffee consumption; inflammation; insulin; sex hormone Animal foods and postmenopausal breast cancer risk: a prospective cohort study. Marcondes LH, Franco OH, Ruiter R, Ikram MA, Mulder M, Stricker BH, Kiefte-de Jong JC. Br J Nutr. 2019 Mar 5:1-9. doi: 10.1017/S0007114519000072. [Epub ahead of print] The role of diet on breast cancer risk is not well elucidated but animal food sources may play a role through, for example, the pathway of the insulin-like growth factor 1 system or cholesterol metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between animal foods and the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. This study was embedded in the Rotterdam Study, a population-based prospective cohort study of subjects aged 55 years and over (61 % female). Dietary intake of different animal foods was assessed at baseline using a validated FFQ and adjusted for energy intake using the residual method. We performed Cox proportional hazards modelling to analyse the association between the intake of the different food sources and breast cancer risk after adjustment for socio-demographic, lifestyle and metabolic factors. During a median follow-up of 17 years, we identified 199 cases of breast cancer (6·2 %) among 3209 women. After adjustment for multiple confounders, no consistent association was found between the intake of red meat intake, poultry, fish or dairy products and breast cancer risk. However, we found that egg intake was significantly associated with a higher risk of breast cancer (hazard ratioQ4 v. Q1: 1·83; 95 % CI 1·20, 2·79; P trend=0·01). In conclusion, this study found that dietary egg intake but no other animal foods was associated with a higher risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Further research on the potential mechanisms underlying this association is warranted. HR hazard ratio; IGF-1 insulin-like growth factor 1; RS Rotterdam Study; Animal foods; Breast cancer; Cohort studies; Eggs Statins for the Primary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease. Li M, Wang X, Li X, Chen H, Hu Y, Zhang X, Tang X, Miao Y, Tian G, Shang H. Biomed Res Int. 2019 Jan 29;2019:4870350. doi: 10.1155/2019/4870350. eCollection 2019. The purpose of this study was to fully assess the role of statins in the primary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD). We searched six databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database) to identify relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from inception to 31 October 2017. Two review authors independently assessed the methodological quality and analysed the data using Rev Man 5.3 software. Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were pooled using fixed/random-effects models. Funnel plots and Begg's test were conducted to assess publication bias. The quality of the evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Sixteen RCTs with 69159 participants were included in this review. Statins can effectively decrease the occurrence of angina (RR=0.70, 95% CI: 0.58~0.85, I2 =0%), nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) (RR=0.60, 95% CI: 0.51~0.69, I2 =14%), fatal MI (RR=0.49, 95% CI: 0.24~0.98, I2 =0%), any MI (RR=0.53, 95% CI: 0.42~0.67, I2 =0%), any coronary heart events (RR=0.73, 95% CI: 0.68~0.78, I2=0%), coronary revascularization (RR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.55~0.78, I2 = 0%), and any cardiovascular events (RR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.72~82, I2 = 0%). However, based on the current evidence, there were no significant differences in CHD deaths (RR=0.82, 95% CI: 0.66~1.02, I2=0%) and all-cause mortality (RR=0.88, 95% CI: 0.76 ~1.01, I2 =58%) between the two groups. Additionally, statins were more likely to result in diabetes (RR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.05~1.39, I2 =0%). There was no evidence of publication biases, and the quality of the evidence was considered moderate. Statins seemed to be beneficial for the primary prevention of CHDs but have no effect on CHD death and all-cause mortality. Effects of krill oil and lean and fatty fish on cardiovascular risk markers: a randomised controlled trial. Rundblad A, Holven KB, Bruheim I, Myhrstad MC, Ulven SM. J Nutr Sci. 2018 Jan 17;7:e3. doi: 10.1017/jns.2017.64. eCollection 2018. PMID: 29372051 Free PMC Article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5773922/pdf/S2048679017000647a.pdf Fish consumption and supplementation with n-3 fatty acids reduce CVD risk. Krill oil is an alternative source of marine n-3 fatty acids and few studies have investigated its health effects. Thus, we compared krill oil supplementation with the intake of fish with similar amounts of n-3 fatty acids on different cardiovascular risk markers. In an 8-week randomised parallel study, thirty-six healthy subjects aged 18-70 years with fasting serum TAG between 1·3 and 4·0 mmol/l were randomised to receive either fish, krill oil or control oil. In the fish group, subjects consumed lean and fatty fish, according to dietary guidelines. The krill and control group received eight capsules per d containing 4 g oil per d. The weekly intake of marine n-3 fatty acids from fish given in the fish group and from krill oil in the krill group were 4103 and 4654 mg, respectively. Fasting serum TAG did not change between the groups. The level of total lipids (P = 0·007), phospholipids (P = 0·015), cholesterol (P = 0·009), cholesteryl esters (P = 0·022) and non-esterified cholesterol (P = 0·002) in the smallest VLDL subclass increased significantly in response to krill oil supplementation. Blood glucose decreased significantly (P = 0·024) in the krill group and vitamin D increased significantly in the fish group (P = 0·024). Furthermore, plasma levels of marine n-3 fatty acids increased significantly in the fish and krill groups compared with the control (all P ≤ 0·0003). In conclusion, supplementation with krill oil and intake of fish result in health-beneficial effects. Although only krill oil reduced fasting glucose, fish provide health-beneficial nutrients, including vitamin D. DHA; DPA, docosapentaenoic acid; Docosapentaenoic acid; EPA; Fish; HOSO, high-oleic sunflower oil; IQR, interquartile range; Krill oil; Lipoprotein subclasses; TAG; XS-VLDL, smallest VLDL subclass Long-term coffee consumption, caffeine metabolism genetics, and risk of cardiovascular disease: a prospective analysis of up to 347,077 individuals and 8368 cases. Zhou A, Hyppönen E. Coffee is one of the most widely consumed stimulants worldwide and is generally considered to be safe or even beneficial for health. However, increased risk of myocardial infarction and hypertension has been suggested for individuals who carry a functional variant at cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2), which makes them less effective at metabolizing caffeine. The aim of this study was to examine if the CYP1A2 genotype or a genetic score for caffeine metabolism (caffeine-GS) modifies the association between habitual coffee consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Genetic data and information on habitual coffee intake and relevant covariates were available for 347,077 individuals in the UK Biobank, including 8368 incident CVD cases. We used logistic regression to test for the association between coffee intake and CVD risk, and whether the association varies with CYP1A2 genotype or caffeine-GS. The association between habitual coffee intake and CVD risk was nonlinear, and, compared with participants drinking 1-2 cups/day, the risk of CVD was elevated for nondrinkers, drinkers of decaffeinated coffee, and those who reported drinking >6 cups/day (increase in odds by 11%, 7%, and 22%, respectively, P-curvature = 0.013). CYP1A2 genotype and caffeine-GS were not associated with CVD (P ≥ 0.22 for all comparisons). There was no evidence for an interaction between the CYP1A2 genotype or caffeine-GS and coffee intake with respect to risk of CVD (P ≥ 0.53). Heavy coffee consumption was associated with a modest increase in CVD risk, but this association was unaffected by genetic variants influencing caffeine metabolism. CYP1A2 ; UK Biobank; caffeine metabolism genetics; cardiovascular disease; gene-by-coffee interaction; habitual coffee consumption Caloric Restriction Mimetics against Age-Associated Disease: Targets, Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Potential. Madeo F, Carmona-Gutierrez D, Hofer SJ, Kroemer G. Cell Metab. 2019 Mar 5;29(3):592-610. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2019.01.018. Review. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.01.018 The increase in life expectancy has boosted the incidence of age-related pathologies beyond social and economic sustainability. Consequently, there is an urgent need for interventions that revert or at least prevent the pathogenic age-associated deterioration. The permanent or periodic reduction of calorie intake without malnutrition (caloric restriction and fasting) is the only strategy that reliably extends healthspan in mammals including non-human primates. However, the strict and life-long compliance with these regimens is difficult, which has promoted the emergence of caloric restriction mimetics (CRMs). We define CRMs as compounds that ignite the protective pathways of caloric restriction by promoting autophagy, a cytoplasmic recycling mechanism, via a reduction in protein acetylation. Here, we describe the current knowledge on molecular, cellular, and organismal effects of known and putative CRMs in mice and humans. We anticipate that CRMs will become part of the pharmacological armamentarium against aging and age-related cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and malignant diseases. AMPK; NAD; acetyl-CoA; acetyltransferases; aspirin; deacetylases; fasting; hydroxycitric acid; mTOR; metformin; nicotine adenine dinucleotide precursors; polyphenols; rapamycin; resveratrol; sirtuins; spermidine n-3 Fatty acids and risk for fatal coronary disease. Harris WS, Zotor FB. Proc Nutr Soc. 2019 Mar 6:1-6. doi: 10.1017/S0029665118002902. [Epub ahead of print] The purpose of this review is to consider the effects of the long-chain n-3 fatty acids found in marine foods, EPA and DHA, on risk for CVD, particularly fatal outcomes. It will examine both epidemiological and randomised controlled trial findings. The former studies usually examine associations between the dietary intake or the blood levels of EPA + DHA and CVD outcomes or, on occasion, total mortality. For example, our studies in the Framingham Heart Study and in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study have demonstrated significant inverse relations between erythrocyte EPA + DHA levels (i.e. the Omega-3 Index) and total mortality. Recent data from the Cardiovascular Health Study reported the same relations between plasma phospholipid n-3 levels and overall healthy ageing. As regards randomised trials, studies in the 1990s and early 2000s were generally supportive of a cardiovascular benefit for fish oils (which contain EPA + DHA), but later trials were generally not able to duplicate these findings, at least for total CVD events. However, when restricted to effects on risk for fatal events, meta-analyses have shown consistent benefits for n-3 treatment. Taken together, the evidence is strong for a cardioprotective effect of EPA + DHA, especially when consumed in sufficient amounts to raise blood levels into healthy ranges. Establishing target EPA + DHA intakes to reduce risk for cardiovascular death is a high priority. FA fatty acid; RCT randomised controlled trial; Biomarkers; CVD; Controlled clinical trials; DHA; EPA; Epidemiology; Fish oil; Mortality Does increasing meal frequency improve weight loss and some biochemical parameters in overweight/obese females? Yildiran H, Mercanligil SM. Nutr Hosp. 2018 Jul 11. doi: 10.20960/nh.2191. [Epub ahead of print] [See https://www.nutricionhospitalaria.org/articles/02191/show#! for pdf.] despite the positive effects of frequent meals on obesity treatment, there have been no definite conclusions on the matter. the aim of this study is to determine the effects of different meal frequencies on weight loss, body composition and some biochemical parameters of overweight or obese females. sixty-five adult overweight or obese females were recruited from the Endocrine Department of Ankara Gülhane Education and Research Hospital. Individualistic weight-loss diet programs were implemented (three meals/day for one group and six meals/day for the other group) with a three-month follow-up. Anthropometric measurements and 24-hour dietary records were taken for each week during the study period. Some biochemical parameters (lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin) were analyzed at the beginning and at the end of the study. forty-three participants finished the study period. Body weight, body mass index, fat mass (kg), fat mass percentage (%), and waist circumference (cm) decreased significantly in both groups (p < 0.05), while fat free mass (kg) and body water (l) did not change significantly (p > 0.05). Only serum fasting insulin levels decreased significantly in the six meals/day group (p < 0.05). Whatever the differences between the initial and final values of body weight, body composition, and biochemical parameters, they were similar between the groups (p > 0.05). Only the decrease in fasting insulin levels in the six-meal group was found higher than that of the three-meal group. in conclusion, body weight, body composition, and lipid profiling are not affected by the number of meals when weight-loss diets are prepared with adequate energy restrictions and sufficient and balanced nutrition. Seize the Day for a Day With No Seizures: Modifiable Midlife Risk Factors Identified. Koubeissi M. Epilepsy Curr. 2019 Jan;19(1):27-28. doi: 10.1177/1535759718822041. Epub 2019 Jan 30. Importance: The incidence of epilepsy is higher in older age than at any other period of life. Stroke, dementia, and hypertension are associated with late-onset epilepsy; however, the role of other vascular and lifestyle factors remains unclear. To identify midlife vascular and lifestyle risk factors for late-onset epilepsy. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study is a prospective cohort study of 15 792 participants followed up since 1987 to 1989 with in-person visits, telephone calls, and surveillance of hospitalizations (10 974 invited without completing enrollment). The ARIC is a multicenter study with participants selected from 4 US communities. This study included 10 420 black or white participants from ARIC with at least 2 years of Medicare fee-for-service coverage and without missing baseline data. Data were analyzed between April 2017 and May 2018. Exposures: Demographic, vascular, lifestyle, and other possible epilepsy risk factors measured at baseline (age 45-64 years) were evaluated in multivariable survival models including demographics, vascular risk factors, and lifestyle risk factors. Main Outcomes and Measures: Time to development of late-onset epilepsy (2 or more International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes for epilepsy or seizures starting at 60 years or older in any claim [hospitalization or outpatient Medicare through 2013]), with first code for seizures after at least 2 years without code for seizures. Of the 10 420 total participants (5878 [56.4%] women and 2794 [26.8%] black participants; median age 55 years at first visit), 596 participants developed late-onset epilepsy (3.33 per 1000 person-years). The incidence was higher in black than in white participants (4.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.12-5.40 vs 2.88; 95% CI, 2.60-3.18 per 1000 person-years). In multivariable analysis, baseline hypertension (hazard ratio {HR}, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.09-1.55), diabetes (HR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.17-1.80), smoking (HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.01-1.17), apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) genotype (1 allele HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.02-1.45; 2 alleles HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.35-2.81), incident stroke (HR, 3.38; 95% CI, 2.78-4.10), and dementia (HR, 2.56; 95% CI, 2.11-3.12) were associated with an increased risk of late-onset epilepsy, while higher levels of physical activity (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.83-0.98) and moderate alcohol intake (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.57-0.90) were associated with a lower risk. Results were similar after censoring individuals with stroke or dementia. Potentially modifiable risk factors in midlife and the APOE ε4 genotype were positively associated with risk of developing late-onset epilepsy. Although stroke and dementia were both associated with late-onset epilepsy, vascular and lifestyle risk factors were significant even in the absence of stroke or dementia. Edited March 7 by AlPater Methionine restriction prevents onset of type 2 diabetes in NZO mice. Castaño-Martinez T, Schumacher F, Schumacher S, Kochlik B, Weber D, Grune T, Biemann R, McCann A, Abraham K, Weikert C, Kleuser B, Schürmann A, Laeger T. FASEB J. 2019 Mar 6:fj201900150R. doi: 10.1096/fj.201900150R. [Epub ahead of print] Dietary methionine restriction (MR) is well known to reduce body weight by increasing energy expenditure (EE) and insulin sensitivity. An elevated concentration of circulating fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has been implicated as a potential underlying mechanism. The aims of our study were to test whether dietary MR in the context of a high-fat regimen protects against type 2 diabetes in mice and to investigate whether vegan and vegetarian diets, which have naturally low methionine levels, modulate circulating FGF21 in humans. New Zealand obese (NZO) mice, a model for polygenic obesity and type 2 diabetes, were placed on isocaloric high-fat diets (protein, 16 kcal%; carbohydrate, 52 kcal%; fat, 32 kcal%) that provided methionine at control (Con; 0.86% methionine) or low levels (0.17%) for 9 wk. Markers of glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity were analyzed. Among humans, low methionine intake and circulating FGF21 levels were investigated by comparing a vegan and a vegetarian diet to an omnivore diet and evaluating the effect of a short-term vegetarian diet on FGF21 induction. In comparison with the Con group, MR led to elevated plasma FGF21 levels and prevented the onset of hyperglycemia in NZO mice. MR-fed mice exhibited increased insulin sensitivity, higher plasma adiponectin levels, increased EE, and up-regulated expression of thermogenic genes in subcutaneous white adipose tissue. Food intake and fat mass did not change. Plasma FGF21 levels were markedly higher in vegan humans compared with omnivores, and circulating FGF21 levels increased significantly in omnivores after 4 d on a vegetarian diet. These data suggest that MR induces FGF21 and protects NZO mice from high-fat diet-induced glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes. The normoglycemic phenotype in vegans and vegetarians may be caused by induced FGF21. MR akin to vegan and vegetarian diets in humans may offer metabolic benefits via increased circulating levels of FGF21 and merits further investigation. energy expenditure; hyperglycemia; obesity; vegan; vegetarian Chronic conditions and multimorbidity in population aged 90 years and over: associations with mortality and long-term care admission. Halonen P, Raitanen J, Jämsen E, Enroth L, Jylhä M. Age Ageing. 2019 Mar 7. pii: afz019. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afz019. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1093/ageing/afz019 prevalence of many chronic conditions is rising in the aging population worldwide. However, the long-term impact of these conditions and multimorbidity on other health outcomes in very old age is rarely studied. the data were based on four waves of the Vitality 90+ Study conducted in 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2010. Associations of chronic conditions and multimorbidity with mortality were analysed in a total sample of 2,862 people aged over 90, and associations with long-term care (LTC) admission in a subsample of 1,954 participants living at home in baseline. Risk of death and LTC admission were assessed with Cox and competing risks regression with time-dependent covariates. Population attributable fractions (PAF) for mortality and LTC admission were calculated for chronic conditions based on the regression models. heart disease, diabetes and dementia predicted mortality in men and women. In addition, depression was associated with increased mortality in women. Parkinson's disease, dementia and hip fracture predicted LTC admission in women. Multimorbidity increased the risk of death and LTC admission in women but not in men. For both genders, dementia had the highest PAF for mortality and LTC admission. heart disease and diabetes are still important predictors of mortality in very old age. However, the role of dementia is pronounced in this age group. Of the studied conditions, dementia is the main contributor both to mortality and LTC admission. Multimorbidity has predictive value concerning both mortality and LTC admission, at least in oldest old women. chronic conditions; long-term care; mortality; multimorbidity; nonagenarians; older people Fruit, vegetable intake and blood pressure trajectories in older age. Stefler D, Malyutina S, Nikitin Y, Nikitenko T, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Peasey A, Pikhart H, Sabia S, Bobak M. J Hum Hypertens. 2019 Mar 6. doi: 10.1038/s41371-019-0189-8. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41371-019-0189-8.pdf Diet rich in fruits and vegetables (F&V) is an established protective factor for hypertension, but the available evidence regarding the impact of F&V consumption on age-related blood pressure change is limited. We examined whether systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure trajectories are influenced by F&V intakes in an ageing Russian cohort. Dietary data was available for 8997 men and women in the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe prospective cohort study. Blood pressure measurements were taken at three time-points over 12 years of follow-up, during which time the mean age of the sample changed from 58 to 69 years. The relationships between F&V intake and SBP and DBP were assessed using mixed-effect multilevel models. In the multivariable adjusted models, fruit intake was inversely related to both systolic and diastolic blood pressure at baseline (mean SBP and DBP was 3.5 mmHg and 1.4 mm Hg lower in the highest compared to the lowest intake tertiles, respectively (both p values < 0.001)). However, it was not associated with blood pressure change over time (difference in annual SBP and DBP change was 0.11 mmHg (p value = 0.138) and 0.01 mmHg (p value = 0.894), respectively). We found no significant link between vegetable intake and blood pressure, neither cross-sectionally nor longitudinally. In addition to the association with diet, we observed increasing SBP and mostly steady DBP over age, with deceleration and downward turn after the ages of 55-59 years. On the whole, this analysis found no consistent association between F&V intake and trajectories of blood pressure in older age. Association of Leisure-Time Physical Activity Across the Adult Life Course With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. Saint-Maurice PF, Coughlan D, Kelly SP, Keadle SK, Cook MB, Carlson SA, Fulton JE, Matthews CE. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2727269 Although the benefits of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in middle age are established, the health effects of long-term participation and changes in LTPA between adolescence and middle age have not been documented. To determine whether an association exists between LTPA life course patterns and mortality. This prospective cohort study used data from the National Institutes of Health-AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons) Diet and Health Study established in 1995 to 1996. Data analysis was conducted from March 2017 through February 2018. Data were analyzed for 315 059 adult AARP members living in 6 states, namely, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, or Pennsylvania, or 2 metropolitan areas, Atlanta, Georgia, or Detroit, Michigan. Self-reported LTPA (hours per week) at the baseline interview for ages grouped as 15 to 18, 19 to 29, 35 to 39, and 40 to 61 years. All-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related, and cancer-related mortality records available through December 31, 2011. Of 315 059 participants, 183 451 (58.2%) were men, and the participants were 50 to 71 years of age at enrollment. Ten LTPA trajectories (categorized as maintaining, increasing, and decreasing LTPA across time) were identified, and 71 377 deaths due to all causes, 22 219 deaths due to CVD, and 16 388 deaths due to cancer occurred. Compared with participants who were consistently inactive throughout adulthood, participants who maintained the highest amount of LTPA in each age period were at lower risks for all-cause, CVD-related, and cancer-related mortality. For example, compared with participants who were consistently inactive, maintaining higher amounts of LTPA was associated with lower all-cause (hazard ratio {HR}, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.60-0.68), CVD-related (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.53-0.64), and cancer-related (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.77-0.97) mortality. Adults who were less active throughout most of the adult life course but increased LTPA in later adulthood (40-61 years of age) also had lower risk for all-cause (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.62-0.68), CVD-related (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.53-0.61), and cancer-related (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77-0.92) mortality. Maintaining higher LTPA levels and increasing LTPA in later adulthood were associated with comparable low risk of mortality, suggesting that midlife is not too late to start physical activity. Inactive adults may be encouraged to be more active, whereas young adults who are already active may strive to maintain their activity level as they get older. Dietary calcium intake and the risk of metabolic syndrome: evidence from observational studies. Cheng L, Hu D, Jiang W. Public Health Nutr. 2019 Mar 8:1-8. doi: 10.1017/S1368980019000247. [Epub ahead of print] Epidemiological investigations evaluating the association of dietary Ca intake with metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk have yielded controversial results. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively summarize the association between dietary Ca intake and the risk of MetS. PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched for relevant articles published up to October 2018. The pooled OR and 95 % CI were calculated with a random-effects model. Meta-analysis.ParticipantsNine cross-sectional studies. A total of nine articles with fifteen studies for dietary Ca intake were finally included in the meta-analysis. The combined OR with 95 % CI of MetS for the highest v. lowest category of dietary Ca intake was 0·80 (95 % CI 0·70, 0·91). For dose-response analysis, a non-linear relationship was found between dietary intake of Ca and risk of MetS (P non-linearity<0·001). The threshold for dietary Ca intake was 280 mg/d (OR=0·87; 95 % CI 0·82, 0·93), reducing the risk of MetS by 13 %. The present meta-analysis suggests that dietary Ca intake might reduce the risk of MetS, which needs to be further confirmed by larger prospective cohort studies. Calcium; Dietary; Meta-analysis; Metabolic syndrome Effect of vitamin E supplementation on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Emami MR, Safabakhsh M, Alizadeh S, Asbaghi O, Khosroshahi MZ. Although emerging evidence suggests that vitamin E may contribute to blood pressure improvement, the effects of vitamin E on systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) are still controversial. The aim was to evaluate the influence of vitamin E on SBP, DBP, and MAP through meta-analysis. We identified all studies that assessed the effect of vitamin E supplementation on SBP, DBP, and MAP from PubMed/Medline, SCOPUS, and Google scholar up to March 2018. Weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were expressed as effect size. Pre-specified subgroup analysis was conducted to evaluate potential sources of heterogeneity. Meta-regression analyses were performed to investigate association between blood pressure-lowering effects of vitamin E and duration of follow-up and dose of treatment. Eighteen trials, comprising 839 participants met the eligibility criteria. Results of this study showed that compared to placebo, SBP decreased significantly in vitamin E group (WMD = -3.4 mmHg, 95% CI = -6.7 to -0.11, P < 0.001), with a high heterogeneity across the studies (I2 = 94.0%, P < 0.001). Overall, there were no significant effects on DBP and MAP. This meta-analysis suggested that vitamin E supplements decreased only SBP and had no favorable effect on DBP and MAP. Protein supplementation improves lean body mass in physically active older adults: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Ten Haaf DSM, Eijsvogels TMH, Bongers CCWG, Horstman AMH, Timmers S, de Groot LCPGM, Hopman MTE. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2019 Mar 7. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12394. [Epub ahead of print] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jcsm.12394 An inadequate protein intake may offset the muscle protein synthetic response after physical activity, reducing the possible benefits of an active lifestyle for muscle mass. We examined the effects of 12 weeks of daily protein supplementation on lean body mass, muscle strength, and physical performance in physically active older adults with a low habitual protein intake (<1.0 g/kg/day). A randomized double-blinded controlled trial was performed among 116 physically active older adults [age 69 (interquartile range: 67-73) years, 82% male] who were training for a 4 day walking event of 30, 40, or 50 km/day. Participants were randomly allocated to either 31 g of milk protein or iso-caloric placebo supplementation for 12 weeks. Body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), strength (isometric leg extension and grip strength), quadriceps contractile function, and physical performance [Short Physical Performance Battery, Timed Up-and-Go test, and cardiorespiratory fitness (Åstrand-Rhyming submaximal exercise test)] were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. We assessed vitamin D status and markers of muscle damage and renal function in blood and urine samples before and after intervention. A larger increase in relative lean body mass was observed in the protein vs. placebo group (∆0.93 ± 1.22% vs. ∆0.44 ± 1.40%, PInteraction = 0.046). Absolute and relative fat mass decreased more in the protein group than in the placebo group (∆-0.90 ± 1.22 kg vs. ∆-0.31 ± 1.28 kg, PInteraction = 0.013 and ∆-0.92 ± 1.19% vs. ∆-0.39 ± 1.36%, PInteraction = 0.029, respectively). Strength and contractile function did not change in both groups. Gait speed, chair-rise ability, Timed Up-and-Go, and cardiorespiratory fitness improved in both groups (P < 0.001), but no between-group differences were observed. Serum urea increased in the protein group, whereas no changes were observed in the placebo group (PInteraction < 0.001). No between-group differences were observed for vitamin D status, muscle damage, and renal function markers. In physically active older adults with relatively low habitual dietary protein consumption, an improvement in physical performance, an increase in lean body mass, and a decrease in fat mass were observed after walking exercise training. A larger increase in relative lean body mass and larger reduction in fat mass were observed in participants receiving 12 weeks of daily protein supplementation compared with controls, whereas this was not accompanied by differences in improvements between groups in muscle strength and physical performance. Body composition; Elderly; Muscle; Protein; Randomized clinical trial THE EFFECT OF VEGAN DIETS ON BLOOD PRESSURE IN ADULTS: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIALS. Lopez PD, Cativo EH, Atlas SA, Rosendorff C. Am J Med. 2019 Mar 6. pii: S0002-9343(19)30171-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2019.01.044. [Epub ahead of print] Vegan diets are increasing in popularity and have beneficial effects on glycemia and blood lipids, but the evidence is inconclusive regarding their effect on blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to review the effect of vegan diets on blood pressure in adults. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and ClinicalTrials.gov for records that compared a vegan diet to any less restrictive diet and reported pre- and post-intervention systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Two reviewers independently screened abstracts for randomized, controlled clinical trials in individuals ≥18years of age and older. We used the PRISMA guidelines to select 11 clinical trials from 1673 records. Data synthesis was performed through a random-effects model. The pooled data included 983 participants. Compared to less restrictive diets, a vegan diet did not result in a significant change in systolic (-1.33mmHg; 95% CI -3.50 to 0.84; p=0.230) or diastolic (-1.21mmHg; 95% CI -3.06 to 0.65; p=0.203) blood pressure. A pre-specified subgroup analysis of studies with baseline systolic blood pressure≥130mmHg revealed that a vegan diet resulted in a mean decrease in the systolic (-4.10mmHg; 95% CI -8.14 to -0.06; p=0.047) and diastolic (-4.01mmHg; 95% CI -5.97 to -2.05; p=0.000) blood pressures. The changes in blood pressure induced by a vegan diet without caloric restrictions are comparable to those induced by dietary approaches recommended by medical societies and portion-controlled diets. blood pressure; vegan diet; veganism Alcohol Consumption and Incident Kidney Disease: Results From the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Hu EA, Lazo M, Rosenberg SD, Grams ME, Steffen LM, Coresh J, Rebholz CM. J Ren Nutr. 2019 Mar 5. pii: S1051-2276(19)30029-9. doi: 10.1053/j.jrn.2019.01.011. [Epub ahead of print] OBJECTIVE(S): Moderate alcohol consumption has been found to be associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction, which share similar risk factors and pathophysiology with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, there is inconsistent evidence on the association between alcohol consumption and CKD. DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective analysis of 12,692 participants aged 45-64 years from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. We categorized participants into 6 alcohol consumption categories: never drinkers, former drinkers, ≤1 drink per week, 2 to 7 drinks per week, 8 to 14 drinks per week, and ≥15 drinks per week based on food frequency questionnaire responses at visit 1 (1987-1989). Incident CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/minute/1.73 m2 accompanied by ≥25% estimated glomerular filtration rate decline, a kidney disease-related hospitalization or death or end-stage renal disease. During a median follow-up of 24 years, there were 3,664 cases of incident CKD. Current drinkers were more likely to be men, whites, and to have a higher income level and education level. After adjusting for total energy intake, age, sex, race-center, income, education level, health insurance, smoking, and physical activity, there was no significant association between being a former drinker and risk of incident CKD. Participants who drank ≤1 drink per week, 2 to 7 drinks per week, 8 to 14 drinks per week, and ≥15 drinks per week had, respectively, a 12% (hazard ratio : 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.79-0.97), 20% (HR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.72-0.89), 29% (HR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.62-0.83), and 23% (HR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.65-0.91) lower risk of CKD compared with never drinkers. CONCLUSION(S): Consuming a low or moderate amount of alcohol may lower the risk of developing CKD. Therefore, moderate consumption of alcohol may not likely be harmful to the kidneys. Association between PUFA intake and serum concentration and mortality in older adults: A cohort study. Lelli D, Antonelli Incalzi R, Ferrucci L, Bandinelli S, Pedone C. PUFA intake is associated with reduced cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the general population; however, evidence about this association in older adults is controversial. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between PUFA intake and serum concentration, and the association of these variables with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. in this cohort study, we selected 927 community dwelling adults aged ≥65 years enrolled in the InCHIANTI study from 1998 to 2000 and followed-up for 9 years. The association between PUFA intake and serum concentration was evaluated using scatterplot and Pearson correlation test; all-cause and cardiovascular mortality was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regressions adjusted for potential confounders. mean age of the population was 75 years (SD 7.3), 55% were women. There was no association between overall PUFAs, linolenic and linoleic acid intake and their serum concentration. There was no association between quartiles (Q) of PUFA intake and all-cause mortality: compared to Q1 of PUFA intake, the adjusted HR (95% CI) for overall mortality were: 1.05 (0.74-1.50) in Q2, 1.10 (0.76-1.58) in Q3, and 0.98 (0.68-1.41) in Q4; this lack of association was confirmed for cardiovascular mortality. Compared to Q1, participants in the fourth quartile of PUFA serum concentration had lower risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted HR [95%CI]: Q2 1.10 [0.79-1.53], Q3 0.84 [0.60-1.19], Q4 0.66 [0.44-0.995]), no association was found for cardiovascular mortality. In our sample of community-dwelling older adults, PUFA intake is not associated with PUFA serum concentration. Interventions to modulate PUFA concentration based on dietary intake may not be effective in preventing mortality in this population. Aged; Diet; Linoleic acid; Linolenic acid; Mortality; Polyunsaturated fatty acids Association Between Nitrite and Nitrate Intake and Risk of Gastric Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Zhang FX, Miao Y, Ruan JG, Meng SP, Dong JD, Yin H, Huang Y, Chen FR, Wang ZC, Lai YF. Med Sci Monit. 2019 Mar 9;25:1788-1799. doi: 10.12659/MSM.914621. BACKGROUND Studies have shown inconsistent associations of nitrite and nitrate intake with the risk of gastric cancer or its associated mortality. We performed a meta-analysis of observational studies to evaluate the correlation of nitrite and nitrate intake with the risk of gastric cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS We searched for studies reporting effect estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of gastric cancer in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library through November 2018. The summary results of the included studies were pooled using a random-effects model. RESULTS Eighteen case-control and 6 prospective cohort studies recruiting 800 321 participants were included in this study. The summary results indicated that the highest (odds ratio [OR], 1.27; 95%CI, 1.03-1.55; P=0.022) or moderate (OR: 1.12; 95%CI, 1.01-1.26; P=0.037) nitrite intake were associated with a higher risk of gastric cancer. However, we noted that high (OR, 0.81; 95%CI, 0.68-0.97; P=0.021) or moderate (OR, 0.86; 95%CI, 0.75-0.99; P=0.036) nitrate intakes were associated with a reduced risk of gastric cancer. These associations differed when stratified by publication year, study design, country, the percentage of male participants, assessment of exposure, adjusted model, and study quality. CONCLUSIONS High or moderate nitrite intake was associated with higher risk of gastric cancer, whereas high or moderate nitrate intake was correlated with lower risk of gastric cancer. Prediabetes diagnosis criteria, type 2 diabetes risk and dietary modulation: The CORDIOPREV study. Roncero-Ramos I, Alcala-Diaz JF, Rangel-Zuñiga OA, Gomez-Delgado F, Jimenez-Lucena R, García-Rios A, Vals-Delgado C, Romero-Baldonado C, Luque RM, Ordovas JM, Perez-Martinez P, Camargo A, Lopez-Miranda J. Our objective was to investigate the role of two healthy diets in modulating the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) development associated with each prediabetes diagnosis criteria in coronary heart disease patients. Additionally, we explored the pathophysiological characteristics and the risk of developing T2DM in patients with different prediabetes criteria. We included 462 patients from the CORDIOPREV study without T2DM at baseline: 213 had prediabetes defined by impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and/or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) (PreDM-IFG/IGT); 180 had prediabetes by isolated hemoglobin glycated plasma levels (PreDM-isolated-HbA1c), and 69 were not prediabetics (non-PreDM), according to the American Diabetes Association criteria. Patients were randomized to consume either a Mediterranean or a low-fat diet. We performed a COX proportional hazards regression analysis to determine the T2DM risk according to diet and the prediabetes criteria after a median follow-up of 60 months. We found higher T2DM risk (HR: 2.98; 95% CI 1.27-6.98) in PreDM-IFG/IGT than in PreDM-isolated-HbA1c (HR: 2.31; 95% CI 0.97-5.49) compared with non-PreDM. Long-term consumption of a low-fat diet was associated with a lower risk of T2DM when compared to the Mediterranean diet in the PreDM-IFG/IGT group (HR: 3.20; 95% CI 0.75-13.69 versus HR: 4.70; 95% CI 1.12-19.67, respectively). Moreover, we found the highest risk of T2DM development associated with patients who had both IFG and IGT (HR: 2.15; 95% CI 1.11-4.16). Patients who had both IFG and IGT and consumed a low-fat diet had a lower T2DM risk than those who consumed a Mediterranean diet (HR: 1.53; 95% CI 0.53-4.39 versus HR: 3.33; 95% CI 1.34-8.30, respectively). Our results suggest that the type of diet consumed may modulate the risk of T2DM development according to the prediabetes diagnosis criteria. Specifically, our study showed that the consumption of a low-fat diet was more beneficial than a Mediterranean diet in patients with IFG and IGT. CORDIOPREV; Diabetes; Diet; Disease prediction; Prediabetes Effects of Melatonin Supplementation On Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Hadi A, Ghaedi E, Moradi S, Pourmasoumi M, Ghavami A, Kafeshani M. Horm Metab Res. 2019 Mar;51(3):157-164. doi: 10.1055/a-0841-6638. Epub 2019 Mar 12. Melatonin is a physiological indoleamine secreted from the pineal gland into the bloodstream. This hormone has antioxidant effects in cardiovascular disease, but the evidence regarding its effects on blood pressure (BP) has not been conclusive. Therefore, we assessed the impact of melatonin supplementation on systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) through a systematic review and meta-analysis of available randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane library, and Google scholar (until May 2018) were searched to identify potential RCTs with information on melatonin supplementation and BP. Mean Differences (MD) were pooled using a random-effects model. Standard methods were used for assessment of heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias. Pooling 5 RCTs (6 treatment arms) together identified significant reduction for SBP (MD: -3.43 mmHg, 95% confidence interval (CI): -5.76 to -1.09, p=0.004) and DBP (MD: -3.33 mmHg, 95% CI: -4.57 to -2.08, p<0.001) after supplementation with melatonin compared with control treatment. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the results were robust. We did not observe any evidence regarding publication bias. The findings of this meta-analysis support the overall favorable effect of melatonin supplementation on BP regulation. Widespread pain is a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality: results from the Framingham Heart Study. Tesarz J, Eich W, Baumeister D, Kohlmann T, D'Agostino R, Schuster AK. Eur Heart J. 2019 Mar 11. pii: ehz111. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehz111. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1093/eurheartj/ehz111 With the introduction of widespread pain (WSP) as a separate diagnostic code in the ICD-11, WSP has now become an own clinical diagnosis independent of the underlying pathophysiology. Research has reported aetiological associations of WSP and cardiovascular diseases. However, studies on mortality risk in individuals with WSP have reported inconsistent results. This study investigates whether there is increased mortality in WSP individuals and establish potential determinants of mortality risk. Therefore, we evaluates the population-based prospective cohort of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). METHODS AND RESULTS: The FHS is a longitudinal multi-generational study. Pain status was assessed uniquely between 1990 and 1994. Cox proportional hazards modelling was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) of WSP on all-cause mortality controlling for sex and age, cardiovascular risk factors, cancer history, lifestyle factors and current medication. WSP examination was carried out in 4746 participants of the FHS (60.3 ± 13.5 years, 55.1% women). A total of 678 (14.5%) subjects fulfilled the criteria for WSP, whereas 4011 (85.5%) subjects did not. The follow-up time was 15 years, during which 202 persons died in the WSP group and 1144 in the no-WSP group. When adjusting for age and sex, all-cause mortality was increased by about 16% in WSP subjects. Individuals with WSP had an increased HR particularly for cardiovascular cause of death (HR adjusted by age and sex = 1.46, 95% confidence interval 1.10-1.94). Our data show that in a large population-based cohort, WSP is associated with increased HR for cardiovascular cause of death, underlining the need for pain assessments in cardiovascular practice. Cohort study; Mortality ; Population-based ; Prospective ; Widespread pain Dietary fiber, glycemic index, glycemic load, and renal cell carcinoma risk. Xu X, Zhu Y, Li J, Wang S. Carcinogenesis. 2019 Mar 11. pii: bgz049. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgz049. [Epub ahead of print] Several epidemiological studies have investigated the potential association between dietary fiber, glycemic index (GI) or glycemic load (GL) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) risk with inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate this issue with a meta-analysis approach. A comprehensive literature search up to March 2018 was performed in PubMed and Web of Science databases. Summary relative risks (RRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated with a random effects model. Twelve studies were finally included in this study (eight for fiber analysis, five for GI, and five for GL). A significant positive association was observed between GI and the risk of RCC (summary RR 1.16, 95 % CI 1.02-1.32), and no significant heterogeneity was detected among studies (I2 = 22.8%, p = 0.262). A significant inverse association was found between fiber intake and the risk of RCC (summary RR 0.82, 95 % CI 0.72-0.92), and no significant heterogeneity was observed across studies (I2 = 27.6 %, p = 0.218). GL was not significantly associated with RCC risk (summary RR 1.14, 95 % CI 0.81-1.60), and significant heterogeneity was found across studies (I2 = 78.6 %, p < 0.001). In conclusion, this systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that dietary GI and fiber may be associated with the risk of RCC. Further large prospective cohort studies are still warranted to confirm our preliminary findings. fiber; glycemic index; glycemic load; meta-analysis; renal cell carcinoma Association of Midlife Diet With Subsequent Risk for Dementia. Akbaraly TN, Singh-Manoux A, Dugravot A, Brunner EJ, Kivimäki M, Sabia S. JAMA. 2019 Mar 12;321(10):957-968. doi: 10.1001/jama.2019.1432. Observational studies suggest that diet is linked to cognitive health. However, the duration of follow-up in many studies is not sufficient to take into account the long preclinical phase of dementia, and the evidence from interventional studies is not conclusive. To examine whether midlife diet is associated with subsequent risk for dementia. ESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Population-based cohort study established in 1985-1988 that had dietary intake assessed in 1991-1993, 1997-1999, and 2002-2004 and follow-up for incident dementia until March 31, 2017. Food frequency questionnaire to derive the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), an 11-component diet quality score (score range, 0-110), with higher scores indicating a healthier diet. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES: Incident dementia ascertained through linkage to electronic health records. Among 8225 participants without dementia in 1991-1993 (mean age, 50.2 years [SD, 6.1 years]; 5686 [69.1%] were men), a total of 344 cases of incident dementia were recorded during a median follow-up of 24.8 years (interquartile range, 24.2-25.1 years). No significant difference in the incidence rate for dementia was observed in tertiles of AHEI exposure during 1991-1993, 1997-1999 (median follow-up, 19.1 years), and 2002-2004 (median follow-up, 13.5 years). Compared with an incidence rate for dementia of 1.76 (95% CI, 1.47-2.12) per 1000 person-years in the worst tertile of AHEI (lowest tertile of diet quality) in 1991-1993, the absolute rate difference for the intermediate tertile was 0.03 (95% CI, -0.43 to 0.49) per 1000 person-years and for the best tertile was 0.04 (95% CI, -0.42 to 0.51) per 1000 person-years. Compared with the worst AHEI tertile in 1997-1999 (incidence rate for dementia, 2.06 [95% CI, 1.62 to 2.61] per 1000 person-years), the absolute rate difference for the intermediate AHEI tertile was 0.14 (95% CI, -0.58 to 0.86) per 1000 person-years and for the best AHEI tertile was 0.14 (95% CI, -0.58 to 0.85) per 1000 person-years. Compared with the worst AHEI tertile in 2002-2004 (incidence rate for dementia, 3.12 [95% CI, 2.49 to 3.92] per 1000 person-years), the absolute rate difference for the intermediate AHEI tertile was -0.61 (95% CI, -1.56 to 0.33) per 1000 person-years and for the best AHEI tertile was -0.73 (95% CI, -1.67 to 0.22) per 1000 person-years. In the multivariable analysis, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for dementia per 1-SD (10-point) AHEI increment were not significant as assessed in 1991-1993 (adjusted HR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.87 to 1.08]), in 1997-1999 (adjusted HR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.83 to 1.12]), or in 2002-2004 (adjusted HR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.75 to 1.00]). In this long-term prospective cohort study, diet quality assessed during midlife was not significantly associated with subsequent risk for dementia. Healthy dietary pattern and their corresponding gut microbiota profile are linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, independent of the presence of obesity. Díaz-Rizzolo DA, Kostov B, López-Siles M, Serra A, Colungo C, González-de-Paz L, Martinez-Medina M, Sisó-Almirall A, Gomis R. Clin Nutr. 2019 Mar 4. pii: S0261-5614(19)30089-5. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2019.02.035. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(19)30089-5/pdf Prediabetes and old age are both high risk factors for developing Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), while obesity is one of the most important factors triggering the disease. Nutritional interventions are the most effective tool for preventing T2D, as they improve different biochemical and anthropometric outcomes and growth-promoting/inhibiting gut microbiota populations. However, to date there are no specific dietary recommendations to stop the development of T2D in elderly groups, for whom hypocaloric diets and other commonly used weight-loss programs could be considered dangerous. The objective of our study, thus, was to understand the impact of dietary patterns on T2D risk as related to gut microbiota profile in obese and non-obese elderly prediabetic subjects. A cross-sectional study was performed in 182 subjects ≥65 years old with prediabetes, divided into obese (OB) or non-obese (NOB) subgroups, and their risk of developing T2D was measured according to FINDRISK score and biochemical parameters. Also, clusters into different dietary patterns in each group by PCA analysis was related with gut microbiota, which was analyzed from stool samples by qPCR. The creation of clusters was used to re-evaluate T2D risk. OB was at higher risk of developing T2D and showed worse metabolic outcomes. Unhealthier and healthier dietary pattern clusters were observed for both OB (OB-6 and OB-5 respectively) and NOB (NOB-2 and NOB-3 respectively) groups. Results obtained from the gut microbiota showed that only Prevotella was higher in NOB, but when comparisons were made between clusters, a clear relation with dietary pattern was observed; showing in healthier dietary clusters a decrease in Prevotella, an increase of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and an increase in lactic acid bacteria. T2D risk was greater in the obese group between unhealthier dietary clusters. No difference between healthier dietary clusters was observed. A healthy dietary pattern and the growth-promoting beneficial and growth-inhibiting disadvantageous gut microbiota populations linked to it provide protection against the development of T2D in an obese population with advanced age and preDM. Diabetes; Diet; Microbiota; Nutrition; Obesity; Prevention Effects of a long-term lifestyle intervention on metabolically healthy women with obesity: Metabolite profiles according to weight loss response. Palau-Rodriguez M, Garcia-Aloy M, Miñarro A, Bernal-Lopez MR, Brunius C, Gómez-Huelgas R, Landberg R, Tinahones FJ, Andres-Lacueva C. The benefits of weight loss in subjects with metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) are still a matter of controversy. We aimed to identify metabolic fingerprints and their associated pathways that discriminate women with MHO with high or low weight loss response after a lifestyle intervention, based on a hypocaloric Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) and physical activity. A UPLC-Q-Exactive-MS/MS metabolomics workflow was applied to plasma samples from 27 women with MHO before and after 12 months of a hypocaloric weight loss intervention with a MedDiet and increased physical activity. The subjects were stratified into two age-matched groups according to weight loss: <10% (low weight loss group, LWL) and >10% (high weight loss group, HWL). Random forest analysis was performed to identify metabolites discriminating between the LWL and the HWL as well as within-status effects. Modulated pathways and associations between metabolites and anthropometric and biochemical variables were also investigated. Thirteen metabolites discriminated between the LWL and the HWL, including 1,5-anhydroglucitol, carotenediol, 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)lactic acid, N-acetylaspartate and several lipid species (steroids, a plasmalogen, sphingomyelins, a bile acid and long-chain acylcarnitines). 1,5-anhydroglucitol, 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)lactic acid and sphingomyelins were positively associated with weight variables whereas N-acetylaspartate and the plasmalogen correlated negatively with them. Changes in very long-chain acylcarnitines and hydroxyphenyllactic levels were observed in the HWL and positively correlated with fasting glucose, and changes in levels of the plasmalogen negatively correlated with insulin resistance. Additionally, the cholesterol profile was positively associated with changes in acid hydroxyphenyllactic, sphingolipids and 1,5-AG. Higher weight loss after a hypocaloric MedDiet and increased physical activity for 12 months is associated with changes in the plasma metabolome in women with MHO. These findings are associated with changes in biochemical variables and may suggest an improvement of the cardiometabolic risk profile in those patients that lose greater weight. Further studies are needed to investigate whether the response of those subjects with MHO to this intervention differs from those with unhealthy obesity. LC-MS; Lifestyle intervention; Mediterranean diet; Metabolically healthy obese; Metabolomics; Obesity What my DNA told me about what I should eat Companies offer to point you toward the optimal eating and exercise habits for your genetics Candice Choi · The Associated Press · Posted: Mar 26, 2019 https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/dna-test-medical-1.5072389 Weight Training and Risk of 10 Common Types of Cancer. Mazzilli KM, Matthews CE, Salerno EA, Moore SC. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Mar 25. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001987. [Epub ahead of print] Ample data support that leisure time aerobic moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with lower risk of at least seven types of cancer. However, the link between muscle-strengthening activities and cancer etiology is not well-understood. Our objective was to determine the association of weight lifting with incidence of 10 common cancer types. We used multivariable Cox regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for association of weight lifting with incidence of 10 cancer types in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study follow-up. Weight lifting was modeled continuously and categorically. Dose-response relationships were evaluated using cubic restricted spline models. We explored whether associations varied by subgroups defined by sex, age, and body mass index (BMI) using the Wald test for homogeneity. We examined joint categories of MVPA and weight lifting in relation to cancer risk for significant associations. After adjusting for all covariates including MVPA, we observed a statistically significant lower risk of colon cancer (Ptrend=0.003) in individuals who weight lifted; the HR and 95% CI associated with low and high weight lifting as compared with no weight lifting were 0.75(CI:0.66,0.87) and 0.78(CI:0.61,0.98) respectively. This relationship differed between men and women (HRmen=0.91 ;CI:0.84, 0.98; HRwomen=1.00; CI:0.93, 1.08) (Pinteraction=0.008). A lower risk of kidney cancer among weight lifters was observed but became non-significant after adjusting for MVPA (Ptrend=0.06); resulting in a HR of 0.94 (CI:0.78,1.12) for low weight lifting and 0.80 (CI:0.59,1.11) for high weight lifting. Participants who engaged in weight lifting had a significantly lower risk of colon cancer and a trend towards a lower risk of kidney cancer than participants who did not weight lift. KeywordsResistance, strengthening, epidemiology, physical activity, colon. Coffee consumption and colorectal cancer risk: a dose-response meta-analysis on prospective cohort studies. Micek A, Gniadek A, Kawalec P, Brzostek T. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2019 Mar 28:1-21. doi: 10.1080/09637486.2019.1591352. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09637486.2019.1591352 Evidence regarding the influence of coffee drinking on colorectal cancer (CRC) is limited, and it remains unclear whether coffee consumption is associated with the risk of the disease. To clarify this association, a comprehensive meta-analysis was performed. The risk of CRC was compared between the categories of coffee consumption, and a dose-response relationship was studied using restricted cubic splines. We did not find evidence for the association between coffee consumption and CRC risk. Among alternative study inclusions, when using pooled projects, coffee consumption was related with a decreased risk of colon cancer in a subgroup analysis of never-smokers and in Asian countries, and with an increased risk of rectal cancer in an analysis of the general population and after restriction to women, never-smokers, and European countries. In conclusion, the association between coffee consumption and CRC risk is controversial and should be clarified in further cohort studies. Coffee; cancer; colon; colorectal; meta-analysis; rectal Adipokines and Aging: Findings From Centenarians and the Very Old. Arai Y, Kamide K, Hirose N. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2019 Mar 14;10:142. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00142. eCollection 2019. Review. [pdf free from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30923512 site.] Adipose tissue, which was once considered as a simple energy storage depot, is now recognized as an active endocrine organ that regulates the whole-body energy homeostasis by secreting hundreds of bioactive substances termed adipokines. Dysregulation of adipokines is a key feature of insulin resistance and a metabolic syndrome associated with obesity. Adipokine dysregulation and insulin resistance are also associated with energy-deprivation conditions, such as frailty in old age. Previous studies have demonstrated that preserved insulin sensitivity and low prevalence of diabetes are the metabolic peculiarities of centenarians, suggesting the possible role of adipokine homeostasis in healthy longevity. Among the numerous adipokines, adiponectin is regarded as unique and salutary, showing negative correlations with several age- and obesity-related metabolic disturbances and a positive correlation with longevity and insulin sensitivity among centenarians. However, large-scale epidemiological studies have implied the opposite aspect of this adipokine as a prognostic factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with heart failure or kidney disease. In this review, the clinical significance of adiponectin was comparatively addressed in centenarians and the very old, in terms of frailty, cardiovascular risk, and mortality. adipokines; adiponectin; centenarian; frailty; longevity Glycine supplementation extends lifespan of male and female mice. Miller RA, Harrison DE, Astle CM, Bogue MA, Brind J, Fernandez E, Flurkey K, Javors M, Ladiges W, Leeuwenburgh C, Macchiarini F, Nelson J, Ryazanov AG, Snyder J, Stearns TM, Vaughan DE, Strong R. Aging Cell. 2019 Mar 27:e12953. doi: 10.1111/acel.12953. [Epub ahead of print] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acel.12953 Diets low in methionine extend lifespan of rodents, though through unknown mechanisms. Glycine can mitigate methionine toxicity, and a small prior study has suggested that supplemental glycine could extend lifespan of Fischer 344 rats. We therefore evaluated the effects of an 8% glycine diet on lifespan and pathology of genetically heterogeneous mice in the context of the Interventions Testing Program. Elevated glycine led to a small (4%-6%) but statistically significant lifespan increase, as well as an increase in maximum lifespan, in both males (p = 0.002) and females (p < 0.001). Pooling across sex, glycine increased lifespan at each of the three independent sites, with significance at p = 0.01, 0.053, and 0.03, respectively. Glycine-supplemented females were lighter than controls, but there was no effect on weight in males. End-of-life necropsies suggested that glycine-treated mice were less likely than controls to die of pulmonary adenocarcinoma (p = 0.03). Of the 40 varieties of incidental pathology evaluated in these mice, none were increased to a significant degree by the glycine-supplemented diet. In parallel analyses of the same cohort, we found no benefits from TM5441 (an inhibitor of PAI-1, the primary inhibitor of tissue and urokinase plasminogen activators), inulin (a source of soluble fiber), or aspirin at either of two doses. Our glycine results strengthen the idea that modulation of dietary amino acid levels can increase healthy lifespan in mice, and provide a foundation for further investigation of dietary effects on aging and late-life diseases. anti-aging; life span; longevity regulation The Influence of Meal Frequency and Timing on Health in Humans: The Role of Fasting. Paoli A, Tinsley G, Bianco A, Moro T. Nutrients. 2019 Mar 28;11(4). pii: E719. doi: 10.3390/nu11040719. Review. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/4/719/htm The influence of meal frequency and timing on health and disease has been a topic of interest for many years. While epidemiological evidence indicates an association between higher meal frequencies and lower disease risk, experimental trials have shown conflicting results. Furthermore, recent prospective research has demonstrated a significant increase in disease risk with a high meal frequency (≥6 meals/day) as compared to a low meal frequency (1⁻2 meals/day). Apart from meal frequency and timing we also have to consider breakfast consumption and the distribution of daily energy intake, caloric restriction, and night-time eating. A central role in this complex scenario is played by the fasting period length between two meals. The physiological underpinning of these interconnected variables may be through internal circadian clocks, and food consumption that is asynchronous with natural circadian rhythms may exert adverse health effects and increase disease risk. Additionally, alterations in meal frequency and meal timing have the potential to influence energy and macronutrient intake.A regular meal pattern including breakfast consumption, consuming a higher proportion of energy early in the day, reduced meal frequency (i.e., 2⁻3 meals/day), and regular fasting periods may provide physiological benefits such as reduced inflammation, improved circadian rhythmicity, increased autophagy and stress resistance, and modulation of the gut microbiota. cardiovascular health; diabetes; fasting; meal frequency; meal timing; obesity; time-restricted feeding Urinary ionomic analysis reveals new relationship between minerals and longevity in a Han Chinese population. Li Q, Hu C, Lin J, Yang Z, Zhou Q, Yang R, Yuan H, Zhu X, Lv Y, Liang Q, Lv Z, Sun L, Zhang Y. J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2019 May;53:69-75. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2019.02.002. Epub 2019 Feb 12. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.jtemb.2019.02.002 Human longevity involves genetic, nutritional, environmental and many other factors playing a key role in healthy aging. Previous studies have shown that mineral metabolism and homeostasis are associated with lifespan extension. However, the majority of them have focused on a limited number of elements and ignored the complex relationship between them. In this study, we carried out a network-based approach to investigate the urinary ionome of nonagenarians and centenarians (longevity group) when compared with their biologically unrelated and younger family members (control group) from a Han Chinese population. Several differentially changed elements were identified, almost all of which showed an elevated level in the longevity group. Correlation analysis of the ionome revealed significant element-element interactions in each group. We then divided each group into distinct subgroups according to age ranges, and built the elemental correlation network for each of them. Significant elemental correlations and correlation changes involving all examined elements were identified within or between different subgroups, implying a highly dynamic and complex crosstalk among the elements during human life. Finally, more similar elemental patterns were observed between extremely old and middle-aged people. Overall, our data reveal new relationship between urinary minerals and human longevity, which may extend our understanding of the mechanism of healthy aging. Aging; Correlation network; Ionome; Longevity; Metal Joint association of urinary sodium and potassium excretion with cardiovascular events and mortality: prospective cohort study. O'Donnell M, Mente A, Rangarajan S, McQueen MJ, O'Leary N, Yin L, Liu X, Swaminathan S, Khatib R, Rosengren A, Ferguson J, Smyth A, Lopez-Jaramillo P, Diaz R, Avezum A, Lanas F, Ismail N, Yusoff K, Dans A, Iqbal R, Szuba A, Mohammadifard N, Oguz A, Yusufali AH, Alhabib KF, Kruger IM, Yusuf R, Chifamba J, Yeates K, Dagenais G, Wielgosz A, Lear SA, Teo K, Yusuf S; PURE Investigators. BMJ. 2019 Mar 13;364:l772. doi: 10.1136/bmj.l772. https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/364/bmj.l772.full.pdf To evaluate the joint association of sodium and potassium urinary excretion (as surrogate measures of intake) with cardiovascular events and mortality, in the context of current World Health Organization recommendations for daily intake (<2.0 g sodium, >3.5 g potassium) in adults. International prospective cohort study. 18 high, middle, and low income countries, sampled from urban and rural communities. 103 570 people who provided morning fasting urine samples. Association of estimated 24 hour urinary sodium and potassium excretion (surrogates for intake) with all cause mortality and major cardiovascular events, using multivariable Cox regression. A six category variable for joint sodium and potassium was generated: sodium excretion (low (<3 g/day), moderate (3-5 g/day), and high (>5 g/day) sodium intakes) by potassium excretion (greater/equal or less than median 2.1 g/day). Mean estimated sodium and potassium urinary excretion were 4.93 g/day and 2.12 g/day, respectively. After a median follow-up of 8.2 years, 7884 (6.1%) participants had died or experienced a major cardiovascular event. Increasing urinary sodium excretion was positively associated with increasing potassium excretion (unadjusted r=0.34), and only 0.002% had a concomitant urinary excretion of <2.0 g/day of sodium and >3.5 g/day of potassium. A J-shaped association was observed of sodium excretion and inverse association of potassium excretion with death and cardiovascular events. For joint sodium and potassium excretion categories, the lowest risk of death and cardiovascular events occurred in the group with moderate sodium excretion (3-5 g/day) and higher potassium excretion (21.9% of cohort). Compared with this reference group, the combinations of low potassium with low sodium excretion (hazard ratio 1.23, 1.11 to 1.37; 7.4% of cohort) and low potassium with high sodium excretion (1.21, 1.11 to 1.32; 13.8% of cohort) were associated with the highest risk, followed by low sodium excretion (1.19, 1.02 to 1.38; 3.3% of cohort) and high sodium excretion (1.10, 1.02 to 1.18; 29.6% of cohort) among those with potassium excretion greater than the median. Higher potassium excretion attenuated the increased cardiovascular risk associated with high sodium excretion (P for interaction=0.007). These findings suggest that the simultaneous target of low sodium intake (<2 g/day) with high potassium intake (>3.5 g/day) is extremely uncommon. Combined moderate sodium intake (3-5 g/day) with high potassium intake is associated with the lowest risk of mortality and cardiovascular events. Influence of rapid eye movement sleep on all-cause mortality: a community-based cohort study. Zhang J, Jin X, Li R, Gao Y, Li J, Wang G. Aging (Albany NY). 2019 Mar 13;11(5):1580-1588. doi: 10.18632/aging.101858. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6428105/pdf/aging-11-101858.pdf Although the proportion and duration of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep are correlated with neurological and cardiovascular diseases, whether REM sleep is associated with all-cause mortality in community-based populations remains unknown. A prospective study was performed within the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS, Registration NO. NCT00005275). Total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and REM sleep were measured using polysomnography. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the association of the REM sleep with all-cause mortality. Over a mean follow-up period of 11.0 ± 3.1 y, 1234 individuals (21.9%) died. In the entire population, reduced REM sleep was significantly associated with increasing all-cause mortality. After adjustment for age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking status, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, history of diabetes and hypertension, and the apnea-hypopnea index, the duration and proportion of REM sleep were found to be significantly associated with all-cause mortality when the lowest and the highest REM quartile groups were compared (hazard ratio, 95% confidence interval: 1.727, 1.434-2.079; 1.545, 1.298-1.839; respectively). The proportion and duration of REM sleep are negatively associated with all-cause mortality. This finding emphasizes the importance of personalized sleep management in community-based populations. all-cause mortality; community; polysomnography; rapid eye movement sleep High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and All-cause and Cause-specific Mortality Among the Elderly. Li ZH, Lv YB, Zhong WF, Gao X, Kraus VB, Zou MC, Zhang XR, Li FR, Yuan JQ, Shi XM, Wu XB, Mao C. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2019 Mar 14. pii: jc.2018-02511. doi: 10.1210/jc.2018-02511. [Epub ahead of print] The patterns of the association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations and mortality among the elderly are still unclear. To examine the association of HDL-C concentrations with mortality, and to identify the optimal HDL-C concentration range that predicts the lowest risk of all-cause mortality among the elderly. This was a nationwide, community-based prospective cohort study. This study included 7,766 elderly individuals (aged ≥65 years; mean age: 74.4 years) from the Health and Retirement Study. Cox proportional hazards models and Cox models with penalized smoothing splines were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause and cause-specific mortality. During a median follow-up of 5.9 years, 1,921 deaths occurred. After fully adjustment for covariates, a nonlinear (P for nonlinearity<0.001) association was found between HDL-C and all-cause mortality (minimum mortality risk at 71 mg/dL [1.84 mM]); the risk for all-cause mortality was significantly higher in the group with HDL-C concentration <61 mg/dL (1.58 mM) (HR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.05-1.33) and in the group with HDL-C concentration >87 mg/dL (2.25 mM) (HR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.17-2.07) than in the group with HDL-C concentrations ranging from 61 to 87 mg/dL (1.58-2.25 mM). Nonlinear associations of HDL-C concentrations with both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality were also observed (both P for nonlinearity<0.001). Among the elderly, nonlinear associations were found between HDL-C and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The single optimal HDL-C concentration and range were 71 mg/dL and 61 to 87 mg/dL, respectively. Associations of Dietary Cholesterol or Egg Consumption With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality. Zhong VW, Van Horn L, Cornelis MC, Wilkins JT, Ning H, Carnethon MR, Greenland P, Mentz RJ, Tucker KL, Zhao L, Norwood AF, Lloyd-Jones DM, Allen NB. JAMA. 2019 Mar 19;321(11):1081-1095. doi: 10.1001/jama.2019.1572. Cholesterol is a common nutrient in the human diet and eggs are a major source of dietary cholesterol. Whether dietary cholesterol or egg consumption is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality remains controversial. To determine the associations of dietary cholesterol or egg consumption with incident CVD and all-cause mortality. Individual participant data were pooled from 6 prospective US cohorts using data collected between March 25, 1985, and August 31, 2016. Self-reported diet data were harmonized using a standardized protocol. Dietary cholesterol (mg/day) or egg consumption (number/day). Hazard ratio (HR) and absolute risk difference (ARD) over the entire follow-up for incident CVD (composite of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and other CVD deaths) and all-cause mortality, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors. This analysis included 29 615 participants (mean [SD] age, 51.6 [13.5] years at baseline) of whom 13 299 (44.9%) were men and 9204 (31.1%) were black. During a median follow-up of 17.5 years (interquartile range, 13.0-21.7; maximum, 31.3), there were 5400 incident CVD events and 6132 all-cause deaths. The associations of dietary cholesterol or egg consumption with incident CVD and all-cause mortality were monotonic (all P values for nonlinear terms, .19-.83). Each additional 300 mg of dietary cholesterol consumed per day was significantly associated with higher risk of incident CVD (adjusted HR, 1.17 [95% CI, 1.09-1.26]; adjusted ARD, 3.24% [95% CI, 1.39%-5.08%]) and all-cause mortality (adjusted HR, 1.18 [95% CI, 1.10-1.26]; adjusted ARD, 4.43% [95% CI, 2.51%-6.36%]). Each additional half an egg consumed per day was significantly associated with higher risk of incident CVD (adjusted HR, 1.06 [95% CI, 1.03-1.10]; adjusted ARD, 1.11% [95% CI, 0.32%-1.89%]) and all-cause mortality (adjusted HR, 1.08 [95% CI, 1.04-1.11]; adjusted ARD, 1.93% [95% CI, 1.10%-2.76%]). The associations between egg consumption and incident CVD (adjusted HR, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.93-1.05]; adjusted ARD, -0.47% [95% CI, -1.83% to 0.88%]) and all-cause mortality (adjusted HR, 1.03 [95% CI, 0.97-1.09]; adjusted ARD, 0.71% [95% CI, -0.85% to 2.28%]) were no longer significant after adjusting for dietary cholesterol consumption. Among US adults, higher consumption of dietary cholesterol or eggs was significantly associated with higher risk of incident CVD and all-cause mortality in a dose-response manner. These results should be considered in the development of dietary guidelines and updates. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Reconsidering the Importance of the Association of Egg Consumption and Dietary Cholesterol With Cardiovascular Disease Risk. Eckel RH. JAMA. 2019 Mar 19;321(11):1055-1056. doi: 10.1001/jama.2019.1850. No abstract available. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1001/jama.2019.1850 Association of Weight Fluctuation With Mortality in Japanese Adults. Cologne J, Takahashi I, French B, Nanri A, Misumi M, Sadakane A, Cullings HM, Araki Y, Mizoue T. Weight cycling is associated with the risk of mortality from heart disease, but many studies have not distinguished between simple nonlinear (monotone) weight changes and more complex changes that reflect fluctuations. To assess whether extreme body weight variation is associated with mortality after controlling for nonlinear weight changes. In this prospective clinical cohort study, 4796 Japanese atomic bomb survivors were examined in the clinic as part of a biennial health examination and research program. The study consisted of a 20-year longitudinal baseline period (July 1, 1958, to June 30, 1978) and subsequent mortality follow-up of 27 years (July 1, 1978, to June 30, 2005) Participants were initially between the ages of 20 and 49 years during the baseline period and, throughout the baseline period, had no diagnoses of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or cancer and attended at least 7 of 10 scheduled examinations. Data analysis was performed from October 16, 2015, to May 13, 2016. Residual variability in body mass index (BMI) during the baseline period. Outcomes were mortality from ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, other CVDs combined, other causes (except cancer), and cancer. Root mean squared error was calculated to capture individual residual variation in BMI after adjustment for baseline BMI trends, and the association of magnitude of residual variation with mortality was calculated as relative risk. In total, 4796 persons (mean [SD] age, 35.0 [7.3] years at first baseline examination; 3252 [67.8%] female; mean [SD] BMI, 21.2 [2.8] at first baseline visit [20.6 (2.4) among men and 21.5 (2.9) among women]) participated in the study. During follow-up, 1550 participants died: 82 (5.3% of all deaths) of ischemic heart disease, 181 (11.7%) of cerebrovascular disease, 186 (12.0%) of other CVDs, 615 (39.7%) of cancer, and 486 (31.3%) of other causes. Magnitude of residual variation in weight was associated with all-cause mortality (relative risk, 1.25 for 1 U of additional variation; 95% CI, 1.06-1.47) and ischemic heart disease mortality (relative risk, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.41-4.38). The findings suggest that an association exists between weight variation and heart disease mortality and that weight loss interventions, if deemed to be necessary, should be considered carefully. All-cause mortality and long-term exposure to low level air pollution in the '45 and up study' cohort, Sydney, Australia, 2006-2015. Hanigan IC, Rolfe MI, Knibbs LD, Salimi F, Cowie CT, Heyworth J, Marks GB, Guo Y, Cope M, Bauman A, Jalaludin B, Morgan GG. Environ Int. 2019 May;126:762-770. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.02.044. Epub 2019 Mar 15. Epidemiological studies show that long-term exposure to ambient air pollution reduces life expectancy. Most studies have been in environments with relatively high concentrations such as North America, Europe and Asia. Associations at the lower end of the concentration-response function are not well defined. We assessed associations between all-cause mortality and exposure to annual average particulate matter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in Sydney, Australia, where concentrations are relatively low. The '45 and Up Study' comprises a prospective longitudinal cohort from the state of New South Wales, Australia with 266,969 participants linked to death registry data. We analyzed data for the participants who resided in Sydney at baseline questionnaire (n = 75,268). Exposures to long-term pollution were estimated using annual averages from a chemical transport model (PM2.5), and a satellite-based land-use regression model (NO2). Socio-demographic information was extracted from the baseline questionnaire. Cox proportional hazard models were applied to estimate associations, while adjusting for covariates. In our cohort mean annual PM2.5 was 4.5 μg/m3 and mean NO2 was 17.8 μg/m3. The mortality rate was 4.4% over the 7 years of follow up. Models that adjusted for individual-level and area-level risk factors resulted in a detrimental non statistically significant hazard ratio (HR) of 1.05 (95% CI: 0.98-1.12) per 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5, and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.98-1.07) per 5 μg/m3 increase in NO2. We found evidence that low-level air pollution exposure was associated with increased risk of mortality in this cohort of adults aged 45 years and over, even at the relatively low concentrations seen in Sydney. However, a clear determination of the association with mortality is difficult because the results were sensitive to some covariates. Our findings are supportive of emerging evidence that exposure to low levels of air pollution reduces life expectancy. All-cause mortality; Fine particulate matter; Gaseous pollutants; Low concentration; Survival model Glycated Hemoglobin and All-cause and Cause-specific Mortality Among Adults With and Without Diabetes. Li FR, Zhang XR, Zhong WF, Li ZH, Gao X, Kraus VB, Lv YB, Zou MC, Chen GC, Chen PL, Zhang MY, Kur AKA, Shi XM, Wu XB, Mao C. The patterns of associations between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and mortality are still unclear. To explore the extent to which ranges of HbA1c levels are associated with the risk of mortality among participants with and without diabetes. Setting and patients: This was a nationwide, community-based prospective cohort study. Included were 15,869 participants (median age 64 years) of the Health and Retirement Study, with available HbA1c data and without a history of cancer. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidential intervals (95% CIs) for mortality. A total of 2,133 participants died during a median follow-up of 5.8 years. In participants with diabetes, those with an HbA1c level of 6.5% were at the lowest risk of all-cause mortality. When HbA1c level was lower than 5.6% or higher than 7.4%, the increased all-cause mortality risk became statistically significant as compared with an HbA1c level of 6.5%. As for participants without diabetes, those with an HbA1c level of 5.4% were at the lowest risk of all-cause mortality. When HbA1c level was lower than 5.0%, the increased all-cause mortality risk became statistically significant as compared with an HbA1c level of 5.4%. However, we did not observe a statistically significant elevated risk of all-cause mortality above an HbA1c level of 5.4%. A U-shaped and a reverse J-shaped association for all-cause mortality were found among participants with and without diabetes. The corresponding Optimal ranges for overall survival are predicted to be 5.6-7.4% and 5.0-6.5%, respectively. Socioeconomic trajectories across the life course and risk of total and cause-specific mortality: prospective findings from the Moli-sani Study. Bonaccio M, Di Castelnuovo A, Costanzo S, De Curtis A, Persichillo M, Cerletti C, Donati MB, de Gaetano G, Iacoviello L; Moli-sani Study investigators. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2019 Mar 21. pii: jech-2018-211582. doi: 10.1136/jech-2018-211582. [Epub ahead of print] https://sci-hub.tw/https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2019/03/08/jech-2018-211582 A life course approach has been suggested as the most appropriate to establish the total impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on adult health outcomes; however, such an approach has been poorly used within Mediterranean populations. We aimed to examine the SES trajectories from childhood to adulthood associated with mortality risk in a large general population-based cohort and to test potential pathways (eg, inflammation) underlying such associations. Longitudinal analyses on 22 194 subjects recruited in the Moli-sani Study, Italy (2005-2010). Low and high SES in childhood, educational attainment (low/high) and SES during adulthood (measured by a score including material resources and dichotomised as low/high) were used to define overall trajectories. Over 8.3 years of follow-up, 1155 deaths occurred. In the group with poor childhood SES, an upward trajectory in both educational and material circumstances was associated with lower risk of all-cause death (HR=0.64; 95% CI 0.47 to 0.87), as opposed to subjects who remained stably low (low education and adulthood SES). Subjects with high childhood SES, but not educational achievement, were at increased risk of total and cardiovascular disease (CVD) death, although reporting higher material SES in adult life, as compared with the stably high SES group (HR=1.44; 1.02 to 2.02 and HR=1.90; 1.10 to 3.28, respectively). Inflammatory markers marginally accounted for such associations. For individuals with low SES in early life, an educational and material upward trajectory over the life course was associated with lower mortality risk. In the high SES childhood group, lack of a higher educational attainment appeared to be unfavourably associated with survival. cumulative socioeconomic disadvantage; inflammation; life course; mortality; socioeconomic status; socioeconomic trajectories Marital status and 5-year mortality: A population-based prospective cohort study. Lindström M, Rosvall M. Public Health. 2019 Mar 28;170:45-48. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2019.02.015. [Epub ahead of print] https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0033350619300514?token=923B4F385E7D45D6C0A0717B72FABDF708469DE37C1E0277DBFECCF43DBF3C203742DA9A6AD93532E6D3D0B179606811 The aim was to investigate the association between baseline marital status and mortality using survival (Cox-regression) analysis. This is a prospective cohort study. The public health survey by Scania in 2008 was linked to the Swedish cause of death register. This prospective cohort study includes 12,245 men and 14,969 women aged 18-80 years, and 538 men and 362 women of them died during the 5.3-year follow-up. Unmarried, divorced, and widowed men had significantly higher hazard rate ratios (HRRs) of all-cause mortality than married/cohabitating men. For women, the HRRs of these groups did not significantly differ from those of the married/cohabitating reference group. The results are in accordance with a previous study that only compared those living alone with those cohabitating. Marital status; Mortality; Partnership; Prospective cohort study; Sweden Specific Leisure Activities and Cognitive Functions Among the Oldest-Old: the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Mao C, Li ZH, Lv YB, Gao X, Kraus VB, Zhou JH, Wu XB, Shi WY, Li FR, Liu SM, Yin ZX, Zeng Y, Shi XM. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2019 Apr 4. pii: glz086. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glz086. [Epub ahead of print] Little is known about the role of specific leisure activities in affecting cognitive functions. We aim to examine the associations of specific leisure activities with the risk of cognitive impairment among oldest-old people in China. This community-based prospective cohort study included 10,741 cognitively normal Chinese individuals aged 80 years or older (median age 88 years) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). Cox proportional hazards models were utilized to estimate the effects of specific leisure activities on cognitive impairment outcome. During a median follow-up time of 3.4 years (41,760 person-years), 2,894 participants developed cognitive impairment. Compared to those who 'never' engaged in watching TV or listening to radio, reading books or newspapers, and playing cards or mah-jong, those who engaged in such activities 'almost every day' reduced their risk of cognitive impairment, the fully adjusted HRs were 0.56 (0.51-0.61), 0.64 (0.53-0.78), and 0.70 (0.56-0.86), respectively. The association between the risk of cognitive impairment and watching TV and listening to the radio, playing cards or mah-jong, and reading books or newspapers were stronger among those who had 2 or more years of education. Moreover, the association between risk of cognitive impairment and watching TV and listening to radio was stronger in men than in women. In conclusion, a greater frequency of TV watching or radio listening, reading books or newspapers and playing cards or mah-jong may decrease the risk of cognitive impairment among the oldest-old. cognitive impairment; cohort study; leisure activity; oldest-old The diets cutting one in five lives short every year By James Gallagher Health and science correspondent, BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/health-47734296 Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 GBD 2017 Diet Collaborators Lancet Open Access Published:April 03, 2019DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30041-8 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)30041-8/fulltext Suboptimal diet is an important preventable risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs); however, its impact on the burden of NCDs has not been systematically evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate the consumption of major foods and nutrients across 195 countries and to quantify the impact of their suboptimal intake on NCD mortality and morbidity. By use of a comparative risk assessment approach, we estimated the proportion of disease-specific burden attributable to each dietary risk factor (also referred to as population attributable fraction) among adults aged 25 years or older. The main inputs to this analysis included the intake of each dietary factor, the effect size of the dietary factor on disease endpoint, and the level of intake associated with the lowest risk of mortality. Then, by use of disease-specific population attributable fractions, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), we calculated the number of deaths and DALYs attributable to diet for each disease outcome. In 2017, 11 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 10–12) deaths and 255 million (234–274) DALYs were attributable to dietary risk factors. High intake of sodium (3 million [1–5] deaths and 70 million [34–118] DALYs), low intake of whole grains (3 million [2–4] deaths and 82 million [59–109] DALYs), and low intake of fruits (2 million [1–4] deaths and 65 million [41–92] DALYs) were the leading dietary risk factors for deaths and DALYs globally and in many countries. Dietary data were from mixed sources and were not available for all countries, increasing the statistical uncertainty of our estimates. This study provides a comprehensive picture of the potential impact of suboptimal diet on NCD mortality and morbidity, highlighting the need for improving diet across nations. Our findings will inform implementation of evidence-based dietary interventions and provide a platform for evaluation of their impact on human health annually. Comparison of radical prostatectomy versus conservative treatment in localized prostate cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis. Tian Z, Wang X, Wu P, Shi T, Liu M. J BUON. 2019 Jan-Feb;24(1):239-248. To evaluate the effects of radical prostatectomy (RP) and conservative treatment (CT) on the survival of localized prostate cancer by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched for all studies about RP and CT for localized prostate cancer in PubMed and Web of Science up to December 2017. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed. There were 4 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and 12 cohort studies including 69871 patients treated with RP and 65765 patients treated with CT. There was a significantly reduced all-cause mortality (HR:0.575;95%CI:0.487 to 0.678;p<0.001) along with a reduced risk of prostate cancer mortality in patients treated with RP compared to those treated with CT (HR:0.408;95%CI:0.313 to 0.533;p<0.001). RP was effective with a lower all-cause mortality and prostate cancer mortality for patients with intermediate risk disease (HR:0.774;95%CI:0.664 to 0.902,p=0.001; HR:0.428;95%CI:0.286 to 0.641, p=0.001, respectively). However, for low risk (HR:0.774;95%CI:0.505 to 1.187, p=0.241; HR:0.603;95%CI:0.332 to 1.097, p=0.098, respectively) and high risk (HR:0.662;95%CI:0.376 to 1.164, p=0.152; HR:0.584;95%CI:0.315 to 1.084, p=0.089, respectively) prostate cancer patients, there was no significant difference between RP and CT. In the subgroup analysis according to the age and follow-up time, the results favored the RP and there was no specific factor affecting the outcomes. RP offers a better survival rate than CT in patients with localized prostate cancer. For some patients with localized prostate cancer, treatment should be chosen very carefully. Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations Are Inversely Associated with All-Cause Mortality among a Prospective Cohort of Chinese Adults Aged ≥80 Years. Mao C, Li FR, Yin ZX, Lv YB, Luo JS, Yuan JQ, Mhungu F, Wang JN, Shi WY, Zhou JH, Chen GC, Gao X, Kraus VB, Wu XB, Shi XM. J Nutr. 2019 Apr 5. pii: nxz041. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxz041. [Epub ahead of print] https://watermark.silverchair.com/nxz041.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAkowggJGBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggI3MIICMwIBADCCAiwGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMbzqxMg4e9I2NWpUKAgEQgIIB_YLB0bCqrUztSs1dnrq-1pblPEm1JdDTnSL6oVqPfKfCyNYiMo5aNWtp0a-fDI7Psa1anio6--WtAT9YS7qs4j-FsGAPP9-wDXh1hvAXulgwYksZrTawOp6cZ7gx1h3MhiGNHa03jWvnRAgrqXD_oGsIfwAZJrhmG_7AZJLJX9YZt36-1ghIcpRL6lIcX2pYnfqx1NQ2CC56kp6_8HQ9UgiuFrPncvZdQbfaD47j2b8KP4WGLjlfZhzY2fhc00GMkbTnnA8WreUowJRb1W5fuP7Ptq1aCY2R9UuEN2szDZii8vesM9-II41hcbx-rJxmsy6tmwkl9WRBrSTvuEU7AiPZJruSBia07LIOaslNsibMeIs01wRdO0ukFObx9eHRp3xEI_KId9sCDCNGFHjAf6kNVAftKCMYYG7iizQdomsE3AW-DrnQTNf9HrTIa0Q7v5h1sIYri-e8YVRrf-SwemOIOXCBLtrbOROiHUc-x9e1fo8b6RUa1KpVarQd2FPZFGObXLLcfwgE_C9oi9dTYX4VizERQpg8hKNweScQF8ubNEXw5AfVqzeyYdnubejxyPk9f5H62QGU9hQUrE_CmTUsA3nqYmeOTSz-dpcN8rps1eCF8StzddXAGEPwE2ZKxADPndZNgfJygysxG53TLzwsHt2tOAG3ivcDJ4hf High concentrations of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], a marker of circulating vitamin D, have been associated with a lower risk of mortality in epidemiologic studies of multiple populations, but the association for Chinese adults aged ≥80 y (oldest old) remains unclear. We investigated the association between plasma [25(OH)D] concentration and all-cause mortality among Chinese adults aged ≥80 y. The present study is a prospective cohort study of 2185 Chinese older adults (median age: 93 y). Prospective all-cause mortality data were analyzed for survival in relation to plasma 25(OH)D using Cox proportional hazards regression models, with adjustments for potential sociodemographic and lifestyle confounders and biomarkers. The associations were measured with HR and 95% CIs. The median plasma 25(OH)D concentration was 34.4 nmol/L at baseline. Over the 5466 person-year follow-up period, 1100 deaths were identified. Men and women were analyzed together as no effect modification by sex was found. After adjusting for multiple potential confounders, the risk of all-cause mortality decreased as the plasma 25(OH)D concentration increased (P-trend <0.01). Compared with the lowest age-specific quartile of plasma 25(OH)D, the adjusted HRs for mortality for the second, third, and fourth age-specific quartiles were 0.72 (95% CI: 0.57, 0.90), 0.73 (95% CI: 0.58, 0.93), and 0.61 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.81), respectively. The observed associations were broadly consistent across age and other subgroups. Sensitivity analyses generated similar results after excluding participants who died within 2 y of follow-up or after further adjustment for ethnicity and chronic diseases. A higher plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality among Chinese adults aged ≥80 y. This observed inverse association warrants further investigation in randomized controlled trials testing vitamin D supplementation in this age group. 25-hydroxyvitamin D; Community-based; mortality; oldest old; survival Garlic Supplementation Reduces Circulating C-reactive Protein, Tumor Necrosis Factor, and Interleukin-6 in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Darooghegi Mofrad M, Milajerdi A, Koohdani F, Surkan PJ, Azadbakht L. J Nutr. 2019 Apr 5. pii: nxy310. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy310. [Epub ahead of print] Conflicting findings on the effects of garlic supplementation on inflammatory biomarkers have been observed in randomized clinical trials (RCTs). The aim of this study was to summarize study results regarding the effects of garlic supplementation on serum inflammatory biomarkers in adults. We searched Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane library databases for relevant papers published until April 2018, using keywords such as "garlic" and "inflammatory biomarker." We included RCTs that 1) were conducted in adults, 2) examined the effects of garlic supplementation on inflammatory biomarkers compared to a control group, and 3) reported sufficient data on inflammatory biomarkers. Results were reported as weighted mean differences (WMD) with 95% CI using random effects models. Cochrane's Q and I-squared (I2) tests were used to determine heterogeneity among studies. Funnel plots and Egger's regression test were used to assess publication bias. Sixteen RCTs were included. Garlic doses ranged from 12 to 3600 mg/d, and intervention duration ranged from 2 to 52 wk. Garlic administration significantly reduced serum C-reactive protein (CRP) (n = 13) (WMD: -0.61 mg/L, 95% CI: -1.12, -0.11, P = 0.018, I2 = 76.9%), IL-6 (n = 5) (WMD: -0.73 ng/L, 95% CI: -1.06, -0.40, P < 0.001, I2 = 0%), and TNF (n = 7) (WMD: -0.26 ng/L, 95% CI: -0.41, -0.12, P < 0.001, I2 = 0.0%), compared to controls. However, the effect of garlic supplementation on serum adiponectin (n = 3) (WMD: 0.18 µg/L, 95% CI: -0.21, 0.57, P = 0.35, I2 = 60.7%) and leptin (n = 2) (WMD: -1.25 µg/L, 95% CI: -2.64, 0.14, P = 0.07, I2 = 0.0%) concentrations were not significant. In this meta-analysis of RCTs, we found that garlic supplementation reduced serum concentrations of CRP, TNF, IL-6, but did not affect serum adiponectin and leptin in adults. More RCTs are needed to test the effects of garlic supplementation on inflammation. diet; garlic; inflammation; meta-analysis Longevity and cause of death in male Wistar rats fed lifelong diets based on virgin olive oil, sunflower oil or fish oil. Ramirez-Tortosa CL, Varela-López A, Navarro-Hortal MD, Ramos-Pleguezuelos FM, Márquez-Lobo B, Ramirez-Tortosa MC, Ochoa JJ, Battino M, Quiles JL. https://sci-hub.tw/10.1093/gerona/glz091 Extending life by delaying the aging process have proven to be the most effective way to fight multiple chronic diseases in elderly adults. Evidence suggests that longevity is inversely related to unsaturation of membrane phospholipids. The present study investigated how different unsaturated dietary fats affect lifespan and cause death in male Wistar rats fed diets based on virgin olive oil (V), sunflower oil (S) or fish oil (F), which were supplemented or not with Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Previous results suggest that individual longevity and survival probability at different ages may be modulated by an appropriate dietary fat treatment. Lifelong feeding with V or F diets would reduce death probability compared to feeding with S diet at certain ages, although the effects of V diet would be maintained for most of life. Furthermore, the addition of lower amounts of CoQ10 reduced mortality associated with S diet, but CoQ10 had no effect on survival when combined with virgin olive oil or fish oil. Supplementation with low doses of CoQ10 failed to increase the maximum lifespan potential of rats fed a V or F diet. No clear evidence showing that MUFA, n-3 PUFA or CoQ10 exerted the observed effects by modulating the rate of aging has been found. Vegetarian diet and risk of gout in two separate prospective cohort studies. Chiu THT, Liu CH, Chang CC, Lin MN, Lin CL. Clin Nutr. 2019 Mar 27. pii: S0261-5614(19)30129-3. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2019.03.016. [Epub ahead of print] BACKGROUNDS & AIMS: Plant-based diets may target multiple pathways in gout pathogenesis (uric acid reduction and anti-inflammation) while improving gout associated cardiometabolic comorbidities. We aim to prospectively examine the relationship between a vegetarian diet and gout, and to explore if this relationship is independent of hyperuricemia. We followed 4903 participants in the Tzu Chi Health Study (Cohort1, recruited in 2007-2009) and 9032 participants in the Tzu Chi Vegetarian Study (Cohort2, recruited in 2005) until end of 2014. Baseline serum uric acid was measured in Cohort1. Vegetarian status was assessed through a diet questionnaire that includes dietary habits and a food frequency questionnaire. Incidence of gout was ascertained by linkage to the National Health Insurance Database. Hazard Ratio of gout in vegetarians versus nonvegetarians was assessed by Cox regression, adjusted for age, sex, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors. Hyperuricemia was additionally adjusted in Cohort1. In Cohort1, lacto-ovo vegetarians had the lowest uric acid concentration, followed by vegans, then nonvegetarians (men: 6.05, 6.19, 6.32 mg/dL, respectively; women: 4.92, 4.96, 5.11 mg/dL, respectively); 65 gout cases occurred in the 29,673 person-years of follow-up; vegetarians experienced a lower risk of gout (without adjustment for hyperuricemia: HR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.79; with adjustment for hyperuricemia: HR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.97). In Cohort2, 161 gout cases occurred in the 83,019 person-years follow-up, and vegetarians also experienced a lower risk of gout (HR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.88). Taiwanese vegetarian diet is associated with lower risk of gout. This protective association may be independent of baseline hyperuricemia. STUDY REGISTERED: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique Identifier: NCT03470584. Dietary patterns; Gout incidence; Uric acid; Vegetarian diet Association Among Dietary Supplement Use, Nutrient Intake, and Mortality Among U.S. Adults: A Cohort Study. Chen F, Du M, Blumberg JB, Ho Chui KK, Ruan M, Rogers G, Shan Z, Zeng L, Zhang FF. Ann Intern Med. 2019 Apr 9. doi: 10.7326/M18-2478. [Epub ahead of print] The health benefits and risks of dietary supplement use are controversial. To evaluate the association among dietary supplement use, levels of nutrient intake from foods and supplements, and mortality among U.S. adults. Prospective cohort study. NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) data from 1999 to 2010, linked to National Death Index mortality data. 30 899 U.S. adults aged 20 years or older who answered questions on dietary supplement use. Dietary supplement use in the previous 30 days and nutrient intake from foods and supplements. Outcomes included mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer. During a median follow-up of 6.1 years, 3613 deaths occurred, including 945 CVD deaths and 805 cancer deaths. Ever-use of dietary supplements was not associated with mortality outcomes. Adequate intake (at or above the Estimated Average Requirement or the Adequate Intake level) of vitamin A, vitamin K, magnesium, zinc, and copper was associated with reduced all-cause or CVD mortality, but the associations were restricted to nutrient intake from foods. Excess intake of calcium was associated with increased risk for cancer death (above vs. at or below the Tolerable Upper Intake Level: multivariable-adjusted rate ratio, 1.62 [95% CI, 1.07 to 2.45]; multivariable-adjusted rate difference, 1.7 [CI, -0.1 to 3.5] deaths per 1000 person-years), and the association seemed to be related to calcium intake from supplements (≥1000 mg/d vs. no use: multivariable-adjusted rate ratio, 1.53 [CI, 1.04 to 2.25]; multivariable-adjusted rate difference, 1.5 [CI, -0.1 to 3.1] deaths per 1000 person-years) rather than foods. Results from observational data may be affected by residual confounding. Reporting of dietary supplement use is subject to recall bias. Use of dietary supplements is not associated with mortality benefits among U.S. adults. Go To Topic Listing General Health and Longevity	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647167
__label__wiki	0.514997	0.514997	New Report Shows Bold Environmental Achievements, More Focus on a Sustainable Supply Chain for Smithfield Foods Submitted by: Smithfield Foods Categories: Environment, Sustainability Posted: Jun 29, 2016 – 08:15 AM EST SMITHFIELD, Va., Jun. 29 /CSRwire/ - Today, Smithfield Foods, Inc. announced the release of the second installment of its 15th annual sustainability and financial report, which focuses on environmental goals and practices that improve Smithfield’s performance while promoting supply chain efficiency. The Environment section of this year’s report shows solid improvements in reducing the company’s natural resource demand and leadership in advancing sustainable farming practices. Smithfield surpassed its normalized greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target and nearly met its energy use reduction target four years ahead of its 2020 deadline. In 2015, Smithfield also reduced its normalized water use by 2.6 percent due in part to several new water management projects implemented at facilities and farms. Last year, two more Smithfield facilities achieved zero-waste-to-landfill status, bringing the total to six. These efforts and other waste reduction projects helped Smithfield decrease its normalized solid waste generation, despite an increase in production in 2015. The report also highlights Smithfield’s collaborative work with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on a program to equip and train grain farmers to adopt fertilizer optimization and conservation practices. In 2015, Smithfield purchased 15 percent of its grain from grain-sourcing acres in the Southeast that participated in the program, which recently expanded to the Midwest. The project’s growth places Smithfield on track to achieve its 2018 goal of purchasing 75 percent of its grain from farmers who adopt on-farm conservation practices that reduce nitrogen fertilizer loss and GHG emissions while increasing crop production and improving soil health. In addition to projects that directly impact the company’s environmental footprint, the annual report details Smithfield’s support of new programs that advance sustainable practices across the industry and ongoing environmental stewardship programs and research. In 2015, Smithfield collaborated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to launch the agency’s Nutrient Recycling Challenge, a competition to develop affordable technologies that recycle nutrients from livestock manure. The competition will conclude early next year. “As a global food producer, we embrace our responsibility to drive positive change across the industry in addition to adding value to our own supply chain,” said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. “This requires working with a variety of committed partners, ranging from farmers and suppliers to governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations and research institutions, to develop innovative solutions that equally benefit business and the environment.” The Environment section is the second of a multiphase release of Smithfield’s annual sustainability and financial report, published annually since 2001. To better engage stakeholders by delivering information in a more accessible manner, Smithfield will publish the report in segments over an eight-week period organized by pillar of the company’s robust sustainability program. Following the Animal Care and Environment sections, Smithfield will publish its Food Safety and Quality section, and Helping Communities and People segments in succession. The full report will be available in mid-August. Following the Animal Care section issued earlier this month, the report’s Environment section is now available at smithfieldfoods.com/environment. Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Nathan's Famous®, Farmland®, Armour®, Cook's®, John Morrell®, Gwaltney®, Kretschmar®, Margherita®, Curly's®, Carando® and Healthy Ones®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com. Kathleen Kirkham Director of Corporate Communications Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Nathan's Famous®, Farmland®, Armour®, J... Smithfield Foods Sponsors Veteran Honor Flight to Nation’s Capital Meet Adam Lassiter, Agronomist for Smithfield Foods ALLETE Clean Energy's Diamond Spring Wind Project Will Provide Renewable Energy to Large Corporate Customers Including Smithfield Foods and Walmart Smithfield Foods 2013 Integrated Report	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647168
__label__wiki	0.599024	0.599024	Away Kit A Huge Success Replica kit sells out within a month as fans flock to purchase The Colchester United away kit for the 2018/19 season has proven a huge success, with fans rushing to purchase the fantastic new strip. The kit was launched last month at our popular Open Day and has sold out within 30 days. The team's replica away shirts, which features a camo pattern design in black and grey, has proved to be a big hit. The distinct camo kit pays homage towards the towns military garrison history. It is a mix of greys with black sleeves and has a classic black collar with two white stripes. Colchester United’s Chairman, Robbie Cowling explained: “The away kit has been extremely well received, especially by the players and the younger fans. What is also important is there has not been a negative impact on the home kit sales, where sales are also up on recent seasons. “During the World Cup there was a lot of demand for the Nigeria shirt which sold in the millions. We normally only sell away shirts in the hundreds so that is all we had ordered, and hopefully Macron can restock us as soon as possible.” What are your thoughts on the 18/19 away kit? Is the Col U shirt better than the Nigeria shirt? Drop us a line with your thoughts on the 2018/19 away kit and send in your pictures wearing them on your travels to media@colchesterunited.net!	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647169
__label__wiki	0.833378	0.833378	Mattis looking forward to ‘peaceful retirement’ spent firing Minigun out door of Huey Mattis looking forward to 'peaceful retirement' spent firing Minigun out door of Huey THE PENTAGON — After news broke that he would be resigning from his post in February 2019, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters he was looking forward to spending a “peaceful retirement” firing a GAU-17 Minigun out the door of a UH-1 Huey helicopter. “Yup, I can’t wait to kick back with a relaxing 3 or 4 thousand rounds per minute every morning before PT,” said Mattis. “Much better than this boring bullshit here in D.C.” Mattis served a storied career as a Marine general before moving into his role as Secretary of Defense, and sources within the Pentagon said that he still managed to fire a few hundred rounds every day at lunchtime “just to let off some steam.” “Jim would regularly hump an 81mm mortar tube around the halls of the Pentagon because he said the weight helped keep his back aligned,” said Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. “And he loved challenging all those little Air Force nerds to ground-fighting matches in the courtyard during his coffee break. They were always scared shitless.” While he was admittedly emotional that he’d be leaving the military world behind after a nearly 50-year career, Mattis says he has plans to start a second career in the agricultural industry. “Now that I’m retiring, I’ll finally have time to get out to the countryside and tend to my flock of A-10 Warthogs,” said Mattis. “Such serene and beautiful creatures.” Danger Close contributed reporting. Related Topics:frontpage Mattis appointed Ghost of Past, Present and Future Wars US quietly builds helipad on roof of embassy in Afghanistan Pentagon senior executive fired for inadvertently making a decision Point/Counterpoint: Future wars will be fought with AI robots vs. ‘Microsoft Word is not responding’	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647174
__label__cc	0.579694	0.420306	Pulaski, NY Area Showing Results 9-16 of 1,627 within 50 miles of Pulaski. Show Pulaski Results Only Canadian Army medic participates in international exercise Photo by Cpl. Timothy Hernandez \| 3rd Marine Division \| 06.16.2019 Canadian Army Cpl. Michelle Gerdis stands outside of the Battalion Aid Station at Five Hills Training Area Battalion Aid Station, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 16, 2019. Gerdis, a Kingston, Ontario, native, is a medic with the 31st Canadian Forces Health Services Center, and is participating in Khaan Quest 2019 from June 14-28. Khaan Quest is a multinational exercise co-sponsored by the U.S....... Hometown: Kingston, ON 20th CBRNE Selects its Best Warriors for 2019 Photo by Angel D. Martinez-Navedo \| 20th CBRNE Command \| 06.11.2019 Soldiers shoot their rifles for calibration as part of the weapons qualification portion during the 20th Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Explosives (CBRNE) Command’s Best Warrior Competition. During the 5-day event, competitors tested their knowledge, skills and abilities by conquering urban warfare simulations, demonstrating critical thinking, physical fitness challenges, written...... Hometown: Philadelphia, NY 190603-N-AW702-002 Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jacob Sippel \| Naval Hospital Jacksonville \| 06.07.2019 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (June 3, 2019) – Hospitalman Shawn Cunningham provides guidance to Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 John Bruce at Naval Hospital Jacksonville’s Physical Therapy Clinic. Cunningham, a native of Cazenovia, New York, says, "We want to help everyone get better so they can meet the mission.” June is Men’s Health Month. Early detection and timely treatment of...... Hometown: Cazenovia, NY Cmdr. Michael P. Bukolt, Jr. assumes command of Patrol Squadron (VP) 16 Photo by Seaman William Andrews \| Patrol Squadron SIXTEEN (VP-16) \| 06.06.2019 Cmdr. Michael P. Bukolt, Jr. Makes remarks at the Patrol Squadron (VP) 16 Change of Command ceremony. (U.S. Navy photo taken by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman William C. Andrews/Released)... Hometown: Syracuse, NY Drill Sergeants work on their Soldier skills to become more effective leaders Story by Maj. Michelle Lunato \| 98th Training Division -Initial Entry Training \| 05.25.2019 The U.S. Army drill sergeant hat symbolizes excellence, making the wearer of the iconic Brown Round an image to emulate. However, drill sergeants don’t just leave the Drill Sergeant Academy infused with a career’s worth of knowledge. Like every other Soldier in the Army, they must continually train to stay proficient.... 33rd FMSU and 510th HR combine forces for Defense Live Fire Exercise Photo by Sgt. Brandon Cox \| 10th Mountain Division Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs Office \| 05.20.2019 Soldiers from the 10th Headquarters and Special Troops Battalion, 33rd Financial Management Support Unit and the 510th Human Resources Company conduct a base-defense live fire exercise on Fort Drum, NY, May 13-17, 2019. The Soldiers learn the importance of sectors of fire, skill level 1 tasks and operating their weapon systems within a bunker to engage and destroy the enemy.... Hometown: Fort Drum, NY U.S. Navy Service Members; Royal Thai Armed Forces build library at Ban Surasak School during Pacific Partnership 2019 Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kelsey Adams \| Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific \| 05.20.2019 190520-N-RM689-2061 CHON BURI PROVINCE, Thailand (May 20, 2019) U.S. Navy Builder Constructionman Jordan Krear, and Construction Electrician 3rd Class Joseph Coogan, both assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4, wire a light fixture on the roof of a library at the Ban Surasak School project site during Pacific Partnership 2019. The scope of the project includes construction...... 543rd cases their colors in preparation for their deployment in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve Leaders of the 10th Mountain Division, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 548th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 543rd Composite Supply Company case their colors during a ceremony May 3, 2019, in preparation for their upcoming deployment to Poland in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve (OAR). Atlantic Resolve is a demonstration of continued U.S. commitment to reassure the allies and partners......	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647177
__label__wiki	0.80778	0.80778	It was a glorious Saturday afternoon as many Dodgers' from the past came onto the field to play some ball. Per an AP story at ESPN: "I think that the fans enjoy it, the alumni and old players enjoy it, and it's entertaining. For a short period of time -- because we can't play it like we used to. But we try," said catcher Steve Yeager, who played 14 seasons for the Dodgers and was co-MVP of their 1981 World Series win. "It's always nice for the fans to get the opportunity to see some of the players that they saw and grew up with around Dodger Stadium," Yeager said. Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2017. Go here to check out more pics by Jon from this weekends Old-TimersGame. Below are more links to check out: This Day in Dodgers History: In 1940 the Dodgers made one of the biggest trades in their history. They received 1937 Triple Crown winner Joe "Ducky" Medwick and pitcher Curt Davis from the Cardinals for outfielder Ernie Koy, pitcher Carl Doyle, two minor leaguers and $125k in cash (a huge sum in those days). The Dodgers would win the pennant the following season for the first time since 1920. In 1955 Don Newcombe, having won his first ten decisions of the season, lost his first game of the year when Brooklyn loses to the Cubs, 9-5. In 2005 first baseman Hee-Seop Choi hit home runs in his first three at-bats this evening against the Twins to propel the Dodgers over Minnesota, 4-3. Watch all three here. Happy Birthday, Jack O'Brein, Roger Bernadina & Damon Hollins! Video: Listen to Clayton Kershaw on the Dan Patrick Show from a couple weeks ago. He admits he's hit batters in the past, and explains a catcher's very important role when a batter charges the mound. (video link) Video: Go behind the scenes with top prospects Willie Calhoun and Alex Verdugo as they follow their dreams to make the Major Leagues. (video link) Video: Roberts praises the team's effort after a huge comeback to sweep the Reds on Sunday. (video link) Video: Corey Seager speaks after hitting his first career grand slam to lead the Dodgers past the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. (video link) Maury Wills is now a "Hall of Gamer." Per Alec McChesney ayt Kansas City.com; "Negro Leagues Baseball Museum honors 2017 ‘Hall of Game’ class," and it includes Dodgers legend Maury Wills. (pic via @Dodgers on twitter) “It’s just so nice to be here among these great players that I played against,” Wills said. “I had heard about Jackie Robinson being signed by the Dodgers, and I just wanted to go where Jackie was. I always played with the spirit of the Negro Leagues because I got to realize my dreams.” Per Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA; "Gonzalez likely headed back to DL, Pederson likely back to Dodgers." “Adrian came to me in the middle of the game and said his back locked up on him and he took a couple awkward swings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters after the game. “And so when I hear that from a guy like Adrian, I want to get him out of there, get him in the training room. “I haven’t heard anything else but hopefully with the off-day and I know with flying so I don’t know how that’s going to do for his back, but we’ll keep an eye on him and obviously jockeying the equation if something does happen, but we’ll see.” Per Eric Stephen at True Blue LA; "Kenley Jansen records his 200th career save." Joc Pederson opened up his Sports Crate. Check it out below, via his twitter: Excited for my @SportsCrate! Now if only I could get Kersh’s signature… Get your own @dodgers box at https://t.co/iEBoNJmlbu #ad pic.twitter.com/WJvpFtZUzl — Joc Pederson (@yungjoc650) June 12, 2017 By ernest at Monday, June 12, 2017 Labels: Adrian Gonzalez, Alex Verdugo, Blog Kiosk, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager, Dave Roberts, Joc Pederson, Kenley Jansen, Maury Wills, Old-Timers Game, Steve Yeager, Willie Calhoun 2017 Topps Now -- #237 -- Corey Seager's First Car... 2017 Topps Now -- #240 -- 8th Inning Power Display...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647182
__label__cc	0.518005	0.481995	Jump Main Menu. Go directly to the main content Sección de idiomas Fin de la sección de idiomas Fin de la sección de utilidades Other Group Companies Brands Edytesa Portal / Caissons It is thanks to the quality, reliability and solvency of Edytesa over many years of activity, that the company is now involved in the majority of the projects to construct caissons carried out by Spanish companies around the world. Several floating devices (floating dock, pontoon structure, catamaran) can be used for the execution of caissons, manufactured using the slipform technique. This system has led to a considerable rise in productivity, increasing the size of the caissons which can be produced, up to 2,000 m2. The work carried out by Edytesa includes the design and engineering of the slipform, the manufacture or rental of both structural and hydraulic elements, and the technical advice during the different phases of assembly, sliding and disassembly. The equipment used by Edytesa for this kind of work ranges from the typical 22 tonnes to 100 tonnes which fit the most modern floating docks. Slipform design and engineering for caissons. Sale or rental of structural elements for caissons. Sale or rental of hydraulic elements for caissons. Technical advice during the assembly, sliding and disassembly. Advice and reports. Related References: Caissons. End of main content © Copyright 2019, Edytesa Accessibility(Acces key ) Legal Notice(Acces key 8) Privacy policy and Cookies(Acces key ) Complies with W3C: XHTML 1.0	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647183
__label__wiki	0.969016	0.969016	Adam Woodyatt, Vicky Pattison and Oti Mabuse in Celebrity MasterChef line-up Adam Woodyatt, one of the contestants in this year’s Celebrity MasterChe EastEnders star Adam Woodyatt will swap Albert Square for the kitchen as he competes against the likes of Vicky Pattison, Dame Zandra Rhodes and Oti Mabuse in this year’s Celebrity MasterChef. The actor, who plays Ian Beale in the soap, reality TV star Pattison, fashion designer Dame Zandra and Strictly Come Dancing professional Mabuse have been confirmed for the popular cooking competition show, along with Olympic gold medal-winning athlete Greg Rutherford, American Motown star Martha Reeves and retired footballer Neil “Razor” Ruddock. MasterChef judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace will also put former boxing promoter Kellie Maloney, Love Island star Dr Alex George, former The Only Way Is Essex favourite Joey Essex and The Chase quizzer Jenny Ryan in the new series. Vicky Pattison (BBC/PA) The line-up also includes Gogglebox star Dom Parker, comic Josie Long, French actress Elizabeth Bourgine, and radio presenter and actor Mim Shaikh. DJ and lawyer Judge Jules, BBC weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker, Radio 1’s Rickie Haywood-Williams, heavyweight boxer Dillian Whyte, and runner and former Marine Andy Grant complete the line-up. The 20 celebrities will take part in a number of challenges across the six-week series, including invention tests, a pairs task in which two stars must join forces to cook an identical dish without seeing each other, and cooking for paying customers in a restaurant. Oti Mabuse (BBC/PA) Other tasks will see them whip up dishes for past champions, as well as restaurant critics, while simultaneously impressing Torode and Wallace. One of the challenges will see the star cooks face the hungry hordes of diners at venues such as ZSL London Zoo, the Ford Factory in Dagenham, and the Hendon Metropolitan Police Training Centre. They will be competing to win the title of Celebrity MasterChef Champion 2019, following in the footsteps of previous winners Ade Edmondson, Lisa Faulkner, Angellica Bell, Kimberly Wyatt and Sophie Thompson, among others. Neil Ruddock (BBC/PA) BBC Commissioning Editor Carla-Maria Lawson said: “This Celebrity MasterChef has all of the right ingredients for a series full of entertainment, pressure and fun. “Once again we have a brilliant variety of different characters and there will be some surprises along the way as they are put through their paces and pushed to their limits.” The series will air later this year.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647190
__label__wiki	0.991221	0.991221	Neymar suspended for half of UCL group stage Neymar suspended three Champions League games for insulting match official Neymar has been suspended for three European games for insulting match officials on social media after Paris Saint-Germain were eliminated by Manchester United in the Champions League. The penalty, handed down by UEFA on Friday, will see the Brazil international miss half of the Champions League group stage next season. Neymar labelled the video assistant referee (VAR) system a "disgrace" after Manchester United were awarded a decisive last-gasp penalty 3-1 win in the second leg of the round of 16 at Parc des Princes last month to advance into the quarterfinals 3-3 on away goals. It's time to find a way to fix the Champions League -- or start a European Super League - Latest Champions League tables - Champions League statistics - All the latest UCL news The 27-year-old could only watch from the Parc des Princes stands and later the touchline as his teammates threw away a two-goal lead before Presnel Kimpembe was penalised for handball after a VAR review in the final minutes. "This is a disgrace," Neymar seethed on Instagram after the match. "Four guys who know nothing about football watch a slow-motion replay in front of the television. "It was nothing! What can [Kimpembe] do with his hand while his back is turned? Go f--- yourselves!" PSG coach Thomas Tuchel had said the Brazil international made his comments in the heat of the moment, hinting he should not be sanctioned. Sources have told ESPN FC that PSG will appeal the ruling. Previously, former PSG man Serge Aurier and Neymar's current teammate Gianluigi Buffon have both been hit by three-match bans for insulting match officials in the Champions League. Neymar is now back in action with PSG after missing three months with an injury. He expected to feature against Rennes in the Coupe de France final at Stade de France on Saturday as he continues to work towards building up his fitness in time for the Copa America on home soil in the summer. PSG have qualified for next season's Champions League by winning the Ligue 1 title. ESPN FC PSG correspondent Jonathan Johnson and Reuters contributed to this report.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647192
__label__wiki	0.513684	0.513684	Two Records Worth Your Lunch Money Music critic Andy Langer forgoes the grilled cheese for these two gems. Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, All the Roadrunning Fact: There's never been a better duet partner than Emmylou Harris. Ever. And there are only a handful of guitar players on the planet more recognizable than Mark Knopfler. In a double-blind taste test, I could play you five seconds of a Dire Straits tune you've never heard, and you'd peg Knopfler every time. Put these genre-bending, age-defying legends together and you've got the syllabus for a graduate course in songwriting. Across a dozen duets pieced together from seven years of recording sessions, Harris and Knopfler sing like telepaths, trading line after line as if they've tapped into the Psychic Friends Network. These are tunes with deep emotional bottoms. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And, most of all, you'll be glad these two found each other. The Flaming Lips, At War with the Mystics We know your secret. You own a bunch of Flaming Lips records that you never listen to. You bought 'em because you were supposed to. And they were great fun for a week or two. But why buy another one? Because At War with the Mystics sounds so much like a classic-rock album, it might just be one. Tune after tune, the Lips' obligatory weirdness is wrapped around loud guitars and huge sing-along choruses. And with nods to both the majesty of Pink Floyd and the grit of Black Sabbath, the Lips have finally given us a record that lives up to the psychedelic spirit and unbridled energy of their furry-wearing, ball-bouncing, anything-goes stage show. Check out "The W.A.N.D" or the Prince-like "Free Radicals" and, rather than file this one away, you might just be compelled to stage a Lips show in your living room. Just be careful: Confetti's a bitch to get out of couch cracks. --A. L. See Paul McCartney and Ringo Star Play Together Mötley Crüe's Wildest Decade: The Photos Lil Wayne Quits His Tour With Blink-182 Mid-Show The 10 Most Anticipated Albums of 2019 Megan Rapinoe Quotes Nipsey Hussle on Instagram The Best Love Songs of 2019 (So Far) Ingrid Michaelson's 'Stranger Things' Album A Tribute to The Walkman on its 40th Anniversary Inside the Making of Santa's "Smooth" Kickstart Your Pride Playlist with These 25 Songs The Record Label That Saved Jazz The Shortage Worth Worrying About: Great Whiskey The Man Who Literally Built 'Star Wars' Bitcoin Wound Up Being Just As Broken as the Corrupt Banking System It Was Trying to Kill Here's Some Stupid For Lunch	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647193
__label__cc	0.518642	0.481358	Estadio McKalla Major League Soccer is coming to McKalla Place McKalla Past History of McKalla Place McKalla Neighborhood History McKalla Today The McKalla Brewery District Food, Bevs, and Entertainment Getting to McKalla Place Austin Anthem Austin’s New Home For Professional Soccer… and So Much More On Wednesday, August 15th, 2018 the Austin City Council approved a resolution which allowed City Manager Spencer Cronk to negotiate and execute a deal with Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV) that would bring a $200 million+ stadium to the city owned land at 10414 McKalla Place. The final deal was signed and executed on December 18th, 2018. The lease began at 12:00am on December 19th. The next steps for the club are to select contractors and engineering firms, and begin the process of permitting through the City of Austin’s Economic Development Department. Leases the tract of land to PSV for an initial term of 20 years. The City of Austin retains ownership of the land, and, barring any extensions or further agreements, will be able to sell or lease the land once the term is up. PSV has the option to extend the lease for an additional 10 years, up to three times. This makes the maximum lease term under the agreement 50 years without further council intervention. The stadium will be privately funded, with construction costs borne by PSV. Upon completion, the ownership of the stadium will be deeded to the City of Austin. The site and stadium will be leased back to PSV for $550,000 a year beginning in year six of the lease. About Estadio McKalla Estadio McKalla is a stadium tracker project by Austin Anthem, Austin FC’s original independent supporters group. Austin Anthem. The Song of Our City. Tweets by @McKallaMLS ©2019 Estadio McKalla/Austin Anthem. \| Powered by WordPress This site is not associated with Precourt Sports Ventures, Austin FC, or Major League Soccer.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647195
__label__wiki	0.822601	0.822601	SEAT charges up electric revolution By Mike Torpey on 2019-06-24 - Driving Force news editor and responsible for organising our daily output. He was staff motoring editor of the Liverpool Echo for 20 years. THE fastest growing volume car brand in Europe for the past two years is looking to a game-changer in its journey towards a low carbon future. SEAT, these days under the stewardship of German giant Volkswagen, has the youngest customer profile in the business - by a decade no less - and is about to add extra charge to the electric revolution. It comes in the shape of two ritzy new fully electric models, both of which are due to arrive next year. First up is the Mii electric, a car SEAT describes as one which ‘fuses dynamism, elegant design, an advanced powertrain, and new levels of connectivity with affordability and low cost of ownership.' The idea is to offer a vehicle that's ready to meet the challenges of the city as well as the needs of a new generation of customer. This first production all-electric vehicle from the Barcelona-based company also lays the groundwork for future family members, with more EVs and PHEVs due to join the Mii electric in the near future. What's really significant though is that this electric city car will take up the mantle from the current petrol-powered version when production of that vehicle ends next month. The feeling is that the move to an exclusively all-electric powertrain will open the doors to a driving experience that fits more naturally with the city car's environment. Styling sees the Mii's exterior subtlely refreshed with ‘electric' and 16-inch alloy wheels while inside there are changes like a new dashboard, ambient lighting, sporty and heated seats, black sport leather steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake. The greatest transformation, however, comes under the bonnet with the Mii electric's motor, linked to a single speed transmission, providing 83PS of power enabling the car to accelerate from 0-30mph in 3.9 seconds. And Mii electric's 36.8kWh lithium-ion battery pack provides up to 161 miles of range from a single charge. SEAT says it will be one of the most affordable electric vehicles on the market, costing the same as an equivalent combustion engine vehicle. Hot on the heels of the Mii electric will be the el-Born, currently a concept car but signed off for production. It is named after one of the most iconic neighborhoods of Barcelona. With a power output of up to 204ps the vehicle can travel from 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds and has a range of between 186 and 260 miles from its 58kWh energy dense battery pack, the former distance from just a 30-minute charge. Inside, space is maximised thanks to the all-electric powertrain, and the el-Born's sculpted cabin includes a digital cockpit with 10-inch infotainment and connectivity screen perched in the centre of the dashboard. There is also greater storage space too - the ability to stow a bag between the two front seats a simple and effective example of the maximised capacity. Next year will also see the arrival of new models from SEAT's new standalone brand the shape of a CUPRA Leon model and CUPRA Formentor. The latter is a dramatic looking high performance plug-in hybrid described as offering the benefits of a performance car with the qualities of an SUV. LATEST SEAT NEWS It's all-electric for Mii THIS may look like any other SEAT Mii, but there's one big difference: there's... SEAT Mii FR Line 1.0 THE SEAT Mii is the designer baby in the brand and it's a little charmer.It was... SEAT's city car capable on the open road SO many car designers never consider the remote locking keys for their cars and...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647196
__label__wiki	0.75863	0.75863	Unilever to close Henderson ice cream manufacturing facility in Nevada FILE PHOTO: The logo of Unilever is seen at the headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw - Piroschka Van De Wouw(Reuters) (Reuters) – Consumer goods giant Unilever said it would close its ice cream manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada, hurting about 300 jobs. Unilever, which makes household goods ranging from Dove soaps to Knorr packet soups, said ice cream production at the facility will cease at the end of August and will be relocated to other locations in the United States. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647198
__label__cc	0.665934	0.334066	Please change your browser settings if you do not agree with our policy. Learn more Elite Cleaning Service Essex knows the value of cleanliness within the workplace. They offer a bespoke cleaning solution to meet their clients individual requirements. Daily, they are entrusted to manage over 50 sites, and they now employ locally over 150 staff. CALL THE TEAM NOW 01245 601242 What is this Privacy Policy for? This privacy policy is for this website elite-cleaning-service.com governs the privacy of its users who choose to use it. The policy sets out the different areas where user privacy is concerned and outlines the obligations & requirements of the users, the website and website owners. Furthermore the way this website processes, stores and protects user data and information will also be detailed within this policy. 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Users are advised to take caution and good judgement before clicking any shortened urls published on social media platforms by this website and its owners. Despite the best efforts to ensure only genuine urls are published many social media platforms are prone to spam and hacking and therefore this website and its owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications caused by visiting any shortened links. CLIENT LOGIN EMPLOYEES LOGIN Educational Cleaning Hospital & Clinical Cleaning Certified Kitchen Deep Cleans IT Equipment Cleaning Window & Fascia Cleaning Floor Restoration & Maintenance Washroom and hygiene supplies List of our clients Recruitment and vetting Staff Check Window &Fascia Cleaning We appreciate that first impressions count. At Elite Cleaning Services we can provide you with an expert internal and external window cleaning service. We have various access solutions so no matter how challenging things are, we will keep your windows clean. Our range of window cleaning services incorporates any frequency required, ranging from daily to annual cleaning operations. Our qualified and fully trained teams have the right solutions to meet your needs: Ground and ladder cleaning Reach and wash systems Cradles and abseiling. Cherry picker and hoist access work. We are also able to undertake the specialist cleaning of external finishes including, marble, polished and flamed granite and aluminium. Tags: building cleaning, window cleaning essex, window cleaners essex, essex window cleaners, essex window cleaning, facia cleaning, gutter cleaning, essex window cleaning service Elite Cleaning Video PORTAL LOGINS	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647199
__label__wiki	0.520469	0.520469	Our website uses cookies to improve your user experience. If you continue browsing, we assume that you consent to our use of cookies. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. Tax & legislation Search Login / Register Primary Menu news Healthcare Healthcare and wellbeing Employee Benefits Health and Wellbeing Conference 2010: Cost of private medical insurance (PMI) under scrutiny By Nicola Sullivan 1st June 2010 12:00 am 5th April 2017 11:52 am The increasing cost of offering private medical insurance (PMI) came under scrutiny during a panel debate at Employee Benefits’ Health and Wellbeing Conference 2010 last month. Mike Izzard, former chairman of the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries (Amii), blamed rising premiums on the high costs charged by private hospital chains, and “very expensive” and “inefficient” private specialists. “Premiums have to be affordable,” he said. “If they are not affordable, employers cannot offer PMI and then the employee suffers.” Izzard said the increased costs of PMI could be due to factors such as increasing hospital overheads and the cost of treatments and cancer drugs, as well as high levels of pay in the medical sector. Competition in the market had lessened because there were fewer PMI insurers, he said. Adrian Norris, managing director of health and productivity at Buck Consultants, said: “PMI has been a four- or five-star product and the expectation is it is going to have a luxury feel to it. Do we continue to want to have a five-star feel to it? It is the medical treatment everyone will be most interested in.” During the debate, Linda Hilliard, UK reward manager at Informa, expressed concern about disparities between what an employee claims for medical treatment and what the insurer pays out. In response, Izzard said: “Sometimes it is the patient that is at fault; sometimes it is the insurer by not being transparent enough; and sometimes it is specialists and anaesthetists [who overcharge].” For more articles on healthcare Pensions roundtable: Make sure staff see the value of pensions 1st June 2010 12:00 am 3rd November 2015 6:11 pm Buyer's guide news Benefits for carers Buyer’s guide to childcare vouchers (June 2010) 1st June 2010 12:00 am 12th April 2017 1:02 pm Research Mental health resilience Healthcare Research 2010: Strategies to deal with employee stress New role for Begbie 1st June 2010 12:00 am 2nd November 2015 7:29 pm Landscaping firm grows veggies for employees 28th May 2010 9:53 am 3rd November 2015 6:11 pm Sign up for the leading independent source of news and expert analysis delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up Latest ArticlesComments People Moves Total reward Debenhams hires Purnell 16th July 2019 4:53 pm 16th July 2019 4:53 pm JLL hires Smith Opinion Pay strategy Beverley Sunderland: Does voluntary overtime count when calculating holiday pay? news Pay strategy Health visitors at Lincolnshire County Council strike in pay dispute 16th July 2019 10:58 am 16th July 2019 2:27 pm Threaded commenting powered by interconnect/it code. Charity / Voluntary Technology / telecommunications Copyright @ 2019 DVV Media HR Group Ltd DVV Media HR Group Limited. Registered in England and Wales no. 6776955. Registered office Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1JB	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647204
__label__cc	0.731336	0.268664	Kevin Grandia Spake Media House Inc. Kevin is the President of Spake Media House Inc. a consulting firm that brings online power to non-profits, campaigners and advocacy groups. 15 items added with 3,052 views Survey Lists the Best and Worst Financial Funds When it Comes to Climate Change Risk Is your pension fund or insurance company a leader or laggard when it comes to avoiding risky bets on the future impacts of climate change? A new survey released recentlyfinds that many major institutional investors, like retirement funds and insurance companies, are putting their investments (read: your money) at risk by not addressing the negative financial impacts posed by climate change and atmospheric disruption. The survey, called the Global Climate Investment Risk, is based on data acquired from 460 funds who were invited to provide data, from members of those funds and using publicly available information. Each fund is rated from AAA to X based on investment mix and recognition of the financial risks that climate change will have now and in the future. Conducted by the Asset Owners Disclosure Project (AODP), the survey concludes that of the 460 funds, only 5 received a AAA rating, while 173 funds are rated “X.” “While we can see some leaders emerging, many haven’t acknowledged their dangerous and foolhardy addiction to investments riddled with climate risk, let alone checked themselves into rehab,” says Julian Poulter, Executive Director of AODP. “It’s pretty clear through the Index that the big laggard funds continue to be too scared to take on big fossil fuel companies, even though they know there are enormous risks through continuing investing in them.” “A majority of the world’s investment industry are clearly acting contrary to the interests of those whose money they represent – this is an outrageous situation. It must be remembered that much of the money being held by these organizations is the product of workers’ lifelong savings,” Sharan Burrow, AODP board member and General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation said. Here are the 10 best funds that are actively addressing the financial risks of climate change on behalf of their members: 1. Environment Agency Active Pension Fund (UK) 2. Local Government Super (Australian pension fund) 3. CalPERS (US pension fund) 4. Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW/PGGM) (Dutch pension fund) 5. VicSuper (Australian pension fund) 6. AustralianSuper (pension fund) 7. Government Employees Pension Fund (South Africa) 8. Florida Retirement System Pension Plan 9. BT Super for Life (Australia pension fund) 10. Aviva (UK insurance company) There are too many “X-rated” companies to list here, you can find a complete list on the AODP website here. So where is your money in this mix? Photo Credit: Funds and Climate Change Risk/shutterstock #climate-risk #energy-financing #funding #pensions Thank Kevin for the Post! Solar Energy in Massachusetts: An Overview of the SMART Application Process Over the last decade, Massachusetts has had great success with their SREC I and SREC II block programs. In November 2018, they rolled out their newest block program known as SMART. This article provides an overview of the SMART application process. Is the U.S. fleet of nuclear plants not prepared for the climate crisis that they are designed to help fight? Nuclear power is a significant part of the clean energy toolbox in an effort to fight climate change, notably because nuclear power does not release any greenhouse gas emissions in its operation. It's also seen as a particularly useful resource.. VC Funding for Battery Storage, Smart Grid and Energy Efficiency Companies Drops Over 50 Percent Year-to-Year in Q1 2019 Battery storage start-ups globally raised $130 million in nine transactions in Q1 from VC investors, when private equity and corporate VC and public market financing is included. That's a sharp, 57 percent drop from $299 million in 12 deals in Q1'18. Coal Miners Deserve Better Coal Miners Deserve Better We fix the pipes in Flint [Mich.] first. We fix the electrical grid in Puerto Rico first. 1846Sign in to Vote Like (1)	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647206
__label__cc	0.65019	0.34981	World War Two veterans offered free tours to pay respects to fallen comrades Two veterans who took part in a previous tour - now free trips are being offered to all World War Two veterans. The travel arm of the Royal British Legion is on a mission to find all surviving veterans of World War Two. The Treasury is enabling a series of free-of-charge tours for World War Two veterans to return to where they served to pay their respects to their fallen comrades. The tours are being funded by LIBOR fines, and will enable a WWII veteran to return with a family member and carer. The Royal British Legion has been running LIBOR-funded tours for Normandy veterans for the past four years and thanks to additional funding is now able to widen the tours to all veterans of WWII. Nichola Rowlands, Head of Travel, Royal British Legion, explains: “We have organised tours for hundreds of D Day veterans and it has proven a very moving experience for all. We have been campaigning to widen the tours for all WWII veterans, as so many gave so much, and we feel that they all deserve a final tour to lay old ghosts to rest; we’re delighted that the Treasury has made this possible.” The tours will take place from spring to autumn and will give WWII veterans – now mostly in their 90s – the chance to meet up with fellow veterans, visit significant battlefield sites, cemeteries and memorials. There is no database of veterans from WWII who are still alive today so the Royal British Legion is calling upon the general public to spread the word and ensure every surviving veteran gets the chance to go back one last time. For WWII veterans wishing to benefit from this tour, they need to apply via Remembrance Travel’s tour operator, Arena Travel, on 01473 660800, or visit www.arenatravel.com/our-holidays/remembrance-travel. Remembrance Travel will also be offering group travel opportunities for WWII veteran associations too. Historic Kirkcaldy school to become housing Police probe after cyclist found seriously injured	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647212
__label__wiki	0.851726	0.851726	Industries Seek Uniform Federal Privacy Law To Preempt… Home Voting Machines A look at the first draft of South Carolina’s next budget A look at the first draft of South Carolina’s next budget written by Ex Offenders Vote March 11, 2019 Maayan Schechter Published 1:25 PM EDT Mar 11, 2019 COLUMBIA — South Carolina could spend nearly $160 million this year to raise teacher pay by at least 4 percent, part of an effort to increase their salaries to the national average — about $60,000 — within five years. State lawmakers also could spend $41 million to give 2-percent pay raises to the nearly 32,000 state employees. And they could fork out $144 million to freeze tuition for in-state students at S.C. colleges and pay for building renovations and other projects. Those expenses are included in the draft of the 2019-20 budget that will be debated in the S.C. House this week. But that projected $9.3 billion spending plan could change dramatically by the time both and the House and Senate approve it later this spring. Lawmakers will bicker over how that money should be spent. The biggest fights will be over how to divvy up the budget’s nearly $1 billion in new money — $480 million of which must go toward one-time expenses such as voting machines. But House budget committee chairman Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, has warned that some of the money they are fighting over will instead have to be spent on other necessary costs, such as prison upgrades, health care and education. “You can see how quickly the obligations of the state consume the revenues of the state,” Smith said at a Thursday budget briefing. “That’s an issue that we continue to try and control.” Teacher, state worker pay Pay raises for South Carolina’s 52,000 teachers and 32,000 state employees should be one of those top priorities, advocates argue. They stress their pay lags behind other Southeastern states, contributing to declining morale, extreme turnover problems and an ongoing teacher shortage. Lawmakers say they understand. The House on Wednesday passed a massive proposal seeking to reform the state’s public schoolsand acknowledged they must raise teacher pay to recruit and retain good educators. This week, House members will debate whether to spend $159 million to raise the state’s minimum starting teacher salaries to $35,000, up from $32,000, and give teachers at least a 4-percent pay raise — the largest hike since 1984, Smith said. “We’re losing a lot more teachers than we’re gaining,” said state Rep. Bill Whitmire, R-Oconee, chairman of the House budget committee’s panel on public education spending. “And it’s becoming a real crisis here in South Carolina.” State workers would get a 2-percent pay raise in the current draft of the budget, the first raise for all state employees since 2016-17. But advocates, including state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, the House budget-writing committee’s vice chairwoman, worry that isn’t enough to slow turnover at state agencies. Roughly 75 percent of those workers earn less than $41,000 a year. House budget writers also added to the budget: $383,190 for pay raises for Department of Natural Resources officers $1 million in yearly pay raises for officers and a community specialist at the state’s Juvenile Justice Department $11 million yearly pay raises to increase judges’ salaries “This basically brings our chief justice salary up to the lowest salary of a federal trial judge,” said state Rep. Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, chairman of the House budget panel that focuses on judicial spending. “That was a good marker to try to get to.” Tuition freeze House budget writers said Thursday they want to offer the state’s public colleges an olive branch to mend a relationship that has been frayed since 2008, when legislators slashed their budgets during the Great Recession. This week, House members will debate spending $44 million each year to freeze the cost of tuition for in-state students. They want to spend another $100 million this year to help those schools pay for costly renovations and maintenance. That includes nearly $18 million for the University of South Carolina system and about $5.7 million for Clemson University. South Carolina has not borrowed to keep up with deferred college maintenance since 2000. The state has seen the consequences of that neglect in crumbling buildings and tuition hikes, House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York, said Thursday. That has left S.C. families and students holding the tab, he said. “What I wanted to do was not assign blame and accept responsibility,” said Simrill, Ways and Means higher education subcommittee chair. “We shirked our duty.” ‘Return that money to the citizens’ After months of waiting, someone finally claimed the Mega Millions jackpot on Monday, gifting the state a $61 million tax windfall that can be spent this year. Last month, the House’s budget-writing committee proposed to spend that money — plus another $35 million — on refunds worth about $50 per taxpayer. That would be a marked shift from normal spending practices. In the past 25 years combined, Smith said, the Legislature has given roughly $42 million in tax cuts. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster first proposed the idea of a rebate in his executive budget in January. Under his proposal, the state would have spent $200 million on refunds. “We keep telling the taxpayers that our jobs in state government is to find ways to save money, to spend money wisely and, whenever we can, return their tax money,” he said. “This is the right year to make good on that promise and return that money to the citizens.” Where your tax dollars could go This week, the S.C. House of Representatives will take up its proposed $9.3 billion 2019-20 spending plan that includes spending: $85 million for a rural school district and economic development closing fund for potential infrastructure improvements $49.7 million to cover state employee health and dental insurance increases $10 million to hire 120 additional school-resource officers $10 million for state prison upgrades $2.2 million to offer students more mental-health services SOURCE: S.C. HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE budgetCarolinasdraftSouth Will Mitch McConnell Buck the American People? – InsideSources 1000s More Could Join ACLU Lawsuit over Trump Family Separation Policy Errors cause judge to throw out Ga. election... Mamata: Offered to resign as CM but party... House Democrats list states with weakest election security... County gets $40K state grant for new voting... Local News: New technology: Machines expected to smooth... Gauri Lankesh’s sister rubbishes self-styled cyber expert’s claim linking... Lawmakers offer counties $114.5 million for voting machines... National Organization for Women of New Jersey commends... SC Election Commission requesting new voting system that... Government doles out election security funds to states Industries Seek Uniform Federal Privacy Law To Preempt Inconsistent Patchwork Of State Laws – Privacy Protection	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647217
__label__wiki	0.756418	0.756418	Home Voting Machines Election security in state officials’ hands in light of statements by Trump, Tillis Election security in state officials’ hands in light of statements by Trump, Tillis written by Ex Offenders Vote June 15, 2019 The North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) met Thursday to, among other things, consider certification of new voting systems. Before the board’s discussion, a few members of the public presented prepared statements. The first came from Lynn Bernstein, a North Carolina voter, who spoke about the extreme risk to election security posed by electronic voting machines, especially those created by Election Systems and Software. Election Systems and Software (ES&S), the nation’s top voting machine maker and one of the companies whose machines the NC SBE plans to certify, admitted in a letter to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) in April of 2018 that it had installed the remote-access software pcAnywhere on a number of election systems that it had sold. This admission was in direct contrast to a previous statement ES&S made in February of that year, in which the company stated that none of its voting systems had ever been sold with any remote-access software on them. “Remote-access software and modems on election equipment is the worst decision for security short of leaving ballot boxes on a Moscow street corner,” said Bernstein, quoting a statement Sen. Wyden made to Motherboard. Bernstein argued that a company that had repeatedly lied about the nature of its machines and had only revealed the truth after being caught in its lies could not be trusted to help keep North Carolina’s elections safe. “This begs the question: why is this board trusting ES&S’ word that these machines are secure and accurate?” asked Bernstein. Bob Cordle, the chair of the SBE, pushed back against Bernstein’s arguments. “In my experience… we had more problems with hand ballots than we did with any other ballots,” said Cordle. “There was more lying, cheating, and stealing going on… and also questions about… there were lots of questions about whether the oval was filled in, whether both ovals were filled in, so there are problems with hand ballots, too.” “The research showed that 0.007% of ballots have stray marks,” said Bernstein. “That’s very, very few.” “All I know is we saw a number of them,” said Cordle. “But I don’t wanna’ argue with you.” Despite Cordle’s defense of electronic ballots, the SBE ultimately opted to require that any voting machines potentially receiving certification would be required to produce a paper ballot. But the insistence that each system is equally likely to have problems seemed to signal a future willingness by the SBE to introduce and certify electronic voting machines, despite increasing concern about election security. The SBE’s discussion of voting machines which are more susceptible to hacking came on the heels of an alarming statement by President Donald Trump on Thursday, in which he said that if offered information about a political opponent by a foreign adversary, he would strongly consider using the information without alerting the FBI. Senator Thom Tillis took what one could call a somewhat more moderate stance, saying he would alert the FBI, but would then corroborate the information. This unwillingness of Trump and his legislative allies to acknowledge that foreign interference into our elections is wrong is especially troubling, considering that a number of bipartisan election security bills are likely to die in Congress. Some lawmakers have realized the urgency of getting these bills passed before the 2020 election, but according to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), none of these bills will get to the floor. “I don’t see any likelihood that those bills would get to the floor if we marked them up. I think the majority leader is of the view this debate reaches no conclusion,” said Sen. Blunt in a statement. Translation: At this point, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (and thereby, Congress as a whole) have little interest in making our elections more secure. One can only hope officials in North Carolina and other states will continue to pick up the slack. Aditi Kharod is a student at UNC Chapel Hill and an intern at NC Policy Watch. electionhandslightofficialsSecurityStatestatementsTillisTrump Job Opportunity: Policy Advocacy Assistant with ACLU of Washington Abortion law in Alabama: Planned Parenthood builds Alabama clinic despite near-total ban on abortion Delay to choose company to replace Louisiana voting... Letter: New voting machines are waste of money... Analysis \| The Cybersecurity 202: DARPA has a... Voting machine order could cost millions \| News Google doodle marks start of Indian Lok Sabha... Recount in 13th District race could be Saturday... 2020 election: Technology could help FL avoid 2018... Talk ramping up about replacing Lyon County voting... Why is EVM a sacred cow? – National... Elections are still a big wreck	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647218
__label__cc	0.656483	0.343517	Home Insights Leventhal Comments on Impact of Federal Appeals Court Ruling Against Medi-Cal Cuts to Hospitals Leventhal Comments on Impact of Federal Appeals Court Ruling Against Medi-Cal Cuts to Hospitals 07 August 2017 Los Angeles Times News Partner Robert Leventhal was quoted in a Los Angeles Times article, “U.S. Appeals Court Says Medi-Cal Cut to Hospitals Was Illegal,” covering a U.S. 9th Court of Appeals ruling saying the federal government wrongly approved California’s request to temporarily cut Medi-Cal reimbursements by 10 percent for outpatient hospital care during the recession. If the ruling stands, the state and federal government will have to reimburse California hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars, said Leventhal, who represented 57 California hospitals in a challenge to the government’s decision. The ruling will have “a major impact” on Medi-Cal rates, which “are the lowest or next to the lowest in all 50 states for hospital outpatient services,” Leventhal said. He also said the ruling could be used in future challenges involving Medi-Cal. “It’s clear that the rates aren’t structured to provide the same access to care” as the general public, he said. Industry Teams Class Action & Other Insurance Litigation Insurance & Reinsurance Litigation	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647233
__label__wiki	0.913595	0.913595	Home Insights SEC Enforcement Action Against the Former Chairman of Syncor International Corp. SEC Enforcement Action Against the Former Chairman of Syncor International Corp. 02 October 2007 Publication In September 2007, the SEC filed a settled civil action against Monty Fu, a U.S. resident and former chairman and chief executive officer of Syncor International Corp. (Syncor), in connection with improper payments made between 1985 and 2002 by Syncor's subsidiary in Taiwan (Syncor Taiwan) to physicians employed by state-owned or state-controlled hospitals. The SEC alleged that Fu was aware Syncor Taiwan was making improper payments to the physicians and he was cautioned by Syncor's management that the company could not make payments for the purpose of influencing the physician's decisions to purchase or use Syncor's products and services. Nevertheless, the SEC found Fu, who at all times had authority to implement a system of internal controls at Syncor Taiwan to ensure that transactions were fairly recorded, failed to maintain compliance with existing company internal controls and failed to implement additional internal controls to determine whether payments by Syncor Taiwan complied with company policy and the FCPA. Based on this conduct, Fu consented to the entry of a final judgment ordering him to pay a $75,000 civil penalty. In December 2002, Syncor Taiwan settled a DOJ enforcement action concerning the improper payments by paying a $2 million criminal fine and Syncor settled an SEC enforcement action concerning the improper payments made not only by Syncor Taiwan, but also certain other foreign subsidiaries by paying a $500,000 civil penalty. View the full summary from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission View the Complaint Government Enforcement Defense & Investigations FCPA & Anti-Corruption	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647234
__label__wiki	0.986356	0.986356	How Michigan target Maliq Carr navigates social media, impending decision Oak Park rising senior Maliq Carr is hoping to play both football and basketball at the next level. He is making his decision in October. How Michigan target Maliq Carr navigates social media, impending decision Oak Park rising senior Maliq Carr is hoping to play both football and basketball at the next level. He is making his decision in October. Check out this story on Freep.com: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/06/18/how-maliq-carr-navigates-social-media-impending-decision/1478686001/ Greg Levinsky, Detroit Free Press Published 7:00 a.m. ET June 18, 2019 \| Updated 10:13 a.m. ET June 18, 2019 Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis speaks about building his relationship with coach Jim Harbaugh during recruiting trips, March 22, 2019. Detroit Free Press Scrolling through the comments, a 〽️, 🐶 and 🍀 are there. The college football and basketball fans are everywhere — especially on Instagram. Oak Park rising senior Maliq Carr is hoping to play both football and basketball at the next level. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound wide receiver doubles as a bruising wing on the court. Every time the 17-year-old posts a photo from an official football visit he gets plenty of input from fans. The 〽️is from the Michigan contingent, the 🐶 is Georgia, the 🍀 is Notre Dame, and so on. The most rabid fan base? “Michigan,” Carr said. “Michigan is everywhere.” His Twitter and Instagram accounts are public. When he posts about one school, fans of the others chime in. When Carr posted from Georgia, he got 20 direct messages, many from people he didn't know. Carr said it can get frustrating at times, but overall he enjoys the exposure. Official (swipe)✅#godawgs🏈 A post shared by maliq carr (@maliq_thefreak_carr) on Jun 16, 2019 at 5:48pm PDT "The first time I started playing football and basketball, it was strictly because I used to see the fans," he said. "I have a love for the sport now, but when I first started it was because I like seeing fans. I like people cheering for me." Examples of the messages Carr receives after a post: "You know the move." "Don't worry about Georgia, go to Michigan." "Boiler up. I thought you were going to Purdue." Top 5 🌟🌟🌟💫Recruitment is still OPEN pic.twitter.com/x1BrSuOrWy — Mäłįq “Thę Frêåk”5️⃣ Čãrr (@CarrMaliq) March 20, 2019 Carr said he responds to most messages, even from people he doesn't know. "I still enjoy it," he said. "They say some off the wall stuff sometimes." And he actually has a third sport, he participates in track and field in the spring, but is not pursuing the sport in college. Nicknamed “The Freak,” Carr comes from athletic bloodlines. His mother, Peggy Carr-McMichael, played basketball at Tennessee and Ohio State. His biological father, Cornell Mann, played basketball at Colorado and Akron and is now an assistant coach at Missouri. It’s no secret Carr is a highly touted as a wide receiver. The 247Sports Composite 4-star hauled in 21 catches for 815 yards and nine touchdowns. Though a wide receiver in high school, he's listed as a tight end on the recruiting sites. He's the No. 7 overall prospect in Michigan and the fifth best tight end in the country. His top five football schools are Georgia, Michigan, LSU, Auburn and Purdue. Verbalcommits.com lists Carr’s hoop offers as Robert Morris, Oakland, LIU Brooklyn, Western Michigan and Cleveland State. Carr’s basketball recruiting picked up later. “Obviously he’s got a lot more offers in football, but the basketball part is starting to get really heavy,” Oak Park basketball coach Bobby Thompson said. After averaging about 20 points and 15 rebounds per game this past winter, he has averaged 6.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game on the AAU circuit. Playing this summer with The Family Detroit on the Nike sponsored Elite Youth Basketball League has brought greater basketball interest to Carr. The program’s elite team includes Carr, Michigan State commit Jalen Terry, Wisconsin commit Lorne Bowman II, unsigned and No. 17 overall basketball recruit Isaiah Jackson as well as Beecher’s Earnest Sanders, who is a 3-star football prospect. Basketball offers came later because of uncertainty about his position and size, said Courtney Williams, coach of the Family. “The question could never be answered until he went out in the spring,” Williams said. “Once schools see him do it against that level of competition they had no choice but to recruit him.” After Carr visited Georgia this past weekend for football, the basketball staff showed interest. Purdue feels the same way. "It meant a lot," Carr said. "I mean, Purdue's basketball program? You've seen what they did. Georgia basketball I don't know much about, but they just got a No.1 recruit." Warren De La Salle's Joshua DeBerry defends Oak Park's Maliq Carr on Friday, November 2, 2018 at Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Mich. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press) Carr doesn’t show any stress about the process. Everyone wants a piece of him, but he appears unfazed. Curtis Blackwell is a former Michigan State football assistant and director of Sound Mind Sound Body Football Academy in Detroit. He's known Carr since he was in elementary school and is impressed with his poise. “He’s enjoying the fruits of his labor,” Blackwell said. “I don’t think it’s an issue for Maliq as opposed to other kids who have never been in the spotlight before, but Maliq’s been groomed for this position all of his life.” Carr will announce his college commitment Oct. 11, 2019, his 18th birthday. "I think about it every day basically," Carr said. "When I wake up, it's the first thing I think about." Steve Wiltfong, 247Sports’s director of recruiting points to Carr’s athleticism as his calling card and makes him unique among the 2020 recruiting class. “He’s really got a chance to be a hell of a mismatch on Saturdays," Wiltfong said. Contact Greg Levinsky: glevinsky@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregLevinsky. Michigan basketball fills out support staff with familiar faces Tigers promote Trevor Rosenthal, former stud closer, to big leagues What experts are saying about Red Wings offseason moves Here's what experts are saying about Pistons offseason moves Dennis Cholowski must balance reward with risk to make Wings again U-M's Shea Patterson on Maxwell Award watch list	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647236
__label__wiki	0.924536	0.924536	Twitter: FS South/Hawks Twitter: FS South Twitter: FS Southeast Ten storylines that will define Braves’ spring training Cory McCartney @coryjmccartney FOX Sports South Feb 12, 2018 at 8:47a ET So, the Braves head into Feb. 13th's report date for pitchers and catchers having not signed a free agent. They still have a healthy offensive center piece and their most heralded prospect on the cusp of his major league debut. The point being, Atlanta has no shortage of storylines as it opens spring training ... and yes, Ronald Acuña figures prominently as we dive in. Reinhold Matay Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports Just healthy is lottery ticket Scott Kazmir? Out last season with hip and back issues, Kazmir is basically considered a lottery ticket as part of the deal that sent Matt Kemp back to the Dodgers. The three-time All-Star -- who is due $16 million in his final year before free agency -- saw a major dip in velocity back in the spring of 2017. A fastball that once averaged 93.5 mph was sitting in the mid-80s, though he told reporters in June that the pitch had touched 92 in a Class-A rehab starts. He wound throwing 12 innings over four minor league appearances in 2017 with three starts and posted a 4.50 ERA, striking out six and walking six. The reality is taking on Kazmir was part of the puzzle in removing Kemp's deal and ultimately opening up a spot in the outfield for Ronald Acuña. The 34-year-old, who has dealt with recurring hip issues that have hindered his ability to push off his back leg and ultimately led to a back injury and neck inflammation, may press for a spot in the rotation. Though with the number of high-end young arms, that seems a stretch. If anything, Kazmir may open the season at Triple-A or find himself in a bullpen role, though he hasn't done that since his rookie season of 2004. David Kohl David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports New-look coaching staff makes its presence felt Eddie Perez and Terry Pendleton, the last remaining assistants from Bobby Cox's last coaching staff are gone, replaced with Eric Young Sr. and Walt Weiss. Weiss takes over Pendleton's role as Brian Snitker's bench coach, while Young is moving into the spot Perez vacated as first base coach. Meanwhile, Sal Fasano steps in as the catching coach. No doubt a difficult decision to replace mainstays Perez and Pendleton, Weiss does give the Braves another voice on the staff with managerial experience (four years at the helm of the Rockies). Meanwhile, Young who swiped 465 bases in his career, has worked as a baserunning instructor with the Astros and could benefit a lineup that since 2015 is 21st in the majors in steals, but has the likes of Ender Inciarte (22 steals in '17), Lane Adams (10), Ozzie Albies (eight) and Ronald Acuña (44 across three minor league levels last season). Fasano will add to a position of strength as Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki gave Atlanta the highest catching fWAR at 5.1. But he was a respect defensive catcher in his 11 seasons in the majors and was in the Blue Jays organization when Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos was in Toronto. Isaiah J. Downing Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Spor How will the bullpen fill out? Just three teams -- the Reds, Padres and Tigers -- had lower fWARs than the Braves' bullpen produced last season at 1.1. But to anchor the state of the relievers on that number of lone would be misleading. In September, Atlanta was tied for 10th (1.1) and was better in that stretch than three postseason teams, including the World Series champion Astros (0.3), along with the Dodgers (0.8) and Twins (0.5). That stretch even included seven appearances and a 6.75 ERA from the since-traded Jim Johnson, as A.J. Minter set a Braves record by not allowing a walk until his 14th MLB game and struck out 17.74 per nine, Dan Winkler had 10.45 K/9 and Arodys Vizcaino had 11.0 K/9 and Sam Freeman stranded 84.6 percent of runners over 11 1/3 innings. The point being, with those pieces in place -- and Jose Ramirez, who took a step back in '17 with minus-2.0 fWAR and an elevated 1.31 HR/9, but still produced a high strand rate (79.8 percent) -- the Braves have the potential to be an improved bullpen in 2018. But who will join what's expected to be an eight-man relief corps? Veteran Rex Brothers was strong against lefties (.282 wOBA and .216 batting average against) and could slide into a specialist role, though he'll be pushed by former Dodgers arm Josh Ravin. The righty limited lefties to a .065 average in '16, though he had a 6.48 ERA and 5.80 FIP in '17. The long-relief options are where Atlanta could see the most intrigue, with Chase Whitley (claimed off waivers from the Rays) some of those potential starters sliding in. That could mean Max Fried, Lucas Sims, Aaron Blair or Matt Wisler. The belief here is two of those names end up making the cut. Steve Mitchell Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports Which prospects will make the most noise? (Non Acuña) We're leaving the majors' No. 1 prospect (via everyone but MLB Pipeline, which went the Shohei Ohtani route instead), out of this conversation for now and instead focusing on the other highly-touted prospects to earn spring invitations. Pitchers Kolby Allard, Mike Soroka and Kyle Wright, third baseman Austin Riley, outfielder Cristian Pache, catchers Alex Jackson and William Contreras and outfielder Dustin Peterson will all join Acuña (sorry, he has a tendency to be omnipresent) at camp. That's MLB Pipeline's Nos. 2 (Allard), 3 (Wright) 4 (Soroka), 9 (Riley) 10 (Pache), 14 (Peterson) and 15 (Jackson) Braves farm hands. The pitchers, in particular Soroka, Allard and Wright -- last year's No. 5 overall pick -- would seem to have a real chance to reach Atlanta at some point this season, making this a (pardon the pun) major opportunity to impress. Riley, the power hitter whom the franchise's current and future decisions at third base seem to be swirling around, will no doubt be under a microscope and the same could be said for Contreras Jackson and Kade Scivicque. The Braves don't have a no-brainer catcher of the future and all could be options down the line. Also, don't sleep on the story of 33-year-old infielder Sean Kazmar. He's set a number of Gwinnett records and hasn't played in the majors since a 19-game stint with the Padres in 2008. Bruce Thorson Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports Was Luiz Gohara’s small sample size enough to guarantee a rotation spot? Small sample sizes can be a dangerous things ... but man can they also be fun. Gohara's five starts in 2017 tantalized. The 21-year-old sturdy left-hander threw 29 1/3 innings with a 4.9 ERA, 9.51 K/9, a 2.75 FIP and a 97.0 average fastball velocity that was only bested by the Mets' Noah Syndergaard (98.3), the Yankees' Luis Severino (97.6) and Reds' Luis Castillo (97.5). The book on Gohara was he was going to be one of the hardest-throwing lefties in all of baseball and he didn't disappoint. But the more pressing question after that small sample size is whether he already secured a rotation spot along side Julio Teheran, Mike Foltynewicz, and Brandon McCarthy? If the Braves have a litany of anything it's options for the final two spots on the staff with Sean Newcomb, Max Fried, Lucas Sims, Aaron Blair and Matt Wisler -- all of whom have made MLB starts -- all having designs on seizing the spot. Not to mention the next wave of arms in Mike Sorokoa and on, and on. Newcomb, who made 19 starts and posted a 4.32 ERA and 1.570 WHIP feels like he'll make the cut to break camp, though he's had a long-standing issue with walks, allowing 5.1 per nine, though that was at 4.75 down the stretch. Considering Gohara's strong run of starts in Atlanta came at the end of a career-high 153 innings stretched across three minor league levels and the majors, and that he was still posting that 97.0 FBv, the Brazilian has the look of a workhorse. Despite making just five starts, he may be more of a sure-thing for this staff than even Newcomb, and potentially may have an even higher ceiling. Dale Zanine Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports What did Dansby Swanson learn from first full season? If Dansby Swanson's season was narrowed down to his performances in June and August, when he had wRC+s of 95 and 127, respectively, we're talking about a strong first full year in the majors. The problem is what he did in April (11 wRC+), May (74), July (0) and September (64), hitting .232/.312/.324 with minus-7 defensive runs saved and 20 errors in an erratic season that included an 11-game stint in Triple-A that was cut short after Johan Camargo's freak knee injury. After 107 wRC+ in 38 games in 2016, Swanson was 34 percent below league average in '17, but he'll get the chance to prove he can hold down the shortstop position -- though the Braves have added some insurance. They traded for former Giants, Rockies and Dodgers utilityman Charlie Culberson. He has 229 2/3 innings at shortstop with 22 starts, and Camargo had his moments at the position last season for the Braves despite minus-2 DRS. Projections via Steamer have Swanson hitting .258/.335/.385 and 87 wRC+, still below average, but a step in the right direction. Brett Davis Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports How will Ozzie Albies build off strong debut season? The first taste of Albies in the majors met the hype, and it was made all the most stunning that he did it at 20 years old. In hitting .286/.354/.456 with six homers and 112 OPS+, Albies is just the 25th player in history to have an OPS+ of 112 or higher with a OBP of .350 or better at age 20 or younger. The other names to join that list in the last 40 years includes Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jason Heyward, Mike Trout and Bryce Harper -- but none of that is meant to set the ceiling for the Braves second baseman. So what should we expect from Albies as he enters his first spring as a part of the big-league roster? He had his ups and downs against right-handed pitching, hitting .273/.337/.436 with a 91 tOPS+ in 165 at-bats compared to .327/.407/.519 with 129 tOPS+ against lefties in 52 ABs. More interesting, the strikeout rate was lower (14.8 percent) than it had been at any point in Triple-A and he had a career-high .171 ISO and his best OPS (.810) since rookie ball. Steamer projections have Albies dipping a little with a .273/.329/.417 slash line, 12 homers, 27 doubles, eight triples and a 95 wRC+. If those numbers are close to reality, it would put Albies in line to be a 2.0 fWAR player, something the Braves haven't had at second base from a qualified player since Dan Uggla's 3.4 fWAR in 2012. Adam Hagy Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports Is another third baseman coming ... or is it Johan Camargo's job? With the belief that Ronald Acuña will sooner than later seize the job in left field (more on that later), the biggest question mark in the everyday lineup is at third base. There's the potential that Johan Camargo -- who played 286 innings at third last year with 11.9 UZR/150 and zero defensive runs saved -- gets the brunt of the season to prove he can be an everyday player. The other option is the Braves bring in someone else. Todd Frazier is off the board, and Mike Moustakas may not be gettable at a deal that Atlanta is willing to digest from a length or dollar amount, especially with Austin Riley on the horizon. The Braves have, though, reportedly shown interest in former All-Star Eduardo Nunez. The 30-year-old, who had a career-high 110 OPS+ last season that was buoyed by a 129 in 38 games with Boston, has 255 career starts at third and is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to get $14 million for two years. But that was before market-shifting deals like Frazier's two-year $17 million contract with the Mets. A 2.2 WAR player in '17, Nunez makes sense if the Braves want to get older and more proven at third, but does that scenario let them see what they have in Camargo? Freddie Freeman and his fully-healed wrist The two-time All-Star first baseman's wrist was the story of the 2017 season as he missed 10 weeks with a fracture, prompting the Braves to acquire Matt Adams. Then, upon his return, Freeman pushed for a move to third base, only to switch back to his natural position after 16 games. Amid all this, he equated his swing to swinging a wet newspaper, though even with that water-logged piece of print he he still managed 138 wRC+ in August and 126 in September. But the good news is that at Chop Fest in late January, Freeman said he wrist was back to full strength and he told FOX Sports South that he's already been swinging in 25-degree temperatures to see if he'd deal with any aches or pains. He did undergo surgery in the offseason ... though it was Lasik, which should prevent the dry eye irritation he's experienced while wearing contact lenses. In all, he's set up for a monster season as he enters the fifth year of his $135 million contract. Freeman was playing at an MLB-level before his injury, with a ridiculous 222 wRC+ in April and 173 in May before he went down. But the major question with Freeman may not be his health, but whether the Braves can supply him with a right-handed bat in the order to take pressure off. Which brings us to ... When will Ronald Acuña make his MLB debut? Without question, this will be the most compelling part of Braves spring training. Snitker said at Winter Meetings that the then-19-year-old looked ready for the majors a year ago, and it's an inevitability that everyone's minor league player of the year -- who hit .325/.374/.522 with 31 doubles, eight triples and 21 home runs and stole 44 bases across three levels in 2017 -- will be up in Atlanta in 2018. Even if he has a massively productive spring, the collective thinking is the Braves will hold off to make sure that Acuña gets no more than 171 days of service time, making certain that they secure another year of club control. It's just makes too much sense to give up a a few games in '18 to guarantee Acuña around that much longer, especially if he lives up to the immense hype being thrown his way. If that delay does happen, it could put his debut around the Monday, April 16 home date with the Phillies and it's a thought process that Acuña himself said he was well aware of. "I've talked to a couple people and I think the debate of if they had me down in (Triple-A) Gwinnett for two weeks or a month or whatever, how that works contractually and the benefits for the team on that," the outfielder said at Chop Fest. "I try not to focus on any of that. "My goal is to just compete for the roster spot and hopefully make the team." The Braves, who opened a spot for the phenom in trading Kemp, do have options in the interim. Lane Adams was more than serviceable with minus-1 DRS in 85 innings in left last season and there's former Preston Tucker, who was acquired from the Astros and didn't see the majors in '17. That gives Atlanta a righty (Adams)/lefty (Tucker) combination until Acuña's arrival, and the thought here is that Adams will serve as a part-time complement as the young Venezuelan adjusts to the majors. Everyone knows Acuña is coming; it's just a matter of when, and with the unlikelihood that he breaks camp with the team, his expectedly lengthy spring training run is simply going to be can't-miss. Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His books, 'Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,' and 'The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners.' are now available. Mark J. Rebilas Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647240
__label__wiki	0.761669	0.761669	PIG TODAY-Classic models are failing FX hedge funds desperate for return It was supposed to be the year of the great comeback for currency traders. After all, didn’t Donald Trump reignite the animal spirits of financial markets by promising a slew of growth-boosting reforms? It turns out currency managers feel more powerless than emboldened. Most of the strategies traders use to generate profit — momentum, carry and fair value — have either lost money or nearly erased their gains this year, according to Deutsche Bank AG models. Buying the dollar, which became a popular momentum- and carry-style trade based on the prospect of fiscal stimulus and higher interest rates, has flopped in the face of scant U.S. policy details and the possibility that Europe and Japan may soon follow the U.S. and exit quantitative easing. “Nothing is really working all that well, which is why it’s a tough year for currency trading,” said Alan Ruskin, head of currency research at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York. “There’s not one theme so far that people have latched on to. The lack of consistency is the story of this year.” The absence of direction is proving particularly tough for hedge-fund managers who focus just on foreign exchange as stock markets rally. Returns on currency-only funds were flat through February, compared with the 1.6 percent return for the whole industry, Hedge Fund Research Inc. data show. The S&P 500 index is up 5.9 percent during the period. “FX hedge funds predominantly started 2017 long the dollar, but the trade became too crowded and failed to produce returns,” said Matthew Feldmann, a consultant for family offices and a former portfolio manager at Brevan Howard Asset Management and Citadel LLC. “Meanwhile, macro funds globally embraced the Trump stocks rally and held global equities.” The bullish-dollar trade is an expression of both the momentum and carry strategies. In momentum, traders analyze historical patterns, such as moving averages and levels of support and resistance, for clues to whether a trade has run out of steam or has more room to continue. The dollar also benefits from carry, where speculators borrow in a currency they expect to depreciate and has lower borrowing costs, such as the euro, and in turn use the funds to buy higher-yielding currencies like the dollar. Nonetheless, lackluster returns have become a familiar tale for currency investors. FX hedge funds lost money in six of the last eight years, the Parker Global Index data showed. Managers blame years of low volatility, geopolitical uncertainty and whipsawed monetary policies for their abysmal performance. Even when a clear trend emerges, investors often become too gun-shy to capture the move. A case in point is the emerging-market carry trade. Following years of selloff, emerging-market currencies were the best performers against the dollar this year, led by the 8 percent rally in Mexico peso and the South African rand. Yet political risk and higher rates in the U.S. have kept investors at bay. “EM carry is probably the one arena where people could’ve made money,” Ruskin said. “I’m not sure the trade has been put on as aggressively because people are still concerned about Fed tightening.” Source: bloomberg.com EUR/JPY recovers from lows, back around 121.40	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647244
__label__wiki	0.849658	0.849658	Cuphead The Delicious Last Course DLC is running late By Rachel Weber 2019-07-02T18:40:36Z News Your Cuphead runneth over (Image credit: Studio MDHR) If you've been looking forward to playing new Cuphead content as Ms. Chalice, you might want to sit down with a strong mug of sweet tea. The Delicious Last Course DLC for the animated indie has been pushed back and will miss its original 2019 release date. "We’re taking a page out of Chef Saltbaker’s book, and spending the necessary time to get the recipe just right – this means that we’ll be moving the release of The Delicious Last Course to 2020," said Chad Moldenhauer, co-director or Studio MDHR. "This wasn’t an easy decision to make, but we’re confident it’s one that will result in a higher quality experience that’s all the sweeter when it does arrive." The Delicious Last Course was announced at E3 2018 and will bring a brand-new island with new weapons, new charms, and Ms. Chalice's brand-new abilities like double jump. We'll still be getting all that good stuff, we'll just be getting it a little later. Moldenhauer also promised “a few surprises we aren’t prepared to talk about just yet" for when we finally get to play. "While we initially announced a 2019 release date for the Delicious Last Course expansion, our highest priority is making sure this new adventure meets the meticulous level of care and quality we always strive for," added Moldenhauer. "We want to be absolutely certain that this next adventure feels at home in the world of Cuphead and is full of moments that surprise and delight players. Furthermore, the development of the original game taught us a great deal about the importance of making things in a way that’s healthy and sustainable for our team." Need a new Xbox One? We're tracking all the best Amazon Prime Day game deals right here. news games Amazon Prime Day game deals: PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647246
__label__wiki	0.539207	0.539207	64 \| Research-Technology Management • May—June 2015 July 12, 2018 GapEssays As the articles in this special issue illus- trate, successful culture change can re- make a company’s fortunes. It’s often easy to determine that cultural change is needed. A platform is burning, a market is shrinking, customers are disappearing, the R&D pipeline is withering—clearly, something needs to change if the organization is to survive. Sometimes, there’s a more positive driver: a radical innovation demands a new business model, a different market, an entirely original approach. Occasionally, a portfolio analysis like the one described by Smith and Sonnenblick in a 2013 RTM article sug- gests that, while the company is fi ne at the moment, a new outlook is needed to meet coming challenges. Or a futures exercise helps the company see that it needs to prepare for a very different fu- ture from the one it has assumed is coming. Indeed, as Carleton, Cockayne, and Tahvanainen argue in their Play- book for Strategic Foresight and Innovation , developing such a program can help an organization to maintain a future orien- tation and avoid becoming mired in what Christian Crews calls, in his inaugural column in this issue, an “offi cial future” that blinds the organi- zation to unexpected shifts in the envi- ronment. Shell’s longstanding scenarios program, described by Wilkinson and Kupers in their HBR article “Living in the Futures,” is an example of how an ongoing futures effort can help a com- pany envision, and prepare for, chal- lenges just over the horizon. What’s hard is asking the second set of questions. You know you need to be more agile, more innovative, more forward-looking—but what does that look like? How do you design the orga- nization you need to support the change you need? Plenty of books and articles provide high-level models for the kinds of organizations that excel. Tushman and O’Reilly’s thinking about the of am- bidextrous organizations to balance breakthrough innovation with sustain- ing work; Reis’s ideas about how his lean management model, adapted from the startup world, can help big compa- nies be more agile; and Kim and Mauborgne’s focus on creating new markets through increased differentia- tion and value innovation all offer keen insight, and solid foundations for driv- ing organizational change. But those high-level views need to be supported by concrete, street-level structures that integrate the various components of the organization and harness the energy for change in a way that matches outputs to strategy—and creates value. Creating those structures and determining how they relate to each other is the role of organizational design. Unfortunately, for many managers, organizational design begins and ends with the “org chart”—that construction of boxes and lines that defi nes who re- ports to whom, and about what. The org chart is a useful map of the lines of authority and responsibility in a con- ventional hierarchical organization; it emanates from the same source as the assembly line and is designed to ac- complish much the same thing—to modularize and systematize work for maximum effi ciency. Of course, much like the assembly line, it assumes that little changes; the line produces the same product over and over again, the organization follows the same processes to manufacture its products, respond to its customers, and sustain itself. Designing to support change, or even just to survive in an increasingly dy- namic and complex competitive envi- ronment, means more than moving around the boxes on the org chart. In- deed, some of the fl atter, more collab- orative models that have emerged render the traditional org chart largely meaningless. Rather, the manager faced with designing for change must rethink all of the elements of the organizational structure and how they interact. A structure that is misaligned to strategy, or aligned to an old strategy, will fail. A structure that doesn’t balance auton- omy and control in a way that aligns with the company’s strategy and values Designing for Change MaryAnne M. Gobble In this space, we offer a series of summaries on key topics, with pointers to important resources, to keep you informed of new developments and help you expand your repertoire of tools and ideas. We welcome your contributions, in the form of suggestions for topics and of column submissions. DOI: 10.5437/08956308X5803005 Resources May—June 2015 \| 65 will produce frustration and unhappi- ness, and likely fail. One way to avoid such mismatches is to involve every stakeholder—from the front-line clerk to the C-suite—in the design process. Participatory design, also known as cooperative design, offers one method for allowing the members of an organization to structure their work and their workspace. Marvin Weisbord’s Productive Workplaces de- scribes how “getting everybody improv- ing the whole system” can produce more open, agile organizations that, not coincidentally, respect the autonomy and dignity of workers. Nadler and Tushman argue in in Competing by Design that organizational design can itself be a source of competi- tive advantage, if it works to maximize a company’s capabilities and exploit its strengths. Given its power, the authors argue, organizational design should be an integral, and ongoing, process in ev- ery forward-looking organization. There are a number of frameworks available for thinking about organi- zational structure and design. Jay Galbraith, a leader in the fi eld of orga- nizational design, proposes a Star Model that maps the interactions among fi ve factors: • Strategy, which provides direction for the other elements. • Structure policies, which determine where power and authority lie as well as the degree of specialization and centralization. • Process defi nitions, which map how information and decisions fl ow. • Reward systems, which are designed to motivate people to act in ways that further the strategic direction. • People policies, which govern re- cruitment, training and other HR functions. The Bridgespan Group, which provides management advice to nonprofi ts, of- fers a slightly different framework, adapted from a Bain & Company tool- kit, that breaks organizational design into four elements—leadership, deci- sion making and structure, people, and work processes and systems—interacting around culture in a wheel. The wheel- shaped presentation emphasizes the de- gree to which all of the elements must IN PRINT Richard M. Burton, Borge Obel, and Gerardine DeSanctis. 2011. Organizational Design: A Step-by-Step Approach . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Christian Crews. 2015. Killing the offi cial future. Future Praxis. Research-Technology Management 58(3): 59–60 . Jay Galbraith. 2014. Designing Organizations: Strategy, Structure, and Process at the Business Unit and Enterprise Levels . New York: Jossey-Bass. Gregory Kesler and Amy Kates. 2010. Leading Organization Design: How to Make Organization Design Decisions to Drive the Results You Want . New York: Josse-Bass. W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. 2015. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant . Expanded Edi- tion. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. David Nadler and Michael Tushman. 1997. Competing by Design: The Power of Organizational Architecture. New York: Oxford University Press. Eric Ries. 2011. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continu- ous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses . New York: Crown Business. Dan Smith and Richard Sonnenblick. 2013. From budget-based to strategy-based portfolio management: A six-year case study. Research-Technology Management 56(5): 45–51. Naomi Stanford. 2007. Guide to Organisation Design: Creating High-Performing and Adaptable Enterprises . An Economist Guide. London, UK: Profi le Books. Michael Tushman and Charles O’Reilly III. 2002. Winning through Innovation: A Practical Guide to Leading Organizational Change and Renewal . Revised Edition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. Marvin Weisbord. 2012. Productive Workplaces: Dignity, Meaning, and Commu- nity in the 21st Century . 3rd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ONLINE John Beeson. 2014. Five questions every leader should ask about organiza- tional design. Harvard Business Review , January 23. https://hbr.org/2014/01/ fi ve-questions-every-leader-should-ask-about-organizational-design Bridgespan Group. 2009. Designing an Effective Organization Structure. Pre- sentation, January. http://www.bridgespan.org/getmedia/b1139597-adfe-4dd7- bbb2-ac8c67883020/effective-organizations_-structural-design.pdf.aspx Tamara Carleton, William Cockayne, and Antti-Jussi Tahvanainen. 2013. Playbook for Strategic Foresight and Innovation: A Hands-On Guide for Modeling, De- signing, and Leading Your Company’s Next Radical Innovation . Helsinki, Finland: Tekes. https://www.box.com/s/59y1940p88y0srvroiid Jay R. Galbraith. n.d. The Star Model. http://www.jaygalbraith.com/images/pdfs/ StarModel.pdf Mind Tools . 2015. Organization design: Aligning organizational structure with business goals. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_95.htm Charles A. O’Reilly and Michael L. Tushman. 2004. The ambidextrous organiza- tion. Harvard Business Review 82(4). https://hbr.org/2004/04/the-ambidextrous- organization Lex Sisney. 2012. The 5 classic mistakes in organizational structure: Or, how to design your organization the right way. Organizational Physics , January 9. http:// organizationalphysics.com/2012/01/09/the-5-classic-mistakes-in-organizational- structure-or-how-to-design-your-organization-the-right-way/ Angela Wilkinson and Roland Kupers. 2013. Living in the futures. Harvard Busi- ness Review 91(5). https://hbr.org/2013/05/living-in-the-futures 66 \| Research-Technology Management Resources fi t together to keep the organization running. Lex Sisney, author of Organizational Physics , lays out three highly abbreviated steps for building an organization design: • Identify the core functions needed to support the strategy. • Defi ne what each function is account- able for and how it will be measured. • Place the functions in a structure. The result is a structural diagram that may look like a traditional org chart, but has a different intent. Where the org chart maps reporting lines between people, the structural diagram maps what functions need to be performed and where responsibility for those func- tions lie. The org chart emerges from the structural diagram. There’s a lot implied in that high-level process, but Sisney’s very comprehensive blog post offers a well-explained before-and-after example illustrating his points. As John Beeson notes in a 2014 HBR article, organizational design is fre- quently the province of consultants, and every consultant has his or her own model or framework. But, Beeson ar- gues, organizational design has evolved from a “big bang event,” most often as- sociated with signifi cant downsizing, to an ongoing process of continual adjust- ments to improve effi ciency and spur growth. That means every manager has to deal with, and every manager should have a model for approaching it. For Beeson, it doesn’t much matter what model, as long as it helps you to address fi ve key questions: • What is the business’s value propo- sition and sources of competitive advantage? • Which activities directly deliver on that value proposition? • Which structure should we choose and how do we overcome its inher- ent downsides? • What type of leadership and culture are required to deliver the value proposition? • What organizational practices are required to reinforce the organiza- tional intent? There are, of course, some more-or-less standard structures used by many organizations, including traditional hi- erarchical structures, as well as more organic variations such as matrix and network structures; each varies in terms of the level of complexity, formality, and inclusiveness it allows and in how communication occurs. A Mind Tools survey article on organization design of- fers a useful summary and comparison of each of these models (as well as a good introduction to the basic principles of organizational design). For those seeking a more systematic introduction to the discipline of organi- zational design, along with frameworks, tools, and processes for undertaking a structural redesign process, there are several options. Burton, Obel, and DeSandis offer a primer on the basics of organizational design and a step-by-step process for structural design. Stanford offers an overview of the fi eld and an approach structured around fi ve core principles in the Economist ’s Guide to Or- ganisation Design . Kesler and Kates offer their own “scalable, fi ve-step process” for organization design, directed specifi – cally at business leaders. Any of these will provide a solid overview of the fi eld along with some tools for engaging with it. Organizational design may seem mundane, but it is every bit as critical as the big work of culture change. As Lex Sisney, author of Organizational Physics , put it in a blog post, “how your organi- zation is designed determines how it performs.” How an organization is structured will determine how it re- sponds to changes in its environment. An organization’s structure may nur- ture or inhibit innovation. Where the structure runs counter to the strategy, people will become frustrated and aban- don change in favor of the path of least resistance. Reviews The Big Data-Driven Business: How to Use Big Data to Win Customers, Beat Competitors, and Boost Profi ts Russell Glass and Sean Callahan (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2014) Although big data has become a perva- sive buzzword, few businesses fully un- derstand what exactly big data is or how it can be leveraged to support growth and innovation. Russell Glass and Sean Callahan attempt to address these issues and deconstruct the dauntingly com- plex notion of harnessing big data for business applications. Glass and Callahan are pioneers in this fi eld, having de- ployed big data strategies to grow Bizo, a business-to-business marketing com- pany, until its acquisition by LinkedIn for $175 million. Both are now at LinkedIn; Glass is the head of marketing products and Callahan is a senior man- ager of content marketing. The authors give readers an insider’s look at how big data can be used by laying out the avail- able technologies and their implemen- tation and showing how a newcomer can deploy big data tools for business goals. Beginning with a simple idea—that “the companies that most effectively use big data to gain insight into their customers and act on that data will win”—the authors conclude that mod- ern businesses should “be data-driven and customer focused.” The notion that a business should be customer focused is hardly novel, but historically it has been diffi cult and expensive merely to collect and store the data needed to glean transformative insights—let alone perform the analyses that lead to these insights. The advent of inexpensive large-scale data storage and advanced analytics capabilities is quickly eroding this barrier, making it possible for busi- nesses to implement a data-driven ap- proach across the organization. Big data analytics can provide new insights in the form of more focused information about what customers like and what makes them buy—leading to more- informed decisions about, for instance, what could be optimized in the pipeline. Coupled with existing data and re- sources, big data can be used to gener- ate and score new leads for sales, inform product development, and provide a hyper-focus on customers—potentially all in real time. These benefi ts are not restricted to business-to-consumer companies; the authors provide several examples of business-to-business applications. For instance, they describe how DocuSign, which provides solutions to manage Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Managing Organizational Change: A Philosophies of Change Approach	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647247
__label__cc	0.596024	0.403976	Registration office district court Munich Hampel Fine Art Auctions HRA 984 05 Personally liable shareholder: Hampel Verwaltungs GmbH HRB 196 516 Holger Hampel, MBA publicly certified and sworn auctioneer Vitus Graupner art auctioneer VAT Reg. No.: DE28 2828 037 Schellingstr. 44 / Villa Hampel Germany / EU Phone +49 (0) 89 - 288 04 - 0 Fax +49 (0) 89 - 288 04 - 300 www.hampel-auctions.com Status May 2018 1. Name and contact details of controller and data protection officer This privacy policy applies to data processing carried out by: Controller: Hampel Fine Art Auctions GmbH & Co. KG, Schellingstrasse 44, 80799 Munich, Germany, represented by its managing directors Holger Hampel and Vitus Graupner. Munich Local Court (Amtsgericht), company number HRA 984 05 / VAT ID: DE282828037. Hereinafter referred to as Hampel Fine Art Auctions. Data protection officer: Mr Holger Fischer » datenschutz@hampel-auctions.com 2. Collection and storage of personal data, as well as kind and purpose of their use a) When visiting the website When you visit our website » www.hampel-auctions.com, the browser on your device automatically sends information to the server of our website. These data are temporarily stored in a so-called log file. The following data are recorded without your intervention and stored until they are automatically deleted: # IP address of the used computer # date and time of the access # name and URL of the retrieved file # website from which our website was accessed (referrer URL) # used browser and operating system of your computer, if applicable, as well as name of the access provider We process these data for the following purposes: # ensuring a smooth connection to the website # ensuring a convenient use of our website # evaluating system security and stability, as well as # for other administrative purposes The legal basis for the processing of these data is point f) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR. Our legitimate interest results from the above-mentioned purposes of data collection. Under no circumstances do we use the data collected for the purpose of drawing conclusions about you as a person. When you visit our website we also use cookies and analytics services. Please see no. 4 and 5 hereof for detailed explanations. b) When subscribing our newsletter If you have expressly consented to in accordance with point a) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR, we use your e-mail address to send you our newsletter on a regular basis. In order to receive the newsletter, you only have to provide an e-mail address. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, for example, by clicking the link at the end of each newsletter. You can alternatively send your unsubscribe request by e-mail to » office@hampel-auctions.com at any time. c) When using our contact form If you have questions of any kind, you can contact us by using the form on our website. In order for us to know who sent the request and to be able to answer it, you have to provide a valid e mail address. Further information can be provided voluntarily. Data processing for the purpose of contacting us is carried out in accordance with point a) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR on the basis of your voluntary consent. The personal data collected by us for the use of the contact form will be automatically deleted after the completion of your request. 3. Transmission of data Your personal data will not be transmitted to third parties for other purposes than those listed below. We only transmit your personal data to third parties if # you have expressly given your consent in accordance with point a) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR; # transmission in accordance with point f) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims and if there is no reason to believe that you have a predominant interest worthy of protection in the non-transmission of your data; # there is a legal obligation for transmission in accordance with point c) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR; as well as # it is legally permissible and necessary pursuant to point b) of sentence 1 of Art. (6)(1) GDPR to perform a contract entered into with you. We use cookies on our website. Cookies are smile files that are automatically created by your browser and stored on your terminal device (laptop, tablet, smartphone, or the like) when you visit our website. Cookies do not cause any damage to your device, do not contain viruses, Trojans or other malware. A cookie stores information, which is linked to the respective device used. This does not mean, however, that we will gain immediate knowledge of your identity. On the one hand, cookies help to make the use of our offer more pleasant for you. For example, we use so-called session cookies to recognise that you have already visited individual pages of our website. They will be deleted automatically after leaving our site. In addition, we also use temporary cookies to optimise user-friendliness. These cookies are stored on your device for a specified period of time. If you visit our website again to use our services, it is automatically recognised that you have already visited the website and what inputs and settings you have made so that you do not have to enter them again. On the other hand, we use cookies to record the use of our website statistically and to evaluate it for the purpose of optimising our offer for you (see no. 5). These cookies enable us to automatically recognise that you have already visited our website when you visit it again. They are automatically deleted after a defined period of time. The data processed by cookies are necessary for the mentioned purposes to safeguard our legitimate interests and those of third parties pursuant to point f) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR. Most browsers accept cookies automatically. You can, however, configure your browser so that no cookies are stored on your computer or that a message always appears before a new cookie is created. The complete deactivation of cookies can, however, prevent you from using all functions of our website. 5. Analytical tools a) Tracking tools The tracking measures listed below and taken by us are implemented on the basis of point f) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR. With the implemented tracking measures, we want to ensure that our website is designed to meet your needs and is continually optimised. On the other hand, we implement the tracking measures to record the use of our website statistically and to evaluate it for the purpose of optimising our offer for you. These interests are to be regarded as legitimate within the meaning of the above-mentioned provision. The respective data processing purposes and data categories can be found in the corresponding tracking tools. For the purpose of a needs-based design and continuing optimisation of our pages, we use Google Analytics, a web analytics service of » Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; hereinafter “Google”). In this connection, pseudonymised user profiles are created and cookies (see no. 4) are used. The data created by the cookie when you visit this website, such as # type and version of browser, # operating system used, # referrer URL (the site visited before), # host name of the accessing computer (IP address), # time of the server inquiry, are transmitted to and stored on a server of Google in the United States. These data are used to evaluate the use of the website, compile reports on website activity and provide other services relating to website activity and internet usage for the purpose of market research and designing these internet pages to meet your needs. These data may also be transferred to third parties where required by law or where third parties process the information on instructions. Your IP address will in no case be associated with any other data held by Google. The IP addresses are anonymised so that no association is possible (IP masking). You may refuse the installation of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however, please note that if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. You may further avoid the collection of the data generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the website (including your IP address) and its processing by Google by downloading and installing a » Browser-Add-on. As an alternative to the browser add-on, especially for browsers on mobile devices, you can also prevent Google Analytics from collecting data by clicking this link. An opt-out cookie is set to prevent your data from being collected in the future when you visit this website. The opt-out cookie only applies to this browser and only to our website and is stored on your device. When you delete the cookies in this browser, you have to set the opt-out cookie again. You can find more information about privacy in connection with Google Analytics in the » Google Analytics Help. We also use Google Conversion Tracking to record the use of our website statistically and to evaluate it for the purpose of optimising our website for you. Google Adwords places a cookie (see no. 4) on your computer if you have reached our website via a Google advertisement. These cookies lose their validity after 30 days and are not used for personal identification. If the user visits certain pages of the Adwords customer’s website and the cookie has not expired, Google and the customer will be able to tell that the user clicked on the ad and was directed to that page. Each Adwords customer receives a different cookie. Therefore, cookies cannot be traced via the websites of Adwords customers. The data collected using the conversion cookie are used to generate conversion statistics for Adwords customers who have opted for conversion tracking. Adwords customers see the total number of users who clicked on their ad and were redirected to a page with a conversion tracking tag. However, they do not receive any information that personally identifies users. If you do not wish to participate in the tracking procedure, you can also refuse to set a cookie as required for this purpose, for example, by setting your browser to deactivate the automatic setting of cookies in general. You can also disable cookies for conversion tracking by setting your browser to block cookies from the domain “www.googleadservices.com” » Google’s Privacy Policy for Conversion Tracking can be found here. In order to make our auction house better known, we use plug-ins of the social networks Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on our website on the basis of point f) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR. The underlying advertising purpose is to be regarded as a legitimate interest within the meaning of the GDPR. The responsibility for the operation in compliance with data protection regulations lies with the respective provider. We have integrated these plug-ins by means of the so-called two-click method in order to protect visitors to our website in the best possible way. We have implemented social media plug-ins of Facebook on our website to make its use more personal. We use the “LIKE” and “SHARE” button in this regard. This is an offer by Facebook. When you access a page of our website that contains such a plug-in, your browser establishes a direct connection with the Facebook servers. The content of the plug-ins is directly transmitted from Facebook to your browser, which integrates it into the website. By integrating the plug-ins, Facebook is provided with the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are not logged in to Facebook. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted from your browser directly to and stored on a Facebook server in the United States. If you are logged in to Facebook, Facebook may directly link your visit of our website with your Facebook account. If you interact with the plug-ins, for example, if you click the “LIKE” or “SHARE” button, this information is also directly transmitted to and stored on a Facebook server. This information is also published on Facebook and shown to your Facebook friends. Facebook may use this information for advertising purposes, market research and for designing Facebook pages to meet your needs. For this purpose, Facebook creates profiles regarding usage, interests and relationships, for example, to evaluate your use of our website with regard to the advertisements displayed to you on Facebook, to inform other Facebook users about your activities on our website and to provide further services related to the use of Facebook. If you do not want Facebook to link the data collected from our website with your Facebook account, you have to log off from Facebook first. Please see » Facebook’s Data Policy for information about the purpose and scope of data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook as well as your rights in that respect and the various settings for protecting your privacy. We have integrated plug-ins of the news and social networking service Twitter Inc. (Twitter) on our web pages. You can recognize the Twitter plug-ins (tweet button) by the Twitter logo on our website. Here you find an » Overview of tweet buttons. When you access a page of our website that contains such a plug-in, your browser establishes a direct connection with the Twitter server. Twitter is provided with the information that you have visited our website using your IP address. By clicking the “tweet” button of Twitter while you are logged in to your Twitter account you may publish a link to the content of our pages on your Twitter profile. Thereby, Twitter may link your visit of our website with your user account. We hereby advise you that we, as provider, do not receive any information about the content of the transmitted data and its use by Twitter. If you do not want Twitter to link your visit of our pages with your account, please log off from your Twitter account. Please see the » Twitter Privacy Policy for further information. So-called social plug-ins (“plug-ins”) of Instagram operated by Instagram LLC., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA (“Instagram”) are also used on our website. The plug-ins are marked with an Instagram logo, for example, in the form of an “Instagram camera”. When you access a page of our website that contains such a plug-in, your browser establishes a direct connection with the Instagram servers. The content of the plug-ins is directly transmitted from Instagram to your browser, which integrates it into the website. By integrating the plug-ins, Instagram is provided with the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have an Instagram account or are not logged in to Instagram. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted from your browser directly to and stored on an Instagram server in the United States. If you are logged in to Instagram, Instagram may directly link your visit of our website with your Instagram account. If you interact with the plug-ins, for example, if you click the “Instagram” button, this information is also directly transmitted to and stored on an Instagram server. The information is also published on your Instagram profile and shown to your contacts. If you do not want Instagram to directly link the data collected from our website with your Instagram account, you have to log off from Instagram first. Please see the » Data Policy of Instagram for further information. 7. Rights of data subjects You have the right, # pursuant to Art. 15 GDPR, to obtain access to the personal data concerning you, which are processed by us. You may particularly obtain information about the purposes of the processing, the category of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data have been or will be disclosed, the envisaged period for which personal data will be stored, the existence of the right to request rectification, erasure, restriction of processing or objection, the right to lodge a complaint, the source of your data if they were not collected from you, as well as the existence of an automated decision-making, including profiling, and meaningful information about their details, if applicable; # pursuant to Art. 16 GDPR, to obtain the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you, which have been stored by us, or their completion without undue delay; # pursuant to Art. 17 GDPR, to obtain the erasure of personal data concerning you, which have been stored by us, without undue delay unless their processing is required to exercise the right to freedom of expression and information, to comply with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; # pursuant to Art. 18 GDPR, to obtain restriction of the processing of your personal data if you contest the accuracy of the data, if the processing is unlawful and you oppose the erasure, and if we no longer need these data, but you require them to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or if you have objected to the processing in accordance with Art. 21 GDPR; # pursuant to Art. 20 GDPR, to receive the personal data concerning you, which have been provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to transmit those data to another controller: # pursuant to Art. 7(3) GDPR, to withdraw any consent given by you at any time. This means that we are not allowed to continue the data processing based on this consent in future; and # pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR, to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. You can generally lodge such complaint with the supervisory authority in the place of your habitual residence, place of work or the place of our registered office. 8. Right to object If your personal data are processed on the basis of legitimate interests pursuant to point f) of sentence 1 of Art. 6(1) GDPR, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data pursuant to Art. 21 GDPR if there are reasons for doing so which arise from your particular situation or if you have objected to direct marketing. In the latter case, you have a general right of objection, which we will implement, without the need of specifying a particular situation. If you wish to exercise your right to object, please send an e-mail to » datenschutz@hampel-auctions.com We apply the common SSL (Secure Socket Layer) procedure in conjunction with the highest level of encryption supported by your browser during your visit within our website. Normally, this is a 256-bit encryption. If your browser does not support a 256-bit encryption, the 128-bit v3 technology is used. You can recognize an encrypted connection to an individual page of our web presence by the closed padlock symbol in your browser line. We also apply suitable technical and organisational security measures to protect your data against accidental or intentional manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction or against unauthorised access by third parties. Our security measures are continuously improved in line with technological developments. 10. Up-to-datedness and amendment of this privacy policy This privacy policy is currently applicable and is dated May 2018. It may become necessary to amend this privacy policy due to the further development of our website and our offers or due to changed legal or official requirements. You can access and print out the » applicable privacy policy at any time on the website www.hampel-auctions.com/datenschutz.html	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647254
__label__cc	0.671327	0.328673	Welcome to our Out of School Care page. At Grimley and Holt we provide an out of school service for parents which starts at 7.45am and finishes at 5.30pm each week day. This takes the form of two clubs Breakfast club which runs from 7.45am and finishes when the school starts at 8.45am. The children have the opportunity to have toast with jam and butter or a choice of cereals plus a drink. We also have special days with themed breakfasts throughout the year. This club provides the children with the opportunity to socialise, play games, complete homework and take part in art and sport activities. The clubs costs £3.50 per morning and is run by our team of TA’s After School Club runs daily from 3pm until 5.30pm. The children enjoy a range of snacks throughout the week and can choose from a range of activities on each day including construction, sports, watching films, art and craft and cooking. The children enjoy time both inside and outside in our fabulous school grounds. The club costs £2.50 per half an hour. Ms Walton leads the club with support from other school staff. Our out of School Agreement To support working parents by providing out of schoolcare. To provide planned playactivities To provide breakfast and an after school snack in a safe,friendly environment. The clubs will provide breakfast or after school snack and they willcomply with health and safetystandards. The club leader will provide fun activities e.g. games, reading, drawing,ICT activities, arts and crafts and outdoor activities. Thestaff willberesponsibleforthecareofthechildrentreatingthemwith respect at alltimes. Parents are required to book slots for the days they require Out of School Care for the whole term which will be charged as follows. * A full booking = £12.50 – to be used if a child is be collected between 4.30pm and 5.30pm * A half booking = £7.50 for collection between 3pm and 4.30pm * A Club Full Booking - £7.50 – For children who attend an after school club and are collected between 4.30pm and 5.30pm * A club short booking - £2.50 – For children who attend an after school club and are collected by 4.30pm * A breakfast booking - £3.50 for children dropped at school before 8.25am Two weeks’ notice must be given to any changes to your child’s booked slots. Absence of the child from school due to illness will not be charged. The charges outlined above are per child. Any sibling will be charged at half price for any full, half or club bookings. This discount does not apply to Breakfast bookings Additional charges will be made if children are picked up later than the end of the club at 5.30pm (with £10 being charged for every 15 minutes late). Any children with a half booking and collected after 4.30pm will result in a full booking being charged. Any full bookings collected before 4.30pm will be charged for a half. There will be 5 additional places available for each day which can be booked in advance with the office. These bookings need to be no later than 12 noon on the day for an after school orby4pm on the preceding day for breakfast. Once these 5 places have been allocated we will be unable to except more children due to our health and safety policy. These bookings will be subject to a small administration charge of £1 per child. Parents or carers should sign their children in and/or out each day in orderto Comply with our health and safetypolicy. Invoices will be raised on a monthly basis for the charges for the previous month. Payment must be received by the school office no later than the date on the invoice. The school must have received a completed information form for each child attending the club. This information will be kept in a secure place. Please inform school of any changes in contact details. Out of school club staff will attend training whenappropriate. If you have any questions about the club please contact the school office. Statutory Info	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647256
__label__wiki	0.773625	0.773625	2019 Reader Awards off the mark Group Leisure & Travel has officially launched its 2019 reader awards, which are once again backed by some of the biggest names and most recognised brands across the travel and leisure industry. The most prestigious initiative of its kind in the sector, the awards recognise excellence and the best service in group travel. Categories include Best Museum or Gallery, Best Coach or Tour Operator - UK Tours, and Best Historic Attraction or Venue. The prestigious Group Travel Organiser of the Year Award® is set to be a major highlight, as is The Excellence Award, which recognises service to group travel organisers by an individual working in the group travel trade. Voting for this year’s awards will open in the spring. A new venue will host the 2019 dinner and ceremony which will be held at the Hilton Hotel at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes on 9th October. The Group Leisure & Travel Show will be taking place at the adjacent Marshall Arena at the stadium the following day. The 2018 Awards took place on Wednesday 10th October, 2018 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. Head here for a reminder of all the winners and finalists were. The Video Review of the Group Leisure & Travel Awards 2018, including interviews with winners and guests. Becoming an official Awards Partner Sharon Yandell of Group Leisure & Travel comments: ”A limited number of opportunities are still available for companies and brands to participate and support the 2019 Group Leisure & Travel Awards, by becoming an official Awards Partner. But the message is be quick! “Packages offer many months of high-profile marketing across various platforms, plus a table at the dinner, and the chance to present a category award during the ceremony on 9th October with our celebrity guest.” Guests enjoying the Group Leisure & Travel Awards ceremony in Birmingham in 2018. What our partners have said… ”We’re delighted to be sponsoring the award for Best Christmas Experience in 2019. Switzerland itself welcomes many groups looking to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year and so we’re looking forward to recognising fantastic festive experiences for groups.” Adrian Millan, Switzerland Travel Centre ”Choosing the right tour operator is so important for groups which is why we at Eurotunnel Le Shuttle are really excited to be sponsoring the award for Best Group Tour Operator – Short Haul this year. The Awards are a fantastic initiative to be involved in and the perfect way to recognise the best across the group travel industry.” Tracy Bayliss, Eurotunnel ”As London’s newest attraction for groups, BODY WORLDS is so pleased to be supporting this year’s Group Leisure & Travel Awards in sponsoring the award for Best Group Dining Experience. They’re a great initiative to shine a spotlight on the best across group travel – bring on October, it’s going to be a great celebration!” Emma-Jane Nutbrown, BODY WORLDS London To find out more about partnerships and sponsorships contact Sharon Yandell on 01908-613323 or e-mail sharon.y@yandellmedia.com. For the latest information about the awards, stay up to date at www.groupleisureandtravel.com/awards A special thanks to our 2019 Awards Partners: GLT Awards How previous Group Travel Organiser of the Year Award® winners have spent their prize money Nominations and entries for the 2019 Group Travel Organiser of the Year Award® have now closed. We hear from previous winners about the impact of the award and what they did with the prize money. TV presenter Martin Bayfield to co-host the 2019 Group Leisure & Travel Awards TV presenter and sports broadcaster Martin Bayfield has been announced as the special guest at this year’s Group Leisure Travel Awards ceremony. Group Leisure & Travel Awards 2019: voting, nominations & entries open You can now take part in the 2019 Group Leisure Travel Awards which reward the best destinations, attractions, providers and individuals across the industry.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647257
__label__wiki	0.526585	0.526585	Clinical Genetics at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital Clinical Genetics Department Bristol Clinical genetics is a specialty which is concerned with diagnosis and treatment of genetic and part-genetic disorders. The Clinical Genetics service aims to provide people affected by, or at risk of a genetic condition with accurate information, counselling support and genetic testing as appropriate to each individual. Operated by University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust from a central department based at St Michael's Hospital, the service has a satellite department at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. The objectives of the service are: To assist with making an accurate diagnosis of a genetic condition within the family To arrange and interpret genetic tests To provide full and accurate information to families about the condition To give information to families about the risks of the condition occurring in themselves or in their offspring, and the tests available to them To provide genetic counselling support To refer families to other professionals if appropriate Genetic counselling Because diagnosis and testing will often have an impact on the wider family, the genetic counselling process includes an explanation and risk assessment with any available options for family members. Situations where genetic counselling may be appropriate include: Where a genetic disorder is known or suspected. This can include many adult or paediatric conditions such as neurological and cardiac conditions or a strong family history of cancer After the birth of a baby who has health problems caused by a genetic condition After recurrent miscarriage, stillbirth, or death of a baby, particularly if the baby was found to have physical problems Where a child within the family has delayed development, particularly if the child also has other health problems or unusual physical features It may take time to adjust to new diagnoses and to decide on the best possible course of action. The Clinical Genetic Team will provide up-to-date information. We suggest requesting a review appointment when the affected person and family members reach reproductive age and before a new pregnancy. Please note that testing, risk-reducing options and research opportunities change over time. More information is available at: www.uhbristol.nhs.uk BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic test for patients with ovarian cancer	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647264
__label__wiki	0.752595	0.752595	Demi Lovato Debuts Her Most 'Meaningful Tattoo' Yet By Peyton Blakemore Demi Lovato may have more than 15 tattoos but her latest tat is her "most meaningful." Early Thursday morning (May 16), the 26-year-old singer debuted a black-and-white full body portrait tattoo of her great-grandmother, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 93. "This is for you Mimaw," she captioned an Instagram photo of her showing off her new ink, which showed her great-grandmother smiling in a 1940s-style white dress with a cinched waist, on Demi's left forearm. "You at 26 on my arm while I’m 26, and forever. I love you more. ❤️ Thank you @_dr_woo_ for making her come back to life for me.. it’s stunning and the most meaningful tattoo I have ever gotten. 🙏🏼🙌🏼." This is for you Mimaw. You at 26 on my arm while I’m 26, and forever. I love you more. ❤️ Thank you @_dr_woo_ for making her come back to life for me.. it’s stunning and the most meaningful tattoo I have ever gotten. 🙏🏼🙌🏼 A post shared by Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) on May 16, 2019 at 1:37am PDT Demi and her Mimaw were extremely close. When she passed back in 2016, Demi wrote a heartfelt Instagram post about her, calling her the "world's most special woman." "I miss her more than words can even describe," she captioned a photo of her in bed with Mimaw. "There is an emptiness in my heart that only her spirit can fill and I pray that I will feel her by my side every single day until we meet again. I attribute my strength to her." "She was my great-grandmother but we were so close that I never knew it was possible that anyone could have the bond that we shared even 70 years a part," Demi continued. "The pain I feel is almost unbearable but because of her strength I will power through it. The love and support I have received has been empowering and so special to me.. I love all of you so much and I am forever grateful for the prayers, texts and fan art my Lovatics have made me. Thank you. Mimaw, I hope you are with Papa now.. I hate that I can't hear your voice but I love that you are no longer in pain. I love you so much and I miss you more than anyone could ever imagine. I'll miss your smile, your wittiness, painting your nails and your kisses. I really do love you more. Rest in peace and most importantly rest in the Lord. #RIPMimaw" Topics Demi Lovato Chat About Demi Lovato Debuts Her Most 'Meaningful Tattoo' Yet	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647268
__label__cc	0.550315	0.449685	A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 73F. Winds light and variable. Shurl Bussard, 71 Herald Mail Media Shurl Lee Bussard, 71, of Hagerstown, died May 15, 20. Graveside services will be held on Friday, May 17, 2019 at 1 p.m. at Rest Haven Cemetery in Hagerstown. The Rev. Leon Powell will officiate. In lieu of flowers, family requests memorial donations may be made to Donald Edwin Thompson Funeral Home, Inc., P.O. Box 310, Clear Spring, MD 21722 to assist with funeral expenses. Jason Turner inspired many with his life and photography When Cynthia "Cindy" Turner was pregnant, she had no idea she was carrying identical twin boys. They were unique in that their heartbeats beat simultaneously, so her doctor never heard two hearts beating. Woody Guessford a "gentleman's gentleman" At 102, Edward "Woody" Guessford had outlived two wives and a companion, many friends and family. Jerry Overdorff always problem-solving To know Gerald "Jerry" Overdorff is to expose yourself to his world of inventive problem-solving. Wilma "Jeanie" Corbett lived for others Editor’s note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail runs “A Life Remembered.” Each story in this continuing series takes a look back – through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others – at a member of the community who died recently. Today’s “A Life Remembered” is about W. “Jeanie” Corbett… Connie Weaver mastered communication on her own terms WILLIAMSPORT — For Connie Weaver, life was about overcoming obstacles ... and doing so with grace. Rick Schultz all about people, sports and coaching When it comes to priorities, sports and relationships were at the top of the list for Richard M. Schultz Jr., who was known as Rick. Work had to be flexible to accommodate his coaching schedule. Charlotte Leggett lived life with "old school" ways from a simpler time When Charlotte Leggett published "Farm Life Cooking" in 1986, it was a recipe tribute to her Aunt Catherine Gaver of Middletown, Md. Charlotte inherited Catherine's recipe collection and was determined to turn it into a cookbook, which she did. The Western way suited agitator Leon Price Agitator, instigator – those are words affectionately used to describe Leon Price. He loved having his family and friends gathered around the table, stirring things up, then sitting back and watching it all play out. Hagerstown debutante Lib Werth embraced life as a Navy wife Elizabeth and Capt. James "Maury" Werth had movie star looks. The 1937 Hagerstown debutante looked glamorous on the arm of her husband in his U.S. Navy uniform. Jane Holsinger touched others through her faith, nursing and baking Jane Holsinger really wanted to go on a mission trip, but was afraid to venture so far from home in case her Crohn's disease flared up. During her hospitalizations, then in hospice care the last two months of her life, Jane found her mission field.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647276
__label__wiki	0.97182	0.97182	Akali MLA's PA booked for uploading 'offensive' photos of Tota Singh on Facebook The district police have booked Baldev Singh Babbu, personal assistant (PA) of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Rajwinder Kaur Bhagike from Nihal Singh Wala constituency in this district and two others for allegedly uploading offensive pictures of Punjab agriculture minister jathedar Tota Singh on Facebook. punjab Updated: Sep 17, 2014 22:12 IST Surinder Maan Jathedar Tota Singh's son Barjinder Singh Brar, who is also chairman of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation, SAD leader Didar Singh Maddoke and the agriculture minister's personal assistant Gurminder Singh Bablu had filed separate complaints with the cyber crime branch and the local police in this connection. However, no arrest has been made so far. According to the police, the offensive pictures of the minister were allegedly uploaded on Facebook on April 29 and May 3 during the parliamentary election. Derogatory language has also been used against the minister, the police added. A case has been registered against Babbu under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 at Moga sadar police station. Further investigation is underway, said the police. In another case, the police have booked Rajwinder Singh of Khosa Kotla village and a non-resident Indian Ravi Singh, a resident of Malihan village, under Dharamkot sub-division, under the same section on the complaint of Barjinder Singh Brar. Police officials said that the cyber crime branch of Mohali had investigated the case and the police had found that these people had allegedly uploaded the offensive pictures of Tota Singh on Facebook. more from punjab	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647279
__label__wiki	0.959989	0.959989	Travis Scott's 'Sicko Mode' Hits No. 1 On the Rhythmic Songs Chart By Jun Chen On 22 October 2018 Travis Scott earns his fourth No. 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Songs airplay chart as “Sicko Mode” struts Four-1 on the rating dated Oct. 27. The tune takes the chart crown due to a powerful 15 % achieve in performs within the week ending Oct. 21, in line with Nielsen Music. Scott beforehand dominated the chart together with his first Rhythmic Songs entry, “Antidote,” a two-week champ in 2016. He’s since occupied the highest slot with “Goosebumps,” (one week in 2017) and as a featured artist on Miguel’s “Sky Walker,” which led for one week in February. In addition, “Mode” completes the quickest dash to No. 1 amongst Scott’s 4 leaders. “Mode” reaches the highest in its 10th week on the chart, besting “Antidote” (12), “Goosebumps” (14) and “Walker” (20). The new tune’s fast rise echoes the foremost surge in Scott’s profile all through 2018. “Mode” options on the Houston native’s newest studio LP, Astroworld, which opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in August with the second-best begin by an album this 12 months. Its mighty begin then powered all 17 of its songs onto the Billboard Hot 100, with two -- “Mode” and “Stargazing” -- opening within the prime 10. If “Mode” is to increase its reign atop Rhythmic Songs, probably the most urgent problem will come from Drake, whose “Nonstop” steps Three-2 and posts an Eight % elevate in weekly performs. Notably, as most listeners might know, Drake delivers uncredited vocals on “Mode.” Beyond its Rhythmic Songs coronation, “Mode” continues to enhance throughout different radio charts: It ascends Eight-6 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and earns the chart’s Greatest Gainer tag a 14 % bounce to 23.6 million in viewers within the week ending Oct. 21. Plus, it climbs into the highest 5 of Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop (6-5) via a 9 % bump in performs in the identical interval. Carly Rae Jepsen Has The Best Time All By Herself in 'Party For One' Vertical Watch Colin Macleod 'Kicks In' to 'Late Late Show' With Stirring Folk Jam: Watch The 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2018: Critic's Picks John Legend & Wendy Debut Sugary-Sweet 'Written within the Stars' Watch	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647280
__label__cc	0.728964	0.271036	AHA Teaching & Learning Teaching Resources for Historians Classroom Materials Classroom Materials: History Skills Classroom Materials: Digitized Primary Sources Classroom Materials: Rubrics and Syllabi Classroom Materials: Sample Assignments Classroom Materials: Teaching Modules Classroom Materials: History Skills Classroom Materials: Reflections on Teaching Classroom Materials: History Lessons and Background Materials History Skills Oct. 2, 2015 - Modeled on the National History Center's Congressional Briefings by Historians program, the History and Policy Education Program aims to help students appreciate the importance of bringing historical perspectives to contemporary policy conversations. Designed to be adaptable to many courses and teaching styles, the Mock Policy Briefing initiative provides a guide for history educators to develop and host briefings about the historical dimensions of current policy questions. Read more about the background of the initiative in the October issue of Perspectives on History. Linking Family History and World History Linda Pomerantz shares a lesson plan designed to illustrate ways that family history research using visual primary sources may be incorporated into a world history survey course. The lesson demonstrates ways to work with primary source materials and link them to large themes in world history. History instructors can use this guide to teach students how to avoid plagiarism. It includes a discussion of how the American Historical Association defines plagiarism, tips on preventing and detecting plagiarism in student work, exercises to sharpen students’ understanding of plagiarism, a list of suggested readings for graduate students, an annotated bibliography, and a list of useful web sites. Since the first phase of the AHA's Tuning project began in 2012, faculty participants from history departments around the country have reviewed many aspects of their home-department curricula. As a result of their efforts, the AHA is now able to offer examples of revised curricular materials from a broad range of institutions. Here you will find different sorts of documents produced by faculty for their local needs. Resources include rubrics, assignments, statements of course outcomes and degree requirements, survey questions for history majors or alumni, and other types of materials. The most common format for these resources is the degree specification, a detailed statement about the history degree program at a particular institution. For questions and feedback, please contact AHA Special Projects Coordinator Julia Brookins by email at jbrookins@historians.org. For a broader discussion of these and other teaching and learning issues in history, please join the Teaching and Learning community on communities.historians.org. The AHA Guide to Teaching and Learning with New Media A 2005 AHA pamphlet by John F. McClymer ChronoZoom Memory and History Project Rubric Sample Assignment: Charting Your Journey with ORBIS Created by John Rosinbum as part of his Teaching with #DigHist series on AHA Today, This assignment asks students to craft a hypothetical journey using ORBIS, a digital humanities project at Stanford University that allows users to plot a route between sites in the Roman Empire and simulate the journey. After rationalizing the choices made when planning their trip, students use a comic strip or travel diary to recount the trials and tribulations of their journey. The assignment helps develop skills in writing narratives, real or imagined. In addition, it develops the historical skills of contextualization and causation by asking the students to ground their narratives in a place they have already learned about and then justify the steps in their journey. While designed for middle school students, the assignment and attached rubric could easily be adapted for students ranging from elementary school to entry-level undergraduate. Sample Assignment: Visualizing the Transatlantic Slave Trade with Voyages Created by John Rosinbum as part of his Teaching with #DigHist series on AHA Today, this assignment offers students the opportunity to use their visual and/or technical skills to create a visualization of the transatlantic slave trade. Students will use the information provided by Voyages to create either a digital or an analog data visualization of the trade. In addition they will write a detailed guide explaining their process and defending their choices. This assignment asks them to think deeply about the process of visualizing history and personally involves them in the process of generating a better understanding of the past. Sample Assignment: Tracking a Slave Ship with Voyages Created by John Rosinbum as part of his Teaching with #DigHist series on AHA Today, asks students to investigate a specific slave vessel and contextualize its journeys within their broader knowledge of the trade and concurrent historical events/processes that might have affected it. Teaching and Learning Video Resources Teaching is an essential skill for any historian, and the AHA works hard to produce resources for those teaching at all career stages and at all levels of history. Our Teaching and Learning video library includes workshops on K-12 and undergraduate teaching, reflections from historians on globalizing their US survey courses, and sessions on issues of vital importance to history education such as learning outcomes, dual enrollment, and the transition from high school to college.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647281
__label__wiki	0.718933	0.718933	Rust Street Ministries offers to shelter homeless for freezing Sunday evening in San Angelo Rust Street Ministries will open its facility at 803 Rust St. o Sunday night to feed and shelter the homeless. Rust Street Ministries offers to shelter homeless for freezing Sunday evening in San Angelo Rust Street Ministries will open its facility at 803 Rust St. o Sunday night to feed and shelter the homeless. Check out this story on gosanangelo.com: https://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/local/2019/03/01/san-angelo-ministry-provides-shelter-homeless-during-cold-weather/3026418002/ Samuel Sutton, San Angelo Standard-Times Published 8:33 a.m. CT March 1, 2019 \| Updated 12:44 p.m. CT March 1, 2019 Reggie Felton, eats near his tent at a tent city under the Houston Harte Expressway in April 2017. Felton was homeless and resident of the tent city until city ordinance changed in June. (Photo: Yfat Yossifor) During a cold snap, here are tips for driving, pets and home. Wochit SAN ANGELO — San Angelo's Homeless Coalition announced Friday that Rust Street Ministries will provide food and shelter for the homeless Sunday night, according to a news release from the City of San Angelo. The ministry at 803 Rust Street is doing this in preparation of Sunday night's freezing temperatures, the release states. They will serve supper from 6-7 p.m. Sunday night. Following that, they will offer shelter for anyone in need during the cold spell. RELATED: Freezing temps expected to return to San Angelo this weekend Sunday night's low is projected to fall under 20 degrees. Monday won't be much warmer, as the high is set for 39 degrees with a low of 20. READ MORE: Major Carr explains what led to Salvation Army's emergency shelter closure Read or Share this story: https://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/local/2019/03/01/san-angelo-ministry-provides-shelter-homeless-during-cold-weather/3026418002/	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647287
__label__wiki	0.98078	0.98078	Montana honors champion of historic buildings for his restoration of a 107-year-old saloon Old saloon's beautiful facade unearthed from ugly 1930s makeover Montana honors champion of historic buildings for his restoration of a 107-year-old saloon Old saloon's beautiful facade unearthed from ugly 1930s makeover Check out this story on greatfallstribune.com: https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/01/07/montana-honors-fort-benton-champion-historic-buildings-his-restoration-107-year-old-saloon-mcgraw/2468631002/ Kristen Inbody, Great Falls Tribune Published 6:07 a.m. MT Jan. 7, 2019 The rehabilitation of the McGraw building in Fort Benton will be recognized with a Montana State Historic Preservation Award in January.(Photo: Montana Historical Society photo) Do your part for preservation: For more information or to become a member in the J.C. Adams Barn preservation group, contact Bob Milford, 788-0876 or via email at robertemilford@yahoo.com. Membership is $25 a year and that, or any donation, may be sent to PO Box 1554, Fort Benton, MT 59442. The basement and attic offered hints that a historic building on Fort Benton's Front Street was worth saving. The restoration of the old saloon, later a movie theater and office building, to its 1912 glory has earned owner Bob Milford a state preservation award, which will be presented this month in Helena. "The location was extremely good, and the more I investigated the building, the more I realized the potential that was there," he said. Milford bought the McGraw Building in 2015 after it had been vacant several years. He saw among the roof rafters that beneath the plain brick facade, the original storefront and terracotta arch was still in place. In the basement, he found purple glass bricks that had been embedded in the sidewalk as a window into the basement (also a feature at Havre and Butte underground). "They were covered up, but I knew what I was looking at," he said. With the layers of linoleum and carpet peeled away and the facade redone, the glass bricks are visible again. Milford isn't sure when the ugly facade was added to the building, but he suspects it came when the building was turned into a 275-seat theater in 1933. The building had been a saloon, but the Prohibition and Depression knocked it out of business (the owner was arrested a couple times for violating the liquor ban). "Everybody wants to modernize — except for a few people like me," he said. Milford has a high-end antiques store in the McGraw Building now. "People say it's not what they're expecting. It's more like a museum in many people's opinion, but you're welcome to buy the pieces," he said. The renovation took almost a year, and it's an ongoing project in some ways. Just getting the right contractors, such as bricklayers and glazier, to town was a challenge. "All the plumbing had frozen. It just had to be totally redone, but it still has the original maple tongue-and-groove floors," he said. "I love it," Milford added. "I love Fort Benton, and I love the building." Milford's latest project is the restoration of another historic Fort Benton building, a former confectionary on Main Street. More: New year will be sweet: Fort Benton candy shop & restoration of a historic confectionery What a satellite airfield and black church have in common Milford will receive the Montana Governor’s Award Outstanding Historic Preservation Rehabilitation Project at the biennial Montana State Historic Preservation Awards on Jan. 18 at the Myrna Loy Theater in Helena. Other award winners: Montana State University professor Maire O’Neill Conrad, Billings architect Randy Hafer, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Mountain/Prairie Region and Kristi Hager, who has documented historical buildings and structures — many of which have disappeared — through a photography project. The event also will recognize the 32 properties added to the Historic Register in the past two years, among them the Lewistown Satellite Airfield, Shaffer's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Chuch in Butte and Sinopah, the boat at Two Medicine in Glacier National Park. Saving Sun River's stone barn Milford also is the chairman of the nonprofit preserving the 134-year-old J.C. Adams Stone Barn, one mile northeast of Sun River. The group is struggling to keep the membership going to maintain the Romanesque Revival barn built in 1885 by J.C. Adams. The group has about 40 members and needs about 240, Milford said. "It's not being threatened with falling down or leveled for a parking lot, so it's hard to keep people interested," he said. The barn group has a website in the works and a Facebook page at facebook.com/JCAdamsStoneBarn. How you can help... For more information or to become a member in the J.C. Adams Barn preservation group, contact Bob Milford, 788-0876 or via email at robertemilford@yahoo.com. Membership is $25 a year and that, or any donation, may be sent to PO Box 1554, Fort Benton, MT 59442. Read or Share this story: https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/01/07/montana-honors-fort-benton-champion-historic-buildings-his-restoration-107-year-old-saloon-mcgraw/2468631002/ Former emergency services director sues Glacier County 12 charged in Montana State Prison smuggling operation Car plummets off Going to the Sun Road in GNP Standoff suspect identified as Timothy Short Feds OK Montana definition of 'ineffective teacher'	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647293
__label__cc	0.619915	0.380085	Pike, perch targets at Lake Frances ice fishing contest, which is still on The Lake Frances Ice Fishing Derby in Valier Saturday. Pike, perch targets at Lake Frances ice fishing contest, which is still on The Lake Frances Ice Fishing Derby in Valier Saturday. Check out this story on greatfallstribune.com: https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/01/08/pike-perch-targets-lake-frances-ice-fishing-contest-saturday/2508603002/ Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune Published 1:24 p.m. MT Jan. 8, 2019 Ice fishing is continuing at Lake Frances despite warmer daytime temperatures. The annual ice fishing derby is scheduled Saturday, Jan. 12.(Photo: Cheryl Curry) It’s been a mild winter. But the Lake Frances Ice Fishing Derby in Valier is still on Saturday. “The ice is good,” Cheryl Curry, president of the Valier Area Development Corp., said Monday. The contest is from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pike and perch are the species of interest with prize money paid out for the top three fish in each category. “Last year, we paid out over $5,000 in prizes,” Curry said. That included $1,380 each for the first-prize, 11.14-pound pike, and the largest perch, a 1.38-pounder. Second prize was $828, and third prize $552. "We pay out 100 percent so all their registration goes back to prizes," Curry said. "So the more people participating, the bigger the prizes." PIke were being hauled in this past weekend at Lake Frances. The annual ice fishing contest is Saturday, Jan. 12. (Photo: Cheryl Curry) The contest, the first of the year in Region 4 of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, drew 400 anglers last year. Generally, 9 to 12 inches of ice covers most of the lake, Curry said. Less ice covers some areas. A few places have open water around pressure ridges. "There's no snow on it so it's easy to see what your situation is," said Curry, adding people need to use caution and good sense as risks are inherent in recreating on ice. Fishing has been excellent. Derby day forecast calls for 40 degrees and sunshine with no wind. "If our luck holds, it should be a great day for ice fishing," Curry said. The contest is sponsored by the Valier Area Development Corp. In addition to the prizes, a raffle featuring 40 prizes also is planned. Money raised from raffle sales is used for local projects in Valier. Right now, the local economic development agency is focusing on improving the Lake Frances campground. Preregistration is available Friday at Curry's Market, One Stop Cenex and Froggies Bar and Grill in Valier. Derby day registration is available beginning at 6 a.m. at One Stop Cenex and Firemen's Pavilion at Lake Frances. Registrations close at 10 a.m. Final weigh-in is at 3 p.m. with prizes awarded and raffle drawing at 3:30 p.m. In Great Falls, people can register at Roberts Bait and Tackle and North 40 Outfitters. Read or Share this story: https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/01/08/pike-perch-targets-lake-frances-ice-fishing-contest-saturday/2508603002/ Crash near Belt kills Lewistown man, leaves 2 injured Ex-Cascade County undersheriff changes plea for theft	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647294
__label__cc	0.52339	0.47661	Movenpick hotels to offer California-inspired menu in March 2019 Movenpick's hotel and resort locations worldwide will offer the California Dreamin' menu including in the Middle East and Africa by Hotelier Middle East Staff Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is bringing the tastes and flavours of the US West Coast to the rest of the world with an new California-inspired menu. The brand’s global food and beverage campaign, California dreamin’, pays homage to some of the original chefs that put California’s restaurant scene on the map. The limited-time menu will be available for lunch and dinner at all Mövenpick locations around the world throughout the month of March 2019. This includes Middle East and Africa properties including in Bahrain, Egypt, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. Did you like this story? “California’s food scene has had a profound impact on global food trends over the past 50 years,” said Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts food & beverage director, Europe Thomas Hollenstein, in a statement. He added: "Our California dreamin’ campaign pays tribute to some of the chefs who were instrumental in turning the world’s palates toward fresh, organic produce and mixing cultural influences from Latin America, Asia and Europe to create exciting flavours and occasions to enjoy and appreciate all there is to love about food.” Mövenpick’s California dreamin’ à la carte menu features seven dishes of classic California fusion cuisine. Seafood, fruit, vegetables and fresh herbs figure prominently; some of the dishes include: crab cakes; flowered tuna; beef carpaccio formaggi; Label Rouge salmon; lemon guinea fowl; oven-roasted rack of lamb; and vegan lemon & avocado cheesecake. For all the latest hospitality news from UAE, Gulf countries and around the world, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page. MOVENPICK HOTELS & RESORTS The Spa by SensAsia to launch at Grand Plaza Movenpick Media City AccorHotels confirms March 2019 debut for Movenpick Media City After Accor acquisition, Movenpick CEO Olivier Chavy steps down Video: What's trending: Sharjah’s dip in hotel occupancy Calling all hotel HR directors, fill out our survey Take Hotelier Middle East’s 2019 Procurement Survey Comment: Why we need more affordable hotels in the Middle East Be a part of the Hotelier Middle East Salary Survey 2019 From the edition	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647301
__label__cc	0.69032	0.30968	Tags: work Students must make themselves attractive to future employers Editor, HRreview Friday, December 20, 2013 0 Comment Employers, Graduates, Jobs, recruitment, schools, students, university, work Students are leaving secondary and tertiary education without the necessary skills or understanding of how to articulate their skills and make themselves attractive to future employers say education HR specialists SYLO Associates. As the post-education job market becomes increasingly competitive, SYLO Associates argue that students are leaving education unprepared for the real world of job… Worker suffers life changing injuries after being hit by falling machinery Pamela Flores Tuesday, July 23, 2013 0 Comment Health and safety, Injury, work A Hereford company that produces nickel alloys has been fined after an employee suffered life-threatening injuries when he was crushed and burned by falling machinery. 37-year-old foundryman Stephen Bond-Lewis, of Hereford, was removing waste material from a metal casting machine at Special Metals Wiggin Ltd when part of it became detached, fell forward and pinned… Marc Belaiche: How to Create an Amazing Work Environment Marc Belaiche Friday, July 12, 2013 1 Comment Colleagues, Environment, Managers, work Most managers strive to create a workplace where their employees look forward to coming to work every day and the team works effectively and efficiently together through the day. This article gives you some ideas as to how a manager can create an amazing work environment. Get to know each other Let employees get to… Work-life balance not affected by hours or pay Pamela Flores Wednesday, July 3, 2013 0 Comment Balance, Employee, work Working shorter hours does not necessarily make people happier with their work-life balance, according to research carried out by Randstad UK, the recruiter. A survey of 2,000 employees revealed that those in the South East and Yorkshire & The Humber were most happy with their work-life balance, with 64% saying they were content, despite those… Vending machine firm fined after employee falls through roof Pamela Flores Tuesday, July 2, 2013 0 Comment Fined, Health and safety, Injury, safety, work An employee at a vending machine supplier in Skelmersdale was lucky to escape with minor injuries after he fell through a fragile roof, a court has heard. The 40-year-old from Runcorn, who has asked not to be named, had been clearing out the gutters at Paragon International Ltd, on Paddock Road, on 4 September last… Government unveils Draft Deregulation Bill Editor, HRreview Tuesday, July 2, 2013 0 Comment Government, Health and safety, regulations, work The Government published its draft Deregulation Bill, which looks to reform rules about health and safety, apprentices and employment law. The proposed legislation, aimed at reducing health and safety regulations, limiting powers of employment tribunals and generally easing red tape on businesses, will now be scrutinised by a joint committee of MPs and peers. It… What is the most common cause of work-related ill health? Editor, HRreview Tuesday, June 25, 2013 0 Comment Death, Health and safety, work A survey by YouGov on behalf of Croner has revealed that only 7% of the British public are aware that 12,000 or more workers die each year from health problems contracted at work. It revealed that 36% thought that fewer than 500 deaths were caused by work-related illness each year, while 50% believed the total… Fit notes fail to get people back to work, survey finds Editor, HRreview Monday, June 17, 2013 0 Comment Absence, Employee, sickness, work Dr Lynda Shaw – What gender differences still exist at work? Pamela Flores Monday, June 17, 2013 0 Comment Gender gap, Money, Motivation, productivity, work With much talk in the media that gender differences still exist in the workplace, cognitive neuroscientist and age diversity specialist, Dr Lynda Shaw, conducted detailed research to find out what some of these perceived gender differences in the workplace are in 2013. In the survey male respondents rated themselves as more ambitious than the female… ONS figures show older employees choose to stay in work Pamela Flores Wednesday, June 12, 2013 0 Comment Age discrimination, Employee, unemployment, work Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have revealed that Britain’s workforce grew by 24,000 to 29.76 million from February to April compared with the previous quarter, predominantly down to a rise in the number of pensioners seeking work or delaying retirement. The number of workers in Britain aged over 65 has risen above 1 million… Work Capability Assessment – fairer and more accurate Pamela Flores Tuesday, April 30, 2013 0 Comment Benefits, Employment, work The percentage of people entitled to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is at its highest level with over half of people completing a Work Capability Assessment eligible for the benefit. Just under half were found fit for work and will be given help to find a job which is suitable for them. The new figures,… Woman awarded £12,293 after suffering sexual harassment Paul Gray Monday, April 22, 2013 0 Comment Employment law, Harassment, Woman, work A woman has been awarded £12,293 after an industrial tribunal ruled that she suffered sexual harassment at work. Noeleen McAleenon took a case against Autism Initiatives NI in west Belfast, over harassment from a male co-worker. She initially raised the issue with her employer, but resigned over concerns that they had not dealt with it… TimeOFF – Employees’ Leave Request App for SharePoint Pamela Flores Friday, March 22, 2013 0 Comment App, Holidays, time off, work Meet the first HR application in the Office 365 Marketplace, created by Fild.NET, a Poland-based company specializing in advanced Microsoft solutions TimeOff for SharePoint 2013, streamlining the process of submitting and processing employees’ leave requests, is the first app designed for Human Resources departments to be found in the Office 365 Marketplace. The creator of… CIPD says corporate responsibility becoming more important Editor, HRreview Monday, February 4, 2013 0 Comment HR Strategy, responsibility, work According to research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), 56% of general managers consider HR’s contribution to their organisations’ corporate responsibility agenda as vital. However, the fact that 81% of HR managers feel they are vital shows a clear reality gap between where HR would like to be in leading corporate… When health and safety goes too far Editor, HRreview Wednesday, January 2, 2013 0 Comment too far, Wellbeing News, work Bans on yo-yos in playgrounds, knives in kitchens and kettles in offices have all been wrongly blamed on workplace safety laws this year, a new report has revealed. A health and safety “myth-buster” panel set up to expose mis-uses of the law – or just silly decisions – has received scores of complaints from members…	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647303
__label__wiki	0.911071	0.911071	Gawker, Crackstarter, and Crowdfunding Checkbook Journalism More than one online commenter has asked whether Gawker will share revenue from pageviews with their donors if they are able to purchase the alleged Ford video. I'm more curious whether the donors will share the credit and the blame if crowdfunding checkbook journalism becomes the next big thing. Ethan Zuckerman Director, Center for Civic Media at MIT TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Rob Ford addressed the media in front of his office Monday afternoon after his press secretaries quit. (Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star via Getty Images) This post originally appeared on Ethan Zuckerman's blog ...My Heart's in Accra Toronto mayor Rob Ford is a controversial character. Two thousand and three hundred words in his 7,600 word Wikipedia biography make up a section titled "other controversies." These controversies include being drunk and picking a fight at a Leafs game, insulting people with AIDS, people of Asian descent, and allegedly groping a female former mayoral candidate. But all that colourful behaviour pales in comparison to the accusations he's now facing. The Toronto Star, a left-leaning newspaper that's repeatedly reported on mayor malfeasance, reports that they've watched a video that shows mayor Ford smoking crack cocaine with Somali drug dealers. Star reporters Robyn Doolittle and Kevin Donovan say they were approached by a community organizer from Toronto's Somali community, who was acting as a "broker" for the person who shot the video on a smartphone, a man who alleges that he has sold crack to the mayor previously. For Americans, the Ford story calls up fond memories of Marion Barry, the Washington DC mayor who was videotaped freebasing cocaine by the FBI and the D.C. police. (Good news for Mayor Ford - after serving a prison term, Barry returned to D.C. politics under the campaign slogan "He May Not Be Perfect, But He's Perfect for D.C.", and retook the mayorship four years after his arrest.) But, if anything, the Rob Ford story is crazier and more complex than the Barry scandal, at least from a journalistic perspective. While Doolittle and Donovan of the Star say they have seen the video, they also say when they were asked to pay a six figure sum for the recording, they refused. Their article states unambiguously: "The Star did not pay money and did not obtain a copy of the video." That's not surprising. Paying sources for stories is a controversial practice. In the English-language press, it's often called "checkbook journalism", and it's frowned on in elite U.S. media (though it's certainly happened through history), though quite common in tabloid media. In the U.K., it's significantly more common, and underpins much of the scandal around the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers there. U.S. journalist Jack Schafer argues that there are practical, as well as ethical, reasons to avoid paying sources - you'll cultivate sources who want to sell you bad information as well as good information. Gawker's Crackstarter Campaign Nick Denton and the freewheeling opportunists at Gawker Media don't spend much time worrying about these niceties. Gawker's tech site Gizmodo paid $5,000 for a prototype of a next-generation iPhone, which made some headlines as the site may have paid money for stolen goods. But the attention didn't damage Gawker, and they are now raising a set of new questions in offering to pay $200,000 for the Rob Ford video. What's interesting this time is how Gawker plans to pay for it. Gawker editor John Cook published an article on Friday titled "We Are Raising $200,000 to Buy and Publish the Rob Ford Crack Tape". Cook calls the campaign a "crackstarter", a pun on Kickstarter, but the project is raising money on Indiegogo, perhaps because Kickstarter reviews proposals and rejects many of them, while Indiegogo maintains a more open platform. The text associated with Gawker's ask suggests that they might have, in passing, considered that there are some ethical issues involved with paying drug dealers $200,000 for a video recording. Gawker's sophisticated and nuanced ethical explanations include this thoughtful passage: "Christ, That's a Lot of Money. "Yes, it is. But they've got the video! And it's not all about greed, though of course most of it is. The owners of this video fear for their safety, and want enough money to pay for a chance to get out of Toronto and set up in a new town. Their fear is not entirely unwarranted. Rob Ford is a powerful if buffoonish man, and he was wrapped up in a drug scene that purportedly involved many other prominent Toronto figures." Rather than respond to this analysis, I'll point you to Rosalind Robinson, who notes that the $200,000 Gawker proposes to pay drug dealers, is money that could go towards healing the city of Toronto, not harming it more. In a piece titled "Fuck You, Gawker", she observes: "Gawker wants to write these criminals a cheque for more money than most of us can imagine having access to in our lifetime. And not a cheque of their money - of yours. "All you who bitch about taxes, who need public health care, who are on a waitlist to see a doctor, who work day in and day out, who work hard in crap jobs that don't pay well - you, joe citizen, who have never broken a law in your life - they're asking YOU to give this huge amount of money to a group of people who are a violent plague on my city, who risk the lives of both addicts and innocent bystanders on a regular basis." Thus far, Gawker's campaign has raised roughly a third of its goal, almost $67,000 at last check. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Since the writing of this post, Gawker's "Crackstarter" has succeeded in raising $200,000 to buy the alleged video of Rob Ford smoking crack.] Whether they publish the video, or get robbed at gunpoint by their business partners, they'll surely get a good story out of the experience. Does raising money to purchase incriminating video represent a new milestone in crowdfunding? Is it a particularly ethically cloudy example of civic crowdfunding? Or just an attention grabbing stunt by Denton and crew? Writing in Forbes, Maureen Henderson sees this as the latest example of the rich and powerful using crowdfunding to fund projects they could fund through other means. Much as Warner Bros. could have funded a new Veronica Mars movie without $5.7-million raised online, Gawker could probably negotiate a deal with their sources to purchase the video at a price they could cover from online ad revenue, as nothing sells like a political train wreck. What does the Crackstarter mean for online journalism and crowdfunding? When I began working at the Berkman Center ten years ago, John Palfrey offered a helpful rule of thumb for understanding how law worked in cyberspace: "If it's illegal offline, it's illegal online." I'd suggest that the same applies in the realm of ethics: paying a source for a story is ethically suspect both offline and online. But there's a dimension to crowdfunding payments to a source that complicates matters. Not only has Gawker's editorial board made the decision that it's ethically permissible to pay for the Rob Ford video - so have over 2,896 donors, who've given their own money to see the mayor inhale. It's a reasonable guess that few are Rob Ford supporters. This crowdfunding campaign lets Ford opponents vote with their pocketbooks to increase the chances Ford will be forced to resign. I predict Ford will resign before Gawker purchases and runs the video. But the implications of the campaign are still worth considering. When asked about the ethics of paying drug dealers for the video, Gawker can point to thousands of supporters who didn't have ethical qualms about paying for the footage. And much as civic crowdfunding raises questions about whether only rich neighborhoods will fund new parks and civic infrastructure, crowdfunding to pay for videos is a trend that seems likely to favour high-visibility politicians with wealthy opponents over lower-attention scandals. Had the city of Bell, California needed to crowdfund evidence to indict city manager Robert Rizzo, it's unlikely the poor, majority-Spanish speaking community would have ousted corrupt leaders. MORE: crackstarter Politics Rob Ford rob ford crack rob ford crack video rob ford crackstarter rob ford crackstarter money rob ford drugs rob ford gawker rob ford twitter rob ford video	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647306
__label__wiki	0.797585	0.797585	Jeffrey Burt • July 15, 2019 The group behind the Sea Turtle espionage campaign that was exposed in April is expanding its geographic reach and claiming new victims, according to researchers with Cisco's Talos unit. Mathew J. Schwartz • July 15, 2019 Fraudsters continue to get new tricks up their sleeves. Criminals are increasingly using Apple Pay, setting up mobile call centers to socially engineer victims as well as tricking consumers via fake e-commerce sites that never fulfill orders, fraud-fighting experts warn. Akshaya Asokan • July 15, 2019 In the run-up to Amazon Prime Day, some of the company's customers were being targeted by a phishing kit called 16Shop, according to McAfee researchers. The campaign is similar to an earlier attack that focused on Apple users. Scott Ferguson • July 11, 2019 A cybercriminal gang associated with the umbrella organization known as Magecart has been inserting malicious JavaScript into unsecured Amazon Web Service S3 buckets to skim payment card data, according to research published by RiskIQ. So far, 17,000 infected domains have been identified. Malware on the High Seas: US Coast Guard Issues Alert Scott Ferguson • July 9, 2019 The U.S. Coast Guard has issued an alert about an increase in malware attacks targeting the networks of commercial vessels. It's warning ship owners to take more cybersecurity precautions. British Airways Faces Record-Setting $230 Million GDPR Fine Mathew J. Schwartz • July 8, 2019 Britain's privacy watchdog has proposed a record-breaking $230 million fine against British Airways for violating the EU's General Data Protection Regulation due to "poor security arrangements" that attackers exploited to steal 500,000 individuals' payment card data and other personal details. HSBC Whistleblower on 'Too Big to Jail' HSBC paid a record $1.92 billion fine for money laundering violations in 2012. But no one ever went to jail for the crimes. Whistleblower Everett Stern discusses lessons learned from the case and the concept of "too big to jail." Report: UK's Largest Forensics Firm Pays Ransom to Attacker Britain's biggest provider of forensic services, Eurofins, has paid a ransom to attackers who crypto-locked its systems with ransomware, the BBC reports. Experts say it's part of an alarming trend that seems sure to further embolden ransomware-wielding criminals. Wipe Away the Threat of Wiper Attacks Déjè' vu basic cybersecurity challenge all over again: With the U.S. government warning that geopolitical tensions could trigger wiper-attack reprisals, security experts review the basic anti-wiper - and anti-ransomware - defenses organizations should already have in place. Hackers Slurp $500,000 Through 7-Eleven Mobile Payment App Hackers appear to have accessed a new mobile payment app for 7-Eleven customers in Japan, taking about $500,000 from 900 customers over several days. Poor passwords and authentication designs by the company are likely to blame, according to media reports. DDoS Attacker Austin 'DerpTrolling' Thompson Gets Sentenced A distributed denial-of-service attacker who crashed a popular gaming service at Christmas has been sentenced to serve 27 months in prison. Austin Thompson has also been ordered to pay $95,000 in damages to Daybreak Games. 'Silence' Gang Tied to Bank Heist in Bangladesh - Report A recent $3 million bank heist in Bangladesh is likely the handiwork of "Silence," a Russian-speaking gang known for its slow and methodical attacks against banks and ATMs, according to an analysis by security firm Group-IB. US Cyber Command Warns of Outlook Vulnerability Exploits The U.S. Cyber Command has issued a warning that attackers are attempting to exploit an older vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook to plant remote access Trojans or other types of malware within government networks. Some researchers say the exploits could be tied to an Iranian-backed threat group. Facebook Takes Down Pages Loaded With Malware Malicious actors are increasingly using social media platforms to spread malware to unsuspecting victims. In the latest incident, Facebook removed more than 30 pages from its platform after security analysts with Check Point Research found that a hacker had loaded them with malware. Wipro Attack Tied to Larger Phishing Campaign: Analysis Scott Ferguson • June 27, 2019 The cyberattack earlier this year against Indian outsourcer Wipro, as well as several of its customers, is part of a much larger, multiyear phishing campaign that involves many more companies used as jumping off points, according to RiskIQ, which says the attackers apparently are manipulating gift cards.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647311
__label__cc	0.537962	0.462038	Kamala Harris Breaks Down Donald Trump's ‘Predator’ Playbook For Immigrants The Democratic 2020 presidential candidate blasted Trump over his "continuous pattern of trying to beat people down." Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) on Thursday likened President Donald Trump’s treatment of undocumented immigrants to that of a “predator.” “The best tool in the tool belt of the predator against an undocumented immigrant is to convince that victim that if you report the crime against you – rape, child assault, fraud ― it is you who will be treated as the criminal,” the Democratic 2020 presidential hopeful explained to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “So, when he makes these grand proclamations through his big tweets, what he is doing ― I believe intentionally ― is trying to create fear in these individuals and these families and that is not the sign of a strong president,” Harris said during a discussion about Trump’s announcement that his administration would not add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. “The display of strength in my book is you lift people up, you don’t beat them down,” she added. “But this guy in the White House has a continuous pattern of trying to beat people down. Specifically on this issue, on the census.” Harris also described Trump as a “predator” during an address in Iowa last week and called out the president’s “predatory nature and predatory instincts.” “And the thing about predators, you must … most importantly know, predators are cowards,” she said. Check out the segment above. Amal Clooney Issues Stark Warning About Trump's Attacks On The Press New York Daily News Twists Trump's MAGA Slogan For Epic Soccer Cover MSNBC Smacks Trump With Montage Of His Most Embarrassing Ad-Lib Flubs Donald Trump Politics and Government 2020 Election Kamala Harris Immigration	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647312
__label__wiki	0.591646	0.591646	Firefighter’s Actions Save Girl’s Life in School Shooting "A real active killer. We were dumbfounded, we really couldn't believe it." Andrew Thomas September 7, 2018 Ojeda. (Courtesy of Lazaro Ojeda) Having the presence of mind to make a split-second decision during a chaotic event is no small feat. This man’s ability to maintain focus amidst the bedlam of a school shooting likely saved a young woman’s life. Lieutenant Lazaro Ojeda of the Coral Springs Fire Department in Florida is both a firefighter and a paramedic. He’s been with the city for 14 years. He was one of the first responders to arrive on scene during the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He has received approximately 4,000 calls since 2009. But this call he’ll remember for the rest of his life. Ojeda has responded to gunshot wound calls before. But responding to a call for a child that has been shot is especially difficult. “The stress of seeing pediatrics injured adds an extra element to our job,” he said. (RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images) Ojeda received the call shortly after 2 p.m. Ojeda teaches active shooter drills at Coral Springs High School, so initially he was unsure if the call was a drill. “More information kept coming through dispatch, and then we knew it was a real call,” he said. “A real active killer. We were dumbfounded, we really couldn’t believe it.” Normally, during an emergency, a person calls 911. Then the dispatcher notifies the appropriate agency to respond to the call. Under the circumstances, following normal procedure and protocol wouldn’t have been fast and effective enough to help the victims during this mass casualty incident. Ojeda’s colleague, Captain John Pluchino, realized that the number of calls coming in was affecting dispatchers’ abilities to get first responders to the scene quickly. Pluchino and his team knew there was an active shooter on the scene, so Pluchino decided to self-dispatch to get to the school as soon as possible. Pluchino along with Ojeda, Geoffrey Unger, driver and engineer Will Glover, and Robert Lubinger rushed toward the school. Ojeda recalls being the third group of paramedics on the scene. He saw a lot of people. There were firefighters from his department and litter-bearers bring patients to them. A SWAT medic brought a wounded student named Maddy Wilford to Ojeda’s team. During a mass casualty incident, like a mass shooting, there is a protocol for triage, prioritizing patients, and determining where to transport them. Normally, pediatric patients are taken to Broward County General Hospital because it is better equipped to treat and do follow-up care with pediatric patients—but Ojeda had to determine her age, her condition, and the best place to transport her. When Ojeda saw Wilford, he knew she was in bad shape. “She was very pale. It looked like she had bled out a lot. The first thing that went through my mind was establishing age, and doing a baseline assessment to see what I was dealing with,” Ojeda recalls. Ojeda during a news conference following the shooting. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) After the baseline assessment, Ojeda realized how critically wounded Wilford was. “When we first got her, she was in decompensated shock,” Ojeda said—meaning her body was already unable to keep up with the pressures of blood flow, and she was not responsive. When treating any patient, determining age is critical. Ojeda had to elicit painful stimuli and gave her a sternal rub. He rubbed her sternum to try and wake her up. She didn’t respond. Ojeda rubbed her sternum again. This time Wilford responded. She told him she was 17. At first, Wilford was completely unresponsive. Wilford during a news conference following the shooting. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Broward Health North is where non-pediatric patients are typically transported. It is approximately 10 miles away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, closer than the 30 miles it would take to get to Broward County General Hospital. The information wasn’t relayed to Ojeda and his team at the time, but both hospitals were accepting both categories of patients during the incident. The situation was chaotic, and the SWAT officer had bypassed the treatment officer and the transport officer, bringing Wilford directly to Ojeda’s team. That’s when Ojeda made the decision to instead go to Broward Health North. “When she came to me, I made the determination to take her to a closer facility based on experience and instinct.” Wilford was bleeding out and didn’t have time to make it to Broward County General Hospital. Time was a critical factor. Wilford had suffered three gunshot wounds from a high-velocity rifle. At the time Ojeda was able to determine where at least two of those wounds were. “She was shot in her right ribs. When I peeled off the chest seal … I got to see the size of the wound, which was about the size of a dollar [coin].” Wilford had also been shot in the right elbow. “Her elbow, the only thing that I can describe is when I go to Publix to buy hamburger meat in one of those hamburger packets, that’s exactly what her elbow looked like, shredded beef.” Wilford wasn’t perfusing enough for Ojeda to find a vein for an IV. Ojeda and the team started an intraosseous line, which is a needle they drilled directly into her right humerus bone. Ojeda learned Wilford was not a pediatric patient, and also based on experience and instinct, made the decision to take her to a different hospital. In 2015, Ojeda was named North Broward Paramedic of the Year. (Courtesy of Lazaro Ojeda) Ojeda was then able to reanimate Wilford with fluids and raced toward Broward Health North. When he arrived, he gave a report to the nurse. The ER doctor gave Wilford a blood transfusion. Then Wilford underwent three subsequent surgeries. Later, the ER doctor that first treated Wilford at the hospital told Ojeda that if he had decided to take Wilford to Broward County General Hospital, she would have bled out. Ojeda and the team returned to the scene. The emotions didn’t hit him right away. But when he was returning to the scene, the reality set in. “I felt sad for the state of the world … the thing that helped me cope was faith in God.” A couple of shifts later, Ojeda had brought a patient from an unrelated incident to Broward Health North. An ER doctor, who lives in Parkland, asked Ojeda if he wanted to see Wilford—he did. The ER doctor introduced Ojeda to Wilford, and he described what had happened. Then tried to lift her spirits with a joke. “The way firefighters deal with stress is we joke a lot,” he said. “Thanks to me, you got to meet Trump because this is the only hospital he visited,” Ojeda told Wilford. Ojeda saw Wilford and her parents before a news conference a couple of days later and was able to speak with them. “It was just nice to see that it had been a good outcome for their family.”	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647313
__label__cc	0.716353	0.283647	Italy – More than 60 cm (2 ft) of fresh snow May 1, 2019 May 1, 2019 by Robert Global warming seems to be less and less convincing,” says Italian geologist Dr Mirco Poletto. “Yesterday and today snow came back on the northeastern mountains of Italy,” says Dr Poletto. “This is a photo taken this morning by Massimo, a friend of mine, living near Pordenone “While we had a dry winter it seems spring will be particularly wet and cold. Global warming seems to be less and less convincing…” More than 60 cm (2 ft) of fresh snow (From the link below) Cold air pouring in from the high altitudes lead to a drop in temperatures and snow levels , currently at around 900m, but likely to drop to 800m, exceptionally low levels for the period . Flakes therefore on the eastern Alps both in Lavarone and Folgaria in Trentino , both Cortina d’Ampezzo whitewashed and snow that also falls in thunderclouds ( TEMPORALI di NEVE ) between eastern Trentino, Veneto and Friulian Dolomites. NEXT HOURS . The snow limit may fall below 800 m in the most intense phenomena, especially on Cadore and Tarvisiano, while the front will extend towards the south reaching the eastern Emilia (Bologna and Ferrara) and Romagna with widespread storms. We expect heavy snowfall, especially in the central eastern Alps and Pre-Alps with flakes to an altitude of 700 m . Most affected will initially be the valleys of Trentino Alto Adige in particular Val Venosta and Val Pusteria with about 10 cm of fresh snow in Dobbiaco (BZ) and Solda . With the passing of the hours the snow will reach even Veneto with flakes also in Cortina d’Ampezzo where even here we expect about 5-7 cm accumulation that will make the landscape even more fairytale. Subsequently the mountains of Friuli Venezia Giulia in particular will be affected by the most abundant precipitations with more than 60 cm of white blanket over 900 meters. https://www.ilmeteo.it/portale/meteo-cronaca-diretta-urgente-temporali-e-neve-a-quote-eccezionalmente-basse-nelle-prossime-ore-ecco-dove Thanks to Dr Mirco Poletto for this info Categories Archives, Dissenters, Global Warming Hoax, World News & Records Post navigation California – Fourth snowiest winter on record Forget so-called ‘global warming’ 4 thoughts on “Italy – More than 60 cm (2 ft) of fresh snow” Tod Tenhoff I’m learning about the electric universe. And the hope of the coming glacial civilization. Thank You from Alaska, where it’s warmer like in the Maunder Minimum. Truther Tod. Stephen Bird Follow Roberts example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRKNw477onU Canned Heat – On The Road Again Go git some heat. BBC caption : “UK Parliament Declares Climate Change Emergency”. Surrender to tantrum-throwing brats too stupid to “know what snow is” (Vijner). Kenneth P Lund The next ice age is becoming more and more convincing	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647318
__label__cc	0.62501	0.37499	Anti-Herding Regulation Ian Ayres and Joshua Mitts In some contexts, an individual’s choice to mimic the behavior of others, to join the herd, can increase systemic risk and retard the production of information. Herding can thus produce negative externalities. And in such situations, individuals by definition have insufficient incentives to separate from the herd. But the traditional regulatory response to externality problems is to impose across-the-board mandates. Command-and-control regulation tends to displace one pooling equilibrium by moving behavior to a new, mandated pool. Mortgage regulators, for example, might respond to an unregulated equilibrium where most homeowners start with 2% down by imposing a requirement that causes most homeowners instead to place 10% down. But this Article shows that society can at times be better off if regulation induces separating behaviors by regulated entities. We evaluate a variety of mechanisms including licenses, subsidies, and regulatory variances as well as regulatory menus and heterogeneous altering rules that can incentivize a limited number of regulated entities to take the path less chosen. Anti-herding regulation provides a new means to attend to ways that mimicry can both suppress the production of information and exacerbate systemic risk. Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Evaluating the Impact of the Argentina Ruling Recent rulings in the ongoing litigation over the pari passu clause in Argentinian sovereign debt instruments have generated considerable controversy. Some public sector participants and academic articles have suggested that the rulings will disrupt or impede future sovereign debt restructurings by encouraging holdout creditors to litigate for full payment instead of participating in negotiated exchange offers. This paper critically examines this claim and argues that the incentives for holdout litigation are limited because of (1) significant constraints on creditor litigation, (2) substantial economic and reputational costs associated with such litigation, and (3) the availability of contractual provisions and negotiating strategies that mitigate the debtor’s collective action problems. It also argues that the fact-specific equitable remedy in the current Argentina case was narrowly tailored to Argentina’s unprecedented disregard for court opinions and for international norms of negotiating sovereign debt restructurings and is therefore unlikely to be used in future debt restructurings. Institutional Investing When Shareholders Are Not Supreme Christopher Geczy, Jessica Jeffers, David K. Musto, and Anne M. Tucker Institutional investors, with trillions of dollars in assets under management, hold increasingly important stakes in public companies and fund individual retirement for many Americans, making institutional investors’ behaviors and preferences paramount determinants of capital allocation. In this paper, we examine high fiduciary duty institutions’ (HFDIs’) response to decreased profit maximization pressure as measured by the effect of constituency statutes on HFDI investment. We ask this question, in part, to anticipate HFDIs’ response to alternative purpose firms, like benefit corporations. Only with access to institutional investors’ capital can alternative purpose firms gain economic significance to rival the purely for-profit corporation. In our empirical study, we ask whether decreased profit maximization pressure, as evidenced by expanded director discretion to pursue nonshareholder interests, affected HFDIs’ decision to invest (or remain invested) in firms incorporated in constituency statute states because of a conflict, or perceived conflict, between fiduciary duties owed to beneficiaries and shareholders and the “other” serving interests. HFDIs, as agency investors for their shareholders and beneficiaries, are subject to strict fiduciary duties, which, among other things, explicitly disallow sacrificing monetary returns for other goals. We focus on HFDIs under the theory that any impact of fiduciary duties on investment behavior would be strongest among those subject to the strictest duties. In other words, if we were to see an effect at all between expanded duties and investment behavior, it would be most easily observable in HFDIs. Our findings also answer questions raised in earlier scholarship regarding the scope and impact of constituency statutes. In addition, our findings connect constituency statutes to the current academic debate on alternative purpose firms by identifying potential litigants and theories of recovery under the new statutes. Finally, we observe that HFDIs did not meaningfully change investment behavior in response to constituency statutes’ expansion of director duties. Our empirical observations are evidence against fiduciary concerns that impede alternative purpose firms’ access to public capital.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647328
__label__cc	0.621614	0.378386	Home › Hormone Testing › Georgia Hormone Testing Perry GA Call (770) 659-7724 Hormone Test Prices Read About Hormone Testing in Perry GA Last Reviewed Date: Apr 24, 2019 Hormone Health Testing Labs in Perry, GA Hormone imbalance or deficiency can have a big impact on a person's quality-of-life, with the symptoms these problems can cause affecting health, mood, energy levels and libido, among many other aspects of overall well-being. If you aren't feeling quite right and haven't been able to narrow down a cause with your healthcare provider, looking into where to get a hormone health test near Perry, GA may be your best next step in getting to the bottom of things. Taking good care of your hormone health is important. Hormones play essential roles in virtually every vital organ and system in your body, so it's should be no surprise that hormonal imbalance or deficiency can cause a wide range of problems. If your hormone levels aren't quite right, you may have trouble sleeping, despite feeling tired all the time. You may be irritable or have mood swings, be depressed and anxious or suffer from intense hot flashes. Perhaps sex doesn't interest you as much or is uncomfortable. Maybe you're seeing weight gain, are feeling weak or have noticed skin changes, such as dryness or increased skin aging. These symptoms and others can be signs that your hormone health is changing, whether that is due to menopause, testosterone deficiency or a hormonal disorder. Visiting a health testing lab for a hormone health test near Perry, GA can help you find out for sure. So how can hormone health be restored? Results from a hormone health test near Perry, GA can provide you with information on the level of vital hormones in your blood, which can help you, with the assistance of your healthcare provider, pinpoint any deficiencies or imbalances. Once a diagnosis has been made, treatment to help bring hormone levels back into balance can be pursued and your hormone health restored. Labs for Hormone Testing in Perry, GA Order hormone lab testing and get same day testing from FDA approved labs in Perry Georgia. LOCATION CLOSED - LabCorp 217 Wes Park Drive Perry, GA 31069 Expanded Hormone Panel - Men's Measures hormone levels for Free and Total Testosterone, DHEA-S and Estradiol, Sensitive. Expanded Hormone Panel - Women's Measures hormone levels for Free and Total Testosterone, DHEA-S and Total Estrogen. Comprehensive Hormone Panel - Men's Measures hormone levels for Free and Total Testosterone, DHEA-S and Estradiol, Sensitive, Estrogen, HGH, IGF-1, SHBG, Parathyroid Hormone, Progesterone, and Pregnenolone. Comprehensive Hormone Panel - Women's Measures hormone levels for Free and Total Testosterone, DHEA-S and Estradiol, Estrogen, HGH, IGF-1, SHBG, Parathyroid Hormone, Progesterone, and Pregnenolone. Hormone Trio, Saliva - TEST KIT This Ayumetrix at home test kit may be used to measure the levels of Estradiol (E2), Testosterone, and Progesterone. Imatrix Hormone Panel TEST KIT This at home saliva test kit may be used to measure 11 different hormones in your body. This kit requires two saliva collections. Imatrix Hormone Panel Plus TEST KIT This at home saliva test kit may be used to measure 10 different hormones in your body plus 4 separate cortisol levels. This test kit requires four saliva collections. TSH, Free T4 Measures the amount of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (T4) to evaluate thyroid function Expanded Thyroid Panel Measures the amount of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), T3 uptake, T4, T7 and T3 Total. Comprehensive Thyroid Panel Measures the amount of thyroid-stimulating hormone TSH, Free T3, Free T4, T3 Uptake, T4, T7, T3 Total and Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody (TPO). Women's Basic Fertility Package Measures multiple hormone levels to assess ovarian and thyroid function Women's Expanded Fertility Package Measures multiple hormone levels to assess ovarian and thyroid function. This package also contains STD testing to create a completed women's fertility package. Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) The ACTH test measures the levels of the adrenocorticotropic hormone in the body. Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) This test measures the level of AMH in the body. Measures the level of cortisol to assess for adrenal or pituitary disorders Cortisol 24 Hour Urine Measures the level of cortisol in a 24 hour urine sample to assess for adrenal or pituitary disorders. Cortisol AM & PM Measures the level of cortisol at two separate times during the day to assess for adrenal or pituitary disorders Cortisol, Saliva This test measures the level of Cortisol through a saliva sample collected within 30 minutes of waking. Cortisol, Saliva -TEST KIT This Ayumetrix test measures the level of Cortisol through a saliva sample collected within 30 minutes of waking. Cortisol, Saliva x 4 This test measures the level of Cortisol in the body throughout the day through 4 saliva samples. Cortisol, Saliva x 4 -TEST KIT This Ayumetrix test measures the level of Cortisol in the body throughout the day through 4 saliva samples. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) This test is used to measure the level of the steroid DHEA in the body. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Sulfate Measures the level of the DHEA sulfate hormone to assess adrenal function DHEA, Saliva -TEST KIT This Ayumetrix test is used to measure the level of the steroid DHEA in the body through a saliva sample. DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) Measures the level of DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) in the body. Measures the level of estradiol to help assess fertility Estradiol, Saliva -TEST KIT This Ayumetrix at home test kit is used to measure the level of Estradiol in the body through a saliva sample. Estradiol, Sensitive Measures the level of estradiol with increased sensitivity for men and post-menopausal women Estrogen, Total Measures the amount of estrogen hormones to help assess fertility This test is used to measure the level of estrone in the body. Follicle-stimulating Hormone (FSH) Measures the level of FSH, a hormone that affects reproduction Follicle-stimulating Hormone (FSH) & Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Measures FSH and LH to help assess fertility Growth Hormone (GH) Measures the amount of growth hormone to evaluate pituitary function Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) Measures IGF-1 to evaluate pituitary function Insulin-like Growth Factor-binding Protein 3 (IGFBP-3) This test is used to measure Insulin-Like Growth Factor-Binding Protein 3 (IGFBP-3) in the blood. This test is used to measure the level of leptin in the blood. Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Measures luteinizing hormone (LH) to help assess fertility Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) and Calcium Measures the amount of parathyroid hormone and calcium. PTH helps regulate calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus levels in the blood and bones. Parathyroid Hormone (PTH), Intact Measures the amount of intact parathyroid hormone to evaluate parathyroid function and abnormal calcium levels. This test measures the amount of pregnenolone in the blood. Measures the level of progesterone to help assess fertility Progesterone, Saliva -TEST KIT This Ayumetrix test measures the amount of unbound Progesterone in the body through a saliva sample. Measures prolactin, a hormone important during pregnancy and while breastfeeding Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) PSA test measures the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to evaluate prostate function in men. Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), Free:Total Ratio Measures the level of freely circulating prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to evaluate prostate function in men age 40 and older Sex Hormone-binding Globulin (SHBG) Measures the level of sex hormone-binding globulin T3 (Triiodothyronine), Free Measures the amount of freely circulating triiodothyronine (T3) to evaluate thyroid function. T3 (Triiodothyronine), Total Measures the total amount of triiodothyronine, T3, to evaluate thyroid function. T4 (Thyroxine), Free Measures the amount of free thyroxine (T4) to evaluate thyroid function. Testosterone, Free Measures the level of testosterone circulating freely in the body Testosterone, Free & Total Measures the total level of testosterone, including the small portion circulating freely in the body Testosterone, Saliva -TEST KIT This Ayumetrix at home test kit is used to measure the level of Testosterone in the body through a saliva sample. Testosterone, Total Measures the total level of testosterone in the body Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Antibodies Measures the amount of thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies to help understand the cause of thyroid disorders. Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH) Measures the amount of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) to evaluate thyroid function T4 (Thyroxine), Total The Thyroxine Total (T4 total) measures the level of a key thyroid hormone, T4, in the blood. Thyroxine-Binding Globulin (TBG) This TBG test is used to measure the level of Thyroxine-Binding Globulin in the blood to further evaluate thyroid function. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and Free T4	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647332
__label__cc	0.545705	0.454295	Investment Co Plc - Annual Financial Report SUMMARY OF RESULTS At 30 June 2017 At 30 June 2016 Change Equity shareholders’ funds 17,736,777 16,991,639 +4.4% Number of ordinary shares in issue 4,772,049 4,772,049 -% Net asset value (“NAV”) per ordinary share Ordinary share price (mid) 325.00p 365.50p -11.1% Premium/(discount) to NAV (12.56)% 2.65% At 30 June 2017 At 30 June 2016 Total return per ordinary share* 36.31p (11.21)p Return after taxation per ordinary share (4.03)p Dividends paid/declared per ordinary share EPIC/TIDM SEDOL/ISIN Investment Co PLC (INV) Add to Alerts list Print Mail a friend Investment Co PLC THE INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2017 The full Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 June 2017 can be found on the Company’s website: http://www.mitongroup.com/tic. DIRECTORS (all non-executive) Sir David Thomson Bt. (Chairman) S. J. Cockburn P. S. Allen M. H. W. Perrin (Audit Committee Chairman and Senior Independent Director) STRATEGIC REPORT * The total return per ordinary share is based on total comprehensive income after taxation as detailed in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and in note 6 and is shown to enable comparison with other investment trust companies. November Payment of first interim dividend for the year ending 30 June 2018. December Annual General Meeting. February Payment of second interim dividend for the year ending 30 June 2018. February/March Announcement of Half-Yearly Financial Report. May Payment of third interim dividend for the year ending 30 June 2018. August Payment of fourth interim dividend for the year ending 30 June 2018. September/October Announcement of Annual Results. CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT This statement covers the year ending 30 June 2017. Following the initial market setback on the UK’s decision to leave the EU, the subsequent period was marked with a strong equity recovery. The FTSE All Share Index rose 13.9% over the year. In contrast, the FTSE Actuaries UK Conventional Gilts All Stocks Index fell 3.6% over the year, as the decades of bond yield reductions came to an end. The net asset value (“NAV”) of the Company, which has a portfolio invested in both fixed income and equities, rose 4.4% over the twelve-month period. In addition, three interim dividends of 5p and a fourth interim of 5.7p were declared over the year. Dividends for the year 2017 totalled 20.7p (2015/16: 20.7p). Following the Company’s reorganisation in June 2013, its aim was to pay a premium, and in time grow the dividend to shareholders. It had sought to do this through investing in high-yielding loan stocks issued by quoted companies, which frequently carry a degree of participation in the issuer’s share price growth if they perform strongly. A second aspect of this strategy was that the Company’s return was not expected to be closely correlated with the movements of mainstream markets. The Company has continued to hold a number of fixed interest stocks, which the Company has held for many years and the Board is well satisfied with the total return on these holdings. However, since June 2013, there have been few convertible loan notes issued that offer attractive risk/reward ratios, therefore the market opportunity for the strategy has not developed as had been expected. Those funds have been invested in smaller company equities where the returns have proved somewhat disappointing. Overall, the increase in our NAV in the year was only 4.4% compared with gains of 24.8% and 36.5% respectively in the FTSE Smaller Companies and FTSE AIM Indices. The Board is exploring initiatives to improve the total return to shareholders. The Board is also reviewing the administrative arrangements and has identified changes that can lower the cost of overheads, which includes the change of Secretary, Administrator and Registrar. Further details are included in the Director’s Report. In addition, pursuant to discussion with significant shareholders, the Board will review its composition. Whilst markets may continue to appreciate from here for some time, the absence of global productivity growth could become a constraint. It may therefore become all the more important to invest across a wider range of opportunities in the coming period. In the meantime, our fixed interest portfolio is expected to generate a steady flow of relatively high income. At the forthcoming Annual General Meeting there shall be, as with last year, a continuation resolution put to shareholders. The Directors believe the Company is well placed to deliver on its objectives in relation to returns to shareholders. Certain significant shareholders have expressed a strong preference to continue. Accordingly, your Directors recommend that members vote in favour of the continuation resolution. Sir David Thomson Search the Archive: James Sharp & Co. 5 Bank Street Bury, Lancashire BL9 0DN E: mail@jamessharp.co.uk James Sharp & Co is a trading name of James Sharp & Co LLP (0C422665) Members of the LLP are referred to as Partners E-mail Newsletter Sign-up Sign me up for the James Sharp e-newsletter. What we do with your information ©2010-2016. James Sharp & Co. Authorised & Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Member of the London Stock Exchange - Member of Nexexchange - Member of PIMFA	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647347
__label__wiki	0.75821	0.75821	In early February, National Young Leadership Cabinet (NYLC) took 85 members of their chevra from 27 Federation communities to Birmingham for their first ever domestic mission — this year, a Civil Rights Mission. Three NYLC members from Los Angeles represented our Federation. The trip started at Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, where the civil rights activists gathered in 1965 to march to the state capital in Montgomery, protesting segregation and demanding the right to vote. The group then visited the Rosa Parks Museum and the Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Museum & Memorial, also in Montgomery. The following day, the group toured Selma and crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge — the site of “Bloody Sunday,” a key flashpoint in the fight for racial equality and, several weeks later, a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery that inspired the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and MLK’s rousing speech, “How Long, Not Long.” Cabinet walked across the Bridge, through the footsteps of history, remembering that 54 years ago, those fighting for equality in the spirit of non-violence were met on the other side by state troopers armed with batons and tear gas. More than 25,000 people stood by Martin Luther King, where he urged the protesters to have patience, because “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel described the experience: “For many of us, the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips, and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.” The group had the great pleasure of meeting numerous giants in the community including Joanne Bland, Co-founder of the National Voting Rights Museum and active in the civil rights movement since her childhood, in her hometown of Selma. She witnessed Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and was arrested 13 times before her 11th birthday as a result of her activism. For Shabbat, the mission returned to Birmingham and joined with the Temple Beth El community for services and a dinner dedicated to the Southern Jewish Experience. The trip also included a visit to Freedom Park, the 16th Street Baptist Church, the Civil Rights Institute, and the Mt. Canaan Full Gospel Church. This mission — which included Cabinet alumni and family members in addition to current chevra — ignited our conscience and engaged our values as Jewish leaders. It opened our eyes to a chapter of history that we knew about but now understand on a much deeper level. As Cabinet members returned to our Federation communities, we bring a sharper eye and greater awareness of our commitment to be a “light unto the nations” and to join with others who share our values to bring justice, peace, and healing to a polarized world. We are reminded that even one small step toward change makes a difference and that we are to be like the stars illuminating the world wherever there is darkness. And, as MLK said, “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” Are you interested in joining Federation’s National Young Leadership Cabinet to experience incredible travel opportunities like this? Applications are now available and open until May 3rd! Contact Alexi Biener Baker at ABiener@JewishLA.org or at (323) 761-8386 for more information. How Growth and Transit Impact Communities: South L.A. and the Crenshaw/LAX Metro Rail Line Welcoming the Newest Cohort of Brawerman Fellows [View All News] Tour de Summer Camps 2019 [View All Events]	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647351
__label__cc	0.545422	0.454578	Home / VINYL / Holly PRODUCT TYPE Choose an optionLPCDMP3 Clear selection SKU: N/A Categories: CD's, VINYL Tag: Nick Waterhouse Waterhouse is a successful recording artist, with one well-received LP and several high-profile tours and collaborations to his name. But his latest work still embodies the struggle of his early forays. During “This Is a Game,” Waterhouse sets up a snarly, post-surf guitar solo with a succinct statement of a cynical outlook: “This is a game / Please remember my words / And don’t get upset when you don’t get what you think you deserve.” And on the gothic-soul strut “Let It Come Down,” he meditates on the inevitability of pain. “If there’s gonna be rain tonight,” he sings in a stoic croon. “Let it come down.” It’s clear from this material that Waterhouse is in the midst of his own becoming. He isn’t the type to let ecstasy take over, like Van Morrison, or to drawl away in a consummately laid-back register, like Mose Allison. In the tension between his wry lyrics and crisp arrangements, you hear the expression of a worldly skeptic who’s also—when it comes to his art—a sanctified believer. Whoever it was that Nick Waterhouse wanted to be matters less now; these days, he just sounds like himself. LP, CD, MP3 Time’s All Gone Nick Waterhouse $9.99 – $18.99 Never Twice Waterhouse Safari Nick Waterhouse $25.00	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647352
__label__cc	0.703115	0.296885	Girl, 8, Undergoes Rare Quadruple Organ Transplant 10:26 AM PST, November 29, 2015 - Inside Edition A Pennsylvania girl is recovering this week after enduring a rare quadruple organ transplant to replace four damaged organs. Kyree Beachem was born with Hirschsprung’s disease, in which nerve cells are missing in the colon. Continued complications from the disease have led to damage in multiple organs, necessitating the need for last week's procedures. On the day before Thanksgiving, the 8-year-old girl was wheeled into an operating room at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where--over the course of 10 hours--she received a new liver, pancreas, small bowel and colon. Read: Boy, 12, Whose Arm Was Severed Then Reattached is Now Back Home “Kyree received her liver/pancreas/intestine and colon transplant and is in stable condition in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit” said George Mazariegos, chief of pediatric transplantation at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. While her mother said that Kyree was recovering and that blood was flowing to all four organs, swelling caused by the surgery prevented doctors from closing the incision. Therefore, the incision was left open until Monday, when doctors plan to close it and then wake Kyree up. Until then, she will be fully sedated. "We’re taking it right now literally hour by hour," her mother, Nan Beachem, told the Post-Gazette. "Every kid heals differently. She’s got a long road ahead of her." Read: Family Says Baby's Tumor Shrank After Kiss From Pope: 'She's Come to Life' Kyree has actually been through this, although to a lesser extent, before. in January 2010, she underwent an isolated small bowel transplant that her body ended up rejecting in just 10 days. On a GoFundMe page dedicated to Kyree, family friend Nicole Dausman writes. "Everything has been going well so far, her numbers are great and she is in stable condition in the PICU at Children's Hospital. "There is very long road ahead of both her and her mother, so continued support and prayers are very greatly appreciated." As of Sunday afternoon, $5,000 had been raised to offset expenses related to her ongoing care. Watch Below: Doctor Caught Sexting During Stomach Surgery Doctor Caught Sexting During Stomach Surgery	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647353
__label__cc	0.596011	0.403989	Home » Smart City » LoRa and LTE Cat. 1 Extend Wireless Sensing Range LoRa and LTE Cat. 1 Extend Wireless Sensing Range October 6, 2016 Patrick Mannion As more sensor nodes connect over wireless networks, there is a growing need for alternatives to interfaces like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ZigBee*. Many Internet of Things (IoT) applications require lower cost and power consumption, longer range, and an improvement in the number of devices per router or aggregation point. LoRa and LTE Cat. 1 are emerging as two leading alternatives. While these are proving successful as interfaces, there are still questions about interoperability, security, and manageability—and these are being addressed through gateways based on the Intel® IoT Platform. LoRa connects many devices over long ranges LoRa (short for Long Range) is a low-power specification designed for battery-operated devices (Figure 1). A typical interface can handle about 65,500 end devices with a range of up to 50 km and data rates up to 50 Kbit/s. Combined with localization capability, it is easy to see why LoRa is so attractive for long-range, low-power IoT sensing applications. Figure 1. The LoRaWAN MAC sits on top of the LoRa PHY layer. On top of the LoRA physical layer (PHY) sits the LoRaWAN media access control (MAC), which controls both the PHY layer and access to the backhaul network. LoRaWAN uses an adaptive data rate (ADR) mechanism and star-of-stars topology to ensure scalability as the number of nodes increases. A LoRa gateway may need to aggregate data from other networks, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and perform data conditioning and other number-crunching. Thus, a LoRa gateway may need high performance in addition to the aforementioned security, scalability, and manageability. A good example is the SGWMC-X86LR-12132 Gateway from EXPEMB (Figure 2). It is designed for scalability and to support multiple interfaces and software services. In addition to LoRa, this gateway supports a 1-Gbit Ethernet link, Wi-Fi, 3G/4G, and Bluetooth, simultaneously. This gateway's support of multiple wireless interfaces is critical as not all radio protocols support IP natively, so the gateway functions as both an aggregator and IP translator. Figure 2. The Embedded Experts gateway supports multiple interfaces. To enable this rich functionality, the gateway is built on the Intel® Atom™ processor E3800 product family. With up to 4 speedy cores, the Intel® Atom™ processor has plenty of performance for aggregation and translation. This performance also supports the gateway's software services, including remote firmware updates and multiple layers of security, such as TLS and IPSec. While LoRA is the newest of the long-range IoT connectivity specifications, cellular network providers are working hard to lower power and cost to provide IoT connections over licensed bands. This is important because LoRa uses unlicensed bands. In theory, using licensed bands reduces interference and makes for more reliable connections, with higher data rates. The LE910 series of modules from Telit support one such interface: LTE Cat. 1 (Figure 3). The module supports the category's full 10-Mbit/s downlink and 5-Mbit/s uplink speeds and is optimized for both Verizon and AT&T. Figure 3. The Telit LE910 LTE Category 1 module supports rates of 10 Mbit/s for the downlink at 5 Mbit/s in the uplink. The module comes with IP support, as well as UDP/IP stacks and HTTP, SMTP, FTP, and SSL. It also supports a host of services such as module management that make IoT deployments under mobile networks more effective. Other features include multi-constellation (GPS + GLONASS) positioning, over-the-air firmware updates, and MIMO and receiver diversity support. The module can be used in gateways like Quanmax UbiQ-100 Series (Figure 4). In addition to the built-in features like an Intel® Atom™ processor, HDMI, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and COM ports, Quanmax offers integration services to incorporate custom features like LTE modules. Figure 4. The Quanmax UbiQ-100 Series can incorporate any RF module. The Quanmax gateway is also notable for its software options. Preloaded options include security management; remote monitoring management; wireless monitoring; data collection & translation; and more. Wireless options for billions of nodes As the IoT grows to billions of nodes—including countless wireless sensors—it is becoming more important than ever to make sure the right networks are applied to each application. LoRa and LTE Cat.1 are just two of the leading options for wireless sensors. To see more ideas for wireless connectivity, check out the Solutions Directory listings for wireless access and IoT gateways. Patrick Mannion is a independent content developer and consultant who has been analyzing developments in technology for more than 25 years. Formerly Brand Director for EETimes, EDN, Embedded, Planet Analog, and Embedded.com, now part of AspenCore, he has also been developing and executing community-oriented online- and events-based engineer-to-engineer learning platforms. His focus is on connecting engineers to find novel design solutions and focused skills acquisition in the areas of Embedded, IoT, Test and Measurement, RF/Wireless, and Analog & Mixed-Signal Design. Follow on Twitter More Content by Patrick Mannion Predictions for 2017 and Beyond: The Internet of Things European Smart Building Forecast The Internet of things (IoT) is so broad that it does not make sense to attempt to forecast the whole marke...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647354
__label__cc	0.622458	0.377542	Larsa Pippen Claims There Were 'Situations' With Jordyn Woods And Tristan Thompson We Finally Know Why Khloé Kardashian Screams "Liar" In 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' Kylie Jenner May Have Announced She's Pregnant in Khloé Kardashian's Instagram Story Kim Kardashian Cheekily Confirms Khloe Has Moved On From Tristan Thompson Tristan Thompson Just Posted A Birthday Message To Khloe Kardashian This Is Why Fans Are Convinced Khloé Kardashian Is Dating Again Kim And Kourtney Kardashian Respond To The Jordyn Woods Scandal Being Aired A Complete History Of Khloe Kardashian's Changing Features See The Moment Khloe Kardashian Finds Out About Jordyn Woods And Tristan Thompson Khloé Kardashian Addresses Tristan Thompson's Blurred Face On 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' Lamar Odom Has "Deep Regret" Over Ex Khloe Kardashian Khloé Kardashian And Tristan Thompson Had The Most Uncomfortable Reunion At True's First Birthday Caitlyn Jenner's Confession About Khloe Kardashian Is Actually Really Sad Sending love! - by Arielle Tsoukatos Caitlyn Jenner has been promoting her new memoir The Secret Of My Life: A History, and as the title suggests lifting the lid on a few family secrets in the process. Amid the most controversial claims in the book are Caitlyn's claims about ex-wife Kris Jenner and step daughter Khloe Kardashian. Regarding Kris, Caitlyn says the matriarch knew O.J Simpson was guilty during the trial in which Rob Kardashian worked on the defense team. The 67-year-old's confession about her relationship with Khloe is heartbreaking, claiming the reality star hasn't spoken to her in two years. “I don’t know. She doesn’t want to talk to me either,” Caitlyn told Andy Cohen during her recent radio interview. “She hasn’t talked to me in about two years. That’s sad. I was very very close to Khloe. I had 23 years of raising her. I met Khloe when she was 5 years old.” The strain is taking it's toll on Caitlyn, she says "Of course, it hurts. She was on Howard Stern and called me a liar and that kind of pissed me off too because I never lied to her. If I didn’t tell her everything…first of all, she never asked.” Arielle Tsoukatos Arielle is our Senior Digital Beauty & Lifestyle Editor. A few career highlights include; lunch with Kim Cattrall, interviewing Naomi Watts and swapping make-up tips with Margot Robbie on the red carpet. You can find her words on InStyle, marie claire and Women's Health.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647356
__label__wiki	0.550553	0.550553	Interview With Blockchain Thought Leader Nick Ayton Dinis Guarda Nick Ayton is a thought leader and a global expert in blockchain. A prolific man, Nick Ayton is not only a Blockchain Architect, Ethereum Believer and ICO Advisor, but also a filmmaker, who is creating a new film project project, that is revolutionising the way films are produced and financed. Besides aiming to design Blockchain propositions in film and entertainment, he is also interested in renewable energy, sharing economy, trading, insurance, capital markets. Nick Ayton has worked in technology for 35 years with a background in Computer Science, Product Development, Sales and Restructuring. He was involved in 8 tech starts and used to be a corporate citizen holding senior roles in some of the largest IT Services, BPO and Tech companies over a career spanning more than 30 years. screenshot of website 21million.com He is a Writer, Speaker and Lecturer about Blockchain and ranks in some lists as one of the most influential Blockchain experts on a global scale. He was named as a Fintech 100 Influencer for 2017 and number 21 at the rise blockchain Top 100. He has chaired various Blockchain events and has been a keynote speaker to various events. He has also runned sessions for boards and hosted Blockchain Hackathons. He advises a range of clients and sits on advisory boards of several Blockchain start ups supporting the founders. Nick Clayton Nick Ayton is currently writing a book entitled “Blockchain Design and Implementation Strategies” due to be published in 2017. Nick has published a range of White Papers and articles and is London’s correspondent for CoinTelegraph. Some of his articles include: Myths about Blockchain, 50 Shades of Blockchain, Ignoring Blockchain is Corporate Suicide, Blockchain Returns Trust, Blockchain will Change Asset Management as we know it. White Papers include Global Custody Asset Management, Insurance Claims and Marine Insurance on the Blockchain. His most recent project 21 million , will launch an ICO 12th June 2017. 21 million aims to make a crypto-funded blockchain indy tv series about the Bitcoin Revolution, an asset backed Token and a new Media and Film Production business on Ethereum. With 21 million, Nick is experimenting with a new film finance model, using cryptocurrencies, where all staff are treated the same regardless of gender, creed, and beliefs. Everyone who joins the team will earn more than on any other comparable production because they will be paid not only a fair daily rate, but bonus 21 Million coins too. This approach also means that the crew is guaranteed to receive the same crypto value independently of where they live. Also, all 21M Coin holders receive royalties from income at exactly the same time. There will be no such thing as “first position”. 21M Coin represents a contractual right to receive a royalty derived from the sale of 21Million content – the TV series. Early investors buying 21MCoin during the ICO will be entitled to receive royalties in perpetuity for Season 1 and follow on seasons. If you would like to know more about the project and read its white paper, please check the < href=”https://www.21million.co.uk/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>website 21 million. Dinis Guarda, the CEO of humaniq, had the pleasure of interviewing Nick Ayton, for the series Humaniq Faces, a Youtube video series with thought leaders who change the world. Article powered by Humaniq Launched in 2016, Humaniq aims to provide mobile finance to the 2 billion unbanked population through its mobile app for good, that uses biometric authentication to replace traditional methods of ID and security. Humaniq’s open source stack and API will be available for startups and other businesses to build services on its core technology, making it easy to adapt their service and plug it into Humaniq’s network to reach a huge, untapped audience. Dinis Guarda is an author, speaker, serial entrepreneur, advisor and experienced CEO. He creates and helps build ventures focused on global growth, 360 digital strategies, sustainable innovation, Blockchain, Fintech, AI and new emerging business models such as ICOs / tokenomics. Dinis is the founder/CEO of ztudium that manages blocksdna / lifesdna. These products and platforms offer multiple AI P2P, fintech, blockchain, search engine and PaaS solutions in consumer wellness healthcare and life style with a global team of experts and universities. He is the founder of coinsdna a new swiss regulated, Swiss based, institutional grade token and cryptocurrencies blockchain exchange. He is founder of DragonBloc a blockchain, AI, Fintech fund and co-founder of Freedomee project. Dinis has created various companies namely Ztudium, a tech, digital and AI blockchain startup that builds cutting edge software, big data insights, publishes intelligenthq.com, hedgethink.com, tokensdna.com and tradersdna.com among others. Dinis is the author of various books. His upcoming books “How Businesses and Governments can Prosper with Fintech, Blockchain and AI?”, also the bigger case study and book (400 pages) “Blockchain, AI and Crypto Economics – The Next Tsunami?” last the “Tokenomics and ICOs – How to be good at the new digital world of finance / Crypto” will be launched in 2018. Some of the companies Dinis created or has been involved have reached over 1 USD billions in valuation. Dinis has advised and was responsible for some top financial organisations, 100 cryptocurrencies worldwide and Fortune 500 companies. Dinis is involved as a strategist, board member and advisor with the payments, lifestyle, blockchain reward community app Glance technologies, for whom he built the blockchain messaging / payment / loyalty software Blockimpact, the seminal Hyperloop Transportations project, Kora, and blockchain cybersecurity Privus. He is listed in various global fintech, blockchain, AI, social media industry top lists as an influencer in position top 10/20 within 100 rankings: such as Top People In Blockchain \| Cointelegraph https://top.cointelegraph.com/ and https://cryptoweekly.co/100/ . He has been a lecturer at Copenhagen Business School, Groupe INSEEC/Monaco University and other leading world universities. He is a shareholder of the fintech social money transfer app Moneymailme and math edutech gamification children’s app Gozoa. Between 2014 and 2015 he was involved in creating a fabbanking.com a digital bank between Asia and Africa as Chief Commercial Officer and Marketing Officer responsible for all legal, tech and business development. Between 2009 and 2010 he was the founder of one of the world first fintech, social trading platforms tradingfloor.com for Saxo Bank. In 2011 he created the B2B platforms socialmediacouncil.org and openbusinesscouncil.org with Jamie Burke. Nick Ayton Global Green Finance Index: Charting The Progress Of The Worlds Green Finance Centres How Can Emerging Economies Benefit From Blockchain Plus AI? A Case Study Part 3 Credit Score Improvement – Find Out If You Should Utilize a... Fitbit Fitness: Working Out Life Insurance How to become a CEO Part 1 Leadership 28/12/2013 Investing with Purpose The Significance of Choosing a Trustworthy Training Provider Infographic: Social Media’s Professional Rise Why SEO is Important for Businesses Guide To Corporate Social Responsibility-Part 1 Humaniq Announces Public Token Sale to Power its Ethereum-Based Banking App... Interview With Kumar Gaurav , Founder of Fin-Tech Company CASHAA	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647357
__label__cc	0.728703	0.271297	The 30 best things to do with your kids in Wiltshire Keeping the kids entertained throughout the year can often be a cumbersome task. So to help parents here is a list of the 30 best things to do with kids in Wiltshire. Family adventure awaits you in Wiltshire, with safaris, parks and old castles waiting to explored. Ranging from fun thrills to interesting museum visits, children have a wealth of entertainment available right on your doorstep. Whether you are visiting the county of Wiltshire, or grew up here InYourArea.co.uk have created a handy list full of the best things to do with kids in your area. With so much on offer it's time to get started and tick them off your list one by one! But if you think there's something miss from the list of organised activities we'll be happy to add it below. Just email us on info@inyourarea.co.uk or comment below! Best outdoor activities for your kids in Wiltshire Longleat Safari and Adventure Park Where: Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 7NW Feed the lorikeets, drive through Tiger Territory, Lion Country, Wolf Wood and meet Anne the Elephant - so much awaits you at Longleat. This safari adventure is the perfect place for families, with plenty of animals left to roam the safari's landscape. When you aren't driving through the safari, meeting farm animals or walking through monkey enclosures children will be able to enjoy the outdoor play area, brave the cave to meet fruit bats and explore Longleat's estate. As part of the estate you will find a medieval kitchen, exhibitions and galleries as well as beautiful formal gardens to explore. Tickets booked online in advance come at a discount with options of one day or two day entry and a separate house and gardens tickets available. Website: longleat.co.uk/ Where: Amesbury, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 7DE Walk in the footsteps of your Neolithic ancestors at Stonehenge - listed as one of the wonders of the world, this should be part of your activity plans. Families will be able to explore the ancient landscape and marvel and sketches that depict what Stonehenge once was. History buffs will also be able to explore the exhibition part of the historical site, which has more than 250 ancient objects and a 5,500 year-old man! The site also offers hands on experiences both indoors and outdoors for children. Entry to Stonehenge is based on prices with and without gift aid, with all bookings made in advance given a discount. Family packages are also available to purchase. Website: english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge Jungle Parc Where: Lydiard Tregoze, Swindon, Wiltshire SN5 3PA Swing through the trees at this family friendly treetop adventure, it's a thrilling way to get off the coach and taking on a new challenge. This outdoor park has two types of course, one for young adventurers and the other a more adrenaline packed experience for older children and adults. Each have difficult and easy directions, with more than 50 different activities offered, from Tarzan swings, a flying trapeze, Rocket Launchers, Cargo Nets, Tunnel Slides and more. Price is set for adults and children per session, so you can choose to book more than one, back to back, for extra time roving the trees. Website: jungleparc.co.uk/Lydiard-Park,-Swindon Old Wardour Castle Where: Tisbury, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6RR Built in the 14th century, this castle is a sight to behold, with plenty for children to explore and learn about. Families can explore the grotto and the castle rooms, see the East Tower and the former Great Parlour or climb the circular stairs to treat themselves to views of the lake and countryside. With a range of events also hosted throughout the year, children can immerse themselves in a little bit of history in Wiltshire. Admission has two prices, one with gift aid and one without, with annual members allowed free entry. Website: english-heritage.org.uk/old-wardour-castle/ Kids Combat Adventures Where: Scotland Hill, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 5HB Run wild in the forest as you play your own live version of Call of Duty with lasers! This outdoor adventure is perfect for children that love the thrill and excitement of competition, so get ready to give it your all on the battlefield. This laser activity welcomes both younger and older groups, with children as young as nine able to get stuck in. Prices vary depending on which package you choose, with a range of deals offered kids. This activity is not suitable for adults, focusing on providing entertainment for children. Website: jcompany.co.uk/ Lydiard Park Wander through this beautiful and historic estate, with 260 acres to explore you children can run wild. Families can explore the outdoors, including the walled garden or seek shelter inside the stately home which has been standing since the 17th Century. Entry to the grounds of Lydiard Park is free, however admission is charged for the House and Walled Garden. Website: lydiardpark.org.uk/ The Salisbury Mystery Treasure Trail Where: High Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 2PB Can you find catch a killer in this fun murder mystery style adventure? This is the perfect test for families to see if they would hack it as a detective - uncovering clues, and decoding puzzles - do you have the right skills? Trails can be done at your own pace with children as young as six able to participate, it's the perfect way to explore parts of Salisbury they haven't really noticed before. The booklets are a set price, with one booklet enough for four to five people. There are other mysteries spread across Wiltshire, if you fancy taking on a trail closer to home. Website: treasuretrails.co.uk/wiltshire/salisbury Avebury Stone Circle Where: Avebury, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1RF Discover a wealth of history at this country side location, with plenty of land waiting to be explored. Families can pack a picnic and make the day of it, wandering through the former Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial site. The views may just take your breath away. Admission is free, so it won't cost families a penny to enjoy the landscape and discover a piece of Wiltshire's history. Website: english-heritage.org.uk/avebury/ Bowood House and Gardens Where: Old Road, Derry Hill, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 0LZ Get ready for a day full of fun, with plenty of gardens, an outdoor adventure play area, an adorable farm and the perfect all weather venue, a soft play centre. Bowood has a lot to offer families across its 2,000 acres - the woodlands and gardens are just part of the story, so prepare your children for a day of adventures. Watch as your child climbs, slides and swings in both the indoor and outdoor play areas or take them for a wander through the farm and come face to face with lambs, horses and more. Tickets depend on whether you wish to visit the woodland gardens or Bowood House and the gardens. Season passes and one day entry are both available. Website: bowood.org/bowood-house-gardens/ Roves Farm Visitor Centre Where: Sevenhampton, Swindon, Wiltshire SN6 7QG Ride on tractors, meet and feed animals and have fun in the outdoor playground - it's all possible at Roves Farm. Families can spend their time outdoors building dens, walking through to see the animals in the paddocks. Get ready to see pigs, cows, donkeys, goats and chickens among others. To ensure this venue is the place to be all year round, it also has a range of activities for families indoors, with indoor paddocks and a soft play area that are in use during colder, wet weather. Tickets bought online before the visit come at a discount, with peak and off peak prices in operation. Website: rovesfarm.co.uk/ Swindon and Cricklade Steam Railway Where: Blunsdon Station, Tadpole Lane, Blundson, Swindon, Wiltshire SN25 2DA Choo choo - treat your child to a round trip on old fashioned steam or diesel train along this heritage rail line. Watch out the window as the scenery passes you by, or play a game of eye spy - the choice is yours. If taking a train trip isn't what you are after, you can also visit the Wartime and Railway Museums part of the attraction. Website: swindon-cricklade-railway.org/ Old Sarum Castle Where: Castle Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3SD Rediscover a sliver of history at the Iron Age Hillfort of Old Sarum in Salisbury. Play pretend as Kings and Queens as you make your way through the estate and castle originally built around 1070 by William the Conqueror. The castle also hosts a range of events throughout the year, offering families plenty to do. There are two prices, one with gift aid and one without, with prices split depending on age. Website: english-heritage.org.uk/old-sarum/ Hope Nature Centre Where: Frome Road, Southwick, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 9QD Alpacas, donkeys, chickens, goats, ponies and sheep are grazing at the fields in Hope Nature Centre waiting to meet you and your family. With all the adorable animals spread across the farm, you won't be bored - but if you do there are plenty of outdoor play areas to let loose on as well. Play until you can't play anymore, it's one way to burn off that excitable energy so strong in children. Admission is based on age, with family packages also available. Where: hopenaturecentre.org.uk/ Stourhead Where: Stourton, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 6QF Climb to new heights at Stourhead with this fun adrenalin filled adventure of climbing a giant tree, you won't believe the rush! But if you are looking for a calmer day you can also choose to wander through the expansive gardens and landscapes of Stourhead. The historical site also hosts a range of activities for families. There are two payment options, one includes gift aid and the other doesn't. You can also get family packages. Website: nationaltrust.org.uk/stourhead Cholderton Charlies Farm Where: Rare Breeds Farm, Amesbury Road, Cholderton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 0EW Alpacas, pigs, sheep, donkeys, peacocks and ducks are all waiting for you at Cholderton Charlies Farm, as well as plenty of rare breed animals. Get ready for a warm welcome from a range of furry animals, and welcoming staff - you can even walk alpacas! Children will also be able to let loose in the indoor and outdoor play areas, burning off some of their extra energy! Admission is priced for children and adults, with advanced booking receiving a discount. Website: choldertoncharliesfarm.com/ Farmtastic Animal Farm Where: Lidats Meadows Farm, Grittenham, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 4JW More than 100 animals are waiting for you at this delightful farm, from alpacas to parrots, pigs, goats and donkeys to name a few! Families can enjoy close encounters with a range of furry and adorable animals, with guests also allowed to feed some of the animals. The farm organises alpaca walking for those who book in advance, and trailer rides, an outdoor children's play area and kite flying to keep your children entertained throughout the day. Admission is based on age, with family packages also available. Alpaca walks are priced separately. Website: farmtasticanimalfarm.co.uk/ Best indoor activities for your kids in Wiltshire Rockstar Climbing Where: The IO Centre, Hobley Drive, Swindon, Wiltshire SN3 4NS Challenge yourself to a climbing adventure that will test and thrill you! Whether you are hoping to get your kids more active, or fancy trying something new this is a great way get your children doing something out of the box. The indoor climbing wall is perfect for bouldering and climbing newbies as well as professional mountain monkeys. The venue also runs specialist sessions for children between the ages of five and seven. Prices depend on whether you visit peak or off peak, there are also reduced prices for lifetime members and monthly options available. Website: rockstarclimbing.co.uk/ Oasis Leisure Centre Where: North Star Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 1EP Make a splash at this fun indoor pool, complete with thrill slides and flumes for the whole family to enjoy. Expect to find a lagoon, open topped water slide, water canon, wave machine and a triple hydro slide all under one roof! It's the perfect all weather activity. The venue also has plenty of space for indoor sports, so when you grow tired of swimming, give a game of badminton, basketball, football, squash or table tennis a go. Memberships can be bought for this venue, with both member and non-member prices advertised. The venue does not accept cash, so book online prior to your visit Website: better.org.uk/oasis-leisure-centre-swindon Wessex Raceway Indoor Karting Where: Grimsdyke Granaries, Blandford Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 5RL Zoom your way around a 700m indoor race track all year round, full of thrills and adrenalin, your family will be able to zip round bends and straight runs. You'll be able to reach speeds of 50mph, with specialist karts for younger children to enjoy, reaching speeds of 40mph. Children as young as eight can get involved, with specialist training sessions offered to ensure they remain safe on the track. The venue also offers a laser maze, see if you have the skill it takes to get out, or Virtual Warfare testing to see if you are battle ready. Prices depend on the length of drive, with a range of packages and offers available. Website: wessexraceway.co.uk/ Laserquest Where: Shaw Ridge Leisure Park, Whitehill Way, Swindon, Wiltshire SN5 7DN Blasters at the ready for this adrenalin packed day out! It's all about strategy, skill and making sure you come out on top, by beating your opponents with targeted laser beams! Laserquest has a purpose built arena with castle towers, turrets, ramps, mazes, swirling fog and state of the art sound and lighting effects - making it the ultimate experience. The venue even has a soft play centre, and live escape room for guests to enjoy. Players are charged per game, with unlimited play offered on during off peak timings and specialist sessions. The minimum age for players is six Website: lqswindon.co.uk/ STEAM - Museum of the GWR Where: Steam Museum, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 2EY Celebrate the engineering genius of the men and women who built, operated and travelled on the Great Western Railway. Families will be able to explore the Grade II listed building full of facts and figures about the locomotives that changed the way trains run to this day. There are plenty of displays waiting to teach train lovers something new! Admission is based on age, with a variety of family packages available. There are also season tickets available to purchase. Website: steam-museum.org.uk/ Kidz About Where: Spectrum Building, Mead Way, Swindon, Wiltshire SN5 7UT Adventure awaits in the form of drop-slides and spiral slides, a mini car track, a fun football pitch and a separate toddler area for your tiny ones. This is the perfect venue for children from birth to the age of 12, offering both indoor and outdoor fun when the weather perks up. The venue hosts a range of events throughout the year, offering plenty of fun for the whole family whenever you visit. Prices range depending on whether it is off peak or peak timings with Kidz Club members given a discount. Website: kidzabout.com/ Jesters Adventure Play Where: Redman Road, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 9PL Let your little ones loose across three levels of soft play fun, where kids can explore, play and make new friends. The venue has a shower and volcano in the ball zone, with kids able to play football or basket ball, face the obstacle courses. Babies are also catered for, with soft play mats for rolling and toys for early development. Prices range according to peak and off peak prices. This venue is suitable for children under the age of 12 Website: jestersadventureplay.co.uk/ Athelstan Museum Where: Town Hall, Cross Hayes, Malmesbury, Wiltshire SN16 9BZ Budding historians can follow the time line linking the town of Malmesbury to the rest of the world. Families will discover an interactive model of the Malmesbury Abbey in the fourteenth century - you can dismantle and assemble it. The displays are rotated on a regular basis to keep guests coming back for more. Entry to this museum is free. Website: athelstanmuseum.org.uk/ Jolly Roger Adventure Where: Greenbridge Road, Swindon, Wiltshire SN3 3JE Bouncy castles, arcade games and a full soft play centre complete with slides, climbing frames and obstacles. There is plenty of adventure to be had at this location, it also happens to be the largest indoor play centre in Swindon - so you won't run out of fun things to do. The venue hosts a range of events, with parrots kept on site who offer their own little form of entertainment to families. Prices vary depending on the age of your child, with adults allowed free entry. Website: jollyrogerplay.com/ Swindon Karting Arena Where: Hangar C2 Wroughton Airfield, Wiltshire SN4 0QJ Drive your way through a thrilling race track and zoom your way around in either a go kart or a bike! This venue offers families something a little different with the two offerings, meaning there is plenty of adventure to be had. Prices are set per person and varies depending on duration. The minimum age for Go Karts is eight years and the minimum age for Bikes is 14 years Website: swindonkarting.co.uk/ Trowbridge Museum Where: The Shires, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8AT Discover 1000 years of the Trowbridge's history showcasing exhibits from a range of areas including art, poetry, photography, the Armed Forces and the growth of the cloth industry. The museums hosts a range of family-friendly activities as well as offering family friendly spaces and interactive fun. Entry into the museum is free, with most events hosted also free to get involved with. Website: trowbridgemuseum.co.uk/ Boomerang Play Centre Where: Merlin Way, Bowerhill, Melksham, Wiltshire SN12 6TJ Get lost in an indoor adventure like no other, with ball pits and rope bridges spread across three floors of fantastic play frames. Want even more excitement, Boomerang also has a trampoline centre allowing your children to jump for hours! Or perhaps see who can stay standing in a game of gladiators. You'll be happy to know that an upper age limit doesn't apply to the trampolining area, which means even big kids can have a blast Prices vary throughout the year, with special discount sessions also available. The play area is suitable for children aged 11 and under. Website: boomerangplay.co.uk/ Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum Where: Calne, Wiltshire SN11 0NF Marvel at more than 100 vehicles from the 1920s onwards, from cars to motorcycles, mopeds, small aeroplanes and bicycles. There is plenty for families with a love for vintage and modern cars, with plenty of memorabilia to accompany the vast range of vehicles. It's not just full sized cars you'll come face to face with, there are also a range of model vehicles which children will love. Admission is priced differently for adults and children. Website: atwellwilson.org.uk/index.html Museum of Computing Where: Theatre Square, Swindon SN1 1QN Discover how computers were introduced to the world, and watch as the machines slowly get smaller and smaller until they become what you recognise today. Your children won't believe the computers that were used long before they were born. A range of events are held at the museum for families, including LEGO games, Mario racing and more fun things your children will recognise and appreciate. Admission prices vary depending on age, with family packages also available. Website: museumofcomputing.org.uk/ Find more things to do in your area by using our events finder below	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647363
__label__cc	0.626937	0.373063	KAWASAKI RACING TEAM Jonathan Rea Leon Haslam Puccetti Racing Team MOTOPORT KAWASAKI Satellite Teams Private Teams ROUND & RESULTS WBSK OFFICIAL WEBSITE The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team. Newsletter kawasaki Fill in the following fields to subscribe to Kawasaki Newsletter. By submitting your data, you agree with the Kawasaki's privacy policy and confirm you have read and accepted it. * I confirm that I have read the privacy policy 7 Červenec 2019 Kalinin Takes Podium Finish In Dramatic WorldSSP300 Race Few of the championship challengers in WorldSSP300 found any good fortunate on race day at Donington Park but Ukrainian rider Nick Kalinin (Nutec – RT Motorsports by SKM) ensured Kawasaki’s 100% podium finish in 2019 would continue, taking third place in a busy 13-lap race. Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGo Team) was ruled out by injury after falling in the wet qualifying session on Saturday, dislocating his shoulder, and being declared unfit to compete. Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec) qualified 15th but then fell from contention in the first lap of the race, restarting to finish 19th from absolutely last place. Scott Deroue (Kawasaki Motoport), in third place overall entering Donington, was unlucky to fall at a key time in his wet qualifying session. He was then was taken out by another rider in the last chance qualifying race and did not earn a grid position. Despite all the issues for Kawasaki’s front-runners their main rivals only made up a little ground today, which leaves Gonzalez out front still on 108 points, Carrasco and Deroue second and third respectively - even thought they each have 65 points. Bizarrely, three riders have 65 points after Donington, as podium man Andy Verdoia joined Ana and Scott on that points total today. Kalinin’s podium was an impressive result in what was a difficult dry-wet-dry weekend in England, and his third place lifted him up to 11th in the overall championship standings. Despite missing some of the season through injury Dion Otten (MTM Racing Team Kawasaki) had a superb sixth place today, the best result of his rookie season. Oliver König (ACCR Czech Talent team Kawasaki) was seventh, placing three Kawasakis inside the top seven places. Only 1.969 seconds separated König from the race winner Kevin Sabatucci. In all, nine Kawasaki riders scored points at the UK round. After six races of the season have been completed there will now be a long summer break. The championship restarts at Portimao in Portugal, with raceday on Sunday 8 September. Nick Kalinin, stated: “I did not expect to finish on the podium even if I was dreaming of it while relaxing before the race. It was a great race for me, for other guys maybe not because there were so many crashes. I was confident and pulling away, pulling away, taking riders one by one and now I am here on the podium. It is good to be here after a long gap since my last top three finish and I hope you will see me on the podium one or two more times this year.” Ana Carrasco, stated: “I am a little disappointed with today's race because I honestly believe that I could have fought for the victory. I made a good start and I had advanced enough positions, but a rider fell in front of me on the straight and I was left well behind the leading group. I tried to come back quickly but before finishing the first lap another rider hit me at turn 11 and I fell. I'm a bit sad because it was a good opportunity to catch up to the championship leader and to have gone to the summer break much closer in the points. I will work very hard this summer to try to keep my opportunity for the title open until the very last race.” Manuel Gonzalez, stated: “I am perfectly OK. On Saturday the qualifying was held in the wet. When I was in third position in my group I had a fall and I have dislocated my shoulder. I feel good, without pain, but now I'm just annoyed, because I wanted to run in the race but they do not give me the OK. Thanks very much to my ParkinGO Team for always thinking of me in everything, and thanks to all those who are calling and asking about me. I'm fine, I just wanted to race!” Scott Deroue, stated: “Friday was good. I had the speed and we had made a step since Misano. On Saturday it was wet and the circuit was very slippery, but I had a good feeling in the rain. In Misano I had waited too long during Superpole and I wanted to attack more here. I was in sixth place in qualifying and had not had a ‘moment’ when I suddenly lost my bike in a place where I didn't expect to. Then you are suddenly in the Last Chance Race. I tried to save my tyres and control the race. It was going very well until a rider behind me crashed and involved me into his crash. Then the dream was suddenly over and you're on the sidelines on Sunday, unable to race.” #NinjaSpirit	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647368
__label__cc	0.565978	0.434022	In addition to hosting the students Saturday, Lexmark is paying travel expenses to the international fair for the six state winners. "Lexmark is a technology company, so we're very interested in promoting, being a strong supporter of, a cheerleader of, science, technology, engineering and math education," said Lexmark CEO Paul Rooke. "There's no better thing than a science fair to be able to recognize these young men and women." Rooke said it's also important to provide "a support system" for students interested in going into science and technology careers. "It's not an easy path," he said. "These are tough subjects." The eight students who attended Saturday's event were dressed as professionally as if they were interviewing for a job and presented projects with names such as "Optimization of Carbon Nanotube-based CFx Primary Battery Performance: Role of Fluorination." "It's a great thing to be able to meet with people that are already established in their fields," said Trevor Krolak, a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, who said he is interested in studying computational neurosciences. Krolak said he began working on his project, "Analysis of Changes Regarding Insulin Signaling in Response to High Fat Diet and Aging," in January of his junior year. He said he has spent 400 to 450 hours on the project and is "very excited" to be attending the international fair. "I had no idea that I would make it this far," he said. Petra Ronald, a senior at Dunbar, said she appreciated the opportunity to get feedback from unbiased listeners about her project, which examined how television viewing habits affect gender stereotypes and sexual harassment. "I really needed to practice for Intel. I really want to be successful," she said. "In science fair, the judges don't tell you what you need to do." Ronald, who said she plans to attend Duke University and is considering a career in law, asked the Lexmark employees how important they considered the handshake in making a first impression. "Don't worry about that unless you run for president," replied Lexmark engineer Jim Booth. "And one of you probably will." Anne Kjelby, Craig Bertelsen and Gustavo Ocasio (L to R) compared notes and provided suggestions on Trevor Krolak's presentation on analysis of changes regarding insulin signaling in response to high fat diet and aging as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Richard Gunasena, age 14, talked about his science fair presentation with Craig Bertelsen, manager of research and development at Lexmark. State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Jim Booth, Anne Kjebly and Craig Bertelsen (L to R) compared notes on the presentation of 14-year-old Richard Gunasena as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Jim Booth, Anne Kjebly and Craig Bertelsen (L to R) listened to a presentation on the role of flourination in optimization of carbon nanotube-based CFx battery performance by 14-year-old Richard Gunasena as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Richard Gunasena presented his experiment on the role of flourination in optimization of carbon nanotube-based CFx battery performance to Craig Bertelsen, Anne Kjebly and Jim Booth (L to R) as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Lexmark hardware engineer Gustavo Ocasio talked with Trevor Krolak about his presentation on analysis of changes regarding insulin signaling in response to high fat diet and aging as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Anne Kjelby, Craig Bertelsen and Gustavo Ocasio (L to R) listened to Trevor Krolak's presentation on analysis of changes regarding insulin signaling in response to high fat diet and aging as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Gustavo Ocasio, Craig Bertelsen and Anne Kjelby (L to R) listened to Trevor Krolak's presentation on analysis of changes regarding insulin signaling in response to high fat diet and aging as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Anne Kjelby, Craig Bertelsen (not visible) and Gustavo Ocasio (L to R) listened to Trevor Krolak's presentation on analysis of changes regarding insulin signaling in response to high fat diet and aging as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Gustavo Ocasio, Craig Bertelsen and Heather Gulley-Stahl (L to R)listen to a presentation on the effects of the media on gender stereotypes and the furthering of sexual harassment by Petra Ronald as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Petra Ronald presented her findings on the effects of the media on gender stereotypes and the furthering of sexual harassment as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Petra Ronald presented her findings on the effects of the media on gender stereotypes and the furthering of sexual harassment to Heather Gulley-Stahl, Craig Bertelsen and Gustavo Ocasio (L to R) as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Petra Ronald (at far end of table) as how employees stayed connected in a company as large as Lexmark as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Jim Booth, a Lexmark engineer in electrophotograph print technology, answered a question about learning languages by telling about his experience redesigning a typewriter to type in Farsi, where text is written from right to left, as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Monica McFadden asked a question of Lexmark employees during a question and answer period as State science fair winners met Lexmark employees to get pointers on their project presentations at the old Northside library in Lexington on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Photo by Mark Ashley Herald-Leader Kentucky farm’s organic hemp wanted by global outdoor company O.Z. Tyler Distillery begins cleanup after rickhouse collapse By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press Cambodia says almost seven dozen shipping containers sitting in a Cambodian seaport that were found to be filled with plastic waste came from the United States and Canada.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647372
__label__wiki	0.576437	0.576437	Atif Khawaja Partner Litigation atif.khawaja@kirkland.com New York +1 212-446-4749 Trade Secrets Litigation Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Atif Khawaja has broad experience litigating high-stakes disputes across a variety of industries. He has successfully tried matters before courts and arbitration panels across the country, involving claims of antitrust, breach of contract and fiduciary duty, fraud, misrepresentation, patent infringement, trade secret theft, unfair competition, and other complex matters. He has an active international practice and regularly represents global and U.S.-based Fortune 100 companies as well as prominent financial institutions and privately-held companies facing major U.S. litigation. The New York Law Journal named Atif one of the top 42 New York City attorneys under the age of 40. Atif was named one of the top eleven attorneys nationwide under 40 by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and one of five national “Rising Stars” in intellectual property by Law360. Atif co-chairs Kirkland’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and sits on its Recruiting and Associate and Partner Review committees. He oversees the pro bono program for Kirkland’s New York office. Representative Commercial Litigation Matters For Welspun, the world’s largest textile maker, leading the defense of multiple consumer class actions alleging misrepresentations to millions of consumers regarding cotton products sold by major U.S. retailers. For United Airlines, leading the defense of a lawsuit brought by Expedia, Inc. related to the imminent expiration of Expedia’s contract to sell United airfares. Defeated preliminary injunction request aimed at forcing United to extend the duration of Expedia’s access to United flights. For Compass, the nation’s largest independent real estate brokerage, leading the defense of a lawsuit brought by an individual claiming to be a Compass founder and seeking $200M+ in founders’ equity. For Sun Pharmaceuticals, defending $10B antitrust suit alleging fraud on the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in connection with several drug applications. For Henkel KGaA, argued and won summary judgment defeating over $1B of claimed tortious interference and breach of contract damages arising out of purported deal related to refinery cleaning technology. The court held definitively that no deal was ever reached, foreclosing all claims. For Morgan Stanley Resorts, defeated $350M+ contract claims brought by Hilton surrounding the iconic Grand Wailea, Biltmore, LaQuinta, Doral, and Claremont Resorts. After five-day trial, the court rejected Hilton’s claims. For IMG, defeated $300M+ mass action fraud and consumer misrepresentation claim related to unsuccessful real estate venture. Won summary judgment disposing of plaintiff’s claims. For Dow, defended and successfully resolved claim to compel its $15B acquisition of Rohm & Haas in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. On the first day of trial, Dow renegotiated acquisition with major price reduction. For New Silk Route, the largest Indian private equity fund, defended and successfully resolved claims brought by a disgruntled investor and a parallel SEC investigation. Also defeated preliminary injunction brought by ex-board member Rajat Gupta and secured dismissal of his claim. For directors of the United States Soccer Federation, defeated claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the Federation’s denial of Division II sanction to the North American Soccer League. All claims dismissed. For IBM, defended and successfully resolved $100M+ suit filed by a disgruntled customer alleging that IBM fraudulently induced it into an enterprise resource planning system contract and then breached that contract. Plaintiff dropped claim while dismissal pending. For Hess, defended and successfully resolved $6B claim brought by the US Virgin Islands arising from closure of the world’s largest oil refinery. For United Airlines, defeated fiduciary duty and tortious interference claims litigation surrounding an investment in Avianca Airlines. Successfully defeated two separate attempts to enjoin the proposed investment, after which plaintiff voluntarily dismissed its claims. For Teva, defended and successfully resolved product liability suit involving its quinine drug. Matter settled favorably while Louisiana Supreme Court was deciding interlocutory appeal of summary judgment decision. For Morgan Stanley, defeated and successfully resolved multiple investor arbitration and regulatory claims alleging improper broker dealer practices. For IBM, advised on multiple claims asserted by customers surrounding allegedly inadequate software implementations. For Expedia, successfully defended various state and federal regulatory investigations. No claims filed against Expedia. Representative Intellectual Property Litigation Matters For Honeywell, successfully sued competitors on aviation patent portfolio related to FAA safety mandate. Won jury trial of infringement. Won bench trial defeating claims of unfair competition and patent invalidity. For Hotels.com, defeated infringement suit related to location searching patents. Secured successful claim construction, summary judgment of license and non-infringement and successfully dismissed plaintiff appeal. For Compass, defeated or successfully resolved multiple competitors’ suits alleging trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition in effort to stifle Compass’s growth. Defeated preliminary injunction motions in three separate suits. For Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund, successfully sued and blocked ex-employees from pursuing competing investment vehicle venture. For Honeywell, successfully sued ex-employee and ex-customer who collaborated to launch competing security product. Matter resolved favorably while summary judgment motion to dispose of all defenses was pending. For Autoliv, defeated inventorship challenge brought by competitor directed at 20 key airbag patents. Won at arbitration. For Honeywell, successfully sued competitor for infringing navigation sensor patent. Defendant exited market after preliminary injunction motion was filed. For Travelocity, defended infringement claims related to location searching and mapping patents. Matter settled favorably after the filing of an early summary judgment motion. For Cigna, defended and successfully resolved multiple patent infringement suits, directed at core business. Matters settled after discovery established patent exhaustion, license and prior use defenses. For Pfizer, defended breach of contract claim arising out of patent license. Matter resolved after pursuing validity challenge of underlying patent. “Discovery Process, Costs Can Confuse Foreign Companies Caught in U.S. Litigation,” Bloomberg BNA, March 12, 2019 “Can Your Overseas Company Be Taken to U.S. Court?” Bloomberg BNA, March 4, 2019 “Supreme Court's Decision in 'BMS' Presents New Hurdles to Forum Shoppers,” New York Law Journal, December 18, 2017 “An Ounce of Prevention: Accidental Destruction of ESI Is Serious Business,” New York Law Journal, February 17, 2017 Director, The Legal Aid Society, 2018–present Named a “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal, 2016 Named a “Rising Star” by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, 2017 Named one of five “Rising Stars” in Intellectual Property, Law360, 2017 Steering Committee, The American Lawyer New Partner Forum Recipient, Multicultural Leadership Award, National Diversity Council, 2014 Fellow, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, 2015 Recipient, Kirkland & Ellis Pro Bono Service Award, 2006–19 2003New York United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York United States District Court for the Southern District of New York United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Boston University School of LawJ.D.magna cum laude2002 Boston University Law Review, Topic & Book Review Editor University of VirginiaB.A., Biology & Religious Studies1999 24 May 2019 Article Kirkland Teaches Associates Deposition Skills Through Practice, Preparation 12 March 2019 Article Discovery Process, Costs Can Confuse Foreign Companies Caught in U.S. Litigation 04 March 2019 Article Can Your Overseas Company Be Taken to U.S. Court? 18 December 2017 Article Supreme Court's Decision in 'BMS' Presents New Hurdles to Forum Shoppers 17 July 2017 In the News 2017 Rising Star: Atif Khawaja	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647377
__label__wiki	0.597258	0.597258	Home/ People/ Peter J. Barrett Peter J. Barrett Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors' Rights Richmond P: 804.343.5237 F: 804.783.6192 peter.barrett@kutakrock.com Peter represents unsecured and secured creditors, trustees, lessors, equity holders and corporate debtors in insolvency matters, including Chapter 11 reorganizations, business liquidations and loan workouts. J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, Managing Editor, Virginia Journal of International Law B.A., University of Virginia U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia U.S. District Court for the Central District of California U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Turnaround Management Association State Bar of California Richmond Bankruptcy Bar Business, Corporate and Securities More About Peter + Peter also represents clients in connection with acquisition of distressed assets and insolvency-related litigation. Based in the Richmond, Virginia office of Kutak Rock, Peter regularly appears in bankruptcy courts across the country to represent the interests of firm clients. Peter also serves as a member of the panel of Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. "Understanding Recent Trends and Changes Impacting Bankruptcy Clients and Attorneys,” Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring 2013 – Top Lawyers on Trends and Key Strategies for the Upcoming Year, 2013 (author) “Key Cases in Chapter 11 and Chapter 5 Litigation Matters,” Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring 2012 – Top Lawyers on Trends and Key Strategies for the Upcoming Year, 2012 (author) "The Impact of Recent Legislative Changes and Judicial Decisions on Creditors’ Rights,” Inside the Minds: Creditors’ Rights in Chapter 11 Cases, 2011 (author) “Recent Developments, Bankruptcy Law News,” Virginia State Bar Bankruptcy Section, 2003-2004 (editor) “Chapter 11 Financing: Roll-Ups, Roll-Overs and Creeping Roll-Overs,” American Bankruptcy Institute’s Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop, 2019 (panelist) “Retail Wind-Downs,” 33rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Institute on Bankruptcy and Reorganization Practice, 2018 (panelist and co-author) “Essentials of Bankruptcy Law,” Virginia Continuing Legal Education’s Essentials Seminar, 2017 (panelist) “Hot Topics in Bankruptcy,” 32nd Annual Mid-Atlantic Institute on Bankruptcy and Reorganization Practice, 2017 (panelist and co-author) “Claims Allowance and Objections,” Virginia Continuing Legal Education’s Annual Bankruptcy Practice Seminar, 2017 (panelist and co-author) “GM Successor Liability Appeal,” American Bankruptcy Institute Asset Sales Committee Call, 2016 (moderator) “Bankruptcy Litigation,” Virginia CLE: Everything a Bankruptcy Attorney Should Know Seminar, 2015 (panelist and co-author) “Recent Developments – Case Law Updates,” 22nd Annual Hal J. Bonney, Jr. Seminar on Bankruptcy Law and Practice, 2014 (panelist and co-author) “The Basics of Bankruptcy Law,” Virginia CLE: How-To Seminar, 2014 (panelist) “Recent Developments in Bankruptcy,” Northern Virginia Bankruptcy Bar Association Annual Meeting, 2013 (panelist and co-author) “Recent Developments in Virginia Bankruptcy Law,” Virginia Bar Association’s 16th Annual Bankruptcy Law Conference, 2013 (panelist and co-author) “Asset Sales Under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code,” 41st Annual Barbara A. Everly Advanced Procedures Bankruptcy Seminar, 2011 (panelist) “The Basics of Bankruptcy Law,” Virginia Continuing Legal Education’s How-To Seminar, 2011 (panelist) “Recent Developments in Bankruptcy,” Virginia Bar Association’s 13th Annual Bankruptcy Law Conference, 2010 (panelist and co-author) “A Sign of the Times: How to Handle a Failed Construction Project,” 30th Annual Construction and Public Contracts Law Seminar, 2009 (panelist) “Recent Developments,” 24th Annual Mid-Atlantic Institute on Bankruptcy and Reorganization Practice, 2009 (panelist and co-author) “Buying Distressed / Bankrupt Retail Companies,” Distressed Retail and Shopping Center Real Estate Symposium, 2008 (moderator) Experience + Represented the ad hoc committee of senior secured lenders and DIP lenders in the Chapter 11 cases of a coal processor and marketer and its affiliates. Represented a large, national clothing retailer in its successful chapter 11 reorganization. Represented an international electronics manufacturer in the successful resolution of a lawsuit seeking in excess of $250 million in damages. Represented the ad hoc committee of senior secured lenders and DIP lenders in the Chapter 11 cases of a large bowling center operator. Represented six affiliated debtors involved in oil and gas production and distribution in their Chapter 11 reorganizations (Turnaround Management Association – Transaction of the Year: Mid-Size Company). Represented a large Appalachian coal company and its 47 subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases (Turnaround Atlas Award for Special Situation M&A Deal of the Year). Represented the second largest North American home entertainment specialty retailer in its Chapter 11 cases. Represented a bidding consortium in connection the 363 sale of a national sports retailer. Served as chapter 11 trustee in the bankruptcy of a luxury condominium development. Represented fourteen affiliated debtors in chapter 7 bankruptcy cases following a pre-petition asset sale. Represented federally recognized Indian tribes in connection with bankruptcies involving oil, gas, coal, construction, manufacturing and gaming and in connection with loan workouts. Represented a number of creditors and parties in interest in disputes, including mediations and adversary proceedings, related to swap transactions in the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy cases. Represented the ad hoc committee of second lien lenders in the Chapter 11 cases of a coal and natural gas producer and its affiliates. Represented a group of affiliated technology companies in their Chapter 11 cases resulting in a successful, though contentious, sale under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Represented the owners of a large multi-state law firm in connection with the successful settlement of litigation in and out of bankruptcy court and the confirmation of a liquidating plan granting the owners blanket releases. Represented the Chapter 11 trustee in the successful sale of a fuel supplier and owner of a chain of convenience stores. Represented the successful purchaser, in a joint venture with a national liquidator, in a contested sale of a chain of golf retail stores through a sale under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Represented a publishing company, as a judgment creditor, in the Chapter 11 case of the judgment debtor which involved in a joint plan between our client and the debtor which ultimately resulted in our client assuming ownership of the debtor as a going concern. Represented the publicly traded holding company of a major bowling center operator in its Chapter 11 case. Represented the DIP and exit facility lenders in the Chapter 11 cases of a coal company. Represented the chair of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 cases of a large, national multifamily and low-income housing developer and property manager. Represented the successful purchaser of substantially all of the assets of a multi-state chain of sports retailers through a sale under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Represented a Canadian manufacturer in its Chapter 15 proceedings involving asbestos-related claims. Represented the petitioning creditor in one of the first involuntary Chapter 11 cases of an individual following the enactment of BAPCPA. Represented a secured lessor in a dispute with the majority owner of a renowned Los Angeles recording studio in a Chapter 11 liquidation. Regularly represent the senior secured lender or agent bank in Chapter 11 cases throughout the country in industries such as real estate, hospitality, retail, entertainment and manufacturing. Regularly represent creditors in the defense of preference and other insolvency-related litigation with significant claimed damages. Regularly represent bankruptcy trustees in asset analysis, asset recovery, claims analysis and litigation. Regularly represent national banks and large commercial lenders in the out-of-court restructuring of lending facilities ranging from as little as $1 million to more than $100 million. Regularly serve as chapter 7 trustee in consumer and business bankruptcy cases. News and Publications + {{tag.label}} Awards and Distinctions + The Best Lawyers in America	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647380
__label__cc	0.718798	0.281202	Timberland Investment Summit Testy and Sobering The 8th IQPC Timberland Investment World Summit in New York at the end of October was more pessimistic about the mid-term future for forest products and timberland prices than the two predecessors I’ve attended. Rosie Scenario did not show up. The most optimistic sense of the future came from Remsoft, a software-development company in New Brunswick that works with natural resource industries, particularly timber. Their take on the next 10 years was that things would “revert to the trend,” which is price appreciation in products, broadly speaking. Peter Barynin, principal timber economist at RISI, the global timber information company, was less optimistic. He described the outlook for forest-product demand as “anemic,” with price gains “difficult.” He suggested that the near-term future might be considered an “unstable recovery,” with something like 2.5 to 3 percent annual U.S. GDP growth on average to 2024. Within that outlook, he saw housing starts (single-family and multifamily combined) at an average annual 1.7 million compared with an annualized rate in 2010 of about 600,000 (about 450,000 single-family and about 160,000 multi-family starts). Barynin believes that the U.S. is “emerging as the timber basket to the world.” The very fact of unused milling capacity and excess timber supply in this country should, however, keep timber prices flat for the next couple of years. He considers the market for U.S. forest products to exist in a “high-risk” environment related to 1) “unprecedented” developments in the U.S. housing cycle, 2) questions about stability in both the U.S. and Europe, 3) currency questions and 4) whether Russia’s vast supply of stumpage will start filling a significant space in global demand. (Gunnar Balsvik, CEO of Kapan Pensioner, a large Swedish pension manager, said that he would not invest in U.S. timberland because he thought it was “too scary.” This struck me as a common attitude when facing a choice between domestic and foreign investments—“better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” The unfamiliar always looks scarier than the familiar, and, of course, often is.) A cold-water perspective came from Joel Shapiro, head of Atlanta-based Timbervest, LLC, which manages about 825,000 acres in the U.S. He said that he saw timberland prices coming down, with “some [bare] dirt values dropping in half over the last few months.” He believes that few harvests are profitable today, and the REIT structure of some timberland managers are “forcing these companies to cut in a bad [market] environment.” Still, Shapiro described U.S. timberland as “the best place to be” among global timber regions, because it has provided over time “nice returns,” low risk and low volatility. He pointed to “operating problems” in South America as a reason why investors are “not making money” there, and he was somewhat amused at the TIMO interest in South American projects “that won’t make money.” He suggested that the next big wave of buyers for U.S. timberland during the next 10 years would be European and Scandinavian utilities looking for boiler fuel and integrated oil companies looking for wood-based biofuel capacity. Both uses are driven by government requirements for renewable energy. Jeff Wikle, principal in TerraSource Valuation, LLC in Waxhaw, N.C. and Blacksburg, Va., gave an insightful presentation on timberland appraisal. He may make this available in pdf to those who request it. In sum, my sense is that timberland prices have lagged the downward trends in housing starts, stumpage values and product prices. The recent sale to Molpus Woodlands Group of about 125,000 acres for $1,362/acre, down from the $1,700-$1900/acre prices of several years ago for plantation property, may be a bottom, but I don’t think so. While pulp and chips may show a bit of price appreciation related to new markets for fuel and energy, both softwood and hardwood sawtimber prices (and the land that produces them) is mostly driven by housing starts. I think that a lot of the past’s hoped for and imputed HBU value in timberland is washing out. I think defensible arguments are at hand to suggest that an average of 1 to 1.3 million (combined single family and multifamily) starts a year over the next 15 years might be a realistic guess. That’s a tangible market, but it’s half of where we where several years ago. When 2007 timberland bought at $2,500/acre is reset at $1,200-$1,400/acre, the market will move again. I’m not sure timberland sellers will do better tomorrow than they can do today. And if the glut of foreclosed homes keeps growing and depressing starts, they may do even worse. Pulse: Buyers Favor Large Tracts of Land Over Patchwork of Smaller Ones Pulse: Americans Sharply Divided On Whether Timberland Owners Should Be Subsidized Forisk Update: Wood Demand, Timber REITs & Bioenergy Light at the end of the tunnel – no longer the train!	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647385
__label__cc	0.522731	0.477269	Merthyr Tydfil hotels About Merthyr Tydfil Cheap Hotels in Merthyr Tydfil Bessemer Hotel Hermon Close, Dowlais James' Place at Brynawel Hotel Brynawel, Queens Road Studios At Glenthorne Hotel Llwyn Onn Guest House Hostal Llwyn Onn, Cwmtaf The Mount Pleasant Inn Hotel Merthyr Vale Arfryn House Bed and Breakfast Hotel 72 reviews by TrustYou™ Llwyn Onn Queen Bee & B Hotel Fothergill Street, Atlanta House Hotels in Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil, about halfway between Swansea and Newport and 23 miles north of Cardiff, is perfectly positioned in South Wales to explore the astonishing Brecon Beacons National Park. Book a Merthyr Tydfil hotel with us and discover this land of peaks and valleys. Iron capital of the world Just under a mile north of the town takes you to Cyfarthfa Park which is home to one of South Wales' best visitor attractions. Here you'll have access to acres of stunning walks, a 9-hole golf course, a fishing lake, children's playgrounds and even a miniature steam railway. The centrepiece of the grounds is the striking early 19th-century castle which was once the home of the Crawshays, the great ironmasters of Cyfarthfa. Comprising six main peaks, the highest of which, Pen y Fan rises to nearly 900m, the Brecon Beacons is 835 miles2 of wide open spaces, fresh air and some of the best walking in the UK. A good place to start is at the Garwnant Visitor Centre which, in itself, is a great day out with its café and gift shop, play areas, forest walks and trails. One of the best, and certainly the quickest, ways to explore the local terrain is with Bike Park Wales, located less than four miles south of Merthyr. Here you'll have access to a network of trails that wind through forests and up and down valleys and peaks. The park caters for everyone from absolute beginners to seasoned mountain bikers. Make your way north west to Pant, less than three miles from Merthyr, and embark on a vintage steam rail journey into the Brecon Beacons National Park. Here you'll have incredible views of mountain peaks across the reservoir at Taf Fechan. The ride covers five miles in total to Torpantau via Pontsticill and Dolygaer Loop but you can alight at any stop. Pontsticill is home to a steam museum and is also ideal for a walk along the reservoir. Back in Pant, visit the workshop and see steam locomotives being repaired. There's a great selection of restaurants, cafés and pubs in the area. The Old Barn Tea Room is a large timbered barn that has been converted into tea rooms and is located in the idyllic Brecon Beacons countryside. A popular restaurant in this part of the world, they serve traditional tea, scones and lunch. Less than eight miles south of Merthyr in Aberdare is The Red Cow Inn, a popular pub offering real ales, wine and homemade pub food. Travel a couple of miles north east to Cefn Coed and you'll discover The Mango House which has a good reputation for its Indian and Bengali dishes, and friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Shopping in and around Merthyr Tydfil St Tydfil shopping centre offers a range of outlets including bookshops, banks and health food stores. And Cyfarthfa Retail Park has variety of shops, a coffee house and places to eat. Merthyr Tydfil map Weather in Merthyr Tydfil Points of Interest in Mid Glamorgan Merthyr Tydfil Train Station Brecon Beacons National Park Rhondda Heritage Park Llantrisant Castle Castell Coch Castell Coch (Red Castle) Abergavenny Train Station St Fagans National History Museum Hotels in Aberdare Hotels in Bargoed Hotels in Brynmawr Cities Around Mid Glamorgan Hotels in Caerphilly Hotels in Pontypridd Hotels in Ringwood	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647386
__label__wiki	0.977464	0.977464	Blind long snapper Jake Olson takes part in USC practice USC freshman Jake Olson, right, shares a laugh with teammate Kris Albarado during his first college practice. (Shotgun Spratling / Los Angeles Times) In uniform for his first USC football practice, Jake Olson emerged from the McKay Center on Tuesday morning, placed his right hand on the shoulder of a staff assistant on his way up a ramp, then paused at the entrance to Brian Kennedy-Howard Jones Field. The freshman long snapper, who is blind, reached up with his left hand and “tapped in” above the gate, just like all Trojans players on their way into the facility. It was another major step toward fulfilling his dream of playing in a game. Olson was not made available for media interviews, but he said in a statement posted on the school’s website that it was “a surreal feeling.” Olson, 18, was born with retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the retina. He lost his left eye at 10 months and endured numerous procedures to save his right eye. Former coach Pete Carroll and the USC athletic department embraced Olson and his family before Olson’s right eye was removed at age 12. Olson competed in football and golf at Orange Lutheran High, achieved a 4.3 grade-point average and earned a “Swim With Mike” scholarship to USC, awarded annually from the Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship fund. On Tuesday, he impressed teammates as the sixth-ranked Trojans began preparations for Saturday’s Pac-12 Conference opener against Stanford. “He did a good job,” Coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I’m proud of the work that he put in.” So was quarterback Cody Kessler. “It’s awesome; it’s really cool,” Kessler said. “This team is so welcoming to him and it’s great to have him in the locker room… He never makes excuses, he never complains about anything. He’s out here working his butt off.” Carroll, who has maintained a close relationship with Olson as coach of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, did not expect anything less. “Nothing surprises me when it comes to Jake,” Carroll said in a text message. “He is one of the greatest competitors I’ve known. He epitomizes the spirit of ‘Fight On!’” Olson said in his statement: “I can’t thank enough everyone who helped make this possible, all the coaches, staff and players at USC, the compliance and medical staffs here, the Swim With Mike program and the NCAA. I’m excited to help this team in any way I can and be a great teammate. I love this team and I always have, and now it feels great to be a part of it. Fight On!” Olson told The Times in April that all he wanted was a chance to prove himself, like any other player. “He doesn’t want to be treated differently,” punter Reid Budrovich said. “He thinks, ‘I’m good enough to compete against these people. Why should they go easy on me?’” The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Olson wore jersey No. 17 on Tuesday. His jersey was yellow, like those worn by quarterbacks, which alerts others not to make contact. During the workout, Budrovich, starting long snapper Zach Smith, punter Kris Albarado and holder Conner Sullivan helped guide Olson, who could not practice until he was cleared by the NCAA and USC to participate in football. Because the Swim With Mike scholarship is regarded as athletic aid, USC sought a waiver from the NCAA so that Olson would not count against the 85-scholarship roster limit. “It’s a real credit to a lot of people to get this done,” Sarkisian said. “A credit to our compliance office to work with the NCAA and it’s a credit to the NCAA to understand that this is a special situation.” Dave Schnase, NCAA vice president of academic and membership affairs, said in a statement on USC’s website: “Jake’s case is a great example of the NCAA national office and its members working together to provide opportunities to college athletes. We are happy that Jake has the opportunity to wear a USC jersey and perhaps even join his teammates on the field this fall.” Players said Sarkisian informed the team about two weeks ago that Olson would be joining them. Olson was not in uniform, but he was on the sideline and inside the locker room for victories over Arkansas State and Idaho. Olson’s guide dog, Quebec, also has been in the locker room before games and barks when the team gets fired up, Budrovich said. Olson did not participate in live drills Tuesday because he has not been cleared for contact. Other specialists handed him the ball and lined up his hips, then watched him deliver snaps on a line to the holder for field-goal and extra-point attempts. “All we do is position him, line his feet up and he does the rest,” said Sullivan, a fourth-year junior who also played at Orange Lutheran. Sarkisian and Trojans players said they were inspired by OIson, who co-wrote two faith-based books about overcoming adversity, is an accomplished public speaker and, through his Out of Sight Faith foundation, raises money to put technology in the hands of the blind. “We all knew he wanted to be a Trojan,” Sullivan said. “Now he’s finally made that dream a reality.” Senior cornerback Kevon Seymour was held out of drills because of an unspecified knee injury suffered against Idaho. Sarkisian said it was not structural. Linebacker Lamar Dawson, who sat out the first two games because of a rib injury, remains questionable for Saturday’s game. Follow Gary Klein on Twitter @latimesklein Correspondent Lindsey Thiry contributed to this report. USC to play its first-ever FCS opponent when it hosts UC Davis in 2021 USC announced Friday it had scheduled a game with UC Davis in 2021, the first time the Trojans will play a team from the Football Championship Subdivision. Ex-USC football assistant alleges he was forced out after reporting possible NCAA violations A former member of the USC football coaching staff alleged in a lawsuit Monday that undergraduate students were paid to pose as graduate assistants from the team to take online classes on their behalf and fulfill their degree requirements. USC’s Bennie Boatwright has size and skill, but will he get an NBA chance? In the seconds after Fred VanVleet’s three-pointer gave the Toronto Raptors the lead over Golden State in their Game 6 clinching victory of the NBA Finals, Bennie Boatwright became inspired. USC’s Kevin Porter Jr. chases NBA dream to honor a father he barely knew On a cold January night in the middle of Oregon, Kevin Porter Jr. felt himself tumbling into that lonely place he goes when the disappointment of a bad game turns crippling.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647387
__label__cc	0.526906	0.473094	News - Software Debugging over the XCP Protocol home News / Events News • Software Debugging over the XCP Protocol Events Annual Newsletter New Products or New Chips Supported Publications Press Room Subscribe for Newsletter Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn, 28-Sep-2018 Vector and Lauterbach Present a Development Solution for Software Debugging over the XCP Protocol Stuttgart/Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn, 2018-10-01 – Vector and Lauterbach are offering an integrated solution for ECU software development based on the new ASAM standard “Software Debugging over XCP”. It eliminates the need to repeatedly switch between hardware for measurement, calibration, and debugging. The ECU debug connector can be a challenge to access in the vehicle and does not lend itself to the frequent disconnect/reconnects necessary when switching between MC and debug tools. By working together, Vector and Lauterbach are responding to the requirement of the automotive industry for concurrent use of the interface, and they are providing uniform access to the ECU for measurement, calibration and debugging purposes. This work is based on the new ASAM standard “Software Debugging over XCP” which was released in November 2017, and both partners were active participants in its development. The VX1000 measurement and calibration hardware from Vector enables accessing internal data of development-level ECUs and near-production ECUs. Data rates of more than 100 MByte/s can be achieved over the entire automotive temperature range in test vehicles. The XCP slaves of the VX1000 hardware enable connection to the CANape measurement and calibration tool or to other tools with a standard-compliant XCP master. Such an XCP master is Lauterbach's TRACE32 debugger, which gets access – over the XCP slave – to the ECU and the debugging interface connected to it. This debugging configuration can operate without the need for any extension of the ECU software. Here, the TRACE32 XCP master provides the same debugging features as a hardware-based TRACE32 debugger. “The interoperability of the Lauterbach debugger and the VX1000 and CANape measurement and calibration solutions from Vector together create significant added value for ECU developers. Previously, the two systems coexisted at workplaces. Not only can they be used cooperatively now, but they also extend the range of debugging applications to ECUs installed in the vehicle which have an integrated VX1000. This enables many new types of applications, simplifies handling and thereby saves valuable time in development and testing of ECU software,” says Dr. Ralf König, system architect for the Vector VX1000 measurement and calibration hardware. Debugging via XCP Last generated/modified: 28-Sep-2018	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647389
__label__cc	0.513779	0.486221	The Effect of Different Sugars on Yeast By Michelle Cagle Yeast dough image by Elzbieta Sekowska from Fotolia.com Yeast is a living bacteria commonly used in baking that makes dough rise through the process of fermentation. For fermentation to occur yeast requires fuel in the form of sugar. The yeast reaction varies depending upon the type of sugar you use. Effects of Kitchen Sugars When mixing yeast with cane sugar, table sugar, and "equal" sugar substitute, the amount of carbon dioxide given off by the mixtures varies. Table sugar produces the most carbon dioxide followed by cane sugar. Because equal is not a true sugar it produces very little carbon dioxide. Monosaccharides and Disaccharides Monosaccharides like dextrose and fructose are single-ringed molecules. Disaccharides like sucrose, maltose, and lactose are formed when two monsaccharides join together. When mixed with yeast, maltose produces the biggest fermentation reaction causing the most carbon dioxide production followed by dextrose. Fructose and lactose each produce a very small reaction. You must have a liquid when mixing yeast and sugar together. The temperature of the liquid has a great effect on the amount of carbon dioxide that is produced. If the temperature is too low the yeast will not react with the sugar. If the temperature is too high the yeast bacteria will be destroyed. California State Univeristy: Effect of Different Isomers of Sugar on Yeast Respiration University of Colorado at Boulder: Respiration Rates by Yeast with Different Sugar Substrates and Temperatures Science and Plants for Schools: How Does Sugar Affect Yeast Growth? Michelle Cagle began writing in 1994 and has had articles published on various websites. She writes primarily about educational issues, society and cultural issues, and home and family issues. She received her Master of Education from Oklahoma State University and her Bachelor of Education from Northeastern State University. How to Maximize the Rate of Fermentation What Does Temperature Have to Do With Making Bread Dough Rise? How to Make Bread Come Out More Moist How to Use Baking Powder Instead of Yeast in Baking Bread How to Dissolve Sugar Why Does Sugar Water Evaporate Faster Than Water?	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647390
__label__wiki	0.686365	0.686365	Kittson remove filter State Government remove filter Outdoor Heritage Fund (12) Fillmore (61) Kittson (34) remove filter Winona (67) Land Acquisition (2) Accelerated Prairie Grassland Restoration and Enhancement Program on DNR Lands Outdoor Heritage Fund With these funds we were able to restore, protect, and enhance 24,611 acres of native and restored grassland in Minnesota. Much of this work was done through the DNR Roving Crews, a new program funded with these dollars that has significantly increased the state's habitat management capabilities. In addition to these enhancement activities we were able to enroll acres in the DNR's Native Prairie Bank Easement Program as well as acquire acres for the SNA program. Accelerated Prairie Restoration and Enhancement on DNR Lands, Phase 4 The table below provides a short summary of the acres and sites accomplished. We enhanced or restored 59,495 acres in 458 separate habitat projects.Project Type # Sites # AcresFencing for conserv grazing 6 721grassland conversion 33 1,124Invasive Species Control 43 1,599mowing 3 104Prescribed burn 214 48,368Restoration 13 123Woody Removal 146 7,457 Accelerated Wetland and Shallow Lake Enhancement Many of Minnesota's wetlands have been lost and the remainder degraded. The original proposal planned for 15,000 acres of wetland/shallow lake enhancement to provide critical habitat for each life stage of waterfowl and wetland wildlife. The six projects subsequently completed with this appropriation enhanced 13,800 acres of wetlands and shallow lakes in the Prarie and Forest/Prairie Ecosections of Minnestoa. Accelerated Shallow Lake and Wetland Enhancement and Restoration Program DNR - Fisheries & Wildlife Ducks Unlimited and Minnesota DNR Section of Wildlife completed 26 project affecting 7,603 acres, including three wetland restoration projects restoring 97 acres, 18 shallow lake enhancement projects enhancing 7,154 wetland acres, and five fee-title land acquisition projects protecting 352 acres. Accelerated Prairie Restoration and Enhancement on DNR Lands - Phase VII We propose restoration and enhancement of prairie and savanna on WMA’s, SNA’s, and Native Prairie Banks in Minnesota and restoration and enhancement of bluff prairies on State Forest Land in southeast Minnesota. Accelerated Shallow Lakes and Wetland Enhancement Phase VI Many of Minnesota's wetlands have been lost and the remainder degraded. Recent tiling and ditching have accelerated this situation. Through this proposal, shallow lakes and wetlands will be designed, constructed, and intensively managed to benefit wetland wildlife and Minnesota residents. Arts Legacy Grant University of Minnesota-Crookston Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program, Phase 4 The Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program, managed by the Department of Natural Resources, provided 56 competitive matching grants to non-profit organizations and governments, appropriating all the available ML12 funds. Conservation Grazing to Improve Wildlife Habitat on Wildlife Management Areas Grassland ecosystems evolved to depend on periodic disturbances, such as fire and grazing, to maintain their health and stability. Periodic disturbances help control invasive species, add nutrients back into the soil, germinate plant seeds, enhance wildlife habitat, and more. In Minnesota habitat managers have used fire as a disturbance tool for decades but the use of grazing has been much rarer, mostly because of a lack of necessary infrastructure such as fencing. DNR Grassland Enhancement Ph X This programmatic request will build on the DNR’s previous efforts to enhance and restore grasslands, prairies, and savannas. We will use the Prairie Conservation Plan and Pheasant Summit Action Plan to guide these efforts in a strategic and targeted manner. This proposal will work on a number of types of permanently protected habitats, most of which are open to public hunting, including; DNR WMAs, SNAs, AMAs, Prairie Bank Easements, State Forests, as well as USFWS WPAs and Refuges. DNR Grassland Phase 5 The following table provides a short summary of the accomplishments under this appropriation. In total, the DNR enhanced and restored 283 sites for a total of 17,087 acres. Activity Sites Acres Diversity Seeding 42 1,031 Prescribed Burn 148 10,365 Restorations 4 144 Woody Removal 92 5,666 DNR Grassland Phase VI Restoration and Enhancement of Prairie on WMA’s, SNA’s, AMA's and Native Prairie Banks in Minnesota. Restoration and Enhancement of Bluff Prairies on State Forest Land in Southeast Minnesota. DNR Grassland - Phase 8 We propose continued efforts to restore and enhance prairies, grasslands, and savannas on state protected lands (WMA, SNA, Native Prairie Bank) as well as on bluff prairies on State Forest lands in southeastern Minnesota. DNR Stream Habitat - Phase II The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will restore or enhance habitat to facilitate fish passage, restore degraded streams, and enhance habitat critical to fish and other aquatic life. Projects are prioritized based on ecological benefit, urgency, feasibility, and stakeholder support. Grants Administration for State Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013 Per Minnesota Laws, 2011, 1st Special Session, Chapter 6, Article 4, Section 2, Subd. 6, "These amounts are appropriated to the commissioner of administration for grants to the named organizations for the purposes specified in this subdivision. Per Minnesota Laws, 2009, Chapter 172, Article 4, Section 2, Subd. 5, "Funds in this subdivision are appropriated to the commissioner of the Department of Administration for grants to the named organizations for the purposes specified in this subdivision. Up to one percent of funds may be used by the Department of Administration for grants administration. Grants made to public television or radio organizations are subject to Minnesota Statutes, sections 129D.18 and 129D.19." Imperiled Prairie Butterfly Conservation, Research and Breeding Program With only 1% of Minnesota’s native prairie remaining, many prairie plant and animal species have dramatically declined. Of the 12 butterfly species native to Minnesota prairies, two species, the Poweshiek skipperling and the Dakota skipper, have already largely disappeared from the state and are proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act despite being historically among the most common prairie butterflies and having their historic ranges concentrated in Minnesota. Legacy funds allow the Minnesota Zoo to extend the season of the Wells Fargo Family Farm beyond its historical May to September season to include full programming and exhibits from April through November. Mountain Pine Beetle Invasive Threat to Minnesota's Pines Native to the western United States and Canada, mountain pine beetle is considered the most devastating forest insect in North America. Trees usually die as a result of infestation and an unprecedented outbreak in the west is currently decimating pine forests there. While mountain pine beetle is not presently believed to reside in Minnesota, there are risks posed by an expanding species range resulting from warming climate and the potential for accidental introduction via lumber imports from infested areas. Multi-Agency Watershed Database Reporting Portal The goal of this project is to analyze and document database architecture, platform, table structures, systems and data fields at six Minnesota agencies (Board of Soil and Water Resources, Department of Natural Resources, MN Department of Agriculture, MN Department of Health, Metropolitan Council, and MN Pollution Control Agency) for 30+ databases related to water. Operating Support Regents of the University of Minnesota-Goldstein Museum of Design AKA Goldstein Museum of Design Regents of the University of Minnesota-Northrop AKA Northrop Regents of the University of Minnesota-Duluth-Tweed Museum of Art AKA Tweed Museum of Art Red River Valley Drainage Water Management Project Wilkin Soil and Water Conservation District The objective of the project is to demonstrate controlled drainage and saturated buffers as flood mitigation practices as well as their water quality and quantity benefits. The project is intended to set a compelling example to increase the acceptance and adoption of drainage water management practices in the Red River Valley.Surface and subsurface runoff will be monitored, and water samples will be collected and analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen. Installations were completed in 2015-2016. Updating the National Wetland Inventory for Minnesota ? Phase IV Over the past 100 years, about half of Minnesota’s original 22 million acres of wetlands have been drained or filled. Some regions of the State have lost more than 90 percent of their original wetlands. The National Wetland Inventory, a program initiated in the 1970s, is an important tool used at all levels of government and by private industry, non-profit organizations, and private landowners for wetland regulation and management, land management and conservation planning, environmental impact assessment, and natural resource inventories.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647393
__label__wiki	0.805541	0.805541	Abu Dhabi Atlanta Austin Charlotte Chicago Dubai Frankfurt Geneva Houston London Los Angeles Moscow New York Palo Alto Paris Riyadh San Francisco Singapore Tokyo Washington DC 1185 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY 10036, USA www.kslaw.com Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, Dubai and 14 more Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco, Singapore, Tokyo, Washington DC United States: Dispute resolution Within: Next generation lawyers Caline Mouawad - King & Spalding LLP King & Spalding LLP fields a team of 'true international arbitration specialists', who skillfully handle investment and commercial arbitration matters, and have particular expertise in the energy sector. Noted for its 'impressive advocacy and deep understanding', the team has successfully represented Chevron and its subsidiary, Texaco Petroleum Company, in an international arbitration against the Republic of Ecuador pertaining to its violation of the BIT; following the proceedings, which were led by 'outstanding lawyers' Doak Bishop and Edward Kehoe, the $9.5bn judgment rendered against Chevron was deemed unenforceable. 'Excellent' Caline Mouawad, Henry Burnett, and Houston-based Craig Miles represented Bear Creek Mining Corporation in an ICSID arbitration against the Republic of Peru brought under the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement. Other key contacts include global disputes head Reginald Smith and head of upstream oil and gas John Bowman from Houston. The team has been strengthened with two new additions from White & Case LLP: John Templeman joined as counsel in New York and Chip Rosenberg joined the Washington DC office; however, Houston-based Silvia Marchili left the firm to lead the international arbitration group at White & Case LLP.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647395
__label__wiki	0.549579	0.549579	Back Mark Twain and William Dean Howells: the friendship that transformed American literature Print News November 30, 2010 Mark Twain and William Dean Howells: the friendship that transformed American literature On his 175th birthday, Volume One (of three!) of the Autobiography of Mark Twain seems to be everywhere. On NPR. C-Span. Slate. And The New York Times bestseller list. Readers daunted by its 500,000 words may be comforted by this exchange in 1906 between Twain and lifelong friend William Dean Howells (it could have been much longer!): I told Howells that this autobiography of mine would live a couple of thousand years without any effort and would then take a fresh start and live the rest of the time. He said he believed it would, and asked me if I meant to make a library of it. I said that that was my design, but that if I should live long enough the set of volumes could not be contained merely in a city, it would require a State, and that there would not be any Rockefeller alive, perhaps, at any time during its existence who would be able to buy a full set, except on the installment plan. Howells applauded, and was full of praises and endorsements, which was wise in him and judicious. If he had manifested a different spirit I would have thrown him out of the window. I like criticism, but it must be my way. It certainly wasn’t always Twain’s way. In fact, some would argue that his forty-year friendship with Howells was what enabled Twain to become Twain. As biographer Ron Powers put it: In the slipstream of the Clemens-Howells creative bond, American literature ceased its labored imitation of European and Classical high discourse, and became a lean, blunt, vivid chronicle of American self-invention, from the yeasty perspective of the common man. Without Howells’s friendship, Mark Twain might have flared for a while, a regional curiosity among many, and then faded, forgotten. On its legitimizing strength, he gained the foundation for international status as America’s Shakespeare and struck a template for the nation’s voice into the 20th century and beyond. Twain and Howells first met in 1869 when both were in their early thirties. Howells was then assistant editor at The Atlantic Monthly. Charged with finding new voices from the West, he had taken the unorthodox step of reviewing in the December issue a new book sold by subscription from the American Publishing Company. Howells found The Innocents Abroad “always good-humored humor . . . and even in its impudence it is charming.” He closed with this judgment of the author: It is no business of ours to fix his rank among the humorists California has given us, but we think he is, in an entirely different way from all the others, quite worthy of the company of the best. In mid-November, while the magazine was still on the newsstands, a six-foot, mustachioed redhead in a sealskin coat “with the fur out” descended unannounced on the magazine’s Boston office, seeking the author of the unsigned review. Howells recalled that Twain “stamped his gratitude into my memory with a story wonderfully allegorizing the situation, which the mock modesty of print forbids my repeating here.” We now know from letters that upon meeting Howells, Twain drawled, “When I read that review of yours, I felt like the woman who was so glad her baby had come white.” And a friendship was born. Story of the Week: Mark Twain, “My First Lie and How I Got Out of It” Related Writers: Mark Twain William Dean Howells Related Volumes: William Dean Howells: Seven Novels 1875–1888 (two volumes) William Dean Howells: Indian Summer (Paperback Classic) William Dean Howells: Novels 1875–1886 The Mark Twain Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Works Mark Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, & Essays 1891–1910 The Collected Shorter Works of Mark Twain (boxed set) Mark Twain: The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It Subscribe to RSS SUBSCRIBE TO MOVIEGOER AND STORY OF THE WEEK EMAILS Books for Young Readers The Founders Hollywood Other Sites for Readers Anecdotal Evidence (Patrick Kurp) ArtsBeat: Books (New York Times) Book Chase (Sam Sattler) Bookslut (Jessa Crispin) Conversational Reading (Scott Esposito) Critical Mass (National Book Critics Circle) A Different Stripe (NYRB Classics) First Known When Lost (Stephen Pentz) Ivebeenreadinglately (Levi Stahl) Jacket Copy (Los Angeles Times) Letters of Note (Shaun Usher) The Literary Saloon (M. A. Orthofer) Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts (Rhys Tranter) Los Angeles Review of Books The Mookse and the Gripes NonSuch Book (Frances Evangelista) NYR Blog (New York Review of Books) Page-Turner (The New Yorker) The Paris Review Daily Speakeasy: Books (The Wall Street Journal) The Writer’s Almanac (Garrison Keillor) Wuthering Expectations Related News & Views Forthcoming: Spring–Summer 2020 Forthcoming: Fall 2019 Wendell Berry: My literary friendships World War II honor roll: LOA donors dedicate gifts to veterans Over 250 veterans honored by donors to Library of America’s “L... Keep up to date with Library of America news and events.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647396
__label__cc	0.676887	0.323113	Gardeners Update from the Flower and Garden Show August 21st, 2012 loaves-fishes Community, Volunteer News donors From Ron Ory: Yeah, Team! We were curious how we were doing, at least on the quality, so we entered some of our produce, herbs and perennials in the Naperville Community Gardeners annual Flower and Garden Show. It’s free, so all it took was preparing the materials according to the show guide. We may not have gotten the big prizes, but we won lots of ribbons and Loaves & Fishes still got the produce! These are our beets, turnips, leeks and potatoes! Some of the tomatoes and squash we’ve been growing. Some of the perennial are from our garden. That pumpkin was ours and got a blue ribbon. Did Jan influence the judges? She was helping as a clerk and got some tips for next year. I’m still counting the ribbons and will report the results shortly. MEANWHILE, YESTERDAY’S DELIVERIES PUT US OVER 1,400 POUNDS FOR THE YEAR! (I may have to add another column to our POUND-O-METER, since it only goes to 3000 pounds.) Results: We had 51 different entries, some items provided more than one entry. We received ribbons for 47 of the 51. Not bad for the first time and little preparation work. It provides a measure of how well we’re doing and a benchmark for next year, should we want to enter the show. Community Garden Plot Harvest Update August 11th, 2012 loaves-fishes Community, Volunteer News donors from Ron Ory on August 8: We’re in full harvesting mode. It now takes at least two hours to harvest, wash and weigh each time. I thank the “weed” ladies and waterers for allowing me to pick. With today’s harvest we’re over 900 pounds and have just begun the prime season for tomatoes. Pictures: Master Gardeners tend 4 plots to donate produce to food pantry August 3rd, 2012 loaves-fishes Community, Volunteer News donors “All of their donated produce goes to Loaves & Fishes Food Community Pantry in Naperville, whose mission is to end hunger and empower lives. In June alone, they served more than 9,000 people, or 2,331 households and 4,051 children. “What beautiful produce and tremendous work by the Master Gardeners,” said Charles McLimas, executive director of Loaves & Fishes, in a letter to the group.” Read entire Daily Herald article . Additional pictures: DuPage Master Gardeners & Naperville Community Garden Plots for L&F July 25th, 2012 loaves-fishes Community, Volunteer News donors Want to learn more about growing vegetables? Last year the Master Gardeners of DuPage County, along with other gardeners at Naperville Community Garden Plots contributed over 1,000 pounds of produce to Loaves & Fishes. This year they expect to double that despite it being another challenging growing season! Being a gardener is hard work, but rewarding. Pantry clients interested in learning more about growing veggies are welcome to visit the Garden Plots from 8 to 10 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. (Plots are located at 811 S West Street, Naperville, IL 60540.) The Master Gardeners of DuPage County are tracking donations as they harvest. Update from Ron Ory on July 24, 2012: You know these dog days have been around far longer than we should expect. All you want to do is find some shade and do some coffee clutching. Here was Tricia explaining her “weed” project to the volunteer weeders. That’s the way this Monday morning started for Jan Gricus and me. Just water, water, water. But then we had some visitors! One of the park district camp programs had us on their walk. The kids were eager to see how their (and our) vegetables were growing. Our pumpkins were the hit of the stroll! They also made our day! And we also had visitors of even a smaller variety: the bunny in the shade of yellow coneflower, the bee on liatris, dragonfly on black-eyed susan, and a yellow swallowtail on swamp milkweed. But as rewarding was the amount of veggies harvested and gleaned from the donation stand: 112 pounds–our single highest daily amount for the year! This brings our total delivered to Loaves & Fishes this year to 470+ pounds. Thank you all for a job well done! Update from our Urban Garden July 18th, 2012 loaves-fishes Community, Volunteer News donors, urban garden Gardening can be fun and a healthy addition to any lifestyle. No one knows this better than the volunteers of the DuPage County Master Gardeners program offered through the University of Illinois Extension location in Naperville. Among the many efforts to educate and enhance our community, several members of this talented group have been managing a local garden plot located at the Kraft plant on Ogden Road in Naperville, only a short distance from Loaves & Fishes. Update from Dick Kaleba on July 18, 2012: To date we have harvested over 160 lbs of fresh produce from the Kraft Garden. Early in the year we were harvesting lettuce, radishes and spinach. Now that the hot weather is here, we are harvesting beans, beets, carrots, basil and the first tomatoes and summer squash. With succession planting we will plant more lettuce, radishes and spinach if it ever cools down. We projected that we could produce between 600 to 700 lbs and should be on track to see that. Remember, we only have 400 sq feet to work with and all of our produce comes from that little plot! Last year we harvested around 460 lbs. As Sally Mabbit said last year, “It’s the Little Garden that Could.” These pictures were taken recently:	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647397
__label__cc	0.597999	0.402001	South AfricaEastern LowveldAccessible travel Eastern Lowveld in detail South Africa is one of the best destinations on the continent for travellers with disabilities, with an ever-expanding network of facilities catering to those who are mobility or visually impaired. We've noted establishments and destinations with facilities and access for travellers with disabilities. Several gardens and nature reserves have Braille trails for the visually impaired. Boardwalks for wheelchair access are found at many parks and attractions, and some can organise activities for travellers with disabilities. Hand-controlled vehicles can be hired at major car-rental agencies. Download Lonely Planet's free Accessible Travel guides from http://lptravel.to/AccessibleTravel. Brand South Africa (www.brandsouthafrica.com) Has an overview of facilities and links to tour operators and local organisations. Cape Town Tourism (www.capetown.travel) List of wheelchair-friendly activities in the Mother City. Search for 'wheelchair' on the homepage. Disabled Travel (www.disabledtravel.co.za) South Africa–wide recommendations of accommodation, restaurants and services from an occupational therapist. Linx Africa (www.linx.co.za/trails/lists/disalist.html) Lists accessible nature trails. National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa Local information. QuadPara Association of South Africa (www.qasa.co.za) Has wheelchairs for beach use in Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal south coast. Safari Guide Africa (www.safariguideafrica.com) Beginner's guide to safaris for travellers with disabilities. Search for 'disabled' on the homepage and look under 'pages and posts found'. SANParks (www.sanparks.org) Has a detailed and inspirational overview of accommodation and accessibility for blind, deaf and mobility-impaired travellers at its parks, including Kruger. Available to download as a PDF or app. On the homepage (bottom left), look for 'People With Disabilities' under 'Special Groups'. Sponge Project (http://thespongeproject.yolasite.com) SMS information service for people with disabilities. Access 2 Africa Safaris (www.access2africasafaris.com) Tours including Kruger and Swaziland. Enabled Online Travel (www.enabled-travel.com) Tours including Cape Town and the Garden Route. Endeavour Safaris (www.endeavour-safaris.com) Southern Africa safaris. Epic Enabled (www.epic-enabled.com) Offers accommodation and tours, including Kruger safaris. Flamingo Tours (www.flamingotours.co.za) Tours around Cape Town, along the Garden Route and elsewhere. RollingSA (www.rollingsa.co.za) Tours include a nine-day safari covering Kruger. Travel with Renè (www.travelwithrene.co.za) Quadriplegic Renè Moses offers South African tours, including a whale-watching trip.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647398
__label__cc	0.551135	0.448865	No Fees Unless We Win 562.270.0546 Habla Español Street Racing Crash in Paramount Leaves One Dead, Six Injured \| November 13, 2014 A suspected street-racing crash Wednesday night in Paramount killed one person and injured six. The accident involved five vehicles. Two of the vehicles, both pickup trucks, may have been street racing. The accident happened at 7:25 p.m. at the intersection of Somerset Blvd. and Orange Ave. Witnesses told the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that a black Chevrolet Silverado and a dark truck appeared to be racing northbound on Orange Ave. One of the racing pickup trucks made it through the intersection untouched. That driver left the scene of the accident. The other pickup truck slammed into a 2004 silver Ford F150 as it was crossing through the intersection. A passenger in the F150, a woman in her 70s, was killed. The F150's driver was injured. Four injury victims were in cars stopped at a red light. They were treated and released. The driver of the Chevrolet pickup was taken into custody. Police are searching for the second pickup truck driver. If you or a loved on has suffered injury or death as the result of a street racing accident, call McGee, Lerer & Associates for a free consultation. Our firm has handled many street racing accident claims. We understand the devastation that can result from these accidents. Daniel McGee and Catherine Lerer are a husband and wife team of accident lawyers with over 40 years of combined experienced. We have four office locations: Long Beach, Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Pasadena. An attorney at our firm is available 24/7 to provide a free consultation. If you hire our firm, we charge nothing up front. We are paid out of the settlement at the conclusion of the case. Read about our No Fee Promise. Street racing accident	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647399
__label__cc	0.714042	0.285958	JoVE IN THE LAB JoVE IN THE CLASSROOM Jaroslav Icha1, Christopher Schmied1, Jaydeep Sidhaye1, Pavel Tomancak1, Stephan Preibisch1,2,3, Caren Norden1 1Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 2HHMI Janelia Research Campus, 3Berlin Institute of Medical Systems Biology of the Max Delbrück Center * These authors contributed equally Light sheet fluorescence microscopy is an excellent tool for imaging embryonic development. It allows recording of long time-lapse movies of live embryos in near physiological conditions. We demonstrate its application for imaging zebrafish eye development across wide spatio-temporal scales and present a pipeline for fusion and deconvolution of multiview datasets. Icha, J., Schmied, C., Sidhaye, J., Tomancak, P., Preibisch, S., Norden, C. Using Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy to Image Zebrafish Eye Development. J. Vis. Exp. (110), e53966, doi:10.3791/53966 (2016). Light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) is gaining more and more popularity as a method to image embryonic development. The main advantages of LSFM compared to confocal systems are its low phototoxicity, gentle mounting strategies, fast acquisition with high signal to noise ratio and the possibility of imaging samples from various angles (views) for long periods of time. Imaging from multiple views unleashes the full potential of LSFM, but at the same time it can create terabyte-sized datasets. Processing such datasets is the biggest challenge of using LSFM. In this protocol we outline some solutions to this problem. Until recently, LSFM was mostly performed in laboratories that had the expertise to build and operate their own light sheet microscopes. However, in the last three years several commercial implementations of LSFM became available, which are multipurpose and easy to use for any developmental biologist. This article is primarily directed to those researchers, who are not LSFM technology developers, but want to employ LSFM as a tool to answer specific developmental biology questions. Here, we use imaging of zebrafish eye development as an example to introduce the reader to LSFM technology and we demonstrate applications of LSFM across multiple spatial and temporal scales. This article describes a complete experimental protocol starting with the mounting of zebrafish embryos for LSFM. We then outline the options for imaging using the commercially available light sheet microscope. Importantly, we also explain a pipeline for subsequent registration and fusion of multiview datasets using an open source solution implemented as a Fiji plugin. While this protocol focuses on imaging the developing zebrafish eye and processing data from a particular imaging setup, most of the insights and troubleshooting suggestions presented here are of general use and the protocol can be adapted to a variety of light sheet microscopy experiments. Morphogenesis is the process that shapes the embryo and together with growth and differentiation drives the ontogeny from a fertilized egg into a mature multicellular organism. The morphogenetic processes during animal development can be analyzed best by imaging of intact living specimens1-3. This is because such whole embryo imaging preserves all the components that drive and regulate development including gradients of signaling molecules, extracellular matrix, vasculature, innervation as well as mechanical properties of the surrounding tissue. To bridge the scales, at which morphogenesis occurs, the fast subcellular events have to be captured on a minute time scale in the context of development of the whole tissue over hours or days. To fulfill all these requirements, a modern implementation4 of the orthogonal plane illumination microscope5 was developed. Originally, it was named the Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM)4; now an all-embracing term Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy (LSFM) is typically used. LSFM enables imaging at high time resolution, while inducing less phototoxicity than laser scanning or spinning disc confocal microscopes6,7. Nowadays, there are already many implementations of the basic light sheet illumination principle and it has been used to image a large variety of specimens and processes previously inaccessible to researchers8-11. We would first like to highlight several key advantages of LSFM over conventional confocal microscopy approaches: To acquire meaningful results from live imaging microscopic experiments, it is important that the observation only minimally affects the specimen. However, many organisms including zebrafish are very susceptible to laser light exposure, making it challenging to image them in a confocal microscope with high time resolution without phototoxicity effects like stalled or delayed development6,7. LSFM is currently the fluorescence imaging technique with the least disruptive effects on the sample7. Since the thin laser light sheet illuminates only the part of the specimen that is imaged at a particular time point, the light sheet microscope is using photons very efficiently. Consequently, the low light exposure allows for longer time-lapse observations of healthier specimens, e.g.12-17. Furthermore, thanks to the minimal invasiveness of LSFM, the number of acquired images is no longer dictated by how much light the sample can tolerate, but rather by how much data can be processed and stored. Along the same lines of keeping the specimen in near physiological conditions, LSFM comes with alternative sample mounting strategies well suited for live embryos. In LSFM techniques, the embryos are typically embedded within a thin column of low percentage agarose. The mounting into agarose cylinders allows for the complete freedom of rotation, so the sample can be observed from the perfect angle (in LSFM referred to as view) and from several views simultaneously. The multiview imaging and subsequent multiview fusion is beneficial particularly for big, scattering specimens and allows capturing them with high, isotropic resolution. A summary of other possible LSFM mounting strategies can be found in the official microscope operating manual, in the chapter on sample preparation written by the lab of E. Reynaud. It is a recommended read, especially if the goal is to image different samples than described here. The image acquisition in LSFM is wide field, camera-based, as opposed to laser scanning confocal microscope. This results in a higher signal-to noise ratio (SNR) for acquired images and can be extremely fast (tens to hundreds of frames per second). The high sensitivity of LSFM further enables imaging of weakly fluorescent samples, like transcription factors expressed at endogenous levels18 or, in the near future, endogenous proteins tagged using CRISPR/Cas9. The high SNR is also important for successful downstream image analysis. The high speed is required not only to capture rapid intracellular processes, but also to image the whole embryo from multiple views fast enough. A seamless fusion of the multiple views can only be achieved, if the observed phenomenon does not change during acquisition of these several z stacks coming from separate views. The advantages of LSFM do not typically come at the expense of image quality. The lateral resolution of LSFM is slightly worse than the resolution of a confocal microscope. This is because the detection objectives used in LSFM have lower numerical aperture (usually 1.0 or less) compared to 1.2-1.3 of water or silicon immersion objectives on standard confocal setups. Additionally, due to the wide field detection in LSFM (absence of a pinhole), there is more out-of-focus light compared to a confocal microscope. The amount of out-of-focus light is determined by the light sheet thickness. Nevertheless, these disadvantages are compensated by the higher SNR in LSFM. In practice, this results in similar quality images compared to for example spinning disc confocal acquisition15. Consequently, this enables reliable extraction of features like cell membranes or nuclei, e.g., for cell lineage tracing15,19. The axial resolution of LSFM is determined, in addition to the detection objective, by the light sheet thickness. The axial resolution of LSFM can in some cases surpass the resolution of confocal microscopes. First, the improvement in resolution comes when the light sheet is thinner than the axial resolution of the detection objective, which typically occurs for large specimens imaged with a low magnification objective. The second way, how the LSFM can achieve better axial resolution, is the multiview fusion, in which the high xy resolution information from different views is combined into one image stack. The resulting merged stack has an isotropic resolution approaching the values of resolution in the lateral direction20,21. The strategy for registering the multiple views onto each other described in this article is based on using fluorescent polystyrene beads as fiduciary markers embedded in the agarose around the sample20,21. As a result of the LSFM commercialization, this technique is now available to a broad community of scientists22. Therefore, the motivation for writing this protocol is to make this technology accessible to developmental biologists lacking practical experience in LSFM and to get these scientists started using this technology with their samples. Our protocol uses the commercial light sheet microscope, which constitutes a conceptually simple microscope that is easy to operate. We would additionally like to mention other recent protocols for imaging zebrafish with home-built LSFM setups, which might be suitable to answer particular questions23-25. Another entry option to LSFM are the open platforms26,27, which use the open access principles to bring light sheet microscopy to a broader community. The documentation of both the hardware and the software aspects can be found at http://openspim.org and https://sites.google.com/site/openspinmicroscopy/. In this protocol, we use the teleost zebrafish as a model system to study developmental processes with LSFM. Morphogenesis of the zebrafish eye is an example that underlines many of the benefits of LSFM. LSFM has already been used in the past to investigate eye development in medaka28 and in zebrafish29,30. At the early stage of eye development it is complicated to orient the embryo correctly for conventional microscopy, as the bulky yolk does not allow the embryo to lie on the side with its eye facing the objective. However, with LSFM mounting into an agarose column, the sample can be reproducibly positioned. Additionally, during the transition from optic vesicle to the optic cup stage, the eye undergoes major morphogenetic rearrangements accompanied by growth, which requires capturing a large z stack and a big field of view. Also for these challenges LSFM is superior to conventional confocal imaging. The process of optic cup formation is three-dimensional, therefore it is hard to comprehend and visualize solely by imaging from one view. This makes multiview imaging with isotropic resolution beneficial. After optic cup formation, the retina becomes increasingly sensitive to laser exposure. Thus, the low phototoxicity associated with LSFM is a major advantage for long-term imaging. Here we present an optimized protocol for imaging of one to three days old zebrafish embryos and larvae with focus on the eye development. Our method allows recording of time-lapse movies covering up to 12-14 hr with high spatial and temporal resolution. Importantly, we also show a pipeline for data processing, which is an essential step in LSFM, as this technique invariably generates big datasets, often in the terabyte range. NOTE: All animal work was performed in accordance with European Union (EU) directive 2011/63/EU and the German Animal Welfare Act. The protocol is meant to be followed without interruption, from mounting to imaging the sample. Depending on the practical experience, it will take 2-3 hr to start a time-lapse experiment. Data processing is not included in this time calculation. All the material required for the experiment can be found in the checklist of material needed before starting that is provided as a supplementary document. Wear powder free gloves during the steps 1, 2, 3 and 4. For steps 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the protocol also refer to the official microscope operating manual. 1. Preparatory Work Before the Imaging Experiment Fluorescent Bead Stock Solution For this protocol, use the 500 or 1,000 nm diameter polystyrene beads (labeled with red emitting fluorescent dye). The working dilution of the beads is 1:4,000. First, vortex the bead stock solution for 1 min. Dilute 10 µl of beads in 990 µl of ddH2O. Store the solution in the dark at 4 °C and use this 1:100 dilution as the stock solution for further dilution in 1:40. Preparing Solution for the Sample chamber In a 100 ml beaker mix 38.2 ml of E3 medium without methylene blue, 0.8 ml of 10 mM N-phenylthiourea and 1 ml of 0.4% MS-222. It is beneficial to use filtered E3 medium to avoid small particles of dust or undissolved crystals floating in the sample chamber later. Fluorescent Fish Embryo Selection In the days prior to the experiment, prepare embryos expressing fluorescent proteins. Right before the experiment, sort the embryos under the fluorescent stereoscope for desirable strength of the fluorescent signal. Take 5-10 healthy embryos and dechorionate them using tweezers. NOTE: This protocol is optimized for 16-72 hr old embryos. 2. Setting Up the Sample Chamber Assembling the Three Chamber Windows There are 4 windows in the sample chamber, one for the objective and three to be sealed with the coverslips (18 mm diameter, selected thickness 0.17 mm). Store these coverslips in 70% ethanol. Wipe them clean before use with ether:ethanol (1:4). Insert the coverslip into the window using fine forceps and make sure it fits into the smallest groove. Cover it with the 17 mm diameter rubber O-ring and screw in the illumination adapter ring using the chamber window tool. Repeat the process for the other two windows. Attaching the Remaining Chamber Parts Screw the adapter for an appropriate objective into the fourth remaining side of the chamber. Insert the 15 mm diameter O-ring into the center of the adapter. Screw in the white Luer-Lock adapter into the lower right opening in the chamber and the grey drain connector in the upper left opening. Block all the three remaining openings with the black blind plugs. Attach the Peltier block and the metal dovetail slide bottom of the chamber using an Allen wrench. Attach the hose with the 50 ml syringe to the Luer-Lock adapter. Insert the temperature probe into the chamber. Inserting the Objectives and the Chamber into the Microscope Check under the stereoscope that all the objectives are clean. Use the 10X/0.2 illumination objectives and the Plan-Apochromat 20X/1.0 W detection objective and make sure that its refractive index correction collar is set to 1.33 for water. Screw the detection objective into the microscope, while keeping the illuminating objectives covered. Remove the protective plastic caps covering the illuminating objectives. Carefully slide the chamber into the microscope and tighten it with the securing screw. Connect the temperature probe and the Peltier block with the microscope. NOTE: The two tubes that circulate the cooling liquid for the Peltier block are compatible with both connectors. They form a functioning circuit irrespective of the orientation of connection. Fill the chamber through the syringe with solution prepared in step 1.2 up to the upper edge of the chamber windows. Check that the chamber is not leaking. Start the microscope, incubation and the controlling and storage computers. Start the microscope-operating software and set the incubation temperature to 28.5 °C. NOTE: It will take 1 hr to completely equilibrate. Prepare the sample in the meantime. 3. Sample Preparation Preparing the Agarose Mix 15 min before making of the agarose mix, melt one 1 ml aliquot of 1% low melting point agarose (dissolved in E3 medium) in a heating block set to 70 °C. Once the agarose is completely molten, transfer 600 µl into a fresh 1.5 ml tube, add 250 µl of E3 medium, 50 µl of 0.4% MS-222 and 25 µl of vortexed bead stock solution. NOTE: This makes 925 µl of the mix, while additional 75 µl is calculated for the liquid added later together with the embryos. Keep the tube in a second heating block at 38-40 °C or ensure that the agarose is very close to its gelling point before putting sample embryos into it. Mounting the Embryos Take five glass capillaries of 20 µl volume (with a black mark, ~1 mm inner diameter) and insert the matching Teflon tip plungers into them. Push the plunger through the capillary so that the Teflon tip is at the bottom of the capillary. Transfer five embryos (a number that can be mounted at once) with a glass or plastic pipette into the tube of vortexed 37 °C warm agarose mix. NOTE: Try to carry over a minimum volume of liquid together with the embryos. Insert the capillary into the mix and suck one embryo inside by pulling the plunger up. Ensure that the head of the embryo enters the capillary before the tail. Avoid any air bubbles between the plunger and the sample. There should be ±2 cm of agarose above the embryo and ±1 cm below it. Repeat for the remaining embryos. Wait until the agarose solidifies completely, which happens within a few minutes and then store the samples in E3 medium, by sticking them to the wall of a beaker with plasticine or tape. The bottom opening of the capillary should be hanging free in the solution allowing gas exchange to the sample. NOTE: A similar protocol to the sections 3.1 and 3.2 can be also found on the OpenSPIM wiki page http://openspim.org/Zebrafish_embryo_sample_preparation. 4. Sample Positioning Sample Holder Assembly Insert 2 plastic sleeves of the right size (black) against each other into the sample holder stem. Their slit sides have to face outwards. Attach the clamp screw loosely by turning it 2-3 rounds. Insert the capillary through the clamp screw and push it through the holder until the black color band becomes visible on the other side. Avoid touching the plunger. Tighten the clamp screw. Push the excess 1 cm of agarose below the embryo out of the capillary and cut it. Insert the stem into the sample holder disc. Confirm in the software that the microscope stage is in the load position. Use guiding rails to glide the whole holder with the sample vertically downwards into the microscope. Turn it, so that the magnetic holder disc locks into position. Locating the Capillary From now on, control the sample positioning by the software. In the Locate tab choose the Locate capillary option and position the capillary in x, y and z into focus just above the detection objective lens. Use the graphical representation in the specimen navigator for guidance. Push the embryo gently out of the capillary until it is in front of the pupil of the detection objective. NOTE: The 'Locate capillary' is the only step in the remaining protocol, during which the upper lid of the microscope should be opened and the sample pushed out. Locating the Sample Switch to 'Locate sample' option and at 0.5 zoom bring the zebrafish eye into the center of the field of view. Rotate the embryo, so that the light sheet will not pass through any highly refractive or absorbing parts of the specimen before it reaches the eye. Likewise, the emitted fluorescence needs a clear path out of the specimen. Click on 'Set Home Position'. Open the front door of the microscope and put the plastic cover with a 3 mm opening on top of the chamber to avoid evaporation. NOTE: If the liquid level drops below the imaging level, the experiment will be compromised. Check the heartbeat of the embryo as a proxy for overall health. If it is too slow, use another sample (compare to non-mounted controls; specific values depend on developmental stage). Switch to final zoom setting and readjust the position of the embryo. 5. Setting up a Multidimensional Acquisition Acquisition Parameters Switch to the 'Acquisition' tab. Define the light path including laser lines, detection objective, laser blocking filter, beam splitter and the cameras. Activate the pivot scan checkbox. Define the other acquisition settings like the bit depth, image format, light sheet thickness and choose single sided illumination. Press 'Continuous' and depending on the intensity of the obtained image change the laser power and camera exposure time. NOTE: For adjusting all the imaging settings use less laser power (0.5% of 100 mW laser, 30 msec exposure time), than for the actual experiment to avoid unnecessary photo damage to the specimen. Light Sheet Adjustment Switch to the 'Dual Sided Illumination' and activate the 'Online Dual Side Fusio'n checkbox. Start the 'Lightsheet Auto-adjust wizard'. Follow the instructions step by step. NOTE: The wizard moves the light sheet into the focal plane of the detection objective, and ensures that it is not tilted and its waist is in the center of the field of view. After finishing the automatic adjustment, the positions of the left and right light sheets are automatically updated in the software. An improvement in image quality should now be apparent. Activate the 'Z-stack' checkbox. Check the light sheet adjustment by inspecting the symmetry of the point spread function (PSF) given by the fluorescent beads in the xz and yz ortho view. If it is not symmetric, manually adjust the light sheet parameter position up and down until achieving a symmetric hourglass shaped PSF (Figure 1A). Multidimensional Acquisition Settings Define the z-stack with the 'First Slice' and 'Last Slice' options and set the z step to 1 µm. NOTE: The light sheet in this microscope is static and the z sectioning is achieved by moving the sample through. Always use the 'Continuous Drive' option for faster acquisition of z-stacks. Activate the 'Time Series' checkbox. Define the total number of time points and the interval in between them. Activate the 'Multiview' checkbox. Add the current view into the multiview list, where the x, y, z and angle information is stored. Use the stage controller to rotate the capillary and define the other desired views. Set up a z-stack at each view and add them to the multiview list. NOTE: The software sorts the views in a serial fashion, so that the capillary is turned unidirectionally, while the image is acquired. Drift Correction and Starting the Experiment Once the acquisition set up is complete, wait 15-30 min before starting the actual experiment. NOTE: The sample initially drifts a few micrometers in x, y and z, but should stop within 30 min. If the sample keeps drifting for longer, use another sample or remount. Switch to the 'Maintain' tab and in the 'Streaming' option define how the data should be saved, e.g., one file per time point or separate file for each view and channel. Go back to the 'Acquisition' tab, press 'Start Experiment' and define the file name, location where it should be saved and the file format (use .czi). Observe the acquisition of the first time point to confirm that everything is running flawlessly. Immediately proceed with registration and fusion of the first time point as described in steps 6 and 7, to confirm that it will be possible to process the whole dataset. 6. Multiview Registration Multiview Reconstruction Application At the end of the imaging session, transfer the data from the data storage computer at the microscope to a data processing computer. Use the 'MultiView ReconstructionApplication'20,21,31 implemented in Fiji32 for data processing (Figure 1B). Define Dataset Update Fiji: Fiji > Help > Update ImageJ and Fiji > Help > Update Fiji. Use the main ImageJ and Fiji update sites. Transfer the entire dataset into one folder. The results and intermediate files of the processing will be saved into this folder. Start the MultiView Reconstruction Application: Fiji > Plugins > Multiview Reconstruction > Multiview Reconstruction Application. Select 'define a new dataset'. As type of dataset select the meu option "Zeiss Lightsheet Z.1 Dataset (LOCI Bioformats)" and create a name for the .xml file. Then select the first .czi file of the dataset (i.e. file without index). It contains the image data as well as the metadata of the recording. NOTE: Once the program opens the first .czi file, the metadata are loaded into the program. Confirm that the number of the angles, channels, illuminations and observe the voxel size from the metadata. Upon pressing OK, observe three separate windows open (Figure 1C): a log window, showing the progress of the processing and its results, the 'ViewSetup Explorer' and a console, showing error messages of Fiji. NOTE: The 'ViewSetup Explorer' is a user-friendly interface that shows each view, channel and illumination and allows for selection of the files of interest. Additionally, the 'ViewSetup Explorer' allows for steering of all the processing steps. Select the files that need to be processed and press the right mouse button into the explorer. Observe a window open with different processing steps (Figure 1C). Upon defining the dataset, observe that an .xml file in the folder with the data is created. NOTE: This file contains the metadata that were confirmed before. In the top right corner observe two buttons 'info' and 'save'. Pressing 'info' displays a summary of the content of the .xml file. Pressing 'save' will save the processing results. NOTE: While processing in the 'MultiView Reconstruction Application' the different processing steps need to be saved into the .xml before closing Fiji. Figure 1: Multiview Reconstruction workflow and interest point detection. (A) Light sheet alignment based on fluorescent bead imaging. The system is aligned (center), when the bead image has a symmetrical hourglass shape in xz and yz projections. The examples of misaligned light sheet in either direction are shown on left and right. The maximum intensity projections of a 500 nm bead in xz, yz and xy axes are shown. Note that the ratio of intensity of the central peak of the Airy disc (in xy) to the side lobes is greater, when the lightsheet is correctly aligned compared to the misaligned situation. Images were taken with 20X/1.0 W objective at 0.7 zoom. Scale bar represents 5 µm. (B) The dataset is defined and then resaved into the HDF5 format. The beads are segmented and then registered. For a time series each time point is registered onto a reference time point. The data are finally fused into a single isotropic volume. (C, top) The ViewSetup Explorer shows the different time points, angles, channels and illumination sides of the dataset. (C, left lower corner) The BigDataViewer window shows the view that is selected in the ViewSetup Explorer. (C, middle right) Right click into the ViewSetup Explorer opens the processing options. (C, right lower corner) The progress and the results of the processing are displayed in the log file. (D and E) The aim of the detection is to segment as many interest points (beads) with as little detection in the sample as possible here shown as screenshots from the interactive bead segmentation. (D and E, upper left corner) The segmentation is defined by two parameters, the Difference-of-Gaussian Values for Sigma 1 and the Threshold. (D) An example of a successful detection with a magnified view of a correctly detected bead. (E) Segmentation with too many false positives and multiple detections of a single bead. Scale bar in (C) represents 50 µm. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Resave Dataset in HDF5 Format To resave the entire dataset, select all the files with Ctrl/Apple+a and right click. Then select resave dataset and as HDF5. A window will appear displaying a warning that all views of the current dataset will be resaved. Press yes. NOTE: The program will continue to resave the .czi files to hdf5 by opening every file and resaving the different resolution levels of the hdf5 format. It will confirm with 'done' upon completion. Resaving usually takes a few min per timepoint (see Table 1). NOTE: Since the files in the hdf5 format can be loaded very fast, it is now possible to view the unregistered dataset by 'right click' into the explorer and toggling 'display in BigDataViewer (on/off)'. A BigDataViewer window will appear with the selected view (Figure 1C). The core functions of the BigDataViewer33 are explained in Table 2 and http://fiji.sc/BigDataViewer. Detect Interest Points Select all time points with Ctrl/Apple+a and right click select detect interest points. Select Difference-of-Gaussian34 for type of interest point detection. Since the bead-based registration is used here, type "beads" into the field for label interest points. Activate 'Downsample images prior to segmentation'. In the next window, observe the detection settings. For 'subpixel localization' use '3-dimensional quadratic fit'34 and to determine the Difference-of-Gaussian values and radius for bead segmentation use 'interactive' in the i'nterest point specification'. For 'Downsample XY' use 'Match Z Resolution (less downsampling)' and for 'Downsample Z' use 1×. The z step size is bigger than the xy pixel size, thus simply down sampling the xy to match the z resolution is sufficient. Select 'compute on CPU (JAVA)'. Press 'OK'. In a pop up window, select one view for testing the parameters from the drop down menu. Once the view loads, adjust brightness and contrast of the window with Fiji > Image > Adjust > Brightness/Contrast or Ctrl + Shift + C. Tick the box 'look for maxima (green)' for bead detection. Observe the segmentation in the 'viewSetup' as green rings around the detections when looking for maxima and red for minima. The segmentation is defined by two parameters, the Difference-of-Gaussian Values for Sigma 1 and the Threshold (Figure 1D). Adjust them to segment as many beads around the sample and as few false positive detections within the sample as possible (Figure 1D). Detect each bead only once and not multiple times (Figure 1E). After determining the optimal parameters, press 'done'. NOTE: The detection starts by loading each individual view of the time point and segmenting the beads. In the log file, the program outputs the number of beads it detected per view. The detection should be done in a few seconds (see Table 1). Press save when the amount of detections is appropriate (600 to several thousand per view). NOTE: A folder will be created in the data directory, which will contain the information about the coordinates of the detected beads. Register Using Interest Points Select all time points with Ctrl/Apple+a, right click and select 'Register using Interest Points'. Use 'fast 3d geometric hashing (rotation invariant)' for bead detection as 'registration algorithm'. NOTE: This algorithm assumes no prior knowledge about the orientation and positioning of the different views with respect to each other. For registration of the views onto each other, select 'register timepoints individually' as 'type of registration'. For 'interest points' in the selected channel, the previously specified label for the interest points should now be visible (i.e. "beads"). In the next window, use the pre set values for registration. Fix the first view by selecting 'Fix tiles: Fix first tile and use Do not map back' (use this if tiles are not fixed) in the 'Map back tiles' section. Use an 'affine transformation model' with 'regularization'. NOTE: The allowed error for RANSAC will be 5px and the 'significance for a descriptor match' will be 10. For 'regularization' use a 'rigid model' with a lambda of 0.10, which means that the transformation is 10% rigid and 90% affine35. Press OK to start the registration. NOTE: As displayed in the log window, first each view is matched with all the other views. Then the random sample consensus (RANSAC)36 tests the correspondences and excludes false positives. For a robust registration, the RANSAC value should be higher than 90%. When a sufficient number of true candidates corresponding between two views are found, a transformation model is computed between each match with the average displacement in pixels. Then the iterative global optimization is carried out and all views are registered onto the fixed view. With successful registration, a transformation model is calculated and displayed with its scaling and the displacement in pixels. The average error should be optimally below 1 px and the scaling of the transformation close to 1. The registration is executed in seconds (see Table 1). Confirm that there is no shift between different views as observed on fine structures within the sample, e.g. cell membranes. Then save the transformation for each view into the .xml file. NOTE: Now the registered views are overlapping each other in the BigDataViewer (Figure 2A) and the bead images should be overlaying as well (Figure 2B). Remove the transformations by selecting the time points right click on them and then select Remove Transformations > Latest/Newest Transformation. Figure 2: Results of the multiview reconstruction. (A) Overlaid registered views, each in a different color to demonstrate the overlap between them. (B) Magnified view showing the overlap of the PSFs of beads imaged from the different views. (C) Close up of a bead after fusion, the PSF is an average of the different views. (D) PSF of the same bead as in (C) after multiview deconvolution showing that the PSF collapses into a single point. (E) x-y section and (F) y-z section of a single view of an optic vesicle, in which membranes are labeled with GFP showing degradation of the signal in z deeper in the tissue. (G) x-y section and (H) y-z section of the same view after weighted-average fusion of 4 views approximately 20 degrees apart with slightly more degraded x-y resolution overall but increased z-resolution. (I) x-y section and (J) y-z section of the same data after multiview deconvolution, showing a significant increase in resolution and contrast of the signal both in xy and in z. Images in (E-J) are single optical slices. Scale bar represents 50 µm (A, B, E-J) and 10 µm (C, D). Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Time-lapse Registration Select the whole time lapse, right click and choose 'Register using Interest Points' to stabilize the time-lapse over time. In the 'Basic Registration Parameters window select Match against one reference time point (no global optimization) for Type of registration'. Keep the other settings the same as in the registration of the individual time points. In the next window, select the time point to be used as a reference, typically a time point in the middle of the time-lapse. Tick the box 'consider each timepoint as rigid unit', since the individual views within each time point are already registered onto each other. Tick the box for 'Show timeseries statistics'. The other registration parameters remain as before including the regularization. Press OK. NOTE: In the log window, the same output will be displayed as in the individual time point registration. If the registration for the individual time points was successful and robust, the RANSAC is now 99-100% and the average, minimum and maximum error is usually below 1 px. Save this registration before proceeding. 7. Multiview Fusion NOTE: The resulting transformations from the registration steps are used to compute a fused isotropic stack out of the multiple views. This stack has increased number of z slices compared to the original data, because the z spacing is now equal to the original pixel size in xy. The fusion can be performed by either a content-based multiview fusion21,31 or Bayesian-based multiview deconvolution31, which are both implemented in the multiview reconstruction application. NOTE: Fusion is a computationally expensive process (see Table 1), thus reducing the amount of data by defining a bounding box significantly increases the speed of processing. Select all time points right click and choose Define 'Bounding Box'. Use 'Define with BigDataViewer' and choose a name for the bounding box. Move the slider for 'min' and 'max' in every axis to determine the region of interest and then press 'OK'. The parameters of the bounding box will be displayed. NOTE: The bounding box will contain everything within the green box that is overlaid with a transparent magenta layer. Content-based Multiview Fusion NOTE: Content-based multiview fusion21 takes the image quality differences over the stack (i.e. degradation of the signal in z) into account and applies higher weights for better image quality instead of using a simple averaging. Select the time point(s) that should be fused in the 'ViewSetup Explorer', right click and select 'Image Fusion/Deconvolution'. In the Image Fusion window, select 'Weighted-average fusion' from the drop down menu, and choose 'Use pre-defined Bounding Box for Bounding Box'. For the output of the fused image select 'Append to current XML Project', which writes new hdf5 files to the already existing hdf5 files and allows using the registered unfused views and the fused image together. Press 'OK'. Then in the' Pre-define Bounding Box' pop up window select the name of the previously defined bounding box and press 'OK'. Observe the parameters of the bounding box in the next window. For quick fusion, apply a down sampling on the fused dataset. NOTE: If the fused stack is above a certain size, the program will recommend using a more memory efficient 'ImageLib2 containe'r. Switch from 'ArrayImg' to the 'PlanarImg (large images, easy to display) or CellImg (large images)' container, which allow processing of larger data. Otherwise use the predefined settings and apply 'blending and content-based fusion'. Proceed by pressing 'OK'. Observe the hdf5 settings in the next window. Use the predefined parameters and start the fusion process. Make sure that Fiji has assigned enough memory in Edit > Options > Memory & Threads. Multiview Deconvolution NOTE: Multiview Deconvolution31 is another type of multiview fusion. Here additionally to the fusion, the PSF of the imaging system is taken into account in order to deconvolve the image and yield increased resolution and contrast of the signal (compared in Figure 2C-J, Figure 5 and Movie 3). Select the time point(s) to be deconvolved, right click and press 'Image Fusion/Deconvolution'. Select 'Multiview Deconvolution' and use 'the pre-defined bounding box and append to the current XML project'. Select the bounding box and continue. NOTE: The pre-defined parameters for the deconvolution are a good starting point. For the first trial use '20 iterations' and assess the impact of the deconvolution by using the 'Debug mode'. Finally set the compute on to in 512 x 512 x 512 blocks. In the next window, use the pre-defined settings. Set the 'debug mode' to display the results every '5 iterations'. NOTE: The output of the deconvolution is 32-bit data, however the BigDataViewer currently only supports 16-bit data. In order to append the output of the deconvolution to the existing hdf5 dataset, it has to be converted to 16-bit. For the conversion, run 'Use min/max of the first image (might saturate intensities over time)'. NOTE: The deconvolution will then start by loading the images and preparing them for the deconvolution. BigDataServer In order to share the very large XML/HDF5 datasets use the http server BigDataServer33. An introduction to how to setup and connect to such server can be found at http://fiji.sc/BigDataServer. To connect to an existing BigDataServer open Fiji > Plugins > BigDataViewer > BrowseBigDataServer. Enter the URL including the port into the window. NOTE: The movies described in this publication are accessible via this address: http://opticcup.mpi-cbg.de:8085 Observe a window that allows selecting the available movies. Double click to open the BigDataViewer window and view the data as described previously. Supplementary: Checklist of Material Needed Before Starting zebrafish embryos/larvae expressing fluorescent proteins (Keep the embryos in the zebrafish E3 medium without methylene blue. For stages older than 24 hr counteract the pigmentation by adding PTU to a final concentration of 0.2 mM.) fluorescent stereoscope capillaries (20 μl volume, with a black mark) and appropriate plungers (Do not reuse the capillaries. The plungers, on the other hand, can be reused for several experiments.) 1.5 ml plastic tubes sharp tweezers glass (fire polished) or plastic pipettes (plastic can be used for 24 hr and older embryos) glass or plastic dishes diameter 60 mm (plastic can be used for 24 hr and older embryos) two 100 ml beakers 50 ml Luer-Lock syringe with 150 cm extension hose for infusion (The hose and syringe should be kept completely dry in between experiments to avoid contamination by microorganisms.) low melting point (LMP) agarose E3 medium (5 mM NaCl, 0.17 mM KCl, 0.33 mM CaCl2, 0.33 mM MgSO4) MS-222 (Tricaine) phenylthiourea (PTU) fluorescent microspheres (here referred to as beads) double distilled H2O (ddH2O) LSFM is an ideal method for imaging developmental processes across scales. Several applications are compiled here showing both short and long-term imaging of intracellular structures, as well as cells and entire tissues. These examples also demonstrate that LSFM is a useful tool at various stages of eye development from optic cup formation to neurogenesis in the retina. Movie 1 serves as an illustration of the general LSFM approach, first showing a zoomed out view of an intact embryo in the embedding agarose cylinder in brightfield and later showing a detailed view of the retina in the fluorescence channel. Movie 1: LSFM of the zebrafish retina. To illustrate the LSFM approach, this movie shows first in the brightfield that the embryo is imaged intact inside the agarose cylinder before switching to fluorescence. Later it is shown that the big field of view enables observation of the whole retina. Next, the movie shows a magnified small region of the retina to highlight the good subcellular resolution. An Ath5:gap-GFP37 transgenic zebrafish embryo was used for imaging. This transgene labels different neurons in the retina (mainly ganglion cells and photoreceptor precursors). The fluorescence part of the movie was captured as a single view recording with dual sided illumination using the 40X/1.0 W objective with 5 min intervals. The maximum intensity projection of a 30 µm thick volume is shown. Please click here to download this file. Movie 2 demonstrates, how very fast intracellular events can be captured with high resolution; in this case the growth of microtubules at their plus ends in the retinal neuronal progenitor cells. The information contained in the movie allows for tracking and quantification of microtubule plus end growth. Movie 2: Microtubule dynamics in a single cell. This movie captures growing plus tips of microtubules labeled by the plus tip marker protein EB3-GFP38. The protein is expressed in a single retinal progenitor cell. The microtubules are growing predominantly in the direction from apical to basal (top to bottom). The average speed of the EB3 comets was measured as 0.28 ±0.05 µm/sec. The bright spot at the apical side of the cell exhibiting high microtubule nucleation activity is the centrosome. The wild type embryo was injected with hsp70:EB3-GFP plasmid DNA. The movie was acquired 4 hr after heat shock (15 min at 37 °C) at around 28 hrpost fertilization (hpf) as a single view recording with single sided illumination using the 63X/1.0 W objective and 1 sec time intervals. The single cell was cropped from a field of view covering the majority of the retina. The maximum intensity projection of two slices is shown. Please click here to download this file. Figure 3 shows, how intracellular structures can be followed over many hours. Here, the centrosome within translocating retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) is captured. Figure 3: Centrosome localization during the retinal ganglion cell translocation. This montage of a time-lapse experiment shows the position of the centrosome throughout the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) maturation. In the neuronal progenitors the centrosome is localized in the very tip of the apical process (1:00). During cell division, the two centrosomes serve as poles for the mitotic spindle (2:25). This division results in one daughter cell that differentiates into an RGC and a second daughter cell that becomes a photoreceptor cell precursor. After division, the cell body of the RGC translocates to the basal side of the retina, while the apical process remains attached at the apical side. Once the RGC reaches the basal side, its apical process detaches and the centrosome travels with it (6:15). The centrosome can be followed while gradually retracting together with the apical process (6:50, 7:20, 8:10). In the last frame (8:55) the ganglion cell is growing an axon from its basal side, while the centrosome is still localized apically. The mosaic expression was achieved by plasmid DNA injection into wild type embryo at one cell stage. The cells are visualized by the Ath5:GFP-caax (green) construct, which labels RGCs and other neurons. The centrosomes (arrowheads) are labeled by Centrin-tdTomato29 expression (magenta). The apical side of the retina is at the top of the image and the basal side at the bottom. The maximum intensity projection of a 30 µm thick volume is shown. The images were cropped from a movie covering the whole retina. The movie starts at around 34 hr post fertilization (hpf). A z stack was acquired every 5 min with the 40X/1.0 W objective. Time is shown in hh:mm. Scale bar represents 10 µm. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. In Figure 4 it is displayed, how single cell behavior can be extracted from data capturing the whole tissue such as in Movie 1. Translocation of an RGC can be easily tracked and its apical and basal processes followed. Figure 4: Translocation of a single retinal ganglion cell. The RGC translocation from apical to basal side of the retina occurs after the terminal mitosis as described in Figure 3. The RGC is labeled by expression of the Ath5:gap-GFP37 transgene. The maximum intensity projection of a 30 µm thick volume is shown. The images were cropped from a movie covering the whole retina. The movie starts at around 34 hpf. A z stack was acquired every 5 min with the 40X/1.0 W objective. Time is shown in hh:mm. Scale bar represents 5 µm. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Figure 5 demonstrates the ability of multiview LSFM to capture tissue scale morphogenetic processes with cellular resolution on the example of optic cup morphogenesis, during which optic vesicle transforms into an optic cup. The image quality can be vastly improved by multiview imaging, when the final image is combined from the information out of 5 different views (in this case) into one z stack with isotropic resolution. This figure illustrates the improvement in image quality after weighted-average fusion and further gain in image contrast and resolution after multiview deconvolution. The figure shows two optical slices in different orientations through the dataset. Additionally, a montage from the deconvolved dataset shows the optic cup morphogenesis over time. All the time points are then shown in Movie 3. Figure 5: Comparison of image quality between single view and two methods of multiview fusion. (A) One optical slice of single view data shown from lateral view and (B) dorsal view. Stripe artifacts and degradation of the signal deeper inside the sample are apparent. Also a part of the image visible in the fused data (C-F) was not captured in this particular view. (C) The same optical slice, now as multiview fused data shown from lateral view and (D) dorsal view. Note that stripe artifacts are suppressed and structures deep in the sample are better resolved. (E) The same optical slice now as multiview deconvolved data shown from lateral view and (F) dorsal view. Note the increased contrast and resolution so the individual cell membranes and nuclei can be well distinguished. The resolution does not deteriorate notably deeper inside the sample. The dataset was acquired with dual sided illumination from 5 views approximately 20 degrees apart. The z stacks of about 100 µm with 1.5 µm step size were acquired at each view in 10 min intervals for 10 hours with the 20X/1.0 W objective. Input images for the multiview fusion and deconvolution were down sampled 2× to speed up the image processing. 15 iterations of the multiview deconvolution were run. (G) The montage shows a cropped area of the dorsal view from the deconvolved data to highlight the morphogenetic events during early eye development from the optic vesicle to the optic cup stage. The two layers of the optic vesicle, which are initially similar columnar epithelia, differentiate into distinct cell populations. The distal layer close to the epidermis becomes the retinal neuroepithelium (RN) and the proximal layer close to the neural tube becomes the retinal pigment epithelium (RP). The cells in the RN elongate and invaginate to form the optic cup (1:40 to 5:00); at the same time the RP cells flatten. The surface ectoderm is induced to form a lens (1:40), which invaginates later (5:00). The movie starts at 17 hpf. Time is shown in hh:mm. All the cellular membranes are labeled by the β-actin:ras-GFP transgene and all the nuclei are labeled by the hsp70:H2B-RFP transgene. Scale bar represents 30 µm. FB forebrain, LE lens, OP olfactory placode, RN retinal neuroepithelium, RP retinal pigment epithelium. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Movie 3: Optic cup morphogenesis shown with single view and two methods of multiview fusion. The time-lapse movie illustrates the complete process of optic cup morphogenesis from the optic vesicle to the optic cup stage. It shows a single optical slice from the lateral view (top) and a single optical slice from the dorsal view (bottom). The cells of the developing optic vesicle undergo complex rearrangements to finally form the hemispherical optic cup with the inner retinal neuroepithelium and outer retinal pigment epithelium. A lens is formed from the surface ectoderm. It invaginates along with the neuroepithelium and sits in the optic cup. All cellular membranes are labeled by expression of the β-actin:ras-GFP (green) transgene and the nuclei are labeled with hsp70:H2B-RFP (magenta). The movie starts at around 17 hpf. The dataset was acquired with dual sided illumination from 5 views approximately 20 degrees apart and a z stacks of about 100 µm were acquired every 10 min with the 20X/1.0 W objective. Time is shown in hh:mm. Scale bar represents 50 µm. Please click here to download this file. 1. Critical steps and troubleshooting for the data acquisition The typical imaging settings for a GFP and RFP expressing sample can be found in Table 3. In the described microscope setup the light sheet is static, formed by a cylindrical lens. The two illumination objectives are air lenses and the detection objective is a water-dipping lens. Zoom 1.0 with 20X/1.0 or 40X/1.0 objectives gives 230 nm and 115 nm pixel size and a field of view of 441 x 441 µm or 221 x 221 µm respectively. It is recommended to use the default light sheet thickness with center to border ratio 1:2. For 20X/1.0 this thickness corresponds to 4.5 µm and for 40X/1.0 to 3.2 µm in the center. If imaging speed is not the primary priority, use separate tracks in case of a multicolor sample to avoid the crosstalk of fluorescence emission between the channels. The highest speed of acquisition is limited to 50 msec per z step by the speed of movement of the z-driver. If the goal is to achieve the maximum imaging speed in case of, e.g., two tracks with dual sided illumination, the exposure time must be set so that the sum of all the images taken per z step is below 50 msec. On the other hand, if only a single image is acquired per z step, it is not beneficial to set the exposure time shorter than 50 msec. 1920 x 1920 image size Pivot scan on Dual sided illumination with online fusion 10X/0.2 illumination objective 20X/1.0 W Plan-Apochromat detection objective Track 1: Excitation 488 nm typically 2% of 100 mW laser, 550 nm SP emission filter Track 2: Excitation 561 nm typically 3% of 75 mW laser, 585 nm LP emission filter Exposure time up to 100 msec Z stack thickness 50-100 μm 1-1.5 μm z step size in the continuous z drive mode Incubation at 28.5 °C Table 3: Imaging Settings. Inspecting the sample after the experiment It is important to ensure that the specimen is still healthy at the end of the experiment. As a first readout, check the heartbeat of the specimen under a stereoscope. With a pair of sharp forceps the sample can be taken out of the agarose and moved to the incubator to develop further in order to check if it was affected by the imaging. Alternatively, it can be fixed for antibody staining. Mounting and drift It is essential to keep the osmolarity of the chamber solution close to the osmolarity of the embedding agarose, otherwise swelling/shrinking of the agarose and subsequent instability of the sample will occur. Therefore, use the same solution (E3 medium without methylene blue) to fill the chamber and to prepare the 1% low melting point agarose aliquots. Additionally, do not leave the agarose in the 70 °C heating block for more than 2 hr, as it can lose its gelling properties. Do not embed the fish into too hot agarose, as this can lead to heat shock response or death of the embryo. If unsure about the effect of warm agarose on the embryos, check that the tail does not bend and that the heart rate does not slow down. If this occurs, use a different embryo for the experiment. Keep the overall length of the agarose column with the sample short (around 2 cm) and mount the zebrafish with its head oriented towards the plunger tip. Likewise, the agarose cylinder extruded from the capillary should be kept as short as possible. These measures will ensure stability of the sample throughout the movie. At the same time, the agarose column must be long enough so that the glass capillary itself does not reach into the light path, as this would cause major refraction and reflection. The initial drift of the sample is caused by the volume changes of the agarose cylinder itself. Sliding of the plunger is not the reason for it. Therefore, it does not help to fix the plunger with plasticine or nail polish. The embryo might change its position during the movie due to its natural growth too. Accordingly, it is advisable to center the region of interest in the middle of the field of view and keep some room at the edges to accommodate these movements. Reduced amount of embedding medium in the light path Orienting the sample correctly helps to achieve the best possible image quality15. Generally, excitation and emission light should travel through as little tissue and mounting media as possible. The optimal solution is agarose-free mounting. This was achieved for example in a setup for Arabidopsis lateral root imaging14, in which the main root was mounted into phytagel and the lateral roots were subsequently let to grow out of the gel column completely. Agarose-free mounting was also developed for imaging of the complete embryogenesis of Tribolium beetle over two days12. Image quality improvement was not a primary motivation in that case. Tribolium embryos simply do not survive inside the agarose long enough. An absolutely embedding media-free mounting has not been achieved for long term imaging in zebrafish. Still, we can take advantage of the fact that when the agarose solidifies, most embryos are positioned diagonally in the capillary with one eye located deep in the agarose and the second eye being close to the surface of the embedding column. The eye closer to the surface provides superior image quality and therefore should be imaged preferentially. Agarose concentration and long-term imaging The concentration of agarose for mounting is a compromise between stability of the sample and the possibility to accommodate growth of the embryo and diffusion of oxygen to it. There is no additional gain in the stability of the sample when using agarose concentrations higher than 1%. As a starting point for optimizing the experiments we recommend 0.6% agarose, which is also suitable for embryos younger than 24 hpf that are too delicate to be mounted into 1% agarose. To anaesthetize older embryos and larvae, the MS-222 concentration can be raised to 200 µg/ml without side effects13. In case developing embryos are imaged for longer than ±12 hr, agarose mounting is not recommended, because it restricts the growth of the embryo and causes tail deformation. This issue was solved for zebrafish by mounting embryos into FEP polymer tubes with refractive index similar to water13,39. Mouse embryos, on the other hand, can be immobilized in hollow agarose cylinders40 or in holes of an acrylic rod attached to a syringe41. FEP tube mounting is not recommended as default method though, because the wall of the tube refracts the light slightly more than agarose. Light sheet alignment For good image quality it is critical to perform the automatic light sheet alignment before every experiment. Especially if the zoom settings were changed, the objectives were taken out, or a different liquid was used in the chamber. The pivot scanning of the light sheet should always be activated. For large scattering specimens, it is necessary to apply the dual sided illumination with online fusion to achieve even illumination across the field of view. Dual sided illumination also diminishes a specific problem of the eye imaging, which is the refraction of the incoming light sheet by the lens of the embryo. Smaller, less scattering specimens can be efficiently imaged using single sided illumination, which shortens the imaging time by half and can result in slightly better image quality compared to dual sided illumination. This is because the light paths for the two illumination arms are always different and the more efficient one can be chosen. Additionally, the two light sheets coming from each side are never perfectly in one plane, which causes mild blurring after the fusion. For very fast intracellular events, like the growing microtubules (Movie 2), the dual sided illumination is not appropriate, since the images with illumination from left and right are acquired sequentially, which could result in motion blur. Photobleaching and phototoxicity Less fluorophore photobleaching is often mentioned as a major advantage of the LSFM. We would argue that the aim should be no photobleaching at all. If there is noticeable photobleaching in the live imaging experiment, the specimen is probably already out of its physiological range of tolerated laser exposure. When imaging the zebrafish embryos in the spinning disc microscope, in our experience, high phototoxicity can stall embryo development even before the fluorescent signal bleaches markedly. Therefore, the imaging settings in the LSFM should be adjusted so that little or no photobleaching is observed. Even though LSFM is gentle to the sample, it is prudent to use only as much laser power and exposure time as needed to achieve a signal to noise ratio sufficient for the subsequent data analysis. Z-stack, time intervals and data size The files generated by LSFM are usually very large; sometimes in the terabyte range. It is often necessary to make a compromise between image quality and data size. This is particularly the case for z spacing of stacks and intervals in the time-lapse acquisitions. To define the z intervals, the Optimal button in the Z-stack tool tab should ideally be used, especially if the dataset will be deconvolved later. It calculates the spacing to achieve 50% overlap between neighboring optical slices. Still, somewhat larger z intervals are usually acceptable. They reduce the time needed to acquire the z stack as well as the final file size. The optimal time sampling depends on the process of interest. For overall eye development 5-10 min intervals are usually acceptable. If some structures are to be automatically tracked, the subsequent time points must be sufficiently similar. Fluorescent beads Fluorescent beads primarily serve as fiducial markers for registering different views of a multiview dataset onto each other. Always vortex the bead solutions thoroughly before use. Do not heat the beads as this can lead to loss of the fluorescent dye. The optimal bead concentration for the multiview registration has to be determined experimentally. The described plugin works best with around 1,000 detected beads throughout each view. Larger (500 nm or 1,000 nm) beads are detected more robustly than smaller (less than 500 nm) beads. This is because larger beads are brighter and are easier to segment without false positive detections of structures in the sample. The disadvantage of the larger beads is that they are very prominent in the final fused and deconvolved image. For each new fluorescent marker, the appropriate bead size and fluorescence emission have to be optimized. To give an example of sample from Figure 5 and Movie 3, 100 nm green emission beads gave too many false positive detections in the membrane-GFP channel, but 1,000 nm red emission beads were robustly detected in the H2B-RFP channel with very few positive detections inside the sample. If the bead detection fails in the channel with the fluorescent marker, a separate channel only containing beads can be acquired, but this is not very practical. The sub-resolution sized beads give a direct readout of the point spread function (PSF) of the microscope, which can be used for deconvolution (Figure 2C-D). If registration and fusion works better with bigger beads (e.g. 1,000 nm), a separate image of the PSF can be acquired with sub-resolution, e.g., 100 nm beads. Using multicolor beads is helpful during registration of multichannel acquisition and for verifying that the channels overlay perfectly. Addition of fluorescent beads is not necessary when imaging from a single view without subsequent multiview registration and fusion. However, even in those cases beads can be helpful during the initial light sheet adjustment to check for the quality of the light sheet and in general to reveal optical aberrations. Such optical aberrations may originate from various sources like damaged or dirty objectives, dirty windows of the chamber or inhomogeneity in the agarose. Beads can also be used for drift correction by the multiview registration Fiji plugin20. For the multiview reconstruction purpose, it is better to acquire an odd number of views 3, 5 and so on, which are not opposing each other. This improves deconvolution since the PSFs are imaged from different directions. It is also important to confirm at the beginning of the time lapse acquisition that there is sufficient overlap among the views. This is best done empirically, i.e., immediately confirming that the views in the first time point can be successfully registered. When the goal of the multiview acquisition is to increase the resolution of an image of a large scattering specimen, it is not advisable to image the entire specimen in each view, but to stop around the center of the sample, where the signal deteriorates. The low quality acquisition from the second half of the specimen would not add useful information to the multiview reconstruction. 2. Critical steps and troubleshooting for the data processing Currently, there exist several possibilities for processing multiview data from a light sheet microscope that are well documented and relatively easy to adopt. We use the multiview reconstruction application, which is an open source software implemented in Fiji32 (Stephan Preibisch unpublished, Link 1a and Link1b in the List of Materials). This plugin is a major redesign of the previous SPIM registration plugin20, reviewed by Schmied et al.42, integrating the BigDataViewer and its XML and HDF5 format33 with the SPIM registration workflow (Figure 1B, Link 2, Link 3). This application can be also adapted for high performance computing cluster, which significantly speeds up the processing43. This multiview registration application is actively developed further and keeps improving. In case of problems or features requests for the described software, please file issues on the respective GitHub pages (Link 4 for Multiview Reconstruction and Link 5 for BigDataViewer). The second option is to use the commercial software available together with the microscope. This solution works well and employs the same principle of using fluorescent beads to register the different views. However, it lacks the option to visualize the whole dataset fast like with the BigDataViewer. Also the software cannot be adapted to the cluster and furthermore the processing blocks the microscope for other users, unless additional license for the software is purchased. The third option, which is also an open source software, was recently published by the Keller lab44 and provides a comprehensive framework for processing and downstream analysis of the light sheet data. This software is using information from within the sample to perform multiview fusion, therefore it does not require the presence of fluorescent beads around the sample. But at the same time it assumes orthogonal orientation of the imaging views (objectives), so it cannot be used for data acquired from arbitrary angles44. The hardware used for processing can be found in Table 4. There has to be enough storage capacity and a clear pipeline for data processing available, ahead of the actual experiment. Acquisition of the images is faster than subsequent analysis and it is easy to get flooded with unprocessed data. It is often unrealistic to store all the raw images, but rather a cropped version or processed images like fused views, maximum intensity projections or spherical projections45. Processor Two Intel Xeon Processor E5-2630 (Six Core, 2.30 GHz Turbo, 15 MB, 7.2 GT/sec) Memory 128 GB (16×8 GB) 1600 MHz DDR3 ECC RDIMM Hard Drive 4×4 TB 3.5inch Serial ATA (7.200 rpm) Hard Drive HDD Controller PERC H310 SATA/SAS Controller for Dell Precision HDD Configuration C1 SATA 3.5 inch, 1-4 Hard Drives Graphics Dual 2 GB NVIDIA Quadro 4000 (2 cards w/ 2 DP & 1 DVI-I each) (2 DP-DVI & 2 DVI-VGA adapter) (MRGA17H) Network Intel X520-T2 Dual Port 10 GbE Network Interface Card Table 4: Hardware Requirements. Data processing speed The time needed for data processing depends on the dimensions of the data and on the used hardware. In Table 1, we provide an overview of the time required for the key steps in processing an example 8.6 GB multiview dataset that consisted of 1 time point with 4 views and 2 channels. Processing step Time Protocol step Resave as HDF5 6 min 30 sec 6.3 Detect Interest Points 20 sec 6.4 Register using interest points 3 sec 6.5 Content-based multiview fusion 4 hr 7.2 Multiview deconvolution (CPU) 8 hr 7.3 Multiview deconvolution (GPU) 2 hr 7.3 Table 1: Data Processing Time. Input data formats for multiview reconstruction The Fiji Plugin Multiview Reconstruction can support .czi, .tif and ome.tiff formats. Due to the data structure of the .czi format, discontinuous datasets are not supported without pre-processing. Discontinuous means that the recording had to be restarted (e.g. to readjust the positions due to drift of the sample). In this case the .czi files need to be resaved as .tif. For .tif files each view and illumination direction needs to be saved as a separate file. Calibration of pixel size The microscope-operating software calculates the calibration for the xy pixel size based on the selected objective. However, the pixel size in z is defined independently by the step size. If a wrong objective is specified in the software the xy to z ratio is incorrect and the registration will fail. After defining the dataset the number of registrations will be 1 and the number of interest points will be 0 in the ViewSetup Explorer. The initial registration represents the calibration of the dataset. Both the number of registrations and interest points will increase during processing. Down sampling for detection of interest points Using down sampling is recommended, since the loading of the files and the segmentation will be much faster. It is however important to note that the detection parameters will change depending on the down sampling, thus transferring detection settings between different down sample settings is not possible. Detection of interest points It is advisable to segment as many true beads as possible in each view, even at the price of obtaining some false positive detections, because they do not hinder the registration considerably. Spurious detections, if few in numbers, are excluded during registration (See Registration of interest points). However, massive false positive detections pose a problem to the algorithm. It not only reduces performance for the detection and the registration, since it takes much longer to segment the image as well as compare these beads between the views, but it also reduces the accuracy of the registration. This can be addressed by using more stringent detection parameters. Additionally, over segmentation of the beads (i.e. multiple detections on one bead Figure 1E) is detrimental to the registration and should be avoided. Registration of interest points To register the views onto each other, the location of each bead in each view is described by its position with respect to its three nearest neighboring beads. These constellations are forming a local geometric descriptor and allow comparing each bead between the views. Beads with matching descriptor between two views are then considered as candidate correspondences. Note that this works only for randomly distributed beads, for which the local descriptors are typically unique for each bead. One can use other structures such as nuclei in the sample for registration. However, in order to detect nuclei, which are distributed non randomly in the sample, other methods apply20,21. The candidate correspondences are then tested against RANSAC36 in order to exclude false positives. Each correspondence is suggesting a transformation model for overlaying the views onto each other. True correspondences would likely agree on one transformation model, whereas outliers would each point to a different one. The true correspondences are then used to compute an affine transformation model between the two compared views. A global optimization with an iterative optimization algorithm is then carried out, during which all the views are registered onto the first view with the aim of minimal displacement between the views20,21. Due to movement of the agarose and imprecise motor movement of the microscope stage, the position of each stack varies moderately over time. Whereas the registration of the individual time point removes the difference between the views of this time point, the time-lapse also needs to be registered as a whole. To this end, each individual time point is registered onto the reference time point. Reference time point If a time series with many time points is processed, a representative time point is selected as reference usually from the middle of the time series since the bead intensities can degrade over time due to bleaching. On this reference, the parameters for interest point detection, registration, bounding box and fusion can be determined. These parameters are then applied to the whole time lapse to compute a specific transformation model for each individual time point. During time-lapse registration all other time points are also registered spatially onto this reference time point. Thus the bounding box parameters for the entire recording are depending on this specific time point. Multichannel registration When imaging multiple channels, ideally the same fluorescent beads should be visible in all imaged channels. The detection and registration can then be performed on each channel individually, which takes into account the influence of the different light wavelengths on the transformation. Often this is not possible, because the beads are not visible in all channels or the beads are dominating the image too much in one channel and are too dim in the other channel(s). The typical solution is to use beads visible only in one channel for the detection and registration and the acquired transformation model (i.e. after detection, registration and time-lapse registration) is then applied to the other channels by Fiji > Plugins > Multiview Reconstruction > Batch Processing > Tools > Duplicate Transformations. In the drop down menu for Apply transformation of select One channel to other channels. In the following window select the XML and click OK. Then select the channel that contains the beads as Source channel and as Target channel select the channel(s) without beads. For Duplicate which transformations use Replace all transformations and press OK. The transformations are then copied to all other channels and saved in the XML. To see the new transformations in the ViewSetup Explorer, restart the MultiView Reconstruction Application. The fusion of multiple views is computationally very intensive. However, large images are typically acquired to accommodate not only the sample, but also the beads around it. Once the registration parameters are extracted from the beads, they are no longer useful as part of the image. Therefore, to increase the efficiency of the fusion, only the parts of the image stacks containing the sample should be fused together. A region of interest (bounding box) should be defined to contain the sample and as little of the surrounding agarose as possible. For the example in Figure 2 a weighted average fusion on the entire volume with 2229×2136×2106 px would require 38,196 MB of RAM, whereas with a bounding box the volume is reduced to 1634×1746×1632 px and the memory requirements are reduced to 17,729 MB. The challenge in fusing multiview data is that the views usually end abruptly and do not contain the same image quality for the same voxels. Simple averaging of the views would therefore lead to blending artifacts and unnecessary image degradation. Content-based multiview fusion takes both of these problems into account. First, it blends the different views, where one image ends and the other one begins and second, it assesses the local image quality and applies higher weights to higher image quality in the fusion21. Compared to a single view there is an improvement of the resolution in z with a slight degradation of the signal in xy (Figure 2E-H, Figure 5A-D). Multiview deconvolution is another approach to achieve the fusion of the views. With this method also the PSFs of the different views are taken into account in order to recover the image that has been convolved by the optics of the microscope. This method drastically improves image quality by removing image blur and increasing resolution and contrast of the signal31 (Figure 2C-D, Figure 2I-J, Figure 5E-G, Movie 3). Deconvolution is computationally very intensive (see Table 1), thus using a GPU for processing increases the speed of this process. It may also be necessary to perform the deconvolution on down sampled data. To down sample, use Fiji > Multiview Reconstruction > Batch Processing > Tools > Apply Transformations. This will apply a new transformation model on the views that will be saved in the .xml file. HDF5 file format for BigDataViewer and BigDataServer The BigDataViewer33 allows easy visualization of terabyte-sized data. How to control the BigDataViewer is summarized in Table 2. A screencast of the basic operation of the program is also available as a supplement in its original publication33. The BigDataViewer is centered on an .xml file, which contains the metadata, and an hdf5 file, which contains the image data. The image data are present in the hdf5 in multiple resolution levels in 3D blocks. The multiple resolution levels allow for visualizing the data faster with lower resolution, before the full resolution is loaded. Individual blocks are only loaded into memory when needed. Thus, the hdf5 image format allows direct and fast visualization of the data via the BigDataViewer33. It also speeds up processing since the loading of the files is carried out more efficiently. Therefore, we recommend resaving the dataset into this format, although it is not strictly required for the processing. For further explanation of the data format, please refer to Link 3. Additionally, the datasets can be shared with collaborators or the public using the BigDataServer33 (Link 6). key effect F1 shows the Help with a brief description of the BigDataViewer and its basic operation < > or mouse wheel movement in z up and down arrow zoom in and out right click and drag moves sample in the viewer left click and drag rotates sample around the cursor slider at the bottom of the viewer or Tab and left or right arrow moves on time axis additionally pressing shift faster movement or rotation along any axis x and then left and right arrow rotates around the x axis y and then left and right arrow rotates around the y axis z and then left and right arrow rotates around the z axis shift and x orients the view along x axis shift and y orients the view along y axis shift and z orients the view along z axis i switches between the different interpolation modes (i.e. nearest neighbor and trilinear) s or Settings > Brightness & Contrast modifies the color of the channels, brightness and contrast F6 or Settings > Visibility and grouping changes the displayed groups, enables grouping to overlaying different groups and calling the groups via the number keys F10 or Tools > Record Movie acquires a time series of the currently displayed slice Table 2: Big Data Viewer. 3. Limitations of the described implementation of LSFM Low throughput In a typical LSFM experiment only one sample per experiment is imaged. Still, in our experience, a lot of useful information can be extracted from that single sample. High throughput imaging of multiple embryos has been recently achieved in home built LSFM setups 46-48, although typically at the expense of freedom of sample positioning and rotation. Insufficient penetration deep into tissues Even though zebrafish embryos are translucent, the obtained image quality is deteriorating quickly when imaging deeper in the tissue due to scattering and absorption. Partially this is an effect of scattering and absorption of the emitted fluorescence by the sample and cannot be corrected in the current setup. Another source of the uneven image quality is the irregular illumination. The light sheet is incident from the left or right side and any objects in its path refract it, which results in stripe artifacts and blur. The dual sided illumination and multiview fusion can diminish the artifacts in the final image. Lastly, the image quality tends to be slightly worse towards the margin of the field of view due to the natural geometry of the light sheet, which is becoming thicker towards the edges. Limited chemical manipulation The use of drugs or inhibitors is widespread in zebrafish research. In this microscope use of drugs is constrained, due to the big volume of the sample chamber and considerations of other users of the instrument, who share the same chamber. Using an extra chamber dedicated to drug experiments can solve this issue. Filling the chamber partially with glass beads reduces the volume of liquid that is required. No photomanipulation Currently there is no possibility of localized optical manipulation like photoconversion, or laser ablation in this microscope. Nevertheless, home built setups can be used for such specific applications. 4. Significance and future applications LSFM is the best method available to date for fast imaging of big volumes of live embryos. Most of the experiments conceivable on a confocal microscope can also be performed on a light sheet microscope with aforementioned advantages. In the case of imaging of eye development, the speed of LSFM is not the crucial parameter. Instead, the low phototoxicity and flexibility in sample positioning are the decisive benefits. The LSFM data have a high SNR, which helps to achieve good deconvolution results and is also beneficial for automated image analysis and object tracking. In conclusion, LSFM is a great tool for generating quantifiable data on embryonic development and overall cell and tissue characteristics for subsequent modeling and physical descriptions of the processes in question. Open Access publication fees were provided by, Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH. We want to thank Tobias Pietzsch for providing his powerful open source software BigDataViewer. We thank the Light Microscopy Facility of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), namely Jan Peychl, Sebastian Bundschuh and Davide Accardi for technical assistance, perfect maintenance of the microscopes used in the study and for comments on the manuscript and H. Moon (MPI-CBG Scientific Computing Facility) for the BigDataServer. We thank Julia Eichhorn for assembling the Movie 1. The Norden lab members and Svea Grieb provided many helpful comments on the manuscript. Jaroslav Icha, Christopher Schmied and Jaydeep Sidhaye are members of the International Max Planck Research School for Cell, Developmental and Systems Biology and doctoral students at TU Dresden. Pavel Tomancak is supported by the ERC Starting Grant: Quantitative Analysis of the Hourglass Model of Evolution of Development and Human Frontier Science Program Young Investigator grant RGY0093/2012. Caren Norden is supported by the Human Frontier Science Program (CDA-00007/2011) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) [SFB 655, A25]. Lightsheet Z.1 microscope Carl Zeiss Microscopy Low melting point agarose Roth 6351.1 Low melting point agarose Sigma A4018 or A9414 Ethyl 3-aminobenzoate methanesulfonate (MESAB/MS-222/Tricaine) Sigma E10521 N-Phenylthiourea (PTU) Sigma P7629 500 nm red fluorescent beads F-Y 050 Millipore (Estapor) 80380495 20 μl (1 mm inner diameter, marked black) capilllaries Brand 701904 sold as spare part for transferpettor Teflon tip plungers for 20 μl capillaries Brand 701932 sold as spare part for transferpettor Circular glass coverslips diameter 18 mm, selected thickness 0.17 mm Thermo scientific (Menzel-Glaser) O-rings for chamber windows 17×1.5 mm Carl Zeiss Microscopy Tweezers, style 55 Dumont 0209-55-PO 50 ml Luer-Lock syringes Becton Dickinson 300865 150 cm extension cable for infusion compatible with Luer-Lock syringes Becton Dickinson 397400 Link 1 Multiview reconstruction application https://github.com/bigdataviewer/SPIM_Registration http://fiji.sc/Multiview-Reconstruction Link 2 BigDataViewer https://github.com/bigdataviewer Link 3 BigDataViewer http://fiji.sc/BigDataViewer Link 4 Multiview reconstruction application-issues https://github.com/bigdataviewer/SPIM_Registration/issues Link 5 BigDataViewer-issues https://github.com/bigdataviewer/bigdataviewer_fiji/issues Link 6 BigDataServer http://fiji.sc/BigDataServer Pantazis, P., Supatto, W. 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Studying Soft-matter and Biological Systems over a Wide Length-scale from Nanometer and Micrometer Sizes at the Small-angle Neutron Diffractometer KWS-2… Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease Light Sheet-based Fluorescence Microscopy of Living or Fixed and Stained Tribolium castaneum Embryos… Your institution must be subscribed to JoVE's Developmental Biology section to access this content.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647409
__label__cc	0.522101	0.477899	This is a sample clip. To watch the full video, start your free trial now & explore! Single Sensillum Recordings for Locust Palp Sensilla Basiconica Hongwei Li1, Yinwei You2, Long Zhang1 1Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, 2Bio-tech Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences This is a sample clip. To watch the full video start a free trial today! Your institution must subscribe to JoVE's Neuroscience section to access this content. Fill out the form below to receive a free trial or learn more about access: This paper describes a detailed and highly effective protocol for single sensillum recordings from the sensilla basiconica on the palps of insect mouthparts. Li, H., You, Y., Zhang, L. Single Sensillum Recordings for Locust Palp Sensilla Basiconica. J. Vis. Exp. (136), e57863, doi:10.3791/57863 (2018). The palps of locust mouthparts are considered to be conventional gustatory organs that play an important role in a locust's food selection, especially for the detection of non-volatile chemical cues through sensilla chaetica (previously named terminal sensilla or crested sensilla). There is now increasing evidence that these palps also have an olfactory function. An odorant receptor (LmigOR2) and an odorant-binding protein (LmigOBP1) have been localized in the neurons and accessory cells, respectively, in the sensilla basiconica of the palps. Single sensillum recording (SSR) is used for recording the responses of odorant receptor neurons, which is an effective method for screening active ligands on specific odorant receptors. SSR is used in functional studies of odorant receptors in palp sensilla. The structure of the sensilla basiconica located on the dome of the palps differs somewhat from the structure of those on the antennae. Therefore, when performing an SSR elicited by odorants, some specific advice may be helpful for obtaining optimum results. In this paper, a detailed and highly effective protocol for an SSR from insect palp sensilla basiconica is introduced. Animals have evolved a range of chemosensory organs that sense exogenous chemical cues. In insects, the most important chemosensory organs are the antennae and the palps. On these organs, several types of chemosensory hairs, called chemosensory sensilla, are innervated by chemosensory neurons (CSNs) within the hairs. CSNs in chemosensory sensilla recognize specific chemical cues through signal transduction from chemical stimuli to electrical potentials that are subsequently transferred up to the central nervous systems1,2,3. CSNs express various chemosensory receptors [e.g., odorant receptors (ORs)], ionotropic receptors (IRs), and gustatory receptors (GRs) on their membranes, which encode exogenous chemical cues associated with different types of chemosensation4,5,6. The characterization of CSNs is key to the elucidation of cellular and molecular mechanisms of insect chemoreception. Now single sensillum recording (SSR) is a widely-used technique for the characterization of insect CSNs in the antennal sensilla of many insects, including flies7, moths8, beetles9, aphids10, locusts11, and ants12. However, few studies have applied an SSR to insect palps13,14,15,16,17, because the particular structures of their sensilla make an electrophysiological recording difficult18. Swarms of locusts (Orthoptera) often cause serious crop damage and economic loss19. The palps are believed to play an important role in the food selection of locusts20,21,22,23,24. Two types of chemosensory sensilla are investigated by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Usually, 350 sensilla chaetica and 7 - 8 sensilla basiconica are observed on each dome of the locust palps18. Sensilla chaetica are gustatory sensilla that sense non-volatile chemical cues, whereas sensilla basiconica have an olfactory function, sensing volatile chemical cues. On locust palps, the diameters of the hair sockets of the sensilla basiconica (ca. 12 µm), are much greater than those of sensilla chaetica (ca. 8 µm)18,25. The cuticular wall of the sensilla basiconica on the palps is much thicker than that of antennal sensilla18. In addition, the dome of the palp has fluid contents within a highly flexible cuticle. These characteristics mean that a penetration with a microelectrode and an acquisition of good electrophysiological signals is more difficult than for antennal sensilla. In this paper, a detailed and highly effective SSR protocol for locust palp sensilla basiconica is presented with a video. Subscription Required. Please recommend JoVE to your librarian. 1. Preparation of Instruments and Insect Preparing tungsten electrodes and stimuli solutions Fix a new tungsten wire (diameter of 0.125 mm, length of 75 mm) into a micromanipulator and sharpen it in a 10% (w/v) sodium nitrite (NaNO2) solution in a syringe at 10 V provided by a power supply for about 1 min under a stereomicroscope (40X magnification). Dip the sharpened tungsten wire repeatedly into the 10% NaNO2 solution, about 4 mm at 5 V in < 1 min (Figure 1A). Examine the diameter of the sharpened tungsten tip frequently under the stereomicroscope until it is fine enough to penetrate the cuticle of a locust palp olfactory sensillum (Figure 1B). Prepare the stimulus solutions. Dilute each of the chemical stimulus substance in mineral oil. Dilute 1-nonanol and nonanoic acid at 10% dilutions. Dilute E-2-hexenal and hexanal at 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, and 10-5. Prepare Pasteur tubes carrying the stimuli: insert filter paper strips (length of 2 cm, width of 0.5 cm) into the Pasteur tubes, add the diluted stimulus solutions (each 10 µl) to the filter paper strips, and then plug the Pasteur tubes with pipette tips (1 ml). Prepare the insect Rear locusts (Locusta migratoria) with fresh wheat seedlings under crowded conditions at a relative humidity of 60%, a temperature of 28 - 30 °C, and a photoperiod of 18:6 h (light:dark). Choose 1- to 3-day-old 5th instar locust nymphs and remove the antennae with fine scissors to avoid any interference when recording. Preparing the locust maxillary palp holder Use a glass slide (25 mm x 75 mm) as the base of the maxillary palp holder (MPH). Attach a plastic piece (1 mm in height, 10 mm in width, 35 mm in length) to a corner of the glass slide with double-sided adhesive tape, and finally fix a cover glass (18 mm x 18 mm) on top of the plastic piece with double-sided adhesive tape. Place a small piece of red rubber tape onto the cover glass as a non-slip layer. The plastic piece and the cover glass constitute the platform for the locust palp. The height of the platform is approximately 1.5 mm. Install a tungsten wire (diameter of 0.125 mm, length of 36 mm) at a distance of 1.5 mm parallel to the inside edge of the platform. Fix the two ends of the wire onto the platform with double-sided adhesive tape. 2. Preparation of Locust Maxillary Palps Cut a centrifuge tube (1.5 ml) vertically in half and cut off the bottom. Place the locust into the prepared tube. Leave the ventral region and the head of the locust exposed. Fix the assembly to the glass slide with double-sided adhesive tape (Figure 2A). Pull the right maxillary palp onto the platform. Put the tungsten wire at the fourth segment of the palp. Place adhesive putty on each side of the tungsten wire, about 2 mm from the maxillary palp (Figure 2A and 2B). 3. Single Sensillum Recordings Place the locust maxillary palp preparation under a microscope at a low magnification (100X). Adjust the position of the preparation until the palp is perpendicular to the recording electrode (Figure 3A). Insert the reference electrode (tungsten electrode) into the locust eye using a micromanipulator. Move the recording electrode (tungsten electrode) close to the maxillary palp with the micromanipulator (Figure 3B and 3C). Adjust the odor delivery device to about 1 cm from the maxillary palp (Figure 3B). Open the recording software Auto Spike 32. Set the recording parameters as follows: the recording scale on 500 µV; the high cutoff of the filter on 300 Hz, the low cutoff on 200 Hz; and the pretrigger on 10 s. Connect the recording electrode to a 10x universal AC/DC amplifier. Switch the microscope to a high magnification (500X). Insert the recording electrode into the base of a basiconic sensillum on the maxillary palp and delicately adjust the recording electrode to obtain good spontaneous spikes (Figure 3D). Open the stimulus controller to deliver a continuous air stream at 20 ml/s. Set the stimulation time to 1 s. Record signals for 10 s, starting 10 s before the onset of the stimulus pulse. Use a 10x universal AC/DC amplifier to amplify the signals. Feed the signals into the IDAC 4. Analyze the signals with the Auto Spike 32 software. AC signals are band-pass filtered between 200 to 300 Hz. Use Auto Spike 32 to distinguish peak-to-trough amplitudes from noises. Calculate the responses of the neurons as the increases in action potential frequencies (spikes per second) over the spontaneous frequencies. Perform a statistical analysis using GraphPad Prism 7. Two sensilla subtypes (pb1 and pb2) on the locust maxillary palp are identified based on different response dynamics to chemical odorants (10% 1-nonanol and 10% nonanoic acid). The neurons in pb1 produce significantly more spikes to 1-nonanol than to nonanoic acid while the neurons in pb2 are significantly less activated by 1-nonanol compared with nonanoic acid (Figure 4). Hexanal and E-2-Hexenal can evoke a locust palp opening response (POR)26. Hexanal is an abundant host plant green leaf volatile which may contribute to a further confirmation to the food source26. The spikes elicited in the pb1 neurons last longer than those of pb2 when they are stimulated by E-2-hexenal (Figure 4). The neurons in pb1 and pb2 exhibit similarly robust responses to hexanal (Figure 4). Comparing the mean changes of all spikes between the periods 5 s before and 5 s after the stimulation indicates that the response to 1-nonanol is significantly higher than to nonanoic acid in pb1, but contrarily in pb2 (Figure 5). The neurons in these two subtypes of sensilla respond dose-dependently to E-2-hexenal and hexanal, and their response patterns to these two aldehydes differ (Figure 6A and 6B). Figure 1. Electrode preparation. (A) This panel shows a general view of the electrode sharpening apparatus. The syringe containing 10% NaNO2 (left) is used to sharpen the electrode (right). (B) This panel shows a close view of the electrode tip (a: suitable; b: unsuitable). Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Figure 2. Locust maxillary palp holder (MPH). (A) The MPH and a locust are mounted on the glass slide before positioning it under the microscope. (B) This panel shows a close-up of the locust maxillary palp, fixed by tungsten wire on the platform. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Figure 3. Single sensillum recordings. (A) This panel shows a view of the electrophysiology setup. (B) This panel shows a close view of the locust preparation mounted on the microscope. (C) This image shows the locust maxillary palp at 100X magnification. (D) This image shows the palp at 500X magnification. The arrow indicates a basiconic sensillum. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Figure 4. Response traces of single sensillum recordings of the locust maxillary palp. In this panel, pb1 stands for subtype 1 of the palp sensilla basiconica; pb2 stands for subtype 2 of the palp sensilla basiconica. The bars above the traces indicate the stimulus duration (1 s). For these recordings, all odors are used at 10% dilutions except for E-2-hexenal and hexanal, which are diluted to 1%. This figure has been modified from Zhang et al.26. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Figure 5. Comparison of mean numbers of spikes in neurons in pb1 and pb2 stimulated by nonanoic acid and 1-nonanol. The mean numbers of the spikes are calculated in the periods 5 s before and after stimulation. In pb1, the mean numbers of the spikes in the neurons responding to 1-nonanol increase significantly higher than those of the spikes in neurons responding to nonanoic acid (n = 11 palps; ANOVA with post hoc t-tests; p < 0.0001), in contrast to pb2 (n = 10 palps; ANOVA with post hoc t-tests; p = 0.0110). The error bar represents SEM. This figure has been modified from Zhang et al.26. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Figure 6. The patterns of neurons in pb1 and pb2 responding dose-dependently to E-2-hexenal and hexanal. (A) This panel shows the patterns of the neurons in pb1 (± SEM; n = 12 palps). (B) This panel shows the patterns of the neurons in pb2 (± SEM; n = 10 palps). This figure has been modified from Zhang et al.26. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure. Insects rely on palps to detect food odors, and their palps are believed to play an important role in speciation13,27. The palps are simple olfactory organs and are receiving increasing attention as an attractive model for the exploration of the neuromolecular networks underlying chemosensation28. Insect labellar and palp SSRs have been successfully performed on Drosophila melanogaster, Anopheles gambiae, and Culex quinquefasciatus13,14,15,16,17 but have rarely been reported in the form of a video presentation16,29. In contrast, video data on antennal SSRs are available for Drosophila, the navel orangeworm moth (Amyeloistransitella), Schistocerca Americana, and the bed bug (Cimex lectularius)16,30,31,32,33. Locust palp sensilla basiconica have a particular structure that differs from that of locust antennal sensilla and many other insect sensilla. Using the method described here, action potentials generated by locust palp sensilla basiconica subtypes pb1 and pb2 could be recorded and discriminated (Figure 4 and Figure 5). The critical step is the penetration of the recording electrode. The recording electrode should be inserted into the base of the sensillum and advanced until good signals are acquired. In addition, it is important to prevent the dome of the palp from collapsing when the recording electrode is inserted into the base of the sensillum. To achieve this, we set up a platform including a special locust maxillary palp holder (MPH) and used a tungsten wire to compress the fourth segment of the palp. Many repetitions of this procedure demonstrate that this is effective. Based on the response patterns of the neurons in the sensilla to several odorants, we have, for the first time, identified two subtypes of sensilla basiconica on the locust maxillary palp, namely pb1 and pb2. The limitation of the technique outlined in this publication is that it could be used to record big insects (e.g., moths, beetles, and locusts) while not to record small insects (e.g., flies and mosquitoes), which have their own platforms and techniques13,14,15,16,17. This technique is complementary to existing methods. In conclusion, a highly effective protocol of an SSR from insect palp sensilla basiconica is described in detail. This protocol could provide researchers with a useful technique in the study of molecular and cellular mechanisms of insect olfaction on the mouthpart. This method linked with gas chromatography could be used to identify natural electrophysiologically-active ligands in extracts of favorable food resources. This work is supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.31472037). Any mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply a recommendation. Tungsten wire ADVENT W559504 Used for making the electrode and fixing the palp NaNO2 Sigma-aldrich 563218-25G Used for sharpening the tungsten wire AC Power Supply Syntech A2-70 Providing the voltage in sharpening the tungsten wire Stereoscope Motic SMZ-163 Used for observing the sharpening of tungsten wire Microscope Olympus W-51 Used for observing the sensilla on locust maxillary palp Intelligent Data Acquisition Controller Syntech IDAC-4 Real-time on screen display of all signals before and during recording Stimulus controller Syntech CS-55 Used for controlling the stimulus application Electronic micromanipulator C.M.D.T CFT-8301D Used for minor movement of the recording electrode Micromanipulator Narishige MN-151 Used for minor movement of the reference electrode Speaker EDIFIER R101T06 Connected with IDAC-4 and providing sound for the signal Magnetic base PDOK PD-101 Used to hold the electrode, and stimulus delivery tube Vibration Isolation Table TianHe HAP-100-1208 Used for isolating the vibration from the equipment Glass slide CITOGLAS ZBP-407 Used for making the base for the MPH Blu-tack Bostik Blu-tack-45g Fixing the tungsten wire Pasteur tube YARE WITEG Placing the filter paper containing stimuli stimulus solutions Carey, A. 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Journal of Visualized Experiments. 107, e53337 (2016). A subscription to JoVE is required to view this content. You will only be able to see the first 20 seconds. To watch the full video, start your free trial now & explore! Learn more about access here Localization of Odorant Receptor Genes in Locust Antennae by RNA In Situ Hybridization… Your institution must be subscribed to JoVE's Neuroscience section to access this content.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647410
__label__wiki	0.785152	0.785152	lub zaloguj E-czytnik za 1 zł Pobierz Legimi Zarejestruj się lub zaloguj w abonamencie 14 dni za darmo bez abonamentu 0,00 zł A Poor Wise Man ebook Mary Rinehart Wydawca: Blackmore Dennett Kategoria: Obyczajowe i romanse Język: angielski Uzyskaj dostęp do tej i ponad 60000 książek od 6,99 zł miesięcznie Wypróbuj przez 14 dni za darmo A Poor Wise Man mixes romantic fiction with political analysis. This engrossing story begins, "The city turned its dreariest aspect toward the railway on blackened walls, irregular and ill-paved streets, gloomy warehouses, and over all a gray, smoke-laden atmosphere which gave it mystery and often beauty. Sometimes the softened towers of the great steel bridges rose above the river mist like fairy towers suspended between Heaven and earth. And again the sun tipped the surrounding hills with gold, while the city lay buried in its smoke shroud, and white ghosts of river boats moved spectrally along. Ebooka przeczytasz w aplikacjach Legimi na: Androidzie czytnikach certyfikowanych przez Legimi Odsłuch ebooka (TTS) dostepny w abonamencie „ebooki+audiobooki bez limitu” w aplikacjach Legimi na: 0,0 (0 ocen) Bądź na bieżąco z premierami, nowymi funkcjami aplikacji i wszystkim, co ważne dla książkowych moli. The Circular Staircase Sight Unseen The Bat (Serapis Classics) A Poor Wise Man Katarzyna Berenika Miszczuk Tatuażysta z Auschwitz Jak mniej myśleć. Dla analizujących bez końca i wysoko wrażliwych Christel Petitcollin Kołysanka z Auschwitz Mario Escobar A ja żem jej powiedziała Katarzyna Nosowska Więcej niż pocałunek Wymarzony mężczyzna Kastor. Bezlitosna siła Agnieszka Lingas-Łoniewska Stulecie Winnych. Tom I. Ci, którzy przeżyli Ałbena Grabowska Ślepnąc od świateł Jakub Żulczyk Stulecie Winnych. Tom II. Ci, którzy walczyli Jeszcze się kiedyś spotkamy Magdalena Witkiewicz Ostrożnie z miłością Odcień północy L.J. Shen Architektura uczuć Meg Adams by Mary Rinehart Published 2018 by Blackmore Dennett All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Thank you for your purchase. If you enjoyed this work, please leave us a comment. 1 2 3 4 10 8 7 6 5 00 000 CHAPTER XV CHAPTER XVII CHAPTER XVIII CHAPTER XX CHAPTER XXI CHAPTER XXII CHAPTER XXIII CHAPTER XXIV CHAPTER XXV CHAPTER XXVI CHAPTER XXVII CHAPTER XXVIII CHAPTER XXIX CHAPTER XXX CHAPTER XXXI CHAPTER XXXII CHAPTER XXXIII CHAPTER XXXIV CHAPTER XXXV CHAPTER XXXVI CHAPTER XXXVII CHAPTER XXXVIII CHAPTER XXXIX CHAPTER XL CHAPTER XLI CHAPTER XLII CHAPTER XLIII CHAPTER XLIV CHAPTER XLV CHAPTER XLVI CHAPTER XLVII CHAPTER XLIX CHAPTER L CHAPTER LI CHAPTER LII The city turned its dreariest aspect toward the railway on blackened walls, irregular and ill-paved streets, gloomy warehouses, and over all a gray, smoke-laden atmosphere which gave it mystery and often beauty. Sometimes the softened towers of the great steel bridges rose above the river mist like fairy towers suspended between Heaven and earth. And again the sun tipped the surrounding hills with gold, while the city lay buried in its smoke shroud, and white ghosts of river boats moved spectrally along. Sometimes it was ugly, sometimes beautiful, but always the city was powerful, significant, important. It was a vast melting pot. Through its gates came alike the hopeful and the hopeless, the dreamers and those who would destroy those dreams. From all over the world there came men who sought a chance to labor. They came in groups, anxious and dumb, carrying with them their pathetic bundles, and shepherded by men with cunning eyes. Raw material, for the crucible of the city, as potentially powerful as the iron ore which entered the city by the same gate. The city took them in, gave them sanctuary, and forgot them. But the shepherds with the cunning eyes remembered. Lily Cardew, standing in the train shed one morning early in March, watched such a line go by. She watched it with interest. She had developed a new interest in people during the year she had been away. She had seen, in the army camp, similar shuffling lines of men, transformed in a few hours into ranks of uniformed soldiers, beginning already to be actuated by the same motive. These aliens, going by, would become citizens. Very soon now they would appear on the streets in new American clothes of extraordinary cut and color, their hair cut with clippers almost to the crown, and surmounted by derby hats always a size too small. Lily smiled, and looked out for her mother. She was suddenly unaccountably glad to be back again. She liked the smoke and the noise, the movement, the sense of things doing. And the sight of her mother, small, faultlessly tailored, wearing a great bunch of violets, and incongruous in that work-a-day atmosphere, set her smiling again. How familiar it all was! And heavens, how young she looked! The limousine was at the curb, and a footman as immaculately turned out as her mother stood with a folded rug over his arm. On the seat inside lay a purple box. Lily had known it would be there. They would be ostensibly from her father, because he had not been able to meet her, but she knew quite well that Grace Cardew had stopped at the florist's on her way downtown and bought them. A little surge of affection for her mother warmed the girl's eyes. The small attentions which in the Cardew household took the place of loving demonstrations had always touched her. As a family the Cardews were rather loosely knitted together, but there was something very lovable about her mother. Grace Cardew kissed her, and then held her off and looked at her. “Mercy, Lily!” she said, “you look as old as I do.” “Older, I hope,” Lily retorted. “What a marvel you are, Grace dear.” Now and then she called her mother “Grace.” It was by way of being a small joke between them, but limited to their moments alone. Once old Anthony, her grandfather, had overheard her, and there had been rather a row about it. “I feel horribly old, but I didn't think I looked it.” They got into the car and Grace held out the box to her. “From your father, dear. He wanted so to come, but things are dreadful at the mill. I suppose you've seen the papers.” Lily opened the box, and smiled at her mother. “Yes, I know. But why the subterfuge about the flowers, mother dear? Honestly, did he send them, or did you get them? But never mind about that; I know he's worried, and you're sweet to do it. Have you broken the news to grandfather that the last of the Cardews is coming home?” “He sent you all sorts of messages, and he'll see you at dinner.” Lily laughed out at that. “You darling!” she said. “You know perfectly well that I am nothing in grandfather's young life, but the Cardew women all have what he likes to call savoir faire. What would they do, father and grandfather, if you didn't go through life smoothing things for them?” Grace looked rather stiffly ahead. This young daughter of hers, with her directness and her smiling ignoring of the small subterfuges of life, rather frightened her. The terrible honesty of youth! All these years of ironing the wrinkles out of life, of smoothing the difficulties between old Anthony and Howard, and now a third generation to contend with. A pitilessly frank and unconsciously cruel generation. She turned and eyed Lily uneasily. “You look tired,” she said, “and you need attention. I wish you had let me send Castle to you.” But she thought that lily was even lovelier than she had remembered her. Lovely rather than beautiful, perhaps. Her face was less childish than when she had gone away; there was, in certain of her expressions, an almost alarming maturity. But perhaps that was fatigue. “I couldn't have had Castle, mother. I didn't need anything. I've been very happy, really, and very busy.” “You have been very vague lately about your work.” Lily faced her mother squarely. “I didn't think you'd much like having me do it, and I thought it would drive grandfather crazy.” “I thought you were in a canteen.” “Not lately. I've been looking after girls who had followed soldiers to camps. Some of them were going to have babies, too. It was rather awful. We married quite a lot of them, however.” The curious reserve that so often exists between mother and daughter held Grace Cardew dumb. She nodded, but her eyes had slightly hardened. So this was what war had done to her. She had had no son, and had thanked God for it during the war, although old Anthony had hated her all her married life for it. But she had given her daughter, her clear-eyed daughter, and they had shown her the dregs of life. Her thoughts went back over the years. To Lily as a child, with Mademoiselle always at her elbow, and life painted as a thing of beauty. Love, marriage and birth were divine accidents. Death was a quiet sleep, with heaven just beyond, a sleep which came only to age, which had wearied and would rest. Then she remembered the day when Elinor Cardew, poor unhappy Elinor, had fled back to Anthony's roof to have a baby, and after a few rapturous weeks for Lily the baby had died. “But the baby isn't old,” Lily had persisted, standing in front of her mother with angry, accusing eyes. Grace was not an imaginative woman, but she turned it rather neatly, as she told Howard later. “It was such a nice baby,” she said, feeling for an idea. “I think probably God was lonely without it, and sent an angel for it again.” “But it is still upstairs,” Lily had insisted. She had had a curious instinct for truth, even then. But there Grace's imagination had failed her, and she sent for Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle was a good Catholic, and very clear in her own mind, but what she left in Lily's brain was a confused conviction that every person was two persons, a body and a soul. Death was simply a split-up, then. One part of you, the part that bathed every morning and had its toe-nails cut, and went to dancing school in a white frock and thin black silk stockings and carriage boots over pumps, that part was buried and would only came up again at the Resurrection. But the other part was all the time very happy, and mostly singing. Lily did not like to sing. Then there was the matter of tears. People only cried when they hurt themselves. She had been told that again and again when she threatened tears over her music lesson. But when Aunt Elinor had gone away she had found Mademoiselle, the deadly antagonist of tears, weeping. And here again Grace remembered the child's wide, insistent eyes. “She is sorry for Aunt Elinor.” “Because her baby's gone to God? She ought to be glad, oughtn't she?” “Not that;” said Grace, and had brought a box of chocolates and given her one, although they were not permitted save one after each meal. Then Lily had gone away to school. How carefully the school had been selected! When she came back, however, there had been no more questions, and Grace had sighed with relief. That bad time was over, anyhow. But Lily was rather difficult those days. She seemed, in some vague way, resentful. Her mother found her, now and then, in a frowning, half-defiant mood. And once, when Mademoiselle had ventured some jesting remark about young Alston Denslow, she was stupefied to see the girl march out of the room, her chin high, not to be seen again for hours. Grace's mind was sub-consciously remembering those things even when she spoke. “I didn't know you were having to learn about that side of life,” she said, after a brief silence. “That side of life is life, mother,” Lily said gravely. But Grace did not reply to that. It was characteristic of her to follow her own line of thought. “I wish you wouldn't tell your grandfather. You know he feels strongly about some things. And he hasn't forgiven me yet for letting you go.” Rather diffidently Lily put her hand on her mother's. She gave her rare caresses shyly, with averted eyes, and she was always more diffident with her mother than with her father. Such spontaneous bursts of affection as she sometimes showed had been lavished on Mademoiselle. It was Mademoiselle she had hugged rapturously on her small feast days, Mademoiselle who never demanded affection, and so received it. “Poor mother!” she said, “I have made it hard for you, haven't I? Is he as bad as ever?” She had not pinned on the violets, but sat holding them in her hands, now and then taking a luxurious sniff. She did not seem to expect a reply. Between Grace and herself it was quite understood that old Anthony Cardew was always as bad as could be. “There is some sort of trouble at the mill. Your father is worried.” And this time it was Lily who did not reply. She said, inconsequentially: “We're saved, and it's all over. But sometimes I wonder if we were worth saving. It all seems such a mess, doesn't it?” She glanced out. They were drawing up before the house, and she looked at her mother whimsically. “The last of the Cardews returning from the wars!” she said. “Only she is unfortunately a she, and she hasn't been any nearer the war than the State of Ohio.” Her voice was gay enough, but she had a quick vision of the grim old house had she been the son they had wanted to carry on the name, returning from France. The Cardews had fighting traditions. They had fought in every war from the Revolution on. There had been a Cardew in Mexico in '48, and in that upper suite of rooms to which her grandfather had retired in wrath on his son's marriage, she remembered her sense of awe as a child on seeing on the wall the sword he had worn in the Civil War. He was a small man, and the scabbard was badly worn at the end, mute testimony to the long forced marches of his youth. Her father had gone to Cuba in '98, and had almost died of typhoid fever there, contracted in the marshes of Florida. Yes, they had been a fighting family. And now— Her mother was determinedly gay. There were flowers in the dark old hall, and Grayson, the butler, evidently waiting inside the door, greeted her with the familiarity of the old servant who had slipped her sweets from the pantry after dinner parties in her little-girl years. “Welcome home, Miss Lily,” he said. Mademoiselle was lurking on the stairway, in a new lace collar over her old black dress. Lily recognized in the collar a great occasion, for Mademoiselle was French and thrifty. Suddenly a wave of warmth and gladness flooded her. This was home. Dear, familiar home. She had come back. She was the only young thing in the house. She would bring them gladness and youth. She would try to make them happy. Always before she had taken, but now she meant to give. Not that she formulated such a thought. It was an emotion, rather. She ran up the stairs and hugged Mademoiselle wildly. “You darling old thing!” she cried. She lapsed into French. “I saw the collar at once. And think, it is over! It is finished. And all your nice French relatives are sitting on the boulevards in the sun, and sipping their little glasses of wine, and rising and bowing when a pretty girl passes. Is it not so?” “It is so, God and the saints be praised!” said Mademoiselle, huskily. Grace Cardew followed them up the staircase. Her French was negligible, and she felt again, as in days gone by, shut from the little world of two which held her daughter and governess. Old Anthony's doing, that. He had never forgiven his son his plebeian marriage, and an early conversation returned to her. It was on Lily's first birthday and he had made one of his rare visits to the nursery. He had brought with him a pearl in a velvet case. “All our women have their own pearls,” he had said. “She will have her grandmother's also when she marries. I shall give her one the first year, two the second, and so on.” He had stood looking down at the child critically. “She's a Cardew,” he said at last. “Which means that she will be obstinate and self-willed.” He had paused there, but Grace had not refuted the statement. He had grinned. “As you know,” he added. “Is she talking yet?” “A word or two,” Grace had said, with no more warmth in her tone than was in his. “Very well. Get her a French governess. She ought to speak French before she does English. It is one of the accomplishments of a lady. Get a good woman, and for heaven's sake arrange to serve her breakfast in her room. I don't want to have to be pleasant to any chattering French woman at eight in the morning.” “No, you wouldn't,” Grace had said. Anthony had stamped out, but in the hall he smiled grimly. He did not like Howard's wife, but she was not afraid of him. He respected her for that. He took good care to see that the Frenchwoman was found, and at dinner, the only meal he took with the family, he would now and then send for the governess and Lily to come in for dessert. That, of course, was later on, when the child was nearly ten. Then would follow a three-cornered conversation in rapid French, Howard and Anthony and Lily, with Mademoiselle joining in timidly, and with Grace, at the side of the table, pretending to eat and feeling cut off, in a middle-class world of her own, at the side of the table. Anthony Cardew had retained the head of his table, and he had never asked her to take his dead wife's place. After a time Grace realized the consummate cruelty of those hours, the fact that Lily was sent for, not only because the old man cared to see her, but to make Grace feel the outsider that she was. She made desperate efforts to conquer the hated language, but her accent was atrocious. Anthony would correct her suavely, and Lily would laugh in childish, unthinking mirth. She gave it up at last. She never told Howard about it. He had his own difficulties with his father, and she would not add to them. She managed the house, checked over the bills and sent them to the office, put up a cheerful and courageous front, and after a time sheathed herself in an armor of smiling indifference. But she thanked heaven when the time came to send Lily away to school. The effort of concealing the armed neutrality between Anthony and herself was growing more wearing. The girl was observant. And Anthony had been right, she was a Cardew. She would have fought her grandfather out on it, defied him, accused him, hated him. And Grace wanted peace. Once again as she followed Lily and Mademoiselle up the stairs she felt the barrier of language, and back of it the Cardew pride and traditions that somehow cut her off. But in Lily's rooms she was her sane and cheerful self again. Inside the doorway the girl was standing, her eyes traveling over her little domain ecstatically. “How lovely of you not to change a thing, mother!” she said. “I was so afraid—I know how you hate my stuff. But I might have known you wouldn't. All the time I've been away, sleeping in a dormitory, and taking turns at the bath, I have thought of my own little place.” She wandered around, touching her familiar possessions with caressing hands. “I've a good notion,” she declared, “to go to bed immediately, just for the pleasure of lying in linen sheets again.” Suddenly she turned to her mother. “I'm afraid you'll find I've made some queer friends, mother.” “What do you mean by 'queer'?” “People no proper Cardew would care to know.” She smiled. “Where's Ellen? I want to tell her I met somebody she knows out there, the nicest sort of a boy.” She went to the doorway and called lustily: “Ellen! Ellen!” The rustling of starched skirts answered her from down the corridor. “I wish you wouldn't call, dear.” Grace looked anxious. “You know how your grandfather—there's a bell for Ellen.” “What we need around here,” said Lily, cheerfully, “is a little more calling. And if grandfather thinks it is unbefitting the family dignity he can put cotton in his ears. Come in, Ellen. Ellen, do you know that I met Willy Cameron in the camp?” “Willy!” squealed Ellen. “You met Willy? Isn't he a fine boy, Miss Lily?” “He's wonderful,” said Lily. “I went to the movies with him every Friday night.” She turned to her mother. “You would like him, mother. He couldn't get into the army. He is a little bit lame. And—” she surveyed Grace with amused eyes, “you needn't think what you are thinking. He is tall and thin and not at all good-looking. Is he, Ellen?” “He is a very fine young man,” Ellen said rather stiffly. “He's very highly thought of in the town I come from. His father was a doctor, and his buggy used to go around day, and night. When he found they wouldn't take him as a soldier he was like to break his heart.” “Lame?” Grace repeated, ignoring Ellen. “Just a little. You forget all about it when you know him. Don't you, Ellen?” But at Grace's tone Ellen had remembered. She stiffened, and became again a housemaid in the Anthony Cardew house, a self-effacing, rubber-heeled, pink-uniformed lower servant. She glanced at Mrs. Cardew, whose eyebrows were slightly raised. “Thank you, miss,” she said. And went out, leaving Lily rather chilled and openly perplexed. “Well!” she said. Then she glanced at her mother. “I do believe you are a little shocked, mother, because Ellen and I have a mutual friend in Mr. William Wallace Cameron! Well, if you want the exact truth, he hadn't an atom of use for me until he heard about Ellen.” She put an arm around Grace's shoulders. “Brace up, dear,” she said, smilingly. “Don't you cry. I'll be a Cardew bye-and-bye.” “Did you really go to the moving pictures with him?” Grace asked, rather unhappily. She had never been inside a moving picture theater. To her they meant something a step above the corner saloon, and a degree below the burlesque houses. They were constituted of bad air and unchaperoned young women accompanied by youths who dangled cigarettes from a lower lip, all obviously of the lower class, including the cigarette; and of other women, sometimes drab, dragged of breast and carrying children who should have been in bed hours before; or still others, wandering in pairs, young, painted and predatory. She was not imaginative, or she could not have lived so long in Anthony Cardew's house. She never saw, in the long line waiting outside even the meanest of the little theaters that had invaded the once sacred vicinity of the Cardew house, the cry of every human heart for escape from the sordid, the lure of romance, the call of adventure and the open road. “I can't believe it,” she added. Lily made a little gesture of half-amused despair. “Dearest,” she said, “I did. And I liked it. Mother, things have changed a lot in twenty years. Sometimes I think that here, in this house, you don't realize that—” she struggled for a phrase—“that things have changed,” she ended, lamely. “The social order, and that sort of thing. You know. Caste.” She hesitated. She was young and inarticulate, and when she saw Grace's face, somewhat frightened. But she was not old Anthony's granddaughter for nothing. “This idea of being a Cardew,” she went on, “that's ridiculous, you know. I'm only half Cardew, anyhow. The rest is you, dear, and it's got being a Cardew beaten by quite a lot.” Mademoiselle was deftly opening the girl's dressing case, but she paused now and turned. It was to Grace that she spoke, however. “They come home like that, all of them,” she said. “In France also. But in time they see the wisdom of the old order, and return. It is one of the fruits of war.” Grace hardly heard her. “Lily,” she asked, “you are not in love with this Cameron person, are you?” But Lily's easy laugh reassured her. “No, indeed,” she said. “I am not. I shall probably marry beneath me, as you would call it, but not William Wallace Cameron. For one thing, he wouldn't have grandfather in his family.” Some time later Mademoiselle tapped at Grace's door, and entered. Grace was reclining on a chaise longue, towels tucked about her neck and over her pillows, while Castle, her elderly English maid, was applying ice in a soft cloth to her face. Grace sat up. The towel, pinned around her hair like a coif, gave a placid, almost nun-like appearance to her still lovely face. “Well?” she demanded. “Go out for a minute, Castle.” Mademoiselle waited until the maid had gone. “I have spoken to Ellen,” she said, her voice cautious. “A young man who does not care for women, a clerk in a country pharmacy. What is that, Mrs. Cardew?” “It would be so dreadful, Mademoiselle. Her grandfather—” “But not handsome,” insisted Mademoiselle, “and lame! Also, I know the child. She is not in love. When that comes to her we shall know it.” Grace lay back, relieved, but not entirely comforted. “She is changed, isn't she, Mademoiselle?” Mademoiselle shrugged her shoulders. “A phase,” she said. She had got the word from old Anthony, who regarded any mental attitude that did not conform with his own as a condition that would pass. “A phase, only. Now that she is back among familiar things, she will become again a daughter of the house.” “Then you think this talk about marrying beneath her—” “She 'as had liberty,” said Mademoiselle, who sometimes lost an aspirate. “It is like wine to the young. It intoxicates. But it, too, passes. In my country—” But Grace had, for a number of years, heard a great deal of Mademoiselle's country. She settled herself on her pillows. “Call Castle, please,” she said. “And—do warn her not to voice those ideas of hers to her grandfather. In a country pharmacy, you say?” “And lame, and not fond of women,” corroborated Mademoiselle. “Ca ne pourrait pas etre mieux, n'est-ce pas?” Shortly after the Civil War Anthony Cardew had left Pittsburgh and spent a year in finding a location for the investment of his small capital. That was in the very beginning of the epoch of steel. The iron business had already laid the foundations of its future greatness, but steel was still in its infancy. Anthony's father had been an iron-master in a small way, with a monthly pay-roll of a few hundred dollars, and an abiding faith in the future of iron. But he had never dreamed of steel. But “sixty-five” saw the first steel rail rolled in America, and Anthony Cardew began to dream. He went to Chicago first, and from there to Michigan, to see the first successful Bessemer converter. When he started east again he knew what he was to make his life work. He was very young and his capital was small. But he had an abiding faith in the new industry. Not that he dreamed then of floating steel battleships. But he did foresee steel in new and various uses. Later on he was experimenting with steel cable at the very time Roebling made it a commercial possibility, and with it the modern suspension bridge and the elevator. He never quite forgave Roebling. That failure of his, the difference only of a month or so, was one of the few disappointments of his prosperous, self-centered, orderly life. That, and Howard's marriage. And, at the height of his prosperity, the realization that Howard's middle-class wife would never bear a son. The city he chose was a small city then, yet it already showed signs of approaching greatness. On the east side, across the river, he built his first plant, a small one, with the blast heated by passing through cast iron pipes, with the furnaceman testing the temperature with strips of lead and zinc, and the skip hoist a patient mule. He had ore within easy hauling distance, and he had fuel, and he had, as time went on, a rapidly increasing market. Labor was cheap and plentiful, too, and being American-born, was willing and intelligent. Perhaps Anthony Cardew's sins of later years were due to a vast impatience that the labor of the early seventies was no longer to be had. The Cardew fortune began in the seventies. Up to that time there was a struggle, but in the seventies Anthony did two things. He went to England to see the furnaces there, and brought home a wife, a timid, tall Englishwoman of irreproachable birth, who remained always an alien in the crude, busy new city. And he built himself a house, a brick house in lower East Avenue, a house rather like his tall, quiet wife, and run on English lines. He soon became the leading citizen. He was one of the committee to welcome the Prince of Wales to the city, and from the very beginning he took his place in the social life. He found it very raw at times, crude and new. He himself lived with dignity and elegant simplicity. He gave now and then lengthy, ponderous dinners, making out the lists himself, and handing them over to his timid English wife in much the manner in which he gave the wine list and the key to the wine cellar to the butler. And, at the head of his table, he let other men talk and listened. They talked, those industrial pioneers, especially after the women had gone. They saw the city the center of great business and great railroads. They talked of its coal, its river, and the great oil fields not far away which were then in their infancy. All of them dreamed a dream, saw a vision. But not all of them lived to see their dream come true. Old Anthony lived to see it. In the late eighties, his wife having been by that time decorously interred in one of the first great mausoleums west of the mountains, Anthony Cardew found himself already wealthy. He owned oil wells and coal mines. His mines supplied his coke ovens with coal, and his own river boats, as well as railroads in which he was a director, carried his steel. He labored ably and well, and not for wealth alone. He was one of a group of big-visioned men who saw that a nation was only as great as its industries. It was only in his later years that he loved power for the sake of power, and when, having outlived his generation, he had developed a rigidity of mind that made him view the forced compromises of the new regime as pusillanimous. He considered his son Howard's quiet strength weakness. “You have no stamina,” he would say. “You have no moral fiber. For God's sake, make a stand, you fellows, and stick to it.” He had not mellowed with age. He viewed with endless bitterness the passing of his own day and generation, and the rise to power of younger men; with their “shilly-shallying,” he would say. He was an aristocrat, an autocrat, and a survival. He tied Howard's hands in the management of the now vast mills, and then blamed him for the results. But he had been a great man. He had had two children, a boy and a girl. The girl had been the tragedy of his middle years, and Howard had been his hope. On the heights outside the city and overlooking the river he owned a farm, and now and then, on Sunday afternoons in the eighties, he drove out there, with Howard sitting beside him, a rangy boy in his teens, in the victoria which Anthony considered the proper vehicle for Sunday afternoons. The farmhouse was in a hollow, but always on those excursions Anthony, fastidiously dressed, picking his way half-irritably through briars and cornfields, would go to the edge of the cliffs and stand there, looking down. Below was the muddy river, sluggish always, but a thing of terror in spring freshets. And across was the east side, already a sordid place, its steel mills belching black smoke that killed the green of the hillsides, its furnaces dwarfed by distance and height, its rows of unpainted wooden structures which housed the mill laborers. Howard would go with him, but Howard dreamed no dreams. He was a sturdy, dependable, unimaginative boy, watching the squirrels or flinging stones over the palisades. Life for Howard was already a thing determined. He would go to college, and then he would come back and go into the mill offices. In time, he would take his father's place. He meant to do it well and honestly. He had but to follow. Anthony had broken the trail, only by that time it was no longer a trail, but a broad and easy way. Only once or twice did Anthony Cardew give voice to his dreams. Once he said: “I'll build a house out here some of these days. Good location. Growth of the city is bound to be in this direction.” What he did not say was that to be there, on that hill, overlooking his activities, his very own, the things he had builded with such labor, gave him a sense of power. “This below,” he felt, with more of pride than arrogance, “this is mine. I have done it. I, Anthony Cardew.” He felt, looking down, the pride of an artist in his picture, of a sculptor who, secure from curious eyes, draws the sheet from the still moist clay of his modeling, and now from this angle, now from that, studies, criticizes, and exults. But Anthony Cardew never built his house on the cliff. Time was to come when great houses stood there, like vast forts, overlooking, almost menacing, the valley beneath. For, until the nineties, although the city distended in all directions, huge, ugly, powerful, infinitely rich, and while in the direction of Anthony's farm the growth was real and rapid, it was the plain people who lined its rapidly extending avenues with their two-story brick houses; little homes of infinite tenderness and quiet, along tree-lined streets, where the children played on the cobble-stones, and at night the horse cars, and later the cable system, brought home tired clerks and storekeepers to small havens, already growing dingy from the smoke of the distant mills. Anthony Cardew did not like the plain people. Yet in the end, it was the plain people, those who neither labored with their hands nor lived by the labor of others—it was the plain people who vanquished him. Vanquished him and tried to protect him. But could not. A smallish man, hard and wiry, he neither saved himself nor saved others. He had one fetish, power. And one pride, his line. The Cardews were iron masters. Howard would be an iron master, and Howard's son. But Howard never had a son. All through her teens Lily had wondered about the mystery concerning her Aunt Elinor. There was an oil portrait of her in the library, and one of the first things she had been taught was not to speak of it. Now and then, at intervals of years, Aunt Elinor came back. Her mother and father would look worried, and Aunt Elinor herself would stay in her rooms, and seldom appeared at meals. Never at dinner. As a child Lily used to think she had two Aunt Elinors, one the young girl in the gilt frame, and the other the quiet, soft-voiced person who slipped around the upper corridors like a ghost. But she was not to speak of either of them to her grandfather. Lily was not born in the house on lower East Avenue. In the late eighties Anthony built himself a home, not on the farm, but in a new residence portion of the city. The old common, grazing ground of family cows, dump and general eye-sore, had become a park by that time, still only a potentially beautiful thing, with the trees that were to be its later glory only thin young shoots, and on the streets that faced it the wealthy of the city built their homes, brick houses of square solidity, flush with brick pavements, which were carefully reddened on Saturday mornings. Beyond the pavements were cobble-stoned streets. Anthony Cardew was the first man in the city to have a rubber-tired carriage. The story of Anthony Cardew's new home is the story of Elinor's tragedy. Nor did it stop there. It carried on to the third generation, to Lily Cardew, and in the end it involved the city itself. Because of the ruin of one small home all homes were threatened. One small house, and one undying hatred. Yet the matter was small in itself. An Irishman named Doyle owned the site Anthony coveted. After years of struggle his small grocery had begun to put him on his feet, and now the new development of the neighborhood added to his prosperity. He was a dried-up, sentimental little man, with two loves, his wife's memory and his wife's garden, which he still tended religiously between customers; and one ambition, his son. With the change from common to park, and the improvement in the neighborhood, he began to flourish, and he, too, like Anthony, dreamed a dream. He would make his son a gentleman, and he would get a shop assistant and a horse and wagon. Poverty was still his lot, but there were good times coming. He saved carefully, and sent Jim Doyle away to college. He would not sell to Anthony. When he said he could not sell his wife's garden, Anthony's agents reported him either mad or deeply scheming. They kept after him, offering much more than the land was worth. Doyle began by being pugnacious, but in the end he took to brooding. “He'll get me yet,” he would mutter, standing among the white phlox of his little back garden. “He'll get me. He never quits.” Anthony Cardew waited a year. Then he had the frame building condemned as unsafe, and Doyle gave in. Anthony built his house. He put a brick stable where the garden had been, and the night watchman for the property complained that a little man, with wild eyes, often spent half the night standing across the street, quite still, staring over. If Anthony gave Doyle a thought, it was that progress and growth had their inevitable victims. But on the first night of Anthony's occupancy of his new house Doyle shot himself beside the stable, where a few stalks of white phlox had survived the building operations. It never reached the newspapers, nor did a stable-boy's story of hearing the dying man curse Anthony and all his works. But nevertheless the story of the Doyle curse on Anthony Cardew spread. Anthony heard it, and forgot it. But two days later he was dragged from his carriage by young Jim Doyle, returned for the older Doyle's funeral, and beaten insensible with the stick of his own carriage whip. Young Doyle did not run away. He stood by, a defiant figure full of hatred, watching Anthony on the cobbles, as though he wanted to see him revive and suffer. “I didn't do it to revenge my father,” he said at the trial. “He was nothing to me—I did it to show old Cardew that he couldn't get away with it. I'd do it again, too.” Any sentiment in his favor died at that, and he was given five years in the penitentiary. He was a demoralizing influence there, already a socialist with anarchical tendencies, and with the gift of influencing men. A fluent, sneering youth, who lashed the guards to fury with his unctuous, diabolical tongue. The penitentiary had not been moved then. It stood in the park, a grim gray thing of stone. Elinor Cardew, a lonely girl always, used to stand in a window of the new house and watch the walls. Inside there were men who were shut away from all that greenery around them. Men who could look up at the sky, or down at the ground, but never out and across, as she could. She was always hoping some of them would get away. She hated the sentries, rifle on shoulder, who walked their monotonous beats, back and forward, along the top of the wall. Anthony's house was square and substantial, with high ceilings. It was paneled with walnut and furnished in walnut, in those days. Its tables and bureaus were of walnut, with cold white marble tops. And in the parlor was a square walnut piano, which Elinor hated because she had to sit there three hours each day, slipping on the top of the horsehair-covered stool, to practice. In cold weather her German governess sat in the frigid room, with a shawl and mittens, waiting until the onyx clock on the mantel-piece showed that the three hours were over. Elinor had never heard the story of old Michael Doyle, or of his son Jim. But one night—she was seventeen then, and Jim Doyle had served three years of his sentence—sitting at dinner with her father, she said: “Some convicts escaped from the penitentiary today, father.” “Don't believe it,” said Anthony Cardew. “Nothing about it in the newspapers.” “Fraulein saw the hole.” Elinor had had an Alsatian governess. That was one reason why Elinor's niece had a French one. “Hole? What do you mean by hole?” Elinor shrank back a little. She had not minded dining with her father when Howard was at home, but Howard was at college. Howard had a way of good-naturedly ignoring his father's asperities, but Elinor was a suppressed, shy little thing, romantic, aloof, and filled with undesired affections. “She said a hole,” she affirmed, diffidently. “She says they dug a tunnel and got out. Last night.” “Very probably,” said Anthony Cardew. And he repeated, thoughtfully, “Very probably.” He did not hear Elinor when she quietly pushed back her chair and said “good-night.” He was sitting at the table, tapping on the cloth with finger-tips that were slightly cold. That evening Anthony Cardew had a visit from the police, and considerable fiery talk took place in his library. As a result there was a shake-up in city politics, and a change in the penitentiary management, for Anthony Cardew had a heavy hand and a bitter memory. And a little cloud on his horizon grew and finally settled down over his life, turning it gray. Jim Doyle was among those who had escaped. For three months Anthony was followed wherever he went by detectives, and his house was watched at night. But he was a brave man, and the espionage grew hateful. Besides, each day added to his sense of security. There came a time when he impatiently dismissed the police, and took up life again as before. Then one day he received a note, in a plain white envelope. It said: “There are worse things than death.” And it was signed: “J. Doyle.” Doyle was not recaptured. Anthony had iron gratings put on the lower windows of his house after that, and he hired a special watchman. But nothing happened, and at last he began to forget. He was building the new furnaces up the river by that time. The era of structural steel for tall buildings was beginning, and he bought the rights of a process for making cement out of his furnace slag. He was achieving great wealth, although he did not change his scale of living. Now and then Fraulein braved the terrors of the library, small neatly-written lists in her hands. Miss Elinor needed this or that. He would check up the lists, sign his name to them, and Elinor and Fraulein would have a shopping excursion. He never gave Elinor money. On one of the lists one day he found the word, added in Elinor's hand: “Horse.” “Horse?” he said, scowling up at Fraulein. “There are six horses in the stable now.” “Miss Elinor thought—a riding horse—” “Nonsense!” Then he thought a moment. There came back to him a picture of those English gentlewomen from among whom he had selected his wife, quiet-voiced, hard-riding, high-colored girls, who could hunt all day and dance all night. Elinor was a pale little thing. Besides, every gentlewoman should ride. “She can't ride around here.” “Miss Elinor thought—there are bridle paths near the riding academy.” It was odd, but at that moment Anthony Cardew had an odd sort of vision. He saw the little grocer lying stark and huddled among the phlox by the stable, and the group of men that stooped over him. “I'll think about it,” was his answer. But within a few days Elinor was the owner of a quiet mare, stabled at the academy, and was riding each day in the tan bark ring between its white-washed fences, while a mechanical piano gave an air of festivity to what was otherwise rather a solemn business. Within a week of that time the riding academy had a new instructor, a tall, thin young man, looking older than he was, with heavy dark hair and a manner of repressed insolence. A man, the grooms said among themselves, of furious temper and cold eyes. And in less than four months Elinor Cardew ran away from home and was married to Jim Doyle. Anthony received two letters from a distant city, a long, ecstatic but terrified one from his daughter, and one line on a slip of paper from her husband. The one line read: “I always pay my debts.” Anthony made a new will, leaving Howard everything, and had Elinor's rooms closed. Fraulein went away, weeping bitterly, and time went on. Now and then Anthony heard indirectly from Doyle. He taught in a boys' school for a time, and was dismissed for his radical views. He did brilliant editorial work on a Chicago newspaper, but now and then he intruded his slant-eyed personal views, and in the end he lost his position. Then he joined the Socialist party, and was making speeches containing radical statements that made the police of various cities watchful. But he managed to keep within the letter of the law. Howard Cardew married when Elinor had been gone less than a year. Married the daughter of a small hotel-keeper in his college town, a pretty, soft-voiced girl, intelligent and gentle, and because Howard was all old Anthony had left, he took her into his home. But for many years he did not forgive her. He had one hope, that she would give Howard a son to carry on the line. Perhaps the happiest months of Grace Cardew's married life were those before Lily was born, when her delicate health was safeguarded in every way by her grim father-in-law. But Grace bore a girl child, and very nearly died in the bearing. Anthony Cardew would never have a grandson. He was deeply resentful. The proud fabric of his own weaving would descend in the fullness of time to a woman. And Howard himself—old Anthony was pitilessly hard in his judgments—Howard was not a strong man. A good man. A good son, better than he deserved. But amiable, kindly, without force. Once the cloud had lifted, and only once. Elinor had come home to have a child. She came at night, a shabby, worn young woman, with great eyes in a chalk-white face, and Grayson had not recognized her at first. He got her some port from the dining-room before he let her go into the library, and stood outside the door, his usually impassive face working, during the interview which followed. Probably that was Grayson's big hour, for if Anthony turned her out he intended to go in himself, and fight for the woman he had petted as a child. But Anthony had not turned her out. He took one comprehensive glance at her thin face and distorted figure. Then he said: “So this is the way you come back.” “He drove me out,” she said dully. “He sent me here. He knew I had no place else to go. He knew you wouldn't want me. It's revenge, I suppose. I'm so tired, father.” Yes, it was revenge, surely. To send back to him this soiled and broken woman, bearing the mark he had put upon her—that was deviltry, thought out and shrewdly executed. During the next hour Anthony Cardew suffered, and made Elinor suffer, too. But at the end of that time he found himself confronting a curious situation. Elinor, ashamed, humbled, was not contrite. It began to dawn on Anthony that Jim Doyle's revenge was not finished. For—Elinor loved the man. She both hated him and loved him. And that leering Irish devil knew it. He sent for Grace, finally, and Elinor was established in the house. Grace and little Lily's governess had themselves bathed her and put her to bed, and Mademoiselle had smuggled out of the house the garments Elinor had worn into it. Grace had gone in the motor—one of the first in the city—and had sent back all sorts of lovely garments for Elinor to wear, and quantities of fine materials to be made into tiny garments. Grace was a practical woman, and she disliked the brooding look in Elinor's eyes. “Do you know,” she said to Howard that night, “I believe she is quite mad about him still.” “He ought to be drawn and quartered,” said Howard, savagely. Anthony Cardew gave Elinor sanctuary, but he refused to see her again. Except once. “Then, if it is a boy, you want me to leave him with you?” she asked, bending over her sewing. “Leave him with me! Do you mean that you intend to go back to that blackguard?” “He is my husband. He isn't always cruel.” “Good God!” shouted Anthony. “How did I ever happen to have such a craven creature for a daughter?” “Anyhow,” said Elinor, “it will be his child, father.” “When he turned you out, like any drab of the streets!” bellowed old Anthony. “He never cared for you. He married you to revenge himself on me. He sent you back here for the same reason. He'll take your child, and break its spirit and ruin its body, for the same reason. The man's a maniac.” But again, as on the night she came, he found himself helpless against Elinor's quiet impassivity. He knew that, let Jim Doyle so much as raise a beckoning finger, and she would go to him. He did not realize that Elinor had inherited from her quiet mother the dog-like quality of love in spite of cruelty. To Howard he stormed. He considered Elinor's infatuation indecent. She was not a Cardew. The Cardew women had some pride. And Howard, his handsome figure draped negligently against the library mantel, would puzzle over it, too. “I'm blessed if I understand it,” he would say. Elinor's child had been a boy, and old Anthony found some balm in Gilead. Jim Doyle had not raised a finger to beckon, and if he knew of his son, he made no sign. Anthony still ignored Elinor, but he saw in her child the third generation of Cardews. Lily he had never counted. He took steps to give the child the Cardew name, and the fact was announced in the newspapers. Then one day Elinor went out, and did not come back. It was something Anthony Cardew had not counted on, that a woman could love a man more than her child. “I simply had to do it, father,” she wrote. “You won't understand, of course. I love him, father. Terribly. And he loves me in his way, even when he is unfaithful to me. I know he has been that. Perhaps if you had wanted me at home it would have been different. But it kills me to leave the baby. The only reason I can bring myself to do it is that, the way things are, I cannot give him the things he ought to have. And Jim does not seem to want him. He has never seen him, for one thing. Besides—I am being honest—I don't think the atmosphere of the way we live would be good for a boy.” There was a letter to Grace, too, a wild hysterical document, filled with instructions for the baby's care. A wet nurse, for one thing. Grace read it with tears in her eyes, but Anthony saw in it only the ravings of a weak and unbalanced woman. He never forgave Elinor, and once more the little grocer's curse thwarted his ambitions. For, deprived of its mother's milk, the baby died. Old Anthony sometimes wondered if that, too, had been calculated, a part of the Doyle revenge. While Grace rested that afternoon of Lily's return, Lily ranged over the house. In twenty odd years the neighborhood had changed, and only a handful of the old families remained. Many of the other large houses were prostituted to base uses. Dingy curtains hung at their windows, dingy because of the smoke from the great furnaces and railroads. The old Osgood residence, nearby, had been turned into apartments, with bottles of milk and paper bags on its fire-escapes, and a pharmacy on the street floor. The Methodist Church, following its congregation to the vicinity of old Anthony's farm, which was now cut up into city lots, had abandoned the building, and it had become a garage. The penitentiary had been moved outside the city limits, and near its old site was a small cement-lined lake, the cheerful rendezvous in summer of bathing children and thirsty dogs. Lily was idle, for the first time in months. She wandered about, even penetrating to those upper rooms sacred to her grandfather, to which he had retired on Howard's marriage. How strangely commonplace they were now, in the full light of day, and yet, when he was in them, the doors closed and only Burton, his valet, in attendance, how mysterious they became! Increasingly, in later years, Lily had felt and resented the domination of the old man. She resented her father's acquiescence in that domination, her mother's good-humored tolerance of it. She herself had accepted it, although unwillingly, but she knew, rather vaguely, that the Lily Cardew who had gone away to the camp and the Lily Cardew who stood that day before her grandfather's throne-like chair under its lamp, were two entirely different people. She was uneasy rather than defiant. She meant to keep the peace. She had been brought up to the theory that no price was too great to pay for peace. But she wondered, as she stood there, if that were entirely true. She remembered something Willy Cameron had said about that very thing. “What's wrong with your grandfather,” he had said, truculently, and waving his pipe, “is that everybody gets down and lets him walk on them. If everybody lets a man use them as doormats, you can't blame him for wiping his feet on them. Tell him that sometime, and see what happens.” “Tell him yourself!” said Lily. He had smiled cheerfully. He had an engaging sort of smile. “Maybe I will,” he said. “I am a rising young man, and my voice may some day be heard in the land. Sometimes I feel the elements of greatness in me, sweet child. You haven't happened to notice it yourself, have you?” He had gazed at her with solemn anxiety through the smoke of his pipe, and had grinned when she remained silent. Lily drew a long breath. All that delightful fooling was over; the hard work was over. The nights were gone when they would wander like children across the parade grounds, or past the bayonet school, with its rows of tripods upholding imitation enemies made of sacks stuffed with hay, and showing signs of mortal injury with their greasy entrails protruding. Gone, too, were the hours when Willy sank into the lowest abyss of depression over his failure to be a fighting man. “But you are doing your best for your country,” she would say. “I'm not fighting for it, or getting smashed up for it. I don't want to be a hero, but I'd like to have had one good bang at them before I quit.” Once she had found him in the hut, with his head on a table. He said he had a toothache. Well, that was all over. She was back in her grandfather's house, and— “He'll get me too, probably,” she reflected, as she went down the stairs, “just as he's got all the others.” Mademoiselle was in Lily's small sitting room, while Castle was unpacking under her supervision. The sight of her uniforms made Lily suddenly restless. “How you could wear these things!” cried Mademoiselle. “You, who have always dressed like a princess!” “I liked them,” said Lily, briefly. “Mademoiselle, what am I going to do with myself, now?” “Do?” Mademoiselle smiled. “Play, as you deserve, Cherie. Dance, and meet nice young men. You are to make your debut this fall. Then a very charming young man, and marriage.” “Oh!” said Lily, rather blankly. “I've got to come out, have I? I'd forgotten people did such things. Please run along and do something else, Castle. I'll unpack.” “That is very bad for discipline,” Mademoiselle objected when the maid had gone. “And it is not necessary for Mr. Anthony Cardew's granddaughter.” “It's awfully necessary for her,” Lily observed, cheerfully. “I've been buttoning my own shoes for some time, and I haven't developed a spinal curvature yet.” She kissed Mademoiselle's perplexed face lightly. “Don't get to worrying about me,” she added. “I'll shake down in time, and be just as useless as ever. But I wish you'd lend me your sewing basket.” “Why?” asked Mademoiselle, suspiciously. “Because I am possessed with a mad desire to sew on some buttons.” A little later Lily looked up from her rather awkward but industrious labors with a needle, and fixed her keen young eyes on Mademoiselle. “Is there any news about Aunt Elinor?” she asked. “She is with him,” said Mademoiselle, shortly. “They are here now, in the city. How he dared to come back!” “Does mother see her?” “No. Certainly not.” “Why 'certainly' not? He is Aunt Elinor's husband. She isn't doing anything wicked.” “A woman who would leave a home like this,” said Mademoiselle, “and a distinguished family. Position. Wealth. For a brute who beats her. And desert her child also!” “Does he really beat her? I don't quite believe that, Mademoiselle.” “It is not a subject for a young girl.” “Because really,” Lily went on, “there is something awfully big about a woman who will stick to one man like that. I am quite sure I would bite a man who struck me, but—suppose I loved him terribly—” her voice trailed off. “You see, dear, I have seen a lot of brutality lately. An army camp isn't a Sunday school picnic. And I like strong men, even if they are brutal sometimes.” Mademoiselle carefully cut a thread. “This—you were speaking to Ellen of a young man. Is he a—what you term brutal?” Suddenly Lily laughed. “You poor dear!” she said. “And mother, too, of course! You're afraid I'm in love with Willy Cameron. Don't you know that if I were, I'd probably never even mention his name?” “But is he brutal?” persisted Mademoiselle. “I'll tell you about him. He is a thin, blond young man, tall and a bit lame. He has curly hair, and he puts pomade on it to take the curl out. He is frightfully sensitive about not getting in the army, and he is perfectly sweet and kind, and as brutal as a June breeze. You'd better tell mother. And you can tell her he isn't in love with me, or I with him. You see, I represent what he would call the monied aristocracy of America, and he has the most fearful ideas about us.” “An anarchist, then?” asked. Mademoiselle, extremely comforted. “Not at all. He says he belongs to the plain people. The people in between. He is rather oratorical about them. He calls them the backbone of the country.” „Mamy usługę, której mógłby pozazdrościć Amazon.” Robert Drózd Tysiące ebooków i audiobooków Ich liczba ciągle rośnie, a Ty masz gwarancję niezmiennej ceny. Napisali o nas: Nowy sposób na e-księgarnię Czytelnicy nie wierzą Legimi idzie na całość Projekt Legimi wielkim wydarzeniem Spotify for ebooks Copyright © 2009-2019 Legimi S.A. Wszelkie prawa zastrzeżone. Ta strona korzysta z ciasteczek zgodnie z Polityką prywatności. Pozostając na stronie, wyrażasz zgodę na ich używanie.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647413
__label__wiki	0.855825	0.855825	£2.5m bridge to reconnect Great Central Railway is taking shape Bridge will help to restore 18 miles of track between Leicester and Ruddington, in Nottinghamshire Updated 15:59, 3 SEP 2017 The crane began moving sections of the bridge into place (Image: Great Central Railway) Significant work got underway at the weekend to erect a £2.5 million bridge which will link two stretches of the historic Great Central Railway . A crane was brought into lift sections of the new bridge into place on Saturday night. The bridge will help to restore 18 miles of track between Leicester and Ruddington, in Nottinghamshire. The Great Central Railway was closed as part of a major nationalisation of the railway network in the 1960s. Tall Paul lands role in Hollywood movie Great Central Railway chief executive officer Richard Patching told the Leicester Mercury last week: “This is an exciting night for the Great Central Railway. “For more than 40 years our supporters and friends have dreamed of work starting on the reunification of the line. “We hope to continue raising funds to complete the project and finally join the two railways. Rugby fans mark start of season with Tigers In The Park event “We would like to thank our many supporters who have enabled us to get to this stage.” McVitie'sThe amount of McVitie's Hobnobs is getting smaller - but the price is staying the sameThey are the latest victim of 'shrinkflation' In the NewsPolice still not able to ID man who died in a fire more than 7 months ago He was one of two men who died in a caravan fire in December	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647414
__label__wiki	0.564303	0.564303	Michael Rubin — Part Deux By Karen Kwiatkowski Michael Rubin has had a very bad week. One wonders about the coaching staff over at the American Enterprise Institute and National Review. Referees across the country called strike one on May 18th. Rubin’s second strike immediately followed on May 19th. What do we know about this minor-league neoconservative, Michael Rubin? Well, he is indeed a rookie. He is young. He trained at Yale in biology and history. What about his performance? In politics, people like Rubin can simply pass along fabrications as if they are true, and he has done so with abandon. On the other hand, in baseball you have to get it right. Actual performance, real events, the rock solid history, the numbers. This in mind, let’s look at the Rubin record. In the Winter 2002 edition of the Middle East Quarterly, Rubin wrote on how to free Iraq, and rid ourselves of that damn Saddam Hussein. Rubin concludes: "September 11 has helped to persuade the region that the United States isn’t going to take it anymore. Even onerous regimes are eager or willing to be part of the U.S. coalition against Usama bin Ladin’s terrorism. Under resolute U.S. leadership, some of this spirit could be mobilized against Iraq.… [Ankara, Amman, Kuwait City, and Riyadh] want to see a plan that is focused, determined, and close-ended. If the United States can produce one, its regional allies will fall into line." Let’s see if I have this straight — as an advisor to the OSP inside the nerve center of the Pentagon, helping make Iraq policy leading to war, Michael advocated a plan for Saddam’s removal that was "focused, determined, and close-ended." I guess the focused, determined, and close-ended plan for the aftermath wasn’t Michael’s area. In 2001, Michael wrote about his experience at universities in Northern Iraq, in the Kurdish autonomous zone. His premise? Sanctions are actually helpful for the Kurds. He said this because he saw a lot of selling, buying, trading. Lots of resources finding their way into the American-protected Kurdish north. Clearly, this young man did not spend much time on the role of the state and the individual, and the nature of markets. And why should he? Having demonstrated his economic expertise, young Michael concludes that while sanctions are helping northern Iraq, we really should pursue a sanction-free North. We should not worry that lifting sanctions there will further split the country, because "The Kurds themselves, many of them patriotic veterans of the Iraqi Army do not wish to split from Iraq; they do want a federal, unified and democratic Iraq. Their only problem is with Saddam Husayn himself. Until he is removed, nothing can proceed." Having touched for luck the trusty "remove Saddam" mantra, he also said, "In all, compared to the rest of the Middle East, with the exception of Turkey and Israel, northern Iraq is a political utopia." While inaccurate and nave, the statement has all the charm of a wide-eyed 16-year-old seeking to explain the world as he sees it, conjuring up the fantastical idea that one may use the words "political" and "utopia" in the same sentence and still be of this world. To be fair, Michael is partially correct, in the sense that the US protected and sponsored Kurdish government in Iraq was still decentralized and had not yet become very confiscatory. In any case, Rubin’s ideas for partial sanctions or anything else contained in this article were never made US policy. While neoconservatives in power may not listen to Michael, they do tend to use him as an attack dog. His May 2002 National Review article about the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights is entitled "Mary Robinson, War Criminal?" This inflammatory title reflects Mary Robinson’s interest, among other things, in Palestinian human rights. She had initiated a drive to investigate the Jenin killings. Such bias and double standards, laments Michael. He wrote this scurrilous attack while attached to the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations at Hebrew University. In any case, the UN did not try Robinson as a war criminal, and the world did not listen to Michael Rubin. I think we are seeing a pattern here. Again in 2002, Rubin predicts how Iraq will fight. He wrote, "The Republican Guard may be Iraq’s military elite, but, unlike the fanatical soldiers of Al Qaeda, they are basically mercenaries — Saddam’s Baathism having long ago become the ideological equivalent of 1980s-era Soviet communism. The Republican Guard serves Saddam because of fear and money. When the United States attacks, that fear will surely be counterbalanced by the prospect of facing America’s much more fearsome army if they resist." This bit of the neoconservative theme song has been proven, again and again, to be ignorant and wrong. American soldiers pay the price in Iraq every day and night. To be fair, Rubin’s coaching is obsolete. The National Review after its purges of right individualists and paleo-conservatives in the 70’s and 80’s is, like the old Soviet Union, feeble and sclerotic. As Murray Rothbard observed in 1992, "…Bill Buckley [was] the Mikhail Gorbachev of the conservative movement." Clearly, Rubin’s whole team is in trouble. Not surprisingly, Michael Rubin is not quite ready for the major leagues. The History Channel had Rubin scheduled in New York City this week. In the wake of Rubin’s first wild swing at me, they kindly asked if I’d like to come on the show with him. I ran to the bullpen, eager for my chance on the field. The History Channel called later in the day, and said, alas, Mr. Rubin rather nervously refused appear with me. Since the game would be about the hard facts of our respective words and actions, he ran off the field. The current neoconservative dilemma, a fading twilight shadowed by increasing legislative and judicial interest compounded by an ever distracted frat boy in the executive suite, reminds me of a great poem. You know it well, and it contains several lessons for the neoconservatives — most of whom have never set foot on a baseball diamond. After all, it is not a social-democratic game. “Rubin at the Bat” with apologies to Ernest Lawrence Thayer It looked extremely rocky for the DC nine that day; The score stood two to four, with but an inning left to play. So, when Rummy died at second, and Wolfie did the same, A pallor wreathed the features of the patrons of the game. A straggling few got up to go, leaving there the rest, With that hope which springs eternal within the human breast. For they thought: “If only Rubin could get a whack at that,” They’d put even money now, with Rubin at the bat. But Feith preceded Rubin, and likewise so did Perle, And the former was a pudd’n, and the latter was a girl. So on that stricken multitude a deathlike silence sat; For there seemed but little chance of Rubin’s getting to the bat. But Feith let drive a “single,” to the wonderment of all. And the much-despised Cheney “tore the cover off the ball.” And when the dust had lifted, and they saw what had occurred, There was Cheney safe at second, and Feith a-huggin’ third. Then from the gladdened multitude went up a joyous yell- It rumbled in the mountaintops, it rattled in the dell; It struck upon the hillside and rebounded on the flat; For Rubin, mighty Rubin, was advancing to the bat. There was ease in Rubin’s manner as he stepped into his place, There was pride in Rubin’s bearing and a smile on Rubin’s face; And when responding to the cheers he lightly doffed his hat, No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Rubin at the bat. Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt, Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt; Then when the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip, Defiance glanced in Rubin’s eye, a sneer curled Rubin’s lip. And now the leather-overed sphere came hurtling through the air, And Rubin stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there. Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped; “That ain’t my style,” said Rubin. “Strike one,” the umpire said. From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar, Like the beating of the storm waves on the stern and distant shore. “Kill him! kill the umpire!” shouted someone on the stand; And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Rubin raised his hand. With a smile of neo-charity great Rubin’s visage shone; He stilled the rising tumult, he made the game go on; He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew; But Rubin still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.” “Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and the echo answered “Fraud!” But one scornful look from Rubin and the audience was awed; They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain, And they knew that Rubin wouldn’t let the ball go by again. The sneer is gone from Rubin’s lips, his teeth are clenched in hate, He pounds with cruel vengeance his bat upon the plate; And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, And now the air is shattered by the force of Rubin’s blow. Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright, The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light; And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout, But there is no joy in AEI: Mighty Rubin has struck out. Karen Kwiatkowski [send her mail] is a retired USAF lieutenant colonel, who spent her final four and a half years in uniform working at the Pentagon. She now lives with her freedom-loving family in the Shenandoah Valley, and writes a bi-weekly column on defense issues with a libertarian perspective for militaryweek.com. The Best of Karen Kwiatkowski Karen Kwiatkowski, Ph.D. [send her mail], a retired USAF lieutenant colonel, farmer and aspiring anarcho-capitalist. She ran for Congress in Virginia's 6th district in 2012. Copyright © 2019 Karen Kwiatkowski Previous article by Karen Kwiatkowski: Standing By Your NRO and AEI Not a Defeat But a Glorious Victory Iraq: The Post-Mortem	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647420
__label__wiki	0.629411	0.629411	Around the world our LFC International Academies provide young players with an opportunity to develop, learning new techniques and skills, all under the guidance of our coaching staff. We offer something different and something unique by developing players both on and off the pitch, educating them through experiences that will shape their progression into young adults and giving them skills that can be used throughout their lives. Our overall aims are to bring LFC to our young fans around the world and to demonstrate just how special our football club is. Wherever you are lucky enough to attend a LFC coaching program we hope you have fun and enjoy learning how to play ‘The Liverpool Way’. Jürgen Klopp, Manager 03/08/2018, 11:30am PST , By LFC IAA Bay Area LFC IAA Bay Area Auction Dinner United Soccer Coaches Convention 2018 TFA (Total Futbol Academy) 01/23/2018, 9:00am PST , By LFC IAA Bay Area Liverpool Football Club is the best club in the world. As one big LFC family we have a responsibility to provide young players around the world with access to the best environment and coaching possible, that's what we aim to achieve with our International Academies. By following the same curriculum that we deliver to our players at the LFC Academy we can ensure that all participants get the very best football education from our coaching staff. I believe it's very important to develop a players' skills both on and off the pitch and our International Academies do just that. I am extremely proud to be an ambassador of this fantastic program which continues to go from strength to strength. This role allows me to take LFC to our young fans across the world and show them just what it means to be part of the LFC family. Ian Rush - LFC Legend & Soccer Schools Ambassador Latest News from Around the Club LFC IAA Bay Area Skills Homework Program with Andreas Pederson 01/10/2018, 1:15pm PST , By Alex Saunders Generous donation to non-profit "Here For The Kids" 12/26/2017, 3:45pm PST , By LFC IAA Bay Area Liverpool FC International Academy Summer Camp Program Launches for 2017 LFC IAA Bay Area Tournament Success! With comments from Coach Luis! 12/19/2016, 4:15pm PST , By Facebook PLAYING THE LIVERPOOL WAY Liverpool Football Club is recognized around the world as one of an elite group of clubs with a true worldwide reputation. We pride ourselves in creating the best environment for the development of young players, both as footballers and as people. We have a very special philosophy which is well known by our players, staff and fans, is recognized all over the world and sets us aside from other football clubs. The characteristics of playing 'The Liverpool Way' were no more evident than during the 2005 Champions League final. Team spirit, hard work, determination and the ability to overcome any obstacles in life and above all play with dignity and fair play.... these are all the values and characteristics we look for in our players. For the last 50 years the club has been at the forefront of British and European football, winning numerous championships and European club tournaments. During this time, there has been a consistent tradition of developing top class players, particularly from the Liverpool Academy; Steven Gerrard is the ultimate example of a home grown talent who ranks at the very top of the worldwide game. “The staff and support has been great here in Beaumont area. Liverpool is a clear standout in this area. No one is doing the programs, the communication or the true "club" atmosphere. Hats off to Liverpool. My son loves it!" Mark - Parent of U-11 player "We participated in the Jimmy Melia event and it was terrific! My daughter went home and looked up this 'Legend' that actually played for Liverpool FC and was very honored and proud. That is what a club should be." Kathy - Parent of U-12 player http://www.liverpoolfcamerica-bayarea.com/news_rss_feed?tags=2859433 ©2019 Liverpool FC International Academy - Bay Area / SportsEngine. All Rights Reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647422
__label__wiki	0.985223	0.985223	OFFICERS LOSE OUT TO CHIEFS IN PAY STAKES Chief officers are falling behind chief executives in the pay stakes, with the gap between their salaries widening ... Chief officers are falling behind chief executives in the pay stakes, with the gap between their salaries widening every year, according to figures from MPO, the chief officers' union. In 1987, chief officers were paid 81% of the average chief executive's salary. In 1994 the figure fell to 74.4%, and last year the average was 73.8%. Unison national officer Owen Davies said chief executives' pay has as a general rule gone up faster than chief officers' pay. According to the chief officers' pay claim, being put to employers today, salaries for chief executives in Scotland have shot up. In 21 of the 29 Scottish unitary councils, the scale of salaries for chief executives is higher than in English and Welsh unitaries. 'We have studied advertisements for chief officials' jobs and find that here too English and Welsh chief officer scales are exceeded in many instances,' the claim document states. MPO and Unison are asking for a 'substantial settlement', which takes into account a 2.6% shortfall in officers' pay compared to average earnings for the whole economy since 1994, and the 4% salary increases recommended on average by the pay review bodies. Unions are demanding a review of the pay structure, which they say has outgrown its relevance. This would include an upward extension of the scale. More than a quarter of chiefs are paid more than the highest point on the present scale. At the last pay settlement in 1994, which was arbitrated, unions asked for the review. They want it completed by the end of this year and implemented in April 1997. They want a reduction in working hours, with a maximum of 48 hours a week averaged over three months. Research by Unison shows some officers work 60 hours a week, attending four or five evening meetings as well as working Saturday morning. The claim includes a demand for confidential stress counselling for all staff. Walkley: The rules of the game are shifting Homes England chief executive Nick Walkley has suggested the agency will broaden its focus to include areas with housing challenges that are unrelated to high demand. Government and NHS England in row over public health pay 24 April 2019Dave West A row has broken out between the government and NHS England over £50m funding for pay of public heath staff employed by the NHS. Figures show slow progress on gender pay gap 5 April 2019Jessica Hill There has been little change in local government’s gender pay gap over the last year, LGC analysis of newly published data suggests. Why gender pay gap data doesn't tell the full story This year marks 100 years since the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 which allowed women to work in some parts of the civil service for the first time, specifying that “a person shall not be disqualified by sex or marriage from the exercise of any public function”.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647424
__label__cc	0.627505	0.372495	PIs: CoPLA SAYS REPORT DOES NOT GIVE FULL PICTURE The police are getting better at cracking violent crime, the independent Committee of Local Police Authorities (CoP... The police are getting better at cracking violent crime, the independent Committee of Local Police Authorities (CoPLA) said after the Audit Commission confirmed forces are doing better. CoPLA chairman Chris Winterton said the report showed the commitment of police authorities to meeting the needs of the communities they represent. 'In almost every part of the country, police forces are improving their performance, bettering their targets and getting more efficient. This will be built upon as police authorities strive to make the service even more efficient, effective and accountable to their communities. 'One of the indicators that needs further attention is the indicator for burglaries. In the majority of cases, the detection by primary means of just over 10% clearly shows a need to improve. I hope that individuals and agencies will come together to lift this performance overall and that the service can benefit from those forces which have shown increases in this performance area. 'Nonetheless, we must not lose sight of the fact that the report does not give the full picture of all the demands on the police. Although the report is useful, this year's performance indicators contain no measure of customer satisfaction. 'Police forces have nothing to fear from an objective assessment of their performance. We have every confidence that they are among finest law enforcement agencies in the world. The challenge now is for the commission to make its performance indicators more relevant to help the police set their priorities and improve their performance.' CoPLA recognises that demands on the service mean that government must remain committed to improving the resources made available to police authorities to enable them to maintain the progress made this year and realise further improvements to the service. Research links knife crime to youth services cuts 7 May 2019Jon Bunn Children are at higher risk of violence in areas which have seen the biggest reductions in spending on youth services, a group of MPs and peers has said. Rodwell: poor housing and social segregation driving gang culture Barking & Dagenham LBC leader Darren Rodwell (Lab) has been in the eye of the storm recently when it comes to London’s surge in knife crime. Earlier this month, 17-year-old Jodie Chesney was stabbed to death in a park in his borough, and his community in Romford formed a 2,000-strong march through the streets demanding an end to violence. Selective landlord licensing branded success, review finds 25 June 2019Jon Bunn Independent research has found selective licensing of private landlords can be effective in tackling problems such as poor housing conditions and crime, but warns schemes have limited success when introduced in small areas. Anti-development campaigners and far right driving abuse 3 July 2019Jon Bunn Anti-development campaigners are considered responsible for most abusive behaviour in local areas, LGC’s Civility of Politics survey has revealed. Joint Committee Programme Management Officer	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647425
__label__cc	0.723642	0.276358	Topics+ Filesystem Hierarchy Standard by Kyle Rankin What are these weird directories, and why are they there? If you are new to the Linux command line, you may find yourself wondering why there are so many unusual directories, what they are there for, and why things are organized the way they are. In fact, if you aren't accustomed to how Linux organizes files, the directories can seem downright arbitrary with odd truncated names and, in many cases, redundant names. It turns out there's a method to this madness based on decades of UNIX convention, and in this article, I provide an introduction to the Linux directory structure. Although each Linux distribution has its own quirks, the majority conform (for the most part) with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS). The FHS project began in 1993, and the goal was to come to a consensus on how directories should be organized and which files should be stored where, so that distributions could have a single reference point from which to work. A lot of decisions about directory structure were based on traditional UNIX directory structures with a focus on servers and with an assumption that disk space was at a premium, so machines likely would have multiple hard drives. /bin and /sbin The /bin and /sbin directories are intended for storing binary executable files. Both directories store executables that are considered essential for booting the system (such as the mount command). The main difference between these directories is that the /sbin directory is intended for system binaries, or binaries that administrators will use to manage the system. This directory stores all the bootloader files (these days, this is typically GRUB), kernel files and initrd files. It's often treated as a separate, small partition, so that the bootloader can read it more easily. With /boot on a separate partition, your root filesystem can use more sophisticated features that require kernel support whether that's an exotic filesystem, disk encryption or logical volume management. The /etc directory is intended for storing system configuration files. If you need to configure a service on a Linux system, or change networking or other core settings, this is the first place to look. This is also a small and easy-to-back-up directory that contains most of the customizations you might make to your computer at the system level. The /home directory is the location on Linux systems where users are given directories for storing their own files. Each directory under /home is named after a particular user's user name and is owned by that user. On a server, these directories might store users' email, their SSH keys, or sometimes even local services users are running on high ports. On desktop systems, the /home directory is probably the main directory with which users interact. Any desktop settings, pictures, media, documents or other files users need end up being stored in their /home directories. On a desktop, this is the most important directory to back up, and it's often a directory that's given its own partition. By giving /home its own partition, you can experiment with different Linux distributions and re-install the complete system on a separate / partition, and then when you mount this /home partition, all of your files and settings are right there where you left them. The /lib directory stores essential shared libraries that the essential binaries in /bin and /sbin need to run. This is also the directory where kernel modules are stored. /usr, /usr/bin, /usr/lib and /usr/sbin The /usr directory (which has stood both for UNIX source repository and UNIX system resources) is intended to be a read-only directory that stores files that aren't required to boot the system. In general, when you install additional software from your distribution, its binaries, libraries and supporting files go here in their corresponding /usr/bin, /usr/sbin or /usr/lib directories, among some others. When storage was at a premium, you often would mount this directory separately on its own larger disk, so it could grow independently as you added new software. These days, there is less of a need to have this kind of logical separation—in particular because systems tend to have everything in a single large root partition, and the initrd file tends to have the tools necessary to mount that filesystem. Some distributions are starting to merge /bin, /sbin and /lib with their corresponding /usr directories via symlinks. The /usr/local directory is a special version of /usr that has its own internal structure of bin, lib and sbin directories, but /usr/local is designed to be a place where users can install their own software outside the distribution's provided software without worrying about overwriting any distribution files. The debates between /usr/local and /opt are legendary, and Bill Childers and I even participated in our own debate in a Linux Journal Point/Counterpoint article. Essentially, both directories serve the same purpose—providing a place for users to install software outside their distributions—but the /opt directory organizes it differently. Instead of storing binaries and libraries for different pieces of software together in a shared directory, like with /usr and /usr/local, the /opt directory grants each piece of software its own subdirectory, and it organizes its files underneath how it pleases. The idea here is that, in theory, you could uninstall software in /opt just by removing that software's directory. For more details on the relative pros and cons of this approach, check out the Point/Counterpoint article. The /root directory is a special home directory for the root user on the system. It's owned and readable only by the root user, and it's designed otherwise to function much like a /home directory but for files and settings the root user needs. These days, many systems disable the root user in favor of using sudo to get superuser privileges, so this directory isn't used nearly as much. As I've mentioned, classic UNIX servers held disk space at a premium, and the /var directory was designed for storing files that might vary wildly in size or might get written to frequently. Unlike with /usr, which is read-only, the /var directory most definitely needs to be writeable, because within it you will find log files, mail server spools, and other files that might come and go or otherwise might grow in size in unpredictable ways. Even these days, at least on servers, if you had to pick a root-level directory to put on its own large disk, the /var directory would be the first one on the list—not just because it might grow rather large in size, but also because you might want to put /var on a disk that's better-optimized for heavy writes. Also, if you have all of your directories inside one large root partition, and you run out of disk space, the /var directory is a great place to start your search for files to remove. You will find device files here. UNIX systems have an "everything is a file" principle that means even your hardware ends up with a file. This directory contains files for devices on your system from disks and partitions to mice and keyboards. /proc and /sys In addition to /dev, two other directories end up with dynamic files that represent something other than a file. The /proc directory stores files that represent information about all of the running processes on the system. You can actually use tools like ls and cat to read about the status of different processes running on your system. This directory also often contains files in /proc/sys that interact with the kernel and allow you to tweak particular kernel parameters and poll settings. While some kernel state files have shown up in /proc (in particular /proc/sys), these days, they are supposed to be stored in /sys instead. The /sys directory is designed to contain all of these files that let you interact with the kernel, and this directory gets dynamically populated with files that often show up as nested series of recursive symlinks—be careful when running commands like find in here! /srv Compared to some of the directories, /srv is a bit of a newcomer. This directory is designed for storing files that a server might share externally. For instance, this is considered the proper place to store web server files (/srv/www is popular). /mnt and /media When you add extra filesystems to your computer, whether it's from a USB drive, an NFS mount or other sources, you need some standard place to mount them. This is where /mnt and /media come in. The /mnt directory used to be a catch-all for any mounted disk that didn't have any other place to go, but these days, you should use this directory for various NFS mountpoints and other disks that are intended to be mounted all the time. The /media directory is designed for those disks that are mounted temporarily, such as CD-ROMs and USB disks. /tmp, /var/tmp and /dev/shm Even Linux needs a junk drawer, and it provides a number of directories that are designed to store temporary files, based on how long you want to keep them. These directories are ideal for programs that need to store some data in a file temporarily but may not need the data to stick around forever, such as cached data that a process can re-create. What makes these directories ideal for this purpose is that they are created with permissions such that any user can write to them. The /tmp directory is aimed at storing temporary files that don't need to stick around after a reboot. When a Linux system boots, one of the initial boot processes cleans out all of the files in the /tmp directory. The /var/tmp directory, on the other hand, does not get cleaned out between reboots, so this is a good place to store files, such as caches that you'd appreciate sticking, even if you don't absolutely need them. Finally, the /dev/shm directory is a small ramdisk, and any files that are stored there reside only in RAM, and after the system is turned off, these files are erased. Hackers love to store files in /dev/shm for this reason. The /dev/shm directory is the best of the three if you have temporary files that store sensitive information like passwords or secrets, as they never will touch the disk—just be sure to give the files appropriate permissions (like 0600) before you put your secrets there so no one else can read them. I hope this tour through the Linux FHS has helped make sense of all of the various directories on your disk. I covered only some of the directories defined in the standard. If you are curious about some of the other directories on your system—in particular, if you are a developer and want to ensure that you are storing files in the right place—please refer to the official Filesystem Hierarchy Standard for a lot more detail. The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard Point/Counterpoint: /opt vs. /usr/local by Kyle Rankin and Bill Childers, LJ, March 2010 Kyle Rankin is a Tech Editor and columnist at Linux Journal and the Chief Security Officer at Purism. He is the author of Linux Hardening in Hostile Networks, DevOps Troubleshooting, The Official Ubuntu Server Book, Knoppix Hacks, Knoppix Pocket Reference, Linux Multimedia Hacks and Ubuntu Hacks, and also a contributor to a number of other O'Reilly books. Rankin speaks frequently on security and open-source software including at BsidesLV, O'Reilly Security Conference, OSCON, SCALE, CactusCon, Linux World Expo and Penguicon. You can follow him at @kylerankin. Load Disqus comments Our discussions are powered by Disqus, which require JavaScript. Matthew Hoskins Marcel Gagné GIS on Linux with SAGA Joey Bernard Linux IoT Development: Adjusting from a Binary OS to the Yocto Project Workflow Mirza Krak Address Space Isolation and the Linux Kernel Zack Brown What Really IRCs Me: Mastodon Kyle Rankin Corporate Patron Linux Journal Week in Review Sign up to get all the good stuff delivered to your inbox every week. The Value of Open Source Journalism Subscribe and support our coverage for technology's biggest thinkers – with up to 52% savings. Linux Journal, currently celebrating its 25th year of publication, is the original magazine of the global Open Source community. © 2019 Linux Journal, LLC. All rights reserved. Footer Submenu Footer Menu Column 1	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647428
__label__cc	0.717914	0.282086	Rachel Owen Rachel Owen, Gynaecology Oncology supporter My story starts at Christmas 2012, when I was 43. Up to then I’d been extremely well all my life, pursuing my passion as a busy instrumental teacher and performer. I suddenly had a leg infection, similar to those experienced by elderly people. My GP believed it was caused by a skin condition I have. However, it recurred in August 2013. Around this time, I noticed that I was putting on weight and by October I realised something was wrong. My tummy was bloated, I felt like I was wearing tight jeans all the time and I was experiencing pain, like a severe stitch, when I walked. My GP sent me immediately to my local hospital in Chester. There it was revealed that I had a large ovarian cyst and it was resting on an artery, restricting blood flow to my leg, hence the infections. I was referred to Liverpool Women’s Hospital for the operation to remove the cyst, as I was told that they have the relevant expertise should there be any complications. A few days later, by now in a lot of pain and very unwell, I arrived there feeling daunted by the unfamiliar hospital and what faced me there. The moment the car drew up, the porter saw me struggling, rushed forward with a wheelchair and personally took me and my relatives all the way down to the gynae clinic. That was my first taste of the ‘LW family’ and the care and consideration I would go on to receive from so many members of staff in their respective roles. The next encounter was exceptional. This was my first meeting with my surgical oncologist, Mr Robert Macdonald. How do I describe this special man? I have never met with such extraordinary kindness, compassion, empathy, professionalism and, of course, wonderful skill. I knew immediately that I was in both safe and kind hands and I could let go of my anxiety and let him look after me. Mr Macdonald told me that it would be necessary for him to perform a complete hysterectomy. As a single lady who hadn’t found ‘Mr Right’ and had a family, it was hard to absorb in an instant that time had run out and I’d never be a mum. But I knew that it had to be done without delay. Acceptance would have to come later. I was admitted two days later and spent four days on the ward. I encountered so many amazing staff during this time, but certain memories stand out. A kind, reassuring anaesthetist. Mr Macdonald coming to the ward with the trolley and personally wheeling me to the operating theatre. A kind nurse who calmed me before the op and came in as my chaperone. The gentle, attentive, thoughtful care of the HDU nurse all the following night. The nurses on the ward patiently helping me get back on my feet (very slowly!). The cheerful tea lady and cleaners. Recovery went well for two weeks. I remember texting my friend in triumph because I’d walked about 100 yards in each direction from my house! And I felt quite proud I could walk down the corridor to Mr Macdonald’s room on my own for my review. Unfortunately, he had some dreadful news for me. Stage 3 cancer had been found in my ovaries. Thanks to his skill, all obvious signs of disease had been removed, but a course of six chemotherapy sessions was recommended. Somehow, I hadn’t allowed myself to think about this possibility. (I remember leaving the Women’s afterwards thinking ‘I’m a cancer patient’ – much like someone might struggle to say the words ‘I’m an alcoholic’). I was introduced to another special member of staff at this point, Macmillan nurse Chris Webster. This is a lady with a calm and serene nature. In the midst of my mental turmoil at the news, Chris made it all seem normal and manageable. Our subsequent chats on the phone, talking about practical as well as emotional things, empowered me. I’d never have imagined I could have an almost normal life while experiencing cancer. I was referred to Dr Green’s team and had my chemo at Clatterbridge for the next five months. I was lucky enough not to be really ill from the treatment and with a rather glam wig in place, I was able to return and teach my lovely pupils almost full-time. I experienced kindness and helpfulness from all my schools, pupils’ parents and other cancer survivors in my life (some I’d not even known had been there too) who made a point of seeking me out to offer support. One stand-out moment was when a previously rather stroppy teenage student turned up for her first lesson back holding a cake she’d baked for me! It was all strangely enriching and life-affirming. At first I didn’t dare look ahead more than the three weeks to the next scan or review. Once that was over each time, I felt like I’d been given a licence to live for another three weeks. With the treatment over, however, the reviews became further apart, all went well and I was completely discharged in March 2017. So, why do I enjoy going back to Liverpool Women’s? Of course, I owe my life to this amazing hospital and the amazing people who work there and I am always conscious of that in everything I do now. The staff may say they were just doing their jobs. None of them could change what they had to do to save me or change what I had to go through. But what an immeasurable difference it made to my experience that they gave me such care and compassion during the challenging and emotional journey back to health. I am keen to show my gratitude by raising funds for the Gynae Oncology Fund whenever I can, to support the hospital’s research work and additional services. I’ve completed the Wirral Coastal Walk twice, done a bit of bucket-shaking and played some favourite flute numbers in the lobby. All very small gestures but done with the greatest of pleasure. The lovely fundraising ladies, Lisa and Nadia, offer their help and encouragement for any fundraising project, however humble, so I guess it’s a case of thinking cap on again and watch this space! Join our events Take part in local events Leaving a gift in your will Donate knitting Donor satisfaction survey How your support will help	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647430
__label__wiki	0.966423	0.966423	Manhattan $700k-$800k MLS® ID: OLRS-1837651 1330 Fifth Avenue, 5 O Manhattan, New York $700k-$800k 1 Beds 1 Bath Manhattan New York 340 West 55th Street, 2 C Manhattan, New York MLS® ID: OLRS-257418 205 East 78th Street, 9 J Manhattan, New York 603 West 111th Street, 1 W Manhattan, New York $700k-$800k 3 Beds 2 Baths Manhattan New York 231 West 148th Street, 4 L Manhattan, New York MLS® ID: CORC-5802000 116 Pinehurst Avenue, L21 Manhattan, New York 301 East 48th Street, 12 H Manhattan, New York 67 Morton Street, 2 B Manhattan, New York 400 West 58th Street, 3 E Manhattan, New York 35 East 85th Street, 12 Dn Manhattan, New York 301 East 62nd Street, 4 K Manhattan, New York MLS® ID: RLMX-001030021583067 214 Riverside Drive, 609 Manhattan, New York 35 East 85th Street, 12 D N Manhattan, New York 100 West 93rd Street, 4 E Manhattan, New York MLS® ID: RLMX-014620021352 211 East 53rd Street, 14 F Manhattan, New York 2300 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, 8 A Manhattan, New York 210 East 90th Street, 5 C Manhattan, New York 350 East 62nd Street, 4 B Manhattan, New York 201 East 25th Street, 5 G Manhattan, New York 2021 First Avenue, 7 A Manhattan, New York 1790 Third Avenue, 303 Manhattan, New York 455 East 86th Street, 7 A Manhattan, New York	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647432
__label__wiki	0.581404	0.581404	50 million subscribers worldwide. And it's headed to your living room next year. Mamamia Fluff Netflix has confirmed that the service will be available in Australia and New Zealand next year. WHAT IS IT?: Netflix is an online-streaming service that provides A LOT of movies and television series for a monthly fee. It has new release movies and new episodes of current series, as well as a huge catalogue of old classics. Until now, it was only available in USA and South America, and parts of Europe. It reached 50 million subscribers globally this year. And as of March next year, we will be able to access it down under. They even made a ‘down under’ joke in their announcement. http://t.co/8kKEzEtyq8 ɹǝpu∩uʍoᗡxıןɟʇǝN# uǝɥʇ ןıʇu∩ ¡ZN & sn∀ ɥɔɹɐW uı noʎ ǝǝS — Netflix US (@netflix) November 18, 2014 It’s upside-down. GET IT?? Some naughty Australians (estimated to be as high as 200,000) have actually been accessing the system for a while by cleverly tricking their Internet into thinking they are located in USA and not Australia. But SSSSHHHH! No one tell Netflix that or they may change their minds. “Australia and New Zealand have been a long time coming for us,” said Netflix boss Cliff Edwards to Fairfax Media. Ricky Gervais in an ad for Netflix US. Post continues below video. Cliff said that he will have more information for us – such as content and pricing – over the next few months. On that note, we don’t know much about the content for Australia, but we can tell you that it will probably be a bit different to USA and Europe because of the pre-existing deals between our television networks and exclusive rights to shows. But still, EXCITING. The only problem is: It will affect Australian drama, most likely in a negative way. Netflix has produced seven original dramas in USA (which, compared to how many they show on their service, is not many). Chances are in Australia, they may not produce any. As Lifehacker reported: People watching Netflix will mean fewer people watching TV, which means TV ratings will continue to decline, which means there will be fewer advertising dollars and less money to fund shows. And the first shows to be cut will be dramas — because those are the most expensive. We will have to wait and see what happens in March. Hurrah for Netflix, but let’s not forget about our favourite shows in Oz. Past and present, Australia has had some great shows. The Straits Keeping up with Joneses Crownies Cast of Home and Away Housos Young Talent Time Follow Mamamia Fluff on Facebook Mamamia Fluff brings you the most awesome celebrity news and gossip from around the world. When famous people misbehave, get married, have babies, or do something ridiculous – you’ll be the first to know. Tags: celebrity , entertainment-tv	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647437
__label__cc	0.663654	0.336346	Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Arisugawa's Locket ❯ Mother, may I? ( Chapter 35 ) Mother, may I? "So how's your friend?" Setsuna asked Juri quietly. They were sitting in the kitchen of the Outers' house, enjoying their cups of coffee. Juri had come over to see her late last night, and instead of her going home they had spent the night together. "Sober," Juri smiled back wryly, "a definite improvement." She drank from her cup, savoring the taste of good coffee. Haruka and Michiru stumbled in, Haruka doing a slight double-take at seeing Juri sitting at the table. She opened her mouth to say something about Juri's rumpled clothes, only to be cut off by a swift elbow in the ribs from Michiru. "Good morning Juri," Michiru said demurely. "Morning," Juri raised her cup in a toast to the two of them. Hotaru stumbled in, giving them all an absent minded wave as she retrieved her carton of orange juice from the fridge. A glass full of juice in hand, she wandered out into the living room to watch her cartoons. "She's taking my being here well," Juri noted, sounding just a bit nervous. "Hotaru usually does," Haruka agreed, "I can only think of one or two times I've seen her even mildly thrown off by something." "She'll probably have a few questions for me later, though," Setsuna noted. Michiru groaned softly, remembering something. When no explanation was forthcoming Juri asked, "What?" Haruka smiled, sipping her coffee. "Hotaru got let out of school early," she explained, "and walked in on us while we were..." she trailed off. Juri blinked, then, "Oh ho!" "Exactly," Michiru was blushing faintly. "Hotaru left as calm as you please, and we figured we were fine. A few days later she asked poor Setsuna what we were doing, and she described in detail what she saw." "Personally, there were some details that I just really didn't need to know," a blushing Setsuna said mildly. Juri was still chuckling to herself occasionally when she headed back to the city. 'Wish Setsuna could be here beside me,' she thought, steering her sports car expertly, 'but her nursing job keeps her pretty busy.' Juri returned to her apartment first, showering and putting on a fresh set of clothes. She looked much more businesslike as she strode out into the Shinjuku district, taking a short walk to a busy restaurant nearby. She picked out an early lunch, and polished it off in record time. The calendar hanging on the wall caught her eye, and with a slight twinge Juri noticed it was nearly Mother's day. She remembered the tall, aristocratic woman everyone said she resembled. It had been a long time since she had actually seen her mom, a few months after she had been throw out of the house. She knew it had been a difficult moment for them both, her mother's stumbling attempt at an apology, and Juri's own anger and resentment flaring up in return. She had said some harsh things that day, things that she regretted saying now. The gift shop was on her way home, and Juri stepped inside to look around. The card was easy, a simply designed Mother's Day card, then she looked at the gifts. There were so many it was confusing, but then the chocolates caught her eye. 'She's always liked chocolate,' Juri remembered with a smile. Chocolates, card, a nice box and wrapping paper, and Juri put it all together in the store. Deciding what to write on the card was the hardest part. After a few moments of thought she settled on a simple, 'Thank you, love, Juri.' Not giving herself too much time to think about it, Juri put the stamps on the package, wrote the memorized address, and had it in the mail in a few minutes. It was too early to open the Locket, but Juri swung by the building to make sure it was still locked up tight. She stood in front of the building thoughtfully, considering what to do for the hours before the Locket was going to open. "Juri-sama!" a happy voice squealed, and a young woman all but throttled her from behind. "Wakaba?" Juri blinked, recognizing the curly haired friend of Utena. "I knew this place had to be yours as soon as I heard the name," Wakaba beamed. The girl had gotten a bit older, but other than that the perky young woman remained the same. "What are you doing here?" Juri asked curiously. "I was in town visiting Utena," and Wakaba's eyes darkened a bit, "had some time on my hands." She perked back up, "I was looking around, and heard about this place." 'Wonder from whom?' Juri thought ruefully. "We're not open yet," Juri said, "but why don't you come in, look around?" "Really? Could I?" Wakaba was practically bouncing up and down. Juri chuckled softly, opening up the front door. They walked down the hallway into the main room, the empty dance floor, the bar, karaoke stage and dining tables nearby. Off in the corner, the library and it's couches looked comfortable and inviting. "So what do you think?' Juri asked curiously as they walked over to lean up against the bar itself. It was odd, but she found that it actually mattered to her, what this acquaintance from the past thought of Juri's bar. "It's incredible," Wakaba beamed. She looked over at Juri thoughtfully, "And it's just for women, isn't it?" "Yes, it is," Juri said gently. She poured them both a ginger ale, "Are you really surprised?" "No, not really," Wakaba smiled back. Juri looked over at Wakaba, thinking about some of the stories that had been going around then. "You weren't always joking," Juri said softly, "when you told Utena that you loved her." "Hmmm," Wakaba blushed faintly, looking down and having some of her drink. Deciding it would be cruel to push Juri took a different tact, "Maybe you should stop by this evening, see what the place is like when it's open." Wakaba smiled back cheerfully, "I'd like that." They walked out together, Juri locking up the place before driving off. 'One more errand to do,' Juri thought with a little smile. Later that day, a visibly tired Setsuna drove home from a hard days work. Stopping at the mailbox she pulled out a large package, recognizing Juri's writing of her name. 'What's this?" Setsuna thought, flipping up the little attached card. 'Happy (early) Mother's Day,' the card said in cheery script. Setsuna unwrapped the box carefully, and sighed softly as she saw the chocolates inside. "Juri, you spoil me," Setsuna sighed happily, popping one into her mouth. Characters this Episode: Arisugawa Juri, Wakaba, and Utena are from Revolutionary Girl Utena. And Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, and Setsuna are from Sailor Moon. Another 'Out of the Locket' episode. A few fans were concerned that Juri and Setsuna might be breaking up, so I thought I should address that. I haven't dealt with Juri's family much, and with Mother's Day here I thought I'd tackle it.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647445
__label__wiki	0.88007	0.88007	Gold Coast family’s desperate plea after their 8 month old baby contracts meningococcal disease in Thailand A YOUNG Gold Coast family is desperately trying to get their baby girl home from Thailand before her legs are amputated. Eight-month-old Lilliana Sheridan has been fighting for her life for five days in a Thai hospital after contracting meningococcal caused by septic shock. The family are calling it a miracle Lilliana has survived this far. Her arms and legs were swollen, black and blue and the hospital didn’t have her blood type for a transfusion. Gold Coast mother Elisha Robinson has made a heartbreaking plea to save her baby girl's life while in Phuket. Yesterday, Lilliana was in a stable condition inside a Phuket hospital but Thai doctors were concerned about infection on her left leg and a little bit on her right. As doctors talk of possible amputation, parents Elisha Robinson, 23, and Jai Sheridan, 25, just want to bring their baby back to Australia for a second opinion. To make it worse, Ms Robinson cannot even hold her baby girl as she has the Influenza B virus. “I still am not able to go anywhere near my baby,” she said. “I can’t even fly with her home. “We are waiting for a specialist doctor to come which seems to be taking forever to see if the infection has gone down to the muscle or if we can skin graft it to save her leg. “If it’s down to the muscle they must amputate (but) we must get her home. My insurance won’t cover it though, but we will get her home no matter what.” Mr Sheridan said: “We have been in contact the whole time with Lilliana’s GP back home. He said the feet were a perfectly normal colour and there was no reason to amputate the leg.” Mr Sheridan said the family’s travel insurance covered a flight from Phuket to Bangkok but wouldn’t pay for the medevac to Australia. “We just want to get her home to the Brisbane Children’s Hospital but the medevac costs $120,000 which is why our friends and family have been trying to raise money.” More than $13,000 has been raised through social media, giving the family some support during the horrible ordeal. The holiday was originally planned for last year but after Ms Robinson fell pregnant it was postponed for this year. MUM’S HORROR AS FACEBOOK SHUTS DOWN FUNDRAISER FOR SICK BABY Lilliana is in a Thai hospital and her parents just want to bring her back to Australia for medical treatment. Thailand had always been a special place for Ms Robinson’s family; they moved to the Asian country for a year after the sudden death of her sister. That was before the former Trinity Lutheran College student moved back to Nerang where she worked at bars in Surfers Paradise “On Thursday, Lilliana woke up with a bit of a fever but she was happy and smiling so we went for breakfast,” Mr Sheridan said. When she didn’t shake the fever they took her to Patong Hospital where she was given paracetamol and hydrolytes. “We left her with Elisha and we went out to get some lunch,” he said. “When we came back Elisha was standing in the driveway and Lilli was just there limp with blue-purple rashes on all of her skin.” After asking and being given money, the locals helped the family get an ambulance to Patong Hospital where Lilliana was given oxygen to stabilise her. “They transferred us to Bangkok Hospital in Phuket,” Mr Sheridan said. “I had to sign all this paperwork and they wanted me to pay a deposit before they looked at her. I paid it and then boom the doctor was there and she went straight to ICU. SOURCE: Gold Coast Bulletin “Then they didn’t have O negative blood anywhere in Thailand at that stage and doctors had to give her O positive blood but she just took it.” It was at this stage Ms Robinson made a heartbreaking plea for help. “My baby is dying in Bangkok Hospital Phuket Town,” she wrote on a Facebook on Friday. SUBSCRIBE TO THE BULLETIN AND GET A FITBIT “She needs O negative blood, please help me, someone please, I’m begging I can’t lose my baby.” The post was shared more than 1200 times and within a day more than 1000 people donated blood to Thai Red Cross. Elisha Robinson is distraught after her eight-month-old daughter become very sick while they were on a family holiday in Thailand.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647453
__label__wiki	0.919869	0.919869	Island Business The sun may have set on two of Maui’s main agribusinesses, but a local company is betting its future on energy crops. Maui’s Changing Landscape \| Part One \| Part Two \| Part Three \| Part Four \| Part Five \| Part Six \| With this first installment in a yearlong series, we explore the future of farming on our still mostly rural island. Story by Teya Penniman \| Illustration by Matt Foster If one company’s vision bears fruit, the future will include a sea of giant yellow happy faces. The year after sugar shut down, golden blooms lit up fields in Central Maui. Thousands of tourists and residents flocked to the farm to snap giddy photos of themselves among the sunflowers. The showy plants turned the spotlight on Pacific Biodiesel, a family-owned and -operated company that has been working in agriculture and energy for the past two decades. “There was a lot of excitement about the sunflowers,” says Kelly King, vice president of Pacific Biodiesel, which planted its first crop on former cane fields leased from the owners of Maui Tropical Plantation. King says the company has a longstanding commitment to producing a cleaner, greener alternative to petroleum-based diesel. Growing its own feedstock is the next step on that path. Bob King drives a giant red combine powered by his company’s biodiesel to scoop up droopy sunflower heads. Kelly’s husband, company president Bob King, knew the world of diesel as a mechanic; his business held a contract to maintain generators at the Central Maui landfill. He saw both waste and opportunity in the tons of used cooking oil pouring into the dumpsite. In 1999, the Kings opened their first refinery on Maui, turning grease into biofuel. In 2000, they built a second refinery on O‘ahu. In 2012, they shifted most of their operations to Hawai‘i Island, where their new, state-of-the-art refinery produces 5.5 million gallons of biodiesel annually. Pacific Biodiesel employs eighty people statewide, and has built thirteen facilities across the U.S. and in Japan. But Maui remains home to its corporate office and a retail pump station. In recent years the company has pulled back from technology sales. “We wanted to refocus on operating in Hawai‘i, making the best fuel we could,” says Jenna (King) Long, director of operations, and Bob and Kelly’s (locally grown) daughter. Long adds that they want to make the process, as well as the product, more sustainable. Currently the company collects oil across the state, sends it to the Big Island refinery, then ships the biofuel back to the other islands. That model is less efficient, and the supply of used cooking oil in the islands is limited. “We’ve been talking about growing feedstock almost since we started the company,” says Long. “We knew this would be the long-term way to expand.” Federal funding aimed at advancing energy security supported the Kings’ search for the ideal biofuel crop, which led them to sunflowers. It takes only ninety days for the plants to go “from soil to oil,” and sunflowers have a flexibility bonus: you can eat the oil, make fuel out of it, turn the byproduct of the extraction process into high-protein livestock food, and even crush the stalks into fibrous building material. Today, Pacific Biodiesel’s sunflower fields occupy 115 acres, planted in rotation in plots of 10 to 15 acres. The first harvest produced a cosmetic-grade oil; for now, you’re more likely to encounter it during a massage than at the pump. Kelly King says the company intends to scale up in steps, planting 100 acres and from there expanding to 500 or 1,000 acres. “If we can prove the economy and consistency of 1,000 acres, the [goal] would be to plant 10,000 to 12,000 acres.” Operations director Jenna Long reviews production with plant engineer Scott Proskow (right) and manager Tony Pastrama at the company’s Hawai‘i Island refinery. Is biodiesel actually cleaner and greener? It depends on the age of the equipment burning the fuel, the type of feedstock, and the potential for useful byproducts. Pacific Biodiesel’s refinery uses advanced distillation technology to produce the highest-quality biodiesel in the U.S. On Earth Day 2016, it became Sunflowers own the day for now, but King notes that different crops can feed a refinery, a big plus if a devastating pest or disease wipes out the original plant source. Long term, the Kings envision rotating fuel and food crops, such as soybeans or safflowers. If the model proves successful, each island could grow its own feedstock, recycle waste oils, and produce biofuel. Ka Lima O Maui: A Job Well Done Growing Farmers ★ Subscribe ★	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647457
__label__wiki	0.721362	0.721362	What does The Crunge mean? Led Zeppelin: The Crunge Meaning No tags, suggest one. Get "The Crunge" on MP3: The Crunge Lyrics Play "The Crunge" I wanna tell you bout my good thing I ain't disclosing no names but-- He sure is a good friend and! I ain't gonna tell you where he comes from, no! If I tell you you wont come again! Hey! I ain't gonna tell you nothin but I do will, but I... Jul 21st, 2012 7:14am report yes it's a parody of James Brown. And I always though that it was Jimmy Page asking where the music was for the bridge of the song.. and they recorded him asking where it was.. or something like that.. hahaha Jun 15th, 2011 6:01am report I thought the "wheres that confounded bridge" reference is asking where the "bridge" of the song is... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_(music) has anybody seen the bridge?? Feb 14th, 2010 2:20pm report It's a parody of James Browns' musical style and political importance back in the 60's and 70's. Jul 4th, 2008 7:15pm report "where's that confounded bridge" I heard somewhere there was a drug treatment center called "the bridge". Jan 9th, 2007 1:50pm report This was supposed to be a dance, but it was too fast for actual dancing. If you listen to the live version of dazed and confused medley, at one point plant says "do the crunge!", like it was a dance. I think it also came from a jam session of some sort. More Led Zeppelin song meanings » Led Zeppelin Fans Also Like: Leonard Cohen song meanings Email me when new interpretations are posted for The Crunge Led Zeppelin Song Meanings Immigrant Song Achilles Last Stand Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You The Battle of Evermore Going to California The Rain Song That's the Way No Quarter What Is and What Should Never Be D'yer Mak'er Five Hated Hits - When A Band Despises Their Most Popular Song What On Earth Happened To ABBA? Kurt Cobain’s Love-Hate Relationship With Punk Rock Six Songs Inspired By Real-Life Events Lord of the Sings - Songs and Bands Paying Tribute To J.R.R. Tolkien "I've Got Blisters On My Fingers!" But Have You Heard the Punk Version of "Summer Nights"? There's Your Cue, Audience! The Fascinating History of "Louie Louie"	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647467
__label__cc	0.562646	0.437354	Treat and Prevent Heartworm in Dogs Maddie's Public Library August 2014 by Brian DiGangi, DVM, MS, DAVBP Audience: Veterinary Team Video Length: 85 minutes Heartworm disease is 100% preventable, yet experts estimate one million dogs in the U.S. are infected with the parasite. The challenge of prevention and treatment is particularly acute in animal shelters, which usually receive the dogs when they are already heartworm-positive and face challenges finding resources to treat them. In a free Maddie's Fund® webcast, Brian A. DiGangi, DVM, DABVP, Clinical Assistant Professor of Shelter Medicine at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, presents a review of the current recommendations for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heartworm infections in dogs with an emphasis on practical, safe and effective management strategies for shelter dogs. Attendees will learn: Special considerations of treatment for shelter dogs What really works in treating canine heartworm disease Diagnosing and preventing heartworm How Animal Shelters Can Treat and Prevent Heartworm in Dogs is part of an on-going series of webcasts from Maddie's Institute, a program of Maddie's Fund®, the nation's leading funder of shelter medicine education. Maddie's Institute brings cutting edge shelter medicine information from universities and animal welfare leaders to shelter veterinarians, managers and staff as well as private practice veterinarians, rescue groups and community members to increase lifesaving of homeless dogs and cats community-wide. This course has been pre-approved for Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits. After viewing the presentation, click here to take the quiz and receive a Certificate of Attendance! Brian A. DiGangi, DVM, DABVP Dr. Brian DiGangi received a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science with a minor in Nutrition from North Carolina State University in 2001, and graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine (UF CVM) in 2006. While at UF CVM, Dr. DiGangi completed clinical externships in both shelter medicine and exotic animal medicine, and co-founded the University of Florida Student Chapter of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. He volunteered at the county animal shelter on a regular basis, organized spay-neuter wet labs for veterinary students, regularly participated in a large feral cat trap-neuter-return program and fostered animals for local rescue organizations. Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida University of Florida Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program Treating Heartworm Disease in Shelter Dogs: 500+ Cases (and Counting!) Presentation Handout	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647468
__label__cc	0.688744	0.311256	Smart Photography Image Credit: Smart Photography Sharp And Light SONY FE 12-24MM f/4 G ₹ 1,39,990 Rohinton Mehta The Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G is an E-mount lens designed for full-frame Sony Alpha mirrorless cameras. The lens offers ideal focal lengths for landscapes and architectural photography and its compact lightweight design along with quick autofocus capabilities makes it a much sought-after lens in any advanced photographer’s arsenal. Design & Build Quality The Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G lens is made with an outer shell made from engineering plastic and is finished in dull black. The lens is dust and moisture resistant, but does not offer a feeling of robustness that we have come to recognise with other Sony lenses. The lens weighs 565g. The lens mount is made from metal. The lens hood is integrated and the supplied front lens cap slips over the lens hood. The lens is made in Japan. The Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G is constructed using 13 elements in 17 groups. It includes 4 x Aspherical, 1 x Super ED glass and 3 x ED glass elements to take care of chromatic aberrations that generally plague wide-angle lenses and ensure edge to-edge sharpness. Sony’s Direct Drive Super Sonic Motor with an advanced inner-drive system allows for fast and quiet autofocus that’s always desired while recording movie clips. Additionally, Sony’s Nano AR Coating effectively suppresses flare and ghosting, e Continue Reading with Magzter GOLD Subscription Log in if you're already a subscriber Get unlimited access to thousands of curated premium articles and 5,000+ magazines Try FREE for 7 days More from Smart Photography	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647469
__label__wiki	0.972864	0.972864	Michael Jackson estate lawsuit sues HBO over documentary LOS ANGELES (AP) — The estate of Michael Jackson on Thursday sued HBO over a documentary about two men who accuse the late pop superstar of molesting them when they were boys, saying the film violates a 1992 contract to air a Jackson concert. Pop icon Michael Jackson waves to his supporters as he arrives for his child molestation trial at the Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria, Calif. The estate of Michael Jackson on Thursday sued HBO over a documentary about two men who accuse the late pop superstar of molesting them when they were boys, saying the film violates a 1992 contract to air a Jackson concert. The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that by co-producing and airing "Leaving Neverland," the cable channel is committing breach of contract and breach of covenant, citing a section of the deal for “Michael Jackson in Concert in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour” that states HBO would not disparage Jackson at the time or in the future. The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that by co-producing and airing "Leaving Neverland," as HBO intends to do next month, the cable channel is breaching a deal to not disparage the singer. The decades-old contract allowed the cable network to air "Michael Jackson in Concert in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour" and included language that HBO would not disparage Jackson at any future point. According to the suit, the film implies Jackson molested children on the very tour that the concert footage came from. "It is hard to imagine a more direct violation of the non-disparagement clause," says the suit, which asks the court to order arbitration and says damages could exceed $100 million. The film premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, where its subjects Wade Robson and James Safechuck received a standing ovation and took questions afterward along with director Dan Reed. The first installment of the four-hour documentary will first air on HBO on March 3, with the second half airing the following night. Britain's Channel 4 will air it around the same time. "Despite the desperate lengths taken to undermine the film, our plans remain unchanged, HBO will move forward with the airing of 'Leaving Neverland,'" HBO said in a statement Thursday. "This will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves." The network didn't respond to the breach-of-contract allegations. The lawsuit states in its opening sentence that "Michael Jackson is innocent. Period," and goes on to recount the criminal investigation and 2005 trial in which Jackson was acquitted, highlighting the conflicting statements through the years of Robson and Safechuck, who are described as "admitted perjurers" in the suit. Both men told authorities that Jackson did not molest them, later claiming they were abused in lawsuits filed after the singer's death and in graphic detail in "Leaving Neverland." It also reiterates the estate's position that it was irresponsible for the film not to include any defense of Jackson from those who knew him or further fact checks of the men. HBO responded with a statement saying its plans to air "Leaving Neverland" remain unchanged. "Dan Reed is an award-winning filmmaker who has carefully documented these survivors' accounts," the network's statement said. "People should reserve judgment until they see the film." Reed is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. "Michael is an easy target because he is not here to defend himself, and the law does not protect the deceased from defamation, no matter how extreme the lies are," the lawsuit states. "Michael may not have lived his life according to society's norms, but genius and eccentricity are not crimes." Follow Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton . Arts and entertainment, Michael Jackson, Wade Robson, James Safechuck The King's Man Trailer Amazon Plans Series The Lion King Premiere Sophie Turner Honeymoon The Latest: Lawsuit takes aim at HBO's Jackson documentary Michael Jackson accusers detail road to 'Leaving Neverland' Michael Jackson's brothers say accusers' film neglects facts Michael Jackson's estate and former manager settle lawsuit Winfrey to interview Jackson accusers in post-film special Places To Hike	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647470
__label__wiki	0.974609	0.974609	Prosecutor: Manafort meeting with Russian at heart of probe WASHINGTON (AP) — An August 2016 meeting between President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman and an associate with ties to Russian intelligence goes to the "heart" of the Russia investigation, according to a court transcript unsealed Thursday. Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the federal courthouse in Washington. An August 2016 meeting between Manafort and an associate with ties to Russian intelligence goes to the "heart" of the Russia investigation. That's according to a newly unsealed court transcript in Manafort's criminal case. The transcript from a sealed hearing in Paul Manafort's case provides further insight into what special counsel Robert Mueller considers significant in his wide-ranging probe of the Kremlin's efforts to sway the 2016 presidential election and the ties between Trump associates and Russia. It makes clear that prosecutors have homed in on the repeated contacts between Manafort and his longtime associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, who the FBI says has ties to the Russia's military intelligence agency. Still, it's unclear what specifically has piqued prosecutors' interests and whether it is connected to any election interference conspiracy. The transcript of the hearing, which took place Monday, was released by court order Thursday, but much of it was redacted to protect the ongoing investigation, including several key portions about Manafort and Kilimnik. According to the transcript, prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said the substance of the meeting, which took place in New York just weeks after the Republican National Convention, goes to the "larger view of what we think is going on" and what "we think the motive here is." "This goes, I think, very much to the heart of what the Special Counsel's Office is investigating," Weissmann said, noting Kilimnik's past intelligence ties and Manafort's position at the top of the Trump campaign at the time. "That meeting and what happened at that meeting is of significance to the special counsel." Previously, Manafort's attorneys accidentally revealed that among the topics discussed by Manafort and Kilimnik during the election was a possible peace plan to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Crimea. They also disclosed that Manafort had shared polling data on the Trump campaign with Kilimnik. But it's unclear if Weissmann was referencing those topics in his comments Monday. The transcript does reveal that Rick Gates, Manafort's longtime protege who also served on the Trump campaign, attended the meeting. And prosecutors say Manafort and Gates sought to conceal that they met with Kiliminik by taking the "precaution" of leaving separately. Gates also spoke to investigators about Manafort sharing the polling data, according to the transcript. Prosecutors also revealed new details about Manafort's later actions of interest to investigators. They disclosed that Kilimnik traveled to Washington for Trump's January 2017 inauguration and met with Manafort. They also revealed that in 2017 and 2018— years when Manafort was under federal investigation and later indictment for his work in Ukraine— he arranged for polling in the country on behalf of an unnamed Ukrainian political figure. Weissmann explored those details during Monday's hearing as he argued that Manafort repeatedly lied during interviews with investigators after he cut a plea deal. Manafort has denied intentionally making false statements. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson is now tasked with deciding whether Manafort's statements constituted a breach of his plea agreement. A second sealed hearing on the matter is set for next week. Jackson's ruling could affect Manafort's sentencing on two felony charges stemming from illegal lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian interests. Manafort faces a separate sentencing in Virginia on tax and fraud charges. In that case, Manafort faces the possibility of a decade in prison. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report. Criminal investigations, Konstantin Kilimnik, Robert Mueller, Paul Manafort, Eastern Europe, Jeffrey Epstein Hearing New Orleans Flooding Boeing Max Grounding A stern memo about Manafort says he 'brazenly violated' law Judge finds Manafort lied to investigators in Russia probe Manafort gets 47 months; Trump says he feels 'very badly' Ex-Trump campaign boss Manafort sentenced to 47 months Ex-Trump campaign boss Manafort gets 47-month sentence Business Security Alarm Citigroup Quarter Results Business Travel Tips	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647471
__label__wiki	0.635686	0.635686	Gay men and prostate cancer “A really common, scary disease, that we need to talk about.” Gay & Bisexual Men Living with Prostate Cancer takes an in-depth look at a big health issue that we don’t spend a lot of time talking about. The book was edited by B. R. Simon Rosser, Jane M Ussher, and Janette Perz. I caught up with B. R. Simon Rosser for a between-the-pages look at what the book tells us. What was the inspiration or impetus to write this book? We were each approached by the publisher, who recognised a need for a book on gay men and prostate cancer. There have only been two prior books published, and both were old and dated. For myself, I got interested in this area because my father died from it, and when my husband was diagnosed about seven years ago, I saw first-hand the effects of treatment, and learned how little was known about gay couples and prostate cancer. I was also diagnosed myself last year. So, it’s both a professional and deeply personal commitment for me. Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) \| Photo: Wikipedia Gay men talk a lot of health, but our attention is generally focused on sexual health and mental health. Why do you think we don’t talk much about prostate health in the context of gay men? There’s at least three factors involved. First, we are a community focused on younger men and their needs. Two of the biggest, most common, dangers to gay men’s health are HIV/STIs and depression — both can be a life-long major issue, so that’s been an important and necessary focus of activism. Second, the prostate for gay men brings up all kinds of issues of receptive sex and anal pleasure, and there’s still a major stigma around these topics so it remains a taboo topic that lots of men avoid and some can’t talk about for fear of shame. Some men can’t talk about receptive sex for fear of shame \| Photo: Adobe Stock Third, we’re men, and similar to straight men, many of us don’t think about or focus on our prostates until we start seeing some of the effects of ageing. As we age into our 50s and beyond, we start noticing that we need to get up at night, that urinating changes, and we start talking to doctors about whether or not to have a PA test. At that point, it’s finally on our radar. Why hasn’t the clinical world turned their attention to the experiences of gay men who have encountered prostate cancer? In fairness to clinicians, they can’t practice evidence-based medicine if we researchers aren’t doing the studies to answer the clinical questions. Recently, I interviewed urologists and oncologists in ten of the largest treatment centres in the US. All confirmed that they don’t collect data on sexual orientation as a standard part of intake. So we remain a hidden population unless we bring a male partner or out ourselves. Urology is also a very focused speciality which attracts doctors drawn to doing specialist surgery. Most specialists may be more interested in doing the best surgical techniques than in actually talking and listening to patients. Am I reading it correctly that your literature review suggests that engaging in anal sex may increase the risk of prostate cancer for gay men, but that hasn’t been conclusively established? Correct. There’s only been a handful of studies looking at the effects of sex with men on prostate cancer, and the results conflict. For each study which says something sexual could be involved, two others fail to find the same finding. When that happens in science, it’s usually a sign either that there’s no risk from what’s being studied, that the risk is so small that it’s plays a very minor part, or that there’s some limitation in the scientific methods which is hiding what’s really going on. Clearly, we need more research since it’s such a basic question. Am I reading it correctly that your literature review has found that HIV-positive men have a lower risk of prostate cancer than HIV-negative men? I was wondering whether you had any insights as to if the roll-out of PrEP might have an unintended consequence of helping to reduce the risk of prostate cancer for HIV-negative men? To date, there’s been only one paper published on HIV status and prostate cancer, and they actually found an HIV positive status and use of ARVs to be protective. But that study didn’t measure or control for sexual orientation, so that’s a bias, and other factors like better access to medical care could have influenced the results. I’m aware of other data which will be published shortly which shows the opposite. Since the forthcoming study is more rigorously designed and it makes better sense, I think our understanding will change. Truvada is a medication used to treat and prevent HIV \| Photo: Jeffrey Beall (Wikipedia) In terms of the potential impact of PrEP, I suspect it would be very difficult to prove. Most gay men are not on PrEP. PrEP adopters tend to be younger, while prostate cancer is an older man’s disease. Do we need to be thinking about how to better equip medical professionals to talk about gay sex, how the treatment for prostate cancer may impact the sex life of gay men, and how to try and navigate that? Yes, and not just gay men but all patients. Only a minority of medical schools in the US even teach medical students how to talk about sex with patients, and even less, how to talk to sexual and gender minorities. This leaves many graduates ill-equipped to address their patient’s sexual health needs. Several gay or bisexual prostate cancer patients mentioned they sought care at a university-based hospital. When asked why, they said it was because they could assume the doctors and staff were more used to seeing gay patients and comfortable discussing the realities of treatment for gay men. The personal accounts of gay men who had been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer are particularly powerful. How did you identify men who were willing to share their story? One of the great privileges of being a researcher is that we get to listen to others. Many of us have conducted qualitative studies where we interview gay men about their experience. It’s incredibly rich, powerful, and we can learn so much from them. Some of us are both researchers and patients, so we’re in a unique position to share our experience of this disease as well — hopefully to help our colleagues become more knowledgeable and effective in providing care. What do you hope to achieve with the publication of this book? We want to jump-start a conversation in our community, to improve care, and to empower gay and bisexual men living with prostate cancer with relevant helpful knowledge. More broadly, if we look at the demographics, the gay community is ageing. Now that we have effective treatments for HIV, there is a large cohort of gay and bisexual men in the age group where prostate cancer gets diagnosed. While prostate cancer is the most common invasive cancer in gay men, it’s still incredibly stigmatised and hidden. This is a really important, common, scary disease, that we need to talk about, and learn more about, if we’re going to be a healthy, loving and supportive community. What’s the next step in this area of research? We’re at a very exciting moment. The world’s first treatment study designed by and for gay and bisexual men living with prostate cancer has been funded by the National Institutes of Health in the US. It’s a nationwide online study out of the University of Minnesota designed to answer the question — “What kinds of sexual and urinary rehabilitation work best to restore gay and bisexual men’s functioning?” Anyone interested in knowing more or wanting to participate should contact Chris Hoefer at [email protected] B. R. Simon Rosser, PhD, MPH, is a professor and clinical-research sexologist specializing in gay men’s health in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis. He pioneered the study of sexual function and dysfunction in gay and bisexual men (GBM); most recently, he led Restore, one of the first NIH-funded studies of prostate cancer in GBM. Gay & Bisexual Men Living with Prostate Cancer is available on Amazon or via Harrington Park Press. Harrington Park Press, distributed by Columbia University Press, is an academic, scholarly, and professional book publisher devoted to emerging topics in LGBTQ diversity, equality, and inclusivity. Related Topics:FeaturedHealthHIVMental HealthPrEPProstate Cancer Meet the vegan body-builder How much porn do gay men watch? Serodiscordantes: Noel Alejandro delivers another stunning film Men of Colour Talk About PrEP Chris Vincent has something to say Meet Mr Gay England CommuniTEA invites 12 members of the London’s LGBTQ to have (and spill) some tea on 5 major topics: consent, sex, drugs, mental wellbeing and community. The event, organised by Impulse London, will happen this evening at the Shoreditch Treehouse in London. From 8:30pm (London Time), you will be able to join the live Q&A on Impulse London’s Facebook page. We will also share the live stream below and on our social media so you don’t miss a thing. Meet the panel Phillip Dzwonkiewicz Crowned Mr Gay England 2018, he has been using this platform to spread the message of #HIVDoesntDefineYou. Pear Mentor and Leader at Positive East as a Peer Mentor. Phoebus Ebbinni He runs a podcast exploring what it means to be sexual by interviewing people in the sex industry about their experiences and insights. Alexander George León Mental health awareness activist. Works at Kaleidoscope Trust Gabriel Phoenix Shahmir Sanni Digital consultant, whistle blower and activist. International Performance and Circus Artist Cairo Leo Actor/Model/ Spoken Word Artist & Transgender Activist Victoria Gigante Activist , member at Stonewall Phil Samba Social activist – Strategic lead – #PrEP4QueerMenOfColour @TeamPrepster Connor Young Freelance writer, has worked for Attitude, Gay Times & Vogue David Stuart Gay men’s wellbeing champion and Chemsex Specialist NSFW7 months ago Perfect Fit: The most popular sex toys for gay guys? Play Hard7 months ago UndieLover shares his jack-off techniques Man Crush4 months ago King Marti is doing it just for the fans The photographer who likes an artful nude	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647472
__label__cc	0.554022	0.445978	Web Exhibitions Ice Blink - Robin Forster December 2004 - January 2005 Ice blink was a seafaring term used by polar adventurers to describe spectacular flashes of sunlight glancing off ice sheets along the distant horizon – one of the panoply of sublime refractions and distortions that astounded and disoriented early Antarctic travellers. As the title of this exhibition, Ice Blink evokes the similarly disconcerting impact of Forster's uncanny Alpine glacier photography, and the fleeting nature of the environment he explores. Forster’s project retraces the route of the late C18th Grand Tour, following the footsteps of English water-colourists William Pars, JR Cozens and Francis Towne, whose works sought to capture the sublime landscape. Forster has revisited the original territories that held so much fascination for earlier artists, to explore the ‘material sublime’ from a contemporary standpoint. This landscape has altered radically over the centuries, and the retreat of glacial ice is accelerating in the face of global warming, to the point where it may not exist in 50 years’ time. Consequently many of Forster’s photographs have had to be taken at a higher altitude than the originals. The terrain at the greater altitude is eerily devoid of obvious focal points like people or trees that would enable the viewer to establish a sense of scale or context, and lends itself to new preoccupations with the sublime. Three enormous photographs (1metre by 3 metres) were presented at MOCA as duratrans transparencies, and back-lit using the latest developments in low-energy electro-luminescent (EL) technology: paper-thin EL sheeting which yields the same brightness as a conventional light box. Ice Blink ran from December 2004 though January 2005, and was supported by The Arts Council of England, Southwark Council, Sustainable Energy Action, Isis London, Ellis Brigham and Elumin8. Pictured above: Detail of outside photograph MOCA London 113 Bellenden Road SE15 4QY During Exhibitions: Open Thursday and Friday: 2pm - 6pm Open Saturday: 12pm - 4pm	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647476
__label__wiki	0.704454	0.704454	you are here: HomeNewsEconomyPolicy The proposed changes in the ecommerce norms can be seen as an attempt by the government to appease small traders ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Sounak Mitra @sounakmitra Sounak Mitra The revised FDI norms for foreign e-commerce companies are likely to force them to change their existing business structure. That gives domestic-owned e-commerce companies and small traders an advantage. While the affected companies will rework their model to remain compliant, and yet retain their edge, this promises to be a battle to watch out for in 2019. On December 26, the government revised foreign investment norms for online retailers which effectively bars companies such as Amazon and Walmart-Flipkart from selling products supplied by their affiliated companies on shopping sites in India. The norms, which come into effect from 1 February, also bar them from offering special discounts or mandating exclusive rights to sell certain products. That means e-commerce companies with foreign investments can only operate under marketplace model, and will not be able to operate the inventory model, which has so far given them more control over customer service and allowed them to sell products much cheaper than independent sellers. They have also been burning cash to offer attractive discounts to customers. 1.25 lakh km road to be built under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, says Narendra Singh Tomar Startups \| At $5.5 bn valuation, Byju’s is making investors sit up and take note Markets \| Suzlon’s default is not a surprise On the face of it, the changes came following repeated complaints by small traders on the deep discounts offered by Amazon and Flipkart. This saw them take share away from local businesses. While the foreign-owned retailers have independent sellers also on their platform, they also have a bunch of affiliates such as Cloudtail, Appario and WS Retail. The proposed changes in the ecommerce norms can be seen as an attempt by the government to appease small traders ahead of the general elections next May. These traders are an important vote bank and were adversely affected by demonetisation and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Even earlier, foreign online retailers were barred from a direct inventory model. But they managed a find a way to operate the inventory-led model by using affiliate firms and joint ventures with local entities as vendors. The new norm now bars that as well. Besides, the new norm restricts them from offering special discounts and exclusive deals. Under the new regime, domestic companies are not subject to these norms. Thus, locally-owned, online-only players or brick and mortar players who are expanding their online presence get an advantage. Future Group has several tie-ups with ecommerce marketplaces, including Amazon and Flipkart. Reliance has a big retail business and has been slowly spreading its wings in the online commerce arena. It also plans to get kirana stores online. Tata Group's TataCliQ and Aditya Birla Group's ABOF could also benefit. While foreign companies will wonder how to work under these stringent guidelines, the new rules could bring cheer to small and medium retailers. Of course, the foreign ecommerce giants may still find loopholes that they will use to circumvent these norms. If the new norm becomes permanent, Amazon and Walmart (which acquired a majority stake in Flipkart for $16 billion earlier this year) will have to reexamine their business model. Amazon's promised $5-billion investment may also hang in balance. Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba, which has also been planning a big-bang entry into India with its shareholding in Paytm, might need to rework its strategy. Finally, Indian consumers has benefited from the discounts on offer at online marketplaces. They could suffer if the new norms lead to lower discounts and, therefore, higher prices. The deals and discounts that they have got accustomed to may become a thing of the past. If this leads to a shift in market shares from online to offline, then in the long term, India’s ecommerce sector may miss growth projections of crossing $200 billion revenue by 2026 from $38 billion in 2017. (DISCLOSURE: Moneycontrol is part of Network18, owned by Independent Media Trust, whose beneficiary is Reliance Industries Ltd, that also operates a retail business) First Published on Dec 27, 2018 05:20 pm tags #Amazon #ecommerce policy #Flipkart #policy #Reilance Retail #Tata CLiQ #Walmart Quick Take \| New e-commerce norms give edge to domestic sellers and... Ebix set to to snap up Yatra for $336 million SEBI chairman writes to PMO, FinMin to reconsider Budget proposal on... Wipro Q1 profit falls 4%, IT services revenue down; margin beats...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647479
__label__cc	0.73425	0.26575	Design + Engineering Project Management + Customer Service Domestic + International Production Metal Manufacturing Wood Manufacturing Logistics + Distribution Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates. Morgan Li is a family business with a deep history of industry-specific experience. At the core of Morgan Li, is our team. Everyone who works at Morgan Li brings an energy that lends to our innovative culture with a “can‐do’’ approach. Our workforce is empowered to lead with a ‘customer-first’ mindset to get the job done in a fast moving, efficient, streamlined operations approach that result in cost savings to our customers. We take a hands-on approach from concept to finish product Morgan Li offers full-scale in-house domestic wood and metal production We know we’re only as good as our team, which is why we employ the best in the industry Meet Andy & Jonathan Andy and Jonathan Rosenband are the third-generation of their family to work in this industry. Andy and Jonathan’s vision has helped them grow Morgan Li from what began as a basic metal store fixtures supplier into an all-inclusive fabricating company that counts Walmart, Gap, Old Navy, The Ritz Carlton among its portfolio of clients. Together they have grown Morgan Li to one of the most thriving, nimble, innovative fixture manufacturing companies in existence. We work with customers large and small, domestically and globally, and everything in between. VIEW ALL OUR PARTNERS Morgan Li is a family-owned and operated business with a deep history of industry expertise. At the core of Morgan Li, is our team. Everyone who works at Morgan Li brings an energy that lends to our innovative culture with a "can‐do'' approach. Our workforce is empowered to lead with a 'customer-first' mindset to get the job done in a fast moving, efficient, streamlined operations approach that results in cost savings to our customers. Whether you have a completed design or an inkling of an idea, we're here to help you bring your vision to life. Our mission is to be our clients' most trusted fixture & furniture fabricating partner from concept to delivery © 2019 MorganLi. All Rights Reserved. Site by Glantz	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647482
__label__cc	0.640983	0.359017	Fashion & Design Food Cultural Issues Awake & Aware MOT Music Guerrilla of the Month Community Leaders & Influencers Events Public Service Announcements The Magazine Join the Movement Fashion & DesignFoodCultural IssuesAwake & AwareMOT Music People Guerrilla of the Month Community Leaders & Influencers ORIGINALS Events Public Service Announcements Shop MORE The Magazine Join the Movement #MINISTRYOFTOMORROW A Look Inside The Federal Seed Vault Housing Big Secrets A Safe Haven For The Good, The Bad And The Downright Ugly What started as a 360-year project meant to determine how long seeds last, now exists as a seemingly neutral entity with dark connections. I'm talking about the Federal Seed Vault in Fort Collins Colorado. Just about every explanation for what the seeds being held at this facility mean for our collective future is filtered through some agenda or another. Especially when it comes to the seeds held by privately owned Monsanto; herbicide developers and GMO seed pushers. The Federal Seed Vault, also called the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP), holds more than just seeds. Radio journalist Grace Hood captured images of microbes, semen, and animal embryos in the cold storage of the heavily secured and monitored seed bank. As the 'genetic resources' part of the name may have hinted to you, this place is now about more than just seeds. The NCGRP is about seed preservation, granted. But beneath the surface level of the center's angelic public image as a safe haven for guarding tomorrow's seeds, it can also be seen in a more sinister light such as being a sanctuary for the next doomsday Agent Orange or similarly dangerous plant-derived toxin. This is especially worrying for the locals of Fort Collins; presumably, the first to be affected by any plans tied to introducing the new seeds from Monsanto held at the facility, into the food supply. Dupont, as well as other non-corporate entities, houses seeds at the NCGRP; so, use of the facility is not strictly directed by the federal government. Attached to the Federal Seed Vault are nearly endless combinations of possibilities tied to the food supply, international trade, and corporate as well as unknown business interests. Interests that often appear to outweigh concern for public interests. And that statement on business interests isn't just my opinion. It is evidenced by more than half of all Americans, expressing feelings of concern about eating GMO foods, says the Pew Research Center. Unfortunately, the ongoing outcry has gone unheard by lawmakers who will not make GMO labels mandatory. For everything that happens below the radar within the vaults, discrete measures have been taken to ensure that all the clandestine activities remain undisclosed. Seeds are labeled by barcode and only those who have access to the vault's database are able to determine what’s being held where. Why should you care? Scientist Carol Mallory-Smith discovered that Monsanto's Round Up resistant wheat (Round Up is a chemical herbicide manufactured by Monsanto) had been distributed without the knowledge of farmers or the government, which had not regulated or tested the product. Monsanto has a long history of successfully suing farmers and getting off on cases brought against the corporation. You could lose a day reading up on these cases, and so perhaps to no one's surprise, Monsanto was found innocent of any crime after having been officially under suspicion. In any case, Monsanto burning 1,500 pounds of the Round Up resistant wheat pulled from the National Seed Reserve after beating the case, looks at least a little suspicious. This was in 2011, but interestingly enough, field trials officially closed on this same wheat in 2005 after the corporation had originally been found distributing the wheat among farmers without permission from the government or anyone else. Now that you know about the existence of the Fort Knox for precious seeds in Colorado, as it has been dubbed by the media, you have a slightly more expanded view about the possible indiscretions that can occur within our food supply and should begin to put more scrutiny on the source of your staple foods and how they are grown. Consider growing your own GMO-free produce. Small herb gardens can be kept on countertops, tomato plants can be hung from an indoor ceiling, and a small vegetable garden can be kept on a patio or balcony. Space is not an issue. Be sure to purchase GMO-free seeds that have not been registered with Monsanto or Seminis trademarks. The Safe Seed Pledge has been taken by over 300 seed companies including Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek, the Southern Exposure Co-Op, Grow Organic, and Seeds of Change. The pledge speaks of a refusal to sell genetically engineered seeds and plants, proclaims the biological and economic risks associated with GMO foods, and promises dedication to a healthy environment and people. Purchasing seeds from any of the companies I’ve named here, or any that have taken the Safe Seed Pledge, is a great way to be sure you’re fueling your body with clean, healthy, and chemical free food; grown as nature intended. Read the pledge in its entirety here. FoodAshley C. Jones March 13, 2017 seeds Keep your Third Eye Open - Foods That Activate And Decalcify Your Pineal Gland of the Endocrine System FoodEmily Gregory April 5, 2017 spiritual cuisine What is CBD? - Meet the New Superfood FoodElisabeth Tepper Kofod March 12, 2017 Sign up for MOT MAG All Rights Reserved 2018. Ethical Sustainable Fashion Magazine, Veganism and Conscious Living Cruelty-Free Vegan Leather Bags	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647484
__label__cc	0.648111	0.351889	The Shining Sequel Doctor Sleep Wraps Up Filming It's a good time to be a Stephen King fan. by Jeremy Alexander Stephen King film adaptations have always been aplenty in Hollywood with some being great and some being well… not (Looking at you Dark Tower). There have been plenty of horror gems based on King’s work with some of them being quite recent with the likes of It and some of them being classics like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. As for the latter which is argued to be among the greatest horror films ever made, a sequel will see the light soon as a Doctor Sleep film is on the horizon. Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep is a sequel to The Shining and follows an adult Danny Torrance after the events of its predecessor. The film adaptation is directed by Mike Flanagan and will star Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Bruce Greenwood, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Carl Lumbly, Alex Essoe, Joceline Donahue, Jacob Tremblay and Zackary Momoh. So far with all these names attached, it’s looking to be great but things are developing further as the film has wrapped production. Director Mike Flanagan took to Facebook to provide an update on Doctor Sleep, revealing that the film has wrapped production. Check it out below: We can honestly expect something great from this film not only due to its strong source material but Flanagan himself. He is no stranger to King adaptations having directed the acclaimed Gerald’s Game along with other notable works of horror such as Ouija: Origin of Evil and Netflix’s acclaimed The Haunting of Hill House. We have several other King adaptations on the horizon with Pet Sematary and It: Chapter Two so we can expect some great horror films in the near future. Source: Mike Flanagan/Facebook Tags: Doctor SleepStephen KingThe Shining Jeremy Alexander Film Buff from Citizen Kane to Star Wars. Some would call it pretentious, I call it, trying too hard New Pet Sematary Trailer Has Tons Of Frightening Moments The Shining Sequel Doctor Sleep Likely To Be Rated-R The Trailer For Pet Sematary Based Off Stephen King’s Book Looks Creepy As Heck	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647488
__label__wiki	0.776324	0.776324	MSCOP MSMF Call Us: +91 80 7122 2351 Email Us: msctr@ms-mf.org About MSCTR Anti-Cancer Technologies Program Integrated Head and Neck Oncology Neuro-Oncology Program Technology Business Incubator —– INCUBATEES —– OncoStem siRNA-BASED THERAPEUTICS & INFECTIOUS DISEASES Anti-Cancer Technologies Integrated Head and Neck Oncology Research Neuro Oncology Molecular Diagnostic Lab Nanomedicine Dr. Ashok Venkitaraman Professor, The Ursula Zoellner Professor of Cancer Research, University of Cambridge Dr. Venkitaraman is the Ursula Zoellner Professor of Cancer Research at the University of Cambridge, and the Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cancer Cell Unit at the Hutchison/MRC Research Centre. He is a Collaborative Science Chair at inStem and NCBS, Bangalore, and coordinates the Center for Chemical Biology and Therapeutics there. Ashok is internationally recognized for his research on the molecular mechanisms that preserve chromosome structure and number during cell division, and how defects in these mechanisms cause human cancer. His discoveries shed light on how chromosomal instability contributes to human cancer, provide scientific foundations underpinning new approaches to therapy, and reveal new insights into the fundamental mechanisms that repair, duplicate and segregate DNA when cells division occurs. Translation of these discoveries to clinical application is a major focus of Dr. Venkitaraman’s ongoing work. He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, London, in 2001, and as a member of the EMBO European academy, Heidelberg, in 2004. Dr. Bala S. ManianAlexander Sims Share this profile? Being Social MSCTR A-Block, 8th Floor #258/A, NH Health City Bangalore - Phone: +91 80 7122 2351, Email: msctr@ms-mf.org © 2016 MSCTR Reserved	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647491
__label__wiki	0.744346	0.744346	Music > Vinyl > Juno - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Vinyl LP) Juno - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Be alerted when Juno - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Vinyl LP) is back in stock. A notification will be sent to when the Juno - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Vinyl LP) is back in stock. The email has already signed up to receive notifications for Juno - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Vinyl LP) Item: LDJ378 Juno: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on Vinyl LP! Music plays a key part in Juno, the way-too-charming indie comedy directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Juno, the pregnant teen of the title role, isn't just a kid who loves rock & roll; she and her boyfriend Paulie Bleeker play guitars together, the adoptive father of Juno's kid is a recovering grunge rocker who toured the world and elsewhere in 1993, and Reitman punctuates the film with songs, both classic rock and precious twee folk tunes from Kimya Dawson, formerly of the Moldy Peaches. Some might say that the sickly sweet songs of Dawson don't fit comfortably alongside The Kinks, Mott the Hoople, Cat Power, Belle and Sebastian and Sonic Youth's cover of the Carpenters' "Superstar," but a large part of the appeal of Juno is how the world-weary sarcasm of Gen-X rubs against the unapologetic quirkiness of Gen-Y, and the soundtrack reflects that almost more than the movie, as the Dawson songs are even more prominent on this 19-track album than within the 90-minute movie. This may not be to everybody's taste -- many found the twee tunes irritating, not charming -- but anybody who loved the movie completely will find the Juno soundtrack just as witty and warm as the film itself. Juno Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Track Listing 1. All I Want Is You - Barry Louis Polisar 2. My Rollercoaster (Juno Film Version) - Kimya Dawson 3. A Well Respected Man - The Kinks 4. Dearest - Buddy Holly 5. Up The Spout - Mateo Messina 6. Tire Swing - Kimya Dawson 7. Piazza, New York Catcher - Belle & Sebastian 8. Loose Lips - Kimya Dawson 9. Superstar - Sonic Youth 10. Sleep (Instrumental) - Kimya Dawson 11. Expectations (Remastered Version) - Belle & Sebastian 12. All The Young Dudes - Mott The Hoople 13. So Nice So Smart - Kimya Dawson 14. Sea Of Love (Remastered Version) - Cat Power 15. Tree Hugger - Kimya Dawson & Antsy Pants 16. I'm Stickng With You - The Velvet Underground 17. Anyone Else But You - Moldy Peaches 18. Vampire - Antsy Pants 19. Anyone Else But You - Michael Cera & Ellen Page	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647493
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__label__cc	0.736955	0.263045	Windows 10 October 2018 Update installed on only 12% of all Windows 10 PCs January 30, 2019 February 1, 2019 by Jan Willem Aldershoff Windows 10 October 2018 Update is not popular amongst Windows 10 user. About 80% of the Windows 10 users appears to rather wait for an upcoming large update of Microsoft’s latest operating system. According to numbers released by advertising company AdDuplex, only 12.4 % of all Windows 10 has upgraded to Windows 10 October 2018 Update (build 1809). The predecessor of that version, Windows 10 build 1803, is much more popular and is installed on 80.2% of all Windows 10 systems. The remaining 7% of Windows 10 computers runs an older version than Windows 10 build 1803, and 0.2% are Windows Insiders who have already installed the currently beta tested Windows 10 19H1 version. The numbers are a clear sign of loss of confidence in the October 2018 Update. Initially, the large October Update was planned for autumn 2018. But because it was right from the start plagued by problems, Microsoft had to stop the gradual roll out of the update. Microsoft even had to temporarily withdraw the update after users reported bugs of which some caused them to lose files. Fortunately for Microsoft there is at least something positive about this month’s numbers, the number of computers running the October 2018 Update has doubled compared to last month. Nevertheless, the numbers are disappointing. In April 2019, Microsoft has a chance of winning back the trust of its users. For that month, the next large update to Windows 10 is planned. This update should bring new features as Windows Sandbox, a feature that reserves sufficient storage capacity so that Windows 10 can always be updated and many other small bug fixes and changes. Categories News Tags Microsoft, windows 10 Post navigation Tips To Save Money When Signing Up For Web Hosting Microsoft confirms issue with Windows 10 update prevents some systems from starting	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0019.json.gz/line1647499

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