Top Ten Best Selling Tips Of All Time

Top Ten Best Selling Tips

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What does it mean?

Many of us recognise the Verbatim as the name of a company which produces memory and media storage products. The term act719083ually means ‘word for word,’ or ‘direct quotation.’

Verbatim comes from Medieval Latin, with its earliest recorded use in the late 15th century. It comes from the Latin ‘verbum,’ which, in the singular, means ‘word.’ In the plural, it refers to general speech.

Improper use

‘Verbatim’ is perhaps not as common in everyday speech as some of the other Latin terms we have covered. It is more often used in a formal, scholarly or legal context, therefore improper everyday use is rare.

Proper use

It can be used in any sentence when describing a situation where speech has been copied word for word. It can also be used to describe a person who is able to copy speech or the written word perfectly. Some examples of its use would be:

‘I typed up his dictation verbatim, as requested.’
‘He copied her essay verbatim because he couldn’t write his own.’
‘He can remember and repeat everything you say verbatim. How clever!’

Stay tuned for more Latin expressions in modern use.


Black Holes Formation

The possible pathways leading to the formation of a supermassive black hole have been laid out in a seminal paper by Martin Rees (Rees 1984), and include the direct collapse of a massive gas cloud into one single object, the formation of star clusters with subsequent run-away collapse and stellar mergers, and including possible intermediate stages such as a supermassive star or a cluster of neutron stars and black holes. An updated version of these scenarios within our modern cosmological framework has been given by Regan & Haehnelt (2009), see also Fig. 1.

As the formation of massive seed black holes requires a substantial gas reservoir, their formation is generally considered to take place in so-called atomic cooling halos with virial temperatures of at least 104 K, implying that cooling via atomic hydrogen lines is in principle possible. The thermal evolution in these halos strongly depends on their history, such as previous mergers and metal enrichment, or the presence of an external radiative background. If cooling is efficient, due to the presence of metals or molecular hydrogen, then fragmentation is expected to occur, therefore likely favoring the formation of a massive star cluster (e.g. Omukai et al. 2008). If cooling is suppressed, as in a primordial gas exposed to a strong photodissociating radiation background, fragmentation is likely to be very inefficient, leading to the formation of potentially very massive objects (e.g. Schleicher et al. 2010, Latif & Schleicher 2015). It is therefore essential to assess if these pathways are possible, under what precise conditions they occur, and what the outcome plausibly is. In addition, as previous studies already established that the gravitational wave signatures from direct collapse black hole formation as well as the coalescence of the resulting seed black holes could be detected with space-born gravitational wave observatories such as LISA and DECIGO (Koushiappas et al. 2006; Reisswig et al. 2013; Pacucci et al. 2015), we will aim here at predicting event rates on the basis of realistic models.

We will explore the hypothesis that massive seed black holes have formed in dense stellar clusters, which naturally formed in the early Universe in the presence of H 2 cooling or metal enrichment. We plan to assess this possibility through dedicated simulations exploring both the evolution of clusters from realistic initial conditions, taking into account the gas phase processes that are likely going to affect the evolution of the clusters. In addition, we will explore the growth of black hole seeds after their formation, with the goal of studying the accretion physics in the presence of strong self-gravitational instabilities, with the goal to compare to accretion events in highly obscured sources as observed with NuSTAR, as well as the modeling of accretion in very nearby galaxies, where it can be observed with ALMA on scales less than 100 pc.

By combining our black hole formation models with a cosmological framework, we will derive gravitational wave event rates both on the bases of the formation event itself due to the collapse of a supermassive star (see Reisswig et al. 2013), as well as events produced by the mergers of the massive seed black holes (Koushiappas et al. 2006). Such predictions will be pursued both for conservative and more optimistic formation scenarios, and compared to the expected sensitivities of LISA and DECIGO. With anticipated launch dates in 2034 and 2027, this work is clearly long-term, but also the preparatory work on LIGO has been pursued over a long timescale. For this work, we plan to strongly interact with the European community preparing for LISA. In particular, our international collaborator Monica Colpi has great expertises in calculating gravitational wave signatures and event rates, and Lucio Mayer is a member of the International LISA Consortium and representative of the European network of scientists included in the new COST Action Gravitational Waves, Black Holes and Fundamental Physics. Our results on collisions in dense star clusters will further be employed by our international collaborator Raffaella Schneider, to make predictions for the Advanced LIGO (see also Schneider et al. 2017).


Oakland Fires Skipper

Two days after the Oakland Athletics were swept out of the playoffs by the Detroit Tigers, the team has fired manager Ken Macha.

Oakland won the West with a 93-and-69 record and swept Minnesota in three games in the opening round of the playoffs. Macha had two years left on his contract. The A's were 368-and-280 in his four seasons as manager, but front office managment has been frustrated by the team's failure to get into the World Series.


Scientists Uncover New Genetic Cause of Lupus

Researchers and clinicians at VIB, KU Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven have identified a genetic mutation that causes a rare form of the autoimmune disease lupus. They discovered the mutation in one Belgian family's DNA.

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Lupus is an autoimmune disorder, meaning that the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues. Lupus can affect multiple organs.

Its cause, however, is often not clear. In most cases, a combination of genetic and environmental factors is at play.

One Belgian family’s DNA

Researchers have now discovered a novel genetic mutation in a patient who, at the age of 12, presented with both lupus and problems in the ability of the immune system to fight common infections. This unusual combination of symptoms was quite puzzling.

By analysing the patient’s DNA and that of the parents, the scientists could trace the problem back to a specific mutation in the gene encoding the Ikaros protein. The protein binds DNA to regulate the expression of other proteins.

Hyperactive immune system

Erika Van Nieuwenhove, clinician and scientist at VIBKU Leuven, explains how the mutation caused the patient’s immune system to be hyperactive: “Because of the mutation, Ikaros can no longer bind its target DNA properly. We also observed that certain immune cells of the patients were hyperactive, even in the absence of stimulation.”

“The link between both observations is CD22, a protein that normally dampens the immune response. In normal conditions, Ikaros stimulates the expression of this inhibitor, but that was not the case in this patient.”

Very rare form of lupus

About 5 million people worldwide have lupus, but a causative mutation in Ikaros is very rare.

“Small changes in Ikaros are associated with susceptibility to adult-onset lupus, but because the effects are weak it is hard to work out what Ikaros is doing to the immune system,” explains Professor Adrian Liston (VIBKU Leuven), the lead author of this study and head of the Translational Immunology lab.

“In this particular family, however, a mutation created a large change in Ikaros, causing early-onset lupus. The mutation was strong enough to allow us to work out how changes in Ikaros cause lupus and immune deficiency.”

Mapping the disease mechanism

Although the patient in this study has a very rare form of lupus, the discovery nevertheless helps to map the overall disease mechanisms, says Professor Carine Wouters, a paediatric rheumatologist at University Hospitals Leuven and the co-lead author of the study.

“The mechanism we uncovered in this patient could also be meaningful in a different context with other patients. Now that we understand what goes wrong in this particular case, it could help us think of better treatments for others as well.”

Source : KU Leuven


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A pseudorandomly generated bitmap.

Randomness is the lack of pattern or predictability in events.[1] A random sequence of events, symbols or steps has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Individual random events are by definition unpredictable, but in many cases the frequency of different outcomes over a large number of events (or "trials") is predictable. For example, when throwing two dice, the outcome of any particular roll is unpredictable, but a sum of 7 will occur twice as often as 4. In this view, randomness is a measure of uncertainty of an outcome, rather than haphazardness, and applies to concepts of chance, probability, and information entropy.

The fields of mathematics, probability, and statistics use formal definitions of randomness. In statistics, a random variable is an assignment of a numerical value to each possible outcome of an event space. This association facilitates the identification and the calculation of probabilities of the events. Random variables can appear in random sequences. A random process is a sequence of random variables whose outcomes do not follow a deterministic pattern, but follow an evolution described by probability distributions. These and other constructs are extremely useful in probability theory and the various applications of randomness.

Randomness is most often used in statistics to signify well-defined statistical properties. Monte Carlo methods, which rely on random input (such as from random number generators or pseudorandom number generators), are important techniques in science, as, for instance, in computational science.[2] By analogy, quasi-Monte Carlo methods use quasirandom number generators.

Random selection, when narrowly associated with a simple random sample, is a method of selecting items (often called units) from a population where the probability of choosing a specific item is the proportion of those items in the population. For example, with a bowl containing just 10 red marbles and 90 blue marbles, a random selection mechanism would choose a red marble with probability 1/10. Note that a random selection mechanism that selected 10 marbles from this bowl would not necessarily result in 1 red and 9 blue. In situations where a population consists of items that are distinguishable, a random selection mechanism requires equal probabilities for any item to be chosen. That is, if the selection process is such that each member of a population, of say research subjects, has the same probability of being chosen then we can say the selection process is random.

Ancient fresco of dice players in Pompei.

The Chinese of 3000 years ago were perhaps the earliest people to formalize odds and chance. The Greek philosophers discussed randomness at length, but only in non-quantitative forms. It was only in the 16th century that Italian mathematicians began to formalize the odds associated with various games of chance. The invention of the calculus had a positive impact on the formal study of randomness. In the 1888 edition of his book The Logic of Chance John Venn wrote a chapter on The conception of randomness that included his view of the randomness of the digits of the number pi by using them to construct a random walk in two dimensions.[5]

The early part of the 20th century saw a rapid growth in the formal analysis of randomness, as various approaches to the mathematical foundations of probability were introduced. In the mid- to late-20th century, ideas of algorithmic information theory introduced new dimensions to the field via the concept of algorithmic randomness.

Although randomness had often been viewed as an obstacle and a nuisance for many centuries, in the 20th century computer scientists began to realize that the deliberate introduction of randomness into computations can be an effective tool for designing better algorithms. In some cases such randomized algorithms outperform the best deterministic methods.

In science

Many scientific fields are concerned with randomness:

In the physical sciences

According to several standard interpretations of quantum mechanics, microscopic phenomena are objectively random.[6] That is, in an experiment that controls all causally relevant parameters, some aspects of the outcome still vary randomly. For example, if a single unstable atom is placed in a controlled environment, it cannot be predicted how long it will take for the atom to decay—only the probability of decay in a given time.[7] Thus, quantum mechanics does not specify the outcome of individual experiments but only the probabilities. Hidden variable theories reject the view that nature contains irreducible randomness: such theories posit that in the processes that appear random, properties with a certain statistical distribution are at work behind the scenes, determining the outcome in each case.

In biology

The modern evolutionary synthesis ascribes the observed diversity of life to random genetic mutations followed by natural selection. The latter retains some random mutations in the gene pool due to the systematically improved chance for survival and reproduction that those mutated genes confer on individuals who possess them.

Several authors also claim that evolution and sometimes development require a specific form of randomness, namely the introduction of qualitatively new behaviors. Instead of the choice of one possibility among several pre-given ones, this randomness corresponds to the formation of new possibilities.[8][9]

As far as behavior is concerned, randomness is important if an animal is to behave in a way that is unpredictable to others. For instance, insects in flight tend to move about with random changes in direction, making it difficult for pursuing predators to predict their trajectories.

In mathematics

Algorithmic information theory studies, among other topics, what constitutes a random sequence. The central idea is that a string of bits is random if and only if it is shorter than any computer program that can produce that string (Kolmogorov randomness)—this means that random strings are those that cannot be compressed. Pioneers of this field include Andrey Kolmogorov and his student Per Martin-Löf, Ray Solomonoff, and Gregory Chaitin. For the notion of infinite sequence, one normally uses Per Martin-Löf's definition. That is, an infinite sequence is random if and only if it withstands all recursively enumerable null sets. The other notions of random sequences include (but not limited to): recursive randomness and Schnorr randomness which are based on recursively computable martingales. It was shown by Yongge Wang that these randomness notions are generally different.[11]

In statistics

In information science

In finance

The random walk hypothesis considers that asset prices in an organized market evolve at random, in the sense that the expected value of their change is zero but the actual value may turn out to be positive or negative. More generally, asset prices are influenced by a variety of unpredictable events in the general economic environment.

In politics

Random selection can be an official method to resolve tied elections in some jurisdictions.[14] Its use in politics is very old, as office holders in Ancient Athens were chosen by lot, there being no voting.

Randomness and religion

In most of its mathematical, political, social and religious uses, randomness is used for its innate "fairness" and lack of bias.

Sports: Some sports, including American football, use coin tosses to randomly select starting conditions for games or seed tied teams for postseason play. The National Basketball Association uses a weighted lottery to order teams in its draft.

Measures and tests

Quantum Non-Locality has been used to certify the presence of genuine randomness in a given string of numbers.[16]

Misconceptions and logical fallacies

A number is "due"

A number is "cursed" or "blessed"

Odds are never dynamic

In the beginning of a scenario, one might calculate the probability of a certain event. The fact is, as soon as one gains more information about that situation, they may need to re-calculate the probability.

When the host reveals one door that contains a goat, this is new information.

Say we are told that a woman has two children. If we ask whether either of them is a girl, and are told yes, what is the probability that the other child is also a girl? Considering this new child independently, one might expect the probability that the other child is female is ½ (50%). But by building a probability space (illustrating all possible outcomes), we see that the probability is actually only ⅓ (33%). This is because the possibility space illustrates 4 ways of having these two children: boy-boy, girl-boy, boy-girl, and girl-girl. But we were given more information. Once we are told that one of the children is a female, we use this new information to eliminate the boy-boy scenario. Thus the probability space reveals that there are still 3 ways to have two children where one is a female: boy-girl, girl-boy, girl-girl. Only ⅓ of these scenarios would have the other child also be a girl.[17] Using a probability space, we are less likely to miss one of the possible scenarios, or to neglect the importance of new information. For further information, see Boy or girl paradox.

This technique provides insights in other situations such as the Monty Hall problem, a game show scenario in which a car is hidden behind one of three doors, and two goats are hidden as booby prizes behind the others. Once the contestant has chosen a door, the host opens one of the remaining doors to reveal a goat, eliminating that door as an option. With only two doors left (one with the car, the other with another goat), the player must decide to either keep their decision, or switch and select the other door. Intuitively, one might think the player is choosing between two doors with equal probability, and that the opportunity to choose another door makes no difference. But probability spaces reveal that the contestant has received new information, and can increase their chances of winning by changing to the other door.[17]

See also

  6. ^ in Bell's aspect experiment: Nature
  8. ^ Longo, Giuseppe; Montévil, Maël; Kauffman, Stuart (2012-01-01). "No Entailing Laws, but Enablement in the Evolution of the Biosphere". Proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference Companion on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation. GECCO '12. New York, NY, USA: ACM: 1379–1392. arXiv:1201.2069. doi:10.1145/2330784.2330946. ISBN 9781450311786.
  9. ^ Longo, Giuseppe; Montévil, Maël (2013-10-01). "Extended criticality, phase spaces and enablement in biology". Chaos, Solitons & Fractals. Emergent Critical Brain Dynamics. 55: 64–79. Bibcode:2013CSF....55...64L. doi:10.1016/j.chaos.2013.03.008.
  10. ^ Breathnach, A. S. (1982). "A long-term hypopigmentary effect of thorium-X on freckled skin". British Journal of Dermatology. 106 (1): 19–25. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.1982.tb00897.x. PMID 7059501. The distribution of freckles seems entirely random, and not associated with any other obviously punctuate anatomical or physiological feature of skin.
  11. ^ Yongge Wang: Randomness and Complexity. PhD Thesis, 1996.
  13. ^ Laszso Barabasi, (2003), Linked, Rich Gets Richer, P81
  15. ^ Terry Ritter, Randomness tests: a literature survey.
  16. ^ Pironio, S. "Random Numbers Certified by Bell's Theorem". Nature.

Further reading

External links


WOW Legion Expansion Revealed

The Tomb of Sargeras has been reopened, and the demons of the Burning Legion pour into our world. Their full, terrifying might is fixed on summoning the Dark Titan to Azeroth—and they’ve already located the key to his return.

With the Alliance and Horde devastated, only you can take up Warcraft’s most legendary artifacts, scour the ancient Broken Isles for relics of the Titans, and challenge the Legion before Azeroth’s last hope dies.

Steel yourself, champion. Extinction is imminent.

Demon Hunters transform into hellish forms, enhancing their formidable powers: damage-focused Illidari gain incredible swiftness and damage allowing them to finish their prey, while those who prize defense become nigh invincible in their demonic forms.

Only Azeroth’s most seasoned veterans possess the fortitude to wield artifacts of legend against the Burning Legion. Your myth-forged weapon grows in power as you do, and your choices will change its abilities and the way it looks, sounds, and feels in combat. Fashion your artifact into the perfect instrument of battle, and guide your faction in its most desperate hour.

ASHBRINGER (Paladin Two Handed Sword) It is said that this sword, forged by Magni Bronzebead, bestows the glory of light upon its wielder, empowering them to render enemies into ash.

MAW OF THE DAMNED (Death Knight Two-Handed Axe) For eons the demon known as Gorelix the Fleshripper used this massive axe to steal the life force of his enemies and replenish his own. The Maw will be bleed dry anything is touches-eating is all it knows.

EBONCHILL, GREATSTAFF OF ALODI (Mage Staff) The staff of the Guardian of Tirisfal exudes unnatural iceness, allowing its wielder to keep a cold, shard, and collected mind even in face of overwhelming odds.

SHEILUN, STAFF OF THE MISTS (Monk Staff) This legendary staff was used by the last emperor of Pandaria to shroud this homeland in mist, and it respnates with his everlasting legacy of wisdom and perseverance.

THAS’DORAH LEGACY OF THE WINDRUNNERS (Hunter Bow) Legend has it this elven family heirloom once wielded by an infamous Ranger-General-can turn a mediocre archer into a master marksman… and make a master truly peerless.

Brave the epicenter of the demon invasion—the Broken Isles, a land rich with ancient wonders. Explore lush forests, colossal mountain ranges, and night elven cities older than human civilization. But native dangers lurk here too: twisted satyrs, savage drogbar, and cursed Kvaldir prowl the Isles alongside the Legion’s marauding army. To overcome these threats, you will claim an Order Hall unique to your character class and lead your followers on a hunt for the Pillars of Creation—the secret to Azeroth’s salvation.

XAVIUS Xavius once terrorized Azeroth with an affliction that almost obliterated the walls between reality and dream. His machinations ended in defeat, but he has been given another chance at vengeance. Now, Xavius leads the conquest of Val’sharah, where the tainted World Tree Shaladrassil spreads the Emerald Nightmare’s corruption. With an army of vile satyrs at his command, Xavius will stop at nothing to vanquish all who oppose the Burning Legion.

ANDUIN WRYNN Heir to the throne of Stormwind, Anduin is wise beyond his years. Time and again, he has used diplomacy to end conflict, inspiring even his warrior father to lay down arms in pursuit of peace. But diplomacy has its limits, and some villains can’t be reasoned with. As the Burning Legion threatens to annihilate Azeroth, Anduin will learn the true cost of peace… and whether he’s willing to pay it.

TIDEMISTRESS ANTHISSA Queen Azshara, former leader of the ancient night elves, rules the naga with supreme authority. Her servants are many, but few can match the fanatical devotion of Athissa. At her queen’s command, she is poised to lead a massive naga army into Azsuna, a region rumored to hold a long-lost titan relic of power. Nothing will stand between Athissa and this prize—not the cursed night elf spirits who haunt the land nor the Horde and Alliance forces that are gathering on the Broken Isles.

DARGRUL the UNDERKING For centuries, the tauren and the drogbar tribes of Highmountain lived in peace. But soon after the Legion’s arrival, a drogbar leader named Dargrul the Underking destroyed their unity and stole the Hammer of Khaz’goroth, a powerful artifact protected by the Highmountain tauren. Using the terrible power of the Hammer, the Underking intends to take control of Highmountain.

KHADGAR Though he was unable to stop Gul’dan from opening the Tomb of Sargeras, allowing the Legion to flood into Azeroth once more, Khadgar is determined to find the means to reseal the portal and foil the Legion’s invasion. He knows that the combined forces of the greatest champions of Azeroth are necessary to succeed, even as dissenting voices speak against a coalition and risk ultimate destruction by the demons.

GUL’DAN Gul’dan owes allegiance to no one save his Burning Legion masters. On Draenor, the power-hungry orc warlock nearly had his entire race enslaved to demons. Though his plans failed, Gul’dan survived. Under the Legion’s command, he was banished to Azeroth to open a gateway for a monstrous invasion force unlike anything the Horde and the Alliance have ever faced.

SYLVANAS WINDRUNNER The Forsaken’s ruthless leader is a formidable champion of her people. But with the Burning Legion’s invasion, the stakes for the Dark Lady have never been higher. Should Sylvanas perish, her demise will be the beginning of her eternal damnation. All that stand between her and this doom are her Val’kyr, yet few of these spirit guardians remain. As her fate edges closer to the abyss, Sylvanas must decide how far she’ll go to protect her people… and whether they’re more precious to her than her soul.

ILLIDAN STORMRAGE After the fall of the Black Temple, the corpse of the lord of Outland, Illidan Stormrage, disappeared. No one knows the true fate of Illidan’s remains, but legend holds that Warden Maiev Shadowsong took his broken body to the Vault of the Wardens so that Illidan’s dark, lingering soul could suffer the rest of his eternal sentence—along with his followers, the feared Illidari. Justice to be forever served…

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Upcoming Themes

LOGIA is published quarterly (Epiphany, Eastertide, Holy Trinity, and Reformation).

28:1 (Epiphany 2019) - The Holy Cross as Mark of the Church: The last of the marks of the church Luther identifies in On the Councils and the Church is “the holy possession of the sacred cross.” Christians continue to suffer today, being shaped in the cruciform image of Christ. We invite submissions for this issue that address the contemporary context of Christian suffering and how it functions to mark Christ’s people with his cross.

28:2 (Eastertide 2019) - Lutheran Hermeneutics: While the word of the Lord stands forever, understandings of language change. The ongoing task of Lutheran hermeneutics is to give Lutherans the resources needed to correctly read and interpret scripture. In this issue we invite submissions that address how Lutherans are to read and understand the word of God.

28:3 (Holy Trinity 2019) - Body and Soul: The Lord God formed Adam from the dust and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Human beings remain God’s creatures, formed by him to possess a body and a soul (or as some have it, a body, a soul, and a spirit). This issue looks to address the value of a strong theological anthropology and the implications such an anthropology has in Christian ethics and theology.

28:4 (Reformation 2019) - The Late Reformations: Reform efforts in Europe did not end with the death of Luther. The late sixteenth century saw a number of late Reformations—as scholars name them—that worked to settle theological controversy, advance the gospel, provide theological resources to the Lutheran church, and convert territories to different confessions. As the Formula of Concord attests, Lutheran theologians in this period played a significant role in shaping Lutheran theology and church life. With this theme we look for submissions that fill gaps in our collective knowledge of church history by addressing the oft-neglected period of the late Reformations.

29:1 (Epiphany 2020) - Natural Law: Paul, in Romans 1-2, speaks of God’s eternal power and divine nature being perceived by all, and of Gentiles who have the work of the law written on their hearts. God’s law is made known in places outside of scripture. But how is this natural law to be understood? How is natural law defined, and how does it relate to God’s revealed law? We invite submissions for this issue that address these and other questions about the natural law and its role in Christian life.

29:2 (Eastertide 2020) - Death and Dying: “In the midst of earthly life, snares of death surround us.” Pastors do well to point parishioners to the only one who can help in the midst of death and dying, as Luther does in his hymn. In this issue we invite submissions that address questions of the end of life and death with an eye to popular understandings and misunderstandings of eternal life, the resurrection, and heaven, and that provide resources for pastors as they seek to comfort the dying and the grieving.

29:3 (Holy Trinity 2020) - Christology: Solus Christus was a watchword of the sixteenth-century Reformation, as Christ stands at the heart of faith and life. But who is Christ, and what work does he do? What challenges arise in light of the claim that this one person is God and man? Lutheran Christology has long set Lutheranism apart from other Protestants, and for this issue we invite submissions that focus on the doctrine of Christ’s person and work and its significance in Lutheran theology.

29:4 (Reformation 2020) - Five Centuries of Lutheranism (special edition): This special edition looks to survey the history of Lutheranism from the sixteenth century to today. The issue is meant to serve as a reference for use in classes from parish education to graduate education by providing a short, accessible survey of the history of Lutheranism.


How to Deal With Conflict If You're a Highly Sensitive Person

The words "emotional" and "sensitive" are powerful ones. They can be wielded like swords against your character. But if you stop for a minute to think about it, to question the validity of the historical context or the modern-day connotation, it's easier to understand feeling things isn't a fault. "Once I came to terms with my emotions—once I truly realized and internalized their validity, as well as why I had avoided them for so long—they magically lost their control over me," our wellness editor wrote in a recent essay. She continued, "A more recent development in this personal journey is the realization that we are all 'emotional people.' Every single one of us grapples with this beautifully complex, colorful web of feeling day to day, minute to minute, second to second."

It's true. But there are ways to build yourself a box with which to pull from—tools to work through confrontation and conflict when you know your emotions and sensitivities can run high. I reached out to psychotherapist Emily Roberts, MA, LPC, author of Express Yourself: A Teen Girl's Guide to Speaking Up and Being Who You Are, for a few of her thoughts on the matter. Below, she divulges tips on how to better approach these situations.


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NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms

The root of this plant has been used in some cultures to treat certain medical problems. It may have anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. The scientific name is Rheum palmatum or Rheum officinale. Also called Chinese rhubarb, Indian rhubarb, rhubarb, and Turkish rhubarb.


Dropping Major Networks (CBS FOX) - DirecTV

When selecting a carrier and service level certain criteria play a major role in that decision (eg. ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX etc). To arbitrarily drop one of these major networks significantly reduces the value of the service. Don't know how Uverse can in good conscience justify these actions. Other service carriers are available - will be investigating!

This question, "Dropping Major Networks (CBS FOX)," is about DirecTV channels, programming, equipment, and sports.


Home Alarm Systems or Remote Monitoring – Which Work Best?

Remote surveillance systems will be the best system for home monitoring anytime, compared to alarm systems. First alarm systems are limited to alerting you of intruders to your property within certain limitations. For instance, an alarm system will only detect a movement within places that have been fitted with the sensors but will not give you a picture of what is going on around your home. Besides, alarm systems are a traditional system that will detect fire and does not identify the cause of the fire.

However, remote monitoring systems are way much better and convenient means of monitoring your home as they come equipped with a lot of functionalities. First, they give you peace of mind as you don’t have to watch your property while you are away or asleep. The remote system does all the dirty work for you and will tell you what is happening by direct video feed, email, a text message from your phone, or a phone call. Secondly, remote monitoring systems can trigger some response actions to deal with a situation. For example, in the case of a fire, the system can trigger fire extinguishing actions installed in your home before you respond. Besides, in the event of an intruder, it can shut down a room or activate other measures to protect your property.

However, some argue the cost of installing a remote monitoring system is prohibitive as opposed to getting an alarm system for your home. As a result, they settle for less by getting an alarm system to monitor their homes. But they fail to recognize is they do not get value for money. A remote monitoring system is not only capable of handling security breaches within your home but will monitor and ensure the safety of your child and check on the daily operations of your domestic workers.

A remote monitoring security does not come with monthly subscriptions as it does not have a central watch station that does the monitoring for you. Instead, you have the information of what is happening in your home from your phone, tablet, or laptop. As such, you do the monitoring yourself from your office or when you are out for a holiday or a weekend off. You get notifications of motion detectors or when a door is opened first hand from your phone when the action happens. Then you check the feed, and you can decide whether it’s a burglar breaking into your premises or a pet that knocked over a plant. Remote monitoring gives you the authority to determine when to call the authorities and when to activate emergency measures.

On the other hand, alarm systems are connected to some central servers where someone else does the monitoring, and you are required to pay monthly subscriptions. Besides, you give someone else the authority to make decisions on your behalf, and they decide on what happens in your home in case of an emergency and you are notified of their decisions later. Though the alarm systems may favor someone who is quite busy, it is important to invest a good portion of your time to directly monitor your home to get a make better decisions on your home operations.

Hence, remote monitoring systems are more favorable to home owners with a young family as they get to see what is happening all the time without having to call the nanny. Remote monitoring works best over alarm systems as they are easy to maintain and give you real time information on what is happening in your home and do not require you to pay monthly fees.


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Wildlife Guide

Heterogynidae Zygaenidae burnet, forester, or smoky moths Himantopteridae Lacturidae Somabrachyidae Megalopygidae flannel moths Aididae Anomoeotidae Cyclotornidae Epipyropidae planthopper parasite moths Dalceridae slug caterpillars Limacodidae slug, or cup moths.

Systematic List

What Kind of Caterpillar Is This?

Place your order today for the themed box that delivers everything you need to create family memories while discovering nature and wildlife. Yet another bout of toxic green slime, mixed with the worst red tide Florida has seen in over a decade, has created a perfect storm for Florida's wildlife and residents.

Since , the Land and Water Conservation Fund has supported adventures big and small for families and children across the nation. McCain with our highest conservation achievement award—and even more proud to call him a friend. You don't have to travel far to join us for an event. Attend an upcoming event with one of our regional centers or affiliates. Uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. Our beloved wildlife ambassador has been creating lifelong connections with nature for generations.

In 4 seconds , you will be redirected to nwfactionfund. The National Wildlife Federation. Home Educational Resources Wildlife Guide. Pollinators Critical to agricultural crops and ecological services, pollinators are in decline. Threats to Wildlife More than one-third of our nation's wildlife species are at risk of extinction in the coming decades, threatened by a host of human activities.

Understanding Conservation Wildlife species depend on their habitats, and on one another, to thrive. Please leave this field empty. In his description, Gerstäcker distinguished the two groups by the transfer of the first abdominal segment to the thorax in the Apocrita , compared to the Symphyta. Consequently, there are only eight dorsal half segments in the Apocrita, against nine in the Symphyta.

The larvae are distinguished in a similar way. The Symphyta have therefore traditionally been considered, alongside the Apocrita, to form one of two suborders of Hymenoptera. The three groupings have been distinguished by the true sawflies' ventral serrated or saw-like ovipositor for sawing holes in vegetation to deposit eggs, while the woodwasp ovipositor penetrates wood and the Orussidae behave as external parasitoids of wood-boring beetles.

The woodwasps themselves are a paraphyletic ancestral grade. Despite these limitations, the terms have utility and are common in the literature. While most hymenopteran superfamilies are monophyletic , as is Hymenoptera, the Symphyta has long been seen to be paraphyletic. The oldest unambiguous sawfly fossils date back to the Middle or Late Triassic.

These fossils, from the family Xyelidae , are the oldest of all Hymenoptera. The subfamily Xyelinae were plentiful during these time periods, in which Tertiary faunas were dominated by the tribe Xyelini; these are indicative of a humid and warm climate. The cladogram is based on Schulmeister Siricoidea horntails or wood wasps.

Orussoidea parasitic wood wasps. There are approximately 8, species of sawfly in more than genera, although new species continue to be discovered. Most sawflies belong to the Tenthredinoidea superfamily, with about 7, species worldwide. Tenthredinoidea has six families, of which Tenthredinidae is by far the largest with some 5, species. Many species of sawfly have retained their ancestral attributes throughout time, specifically their plant-eating habits, wing veins and the unmodified abdomen, where the first two segments appear like the succeeding segments.

Urocerus gigas , which can be mistaken as a wasp due to its black-and-yellow striped body, can grow up to 20 millimetres 0. Heads of sawflies vary in size, shape and sturdiness, as well as the positions of the eyes and antennae. They are characterised in four head types: The open head is simplistic, whereas all the other heads are derived. When in use, the mouthparts may be directed forwards, but this is only caused when the sawfly swings its entire head forward in a pendulum motion.

The clypeus a sclerite that makes up an insects "face" is not divided into a pre- and postclypeus, but rather separated from the front. The number of segments in the antennae vary from six in the Accorduleceridae to 30 or more in the Pamphiliidae. Three segments make up the thorax: The fore and hind wings are locked together with hooks. This occurs in several families including Argidae, Diprionidae and Cimbicidae. The larvae of sawflies are easily mistaken for lepidopteran larvae caterpillars.

Some groups have larvae that are eyeless and almost legless; these larvae make tunnels in plant tissues including wood. This is a warning colouration because some larvae can secrete irritating fluids from glands located on their undersides. Sawflies are widely distributed throughout the world. The next largest family, the Argidae , with some species, is also worldwide, but is commonest in the neotropics, especially in Africa, where they feed on woody and herbaceous angiosperms.

Of the other families, the Blasticotomidae and Megalodontidae are Palearctic ; the Xyelidae, Pamphilidae , Diprionidae , Cimbicidae , and Cephidae are Holarctic , while the Siricidae are mainly Holarctic with some tropical species. The parasitic Orussidae are found worldwide, mostly in tropical and subtropical regions.

The wood-boring Xiphydriidae are worldwide, but most species live in the subtropical parts of Asia. Sawflies are mostly herbivores , feeding on plants that have a high concentration of chemical defences. These insects are either resistant to the chemical substances, or they avoid areas of the plant that have high concentrations of chemicals.

Sawflies are eaten by a wide variety of predators. While many birds find the larvae distasteful, some such as the currawong Strepera and stonechats Saxicola eat both adults and larvae. The larvae have several anti-predator adaptations. While adults are unable to sting, the larvae of species such as the spitfire sawfly regurgitate a distasteful irritating liquid, which makes predators such as ants avoid the larvae.

Sawflies are hosts to many parasitoids, most of which are parasitic Hymenoptera; more than 40 species are known to attack them. However, information regarding these species is minimal, and fewer than 10 of these species actually cause a significant impact on sawfly populations. Braconid wasps attack sawflies in many regions throughout the world, in which they are ectoparasitoids, meaning that the larvae live and feed outside of the hosts body; braconids have more of an impact on sawfly populations in the New World than they do in the Old World, possibly due to no known ichneumonid parasitoids living in North America.

These eggs hatch inside the larva within a few days, where they feed on the host. The entire host's body may be consumed by the braconid larvae, except for the head capsule and epidermis. The larvae complete their development within two or three weeks.

Ten species of wasps in the family Ichneumonidae attack sawfly populations, although these species are usually rare. The most important parasitoids in this family are species in the genus Collyria. Unlike Braconid wasps, the larvae are endoparasitoids, meaning that the larvae live and feed inside the hosts body. The larva may remain inside of their host until spring, where it emerges and pupates.

Several species in the family Eulophidae attack sawflies, although their impact is low. Two species in the genus Pediobius have been studied; the two species are internal larval parasitoids and have only been found in the northern hemisphere. It is unknown as to why the attack rate in wheat is low. Outbreaks of certain sawfly species, such as Diprion polytomum , have led scientists to investigate and possibly collect their natural enemies to control them.

These parasites have been used in successful biological control against pest sawflies, including Cephus cinctus throughout the s and s and C. Like all other hymenopteran insects, sawflies go through a complete metamorphosis with four distinct life stages — egg, larva, pupa and adult. Unfertilized eggs develop as male, fertilized eggs develop into females, see Arrhenotoky. The lifespan of an individual sawfly is two months to two years, though the adult life stage is often very short approximately 7 — 9 days , only long enough for the females to lay their eggs.

Plant-eating sawflies most commonly are associated with leafy material but some specialize on wood, and the ovipositors of these species such as the family Siricidae are specially adapted for the task of drilling through bark. Once the incision has been made, the female will lay as many as 30 to 90 eggs.

Females avoid the shade when laying their eggs because the larvae develop much slower and may not even survive, and they may not also survive if they are laid on immature and glaucous leaves. Hence, female sawflies search for young adult leaves to lay their eggs on. These eggs hatch in two to eight weeks, but such duration varies by species and also by temperature.

Until the eggs have hatched, some species such as the small brown sawfly will remain with them and protects the eggs by buzzing loudly and beating her wings to deter predators.

There are six larval stages that sawflies go through, lasting 2 — 4 months, but this also depends on the species. When fully grown, the larvae emerge from the trees en masse and burrow themselves into the soil to pupate. During their time outside, the larvae may link up to form a large colony if many other individuals are present. They gather in large groups during the day which gives them protection from potential enemies, and during the night they disperse to feed.

The emergence of adults takes awhile, with some emerging anywhere between a couple months to 2 years. Some will reach the ground to form pupal chambers, but others may spin a cocoon attached to a leaf. Larvae that feed on wood will pupate in the tunnels they have constructed. In one species, the jumping-disc sawfly Phyllotoma aceris forms a cocoon which can act like a parachute. The larvae live in sycamore trees and do not damage the upper or lower cuticles of leaves that they feed on.

When fully developed, they cut small perforations in the upper cuticle to form a circle. After this, they weave a silk hammocks within the circle; this silk hammock never touches the lower cuticle. Once inside, the upper-cuticle's disc separates and descends towards the surface with the larvae attaching themselves to the hammock.

Once they reach the round, the larvae work their way into a sheltered area by jerking their discs along. The majority of sawfly species produce a single generation per year, but others may only have one generation every two years. Most sawflies are also female, making males rare. Sawflies are major economic pests of forestry. For example, species in the Diprionidae, such as the pine sawflies, Diprion pini and Neodiprion sertifer , cause serious damage to pines in regions such as Scandinavia.

Eucalyptus trees can regenerate quickly from damage inflicted by the larvae; however, they can be substantially damaged from outbreaks, especially if they are young. The trees can be defoliated completely and may cause "dieback", stunting or even death. Sawflies are serious pests in horticulture.

Different species prefer different host plants, often being specific to a family or genus of hosts. For example, Iris sawfly larvae, emerging in summer, can quickly defoliate species of Iris including the yellow flag and other freshwater species.

The giant woodwasp or horntail, Urocerus gigas , has a long ovipositor, which with its black and yellow colouration make it a good mimic of a hornet. Despite the alarming appearance, the insect cannot sting. The larvae eat tunnels in the wood, causing economic damage. Alternative measures to control sawflies can be taken. Mechanical methods include removing larvae from trees and killing them by squishing or dropping them into boiling water or kerosene , although this is not practical in plantations.

Predators can also be used to eliminate larvae, as well as parasites which have been previously used in control programs. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the hymenopteran. For the moth, see Symphyta moth genus. Megalodontoidea Family Megalodontesidae Konow, 1 genera, 42 spp.

Kirby, 16 genera, spp. Family Tenthredinidae Latreille, genera, 5, spp. Zeitschrift für die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften in German. Retrieved 2 December Retrieved 11 August


Topamax (Topiramate)

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Novel compound heterozygote mutation in two siblings with scid jak3 mutations

Poster Presentations
Novel compound heterozygote mutation in two siblings with SCID JAK3 mutations
Hans H. Shuhaiber, M.D. 1, Edwin Guzman, M.S. 1, Kwame Anyane-Yeboa, M.D. 1, Jennifer M. Puck, M.D. 2
1Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Centre, New York, N.Y., United States, 2Pediatrics, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, C.A., United States During the last 15 years, an increasing number of genes has been identified whose abnormalities account for primary immunodeficiencies, defects in development and/or function of the immune system. Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), estimated to occur in 1/50,000 to 1/100,000 births, is most often caused by defects of the X-linked common γ chain (γc) of cytokine receptors, part of the receptor complexes for interleukin (IL-) 2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, and IL-15. Males with X-SCID usually have very few T and NK cells and functionally defective B-cells (T-B+NK- SCID). An identical immunologic phenotype is seen in autosomal recessive SCID due to mutations in the JAK3 gene, encoding a tyrosine kinase that is functionally coupled to γc (MIM# 600173). We describe two brothers, who were healthy at birth, but then suffered from persistent and recurrent infections. The older male was hospitalized at 8 months of age with recurrent bronchiolitis, thrush, and severe rotavirus enteritis. His immune workup showed absent T cells, 13 NK cells/ul (normal range 170-830) and 414 B cells (nl 430-3000) with low to absent immunoglobuins. His younger brother was diagnosed at 3 months, after developing fever, mucositis and recurrent infections; his lymphocyte profile, obtained once his brother’s history was appreciated, showed undetectable T cells, 29 NK cells, and 612 B cells. Both boys had normal γc gene sequence. They were compound heterozygotes for two previously unreported JAK3 mutations, a paternally inherited single codon deletion (c.2000delTCA; p.Ile667del) and a maternally inherited missense mutation (c.1851T>C; p.Leu584Pro). Both mutations are in regions that are highly conserved between species and are predicted to be probably damaging to protein function. The older brother received an unrelated cord blood transplant after Fludarabine, ATG, and Cytoxan conditioning and is growing, healthy, and off all medications three years later. The younger brother is currently undergoing allogenic unmatched cord blood transplantation. Our cases identify two new disease-associated mutations in the cell signaling protein JAK3. Relatively few JAK3 mutations have been published, and the true incidence is unknown. However, JAK3 defects are caused 15% of all SCID in published series. Availability of a molecular diagnostic test, based on amplification and sequencing of genomic DNA, makes gene diagnosis for SCID possible, and has permitted recognition that JAK3 deficiency is not always associated with a T-B+NK- phenotype. The approach of Puck et al. to quantitate T cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) by PCR on DNA extracted from dried blood spots obtained for newborn screening can detect infants with T cell lymphopenia (Routes et al., JAMA 2009); thus newborn screening for SCID and other T cell defects can identify infants before infectious complications occur. If testing for TRECs were incorporated into state newborn screening programs infants such as the ones reported here could avoid serious infections and receive early diagnosis and therapy.

Source: http://acmg.omnibooksonline.com/2010/data/papers/405.pdf

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S.5D Wong Pui San Lau Ho Yin Leung Hau Lam Ketone  In organic chemistry, ketones and aldehydes have the same functional group, carbonyl group. But the carbonyl carbon atom in ketones is attached to two other carbon atoms.  Ketones that contain only one carbonyl group are called alkanones.  The general formula for alkanones is CnH2n+1COCmH2m+1, where m and n are positive intergers, l

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Russia Table of Contents

Civil War and War Communism

Soon after buying peace with Germany, the Soviet state found itself under attack from other quarters. By the spring of 1918, elements dissatisfied with the radical policies of the communists (as the Bolsheviks started calling themselves) established centers of resistance in southern and Siberian Russia. Beginning in April 1918, anticommunist forces, called the Whites and often led by former officers of the tsarist army, began to clash with the Red Army, which Trotsky, named commissar of war in the Soviet government, organized to defend the new state. A civil war to determine the future of Russia had begun.

The White armies enjoyed varying degrees of support from the Allied Powers. Desiring to defeat Germany in any way possible, Britain, France, and the United States landed troops in Russia and provided logistical support to the Whites, whom the Allies trusted would resume Russia's struggle against Germany after overthrowing the communist regime. (In March 1918, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party officially was renamed the Russian Communist Party [Bolshevik].) After the Allies defeated Germany in November 1918, they opted to continue their intervention in the Russian Civil War against the communists, in the interests of averting what they feared might become a world socialist revolution.

During the Civil War, the Soviet regime also had to deal with struggles for independence in regions that it had given up under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (which the regime immediately repudiated after Germany's defeat by the Allies in November 1918). By force of arms, the communists established Soviet republics in Belorussia (January 1919), Ukraine (March 1919), Azerbaijan (April 1920), Armenia (November 1920), and Georgia (March 1921), but they were unable to take back the Baltic region, where the independent states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had been founded shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution. In December 1917, the Soviet government recognized the independence of Finland as a gesture of support to the Finnish Reds. However, that strategy failed when Finland became a parliamentary republic in 1918. Poland, reborn after World War I, fought a successful war with Soviet Russia from April 1920 to March 1921 over the location of the frontier between the two states.

During its struggle for survival, the Soviet state relied heavily on the prospect that revolution would spread to other European industrialized countries. To coordinate the socialist movement under Soviet auspices, Lenin founded the Communist International (Comintern) in March 1919. Although no successful socialist revolutions occurred elsewhere immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution, the Comintern provided the communist leadership with the means for later control of foreign communist parties.

By the end of 1920, the communists had clearly triumphed in the Civil War. Although in 1919 Soviet Russia had shrunk to the size of sixteenth-century Muscovy, the Red Army had the advantage of defending the heartland with Moscow at its center (see fig. 4). The White armies, divided geographically and without a clearly defined cause, went down to defeat one by one. Hopes of restoring the monarchy ended effectively when communists executed the imperial family in July 1918. The Allied governments, lacking support for intervention from their nations' war-weary citizenry, withdrew most of their forces by 1920. The last foreign troops departed Siberia in 1922, leaving the Soviet state unchallenged from abroad.

During the Civil War, the communist regime took increasingly repressive measures against its domestic opponents. The constitution of 1918 deprived members of the former "exploiting classes"--nobles, priests, and capitalists--of civil rights. Left-wing Socialist Revolutionaries, formerly partners of the Bolsheviks, became targets for persecution during what came to be known as the Red Terror, which followed an attempt on Lenin's life in August 1918 and lasted into 1920. In those desperate times, both Reds and Whites murdered and executed without trial large numbers of suspected enemies. The party also took measures to ensure greater discipline among its members by tightening its organization and creating specialized administrative organs.

In the economic life of the country, too, the communist regime sought to exert control through a series of drastic measures that came to be known as war communism. To coordinate what remained of Russia's economic resources after years of war, in 1918 the government nationalized industry and subordinated it to central administrations in Moscow. Rejecting workers' control of factories as inefficient, the regime brought in expert managers to run the factories and organized and directed the factory workers as in a military mobilization. To feed the urban population, the Soviet government requisitioned quantities of grain from the peasantry.

The results of war communism were unsatisfactory. Industrial production continued to fall. Workers received wages in kind because inflation had made the ruble practically worthless. In the countryside, peasants rebelled against payments in valueless currency by curtailing or consuming their agricultural production. In late 1920, strikes broke out in the industrial centers, and peasant uprisings sprang up across the land as famine ravaged the countryside. To the Soviet government, however, the most disquieting manifestation of dissatisfaction with war communism was the rebellion in March 1921 of sailors at the naval base at Kronshtadt (near Petrograd), which had earlier won renown as a bastion of the Bolshevik Revolution. Although Trotsky and the Red Army succeeded in putting down the mutiny, it signaled to the party leadership that war communism had to end. The harsh economic policies of the Civil War period, however, would have a profound influence on the future development of the country.

The Era of the New Economic Policy

The period of war communism was followed in the 1920s by a partial retreat from Bolshevik principles. The New Economic Policy (Novaya ekonomicheskaya politika--NEP; see Glossary) permitted certain types of private economic activity, so that the country might recover from the ravages of the Civil War. The interval was cut short, however, by the death of Lenin and the sharply different approach to governance of his successor, Joseph Stalin.

Data as of July 1996

Country Listing

Russia Table of Contents


What I Learned Today

No frills, just learn

Posts in the machine learning category

I read a lot of misconceptions this morning related to this article regarding Google Translate.  Is not properly fresh news but this morning in my telegram group @scienza, this other popularization article has been posted that completely misunderstood the premises of the original academic article (also the so-called informed comments are not really , so I decided to try to keep the record straight and offer a question.

In the article the approach is referred as a multitasking learning framework

Our approach is related to the multitask learning framework [4]. Despite its promise, this framework
has seen limited practical success in real world applications. In speech recognition, there have been many
successful reports of modeling multiple languages using a single model (see [17] for an extensive reference and
references therein). Multilingual language processing has also shown to be successful in domains other than
translation [9, 23].

where a neural network (NN) is trained on several tasks simply by implementing extra tokens (in this case the languages) in the input and ground truth layers. The NN will learn all the designated languages simultaneously by associating phrases with ground truth respect to designated linguistic points (BLEU scores) for the whole network and not disjunctly by direct correlation of two languages. In a sense, it probes the off diagonal degrees of freedom of the NN.

What a lot of people then started fantasising a little bit too much about is the "interlingua" process. My guy referred to it even as to a bytecode correspondence between languages that would be unfeasible and would defy too much the purpose of this NN: this has been tried to re-code as little as possible of the original Translate algorithm (that already includes all the semantic, glottology...etc... work of Google's researchers and engineers), and an eventual bytecode would be not flexible and would require a complete overhaul of the code!

What Google Researchers have seen in the NN, is that the same phrase clusterize in different languages according to a specific metric: t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding, which is a sophisticated projection which reduces dimensionality while preserving pairwise distances (thus creating a low-dimensional metric space).

I wonder: what if I change metric, would I be able to clusterize, according to another metric, the languages?

The semantic of Machine Learning

Today I learned again that most things in life are a matter of semantics... After some online lectures in Machine Learning techniques I discovered that what I call "Ordinary Least Squares" is generalized as a "cost function" and a simplified version of the "Newton Method" is refferred to as "Gradient Descent".

So, basically, the core of a supervised learned algorithm seems to be the choose of an appropriate "cost function" and the application of the most effective minimization algorithm.


October Student Artist of the Month

October Student Artist of the Month: Josh Boger

by Kate Luce

Art making can provide artists with a new perspective in life, and for Josh Boger, printmaking major, art did just that.

“I think I make art just because it is a pretty good way to communicate my thoughts in a visual way,” Boger says. As a visual communicator, it’s important to try to connect my ideas with other people, and share experiences and grow experiences from it.

For Boger, becoming a printmaking major at IU South Bend was not his first choice, but ultimately, it became the right choice.

Boger was initially majoring in musical theatre at Southwestern Michigan College. He acted for most of his childhood and was a part of performances like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat during his time at SMC.

This all changed when he suffered a stroke due to a previously undiagnosed blood disorderAt the time, his friends had to do a lot of convincing to coax him to go to the ER, and once he did, the medical professionals confirmed that something was not right.

Drink Coke ArtThe aftermath of it all was that his vision changed to where one eye sees the world distorted. He also suffers from memory loss. It made it hard for Boger to memorize his performances as a musical theatre major, but it wasn’t a reflection of his effort ,as Boger diligently tried to memorize his lines with his director

As one thing ends, another begins. He first came to IU South Bend to pursue a photography  degree, but after experiencing a printmaking class, he knew that it is what he wanted to do.

“When I first got here, I really didn’t have a place to stay. I was going through a lot in life, and I had this class, Intro to printmaking, and the building was largely empty, which I liked,” Boger says. The first assignment we had was to make paper. When I made paper, it was really relaxing, calming. It kind of shut out the turmoil of life, so I asked Bill Tourtillotte, the instructor, if I could stay and keep making paper. Eventually, it got to the point where I loved being in this space. There are a lot of calm vibes that were here, and I need that.

He enjoyed the boldness and power of the media, which is why he stuck to it. He eventually got into other printmaking classes, but for now, Boger sticks to silk screen printing as his main source of visual communication.

Boger is mostly known for his work with 3D anaglyph silk screen printingThe

Hello, Goodby I Love You Artwork

process of an anaglyph is doable through photoshop for digital images, but with silk screen, figuring out where the images should be placed and exact colors that need to be used, so that the image works with 3D glasses, is anything but easy.

To begin Boger establishes the image for the work, either by photography or  image manipulation. Boger then decides if the image is set to be static or dynamic in its 3D effect. He next designs how an image will sit in space, either coming forward or receding with the use of photoshop. Lastly, he sees if an image works visually first with and then without the glasses.

Anaglyph silk screen printing is a grey area because not many people know exactly how to do it successfully, but this did not stop Boger from taking a year and half to research how it works.

“So 3D screen printing, it doesn’t really exist. I know a lot of people have tried. Nobody had any answers. What it came down to was that people thought it was a certain type of ink you had to use, but I think the difference is breaking down the process of how does 3D work in the first place. So, I looked at how that was done, and everything on a computer is in pixels, and pixels are tiny dots. I looked at how admitted light and bounced light works. When light is bounced it can mix,” Boger said.

Memories of Flying ArtworkThis bouncing and his understanding of space and color allows Boger to create his anaglyph prints in a variety of colors, instead of the traditional red and blue used in 3D work.

As for the next step with his work, he really wants to delve into social change in a positive manner with his work. He currently is getting into that with some of his projects for his printmaking classes.

“One side of the story is acceptable, but that is not always the truth. Talking about hidden truths and how can we change things for the better. We have both options, and I think [anaglyphs] are an excellent way to show both,” Boger says.

To view examples of Boger’s work, visit his website jbboger.000webhostapp.com.

Interested in studying New Media?

Learn more


International Patients

If you have been wanting Hair Transplant in Delhi

Hair loss, though a very common occurrence, has the potential to grow into an emotionally devastating experience for both men and women as it progresses, leading to balding, often resulting in a negative body image, low self-esteem and even depression. It is important for us to acknowledge that this anxiety caused by hair loss is legitimate and needs to be addressed.

Here, we present a complete guide to the subject that answers a lot of questions around it.

Hair loss, thinning of hair or baldness is a common problem for men and women alike. While in some, the hair loss treatments are effective at early detection of the problem, there are certain cases, which are quite severe and the only remedy that works for them is hair transplant.

At RG Aesthetics, we bring you a reason to smile and to feel safe in the hands of an experienced, qualified and accredited team of Dr. Rajat Gupta and Dr. Shalini Malhotra. As we understand, hair restoration and transplant techniques are a team effort and require superior medical proficiency. Our hair restoration initiative is equipped with the acute knowledge of medical restoration sciences, offering effective remedies to hair re-growth aspirants. Thus, we are proud to offer a unified and most apposite service combining all three illustrious hair transplant solutions, whichever may require under one roof, namely:

  • Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) or the Strip Method
  • Follicular Unit Extraction Method (FUE)
  • Advanced FUE Method (DHT)

There is no need to be distressed if you are suffering severe hair loss. We are just a call away.

In addition, if you have any queries related to hair transplant and restoration, we are glad to offer meaningful consultation and advice. Let us connect to discuss in details.

What causes hair loss?

Although the causes of hair loss could be many, varying from hormonal disorders, stress, nutritional deficiencies, bacterial infections and even cancer, the most common type of hair loss condition in men is Androgenetic Alopecia, also known as Male Pattern Baldness(MBP). ‘Andro’ refers to the male sex hormones called androgens, which besides other functions also regulate hair growth, and ‘genetic’ refers to the inherited gene necessary for the Male Pattern Baldness to occur. Hair loss in men starts with a receding hairline, eventually leaving only thin & short hair around the sides of the head. An interesting fact is that the hormones do not have to be abnormally high for this to occur. If the gene for hair loss is present, and the androgens are at the normal level, then male pattern baldness is bound to occur. The gene can be inherited from either the mother or father’s side. In women too, the most common type of hair loss is Female Androgenetic Alopeciathat is again hereditary.

Is there a solution?

Treatments for hair loss using medicines have limited success. They work in preventing further hair loss but very rarely in re-growing lost hair. But the good news is, there is a permanent solution- and that is Hair Transplant.

What is Hair Transplant?

Hair Transplant is a surgical procedure that restores naturally growing hair to areas that have been thinning or bald. It works primarily on the now well-established principle that transplanted hair follicles (roots moved from their original location to another area) will behave as they did in their original site. A very simple explanation of the procedure is that it involves taking hair from the donor area(an area where there is ample amount of hair) and transplanting it in the recipient area(the balding area). This transplanted hair is permanent and will grow naturally for the rest of your life, which means you will need haircuts. You will also be able to shampoo it, style it, and dye it, just like you had been doing it before the hair loss set in.

What is Donor Area - RG Aesthetics

What is Donor Area?

Donor area in a hair transplant is the area from where the hair is extracted and transferred to the balding region. The donor area is usually the back and sides of the scalp as the hair growth in these areas is abundant and not affected by the hormone Dihydrotestosterone(DHT). Hair extracted from these regions is most unresponsive to androgens and is therefore permanent. Even if someone is totally bald, he will still have some hair at the back of his head. This hair is permanent and never falls. A permanent zone has 6000-7000 grafts on an average. (Hair grafts are basically the roots of hair that are used for transplanting hair follicles. One hair graft usually contains 1-4 hair strands.) In Indians, each graft has approximately 1.7 hair strands. Hair Transplant works on the concept that hair extracted from these regions, where it is most unresponsive to androgens when transplanted, will behave the same and will grow like natural hair. You will get a fresh crop of hair in the frontal areas (or wherever you have transplanted), which is permanent and will never fall.

Is the procedure comfortable?

The procedure is carried out under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis. The patient is awake throughout and can watch TV, listen to music and even have a snack during the break. A single session takes approximately 2-6 hours depending on the number of follicles to be extracted and the area to be covered. The patient can go home immediately after the procedure.

Is the procedure comfortable - RG Aesthetics

Hair Transplant Techniques

All hair transplant techniques work on the simple concept of skillfully distributing hair from areas of abundance to areas where the hair loss is visible. The most successful and commonly used techniques are:

  • Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) or the Strip Method
  • Follicular Unit Extraction Method (FUE)
  • Advanced FUE Method (DHT)

What is Follicular Unit Transplant or FUT?

Follicular Unit Transplantation is a procedure where hair is transplanted from areas at the back and sides of the scalp and moved to balding areas of the scalp. The patient is anesthetized and the doctor removes strips of tissue from the donor area. Once extracted, the donor strip is delicately dissected into individual follicular units under a microscope.

The doctor then makes tiny holes in the scalp, where the follicular unit grafts are carefully placed. The donor area is then sutured by a special plastic surgery technique called Trichophytic Closure. A very thin strip of the outermost layer of the skin, known as the epidermis, is removed from one side of the wound before it is closed. As the incision heals, the follicles lying under the scar grow through it and this helps camouflage the scar.

Follicular Unit Transplant - RG Aesthetics
Follicular Unit Extraction - RG Aesthetics

What is Follicular Unit Extraction or FUE?

This technique involves extracting individual hair follicles directly from the patient’s donor area. As a preparation for the procedure, the hair of the donor area is completely trimmed. The skin surface around each follicular unit is superficially incised by a motorized punch and the follicular unit is then extracted directly from the scalp using a combination of forceps traction and pressure on the surrounding area.

The basic difference between the two procedures is that while FUT involves removing a strip of hair and then dividing it into individual units, the FUE involves removing each follicular unit individually. FUE also takes significantly lesser time to heal than FUT, results in small puncture scars that are almost invisible to the naked eye and a recovery time of less than 7 days.

Another difference between the two is that the FUT method can get more grafts than the FUE technique. While the FUE method allows for 2000-2700 graft extraction, the FUT method has scope for 2600- 3000 and sometimes more. A combination of the two methods can capture 3500-4500 grafts in one or two sessions. The number of grafts required by an individual will therefore also be one of the deciding factors in the course of treatment that the doctor will advise.

What is DHT method of transplant?

Direct Hair Transfer (DHT) is an advanced form of the FUE technique. Contrary to the conventional FUE procedure, the follicular units in DHT are extracted individually from the donor area without the use of a motor and with the help of a manual extractor and implanted with a patented device that is called a transplanter without creation of reception holes. The donor area can be the scalp or other areas of body like the beard, chest or pubic region. The difference mainly lies in the placement of the follicles where we keep the angle, depth and direction of grafts in mind that finally gives 100% natural results. Also, out of body time for each graft decreases substantially. The advantages of manual punch (decreased damage due to absence of vibration and heat due to motorized punches) and decreased out of body time, helps in greater density and more successful results as compared to FUE!This results in a hairline that appears completely natural.

DHT method of transplant - RG Aesthetics

What happens after the Transplant?

In the month following the procedure, all the transplanted hair falls off. The hair begins to re-grow after a period of one or two months, at an average rate of 1cm a month. You would, therefore, be able to truly appreciate the results of the procedure after about 8-10 months. This hair would be permanent and you can shampoo, cut, style, dye or even color it!

Which is the right solution for me - RG Aesthetics

Which is the right solution for me?

It becomes extremely difficult for a patient to pick the right solution, considering the amount of literature on hair transplant that is so readily available on the Internet that leaves you more confused than informed. There is never a same solution for everyone and hence, it is best to entrust this decision in the hands of a specialist.

Often, surgeons or clinics promote one method over the other because they either have the expertise or the equipment to perform only one kind of procedure. This is similar to visiting a car dealer, who, without understanding your requirements, recommends that a petrol car is better than a diesel car, simply because he deals only in petrol cars!

We, at RG Aesthetics, with a trained team of Plastic Surgeons and Dermatologists have the distinguished ability to perform all techniques of hair transplant. A careful analysis of the individual’s unique hair loss condition enables the surgeon to offer a customized solution. Since we specialize in all the advanced techniques, clients can rest assured that the solution being offered is not a biased one, based on the singular technique that is available but is based on the analysis of an expert. In certain cases, a single technique might be enough while in others, a combination of two techniques may be suggested. Under the guidance of renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Rajat Gupta who specializes in FUT and FUE, and Dr. Shalini Malhotra, an experienced dermatologist and internationally acclaimed, American Board certified hair restoration surgeon, who specializes in DHT, you can be absolutely certain about the advice and treatment.

Female Hair Transplant Solution

For FUE/DHT, donor area is needs trimming. However, female patients don’t want to shave their scalp at all. Hence for the FUT/Strip method is recommended that can be performed without trimming. Once we harvest the strip, each Follicular unit is dissected and them implanted using techniques of DHT, so that even the frontal area does not need trimming.

This technique is only possible at RG Aesthetics due to the expert hair transplant team of Dr. Rajat Gupta who specializes in FUT and FUE, and Dr. ShaliniMalhotra, who specializes in DHT.

The Hair Transplant treatment for any individual depends on various factors such as age, gender, genetic history, and extent of hair loss, number of grafts required and other specific medical conditions. The following table suggests treatments based on the above factors. The hair transplant methods advised here are only indicative and the final course of treatment are case-specific, and as per the hair surgeon’s advice.

Hair Transplant can be a life-changing procedure, which not only brings about the desired aesthetic results, but also more importantly, helps millions of people regain their lost confidence.

Our prices are very transparent. To know about the price for Hair Transplantation, click here.

Synopsis - Hair Transplant


Smarter Business Practices for New Year Success

December is a busy time of year for all of us. While we rush to complete those end of year jobs, enjoy the team Christmas party, deliver client gifts, solidify holiday plans; it can seem like an odd time to be thinking about smarter business practices that could drive success in the new year. Yes, January is synonymous with new year’s resolutions and goal setting, but what if you took some time now in December to assess your operations and effectiveness? You could give your business a head start to a successful 2018.

We recently started exploring the idea of “working smarter, not harder”. Such a cliché. But what does it mean for you in your role? What does it mean for your business? In HR positions like ours, working smarter means better leveraging our time. By this I mean maximising the time spent on delivering value and expertise to our people and our client’s people, while minimising time on everything else. This can often be tricky as it’s easy to argue that everything we do in our business is about adding value and expertise.

So who does what and why?

It feels like we ask ourselves this question every month. Which isn’t to say people’s roles in our business change monthly. Rather, the fluidity of our markets and the changing needs of our people and clients mean we need to constantly check the practical value of what we are doing and why we are doing it. We often ask ourselves, is what we are doing still relevant and is it adding value that only we can deliver?

Take time to reflect on the needs of your own business, the needs of your customers, and most importantly, the needs of the people within your business. You can start by asking a few questions: Are your people in the right role for them? Are they using their expertise to their full potential? Are there any functions that are no longer critical to your value proposition?

Tough questions? Sure. But what is awesome about this exercise is that it benefits everyone. Genuine communication with your people on these topics, centred on adding value and leveraging expertise, provides your team with opportunities to broaden their skills, to develop themselves and, in partnership with you, extend their potential. You are creating a space for “smart not hard”.

And… who does what and why?

That’s not a typo. Ask yourself again, who does what and why? Ask, what contribution your people make, beyond their skills, to your purpose. And why is that contribution healthy, inspiring, constructive… or not? As the end of the year approaches, this is the time to set the path for success, to check your organisation’s culture, vision and values. Do they align?

At our recent annual conference Geoff Crews, Owner / Director of Forsythes Recruitment, spoke about the James Kerr book Legacy, and turning vision into action, purpose into practice and pressure into results.

A business cannot succeed, it cannot fulfil its purpose, without motivated people practicing their art powerfully and effectively each day. Its people cannot succeed without clear direction, meaningful leadership or an understanding of your expectations. The exceptional employees will leave. And the underperformers will stay.

As we countdown to Christmas and move towards the new year, this is a good time (well, any time is a good time) to talk to your people. Take time to ask; What do you need? Why do you care? How can we help? And share with them what you need, why you care, and how they can help. They will appreciate it.

If your business is growing, changing, pushing, creating, thriving, questioning – striving for smarter business practices or looking to just be better (like ours is) – drop me an email to let me know.

Article was first seen on:


Southwark, London: Kickstarting bicycle friendly communities with Kickstand.

As London’s transportation systems become strained and the capital’s air quality worsens, recent years have seen a drive to create a cleaner, greener more sustainable transport future in the city. As of 2014, Mobycon has acted as a partner to Southwark council to create strategies to improve the experiences of cyclists and get more people behind the handlebars. Ultimately the aim is to create a cycle friendly district of London.

To help achieve this, Mobycon ran Kickstarter Session Master Classes in Southwark. These have been developed to share the best of European bicycling knowledge. Still, some people wonder how the Dutch and Danish approach can work in places where conditions are as different as in they are in the borough of Southwark.

Training & Talks

The objective of a Kickstand Sessions is to inspire local actors so they can create conditions where people of all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, genders and ethnicities cycle everyday. A Kickstand Session is often the first opportunity to get a diverse group of stakeholders into the same room talking to each other for two days, an important step in developing a guiding vision for the future of cycling. We had a group of 40 stakeholders in our Southwark class, including elected officials; borough employees working in housing, economy, transportation planning, and health; cycling advocates; transport operators and local transportation consultants. One reason it works so well to have a diverse group is because our trainers each bring a unique perspective to the subject allowing for a holistic examination of what it takes to become a bicycling community. Classes cover policy, planning, marketing and education.

At the end of the Southwark Kickstand Session, the group had come up with concrete ideas for specific intersections and for the network. They also had a vision, and perhaps most important they took a step toward greater cooperation among diverse stakeholders. A few days after the session, one participant wrote us, “I can’t remember when so many people have had their eyes lifted to our possibilities.” This shared ambition is what will make the next steps possible. We are anxious to see where Southwark goes next!

If you are ready to skip ahead with the Dutch and Danish approach to bicycling, read more hereor contact Angela van der Kloof in Europe, Elizabeth Allingham in Canada or Mary Hudson Embry in the United States.

Why start from scratch when you can take the success and failures of the Dutch and Danish approach and use that knowledge to build your community’s own cycling culture.

Angela van der Kloof

‘Planning, promotion and education for cycling are great tools that contribute to making places thrive, people participate and be healthy, as well as to the quality of the living environment.’

Senior Advisor Sustainable Mobility, Cycling Education & Behaviour
+31 (0)6 333 056 28