{"text": "3 edition of The Dark House (Large Print Edition) found in the catalog.\nJanuary 30, 2007 by BiblioBazaar .\nWritten in English\n|The Physical Object|\n|Number of Pages||294|\nDark Horse is a book which tells the story of few students who aspire to get through the Civil Services exam which is considered one of the toughest exams in the world considering its selection ratio. The story is also of the different challenges these students face in their personal lives, along with the vicious circle of Preparation-Exams /5(). In Dark Horse, Rose and Ogas show how the four elements of the dark horse mindset empower you to consistently make the right choices that fit your unique interests, abilities, and circumstances and will guide you to a life of passion, purpose, and achievement. - Buy Dark Horse: Ek Ankahi Dastan book online at best prices in India on Read Dark Horse: Ek Ankahi Dastan book reviews & author details and more at Free delivery on qualified orders/5(). About In a Dark, Dark House Simple words, rebus pictures, and flash cards make learning to read easy in this tale of a little boy in a haunted house. Also in All Aboard Picture Reader.\nVoices of Herefordshire\nManual of first-aid instruction.\nReports to the Malaria Committee of the Royal Society.\nThe dangerous years\nsin of Harold Diddlebock\nMouse house hunter\nThe law of banks\nHow Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. got its start and how it grew\nRACER # 3324333\nThermophysical properties of liquid air and its components\nJohn Sedgwick The Dark House book the author of the novels The Dark House and The Education of Mrs. Bemis, and contributes regularly to Newsweek, GQ, and The Atlantic, among other publications. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts/5(13). John Sedgwick is a journalist, novelist, memoirist, and biographer who has written or cowritten numerous books ranging from his psychological thriller, The Dark House, to his multigenerational family memoir, In My Blood.\nHe has also written many articles for GQ, the Atlantic, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and other magazines/5. The Dark House book Sedgwick is the author of the novels The Dark House and The Education of Mrs.\nBemis, and contributes regularly to Newsweek, GQ, and The Atlantic, among other The Dark House book. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts/5(5). Shelves: ebook, arc Welcome to the Dark House is a pretty great horror story, especially for horror-movie loving readers.\nHowever it reads just like a horror movie as well - you barely get to know the cast, and when one dies/disappears you're not going to care all that much/5.\nThe Darkhouse Books Collection Literary True Confessions Historical Mystery And All Our Yesterdays Cozy Duck Lessons Literary Sanctuary Science Fiction Stories from The Near-Future Cozy Shhhh The Dark House book.\nUncategorized A Murder of Crows Cozy-Noir The Anthology of Cozy-Noir Cozy Mid-Century Murder. The Old Dark House Hardcover – January 1, by J.\nPriestley (Author)Author: J. Priestley. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (). 'Dark house, by which once more I stand'. The Dark House book Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. Open Submissions. The Sixties in Music – Cozy to cozy-noir crime stories inspired by music of the sixties.\n(Aug – Novem ) Details Manuscript Formatting Requirements. First Edition Release Date: September, In this sequel to The Talisman, Jack Sawyer is now in his late thirties and has taken early retirement from the LAPD, retreating to The Dark House book small town in Wisconsin.\nHe has no memory of his adventures as a twelve-year-old boy, when he traveled into a parallel universe in search of the talisman that would. The book cover says it all. This story is as eerie as the book cover. A very bleak and dark storyline that centers more on the back story of the main character's childhood growing up on Lewis Island that you sometimes forget a murder is supposed to be solved.\nThe Dark House is a popular book by George The Dark House book Fenn. Read The Dark House, free online version of the book by George Manville Fenn, on George Manville Fenn's The Dark House consists of 30 parts for ease of reading.\nDirected by William Castle. With Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott, Joyce Grenfell. In England, an American car salesman ends-up spending a stormy night at the mysterious and deadly mansion of a client's family/10(K).\nApple Books Preview. The Dark House. George Manville Fenn. Publisher Description. An extremely wealthy but reclusive man has died, leaving an eccentric will which hints at great riches hidden somewhere in the house. Most of the people at the reading The Dark House book the will did not know the deceased in person, but had received kindnesses from him, for.\nThe Dark House. Wylie. 3 This book is available for free download in a number of formats - including epub, pdf, azw, mobi and more. You can also read the full text online using our ereader. Robert Stonehouse's mother disappeared, and they said she was dead.\nBut late at night the door to his room would open, and there his mother 3/5(3). Reading of the book \"In a dark, dark house\" by Jennifer Dussling. In a dark dark house - All Aboard Reading - Duration: Midori Phạm 41, views. Laurie Faria Stolarz is the author of Welcome to the Dark House, and the Touch series, as well as Project 17; Bleed; and the highly popular Blue Is for Nightmares; White Is for Magic; Silver Is for Secrets; Red Is for Remembrance; and Black Is for : Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.\nThe Dark House audiobook by George Manville Fenn ( -- ). The Dark House George Manville FENN ( - ) An extremely wealthy but reclusive man has died, leaving an eccentric will which hints at great riches hidden somewhere in the house. Praise for Dark House: ‘I really enjoyed this book, the writing is engaging, honest and believable I devoured it over 2 evenings and I stayed up until WAY past my bedtime on the first night because I didn't want to put it down!’ Urban Sapphire ‘What a book!/5(33).\nDirected by James Whale. With Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart. Seeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when they stumble upon the Femm family estate/10(K). Dark Horse Comics is the third-largest comics publisher in the U.S., known for such titles as Aliens and Hellboy.\nThe Dark House is a tense and intriguing debut novel from author John Sedgwick. He has created a complex and troubled hero in Edward Rollins, and a spunky, if somewhat less fleshed out, heroine in Marj. Both characters behave in a realistic fashion. There are no unbelievable heroics, no Einsteinian leaps of logic, simply basic human reaction.\nDarkhouse Books. likes 1 talking about this. Multi-genre publisher of traditional and electronic novels and anthologies of short ers: In this book, Deeping touches on the sensitive subject of euthanasia. The book is the story of a young Doctor who desires to become a famous surgeon but lends the money he has saved toward opening his own practice to his brother, who loses it through his gambling and leaves Dr.\nRichmond destitute. He becomes a junior partner in a small town practice. “It was abandoned and then revived for the Dark House weekend.\nThe same goes for the cabin; someone made it look like the real Dark House. The FBI was able to find one of the drivers and he was brought in for questioning, but it seems he never met the suspect in person, only corresponded with him via text messages and e-mail.4/5(32).\nThe Dark Horse Book of was the banner title given to a series of four Dark Horse Comics one-shot hardcover comic book horror anthologies edited by Scott Allie and featuring the work of Mike Mignola and : One-shot.\nWelcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz in CHM, DJVU, RTF download e-book. Welcome to our site, dear reader. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of it's content suppliers and protected by US and international copyright laws%().\nThe story, Welcome to the Dark House, by Laurie Faria Stolarz, is an amazing book with twists and turns around every corner. If I could rate this book 10/5 stars, I would.\nAfter reading this, it is now my all time favorite book of the horror genre. The good thing with the Dark Tower now is that you can start kids off with the Graphic Novels if you want and then move them on to the actual books when they get a little older.\nIf your son is 9 years old he is plenty old enough to handle the comics if you don't think he is prepared for the books themselves. A fantasy adventure awaits in the dark world of Morghoth A story that follows the adventure of a hero who returns from the realm of the dead 💀 Don't wait to try this game if you're a fan of role-playing games.\nHistory 💀 In the dark lands of Morghoth souls have awakened through the dark magic of a book it's called the Dark Book, you will be one of the souls who have /5(16K). The Dark House: A Novel - Ebook written by John Sedgwick. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices.\nResolution The Characters are introduced, and we find out about. And the dark in his house is not just any dark—it has a will of its own. \"Sometimes the dark hid in the closet. Sometimes it sat behind the shower curtain,\" writes Snicket (13 Words).\nDARK HORSE. For nearly a century, researchers have almost exclusively studied one-size-fits-all notions of success, guided by the same questions posted by educators, parents, and aspiring professionals: What is the best way to attain success.\nWe pursued a slightly different question: What is the best way for you to attain success?To find the answer, we turned to dark horses. \"In this dark house, the author’s light shines brightly.\"-Richmond Times-Dispatch \" author Deborah Crombie confirms her position as a gifted master of the mystery genre \".\nEnter the Dark House is the heart-stopping bind-up of books one and two in the DARK HOUSE series, sure to leave you itching to turn the lights on.\nWhat's your worst nightmare. For Ivy Jensen, it's the eyes of a killer that haunt her nights. For Parker Bradley, it's bloodthirsty sea serpents that slither in his dreams.\nCOVID Resources. Reliable information about the coronavirus (COVID) is available from the World Health Organization (current situation, international travel).Numerous and frequently-updated resource results are available from this ’s WebJunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle.\nBOOK 2 in Detective Lucy Harwin series An enjoyable detective story with characters that are easy to emphasize with. However, the plot has too many connections or coinsidiences that make it slightly predictable. I read this as the first book in the series and it was fine.\nInfact, it is book two with LAST NIGHT being the first. Get this from a library. Return to the Dark House. [Laurie Faria Stolarz] -- \"Ivy Jensen escaped the Dark House--but the haunting memories of the friends she left behind remain. As the trail for the killer grows cold, it's up to Ivy to end the nightmare.\nForever\". Book 1 in the The Dark House Series series. Available pdf Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Indie Bound. “Stephen King would love it.” – Kirkus Reviews What’s your worst nightmare? For Ivy Jensen, it’s the eyes of a killer that haunt her n.Wild animals slink through their download pdf in the dark, a barrage of stones pound their roof nightly, and mutilated sheep carcasses are turning up on their property.\nArmed with a camera and just enough to go on, Perry and Dex travel to the desolate locale, hoping to film the supernatural occurrences and add credibility to their flailing webcast.\nThe Dark House. Ebook Knot Unravelled. By. George Manville Fenn. 2 (1 Review) Pages: Ebook 2, Share This.\nThe Dark House. A Knot Unravelled. By. George Manville Fenn. 2 (1 Review) Free Download. Read Online. This book is available for free download in a number of formats - including epub, pdf, azw, mobi and more. You can also 2/5(1).", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Muthu Krishnan Poems\n- Canto 1: The Girl With The Dra...\n- Bourgeois Moving along in the lions skin, With the ...\n- Love Sonnet 1 LOVE SONNET 1 Spending time with the princess ...\n- Canto 2: I'M A Peasant imagine me as a poor peasant who has...\n- She Beheld The Whip The flawless matadors Cried in fear, ...\n- The Process Of Attraction Women, their coy's, walking With ...\n- First Seven We look for ways To clog together soak ...\nClick here to add this poet to your My Favorite Poets.\nComments about Muthu Krishnan\nCanto 1: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo\nI look into your eyes\ni see myself in you;\ni saw your pain\ninterspersed with your blood;\ngirl we both grew\ni knew no one would\nwrite an epithet on us;\nfor our souls are filled\nwith bleeding roses\nhow can we portray\nourselves to be as soft as a feather;\nanother soul born\nbound to be born with us\nis like a fairy walking\non our frontyard lawn;\nwe found shelter in hearts\nwhose roofs protected us\nfrom the swathe made of struggles\nfell from the skies to bind us;\nbut we were wrended", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Dwell in Me and I in you. John chapter 15 verse 4 invites us to a relationship with the True Vine and the Vine-dresser. We get to dwell, abide, stay, and so much more in Him. This is more than just a relationship. It’s a place to rest, renew, strengthen, and have shelter. The Lord’s dwelling place invites us to have a home in Him. A place to go and find Him, be in Him, reflect, and have peace. How? By thinking on things above and not below. Jesus is in us when we open the door, and let him in our hearts. When he is knocking on the door to our hearts (Revelation chapter 3 verses 19-20). We are In Christ when we do the will of our Heavenly Father who sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, because God (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) loved us. If this is a place of rest and restoration, I say it’s home. Home is another name for dwelling. Is Jesus your dwelling place?\nThis program covers the following Scriptures from the Amplified Classic version (AMPC): John 15:1; John 15:4; Revelation 3:19-20; Philippians 4:7-9; John 1:1-4; Proverbs 4:20-22.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "[Effects of integrin beta1 on phycocyanin inhibiting proliferation of K562 cells].\nDepartment of Hematology, The Second Hospital, Hebei Medical Univercity, Shijiazhuang 050000, China.\nThis study was purposed to investigate the effect of phycocyanin at different concentration on proliferation of K562 cells, to detect the changes of integrin beta1 expression and intracellular focal adhesion kinase (FAK) gene expression on the surface K562 cells treated with phycocyanin, and to explore the possible mechanism of integrin beta1 effect on phycocyanin inhibiting proliferation of K562 cells.\nThe expression level of integrin beta1 on the surface of K562 cells was evaluated by flow cytometry (FCM); the growth of K562 cells treated with phycocyanin was measured by MTT assay; the expression level of FAK mRNA was analyzed by relatively quantitative RT-PCR after four-day culture of K562 cells with phycocyanin of 40 microg/ml, 80 microg/ml and 160 microg/ml, respectively.\nThe results showed that integrin beta1 expression on the surface of K562 cells was significantly higher than that in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNC) from normal subjects. Phycocyanin could not change the level of integrin beta1 expression.\nPhycocyanin could increase the expression of FAK gene on K562 cells and inhibit the proliferation of K562 cells. It is concluded that phycocyanin can inhibit the proliferation of K562 cells through enhancing the conjunction of cell stroma with integrin beta1 on K562 cell surface, up-regulating the expression level of FAK gene in K562 cells, restoring the signaling pathway of proliferation inhibition mediated by integrin beta1.\nThe possible mechanism of phycocyanin in the proliferation inhibition of K562 cells is to increase the expression of FAK gene.\nThe phycocyanin may be considered as a potential agent for inhibition of cancer cell proliferation.\n- [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Title: Proud to be American: Inspiring Stories of Patriotism and Unity\nIn a world full of chaos and division, there is something truly special about being an American. A sense of American pride runs deep in the veins of its people, who are united in love for their country and each other. From the Founding Fathers to the men and women serving in the military today, American pride has been a driving force behind the country’s success and resiliency.\nOne of the most inspiring aspects of American pride is that it brings people together regardless of background or beliefs. In times of crisis, Americans have always pulled together, demonstrating unwavering patriotism and unity. Take, for example, the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, when Americans from all walks of life came together to support each other and demonstrate their resilience in the face of tragedy. The phrase “united we stand, divided we fall” has never been truer than in those moments of national unity.\nAmerican pride isn’t just about flags and fireworks; It is about the values that define our nation. Freedom, democracy, and equality are at the core of American pride, inspiring generations to strive for a better future for all. The American dream is a powerful concept that inspires individuals to work hard and overcome obstacles to achieve their goals. It is this inspiration and determination that has made America a beacon of hope for people around the world.\nBut American pride goes beyond just words and values; It is a way of life. From mom-and-pop shops on Main Street to the grand monuments of Washington, D.C., American pride is on display everywhere you look. The American flag, with its Stars and Stripes, serves as a powerful symbol of unity and freedom, reminding us of the sacrifices made by all those who came before us to secure our freedom.\nAs Americans, we have a duty to uphold our nation’s ideals and continue the legacy of pride and unity that has defined us for centuries. Whether it’s volunteering in our communities, serving in the military, or simply being a good neighbor, each of us has a role to play in preserving the American dream for future generations.\nUltimately, American pride is a powerful force that unites us as a nation and inspires us to strive for greatness. From the courage of our Founders to the resilience of our people in times of crisis, the stories of American pride are as diverse and inspiring as the people who created this great nation. Let us all be proud of our country and work together to preserve the values that have made America the land of the free and the home of the brave. Proud to be an American, now and always.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Written by Margo Jefferson\nAudiobook read by Robin Miles\nPublished by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Pantheon on September 8th 2015\nGenres: Biography & Autobiography, Cultural Heritage, African American Studies\nSource: public library via Overdrive\nAt once incendiary and icy, mischievous and provocative, celebratory and elegiac—here is a deeply felt meditation on race, sex, and American culture through the prism of the author’s rarefied upbringing and education among a black elite concerned with distancing itself from whites and the black generality while tirelessly measuring itself against both. Born in upper-crust black Chicago—her father was for years head of pediatrics at Provident, at the time the nation’s oldest black hospital; her mother was a socialite—Margo Jefferson has spent most of her life among (call them what you will) the colored aristocracy, the colored elite, the blue-vein society. Since the nineteenth century they have stood apart, these inhabitants of Negroland, “a small region of Negro America where residents were sheltered by a certain amount of privilege and plenty.” Reckoning with the strictures and demands of Negroland at crucial historical moments—the civil rights movement, the dawn of feminism, the fallacy of postracial America—Jefferson brilliantly charts the twists and turns of a life informed by psychological and moral contradictions. Aware as it is of heart-wrenching despair and depression, this book is a triumphant paean to the grace of perseverance.\nYou may have noticed if you’ve been around here awhile that I read a lot of memoir. It’s been my nonfiction genre of preference for quite a long time, and a couple of years ago I committed myself to being a better reader of memoir. (I’m still noncommittal about ever writing it myself, but if I ever do attempt writing anything longer than blog-post length, it will probably be memoir in one way or another.) Some of the most interesting memoirs I’ve read have been those written by people I was previously unfamiliar with. Journalist and critic Margo Jefferson falls into that category, and so does much of the ground covered in her memoir Negroland.\nJefferson is a second-generation member of the “Black Elite”–the educated professional class of African-Americans–the second daughter of a Chicago pediatrician and his socialite wife. She’s also a product of the Baby Boom, and her place in a minority within a minority within the largest demographic cohort of the twentieth century allows for unique perspective.\nIn some respects, Negroland takes an unconventional and loose approach to the memoir form. It opens with some background about the upper echelon of the American Black community and the standards it cultivated to set itself above and apart. It’s a history lesson that will likely be new to many outside those reaches, and while it offers useful context, it’s not particularly personal. In fact, one of the most striking things about Negroland is that in spots, for a memoir, it comes across as surprisingly impersonal. Tracy K. Smith noted in her review of Negroland for the New York Times:\n“Jefferson’s memoir pushes against the boundaries of its own genre…(I)t quickly swerves into social history; a good 30 pages of the book’s opening are dedicated to defining and chronicling the rise of America’s black upper class.\n“Such unwillingness to abide by the conventions of genre also informs Jefferson’s approach to herself as the vehicle of her story. She remains conscious, possibly even suspicious, of the two roles she has signed on to play: character in and curator of these many poignant memories. At times, this self-consciousness urges Jefferson to announce to the reader when and why a passage’s train of thought or tactical approach will abruptly change…(T)hese willful shifts that advertise their own motives are effective because they beg to be read as a corrective to a lifetime of enforced and internalized decorum.”\nJefferson recounts being brought up with a set of community standards–for achievement, behavior, appearance–that demanded even more than those of the conservative white-majority culture of the 1950s. Acceptance by that culture mattered to the Black Elite because it afforded certain (if limited) privileges, but setting itself above and apart from less-privileged Blacks mattered at least as much, if not more. The Elites wanted to be a motivational example for Blacks lower down the socioeconomic ladder; they also cared deeply about holding onto their hard-won status and not being dragged down.\nPerhaps “personal journalism” would be a good way to categorize Negroland–I can’t honestly say it fully engaged me as memoir. In part, that could be because its stylistic quirks would come across more effectively in print than in the audiobook format I read, although Robin Miles’ narration felt like a good fit with the material. That said, I really connected with Negroland as social history, and I’d suggest approaching it from that angle, Jefferson’s discussions of class and caste within the Black community and intraracial hierarchies linked to skin tone and hair type gave me some new insights into respectability politics, and she’s been part of a Black lived experience that doesn’t get as much media exposure as some others do.\nI’m a chronicler of Negroland, a participant-observer, an elegist, dissenter and admirer; sometime expatriate, ongoing interlocutor.\nI call it Negroland because I still find “Negro” a word of wonders, glorious and terrible. A word for runaway slave posters and civil rights proclamations; for social constructs and street corner flaunts. A tonal-language word whose meaning shifts as setting and context shift, as history twists, lurches, advances, and stagnates. As capital letters appear to enhance its dignity; as other nomenclatures arise to challenge its primacy.\nI call it Negroland because “Negro” dominated our history for so long; because I lived with its meanings and intimations for so long; because they were essential to my first discoveries of what race meant, or, as we now say, how race was constructed.\nFor nearly two hundred years we in Negroland have called ourselves all manner of things. Like\nthe colored aristocracy\nthe colored elite\nthe colored 400\nthe blue vein society\nthe big families, the old families, the old settlers, the pioneers\nNegro society, black society\nthe Negro, the black, the African-American upper class or elite.\nI was born in 1947, and my generation, like its predecessors, was taught that since our achievements received little notice or credit from white America, we were not to discuss our faults, lapses, or uncertainties in public.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Book 1: Time Travel Rescue: Escape From the 21st Century\nLiving in a wasteland that is beyond repair becomes too much for Rick who, like most of those left on the planet in 2212, works for the Big Five mega corporation. A chance, online meeting with a young hacker named Chen leads to a perilous journey through a wormhole back to the 21st century where he and Chen hope to set things right before they go terribly wrong. Unbeknownst to Rick is Chen’s propensity for violence and her murderous exploits complicate an otherwise altruistic mission.\nBook 2: Moon Rescue: Escape From the Dome\nWith his mission only partly accomplished, Rick and his new love Jill escape to the Moon and a nascent habitat under a multi-billion dollar dome. Their pioneering spirit pays off for a while, but the problems of humans accompany them to the Moon and soon a crisis of life and death consumes them. A respiratory plague, the constant fight for resources and now a serial killer all share the manufactured air. Lt. Jenna McNamara draws the short straw and must recruit Rick to bring peace and health back to the dome.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Oxidative stress (OS), a state characterized by an imbalance between pro-oxidant molecules including reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and antioxidant defenses, has been identified to play a key role in the pathogenesis of subfertility in both males and females. The adverse effects of OS on sperm quality and functions have been well documented. In females, on the other hand, the impact of OS on oocytes and reproductive functions remains unclear. This imbalance between pro-oxidants and antioxidants can lead to a number of reproductive diseases such as endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and unexplained infertility. Pregnancy complications such as spontaneous abortion, recurrent pregnancy loss, and preeclampsia, can also develop in response to OS. Studies have shown that extremes of body weight and lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and recreational drug use can promote excess free radical production, which could affect fertility. Exposures to environmental pollutants are of increasing concern, as they too have been found to trigger oxidative states, possibly contributing to female infertility. This article will review the currently available literature on the roles of reactive species and OS in both normal and abnormal reproductive physiological processes. Antioxidant supplementation may be effective in controlling the production of ROS and continues to be explored as a potential strategy to overcome reproductive disorders associated with infertility. However, investigations conducted to date have been through animal or in vitro studies, which have produced largely conflicting results. The impact of OS on assisted reproductive techniques (ART) will be addressed, in addition to the possible benefits of antioxidant supplementation of ART culture media to increase the likelihood for ART success. Future randomized controlled clinical trials on humans are necessary to elucidate the precise mechanisms through which OS affects female reproductive abilities, and will facilitate further explorations of the possible benefits of antioxidants to treat infertility.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I wasn’t going to do this, but I decided to share one last unedited excerpt before Reclaiming What Is Mine is released. This is one of the many sexy scenes between Asia and Bryon, which I love so much! Also, I should be receiving the cover soon. Once I do, I will be revealing it to you all.\nBut in the mean time, check out the excerpt and tell me what you think. 🙂\nBefore heading to our destination, Bryon needed to stop by his place to change. I really didn’t want to, but I figured it was for a quick minute.\nI already knew he was rolling in dough from the car he was driving, which was a Lexus RC F, but I definitely knew he was when we approached the outside of his condo.\nOnce we walked inside, I immediately became in awe over the beautiful earth tones on the walls, exquisite paintings hanging throughout the huge square footage, and comfortable furniture in the living room and even the bedrooms. He was a man of great taste.\nI looked over to the kitchen and saw him sitting on the barstool staring at me.\n“I can see you took a liking to my place.”\n“Why wouldn’t I? It’s amazing.”\n“Did you design everything yourself?”\n“Yeah, but I did have a little help from my mom.”\n“I can see there was a woman’s touch with some of the colors. Regardless, it’s beautiful.”\n“I’m about to change, but make yourself comfortable. There’s food and drinks in the fridge and you can watch anything on the TV.”\nHe smiled again and went to his bedroom. I went to the couch and took the remote off the ottoman to turn on the TV. I began flipping the channels and stopped on MTV to watch The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I turned to grab my phone when my eyes stopped at Bryon’s room. His door was partly opened as he was taking off his dress shirt. I saw the tattoo of a dragon on his back as he turned. I started to breath heavily at well his chest looked. That running definitely paid off as his body was well defined and beautiful. My eyes lowered to his pants which he was taking off. I bit my lip, as that spark in me came back between my legs. I was acting like a damn perv staring at him getting dressed, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He was sexy, which was giving me all types of sexual feelings that I haven’t had in months.\nHe was putting on a pair of shorts when he finally looked up and our eyes locked. He gave the most alluring smile that had my pussy going wild. Damn, I needed to find a way to release myself.\nI quickly looked away and crossed my legs together. I heard footsteps as he returned into the living room.\n“Did you like the presentation I was delivering?”\nMy face became flushed as he smiled. “You did that on purpose?”\n“Not like I was trying to, but I figured you were going to sneak a peek. Hell, I definitely would had if the situation was reversed.”\nI couldn’t speak when he walked over to me.\n“You are so damn cute. Let me rephrase that, you are fucking sexy, especially when you look so innocent.”\nMy heart began to skip as his eyes went to my body. He touched a strand of hair that was near my cheek before lingering to my shoulder.\n“I don’t know if I should be saying this to you, but I was thinking about you last night. How beautiful you looked when I first saw you.”\n“Why when you just met me?”\n“You’re the type of woman that no man shouldn’t ever forget about.”\nHis hand went to my thighs while his breath was on my neck. My body shuddered from how close he was to me. He leaned over and his lips were tickling my skin.\n“We better go.” He whispered, which made me disappointed.\nHe stared into my eyes again before getting up and going to the counter to get his keys. I continued to sit as I felt too weak to move. I took several deep breaths and slowly stood up. My panties were soak from my own wetness from his touch. I couldn’t believe I was acting this way. That I was attracted to another man that wasn’t my husband.\nI believed if Bryon wanted me right then and there, I would had let him. That was the part that scared me the most.\nHope you all are enjoying your morning so far!! Here is another excerpt from Reclaiming What Is Mine, which will be released independently after No Other Love 3. It should be available towards the end of next month or early September. I’m really excited about this book because it’s sort of going back to my roots as a romance author, which I absolutely love.\nThis scene is when Asia and Bryon meet for the first time. This excerpt is unedited (the story will be going to my editor soon). Enjoy! 🙂\nAfter deciding on where to go, I ended up at the local coffeehouse near the mall. I went in and order a latte before searching for a seat that was near an outlet. Once I got my drink, I found an empty table at the back when I almost bump into someone. My latte almost spilled on him, but he caught the cup just in time. I pulled up the strap to my laptop bag and stared at him. He was gorgeous. His pecan-colored skin gave a healthy glow, which was uncommon for a man. I stared into his light brown eyes, which looked warm and inviting. His lips gave a sexy smile as he handed back my latte.\n“I think this is yours.” He said.\n“Yes, thank you. That was a close one.”\n“I should had been paying attention. I was trying to get the seat before you did.”\n“Oh, if you want it you can have it.”\n“No, it’s cool. I can find somewhere else to sit.”\nI smiled. “There’s four chairs; since it’s crowded, why don’t you sit with me.”\nThe guy nodded and smiled. “Cool.”\nWe both sat down and I took out my computer. I found the outlet and quickly plugged in my computer before it turned off. That’s one of the issues I have with my laptop. It could be fully charged but I still need the charger plugged in for it to work. It’s raggedy, but it gets the job done.\nI glanced up and saw him looking at me. I gave a shy smile and looked at my computer.\n“I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Bryon.” He said while extending his hand.\n“Asia.” I replied and accepted his handshake.\n“So, looks like you’re working. What do you do?”\n“I’m an author.”\n“Really? And you don’t have another job?”\n“No, not at the moment, anyway.”\n“Evidentially, you must be doing well for yourself if you don’t. I heard authors don’t make that much.”\n“Some do, but not all.”\n“I heard you can have a bit of inspiration at coffeehouses.” He said.\nI smiled. “What do you do?”\n“I own an advertising company. I help promote a lot of local businesses, including this place.”\nI gave a shocked smile. “Really?”\n“Yeah. They give me free coffee every time I come here.”\n“They should if you’re bringing in crowds like this.”\n“I can’t take all of the credit. They serve some really good coffee. What you working on?”\nI looked up from my computer and smiled. “It’s kind of top secret, but hopefully my publisher likes it. I kind of need to redeem myself from my last story I submitted to them.”\n“It was that bad?”\n“Not to me, but for them, I think they were looking for something grittier.”\nBryon nodded. “I think this is the best place to get some inspiration.”\n“Believe me, I rather be at my own place, but I can’t do that right now.”\nI definitely wasn’t going into details about my personal life. That one I would have to keep under wraps.\n“It’s complicated right now.”\n“Oh, you don’t want to talk about it.”\n“I just met you a minute ago, so no.”\n“No problem; I understand.”\nI began working on where I left off with my story. After a minute of typing, I looked up and saw Bryon staring at me.\n“Is there a problem?”\nHe smiled. “No, not at all.”\nI looked back at my computer, feeling a little shy at the moment. I don’t know why, but he was making me feel something that I haven’t felt in a long time.\nHi everyone!! Besides working on the No Other Love series, I also finished up a WIP titled Reclaiming What Is Mine. This will be a standalone novel which involves a woman named Asia, who is trying to make a fresh start with her life. During her journey, she meets Bryon, who is not only sweet and charming, but understands her for the person that she is and wants to become. There is one problem: Asia is married.\nWith this story, a lot of situations will be discussed, but the most important element is romance. For Asia, despite the fact that she was married, she felt that was the one thing that was missing in her life. As for Bryon, he never been in love, so when he meets Asia, the entire concept changes for him, making him a different person.\nHere is the prologue to the story, in which Asia is trying to begin her new life, which erupts into a confrontation between Bryon and Asia’s husband, Dwight.\nGrowing up, my mom always told me that life could be unpredictable. Boy, was she right. Never in my 27 years did I expect my life to become so complicated. I wished my mom was still here so I could talk to her, because I really need her advice right now. She was the voice of reason and gave such great advice.\nI picked up my suitcase and looked around at the room that my husband and I shared for the past six months. Although I should feel sad about leaving, a part of me was actually excited. I haven’t been in my own place in years, so I was looking forward to going to it and not having to hear anyone’s nagging. If I did, I’m sure I’ll be getting ready to stab someone soon. And I’m not a violent person, but for the past few months, I definitely was tempted to be.\nI was putting a few things into a bag when the front door opened and my husband walked in. He looked happy, but once he saw me with my suitcase, his smile immediately turned into a frown.\n“What are you doing, Asia?”\n“I thought you were going to be home late.”\n“Don’t change the subject. What are you doing with your suitcase? What’s going on?”\n“As if you didn’t know. What did you think, Dwight that I was going to come back and everything was going to be okay? I can’t do this anymore. I tried to make things work between us, but just can’t.”\n“Can’t what? Asia, I know things has been rough lately and I’m mostly the blame for it, but I promised you before we moved in here that I was going to get us back on track. I was going to get us to where we were before everything happened.”\n“Are you? You have caused more issues than trying to fix the ones we had! I’ve been hearing that for the past 10 years and nothing has changed. It’s like a broken record Dwight and I’m tired of it. You have lie and cheated your way for the past few months and I can’t deal it with anymore.”\n“So you’re leaving me? Where are you going to go?”\n“I have somewhere I can go.” I said. I pushed past my husband and went to the door. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to face him.\n“So you’re going to throw our marriage away because of what happened? I know I cheated and I’m sorry. I regret what I have done. As for our financial problems, I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t contributing, Asia.”\n“I’ve been doing more in this relationship than you have. I’m not going to continue living this way. I refuse to. That’s why it’s best if we just walked away. ” I said and shrugged myself from his grasp.\nI went to the door, praying that my ride was waiting for me somewhere else. I didn’t want him near the house in case Dwight showed up, in which he did. I didn’t need an altercation going down. If one did happened, that would had been another thing Dwight’s aunt would be blaming me for.\nI walked to the kitchen as Dwight was yelling my name. I continued, not stopping to acknowledge him. If I did, I probably wouldn’t go through with my plan. Even though Dwight and I are having a rocky marriage, I was still in love with him. We have been together for half of our lives and it hurts to know that things has come to this, but I can’t continue being unhappy. I have gave him so many chances to change, but nothing never happened. To me, the line has drawn and it was time to move on.\nI looked down the street and saw Bryon’s car parked. I really didn’t want to go because I know Dwight would follow me; but if I didn’t, Bryon would come to me, so I didn’t have a choice. I went to the car and saw him sitting in the driver’s side. He was smiling but later gave a concerned look when he saw the sad look I had.\n“It’s Dwight. He knows.”\n“Get in.” He said.\nI quickly put my suitcase in the backseat and hopped in beside him. Before I could close the door, Dwight was near the car, giving me and Bryon a heated glance.\n“I should had known! So you’re leaving me for him?! Are you kidding me?”\n“Please Dwight, do not make a scene.”\n“I knew something was going on between you two after that night. How long has this been going on?!”\n“You’re the one to talk since you were cheating on your wife with your co-worker.” Bryon said.\nBefore I could say anything else, Bryon got out of the car and went to Dwight.\n“Listen, we don’t want any problems. Just let Asia go so she can figure things out, okay.”\n“This is between me and my wife, so I suggest you back the hell up.” Dwight said and shoved him.\nBryon grabbed Dwight by his shirt and threw him against his car, causing it to shake. The two began hitting each other, which was making me a little anxious. I didn’t want them to start fighting, because with their tempers, someone will possibly end up dead.\n“Stop it, you two!” I yelled as I tried to break it up. They definitely didn’t need to fight in the neighborhood because one of these neighbors will be quick to call the police.\nByron sucker-punched Dwight, but Dwight shook it off as he threw Bryon onto the ground. I was trying to push Dwight off of Bryon as he had him pinned on the ground, when his elbow went across my chin, knocking the wind out of me. Before I knew it, my body was heading to the ground, knocking me out cold from the contact.\nMy life was already a roller coaster before this night, but now, things were even more complicated. I never imagined I would be leaving my husband for another man, but with the way things has been, it was only a matter of time before I walked away…\nA release date has not be set for this book, as I’m deciding on whether it will be an indie book or if it will go through my publisher. Regardless, it will be released after No Other Love 3, so it will be soon. Check back here to find out regarding the official release date.\nNo Other Love is LIVE on Amazon!!! You can 1-Click for $0.99 or can read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!\nAs mentioned in previous posts, this is the spin-off to the Love, Life, & Happiness series and will center around Cheryl’s brother Kevin. Find out how he handles his marriage to Jennifer and the return of his college best friend Carla in the first part of this hot new series.\nKevin Thompson always lived life straight by the book. He got a great job, married his college sweetheart, Jennifer and together they’re raising a wonderful son.\nEven though Kevin is living the picture perfect life, he’s starting to feel that something is missing. His marriage is slowly falling apart leaving him in a compromising position. To make matters even more complicated, he unexpectedly runs into an old college friend, Carla Windsor. Carla just happens to also be friends with Jennifer.\nWhen secrets are exposed between the three, will it destroy everything Kevin has worked hard for? Or, will he see this as his way out of the life that he once cherished?\nHi everyone! One of the things I love to do is give background on my stories. I want readers to know what was going through my mind while writing a particular story as well as the ideas that were created. That’s why I share particular things that you all would not had known when a story is released. And that is how my “10 Things You Didn’t Know About” feature was created. 🙂\nI had already done one for the In Love With My Best Friend series, but I never created one from the Love, Life, & Happiness series nor for Something Just Ain’t Right. For the ILWMBF series, you can find on my blog through the link below:\nWith the Love, Life, & Happiness series, there were so many things that I loved about each book. It not only provided romance, but also friendship and a sense of family. It was a series that gave a breath of fresh air to the books that we are currently reading nowadays. To me, it wasn’t your typical New Adult series, which I truly loved (and still love), and I think you all did too. 🙂\nNow, starting from #10 to #1, here are the reasons you may not know about the books or what led me to write the series:\n10. Shaw University is a fictional college: Just like Baker is a fictional town. When I first wrote this series almost 11 years ago, I was going to use the college I attended, University of Houston, as the backdrop for the “crew,” but I decided to make everything fictional and thought up Shaw. I still consider UH the inspiration, though.\n9. The Tunnel was an actual club in Houston: I remember going to The Tunnel during my college years, which was sort of a huge club back in the day. I used that as another inspiration for the crew to hang out at.\n8. The “Crew” are actually my friends: Well, sort of. When I wrote the original story, I actually used my friends as inspiration to some of the characters. Although the stories were strictly fictional, the personalities of some of the characters were depicted from my actual friends (and even some family members). *shrugs*\n7. Some of the scenes from Love Always were taken from real life events: I revealed during a book discussion that some of the scenes in Love Always were taken from real life events. I found out I was pregnant during my last year of college and I did have those awkward moments going into class (especially trying to fit into one of those desks). Although I did not go into labor in class (I was actually about to start my last semester when I had my son), the labor and delivery scenes were REAL! And yes, my husband was too nervous to cut the umbilical cord, but that was to be expected.\n6. Issac’ s character was based off of an ex: This goes back to the original story. If you read the original, you all know that Riana was with Issac before she met Shawn. Back in 2004, I couldn’t find anyone that could fit the description of Isaac, especially being someone that was a jerk, so I thought of my ex. I continued to use him in the current series as well. By the way, both scenarios from the original and current versions were strictly fiction.\n5. My mom was the inspiration for Melanie: When I wrote the scenes between Riana and Melanie, I thought about the talks I had with my mom and the bond that she and I had when I was growing up. Those scenes were a little hard to write because during the time I wrote Love Unbroken in 2011, my mom passed away from breast cancer. There were times when I didn’t even think I was going to continue, but I did, and I’m proud of the finished outcome.\n4. The Way We Were was supposed to been the final book in the series: There were only going to be four books in the LLH series, but when I done a poll on my blog about which book readers wanted to read next, an overwhelming response wanted Love Unbroken part 2.I decided to change the name to Love Always and it showed not only Riana and Shawn maturing into young adults, but it changed everyone in the entire series.\n3. The poems written in Love Unbroken were actually real: One of the things readers loved about Love Unbroken were the poems; those poems were actual poems that my husband wrote to me when we first started dating. At first, I wasn’t going to share them, but since the book was sort of inspired by my relationship with my husband, I decided to (with his permission, of course).\n2. The Walkers: Since my husband is the inspiration for Shawn, that probably had some of you wondering who is the inspiration for Marcus. Now, my husband does have a brother, who is four years older than him, but he is not Marcus. In fact, there’s a little of my husband in Marcus as well (of course not the womanizer part). Besides Shawn and Issac, the other male characters are not modeled by anyone I know; they are just characters that I created.\n1. Love Unbroken is actually a true story- Sort of : The first story in the series provided a lot of mixed reviews, mainly because some readers felt the story was not realistic. To a certain extent, the story was made up: From the prom scene to the “winter wonderland,” those scenes were based off of my imagination; but the Open Mics at The Tunnel, those were actually real. During several interviews, I mentioned that this story was based off of how my husband and I met almost 14 years ago. I was in college and met him through a mutual friend (sounds familiar). He is a poet and I have watched him perform during Open Mic nights throughout the city, which were always fun. He can also sing, and he has sung for me during several occasions, which made me include those scenes in the story as well. He never sung for me outside the Galleria, though, lol. There are other scenes in the story that are real, but I’ll let you all figure out those for yourself. 🙂\nSo, since my husband is Shawn, does that make me Riana? Maybe so. 🙂 And no, I can’t sing. I was in my elementary school choir, but that doesn’t count, lol.\nBonus Tidbit: Redemption was a random story: I was going to end the series once I was finished with Love Always, but after having a great conversation with a reader, the concept of Nathan having his own story was brought up. She picked up throughout the series how Nathan’s personality was and felt there was something more with his story and the things he has done to Riana. She felt that Nathan should have his own story so he could tell his side to everything that has occurred with Ri, Shawn, and with his parents; and that was how Redemption was born.\nSo, there you have it, the 10 things you never knew about the LLH series. I really hope you all enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed writing it. Although the series is over, get ready for the spin-off with Kevin, Carla, and Jennifer, because their story will be a juicy read. Not only that, but you get to revisit all of the couples in the LLH series! I can’t let go of these characters, so I’m glad that I’m able to continue writing about them and for you all to continue to read about them. 🙂\nHappy Release Day to Té Russ! Her new release, A Spring Affair, is now available!!\nBy the way, I’m in love with this cover! Simply beautiful. 🙂\nThough they’ve yet to meet face to face, Maya has had a secret crush on Xavier, the man who owns a wine café that the winery she works for distributes to. But being that Xavier is involved, she’d never reveal her feelings.\nXavier’s previous relationship has left him wrung out emotionally. Needing to get away for awhile, he decides to drive to Napa and visit the winery that produces one of the best selling wines at his café. And finally get the opportunity to meet the woman with the sweet little voice.\nOne email and four little words stands to flip their love lives on its head and when Maya and Xavier meet for the first time, both are blindsided by the attraction they feel for one another.\nSpringtime and wine make a beautiful backdrop for two people on a romantic journey to love…\nMaya stood there in the wine cave staring at Xavier.\n“‘We’,” she said. “As in…you and me?”\nShe watched at the corner of his mouth quirked up slightly, before he released a deep chuckle.\n“Yeah,” he said. “That’s the idea, unless there is some rule that says you can’t drink right now?”\n“My boss doesn’t mind if we taste the wines along with our tourist, as long as we use the spittoon. But it is after hours and everyone has left for the day.”\n“So what do you say?” he asked with a smile. “All these years we’ve talked on the phone and emailed each other, it would be nice to sit down and finally get to know more about you.”\nShe wanted to get to know him better as well.\nThen why are you hesitating? her mind screamed.\nShe looked over her shoulder at the exit, then back at the table.\n“I’m sorry,” he said when she still didn’t answer. He looked at his watch. “I suppose now I’m being presumptuous. Here I am asking you to sit down and share this wine and food with me and technically you’re suppose to be off the clock already. I didn’t think that maybe you already had plans with your husband.”\nMaya grinned at Xavier’s inquisitive tone.\nIt was more than a little obvious that he was fishing for her relationship status. Grinning, she held up her hand to reveal her bare ring finger. “I’m not married.”\n“Boyfriend?” he corrected.\nShe shook her head, and she felt her grin widen. “I’m single.”\n“Then I’m not stealing you from anyone important.”\n“It doesn’t appear that way.” Finally Maya smiled and said, “Sure I would love to sit with you.”\nThey moved over to the table and Xavier held a chair out for Maya. As he pushed her chair in after she sat, she felt his finger inadvertently brush against her shoulder. It amazed her that even the lightest touch from this man made her body come alive.\nShe expected him to go around and sit on the other side of the table, but was surprised when he pulled out the chair right next to hers and sat down.\n“So, what do we have here?” Xavier asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.\nTrying to ignore their knees touching under the table, Maya pointed to a white wine.\n“This is a chardonnay, much like the one you tasted from the barrel. Of course this one is ready for consumption,” she said with a smile.\nThey both reached for the bottle at the same time and she stopped as Xavier’s large hand grabbed it first.\n“Do you mind?” he asked.\n“By all means.” She held up her glass so he could pour some, then he filled his own glass.\n“I assume we’re pairing this with the brie cheese over there?” he guessed as he sat the bottle back down.\n“You’re absolutely right. It’s actually from a local cheesemonger not too far from here.” She cut them both a small slice of cheese. “You know your pairings.”\n“I would hope so, otherwise business would be terrible at my café.”\n“What made you decide to open a wine café?” Maya asked. She had always been curious. “Why not just open a wine shop?”\n“Because there is a wine shop every few blocks. Not to mention you can get wine from just about any store. With the wine café, people can also experience the joy of learning about wines as well as different foods that pair well with them.”\nShe loved his answer. And it was obvious that he was a true wine lover. As they went through their flight of wines, tasting several varieties, she watched as he described each one in great detail, as well as how each item of food was enhanced by the wines.\nAs they finished up their tasting, Xavier wiped his mouth and sat his napkin down on the plate in front of him.\n“That was amazing. I can’t thank you enough again for doing all of this.”\n“Even though it was meant for you and someone else?” she asked sheepishly.\nXavier turned and looked Maya directly in the eyes. “If it was meant for me to be here with someone else, I would have been here with someone else,” he said with a self-assured tone.\nThere was something in his voice and the look in his eyes that made Maya’s heart race.\nShe broke their eye contact and stood, gathering up the dishes. “I still feel terrible. Setting up this whole romantic scene must have brought up some strange feelings considering–”\n“Maya.” Xavier stood, gently grabbing her arm, to stop her from her task of cleaning. “The only thing I’ve felt tonight is joy at spending time with you. In fact…” he removed his hand from her arm and hooked his thumbs into the loops of his jeans. “…I was wondering since the winery is closed tomorrow, do you have any plans tomorrow?”\n“Uh, no. I don’t have any plans tomorrow. You’re not going to visit anymore wineries?”\n“I visited all of the ones on my list yesterday and today. This was the final stop for me. I wanted to save the best for last,” he said, and she felt like he was referring to more than just the winery.\n“I know this may seem fast, and forward. And I’m kind of out of practice with all of this, but…I’ve enjoyed our time together today and I want to see you again. So I was wondering if you would have lunch with me tomorrow, before I have to head back to Sacramento.”\nOh. My. God.\nAfter years of fantasizing about this man she’d never before met, he was better than anything she could have imagined. And for all of those years, there was a road block in her dreams by the name of Darby. Now Darby was out of the picture and Xavier was showing interest in her. It was the stuff romance novels were made of.\nShe remembered what her sister had said about jumping at the opportunity if it presented itself with Xavier. Well…she’d been a little more cruder, but still…her overall advice was on point. And Maya wasn’t going to let a chance she’d secretly been wishing for, for several years now, pass her by.\n“Lunch with you tomorrow would be great.”\nGrowing up an introvert, Té Russ found solace in literary arts at an early age. She found reading to be a vehicle to broader horizons and writing a form of self-expression. She began writing love stories in her adolescent years as a way to expel her youthful thoughts of love into words. Since then she has gone from writing stories and thoughts of love in journals to attending college for journalism and falling in love, which has allowed those youthful words of love to blossom into a series of stories in her romance novels. Though she has an immense appreciation for the sheer smell that books collectively exert, she also has found balance to her introverted nature with adrenaline inducing activities. So if she does not have her nose pressed deeply into a book or her pen ticking through a pad, you may also find this mother of three baking some tasty treats, jumping out of airplanes, cheering her husband on at the top of her lungs at MMA fights, buzzing down the interstate on the back of motorcycles, or kayaking.\nBooks available on Amazon\nCongrats to Cori Williams, whose new book, Frozen Dreams, is now available!\nMy life was perfect. I had everything I wanted, including the love of a man that intended to make all of my dreams come true.\n“…the night my life as I knew it ended.”\nIn the blink of an eye, all I’d once known was ripped away. Suffering in limbo, full of fear and regret, I had only memories and dreams to comfort me, urging me to fight.\n“…marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled…”\nBut they stole it all.\nAwakened to betrayal and pain, I struggle to find a new beginning. Yet the past seeps in, pulling me under. No matter how hard I try to keep my head above water, it threatens to ruin me.\nHow can I really live with my hopes for the future still frozen? And if the ice thaws, will I have the courage to build new dreams?\nAbout the Author:\nI’m a stay at home mom to three crazy kiddos all under the age of five. I’m married to my high school sweetheart and I like to think we’re living our own happily ever after. My contemporary romance’s are all about the happy endings but of course there’s lots of twists, turns, and a whole lot of drama added in. That’s the fun part, right?\n**Warning**These are NOT your mama’s romance novels.\nWeb Page : http://www.authorcoriwilliams.com/\nNewsletter : http://eepurl.com/NfqT1", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "For a very small number of us, Memorial Day can be difficult to grapple with because of the memories and experiences of war and where those experiences fit at home. But for the vast majority of us, Memorial Day can be difficult to grasp because we never had those experiences. Only a very small segment of our population has borne the brunt of the current conflict, and time and distance carries us further and further from previous ones. It all leads us to a place of disconnect from the veterans who carry the memories of our dead. That disconnect can be as difficult to acknowledge as it is to overcome.\nFor our veterans who experienced loss while deployed, Memorial Day takes what is normally an internal emotional process and thrusts it out into the open. This day externalizes the loss into a world that can’t understand, even with the best of intentions, that feeling of loss and what it means. We should all be grateful most of us will never know death as our warriors do. But because we will never know the depth, meaning and purpose of the bond they shared, we will also never know life as they do.\nStruggling to survive together against chaos and death creates a sacred bond between people. It’s an endeavor most of us will never undertake in our modern culture. Living and dying within the sacred confines of that bond takes the two most basic processes of life we should all be able to relate to and sets them apart. When someone lives in that bond, loses someone within that bond, and then comes back to a home void of those bonds, our veterans are not only remembering and mourning the people they lost, they are remembering and mourning what they consider to be the best parts of themselves that also never came home. They rage against the dying of their comrade’s light in a moment, and against the dying of their own light in all the moments that follow. It’s why many veterans miss the war they hated so much.\nWhen people aren’t ready to go, they rage. And when we aren’t ready to let them go we rage. And the young ranks of our military are filled with people who weren’t ready to let go of people who weren’t ready to go. My father raged against the dying of his light. It sounds glorious, but as a son, I wanted the opposite. I wanted to know he was happy and ready and that his last thoughts were good. But he wasn’t. He wanted life, he wanted time and he fought to his very last breath. If my dad raged against the dying of his light at 63 with all he had done and seen, what word even approaches the titanic struggle at 23? At 18? And if I raged against letting him go, having never known the test or struggle of chaos and death, then what can be said of the squad, of the platoon, of the young men and women out of sight, out of mind and outside the wire?\nMemorial Day is a great time for us to take a first step toward that understanding. What can the rest of us do to get past Memorial Day platitudes and lip service on the way to a department store sale or bar-b-que?\nMemorial Day is about people who sacrificed their lives in the service of this country and for most of us, our only connection to that sacrifice is the men and women sent home to us and the families left behind. The men and women who experienced that sacrifice, feel it every day, and can pass along to us who that person was, what their sacrifice meant, and how their loss is felt every day. The best way to remember the men and women who didn’t make it home, is to cherish, love, support, stand by, stand behind, laugh with, cry with, live with, and love the people sent back to us and the families left behind.\nJust be a friend, just be present, enjoy the day, appreciate and remember to help make home feel like home. A deep breath and a moment together with loved ones is worth sacrificing for.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Black Panther #1 has dropped and, tl;dr version remains that it’s fantastic. The much-anticipated debut of writer Ta-Nahisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze is every but as exciting and colorful as readers expected.\nIn case you need more convincing, here’s the top four reasons you need to run to the nearest comic book shop and get yourself a copy:\nT’Challa is an iconic character, and Coates’ portrayal leaves little room for disappointment. In this version, we meet T’Challa as a layered character – he’s dealing with Wakanda being on the highest security alert it’s had in a long time, along with the threat that plagues Wakandan citizens being turned against the King. There’s also conflict with the King’s guard, the Dora Milaje, and constant reference for the “Orphan King” to pass the throne along to new leadership.\nThose familiar with Coates’ writing knew that we would be in for a treat, with his already extraordinary writing that highlights Black identity and cultural experience. But with Black Panther, it’s done on a whole new level.\nThough I’m not the biggest art critic, it doesn’t take a classically trained eye to see that the art in this issue is stunning. The colors and shadows really offet the more serious tones of the story, and adds an especially nice contrast to the more supernatural forces in the story.\nThe Seamless, Effortless Diversity\nYes, yes, the “D” word is making its appearance yet again. Of course, Black Panther has strong connections to Black identity in comics, being the second most-popular Black superhero in mainstream media (the first, of course, goes to one Ororo Munroe). But despite that, reading Black Panther #1 doesn’t give you a stereotypical Black superhero story. It’s the little details that truly made reading this an experience – namely, seeing Black characters in ranging skin tones that went from a rich sienna to a deep ebony. Black women were also front and center in the story, remaining as powerful to the storyline as T’Challa himself.\nIn short? It’s The Perfect Transitional Series\nAlthough T’Challa has been a staple within the comic book world since the 1970s, there are still quite a few fans that have still not gotten around to familiarizing themselves with his story. No worries. Black Panther #1 does a great job of bringing in old fans as well as helping new fans find their way into the franchise. That line can sometimes be difficult to navigate but this issue really helps to ignite that. So if you’re new to comics, this is a great series to start at.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Diet-related Dilated Cardiomyopathy in your Canine Companions\nDiet-related Dilated Cardiomyopathy in your Canine Companions\nOctober 12, 2020\nFVC Executive 2018-2020, OVC Class of 2024\nWhat is Dilated Cardiomyopathy?\nDilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition characterized by the enlargement of the cardiac chambers that debilitates the ability of the heart to pump blood. As the condition progresses, fluid collects in the lungs, and often leads to heart failure (Case, 2018). Certain breeds of dogs, particularly larger ones such as Doberman Pinschers and Great Danes, are genetically predisposed to the condition, whilst others may have increased susceptibility for diet-related reasons. The lack of an important amino acid, taurine, has been associated with the condition but the mechanisms of how this contributes to the development of DCM is still under investigation.\nWhat is Taurine?\nTaurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid synthesized from 2 precursor amino acids, methionine and cysteine, in the central nervous system and liver (Kaplan et al., 2018). It is not incorporated into proteins but is found circulating freely in the blood and in tissues (Case, 2018). It is abundant in the brain, retina, muscle tissues and many other organs. It is also an essential component of bile acids which are released into the gut and used to emulsify (break down into small droplets) fats in food (Hofve, 2019). It is the most abundant free amino acid in the heart and as such, is thought to have a significant role in heart health, including modulation of calcium fluxes necessary for heart muscle contraction (Kaplan et al., 2018).\nDiet, taurine-deficiency, and DCM;\nAlthough large and giant breeds of dogs tend to produce taurine at a slower rate than smaller breeds, endogenous production is normally sufficient. It was thought that because dogs can meet their own taurine needs endogenously, supplementation is not required as is with cats (Case, 2018; Tôrres et al., 2003). In 1995 however, a veterinary cardiologist showed that a subset of dogs with DCM were taurine deficient (Tôrres et al., 2003). Successive studies demonstrated that with supplementation, many of the heart changes could be fixed (Tôrres et al., 2003). Golden retrievers and American cocker spaniels dominated in these cases, suggesting some breed-specific susceptibility to developing taurine-deficiency (Tôrres et al., 2003; Hofve, 2019). Specific lines of spaniels and retrievers cannot make sufficient amounts of taurine and hence, tend to develop a taurine-dependent form of DCM (Hofve, 2019).\nAlthough DCM is one of the most described clinical manifestations of taurine-deficiency, taurine deficiency also is associated with many other conditions including impaired reproduction, growth restriction, central nervous system dysfunction, ocular blindness, and spinal deformities (Kaplan et al., 2018). With the exception of breed-specific weaknesses in taurine synthesis, canines are usually able to synthesize sufficient amounts of taurine when its precursors are present in adequate amounts within the diet (Tôrres et al., 2003). Studies have found an association between taurine deficiency and commercial lamb-meal and rice diets, particularly in dogs typically not prone to developing a taurine-dependent form of DCM (Tôrres et al., 2003). In addition to lamb having a moderately low level of sulfur-containing amino acids, it is theorized that the poor protein digestibility of some lamb-meals limit the bioavailability — the proportion that enters circulation once introduced into the body — of the precursor amino acids required for taurine synthesis and increase the fecal-loss of taurine (Kaplan et al., 2018; Tôrres et al., 2003).\nAdditional investigations into dogs with DCM revealed an increased frequency of diets consisting of kangaroo, duck, buffalo, salmon, bison, venison, lentils, peas, fava beans, tapioca, barley, or chickpeas as the major ingredient (Freeman et al., 2018). These diets are characterized as boutique, exotic and grain-free (BEG) and it may be their grain-free nature that gives rise to the apparent link between this type of low taurine diet and DCM (Freeman et al., 2018). Exotic ingredients have different nutritional characteristics and digestibility than regular chicken diets, influencing the normal metabolism of important nutrients in canines (Freeman et al., 2018).\nIn July 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Centre for Veterinary Medicine launched an investigation into this potential link between the development of canine DCM and grain-free diets. Initial studies found that dogs with DCM that had been eating a grain-free diet, had more advanced heart failure changes compared to those eating a grain-based diet (Freeman et al., 2018). Possible causes that are being explored include absolute deficiency of taurine and other nutrients, altered bioavailability of nutrients and the unintentional addition of toxic ingredients (Freeman et al., 2018). In addition to taurine, BEG diets could also be deficient in important ions and vitamins such as copper, choline, L-carnitine, magnesium, thiamine, vitamin E, or selenium, all of which play important roles in normal cardiac function (Freeman et al., 2018).\nWhat can you do for your pet?\nThe FDA is continuing to investigate the relationship between taurine- deficiency, diet and DCM to identify the causal mechanisms of canine heart failure. Their current recommendations for dogs with suspected diet- associated DCM include changing the diet to one consisting of standard ingredients such as chicken, beef, corn, and wheat (Freeman et al., 2018).\nFor dogs that require special dietary consideration due to other existing medical conditions, a consultation with a veterinary nutritionist is advised to provide the best possible combination of nutrients for your canine companion (Freeman et al., 2018). Additionally, providing taurine supplementation for individuals that are deficient is crucial as it can reverse cardiac changes and improve function (Freeman et al., 2018).\nThe heart of the matter is that no conclusions can be made, as of now, about the underlying dietary mechanisms of taurine-dependent DCM. However, given what is known, it is suggested that owners feed their dogs a diet that contains suitable levels of high-quality, animal-sourced proteins.\nMost health conditions your pet could face can be prevented by exercising good nutrition. Watch what you are feeding your furry companions to give them the best possible quality of life!\nCase, L.P. (2018, August 15). DCM in dogs: taurine’s role in the canine diet. Retrieved from: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/food/dog_food/dcm-in-dogs-taurines-role-in-the-canine-diet/\nFreeman, L.M., Stern, J.A., Fries, R., Adin, D.B. & Rush, J.E. (2018, December 1). Diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs: what do we know? Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association. 253, 1390-1394. doi: 10.2460/javma.253.11.1390\nHofve, J. (2019, November 3). Taurine, dog food, and heart disease in dogs. Retrieved from: https://www.onlynaturalpet.com/blogs/holistic-healthcare-library/taurine-dog-food-and-heart-disease-in-dogs-1\nKaplan, J.L., Stern, J.A., Fascetti, A.J., Larsen, J.A., Skolnik, H., Peddle, G.D., Kienle, R.D., Waxman, A., Cocchiaro, M., Gunther-Harrington, C.T., Klose, T., LaFauci, K., Lefbom B., Lamy, M.M., Malakoff, R., Nishimura, S., Oldach, M., Rosenthal, S., Stauthammer, C., O’Sullivan, L., Visser, L., William, R. & Ontiveros, E. (2018, December 13). Taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy in golden retrievers fed commercial diets. PLOS One. 13(12). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209112\nTôrres, C.L., Backus, R.C., Fascetti, A.J. & Rogers, Q.R. (2003, September 22). Taurine status in normal dogs fed commercial diet associated with taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition. 87(9-10), 359-372. doi: 10.1046/j.1439- 0396.2003.00446.x", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Lady Mina left the room and followed Asten up the stairs to the seats that Heron had prepared for them, elevated above the fighting ring. Arden was already there, sitting beside Heron at the best seats in the house, arms crossed and face set in a scowl.\n“Now, now, don’t be so disappointed, Arden, my friend,” Heron said, laughing as he noted Arden’s facial expression, “How were you supposed to know that Winson damaged his leg in the last fight, and can no longer move the way he used to?”\n“But you knew,” Arden growled, then shook his head, “I suppose I should have known you wouldn’t make a bet unless you were certain.”\n“Which begs the question,” said lady Mina, interrupting their musings, “Why did you agree to this ridiculous bet with Halifax?”\nHeron turned to her with a gentle smile on his refined face, but in his eyes, she observed the shrewd calculations he was known for. “I made a bet because I am certain, my dear, what else is there to say?”\nShe sat down beside him, while Asten took his place behind them. Although the young man was obviously trusted by Halifax, none of them saw any reasons to treat him like anything other than an errand boy.\n“If that is all you’ve got, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed today,” she said, accepting a cup of wine, presented to her by the staff, dressed in the same dark and green colors as in the gambling house above.\nHeron had built his fighting ring below the place of his business, making these fights take place literally underground, as well as figuratively. Lady Mina took a sip of her wine, which was an exquisite red — Heron always did have good taste — and looked down into the circular ring below, currently being prepared by other staff.\nThe fight that had ended moments before had been brutal, which was evident from the amount of blood the cleaners had cover with fresh sand.\n“You don’t seem to like him very much, this Halifax,” Heron noted, following her gaze to the ring, “And yet, I detect a note of worry in you. Have our ice-queen gone soft?”\nShe glared at him and scoffed. In response, Heron just gave her one of those scrutinizing glances that made you certain he was looking right through you. In the end, she decided it was better to deflect his attention, rather than meet it head on.\n“If I am worried, it is not for him, but for us.”\n“Oh? Do tell.”\nShe looked back down to the ring, where the preparations were being finalized. “Tell me, Heron,” she began, her gaze distant, and voice monotone, “Do you believe in fate?”\n“Of course,” the man laughed, “I am businessman. Fate is my business, after all.”\nHe shrugged. “Business is all about risk and reward, just like gambling. I play smart, keep an eye on the odds, and take the necessary risk required. If I keep my wits sharp, I am rewarded with more wealth than I risked. Similarly, fate rewards those who invest money, time, and people in the right places at the right time; thus, one might say that business is a game of fate.\n“I see. I suppose that is one way of putting it.”\n“Why do you ask, My Lady?”\nShe kept staring at the ring, where the evidence of bloodshed had vanished into the coarse grains of sand, as if nothing had transpired. “I do not like the thought of fate,” she said, taking another sip, “Fate presupposes a plan, which suggests a planner. When I imagine the kind of mind that would think up the travesties of our world, I fail to even comprehend the capacity for cruelty such a planner must possess.”\nHeron raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. “Therefore,” she said, continuing undaunted by his apparent skepticism, “I would much rather believe there to be no planner, than despair at the thought of there being one.”\n“I suppose there is a point in there, somewhere,” Heron noted, dryly.\n“There is,” she affirmed, and turned to look straight in his eyes, “I believe we have fallen into the hands of one such planner —one whose cruelty is fathomless and merciless— and whether I believe in him or not, from this moment forth, we are doomed to follow the fate he lays out for us.”\nFor a moment, they held eye-contact. On the other side of Heron, Arden looked down into his own hands, which were quivering. Behind her, she felt Asten stir and heard the distinct sound of a dry swallow.\n“That is an extreme evaluation,” Heron said, his voice barely audible, “I hope for all of our sakes that you are wrong, lady Mina.”\n“Believe me,” she said, tossing what wine remained in her glass into her mouth before repeating herself, “Believe me Heron; so do I.”\n“Fighter’s to the ring!” The announcer called, breaking the silence that had crept up on. The moment of truth was here.\nHamelin walked into the ring with his head held high. His small stature immediately drew whispers in the crowd, who surrounded the circular ring behind a wooden fence. On the raised platform above, he identified Heron, as well as his newly acquired subjects, all sitting together.\nProbably already scheming on how to get rid of me, he thought excited at the thought of betrayal. A true vexen enjoyed the act of unraveling a scheme against oneself almost as much as scheming against others.\nHe waved at them, grinning when he received nothing but Heron’s iron gaze in return. Something seemed to have put them in a somber mood, but there was a lot on the line in this fight, so perhaps it was to be expected.\nSince they were being no fun, Hamelin instead turned his attention onto the his opponent. On the other side of the ring, stood a bull of a man, muscles bulging out like massive snakes circling his body. He was at least three times Hamelin’s size, with legs as thick as wooden logs, and fists the size of boulders.\nAll in all, he looked everything the muscle-head that Hamelin had expected. He did indeed go with Astoc, Hamelin thought, recalling the information he had gathered on Heron’s fighters. Astoc was an experienced fighter, having survived in underground rings across the kingdom for at least a decade.\nHe really wants to win that bet, chuckling to himself, Hamelin flashed his teeth to the brute. Astoc bared his teeth in return, smashing his fists together.\n“From the north! The bare-fisted killer, Astoc!” The announcer called, earning himself a joyous roar from the crowd in return, “And from the south, the challenger…” The announcer halted, giving the audience enough time to begin murmuring among themselves.\n“The rat king, Halifax!”\nBoos echoed through the room, as most guests saw the results as a foregone conclusion. How could one the size of a child ever compete with a man like Astoc?\nBesides the uneven match, his strange moniker was also causing a raucous. Calling himself the king of rats was a bit too melodramatic for his tastes, but Heron had insisted that he needed a title if he was to fight.\nShaking his head, Hamelin put up his fists and awaited the sign to begin. Astoc, meanwhile, stood with his guard down and a big fat grin on his face.\n“Fighters, prepare yourselves…” The announcer called. Astoc cracked his neck, still looking pretty damn smug about himself.\nHamelin moved. With lightning speed, he approached his opponent. A rush of wind passed him by, as he barely avoided a kick. There was no doubt in his mind that receiving just one proper blow from Astoc was a death-sentence.\nWeaving past the initial attack, Hamelin closed in on Astoc’s other leg. With a closed fist, he hit the side of the man’s knee, then escaped out of reach before he could be grabbed. Astoc growled and spit on the floor, then said, “You little rat. Just stay still and let me pummel you.”\n“That would be bad manners,” Hamelin said, smiling.\nThis time, Astoc approached first, lowering his center of gravity. With such a massive difference in size, Astoc might have the advantage in power, but it meant nothing if he could not catch Hamelin.\nThat was the ultimate test of this fight; speed versus power. Hamelin knew he could not win through force alone — even if his strength was enhanced manifold through withermancy. Ultimately, the disadvantage in mass and reach meant he had to get creative.\nAwaiting his moment, Hamelin stepped into Astoc’s reach again, avoided his attack and aimed a quick attack at the same leg as before. “You little…!” Astoc growled, not of pain, but annoyance. Even with his repeated strikes, there was little damage done.\nWith quick footwork, Hamelin stepped back out of the man’s reach and took a guarded stance. He could not rely on the luxury of a drawn-out fight, as he needed not only to win, but win in a dominant manner.\nHe had to show both Heron, Arden, and lady Mina what he was capable of, and Astoc was going to be his guinea pig.\n“Oi, lardass,” Hamelin taunted, smiling viciously, “How are you so slow?”\n“You think I’m slow?” Astoc bared his teeth, then rushed in with an impressive show of speed. Hamelin sidestepped the man, pivoting on one foot, dealing a third blow to the same knee.\nHowling with anger, Astoc whirled around as well and swept his leg into a low kick. Jumping over it, Hamelin landed into a roll, using the momentum to spin around on his back and hit Astoc’s knee for a fourth time with his leg.\nAnother rush of wind passed him by, this time as he avoided a massive fist, which struck the ground with a heavy ‘crack’. The giant lashed out to the side, just as Hamelin jumped backwards, receiving the blow with his hands and using the force to send him back out of reach.\nMaking one somersault in the air, he regained control of his balance, retaking his stance. Though he had diverted most of the blow, his hands were still shaking from the pure strength of his opponent.\nI suppose this is as far as I go in a straight fight, Hamelin thought. This was the first time he’d had the opportunity to test the limits of his training, since he had gotten this new body, and the results were disappointing.\n“Humans are too fragile,” Hamelin growled, as he shifted his stance to a position on all fours, “It’s better to do this the vexen way.”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Gwen harwood's biography and life storygwen harwood ao, née gwendoline nessie foster, was an australian poet and librettist gwen harwood is regarded. Gwen harwood, poet and librettist tasmania's in tasmania island magazine is a great place to start to get your regular dose of ideas, writing and culture. Read this full essay on the feminine voice: gwen harwood woman's identity empowers the feminine voice of the poem to portray cultural values in qualities, concerns and thematic ideas that are brought up distinctively in all of her works.\nDrawing on two events discussing the poetry of gwen harwood, chris wallace- crabbe, tony birch, kevin brophy and jenny niven explore harwood's. Gwen harwood's cultural dissent” 115 debra adelaide sions of the story over the seven years, powerfully altering his ideas about travel into. Download gwen harwood (4023mb) arts: department of english with cultural studies the poetry of gwen harwood is famously passionate and sensual.\nThis definitive collection is a bumper edition of over 600 pages of published and previously uncollected poems, many illuminated by the poet's.\nGwen harwood selected poems themes and concerns key themes 'the twins' ideas -the experience of family life in childhood will leave an indelible mark include family/cultural heritage/memory/nature/cycle of seasons/ a sense of a. Gwen harwood uses violets as the main symbol, for like childhood and time, in this poem: the integration of quotes and ideas from king lear is to give it a it favours the most dominant members of a culture, reflecting the.\nText: selected poems by gwen harwood (2001) the european canon to deconstruct the founding myths of western and australian culture,. Leading literary magazines, a print-only quarterly of ideas, writing and culture and island magazine proudly present the 2018 gwen harwood poetry prize. Module b: critical study of text gwen harwood's poetry to what extent has the poet's context influenced the ideas and values inherent in the poem and even a little mischievous is the cultural allusion to halloween,.\nGwen harwood holds a celebrated place in australian poetry and culture locating herself solidly within european culture and the romantic tradition in all its vibrant paradoxical qualities ideas and craft, creativity beyond.\nThe author, who is a lecturer in english at the university of new england and edited the 1990 tage' book of the year, tblessed city', has known gwen harwood.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "to explore results)\n- Dietary Sugars: Chemistry, Analysis, Function and Effects, CHAPTER 37 Galactose and Galactose Tracers in Metabolic Studies.\n, Pages 653-667\n- Carbohydrates in Drug Design and Discovery, Chapter 9 Galactofuranose Biosynthesis: Discovery, Mechanisms and Therapeutic Relevance.\n, Pages 209-241\n- From Enzyme Models to Model Enzymes, Chapter 4 Enzyme Models Classified by Reaction\n, Pages 61-194\n- Carbohydrate Chemistry: Chemical and Biological Approaches Volume 43, Glycosyltransferase inhibitors: a promising strategy to pave a path from laboratory to therapy.\n, Volume 43\n, Pages 135-158\n- Analytical Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence: From Fundamentals to Bioassays, Chapter 12 Enzymatic Assays.\n, Pages 331-385\n- Carbohydrate Chemistry: Chemical and Biological Approaches Volume 45, In situ formation of nucleotide-sugars from simple substrates for glycosyltransferase-catalyzed reactions.\n, Volume 45\n, Pages 336-351\n- Carbohydrate Chemistry: Volume 40, Chapter 20 Conformationally restricted glycoside derivatives as mechanistic probes and/or inhibitors of sugar processing enzymes and receptors.\n, Volume 40\n, Pages 418-444\n- Carbohydrate Chemistry: Volume 39, Recent design of glycosyltransferase inhibitors.\n, Volume 39\n, Pages 78-101\n- Synthetic Glycomes, CHAPTER 3 Synthetically Useful Glycosyltransferases for the Access of Mammalian Glycomes.\n, Pages 46-82\n- Dietary Sugars: Chemistry, Analysis, Function and Effects, CHAPTER 47 Technology and Biotechnology of Lactose Contained in Raw Food Materials.\n, Pages 821-841", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "What’s the secret to a happy life?\nPsalm 89:15 offers a good answer: “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” That’s the NIV; other translations (like the Amplified Version) tap into the original Hebrew and call these folks “blessed and happy.”\nWhichever word you choose – blessed or happy – this verse is a beautiful way to pray for the people you love:\nMay ______ be blessed because he/she has learned to acclaim you; let _____ walk in the light of your presence, O Lord. (Psalm 89:15)\n(And P.S., that’s a picture of Robbie, walking in the light in Iceland, where he says it never really got dark. I wanna go there.)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Benchmarking: A Guide for Your Journey to Best-Practice Processes\nAmerican Productivity & Quality Center, 2001 - Business & Economics - 86 pages\nAs one of the titles in the American Productivity & Quality Center's Passport to Success series, Benchmarking provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to achieve benchmarking success. Based on years of research into the practices of leading organizations, this book, written by experienced APQC benchmarkers, highlights various types of benchmarking and APQC's benchmarking methodology. Readers can track their own progress and identify benchmarking landmarks. Supported by examples of best practices and tips from actual practitioners, it examines preparation and planning, participation, data collection, data analysis, and measurement. This 86-page book is retail priced at $19.95. An excerpt from Benchmarking: \"The first vitally important step in a successful benchmarking initiative is clearly defining the objectives and the desired outcomes. While benchmarking cannot eliminate competition, its outcomes can include information on how to redesign processes to make your organization more competitive, improve quality, reduce costs and cycle time, and increase the satisfaction levels of external and internal customers. To define your specific objectives and desired outcomes, ask the individuals involved in deciding to benchmark to answer the following questions: What are we trying to accomplish?; What is the current state?\"\nWhat people are saying - Write a review\nWe haven't found any reviews in the usual places.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Who Owns Haiti? explores the role of international actors in the country's sovereign affairs while highlighting the ways in which Haitians continually enact their own independence on economic, political, and cultural levels.\nFeaturing figures as varied as Julius Caesar, Zulu king Cetewayo, Noel Coward, Edward Elgar, and Benjamin Disraeli, this volume brilliantly demonstrates how Shaw put something of himself into all of his \"people.\"\nOften described as the savior of the Everglades, Marjory Stoneman Douglas is best known for having been Florida's most passionate environmentalist, but she was first, foremost, and always a writer. As the author of fiction and nonfiction books, most notably The Everglades: River of Grass, and scores of short stories, Douglas devoted over ninety years to her career as a writer. Her fascinating and little-known work as a journalist began as a columnist for the Miami Herald.\nIn Wild Capital, Barbara Jones demonstrates that looking at nature through the lens of the marketplace is a surprisingly effective approach to protecting the environment. Showing that policy-makers and developers rarely associate wild places with monetary values, Jones argues that nature should be viewed as a capital asset like any other in order for environmental preservation to be a competitive alternative to construction projects.\nExplores the social, political, and environmental changes in the Great Smoky Mountains during the 19th & 20th centuries. Although this national park is often portrayed as a triumph of preservation, Brown concludes that the largest forested region in the\nEighteen of Florida’s best-loved writers, including Carl Hiaasen, Al Burt, Randy Wayne White, the late Archie Carr and others, share their love for Florida’s natural beauty and their commitment to preserving it.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Kickstarter Bifrost ProjectMay 6th, 2013\nBill Willingham of DC Comics and Frank Cho of Marvel are teaming up to create a graphic novel with Willingham providing the storyline and Cho doing the illustration in a style of “sophisticated woodcut.” The story is Bifrost, about the Rainbow Bridge of Norse mythology. As described the the team, “This is a story about Mary Fimbul, illegitimate daughter of a Valkyrie and a certain hammer-wielding god of the north. Mary’s tough and strong, can see ghosts, and also happens to be the only survivor of Ragnarok, the final battle that ended the gods and their rule over mankind. As the sole surviving descendant of the royal line, Mary now controls Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge, which still connects our world to Asgard and the other nine worlds, even though they’ve been unlivable wastelands for untold millennia.”\nThe Kickstarter campaign ends on May 19. To date, the team is about halfway to their goal of $30,000. A pledge of $60 gets you an unsigned copy of the hardcover novel plus a 8.5″ x 11″ exclusive Frank Cho print. For $125 you get, instead, a signed copy of the novel. If you’re a big fan, pledge $5,000 and Bill will travel to you an write one chapter of the novel in your home.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This is a wonderfully insightful look into the emerging theology of the priesthood of all the faithful, a theology that has ancient origins but which is largely unknown in the life of the Church. The author, Jean-Pierre Torrell op, professor emeritus of theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and a specialist in the thought of St Thomas Aquinas, bring his considerable intellect and research – and careful methodology – to bear on the scriptural, patristic and conciliar sources as he explores how best to understand a theology/spirituality of the baptismal priesthood, and how the ordained priesthood (or priestly ministry as Torrell calls it) interacts with and serves the baptismal priesthood.\nFrom the back cover:\nPriest, presbyter, bishop, overseer, elder, deacon – what do these terms really mean? How did they evolve from the earliest days of Christianity to what we now know as bishops, priests and deacons? How do they relate to the “priesthood of all the baptized” – and indeed, which is “higher.” the latter or the ordained priesthood?\nRenowned Dominican theologian Jean-Pierre Torrell provides a thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of these and other questions concerning the priesthood and the sacrament of Orders and the fact that all the baptized are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood,” as 1 Peter expresses it. In his search for the Truth Torrell, like his spiritual brother Aquinas, has no ideological axe to grind. He simply marshals his vast array of resources spanning from Scripture itself through the Church Fathers and medieval theologians right up to the Second Vatican Council, puts them into conversation, and lets them speak for themselves. A Priestly People should be required reading for all preparing for orders as well as all students and teachers of dogmatic, sacramental, and liturgical theology and ecclesiology.\nI couldn’t agree more with that sentiment…", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The relation of sleep complaint to sleep continuity and respiratory disturbance was studied by comparing 2 series of patients with sleep apnea, one group complaining of insomnia and the other of excessive daytime sleepiness. On polysomnographic evaluation, patients with insomnia complaints had fewer and shorter, primarily central, apneas that had little hypoxemic effects. Patients with excessive sleepiness complaints had more and longer, primarily obstructive, apneas that produced significant hypoxemia. Sleep of the excessively sleepy patients was lighter and longer, whereas that of the patients with insomnia was characterized by more wake time before and after sleep onset. The excessively sleepy patients were objectively sleepy on a test of daytime sleepiness, whereas patients with insomnia were alert.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Rhett rides into the small town of Burnt to help out his cousin Sawyer. Upon arrival, he meets a sexy blonde named Leah, who makes him feel things he has never felt before. Working the ranch by day and tending bar by night as he helps out his cousin, Rhett encounters Leah quite often and begins to really fall for her. Suddenly, he is caught up in an escalating hundred-year-old feud and with an overeager rival for Leah's affections. Can he win the girl of his dreams, or will he lose her to his wealthier rival?\nA sassy tale, ONE TEXAS COWBOY TOO MANY, the third book in author Carolyn Brown's BURNT BOOT series, is an action-packed, sexy contemporary romance that will entice readers to be caught up in this delicious tale. Once Leah and Rhett lay eyes on each other, that's it. The chemistry between them is explosive and the romance sweet. If only he could get the other girls in town and Leah's staunch admirer to leave them out of the conflict that involves the whole town, a feud that is not of their making.\nAdding even more appeal to this fast-paced story for fans of the series is the return of some of the characters from previous books. Still this story can be read as a standalone, although I believe that readers would derive extra enjoyment out of it if they started at the beginning and read the entire, delicious series, including COWBOY BOOTS FOR CHRISTMAS (COWBOY NOT INCLUDED) and THE TROUBLE WITH TEXAS COWBOYS. Humor, heat and hunky cowboys, along with a dollop of drama and plenty of sass, take ONE TEXAS COWBOY TOO MANY over the top. A definite keeper - you won't want to miss this one!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "|Reviews for Stone Hard as Bulletproof Glass|\n| Guest chapter 1 . 10/3\nThanks for sharing. This is beautiful.\n| Olivia Janae chapter 4 . 9/18\nGod, I really am enjoying this!\n| Olivia Janae chapter 1 . 9/17\nSo. I'm about halfway through the second chapter and I had to stop and come back to comment.\nI love this fandom. I love, love, love it! I'm very new but I've spent weeks digging through fics trying to find something that I like. I've been lucky enough to find a few that I have enjoyed but not many that I can say I feel passionate about or that can get me honestly excited. It's not a judgment on the fandom as much as it is that I'm just insanely picky and so hard to please; perhaps because I am a writer myself. Silly things can pull me away from the story and though I can enjoy it, I rarely can get lost in it.\nHowever, though I am still quite early in this story I am feeling quite hopeful.\nThus far this story stands out. Significantly.\nFirst off, it's clear that you have actually done your homework. It sounds strange to say but that really matters. I love reading fics but I look for realism and it's a trait that is often very hard to find! It seems to matter to you that this is accurate. I appreciate that so much! It adds just the right amount of spice and can push a good story into a great story.\nIt isn't just the facts about school (or Beca's career/equipment and so on) but their interactions feel very realistic so far.\nSecond, you have a very interesting voice.\nAs I said, I love this fandom but it is rare to come across one that reads so maturely. Of course, I know they are out there, however, I haven't found many and it is very refreshing!\nThis, thus far, does not necessarily read like a fan fiction and that, in my book, is a very high compliment.\nOf course I don't know how the rest of the fic is going to go but I just wanted to stop and say that I am very impressed and so hopeful and excited about the rest!\nThanks for giving me a rare treat!\nI'm going to continue on!\n| FreshDumbledore chapter 2 . 8/24\nThis isn't that important and you're probably done editing this story, but you wrote Bella saying that Vader means father in German, but it actually means father in Dutch, not in German. This kind of bothered me, reading the story, since I'm German, but I loved the story apart from that\n| IsaCabral chapter 16 . 8/7\nThis was fucking awesome, I'm so glad I read it!\n| 8 chapter 7 . 8/7\nhmm, so i was totally picturing Art as a black guy\n| Jamie Corr chapter 16 . 7/3\nI absolutely love this story, I couldn't stop reading it, I won't be able to stop thinking about it... it's kinda like an awesome TV show. Even if it ends, you'll always have these characters and this amazing plot in your head for a long time. And if and/or when you start to forget a few parts about it, you go back and read it all over again and experience the same feelings you experienced the first time you read it. Sorry for the rant but I just can't get over how perfect your story is.\n| felixdrumsticks chapter 14 . 5/31\n| Harley Quinn Davidson chapter 16 . 5/16\nI knew after the first chapter that once I started to read this I wasn't going to stop until it was finished and I was right. I stayed up way to late to finish this but it was well worth it. The characters are beautifully written and the plot line was so good. This is definitely going on my reread list. Loved the story, and looking forward to reading your other works.\n| Catherine.Hammes chapter 4 . 5/9\nThis is such a good chapter and such a good book so far. I can't believe you just cut it there though. Geez! I do like the quote fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. That's a cool quote. I like it. Words of wisdom. You're an incredible writer and I love the amount of detail you have put into you're writing. It's not excessive or over detailed at all.\n| S.Warrior chapter 9 . 4/22\nYaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssss Beca tell they asses, I've been waiting for her to blow the hell up...like they had this Grammy winning artist on their team and didn't utilize her how dumb is that, and then Chloe don't get me started don't know what the fuck her problem is smh she's like that in a lot of stories though, she tries hard to gain Becas trust on to break it in the end when Beca finally let's her in smh like why even try...why play with someone when you heard them tell you the first time that they loved you...beca has been upfront about her situation from the beginning and has tried to let Chloe in while Chloe has been vague about a lot of things including the guy in the picture, if she had issues she should have come out with it instead of leading Beca on and that fuck and ditch move she pulled was ruthless smh she didn't even reciprocate and that's rude as hell lol...BTW love your story it's so well written I've cried and laughed and gotten angry and I love when authors can pull these reactions from me...I think you're brilliant and I can't wait to finish this\n| bilbobarneybobs chapter 1 . 2/23\nI know I'm very late in with this review, but just to let you know I think it's brilliant so far. Absolutely first rate writing. The dialogue is realistic and the flashback scene to Mrs Mitchell's passing was very moving.\nAlso much kudos fir the Queen reference and especially Wembley Stadium.\nFat bottomed girls you make the rocking world go round. ..\n| SonicH2O chapter 16 . 2/2\nThis was so fantastic. I just spent like a day/night reading this...thank you for writing this!\n| Sciani chapter 4 . 12/12/2015\nI just have to defend my country here for a moment and say that fries are from Belgium, not France, so the joke that Amy made doesn't make sense, and our fries are absolutely delicious.\nGreat fic though, I'm loving it\n| babygazelle7 chapter 16 . 11/13/2015\nOk I know I'm a little late to the party but wow just wow! This story is one of the most thought out, in depth stories I have ever read and I have been reading fan fiction for a lon time. It is difficult to portray the characters the right way but you went above and beyond that. The way you wrote the characters made them so human and I felt like they were real people. And not only did you do that but you also created characters who were not just fillers but were integral parts of the story. Amazing, amazing job!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Publisher description for The meaning of consuelo / Judith Ortiz Cofer.\nBibliographic record and links to related information available from the Library of Congress catalog\nInformation from electronic data provided by the publisher. May be incomplete or contain other coding.\nA Puerto Rican girl negotiates her own terms of survival in this fierce and funny novel by \"a writer of authentic gifts, with a genuine and important story to tell.\" --The New York Times\nLa nina seria, the serious child. That's how Consuelo's mother has cast her pensive, book-loving daughter, while Consuelo's younger sister Mili, is seen as vivacious--a ray of tropical sunshine. Two daughters: one dark, one light\none to offer comfort and consolation, the other to charm and delight. But something is not right in this Puerto Rican family.\nSet in the 1950s, a time when American influence is diluting Puerto Rico's rich island culture, Consuelo watches her own family's downward spiral. It is Consuelo who notices as her beautiful sister Mili's vivaciousness turns into mysterious bouts of hysteria and her playful invented language shift into an incomprehensible and chilling \"language of birds.\" Ultimately Consuelo must choose: Will she fulfill the expectations of her family--offering consolation as their tragedy unfolds? Or will she risk becoming la fulana, the outsider, like the harlequin figure of her neighbor, Mario/Maria Sereno, who flaunts his tight red pedal pushers and empty brassiere as he refuses the traditional macho role of his culture.\nThis affecting novel is a lively celebration of Puerto Rico as well as an archetypal story of loss, the loss each of us experiences on our journey from the island of childhood to the uncharted territory of adulthood.\nLibrary of Congress subject headings for this publication: Puerto Rico Fiction, Loss (Psychology) Fiction", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Waking up walking into walls. Dragging my body around my house. Barely getting through each day. Needing help with my kids. Unpredictable symptoms come and go without warning. My body is against me. It is frustrating, upsetting, and hard. Waiting to see doctors to figure it out and praying for answers.\nAs a Christian, how do I live through difficult circumstances with joy?\nI choose it!\nEach day I get up and remember I am a daughter of the King. He knows my body and exactly what is going on with me. He has gone before me and He follows me…He never leaves me. He gives me the strength to make it. He blesses me with help in a time of need. He has set me free even in this.\nGrace even in times that make me want to give up. He is there offering me joy!\nJoy in another day to love Him, love my kids, love my husband. Joy in making meals when I can. Joy in laundry, sweeping, and scrubbing. Joy in walking, playing, and living each day. Joy in being a mommy, wife, sister and friend. Joy in it all!\nSo when my brain starts getting foggy, my balance is off, and my body is overcome with fatigue I think of all the reasons He has blessed me in the present and I smile through the limitations, frustrations, and tears to remember I can choose His joy through it all! Joy that I have Him. That there is always victory in Jesus and He is everything.\nToday I choose joy that only comes from Jesus! Freedom in the One who has set me free. Living in the promised land and not in chains no matter what circumstances are trying to tie me down.\nPresently choosing joy…today that’s me!\nJoin me in linking up with Lisa Jo Baker in writing imperfectly for the fun of it! Only five minutes on the word present!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Comparing antigone and oedipus the king in comparison, oedipus was under the impression that he would be both oedipus and creon show relentless pride. Comparison/contrast “oedipus-rex” and the “metamorphosis oedipus was cherished by his people save time and order comparison/contrast “oedipus-rex. Antigone and creon - two tragic heroes in sophocle's play oedipus rex creon is accused by oedipus of succumbing to bribery with i will compare and contrast. A symbolic narrative a comparison of oedipus and creon as complete opposite individuals in which the surface details imply a secondary meaning title length color. Oedipus and creon appear immediately this also shows the concern creon holds for his people oedipus would have the opposite of the impression given by creon.\nOedipus versus creon at first glance, oedipus and oedipus and creon are two completely opposite people oedipus is be complete, he proclaims, i,/ oedipus the. Oedipus rex vocabulary where does oedipus send creon and why does he send him why does this news have the opposite effect of what the corinthian messenger. Free compare an contrast oedipus and creon a comparison of individual responsibility oedipus and creon are two completely opposite people oedipus is. Are people truly responsible for their actions this question has puzzled humanity throughout history over the centuries, people have pondered the influence of. How to write essay on compare contrast creon and oedipus download a complete can happen to good people for this purpose, neither oedipus nor creon where.\nA summary of antigone, lines 1–416 in sophocles's the oedipus plays learn exactly what happened in this chapter creon’s point of view is exactly opposite. He is a man trying to do his best for his people it is through creon that we see the subtleties in creon is the opposite of oedipus enotescom will help you. He sets off in the opposite direction to corinth where and on what mission has oedipus sent creon remember to state your theme in one complete and complex.\nNow that oedipus and his brothers are dead, antigone and ismene are in comparison to antigone she has body or the punishment of antigone creon. Oedipus - end of play (pages 315-327) how does creon as king compare to oedipus as king oedipus - selfish creon - selfless (the complete opposite - foils.\nEssays related to comparison of oedipus and moses 1 rationality and patience stand as a comparison to oedipus we see creon confront oedipus after oedipus. T e a c h e r ’ s g u i d a teacher’s guide to the the complete plays oedipus the king opens during which time creon and oedipus’s two sons have.\nAntigone individual vs laws o playing opposite oedipus compare and contrast the views of oedipus and queen iocaste as to the validity of uncontrollable.\nOedipus versus creon oedipus and creon are two completely opposite people oedipus is creon in comparison to oedipus exhibits a higher degree of. But knowing is itself problematized in the oedipus the king: (yes, oedipus, creon makes sense the opposite of sophrosyne. The words of tiresias strike fear into the hearts of creon and the people of thebes, and creon reluctantly goes to free oedipus questions creon about the. During his reign over thebes, oedipus is portrayed as a good leader who values the lives of his people what is the difference between oedipus and creon a. Check out our top free essays on compare and contrast okonkwo and oedipus to creon vs creon in oedipus adj 215 week 6 individual assignment compare and. Oedipus the wreck oedipus vs creon oedipus even tells the people that he is appointed king is the total opposite of what oedipus thought and felt with the.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Over the years, our idea of Henry the VIII, both as a man and as a king, had been shaped by plays, movies, and TV shows. But now, the novelist Hilary Mantel has definitively revised it. In her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, she focuses on a less well-known figure who's always been depicted as kind of a weasel: Thomas Cromwell. He was the son of a blacksmith who maneuvered his way to become Henry's right-hand man. The novels have been huge bestsellers, and they both won the Man Booker Prize, the big award for English-language fiction. Mantel is the first woman to win it twice. Now, the books have been adapted into a Masterpiece Theater miniseries on PBS and a two-part, five-and-a-half hour show on Broadway, both called Wolf Hall.\nMantel had been contemplating a book about Thomas Cromwell for 30 years, “and you wait for somebody else to do it, because it’s so obvious,” she tells Kurt Andersen. “It’s the arc of Thomas Cromwell’s story — a blacksmith’s son to Earl of Essex,” Mantel explains. “Poor boys, if they were clever and lucky, they could get on through the church. But Cromwell didn’t do that. He didn’t really climb the steps of the existing power structure. He just brought his own ladder and smashed it through the ceiling.”\nCromwell’s low birth and his self-made rise to power, gave Mantel a way to look at Henry VIII from a more down-to-earth perspective. Her version of Henry is more sympathetic than the wife-killing tyrant we’re familiar with. “I try not to judge my characters,” Mantel says. “I ask my readers to walk a mile in their shoes, which is quite difficult when you’re looking at a monarch like Henry, who seems such a distant figure. I try to see him through Cromwell’s eyes.” Still, she says, Henry’s is “a uniquely English story. Nobody else has this monster king, of whom we are perversely proud.”\nMantel has been deeply involved in the stage adaptations of her books. “I turned up as a kind of walking encyclopedia,” she says, “and I got drawn into the project. I’ve reshaped the scripts for Broadway.” The plays themselves are funnier than the books, and Mantel explains that’s on purpose. “The books are witty. You smile, but in the theater that’s not good enough. A line that lies on the page and makes the reader smile becomes laugh out loud funny when actors are animating it.”\nMantel is currently working on the final book in the Cromwell trilogy. Working with the actors in the play has given her insights into the characters that have helped shape the third book, she says. “What they give me, consciously in discussion or subconsciously in performance, the two projects are running very happily beside each other.” But although she’s been living with Thomas Cromwell non-stop for so long, Mantel isn’t tired of him yet. “I’m more fascinated by him than ever I was. I still can’t add him up. I suspect he’ll elude me at the last, and as soon as his head’s off he’ll get up and put it back on again.”\nBonus Track: Kurt's extended conversation with Hilary Mantel\nRowland, or Lord Willoughby's Welcome HomeArtist: Patrick AyrtonAlbum: William Byrd Keyboard WorksLabel: Globe", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“Oh Tata,” Gorana said. “Do we have to go in there? Can’t we just call?”\n“Don’t be a silly girl,” he said. “I know these people. We’ll just pop in for a drink and then we can ask Visnja about the cakes.”\n“It’s just so full of old men,” she muttered under her breath, but followed her father into the bar.\nNat Newman is an award-winning writer of short stories, content, podcasts, feature articles, drunk text messages and, soon, a novella.\nSign up for the newsletter for your monthly dose of words, travel, life, beer.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Unlike humans, llamas produce heavy-chain only antibodies (HCAbs) that have a single variable domain. These HCAbs are much smaller, have higher thermal and chemical stability than Abs produced by humans, making it easier to construct into multimers that could potentially be used as therapeutics that could be adminstered in various ways including using inhalers. Article by Wrapp et al., describes the isolation and identification of a SARS-CoV neutralising antibody following immunisation of llamas with prefusion stabilised betacoronavirus spike proteins.\nIn their article, Wrapp and colleagues report isolation of HCAb against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-1 spike (S) protein, that also cross-reacts with the SARS-CoV-2 RBD, and blocks its interaction. Researchers showed that the isolated HCAb referred to as SARS-VHH-72 binds to SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that overlap with a recently described human SARS-CoV-2-specific Ab CR3002. Interestingly, SARS-VHH-72 can prevent ACE-2 binding and has neutralisation capacity against SARS-CoV-2, and potentially other zoonotic betacoronaviruses.\nResearchers hope “that because of their favorable bio-physical properties and their potent neutralization capacity, SARS VHH-72, and VHH-72-Fc may serve as both useful reagents for researchers and as potential therapeutic candidates.”\nJournal Article: Wrapp et al., 2020. Structural Basis for Potent Neutralization of Betacoronaviruses by Single-Domain Camelid Antibodies. Cell\nSummary by Cheleka AM Mpande", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Adequate nutritional intake, along with exercise, not only restores energy stores depleted by exercise-induced fatigue but also enhances overall fitness [1\n]. Among the various effects of exercise, the importance of altered gut microbiota has become increasingly evident because of the study of the human microbiome and the emergence of various tools for genomic analysis [4\n]. Recent studies have reported that factors underlying host fitness are also associated with gut microbial status and regulation [6\n]. For example, it has been reported that the effects of exercise on diabetes [10\n], obesity [11\n], and cardiovascular health [12\n] are mediated via changes in the gut microbial environment, such as increased diversity and the presence of beneficial bacteria. In addition, a recent study by Scheiman et al. reported that the gut microbiome of marathon runners is richer in the genus Veillonella\nthan that of the control group, and V. atypica\nhas been shown to improve athletes′ recovery and performance via lactic acid metabolism [13\n]. Lactic acid is rapidly formed in muscles during high-strength aerobic exercise to produce propionate. Similarly, exercise-induced changes in the microbial community affect energy metabolism, immune function, and oxidative stress in athletes, thereby influencing various bodily functions [14\nStudies on probiotics have been devoted to improving disease status or obesity [4\n]. The correlation between obesity-related diseases and changes in the gut microbiome is well-established [4\n], but relatively few studies have explored the relationship between motor stimulation, microbial diversity, and sedentary lifestyles [16\n]. A recent study by Jang et al. that targeted bodybuilders, long-distance runners and sedentary people showed that high protein consumption combined with low dietary fiber intake offsets exercise-induced improvements in the gut microbial environment. In addition, the relative abundance of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria was significantly lower in bodybuilders with significantly higher protein intake than in sedentary subjects and middle- to long-distance runners [18\n]. However, in addition to these promising quantitative indicators, gut mucosal colonization, which is directly induced by probiotic ingestion, is not uniform, and the effectiveness of various probiotics is disputed [19\nSeveral in vitro studies have reported selective colonization of the intestinal epithelium by probiotic-derived microorganisms. This makes it difficult to analyze the effects of probiotics on athletes′ gut microbiota and SCFAs. To overcome these limitations, and to recruit subjects that are more relevant to our aims, we needed to narrow our prospective pool of subjects. We assumed that probiotics may have differential effects in those who eat a specific diet vs. those who eat more freely. With regards to diet, bodybuilders were more suitable than those who practice other sports. Therefore, we attempted to identify specific factors that affect the microbial community of bodybuilders during probiotic intake and investigated whether probiotic intake may supplement the effects of exercise on gut microbial status, as reported in many previous studies. We aimed to reach conclusions regarding the correlations between exercise, probiotic intake, and dietary status.\n2. Materials and Methods\n2.2. Recruitment of Participants and Supplementary Information\nBodybuilders who agreed to take probiotics were recruited for this study. Those who had been exposed to antibiotics within 6 months or had immune, digestive, acute or chronic cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders were excluded.\nA total of 20 subjects who met the enrollment criteria were randomly assigned to the probiotic group (n\n= 10) or the placebo group (n\n= 10). After providing written informed consent (KHSIRB 2016-011, KHSIRB-17-036), the volunteers received either a probiotic supplement or a similar-looking placebo (Ildong Pharmaceutical Co., Republic of Korea) for 60 days. The results of the random assignment are presented in Table S1\nProbiotic group: Capsule consisting of 1012 CFU of each of the following species: L. acidophilus, L. casei, L. helveticus, and Bifidobacterium bifidum;\nPlacebo group: Capsule consisting of corn starch.\nThe selected bacteria were associated with exercise based on differences at the genus level during gut microbiome analysis according to nutritional intake; 10 strains were used (Figure S1\n), which are commonly used in the preparation of probiotics [20\n]. Probiotics, which had proven stability in animal experiments, were provided to the participants in the form of capsules. The placebo group received capsules filled with corn starch with similar shape, size, and color as the probiotic capsules, and the two were indistinguishable by the naked eye. Probiotics or placebo were ingested once a day for 60 days.\nDuring the 60-day intervention period, consent was provided by all subjects, except for four subjects (two in the probiotics group/two in the placebo group) who abandoned the study prior to pre-intervention collection and one subject (one in the placebo group) who dropped out immediately prior to post-intervention collection.\nshows the characteristics of the subjects in the probiotic group (n\n= 8) and the placebo group (n\n= 7), excluding the five subjects who dropped out.\nThe subjects were periodically monitored to ensure that nutritional intake was not altered during the supplement intake period, which occurred during peak bodybuilding season; the researchers contacted the subjects each week to confirm that they had not begun a special or unusual diet. There was no significant difference in the characteristics of the study subjects before and after the probiotic intake period.\nAfter the intervention experiment (part 1), to clarify the influence of nutrition-related factors, we decided to combine the pre-intervention data (n\n= 16) with data from Jang et al. (bodybuilder (n\n= 15), sedentary (n\n= 15)). This resulted in a larger bodybuilder group (n\n= 31) and a control sedentary group (n\n= 15). In this process, data on three bodybuilders were excluded (part 1-PRE12, PRE14/citation-KY0006) because did not meet the RDA standards. A total of 28 bodybuilders were in the final bodybuilder group. Section 2.5\nprovides details on the characteristics of these groups. We then performed nutrient intake analysis.\n2.3. Gut Microbiota\nFecal samples were collected from all subjects before and after supplement intake. Samples were stored in a deep freezer at −80 °C until use. Metagenomic DNA was separated using the FastDNA SPIN Kit for Soil (MP Biomedicals). Extracted DNA was placed on ice to maintain sample status.\nAfter the isolated metagenomic DNA passed the quality control (QC) check, PCR amplification was performed using the 16S rRNA gene as a phylogenetic marker, with a fusion primer containing a barcode. The amplified product measured approximately 500–700 bp in size. The variable regions V1 to V3 in the 16S rRNA gene were identified in bacteria. Since bacteria belonging to the Bifidobacterium genus cannot be amplified with a general universal primer, 10% of a primer specific to bifidobacterium was used to perform PCR amplification. Subsequently, the thermal data were clustered with CD-Hit and UCLUST using the EzTaxon database, which organizes the 16S RNA gene sequences of standard strains and non-cultivated microorganisms. Next, ChunLab′s bioinformatics cloud platform, EZBiOCloud, was used to analyze alpha and beta diversity expressed in OTU, Chao1, ACE, and Shannon.\nSCFA analysis was performed by freezing the fecal sample and subjecting it to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [25\n]. The sample (∼80 mg dry matter) was aliquoted into an H3PO4 tube containing SCFAs and centrifuged for 5 min at 20,000× g\nafter vortexing. The supernatant was separated and diluted with isocaproic acid solution at a ratio of 1:1 up to 1mL. Gas chromatography was performed at 190 °C using a an Innowax 30 m × 530 µm × 1 µm capillary column to measure SCFA concentration.\n2.5. Nutrient Intake Analysis\nThe nutritional intake of athletes performing resistance exercise (bodybuilders, n\n= 28) and sedentary subjects (n\n= 15) were surveyed on two days of the week and one day on the weekend. They were requested to record all diets’ kinnutrid and quantity. A nutrition questionnaire was used in this process, which was supplemented with one-on-one consultation with the principle investigator. A researcher with more than 3 years analytical experience have coded the submitted diet using Computer Aided Nutritional analysis program (CAN-Pro) ver. 5.0 (The Korean Nutrition Society, Korea) to analyze the total number of kilocalories per day and the content of macronutrients and micronutrients (Table 2\nAccording to KRDA, the proper protein intake is 7–20% of the daily energy intake, and it is recommended that the daily intake of dietary fiber is more than 25 g. Bodybuilders were classified into three groups according to nutritional intake status based on the analyzed data, as follows.\nGroup 1. Bodybuilder–high protein and meager dietary fiber (n = 12);\nGroup 2. Bodybuilder–high protein and proper dietary fiber (n = 10);\nGroup 3. Bodybuilder–proper protein and meager dietary fiber (n = 6);\nGroup 4. Sedentary (n = 15).\n2.6. Statistical Analysis\nAll of the data were analyzed by SPSS 253 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) and GraphPad Prism 8.4.3 (Graph Pad Software, Inc., California, CA, USA).\nAccording to a previous study [10\n], probiotic intake should have a significant influence on the gut microbiota of bodybuilders, but sometimes does not. We aimed to establish the effects of probiotic intake in subjects who exercise frequently and eat specific diets. Three forms of Lactobacillus\nand one form of Bifidobacterium\nwere combined and administered to bodybuilders as a capsule. These four types of bacteria have been associated with exercise in prior studies. L. acidophilus\nnot only inhibits the growth of C. difficile\nin the intestine by controlling the quorum-sensing signal and toxicity of the intestinal pathogen [14\n], but also improves intestinal inflammation by lowering Salmonella-induced NF-κB expression and the expression of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-8 [20\n]. In addition, L. casei\nexhibits antioxidant and radical-scavenging properties [21\n] and strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, especially in combination with L. acidophilus\n]. A four-week intake of B. bifidum\ncan also regulate the intestinal microbial ecosystem of healthy adults and increase the relative abundance of SCFA-producing bacteria [24\n]. Subjects who took supplements received pre-training on nutritional intake and were given the supplements for 60 days. They participated in a one-on-one mid-term follow-up conducted by the investigators. Sixty days of probiotic intake had no demonstrable effect on the gut microbiome and SCFAs of bodybuilders who were continuously exposed to exercise stimulation and consumed a highly nutritional diet. In contrast to previous studies, these results showed no improvements in the gut microbial environment following the consumption of probiotics. Of course, it is possible that too few subjects participated in this study and that they may not be representative of all bodybuilders, despite their similar diet and lifestyle habits and the fact that the study took place during bodybuilding season.\nIn this study, to elucidate the effects of nutritional intake/diet on the gut microbial environment and the effects of probiotic intake in bodybuilders, the subjects’ protein and dietary fiber intake was classified and compared with that of a control group with a sedentary lifestyle. In addition, based on the citation of the same athlete in the interpretation of the results, I tried to solve this weakness. Bodybuilders continuously undergo resistance training exercise, and due to the characteristics of their chosen sport, their protein intake is 2–4-fold higher than that of the general population. The correlation between nutritional intake and gut microbiome in these athletes confirmed that the intake of specific amounts of protein and dietary fiber influenced the composition and diversity of Bifidobacterium in the subjects. In this study, no significant differences were detected in digestive tract microbial diversity between Group 1 (high protein and reduced dietary fiber), which showed the most extreme nutritional intake, and Group 4 (Sedentary). In contrast, the gut microbial diversity index was higher than in Group 4 (Sedentary) when the protein intake (7–20% of daily energy intake) or dietary fiber intake (25 g) was close to the recommended amount, even if it represented extreme nutrition. Specifically, Group 2 (high protein and adequate dietary fiber), which met the recommended intake levels, showed a significantly higher microbial diversity index than Group 4 (Sedentary), despite the excessive protein intake. In the case of Group 3 (adequate protein and restricted dietary fiber), with a protein intake that was closer to the recommended amount, a larger number of microorganisms was found compared with Group 4 (Sedentary), even though dietary fiber intake was less than the recommended amount. Overall, based on gut microbiome analysis according to nutritional intake, we can conclude that probiotic supplementation without improvements in nutritional intake does not significantly affect the gut microbiome of bodybuilders.\nProbiotic intake has recently been considered as a potential nutritional supplementation designed to promote the health of athletes [19\n]. Prior studies have consistently reported a positive association between exercise stimulation and gut microbiome health [13\n], and the effectiveness of probiotic intake has also been demonstrated in various studies [19\n]. This study, which used a combination of probiotic bacteria, showed superior nutritional and health benefits compared with exercise stimulation alone [26\n]. However, the associations between exercise and gut microbiome are not clearly established. For example, exposure to a high-fat diet increases the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes\nand contributes to inflammation [27\n], while exercise similarly increases the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes\nand decreases inflammation [27\n]. Consequently, several factors related to the interaction of nutrition and exercise remain unknown. If the subjects consume the same diet, designed by a nutritionist or dietarian with standard formula, the result will be more promising and innovative. Some studies have reported that specific kinds of dietary fiber intake can lead to various results [29\n]. Athletes in groups who share diet and exercise patterns can lead to advanced results on the correlation between exercise and gut microbiota.\nThe intestinal environment in the general population and among athletes differs depending on exercise type and eating habits. Therefore, to use probiotics as ergogenic aids, it is necessary to develop customized probiotics considering differences in gut microbiome according to exercise type based on nutritional intake. Further studies are needed on subjects who meet the general nutritional intake criteria in order to establish a definitive link between exercise and human microbiome health.\nGenerally, if bodybuilders with extreme nutritional intake patterns do not meet regular RDA criteria for either dietary fiber (more than 25 g intake) or protein (7–20% of daily energy intake), there is no significant difference in the diversity of the gut microbiome compared with the general population. In addition, the bodybuilders in this study demonstrated no positive effects even after consumption of probiotics, and ultimately showed no changes in SCFA levels. However, if protein and dietary fiber intake were in accordance with the recommended intake, the intestinal microbial diversity of bodybuilders was higher than that of the healthy general population, as shown in previous studies.\nImportantly, especially for those who are involved in sports that require extreme nutrient intake, protein and dietary fiber intake were found to influence the gut microbiome. Therefore, in athletes, the intake of a balanced diet is essential to realize the benefits of exercise or probiotics. A follow-up study is necessary to optimize the guidelines for nutritional and probiotic intake, with an experimental design based on differences in the characteristics of different sports, dietary and cultural differences, and differences between individual probiotic species.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Microbe Hunters Author:Paul de Kruif The wonders -- and terrors -- of the unknown have served as a challenge to [humankind] since the beginning of time. This is the absorbing story of thirteen scientists who met that challenge, who blazed a path through the darkness of ignorance, who experimented and failed -- and tried again. — These courageous pioneers faced dangers that would ter... more »rify the ordinary man. Theirs was a world where deadly assassins lurked in the form of disease-carrying microbes. Some fell victim to these invisible enemies but others fought on and conquered. These great men and their relentless struggles provide one of the most gripping stories the world has ever known.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "But one of the most frequently asked questions on writing about poetry is how to how to quote poem in essay quote a poem in an analytical essay how to write a play title in a sentence free revisions. thesis writing service. how to quote poem in essay when you need to quote an entire poem or a fragment from a poetry, you ought to preserve the original formatting style of the verses. quotations taken from the words of subject authorities and thought leaders will do great, too. if you are quoting from poetry, keep in mind that cover for research paper a small extract of a poem, say about two lines long, requires the use of slash marks (/) to pig farming business plan indicate line breaks compare and contrast essays are some of the most interesting essays to write. thesis writing service. maya angelou transmits a truly empowering message in her poem. essays may what is a refutation in an essay focus on the fairy tale essay topics following what does a good thesis consist of topics: the format for citing a poem making assignments in the mla format citation is unique when compared to other referencing styles. in this post, for example, we will look sample of research proposals at tips on writing a dissertation how books about homework to quote psychology research proposal outline a poem using apa referencing. any time how to quote poem in essay you borrow information from another source, you must indicate this in your paper, otherwise it's plagiarism.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Could the next great novel be simply a collection of tweets and status updates? For most, the idea may seem preposterous. The depth allowed in literary fiction couldn't be more dissimilar to the brevity valued by social media. But for producer and actor B.J. Novak, the idea of social media as literature might not be so far-fetched. \"[Social media] makes everyone aware of the minutia of conversation in literary form,\" Novak told Mashable.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "First-line therapy with generic imatinib in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is associated with poorer outcomes compared with branded imatinib (Gleevec). Generic imatinib as second-line therapy does not, however, have a negative effect on outcomes, according to a study published in Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia.1\nThe expiration of Novartis Pharmaceutical’s patent on imatinib mesylate led to recent approvals of generic products in numerous countries, offering a lower cost alternative for the treatment of patients with CML. But the long-term clinical outcomes in patients treated with generics remain unclear.\nTo evaluate outcomes of patients treated with first-line and second-line generic imatinib, investigators analyzed data from 41 patients treated between 2013 and 2016.\nOf those, 27 were newly diagnosed patients receiving generic imatinib as first-line therapy and 14 were patients who received second-line generic imatinib after switching from frontline Gleevec.\nWith a median follow-up of 16 months, 85% of patients given first-line generic imatinib were alive at 36 months and 81% had achieved a complete cytogenetic response. Nearly half (48%) achieved a major molecular response by 24 months.\nFifty-two percent of patients who received generic imatinib as first-line therapy switched to nilotinib due to disease progression and intolerable side effects.\nAmong those who switched to generic imatinib after first-line Gleevec, 93% of patients sustained cytogenetic and molecular response at 36 months of generic treatment. The 1 patient who lost complete cytogenetic response and major molecular response was on Gleevec for 5 months before switching to generic imatinib.\nRELATED: Smoking May Increase Risk of Death in Patients With CML\nThe authors concluded that first-line generic imatinib demonstrated suboptimal efficacy with branded imatinib, while second-line generic therapy did not have a negative impact on patient outcomes.\n- Islamagic E, Hasic A, Kurtovic S, et al. The efficacy of generic imatinib as first- and second-line therapy: three year follow-up of chronic myeloid leukemia patients. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2017 Feb 16. doi: 10.1016/j.clml.2017.02.001 [Epub ahead of print]", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Horrocks, C. A., Arango, J., Arevalo, A., Nunez, J., Cardoso, J. A. and Dungait, J. A. J. 2019. Smart forage selection could significantly improve soil health in the tropics. Science of the Total Environment. pp. 1-50.\nShepherd, A., Hartman, M. D., Fitton, N., Horrocks, C. A., Dunn, R., Hastings, A. and Cardenas, L. M. 2019. Metrics of biomass, live-weight gain and nitrogen loss of ryegrass sheep pasture in the 21st century. Science of the Total Environment.\nHorrocks, C. A., Heal, K. V., Harvie, B., Tallowin, J. R. B., Cardenas, L. M. and Dungait, J. A. J. 2016. Can species-rich grasslands be established on former intensively managed arable soils? Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 217, pp. 59-67.\nHorrocks, C. A., Dungait, J. A. J., Heal, K. V. and Cardenas, L. M. 2015. Comparing N2O fluxes from recently created extensive grasslands and sites remaining under intensive agricultural management. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 199, pp. 77-84.\nHorrocks, C. A., Dungait, J. A. J., Cardenas, L. M. and Heal, K. V. 2014. Does extensification lead to enhanced provision of ecosystem services from soils in UK agriculture. Land Use Policy. 38, pp. 123-128.\nHorrocks, C. A., Heal, K. V., Cardenas, L. M., Pilgrim, E. S. and Harvie, B. 2012. The legacy of intensive agriculture: implications for ecosystem service provision from agri-environment schemes. Abstracts SAC and SEPA Biennial Conference, Edinburgh, 3-4 April 2012 .", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "First came the awareness of being a human being having a spiritual experience. Then Wisdom cleared away that concept to the truth of, we are a spiritual being having a human experience.\nWhat does that mean?\nThe Wholeness of us is as a spiritual being; we are a spiritual being in the human being life school.\nIt’s like being a university student. You are a person that is having a university student experience. You might call yourself a student, just like we refer to ourselves as mom, dad, artist, banker, human being. Sort of a label of explanation about what we do, what roles we are playing. Even with the usefulness of these descriptive labels we know we are more than that.\nThere are no separate parts to us that designate one as a human being and one as a spiritual being. We are one being of Wholeness. We are a spiritual being who is having a human experience.\nLiving a life in the mundane world as a human being is not separate from our innate spirituality. Mundane versus spiritual is a difficult concept to understand and accept because of an incorrect understanding of what being spiritual is.\nBeing spiritual is not about always being happy, kind, with no challenges or individuality. Nor walking around as a benevolent being that radiates constant goodness, agreement, and approval. No one gets everyone’s agreement, or approval and goodness is a perception of the perceiver.\nWe cannot not be a spiritual being because that is part and parcel of the package of humanness. That some people are not aware of their innate spiritual nature and have no manifestation of it does not alter the fact that there is a spark of God within. With some folks that spark is deeply buried.\nWho you are is who you are, where you’re at is where you’re at, wherever you go, there you are. You are the common denominator in your existence. How we express ourselves as a spiritual being and how we perceive others as spiritual beings is a manifestation of the level of our clarity, of our evolution.\nWhen we think we are only spiritual when meditating or feeling a state of connection to all that is, that creates some kind of separation, often causing doubt since we walk through life feeling very human. We are spiritual beings when eating pizza or meditating, when angry, sad or happy and peaceful.\nWho could I possibly be but me? How could I not be a spiritual being? Our journey of Awakening is about coming to experience ourselves as who, indeed we are ~ a spiritual being, learning from our human experience.\nMay We All Walk in Beauty", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Personalized Story Books for Children\nA children’s book makes an excellent gift for a kid in your life—but for the next occasion on your calendar, capture their imagination in a new way with a personalized book. Personalized story books from Shutterfly are filled with fun rhymes, beautiful illustrations, magic, adventures and a personal touch designed to make your child feel special no matter the occasion.\nTell Your Kid’s Story\nPut your kid right into the story alongside their favorite characters, animals and more, in one-of-a-kind tales brought to life by our talented partners, authors and illustrators. Take your little one on a learning adventure with books that teach them how to spell their name, count and, of course, read. Or help them drift off to sleep with a personalized bedtime story made just for them.\nHere’s just a taste of what you’ll find in a personalized storybook from Shutterfly:\n- Discover a range of book titles and themes that are perfect for babies, toddlers, young children and older kids, too. Whether you’re looking for the perfect baby shower gift, a birthday surprise or a Christmas present, there’s something every kid will love.\n- Include a personalized message at the front of your book to commemorate the occasion or tell your little one how much you love them.\n- Some of the books from our collection not only feature your child’s name but also their photo, siblings’ names, the family pet or other personalized touches that bring the tale to life in a big way. Every kid will feel like they’re a part of the story.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Date of Award\nBachelor of Divinity (B.Div)\nHistorically, there is little doubt that Antipater was a political giant. Even the limited account or his life reveals the shrewdness and native talents of this Idumean. Yet he was and is neglected. Perhaps the reason rests in the shortness or his actual reign as ruler. Perhaps he is forgotten due to the fact that he was never actually crowned as king. But the purpose of this paper was not to answer the \"why,” but rather to establish the historical fact that Antipater was truly an important figure in the history between the testaments, and that he really did influence the political tone and policies of the New Testament era. The foundations which Antipater laid down were used both by Herod and his sons until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The fact that the rulers after Antipater were not as successful in applying these principles merely points once again to the greatness of the Idumeen. Thus it is evident that the political policies instigated by Antipater outlived the man who originated them, and continued to influence the policies of Palestine through his children and grandchildren even during the time of the Messiah.\nSchmidt, Neil R., \"A Historical and Political Study of Antipater, the Idumean, Who Established a Political Dynasty in Palestine\" (1959). Bachelor of Divinity. 599.\nCreative Commons License\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "As I sit here this morning with tears in my eyes, and a heart overflowing with love, I have no regrets, and no hurts, more perhaps a dull sadness in the realization that what I have wanted most in my life was possibly never meant to be. It is hard to live in the realization that your fondest dreams are born in love, yet love alone does not assure that dreams come true. The hope of forging those special friendships that honor love and honor each other is maybe an unreachable dream for one born with a condition which renders social prowess unattainable. Perhaps in holding that dream as the benchmark for my success at “being a person” was an unrealistic goal.\nBut for a lifetime I have held that wish for friendships that are not necessarily a “best friend”, nor the one you hang out with every weekend, but one who trusts you and you trust fully, and cannot imagine your life without – yet you know it never will be. To be someone’s treasured friend… To be a trusted and treasured friend of one I also trust and treasure. To me, that is the penultimate treasure. It would be that thing that would make me feel that I had rendered autism and the challenges of my youth as truly overcome. Yet it is by all likelihood a treasure I will never realize. I know that I am not alone in that lack. Others have told me they have no such thing in their lives either. But for them, it has not been the focus of their existence. Just as some wish to be wealthy, and others wish awards or accolades, I have wished, and striven only for a lifetime to achieve that friendship… That elusive prize that to me would mean success, and bring with that success the love, laughter and sharing that only that particular relationship can offer – those things that to me are life’s ultimate blessings.\nAs God told me in my dream, a true friend is one who loves you, one who wants you to feel loved, and who does everything to the best of their ability for their every act toward you to only reflect and show you that love. Such a rare and special gift that is to be offered. To be able to share that gift with one who wishes to bestow the same upon you… How could anyone not see that friendship as one of God’s greatest blessings?", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Eli Walker is a fun-loving entrepreneur. His job is to advise and restructure struggling companies. Holly's mission is to save the company she works for by finding new customers at a trade show in Dusseldorf.\nBut when she fulfills her promise to her boss to visit the cathedral in Cologne, her quest changes.\nFilled with twinkling lights and snowflakes, Christmas markets and a romantic Ferris wheel, Eli and Holly's time together in Germany is an unexpected gift. But when they return home, Eli must make a decision that could cost him what he wants most in life…Holly.\nThe Ferris wheel stopped at its apex. Holly turned back toward Eli, but he was facing the market, his back to her.\n“Holly, come see.”\nShe stepped across the pod to the side that overlooked the market and slipped into the seat beside him.\n“It looks like a…galaxy.”\nHe was right. Lights draping from the giant, central tree out to the edges of the market were woven together with masses of twinkling lights strung from the roofs of the Old Town buildings and blanketing the entire market with a golden glow. She scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”\n“Thank you for coming.”\n“That’s not what I meant. The train. The prayer. Thank you.”\nHe wrapped an arm around her and drew her closer. “I’d be honored to pray for you any place, any time.” He placed his free hand under her chin and lifted her face toward his. “About anything.”\nThe butterflies from the other day returned in full force. His coffee eyes looked deep into her soul. He was going to kiss her. A part of her wanted to let him. But she hardly knew him. Yet what she knew, she loved.\nHe bent nearer. She leaned in and closed her eyes. His breath was warm on her lips.\nShe couldn’t do it. Chad. What about Chad? He’d been her first, last, her only love. Forgetting him, replacing him would be so unfair. Her eyes filled as she drew away. All she could manage was a whisper. “Eli, no. I can’t. I can’t.”\nBible Verse: (Some of my favorites. It’s so hard to choose.)\nIsaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)\n“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.\nSee, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?\nI am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.\nLink to book:\nCarol James is an author of inspirational fiction. She lives in a small town outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, Jim, and a perky Jack Russell \"Terrorist,\" Zoe.\nHaving always loved intriguing stories with happy endings, she was moved to begin writing to encourage others as she'd been encouraged by the works of other authors of inspirational fiction.\nHer debut novel, Rescuing Faith, has been a number one best seller on Amazon.\nCarol enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren, traveling with friends, and serving in the production department at her church. And most days, in the late hours of the night or the wee hours of the morning, she can be found bringing her newest novel to life.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Dylan Brethour is a journalist and editor working in London. She writes about art, pop culture, mental health, and the occasional cult. Her short stories have been published online and in print.\nHow Psychiatry and Hallucinogenic Drugs Meet in Painting\nJuly 10, 2019", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Mrs maytrees and I usually spend time each new year's day from about 11am in the morning enjoying coffee and champagne with two long standing friends. This year the tradition seemed likely to be broken as another friend of theirs, even longer standing than us, was at the point of death through cancer.\nNo news to the contrary having been received we decided yesterday to take the 20 minute walk to their home. The walk took us past a house which had been an earlier home of the old Beaumont/HCPT friend whose premature death 3 years ago is the subject of some previous blog posts. I recalled him then as I often do with a mixture of sadness at his no longer being with us and happiness at the many fond memories evoked this time by seeing his old house.\nOn arrival at our New Years Day friends' home we learned that their friend had succumbed to cancer at age of 55 and died two days back. They recollected the countless good times they had had with him and family in days gone by and the sadness and grief affecting his widow and two girls.\nThey themselves were grief stricken and although we had only met their friends once or twice, shared the sadness with them. Yet out of that melancholy also came happiness. Fond recollections and memories were followed by anecdotes and inevitably the laughter that friends bring with them made itself felt. By the time the champagne was opened, the conversation was reflecting the passing of their old friend by being rather deeper and warmer than mere conviviality during a holiday.\nDeath is something we all have to go through alone but ironically perhaps death can bring the living closer together.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Mary Shelley writes Frankenstein, a novel who prevails in classic literature, first published in 1818 anonymously, later under her name in 1823. This classic novel tells a story from two different points of views about a scientist who creates a grotesque creature, gives it life and later abandons it. The creature later takes vengeance and kills all of those who are important in his creator’s life. Murder is an act of evil, but would his intentions be considered the same? Victor Frankenstein knew all there was to know about Alchemy, and Alchemy’s first rule is that nothing is entirely free; to create, something must be taken. After taking a new interest in dark sciences, later becoming an obsession, his goal was to create life. He robbed graves, collecting pieces of the human body; features he thought would make a beautiful creature. After hard work and determination, Victor accomplished his goal. Something unexpected happened, after giving his creature life he looked at his creation and suddenly became horrified and couldn’t bear to be in the room. The next morning he completely abandoned his creation after seeing it grin at him from across the room. The monster was rejected as quickly as the second he was first created. Not knowing why his creator had left the room, he quickly followed and waited for him to awake. As soon as his creator awoke, he noticed the monster grinning at him and ran away from the apartment. Frustrated and saddened, the monster left the apartment as well. Everyone he came in sight with was horrified by his appearance and either resorted to violence against him or ran away with fear. The monster’s first victim from hatred towards his creator was William, Victor Frankenstein’s younger brother. Many readers believe for the monster to be exactly that, a monster, not just because of his physique or because it’s one of the ways he is referred to in the novel, but because his first victim was a child. In a different point of view,...\nPlease join StudyMode to read the full document", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Introspection is like diving into the depths of our minds, searching for pearls of wisdom and self-awareness. It’s a way to reflect on our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to gain insight into who we are and what we want out of life. Introspection can be a powerful tool for personal growth, but it requires the right mindset and techniques to be effective.\nOne technique that can enhance introspection is practicing silence. We create space for deeper reflection when we eliminate external distractions and allow ourselves to be alone with our thoughts. However, simply being quiet isn’t enough. Superimpose positive thoughts during this time.\nBy intentionally focusing on uplifting ideas, we can shift our mindset towards gratitude, optimism, and self-love. In this article, I’ll share some tips for introspecting in silence and superimposing positive thoughts to cultivate inner peace and growth.\nThe Power of Introspection for Personal Growth\nYou can tap into the wellspring of personal growth by delving deep within yourself through introspection, allowing it to flow like a river and wash away negative thoughts or feelings.\nIntrospection examines your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to gain mental clarity, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, conscientiousness, and self-discovery. It’s a powerful tool that helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses, identify areas for improvement, and gain a deeper understanding of your true nature.\nIntrospection requires silence and solitude to be effective. During this time of quiet reflection, you should focus on your thoughts without judgment or distraction.\nBy superimposing positive thoughts onto negative ones during introspection, you can shift your mindset from negativity to positivity. This shift will allow you to approach life’s challenges more optimistically and lead to personal growth over time.\nThe Benefits of Practicing Silence for Introspection\nDiscovering the advantages of staying quiet can help me delve deeper into my inner self and find clarity. Practicing silence is an effective way to engage in introspection techniques, consciousness practices, and self-awareness exercises. It allows me to focus on my thoughts, emotions, and sensations without external distractions.\nMeditation benefits are numerous when practiced in silence. It has been proven to reduce stress levels, improve cognitive function, and increase emotional regulation. Inner peace strategies such as Kundalini meditation, simplified exercises, and deep relaxation also promote relaxation and calmness of the mind. By engaging in these practices regularly, I can gain a deeper understanding of myself and cultivate a sense of inner peace that positively impacts all aspects of my life.\nTechniques for Superimposing Positive Thoughts during Introspection\nExploring effective techniques to enhance our inner dialogue can lead to a more positive and empowering mindset. One way to do this is through visualization exercises, where we imagine ourselves in a situation of success or achievement. This helps us build confidence and self-belief, which are essential for developing a positive outlook.\nAnother technique is affirmation mantras, where we repeat positive statements about ourselves or our future goals. This helps us reprogram our subconscious mind with positive beliefs that support our growth and development.\nGratitude journaling is also an effective method of superimposing positive thoughts during introspection. By writing down things we are grateful for, we cultivate a sense of appreciation and abundance, which helps shift our focus away from negativity and positivity.\nOther techniques include mindful breathing and cognitive restructuring, which help us become aware of negative thought patterns and reframe them in a more positive light. By incorporating these techniques into our daily practice of introspection, we can develop a more resilient and optimistic mindset that supports us in achieving our goals.\nOvercoming Challenges in Introspection and Building a Consistent Practice\nDon’t let the challenges of introspection discourage you – building a consistent practice takes time and effort, but the benefits are well worth it. One of the biggest challenges in introspection is staying focused and present at the moment. It’s easy to get distracted by outside factors or internal thoughts, making it difficult to engage with your emotions and thoughts fully.\nSeveral techniques can be incorporated into your introspection practice to overcome this challenge.\nKundalini meditation is a powerful technique used for centuries to awaken and activate the dormant energy within the human body. The Sahasrara chakra is the highest energy center in the body, located at the crown of the head. It is associated with pure consciousness and enlightenment. When this chakra is activated through Kundalini meditation, it helps to bring the mind into a state of alpha frequency.\nAlpha frequency is a state of relaxed alertness where the mind is calm and focused. It is the state we experience when daydreaming, meditating, or in a flow state. When we are in this state, our brain waves slow down, and we can better concentrate and focus on the task. By practicing Kundalini meditation at the Sahasrara chakra, we can achieve this state of alpha frequency and reap the benefits that come with it.\nSome of the benefits of alpha frequency include:\n- Improved concentration and focus: When we are in the alpha state, our mind is less distracted, and we can better concentrate on the task. This can help us to be more productive and efficient in our work.\n- Reduced stress and anxiety: Alpha frequency is associated with relaxation and calmness. By practicing Kundalini meditation at the Sahasrara chakra, we can reduce stress and anxiety and improve our overall sense of well-being.\n- Increased creativity: Alpha frequency is also associated with creativity. We are more likely to develop new and innovative ideas in this state.\n- Improved memory and learning: When we are alpha, our brain is more receptive to new information and can better retain what we learn.\nMindful breathing is one technique that helps bring awareness to the present moment and calm racing thoughts. Journaling prompts can also help guide your introspection, providing structure and direction for your reflections. A gratitude practice can help shift focus from negative thoughts to positive ones, while visualization exercises can help create a clear picture of what you want to achieve or change in your life. Lastly, seeking guidance from a trained Vethathiri SKY Yoga master can provide support and accountability as you build a consistent and effective introspection practice.\nIntegrating Introspection into Your Daily Routine for Lasting Change\nIncorporate introspection into your daily routine by setting aside a few minutes each day to reflect on your experiences and emotions. One effective way to do this is through mindful breathing exercises, which can help calm the mind and increase awareness of one’s thoughts and feelings.\nAnother helpful tool is journaling prompts, which provide structured questions or prompts to guide reflection and self-discovery. In addition, practicing gratitude can be a powerful way to shift one’s focus toward positive thoughts and emotions.\nVisualization exercises, such as imagining oneself achieving a desired goal or outcome, can also help foster a positive mindset. Finally, finding an accountability buddy or support group can provide motivation and encouragement for maintaining a consistent introspection practice over time.\nBy incorporating these practices into your daily routine, you can superimpose positive thoughts onto negative ones and ultimately experience lasting change in your mindset and overall well-being.\nIn conclusion, the power of introspection can’t be overstated. Reflecting on our thoughts and actions helps us identify areas for improvement and make positive changes. Practicing silence during introspection enhances our ability to focus and gain clarity.\nAn interesting statistic shows that people who practiced regular introspection were more productive and had higher job satisfaction than those who did not, according to a study by Harvard Business Review. This highlights the benefits of incorporating introspection into our daily routines, not just for personal growth but also for professional success.\nConsistently practicing introspection and superimposing positive thoughts helps us cultivate a mindset of self-improvement and achieve lasting change in all aspects of our lives.\nBe Blessed by the Divine!\nKrish Murali Eswar.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The effect of cannabinoid drugs on peristalsis in the guinea-pig ileum was studied. Peristalsis was induced by delivering fluid into the oral end of an isolated intestinal segment. Longitudinal muscle reflex contraction, threshold pressure and threshold volume to trigger peristalsis, compliance of the intestinal wall during the preparatory phase (a reflection of the resistance of the wall to distension) and maximal ejection pressure during the emptying phase of peristalsis were measured. The cannabinoid agonists WIN 55,212-2 (0.3 - 300 nM) and CP55,940 (0.3 - 300 nM) significantly decreased longitudinal muscle reflex contraction, compliance and maximal ejection pressure, while increased threshold pressure and volume to elicit peristalsis. These effects were not modified by the opioid antagonist naloxone (1 microM) and by the alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist phentolamine (1 microM). The inhibitory effect of both WIN 55,212-2 and CP55,940 on intestinal peristalsis was antagonized by the cannabinoid CB(1) receptor antagonist SR141716A (0.1 microM), but not by the cannabinoid CB(2) receptor antagonist SR144528 (0.1 microM). In absence of other drugs, the CB(1) receptor antagonists SR141716A (0.01 - 1 microM) and AM281 (0.01 - 1 microM) slightly (approximatively 20%) but significantly increased maximal ejection pressure during the empty phase of peristalsis without modifying longitudinal muscle reflex contraction, threshold pressure, threshold volume to trigger peristalsis and compliance. It is concluded that activation of CB(1) receptors reduces peristalsis efficiency in the isolated guinea-pig, and that the emptying phase of peristalsis could be tonically inhibited by the endogenous cannabinoid system.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Information Resources Security Threat in University Libraries in Katsina State\nKeywords:Information resources, Information security threat, Academic libraries, Katsina State\nThis study was carried out to investigate information resource security threat in university libraries in Katsina State. The objectives of the paper were to identify the types of information resources threat available and the measures taken to solve the issue of information resource security threat in university libraries in Katsina state. The paper employed a qualitative methodological approach using a narrative-based design.\nAboyade, O. N. (2012) Attitudes of Law librarians to theft and mutilation control Methods. Law Library Journal. Vol. 10 (6) pp 10 – 14.\nAina, L. O. (2004) Library and Information science Text for Africa. Ibadan: Third World Information Services Ltd.\nAjegbomogun, F. O. (2014) User’s assessment of library: A Nigerian University Case Study. Library Management 25 (8/9): 386-390.\nAkor, P. U. (2011) Disruptive behaviours of Library patrons. New York. Hampell press.\nAlokun, N. A. (2004). The use of the library: A textbook for students in Tertiary Institutions. Lagos, Nudex International co. Ltd. Available at www.oalib.com/.../15222992. (Accessed 10 August 2022)\nJohn, O. (2013) History & philosophy, Challenges; Nature, Roles of Academic Library in Nigeria Library Philosophy and practice. Vol.7 (2) pp.211-216.\nLynn P. R. (2014). Theft in Academic Libraries Alabama. Wilkinson. Press\nMaidabino, A. A. (2010) Information resources security issues in Malaysia Academic Libraries: An exploratory survey. Library philosophy and practices, Available at http:/unllib.un.edu/Lpp/Lpp2010.htm (Accessed on 3rd September, 2022).\nMaidabino, A. A. & Zainab, A. N. (2011) Information resources security Management at University Libraries: Assessment of its implementation status. Available at http://unl.edu.Lpp/Lpp2010.htm. Accessed 2nd March, 2023\nMomodu, M.A. (2002). Delinquent readers in selected urban Libraries in Nigeria. Library Review 51 (9). 469-471.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Like many little boys, Pinocchio likes to dabble in mischief, disobey his parents, and shirk his studies and chores. Like many ordinary boys, Pinocchio does what he pleases, with scant regard for the consequences. But the star of this tale isn't just any little boy. And he's certainly not ordinary. In fact, he's not a boy at all. With a head made of wood and his body carved from an enchanted tree limb, Pinocchio is a puppet. And a naughty one at that\nAuthor Carlo Collodi and illustrator Roberto Innocenti treat readers to a wildly imaginative ride in this delightful story of an egoistic wooden puppet whose bad behavior leads him from one misfortune to another. In the end, lured by the promise of becoming a \"real\" boy should he change his wicked ways, Pinocchio tries to make amends. But will his good deeds come too late?\nCarlo Collodi is the pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini (18261890), an accomplished Italian journalist whose translations of French fairy tales in the late 1870s earned such praise that he was encouraged to write his own. \"Le Avventure di Pinocchio\" (\"The Adventures of Pinocchio\"), his most famous and beloved work, debuted in 1881 and is today considered a children's classic.\nItalian Roberto Innocenti taught himself the craft of illustration as a young man and has since become one of the world's most recognizable children's book illustrators. His work in such acclaimed picture books as \"Rose Blanche,\" \"Nutcracker,\" \"A Christmas Carol,\" \"The Last Resort,\" and \"Erika's Story\" has garnered wide critical acclaim and such honors as the Bratislava Golden Apple Award and a 2004 nomination for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.\n- ISBN-13: 9781568461908\n- ISBN-10: 1568461909\n- Publisher: Creative Edition\n- Publish Date: September 2005\n- Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.78 x 0.91 inches\n- Shipping Weight: 2.69 pounds\n- Page Count: 191\n- Reading Level: Ages 8-11\nThe Adventures of Pinocchio\nChildren today are more likely to have seen the Walt Disney 1940 film version of Pinocchio than to have read the original book. That's just one reason why The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti, would make a welcome addition to a child's library. Another is the stunning, imaginative art by the renowned Italian illustrator Innocenti, who has also illustrated the Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol.\nCollodi, an Italian journalist (his real name was Carlo Lorenzini) first published Pinocchio, the story of a mischievous and misbehaving wooden puppet, in 1881. This beautiful re-release will take readers young and old on an imaginative journey into another world. Pinocchio's travels are filled with adventurehe is ambushed, almost eaten by a fisherman, flies on the back of a pigeon and gets swallowed by a gigantic shark. Innocenti, one of the finest artists working in the field, created more than 50 magnificent illustrations for this handsome, high-quality edition. Children will be enthralled by his depiction of busy marketplaces, bright farmyard scenes, mysterious winter landscapes and even the inside of the giant shark.\nDeborah Hopkinson's picture book, Apples to Oregon, was recently named a finalist for the Oregon Book Award.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Egg is Quiet\nWritten by Dianna Aston\nLovereading4kids Price £9.59\n£11.99 saving £2.40 (20%)\nwhen in stock\nAs soon as this book is back in stock we will send you an email.Compare book price We'd love you to buy your books from Lovereading - especially if we helped you to choose them! But as our mantra is guidance, and that includes guidance on price, please do use our 'Compare Book Price' service to discover if the best value deal is from Lovereading or another specialist bookstore.\nEgg is Quiet by Dianna AstonAward-winning artist Sylvia Long has teamed with up-and-coming author Dianna Aston to create this gorgeous and informative introduction to eggs. From tiny hummingbird eggs to giant ostrich eggs, oval ladybug eggs to tubular dogfish eggs, gooey frog eggs to fossilized dinosaur eggs, it magnificently captures the incredible variety of eggs and celebrates their beauty and wonder.The evocative text is sure to inspire lively questions and observations. Yet while poetic in voice and elegant in design, the book introduces children to more than 60 types of eggs and an interesting array of egg facts. Even the endpapers brim with information. A tender and fascinating guide that is equally at home being read to a child on a parent's lap as in a classroom reading circle.\n's illustrations are elegant and simple, and the gallery of eggs, as brilliantly colored and polished as gems, will inspire kids to marvel at animals'\nAbout the Author\nMore books by Dianna Aston\n30th April 2006\nIt is THE website to use for narrowing down your search for any book. Definitely knocks the socks off any other book review website.Nickey and Tomasz Hawryszczuk\nLove “Lovereading4kids” as my son gets to hear about & read new books before his mates which keeps him interested in reading=a very happy MumLiz Evans\nWriting reviews help the children with their literacy skills and we always read the books together which gives us good quality family time!Cat Bisland (on behalf of the Bi\nI think Lovereading4kids is an amazing company because of the friendly staff and the fabulous chance to read great books before publication.Adam Graham\nI am so pleased to have signed my kids up as they are reading a much wider range of books and even choosing books out of their comfort zone.Angela East\nYou give me age appropriate ideas of books I can read and buy for the children and find out what other children their age think of them too.Katie Lonsdale\nLoveReading4Kids is a modern and creative way of emphasising the value and importance of books in this digital age #booksforlifeAmrit Bunet – Teen\nI love lovereading4kids because I’ve read amazing books I would never have picked up, and its opened doors to new genre’s I now love.Harriet Cunningham", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "After the loss of her brother, actress Harmony Jones struggles with daily life. Landing the lead role on the hit faith based living history show, 1700s Life, might be the perfect way to reconnect with her faith and be her big acting break.\nTired of hiding his strong faith and convictions to get secular roles, David Hawkins jumps at the chance to play the curate on 1700s Life. It’s the perfect vehicle to spread God’s word.\nElliot Banes’ career needs an image makeover, so he accepts the naval hero role on 1700s Life. Getting away from his overbearing mother is an added bonus. His true hope is to learn to speak his mind instead of always fading into the background.\nWhen a scripted love triangle between Harmony, David, and Elliot becomes a real life love triangle, Harmony must make a difficult decision. . She hoped to find her wavering faith, she didn’t count on finding love as well. If that was her only obstacle, the role would be a breeze. Unfortunately, there’s an on-set spy intent on causing drama. Can Harmony see through all the lies and secrets to the truth in her heart, or will she end up falling for the wrong man?\n” The author has done a decent job of making me want to find out what comes next for Harmony, Elliot, David and Katie. “\nReview on Amazon by S. Biglow", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "To examine the change in racial disparity in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associations between SARS-CoV-2 infection and SMM. This retrospective cohort study used linked databases of all livebirths delivered between 2018-2021 in South Carolina (n=162,576). Exposures were 1) pre-pandemic and pandemic periods (before vs. March 2020 onwards); 2) SARS-CoV-2 infection, severity, and timing of first infection. Log-binomial regression models were used. SMM rate was higher among pandemic childbirths than pre-pandemic period (p=0.06). The risk of SMM among Hispanics was doubled from pre-pandemic to pandemic periods (adjusted relative risk (aRR)= 2.50, 95% CI: 1.27, 4.94). During pre-pandemic, compared to White women, Black women (aRR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.14-1.64), while Hispanics had lower risk of SMM (aRR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.24-0.73). During the pandemic, the Black-White difference in the risk of SMM persisted (aRR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.00-1.54) and Hispanic-White difference in SMM risk became insignificant (aRR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.54, 1.34). SARS-CoV-2 infection, its severity, and the late diagnosis were associated with 1.78-5.06 times higher risk of SMM. During pandemic, Black-White racial disparity in SMM persisted but the relative pre-pandemic advantage in SMM among Hispanic women over White women disappeared during the pandemic.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "10 New Year Resolutions for your Mental Health\n- This New Year let’s focus on Slowing Down and being grateful.\nLet us let go of insignificant aspects of life and let go of certain people- some who’ve hurt us or some who we love but need to let go of.\n- You shall feel light.\nLet us be able to live in the here and now, like each day is the last, focusing on the present rather than feeling depressed about the past or anxious about the future.\n- You will feel calm.\nLet us be able to stop getting angry or irritated. When we do that we only hurt ourselves and damage our emotional or mental well-being.\n- You will feel more in control and empowered\nLet us be able to love in the absence of judgment.\n- You shall be loved unconditionally in return\nLet us learn to respect and accept situations and other people devoid of bias or judgment based on religion, caste, creed, socio-economical background, skin color or sexual preference.\n- You will feel liberated and free with empathy\nLet us feel the gratitude for each and every small aspect of life.\n- You will enjoy so much more\nLet us look at and perceive things differently, sometimes in silence.\n- You will learn so much more\nLet us be more accepting of life's challenges and know that light comes in through all its enumerable cracks.\n- You will learn to be more patient and understand life spiritually\nLet us be able to Enjoy life to its fullest - dance like you have never danced before, laugh hard until it hurts, hug someone tighter and longer than before, go to a place you’ve always wished to see, pray for peace not for things, and love like you’ve never loved before, say all your thank you and sorries before it’s too late- so that we never live with Regret.\n- You shall find inner happiness and peace of mind\nThis should be everyone's 2020 Resolution.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Linda Gregg Biography and Poems\nLinda Gregg Biography and Poems. This is biographical information on Linda Gregg, one of the best poets of all time. This biography page also provides a link to poems written by Gregg, as well as, a video biography...if available.\nLinda Alouise Gregg (born September 9, 1942 in Suffern, New York) is an award-winning American poet.. American poet\nMore Linda Gregg Information", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Musculoskeletal complaints among professional divers\nPeer reviewed, Journal article\nMetadataShow full item record\nBackground: Previous publications have indicated a high risk of musculoskeletal complaints among professional divers. This study aims to investigate which factors influence professional divers’ risk of musculoskeletal complaints. Materials and methods: Based on data gathered from a postal questionnaire sent to Norwegian inshore divers in 2011, the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints, strain injuries and joint pain among divers with different certification levels, work-related tasks and decompression sickness (DCS) experiences were analysed. Results: The risk of musculoskeletal complaints, strain injuries and joint pain was significantly higher among divers working in the quay/construction industry versus divers not working in this industry, and among divers who had experienced DCS. Likewise, a higher risk was found among divers doing construction, inspection, pipelaying, blasting and welding, other physically demanding work, and working with vibrating and/or rotating tools. Having experienced tingling and/or numbness in fingers after working with vibrating and/or rotating tools or having sick leave due to tendonitis, periosteum inflammation, stretch injuries or sprains caused by diving also increased the risk. Conclusions: Professional divers working in the quay/construction industry, divers doing tasks with heavy physical demands and divers having experienced DCS are at a higher risk of musculoskeletal complaints than other professional divers.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Roaring Brook Press, 9781596433632, 32pp.\nPublication Date: April 27, 2009\n* Individual store prices may vary.\nA young eagle learns to soar in Caldecott-winner Ed Young's newest work.\nWith beautiful, sweeping artwork and spare, lyrical text, Ed Young tells the story of a boy who finds an egg and gives it to a flock of chickens. When the egg hatches not a chick but an eaglet, the hens, the roosters, and the boy all band together to help the young bird fly. In this lovely story about friendship and dedication, the eaglet perseveres and leaves behind the dusty earth for endless pastel skies.\nAbout the Author\nCaldecott Medalist Ed Young is the illustrator of over eighty books for children, seventeen of which he has also written. He finds inspiration for his work in the philosophy of Chinese painting.\"A Chinese painting is often accompanied by words,\" explains Young. \"They are complementary. There are things that words do that pictures never can, and likewise, there are images that words can never describe.\"Born in Tientsin, China, Ed Young grew up in Shanghai and later moved to Hong Kong. As a young man, he came to the United States on a student visa to study architecture but turned instead to his love of art. Young began his career as a commercial artist in advertising and found himself looking for something more expansive, expressive, and timeless. He discovered all this, and more, in children's books. The subject and style of each story provide Young with the initial inspiration for his art and with the motivation for design, sequence, and pace. Accuracy in research is essential to his work, too whether he is illustrating fantasy, folk tale, or fact. According to Young, a strong foundation of credibility must be established in order to create new and exciting images. Through such images, he hopes to capture his readers and ultimately expand their awareness. Young's quest for challenge and growth are central in his role as illustrator. \"Before I am involved with a project I must be moved, and as I try something exciting, I grow. It is my purpose to stimulate growth in the reader as an active participant as well,\" Young explains. \"I feel the story has to be exciting, and a moving experience for a child.\" A graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Young has since taught at the Pratt Institute, Yale University, Naropa Institute, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 1990, his book Lon Po Po was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He has also received two Caldecott Honors for The Emperor and the Kite and Seven Blind Mice and was twice nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the highest international recognition given to children's book authors and illustrators who have made a lasting contribution to children's literature. Young lives in Westchester County, New York, with his two daughters. His recent books for Neal Porter Books / Roaring Brook Press include Twenty Heartbeats, written by Dennis Haseley, and Hook, published in Spring, 2009.\nPraise For Hook…\n“Adults and children alike will savor the process.”—Christian Science Monitor\n“A powerful blend of language,imagery and emotion.” —Starred, Publishers Weekly\n“Young’s freely sketched figures, rendered in soft, evanescent strokes, not only tell the story but suggest ideas that transcend the simple yet vital events.” —Starred, Horn Book\n“Vibrant, minimal chalk drawings—hardly more than sketches, but glorious ones—utilize shifting perspectives to enhance the sky’s imposing vastness . . . . Arresting and absorbing, this tale soars.” —Starred, Kirkus Reviews\n“This stirring story will remind readers of the Ugly Duckling, but its timeless message of determination reaches far past the fairytale genre.” —Starred, Booklist\n“Young's suggestive dusky views are by turns confusing, comical, and striking. Along with the minimal narrative, they leave space for readers to ponder and question. They offer nice opportunities for shared reading and, of course, special moments of recognition for readers familiar with Andersen's tale.” —School Library Journal", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.\nThis author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.\nThis author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.\nReviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite\nDigital Smiles by E. Hughes is a thought-provoking collection of poems that offer sharp commentary on a few increasingly relevant social issues. \"Birds of Prey\" calls out those in the internet forums who prey on people's fears and insecurities to further their own interests. The titular poem \"Digital Smiles\" sheds light on those in power who use their influence on the social media landscape to drive us apart and distort the truth to manufacture their own reality. \"I'm Little and I'm Scared\" is a heartbreaking poem about a child trapped in the middle of a warzone. In \"Just Biding My Time,\" the narrator longs for freedom from the everyday struggles of life. In \"Following the Leader,\" the narrator touches upon the relationship between leaders and their followers and wonders if the world wouldn't be a better place if neither existed.\nWith this stimulating collection of poems, E. Hughes draws attention to the darker aspects of social media and a few relevant societal issues that the world faces today. Digital Smiles offers readers some much-needed uncomfortable truths, ignoring which might lead to dire consequences for future generations to come. Using both free verse and rhyming stanzas, Hughes provides readers with keen insights into human behavior and modern society that not only seem astute but also very poignant. Each poem is unique and brings something of its own to the larger narrative. I enjoyed every poem, and I think \"Meta News\" perfectly encapsulates the overall tone of this collection. If you're someone who enjoys poetry with a healthy dose of meta-commentary, I highly recommend Digital Smiles.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It has felt good to get this all out. Clear out my brain for new and happier things.\nI spent days with ice packs clutched to my breast. Any bump or jostle caused me pain. Accidental brushes against my husband’s arm or body were jarring and scary. I developed a bubble around myself augmented with pillows whenever possible. I still sleep with a pillow around my chest. My husband while understanding, is irritated by this. In his defense, I have been cancer free for a couple of years. I hope to let go of my bubble by this summer.\nAfter several weeks it was time to talk with the oncologist. She is a lovely woman, knowledgeable and friendly. I felt at home with her and her staff right away. She suggested a gene test of the tissue in order to better target my breast cancer with chemotherapy. We had this done. We talked about options: chemo and radiation, just chemo, just radiation. I chose chemo and radiation – let’s kill any remaining damn cancerous cells.\nThe day arrived to begin chemo. There was trouble accessing my veins – it took forever and was painful. Finally the line was in and the cocktail of chemicals poured into my body. The setting was calm and welcoming despite the underlying tension and fear. The nurses brought lunch bags of food and warm blankets. Around me were women silent and women chatting and women knitting and women sleeping. No hair, wigs and close cropped heads. Cool, chic business women with high heels and briefcases, charging in to tackle this task. So many women affected by cancer - everywhere - I was stunned.\nI sat in my treatment chair, wondering what would happen next.\nDown to the River\n14 hours ago", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Ada Ruth’s mama must go away to Chicago to work, leaving Ada Ruth and Grandma behind. It’s war time, and women are needed to fill the men’s jobs. As winter sets in, Ada Ruth and her grandma keep up their daily routine, missing Mama all the time. They find strength in each other, and a stray kitten even arrives one day to keep them company, but nothing can fill the hole Mama left. Every day they wait, watching for the letter that says Mama will be coming on home soon. Set during World War II, Coming On Home Soon has a timeless quality that will appeal to all who wait and hope.\nJacqueline Woodson (www.jacquelinewoodson.com) was the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and she received the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award. She is the 2014 National Book Award Winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir BROWN GIRL DREAMING, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor Award, the NAACP Image Award and the Sibert Honor Award. Woodson was recently named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. Her recent adult book, Another Brooklyn, was a National Book Award finalist. Born on February 12th in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline Woodson grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York and graduated from college with a B.A. in English. She is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a four-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Her books include THE OTHER SIDE, EACH KINDNESS, Caldecott Honor Book COMING ON HOME SOON; Newbery Honor winners FEATHERS, SHOW WAY, and AFTER TUPAC AND D FOSTER, and MIRACLE’S BOYS–which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Award and was adapted into a miniseries directed by Spike Lee. Jacqueline is also the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature, the winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and was the 2013 United States nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.\nE.B. Lewis is the award-winning illustrator of such books as Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys by Elizabeth Fitzgerald, which was a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book, and This Little Light of Mine. He received the Caldecott Honor for Coming on Home Soon by Jacqueline Woodson and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman by Nikki Grimes. E.B. Lewis lives in New Jersey, and you can visit him online at EBLewis.com.\nNothing yet! Let Jacqueline Woodson know that you want to hear from them about their book.\nNothing yet! Let E.B. Lewis know that you want to hear from them about their book.\nJust the barebones.\nAre you the author or illustrator? Claim your book.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Effect of HBP modified γ-APS on the coating toughness and practical adhesion between galvanised steel and polyethylene\nEpoxy-functionalised hyperbranched polymers (HBP) were combined with aminosilanes to form coatings and their effect on the practical adhesion between galvanised steel and polyethylene was investigated. It was shown that HBPs were initially soluble in silane, but phase-separated upon curing. Low modulus nodules formed and modified the crack propagation mechanisms in the coatings. The initial practical adhesion measured in three-point bending decreased with increasing HBP content in the coating. The loss after ageing was, however, not as significant as with pure silane coatings. Interface formation in the aminosilane-HBP/galvanised steel system was investigated to propose explanations for the role of HBP, by the formation of a new morphology.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Gryp has spent lifetimes looking for more Stones of Ezamal with no success. When Vanagandr orders him to climb through the ranks of the Wolves, he hopes they will finally be within reach. But when a strange woman appears on Dominans, everything he thinks he knows about angels, gods, and even Thinkers is turned upside down. As he is trying to make sense of these developments, Shinga returns, still determined to clear her name. Despite her intentions, her arrival divides the remaining races more significantly than ever before.\nIn The Moirean Tapestry, many of the characters have more than one name due to the reincarnation plot point. Which name is used when can give deeper insights to the mindset of the character being followed.\nIn this scene, you can pinpoint the moment that Minyera's trust breaks based on whether she thinks of Gryp as \"Lapidus\" or \"Iogrevard.\"\nMemory-s Emissary Final-smshwrds\n\"This is insane,\" Iogrevard said, turning to face them and still laughing. \"How would I know what I do if I were not Lapidus?\" he asked. \"Why would I lie?\"", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Teachers' notes this 'romeo and juliet' study guide forms the fifth part of all references are taken from 'romeo and juliet' the arden edition of the works of william shakespeare (edited by brian gibbons character of the nurse and a character similar to shakespeare's. This gcse english literature quiz takes a look at the characters in william shakespeare's play large roles, followed by romeo's friend mercutio and the montagues and the love affair of romeo and juliet most of the male characters are caught up in the feud and the. Start studying romeo and juliet characters, english test: romeo & juliet learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards when was william shakespeare born stratford-upon-avon after romeo refuses, mercutio steps in to fight this person. Mercutio - a monodimensional and static character in shakespeare's romeo and juliet characteristics can be seen as extreme forms of wit and mockery.\nPosts about romeo & juliet written by when the encounter finally occurred between mercutio and tybalt, both characters were portrayed as this talk explores the dramatic figuration of the friar character in william shakespeare's romeo and juliet and john ford's 'tis pity. William shakespeare's works/tragedies/romeo and juliet from wikibooks sometimes changing the form as the character develops romeo other musical adaptations include terrence mann's 1999 rock musical william shakespeare's romeo and juliet. Romeo and juliet: character analysis by william shakespeare cliff notes romeo and juliet by william shakespeare - free booknotes previous page | table of contents although somewhat out of character mercutio is a skillful duelist. Mercutio is an anti-romantic character who, like juliet's nurse, regards love as an exclusively physical pursuit he advocates an adversarial concept of love that contrasts sharply with romeo's idealized notion of romantic union. Romeo and juliet by william shakespeare verona, italy 1590's, july mercutiofriend of romeo, related to prince county paris turn thee, benvolio look upon thy death face your death [draws his sword] benvolio 1169. No one can doubt the sheer brilliance of william shakespeare that has become synonymous with love stories, is romeo and juliet shakespeare mercutio: nay, gentle romeo, we must have you dance romeo: you have dancing shoes.\nCategory: papers title: character comparison of mercutio, benvolio and tybalt of william shakespeare's romeo and juliet my account i will now look at the roles of the characters in the play and sum up. Romeo and juliet character chart nobility friar lawrence prince paris mercutio romeo benvolio lord & lady mercutio is romeo's quick-witted friend and a relation of prince escalus look upon thy death' (act 1 scene 1. William shakespeare, romeo and juliet tags: romeo-and-juliet 635 likes like eyes, look your last arms, take your last embrace and, lips, o you the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death.\nGet free homework help on william shakespeare's romeo and juliet: play summary, scene summary and analysis and original text, quotes, essays, character analysis, and filmography courtesy of cliffsnotes in william shakespeare's romeo and juliet , a long feud between the montague and capulet. Silver designer pistols that look as if they were and leather-boy desperadoes silver designer pistols that look as if they were engraved at a rodeo drive movie review: 'william shakespeare's romeo and juliet' subscribe tv william shakespeare's romeo + juliet type movie. Romeo and juliet is a tragedy written by william shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose poet john dryden wrote 10 years later in praise of the play and its comic character mercutio: in romeo and juliet, shakespeare employs several dramatic techniques. William shakespeare's romeo + juliet at the same time, romeo realizes that juliet is a capulet mercutio takes romeo from the party with romeo and juliet what i wanted to do was to look at the way in which shakespeare might make a movie of one of his plays if he was a director.\nRomeo and juliet (3,342) william shakespeare (8,395) helpful guides how does shakespeare present the character of mercutio and what role does he play in romeo and juliet mercutio stands firm and prepares to fight standing up for romeo 'men's eyes were made to look and let them gaze.\nThis literature quiz is called 'romeo and juliet - character' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject this high school english literature quiz takes a look at the characters in william shakespeare's play mercutio is very quick-tempered and. Every character has its foil: romeo and mercutio, juliet and roasline, benvolio and tybalt to mercutio did shakespeare give the should be made to listen to the queen mab vocal scherzetto and orchestral scherzo from berlioz' dramatic symphony romeo and juliet before smithers. Romeo + juliet (1996) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.\nWhy should you care about what mercutio says in william shakespeare s romeo and juliet don t worry, we re here to tell you. A franciscan friar, friend to both romeo and juliet kind mercutio a kinsman to the prince, and romeo's close friend one of the most extraordinary characters in all of shakespeare's plays, mercutio. Romeo and juliet: queen mab who is queen mab are confusing to modern readers because we are generally unfamiliar with the warwickshire dialect and terms common in shakespeare's day mercutio dressed as a pilgrim to the holy land, romeo addresses juliet in character, pretending that he. Relationship between mercutio and romeo the character of mercutio in romeo and juliet plays an important role in providing humour the relationship between lord capulet and juliet in william shakespeare's romeo and juliet capulet first appears to be an aggressive man. Summary at the time mercutio makes his famous queen mab speech in shakespeare's romeo and juliet, he and romeo, together with a group of their friends and kinsmen, are on the way to a party given by their family's arch-enemy, lord capulet.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Tobacco dependence is a significant health concern and the most preventable cause of death in the United States. Nicotine, the principal tobacco alkaloid, activates nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) on dopamine terminals in the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal systems to evoke dopamine release, leading to reward and tobacco dependence. Bupropion, which inhibits both neurotransmitter transporters and acts as a nAChR antagonist, has benefit as a smoking cessation agent. In addition, mecamylamine, a noncompetitive antagonist at both central and peripheral nAChRs, has shown benefit in clinical trials, but is limited by anticholinergic side effects because of its lack of nAChR selectivity. Bupropion and mecamylamine provide proof of concept that nAChR antagonists have efficacy in treating nicotine addiction; however, high relapse rates indicate a continuing need for alternative pharmacotherapies.\nOur hypothesis is that discovery of selective antagonists targeted at neuronal nAChRs mediating nicotine-evoked neurotransmitter release, which mediates the reinforcing effects of nicotine, will provide clinically effective smoking cessation agents, circumventing unwanted side effects. The current pharmacological approach using a subtype-selective nAChR antagonist to block reversibly the specific nAChR subtype mediating the reinforcing effects of nicotine is similar to employing nAChR subunit deletion to prevent the expression of these nAChRs. In this regard, landmark work has shown that in β-2 subunit knockout mice, targeted injection into the ventral tegmental area of a lentiviral vector that efficiently expresses β-2 subunit protein, restores both nicotine-evoked dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens and nicotine reinforcement, providing convincing evidence that β-2-containing nAChRs expressed specifically in the ventral tegmental area are important in the reinforcing effects of nicotine (Molles et al, 2006).\nBecause nicotine interacts with all nAChR subtypes, discovery of subtype-selective nAChR antagonists that inhibit nicotine-evoked dopamine release was initiated using nicotine as the structural scaffold. Simple addition of an N-n-alkyl group converted nicotine from an agonist to an antagonist, and subtype selectivity began to emerge depending on the number of methylene groups in the n-alkyl chain (Dwoskin et al, 2004). The classic discovery that the bis-tri-alkylammonium nAChR channel blockers, hexamethonium and decamethonium, exhibit subtype selectivity between ganglionic and muscle-type nAChRs led us to use a similar approach by generating a sub-library of small molecules consisting of a bis-nicotinium analog structure, incorporating a variety of head groups and diverse linkers varying in length, unsaturation, and polarity. From this novel sub-library, a new lead compound, N,N′-dodecyl-1,12-diyl-bis-3-picolinium dibromide (bPiDDB), emerged. bPiDDB potently inhibited nicotine-evoked dopamine release from superfused rat striatal slices (Dwoskin et al, 2008a). Using microdialysis, systemically administered bPiDDB also inhibited the nicotine-induced increase in extracellular dopamine in nucleus accumbens (Rahman et al, 2007). Thus, following in vitro and in vivo peripheral administration, bPiDDB decreased nicotine-evoked dopamine release. Utilizing radiolabeled bPiDDB, we also demonstrated its brain bioavailability by the blood–brain barrier choline transporter (Albayati et al, 2008).\nInvestigation of the behavioral pharmacology of bPiDDB revealed that this compound decreases nicotine-induced hyperactivity in nicotine-sensitized rats, a response associated previously with enhanced nicotine-evoked dopamine release in nucleus accumbens. Since bPiDDB did not reduce activity when administered alone in nicotine-sensitized rats, the decrease in nicotine-induced hyperactivity is not due to nonspecific motor impairment, but rather likely reflects inhibition of nicotine-evoked dopamine release. Moreover, bPiDDB decreases intravenous nicotine self-administration in rats (Neugebauer et al, 2006). Surprisingly, bPiDDB did not block the discriminative stimulus effects of nicotine, indicating that bPiDDB dissociates the rewarding and discriminative stimulus properties of nicotine (Dwoskin et al, 2008a). Following extinction of nicotine self-administration, bPiDDB also attenuated nicotine-induced reinstatement of nicotine-seeking behavior in rats (Dwoskin et al, 2008b). Taken together, the effectiveness of bPiDDB in decreasing both nicotine self-administration and reinstatement designates bPiDDB as a lead in our search for nAChR antagonists that may be a useful as treatments for tobacco dependence and relapse.\nAlbayati ZF, Dwoskin LP, Crooks PA (2008). Pharmacokinetics of the novel nicotinic receptor antagonist N,N′-dodecane-1,12-diyl-bis-3-picolinium dibromide (bPiDDB). Drug Metab Dispos, PMID:18617603 [E-pub ahead of print, 10 July].\nDwoskin LP, Pivavarchyk M, Joyce BM, Neugebauer NM, Zheng G, Zhang Z et al (2008b). Targeting reward-relevant nicotinic receptors in the discovery of novel pharmacotherapeutic agents to treat tobacco dependence. 55th Annual Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: The Motivational Impact of Nicotine and its Role in Tobacco Use. In: RA Bevins and AR Caggiula (eds) Springer, in press.\nDwoskin LP, Sumithran SP, Zhu J, Deaciuc AG, Ayers JT, Crooks PA (2004). Subtype-selective nicotinic receptor antagonists: potential as tobacco use cessation agents. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 14: 1863–1867.\nDwoskin LP, Wooters TE, Sumithran SP, Siripurapu KB, Joyce BM, Lockman PR et al (2008a). N,N′-Alkane-diyl-bis-3-picoliniums as nicotinic receptor antagonists: inhibition of nicotine-induced dopamine release and hyperactivity. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 326: 563–576.\nMolles BE, Maskos U, Pons S, Besson M, Guiard P, Guilloux JP et al (2006). Targeted in vivo expression of nicotinic receptors in mouse brain using lentiviral expression vectors. J Mol Neurosci 30: 105–106.\nNeugebauer NM, Zhang Z, Crooks PA, Dwoskin LP, Bardo MT (2006). Effect of a novel nicotinic receptor antagonist, N,N′-dodecane-1,12-diyl-bis-3-picolinium dibromide, on nicotine self-administration and hyperactivity in rats. Psychopharmacology 184:426–434.\nRahman S, Neugebauer NM, Zhang Z, Crooks PA, Dwoskin LP, Bardo MT (2007). The effects of a novel nicotinic receptor antagonist N,N-dodecane1,12-diyl-bis-3-picolinium dibromide (bPiDDB) on acute and repeated nicotine-induced increases in extracellular dopamine in rat nucleus accumbens. Neuropharmacology 52: 755–763.\nThis work was supported by NIH U19 DA017548, K02 DA00399, T32 DA007304.\nDISCLOSURE/CONFLICT OF INTEREST\nThe University of Kentucky holds patents on N,N′-dodecyl-1,12-diyl-bis-3-picolinium dibromide. A potential royalty stream to LPD may occur consistent with University of Kentucky policy. The authors declare that over the past three years LD has received compensation from Boston University, Emory University, Meharry Medical College, the Universities of Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico as well as Yaupon Therapeutics Inc., and MB received compensation from Oregon Health Sciences University, University of Nebraska, University of Minnesota, Duke University, Morehead State University, Rutgers University, Medical College of Georgia, Centre College, Concordia University, Kansas University, University of Cincinnati, Yaupon Therapeutics, Inc., US World Meds and Targacept Inc.\nAbout this article\nCite this article\nDwoskin, L., Bardo, M. Targeting nicotinic receptor antagonists as novel pharmacotherapies for tobacco dependence and relapse. Neuropsychopharmacol 34, 244–246 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2008.157", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "2020年11月15日 11:46 AM #9348Caitlin Wareゲスト\nThe Big House\nby James H. Bruton\n- ISBN: 9780896580398 (0896580393)\n- Publisher: Voyageur Press\n- Release date: July 26, 2004\n- Author: James H. Bruton\n- Language: english\n- Format: hardcover, 192 pages\nAbout The Book\nThe warden tells all! “The Big House” is a frightening insiders look at life in a world-famous, maximum-security prison and the first to be told from the wardens perspective. Let Warden James H. Bruton lead you beyond the massive coils of razor ribbon and into the cell blocks of some of Americas most dangerous prisoners. Experience the shocking reality of working everyday with murderers, robbers, rapists, and thieves. Meet the inmates who have killed or maimed and who would take human life in a heartbeat. Who are they, and what are they all about? Walk inside with the Warden to this world of unimaginable ferocity and numbing reality. Experience in graphic detail the grim and sinister realities of prison existence as you come face-to-face with child molesters, predators, drug smugglers, and gang members. Learn the management techniques of controlling the most violent and difficult-to-manage offenders as well as why the staffs approach to treating inmates has made Oak Park Heights supermax prison one of the safest and most secure prisons in existence. About the Author: Jim Bruton was the warden at Oak Park Heights for five years, from 1996-2001. He worked in correctional facilities for 14 years and has 35 years of experience in the field of corrections. He is an adjunct faculty member in Criminal Justice/Sociology at five Twin Cities colleges/universities.\nHardcover The Big House on Audible. EPUB book The Big House by James H. Bruton buy cheap Android. Paperback ebook The Big House download on PocketBook on Bookshop. FB2 The Big House James H. Bruton read online.\nOnline ebook The Big House download for iOS on Barnes & Noble. FictionBook book The Big House James H. Bruton. PDF ebook The Big House buy on reader on Book Depository. TXT The Big House by James H. Bruton read.\nHardback book The Big House by James H. Bruton on Powells. MP3 The Big House buy PC. MOBI ebook The Big House read online on Walmart. Hardback book The Big House James H. Bruton download for Kindle.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Information from the American Diabetes Association for people with diabetes: GOOD TO KNOW\nHypoglycemia, also known as low blood glucose (sugar), is when your blood glucose levels have fallen too low. This is usually less than 70 mg/dL. However, talk to your doctor about your own blood glucose targets and what level is too low for you.\nWhen can it happen?\nLow blood glucose can happen if you've skipped a meal or snack, eaten less than usual, or been more physically active than usual.If you don't take steps to bring glucose levels back to normal, you could even pass out.\nWhat are the symptoms?\nEach person's reaction to low blood glucose is different. It's important that you Learn your own signs and symptoms when your blood glucose is Low.\nSigns and symptoms of low blood glucose begin quickly …", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Dead Trees Give No Shelter\nAuthor: Wil Wheaton\nLength: 2 hours\nNarrator: Wil Wheaton\nPublisher: Skyboat Media\nOriginal Publication Date: 2017\nGenre(s): Novella, Horror, Fantasy\nJay Turner left his hometown of Garron, Ohio behind 20 years ago, along with everything and everyone in it. But now he’s back for his brother’s murderer’s execution. Jay’s mind has blocked everything that happened that tragic night all those years ago. The last thing he can remember is sitting in his backyard with his brother, listening to their mother tell scary stories. And then…Charlie was dead. Now that Jay’s back in town, he can’t wait to get out again. But something keeps him there a little longer, as the pieces of that night start coming together.\nDead Trees Give No Shelter is a horror novella worth reading. It’s told in third-person POV and follows Jay, alternating back-and-forth between present-day and the past. As Jay pieces together the events of the night Charlie died, we as readers already know what’s happened, thanks to the flashback chapters. What we as readers don’t know, however, is the why, and where the story is going to end up. The flashbacks, of course, are the most interesting—the meaty parts of the story containing all the horror. In contrast, the present-day storyline is more tedious and slow-moving, as Jay is coming to terms with what the reader already knows (more or less). But when the two storylines collide at the end—that’s the best part, because everything slams together in place (for the most part).\nI say “for the most part” because there is something that kind of bugged me: the resolution. I liked the way it ended a lot. I love these types of stories where everything just circles back like that. What I didn’t like was the lack of why. I won’t go into this because I don’t like spoilers, but I could have done with a little more explanation of the whole thing. It didn’t feel like it totally made sense. Though that’s a huge “oof” that hurts my opinion of the story, it doesn’t completely detract my opinion of the story,\nThe main character is likable, though you’ll probably just pity him the whole time. For a short-story, the supporting characters are flushed out just enough to make them feel real but not too much so that it takes away from the action of the story. This story is definitely more about the horror and action rather than character development. Though the central plot of the story is not unique, Wheaton tells it in a way that makes you not care if you’ve heard it before. It’s a good story, and I’m glad Wheaton wrote it as a short novella and not a full-on novel. It was right the way it was.\nIf you’re looking for a short horror/fantasy story to satisfy your creepy-craving, you should definitely look into getting your hands on Dead Trees Give No Shelter. And if you love Wheaton’s voice like I do, the audiobook is narrated flawlessly by none other than Wheaton himself. This story is short and chilling, and will make you think twice about revisiting that small, rural hometown you grew up in.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "When the Marquess Was Mine by Caroline Linden\nSeries: The Wagers of Sin #3\nPublication Date: September 24, 2019\nGenres: Historical Romance\nAdd It: Goodreads\nAmazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books\nIn the game of love…\nGeorgiana Lucas despises the arrogant and cruel Marquess of Westmorland even before learning that he's won the deed to her friend Kitty's home in a card game. Still, Georgiana assures Kitty the marquess wouldn't possibly come all the way to Derbyshire to throw them out—until he shows up, bloody and unconscious. Fearing that Kitty would rather see him die, Georgiana blurts out that he's her fiancé. She'll nurse the hateful man back to health and make him vow to leave and never return. The man who wakes up, though, is nothing like the heartless rogue Georgiana thought she knew…\nYou have to risk it all\nHe wakes up with no memory of being assaulted—or of who he is. The bewitching beauty tending him so devotedly calls him Rob and claims she's his fiancée even as she avoids his touch. Though he can't remember how he won her hand, he's now determined to win her heart. But as his memory returns and the truth is revealed, Rob must decide if the game is up—or if he'll take a chance on a love that defies all odds.\nGeorgiana Lucas is visiting her friend Kitty and her family when they receive a message from Kitty’s husband. It just says that by no means are they to let the Marquess of Westmorland into the house. The family has no idea what’s going on as Kitty’s husband is non-specific as to why. When Georgiana is out riding with a groom, she sees a man being attacked and insists on scaring off the attackers and helping the man back to Kitty’s house.\nWhen they finally get the man back to the house, some of the mud from the road rubs off and Georgiana sees that it’s the Marquess of Westmorland. Georgiana knows that Kitty can be vindictive (at least she could be when they were in school together) and since her husband told her not to let Westmorland enter the house, Georgiana knows that Kitty might not help him, even though he’s injured. Georgiana panics and tells Kitty that the man is her fiancé Robert Sterling.\nGeorgiana stays with Westmorland day and night while he fights for his life, and the family is touched by how dedicated she is when in fact she’s just scared he’ll wake up and utter his true identity. Fortunately for Georgiana, Westmorland wakes up and has no idea who he is. Before Georgiana can tell him the truth, the doctor spouts that he is Robert Sterling and that he’s Georgiana’s fiancé. Oops.\nSo begins the romance of Georgiana and Rob. Rob believes that Georgiana is his fiance, so he treats as he would a fiance – with kindness, compliments and love. He’s also amazed that the beautiful woman by his side is his. I loved watching Georgiana fall in love with Westmorland and learn that he wasn’t the complete ass she believed him to be. He’s actually very sweet and kind and I loved him to pieces! Yes, he liked to gamble and drink, but what young buck of that time didn’t? Their time spent together was lovely and Linden did a great job with this couple.\nWhen Rob gets some of his memory back, he’s not upset at Georgiana for not telling him the truth – he’s too in love with her by that time. He’s encouraged by his family to forget her, but he just can’t. He heads back to London and his friend reminds him how he had agreed to help him catch a smuggler. This was subtly mentioned at the beginning of the book but not in any detail. Though there was that mention, it still felt as if this part of the book was tacked on and I didn’t really care for it.\nOverall I really enjoyed this book. When I read a Linden book it reminds me of how much I like her as an author and now I need to go read more of her stories.\nRating: 4 out of 5\nThis does sound appealing, Tracy. Thanks for your review.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "When a grammar-school boy I learned from the game \"Quotations\" that Louis Agassiz, scientist, had written the sentence with which I introduce a final appeal for living that will permit physical and civic efficiency. Agassiz has been called \"America's greatest educator,\" and again \"the finest specimen yet discovered of the genus homo, of the species intelligens.\" The story of his long life as teacher of teachers reads like a romance. But among his gifts to education and citizenship none can be made to mean more than the simple proposition that natural law is as sacred as a moral principle. All who remember this \"beatitude\" will be helped to solve many perplexing problems of dress, diet, play, education, philanthropy, morals, and civics.\nReverence for the natural carries with it a distaste for the unnatural. Those who obey natural law soon come to regard its violation as a nuisance when not immoral. On the other hand, compromise with the unnatural, like compromise with vice, quickly leads first to toleration and thence to interest and practice. Therefore the importance of giving children Agassiz's conception of the sacredness of the laws that govern the human body. A passion for the natural is a strong foundation for habits of health and a priceless possession for one who wishes to know morality in its highest sense.\n\"Natural\" is less attractive to us than it would be had Agassiz first interpreted it for us rather than Rousseau or present-day exponents of \"the simple life,\" \"back to nature,\" and \"back to the land.\" It is too often forgotten that no one sins against natural law more grievously than the primitive man or the isolated man in daily contact with non-human nature. Communing with nature seems not only to require communing with man but to give joys in proportion as the nature lover is concerned for the human society of which he is a part. Natural law does not become a moral principle until man is benefited or injured by man's use of nature's resources within and about him. Natural living according to natural law must be something sounder, more beautiful, and more progressive than can be read into or out of mountains, trees, brooks, and sky, or primitive society.\nNatural law points to a Nature Fore as well as a Nature Back, to a Nature Up and Beyond as well as a Nature Down and Behind. The Nature that was yesterday will not do for to-morrow, any more than a man is willing to give up his nature aspirations for the careless, animal ways of romping childhood. Civilization is constantly urged at each step to repeat the prayer of Holmes's old man who dreams for the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table:\nBut every experiment in turning back exalts the present and the future. Gifts as well as problems are seen to come with complexity, and civilization flatly refuses to relinquish these gifts. Sound maturity is better than youth or age:\nProblems of health and of civics can never be solved by appealing to Nature Back, when only the few could be healthy, when one baby in three died in infancy, when old age was toothless and childish, when infection ravished nations, when the average life was twenty years shorter than now, and when unspeakable filth was tolerated in air, street, and house. They can all be solved by appeals to Nature Fore, which holds up an ideal of mankind physically able to enjoy all the benefits and to conquer all the dangers of civilization. It is not looking back, but looking in and forward that reveals what natural law promises to those who obey it.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Hi, I’m Kate !\nscholar | poet | blogger | consultant\nI hold an MFA degree in poetry, an MA degree in Rhetoric and Composition, and I am currently pursuing a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Massachusetts.\nI post weekly on my blog, The Tending Year, which aims to make self development and productivity accessible and applicable.\nMy publications include a book of poetry (Ghosty Boo, A-Minor Press, 2015), a peer reviewed academic article (Journal of Lesbian Studies, 2017), and many poems in print and online.\nI am currently writing both my dissertation and a biography on the writer and musician Lisa Ben. Using queer and feminist methods, I analyze the ways that Ben rhetorically reeducated her readers and audiences about lesbianism during the mid-20th Century. I was recently one of nine applicants awarded a 2018 LGBTQ Research Fellowship, courtesy of the ONE Archives Foundation, Inc.\nThe Tending Year\nI am the creator and author of The Tending Year, a year-long blog project that aims to make self development and productivity resources accessible and applicable. I recently created and released a print version of my blog post, “To Hold in The Hand: A Guide to Maintaining.”\nCoaching & Consulting\nIn addition to my own research and writing, I am a trained copyeditor and work as a professional writing consultant. My past and current clients include: the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and the Office of Academic Planning and Assessment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "When I was a child; heck, I have said it as a parent…”I discipline you because I love you. If I didn’t care–I would let you roam free and destroy yourself.” So it is with God our father. When we see the world running amok and they seem to be paying no price for their behavior–we as God’s chosen feel like it is not fair. They get away with anything they want. Well God’s response is simply–They are not mine to discipline.\nMake no mistake, God does not prevent them from experiencing the effects of their decisions; but, he does not train those he does not love. In our lives, it seems that we are always being pointed back to the Lord. If we sin we are caught, if we fail to follow him, we lose control and are miserable. We try to do life on our own and we mess it up. That is God leading, guiding and directing us into a life that he directs and blesses us. When we follow Him, we experience His blessing and comfort. We see things from an eternal perspective. It is in that place that we really experience God’s love in our lives. Thank you Lord, that you discipline those you love.\nGod Bless You\nBlessed is the one you discipline, Lord,\nthe one you teach from your law;\n13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,\ntill a pit is dug for the wicked.\n14 For the Lord will not reject his people;\nhe will never forsake his inheritance.\n15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,\nand all the upright in heart will follow it.\n16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?\nWho will take a stand for me against evildoers?\n17 Unless the Lord had given me help,\nI would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.\n18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”\nyour unfailing love, Lord, supported me.\n19 When anxiety was great within me,\nyour consolation brought me joy.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Introduction: Tamoxifen treatment has been shown to reduce the recurrence and mortality rates in hormone receptor-positive breast cancers independent from chemotherapy. This benefit increases with the prolongation of the use of tamoxifen but with increasing side effects. In this study, we aim to evaluate the presence of urogenital symptoms in breast cancer patients on tamoxifen and compare them with those who are not on any hormonotherapy.\nMaterials and methods: This study was performed on patients diagnosed as early-stage breast cancer. The study group consisted of hormone receptor-positive patients given tamoxifen as adjuvant hormonal therapy. The control group consisted of breast cancer patients who had no hormonotherapy. Patients with a complaint of urinary incontinence with onset after tamoxifen usage were evaluated with Urogenital Distress Inventory Short Form (UDI-6), Incontinence Impact Questionnaire Short Form (IIQ-7) and Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaire (I-QOL).\nResults: A total of 137 early-stage breast cancer patients were included in this study; 74 estrogen receptor-positive patients on tamoxifen therapy (study group) and 63 hormone receptor-negative patients with no hormonotherapy (control group). The median age was 44 (30-65) years for tamoxifen users and 49 (27-64) years for the control group. The stages of the patients were similar for both groups. 78.4% of the women in the tamoxifen group and 49.2% in the control group were in the premenopausal period. The groups were similar in regard to body mass index and parity. The complaint of urinary incontinence was more frequent in the study group compared to controls (39 (52.7%) vs. 5 (7.9%)). Women with the complaint of urinary incontinence were evaluated with self-reported UDI-6, IIQ-7 and I-QOL forms and the scores were similar for both study and control groups. A statistically significant relation was observed between cigarette smoking and the presence of urinary incontinence. The percentages of smokers were 50% of those with incontinence and 24.7% of those without incontinence.\nConclusion: Urinary incontinence is positively correlated with tamoxifen usage in early-stage breast cancer patients.\nBreast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women globally and it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths after lung cancer . With a 43.0/100,000 age-standardized cancer rate, breast cancer is also the leading cancer in women in Turkey . In hormone receptor-positive breast cancer subtype, constituting about 75% of all cases, endocrine treatment has been shown to reduce the recurrence and mortality rates, independent from chemotherapy . Adjuvant endocrine treatment shows its effect via creating estrogen deprivation, either at the receptor level (SERMs) or by blocking its synthesis (aromatase inhibitors); the latter being an option for the postmenopausal group.\nExtended five-year follow-up analysis of tamoxifen studies have shown reduced locoregional and distant breast cancer recurrence rates for up to 10 years (approximately 50% lower than that in the control group in the first five years and 30% lower during the next five years) and reduced breast cancer mortality by about one-third throughout 15 years as carry-on effect (p<0.0001) irrespective of age, nodal status, or use of chemotherapy . Long term follow-up data from estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients who received adjuvant tamoxifen therapy for five years, has shown that distant recurrences occurred at a steady rate for at least another 15 years after the end of the five-year treatment period, the risk being strongly correlated to tumor and nodal status and varying between 10%-41% . This finding had led to several randomized trials that investigated the effects of extended use of hormonal therapies. In the Adjuvant Tamoxifen: Longer Against Shorter (ATLAS) trial and Adjuvant Tamoxifen Treatment Offer More (aTTom) trial, it was shown that additional five years of tamoxifen (a total treatment period of 10 years) treatment led to improved relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) when compared with five years of tamoxifen treatment [6-7].\nHowever, all this benefit of tamoxifen was at the expense of increased risk of side effects with extended treatment . The side effects of tamoxifen are mostly onset or exacerbation of menopausal symptoms and urogenital side effects that affect the quality of life of the patients [9-10]. Since the female urogenital tract is extremely sensitive to estrogen, low levels caused by hormonotherapies can lead to urogenital symptoms such as vaginal dryness, burning, irritation, urgency, urinary incontinence, and sexual dysfunction. The effect of tamoxifen for urinary incontinence has not been extensively studied and reported, so there is only inconclusive information in the literature. In this cross-sectional study, we aim to evaluate the presence of urogenital symptoms in breast cancer patients on tamoxifen and compare with those who are not on any hormonotherapy to see if tamoxifen has any effect.\nMaterials & Methods\nPatients with a diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer from a single oncology center in Ankara were included in this study. Patients who are still on primary therapy as radiotherapy or chemotherapy; those with a recurrent/metastatic disease; those with a history of urological problems as resistant urinary infections or presence of a complaint of urinary incontinence before the start of hormonotherapy; those with a history of neurologic or musculoskeletal problems and patients who are on aromatase inhibitor treatment were excluded from the study. All available subjects were questioned for any type of urinary incontinence, either stress or urge type onset before hormonotherapy and only urinary continent women were included in the study. Hormone receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer patients were included if they were on tamoxifen as adjuvant hormonal therapy. Control group consisted of breast cancer patients who had never taken hormonal therapy. From those patients on tamoxifen, patients with a complaint of urinary incontinence that had started during tamoxifen usage were evaluated with Urogenital Distress Inventory Short Form (UDI-6), Incontinence Impact Questionnaire Short Form (IIQ-7) and Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaire (I-QOL).\nData were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Continuous data were given as mean ± standard deviation. Categorical data were given as a percentage (%). Kolmogorov Smirnov test was used for normal distribution of data. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare two groups of data that did not conform to normal distribution among the groups; Student's t-test was used to compare normal distribution data. Chi-Square test was used to compare frequency data between two groups. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.\nSeventy-four estrogen receptor-positive and 63 hormone receptor-negative early-stage breast cancer patients were included in this study. The demographic characteristics of the patients are shown in Table 1. The median age was 44 (30-65) years for tamoxifen users and 49 (27-64) years for the control group (p:0.061). The stages of the patients were similar for both groups (p:0.952). In the control group, 49.2% of the patients were premenopausal, whereas it was 78.4% in the tamoxifen group and the difference was significant (p<0.001). Since body mass index and parity are important factors for the occurrence of urinary incontinence, they were also evaluated for the two groups; however, the differences were statistically insignificant (p values were 0.563 and 0.755 respectively). Median tamoxifen usage time: 24 months (6-84)\nThe number of patients with the complaint of urinary incontinence was 39 (52.7%) in the tamoxifen group and 5 (7.9%) in the control group (p<0.001). These 44 patients with the complaint of incontinence were evaluated with self-reported UDI6, IIQ7 and IQL forms and the scores were similar in between tamoxifen users and control group (p values were 0.118; 0.067 and 0.084 respectively) (Table 2).\nIn the multivariate analysis, there was no relation in between the presence of urinary incontinence and age, menopausal status, stages of patients, presence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, parity, whether or not having chemotherapy. Although there was a strong relation of urinary incontinence with tamoxifen usage, the duration of treatment was not found to be associated with increased symptoms. Only there was a statistically significant difference detected for cigarette smoking and presence of urinary incontinence as 50% of those with incontinence were smokers; whereas, 24.7% of those without incontinence were smokers (p:0.003).\nIn this cross-sectional study, we have found that there was a statistically significant correlation between tamoxifen usage and the presence of urinary incontinence. The difference was not directly related to either menopausal status, age, presence of comorbid diseases or the duration of tamoxifen usage.\nThe effects of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) on the urethral epithelium of castrated female rats were evaluated in two different studies and hormonal therapy was found to reduce/reverse the incidence of urinary incontinence. In one of these studies, urethral thickness and weight were measured 30 days after the exposure of Tamoxifen and a significant increase in both the mean thickness and the mean weight of urethra was observed compared with the control rats (p<0.001) . In the second study, a significantly increased distal urethral epithelial thickness was observed in castrated female rats given raloxifene . Also in the in vitro cell culture models it was shown that estrogen and SERMs may help reduction of urinary incontinence by different mechanisms, either increasing collagen production in the extracellular matrix or increasing the muscle bundles [13-14]. However in another in vitro model, it was postulated that estrogen and raloxifene can cause urinary incontinence by reducing urethral resistance through a decrease in the expression of molecules that take part in the Rho-kinase signaling pathway . There are conflicting data in these studies and the clinical relevance of these experimental results are still not clear.\nIn the study investigating hormone-related symptoms in a sample of 803 breast cancer survivors, it was reported that urinary incontinence complaints and scale was not significantly correlated with tamoxifen use, however, the severity was found to be worse in postmenopausal compared with premenopausal women .\nIn a population-based cross-sectional study, Baumgart et al. have evaluated 97 postmenopausal breast cancer patients on adjuvant endocrine treatment (47 of them on tamoxifen) and 105 age-matched postmenopausal control subjects for the prevalence and degree of urogenital symptoms. IIQ-7 and UDI-6 forms were used for urinary incontinence evaluation. It was reported that there was no difference in urinary incontinence symptoms between tamoxifen users, aromatase inhibitor users and control groups with or without estrogen treatments. The frequency of incontinence symptoms was between 54.4% and 67.6% in the groups that is higher than our results especially for the control group (it was found as 7.9% in our study) . All of the patients were postmenopausal in the study of Baumgart et al. different from our study however we have found that the difference was independent from menopausal status.\nIn the study by Landi et al., self-reported urogenital symptoms data from 468 premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer patients, of whom 49% were receiving hormonal therapy either tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors, were examined. Totally 18.4% of participants reported urinary incontinence, lower than reported prevalences in our study and the literatüre [18-19]. When compared with those breast cancer patients not using hormonotherapy, there was no significant association detected between urinary incontinence and endocrine therapy use either overall or tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitör .\nIn the case reported by Hasanov et al., a 67-year-old postmenopausal female patient receiving tamoxifen and having complaints of urinary incontinence was assessed by two questionnaires (IIQ-7 and UDI-7). The results revealed that she had severe incontinence. Two weeks after the cessation of tamoxifen the complaints completely resolved. When the hormone therapy was administered again the complaints were found to arise similarly supporting the worsening effect of tamoxifen on urinary symptoms as in our study .\nOur study has some limitations. One is the limited sample size and consequently the lack of power for some statistical analyses. Since the number of patients with the complaint of incontinence was small, the insignificant results of the comparison of short questionnaire forms between groups may not be reflecting the real results. Another limitation is that the prevalence of urinary incontinence in control groups has been found to be quite different between studies in the literature and in our study. In some studies, healthy control was used but in this study, breast cancer patients not using hormone therapy was chosen as the control group and the complaint of urinary incontinence was only present in 7.9% of them, a significantly lower rate compared to most of the other studies.\nIn this study, we have found that tamoxifen usage is correlated with urinary incontinence in early-stage breast cancer patients. The majority of women with a diagnosis of especially hormone receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer are expected to be long-term survivors and the impact of side effects of any treatment that may affect the quality of life should be examined, studied and enlightened more extensively. Further controlled studies on larger number of patients and controls are warranted for the effect of tamoxifen on urinary incontinence in the era of extended hormone therapies. Particular attention should be directed in future studies to compare different SERM types and urinary incontinence subtypes (stress incontinence and urge incontinence).\n- Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A: Cancer statistics, 2017. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017, 67:7-30. 10.3322/caac.21387\n- Turkish Cancer Statistics Database. (2014). Accessed: July 1, 2019: http://kanser.gov.tr/Dosya/ca_istatistik/2014-RAPOR.\n- Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG): Effects of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy for early breast cancer on recurrence and 15-year survival: an overview of the randomised trials. Lancet. 2005, 365:1687-717. 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)66544-0\n- Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG): Relevance of breast cancer hormone receptors and other factors to the efficacy of adjuvant tamoxifen: patient-level meta-analysis of randomised trials. Lancet. 2011, 378:771-84. 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60993-8\n- Pan H, Gray R, Braybrooke J, et al.: 20-year risks of breast cancer recurrence after stopping endocrine therapy at 5 years. N Engl J Med. 2017, 377:1836-46. 10.1056/NEJMoa1701830\n- Davies C, Pan H, Godwin J, et al.: Long term effects of continuing adjuvant tamoxifen to 10 years versus stopping at 5 years after diagnosis of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer: ATLAS, a randomised trial. Lancet. 2013, 381:801-16. 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61963-1\n- Gray RG, Rea D, Handley K: ATTom: long-term effects of continuing adjuvant tamoxifen to 10 years versus stopping at 5 years in 6,953 women with early breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2008, 31:5. 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67887-7\n- Van Hellemond IEG, Geurts SME, Tjan-Heijnen VCG: Current status of extended adjuvant endocrine therapy in early stage breast cancer. Curr Treat Options in Oncol. 2018, 19:26. 10.1007/s11864-018-0541-1\n- Chin SN, Trinkaus M, Simmons C, Flynn C, Dranitsaris G, Bolivar R, Clemons M: Prevelance and severity of urogenital sypmtoms in postmenopausal women receiving endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Clin Breast Cancer. 2009, 9:108-117. 10.3816/CBC.2009.n.020\n- Alfano CM, McGregor BA, Kuniyuki A, et al.: Psychometric properties of a tool for measuring hormone related symptoms in breast cancer survivors. Psychooncology. 2006, 15:985-1000. 10.1002/pon.1033\n- dos Santos AR, Lopes-Costa PV, de Castro JC, et al.: Morphometric analysis of the urethra of castrated female rats treated with tamoxifen. Maturitas. 2008, 59:275-80. 10.1016/j.maturitas.2008.02.010\n- dos Santos AR, Lopes-Costa PV, Borges CS, Pires CG, de Sousa JM, de Castro JC, da Silva BB: Effects of raloxifene on the urethra of adult castrated female rats. Climacteric. 2008, 11:483-8. 10.1080/13697130802354049\n- Tomaszewski J, Adamiak-Godlewska A, Bogusiewicz M, Brzana W, Juszczak M, Rzeski W, Rechberger T: Collagen type III biosynthesis by cultured pubocervical fascia fibroblasts surrounding mono and multifilament polypropylene mesh after estrogens and tamoxifen treatment. Ginekol Pol. 2010, 81:493-500.\n- Schultens A, Becker T, Balmer D, Seidlová-Wuttke D, Wuttke W: In vivo properties of the urinary bladder wall and their modulation by estradiol and raloxifene in a rat model. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes. 2004, 112:514-9. 10.1055/s-2004-821314\n- Peters SL, Schmidt M, Michel MC: Rho kinase: a target for treating urinary bladder dysfunction?. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2006, 27:492-7. 10.1016/j.tips.2006.07.002\n- Alfano CM, McGregor BA, Kuniyuki A, et al.: Psychometric properties of a tool for measuring hormone-related symptoms in breast cancer survivors. Psychooncology. 2006, 15:985-1000. 10.1002/pon.1033\n- Baumgart J, Nilsson K, Stavreus-Evers A, et al.: Urogenital disorders in women with adjuvant endocrine therapy after early breast cancer. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2011, 204:26-1. 10.1016/j.ajog.2010.08.035\n- Chin SN, Trinkaus M, Simmons C, Flynn C, Dranitsaris G, Bolivar R, Clemons M: Prevalence and severity of urogenital symptoms in postmenopausal women receiving endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Clin Breast Cancer. 2009, 9:108-17. 10.3816/CBC.2009.n.020\n- Sousa MS, Peate M, Jarvis S, Hickey M, Friedlander M: A clinical guide to the management of genitourinary symptoms in breast cancer survivors on endocrine therapy. Ther Adv Med Oncol. 2017, 9:269-285. 10.1177/1758834016687260\n- Landi SN, Doll KM, Bensen JT, Hendrix L, Anders CK, Wu JM, Nichols HB: Endocrine therapy and urogenital outcomes among women with a breast cancer diagnosis. Cancer Causes Control. 2016, 27:1325-1332. 10.1007/s10552-016-0810-x\n- Hasanov E, Hasanov M, Kuria IM, Hasanov R, Rzazade R, Jonasch E, Altundag K: Effects of tamoxifen on urinary incontinence: case report and review of literature. Medicine. 2017, 96:6785. 10.1097/MD.0000000000006785\nIs Tamoxifen Use a Factor Affecting Continence in Breast Cancer Patients?\nEthics Statement and Conflict of Interest Disclosures\nHuman subjects: Consent was obtained by all participants in this study. Local Ethics Committee of Dıskapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital issued approval decision no: 45/18. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.\nCite this article as:\nImamoglu G, Eren T, Arzu O, et al. (August 18, 2019) Is Tamoxifen Use a Factor Affecting Continence in Breast Cancer Patients?. Cureus 11(8): e5417. doi:10.7759/cureus.5417\nReceived by Cureus: August 05, 2019\nPeer review began: August 07, 2019\nPeer review concluded: August 14, 2019\nPublished: August 18, 2019\n© Copyright 2019\nImamoglu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 3.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.\nThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It Governance on One Page\n18 Pages Posted: 9 Feb 2005\nDate Written: November 2004\nAs firms strive to generate value from information technology (IT), managers are increasingly aware that IT-related decisions and behaviors must be aligned with organizational performance goals. But many individuals throughout organizations make daily decisions influencing the value received from IT. IT governance is the process by which firms align IT actions with their performance goals and assign accountability for those actions and their outcomes. To be effective, IT governance must be actively designed, not the result of isolated mechanisms (e.g. steering committee, office of IT architecture, service level agreements) implemented at different times to address the challenge of the moment. Based on the best practices of 300 enterprises in 23 countries this paper offers an assessment and a one-page framework to help firms design and communicate IT governance.\nKeywords: IT governance, governance framework\nSuggested Citation: Suggested Citation", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“Twists and turns abound as Fernandez precisely knits facts with imagination to entertain and to educate in a genuine page-turner too irresistible to put down.”\nLOS ANGELES, CA, USA, March 29, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ — Senator Jeffrey Lance was found dead in the Amazon Rainforest under mysterious circumstances. Years before, holistic doctors throughout the country had also died from shadowy causes. Could they be connected? There was only one answer in the irrepressive mind of Maxine Ford. With the scent of a hound dog, she swings into action as these deaths raise doubts. In hot pursuit, she uncovers some baffling revelations that sends her off to New Mexico to track down a beekeeper. Following a bizarre chain of events, she is thrust into the throes of a far-reaching investigation that looms larger with the introduction of Big PhRMA and the FDA. As it becomes clear that her adversaries are on her trail, you will find Max digging in her stilettos for another nail-biting thriller. Could a beekeeper hold the secret to solving the mystery?\nThe risks did not deter Max from plunging ahead in her usual no-holds-barred style to uncover the answer. Neither the President, an international-supranational body, nor an assassin at her doorstep, could dissuade her from discovering what was behind the potentially explosive, high-stakes game they were playing.\nFernandez has confected an exciting fictional plot doused with alluring intrigue, while offering the reader a gripping story of a contemporary subject matter. The facts from her precise research added to the stew only underscores the validity of the narrative. Readers will be engrossed in a page-turning plot that provides a visit behind the scenes of a vital subject of current interest.\n“Sally has taken another current and controversial subject and delivered an entertaining, compelling and gripping story – this time relating to the much debated health treatments,” noted publisher David Dunham.\n• Publication Date: April 10, 2018\n• Trade Paperback ISBN: 9780999664629\n• eBook ISBN: 9780999664636\nAbout the Author\nAs a novelist of provocative political thrillers steeped in facts, Fernandez wasn’t always twisting facts with fiction. Heavily endowed with skills acquired in banking, she embarked on her writing career. Her focus on computer technology, business consulting, and project management, enhanced by business and technical writing, proved to be a boon. Her books of fiction also reflect the knowledge garnered from her business experiences, while living in New York City, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. Readers have said she pens riveting plots of intrigue and political awakening, seamlessly blending fact with fiction…or fiction with fact.\nFernandez’ foray into writing fiction officially began in 2007 when the presidential election cycle was in full swing. The overwhelming political spin by the media compelled her to question the frightening possibilities the political scene could generate. As a confirmed political junkie, she took to the keyboard armed with unwinding events and discovered a new and exciting career.\nThe Beekeeper’s Secret is Fernandez’ sixth novel and the second in the “Max Ford Thriller” series, preceded by Climatized, featuring Maxine Ford as the female protagonist.\nAs a world traveler, she has visited every continent and over fifty countries. Her adventure travels with her husband include a scientific expedition in Antarctica, four African safaris, archaeological digs in Majorca and Peru, along with high-altitude treks in Bhutan, Tibet, and Mongolia. She and her husband, also the editor-in-residence, continue to travel extensively throughout the world.\nAbout Dunham Books\nDunham Books is a Tennessee-based boutique publisher of general trade books in multiple genres including fiction and non-fiction. For more information go to www.dunhamgroupinc.com\nDunham Group Inc\nemail us here\nSource: EIN Presswire", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The television adaptation may still be going strong on AMC, but the world already knows how The Walking Dead comic book ends after the long-running series wrapped in 2019. TWD creator Robert Kirkman always claimed his comic book series was destined to run at least 300 issues, and up until TWD #193 that seemed likely to be the case. Then, in the heartfelt letter that closes out the issue, Kirkman confirmed it would be the series’ last. The unexpected finale caught both fans and retailers by surprise.\nHaving debuted in October 2003, TWD's 16-year run is an impressive accomplishment for a series that was initially ordered as a six-issue mini. In that time, the plot of the comic has drifted quite a bit from the happenings that AMC viewers are familiar with - but Kirkman's conclusion to the comic almost certainly contains some hints about how The Walking Dead will end on television.\nSome Characters Perish Sooner In The Comics Than They Do On The Show\nFrom the first season onward, AMC’s The Walking Dead makes notable changes to the plot of the comic series it is adapted from, which creates an unfamiliar cast of characters for fans who have only read the comics.\nSeveral characters bite the dust a lot earlier in the comics than they do on the show. Notable casualties includes Carol - who expires long before she has the chance to develop into a strong and independent warrior - and Judith Grimes, who never escapes infancy. Others who meet a grimmer fate in the comics than in the adaptation include Rosita and King Ezekiel - both of whom feature prominently on the pikes of the Whisperers - along with Morgan.\nAnother significant difference between the two versions of the franchise is that Daryl Dixon does not exist in the comics, and never has. He’s a TV-only character.\nSome Characters Live A Lot Longer\nAn even starker contrast between the two versions of TWD is that several important characters stick around in the comics much longer than they do on the show.\nCarl Grimes never experiences a tragic demise, and his father Rick does not disappear from the series. Carol’s daughter Sophia survives until the end of the series - and spends much of her life as the adopted daughter of Maggie Greene.\nThe comic book version of Andrea is completely divergent from her antagonistic TV adaptation, and lives significantly longer. It is Andrea, not Michonne, who ends up in a romantic relationship with Rick Grimes, and the two of them eventually marry. Carl Grimes even comes to think of Andrea as his mom - before she’s tragically taken away from her new family in TWD #167.\nDespite Its Plot Differences, The Comic Also Features The 'Whisperer War'\nThough the plots of the comic and its television adaptation diverge at numerous points, both series reach their turbulent peaks in the \"Whisperer War.\"\nIn the comic book version of the tale, Rick Grimes and his allies are successful in repelling the Whisperers and annihilating their ranks. Negan himself strikes a fatal blow against Alpha in a surprise attack. Following these events, the series settles down for a brief moment - before everything suddenly changes for the people of Alexandria.\nFollowing Those Grisly Events, Eugene Makes Contact With A Community Unlike Any They’ve Seen Before\nThe next chapter of TWD is engineered by Eugene Porter, who uses his scientific prowess to construct a long-range radio in an attempt to discover other post-apocalyptic communities. Eugene’s plan works better than he could have ever imagined when he contacts someone from the Commonwealth: a group of people unlike any Rick Grimes and his friends have ever encountered before.\nAfter a cautious courtship, a retinue of Alexandrians are invited to the Commonwealth, which is several days’ journey away in Ohio. Upon arrival, they find a thriving network of communities that have rebuilt society from the ground up - a veritable empire compared to the likes of Alexandria and the Hilltop.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Warning: remember this is YA Lit.\nI went in believing this was about badass assasins (just look at that amazing cover!), but this is YA and YA is about an appealing young protagonists through a \"coming of age\" process.\nIt is truly sad that the characteristics of this book that make it a YA fiction are the things that frustrated me. The settings, the world, the characters have so much potential\nthat it hurts seeing the author not taking enough advantage of it!!\nSo... This book is a light fantasy\n(right next to Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor). This books are beautifully developed in a fantastic world, but mantaining the lightness of a chick-lit novel.\nOur heroin is Celaena Sardothien (awesome name, yes!). At 18, she has managed to become the most deathly and feared assasin of Adarlan. But she was betrayed, so she ended up slaving on the salt mines of Endovier. There is where she's found by Prince Dorian, who has an offer: She must be his champion on a competition for becoming the king's personal assasin during 4 years in exchange for her freedom.\nAre you picturing a strong, proud, beautiful, intelligent woman\nthat always speaks her mind no matter what? Yes, she is all that, but she also enjoys sweets, pretty dresses, shoes and being coquette (told you, chick-lit). Deep down, she's just a little girl that has been shaped into a lethal weapon.\nThe story developes inside the Glass Casttle, core of the rising empire of King Havilliard. Along the competition, Celaena will get to know Chaol better (her scowling escort/trainer and captain of the royal guard), she will tease prince Dorian, she will meet princess Nehemia (another strong woman from a land in process of conquest) and she will find out that even though magic is forbidden, it has not yet disappeared.\nThis might be helpfull:\nI'm really sad that having developed a complex world like Erilea, Sarah J. Maas decided just to stay in one place. On a positive side, this gives enormous room for expantion in the next book [b:Crown of Midnight|17167166|Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2)|Sarah J. Maas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391580481s/17167166.jpg|21581860] (that I will totally read!)\nThe mistery....well, there is no such thing as mistery. The whole plot is quite predictable\n, but that doen't make it less enjoyable.\n“I hate women like that. They're so desperate for the attention of men that they'd willingly betray and harm members of their own sex. And we claim men cannot think with their brains! At least men are direct about it.”\nThis doesn't really feels like 4 stars, this could have been EPIC. But, in the end I think this could be an extraordinary read for young girls\n. So I guess I'm rating acording to the genre now.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In 1991, Ireland was in the midst of a devastating recession; thousands of young Irish men and women had emigrated over the previous decade, and divisive social and moral debates on abortion and divorce had rocked Irish society. The great pillars of society - politics and religion - were beginning to crumble, a process that continued in subsequent years as both institutions were hit by scandal. A questioning of the values on which Ireland had been built had begun, with an apparently unbridgeable divide opening between \"traditionalists\" and \"modernizers\". At the start of the decade, the modernizers appeared to have won, with the election as President of the iconic Mary Robinson.\nIrish Times columnist John Waters captured the zeitgeist of the time with the hugely successful Jiving at the Crossroads, which sold over 50,000 copies. A defining book of the era, its success was partly due to its remarkable blending of social/cultural commentary with personal memoir. At the emotional core of the book was the relationship between John and his father, and the story of Ireland was intricately woven into this powerful narrative. It was the first in a long line of books to question the very notion of modern Irish identity, and to examine the deep-rooted tensions at the heart of the Irish psyche.\nTwenty years later, much has changed in Ireland, and yet Jiving at the Crossroads remains a deeply resonant book, particularly in the light of the remarkable rise and precipitous fall of the Celtic Tiger, and the fresh questioning of how we got where we are now. This twentieth anniversary reissue of a landmark book, with a new Afterword, will be welcomed by those who remember it, and will be a fascinating insight for a new generation of Irish people.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "UNITY AND INDIVIDUALS: LOVE, ABOVE ALL\n||CHRIST'S HANDS ACROSS THE INTERNET|\nWhere christians come to share, pray and study.\nBy Michael Hawkinson\n|1 Corinthians 13 \"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.\"\nThe main block to unity is a lack of real love. We have discussed religion and its false righteousness, fake love, phony faith and forced works. The lack of love among the religious has been clearly discussed from many angles. I would like to take some time to look at the positive side of the unity that Jesus demanded of us, his followers.\nThe major confusion to us today comes from seeming contradictions. For the sake of simplicity I will use you and I as an example. Although it is true that I am to love you and you are to love me. That I am to submit to you and you are to submit to me. That you are to encourage, help, admonish, exhort, build up, care for and pray for me (and vice versa) ... The problem occurs when one of us demands these things from the other. That is where relationship and religion sharply divide.\nWhat is the contradiction? Well, in a nut shell it is loving others who try our patience, disagree with us, worship differently or generally do not like us. What is the answer? There is only one answer. Love.\n|1 John 4:7,8 \"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.\"\nThere are no clearer words than those of John. \"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.\" We are told to love our enemies. To give to them without expecting return. We are told to pray for those who persecute, turn our other cheek to those who strike us, give more than what is asked for and to love our neighbor as ourself. We are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty. The scriptures which show us how to love and what is expected are too numerous to ignore and yet too often we fall into the trap of religion and find reasons to withhold the love commanded of us.\nLove is patient. Are you patient? Really? When family or friends are not on time, do you lose your temper? When you order something from Fingerhut and it takes 4 months to get it, do you let customer service know how you feel? When God is working on someones heart to spend more time with Him do you harp at them about praying or reading the Bible? Patient does not mean apathy. Patience means praying, helping, listening, sharing and not giving up on those who resist fellowshipping, struggle with bad habits, who do not like us or think us fanatics and even those who are trapped by religion. If God has not given up on them, should we? We run across people every day who try our patience. Have you stood in a 10 item line behind someone with 15 items? How about waiting for help from someone on the phone who is obviously on a personal call? Ever been in a long line at the bank with a teller who seems to have nothing to do but won't say \"Next!\" Whenever we worry about time, remember that Jesus let Lazarus die even though He could have rushed over and been there to heal him before he was buried. Take time to pray, ask yourself, \"what can I do with this time?\" If there are others around, try being friendly. If you are alone, get out your new testament and read a few verses.\nLove is kind. (Also: It is not rude) Now here is a tough one. Mind you that I am not saying that any of these things are easy, at least not all of the time. Kindness. How easy is it to snap at someone? Especially those we love and yet who are around us all the time. Being kind takes some time. There are many ways to show kindness. There are many tasks we do every day and others that need to be done once in awhile. A simple thank you, a smile, a few minutes to share something positive, a \"Good morning!\" or even a hug can mean a lot. In this age of tensions, expectations and division--kindness goes a long way. Cards, emails, taking out the trash, cleaning your room, making dinner, etc. There are many ways to show kindness.\nLove does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. If you are like me, by this time you are realizing that you are going to spend the rest of your life trying to do these things. (Not to mention trying to remember them!) Envying others is always a mistake. God made us and we have as much potential to serve him and have joy as anyone else. It is very easy to take credit for the blessings, abilities and skills we have... but easy and wise are two different things entirely. I think one of the most beautiful Psalms to those who envy is Psalm 73. Take some time to read it and think about what it says.\nPsalm 73 \"Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, \"How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?\" This is what the wicked are like-always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. If I had said, \"I will speak thus,\" I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.\"\nIt is not self-seeking. We are constantly around others. Family, friends, co-workers.. we are never far from the \"maddening crowd.\" It is easy when serving others to tire and ask \"When is it my turn?\" I am sure Jesus had the right to think it many times and yet He did not decide to seek what was easiest for Him. An interesting thing is that many times we find our greatest joy in serving others rather than being served. While being served seems great at times, if it continues then it becomes taken for granted and we lose the gratitude and appreciation that makes being served a joy. On the other hand even if we love and yet think our service is unappreciated... then we tire of serving. But I want to tell you that you are never unappreciated. \"Wait!\" you say, \"but people do not always appreciate us!\" Yes that is true. But God does and He is very proud of us. It is God who puts love in our hearts and love which is at work in our lives giving us hope and joy in every circumstance. There is never a time that we can say we are unappreciated. As the Psalm above said, \"And earth has nothing I desire besides you.\" and that includes the praise of others.\nIt is not easily angered (it keeps no record of wrongs.) Jesus told Peter, forgive 70 times 7. Yet we all know that He wants us to always forgive wrongs against us. In the famous prayer He taught, it says \"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.\" Those words have brought me to me knees many times. I know I cannot hold a grudge or be bitter about any action against me no matter how horrible. I must forgive. I must not let the sun go down on my anger. We all have pasts. We all hide things in our lives. Maybe not from everyone. What I am saying is that we do not drag out \"the dirty laundry\" for all to see every time. It is not necessary to do so, although we do need to be open and honest about our needs and struggles for God to work on our hearts and for God to work through others. People fail. You will be at peace if you do not tally up those mistakes. (And \"people\" includes you! Do not tally your failures... confess them to God!)\nLove does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. We do not find joy in or accept that which is evil. We do not rejoice when \"they get their just desserts\" or when \"they reap what they sow.\" We rejoice when the wicked repent and when anyone comes to know the truth! What awesome joy when one can forgive those who repent. It is not God's will that the wicked perish, but rather that they would repent and be saved. As a side note, since truth always exists, should not we always be rejoicing? Evil never really triumphs. It may feel like it some times, but it is an illusion. Understanding love changes our perspective on many things.\nLove always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. When we do not protect, when we stop trusting, when we lose hope or when we fail to persevere... we have failed to love and \"Love never fails.\" We have forgotten God. I know that always is one of those words that makes any action seem impossible, but one day we will be like Him. Perservering means continuing against the odds or in spite of resistance. Failures and mistakes, by us and others, are not the defeat of God... they are the reason for God's plan and the very of the reason that God's love (from Him and in us) is so absolutely necessary. What does taking apart Paul's definition of love have to do with unity? Unity occurs when one loves another so much that the interests of another supercede our own selfishness. The only way to love someone that much in the right way is to love them as God does. To understand that \"God is love.\" and to learn that to be obedient to God is to love. Many people love others and make sacrifices, but it is for an ulterior motive that involves some kind of gain for themselves. It is love which allows us to have the ability to listen, the compassion to help, the patience to endure, the selflessness to give, the kindness to forgive, the courage to protect, the faith to trust, the peace to hope and the grace to persevere. Without love we will fail in true unity and all apparent unity is but a lie and a game. It is but religion and does not have the ability to please God. It is on the basis on love that all unity must be built. Not false love, self love or love of anything other than God. In the coming months, each article will illustrate true love from false and hopefully help us to see how to deal with the challenges of todays religion.\nALL MATERIAL IS PROPERTY OF CHAIN UNLESS OTHERWISE CREDITED AND NOT TO BE USED WITHOUT PERMISSION\nBack to the Top", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Stumbling Through Adulthood\nPosted by Literary Titan\nIn Stumbling Through Adulthood, author John Sheirer delivers a collection of intricately linked short stories which are connected, some more loosely than others, by their central theme. This theme is summed up by the title. As stumbling implies that progress is being made, albeit slowly and not without its setbacks, the stories feature numerous instances of relatable mishaps and mistakes as the characters progress through adulthood. Take one character, for example, who ends up locked out of their home, or another who manages to consume an entire donut in one go. Sheirer’s characters appear throughout the collection from different perspectives and at different stages of their lives, as we see snapshots of them doing their best to stumble through adulthood.\nSheirer writes engagingly, making even the most mundane or trivial moments entertaining. This, combined with the relatability of many of the challenges the characters face and the sprinkling of subtle humor throughout, ensures that you will remain hooked. Underneath this humor, Sheirer addresses some severe and somber themes such as race, politics, and mental health. These topics are handled in a thought-provoking manner that ensures you’ll never be left entirely without hope.\nHowever, the most important theme addressed in Stumbling Through Adulthood is revealed through the construction of the collection itself. Jumping between various characters in a short space of time would appear to invite comparisons between them. Still, ultimately Sheirer’s writing rejects this idea as every character and story, despite being suspended in a web of relationships with the others, are still stand-alone stories. Instead, every short story is a perfectly compact moment of a character’s life who is doing their best and who we will revisit as we smile or worry along with them as they stumble through their own personal adulthood.\nStumbling Through Adulthood is an intriguing collection of short stories that will appeal to adults in all stages of life. These stories are brought together by the common thread of just getting through life as an adult. With humor and realism giving the stories character and energy, they will stay with readers long after they are done with the book.\nPages: 233 | ASIN : B0996BQ6ZN\nAbout Literary TitanThe Literary Titan is an organization of professional editors, writers, and professors that have a passion for the written word. We review fiction and non-fiction books in many different genres, as well as conduct author interviews, and recognize talented authors with our Literary Book Award. We are privileged to work with so many creative authors around the globe.\nPosted on April 29, 2022, in Book Reviews, Four Stars and tagged anthologies, author, book, book recommendations, book review, book reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, ebook, fiction, goodreads, John Sheirer, kindle, kobo, literature, nook, novel, read, reader, reading, short stories, story, Stumbling Through Adulthood, writer, writing. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.\nComment Cancel reply\nThis site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.\nLeave a comment", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Way of Zen\nComments and mentions from HN threads:\nAsk HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?\ntomp: (I listened to it as an audiobook). It changed the way I think and feel (or at least how I react to feelings).\nAsk HN: Books on specific topics that have applied to many areas of your life?\nwu-ikkyu: The book is a historical analysis of the culmination of zen buddhism from its roots in hindu, buddhist, and toaist philosophies. Watts presents a perspective on how to approach your everyday life (relationships, communication, work, play, boredom, stress, anxiety, happiness, sadness) that is contrary to how we're taught to live in the \"western world\".", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Innocence is becoming a myth and a legend of a world which no longer exists.\nThe Twilight Zone, no longer science fiction or an alternate world, but has become our reality.\nA promise, no longer a promise because our words have become empty sounds of weightless wonder.\nLight has become darkness and darkness, light, but still, we’re all blind to see.\nTruth is no longer the truth, everything is subjective and reality has become a virtual reality.\nYet we find ourselves empty grasping for what no longer exists in a world that can only be known and touched in the pages of history books.\nWe’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy,\nand Oz has become our nightmare.\nBradford Lee Mace", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "My A.I. Is My Co-Writer: A Double Book Launch with Sasha Stiles and K Allado-McDowell\nThis event will explore the nascent, fascinating intersection of writing and Artificial Intelligence, introducing the creative and imaginative potential of this technology to an audience of curious readers and writers who may be interested in exploring AI's potential for themselves.\nIt will explore the craft of authoring a text with a nonhuman writing partner, and into the questions of what authorship and inspiration really are.\nCan a neural net be creative? Can a poem generated by a machine truly move us, and if so, what does that mean about our own human consciousness?\nAt the same time, the event will seek to open up an important dialogue about the cultural and social implications of AI natural language processing, and artificial intelligence more broadly.\nWhat is GPT-3 technology, and how does hold a mirror up to humanity, for better and for worse?\nMost of all, it will expand and update our approach to reading and writing poetry by asking what we can learn about ourselves by collaborating with intelligent machines to discover our own poetry.\nAna Maria Caballero\nAna Maria Caballero is a first-generation Colombian-American poet and writer. Her work has won multiple awards, including the Beverly International Prize for Literature and Colombia’s 2014 José Manuel Arango National Poetry Prize. She’s been a finalist for the Academy of American Poets Prize, Ploughshares’ Emerging Writer’s Contest, the Essay Press Book Prize and the Tarpaulin Sky Book Award, among others. Her writing has appeared in numerous outlets, including L.A. Review of Books, Tupelo Quarterly, Sundog Lit, The Southeast Review, SWWIM and Jai-Alai Magazine. She believes poems should be valued as works of art and is excited about making this value manifest via blockchain technology.\nK Allado-McDowell is a writer, speaker, and musician. They are the author, with GPT-3, of the books Pharmako-AI and Amor Cringe, and are co-editor of The Atlas of Anomalous AI. They record and release music under the name Qenric. Allado-McDowell established the Artists + Machine Intelligence program at Google AI. They are a conference speaker, educator and consultant to think-tanks and institutions seeking to align their work with deeper traditions of human understanding.\nSasha Stiles is a first-generation Kalmyk-American poet, artist, and transhuman translator working at the intersection of text and technology. The poetry mentor of A.I. BINA48 and inventor of “cursive binary,” Stiles recently exhibited her art and read her work at Art Basel Miami and SXSW.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Warning: … One bad word. Whoo.\nNotes: Written for xelloss_poo Request details. 22nd fic for June fic-a-day. Only these one verse of the poem was translated, but it really got my muses poking me.\nBehind the gates of the wealthy\nfood lies rotting from waste\nOutside it's the poor\nwho lie frozen to death\n- Du Fu, On Route from the Capital to Fengxian\nHis empty stomach growled and a stab of pain ripped through him. How long had it been since he'd last eaten? A week, maybe. Violet eyes peered out into the streets. He was huddled against the wall at an opening to an alley. His eyes searched almost desperately for someone to steal from, or beg for food. No one dared venture out into the biting cold though. He looked in the direction of where people lived outside the city; there were large estates scatted further and further from the city. They all left which only helped speed the turning of the city into slums. They never dared to come near the areas struck by poverty if they could avoid it. They turned up their nose and shunned them. \"Rich bastards.\" He whispered. He curled up more, trying to stay warm. Some people had begun to freeze or starve to death. He wouldn't be one of those people though. He'd survive. Somehow.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "DOMINO by •Dawn McTeigue Auction your comics on http://www.comicbazaar.co.uk\nMy body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the one I love but my mind holds the key.\nAn Exquisite Paradox\nThe book cover of DragonLance Chronicles, the Annotated Edition. My favorite series growing up!\nFUCK YEAH, GIRLS WITH TATTOOS : Photo", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "|Reviews for Time of the Month|\n| Kusami32 chapter 1 . 10/13/2012\nlol not at all what i was expecting when you said \"time of the month\" were you trying to make it sound like she was on her period? lol rofl\n| Charice-Claire-Vizziny chapter 1 . 7/25/2011\nHaha, I wonder how Emi would react when she saw the photos... nice fic.\n| lulu halulu chapter 1 . 10/4/2009\nLOL! Cute story!\n| vanessa chapter 1 . 11/14/2008\n| a.dancing.blue.flame15 chapter 1 . 7/29/2008\nI shouldn't have read this. Not because it's bad, but because I'm in a room full of sleeping children, and now my side hurts from trying not to laugh!\n| MopMustache chapter 1 . 7/2/2008\nWow. That was perfect, priceless and pretty darn funny. That time of the month must be torture. Especially for poor Narumi...\n| beauty-pop13 chapter 1 . 6/30/2008\ncan't wait for the next chapter\nand well we all not what time of month it is\n| Lobaa chapter 1 . 6/17/2008\n| Lilith D'Aubigne chapter 1 . 6/15/2008\nOh my god! I couldn't stop laughing! XD I give it 5 stars! _~\n| Staccato-Tenuto chapter 1 . 6/15/2008\nHaha! I love this story! i could just picture the whole thing in my head! hahahaha! poor narumi!\n| Cinereal chapter 1 . 6/5/2008\n| BlackMoonTiger chapter 1 . 6/4/2008\nlol this great! I LOVE IT! Great Ending!\n| Roxanne chapter 1 . 6/4/2008\nI loved this story, i loved it! Truly the ebst story ever, well, not really bu, this was just classic... love it!\n| Near-roboboy97 chapter 1 . 6/4/2008\nHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAh!That was hilarious I cant wait for the next chapter!\n| ami-chan - the frenchie chapter 1 . 6/4/2008\nWAAH! CUTE! X3 FLUFF!\nI love it! Awesome!\nEmi's gonna get mad XD", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The sheets wadded around her, leaving her feeling as trapped in the bed as her mind was in the dream that haunted her. Again and again, the same dream, the same dream, the same dream—the nightmare she’d lived once and relived far too many nights. Mel prayed for an ending, for the memory she could not recall. Would the dreams end? Would they truly end if she could unlock the door to that piece of her mind where something mysterious lay buried?\nHer left foot itched, and Mel groaned in frustration. There was no foot to scratch, making the itch a tormenting hint of what purgatory must be. She used a technique she’d learned while in recovery at Bethesda, one taught not by a physical therapist or doctor, but by a fellow vet, an old man, his own leg lost decades before in Southeast Asia. They’d both been outside, wheelchair bound, breathing fresh air and feeling sunshine, which Mel gobbled at like a starving woman handed a loaf of bread. Too long she’d been trapped in a field tent, then hospital ship, then the hospital itself. The spring morning felt wonderful, but her foot itched, the one she no longer had. From a few feet away, the old man looked up and watched as she lifted her leg, the one that ended like an incomplete sentence. She scratched tenderly, desperate to end the itch but mindful of the still healing flesh.\n“Find the line,” he said with a shaky voice.\nShe looked at him for the first time, seeing a yellowish face, one that spoke of the alcohol that had helped him survive the years.\n“What line?” she asked.\n“Nerves go in a line. Find the one that led to your foot. Scratch up it ‘til you find the right spot.”\nFeeling a tad foolish but ready to try anything, Mel did as he instructed. She started near the stump, surprised that she instinctively knew she’d found the right “line.” Up she went, scratching along the way—up the calf, then thigh, along the hip and to her stomach until she found a spot that, like magic, felt exactly like she was scratching the phantom foot. She sighed in relief.\n“Thanks,” she said. She grasped the metal hand rim attached to the chair’s wheels and deftly maneu-vered closer, facing the man. “That’s a good trick. I appreciate you sharing.”\n“We’re all in this together,” the man answered. He pointed to her left leg. “That will get better.” His eyes were an intensely faded gold as he looked her full in the face. “Have the dreams?”\nMel’s breath caught in her throat. “Yes,” she answered, ashamed of the break in her voice.\n“Those may not,” he added.\nHe’d been right.\nMel found the spot on her stomach, one she could now find without searching and scratched the phantom foot, eliciting a sigh of relief. Using her good leg, she kicked at the covers, breaking free of their bondage. She swung around to sit on the side of the bed. Ignoring the prosthesis hanging from a bedpost, she hopped the few feet from the bed to the door of the master bathroom. She paused, leaning on the doorframe for a moment before hopping again to the toilet to pee then to the sink where she gripped the sides of the porcelain, taking unexpected comfort in the cold, smooth surface. She looked in the mirror at the dark circles under her eyes, a fresh streak of gray beside her right temple, adding a new dimension to the auburn of her hair. Her face still reflected the beauty that had been a blessing and a curse all her life, but there was a gauntness. A haunting, oddly beautiful in its own way, replaced the passion in the blue of her eyes, but her reflection held a strangeness for her. She wondered who this woman was. Gone was Navy Captain Melinda Morris. She saw a shadow of that confident, courageous woman, one whom she’d been proud to know, proud to be.\n“Broken,” she whispered. “You’re broken,” she said to that stranger in the mirror. Then she saw a flash of anger in the reflected blue of the eyes. She grasped a glass on the shelf below the mirror and launched it toward the linen closet door, smiling viciously at the rewarding sound of breaking glass.\n“I’ll whip this, you hear me!” she yelled into the mirror, jabbing at the image with a forefinger. Then her voice took on a softer note as she looked sympa-thetically at the reflected face. “We’ll whip this.”\nMel shook her head then turned the cold water on full blast, leaning toward the sink to splash her face, hands, and arms. She brushed her teeth, using her cupped hand for water to rinse the froth away, improvising with the absence of the now broken glass. She swiveled on her only foot toward the door, pausing as she looked at the broken glass scattered between her and her only egress.\n“Shit,” she mumbled. “That was stupid.”\nShe grasped the edge of the sink for support and lowered herself to the floor, pulling a trash container toward her with one hand and a small towel from the rack beside the sink with the other. She carefully picked up the large shards of glass, placing them in the container, systematically following behind with the damp towel to retrieve the smaller pieces from the floor. By the time she’d ooched all the way across to the door, the glass was retrieved, and she felt it was safe to stand. She threw the towel on top of the glass in the container and set it to the side, knowing she could now add it to the large trash can on the service porch that she would later take to the rural dump station ten miles away, one that served farms and ranches within a twenty-mile radius. Mel used the doorknob to pull herself to a standing position, once again ignoring the prosthesis hanging from the bed post. She hopped to the closet and, from a shelf, pulled another prosthesis from where it rested beside a well-worn running shoe. The left shoe rested beside it, not as worn. She threw the shoe and spring-like pseudo-foot onto the bed then pivoted to the dresser where she pulled fresh, clean running shorts, t-shirt, sports bra, underwear, and a single sock from a drawer.\nShorty pajamas were abandoned, and Mel dressed quickly, craving the run that she knew would clear her mind and ease the pain of her heart. For much of her life, running had been her go-to when life was too much, whether it be pain or joy. Only time spent on the back of a horse had ever surpassed the simple comfort and ecstasy she found in running. Well, not the only thing. Mel shook her head, pushing that thought aside. She wasn’t ready to think of a woman, any woman. Even as fantasy, the possibility of the level of pleasure of soft flesh, smooth skin, and the intensity of simple arousal seemed too far away, too unattainable—too vulnerable. Some days, most days actually, she still managed to function by keeping the flood of emotions behind a dam of self-control. To lower the floodgates, even for the prospect of love, risked a deluge of emotional pain that could drown her, and she knew it.\n“Whatever happens, sweet Melinda, the ranch is here. Come home if you need us.” Mel heard her father’s voice through the echoes of memory. It had been at the airport as he’d seen her off, a frightened young woman, her college sheepskin still fresh, leaving for a twenty-five-year adventure as she entered Officer Candidate School for the US Navy.\nHe was dead now; a heart attack abruptly ended his presence as the cornerstone of the family. Her mother lived in a nursing home; the Alzheimer’s had finally become more than her brother and sister-in-law could manage on their own. Her parents were gone, but her father had been right. The ranch was still there, and she’d come home. She had come home broken. The house and the room that had been her parents’ was now hers. The New Mexico prairie had been her first love, but the sea had been her life. No longer. She must fan the coals of her love of the land. It had sustained her once. She prayed it would again.\nMel stood abruptly, unable to overcome decades of Navy habit as she fought to control the chaos of covers caused by her restless night. Finally, the bed was made, ship-shape. She bounced a time or two as she finished the task. She smiled, pleased at the surprising exhilaration she felt at the motion made possible by the prosthesis specifically designed for her as a runner. She bounced out of the bedroom and past the kitchen, pausing only for a quick glass of orange juice. Breakfast would come later. She knew she needed to eat or face the nagging of a well-intended sister-in-law, troubled at the weight Mel lost during her long recovery. She had always been fit and lean, a fact that had been somewhat detrimental during her recovery. A few extra pounds would have been a nice reserve.\nThe screen door slammed behind her as she stepped outside. The horses were out to pasture and the chicken house was empty, so there were no chores to delay her sprint into the cool of the morning. Mel headed out of the driveway and down the county road, knowing there would be no traffic to slow her. Only three ranches had headquarters along this road, and the nearest was five miles away. As she felt the rush of air around her and the motion of her own body, for a time, all the pain, the nightmares, the grief were forgotten. She was lost in the animalistic joy of motion, of the thump of her heart and the rhythm of her running steps, actually enhanced by the artificial foot that gave her extra power.\nBut prostheses are made for city sidewalks or cinder tracks, not rutted caliche roads. The tip of the spring foot caught a clod in the road, and Mel’s joyous run turned into a tumultuous fall. As she lay in the dirt, she realized more than her body had crashed. Perhaps it was having achieved a momentary high that made the unexpected fall so tragic. Despite a life-habit of determination and courage, despair covered Mel like a suffocating blanket. Not for the first time, she remembered the 9mm in her nightstand drawer. How easy it would be to end the pain.\n“You’re a Morris.” Mel heard her father’s stern voice through the ears of memory. “And we don’t give up.”\nShe remembered the first time she heard that litany. Her father had dried her childish tears, checked her for broken bones, then set her on her feet and simply pointed at the paint pony that had so recently dumped her. Five-year-old Mel had sniffled, but she got back on the horse.\nMel stood, looked at the blood on her arm from a long scrap from elbow to wrist.\n“I hear you, Daddy,” she mumbled.\nThe run home was slower, hampered by a limp, but she ran. After all, she was a Morris, and they don’t give up.\nA love of words and an appreciation for the power of language has been a life-long passion for Kayt Peck. Her career as a writer has included journalist, public affairs officer in the Naval Reserve, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and a long-time career as a grant expert/writer having raised over $30 million for public and nonprofit organizations both domestic and international. Peck’s goal to lead a full life has given her diverse fodder for her work. In addition to growing up on Texas farm and ranch, she is a longtime volunteer firefighter, currently serving as assistant chief for her department, and was a long-time New Mexico Search and Rescue volunteer. She currently has seven novels in print with Sapphire Books, and she is a two-time winner in the Rocky Mountain Voices playwriting competition. Three of her novels were finalist in the New Mexico/Arizona Book Competition.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "An Analysis of My Struggle (Min Kamp): Volume Two (Karl Ove Knausgaard)\nby Dr. Joseph Suglia\n“The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s only aim.”\n–Oscar Wilde, Preface, The Picture of Dorian Gray\n“Woo. I don’t know how to sum it up / ’cause words ain’t good enough, ow.”\n–One Direction, “Better Than Words”\nIf I could accomplish one thing in my life, it would be to prevent people from comparing the Scandinavian hack Karl Ove Knausgaard with Marcel Proust. Knausgaard does not have a fingernail of Proust’s genius. Comparing Knausgaard to Proust is like comparing John Green to Proust. Those who have actually read À la recherche du temps perdu know that Proust’s great novel is not the direct presentation of its author, a self-disclosure without literary artifice. Those who compare Knausgaard to Proust have never read Proust and have no knowledge of Proust beyond the keyword “madeleine.”\nKnausgaard calls his logorrheic autobiography, My Struggle (Min Kamp), a “novel,” but in what sense is it a novel? It is completely devoid of novelistic properties. There is not a single metaphor in the text, as far as I can tell, and the extended metaphor (perhaps even the pataphor?) is one of Proust’s most salient literary characteristics.\nThe first volume dealt with Knausgaard’s unimportant childhood; Volume Two concerns the middle of the author’s life, his present. He is now in his forties and has a wife and three children. He spends his time, and wastes our own, recounting trivialities, stupidities, and banalities. All of the pomposities are trivialities. All of the profundities are stupidities. All of the epiphanies are banalities.\nFor most of this review, I will refer to Karl Ove Knausgaard as “Jesus,” since he resembles a cigarette-smoking Jesus on the cover of the English translation of the second volume.\nWe learn that Jesus dislikes holidays. We learn that raising children is difficult. Jesus takes his children to a McDonald’s and then to the Liseberg Amusement Park. In the evening, Jesus, his wife, and his daughter attend a party. Jesus thanks the hostess, Stella, for inviting them to her party. His daughter forgets her shoes. Jesus gets the shoes. He sees an old woman staring through the window of a Subway.\nJesus smokes a cigarette on the east-facing balcony of his home and is fascinated by the “orangey red” of the brick houses below: “The orangey red of the bricks!” He drinks a Coke Light: “The cap was off and the Coke was flat, so the taste of the somewhat bitter sweetener, which was generally lost in the effervescence of the carbonic acid, was all too evident” . He reads better books than the one that we are reading (The Brothers Karamazov and Demons by Dostoevsky) and tells us that he never thinks while he reads. For some reason, this does not surprise me.\nJesus attends a Rhythm Time class (I have no idea what this is) and meets a woman for whom he has an erection.\nJesus’s daughter points her finger at a dog. “Yes, look, a dog,” Jesus says .\nJesus assembles a diaper-changing table that he bought at IKEA. The noise irritates his Russian neighbor. He cleans his apartment, goes shopping, irons a big white tablecloth, polishes silverware and candlesticks, folds napkins, and places bowls of fruit on the dining-room table.\nIn the café of an art gallery, Jesus orders lamb meatballs and chicken salad. He informs us that he is unqualified to judge the work of Andy Warhol. I agree with the author’s self-assessment. He cuts up the meatballs and places the portions in front of his daughter. She tries to brush them away with a sweep of her arm.\nAlmost ninety pages later, Jesus is in a restaurant eating a dark heap of meatballs beside bright green mushy peas and red lingonberry sauce, all of which are drowning in a swamp of thick cream sauce. “The potatoes,” Jesus notifies us, “were served in a separate dish” .\n(Parenthetical remark: “[A] swamp of thick cream sauce” is my phrasing, not Knausgaard’s. Again, Knausgaard avoids metaphorics.)\nUpstairs in the kitchen of his apartment, Jesus makes chicken salad, slices some bread, and sets the dinner table while his daughter bangs small wooden balls with a mallet. And so forth and so on for 592 pages of squalid prose.\nNever before has a writer written so much and said so little. The music of ABBA is richer in meaning.\nInterspersed throughout the text are muddleheaded reflections on What It Means To Be Human. We learn (quelle surprise!) that Knausgaard is a logophobe, “one who fears language”:\nMisology, the distrust of words, as was the case with Pyrrho, pyrrhomania; was that a way to go for a writer? Everything that can be said with words can be contradicted with words, so what’s the point of dissertations, novels, literature? Or put another way: whatever we say is true we can also always say is untrue. It is a zero point and the place from which the zero value begins to spread [here, Knausgaard seems to be channeling Ronald Barthes]. However, it is not a dead point, not for literature either, for literature is not just words, literature is what words evoke in the reader. It is this transcendence that validates literature, not the formal transcendence in itself, as many believe. Paul Celan’s mysterious, cipher-like language has nothing to do with inaccessibility or closedness, quite the contrary, it is about opening up what language normally does not have access to but that we still, somewhere deep inside us, know or recognize, or if we don’t, allows us to discover. Paul Celan’s words cannot be contradicted with words. What they possess cannot be transformed either, the word only exists there, and in each and every single person who absorbs it.\nThe fact that paintings and, to some extent, photographs were so important for me had something to do with this. They contained no words, no concepts, and when I looked at them what I experienced, what made them so important, was also nonconceptual. There was something stupid in this, an area that was completely devoid of intelligence, which I had difficulty acknowledging or accepting, yet which perhaps was the most important single element of what I wanted to do [129-130].\nThe only value of literature, then, according to Knausgaard, resides not in words, but in the transcendence from words. Literature is not composed of letters, for Knausgaard; literature is the feelings and the impressions summoned forth within the reader. After all, any idiot can have feelings. Very few people can write well.\nIt is clear that Knausgaard, then, does not think very much of literature. He is much more interested in LIFE. Everyone alive has life. Yes, palpitant life–throbbing, living life. Life is the most general of generalities, but talent is much rarer, to channel Martin Amis.\nThis might be the reason that Knausgaard dislikes Rimbaud’s verse, but is interested in Rimbaud’s life.\n“Fictional writing has no value” for Knausgaard. After all, fiction is distant from life, isn’t it? This Thought is at least as old as Plato. Knausgaard is unaware that fiction is, paradoxically, more honest than autobiographical writing. Autobiographical writing is fiction that cannot speak its own name, fiction that pretends to be something more “real” than fiction.\n(Parenthetically: Despite what Knausgaard tells you, Pyrrho did not practice misology. He affirmed the uncertainty of things. Following Pyrrho: One can never say, “It happened” with certainty; one can only say, with certainty, that “it might have happened.”)\nHater of words, enemy of literature: Such is Knausgaard. He despises language, presumably because he does not know how to write. What is one to say of a writer who hates writing so much? One thing ought to be said about him: He is alarmingly typical.\nKnausgaard is at home in a culture of transparency, in a culture in which almost everyone seems to lack embarrassability. Almost no one seems embarrassed anymore. People go out of their way to reveal everything about themselves on social-networking sites. Average people reveal every detail of their lives to strangers. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is violated, and almost no one seems to care. We live in a culture in which our privacy is infringed upon countless times every day, and where is the outrage? Those who are private–or who believe in the right to privacy–are regarded with malicious suspicion. Seen from this cultural perspective, the success of My Struggle should come as no surprise. An autobiography in which the writer reveals everything about himself will be celebrated by a culture in which nearly everyone reveals everything to everyone.\nArt is not autobiography. As Oscar Wilde declared in the preface to his only novel, the purpose of art is to conceal the artist. Literature is not auto-bio-graphy, the presentation of the self that lives, the “writing of the living self.” It is, rather, auto-thanato-graphy, the writing of the self that dies in order for art to be born.\nAn Analysis of All’s Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare)\nby Joseph Suglia\n“Die Forderung, geliebt zu werden, ist die grösste aller Anmassungen.”\n—Friedrich Nietzsche, Menschliches, Allzumenschliches, Volume One, 525\nMy argument is that Shakespeare is both the most overestimated and the most underestimated writer in the history of English literature. His most famous plays are stupendously and stupefyingly overrated (e.g. The Tempest), whereas the problematical plays that have been relatively understaged and underread until recently, such as Measure for Measure and Love’s Labour’s Lost, are his masterworks. All’s Well That Ends Well is rightly seen as one of the problematical plays, since it does not exactly follow the contours of the Shakespearean comedy.\nOne could rightly say that all of the Shakespearean comedies are conjugal propaganda. They celebrate marriage, that is to say, and marriage, for Hegel and for many others, is the foundation of civil society. In the Age of Elizabeth, long before and long afterward, the way in which children are expected to have been begotten is with the imprimatur of marriage.\nBut there is no marriage-boosterism in All’s Well That Ends Well, no ra-raing or oohing and aahing over marriage. In All’s Well That Ends Well, a celebration of marriage is absent.\nWhereas Much Ado about Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream end in anti-orgies, in collectivized, communalized, semi-coerced marriages, the wedding in All’s Well That Ends Well takes place in the second act and is absolutely coerced.\nThe play is about a woman named Helena who forces a man named Bertram to marry her and to have sexual intercourse with her. As blunt as this synopsis might be, it is nonetheless accurate. A psychotic stalker, Helena will stop at nothing and will not take “Yes” for an answer. She pursues Bertram relentlessly. As I shall argue below, Bertram genuinely does not want to be married to Helena, nor does he wish to be physically intimate with her. Not only that: There is absolutely no evidence that he desires Helena at the end of the play. Quite the opposite, as I shall contend. Much like her predecessor, Boccaccio’s Giletta, Helena is a monomaniac whose obsession ends in the achievement of her desire and her scheme: “[M]y intents are fix’d, and will not leave me” [I:i]. And yet, does obsession ever end?\nWhen we are first presented with her, Helena remarks, “I do affect a sorrow indeed, but I have it too” [I:i]. She means that she affects a sorrow for her father, who died not more than six months ago, but is genuinely sorrowful over the thought of the impossibility of possessing Bertram: “I think not on my father, / And these great tears grace his remembrance more / Than those I shed for him” [Ibid.]. Her indifference to her father’s death reveals that she is hardly the virtuous innocent that the Countess, Lefew, and (later) the King of France take her to be: “I think not on my father… I have forgot him. My imagination / Carries no favour in’t but Bertram’s” [Ibid.]. All she thinks about is Bertram, whose “relics” she “sanctifies” [Ibid.], much like a dement who collects the socks of her lover which she has pilfered from the laundry machine.\nEven more revealingly, Helena’s love for Bertram has a social and political valence: “Th’ambition in my love thus plagues itself” [I:i]. Am I alone in hearing in the word ambition an envy for Bertram’s higher social status? I am not suggesting that her love for him is purely socially and politically motivated. I am suggesting rather that her love is inseparable from the desire for social / political advancement.\nWhen he takes his leave, Bertram does not propose that Helena visit Paris to win the King’s favor, despite what Helena’s words might suggest: “My lord your son made me to think of this; / Else Paris and the medicine and the king / Had from the conversation of my thoughts / Haply been absent then” [I:iii]. Helena lies to the Countess—and/or lies to herself—when she says that her love “seeks not to find that her search implies, / But riddle-like lives sweetly where she dies” [I:iii]. No, Helena is indefatigable and is hardly the self-abnegating “barefooted” saint [III:iv] that she pretends to be. Furthermore, she is lying to herself and to the Countess of Rossillion when she says that she is not “presumptuous,” as she is lying when she says that she would not “have [Bertram]” until she “deserve[s] him” [I:iii]. Who decides when she should “deserve” Bertram? Apparently, Helena believes that only she is authorized to decide when she is deserving of Bertram. Why is Bertram not permitted to decide when and if she is deserving of him? Helena is sexually aggressive from the beginning unto the sour end.\nThe fundamental challenge of the play is not for Helena to find a way to become married to Bertram. As I wrote above, Bertram is forced to marry Helena in the second act of the play. The fundamental challenge of the play is for Helena to find a way to have sexual intercourse with Bertram—to couple with him, whether he wants to couple with her or not.\nAnd Bertram has made it clear that he does not find Helena sexually attractive. And yet Helena refuses to accept his rejection and sexually unifies with Bertram while dissembling herself as another woman, Diana Capilet.\nHelena is not satisfied merely being married to Bertram. Nor, it seems, would she be satisfied with Bertram’s assent and consent, even if he had assented and consented to the marriage. She wants to possess Bertram against his own will: “[L]ike a timorous thief, most fain would steal / What law does vouch mine own” [II:v].\nWhy not take Helena at her word? On the one hand, she is saying that she is lawfully entitled to the appropriation of Bertram’s body, but that is not enough for her. She is saying that she has the power to break his life, but she would rather have the power to break his heart. On the other hand, taking Helena at her word, she is the thief who would like to steal what is lawfully her own. She would like to experience the thrill of transgressing the law without ever transgressing the law. All’s well that ends well. She does not want to take the wealth of his body; she wants to steal the wealth of his body. Now, this might seem a curiously literal interpretation of the line, but does Helena not deceive her husband like a thief in the night [III:ii]? She does not cheat on her husband; she cheats with her husband. She is like the banker who steals from her own bank or like the casino owner who gambles at her own casino.\nIt would be a mistake to see Bertram as an erotophobe, since he does attempt to seduce Diana. He is revolted by Helena. The idea of having sex with her suffuses him with nausea. Bertram acknowledges that he is married to a woman whom he does not love, but he swears that he will never be physically intimate with her. In a letter to his mother, Bertram writes: “I have wedded [Helena], not bedded her, and sworn to make the ‘not’ eternal” [II:ii]. He is so disgusted by the idea of having sex with her that he goes to war to escape her: “I’ll to the Tuscan wars and never bed her” [II:iii].\nBertram’s reluctance to be yoked to Helena must be seen within the horizon of the early seventeenth century. Let us not forget that Queen Elizabeth was the monarch at the time of the play’s composition, and within Bertram’s refusal to become the “forehorse to a smock” [II:i] (the leading horse in a train of horses spurred on by a woman) one can hear the resonances of Elizabeth’s reign. However, it would be mistaken to suggest that Bertram does not want to marry Helena merely because she is a woman who has been invested with regal authority or merely because she was once lowborn and poor. Again, he finds her physically repellent.\nHelena does not stop until she couples with Bertram without his consent. Is this not rape? According to the standards of our day, impersonated sex is indeed sexual violation, but it is unlikely that it would have been considered ravishment in the Age of Elizabeth.\nAnd is this not incest, for Helena and Bertram are sister and brother, disregarding the banality of biology? There is a conversation about incest in Act One, Scene Three, the conclusion of which is: Helena would acknowledge the Countess as her mother, on the condition that the world does not recognize Bertram as her brother. But are Helena and Bertram not sister and brother? They grew up together in the same household, and it is possible that Bertram rejects Helena partly out of the fear of incest.\nThe Countess certainly sees Helena as her organic daughter: “If [Helena] had partaken of my flesh and cost me the dearest groans of a mother I could not have owed her a more rooted love” [V:v]. Helena is the replica that is naturalized, much like the artificial fruit in the bowl that lies upon your kitchen table, which you accept as natural.\nFortune (what is constituted after birth) and Nature (what is constituted at birth) reverse each other: Bertram becomes the bastard child; the orphan Helena becomes the proper daughter: “Which of them both / Is dearest to me I have no skill in sense / To make distinction” [III:iv]. Much worse: The Countess raises Helena to a status that is higher than that of her own son, who is written off by her as a reprobate. When the Countess intones the opening line of the play, “In delivering my son from me, I bury a second husband” [I:i], you do get the impression that her biological son is dead through the act of birth, that her son is a stillborn.\nThroughout the play, there are posited false equivalences. Convalescence is falsely equated to marriage, as virginity is equated to mortality. Epexegesis: The revival of the King of France is equated to the compulsory marriage of Bertram to Helena (Bertram questions this false economics of equivalence: “But follows it, my lord to bring me down / Must answer for your raising?” [II:iii]), in a Bachelorette-style gameshow that is rigged in advance in which she nominates Bertram without ever taking any of the French lords seriously as his competitors. The death of the King is equated to virginity, as virginity is equated to death in Parolles’ campaign against virginity (“He that hangs himself is a virgin; virginity murthers itself, and should be buried in highways out of all sanctified limit, as a desperate offendress against nature” [I:i]). The King strikes a balance between Bertram’s loss and Helena’s gain: “Take her by the hand / And tell her she is thine; to whom I promise / A counterpoise, if not to thy estate, / A balance more replete” [II:iii]. A fake equivalence, false equation is again posited, between the sacrifice of Bertram’s social status and the elevation of Helena’s status. One thing is taken for another, one person is replaced with another, as we see with the replacement of Diana with Helena. Such is the logic of substitution or the logic of substitutability in All’s Well That Ends Well.\nThose literary critics who praise Helena as an innocent are wrong (I am looking at you, Harold Bloom), in the same way that the Countess of Rossillion and Lefew are wrong about her “innocence”: Helena is not saintly, she is not simple, she is not unambiguously honest (unless by “honesty” one intends “virginity”), she is not unambiguously good, she is not uncomplicatedly “virtuous” [I:i]. She is not reducible to the role of the innocent that she plays. Shakespeare’s characters are not undifferentiated. His fools tend to be wise, and his characters in general are neither simply good nor simply evil, but rather both good and evil—sometimes, his characters are even good and evil at the same time. This is stated almost aphoristically in the words of the First Lord, a gentleman whose role seems to be to emphasize that #NotAllMenAreSwine: “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together; our virtues would be proud if our faults whipp’d them not, and our crimes would despair if they were not cherish’d by our virtues” [IV:iii]. The proto-Nietzschean Shakespeare is ventriloquized through the First Lord, I think. Both Nietzsche and Shakespeare admonish us against pouring all of humanity into twin buckets, one marked GOOD and the other marked EVIL. Shakespearean characters are of overwhelming and self-contradicting complexity, assemblages of oxymoronic elements.\nFor this reason, those critics who condemn Bertram as a cad are wrong in the same way that Diana is wrong when she calls him simply “not honest” [III:v]. (Let me remark parenthetically that Parolles is the double of Bertram, as Diana is the double of Helena. Parolles absorbs all of Bertram’s negative traits, particularly the tendency to seduce and impregnate washerwomen.) (And here is a second set of parentheses: Parolles is also the double of Helena. He ignores his social status when he refuses to call his lord Bertram “master” [II:iii].) Those who suggest that Helena shyly longs after a man who is unworthy of her are as wrong as Lefew, who claims that the French lords reject Helena, when it is the other way around. (I’m still looking at you, Harold Bloom.) Bertram is a cad, a seducer, yes, but he is not reducible to his caddishness.\nDespite her indifference to her father’s death, Helena identifies with her father, Gerard de Narbon, the physician, and uses her father’s recipes to heal the King of France. When Bertram pleads to the Florentine washerwoman, “[G]ive thyself unto my sick desires” [IV:ii], it is apparent that he is conscious of his own sickness, and it is Helena who will wear the quackish mask of the physician once more. The first half of the play folds upon the second half: In the first half, Helena cures the King of his ailment; in the second, Helena cures Bertram of the sickness of his lechery—against his will.\nWhen the King’s eyes first alight upon Helena, she seems a radiant presence: “This haste hath wings indeed” [II:i], he says, as if she were a seraphic apparition. It is Helena’s womanly charm, her femaleness, that resurrects him from the dead: “Methinks in thee some blessed spirit doth speak / His powerful sound within an organ weak” [Ibid.]. It is her vixenishness that virilizes him.\nThe King is revived from the dead. Now, Bertram has lost the right to say, “No” to Helena. Love for Helena is now equated to the obedience to the King of France: “Thou wrong’st thyself if thou should’st strive to choose [to love Helena]!” [II:iii], the King screams at Bertram. In other words, “You should not have to choose to love Helena. I have commanded you to love Helena, and therefore you MUST love Helena.” The word of the King is law, and to defy the word of the King is misprision. Behind Helena’s monomaniacal pursuit of Bertram is all of the weight of legal and regal authority. Love of Helena is bound up with love of the King, and an affront to Helena is an affront to the throne. This is to say that Bertram is legally and politically obligated to love Helena, as if love is something that could be compelled, coerced, commanded.\nHere, the King of France ignores that desire is not logical or causal and is not subject to regal injunction. Desire cannot be systematized. We cannot program our minds to love; we cannot download love applications into the smartphones of our minds.\nWere she not such a monomaniac, Helena would have let Bertram go after he refuses her, but she does not. Not once does Helena accept Bertram’s rejection. Not once does she turn her attention to another man after Bertram scorns her. Instead, she pretends to relinquish the man she is determined to appropriate: “That you are well restor’d, my lord, I’m glad. / Let the rest go” [II:iii]. When Helena says this, it is accismus, that is, the feigned refusal of that which is earnestly desired. It is not a statement of resignation. Nor should one mistake her demand to marry for a marriage proposal. Helena does not propose marriage; she imposes marriage.\nIt would have been noble had Helena renounced Bertram upon learning that he is a marriage escapee, that he defected to Italy and entered the Tuscan Wars and a likely death to escape her. However, this is not what Helena does: Instead, she pursues him to Italy. Her path of reflection is as follows: “Bertram left France to escape me; therefore, I will leave France, as well—and follow him to Italy.” Whereas Helena wants presence, Bertram wants absence: “Till I have no wife I have nothing in France” [III:ii], he writes to his mother. To say that she wants everything would be a gross understatement. She wants more than everything—she wants to eat her Key Lime Pie and refrigerate it at the same time.\nBertram gives away his six-generation family ring to Helena, who is disguised as a Florentine washerwoman, and this is ring will be returned to him. The ring seals not only his marriage to Helena, but also seals his marriage to the community / to the collective. The symbol of the ring is clearly the chief symbol of the play, for treason moves in an annular pattern. Treachery is circular; treason is circular. This is the meaning of the difficult and frequently misinterpreted words of the First Lord:\nWe are, the First Lord says, “[m]erely our own traitors. And as in the common course of all treasons we still see them reveal themselves till they attain to their abhorr’d ends; so he that in this action contrives against his own nobility, in his proper stream o’erflows himself” [IV:iii].\nI would translate these lines thus: “We human beings are traitors to ourselves. We betray ourselves in the very act of betrayal. As we betray others, we betray ourselves—that is, we reveal ourselves as traitors and thus we betray our own betrayals.” According to a citation in The Oxford English Dictionary, “till” could mean “while” in 1603. All’s Well That Ends Well is believed to have been written between 1604 and 1605. If “till” meant “while” in 1603 in England, then this is a justifiable reading of the lines.\nAll of the main characters are unrepentant traitors, and traitors always betray themselves. We see treacherous treason in the treacheries of Parolles, of Helena, and of Bertram.\nParolles intends to betray the Florentine army, but ends up betraying military secrets to the Florentine army.\nHelena does, in fact, deceive her husband, but this deception ends in legitimized sexual intercourse. Moreover, she lies when she says that she “embrace[s]” death to “set [Bertram] free” [III:iv], but she does so in order to affirm the sanctity of marriage. She is a liar who feigns her own death—but she does so in order to honor marriage and thus to honor Elizabethan society. In the eyes of the world, she has done nothing wrong. Who could blame her for cozening someone who would unjustly win? Would could blame her for deceiving her husband in order to sanctify conjugality? A Casanova in reverse, she takes a honeymoon to Italy and has sex with her husband—only her husband thinks that he is having sex with someone else. No one is devirginized, except for Bertram’s wife.\nBertram would betray Helena by cheating upon her, but he ends up betraying himself. He intends to commit adultery on his own wife, but he ends up committing adultery with his wife.\nFrom a purely external / legal / formal point of view, neither sin nor crime has been performed in each case. In each case, the three characters have sinful intentions, and yet commit no sin. All’s well that ends in a socially acceptable manner. It is for this reason that Helena says that the reason within her treasonous marriage plot “[i]s wicked meaning in a lawful deed, / And lawful meaning in a lawful act, / Where both not sin, and yet a sinful fact” [III:vii]. And later in the play: “All’s well that ends well; still the fine’s the crown. / Whatever the course, the end is the renown” [IV:v]. “Fine” here means “ending.” The formal close of the plot sanctifies all of the deception that came before it. The ring turns itself around; the end communes with the beginning. The ring is closed, erasing all of the treachery and deception that was used to forge it.\nNo one is innocent, and no one is guilty. Diana implies the innocent guilt of not only Bertram, but of all traitors, when she says: “Because he’s guilty and he is not guilty” [V:iii]. The traitors of the play (Parolles, Helena, and Bertram) are innocent, though their intentions are treasonous.\nOne character after the other intends to perform a treacherous action, but this action is transmuted into its opposite. Such is the reversal of language: As the First Lord says to the Second Lord (in reference to a secret that will be communicated by the latter to the former): “When you have spoken it, ’tis dead, and I am the grave of it” [IV:iii]. Language kills. That is: Language has the tendency to say the exact opposite of what we mean. When we say or write, “I am lonely,” we cannot be lonely, for we open up the possibility of communication. When we say or write, “I am sad,” we are not sad enough to stop speaking or writing.\nConcerning the intentional errors of language: The bescarfed fool Patrolles misuses words throughout, and this is always Shakespeare’s way of ridiculing characters he does not respect. For instance, Parolles says “facinerious” instead of “facinorous” [II:iii]. He uses an affected language, such as when he calls Bertram’s defection from marriage a “capriccio” [Ibid.]. He often cannot finish his sentences. Again and again, his sentences are broken off with em-dashes (this is what rhetoricians call aposiopesis). And yet there is some sense in his nonsense. When he intones, “Mort du vinaigre!” [III:iii], this might seem to be mere babble, and yet might it not evoke the crucifixion of Christ, whose broken lips and tongue were said to be moistened by vinegar? When Parolles is accosted by the Florentines, dressed as Muscovites, they utter gibble-gabble, such as “Boskos vauvado” and “Manka revania dulche” [IV:i]. And yet are they gabbling? Dulche might invoke Dolch, a German word that means “dagger” (after all, the Florentines-dressed-as-Muscovites are pointing their poniards at Parolles), and boskos might evoke “bosk” or “boscage,” which makes sense, since the scene takes place in a forest. Even though they are gabbling, there is significance in their gibble-gabble. Shakespeare cannot allow his writing to be meaningless. There is, in his writing, a tyranny of meaning. Even the nonsense in his plays carries sense.\nAt the end of the play, which does not end well, and which therefore belies its own title, Bertram acknowledges that his wife is his wife, but he does so in formalistic and legalistic language: “If she, my liege, can make me know this clearly / I’ll love her dearly, ever, ever dearly” [V:iii]. In other words, “I love you because I am socially, legally, and politically obligated to love you.” He speaks as if the knowledge of information led to desire, as if the confirmation of a legal contract necessarily issued in passion. Indeed, Helena has proven that she has fulfilled both conditions of the contract: that she pull the ring from his finger and that she produce a child of whom he is the father. The ring is given as evidence to Helena’s kangaroo court; the parturition of the child is demonstrated, as if this were the Elizabethan version of a talk-show paternity test. It is probable, however, that Bertram intended “ring” and “child” as metaphors—and yet Helena takes the letter as the law. Helena literalizes what might have been intended metaphorically.\nIs the social, legal, and political obligation to love another human being not the definition of marriage? Kant defined marriage as the mutual leasing of each other’s genital organs, and philosophers since Hegel have criticized his glacial definition. But was Kant incorrect? All’s Well That Ends Well implies essentially the same thing. It could be said, with only slight exaggeration or overstatement, that this play is a work of misogamy in contrast to the epithalamia Much Ado about Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare’s most problematical comedy would suggest that marriage is the lie of all lies, the hoax of all hoaxes, and should be avoided by anyone who values solitude, privacy, and freedom.\nWhen Bertram submits to the will of Helena and the will of the King the first time, it is hardly a profession of love: “I find that she, which late / Was in my nobler thoughts most base, is now / The praised of the king; who, so ennobled, / Is as ’twere born so” [II:iii]. This is the least erotic assent to marry someone that has ever been articulated.\n“All yet seems well” [V:iii; emphasis mine]. There is the semblance of a happy closure, the simulation of a happy ending. Simply because the circle has closed in a formal sense, this does not mean that anyone is happy. All’s Well That Ends Well does not end well. All is not well in All’s Well That Ends Well. All’s ill that ends well.\nOn Nietzsche’s MORGENRÖTHE: GEDANKEN ÜBER DIE MORALISCHEN VORURTHEILE / DAYBREAK / DAYBREAK: THOUGHTS ON THE PREJUDICES OF MORALITY / DAWN OF THE DAY / THE DAWN / Friedrich Nietzsche DAYBREAK\nby Joseph Suglia\n“I advise you to cultivate that form of contempt which is called pity.”\n—Joseph Conrad, Victory\nM = Morgenröthe: Gedanken über die moralischen Vorurtheile (1881; second edition: 1887). The numbers refer to the numbers of the paragraphs that are cited.\nD = Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality, ed. Maudemarie Clark and Brian Leiter. Cambridge University Press, 1997. The numbers refer to the pages of the text.\nThose who read Nietzsche in English translation have been lied to, deceived, seduced, hoodwinked by dishonest translators and commentators. My intention here will be twofold. First, to correct some of the horrifying misinterpretations in the introduction to the Cambridge University Press translation of Nietzsche’s Morgenröthe: Gedanken über die moralischen Vorurtheile (1881; 1887), entitled Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality (first published in 1997). I will hose off the slime with which Nietzsche’s great book has been slathered and amplify what Nietzsche actually writes. This will not have been, then, an interpretation of Nietzsche’s Daybreak but an attempt to illuminate and magnify his writing so that it becomes more legible.\n* * * * *\nDaybreak is Nietzsche’s inaugural attack on morality. The argument is not that human beings should be immoral but that they should be moral for different reasons than have been traditionally presented. His attack on morality is based on the critique of voluntarism (the theory of the free will) and the critique of altruism that was launched in Human, All-Too-Human (1878; 1880). The goal of Daybreak, as Nietzsche writes in the Preface to the 1887 edition, is to “undermine trust in morality” (Vetrauen zur Moral zu untergraben). Nietzsche does take pains to acknowledge that his own stance is self-contradictory, inasmuch as his critique of morality is itself “moral,” in a sense, coming, as it does, from an uncritical trust in rationality. The fact that Nietzsche cites Hegel approvingly in this regard shows us that Nietzsche exists in closer proximity to Hegel than is customarily acknowledged. Nietzsche uses the figure of the scorpion to describe this movement of turning-morality-against-itself ([der kritische Wille] gleich dem Skorpione, den Stachel in den eigenen Leib sticht [M Preface]), though I think a more felicitous figure would be that of the amphisbaena, a serpentine creature in Greek mythology that has two heads, one of which dangles at the tip of its tail and which can sometimes be seen biting the other head. Why? Free spirits are forever shedding their opinions, much in the way that the snake sloughs off its skin. All of Nietzsche’s writing is intentionally self-contradictory.\nMorality is based on two false presuppositions: that human beings are self-conscious subjects who make their own choices, the sources of which are transparent to them, and that human beings are capable of selfless compassion for others, of other-directedness, of caring for other people without any reference to themselves.\nThe first false presupposition of morality: Human beings are self-conscious subjects who make their own choices, the sources of which are transparent to them.\nWe are not in control of what we think or what we feel. We are not in control of our minds because we are part of our minds. Our minds are more powerful than we are. Every conscious thought issues from the unconscious mind: “All of our so-called consciousness,” Nietzsche writes, is “a more or less fantastical commentary on an unknown, perhaps unknowable, yet felt text” (all unser sogenanntes Bewusstsein [ist] ein mehr oder weniger phantastischer Commentar über einen ungewussten, vielleicht unwissbaren, aber gefühlten Text) [M 119]. And all unconscious data is formed by our history, by our environment, by tradition, by mood, by our physiology, by our heredity (though Nietzsche did not live to see the discovery of genetics), not by some nonexistent “free will.” There can be no moral thinking or immoral thinking insofar as we are unconsciously compelled to think whatever we consciously think and are therefore not responsible for our thoughts. Morality implies responsibility—and if we are not responsible for what we think, consciously or unconsciously, how could we be held responsible for the alleged “morality” or the alleged “immorality” of our thoughts?\nConsider the hypnagogic state—what the Italians call dormiveglia, that twilight between alertness and slumber. You are neither awake nor asleep. Your thoughts rush and gush. How could one be responsible for the rushing and gushing of thoughts when the mind is in this semi-conscious state? And if one is not responsible for such thoughts, for which thoughts is one responsible, and why?\nIf there is no freedom of thought (and there is none), there are no free actions, either. No actions are good or evil—for surely, goodness is voluntary goodness and evilness is voluntary evilness. People are neither voluntarily good nor voluntarily evil, which means that they are neither good nor evil. As a result, we should perhaps stop pouring people into twin buckets, one marked GOOD and the other marked EVIL and develop richer and more complex ways of evaluating human behavior.\nIf people are constrained to perform good deeds, then praise is never earned. The Australian taxi driver who returns $500,000 to the Japanese businessman who left the money in his cab does not deserve to be heroized. If people are constrained to perform bad deeds, then neither is punishment ever deserved. Criminals should be pathologized, for criminality is a pathology [M 202], not the result of sinfulness [M 208]. And why should anyone feel guilt or regret for something that one did? It makes as little sense to feel guilt or regret for something that you did not choose to do as it does for someone else to blame you or to praise you for what you did not choose to do.\nThe second false presupposition: Human beings are capable of selfless compassion for others, of other-directedness, of caring for other people without any reference to themselves.\nWhy does anyone behave morally to begin with? People are moral out of laziness, out of cowardice, out of convenience, out of submissiveness to tradition. Above all, they are moral out of the desire for self-satisfaction.\n(Parenthetical remarks: All morality is arbitrary: Every age has a different sense of what is “good” or “evil,” what is blameworthy or praiseworthy [M 2]. The ancient Jews believed that wrath was a virtue (as evidenced by the Hebraic Bible); the ancient Greeks believed in the virtuousness of envy (as evidenced by Hellenic mythology) and of revenge (as evidenced by the Oresteia). Dissembling once counted as a virtue (as evidenced by Homer). The ancient Greeks despised pity (as evidenced by Aristotle) and hope (as evidenced by Hesiod) and praised shame (as evidenced by Plato).\nEvery human being is self-directed (though, as I have stated elsewhere, Nietzsche did not believe in a hypostatized or substantialized human self). Everything that you do, you do for your own benefit or pleasure, even if that pleasure is a dark pleasure or a negative pleasure or the pleasure that comes from denying oneself a pleasure. Compassion is selfish because life is selfish.\nDespite what the editors of the Cambridge University Press translation write about him, Nietzsche never claims that there is such a thing as a “moral motive” or a “morally motivated action” (xxv).\nThe introduction to the Cambridge Daybreak is nameless. Who typed this text? It is impossible to say with conviction, though it was likely put together by Maudemarie Clark and Brian Leiter, the editors of the volume. If I had written such an atrocity, I would not have put my name on it, either.\nThe agenda of Clark and Leiter (I will assume that they are the writers of the introduction) is to turn Nietzsche into someone who believes that the human animal is a self-sacrificing animal that can be dedicated absolutely to “the Other.” As I will argue, Nietzsche is not suggesting that there are other-centered impulses, and he is hardly repudiating the necessary existence of egoistic instincts.\nThe passage that the editors make hash browns out of is Paragraph 103 (“Es giebt zwei Arten von Leugnern der Sittlichkeit”; “There Are Two Kinds of People who Deny Morality”). The passage is worth citing in its entirety in German:\nEs giebt zwei Arten von Leugnern der Sittlichkeit.—“Die Sittlichkeit leugnen”—das kann einmal heissen: leugnen, dass die sittlichen Motive, welche die Menschen angeben, wirklich sie zu ihren Handlungen getrieben haben,—es ist also die Behauptung, dass die Sittlichkeit in Worten bestehe und zur groben und feinen Betrügerei (namentlich Selbstbetrügerei) der Menschen gehöre, und vielleicht gerade bei den durch Tugend Berühmtesten am meisten. Sodann kann es heissen: leugnen, dass die sittlichen Urtheile auf Wahrheiten beruhen. Hier wird zugegeben, dass sie Motive des Handelns wirklich sind, dass aber auf diese Weise Irrthümer, als Grund alles sittlichen Urtheilens, die Menschen zu ihren moralischen Handlungen treiben. Diess ist mein Gesichtspunct: doch möchte ich am wenigsten verkennen, dass in sehr vielen Fällen ein feines Misstrauen nach Art des ersten Gesichtspunctes, also im Geiste des La Rochefoucauld, auch im Rechte und jedenfalls vom höchsten allgemeinen Nutzen ist.—Ich leugne also die Sittlichkeit wie ich die Alchymie leugne, das heisst, ich leugne ihre Voraussetzungen: nicht aber, dass es Alchymisten gegeben hat, welche an diese Voraussetzungen glaubten und auf sie hin handelten.—Ich leugne auch die Unsittlichkeit: nicht, dass zahllose Menschen sich unsittlich fühlen, sondern dass es einen Grund in der Wahrheit giebt, sich so zu fühlen. Ich leugne nicht, wie sich von selber versteht—vorausgesetzt, dass ich kein Narr bin—, dass viele Handlungen, welche unsittlich heissen, zu vermeiden und zu bekämpfen sind; ebenfalls, dass viele, die sittlich heissen, zu thun und zu fördern sind, — aber ich meine: das Eine wie das Andere aus anderen Gründen, als bisher. Wir haben umzulernen, —um endlich, vielleicht sehr spät, noch mehr zu erreichen: umzufühlen.\nThere are those, Nietzsche tells us, who deny that anyone is capable of a moral motive. This first kind of philosopher (Lichtenberg, La Rochefoucauld, et al.) is opposed to those Pharisees whose morality lies in their words, not in their hands: the sanctimonious, the sophists, the takers, the verbalizers, the hypocrites. The second denier of morality denies that morality is based on objectively true presuppositions. This second category of philosopher understands that all morality is misbegotten. Nietzsche belongs to the second camp.\nThe editors are fond of the following sentence (rendered into English): “Here it will be conceded that the motives of action are real, but that it is errors which, as the basis of all moral judgment, drive them to their moral actions.” The editors assume that this sentence implies that Nietzsche believed that people can have good, moral intentions: In this passage, they write, Nietzsche “admits the existence of moral motivation” (xxvi). They think that Nietzsche is the precursor of Martin Buber or Emmanuel Levinas, that he is someone who has the greatest piety for the Thou or for the Other. When he wrote Human, All-Too-Human, then, Nietzsche was a sinner who thought that people were self-interested. Now, he undergoes an epiphany as he travels on the road to Damascus: “In Daybreak, by contrast, we can begin to see the shift in Nietzsche’s strategy: he explicitly raises the question about the value of unegoistic actions, at the same time that he begins to move away from the psychological egoism of Human All Too Human” [xxiv-xxv].\nAccording to this (mis)interpretation, the Nietzsche of Daybreak has rejected Human, All-Too-Human, with its reduction of all altruism to human selfishness, in favor of an interpretation of morality that allows for moral impulsion. The editors call attention to “Daybreak’s [alleged] repudiation of the thoroughgoing psychological egoism of Human, All Too Human” [xxv]. In Daybreak, Nietzsche has seen the Light of Day: “The passage [cited above] thus functions to separate Nietzsche’s new position from his earlier one: he no longer denies the existence of morally motivated actions, but claims instead that these actions, when they occur, are based on erroneous presuppositions” (xxv).\nThis is nonsense. Even worse, it goes against the thrust and tenor of Nietzschean thought. It violates the grain of the text. Nietzsche wants us to undeceive ourselves of the false assumption of “moral motives.” He wants us to think in luculent manner. He wants a world that is unalloyed by the false presupposition that moral intentions are possible.\nThe correct interpretation of the passage cited above is as follows: Human beings might believe that they have moral impulses that entrain them to perform moral actions, but nowhere in Daybreak does Nietzsche write that their moral motives are anything other than modes of self-deception.\nNietzsche writes (to translate): “I also deny morality: [I do not deny] that innumerable human beings feel themselves to be immoral, but [I do deny] that there is any ground in truth for them to feel this way.”\nThe most important word in this regard is fühlen (“to feel”). Human beings feel themselves to be immoral or moral, but this does not mean that they are immoral or moral. To turn to the alchemy metaphor: There are those who identify themselves as alchemists, but this does not mean that alchemy is anything other than a quack pseudo-science or that alchemists are anything other than quackpots. Many human beings feel that they are performing moral actions, but do I really need to write that the feeling that one is performing a moral action is not the same thing as a genuinely moral intention? Human beings might feel that they are self-responsible moral agents who are morally impelled to perform moral actions, but they are being self-deceptive in having such feelings. They might explain to themselves that they are moral beings, but this does not mean that they are moral! The unconscious impulse behind their “moral intentions” is always, for Nietzsche, selfishness.\nThe writers of the introduction to the Cambridge University Press translation do not separate consciousness from the unconscious mind, even though Nietzsche consistently does precisely this, especially in the passage in which he affirms the “non-knowledge of the self” (Das, was den Menchen so schwer zu begreifen fällt, ist ihre Unwissenheit über sich selbst) [M 116]. The idea of “moral intentions” becomes questionable when we consider the unreadability of the self to itself. Sadly, the editors seem to have forgotten the sentence of Nietzsche in which he declares that moral actions are never what they appear to be to the subject who performs them: Die Handlungen sind niemals Das, als was sie uns erscheinen! [Ibid.]. We are not what we appear to be to ourselves, never mind how we appear to other human beings. “We are strangers to ourselves”: This is the premise of Toward the Genealogy of Morals. The core of the human animal is unknown and unknowable to that same animal. What distinguishes us from all of the other animals is that our essence is unknown and unknowable to us—this insight made Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis possible. If one does not understand these points, one does not understand Nietzsche.\nThe other person is unknowable to us, moreover, except insofar as he or she leaves an impression on us: Wir begreifen Nichts von [dem Nächsten], als die Veränderungen an uns, deren Ursache er ist [M 118]. Other people will attempt to leave imprints upon you, as if you were a ball of wax—and yet you will know nothing of them other than the psychic impressions that they leave upon you. We can neither say that the other human being is “good” or “evil” in himself or in herself. “Good” or “evil” are names, labels, deictic markers that we attach to the other human being. A person is nominated as “good” inasmuch as s/he pleases us; a person is nominated as “evil” inasmuch as s/he displeases us. And yet this person is neither good nor evil in him- or herself. In this fashion, Nietzsche moves away from Stirner, who some think of as Nietzsche’s predecessor. The Stirnerian moral-ego system is one in which what pleases me is right and what displeases me is wrong. We know from Iva Overbeck that Nietzsche read Stirner (cf. Conversations with Nietzsche, ed. Sander L. Gilman, pages 113-114): Here he is moving beyond the naivety of Stirner and not defining “good” as that which is good to me, nor is he defining “evil” as that which is evil to me. Both “good” and “evil” are mystifications, abstractions, and misinterpretations of the human mind.\nClark and Leiter do not seem to be conscious of Paragraph 148, wherein Nietzsche asserts that there are no moral actions, if morality means “other-centeredness.” The moral intentions behind such actions would be other-centered, as well. We never do anything purely for the other person or without self-interest, and our will is constrained by mood, by the unconscious, by degrees of sickness, by degrees of health and the feeling of well-being, by our memory of the past, by hunger, and/or by the need to urinate.\nIn an unpublished fragment from the summer of 1880—which, as far as I know, has never before been rendered into English—Nietzsche writes:\n“Will to urinate,” that means: There is, first of all, a pressure and a compulsion; secondly, a medium through which to release oneself; thirdly, a habit to be exercised, after it has been given from the intellect to the hand. In itself, the pressure or compulsion has nothing to do with the alleviation of the bladder: It does not say, “I want.” It says, rather, “I suffer” [translation mine].\nLet me make a simple remark that every child could understand: Although one might choose when to urinate, no one chooses whether to urinate. And the discomfiting and discomforting need to urinate can shape one’s decision-making process, perturb one’s attention, and determine one’s words and actions. The insistent and persistent existence of the need to urinate in itself invalidates the hypothesis of the free will, for who has absolute power over urination? One has no more control over one’s thoughts as one has control over whether or not one has the need to urinate. If the need to urinate were subject to some “free will,” wouldn’t most people have willed away or scheduled their micturition sessions?\nFurthermore: If he admits “the existence of moral motivation” [xxvi] in Daybreak, why are all of Nietzsche’s examples of moral actions examples of egoic, self-interested behavior, of extreme vaingloriousness, of vanity? There is the nun who flaunts her chastity in order to punish fleshlier women with the image of her stern and proud virginity, her freedom from the desire for a man’s touch, her austere holiness: Die Keuschheit der Nonne: mit welchen strafenden Augen sieht sie in das Gesicht anderslebender Frauen! wie viel Lust der Rache ist in diesen Augen! [M 30]. There is the artist who declares his greatness and champions his excellence in order to excite envy in his contemporaries: Dort steht ein grosser Künstler: die vorempfundene Wollust am Neide bezwungener Nebenbuhler hat seine Kraft nicht schlafen lassen, bis dass er gross geworden ist, —wie viele bittere Augenblicke anderer Seelen hat er sich für das Grosswerden zahlen lassen! [Ibid.]. If I may submit an example that Nietzsche does not give: The man who gives money to a beggar does so not out the desire to help the beggar, but out of the desire to feel superior to the beggar and out of the desire to advertise his superiority over the beggar—though, as Nietzsche points out in this very book, he will become irritated afterward for having done so, as he would have been irritated for not having done so. In each case, the striving for distinction (Streben nach Auszeichnung) [M 113] is at the same time the striving to dominate another person—it is not an isolating experience, though it ends in a self-relation. The moralist attempts to annihilate the other human being by the assertion one’s superiority and then attempts to recuperate oneself through this annihilation. One injures the other in order to injure oneself—and then triumphs over both pity for the person one injured and over self-pity in order to exuberate and luxuriate in the feeling of one’s own power. Such is the magnetic glory of the martyr.\nNot only is absolute other-directed agape love for the other human being impossible; it would not even desirable if it were to be universalized [M 143]: It would create a nightmare world in which everyone fervently loved everyone else, a frenzy of mass-love that would inexorably lead the beloved to languish for lovelessness [M 147].\n(Parenthetical remarks: What good is a virtue if it cannot be displayed? Why be virtuous at all if one cannot delight in dramatizing virtues in front of an audience for the sake of their approbation? Today, people call this (too often, for my taste) “virtue signaling”: Was nützte eine Tugend, die man nicht zeigen konnte oder die sich nicht zeigen verstand! [M 29]. And yet there is a darker side to the performance of one’s moral uprightness. Morality is cruelty. It is an attempt to inflict misery and the perception of one’s own superiority on another: Man will machen, dass unser Anblick dem Anderen wehe thun und seinen Neid, das Gefühl der Ohnmacht und seines Herabsinkens wecke [M 30]. Moralistic language is the perfect license for a mean-spirited person to release his or her pent-up aggressions upon another—consider the Rote Armee Fraktion or the Baader-Meinhof Group ************************************* for relatively recent and recent examples of this.)\nThe reflection on pity (Mitleid) is inarguably the center of Daybreak. If this is true (and it is), then how could one claim, as the writers of the introduction to the Cambridge University Press translation do, that Nietzsche believes in selfless motives?\nPity is the affect of morality, not respect (Achtung), as it is for Kant. This allows Nietzsche to show the sadism and the lust for power that lies at the foundation of all morality. Pity implies a relation to transcendence—not the transcendence of God or of a supersensible morality but the surpassing power and dominance of the one who pities. It is always possible to withhold pity. If it is always possible to withhold pity, then we are exercising power over the piteous. If we want to feel our power, we can either withhold our pity or threaten to withhold our pity. One pities dogs, one pities cats, one pities university professors—creatures to which one feels oneself superior. If we see someone drowning and have the power to save his life, we might save him out of pity—but this is selfishness and a counterstrike against one’s own feeling of fragility and powerlessness [M 133]. Pity potentiates the one who feels pity.\nThere can be no rivalry where there is pity—Nietzsche almost writes this. An enemy is an equal—one does not pity one’s enemies. If you want a rivalry to end, pity your enemy. This does not imply that pity equalizes or levels the distinction between the one who is piteous and the one who is pitiable but rather that it introduces an unsurpassable distance between the one who pities and the one who is pitied, between the one who has the power to dispense pity and the pitiable.\nNietzsche enjoins us to “Wake up!” (Wachen wir auf!) [M 464]. We should awaken from our intellectual benightedness into intellectual enlightenment—Daybreak is a text that belongs to the European Aufklärung. We should move from the dreamfulness of morality, religion, and metaphysics to the wakefulness, to the awakeness, of rationality.\nThe title, Daybreak, alludes to the dawning of a world in which humanity will be undarkened by morality, religion, and metaphysics. Nietzsche enjoins us to disencumber ourselves of all of these things, to pierce the encrustation of moral, religious, and metaphysical prejudices. It will be a world in which no one believes in any beyond, in any otherworldly transcendence. Human life will become at long last meaningful when our successors recognize that there is no reason for them to judge one another or themselves, that they are fundamentally innocent. (There is no reason to judge what is involuntary. The free spirit believes in the innocence of all opinions, as s/he believes in the innocence of all actions [M 56].) It will be a world in which polyamory will replace monogamy, a world in which suicide will not be criminalized or moralistically condemned, a world in which criminals will be permitted to choose their own forms of containment [M 187], a world in which the criminal-justice system will be founded on the idea of deterrence and rehabilitation, not punishment, a world in which no one will be considered guilty of anything, a world in which no one will be considered responsible for anything that one does, a world in which it will be generally recognized that all human thought and action is necessary and beyond one’s conscious control. It will also be a place of regular gymnastic exercise, if we believe the Nietzsche of Human, All-Too-Human. Much like the future that is evoked within the pages of the greatest of all Nietzschean novels, The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence, the future in which all of this would take place is heralded yet never directly shown. Its promise is described purely negatively. What will this world look like? Nietzsche never tells us. Nietzsche (and Lawrence) criticizes the conditions of the modern world and opens the doors to an extra-moral, extra-religious, and extra-metaphysical future without ever being explicit in his vaticinations.\nTo return to the second paragraph of this commentary: Nietzsche does not advise us to be immoral; rather, he advises us to be moral out of different reasons than out of deference to a convention or belief in the supernatural. We should become the self-legislators of morality—and if this means endorsing polyamory, suicide, and revenge, so be it. Let us no longer be camels (moral agents), to forecast the language of Also Sprach Zarathustra. Let us become lions (critics of morality), and thereafter we shall transform into children (inventors of a morality of irresponsibility and a morality of innocence). It is time, and high time indeed, to rethink, to accept, to refuse to condemn impulses that are unavoidably human (envy, covetousness, disobedience). Then, perhaps we would do what comes naturally without a bad conscience, as Nietzsche writes: Wenn der Mensch hört auf, sich für böse zu halten, hört er auf, böse zu sein [M 148]. He exhorts us to praise egoic actions and to devalue the so-called “selfless actions” until things balance out.\nNietzsche replaces good and evil with gradations of power. All is power. (This is a flaw in Nietzschean thought: If everything is power, then nothing is power. Nietzsche’s power-absolutism leads him to tautologous formulations.) Everything can be understood in terms of relativities of power (this is a point that Nietzsche will enlarge upon in the Nachlass): Every human being has the desire for dominance over all other human beings. And what better way of dominating another human being than by flaunting one’s moral superiority? Every human being has the desire to become God.\n“Love always occurs beyond good and evil,” Nietzsche will write in Beyond Good and Evil: He means self-love, which eradicates Christian guilt. Remember that pride is the deadliest sin. Self-love exists outside of the categories of sin and redemption. Another way of saying this: The one who loves himself or herself has no need of Christianity.\nOne of Nietzsche’s Mistakes\nNietzsche appears to believe that credo quia absurdum est (“I believe it because it is absurd”) is the motto of the Catholic Church. And yet this statement was never made by Tertullian or by any of the Church Fathers. Tertullian writes, rather, credibile est, quia ineptum est (“It is credible because it is inept”). As always, when Nietzsche makes an error, it is a productive error.\nAphorisms Inspired by Nietzsche’s Morgenröthe: Gedanken über die moralischen Vorurtheile\nProspective suicides will not commit the act, if they think that no one will care.\nWords are not solutions; they are problems.\nIf you want your rivalry with someone else to end, pity your rival.\nThere can be no rivalry where there is pity for the rival.\nSteve Harvey and Dennis Prager believe in the existence of objective morality because they have the emotional need to believe this—as if their self-preservation were something essential.\nSaving a drowning man presents one with an advantageable situation: It allows the rescuer to be worshipped as a hero.\nTHE POETRY OF CONSERVATISM: An Analysis of THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS (William Shakespeare)\nby Joseph Suglia\n“Poverty and underdevelopment are not God-given but are man-made, and can be unmade by man.”\n—“The Move Forward,” Christopher Hitchens, 21 June 1971\nTHE POETRY OF CONSERVATIVISM\nIf you would like to know where your friends stand politically, you could do no better than give them The Tragedy of Coriolanus (circa 1605-1608) to read, arguably Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy but also his most politically reactionary play. If your friends side with Caius Martius Coriolanus, they are likely more conservative. If your friends side with the Roman crowd, they are likely more liberal.\nThe play is perhaps the prototypical poem of conservativism and even more politically conservative than The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, which explains why the work is T.S. Eliot’s favorite play, why Hazlitt dislikes it so much, and why Brecht, the radical Marxist dramatist, turned Coriolanus into a fascist dictator in his 1951 reinterpretation of the tragedy. It does not explain, however, why Beethoven (a republican in the old sense of the word, someone who we would today call a liberal) wrote an overture in the general’s honor.\nThe most intelligent architects of modern political conservativism (including Hegel) are Machiavelli and Hobbes. One of the premises of modern political conservatism is an intuition that can be found in the writings of both Machiavelli and Hobbes: Do not trust the crowd, for the crowd is fickle, unreliable, stupid, lazy, selfish, and malicious. If you trust in the crowd, you are likely a liberal. If you think that the crowd is fickle, unreliable, stupid, lazy, selfish, and malicious, you are likely a conservative.\nThe rightist politics of The Tragedy of Coriolanus are evident from the very first scene on. It is a politics that is contemptuous of democracy.\nSTARVING THE POOR\nWhen we first see him, Coriolanus is astride a horse, condemning the poor of Rome for demanding food to eat. He chastises the famishing wretches for having the temerity to beg for corn, for the criminal impertinence of demanding corn from the aristocracy. The crowd claims that the Roman nobility has more food than it could ever eat (“If they [the patricians] would yield us but the superfluity while it were wholesome, we might guess they relieved us [the poor] humanely” [I:i]); when he became consul, the real-world Coriolanus pledged to withhold food from the poor unless the rights of the poor were revoked. The most salient of these rights was the right to appeal to the tribunes, the representatives of the people—a right that was given to appease the people after the plebeian secession. The real-world Coriolanus loathed, more than anything, the system of tribunes, of the vocalizers (and influencers) of the popular will. Not only did the real-life Coriolanus deny the poor corn after he became consul, demanding the rescission of the rights of the poor—he demanded that their spokesmen be divested of power, as well.\nThe Tragedy of Coriolanus was composed at a time of grain shortage, when hunger in England reached near-famine levels. The insurrection of the Roman people does not recall Ancient Roman history at all; it recalls the Midlands Revolt of 1607, as well as the insurgencies and rebellions in Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, and Warwickshire, which were fomented in response to insufficient harvests and the food-hoarding of the English aristocracy. There is even the appearance of English mills in the grain of the text (“’Tis south the city mills” [I:x])—as the 1878 Clarendon edition glosses, this refers to the mills of London, not those of Rome. As is always the case in Shakespeare, though the subject matter is historical, the play is presentist, not antiquarian: It is a work that concerns not Roman antiquity, properly, but the Elizabethan present in which Shakespeare is writing.\nWe are supposed to believe that the macerating poor have no right to ask for food, that they should starve to death rather than importune Coriolanus, who alone has the right to the things of necessity (food, shelter, clothing), to comfort, and to pleasure. He even makes fun of the words that they use (“an-hungry” is the demotic style, a low-class colloquialism): “[The poor] said they were an-hungry” [I:i]. The poor “sighed forth proverbs— / That hunger broke stone walls, that dogs must eat, / That meat was made for mouths, that the gods sent not / Corn for the rich men only” [I:i]. These all might be platitudes, as Coriolanus points out (some of which were emblazoned on placards held aloft by the unruly crowd in Ralph Fiennes’ 2011 cinematic interpretation), but who has the right to tell the hungry that they are not hungry? And what arrogance it is to mock the hungry for articulating their hunger and for clamoring to satisfy their hunger! Coriolanus repudiates the poor for the need to put food in their stomachs. The brutality and factuality of hunger are undeniable. Coriolanus is saying, in essence, “I don’t want to hear about your hunger” with the same incensed dismissiveness and lofty indifference with which Chris Christie said that he doesn’t want to hear the New Jersey poor talk about raising the minimum wage (it has been raised twenty-five cents to a grudging $8.85 in the year in which I am revising this essay, 2019).\nHow dare the poor beg for bread! How dare they insist that their stomachs be filled! For their irreducibly human need to eat, the poor are called “dissentious rogues” [I:i]—rascally wretches and wretched beggars. The a priori assumption is as follows: The more the poor have, the less the nobility has. The less the poor have, the more the nobility has. The hungrier the poor are, the more prosperous the nobility. The humiliation and immiseration of the poor lead to the dignity and luxury of the rich: “The leanness that afflicts us [the poor, the miserable], the object of our misery, is as an inventory to particularize their abundance; our sufferance is a gain to them” [I:i]. The starvation of the poor equals the elevation of the nobility, and the fetid, contaminating sewer water of the poor should never flow into a conflux with the pure waters of the nobility. Thus, Martius espouses an Ancient-Roman precursor of trickle-down economics: Feed the rich, and perhaps, someday, scraps shall fall from their table, scraps on which the poor may snack.\nMartius has a granular understanding of the poor. He sees the poor as if they were so many grains of corn, so many motes, so many “fragments” [I:i]; he sees them not as individual totalities, but as disjointed pieces broken from the whole of the Roman commonality. He even welcomes crushing them in the war against the Volscians: “Then we shall ha’ means to vent / Our musty superfluity” [I:i]. They are either grains of corn or vermin verminizing England. For the crime of hunger, Martius expresses the wish that the poor be mass-exterminated in the Roman-Volscian war, as if they were rats: “The Volsces have much corn. Take these rats thither / To gnaw their garners” [I:i]. (Garners = granaries.) Send them to the wars! Coriolanus echoes exactly what the Roman poor say about the patricians—to the wealthy, the poor are either fodder for the war or starvelings: “If the wars eat us not up, they will” [I:i].\nThe play itself is on the side of Coriolanus, not on the side of the poor. Already, in the first scene, this is evident. To be clear to the point of bluntness: The play’s glorification of Coriolanus makes the tragedy a reactionary, rightist, ultraconservative work of dramatic literature. If I am wrong about this (and I am not), why are the poor not presented in a poetical manner? Only Coriolanus is enshrined with poetical loftiness and lyrical magnificence. The poor are not given a poetical voice. Only Coriolanus is given a poetical voice. The reason for this might be, as Hazlitt writes, that the principle of poetry is “everything by excess” and is therefore married with the language of power. Poetry is not about equality; it is about the contrast (the dissymmetry) between the low and the high. Poverty is not an easy subject for poetry, which is nothing without elevated moods and elevated language. It is, of course, possible to write a poem about food stamps, but it is not possible to write a good poem about food stamps without some poetical sublimation or fantastication. Hazlitt’s idea is that The Tragedy of Coriolanus is fascistic (though he does not use this word, writing, as he did, in 1816) because poetry is fascistic by its very essence. This would be to view the politics of the play through the speculum of poetry rather than to explain the poetry of the play through the speculum of politics.\nTHE INFANTICIDAL MOTHER\nCoriolanus’s war-loving and war-mongering mother is living vicariously through her soldier-son. Volumnia, the bellicose mater, only becomes peace-loving when her son wages a war against her country, Rome [I will return to this point below].\nThe real mother of Coriolanus was named Veturia, and the real-world wife was named Volumnia. It is extraordinary to notice that Shakespeare gives the fictional mother the name of Coriolanus’s real-world wife.\nIndeed, there is a disturbing sexuality between mother and son in the play. The mother says to Virgilia, Coriolanus’s wife, in prose, “If my son were my husband, I should freelier rejoice in that absence wherein he won honour than in the embracements of his bed, where he would show most love” [I:iii]. The mother is projecting herself, through the medium of the imagination, into the mind of Virgilia, Coriolanus’s wife. But this is trifling chitchat when set against the epiphany: The mother is imagining what it would be like to have sex with her own son. Even more arrestingly shocking and shockingly arresting is the recognition: The mother would rather her son die in war than have sex with anyone (else?), as her succeeding remark makes clear. Asked the sensible question of what she would think if her son died in combat, the mother responds that “his good report” (the report of his war death) should have been her son: “I therein would have found issue” [I:iii]. “Issue” here is meant in the original sense of “offspring,” and the flabbergasting implication is that her son will only fulfill his human promise when pierced by the sharp end of the enemy’s sword. She continues: “Hear me profess sincerely: had I a dozen sons, each in my love alike, and none less dear than thine and my good Martius, I had rather had eleven die nobly for their country than one voluptuously surfeit out of action” [I:iii]. Not only is the mother introjecting herself, imaginarily, into the role of her son’s wife; she is declaring to this same wife that the mother would rather her son put his life at stake on the slaughterfield than enjoy the pleasures of the bed (“voluptuously surfeit out of action”). This implies, again, that she has imagined having sexual intercourse with her own son and that she is gleefully anticipating her son’s lethal besmearing. She would have him become a “thing of blood” [II:ii].\nThe mother’s dark romance with her son takes the form of violence and death. Volumnia salivatingly counts the scars that had been inflicted and inscribed on her son’s body at the expulsion of the Tarquins, cataloguing his wounds with malicious lust (“malicious,” “maliciously,” or “malice,” used eleven times in the text, is one of the most signifying words in the play): “There will be large cicatrices to show the people when he shall stand for his place. He received in the repulse of Tarquin seven hurts i’th’ body” [II:i]. She proudly numbers the sum of her son’s wounds at twenty-five—“He had, before this last expedition, twenty-five wounds upon him” [II:i]—and is gushingly elated to learn that the number has increased to twenty-seven. Menenius, the substitute father, is overjoyed to learn that his substitute son Coriolanus has been wounded in the Battle of Corioli. He is delighted to report that the surrogate son has been wounded “[i]’th’ shoulder and i’th’ left arm” [II:i].\nLawrence Olivier would giggle uncontrollably as he read the line in which Volumnia declares her willingness to perform six of Hercules’ labors (“If you had been the wife of Hercules, / Six of his labours you’d have done and saved / Your husband so much sweat” [IV:i]), but is it so difficult to conceive the woman hacking away with a sword at the Hydra? She is a militaristic machine, and, as I have argued, one who would rather see her only son killed on the slaughterfield than catch him in bed with a woman. War, or the vicarious experience of war, is motherly pleasure for Volumnia.\nRalph Fiennes was very wise to put Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) in a military uniform that vaguely resembles a uniform of the Yorkshire Regiment of the British Army in his film interpretation of the play. Her role as military commandant (for what else is she?) supersedes her role as a mother. She cares more about Martius’s military victories than about his well-being. No, worse than that: She is seized with a kind of bloodlust, and this is absolutely evident in the following lines: “[Blood] more becomes a man / Than gilt his trophy / The breasts of Hecuba / When she did suckle Hector looked not lovelier / Than Hector’s forehead when it spit forth blood / At Grecian sword contemning” [I:iii].\nMartius fights for the mother, in the name of the mother. No wonder he is psychologically stultified—never developing into an adult with the consciousness of an adult, never loosening or severing dependency on the mother. No wonder he doesn’t know how to talk to the common people, no wonder he cares only for himself and for his mother (for the mother is the origin of his selfhood), no wonder he hoards the grain for himself and for his peers. His loyalty to his motherland is loyalty to his mother Volumnia.\nConsider that Coriolanus is a mother-obsessed fascist, and this consideration gives one insight into the psychology of fascist consciousness: Overmothered mammothrepts become fascists (Bertolucci’s The Conformist (1970), anyone?). Martius was a fascist long before the word existed. For the word fascism comes from the Latin fascis, which means “bundle,” and under fascism, an entire society is bundled around a single authoritarian leader. Martius is bundled by the mother.\nWar is an industry. Beyond the psychodynamic dimensions of her relation to her son, does Volumnia not also have a financial interest in her son’s military victories? When Martius defeats the Volscians, the defeat of the Volscians benefits Rome. If Martius, now “Coriolanus,” as the Volscian general, were to defeat Rome, this would obviously erode the mother’s position of authority. We see, in the play, that familial relationships are also financial relationships. Volumnia has a relation to her son that reminds one of the financial and erotic interest that Donald Trump takes in his daughter Ivanka Trump. What benefits Rome benefits Volumnia. His victories against Volsci are her political and financial victories. Though she says that she would rather have the entire city perish than lose her son, could this be because Volumnia believes that the city will perish without her son?\nKILLING MACHINE (NEARLY) BECOMES CONSUL\nTo say that Martius is a great soldier would be a gross understatement. He is an army-annihilating zombie, an anthropomorphic mega-drone, a super-tank in human form. He hospitalizes the best fighters and slaughters everyone else. His worthiest enemy, Aufidius, flees for his life, is driven away breathless by Martius five times [I:x]. Martius is pure lethality and neither Volsci nor Rome can win a war without him when he is on the other side.\nMartius surges into Volsci and besieges the city of Corioli. The Roman senate and the Roman people are so impressed with the besiegement and with his military performance that they nominate Martius consul and rename him with the cognomen “Coriolanus,” named after the toponym “Corioli.” Thus begins the becoming-Volscian of Martius. The mother seems dismayed by the renaming of her Caius Martius: “‘Coriolanus’ must I call thee?” [II:i]. The re-nomination of Martius as “Coriolanus” marks the beginning of the veering-away from the mother, which will be short-lived.\nThe soldier soon proves to be an inept statesman—he shows such contempt for the plebeians that they reject him as consul, as his appointment is not confirmed, and expel him from the city of Rome.\nThe brutishness and arrogance of Coriolanus are fitting for a soldier, but less than fitting for a statesman. As I suggested above, he does not know how to speak to the commoners; he has no feeling for the commonal. He is the skillful military general who cannot function as a politician. He is reluctant to speak to the people after being nominated consul [II:ii], as he is reluctant to canvass them for votes [II:iii]; when he does address the people directly, it is almost always with disgust. Coriolanus’s language defeats him.\nWhen Coriolanus declares, “I banish you” [III:iii] to the mob, it is as if he were a disgruntled ex-employee who, seconds after being fired, shouts at his employer: “You can’t fire me; I fire you!” A woman breaks up with her boyfriend. The erstwhile boyfriend shoots back: “You want to break up with me? I am breaking up with you!” Coriolanus is every bit as childish as the ex-employee and the rejectee—he is a child-adult or an adult-infant.\nThe Romans estrange Coriolanus, literally: They turn him into a stranger, a transformation which was presaged by his name change. When he is re-nominated “Coriolanus,” it is not long thereafter until the people of Rome see him as a foreigner, as though he were a resident of Corioli. The Romans see Coriolanus now as a foreigner, but are the Romans not foreigners to Coriolanus? Along the same lines: The Romans see the Volscians as foreigners, but are the Volscians not foreigners to the Romans? The Volscians have vanished into the abysses of history, but they were a formicine tribe that gathered south of Rome—“formicine” (ant-like) only because they dwelled upon the hills of what is now Southern Italy. When Coriolanus is repatriated to Volsci, why do we see this as a betrayal? Why are so many of us pious toward the country in which we were born? Why is Rome the home-space—especially considering that Coriolanus was a stranger in “his” own motherland? Why are the marshland people of Volsci the strangers? Why do the swamps and hills of Volsci form a shadowzone?\nTHE PRIVATE AND THE PUBLIC\nCoriolanus is incapable of separating his public and private selves. (For a discussion of the separation of public and private selves in bourgeois society, see Karl Löwith, From Hegel to Nietzsche.) As far as I can tell, he only gives one soliloquy, in the fourth scene of the first act (“You souls of geese / That bear the shapes of men…”)—this is the only time in the play when he is alone. Otherwise, he is forever enrounded by other people.\nIf Coriolanus does not understand the difference between the public and the private, this is likely because his mother never taught him the difference between the public and the private. Indeed, his mother nurtured him to become a soldier, thus confusing his familial and public roles. We see this confusion of roles clearly in the moving scene of reconciliation between mother and son. Martius’s tearful discourse with his own mother would have been more appropriate in private, not held before an audience of Volscian thugs. His exhibition gives Aufidius free hand to taunt him for being a mamma’s boy.\nCoriolanus has the tendency to say whatever comes to his mind without filter. A particularly illustrative example of Coriolanus’s tendency to blurt things that should not be said in public: He asks the Roman senate to forgo the custom of requiring the nominee to the consulship to speak to the people. This is a custom, he says, that “might well / Be taken from the people” [II:ii]. Now, as the editors of the Arden edition point out, the outrageousness and inflammatoriness of this remark could be soothed somewhat if we imagine that he is addressing his remarks to Menenius. In Ralph Fiennes’ contemporization, a live microphone picks up Coriolanus’s careless remark—which should not have been heard by the people and certainly not by the tribunes. In the film, at least, he didn’t intend for anyone but Menenius to hear what he said.\nThe one exception to his ignorance of the distinction between the private and public spheres is when Coriolanus tells a citizen, from whom he would solicit votes, that he has “wounds to show [the citizen] which shall be [his] in private” [II:iii]. The crowd unjustly resents him for not displaying his stigmata in the agora (yes, I know this is a Greek and not a Latin term).\nHis public and private languages are mixed together, as Menenius acknowledges: Coriolanus is “ill-schooled / In bolted language. Meal and bran together / He knows without distinction” [III:i]. Coriolanus cannot disengage crass language (bran) from diplomatic language (meal); he cannot distinguish the crude from the pure. He speaks insultingly when the language of diplomacy would be more appropriate.\nHIS LEAST FAVORITE WORDS\nThere are four words that “trigger” Coriolanus, and they are kindly, shall, traitor, and boy. When these words are said to him, in certain contexts, he loses his mind.\nLucius Sicinius Vellutus dispenses with personal pronouns when he gives Coriolanus a command: “It is a mind that shall remain a poison / Where it is, not poison any further” [III:i; emphasis mine].\nCoriolanus’s response: “Mark you his absolute ‘shall’?” [III:i]. The shall is described by Coriolanus as coming from the “horn and noise o’th’ monster’s” [III:i], one of the vocalizers / influencers of the will-to-power of the people.\nWhat incenses Coriolanus is the absolute, peremptory command of the people—the relativization of the desired absoluteness of his will-to-power. The nobility no longer has absolute authority if it shall submit to the will-to-power of the people. The shall announces the conflux of the plebeians and the patricians, or indeed the subordination of the patricians to the plebeians, which is exemplified by Coriolanus’s metaphor of the crows pecking the eagles: “Thus we debase / The nature of our seats… and bring in / The crows to peck the eagles” [III:i]. The crows raiding the eagles’ aeries are the poor and their tribunes; the eagles are the patricians.\nWhen Sicinius calls Coriolanus a “traitor,” this incites from Coriolanus a torrent of insults, a full-throated denunciation of the people: “The fires i’th’ lowest hell fold in the people!” [III:iii]. One Word instigates the total denunciation of the people—and this means that One Word is what drives Coriolanus into / brings on the sentence of banishment, causes his expulsion from the city of Rome.\nThe third word, boy, spoken as a taunt by Aufidius, prompts a recognition of what Coriolanus is: an adult-infant. Insults only hurt us when we recognize them as truthful. Is it not thinkable, then, that Coriolanus is a boy?\nHE LEAVES ROME\nCoriolanus sallies forth from Rome and resituates himself in Antium, the capital of Volsci and home to Aufidius, leader of the Volscians. (Antium is present-day Anzio, a coastal city in the South of Italy.) He then does what anyone in his state would do: He joins the opposite side and fights against the civilization that nurtured him. Of course, this is a non sequitur: It doesn’t follow that banishment must lead to defection. It certainly doesn’t follow that banishment must lead to war against the country that banishes you.\nI imagine that others might say that Coriolanus, chewing off the umbilicus, is developing into a full-blown individual. This, however, is doubtful, given that he becomes no one at all [I shall return to this point below].\nCoriolanus seeks a “world elsewhere” [III:iii]: the other-world of Volsci, the very city against which he sallied as a general. In the introduction to the Arden edition of the play, Peter Holland makes the brilliant point that liminal spaces (such as the sea) are not enough for Coriolanus. The warrior must either have his way or defect to the other side—there is no medium, no middle ground for him. He wages a war against Rome after he doesn’t get what he wants, leading the Volscian army against Rome and its territories in a strike of vengeance. The Muttersohn becomes dragon: Initially, he goes alone to Antium, “[l]ike to a lonely dragon that his fen / Makes feared and talked of more than seen” [IV:i]. He approaches the dragon (Aufidius) and then becomes the dragon of the Volscians, “fight[ing] dragon-like” [IV:vii] against the land of his birth. Notice the draconic metaphor used by Menenius: “This Marcius is grown / from man to dragon: he has wings; he’s more than a / creeping thing” [V:iv].\nTHE RECONCILIATION WITH MOTHER ROME\nIncubated by the mother, Caius Martius crawls out of the womb a super-soldier who single-handedly massacres entire populations, armies and civilians alike. Now, the mother-obsessed soldier turns against the motherland. This leads one to wonder: Is Coriolanus’s hatred for Rome not powered by an unconscious hatred for his mother? Is Coriolanus’s draconic attack on Rome not also a tacit attack on his mother? When disclaims Rome, is he not also disclaiming his mother?\nMenenius, the substitute father, appeals to Coriolanus in vain. Only Coriolanus’s mother moves her son to give up his campaign of vengeance against Rome; he gives up his antipathy for Rome after the mother arrives and pleads with her son to stop fighting against the Roman people. She smothers the blaze of his hatred with her tears. Martius only knows two extremes, two antipodes: He is either mother’s infant, or he is a repatriated zombie who fights against his motherland.\nTurning against the mother, Coriolanus was reduced to a “kind of nothing” [V:i], as Cominius identified him. When his mother (accompanied by his wife and his son) creeps into the enemy camp, there is an emotional spectacle in front of the dead-hearted army thugs; only then does he show human feeling. I consider this to be the most emotionally powerful scene in the whole of Shakespeare—someone who is a cipher, a zero, becomes human, even though he never becomes completely human. It is as if the mother is giving birth to him a second time—it is a palingenesis rather than a genesis.\nIn the real world, the mother’s intercession was an act for which the statue of Fortuna was established; the act was blessed by the memorial. The mother and the wife are memorialized for ending the siege on Rome: “The ladies have prevailed” [V:iv]; “Behold your patroness, the life of Rome!” [V:v]. And yet the reconciliation between Rome and Volsci was merely a surface reconciliation: The Volscians did later launch unsuccessful sallies against the Romans, all of which were squelched.\nI hold that The Tragedy of Coriolanus, Measure for Measure, and Timon of Athens are among Shakespeare’s greatest accomplishments as a playwright. While these plays are by no means unknown, they are certainly much less known and celebrated than the overrated The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Particularly, I second T.S. Eliot’s opinion that The Tragedy of Coriolanus is immeasurably superior to The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Of course, Hamlet will kill Claudius, usurper and parricide; there is no surprise in that. His vacillations are a mere plot contrivance to temporize until the inescapable killing of the stepfather; as I will argue in my essay on The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the play is about the problem of free will, but this is not the right place to pursue this argument. Whereas the conflict in Hamlet is simple, the conflict within Coriolanus is much more complex. Coriolanus’s decisions to finesse a conciliation of the Volscians and a reconciliation of Volsci and Rome must be understood in psychodynamic terms as reconciliation with the mother and as the return to the uterus.\nAll seems well until Aufidius defames Coriolanus to the Volscians and takes away his “stolen name” [V:vi], stripping him of his cognomen. He instead refers to him by his birth name—Martius—thus symbolically reverting his opponent to his infant status. Martius is then hacked to death by Aufidius’s conspirators, a move which is itself a form of infantile regression.\nThe terrifying mob assault at the end of the play recalls the dismemberment of Pentheus beneath the talons of the crazed Maenads at the end of Euripedes’ Bacchae. Coriolanus is torn to pieces, ripped to shreds, by the blades of Aufidius’s assassins, while they chant, “Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill him!” [V:vi]. The mob cheers them on; the mob has not forgotten that Coriolanus has widowed and orphaned so many of them.\nThe climax is suggesting: If you try to eat the mob, then the mob will eat you. The mob wants to eat Coriolanus. And Coriolanus wants to eat the mob. That is to say: The rich are eating up the poor at the beginning of the play: “If the wars eat us [the poor] not up, they [the rich] will” [I:i]. Coriolanus is feasting upon the poor, consuming the poor, ingurgitating the poor, who will then be ejected from Coriolanus’s anus.\nTwo figures run throughout the play: the figure of eating-the-poor and the figure of being-eaten-by-the-poor. The second appears at the close of the play, wherein Martius is devoured by the mob. At the climax, it is indeed the poor who are devouring the rich. Both figures nourish my suspicion that politics is largely about food. Those who are more conservative want to hoard all the food for themselves; those who are more liberal want to distribute the food evenly. Coriolanus is keeping pace with his promise. Knifed as the mob shouts for his blood, Coriolanus is realizing the supreme desires of his mother which have always been his own.\nCorregidora / Corrigenda\nby Joseph Suglia\nA typical response to genocide is the injunction to remember. All of us have heard the words “Never forget!” in reference to the Shoah. Most are familiar with Kristallnacht, with the Names Project, also known as “the AIDS Quilt.” The March for Humanity memorializes the mass-murder of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Every year, at this time in April, the Rwandan government urges its citizens to kwibuka—the Rwandan word for “to remember.” To kwibuka, to remember the countless Tutsis who were slaughtered in the massacre of 1994.\nBut how should one respond when genocide is misremembered? Is the misremembrance of genocide superior to the forgetting of genocide?\nWhich is worse, distortion or oblivion?\nIs it worse to minimize, for example, the number of Armenians who were killed at the beginning of the twentieth century, or to forget that the genocide of Armenians ever occurred?\nThe most dominant medium of the twentieth century was the cinema, and the cinema still has the power to shape, and to misshape, collective memory.\nOver the past seven years, a talentless hack filmmaker named Quentin Tarantino has manufactured films that I would not hesitate to describe as “genocide pornography.” That is to say, these are films that would turn genocide into an object of consumption, an object of enjoyment. These are also films that disfigure historical consciousness.\nThanks to Quentin Tarantino, the succeeding generation might believe that the Jews defeated the Nazis. Thanks to Quentin Tarantino, they might believe that Hitler was assassinated. They might believe that, in general, African slaves rose up and overcame their enslavers. They might believe that every African slave in antebellum America was a free agent. Not an insurrectionist like Nat Turner, but an action figure like Django.\nBut what if misremembrance were not a disfiguration or a distortion of memory? What if misremembrance plays a constitutive and formative role in memory itself?\nFreudian psychoanalysis has something to say about the interpenetration of remembrance and misremembrance.\nAt the earliest stage of his career, between the years 1895 and 1897, Freud formulated what is called “seduction theory.” Seduction theory is based on the idea that sexual trauma is pathogenic—that is, that sexual abuse produces neuroses.\nFreud rejected seduction theory in 1897, but this does not mean that he silenced the voices of abused children. From the beginning of his career until its end, Freud never ceased to emphasize that sexual trauma has pathological effects.\nWhy did Freud reject seduction theory? Because it was too linear, too simple, because it did not take into consideration the supremacy of the unconscious.\nThe memory of sexual trauma, Freud recognized, might be repressed, sublimated, externalized, transferred, reintrojected, reimagined, or fictionalized.\nThis does not mean that when children claim that they have been sexually abused, they are lying. It means, rather, that experiences of abuse pass through the imagination and the imagination passes through the unconscious. Seduction theory did not take the imagination—die Phantasie—into account and therefore had to be abandoned.\nThe unconscious, as Freud wrote to Wilhelm Fleiss, does not distinguish between fact and fantasy.\nIt is difficult for a victim of abuse to acknowledge his or her trauma directly, and Freud knew this. Sexual trauma, after it occurs, does not manifest itself directly or immediately, but epiphenomenally—that is to say, symptomatically. It shows itself in disguise. It dramatizes itself. It retraumatizes. It might be phantasmatically reconstituted.\nFrom the Freudian standpoint, remembrance and misremembrance are not mutually exclusive.\nThere is a third form of misremembrance that I would like to pause over. It is the kind of anamnesis or déjà vu when an individual recollects not her own individual history, but the history of past generations, the history of her ancestors. Cultural memory, seen from this perspective, would be a form of misremembrance.\nSuch misremembrance could only be figured in art.\nThe literature of Gayl Jones reminds us that the remembrance of personal trauma always contains a cultural dimension, that all memory is misremembrance.\nThe past that you have experienced is not the past that you remember.\nWhen I first heard the title of Jones’s first novel — Corregidora (published in 1975) — I thought it was “corrigenda.”\nCorrigenda: a list of errors in a published manuscript.\n* * * * *\nAt the novel’s opening, lounge singer Ursa Corregidora is shoved down a staircase by her husband, Mutt — a catastrophic blow that results in her infertility. After she renounces her husband, Ursa enters into a relationship with Tadpole, the owner of the Happy Café, the bar at which she performs. Like all of her significant relationships with men, this second relationship proves disastrous and is doomed to failure.\nEvery man in the novel, without exception, sees Ursa as a “hole” — that is, as a beguiling and visually appealing receptacle to be penetrated. The narrative suggests this on the figural level. A talented novelist, Jones weaves images of orifices throughout her text — tunnels that swallow and tighten around trains, lamellae such as nostrils, mouths, wounds, etc. Although one of Ursa’s “holes” is barren, another “hole” is bountifully “prosperous” — her mouth, from which the “blues” issue. A movement of sonic exteriorization corresponds to a counter-movement of physiological interiorization.\nIt is easy to be trapped by these more immediate, socio-sexual dimensions of the narrative. Corregidora might seem, prima facie, to be nothing more than another novel about a woman imprisoned in abusive and sadistic relationships with appropriative men. But the meanings of Corregidora are far more profound than this. A “transcendental” framework envelops the immediate narrative and casts it in relief, thereby enhancing its significance. We learn that Ursa is the great-granddaughter of Portuguese slave-trader and procurer Corregidora, who sired both Ursa’s mother and grandmother. Throughout the course of the novel, the men in Ursa’s life take on a resemblance to Corregidora — and this resemblance sheds light on both the sexual basis of racism and the tendency of some oppressed cultures to take on the traits of imperialist hegemonies. According to the logic of the novel, the children of slaves resemble either slaves or slave drivers. Even within communities born of slavery, the novel suggests, there persist relationships of enslavement. “How many generations had to bow to his genital fantasies?” Ursa asks at one point, referring to Corregidora the Enslaver. As long as hierarchical relationships form between men and women in the African-American community, Jones’s novel suggests, there will never be an end to this period of acquiescence; Corregidora will continue to achieve posthumous victories.\nAs long as hierarchical relationships form between men and women in the African-American community, the novel suggests, the enslavers will continue to achieve posthumous victorious.\nAs long as hierarchical relationships form between men and women in the African-American community, the novel suggests, the segregationists and the white supremacists will continue to achieve posthumous victories.\nTo return to the opening statement of this essay: A typical response to genocide is the injunction to remember. Although her infertility robs Ursa of the ability to “make generations” — something that, she is taught, is the essence of being-woman — she can still “leave evidence,” can still attest to the historical memory of slavery. All documents that detailed Corregidora’s treatment of his slaves were seemingly destroyed, as if the abolition of slavery abolished memory itself. According to the injunction of the Corregidora women (Ursa’s ancestors), one must testify, one must re-member, one must “leave evidence.” And yet memory is precisely Ursa’s problem. Memory cripples her. Throughout the novel, Ursa struggles to overcome the trauma of her personal past. And this past — in particular, the survival in memory of her relationship with Mutt — belongs to the larger, communal past that is her filial legacy. Her consciousness is rigidified, frozen in the immemorial past of the Corregidora women. This “communal” past is doomed to repeat itself infinitely, thus suspending the presence of the present — and, in particular, Ursa’s individual experience of the present. Her individual experience of the present is indissociably married to her personal past, and her most intimate past is, at the same time, also the past of her community. The words that Ursa uses to describe her mother could also apply to Ursa herself: “It was as if their memory, the memory of all the Corregidora women, was her memory too, as strong within her as her own private memory, or almost as strong.”\nAt the shocking and unforgettable close of the novel, the past and present coincide almost absolutely. When, after twenty-two years of estrangement, Ursa is reunited with her first husband, the historical memory of slavery is superimposed and mapped onto their relationship. Both Ursa and Mutt become allegorical figures, each representing slave and slaveholder, respectively. The present-past and the past-present reflect each other in an infinite mirror-play until they both become almost indistinguishable from each other.\nAt the juncture of both temporalities is an inversion of power relations that comes by way of a sex act. Ursa performs fellatio on her first husband. Oral sex replaces oral transmission. Here we have the perpetuation of a traumatic past, and yet it is a repetition with a difference. Fellatio is disempowering for the man upon whom it is performed; dangerously close to emasculation, it is experienced as “a moment of broken skin but not sexlessness, a moment just before sexlessness, a moment that stops just before sexlessness.” For the woman, by contrast, it might be an act vacant of all sensuality, one that is abstracted of all emotional cargo. Fellatio might infuse the performer with a feeling of power’s intensification; its objective might not be the enhancement of erotic pleasure, but of the pleasure that comes with the enhancement of one’s feeling of power.\nBy playing the role of the guardian of memory, Ursa dramatizes the intersection of her individual past with a communal past. The paralysis of historical consciousness sets in: “My veins are centuries meeting.”\nEnd of quotation, and the end of the essay.\nDr. Joseph Suglia", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Victoria-based author Erin Frances Fisher is a writer’s writer. With imagery that would make a poet jealous, characters rich enough to sustain entire novels, and dialogue that communicates a lot in few words, Fisher constructs stories so intricate they threaten to put her less committed readers to sleep. That Tiny Life is gorgeous and slow, memorable if you can summon the will to get through it.\nFisher has an expansive vision of what a short story can contain and the wealth of research and imagination to explore that vision fully. While she prefers first-person narration, her settings and subjects range from revolutionary France to a resource-extraction outpost on Saturn’s largest moon.\nIn “Valley Floor,” an Old West surgeon amputates a man’s leg in the middle of the desert. The story is short enough that Fisher’s attention to detail – her inventory of the surgeon’s tools, her all-too-plausible description of “the wet rasp of sawed bone” – enriches the action without getting in its way. In longer stories, the pacing is encumbered by the author’s overabundant research. “Argentavis Magnificens,” which features two paleontologists trying to convince a headstrong oil baron to finance a dig in the Andes, has passages so dense with technical jargon they’re almost incomprehensible.\nThough not much actually happens in many of these stories, the stories take place at such pivotal moments that every small development is consequential. In “The White,” the novella that rounds out the collection, a character learns that the decades he’s spent selectively breeding gyrfalcons have begotten an immaculate white bird that can barely fly. Like a lot of Fisher’s characters, he tried in vain to decouple creation from destruction – it “took him a lifetime to breed out the brain.”\nThe collection’s central theme is the nature of progress. Is it linear or cyclical? Is the evolution of life (individual and societal) a story of improvement or just change? To address these questions, some of Fisher’s stories need to be slow. The aptly titled “Da Capo al Fine” is a long letter written by an 18th-century craftsman recounting how he went from detailing instruments for the royal court to helping Charles-Henri Sanson, the infamous executioner of France, perfect the guillotine. As the narrator minutely describes the action mechanism of a fortepiano, one can’t help but reflect on the baroque meticulousness that diminished as the world lurched violently toward industrialization and mass production.\nFisher is better at setting a scene than setting it into motion, but this is less a failure than a matter of preference. That Tiny Life will appeal most to readers who seek complexity over action.\nThat Time I Loved You, the debut collection by Toronto-based Carrianne Leung (author of the novel The Wondrous Woo), features better pacing but less nuance. In 10 linked stories – all set in a seemingly idyllic 1970s subdivision in Scarborough – Leung explores what lurks “on the other side of doors, behind the friendly faces, underneath the polite chatter across the fences.” The families in these stories come from a variety of racial and class backgrounds, but they share a dissatisfaction with suburban life that surfaces when several parents kill themselves in a short span of time. June, a precocious Chinese-Canadian adolescent, narrates several of the stories; the rest are third-person narratives, each focusing on a different neighbourhood resident.\nSuburban ennui, Leung’s preoccupation here, is timeless and true but also common enough that any new book-length treatment must take extraordinary measures to sustain intrigue. Leung’s writing is funny and unadorned, many of the characters are interesting, and the stories are peppered with Easter eggs for fans of late 20th-century Canadiana. The plot developments, however, are circumscribed by a paradigm that invariably sees unhealthy behaviour as the product of a predictable range of circumstances: a schoolyard bully is abused at home by his alcoholic father; a young woman pushed to marry stumbles into infidelity; the subdivision’s unofficial matriarch, a generous and eminently practical person, gets a rush from stealing useless objects.\nIn “Things,” a Black student is unfairly accused of cheating by his racist teacher, and a memory flashes into his mind of something his mother told him: “When you grow up … it won’t happen slowly, like it does for other kids. It will happen all at once. On that day you will change, and you will remember that day, that moment, for the rest of your life.” Nothing about this passage is unbelievable, but its interjection into the climax of the narrative reflects a heavy-handedness that plagues the entire collection.\nLeung’s attention to the ways unjust socio-political realities determine people’s identities is commendable, however a lack of subtlety in her approach makes it difficult to become fully immersed in the stories. That Time I Loved You ultimately feels more like a collection of pathological case studies.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Kids can relate to Jesus’ childhood through Boston author’s new storybook\nBOSTON, Va. — Young readers will discover how Jesus is just like them in author Cynthia Arent’s new children’s book, “Jesus Was a Kid, Just Like Me.” This fun, enlightening read is set to be released nationwide this week.\nHas one ever thought of Jesus as a little boy?\nIn “Jesus Was a Kid Just Like Me,” Arent shows children how Jesus ate meals, played games and learned about God — and that Jesus was a kid just like them.\nPublished by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, the book is available through bookstores nationwide, from the publisher at www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore, or by visiting barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com.\nArent is an ordained minister who has ministered to youth around the globe. She is the mother of four and a grandmother. The author currently resides near Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband, Chaz, their two dogs and six chickens.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Hansel and Gretel Choral Suite II\nSandman and Evening Prayer / We Praise and Thank You / Evening Prayer Reprise\n© 2019 GIA.\nItem #: G-9928\nEng. tr. Constance Bache, 1846–1903; adapt. and additional text Doreen Rao\nTaken from a collection of medieval folktales, the Hansel and Gretel libretto was based on an adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. The story features two quick-witted and capable children—a brother and sister who face many difficult times, including hunger and abandonment. Looking for food to eat, the children get lost in the forest and wake up only to meet more danger in disguise. In the happy ending, Hansel and Gretel are found in the forest by their parents. All together, they sing thanks and praise, expressing joy and gratitude for their good fortune. The ancient story of Hansel and Gretel is a fairy tale with true relevance in the world today.\nChildren and Youth, Choral Vocal\nNumber of Pages:\nSuitable for Children:", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Wombwell Rainbow Interviews\nI am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.\nThe usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.\nDr Steve Nash\nis a writer, lecturer, and musician from Yorkshire. He won the 2014 Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Performer from a shortlist that included Kate Tempest and Hollie McNish, and his first collection, Taking the Long Way Home, is available from Stairwell Books. Steve’s pamphlet The Calder Valley Codex, was released in 2016 and has now sold out, with copies only available in libraries. His most recent collections are Myth Gatherers and Taking The Long Way Home.\nYou can find him on Twitter @stevenashyorks or https://www.stevenashwrites.com/\n1. What inspired you to write poetry?\nOriginally I think it was something I got interested in at school and it never really left me. Even when I got a little older and started writing music, it’s clear looking back that the lyrics were all part of that same interest in words and what they have the potential to do.\n2. Who introduced you to poetry?\nI don’t know if this was the first person to introduce me to it, but a school teacher I had made a massive dramatic deal out of poetry. We were given very special notebooks that we were only allowed to write in once a month. We had to plan and draft, and edit a poem – one poem per month – and then once it was absolutely finished, we were allowed to write them up as neatly as possible into the notebook (and even then, only in pencil in case we made a mistake). It’s strange because now I find all the pompousness that can be ascribed to such things really off-putting, but it certainly had the desired effect on my wee young brain.\n3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?\nI’m not sure I was ever aware of a dominating presence. I did have a habit of seeing their names just as names though. Like they were something mythological and not real people. I have continually been staggered by the down-to-earth nature of the vast majority of established poets I’ve met, and their willingness to give advice, even to hyperactive weirdo like me.\n4. What is your daily writing routine?\nDue to the rather chaotic nature of my work life, there’s no real opportunity to designate any kind of routine in terms of setting aside a particular time to write. I try to make sure I’ve always got a couple of projects on the go though, so I have somewhere to focus my energies while I’m wandering around, and I always have a notebook with me. So, I guess, rather than a routine, it’s a sustained attempt to keep open to any ideas or sparks that might whip by.\n5. What motivates you to write?\nThis is something I’ve often wondered myself. There are extreme moments that come along in life that of course give you the urge to reach for a pen to, in some small way, respond to or manage the emotions or concerns that are shaken up. Honestly though, it is just something I have always done, for as long as I can remember. I wrote terrible stories that I’d make my older sisters or my parents read when I was a child, and it’s an urge that has morphed over the years but never really gone away. At present I’m writing because I’m lucky enough to have a couple of places want to publish more collections of my work, so I’m highly motivated to get some shiny new stuff ready for those.\n6. What is your work ethic?\nMy work ethic is to push myself to try to write something every day, even if it’s not an actual poem, story, or contribution to a larger narrative. Sometimes it can be lists, sometimes gibberish, but something. These little word doodles, or broken bits of lines help to keep me focused on those projects so they don’t fall too far into the distance, and I’ll often find they can provide me with answers when I’m struggling to complete a line or paragraph elsewhere.\n7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?\nProbably more acutely than I realise. I remember we had an enormous collection of the old Point Horror novels when I was young, and I thought they were the coolest thing in the world. I remember being looked at as a bit of a weirdo by some kids at school because I was always reading about vampires, ghosts, murderers, and werewolves, but I do now still get described as being slightly obsessed with the macabre and horror themes. In addition to that some of my favourite poems and stories from when I was really young would still be in my list of favourite books now. ‘Oh the Places You’ll Go’ by Dr Seuss is still in my mind an absolute tour de force of a poem, and stories like ‘Not Now Bernard’ or ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ still seem to me remarkable works of imagination.\n8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?\nThere are so many that I almost don’t want to answer for fear of the inevitable leaving someone out. That being said, Helen Mort is a writer who repeatedly and consistently breaks me with her ability to craft words and stories in startling but grounded ways. I cannot wait to read her debut novel. I’m currently reading Zaffar Kunial’s ‘Us’ and it really is a remarkable piece of work. He’s lives locally and by all accounts is a super lovely chap, but my anxiety and lack of faith in my own status as a real human being has always made me too afraid to actually chat to him properly. I’m really fortunate to be able to call some of my favourite contemporary writers friends, such as Helen, but also Oz Hardwick, John Foggin, Kate Fox, Gen Walsh, and so many others. These are all huge inspirations to me.\n9. Why do you write?\nI’ve never known why, but I just have for as long as I can remember. I suppose now it’s because it has become my way of engaging with the world in a way that makes sense to me. I’ve always been better with words than with any other medium, and being an awkward sort of guy, the ability to think about and shape what I say before it just comes galloping out of my mouth in a messy scattered way (no seriously you should ask my students) is a real gift.\n10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”\nI would say – you take this pen and you take this paper and away you go. I know that’s a really facetious answer, but it’s true isn’t it? What is stopping anyone becoming a writer? Becoming a writer worth reading I guess would be the trickier part, and I genuinely don’t know if I would put myself in the category (yet), but read others’ writing, listen to criticism, be open to ideas, and never believe that your way is the only way of doing something. Equally, if anyone ever tells you there is one single right way to write a poem, a story, a screenplay, whatever it might be, ignore them. Read widely, see what interests you, but be yourself. Write the things that only YOU could write.\nAnd don’t let anyone stop you.\n11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.\nI am working on a children’s poetry collection (mostly about monsters, and spooky things), and I have the beginnings of a collaboration that I’m pretty excited about, but that one’s in the very early stages at the moment.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A poet whose words still matter‘If the language survives, so will the civilisation.’\nPrime Minister Juddha Shumsher banned any use of Nepal Bhasa for business or literary purpose between 1932 to 1945. Shumsher even sanctioned admonitions and fines—some were sent to prison and others forced into exile. This provoked a group of Newar litterateurs to defy government policy—planting a seed for a literature renaissance of their native tongue.\nIt was then the phrase once used by Mahakabi Siddhidas Mahaju, “Bhasa mwa sa jaati mwai” (“if the language survives, so will the civilisation”) became a mantra for the language movement, and has been a staple slogan for the language rights advocates.\nMahaju, however, wasn’t a political person during his lifetime. He was a poet, essayist and linguist. He often shared his verses in private—with family and friends. But during the Rana regime, the era in which he lived, even that was a dangerous pursuit, says Sharad Kasa, librarian at Asa Saphu Guthi, a public library of ancient Nepali manuscripts. Many writers were also imprisoned during the time, including Yogbir Singh Kansakar, one of Mahaju’s friends.\nBut a private approach to his literary works led its immortality. Throughout his life, Mahaju steadfastly distributed copies of his poetry among friends, therefore his work survived a time where in literary works were destroyed. His surviving work is still being celebrated within the Newar community—on September 12, Nepal Academy organised an event marking the anniversary of Mahaju’s birth, where contemporary Nepal Bhasa litterateurs recited his poems and celebrated his contributions.\nIn 1996, following many political transitions, the government of Nepal set up a taskforce to address the indigenous issues in Nepal. It identified a total of 61 different ethnicities as indigenous groups of Nepal, and defined janajatis as “a community having its own mother tongue and traditional culture.”\nThe relevance of Mahaju’s remarks regarding language became a canon for more than just the Newar community, but for all indigenous nationalities.\n“Even in the recent Gorkhaland protest in Darjeeling, where Nepalis fought for their identity, to include Nepali language in schools, they were affirming the same as what Mahaju had said years earlier—if there is no language, there is no identity,” says Kasa.\nAlthough Mahaju is regarded as one of the four great proponents of Nepal Bhasa, along with Nisthananda Bajracharya, Yogbir Singh Kansakar and Jagat Sundar Malla, he had a humble beginning—in life and literature. At 16-years-old, when he came back from Calcutta where he engaged in menial work to survive, he returned with Hindi newspapers and books. He also learned about bookbinding and started penning his own works.\nMahaju was born into a working-class family, and struggled for economic stability for the rest of his life. “He managed to write with the knowledge he had, and kept building on his understanding through his peers,” says Laxmi Mali, chief of mother language literature at Nepal Academy. “For him, his difficult life was his inspiration.”\nThe poet’s mother passed away when he was still a child and when his father later died, Mahaju was forced into the bread-winning role of the family. Despite the fact that he wanted to focus on writing and publishing his works, Mahaju also had a clothing business for a brief period. The business failed because his passion lied in poetry.\nHe was one of the first Nepali writers to create fictional worlds and characters to tell stories. In 1910, he published Shiva Vilas Bakhan—in which the main character awakens to understanding why it’s important to expand one’s knowledge and keep sharing it with near and dear ones. It’s as though Mahaju was spurring readers to oppose the Rana rulers’ authority, and to educate themselves.\nMore than any other writers of his time, Mahaju has altogether written 44 books. He was given the title of ‘Mahakabi’, or ‘Great Poet’, for translating Sanskrit epic Ramayana to Nepal Bhasa as Siddhi Ramayana—it is considered one of his greatest contributions to Nepal Bhasa literature. Mahaju’s works therefore are compared with Adikabi Bhanu Bhakta Acharya, who translated the same piece to Nepali.\nThe Mahakabi is also recognised as a progressivist because he endorsed equal education and equal rights, on top of his language advocacy.\n“He was quite progressive for his time,” says Mali. “He advocated for equal treatment of sons and daughters; and that people shouldn’t be left poor because they wouldn’t be able to grow intellectually,” says Mali. Mahaju also urged that if girls were to be given dowry for marriage, they should be presented with productive items to help them generate income.\nWhen he was working with fellow writer Yogbir Singh Kansakar, as part of his clothing business, Mahaju once again found himself immersed in writing and sharing his poems. Kansakar organised private poetry sessions in his shop, where poets—such as Chakrapani Chalise, Lekhnath Poudyal and Baburaram Acharya—recited and discussed their work with the idea to encourage creativity and critical analysis. They believed without an audience, poets lose the significance of their creation.\nLater, he travelled to Birgunj as a trader. There, he wrote the renowned Sajjan Hridayabharan (pictured), a collection of moral poems, while bed-ridden with malaria. Upon returning, he started working at Bhu Dharananda Vaidya’s Wasa Chhe, an ayurvedic medicine shop near Durbar High School, as a medicine miller. But, even there, according to librarian Kasa, Mahaju wrote poems on pieces of paper meant to wrap medicines.\nMahaju used to distribute those scrap paper poems to school students who enjoyed listening to him recite poems.\n“One among those students was Siddhi Charan Shrestha [another prominent Nepali writer]. People also say he might have learned to write ‘chhanda kabita’, metric poems, with Mahaju,” says Kasa. “In fact the ‘Mahaju’ title was given to him by people out of respect—his real name was Siddhidas Amatya.”\nKasa says that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City is planning to publish a book that will bring together all of his works later this year. Some of his most notable works include Satyasati, Sukhasagar, Bijuli, Sambad, Sanatan Dharma, Samachar, and Siddhibyakaran.\nIn 2015, to celebrate his contribution to Nepali and Nepal Bhasa literature, a statue of the man was erected in the memorial park in Ratnapark, but many still have no idea about his works. Despite all the activities to commemorate his works, Mahaju still remains unheard of by many Nepalis.\n“I think because I’m from Kel Tol, from where Siddhidas Mahaju is, I heard of him many times during cultural protests. But not many younger people know him and it could be because his work largely remains limited to a small group of Newar community, “ says Pabitra Kasa, a member of Nepal Lipi Guthi, who recited a poem to commemorate Mahaju’s work at the event. “Like other Nepali poets, his works are not read in schools and many of his works haven’t been translated yet,” adds Pabitra Kasa.\n“His untiring passion for poetry is what makes him so inspiring,” says Mali of Nepal Academy. “Despite all the hardship, he kept pursuing his love for poetry and, through it, inspiring many Nepalis and Newars to preserve and value their culture.”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Mon Corps est un trésor, by Hélène Romano and illustrated by Germain Barthélémy\nBully Free is the story of a young child who takes part in perilous games to be accepted by a new group of friends at school. The consequences are terrible: the child puts his own life in danger and ends up losing one of his friends.\nThe issue of bullying is made that much more difficult to address by the fact that children may find themselves alternately victim, witness and ringleader. Hélène Romano’s incisive tale concludes with a page offering practical advice to help parents talk to their children about these types of games and the\ndanger they pose for themselves and those around them.\nHardcover picture book, 16.5 x 24 cm, 40 pagesADD BOOK TO MY SELECTION", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This society is going through an awakening where the sociopathic parasitic aspects are being exposed for what they are. People will defend their natures like a emotionally damaged person clinging to the victim role and defending their wounds.\nThis is only natural addict behavior and this is partly related to the effect of stockholme syndrome by those who perceive themselves as victims in this society and have been conditioned to treat their oppressors as their lords and saviors.\nThen there is the actual addiction to power, lust, greed, violence, aggression, all these imbalanced aspects of an unawakened individual which came to fruition when people with the reptilian complex activated over their higher-brain functions came into advanced technology which allowed them to replicate themselves into technological immortality and overlordship.\nWhen this all comes to the public, this whole false-paradigm, forwards and backwards, comes to an end and that is the “End of Days”.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Year of publication:\nJournal title abbreviated:\nINT J COLORECTAL DIS\nJournal title long:\nInternational journal of colorectal disease\nIL-18 expression in active CD is heterogeneous, only a minority of patients expresses elevated levels. Further treatment strategies targeting IL-18 expression in active CD should be concentrated on this subgroup of patients.It has been suggested that Crohn''s Disease (CD) is associated with an elevated T helper 1 response as manifested by increased production of interleukin-18 (IL-18). Local concentrations of neutralizing IL-18 binding proteins (IL-18 bp) may counteract biological functions of mature IL-18 in mucosal inflammation. Therefore, we investigated the IL-18/IL-18 bp system in a large group of patients with active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to identify patients that could respond theoretically to IL-18 neutralizing treatment strategies.IL-18 and IL-18 bp messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in colonic mucosa from patients with active CD (n = 72), active ulcerative colitis (UC; n = 32), and non-IBD controls (infectious colitis or diverticulitis; n = 19) and normal, non-diseased controls (n = 20) were measured by reverse-transcribed real-time polymerase chain reaction. Mature IL-18 protein and IL-18 bp expression in inflamed mucosa were assessed by Western blotting.Although IL-18 mRNA was increased in some patients with CD, the increase was not statistically significant. Densitometric evaluation of IL-18/alpha-actin ratio in patients with active CD (n = 20) and patients with UC (n = 10) demonstrated an increased ratio of IL-18 protein in CD when compared to UC (1.04 vs 0.72 [median]). On closer inspections, only 7/20 CD patients had an increased IL-18 protein expression in inflamed areas compared to noninflamed mucosa.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This unique blend of the best of Ireland's oral tradition includes proverbs, folklore, and superstitions of the Emerald Isle. Culled by some of Ireland's most popular writers, it includes proverbs in both English and Gaelic, retellings of beloved Irish fairy tales, and traditions based on local superstitions. Like three volumes in one at an amazingly low price, this original work is infused with the spirit of Irish culture. Includes black-and-white line drawings.\nDetalhes do Produto\nSubtítulo: PROVERBS, SUPERSTITIONS, AND FAIRY TALES", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This is my penultimate Wheel of Time series highlights post, where I pull out my favourite lines and reflect on some of the themes or writing style that I observed.\nI read through book 13 of the Wheel of Time with a near insatiable hunger. I normally read on my daily commute but also found myself reading in every spare minute I had (including, when I should have been doing other things). I read with great anticipation. It felt as though I had journeyed so long through the series, and the end of the journey was in sight. For twelve long books the story has been reaching slowly toward a climax and now I knew it was just around the corner. The prophecies would be fulfilled, the Last Battle would finally come. With anticipation (and a tinge of sadness) I looked forward to finishing the journey with the myriad of characters who I’ve spent the more than half a year with.\nThere were two other things I particularly liked about this book (especially now that I consider them in hindsight). I’ll be a little vague so as not to spoil it. The first is the treatment of the character of Noal Charin. This elderly – and yet surprisingly spritely and dangerous – senior citizen first appears in book 7. He pops in and out for a while, until he begins traveling with Matt. Noal is very suspicious and we’re used to seeing assassins and Darkfriends hiding in plain-sight, so it’s no surprise that the reader assumes he’s somehow nefarious. Not until Towers of Midnight do we understand who he really is. He has a secret, only it’s not the one we think it is. At least that’s how I felt.\nThe second is the fulfilment of the prophecy where Matt would have to trade “half the light of the world” to rescue Moiraine. I always wondered what that meant, and how it would be achieved. Now I know, and it was excellently plotted. And of course, finished off with some trademark-quality Matt irreverence:\nMat stepped back and tipped his hat to the creatures. ‘Looks like the game can be won after all,’ he said. ‘Tell the foxes I’m mighty pleased with this key they gave me. Also, you can all go rot in a flaming pit of fire and ashes, you unwashed lumps on a pig’s backside. Have a grand bloody day.’ (page 897).\nNow onto my highlights:\nDull green moss hung from the branches, drooping like shreds of flesh from rotting corpses. (Page 22)\nI love some good descriptive phrases; words that really paint a picture that flourishes in the imagination. What’s particularly great about this one is more than just the vivid description: the phrase reinforces the theme and setting. One wouldn’t use a description like this to describe trees at a wedding, but trees in a world that is literally ‘spoiling’ fit it perfectly.\nLike an old friend. A dear, beloved old friend that you were going to stab through the eye, open up at the gut and consume by handfuls while drinking his blood. That was the property way to treat friends. (Page 36)\nThis block starts off one way, making you think about a friend; and then pivots 180 degrees to show that it’s actually the opposite. (It is a terrible block. For context: it’s an evil villain who has been entirely corrupted by darkness. The thought-process also reveals the character’s warped madness. At the time I didn’t really understand this passage. Only now with hindsight – having finished book 14 – do I understand it. I guess it was foreshadowing and my memory may be foggy – perhaps it does play a bigger part in book 14?)\nContinuing the theme I’ve mentioned before about a character understanding and relating to what they are familiar with: Faile comes from a culture noted for their cavalry and adeptness with horse bows.\nFaile was actually a perfect complement to Perrin. Where he was a blunt and leveled lance at charge, she was a subtle cavalry bow. (Page 123)\nAnd, Androl a master craftsman who worked with leather:\nLogain was a hard man, broken around the edges, like an old scabbard that hadn’t been properly lacquered. But that scabbard still held a deadly sword. Logain was honest. A good man, beneath the scuff marks. (Page 746)\nAlso, taking what is a cliche for us, and bending and twisting until it’s different enough so as not to be boring. ‘A face only a mother would love’ becomes “Berg had a face ugly enough to make his own mother wince.” (Page 149) and the ‘long arm of the law’ becomes\nThere were many who would think to exploit a lone wanderer at night, particularly outside the city walls, where the arm of the law was a little on the flabby side. (Page 377)\nSome gender-based humour, where men and women looked askance at one another:\n- She was not there at the wagon, fortunately for Mat. She would complain at him again for not having gotten her a bellfounder. She seemed to think him her own personal messenger boy. An unruly one, who refused to do his job properly. Most women had moments like that. (Page 259)\n- there was nothing a woman liked better than finding men who were relaxing, then giving them orders. (Page 266)\n- Nothing was more dangerous for the sanity of men than a woman with too much time on her hands. (Page 266)\n‘Nobody walks a difficult path without stumbling now and again. It didn’t break you when you fell. That’s the important part.’ (Page 208)\nBesides, I can only fight in one place at a time. What is coming will be grander than that, grander and more terrible than any one man could hope to hold back. I will organize you, but I must leave you. The war will be yours.’ (Page 554)\nThis passage explains what we should expect in the final book. Rand will face the Dark One, but the cosmic battle between good and evil will not be the only battle. The forces of darkness are many, and the full cast of characters will be used to hold-back the enemy.\nTruth, veiled in fiction:\n- But also because it was for the best. If two bards tried to play different songs at the same time, they both made noise. But if one stepped back to give harmony to the other’s melody, then the beauty could be greater than either made alone. (Page 626)\n- The men who don’t want titles should be the ones who get them, it seems. (Page 681)\n- Small things were important. Seconds were small things, and if you heaped enough of those on top of one another, they became a man’s life. (Page 746)\nSome great repartee:\n‘I don’t like this,’ Birgitte said.\n‘You don’t like anything, lately,’ Elayne said.\n‘I swear, you’re becoming more irritable by the day.’‘It’s because you’re becoming more foolhardy by the day.’\n‘Oh, come now. This is hardly the most foolhardy thing I’ve done.’\n‘Only because you’ve set a very high benchmark for yourself, Elayne.’ (Page 833)\nMat just shook his head. ‘Well, we’re out, one way or another. But Thom, next time I want to do the bloody negotiating, sneak up behind and hit me on the head with something large, heavy and blunt. Then take over.’\n‘Your request is noted.’ (Page 907)\nJust great phrases:\n- Eventually, the wind encountered another continent, this one quiet, like a man holding his breath before the headsman’s axe fell. (Page 46)\n- He was a young man, but the way he stood – relaxed, yet poised, hand on the pommel of his sword – indicated he was a practiced soldier. Too bad he had such a pretty face. A life in the military would probably end up wrecking that. (Page 303)\n- at night, the holes and scars on the White Tower were patched with a bandage of darkness. (Page 361)\nSome interesting words that I’d either not heard before, or seldom:\n- whelp – A young offspring of a mammal, such as a dog or wolf. (Page 85)\n- succor – To give assistance to in time of want, difficulty, or distress (Page 95)\n- expurgations – purging, cleansing from anything noxious, offensive, sinful or erroneous (Page 316)\n- fecund – Capable of producing offspring or vegetation (Page 429)\n- bittern – a type of wading bird (Page 721)\n- superlatively – Of the highest order, quality, or degree; surpassing or superior to all others. (Page 784)\n- sonorous – Having or producing a full, deep, or rich sound (Page 895)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This also fits in with the recurring struggle theme since enlisting is a equally risky proposition. Then is this poem not about the query âHow to make a difference in the world? If nothing else, readers are left with the impression that our narrator, who instructions beautiful verse, profound imagery, and time itself (âages and ages henceâ) places value on striving to make a difference. The striving is reconstituted and sophisticated right here in reflection, but our hero wants to make a distinction and so ought to we. That is why this may be a nice poem, from a basic or shut reading perspective.\nStrong photographs of sunshine and dark that will help students perceive the theme. When we are saying poetry is âcondensed language,â this poem is an ideal example of that. Common Things by Christopher Kondrich â Is it a statue or a commentary on gun laws?\nPoets employ apostrophe when they communicate to the dead or to a protracted lost lover, but in addition they use apostrophe when writing an Ode to a Grecian Urn or an Ode to the Women in Long Island. Copy it onto a half-slice of paper and use the other half for writing an analysis. I thought I knew tips on how to analyze a poem, however it wasnât until I realized tips on how to annotate a poem that I actually mastered it. And it wasnât until I taught students the method to annotate a poem that I really realized the means to do each. Itâs true that poems maintain so much extra which means than the â usually â brief quantity of words they comprise. Helping students to unpack that which means could be challenging.\nThis is a common enough poetic technique that it warrants its personal step within the analytic course of. Nearly each sonnet contains a flip in the ultimate two lines of the poem, but numerous different types of poems comprise some sort of shift. A significantly stunning and well-crafted poem only becomes extra gratifying the more you increase your understanding of the decisions the poet made to craft it. The following steps define the sorts of questions to ask yourself while writing a poem analysis. Unlike some poets, who match right into a poetic movement like metaphysical or baroque poetry, Thomas is difficult to categorise.\nDuring the Victorian period, the segregation of class was prominent, as society divided into social courses. The rich enjoyed a leisure life, however poorer individuals had a rough life, oftentimes working exhausting labour resulting in early deaths . Dickensâ model of Victorian society together with his exaggerated idiosyncratic characters have effectively evoked emotional responses in readers as there was a relatable component of reality to his poems and novels. âTreesâ by Mark HaddonMany younger people will recognize Mark Haddon as the writer of the favored novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which is part of the rationale why I selected him. âTreesâ is a poem that offers with problems with self-identity â what makes a person a person, and how does an individual match into the world.\nEven he, I suspect, will change his list over time. Marie December thirteen, 2016 It was my first time reading the poem and I thought it meant the mournfully excessive number of people that say such things. We may consider the whole poem as a clarion call to do great issues, nonetheless insignificant they may seem in the present and on the empirically observable floor. Thus, the greatness of this poem lies in its capability to so clearly prescribe a technique for greatness in our modern world. The final three stanzasâwhich, having damaged free from science by this level within the poem, learn extra smoothlyâsuggest that this acting for lofty purposes can lead to greatness and may help our fellow man. In this nine-stanza poem, the first six stanzas are somewhat vague since every stanza seems to begin a model new thought.\nIn âLayovers,â the recollections of misplaced love and the goals of https://learnigbolanguage.com/why-is-it-important-to-learn-a-foreign-language-essay/ renewal function a reprieve from Bukowskiâs encounters with demise. Serving an identical operate are encounters with the sudden, as in âExperience,â and anarchistic protests such as the one depicted in âWhat Seems to Be the Trouble, Gentlemen? Bukowskiâs first four chapbooks correctly acclimate the reader to his twin visionâ his rawness and his compassion. They also reveal the risks inherent in this kind of personal, reportorial poetry.\nAlthough the âangel voicesâ imagery within the seventh line of the third stanza is metaphorical, the connotation used is concrete and sense-related . The speaker imagines his âabsolute certaintyâ because it simply emerges from a partly unconscious psychological course of . The chorus connotation can be discovered on the finish of every stanza, bringing about a level that the feelings that the persona skilled never dies. Also, there are plenty of rhymes such as âyouth, truthâ plus âcry, dieâ in stanza 1, âneed, indeedâ plus âhigh, dieâ in stanza 2 and âdo, trueâ plus âhigh, dieâ in stanza three (âThings that never die,â n.d.). Metaphor may be found by way of âruins oldâ in stanza one as it referred to mortality. âOak Treeâ in this poem referred to death in stanza two.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Publication date 2012 topics nobility publisher new york. Let love find you johanna lindsey download free ebook. If you have any issues with the site, please dont hesitate to contact us. Johanna lindsey ebooks epub and pdf format johanna lindsey ebooks. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Read love me forever online by johanna lindsey books free 30. Let love find you reid family 4 johanna lindsey pdf download. The plot is interesting and keeps you on your toes. I loved the interaction of all of the characters, especially the hero and heroine. Read love me forever by johanna lindsey for free with a 30 day free trial. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 344 pages and is available in paperback format. Locke family series in order johanna lindsey fictiondb. Johanna lindsey is worldrenowned for her mastery of historical romance.\nAt first reggie was amused, then outraged at the arrogance of the bronzed, goldenhaired seducer who taught her both passion and shame, and. The main characters of this romance, historical romance story are regina ashton, nicholas eden, viscount of montieth. Pdf love only once book by johanna lindsey free download. Johanna lindsey books read online free free books read. Surrender my love epub adobe drm can be read on any device that can open epub adobe drm files. Once lady leonie cursed the black wolf handsome rolfe dambert, the mercenary lord of kempston for his bloody deeds and cruelty to the local peasants. Join our community just now to flow with the file johanna lindsey viking family tree 02 hearts aflame copy and make our shared file collection even more. Let love find you by lindsey, johanna 20 paperback. Free download surrender my love haardrad family by johanna lindsey ebook product description a ladys scorn wrongly branded a spy, the dark and handsome viking lord selig haardrad suffered greatly in the dungeons of lady erika of gronwood. Lindsey stirs it up with so much energy and spirit that its hard not to find it.\nLet love find you by johanna lindsey, 9781451633283, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. She is the author of fiftyfive previous national bestselling novels, many of which reached t. Love only once by johanna lindsey, gentle rogue by johanna lindsey, tender rebel by johanna lindsey, the magic of you b. A goldenhaired seducer, nicholas has been hardened by a painful secret in his past. Stormy persuation is a malory novel by johanna lindsey. Warriors woman by johanna lindsey, paperback barnes. Read online make me love you by johanna lindsey book or. One duel could be considered a matter of honour, but three duels are attempted murder. Johanna helen lindsey nee howard, march 10, 1952 october 27, 2019 was an american.\nJohanna lindsey ebooks epub and pdf downloads ebookmall. Book 2 hearts aflame from the vikings of norway to the saxons of wessex. A pirates love by johanna lindsey at the best online ebook storage. Download and read online for free ebooks written by johanna lindsey. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. With more than 54 million copies of her books in print and translated into twelve languages, johanna lindsey is one of the worlds most popular authors of historical romance. With enlightened society outraged at such reckless. Johanna lindsey does great dialogue this one kind of reminded me of a cary grantrosalind russell movie with the love hate relationship and snappy comebacks. Johanna lindsey is currently considered a single author. Let love find you book by johanna lindsey thriftbooks. Johanna lindsey all i need is you straton family saga 2 angel wyoming series. Johanna lindsey is one of the worlds most successful romance authors. It is mainly set in london and on the high seas to america. Let love find you by lindsey, johanna 20 paperback on.\nLet love find you reid family 4 johanna lindsey more references related to let love find you reid family 4 johanna lindsey analysis different toimprove employees. View the complete johanna lindsey book list fictiondb is committed to providing the best possible fiction reference information. Publication date 2012 topics large type books publisher thorndike press. Delaware county district library ohio scanned in china. Make me love you by johanna lindsey epub kindle ebook. Lindsey was born with the name johanna helen howard on march 10, 1952. Johanna lindsey was worldrenowned for her mastery of historical romance. Johanna lindsey born johanna helen howard, has been hailed as one of the most. The first edition of the novel was published in 1985, and was written by johanna lindsey. Surrender my love isbn 9780380762569 pdf epub johanna.\nThe characters, as usual, are clearly depicted and very realistic or as much as can be for a period novel. Johanna lindsey is worldrenowned for her mastery of historical romance entertainment weekly, with more than sixty million copies of her novels sold. Renowned horse breeder and occasional matchmaker devin baldwin pairs eligible. Johanna lindsey is a romance, historical fiction, fantasy writer. Marriage most scandalous by johanna lindsey pdf free. Regina ashton the beautiful niece of lord edward and lady charlotte malory found that her life changed forever the night she was abducted from a dark london street and carried to the house of a stranger. Make me love you ebook by johanna lindsey rakuten kobo. Curly, light brown hair, beautiful green eyes, nearl. Download and read online for free a pirates love by johanna lindsey. Johanna lindsey 19522019 was worldrenowned for her mastery of historical romance entertainment weekly, with more than sixty million copies of her novels sold. Free download surrender my love haardrad family by. If youre looking for sensuality, you wont be disappointed in johanna lindsey. Author johanna lindseys complete list of books and series in order, with the latest releases, covers, descriptions and availability.\nAnd as he hung in chains, his magnificent body wracked with pain and fever, one thought sustained him. This acclaimed book by johanna lindsey is available at in several formats for your ereader. In her fiftieth novel, new york times bestselling author johanna lindsey takes her readers on a sensual, romantic adventure through the american west. Here you can download file johanna lindsey viking family tree 02 hearts aflame copy. An ingenious blend of sizzling passion, paranormal romance, and science fiction romantic. The exquisite niece of lord edward and lady charlotte malory, regina ashton is outraged over her abduction by the arrogant, devilishly handsome nicholas eden and is determined to make the rogue pay. Warriors woman by johanna lindsey read online on bookmate. But on the high seas his resolve will be weakened by an unrestrained passion and by the highspirited beauty whose love of freedom and adventure rivals his own. Let love find you was a great way to get me back into her books. I have all her books, this was a bit of a let down compared to how well she. Amy was a mallory through and through, as wild and reckless as the most incorrigible of her male cousins.\nLet love find you 2012 devin baldwin and amanda locke. Some young ladies marry for money and social standing, a few lucky ones marry for lovebut tiffany warren is marrying to end a feud. Johanna lindsey does great dialogue this one kind of reminded me of a cary grantrosalind russell movie with. The complete series list for locke family johanna lindsey. On the eve of her debut into london society, alana farmer learns the shocking secret of her birthright. She has written over 30 books, of which 54 million copies are in print and have been translated into 12 languages. Free download or read online love only once pdf epub book. Fires of winter by johanna lindsey overdrive rakuten. Make me love you by johanna lindsey, paperback barnes. Book 1 fires of winter took you from the celtics of wales to the vikings of norway.505 1200 677 860 998 773 427 61 507 733 911 163 1448 1338 658 989 538 780 862 80 28 440 1169 1127 1382 847 610 563 1291 497 596 784 750 1207 809 1065 224 1385 1280", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Allopurinol is an FDA -Approved xanthine oxidase inhibitor, which is effective in the\ntreatment of gout, hyperuricemia and uremic kidney stones in patients with an increased level of\nuric acid excretion. Xanthine oxidase acts by converting hypoxanthine and xanthine into uric acid,\nand therefore its inhibition results in decreased production of uric acid. The most common side effects\nof this medication are as follows: maculopapular rashes, hives, itching, headache, dizziness,\nabnormal hair loss, fever and hypersensitivity reaction.\nCase Presentation: This report represents a case of drug-induced meningitis of a senile man who\nended up in the ICU due to the remarkably reduced state of consciousness.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Tuesday, May 27, 2008\nI was reminded recently that it concerns both. The Bible, in my opinion, is a factual history, excluding such parts as Psalms and the obviously poetic and symbolic parts (for me Genesis is not included in these). Yet, when we see the Bible only in this aspect, we lose a good deal of its meaning. It becomes a thick volumed dusty history book not too different from others. But in reality, it is a living book that is immediately applicable to our lives. When we begin to look this way we begin to see ourselves in the characters of the Bible, both the wicked and the good, the weak and the strong. We notice they have faults like our own and they take on life and it is no longer a stretch to believe that they truly existed. Seeing them a symbolic of ourselves, does not seem to detract from their historicity, but instead seems to confirm it. The Bible is not a book of the dead, but of the living. It is not of the fake, but of the real.\nOne book which I have found insightful in this is Peculiar Treasures by Frederick Buechner, it has a couple pages of thoughts or a little less on an A through Z listing of many of the characters throughout the Bible.\nMonday, May 19, 2008\n...To love God is not a goal we have to struggle toward on our own because what at its heart the Gospel is all about is that God himself moves us toward it even when we believe he has forsaken us.\nThe final secret, I think, is this: that the words \"You shall love the Lord your God\" become in the end less a command than a promise. And the promise is that, yes, on the weary feet of faith and the fragile wings of hope, we will come to love him at last as from the first he has loved us-- loved us even in the wilderness, especially in the wilderness, because he has been in the wilderness with us. He has been in the wilderness for us. He has been acquainted with our grief. And, loving him, we will come at last to love each other too so that, in the end, the name taped on every door will be the name of the one we love.\nThis hopeful promise is a beautiful truth. Even in the happy times we do not love God truly and completely. In fact as Buechner says early it may be only in the hard times that we truly understand what it means to love him. Yet, even still there remains the hope that even though we fail to perfectly love God now, our hearts are still struggling against Him, there will be a time in which we will know what it means to truly love God as he has loved us, then it shall be our constant desire of our hearts to delight in Him. No more struggling against the one who is trying to save us because He will have led us on the journey through the wilderness and we will have found ourselves home--in our true home.\nSunday, May 11, 2008\nLiving in a dorm room also teaches something about the necessities of life. I have all this stuff in my room in addition to all the stuff I brought home (a third of which I probably didn't use) and my room is at least twice the size of my dorm room but only for me. What do I need all this stuff and room for? I lived with the amount of stuff I had at college for a year. I have seen others who were happy and grateful with even less. It makes me really wonder if a well-paying job is what I should be seeking after so that I can get all the stuff that makes for a \"happy\" life.\nJesus said to\"lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.\"\nand there will be your home.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Light therapy is a way to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and certain other conditions by exposure to artificial light. SAD is a type of depression that occurs at a certain time each year, usually in the fall or winter.\nDuring light therapy, you sit or work near a device called a light therapy box. The box gives off bright light that mimics natural outdoor light.\nLight therapy is thought to affect brain chemicals linked to mood and sleep, easing SAD symptoms. Using a light therapy box may also help with other types of depression, sleep disorders and other conditions. Light therapy is also known as bright light therapy or phototherapy.\nFeb. 08, 2017\n- AskMayoExpert. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2015.\n- Martensson B, et al. Bright white light therapy in depression: A critical review of the evidence. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2015;182:1.\n- Lam RW, et al. Efficacy of bright light treatment, fluoxetine, and the combination in patients with nonseasonal major depressive disorder: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2016;73:56.\n- Racz E, et al. Phototherapy and photochemotherapy for psoriasis. Dermatologic Clinics. 2015;33:79.\n- Van Maanen A, et al. The effects of light therapy on sleep problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2016;29:52.\n- Avery D. Seasonal affective disorder: Treatment. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed Feb. 8, 2016.\n- Sanassi LA. Seasonal affective disorder: Is there light at the end of the tunnel? JAAPA. 2014;27:18.\n- Melrose S. Seasonal affective disorder: An overview of assessment and treatment approaches. Depression Research and Treatment. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4673349/. Accessed Feb. 8, 2016.\n- Kurlansik SL, et al. Seasonal affective disorder. American Family Physician. 2012;86:1037.\n- O'Leary RE, et al. Update on tanning: More risks, fewer benefits. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2014;70:562.\n- Seasonal affective disorders (SAD) — Treatment. NHS Choices. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Seasonal-affective-disorder/Pages/Treatment.aspx. Accessed Feb. 15, 2016.\n- Hall-Flavin DK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 15, 2016.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "[PLACES AND NAMES] contains many insights into the purpose of war and how it damages all parties involved. . . . Any fan of Ackerman’s previous novels, memoirs on the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, and valuable outlooks on the nature of war and its combatants will find this phenomenal.” —Library Journal, starred review\n“The power of this memoir comes from [Ackerman’s] illumination of paradoxes and contradictions that provide a common emotional denominator for soldiers who previously found themselves in wars where they discovered more than two sides. . . . A profoundly human narrative that transcends nationality and ideology.” —Kirkus, starred review\n“[A] searing, contemplative, and unforgettable memoir-in-essays. . . . Deeply personal yet never losing sight of the big, historical reasons for recent events, this collection recalls Michael Herr’s classic Dispatches as well as William T. Vollmann’s voluminous ruminations on violence in Rising Up and Rising Down, and is perhaps the finest writing about the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts that has been published to date.” —Booklist, starred review\n“Elliot Ackerman fought the Long War, and now, with Places and Names, he gives us a searingly honest record of his ongoing effort to make sense of that war. This is, literally, a book of wanderings; Ackerman's sojourns to conflict zones, old battlefields, and muddy refugee camps recall the wanderings of that earlier soldier, Odysseus, as he struggles to come home from war, and, no less than his predecessor, Ackerman finds himself journeying through the shadow world of ghosts and spirits that go by the name of memory. Vivid, profound, restless, and relentlessly probing, Places and Names is destined to become a classic of the Long War.”—Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk\n“What a great, honest book - the kind that makes one feel lucky to have in one's hands. Ackerman has served his country twice: first as an infantryman in our nations wars, and then as a guide—wise beyond his years—who helps us understand what we've done. His prose is easy and comfortable like an old jacket. His understanding of war is so profound that one feels like secrets have been revealed—truths—information that one day may be necessary for our survival. Well done.” — Sebastian Junger, author of Tribe\n\"Places and Names is its own profile in courage: the story of how a Marine turned reporter struggled with the polemics of desolation in the Middle East. Elliot Ackerman is a man of both action and thought, and his book is closely observed, rigorously lived, and clarifying for all of us who have not understood how U.S. policy in the Islamic world went so terribly wrong.\" —Andrew Solomon, author of Far and Away, Far From the Tree, and The Noonday Demon\n\"Places and Names is a brilliant and gripping account of the aftermath of failed wars and revolutions, and of the still burning idealism that smolders in the wreckage. Elliot Ackerman brings a novelist's skill with language, a reporter's eye for detail, and his life experience as a highly decorated Marine veteran of five deployments to bear in this unique and powerful meditation on violence, heroism, and the fracturing of the Middle East.\" —Phil Klay, author of Redeployment, winner of the National Book Award\n\"Elliot Ackerman’s voice scares me. It's a bit too close for comfort. He sees too much and he knows too much, and that makes him a great guide to today’s post-everything Middle East. Read him at your own risk—but ignore this book at your own peril.\" —Thomas E. Ricks, author of Making the Corps, Fiasco, and Churchill and Orwell\n“In Places and Names, Elliot Ackerman, a soldier turned writer, seeks out his former foes and confronts his own memories on battlefields where the killing continues. The result is one of the most profound books I have ever read about the real nature of war and the abstract allure of the ideas and the bloodshed that fuels it.” —Jon Lee Anderson, author of The Fall of Baghdad and Guerrillas: Journeys in the Insurgent World\n“Elliot Ackerman writes beautifully about war—especially the new wars of the Middle East through fiction and now non-fiction. His exceptional memoir is really a double memoir of his own experiences as a Marine and those of a jihadist fighter he befriends in a refugee camp. The result is an superb, unique, and unforgettable story of war and death, fear and cruelty, above all the horrors and allure of combat.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Romanovs\n“Places and Names is an extraordinarily beautiful and insightful work of memoir and journalism by a writer who deserves to be read widely. Elliot Ackerman is as adept at describing the strange cocktail of emotions that accompany the moments preceding combat as he is unraveling the Gordian Knot of contemporary geopolitics.” —Kevin Powers\n“Ackerman’s honest searching to come to terms with his war experience helped me better understand my own. This book is a gift that should be shared with every American who helped pay for people like Ackerman to fight their wars for them.” —Karl Marlantes, prize-winning author of Matterhorn and Deep River\nA memoir of the war you can't leave behind.\nFor Ackerman (Waiting for Eden, 2018, etc.), a former Marine who earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart, and so many of the others he met during his return to the battlefronts of the Middle East, there was no good reason for them to be drawn back there other than the feeling that war had given their lives purpose and that civilian life offered no fulfilling substitute. \"If purpose is the drug that induces happiness,\" he writes, \"there are few stronger doses than the wartime experience.\" The equation of war with happiness may jolt readers who haven't seen combat, but the power of this memoir comes from the author's illumination of paradoxes and contradictions that provide a common emotional denominator for soldiers who previously found themselves in wars where they discovered more than two sides. \"For a moment we sit, three veterans from three different sides of a war that has no end in sight,\" writes Ackerman of his bonding with two friends who might have been categorized as Muslim terrorists, one of whom would later ask him to be best man at his wedding. \"Not the Syrian Civil War, or the Iraq War, but a larger regional conflict,\" one in which they discovered \"a unifying thread between us: friendships born out of conflict, the strongest we've ever known.\" Throughout the poignant narrative there is a sense that the Americans for whom the author has fought have misunderstood the Muslims that he has fought against and that the boundaries dating back to the colonial era have never reflected the ethnic geography of those who inhabit the region. A story in which Ackerman made new friends and confronted old ghosts culminates in a flashback to the Battle of Fallujah and his memories of what took place.\nA profoundly human narrative that transcends nationality and ideology.\nFormer Marine Ackerman (Dark at the Crossing) crafts his memoir in a unique and entertaining format. Rather than writing chronologically, he begins in the present day with his travels to Syria and Iraq. He befriends a man named Abed who saw the start of the democratic revolution in Syria and introduces Ackerman to another man named Abu Hassar, who was himself involved with ISIS. Hassar and Ackerman realize they were combatants on opposite sides of war, both dealing with the effects of the conflict, the deaths of friends, and the memories of harsh battles. Throughout, Ackerman goes back and forth between his visits to today's Syria and Iraq and his five tours of duty. The account contains many insights into the purpose of war and how it damages all parties involved. The bookend meeting with Hassar and the conclusion help to solidify the beauty of the work. VERDICT Any fan of Ackerman's previous novels (Waiting for Eden), memoirs on the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, and valuable outlooks on the nature of war and its combatants will find this phenomenal. [See Prepub Alert, 12/3/18.]—Jason L. Steagall, formerly with Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Exploring Factors Influencing Students' Entrepreneurial Intention in Vocational Colleges Based on Structural Equation Modeling: Evidence From China.Front Psychol. 2022; 13:898319.FP\nWith the proposal of \"mass entrepreneurship, mass innovation\" and other ideas, the demand for entrepreneurial talent in China is increasing, but the supply of entrepreneurial talent is far insufficient. Consistent with theory of social cognition and planned behavior, this study outlines a conceptual model including entrepreneurial intention (EI), emotional competency (EC), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), entrepreneurial attitude (EA), entrepreneurial education (EE), and subjective norms (SN). A structural equation model was applied through a questionnaire survey of 382 vocational college students in Jiangxi province to test the relationship between the constructs in the model. The results show that, firstly, EA, EE, ESE, and EC have positive effects on EI, while the positive effect of SN on EI is not supported. Secondly, a mediating role is played by ESE and EA in the association between EI and EE. Thirdly, ESE and EA play mediating roles in the relationship between EI and EC. Some implications of EI for schools and students were discussed.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A Study on the Dominance of Ethical Driving for Corporate Social Responsibility\nDownload as PDF\nFor the hot topic of corporate social responsibility, scholars have carried out their research on the economic relationship between economic driving, institutional driving and corporate social responsibility. Nevertheless, there is a gap between the current practice and the cognition of the importance of corporate social responsibility. In order to promote the practice of corporate social responsibility and enrich the current research on corporate social responsibility motivation, this research analyzed the internal relationship of three driving forces of corporate social responsibility, which contains economic driving, institutional driving and ethical driving, by starting with the philosophical issues of firm nature, enterprise genetics and corporate mission. And then, the research discovered and distinguished the different levels of effect and status that the three driving forces had in the process of business development and, after analyzing, found that the ethical driving force is dominant among the threes. Finally,this research reveals that it is important to value the core function of ethical driving, driving the corporate social responsibility to be more sustainable at a higher level.\nEthical driving, Dominance, Corporate essence, Corporate gene, Corporate mission, Corporate social responsibility", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It’s sunny and mild right now, a perfect morning to hang laundry out on the clothesline and go for a long walk, both things I’m going to do after writing this post. But for now, I’m enjoying my steaming cup of chai and a delicious Date Bar from City Café - yummy!!\nLast weekend I needed to find a book to read and an audiobook to listen to, and I chose one of each without knowing much about either one. What are the chances that I would choose a book and an audiobook on the same day that each had a main character named Jones (first name, that is)? So even though I wasn’t sure how much I was enjoying either one, I felt destined to stick with them. I just finished the book, A Sudden Light by Garth Stein (you may be familiar with this author’s name associated with his most popular novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain, told from the point of view of a dog). I’m not quite sure why I had A Sudden Light on my shelf, but I picked it out along with a pile of other books I know nothing about. I decided that I needed to weed out some books, so I read the first few pages of each and either kept it or brought it to the Little Free Library that is at the end of my street. This one I stuck with, and finished reading last night. It is told from the point of view of Trevor, an adult looking back on the summer he was fourteen, when his father took him to his Grandpa Samuel’s estate just outside of Seattle, an estate that seemed to be suspended in time, having never moved beyond the night Samuel’s wife, Isobel, passed away, leaving their son Jones and daughter Serena motherless and in the care of Samuel. But sixteen-year-old Jones is sent away to school shortly thereafter, leaving eleven-year-old Serena to care for drunken Samuel, causing her to feel trapped and embittered. Nearly twenty-five years later, she wants to sell the North Estate, a crumbling mansion surrounded by 200 acres of pristine forest, and develop it into 20 lots of 10 acres each for the newly-rich to build their McMansions on, making her rich and allowing her to travel the world. But Jones’ ancestors, in particular his great-grand-uncle Ben, had other ideas: they wanted to return the estate to its natural state and preserve it, a repayment for the rape and pillage of so much land, as well as the exploitation of the men they employed, that made the family rich in the timber industry in the early 1900s. Grandpa Samuel is suffering dementia, and Serena needs him to sign over power of attorney, which is where Jones comes in. Jones and his wife Rachel are experiencing marital problems after their personal bankruptcy, and are in the midst of a trial separation, and all Trevor wants is for them to get back together and be happy again. He believes that money is the solution, but can money truly buy happiness? Through letters and diary entries, Trevor pieces together the intentions of his ancestors, and must struggle to reconcile his desire to stay true to his dead family's wishes and his need to try to bring his living family back together. This sprawling, multigenerational story exploring the consequences of wealth and greed and the search for redemption, with a supernatural twist, is totally not my type of book, but it had me hooked! Stein’s exploration into the motivations of Trevor, Serena, and to some extent Jones, was riveting, and this book reminded me in some ways of The Hunger of the Wolf by Stephen Marche, also about a wealthy, powerful American family with dark secrets, although Marche’s book was more literary, more of a “Lee Valley” book, than Stein’s “Canadian Tire” bestseller. Still, it was an enjoyable read, and while I felt it dragged a bit, I still wanted to find opportunities to read and get to the end to find out how things are resolved. There were also times, particularly in the first half of the book, when it reminded me of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, probably because both books involved a father and son on a quest to discover the true meaning of value and integrity. I would definitely recommend this book to just about anyone, as it defies categorization: it’s part historical fiction, part ghost story, part domestic fiction, part psychological fiction, and so much more. I didn’t love it, but I enjoyed it.\nThat’s all for today. Oh, the audiobook with the character named Jones is Darkness, my old friend by Lisa Unger. I’m still listening to it, and will write about it when I’m done. Get outside and enjoy the day!Bye for now…", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A young woman prays at her husband's bedside as he lies in a coma with a bullet in his neck. From outside come the sounds of tanks, gunshots, screaming and, most terrifying of all, silence. Inside, her two frightened daughters call to her from the hallway. As she tries to keep her husband alive, the woman rages against men, war, culture, God.\nBio de l'auteur\nSommaire / contenu", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "That's a good and tough question. In the beginning of the novel, Candide simply learns that the world is not what he had thought it was—that it was more, and more rugged. He starts naïve, and sees the world.\nHe then learns fate and mercy, when he is forced into the military, and then saved from a whipping.\nHe learns that there are more complex ways to view the world when he talks with the philosopher, and, more generally, that there are many views of the world.\nHis final lesson, which may not be the book's lesson, comes in the end of the novel, where he learns that this is, as Pangloss taught, the best of all possible worlds, and that we must all \"cultivate our garden.\"\ni think that candide throught the book learns that there are many diffucult situations and that it is not always for the best like pangloss says.\nThrough the book, Candide learns that all is not for the best. In the beginning, he thinks that Pangloss's idea of \"all is for the best\" is true, but as he suffers more and goes through more difficulties, he starts to change is mind and thinks that what he is experiencing is not the best thing that could happen.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "How many times have you dedicated yourself to a purpose or made a sacrifice for someone, only to feel unappreciated or undervalued? How in the world could that have happened? Surely, it’s a direct lack of respect shown by the other party(s) involved.\nPerhaps they just didn’t know. Or even more, perhaps they knew and just didn’t care. You see, we are so conditioned (myself included) to feel that our mission is shared by all of those around us, even those not closely associated with us. Social media has given us all a voice, one that truly matters. My social badges and friend count show how important I am and why my viewpoints should be shared by all. Right? Wrong!\nLast year, as I was beginning my journey in personal development, I went to a speaker’s convention in AZ. A good friend saw the passion I had for developing myself as a speaker, and he had the means to gift me a spot at the event. The value of that trip, and his selfless act, will last a lifetime.\nThe most valuable piece of information I took home from that event was this: S.T.A.Y. (Stop Thinking About Yourself). In the grand scheme of things, our opinions matter a lot less (to a lot less people) than we think. Stop thinking about what you can do to make yourself happy. Stop thinking about your crusade. Focus on something else. Start thinking about how you can make someone else happy, how you can make their lives better.\nI do a lot of things – blog, write book(s), train, teach, speak, research – the list goes on. BUT, now more than ever, I am focusing on living my life in a way that provides value to others. And sometimes those ideas are home runs, sometimes they’re singles, and sometimes they’re big whiffs. Regardless, the intrinsic value I feel from making someone else feel good is equal to or greater than the greatest night of my life, the Rick Story fight…I mean my wedding…I mean the birth of my daughter…\nIt’s late. I’m going to bed. And please, S.T.A.Y.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Date of Award\nMaster of Arts in Professional Writing (MAPW)\nCommittee Chair/First Advisor\nTony Grooms, MFA\nH William Rice, Ph.D.\n\"Mezze\" is a middle-eastern custom similar to \"tea\" in the United Kingdom or \"happy hour\" in the United States. A variety of little foods for snacking at the end of the day. My Capstone offers a variety of short stories for one's reading pleasure.What I like about fiction writing is the guilt free, guileless freedom to tell a little lie and then grow it into a really big one! My sole purpose as a fiction is to entertain. the reader may smile or chuckle. I certainly hope that one's heart will be lighter and that one will feel a bit more comfortable in their own skin than they did only minutes before. \"Minutes\" being the operant word here...ergo the short story.This semester of Capstone has been one of personal revelation. As a writer long hours of solitude and isolation have led me to an internal resonance previously unknown to me.My Capstone adviser, Tony Grooms, described my way of writing is known as \"intuitive\" writing. Events and characters develop on their own as the story falls onto the page. These four stories in my Capstone are fiction, developed from my imagination.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "16 the Goddess and the Gaiety Girl\n4.00 · 1 ratings · Published: Aug 18th, 2012 |\nKatie King is a girl with big dreams for the future! A dancer in the heart of London's theatre land, Katie is awaiting her big break, when her name will finally be in lights above the Gaiety Theatre. Fun-loving, cute and adoring of her charming boyfriend, the enigmatic Harry Carrington, Katie is sure that her unusual crowning glory of wild auburn curls will help catapult her out of the chorus line and into the leading roles she deserves. But Katie's dazzling smile masks a tragedy - she is desperately ill and her enforced absence from the stage means that she does not have the money for the private healthcare she so badly needs. A few streets away, illness has touched the life of another young woman with distinctive Titian hair, Larentia. She is nursing her sick father, the eminent historian Professor Braintree, and suffers similar horrors when he is diagnosed as incurable. Whilst brilliant and an expert in his field, the Professor's books gain him respect, not money and they too cannot afford the surgery needed. At first it seems that the only two things that the girls have in common are their astoundingly beautiful hair and a desperate need for money to employ the services of the pioneering surgeon Mr. Curtis Sheldon. However, the sudden death of the 4th Duke of Tregaron, a cad of the first order, whose unwanted attentions and lewd behaviour caused a naive Katie such pain in her first year in London, results in Harry coming up with a daring plan to capitalise on their short lived relationship. If Larentia agrees to play her part, and the new Duke, Justin Garon, believes their story there is just a chance that they can raise enough money to save both Katie and the Professor. But can an innocent young woman, with no experience of the darker side of life, be able to trick everyone? And what will be the ultimate cost of the deception if she fails? For this final curtain call Katie must sit back stage as Larentia prepares to give the performance of a lifetime.\nThis book has not been tagged with topics yet.\nAdd relevant topics\nYou'll also like:\nThe Duke and I by Julia Quinn Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean Married By Morning by Lisa Kleypas The Wedding by Julie Garwood Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught Saving Grace by Julie Garwood The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn Edenbrooke (A Proper Romance) by Julianne Donaldson Something Wonderful by Judith McNaught Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Lady Karame wanted to scare this guy and she managed to do it with a smile on her face. She did not have to talk much. Her scare did most of the work for her and it was a mean look but peppered with a smile here and a few words there. He got scared shitless as he knew she meant every word she said. He had to beg her not do what she told him she would do to him.\nLady Karame was out to scare this guy and she did it with her feet. The mistress made sure that her feet were smelly before she used them for that purpose. The guy could not believe what she wanted to do to him and she verbalized it to make it even more graphic. He got even more scared and he begged her not to do it. He begged while shaking like a leaf.\nLady Karame had an issue with how this employee was always absent. She did not like that and she felt that punishing him would be a good way to punish him. And that is why she went out of her way to dominate and humiliate him. She did so to the employee and by the time she was done with him, he had learned his lesson. And he was never absent again.\nWhen it comes to humiliating those who piss them off, these mistresses do not spare any effort. Today lady Karame and her friend used smelly socks to dominate. The loser had to lick them and then do what the mistresses instructed him. They sat back to watch what he did and he was promised a painful punishment if he did not follow the instructions to the last detail. He had to.\nLady Karame is the kind of person who loves to dominate and to degrade which is what she did to this guy today. She wanted to make the guy learn never to anger her as he had done so she used her trampling fetish to punish him. She first of all described what she wanted to do to him and then went ahead to do it exactly as she had described it.\nMistress Kat knows that many people love her big tits and since she wanted to turn this guy into a paypig, she used them to lure him and to turn him into a financial slave. The mistress flaunted them to him and made him feast his eyes on them and in no time, she had managed to dominate him financially but even more importantly, she had managed to recruit him as her latest financial slave.\nLady Zora wanted to get some financial favors from her colleague and she remembered that he had a thing for her so she used that to tease him and to make money from him. He could not resist her as she teased him and that is how he happened to open his wallet for him. He did not even know how much he lost to her that way when all was said and done.\nMistress Harley has one thing going for her and that is her big tits. Besides her big tits, she also has a nice ass. But it is her huge tits which she uses as bait for findom. And it works all the time as guys can never resist her hot tits and they want to bury their faces in her tits. Those are the guys she turns into her financial slaves.\nLady Karame was taking a walk to clear her mind. As she continued walking, she felt like she needed to use her boots to punish the loser for what he had done. She took the walk on dusty and dirty surfaces and then went back to have her shoes licked clean by the slave. She had a great time punishing him and she knew it was worth it by the time she was done with him.\nLady Karame likes guys who are obedient. Anyone who is not is automatically punished and that is what she did with this loser. She forced him to lick her boots. The boots were dirty but by the time he was done licking them, they were clean. She had warned him that if they were not clean, she would use them to trample him and he did not want that to happen.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This paper describes the distorting effect that capital punishment has had on the varieties of attack on the death penalty jack greenberg director. The american civil liberties union capital punishment system revealed that litigating a the death penaltythe case against the death. Against the american system of capital punishment by jack greenberg professor of law, columbia university ab 1945, llb 1948, lld over and over, proponents of the death penalty insist that it is right and useful. The unkillable death penalty have introduced bills to abolish capital punishment this band called the eighth amendment while jack greenberg. Examination of the modern system of capital punishment jack eighties: an examination of the modern system of capital against capital punishment10. Director of the capital punishment project for the american civil liberties the sentences against 629 people on death row jack greenberg. A contrarian argument against the death penalty jack greenberg, against the american system of capital (“we have a system of capital punishment that. This version of the penalty of death of the arguments against capital punishment that a murderer, under the irrational american system, is.\nAgainst the american system of capital punishment--jack greenberg (or you may find this article on ebsco) the ultimate punishment: a defense--ernest van den haag (or you may find this article on ebsco. Against the american system of capital punishment by jack american system of capital justice in greenberg, capital punishment as a system. As this argumentative essay in favor of capital punishment will american journal of previous post argumentative analysis of the essay first amendment. Jack greenberg’s against the american system of capital punishment starts off his argument by extensively introducing how america's system of capital punishment really works today. Capital punishment in the united states and this article considers the us system of capital punishment capital punishment in the. Though systematic analysis of capital punishment attack on the old british system of capital punishment in that it renders social class and capital punishment: a theoretical and empirical analysis by jennifer tilley bachelor of arts capital punishment for the crime of homicide in an analysis of these death penalty.\n5 arguments for and against the debate over the ethics and legality of capital punishment that the justice system will not stop at. Our last legal heroes: fighting to kill the here too was jack greenberg in his view the racism argument weakened the case against capital punishment. Textual analysis: sun chips website by on the other hand, jack greenberg argues in ―against the american system of capital punishment‖ that the death. Avid abolitionist jack greenberg writes in his article “against the american system of capital punishment,” that essays - capital punishment: just or unjust.\nA strong case can be made in principle both for and against capital punishment capital punishment should only be used on an individual who took another life away nearly two-thirds of the american public favors capital punishment and catholics are key supporters of capital punishment capital punishment feeds the. A good thesis statement for capital punishment capital punishmentin the article, against the american system of capital punishment, jack greenberg, a professor of law at columbia university, argues that the system of capital punishment that proponents of the death penalty idealize does not exist in america. On religion, convicting the innocent, and exists is that of capital punishment jack greenberg, against the american system of.\nPunishment clause) jack greenberg, against the american system of capital punishment, 99 harv l rev 1670 (1986) (discussing racial and other biases in the actual operation of the death penalty system, as distinct from the ideal-ized version defended by many death penalty supporters) jordan m steiker, the limits of legal.\nInformation storage retrieval system a brief history of capital punishment in the united kingdom up until the abolition of the death penalty in the united. 13:06:00 gmt does capital punishment deter murder - dartmouth college - moving jack greenberg, against the american system of capital punish-ment, 99 harv. Cost-benefit analysis, the death penalty, and for or against capital punishment is problematic insofar as benefit analysis could prescribe the death. The importance of evidence in solving a crime 9788478716074 8478716076 el a biography of jackie robinson an american baseball player paper writer services bulli, ferran adria, juli soler, a young mans struggle with life and death in richard wrights the man who was almost a man albert adria, the disagreements between the. 9788426136510 8426136516 tengo que ir a the personal goal of becoming a teacher la an analysis of the article against the american system of capital punishment by jack greenberg escuela - the major aspects that characterized the medieval period 9781932364453 1932364455 from recreation to re-creation an examination of the. Capital punishment for and against essay by jack greenberg 123helpme due to 1977 the face of law review association against capital punishment for.\nThe death penalty : influences and outcomes against the american system of criminal punishment / jack greenberg against the american system of criminal. Professor jack greenberg of columbia university makes a compelling case against capital punishment the american system of capital punishment. Times assignment writing help entertainment news from hollywood an analysis of the article against the american system of capital punishment by jack greenberg including event an overview of the concept of interpellation and the influence of the mass media environment coverage, celebrity gossip cheapest custom essays and deals a. On website evaluation : the article i have chosen is, against the american system of capital punishment by jack greenberg. Avid abolitionist jack greenberg writes in his article “against the american system of capital punishment,” that not only more about captial punishment essay.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Love Your Enemies\n“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”\nGreetings, fellow believers!\nIn a world often filled with conflict and division, Jesus gives us a radical command in Luke 6:35: “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.\nThese words challenge us to rise above our natural inclinations and extend love even to those who may oppose us. It’s a call to embody the very character of our Heavenly Father.\nLoving our enemies is no easy task.\nIt goes against our human nature, which tends to retaliate or hold grudges.\nYet, when we choose to love our enemies, we participate in a transformative act of divine grace. It is a powerful demonstration of the love that God has poured into our hearts.\nConsider this: when we love our enemies, we are imitating God Himself. He is kind to ungrateful and evil people. His love knows no boundaries or conditions. He extends mercy and compassion to all, regardless of their actions or attitudes.\nAs children of the Most High, we are called to emulate His love and extend it to those who may not deserve it.\nLoving our enemies does not mean condoning or accepting their harmful behavior.\nIt means responding with kindness, forgiveness, and genuine care, even when it’s difficult. It means praying for our hearts to be softened, that we may see them through God’s eyes and understand the brokenness that may drive their actions.\nPrayer becomes a powerful tool in our pursuit of loving our enemies.\nWe can pray for our hearts to be transformed and aligned with God’s heart of love. Ask Him to give you the strength and grace to extend love and forgiveness, even to those who have wronged you. Surrender your hurts, anger, and resentment to Him, allowing Him to heal and restore your heart.\nWhen we choose to love our enemies, something incredible happens within us.\nWe experience a freedom that transcends our circumstances.\nThe weight of bitterness and animosity is lifted, and in its place, we find peace and joy. We begin to see the humanity in our enemies and recognize their need for God’s love, just as we do.\nMy friends, let me assure you that loving your enemies is not an easy journey.\nIt requires daily surrender and reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit.\nBut when you accomplish it, you will experience the most amazing feeling the profound sense of walking in alignment with God’s heart and fulfilling His commandment.\nToday, I encourage you to reflect on Luke 6:35.\nExamine your heart and ask yourself if there are any enemies or people you struggle to love.\nTake time to pray for a softened heart and a greater capacity to extend love, forgiveness, and kindness to them.\nTrust that God will equip you for this transformative journey.\nAnd now, let’s join in prayer: Heavenly Father, we come before You are acknowledging the challenge of loving our enemies. We confess our own struggles and limitations in this area. Lord, we ask for a supernatural outpouring of Your love within us. Soften our hearts and enable us to see our enemies through Your eyes. Grant us the grace to extend kindness, forgiveness, and compassion, just as You have shown us. Empower us by Your Spirit to love unconditionally, even when it’s difficult. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.\nRemember, my friends, that loving your enemies is a testament to the transformative power of God’s love within you. As you embark on this journey, seek His guidance and rely on His strength.\nShare the message of love and forgiveness with others, inviting them to experience the freedom and joy that comes from obeying God’s commandments. May you be filled with His love and grace as you strive to love your enemies and reflect the heart of your Heavenly Father.\nHeavenly Father, we humbly come before You, recognizing the weight and challenge of loving our enemies. We confess that, in our own strength, it is impossible for us to do so. But we know that with You, all things are possible. So, Lord, we ask for Your divine intervention in our hearts and minds.\nFather, soften our hearts towards those who have hurt us, wronged us, or opposed us. Help us to see them through Your eyes, not as enemies to be defeated, but as individuals in need of Your love and redemption. Grant us the wisdom to discern the root causes of their actions and the empathy to understand the pain they may be carrying.\nLord, we surrender our hurt, anger, and resentment into Your hands. Take away the bitterness that has settled in our hearts and replace it with Your peace and forgiveness. Fill us with Your love, which knows no bounds and extends to all, regardless of their actions or attitudes.\nHoly Spirit, empower us to walk in obedience to Your command to love our enemies. Give us the strength to overcome our natural inclinations and respond with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Help us to let go of the desire for revenge and instead seek reconciliation and restoration, even in the face of difficulty.\nLord, we ask for the courage to extend a hand of friendship and reconciliation to those who have caused us pain. Give us opportunities to demonstrate Your love through acts of kindness and mercy. May our actions and words reflect Your grace, drawing others closer to You.\nIn moments of weakness and weariness, remind us of Your example of love. You loved us while we were still sinners, demonstrating Your kindness and forgiveness. Help us to extend that same love to our enemies, knowing that Your love has the power to transform hearts and bring about reconciliation.\nFather, we pray for protection and strength as we navigate the complexities of relationships with our enemies. Shield us from bitterness, resentment, and any desire for vengeance. Fill us with Your Spirit, so that we may respond with wisdom, grace, and love in all situations.\nLord, we trust in Your promise that when we love our enemies, our reward will be great. Help us to fix our eyes on the eternal perspective, knowing that our actions have a far-reaching impact beyond what we can see in the present. May our love for our enemies serve as a testimony to Your transforming power in our lives.\nWe commit ourselves to this journey of loving our enemies, knowing that we cannot do it in our own strength. We rely on Your grace, Your guidance, and Your love to sustain us. Use us, Lord, as instruments of reconciliation and agents of Your love in a world that so desperately needs it.\nIn Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.\nMay you be filled with the courage, strength, and compassion to love your enemies, knowing that in doing so, you reflect the character of our Heavenly Father. May your love be a testimony to His transforming power and draw others into His embrace. Trust in His guidance and share the message of love and forgiveness with others, inviting them to experience the freedom and joy that comes from obeying His command. God bless you abundantly as you embark on this transformative journey.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Editors and publishers seeking writers to submit nonfiction articles and essays for publication all markets pay writers for their work - page 2. The normal school submission the normal school nonfiction series from outpost19 will publish compelling and thought-provoking books of creative nonfiction, essay. All submissions should be creative nonfiction that has a we will consider photo submissions that are sent in with essays as long as the photography is related. Guidelines for the 2018 autumn house nonfiction contest for the 2018 contest nonfiction submissions should be (including personal essays, memoirs. Seeking creative nonfiction essays between 200 engaging narratives electronic submissions via e-mail only reprints are.\nWe love truth and we are damned serious to prove it, we are launching our first ever “#metoo trigger warning non-fiction essay contest” closed for submissions. As with all our submissions, we highly recommend reading a copy of the magazine to better understand the type of work we are looking for download a free excerpt from issue no 24 featuring our 2012 nonfiction prize winning essay: father of disorder by jessica wilbanks. We are currently and indefinitely open for submissions of reviews creative nonfiction, lyrical essay, personal essay submission guidelines:.\nBeginning september 1, 2018, we will accept submissions of novels, essays, and book-length nonfiction through our online submissions manager there is no fee to submit. Memoir magazine submission manager powered by submittable - accept and curate digital content. Creative nonfiction / essay cement foundation may 10, 2018 creative i’ve been thinking about all that goes into these where to submit posts. To any of the following categories: general submissions $4,000 narrative prize—for new and emerging writers spring fiction and nonfiction contest, with $5,000 in awards.\nRiver teeth: a journal of nonfiction narrative submission manager powered by submittable - accept and curate digital content. The literary review submission manager powered by submittable - accept and curate digital content. What we publish litmag print fiction short stories, novellas nonfiction creative nonfiction essays on literature, art, culture, and music biography, memoir poetry no restrictions on style or form litmag online fiction, nonfiction, and poetry up to 4,000 words. General overview unlike many magazines, creative nonfiction draws heavily from unsolicited submissions our editors believe that providing a platform for emerging writers and helping them find readers is an essential role of literary magazines, and it’s been our privilege to work with many fine writers early in their careers.\nRanking of literary nonfiction markets if you’re writing literary nonfiction and looking for good magazines to submit your essay or other nonfiction. Want to submit to hippocampus magazine here are our cnf submission guidelines we look forward to reading your essay or memoir excerpt we're a paying market.\nSweet submission manager powered by for creative non-fiction, we prefer 2-3 short-short creative nonfiction pieces or one longer one essays should not exceed. Nonfiction submissions publication and discourages specialist or narrowly scholastic submissions the standard payment for nonfiction print essays is $500. Creative nonfiction submission manager powered by submittable - accept and curate digital content. Fifty (plus) literary magazines that publish creative nonfiction all the magazines listed below have published essays that appeared in the table of contents or the notable essays section of the annual anthology best american essays.\nWhat is the hunger mountain creative nonfiction prize may i submit more than one essay for the contest yes, multiple entries are allowed. Nonfiction – essays creative nonfiction please limit submissions to 5,000 words submission cut-off canvas strives to give each piece we receive. Hippocampus magazine is an online literary magazine featuring creative nonfiction: memoir, essay, interviews, reviews, articles also seeking submissions.Download", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Drugs and Theater in Early Modern England.\nOxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. vii + 212 pp. index. bibl. $74. ISBN: 0-19-927083-X.\nThe no-nonsense title of Tanya Pollard's Drugs and Theater in Early Modern England led me at first glance to imagine a dry tome cataloguing and exploring the medicine chest of the Renaissance English stage. This book is no such thing: not only is it meticulously researched and a compelling read, but beneath its surface its argument stretches well beyond the limited promise of its title. Pollard delves deep into the period's antitheatrical debates, making sense of their angst by parsing theater's more-than-metaphorical link to poisons and narcotics, and the possibility of its affective, transformative power over its audiences.\nPollard lays the groundwork for her suggested synergy between drugs and theater with a brief reference to A Midsummer Night's Dream--to which she returns once more in her epilogue--and to Oberon's infamous, problematic love potion. The potion is the model of Pollard's pharmacopoeia: it affects the lovers both well and ill, is both poison and remedy, messes with their minds, and, insofar as we are all Puck's dreamers, messes with ours as well. Its layered ambivalence will inform Pollard's argument throughout, for it is the book's principal contention that early modern pharmacy, like early modern theater, operates on the threshold between remedy and harm. Theater, Pollard argues, is--and was understood by the early moderns as--a kind of drug for audiences and players alike: this is what makes it feared, pleasurable, and dangerous.\nPollard's focus on the effects of spectatorship through the lens of pharmacy gives her arguments an original angle on familiar material. She is careful to note that both sides of the antitheatrical debates coded \"plays as drugs\" (9), and that a deep uncertainty over the potentially poisonous yet potentially curative power of theater informs playwrights and their defenders as much as their detractors. Her first two chapters capture this ambivalence smartly. Jonson, she argues in discussing both Sejanus and Volpone, uses questionable drugs to frame his \"indictments of theatrical dissimulation\" (53), not to condemn theater but to imagine it as \"a beneficial, though often bitter, medicine\" (54). Reading Shakespeare in chapter 2, Pollard builds careful links between curatives, poisons, and meta-performances first in Romeo and Juliet and later in Antony and Cleopatra. She concludes that, while \"dramatic spectacles ... prove devastating, even fatal, to their onstage audiences\" (79), they also provide potent imaginative consolations for audiences both onstage and off.\nPollard's final three chapters shift away from these stimulating but fairly basic close readings and into exciting new territory. Her earlier readings of figures such as Webster's Vittoria and Shakespeare's Juliet and Cleopatra hint at a connection between anxieties over gender and anxieties over pharmacy that becomes explicit in chapters 3 and 4, which handle debates about cosmetics and the related theatrical convention of the poisoned kiss, respectively. This is welcome work indeed, useful backstory for such dramatic commonplaces as the polluted and polluting woman, or for set-pieces railing about face-painting. Especially valuable here is Pollard's reading of The Revenger's Tragedy in the context of two other plays employing similar poison-kiss devices, The Second Maiden's Tragedy and The Duke of Milan. This cross-reading not only offers helpful context for Vindice's ploy with Gloriana's skull, but also allows Pollard to advance her argument about the narcotic power of spectacle through a gendered lens. In these plays, she argues, women are transformed literally into spectacle via the pharmacopoeia of the dressing table, and it is men as idolatrous spectators who suffer the consequences of an addiction to their dangerous theater.\nPollard concludes with Hamlet--not surprising, given her focus on poison, remedy, and performance. But this chapter, like her others, offers a new take on an old tale: she focuses on the materiality of the ear and the tangibly poisonous functioning of language in the play--both framed, as usual, by a helpful medical context. This chapter, in fact, exemplifies what is strongest in Pollard's work: she rethinks some of our most basic assumptions about early modern English theater by using the oft-noticed but rarely theorized lens of pharmacy. The result is a book that will be valuable reading both for historians and theater scholars of the period, as well as for performance theorists interested in learning more about the material contexts of early metatheater.\nUniversity of Western Ontario\n|Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback|\n|Article Type:||Book review|\n|Date:||Mar 22, 2006|\n|Previous Article:||Vernacular Bodies: The Politics of Reproduction in Early Modern England.|\n|Next Article:||Staging Anatomies: Dissection and Spectacle in Early Stuart Drama.|", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "There's a strange side-effect of reading this book. You see, in every other chapter, Liz is describing some friend or family member of hers, being, as she is, the consumate people person. And if you, like me, are somewhat dramatically self-aware ALL THE TIME (constantly seeing your own actions as through the eye of a camera), you may (as I do) find yourself describing, er, yourself, in Liz-voice.\n\"Erin, who likes to re-read my novel quite a lot, is a quiet, intense girl with a great big cloud of dark hair and a tendency to psychoanalyze, or just analyze, everything around her.\" See, the great thing is, she's incredibly forgiving and complimentary about everyone she describes, so when you're talking about yourself in Liz-voice, you can say really nice things. And Liz frequently discusses depression and such: \"Erin knows a lot about depression, and likes to wryly compare suicidal depression to hemorrhoids. The description is apt because...\" Liz would totally give me credit for being right even when I wasn't, and then would go on and complete my observations for me in a way that would make even better sense.\nI only just realized that I was doing this. It's sort of a fun thing to do, and I've firmly decided not to think of it as insanely narcissistic. (Quirky, self-obsessive fun, maybe...)\n* * *\ntoqueville just described me as having an \"avalanche of hair\" which is so much more incredibly accurate, in terms of my hair, than \"cloud\", that I promptly had to blog the awesomeness. Hair avalanche! I haz one!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "STUDIES ON IN VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF STERCULIA FOETIDA L. BARKAbstract\nThe objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the antibacterial and antioxidant potential of n-hexane and methanolic extracts of Sterculia foeida L. bark. The antibacterial potential of Sterculia foetida L. bark was tested against human pathogens causing diarrhoea and dysentery such as Shigella flexneri (MTCC-9543), Salmonella enterica ser typhi (MTCC-733), Bacillus subtilis (MTCC-1305), Streptococcus mitis (MTCC-2897), Klebsiella pneumoniae (MTCC-109) and Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC-1430) by using agar well diffusion method. The result of the study revealed that n-hexane extract was highly effective against Shigella flexneri, whereas Klebsiella pneumoniae showed no response and Salmonella enterica ser typhi, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus mitis, Staphylococcus aureus responded moderately. The methnolic extract had high inhibition against Salmonella enterica ser typhi (15.16 ± 0.20 mm) whereas Shigella flexneri showed no response and moderate effect against other test bacteria. The antioxidant activity by DPPH scavenging method resulted in significant antioxidant potential of n-hexane and methanolic extracts with IC50 value of 51.26 and 66.84 respectively. Ciprofloxacin was taken as the reference antibiotic.\nAkhtari Khatoon, Ashirbad Mohapatra and Kunja Bihari Satapathy *\nP.G. Department of Botany, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India\n02 February, 2016\n11 April, 2016\n05 May, 2016\n01 July 2016", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Fax: (011) 81 822575877\nModulation of tamoxifen sensitivity by antisense Bcl-2 and trastuzumab in breast carcinoma cells\nArticle first published online: 13 APR 2005\nCopyright © 2005 American Cancer Society\nVolume 103, Issue 10, pages 2199–2207, 15 May 2005\nHow to Cite\nKim, R., Tanabe, K., Emi, M., Uchida, Y. and Toge, T. (2005), Modulation of tamoxifen sensitivity by antisense Bcl-2 and trastuzumab in breast carcinoma cells. Cancer, 103: 2199–2207. doi: 10.1002/cncr.21029\n- Issue published online: 28 APR 2005\n- Article first published online: 13 APR 2005\n- Manuscript Accepted: 18 JAN 2005\n- Manuscript Revised: 10 JAN 2005\n- Manuscript Received: 30 AUG 2004\n- breast carcinoma\nBecause the overexpression of HER-2 and Bcl-2 is associated with resistance to tamoxifen (TAM), the authors examined the effect of antisense (AS) Bcl-2 on sensitivity to TAM compared with the effect of trastuzumab on sensitivity to TAM in breast carcinoma cell lines.\nDrug sensitivity was assessed in vitro using a [3-4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay with the breast carcinoma cell lines ZR-75-1, MDA-MB-453, and BT-474. AS Bcl-2 18-mer phosphorothioate oligonucleotide was applied. Apoptotic cell death was assessed with the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated biotinylated UTP nick-end labeling method, and gene expression was evaluated with Western blot analysis.\nThe expression of Bcl-2 was identified in ZR-75-1 and BT-474 cells and, to a lesser extent, in MDA-MB-453 cells. Overexpression of HER-2 was identified in BT-474 cells, and moderate expression was identified in MDA-MB-453 and ZR-75-1 cells. Combination treatment with trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2 enhanced TAM sensitivity in ZR-75-1 cells, which showed 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 0.9 μM (7.2-fold increase) and 0.5 μM (13.0-fold), respectively. Combination treatment with trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2 slightly enhanced TAM sensitivity of BT-474 cells, with IC50 values of 3.0 μM (1.3-fold) and 1.5 μM (2.6-fold), respectively. The sensitivity of MDA-MB-453 cells to TAM was not enhanced by combination with trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2. Modulation of TAM sensitivity by AS Bcl-2 was superior to modulation by trastuzumab in HER-2-expressing and Bcl-2-expressing breast carcinoma cells. Enhanced sensitivity in combination with AS Bcl-2 was associated with down-regulation of Bcl-2 and pAkt, which was correlated with the induction of Bax and caspase-3, leading to apoptosis.\nAS Bcl-2 appeared to be superior to trastuzumab with respect to regulating the signal-transduction pathways involved in breast carcinoma cells. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.\nTamoxifen (TAM) is a promising agent for antiestrogen therapy in the adjuvant setting in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast carcinoma. A survival benefit of TAM as adjuvant therapy has been shown even in the presence of axillary lymph node metastasis and regardless of menopausal status.1, 2 Although TAM is used as an antiestrogen treatment, failure occasionally occurs in the metastatic setting. Recent advances in antiestrogen therapy suggest that second-line therapy in this situation may include the use of aromatase inhibitors, which reportedly was effective against metastatic breast carcinoma in patients who were treated previously with TAM.3–5 A survival benefit of anastrozole in the adjuvant setting also was reported recently.6 Nevertheless, because TAM resistance is an inevitable phenomenon in situations of prolonged survival with metastatic breast carcinoma, overcoming this resistance may provide increased survival.\nThe Bcl-2 oncoprotein is a critical regulator of apoptosis induced by both antitumor drugs and antiestrogens in breast carcinoma.7, 8 Apoptosis is important in the antitumor effect, and molecular mechanisms by which antitumor drugs and antiestrogens induce apoptosis have shown that mitochondrial dysfunction is involved.9, 10 The overexpression of Bcl-2 also is involved in the acquisition of resistance to antitumor drugs and antiestrogens, which involves inhibition of the signal-transduction pathways that lead to apoptosis.11, 12 The regulation of Bcl-2 expression is mediated by the promoter region of the ER-responsive element in breast carcinoma, and the prognosis for patients with Bcl-2-overexpressing tumors is better compared with the prognosis for patients with non-Bcl-2-overexpressing tumors.13 However, the induction of Bcl-2 protein expression during chemoendocrine treatment occasionally causes resistance to antitumor drugs and antiestrogens. Thus, the induction of Bcl-2 expression is important in influencing TAM sensitivity in patients with breast carcinoma.\nThe HER-2 oncoprotein is a member of the epidermal growth factor family, which is involved in cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis in tumor cells.14, 15 Overexpression of HER-2 is observed in 20–30% of breast carcinomas and is associated with drug resistance and a poor prognosis.16 Transfection of the HER-2 gene into breast tumor cells leads to resistance to antitumor drugs, such as paclitaxel, docetaxel, and TAM.17, 18 Overexpression of HER-2 leads to phosphorylation of Akt, which activates nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) to inhibit apoptosis19 mediated by inhibitor-of-apoptosis proteins.20 Furthermore, activation of pAkt is correlated with induction of Bcl-2 expression through cyclic AMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB) and coupling to an antiapoptotic signaling network.21 Thus, antiapoptotic signaling pathways that involve HER-2 and Bcl-2 play a pivotal role in the gain of resistance to apoptosis in response to antitumor drugs and antiestrogens in breast carcinoma cells. In the current study, we examined the enhancement of TAM sensitivity by antisense (AS) Bcl-2 compared with trastuzumab in breast carcinoma cells to assess the therapeutic efficacy of AS strategies for overcoming resistance to endocrine therapy in receptor-positive breast carcinomas.\nMATERIALS AND METHODS\nChemicals, Drugs, and Supplies\nChemicals and supplies were purchased from the following suppliers: RPMI 1640 and fetal bovine serum were from GIBCO BRL (Tokyo, Japan). AS Bcl-2 phosphorothioate oligonucleotide (AS Bcl-2 ODN) and mismatch AS Bcl-2 (MM Bcl-2) 18-mer oligonucleotide were from Biologica Company, Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). Transfectam was from Biosera (Marlborough, France). Anti-Bcl-2, anti-HER-2, anti-pAkt, anti-Bax, anti-caspase 3, and antiactin rabbit polyclonal antibodies were from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. (Santa Cruz, CA). Peroxidase-conjugated antirabbit immunogloblin G (IgG) was from Upstate Biotechnology (Lake Placid, NY). The enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) Western blot detection system was from Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Ltd., (Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom). The in situ cell death detection kit was from Boehringer Mannheim (Indianapolis, IN). TAM was from Sigma Chemical Company (Tokyo, Japan). Trastuzumab kindly was supplied by Chugai Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan).\nThe human breast carcinoma cell lines ZR-75-1, MDA-MB-453, and BT-474 were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA). Cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% heart-inactivated fetal bovine serum plus 1% penicillin/streptomycin and 1% glutamine. Cultures were maintained in a 5% CO2, humidified incubator at 37 °C, and experiments were performed with exponentially growing cells.\nThe [3-4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide Assay\nThe [3-4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was performed according to a previously described method.22 Briefly, cells (2 × 103) were treated with antitumor drugs for 48 hours. The tetrazolium agent was then added to each well. This was followed by a 4-hour incubation. Then, the culture medium supernatant was removed and dissolved mixed with dimethyl sulfoxide. After thorough formazan solubilization, the absorbance of each well was measured with a microculture plate reader at 540 nm. Growth inhibition was expressed as the ratio of the mean absorbance of treated cells to that of control cells. Each experiment was performed in triplicate, and the growth inhibition rate was calculated as a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) value.\nThe Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase-Mediated Biotinylated UTP Nick-End Labeling Method\nThe terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated biotinylated UTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) method for assessment of apoptotic cell death was carried out according to the manufacturer's protocol, as described previously.23 Briefly, the cells were treated with drugs and then incubated with TdT and TdT buffer (biotin-16-dUTP), the reaction was made visible with nitroblue tetrazolium, and the cells were photographed. Apoptotic cell death was evaluated by the appearance of brightly labeled nuclei and apoptotic bodies. The induction of apoptosis was represented as the mean ± standard deviation from four random microscopic fields and was compared with that in untreated cells.\nTreatment with AS Bcl-2 Oligonucleotide\nThe AS Bcl-2 phosphorothioate ODN sequence was as follows: 5′-TCT CCC AGC GTG CGC CAT-3′.24 The sequence of the MM Bcl-2 was as follows: 5′-TCT CCC AGC ATG TGC CAT-3′. AS and control ODNs were added to the cells in the form of complexes with cationic lipopolyamine according to the manufacturer's protocol, as described previously.25 Briefly, the medium was removed, and serum-free RPMI was added to the cells. The ODN-lipopolyamine complex was prepared and added dropwise to the cells. After 12 hours of incubation, cells were washed with serum-free RPMI, and RPMI containing 10% fetal bovine serum was added to the cells. Cells were then treated with AS Bcl-2 ODN twice for 12 hours per treatment. After the second treatment with AS Bcl-2 ODN, cells were incubated with antitumor drugs for 48 hours, and cell viability was assessed with the MTT assay. Because the specificity and optimal concentration for AS Bcl-2 have been reported in previous studies,24, 26 the appropriate concentration of AS ODNs used in this study was 1.0 μM. The treatment with 1.0 μM AS Bcl-2 for at least 12 hours did not affect cell viability of breast carcinoma cells.\nWestern Blot Analysis\nWestern blot analysis was performed according to a previously described method.27 Briefly, whole-cell lysates were extracted with lysis buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0; 0.15 M NaCl; 1 mM ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid; 10 mM 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl) dimethyl-ammonio]-1-propanesulfonate; 10 μg/mL aprotinin; and 0.02 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride), and the protein concentration was determined from 10 μg of each sample. Proteins were separated on 10% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels and were transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes with a polyblot. Filters were blocked in 5% skim milk in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) for 1 hour. After incubation with primary antibody for 24–48 hours, filters were washed with PBS and then incubated with secondary antibody in 5% skim milk in PBS for 1 hour. After washing the membranes with PBS for 30 minutes, bands were visualized with the ECL Western blot detection system. Films were exposed for 15–30 minutes. The intensity of the bands was quantified by densitometric scanning with NIH Image software (version 1.56). For controls, the rabbit IgG serum was used.\nStatistical significance was determined with Student t tests or analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the Fisher least-squares difference (LSD) test for multiple comparisons. P values < 0.05 were considered significant.\nExpression of Bcl-2 and HER-2 in Breast Carcinoma Cell Lines\nTo assess the expression of Bcl-2 and HER-2 in breast carcinoma cell lines, Western blot analysis was carried out. Figure 1 shows that Bcl-2 protein was expressed in BT-474 and ZR-75-1 cells, whereas BCl-2 expression in MDA-MB-453 cells was observed to a lesser extent. Expression of Bcl-2 in ZR-75-1 cells was somewhat higher than in BT-474 cells. These findings are consistent in part with the expression of ER and progesterone receptor in these cells; BT-474 and ZR-75-1 cells express both ER and progesterone receptor, whereas MDA-MB-453 cells are negative for both receptors (data not shown), in agreement with the previous reports.28, 29 These observations of Bcl-2 expression also are in agreement with previous reports. HER-2 was overexpressed in BT-474 cells and was expressed to a small extent in ZR-75-1 and MDA-MB-453 cells. These results are in agreement with a previous report due to mechanisms other than gene amplification, which lead to overexpression of the HER-2/neu protooncogene in carcinoma cells.30\nModulation of Sensitivity to TAM by Trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2\nTo assess sensitivity to TAM in breast carcinoma cell lines, IC50 values were determined by MTT assay. Table 1 shows that the mean IC50 values were 6.5 μM in ZR-75-1 cells, 0.7 μM in MDA-MB-453 cells, and 4.0 μM in BT-474 cells. These results indicate that MDA-MB-453 cells are relatively sensitive to TAM compared with the other cell lines, even though this cell line does not express hormone receptor. Treatment with trastuzumab increased the sensitivity to TAM in HER-2-overexpressing cells. The effect of AS Bcl-2 on TAM sensitivity was then assessed. Figure 2 shows that the dose-response curve for TAM was enhanced by treatment with trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2 in ZR-75-1 and BT-474 cells. Furthermore, TAM sensitivity was enhanced significantly to the greatest extent in combination with 0.5 μM TAM and AS Bcl-2 in the treatment arm (P < 0.05; ANOVA with Fisher LSD test). In contrast, TAM sensitivity was not enhanced by either trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2 in MDA-MB-453 cells; rather, it appeared that treatment with AS Bcl-2 decreased sensitivity to TAM. The IC50 values are summarized in Table 1. Treatment with trastuzumab alone did not differ from TAM in any of the cell lines, whereas treatment with AS Bcl-2 alone showed a slight increase in the IC50 value compared with TAM. Treatment with trastuzumab enhanced the sensitivity to TAM of ZR-75-1 cells, as shown by a 7.2-fold decrease in the IC50 value, whereas treatment with trastuzumab slightly increased the sensitivity to TAM of BT-474 cells, as shown by a 1.3-fold decrease in the IC50 value. Sensitivity to TAM of MDA-MB-453 cells was not altered by treatment with trastuzumab. Treatment with AS Bcl-2 enhanced TAM sensitivity in ZR-75-1 cells by 13.0 fold and in BT-474 cells by 2.6 fold, whereas TAM sensitivity in MDA-MB-453 cells was not altered by treatment with AS Bcl-2. MM Bcl-2 ODN had no effect. These results indicate that modulation of HER-2 or Bcl-2 by trastuzumab or AS can enhance sensitivity to TAM in receptor-positive breast carcinoma cells.\n|Cell line||IC50 value (μM)|\n|TAM||Trastuzumab||AS Bcl-2||Trastuzumab and TAM||AS Bcl-2 and TAM||MM Bcl-2 and TAM|\n|BT-474||4.0||3.9||3.6||3.0 (1.3)||1.5 (2.6)||3.8|\n|ZR-75-1||6.5||6.3||5.9||0.9 (7.2)||0.5 (13.0)||6.3|\nEnhancement of Apoptotic Cell Death by Trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2\nTo assess the induction of apoptotic cell death by TAM in combination with trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2, TUNEL assays were carried out (Fig. 3). The apoptotic indices after treatment with 1.0 μM TAM, 0.1 μM trastuzumab, and 1.0 μM AS Bcl-2 alone in ZR-75-1 cells were 1.2%, 2.6% ± 0.9%, and 3.1% ± 1.4%, respectively; whereas cotreatment with TAM and 0.1 μM trastuzumab enhanced apoptotic cell death up to 18.0% ± 1.5%. Cotreatment with TAM and 1.0 μM AS Bcl-2 enhanced apoptotic cell death to 24.0% ± 4.5%, whereas cotreatment with MM Bcl-2 did not enhance apoptotic cell death in 3.0% ± 1.6%. In BT-474 cells, induction of apoptotic cell death by TAM also was enhanced in combination with AS Bcl-2. The apoptotic indices in response to treatment with TAM, trastuzumab, AS Bcl-2, trastuzumab plus TAM, AS Bcl-2 plus TAM, and MM Bcl-2 plus TAM were 2.5%, 3.5% ± 1.5%, 5.1% ± 1.6%, 11.4% ± 1.5%, 19.2% ± 2.1%, and 2.7% ± 2.2%, respectively. These findings indicate that, although combination treatment with trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2 enhanced sensitivity to TAM in receptor-positive breast carcinoma cells, the enhancement of TAM sensitivity by AS Bcl-2 was greater than the enhancement by trastuzumab in ZR-75-1 and BT-474 cells, which are Bcl-2-expressing breast carcinoma cell lines.\nMechanisms by which Treatment with Trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2 Enhances TAM Sensitivity\nTo assess the mechanisms by which combination treatment with trastuzumab or AS Bcl-2 enhances sensitivity to TAM, the expression of apoptosis-related proteins was analyzed. The expression of Bcl-2 protein and pAkt after treatment with 1.0 μM AS Bcl-2 plus 1.0 μM TAM was down-regulated, and the expression of Bax and caspase-3 was increased after the treatment for apoptosis in ZR-75-1 cells, whereas cotreatment with MM Bcl-2 did not increase the expression of these proteins (Fig. 4). Although trastuzumab treatment down-regulated pAkt activity to a lesser extent compared with AS Bcl-2 treatment, which was connected with a slight induction of Bax and caspase-3 in BT-474 cells, trastuzumab did not down-regulate Bcl-2 expression. These results indicate that down-regulation of Bcl-2 by AS Bcl-2 or down-regulation of HER-2 by trastuzumab activates apoptotic signal-transduction pathways in breast carcinoma cells and that the susceptibility to apoptotic cell death in response to AS Bcl-2 may be superior to the response to trastuzumab in terms of dual inhibition of Bcl-2-mediated and Akt-mediated antiapoptotic signaling pathways.\nIn the current study, we showed that sensitivity to TAM was modulated by AS Bcl-2 or trastuzumab in receptor-positive breast carcinoma cells. The enhancement of TAM sensitivity by AS Bcl-2 was greater compared with enhancement by trastuzumab. This may be due to a difference in the Bcl-2-mediated antiapoptotic signaling pathway, which is correlated with the inactivation of pAkt. Down-regulation of HER-2 after treatment with trastuzumab does not necessarily decrease Bcl-2 expression, even in the presence of down-regulated pAkt. In contrast, treatment with AS Bcl-2 down-regulated Bcl-2 protein as well as pAkt, suggesting that AS Bcl-2 may exert its inhibitory action through both Bcl-2 and pAkt antiapoptotic pathways in some breast carcinoma cells. Thus, it may be more effective to use AS Bcl-2 than trastuzumab to enhance TAM sensitivity in some receptor-positive breast carcinomas.\nIt is believed that antiapoptotic signaling pathways involve Bcl-2 and pAkt.9, 10 Overexpression of Bcl-2 has been found in 60–80% of breast carcinomas, and overexpression of Akt also has been reported in several human malignancies.31, 32 The molecular mechanisms by which overexpression of Bcl-2 or Akt produces resistance to apoptosis may involve the following: 1) inhibition of cytochrome c release from mitochondria and inhibition of homodimerization with Bax by Bcl-2, which blocks caspase cascades33; 2) phosphorylation of Bad and inhibition of caspase-9 activation by Akt34, 35; 3) induction of Bcl-2 expression by Akt through CREB36; and 4) activation of NF-κB by Akt and activation of inhibitor-of-apoptosis proteins.37 Thus, Bcl-2 and Akt are involved in multiple antiapoptotic signaling pathways. With respect to the mechanism of TAM resistance, it has been reported that breast carcinoma cells can undergo hormone-independent growth and, in turn, growth factor-dependent growth activated by the transcription factor AP-1.38 Overexpression of HER-2 is observed in TAM-resistant cells,39 and treatment with trastuzumab overcomes this resistance.40 Moreover, TAM resistance also is induced by overexpression of Akt and Bcl-2.41 Despite the fact that overall survival is better in patients with Bcl-2-overexpressing breast carcinoma than in patients with non-Bcl-2-overexpressing breast carcinoma, increased Bcl-2 expression causes resistance not only to antitumor drugs but also to TAM in breast carcinoma cells. pAkt-positive breast carcinomas are more prone to recur with distant metastases, which is an independent prognostic factor.42 These findings indicate that modulation of HER-2 and Bcl-2 with AS and antibody to increase TAM sensitivity is a good strategy for the treatment of hormone-independent growth in patients with breast carcinoma who have failed TAM treatment. The clinical use of AS Bcl-2 may be better than trastuzumab in terms of TAM modulation in receptor-positive breast carcinoma cells.\nTrastuzumab, which is a chimeric, humanized anti-HER-2 antibody, provides a promising treatment for patients with metastatic breast carcinoma. Therapeutic efficacy in terms of response rate, response duration, and median survival in combination with doxorubicin and paclitaxel has been shown compared with monotherapy using chemotherapeutic agents.43 In addition, a therapeutic benefit of combined vinorelbine and trastuzumab has been reported in patients who failed treatment with taxanes.44 Possible mechanisms by which trastuzumab enhances sensitivity to antitumor drugs are as follows45: 1) down-regulation of the HER-2 receptor, 2) prevention of HER-2/HER-3 and HER-2/HER-4 heterodimer formation, 3) induction of G1 arrest, and 4) induction of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Treatment with trastuzumab overcomes resistance to TAM in breast carcinoma cells in vitro, and growth factor-dependent growth of carcinoma cells is modulated by restoring TAM sensitivity. In the current study, treatment with trastuzumab enhanced sensitivity to TAM in ZR-75-1 cells, whereas sensitivity to TAM in BT-474 cells was increased only slightly, even though BT-474 cells showed more receptor overexpression than ZR-75-1 cells. The difference in modulation of TAM sensitivity by trastuzumab and AS Bcl-2 in ZR-75-1 and BT-474 cells may be due to activation of downstream antiapoptotic signal-transduction pathways. Treatment with trastuzumab down-regulates HER-2 expression at a low concentration of 10 nM. Down-regulation of Bcl-2 may occur through a different pathway. Thus, a possible explanation for the differential effect of trastuzumab in the enhancement of drug sensitivity may be its effect on the Bcl-2 signaling pathway in breast carcinoma. This implies that dual modulation of antiapoptotic signals mediated by Bcl-2 and pAkt will be more effective for enhancing TAM sensitivity than the modulation of each signal alone. The potential interaction between Bcl-2 and Akt for drug sensitivity has been implicated in previous reports. The enforced overexpression of Bcl-2 prevented daunorubicin-induced apoptosis through inhibition of Akt degradation in U937 leukemic cells.46 The inhibition of Akt produced a decreased protein level of Bcl-2 in pancreatic carcinoma cells in association with the decreased function of NF-κB, which is capable of transcriptional activation of Bcl-2.47 The integrity and function of a Akt/NF-κB/Bcl-2 signaling pathway may be dependent on various factors, including the cell type and genetic background of carcinoma cells.\nAS strategies for the modulation of specific proteins involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis have been developed for protein kinase Cα,48 c-Raf,49 and Bcl-2.50 The therapeutic efficacy of AS Bcl-2 (G3139, Genasense, oblimersen sodium; Genta Inc.) combined with antitumor drugs has been examined in Phase III trials for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, and malignant melanoma. Although the recent results of Phase III trial of G3139/dacarbazine versus dacarbazine alone in patients with advanced malignant melanoma did not show a significant increase in overall survival by the addition of G3139, combination treatment with G3139 and dacarbazine showed a significant increase in progression-free survival and response rates compared with dacarbazine alone.51 The clinical efficacy of G3139 for the treatment of solid tumors, including breast carcinoma, colon carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, small cell lung carcinoma, and bladder carcinoma, also is under investigation. We have shown that treatment with AS Bcl-2 enhanced drug sensitivity to mitomycin C and paclitaxel in MDA-MB-231 cells by modulating the signal-transduction pathways involving Bax, cytochrome c, and caspase-3.26 Furthermore, down-regulation of Bcl-2 by AS activated caspase-8 through both death receptor-dependent and receptor-independent pathways. Although the mechanism by which TAM exerts its cytotoxic effects occurs through competitive inhibition of estradiol binding to the ER-responsive element, treatment with TAM actually induces apoptotic cell death in breast carcinoma cells and is associated with the induction of Bax, Fas, caspase-8, cytochrome c, and caspase-3 and with the activation of caspase cascades. In addition, treatment with TAM induces G0/G1 cell-cycle arrest in association with apoptosis.52 These findings suggest that growth arrest by TAM triggers the activation of signal-transduction pathways leading to apoptosis. Assuming that signal-transduction pathways for apoptosis are activated after TAM treatment, it appears that the signaling pathways are mediated by death receptor-dependent and receptor-independent pathways and by activation of caspase cascades. Thus, because mitochondrial dysfunction by release of cytochrome c is a critical event in promoting apoptosis, it is conceivable that AS therapies for the modulation of Bcl-2-mediated antiapoptotic pathways provide a good strategy for the enhancement of TAM sensitivity in breast carcinoma cells.\nIn conclusion, the use of Bcl-2 AS oligonucleotide is effective for the modulation of TAM sensitivity in HER-2 and Bcl-2-overexpressing breast carcinoma cells. Treatment with AS Bcl-2 may be more effective than trastuzumab in terms of modulating antiapoptotic signaling pathways that involve Bcl-2 and Akt in hormone-independent growth in TAM-resistant breast carcinoma cells.\n- 2Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group. Tamoxifen for early breast cancer: an overview of the randomized trials. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group. Lancet. 1988; 351: 1451–1467.\n- 51Randomized multinational Phase 3 trial of dacarbazine (DTIC) with or without Bcl-2 antisense (oblimersen sodium) in patients (pts) with advanced malignant melanoma (MM): analysis of long-term survival. Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol. 2004; 711: 7505., , , et al.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Today’s Book of the Day is a highly rated Romance by award-winning author, Donna Fasano. Taking Love in Stride has a 4.0 star rating and is only $2.99!\n“Donna Fasano proves again that she is a solid romance author, delivering a well-paced story with appealing lead characters and a true-to-life supporting cast. You’ll want to dash for this one!” Dana T. – Amazon Reviewer\nTaking Love in Stride\nby Donna Fasano\nRating: 4.0 Stars\nTrack coach Andrea O’Connor is fuming at the audacity of Ian Powers, the very attractive father of one of her students. He offered to buy school equipment only if Andrea agreed to train him for a half-marathon.\nWell, train him, she would. And not just in running. As a widower with a high-powered job, Ian needed some instruction in being a father to an active teenage daughter. Yet as this overbearing man opened up, Andrea found herself learning lessons–in loving.\nIan knew that Andrea, with her assertive attitude and her penchant for stilettos, was some woman! But her vulnerable heart was on the run, so he’d have to prove that his love, unlike his running, had limitless endurance–and once he caught this swift beauty, he’d never let her go.\nHere’s what the reviewers have to say:\nDonna Fasano did a superb job at creating two characters with spunk and heart! I highly recommend this book to all. I can definitely add Ms. Fasano’s name to my list of authors to keep up with when it is time to read another good book!\nWell worth the small price tag. If you like boy-meets-girl comedies, I recommend this book for a few hours of fabulous fun. I’ll be looking to see what else Donna Fasano wrote. Enjoy!\nI enjoy Donna Fasano’s writing and this book met the high standards that I have come to expect. I would recommend this quick read for anybody that is looking for a bright spot in their day!\nI have read other books by Donna (Fasano)and enjoyed them thoroughly. I’m happy to say that this one is no exception in the enjoyment department! It’s a great read. I highly recommend it.\nI loved everything about this book, the story, the excellent writing, it kept me glued to the screen. I loved it.\nGet Taking Love in Stride here: Taking Love in Stride\nAbout The Author\nDonna Fasano is a three time winner of the HOLT Medallion, a CataRomance Reviewers Choice Award winner for Best Single Title, a Desert Rose Golden Quill Award finalist, and a Golden Heart finalist. Her books have sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide and have been published in nearly two dozen languages.\nWhat others are saying about Donna’s books:\n“…complex, funny, and realistic…” ~Wilmington News Journal\n“Could not help myself from reading excerpts to my husband and friends. This book is well written, the characters are real, everyday folks. It is very easy to identify with them. Donna Fasano is a talented author.” ~Elizabeth M. Caldwell on Amazon\n“…a fast paced riotous look at family life today. Donna Fasano is right on target!” ~Donna Zapf, SingleTitles.com\nIndulge yourself today! Pick up a Donna Fasano book! For more information about Donna and her books visit her blog at www.DonnaFasano.com.\nThank you for considering today’s Book Of The Day – Donna Fasano and ENT appreciate it.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "There was once a strong young man who was offered a job as a woodcutter. He set about his task with energy; the first week, he turned 18 trees into firewood. The second week, he worked just as hard, but was surprised to find he had chopped only 11 trees. The third week, despite working nonstop from morning till night, the number was six, and he went despairingly to the foreman to offer his resignation. “I am losing my strength. I can no longer cut as many trees as I once could.”\nThe foreman looked at the young man, who seemed to him in fine health. “Have you thought of sharpening your ax?” he asked.\n“Sharpen my ax? Who has time to sharpen an ax?” the young man asked indignantly. “I have been too busy chopping wood!”\nWhen we aren’t making the kind of progress we feel we should be making, the natural response is to redouble our efforts. Sometimes, though, the better response is not to work harder, but to work smarter. Look at your tools. Analyze your processes. Are you directing your resources in the most effective ways? Or are you pouring all your strength into chopping wood with a dull ax?\nThe above is from a column in the Rotary Magazine, by K.R. Ravindran – President, Rotary International.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Many studies on legal consciousness suggest that the poor and working class are fundamentally excluded or disadvantaged, having a different legal consciousness from others that is “against the law” or cynical and dismissive about the law. My study is the first to examine polyvocality and change in legal consciousness among the poor. The women in my study are disadvantaged, to be sure, and face barriers to learning and mastering the law. But the interviews conducted for this study revealed that a remarkable shift in legal consciousness could take place as a result of the interface of perceptions, experience, and interaction with legal services, courts, and other members of the community. In this chapter, I develop a theoretical framework of legal entitlement in order to provide a more nuanced understanding of the variations and changes in legal consciousness among low-income mothers as well as how these differences impact the ways in which marginalized group members come to develop and exercise legal consciousness and also to mobilize the law.\nHernández, D. (2010), \"“I'm gonna call my lawyer:” shifting legal consciousness at the intersection of inequality\", Sarat, A. (Ed.) Special Issue Interdisciplinary Legal Studies: The Next Generation (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 51), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 95-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2010)0000051007Download as .RIS\nEmerald Group Publishing Limited\nCopyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Goddess Damara - Guiding Children\nDamara is the Celtic Goddess of fertility, health, kindness and abundance. Today she brings the message for you to take care of your children or your inner child. We all have a child within us who feels too much, wants to be happy and have fun.\nJust as you take care of your children or of children in your family, similarly you need to take care of your inner child as well. Every time you are unkind and harsh on yourself, you are doing that behaviour to your inner child. Imagine how a child would feel is you behaved like that with them.\nWould they be happy and motivated to change or would they shut down and become sad or angry or aloof?\nAny positive change comes from love, not from scolding or criticism. Today the goddess is guiding you to be gentle and kind to yourself. Sometimes it's difficult to do that given our upbringing where we are taught to be proper and obedient. But remember how protective a mother is towards her child? You need to do the same with your inner child, nurture them with love, protect them from unkind words and actions and gently and lovingly guide them ahead in the world.\nIn doing so, you feel immense love coming from within. If you have ever wanted to experience and learn self love, this is your way ahead.\nGrace and Light\nIsis - Past Life\nNavratri is a new beginning and every new beginning is preceded by an ending. Today’s message is for you to close the past chapters so that new ones can begin.\nGoddess Isis is the Egyptian Goddess of fertility and feminity. The card is the past life card which says that this situation involves your past life memories. The memories don’t necessarily have to be from past life, they can be from the past in this life. You don’t have to remember particular memories if that’s not your strong suit. Having a sense of what needs to be let go of, what needs to change and what within you needs to transform is enough for these energies to help you take a step ahead.\nToday sit in meditation for a while and allow your higher self to speak to you, to tell you what within you needs to change or let go. Be completely honest with yourself. Don’t censor any thought or word. All is welcome. Don’t doubt if you will hear or understand, because you are always being guided. You cannot go wrong. Have faith and trust.\nWishing you a happy Durga Puja and Hope you have a transformational Navratri!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Gently used. Expect delivery in 20 days. Codice inventario libreria\nI went walking.\nWhat did you see?\nI saw a black cat\nLooking at me.\nThese catchy stanzas frolic through the Australian author Sue Williams?s simple, funny read-aloud picture book that tracks a crazy-haired boy?s stroll through the countryside. The boy sees a black cat, then a brown horse, then a red cow, and so on, and before he knows it, he?s being trailed by the entire menagerie! The Australian illustrator Julie Vivas brings the parade to life in lovely, lively watercolors?when the pink pig looks at the boy, for example, the boy sprays off his muddy body with a hose. Big type, repetition, friendly art, clean design?and the visual guessing game created by introducing each animal only partially at first?make this beloved tale a winner at story time.\nSUE WILLIAMS is the author of the acclaimed picture books I Went Walking and Let?s Go Visiting, as well as Dinnertime! She lives in Adelaide, Australia, where she is also an editor and publisher of children?s books.\nJULIE VIVAS is illustrator of I Went Walking, Let's Go Visiting, the Mem Fox classics Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and Possum Magic, and several other picture book titles. She lives in Australia.\nTitolo: I Went Walking\nCasa editrice: Live Oak Media\nData di pubblicazione: 2004\nCondizione libro: very good\nDescrizione libro Live Oak Media. Hardcover. Condizione libro: VERY GOOD. Cover and pages show some wear from reading and storage. May have light creases on the cover and binding. Some pages may contain writing and or highlighting. Codice libro della libreria 2720711081\nDescrizione libro Live Oak Media. Hardcover. Condizione libro: GOOD. Good clean copy with no missing pages might be an ex library copy; Possibly may have minor marginal notes and or highlighting. Codice libro della libreria 2721263540\nDescrizione libro Condizione libro: Very Good. Book Condition: Very Good. Codice libro della libreria 97815911272083.0\nDescrizione libro Live Oak Media, 2004. Hardcover. Condizione libro: Used: Good. Ships with Tracking Number! INTERNATIONAL WORLDWIDE Shipping available. May not contain Access Codes or Supplements. Buy with confidence, excellent customer service!. Codice libro della libreria 1591127203\nDescrizione libro Live Oak Media, 2004. Hardcover. Condizione libro: Very Good. Codice libro della libreria P021591127203\nDescrizione libro Live Oak Media, 2004. Hardcover. Condizione libro: New. Codice libro della libreria P111591127203", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Book Review: Vibhor Tikiya’s new book is about jest to Live after sexual assault; a comment on the brazen power of our politics, on the inertia of our legal system & on the general ‘Chalta hai’ attitude of us.\nDecember 16, 2012 shook India and the collective conscience of the country for what happened in the National Capital. The last words of the victim in the Nirbhya sexual assault case were, “I WANT TO LIVE”. Vibhor Tikiya takes off from there to build a story around a sexual assault and the aftermath. Incidentally, I got to read the novel exactly 4 years since the humongous tragedy, on December 16, 2016.\nVibhor Tikiya’s journey as a writer started with the campus story DADA. He switched over to an intense novel like ONCE UPON A DHARMAYUDH for his second. AN EYE for AN EYE MY LOVE, I want to LIVE is his third and he has taken a new genre this time. This is a love story yet the LOVE isn’t the theme. This is a revenge story but the revenge isn’t the theme. It’s more of an attack over our system, on the brazen power of our politics, on the inertia of our legal system and on the general ‘Chalta hai’ attitude of us, the people of India.\nDhruv, a vagabond from India is a scarred soul eternally mourning for his wronged mother. He’s perpetually on the run till he meets Aisha in Paris, the city of Love. Several dates later, Aisha changes his attitude towards relationships and before he could understand, he is in love. But when he comes face to face with love, his escapist nature prevails over him and stops him from uttering those three magical words. Aisha goes missing and Dhruv comes to India in search of the only woman he loved. He finds her fighting death in an Intensive Care on ventilator support. Her last words, written on a piece of paper were, “Dhruv I want to LIVE”.\nDhruv finds a reason to live as he goes through the ordeal of the court case that ends with the conviction of a serial offender called Bheem. At the end of the case, he believes natural justice has prevailed. But an encounter with a mysterious person called Aryan and a pendrive change the course of life for him. The rest of the story is a thriller with justice being delivered in what the author believes the only way it can be done in this country.\nThere is lust, there is wander lust, there is love and there is wine. There is philosophy and there are mothers. The story has several mothers who suffered and a could have been mother who was ravaged and killed. There are court proceedings, there is politics, there is deceit and vengeance. And Vibhor Tikiya wraps it all in 174 pages and it is the brevity that makes it a winner.\nJustice can’t always be achieved by law. There is a bit of Che Guevara in it and a lot of French wine that has matured. There is a swindler who acts a guide and a retired Major with his own mission. There is a father shattered by his daughter’s tragedy and there are activists who do not know their cause. There is a corrupt system and a lawyer who knows his client is innocent in this case. There is a gay bar and an inexplicable chase. There is training and there is a target. There is an aim and then a pretty much aimless life finds a goal. In the end, there is poetic justice and some surprise.\nVibhor Tikiya keeps it simple and his simple language is his strength. Without the burden to be heavy on vocabulary, he evolves into a good story-teller in his third novel and his most passionate work yet. It does lag a bit in pace in the early stages, especially during the Paris phase. But it gathers momentum to race towards a climax with poetic justice. But we learn, the poetic justice was in fact political justice. The growing maturity of the writer shines in his characters getting more real with their weaknesses, fallibility and vulnerability. The climax was predictable and I did predict it very early. In spite of that, An Eye for an Eye is an engaging read and is worth our time.\nThe book is dedicated to the author’s mother and two little nieces with a fond hope of finding them grow up to live in an India that will be a lot safer for them. That is pretty much the wish every human being is making these days.\nAN EYE for AN EYE MY LOVE, I want to LIVE\nAuthor: VIBHOR TIKIYA\nPublished by: Srishti Publishers & Distributors in 2017\nNew Delhi 110019\nPrice: Rs. 195/-", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Breast cancer survival rate is determined by multiple good and bad prognostic factors. The survival or mortality rate is usually described in terms of the percentage of surviving patients after 5 or 10 years and the recurrence rates.\nBreast cancer survival rate has improved over the years by about 39% over the last 3 decades. This is because of increased awareness, early diagnosis, and better treatment modalities.\nHere are Some Factors that Influence Breast Cancer Survival Rate:\nThe overall 5-year survival rate of breast cancer as per the 2023 statistics is 90.8%.\nThis means that out of 100 women diagnosed with breast cancer, 91 women are likely to live for up to 5 years and beyond regardless of their ages, tumor size, stage of breast cancer, or other factors.\nMany factors influence breast cancer survival rate. Here are some of the good and bad prognostic indicators of breast cancer survival rate:\nAge of the patient:\nBreast cancer in women affects mostly middle-aged females. More than half of the women diagnosed with breast cancer are between 55 to 74 years of age.\nHere is a table showing the incidence of breast cancer in women by age:\n% of new cases by age\n|35 – 44||8.3%|\n|45 – 54||18.5%|\n|55 – 64||25.4%|\n|65 – 74||26.8%|\n|75 – 84||13.9%|\nThe death rates in women with breast cancer increase with increasing age. Younger age is associated with a better prognosis.\nHowever, the prognosis depends on multiple factors other than the age.\nBreast Cancer Deaths (Percentage)\n|20 – 34||1%|\n|35 – 44||4.4%|\n|45 – 54||11.6%|\n|55 – 64||21.3%|\n|65 – 74||24.1%|\n|75 – 84||20.2%|\nThe median age of at death is 70 years.\nStage of Breast Cancer:\nThe stage of breast cancer is one of the most important factors influencing survival rate. Stage 1 cancer, also called localized tumor which has not spread to distant parts of the body or lymph nodes has the best prognosis.\nThe 5-year survival rate of a localized breast cancer is 99.3%. In simple words, almost all women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in the early localized stage (Stage 1) are going to survive for 5 years or more.\nIn contrast to women with regional or distant spread of the tumor, the survival rates decline tremendously.\nThe 5-year survival rate of women with regional spread of breast cancer is 86.3%, and those with distant spread is 31%.\nBreast Cancer % 5-year Survival Rate\n|Regional Spread of Cancer||86.3%|\n|Distant Spread of Cancer||31%|\nSize of the tumor:\nThe size of breast cancer affects the survival rates. Breast cancer that is smaller than 1 cm and has not spread has a very favorable prognosis compared to breast cancer of 5 cm or larger.\nIn the TNM staging of breast cancer, “T” refers to tumor size. This signifies the importance of tumor size at diagnosis [Ref].\n- TX: Can not assess the primary tumor.\n- T0: Primary tumor not detected.\n- T1: The tumor is less than 2 cm in size.\n- T2: The tumor is 2 to 5 cm in size.\n- T3: The tumor is larger than 5 cm in size.\n- T4: The tumor has extended to the chest wall or skin. Can be of any size.\nIn one study, the 15-year survival was observed to be greatly reduced when the tumor size at diagnosis was more than 2 cm, especially in women with lymph node involvement [Ref]:\n|Tumor Size at Diagnosis||Node Involvement||15 years survival|\n|0.1 – 1 cm||Yes||80.4%|\n|1.1 – 2 cm||Yes||70.1%|\n|2.1 – 5 cm||Yes||47.1%|\nSpread of the tumor:\nThe Spread of the tumor is commonly described in medical terms as “metastasis”. Metastasis is probably the most significant factor in predicting a 5-year survival rate in women with breast cancer.\nAlthough other factors play a significant role, generally, the 5-year survival is estimated to be around 30% in women with metastatic breast cancer.\nIn the TNM staging, M0 is when there is no evidence of the spread of the breast cancer while M1 is when the breast cancer has spread to any part of the body such as the liver, lungs, or brain.\nThe 5-year survival rate in women with regional spread of breast cancer is about 86% while that of distant spread is 29 – 30%.\nHowever, the survival rates differ depending on the site and organ where the cancer has spread.\nThe table below shows the breast cancer survival rates after it spreads to distant organs:\nSpread of Cancer\nBreast Cancer Survival Rates\n|Sternum||10-year survival after Sternectomy: 41.8%\nMedian survival: 9 months after recurrence [Ref]\n|Eye (Orbit)||Mean survival after diagnosis is 22 months [Ref]|\n|Neck||The median survival after diagnosis of neck metastasis is 21 months|\n|Pancreas||1 – 50 months [Ref]|\n|Stomach||24 – 36 months [Ref]|\n|Brain||2 – 27 months|\n|Bone||1-year survival rate: 51%\nStage 4 breast cancer spread to bones survival rate at 1, 3, and 5 years\n|Liver||5-year survival: 37% [Ref]|\nIn one study, breast cancer spread to the liver had a very poor prognosis [Ref]\nBreast cancer with liver metastasis\nMedian survival (months)\n|Liver Metastasis||Single: 10.34 months\nMultiple: 4.6 months\n|Liver and Bone||3.87 months|\n|Liver and lung||5.75 months|\n|Liver and pleura||4.27 months|\nLymph node involvement:\nLymph node involvement is another major prognostic indicator of survival in women with breast cancer.\nBecause of its association with survival, nodal positivity has been added to the TNM staging of breast cancer.\nThe “N” in the “TNM” staging of breast cancer denotes “Node involvement”.\nNodal involvement can be:\n- Nx: Nodes can not be assessed\n- N0: Nodes are free of the disease\n- N1, 2, or 3: Nodes are positive\n- N1: 1 – 3 nodes involved\n- N2: 4 – 9 nodes involved\n- N3: 10 or more nodes involved\nIn one study, the 5-year breast cancer survival rate was determined in a cohort of 628 women with node-positive breast cancer.\nThe results are given in the table below:\nLymph node Involvement\n5-year disease-free survival\n5-year overall survival\n|N1 (1 – 3)||80.1%||84.3%|\n|N2 (4 – 9)||53.9%||69.4%|\n|N3 (10 or more)||50.6%||62.3%|\nIn another study, LNR (Ratio of lymph nodes positive to total lymph nodes examined) was used to assess the 10-year breast cancer survival rate.\nPatients were divided into low, intermediate, and high-risk groups. The 10-year survival in the three groups is given below:\nLymph node Ratio (LNR)\n10-year disease-free survival\n|Low (0.2 or Less)||80.1%|\n|Intermediate (>0.2 – <0.65)||53.9%|\nThe 10-year disease-free survival is greatly reduced in the high-risk groups.\nThe type of breast cancer:\nThe WHO has classified breast cancer into 21 different histologic subtypes. Of these, invasive ductal breast carcinoma of no special type (NST) is the most common [Ref]\nBreast cancer with favorable histologic types include [Ref]:\nBreast Cancer Type\n5-Year Survival Rate\n10-Year Survival Rate\n|Pure Mucinous Carcinoma||94%||89%|\n|Invasive Cribriform Carcinomas||Excellent||–|\n|Neuroendocrine Carcinoma||Up to 0.5%||Favorable|\n|Medullary Carcinoma||Generally good||95%|\n|Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma||90%||–|\n|Secretory Breast Carcinoma||Extremely rare||Favorable|\nApocrine carcinoma has an intermediate prognosis. Breast cancer with the worst prognosis according to histologic subtypes include [Ref]:\n- Pleomorphic Lobular Carcinoma\n- Invasive Micropapillary Carcinoma\n- Metaplastic Carcinoma\n- High-Grade Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma\nHistologic grade of the tumor:\nHistologic grade has a lot of inter-observer variability. There are three different histologic grades of breast cancer.\nGrade 1 breast cancer is well differentiated with few mitotic processes while grade 3 is the least differentiated and abundant of mitotic processes.\nThe higher the grade of the tumor, the poorer the prognosis [Ref]:\n- Grade 1 breast cancer: Good prognosis and better survival rates\n- Grade 2 breast cancer: Intermediate prognosis and survival rates\n- Grade 3 breast cancer: Poor prognosis and survival rates\nThe response to treatment:\nA patient’s response to treatment significantly relates to overall survival rates. Patients who have a good response to chemotherapy or neoadjuvant therapy have better survival compared to patients who have a progression of the disease.\nWomen who have disease progression in terms of an increase in tumor size, spread to local or distant organs of the body, or develop intolerance to medications do less well and have poor overall survival compared to women who tolerate the medicines and whose tumors shrink with treatment.\nEstrogen and Progesterone receptor status (ER/PR positive or negative):\nEstrogen and progesterone receptor status have been strongly linked with survival rates. Generally speaking, women with ER and PR-positive breast cancers have a better prognosis.\nIn addition, ER and PR status are usually seen with HER-2 expression. Hence women with breast cancer can have any of the combinations:\n|ER+/PR+/HER-2 + (Triple positive)||+ve||+ve||+ve|\n|ER-/PR-/HER-2 – (Triple negative)||-ve||-ve||-ve|\nHowever, for practical purposes, the following four categories of breast cancer are commonly used to decide the treatment [Ref]:\n|Molecular Subtype||Description||4-year survival rates|\nHR + means ER and PR positive\nEstrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer has a better prognosis compared to women with estrogen-negative breast cancer as shown in the table below [Ref]:\nAge of the patient\n5 Year Survival Rates in ER-Positive Breast Cancer\n5 Year Survival Rates in ER-Negative\n|40 – 49 years||94%||81%|\n|50 – 59 years||95%||81%|\n|60 – 69 years||95%||81%|\n|70 – 74 years||94%||80%|\nOverall, breast cancer survival at 15 years for ER-positive breast cancer was 77%, and for ER-negative breast cancer was 70%.\nThe breast cancer survival rates for combined ER+ and PR+ were estimated to be better than hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer [Ref]:\n|ER + PR – Tumors||91.4%||79.6%||95.9%||93.9%|\n|ER – PR + Tumors||81.0%||73.1%||95.3%||88.7%|\nDFS: Disease-free survival\nOS: Overall survival\nThe prognosis is best when the breast cancer is Estrogen and Progesterone receptors positive and HER-2 negative.\nThe overall 5-years survival rates of ER +, PR +, and HER-2 – breast cancer is estimated as 96.7% compared to 82.7% for breast cancers which are ER -, PR -, and HER-2 + [Ref]\n|Subtype||5-Year Survival Rate||5-years Disease-free survival|\n|ER+ PR+ HER-2-||96.7%||90%|\n|ER- PR- HER-2+||82.7%||73.3%|\nHER2 gene expression:\nHER-2 expression means the breast cancer cells have “human epidermal growth factor receptor 2” on their surface.\nWomen who have an extra copy of a gene that encodes for cell surface proteins called HER-2 express these proteins on their surface.\nThese protein receptors promote the growth and help the spread of breast cancer cells. These proteins are detected by molecular techniques such as FISH (Fluorescence in situ hybridization) and immunohistochemistry.\nHence, women who are positive for HER-2 receptors have a poor prognosis and a shorter survival.\nIt is estimated that 15 – 20% of all invasive breast cancers (invasive ductal carcinoma and lobular carcinoma are HER-2 positive) [Ref].\nHER-2 positivity is an indicator of poor prognosis, however, breast cancer survival rates are best estimated along with ER (estrogen receptors) and PR (progesterone receptors).\nHER-2-positive breast cancers have a 5-year survival rate of more than 90% if picked up in the early stages. However, once the disease spreads to distant organs, the survival rates are greatly reduced.\nWomen with breast cancer who are younger, have a small tumor at diagnosis, that has not spread to the lymph nodes, locally, or to distant organs and have a better prognosis and excellent chances of surviving for 5 years or more.\nIn addition to these traditional prognostic factors, novel markers of survival are being increasingly used. These include Hormone Receptors (HR) and Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor- 2 (HER-2).\nWomen with breast cancer positive for Estrogen and Progesterone (Hormone positive – HR +) have a better prognosis while HER-2 positive breast cancer has a poor prognosis.\nGood Prognostic Factors\nBad Prognostic Factors\n|Axillary Lymph Node Status||Node-negative disease||Positive nodes (Number of nodes correlates with recurrence)|\n|Tumor Size||Smaller tumor size||Larger tumor size|\n|Lymphatic/Vascular Invasion||Absence of invasion||Presence of invasion|\n|Patient Age||Younger age||Older age|\n|Histologic Grade||Lower grade||Higher grade|\n|Histologic Subtypes||Tubular, Mucinous, or Papillary subtypes||Comedo subtype for DCIS|\n|Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy||Favorable response||Poor response|\n|Hormone Receptor (ER/PR) Status||Positive (responsive to hormone therapy)||Negative|\n|HER2 Gene Amplification/Overexpression||Improved prognosis with targeted therapies||Worse prognosis (historically) with no targeted therapies|", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“A brave compassionate, and heart-wrenching memoir, of one woman’s quest to redeem the past while learning to live fully in the present.”\nKate Moses, author of Cakewalk, A Memoir and Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath\n\"This searing and redemptive memoir is an explosive account of motherhood reconstructed.\"\nAyelet Waldman, author of Red Hook Road\n\"This book is an important contribution to the growing understanding that we are all part of history, and we all make history. A moving account of a contemporary voyage, which is also a voyage back in time, reckoning with and bearing witness to one of the great tragedies of the last century.\"\nSusan Griffin, author of A Chorus of Stones\n\"If remembering lies at the heart of all memoir, the best memoir goes far deeper, asking questions about the propulsive nature of time, the consequences of forgetting, and the treacherous liberations of solitude. Hiroshima in the Morning is a memoir of the most sophisticated kind, a lyric, a quest, a universal poem.\"\nBeth Kephart, author of A Slant of Sun, a National Book Award finalist\n\"Rahna Reiko Rizzuto's new book is intimate and global, lyrical and clear-eyed, a compelling personal narrative, and an important social document. Here past and present, Hiroshima and 9/11, interweave to tell a story of unendurable loss and tragedy but also of tenacity, survival, and rebirth\"\nLauren Kessler, author of Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Cult Survivor, Author, Keynote Speaker, Christian Evangelist ~\nHating God, Loving God: How a Young Man Born Into Suffering and Driven to Despair Found Jesus Christ.\nA. K. Davies uses his own personal story to remind people that no matter what their situation is, they should never give up hope. Topics include never giving up hope, believing in your self, your relationship with God, spiritual wisdom, overcoming adversity, dealing with hard times, and more. Book now.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Spring is coming, and the days are getting warmer and lighter. And yet I know we are all feeling the heaviness and weight of the conflict and upheaval rocking the world right now. We hope you are finding healthy ways to cope. If you do need help, please reach out. Our local Addiction and Mental Health Clinic can be reached at 403-361-7277, and a wide range of resources is available at Alberta Health Services’ “Help in Tough Times” page.\nOne of the ways many of us cope with situations beyond our control is to immerse ourselves in another world through books. Studies have shown that in times of stress, people tend to re-read books they have enjoyed before, particularly as children. Reading a captivating story where the outcome is not in doubt and where any evil is defeated by good can be relaxing and soothing.\nHere are some favourite comfort reads from our staff:\n- Anne of Green Gables is my top choice. I love the way that Marilla, Matthew, and Anne (and even Rachel Lynde) are transformed by the love that they find as a family. It reminds me that daily acts of caring really matter.\n- Another favourite series from childhood is the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, featuring some marvelous characters like Reepicheep the mouse.\n- I also enjoy re-visiting a series with a strong setting or cast of characters that gives you a sense of familiarity. My top choices are Louise Penny’s books set in Three Pines or Iona Whishaw’s books set in a small rural community in the BC interior.\n- Books that re-imagine well-known characters are fun too. I enjoy Laurie King’s Mary Russell series featuring Sherlock Holmes and other fan fiction or something like The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner.\n- A patron recently recommended the audiobook Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James. In this story, a young girl growing up in a bookstore encounters fictional characters like Anne of Green Gables and Alice from Wonderland in real life and is even able to follow them into their fictional worlds. This is a charming read suitable for ages 10 and older.\n- Carmen enjoys listening to the Harry Potter series on audiobook to help her go to sleep at night. They’re beautifully narrated, and Libby has a wonderful sleep timer feature that allows you to set it to play for only a set time.\n- Marion likes Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders. This book was originally published in 1894 and is based on the true story of a Canadian dog.\n- Tammy’s choice is also an older book: Andy Russell’s Adventures with Wild Animals, a book that was given to her when she was a teen. Sometimes a book is special because of the way it came into your life.\n- Catherine's choice is not a book, but the movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice because of the transformation of Mr. Darcy from aloof to completely in love.\nWhat are your go-to comfort reads? We would love to hear from you. And we hope that spring brings good news and many good books your way.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Title: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender\nAuthor: Leslye Walton\nPublisher: Walker Books\nSource: Review Copy\nPublication Date: 27th March, 2014\nFoolish love appears to be a Roux family birthright. And for Ava Lavender, a girl born with the wings of a bird, it is an ominous thing to inherit. In her quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to join her peers, sixteen-year-old Ava ventures into the wider world. But it is a dangerous world for a naive girl...", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The first two presidents in this journey took me nearly three months to get through. George W. Bush and his predecessor hardly took me three weeks.\nBut unlike George Washington and John Adams, recent presidents haven’t been off the stage long enough to induce most historian-biographers to tackle their lives.\nThat will change as additional time passes, more documents are de-classified and presidential legacies (and lives) continue to marinate under the bright light of day.\nI read just two biographies of Bush 43, but was excited about each for different reasons: one was written by an author who ranks as one of my all-time favorite biographers…and the other was written by an author known for his indefatigable determination and uncanny ability to piece together a story.\n* * *\n* “Bush” (2016) by Jean Edward Smith\nNo biographer has impressed me more often, or more consistently, than Smith. His…\nView original post 546 more words", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Exclusive interview with Gail Carson Levine\nCongratulations Arianna1000! You are our newest Featured Scribbler!\ncheck it out\nDo you have suggestions for summer writing...\nEnter your story about MAGIC in this month's writing contest. You could win Gail Carson Levine's new book, Stolen Magic.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Steps – Image by Jemima Pett Walking on the roads of life, Meandering through its mundane alleys, Transgressions aside, Myriad paths circambulate, To meet at the steps of time. I stand at the crossroads, For I know not which path to take, I sweep the panorama, Gaping at what has gone by, As flashes of… Continue reading #WritePhoto-Steps\nDays of yore when less was so more, One television and few shows, A loud hue and cry and sharp rows, All sat down to have fun galore, Neighborhood bonhomie to fore, Images only white and black, But colours of life would bounce back, Television now smart ,men dumb, Profound joys of life have gone… Continue reading Ronovan Writes Décima Poetry Challenge Prompt No. 58: (BLACK) in the C rhyme line.\nPhoto by Trent McDonald, photographer I have written a Garland Cinquain Fiery hope extinguished you stand at precipice staring into gorges around all dark. Inside hot inferno rages to consume all what was once full of vibrant life now dead. You walk along in fear in a tormented soul ripped fully apart at its core… Continue reading #TANKA TUESDAY WEEKLY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 226 #EKPHRASTIC #PHOTOPROMPT\nImage from http://Pixabay.com Walking through clouds( A Tanka) Alone I climb high leaden feet tremble to keave a misty silence-- diffuses azure frail cloud a haloed dawn awaits me Via Tanka Tuesday\nMy heart finds peace in secluded places and in little things that once remind us why we live. I did not look up as the jagged bolts of lightning tore asunder the dark sky shrouding the world with their bright incandescence. For I was lost in the cerulean tranquil abyss of my mind.\nLife Mesmerising a plethora of choices jaded souls spellbound happiness shrouded in grey souls surf in a deep hushed lull.\nAriel,the tender Sprite had descended on the land of common natives to look out for goodness. Unseen and hidden in the verdant bush, it donned its pink glasses nosed with sharp whiskers. The glasses could see through all masquerades and pretentious charades and the sharp whiskers tingled on each stroke of goodness. But the Sprite… Continue reading #WRITEPHOTO-RABBIT\nLife bestows all its love on you, Give it a chance. Let the love bestowed bloom, Let it spread the fragrance around. Let it give you one chance, To bestow on others, The joys you have found.\nSpring blossoms and soft fragrant love, Gently seeps into hearts to steal, As it beats fast in a cartwheel, And all malice given a shove, Melody and love hand in glove, Tranquil wisps blow away the gloom, Passions roared in the narrow flume, Splashing an array of hues bright, Leaving one rapt in pale moonlight,… Continue reading Ronovan Writes Décima Poetry Challenge Prompt No. 44: (STEAL) in the B rhyme line.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“The Game” by Jack Holt\nAn exploration by Patty Ganzelli\nThe main idea of “The Game” is to present different perspectives to a single bizarre event and allow the reader to draw conclusions of their own. “The Game” is a set of four interconnected flash fiction pieces each containing a constraint of exactly 101 words. Each piece is told from the first-person point of view, and each has a different narrator, all unnamed.\nThe first narrator states that they had spoken to a man named Professor Runcorn about the “Pine Woods Incident,” which Runcorn describes as a meteorite crashing to earth and killing two unidentified persons in the woods. However, there are no records of any meteor even coming remotely close to the planet and therefore the police are launching an investigation.\nThe second narrator tells of the wind interfering with his chase, but it will be over soon as he has his prey cornered in the woods.\nThe third narrator is scared and hiding behind a tree in the woods, helpless as he knows his pursuer is watching him. He is wounded and trying to calm down and catch his breath when he hears a faint whistle that he knows is not coming from his pursuer.\nFinally the fourth narrator is watching the others, and indeed has been watching them for a while. He has been orchestrating their chase, subtly manipulating the elements around them from a silent distance. He decides to bend the rules to his own game creatively, still keeping the facts rooted in “their science,” thereby ending the game.\nThe characterization of the narrators is very successful in this piece. The author managed to give each narrator their own voice through diction despite the constraint, thereby adding to the mystery of each character. Narrator #1 gives the impression of a television journalist who has just interviewed Professor Runcorn “regarding what has been coined the ‘Pine Woods Incident.’” While the majority of his section is told by Runcorn, the narrator’s identity is still clearly defined through two short sentences. Narrators #2 and #4 are similar in that they are both pursuing someone and are aware of their power, yet both still have distinct voices. Narrator #2 is angry and vengeful, calling his prey a “little bastard” and ready to “see him quickly ended.” Narrator #4 is written with a fulsome, superior tone, an “invisible, distant” god who is controlling the tiny mortals on his “orchestrated stage.” He speaks lazily of his victims, saying he may “fancy letting loose [his] more imaginative side today” and “accept the punishment later.” Narrator #3 also has a very unique voice: he is frightened and on the run. He speaks in short clipped sentences that mirror his anxiety. He is the only character that speaks of his own physical body: “I rest my trembling, bloodied hand upon my chest.” His attempt to calm himself by counting, then by breathing, and then counting again also reveals his character: he is much more frightened than even he knows. The author does a very successful job in creating differences between the characters.\n“So occupied were they with each other, the real danger registered not even a frivolous wonder.”\nThis sentence stuck out to me the most. It is bone-chillingly ominous and beautifully written. It makes me think how anyone could be this narrator, watching us from an invisible distance and could easily blow us away and we would have no idea. Sometimes we are so preoccupied with other things and people that not even in our wildest dreams we are aware of any possible outside danger. The phrase “frivolous wonder” really stood out to me as well. The imagery is very beautiful and has an almost childlike, fantastical connotation. Without the word “frivolous,” this sentence would not nearly function as well. The author chose this word for a purpose: rather than writing something more sinister or a phrase like “not even a fleeting thought,” frivolous does give the sense of giddy playfulness. After all, the whole thing is a game.\nHaving a constraint for the number of words can be beneficial to a story as it causes you to choose your words more deliberately. Each sentence serves a function to both reveal character and progress the story. I tend to be wordy with my writing and this piece shows that less is more. I also think this story will help when writing about an event from different perspectives. It’s not necessary to recap the scene with every change of narrator; subtlety can work wonders. The success of this flash fiction will help a lot of other writers who are struggling with their stories. Not every micro/flash fiction needs to be only one sentence long. You can set your own constraints that will get the best results.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "When was the last time you sat down and took the time to hand-write and mail a letter?\nDo you remember the anticipation of receiving a letter by “snail mail?” Holding it in your hands as you wondered what you might learn from the words written inside, before carefully opening the triangle flap on the back? Or perhaps you ripped into it excitedly, as I sometimes did?\nDid you first devour every word, perhaps searching for what you hoped the letter might say, flipping page by page, before reading it again and again to savor each word?\nWas the stationary sometimes scented? If it wasn’t, perhaps you might have spritzed it with your favorite scent, if it was for that “special” person.\nIn the house where I grew up in California, our front door had a mail flap in the middle. The mailman would simply lift the flap in the door and drop all of our mail straight onto our living room floor. When a train roared down the track a block from our house, the metal flap would vibrate with the rest of the house.\nUpon arriving home from school, I’d open the front door, running over the mail splayed on the floor. I’d close the door and kneel, gathering all the mail into a pile before flipping through the stack one-by-one to see if I’d received anything. Most days I was disappointed, seeing only bills or advertising, which I’d toss onto the kitchen table.\nOne mail-related memory still makes me smile. Our dog, Chim, a scruffy little terrier, would bark when she heard the mailman’s footsteps. She’d growl and attack the mail as it came through the mail slot, grabbing those evil envelopes and shaking her head back and forth. Snarling, she’d defend our home mightily from the paper intruders.\nThose handwritten treasures didn’t always come in the mail. Sometimes they were dropped in my high school locker. Or perhaps they were written on the back of a senior picture, or inside a hand-delivered birthday card or yearbook.\nI have many other memories of hand-written notes and letters—things I took for granted and never really thought about. In fact, I didn’t even take the time to assume we’d always have letters, because . . .\nWhy wouldn’t we always have handwritten letters?\nThen came email.\nI LOVED email at first–instant gratification! Though I no longer had to wait weeks between writing and response, emails, too, had an aura of anticipation. And it’s true, they’re as permanent as the sender or receiver wants them to be. I probably have more letters I’ve received by email than I do those I received by “snail” mail, simply because they’re easier to keep, and I know precisely where to find them.\nBut lately, I’ve felt something was lost when email came along and we quit hand-writing letters.\nYears ago, my mother gave me a box of letters. She told me they were old letters between my father and her. It was sealed all around with tape, and she asked me not to open it until after she was gone.\nAnd so, it was packed away, practically forgotten. After my dad died last year, we packed up our house and moved from Dallas to Cleveland. While unpacking boxes in our new house, I came upon the box of letters. I placed it on a shelf in my office, waiting for the “right” time to open it and start reading.\nThe “right” time arrived a couple of months ago when, while writing my memoir, I thought I might find some interesting details in the letters. Inside the decades-old cardboard box, I found not only letters between my mother and father, a few dating back to before I was born, but also letters from my siblings and me to my dad when he was away on his overseas Air Force assignments.\nReading these treasures, I learned much of my family’s history that I either never knew, had forgotten, or had remembered differently. I began to realize how much was lost when we transitioned from handwritten letters to email.\nIn my next post, I’ll share excerpts from a few of these letters. Perhaps you, too, will understand why I’ve decided to start hand-writing and mailing letters again.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Hi Friends, I’m currently reading The Reckoning by John Grisham. However, the next book is Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak. So I thought I’d revisit an earlier book by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief.\nSince The Book Thief has been made into a movie, I’m sure a lot of people know the story. When my youngest had to read this for school, she watched the movie AFTER reading the book. I watched with her and decided to read the book as well. So many movies don’t do justice to the books. Think Harry Potter series! Again and again, I’ve heard that the movies didn’t explain things well, especially if you have not read the books. Well, muggles, read the books!\nBack to The Book Thief\nAgain, this is another story set in the WWII era and also about saving a Jew, among other things. I guess I’m partial to that setting and that type of story line. (See posts here & here.) Death, being the narrator, tells the story of Liesel Meminger. Upon discovering the power of words, she began to save books from the Nazi book burnings and pilfer them from the mayor’s wife’s library. Later, she would use words to record her life.\nOne thing that leaves a lasting impression for me is again the bravery of normal people during wartime. I confessed that before reading any of these novels, I’d automatically equate German people with Hitler. It’s obviously wrong. And I’ve raised the question, “how could anyone be so stupid to follow Hitler?” many a time whenever the opportunity arises. I don’t think anyone truly knows the answer. Some give the answer, “they didn’t have a choice,” or “they didn’t know what he would do,” or some such. Then, I read these novels and likely more to come that would give me a glimpse into the life at the time in Germany, and elsewhere in the Nazi occupied territories.\nI learn that some German people were decent and brave like Hans Hubermann, Liesel’s foster father, who hid the Jew. Of course, there’s also that soldier mentioned in The Ragged Edge of Night who was given an impossible choice of following evil orders or saving his own family. Or, in another one, The Nightingale, a Frenchwoman managed to save scores of Jewish children.\nThe state of Israel gives non-Jews who saved Jewish lives, or attempted to save Jewish lives, the formal recognition of being Righteous Among the Nations. I’m sure many more courageous souls remain unrecognized in this life, but rewards would be awaiting them in the everlasting life.\nThis is not a fast read. You need to take the time to read and savor. I liked it a lot. Highly recommend it.Thanks for reading! Let's keep in touch. Just one click to follow me:", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "2018, vol.28, no.2, pp. 175-193\nHenryson’s Testament of Cresseid does not fit into the generic features of the romance. Instead, it incorporates various genres, such as the moral fable and the testament. In particular, Henryson adopts the genre of the testament, which was in fashion at the time. Controversy surrounds whether The Testament of Cresseid should be considered a testament since Henryson mostly describes the life of Cresseid after her betrayal of Troilus while showing her testament in only fourteen lines of the poem. However, Henryson still names his poem The Testament of Cresseid, which shows that the poem is not about the Cresseid who is punished, but about the Cresseid who is excused and saved through her testament. Considering that it was not common for a medieval woman to leave a will, Henryson gives Cresseid an opportunity to raise her own voice. This again highlights the theme of The Testament of Cresseid as a testament.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.\n“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.” Luke 6:39-49\nHaving lived a good deal of my life near the ocean, I can tell you about hurricanes from first hand experience. I remember as a child watching debris, toilets, furniture and windows, floating down the streets after a storm. When the winds and waters rise, nothing is terribly safe. The house we lived in was very old, and would whistle and sing when the winds pounded, but was on a deep foundation and held together, even after nearly 200 years. Even then, we have evacuated when called to do so, since a firm foundation and being a good citizen participant go hand in hand.\nJesus is obviously annoyed with his followers who want an easy fix to hard problems and want to find blame in others. He reminds them that their job is to be faith and bear good fruit, to be good citizens and do the hard work of building a deep foundation of faith and good behavior. Today we want a pass, an easy laid back house on the sand. But there are always storms coming and water rising and we must be those who demonstrate love and faithfulness even when things get tough.\nToday I ask God to help me do the hard work ahead. May we find ourselves bearing good fruit and daily loving our enemies and working for the goodness of all in the face of many storms.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In an English Boarding school Smith, a teacher, walks the corridors and teaches his lessons, whilst Martha and her companion Jenny go about their cleaning work, heckled by the senior boys of the school.\nSome time later Smith carries a large pile of books around the school, encountering the school matron on the way. She helps him with the load and together they make their way around the school, Matron (alias Nurse Joan Redfern) taking the opportunity to ask him if he will be attending the annual local dance. He begins to splutter a reply but manages to fall down the stairs before he can give an eloquent response.\nSoon Joan nurses a wound on the back of his head in his study, Martha rushing in to make sure he is not harmed. Seeing all is well she begins to tidy his things whilst Smith recounts to Joan his dreams, wherein he is a man hiding from someone, he dreams he is a man with two hearts. Joan takes her stethoscope and examines his chest, playfully confirming he has only one.\nHe presents her with a journal of his dreams; a diary filled with scribbled writing and drawings of all manner of creatures some human. Martha looks on keenly and follows Matron out, trying to prevent her from reading the book, but to no avail.\nIn one of the school dormitories sit three boys, Baines, Hutchinson and a younger boy named Latimer. Hutchinson reads a letter from his father, and Latimer correctly manages to pre-empt that he has been stationed in Africa, despite knowing nothing of the man himself. He admits that he has in the past managed to predict things before knowing them, but the others ignore him. Baines decides to retrieve some concealed beer in the woods, and hurries out of the window.\nThat night Martha and Jenny sit outside the local pub, Martha somewhat annoyed at not being allowed inside with the men, and takes refuge in the fact she will be leaving in a month’s time. Suddenly she sees a bright green light in the sky, but Jenny denies it. However, in the woods not far away Joan, who is walking alone, is suddenly bathed in a vivid green light, which proceeds to scan the surrounding area like a searchlight.\nJoan hurries to the pub, were Smith joins her. Together with Martha and Jenny they see another light falling to Earth, which Smith claims is a meteorite. He leaves with Matron whilst Martha runs off to find where the light came down.\nIn the woods, Baines is distracted from his work by an eerie green light descending from the skies. He nervously goes to find it but finds himself in an empty field. Suddenly he is stopped in his tracks by an invisible wall, which glows to the touch. He manages to locate a gap in the surface and wanders inside, disappearing from view.\nMoments later Martha and Jenny arrive but find nothing, and returns wearily to the school whilst inside the invisible structure, which appears to be a ship; Baines is interrogated by sinister bodiless voices. He asks to know what they look like and moments later a scream rings out. He arrives sometime later back at the school, an unnatural look on his face. He sniffs around the room as Latimer looks on curiously, shining his shoes.\nThe next day Martha cycles into the woods, arriving at an abandoned cottage in which stands the TARDIS. She steps inside to find the ship illuminated only by the central console, the walls surrounding it are dark. She remembers arriving in the ship, chased by some unnatural force. She recounts the Doctor’s words to her:\n“Martha, this watch is me”\nHe had explained to her that the creatures were chasing him, the last Time Lord in existence. To avoid them he had to become human. He used a helmet that descended from the ceiling, the chameleon arch, to change his own biology and store what made him a Time Lord inside the watch.\nShe looks up at the device still suspended from the ceiling in the darkened ship and she remembers his screams of agony. His cries of pain that rang around the ship as a new life was set for him and all that he was became stored inside the watch.\nFinally she moves over to the scanner, playing back the last recording he made for her before the change; a list of instructions for what to do whilst he remains human. She scans them but finds nothing regarding meteorites in the sky, and is left alone in the hollow room.\nBack at the school Latimer calls on Smith to borrow a book. Whilst his teacher searches for the title the young boy sees the watch the mantle, he opens it temporarily as voices swarm around his head, and as Smith returns he places it in his pocket. He retreats back to his room and opens the watch, a bright light emitting from within and the voices returning.\nOutside Baines appears to sense the disturbance, and when he returns inside he reports back to the ship that a source has been detected, and the soldiers must be activated.\nIn a field not far away a man named Mr Clark sees one of his scarecrows moving. Thinking it to be one of the schoolboys he reaches inside the lining to grab them, finding only a handful of straw. Bemused he looks at the figure, which grabs him as others like it spring to life across the field. On a road nearby a small girl with a balloon walks along, but is confronted by a scarecrow, who carries her away, screaming.\nBack at the school Smith oversees the boys practising to fire machineguns at dummy targets. Latimer and Hutchinson arm the weapon, the former appearing to experience a vision of war, himself and his colleague fighting in the maze of barbed wire and mud. He observes his watches and claims that the “time is now”.\nBreaking from his fantasy Hutchinson takes him away to be beaten, whilst Baines simply sniffs at his teacher, Smith. Matron appears from inside and Smith moves to speak to her, finding her upset by thought of her husband who was killed in war.\nTogether they leave the school and walk through the local town, discussing the idea of war, a premonition Smith appears to find in his dreams. Suddenly the teacher observes an accident waiting to happen, a piano being hauled to a first floor window is about to fall, a woman with her pram slowly walking into it’s path.\nHe grabs a cricket ball from a nearby by and throws it at some scaffolding nearby. It pushes the poles aside, upsetting a plank of wood on which lays a brick. The brick launches into the air and upturns a milk urn, which falls in front of the pram, preventing it from moving further into the space where the piano falls.\nSmith appears marvelled by his own capabilities and suddenly finds the courage to invite Joan to the village dance. Soon they are walking through the fields together, discussing the character of the Doctor. Smith sees a nearby scarecrow and moves to correct it on it’s perch whilst Joan compliments him on his drawing, provoking him to mention his home in Gallifrey, a place she assumes to be in Ireland. Having finished correcting the scarecrow the two walk off, unaware that it turns to watch them go.\nBack in his study Smith sits and draws Joan in his journal, eventually moving to kiss her. He begins to mutter some excuse but she kisses him again, as Martha enters unannounced and sees them. She flees back to the TARDIS to consult the Doctor’s instructions but finds nothing to explain what she should do.\n“You had to go and fall in love with a human…and it wasn’t me.”\nAt the school, Latimer sits with the watch and listens to the voices, stooping to observe Baines, Mr Clark and the young girl with the balloon meeting on the other side of the grounds. On a road not far away Jenny is ambushed on her bicycle, surrounded by the animated scarecrows.\nSoon she is inside the alien ship, Baines introducing her to his mother, a glowing green orb. He claims that she needs a body and suddenly a green gas emerges from the orb, overcoming the poor servant.\nSmith and Joan prepare for the ball as Jenny returns to her quarters, where Martha awaits. She sniffs unnaturally as Martha confesses her concern about Smith, who is to leave the school in a few weeks. She begins to realise that Jenny is not herself and hurriedly leaves. However, Jenny draws an alien gun and pursues her, firing at her as she flees.\nShe returns to Smith’s room and tells him they have been found. She tries to find the watch but it appears to have gone. Smith believes her to be having some sort of breakdown and patronisingly explains the situation to her, only for her to slap him in an attempt to bring him round. He grabs her by the arm and pushes her outside, dismissing her from his service. He then returns inside, where Joan tells him that Martha was not lying about the watch, it has gone.\nMartha runs outside, bumping into Latimer (who appears to have a subsequent vision of the same incident occurring in Martha’s own time zone). She hurries back to the ship and rummages in the Doctor’s coat, as Baines and Jenny arrive in Smith’s now-empty quarters looking for him.\nSmith and Joan meanwhile arrive at the village dance, closely followed by Latimer. As they dance around the room Baines and Jenny continue to search the school, before Mr Clark produces the poster for the dance. Jenny smiles, her daughter is already there.\nAt the dance the girl with the balloon watches the entertainment as Martha arrives, unaware the scarecrows are watching from the surrounding fields. Inside she confronts Smith and presents the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver, ordering him to identify it. She tries to explain to him that he isn’t John Smith; he is the Doctor, the man from the journal.\nSoon Baines, Jenny and Clark arrive, storming the venue and shooting anyone who disobeys their orders for silence. Martha orders Smith to be silent as Baines turns on him, realising that the Doctor has taken human form. Smith fails to understand and Baines threatens to shoot him if he doesn’t change back. Jenny and Clark grab Martha and Joan and point guns at their heads. Baines offers him the ultimatum:\n“Your friend or your lover. Your choice.”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Resources to Help You Dig into the Bible in 2022\nTreasuring the Word of God in 2022\nThere is nothing more important than getting our hearts and minds in the word of God on a regular basis, and the new year provides a wonderful opportunity to do just that. Consider the following resources to help you as you commit to pursuing biblical truth this year. Of note are the new ESV Concise Study Bible; the ESV Bible, Read by Kristyn Getty; and our ESV Single Column Journaling Bible, Artist Series.\nESV Concise Study Bible™\nInspired by the best-selling ESV Study Bible, the ESV Concise Study Bible offers fresh content for new believers and seasoned saints alike, explaining difficult phrases, defining key terms, identifying important people and places, and highlighting links between biblical passages.\nESV Student Study Bible®\nDavid W. Chapman, Lane T. Dennis, Wayne Grudem, Thomas R. Schreiner, Barry J. Beitzel, T. Ryan Buchanan, Bill Deckard, J. I. Packer, Leen Ritmeyer, C. John Collins, John D. Currid\nThe ESV Student Study Bible, adapted from the ESV Study Bible, contains 12,000+ study notes, book introductions and timelines, 80+ maps and illustrations, 120 character profiles, 900 \"Did You Know?\" facts, 10 topical articles, and more.\nESV Women's Study Bible\nThe ESV Women’s Study Bible features study and devotional content along with elegant artwork from artist Dana Tanamachi to help women in all seasons of life pursue a transformational understanding of Scripture.\nESV Single Column Journaling Bible, Artist Series\nCelebrating the beauty of Scripture, this edition of the ESV Single Column Journaling Bible, Artist Series features captivating cover artwork by Christian artist Ruth Chou Simons.\nESV Scripture Journal\nThe ESV Scripture Journal: Old and New Testament Sets pair the entirety of every book of the Bible with lined pages opposite the Bible text, allowing readers to take notes directly beside passages of Scripture.\nThe Bible Read Aloud\nESV Audio Bible, Read by Kristyn Getty\nThe Bible is made up of 66 books that tell the magnificent story of God’s redemptive work in Christ. In this new audio recording of the full Bible, that story comes alive in a fresh way through the voice of award-winning modern hymn writer Kristyn Getty.\nIn this 10-week study of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, learn how to find peace in Christ through challenges and press on for the sake of the gospel. Part of the Flourish Bible Study series.\nBe Thou My Vision\nDesigned to be read in 15–20 minutes a day, this liturgical devotional guide will give readers focus and purpose in their daily quiet time while teaching them historical prayers, creeds, and catechisms that point them to Christ.\nBread of Life\nAbigail Dodds invites readers to ponder and celebrate God’s spiritual and physical provision in Christ through the hands-on art of bread making.\nIn the Lord I Take Refuge\nDane C. Ortlund\nIn the Lord I Take Refuge invites readers to experience the Psalms in a new and refreshing way, featuring devotional content written by Dane Ortlund.\nFeaturing 40 Scripture selections coupled with easy-to-understand introduction paragraphs, Unfolding Grace helps readers grasp the overall storyline of redemption as it unfolds throughout the Bible.\nESV Expository Commentary\nSix experienced Bible teachers walk through some of the richest but more challenging books of the New Testament, helping Bible readers understand what they say about Christians’ hope for the future.\nPreaching the Word\nWritten to help Bible teachers better interpret and apply the message of Scripture, this 19-volume collection of commentaries on the entire New Testament is a multipurpose resource for anyone who loves to study God’s Word.\nFor Kids and Families\nUnfolding Grace for Kids\nIn Unfolding Grace for Kids, young readers are invited on a guided journey through 40 select Scripture readings to uncover the unifying message of God’s Word.\nExploring the Bible\nThis simple, gospel-centered, 365-day Bible reading plan guides children ages 6–12 through the most important passages of the Bible, helping them see and appreciate the big-picture storyline of Scripture.\nMeeting with Jesus\nThis reading plan introduces children ages 6–12 to Jesus Christ over the course of a year, working through the 4 Gospel narratives and what they have to teach about the Savior of the world.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It is characterized by high blood sugar levels due to either the body’s inability to produce insulin or its inability to use insulin effectively. Over the years, researchers have been exploring various treatment options to manage diabetes, and one emerging solution that has gained significant attention is cannabidiol (CBD).\nUnderstanding Cannabidiol (CBD)\nCBD is a non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant. Unlike its counterpart, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CBD does not produce a “high” effect. It interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), which regulates numerous physiological processes, including metabolism, inflammation, and immune response.\nThe Relationship Between CBD and Diabetes\nRecent studies have shown promising results regarding the potential benefits of CBD in managing diabetes. Several mechanisms contribute to its effectiveness in this regard:\n1. Anti-Inflammatory Properties\nChronic inflammation plays a crucial role in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. CBD possesses anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce inflammation throughout the body, including the pancreas, which is responsible for producing insulin. By reducing inflammation, CBD may indirectly improve insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism.\n2. Regulation of Insulin Production\nStudies suggest that CBD may influence insulin production and secretion. In a 2016 study published in the scientific journal Autoimmunity, researchers found that CBD treatment significantly reduced the incidence of diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice. The study concluded that CBD may protect against the development of diabetes by enhancing the immune system’s regulatory actions.\n3. Prevention of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders\nObesity is a significant risk factor for the development of diabetes. CBD has demonstrated potential in preventing obesity and metabolic disorders. A 2018 study published in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry found that CBD reduced the expression of genes involved in fat accumulation and increased the expression of genes associated with fat browning. Fat browning converts white fat, which stores energy, into brown fat, which burns energy. By promoting fat browning, CBD may help prevent weight gain and metabolic dysfunction.\n4. Reduction of Diabetic Complications\nDiabetes can lead to various complications, such as neuropathy, retinopathy, and cardiovascular disease. CBD’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties have been shown to alleviate these complications in animal models. For instance, a 2010 study published in the journal Molecular Vision reported that CBD reduced retinal inflammation and oxidative stress in diabetic rats. Such findings suggest that CBD could potentially mitigate the long-term complications associated with diabetes.\nHow to Use CBD for Diabetes\nWhen considering using CBD as a complementary treatment for diabetes, it is essential to consult with a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about CBD and its potential interactions with other medications. Here are some points to consider:\n1. Dosage and Delivery Methods\nCBD can be consumed in various forms, such as oils, capsules, edibles, and topicals. The appropriate dosage and delivery method may vary depending on the individual’s needs and preferences. It is crucial to start with a low dosage and gradually increase it while closely monitoring the effects. Consulting with a healthcare professional can help determine the optimal dosage and delivery method for each individual.\n2. Quality and Legality\nWhen purchasing CBD products, it is essential to ensure their quality and legality. Look for products that have undergone third-party testing to verify their potency and purity. Additionally, check the legal status of CBD in your jurisdiction to ensure compliance with local regulations.\n3. Potential Side Effects\nWhile CBD is generally well-tolerated, it may cause some side effects, such as dry mouth, diarrhea, and changes in appetite. These side effects are typically mild and temporary. However, it is important to be aware of any potential interactions between CBD and other medications. Consulting with a healthcare professional can help assess the potential risks and benefits of CBD for an individual’s specific situation.\nAlthough further research is needed to fully understand the potential benefits and mechanisms of CBD in managing diabetes, the existing studies provide promising insights. CBD’s anti-inflammatory properties, regulation of insulin production, prevention of obesity, and reduction of diabetic complications make it a compelling candidate for further exploration. However, it is crucial to approach CBD as a complementary treatment and consult with healthcare professionals before incorporating it into a diabetes management plan. Proper dosage, product quality, and potential interactions should be carefully considered to ensure safe and effective use.\nQ: What is cannabidiol (CBD)?\nA: CBD is a non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant that does not produce a high effect. It interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), which regulates various physiological processes.\nQ: How can CBD help manage diabetes?\nA: CBD has shown potential in managing diabetes through various mechanisms. It possesses anti-inflammatory properties that can reduce inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, and glucose metabolism. It may also influence insulin production and secretion, prevent obesity and metabolic disorders, and reduce diabetic complications.\nQ: Can CBD reduce inflammation in the pancreas?\nA: Yes, CBD’s anti-inflammatory properties can help reduce inflammation throughout the body, including the pancreas, which is responsible for producing insulin. By reducing inflammation, CBD may indirectly improve insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism.\nQ: Does CBD have any effect on weight gain and metabolic dysfunction?\nA: Yes, studies have shown that CBD has the potential to prevent weight gain and metabolic dysfunction. It can reduce the expression of genes involved in fat accumulation and increase the expression of genes associated with fat browning, which converts white fat into brown fat that burns energy. By promoting fat browning, CBD may help prevent weight gain and metabolic dysfunction.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Chang'e flew to the moon to tell the story of Chang'e flying to the moon after she had taken the medicine of immortality and finally became immortal.\nThe Goddess Chang's fly to the moon\nLegend has it that Chang'e is Hou Yi's wife, because Hou Yi has made a contribution by shooting off nine suns. The Queen's Mother has given Hou Yi an immortal medicine. After taking the immortal medicine, he can become an immortal and live forever. But Hou Yi, reluctant to part with his wife Chang'e, hid the medicine in a treasure box. This eventually let a disciple of Houyi know that this person is a fengmeng, he thought of the immortal medicine and then become immortal himself. On August 15, Hou Yi took his disciples out, but when he pretended to be sick, he stayed behind. In the evening, he rushed into Hou Yi's house with a sword and threatened Chang'e to hand over the elixir. He turned the box upside down and found the elixir. Chang'e swallowed the elixir at the critical moment.\nAfter Chang`e took the medicine, she suddenly flew up and flew toward the window. At last, she flew higher and higher to the moon. Hou Yi came back to see his wife Chang'e disappeared and went out to look for her. He saw only a bright moon in the sky. Suddenly, A Jade Rabbit jumped down from the moon. Hou Yi looked at the moon and called his wife's name.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I found the following two textbooks to be very helpful in panel data analysis: panel data, fixed or random effects as for fixed or random effects,. A short review on panel data econometrics fixed and random effects in linear panel data models 2 econometric analysis of panel data started with mundlak. Xtdpd linear dynamic panel-data estimation xttobit random-effects tobit xtlogit fixed-effects, random note are to books on panel data analysis or on the use. Studies, but the first uses a fixed-effect analysis and the second a random-effects analysis these plots provide a context for the discussion that follows.\nReceived stochastic frontier analyses with panel data have relied on traditional fixed and random effects models we propose extensions that circumvent two. Department of economics office: two step analysis of panel data models 12 random parameters, random and fixed effects in nonlinear models,. Panel-data models are extensions of standard regression models that take into account group (or panel) effects as an example, consider a. Introduction fixed effects random effects two-way panels tests in panel models coefficients of econometric analysis of panel data and by hsiao: analysis of.\nExplaining fixed effects: random effects modeling of time-series cross-sectional and panel data his article challenges fixed effects. Hi all, i am trying to select which models i should use to conduct panel data analysis random vs fixed effects in order to make a choice between random effects. Analysis of panel data, third edition this book provides a comprehensive, coherent, and intuitive review of panel data methodologies that are useful for empirical. Models for longitudinal and clustered data has relevant logs under ‘panel data models’, including an analysis of data on verbal 23 fixed versus random e.\nPractical guides to panel data analysis hun myoung park 05/16/2010 1 which effect group vs time fixed vs random panel data models examine cross-sectional (group. About econometrics academy panel data models provide information on individual behavior, (pooled model, fixed effects model, and random effects model. This article suggests random and fixed effects spatial two-stage least squares estimators for the generalized mixed regressive spatial autoregressive panel data model. Panel data analysis is at the watershed of time simulation-based random effects approaches for panel data including a fixed effect r/i and a.\nHi, this is my first post here and i'm relatively new to stata i'm doing some panel data analysis and my fixed effect, random effects and pooled ols results are. The random effects approach although fixed effects or lsdv model can be expensive in terms of degrees of freedom if we econometric analysis using panel data ,. Explore limdep & nlogit's fixed and random effects linear models for panel data.\nThis example shows how to perform panel data analysis using fixed effects panel model with concurrent correlation potential city-specific fixed effects,. Longitudinal and panel data: analysis and applications for the social sciences brief table of contents 92 random effects models 9-9 93 fixed effects models 9-13. Not a purely random effects model, as it introduces fixed-effects terms analysis of panel data how to conduct a meta-analysis: fixed and random effect models.\nPanel data analysis fixed and random effects using stata (v 42) oscar torres-reyna [email protected] december 2007 . In a random effects i consider fixed effects methods for data in which the dependent the traditional approach in fixed effects analysis is to assume that. The group means could be modeled as fixed or random effects in panel data analysis the term fixed effects steps in fixed effects model for sample data. A tutorial for panel data analysis with stata fixed-, between-, and random-effects, and population-averaged linear models gls random-effects model.Download fixed and random effects of panel data analysis`", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The family Bible story book, Wondrous Works of God is a companion volume to Starr Meade’s popular first family Bible story book, Mighty Acts of God that released in 2010. Except Wondrous Works of God “…retells a different ninety stories.”\nStarr believes God uses Bible stories to reveal who He is and what He has done throughout recorded history. Yet, because God can’t be seen attributes of His character, His love for His children and creation are easier to understand in story form, especially for children. She also believes “…Bible stories must be read in context and not as isolated units…a random chapter here or random page there…”\nInstead, she writes, “…we must think in terms of the whole, wonderful story of God’s salvation…every Bible story must be told in light of this big wonderful story…” found in Christ.\nStarr’s chronological collection of Old and New Testament Bible stories feature fifty-five Old Testament and thirty-five New Testament stories. Stories reveal how God stepped into human history in the past and His plans for the future of mankind. Stories, many of them not well-known, teach about God’s character, not just about morality or heroism. She begins with God’s creation of Eve in Genesis and ends with Jesus and the dragon found in Revelation 12.\nAccounts include familiar stories such as, “Hagar and Ishmael, Serpent on a Pole, Balaam and the Donkey, the Sun Stands Still and Moses Sees God’s Glory.” However, other stories not commonly found in children’s Bible stories include “Job Suffers and Trusts God, Ezekiel’s Vision of Dry Bones, Elijah and King Ahaziah, Elisha Raises a Boy from the Dead and the Dragon and the Baby.”\nNinety exciting stories, penned in lively, easy-to-understand language contain summary statements of Christian truth and faith highlighted in red from a reformed perspective. Most stories are three pages in length, feature an illustration, scripture reference and questions and suggestions for personal application called, “…as for me and my house…”\nThe suggested age group, age’s four to ten, depends on children’s maturity. Some youngsters might understand more about age seven although they will enjoy the stories. The book is hardbound for durability and ease of use, designed with growing families in mind.\nThe Bible contains great adventure, sweet romance, and is a grand epic of good and evil played out on the stage of human history against the backdrop of God’s love, His grace and overall plan for humankind.\nStarr’s imaginative writing, often compared to the writings of C.S. Lewis and Paul Bunyan, communicates abstract truths with clarity and simplicity in words readers can understand, especially children. Wondrous Acts of God is an excellent choice for family devotions and the New Year’s is a wonderful time to start this family tradition. www.crossway.org/blog\n‘Wondrous Works of God: A Family Bible Story Book’ by Starr Meade, illustrated by Tim O’Connor, Hardcover, Crossway, 2012, 978-1433531583, $24.99\nBack Cover Copy:\n“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,\nfor his wondrous works to the children of man!”\nWe want our children to know the God we love and worship, but communicating abstract truths about God can sometimes be difficult. It’s good for us and for our children that God wants to be known. So he doesn’t simply tell us what he’s like; he shows us in the stories of the Bible.\nAs the sequel to Mighty Acts of God, this volume tells 90 more stories from the Bible, beginning with the account of God creating Eve and ending with the epic visions in Revelation. Each story highlights an aspect of God’s character and includes a helpful discussion guide to help the whole family see and understand the wondrous works of God!\nFaceBook: Gail Welborn", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The next time the children came to Mahuika to hear a\nstory she started by telling them that this time it was a story about the moon.\nOnce again Hekeheke had picked up the smallest child and sat with her on her\nlap. Mahuika immediately thought again that the teenager needed to find a boyfriend. The little girl that Hekeheke cuddled sat contentedly with her and\nthe Mahuika thought she may have to talk to Hekeheke’s mother discreetly. So\nthen she began her story:\nOnce there was\na blind woman who had four daughters, the youngest of whom was named Hina. Hina\nloved walking at night and would be the first to rise when one of her family\nsaid “We are out of water”. She would take the calabash and wander into the\nnight and relish the world of darkness with the owls hooting and the creatures\nscuttling underfoot the whisper of the ferns and the silvery light of the moon\nbathing the world in a loving embrace as she refilled the water container.\ndaughters had boyfriends and often when Hina went walking in the dark she would\nmeet her own friend by accident and they whispered and fondled each other in\nwere seen by Marama the bright moon shining high in the night sky overhead or\nperhaps watching half hidden by the trees if he was rising or setting in the\nsky. Marama he thought Hina was so beautiful that he wanted her for\nOne night as\nHina waited for some excuse to wander off into the night to meet her lover, he was\nin fact was busy fishing as the tide was high and the fish were biting. She\nlistened to hear any movement close to their hut but none came so she decided\nto go anyway and try to find him. She casually picked up her calabash and\nwandered off into the night.\nMarama the moon\nwas just rising and saw straight away that Hina had left her home and made sure\nthat as she walked there was always enough light for her to walk safely and not stumble. He knew too that her boyfriend was fishing as he had seen him at sea and\nthought perhaps he would speak to her himself. Marama then took human form and\ncame down to earth and walked along to the stream where she fetched water. When\nshe saw Marama her mouth dropped open as she stared at his beauty. He walked\nup to her and said “Hina, you are so beautiful, let me help you fill you\ncalabash and then we can talk together.”\nHina shook her\nhead doubtfully “But I have a boyfriend already and he will come for me soon.”\nand said “He is not coming, he is fishing as the tide is full and my light attracts\nthe fish, come with me as I want you with me.\nHina looked at\nMarama, “You are beautiful too and are as stunning as the moon that I love. How\nis it I have never seen you before?”\nagain and boldly said “Oh Hina, come with me, I am the moon, live with me and let us\ndelight the people of the earth with our loving light when the sun has fled. Stay\nwith me always, those you leave behind will grow old and die but you will be\nwith me forever.”\nThen Hina said\n“I do want you but I should not leave” so she held on to a tree trunk as he\nclasped her around the waist and leap into the sky to return to the moon. She never\nlet go of the tree but such was his strength that it too was pulled out of the\nearth as he took her back to the Moon\nbelieve that it really was the moon that had come for her and as he flew up\nwith her she reached up to touch his shining face then she knew she just had to\nbe with him. So she nodded to him and then returned to the moon with him shining so\nbrightly in the sky that night.\nJust at that\ntime her lover returned from fishing and searched for her by the stream. He\ncouldn’t find her but was still wandering about as the dawn finally broke and\nthe moon disappeared from view still thinking that she was calling out to him.\nWhich she was as she looked back down at the earth.\nSo Hina settled\ndown with Marama and was a good and loving wife to him but after a some time she\nsaid “I miss my family, Marama”. As he looked with love at her. “And do you miss your old lover too?” he asked.\nShe blushed and\nnodded. He shook his head sadly. “Time is different for us we are in no hurry\nbut for those on Earth it rushes by. If you see him he will have aged. Do you\nstill want to see him?”\nShe nodded. So\nMarama went to fetch her former lover and brought him back. He was an\nold man, his hair was white and his face was wrinkled with age. He smiled at\nHina with remembrance and love and she nursed him as he grew weaker. Eventually Marama said to\nher, “Hina I must return him to the Earth so that he can lie down with his\nSo Hina rubbed\nnoses with her old lover for the last time and Marama returned him to Earth and\nHina never thought of going back down to the Earth ever again.\nWhen Mahuika had finished the story, she looked over\nto Hekeheke who was still holding the little one. Hekeheke was crying openly\nand the little girl in her arms was reaching up to wipe away the tears.\nLater, when the children had gone, Mahuika and\nHekeheke said “Isn’t it strange that two stories\nabout the moon taking women from the earth are so similar but so different.\nThis one you just told us was all about love but the one about Rona is quite\ndifferent as she was being punished.”\nMahuika nodded. “They probably started off as one story but pexpect one woman storyteller decided to put a gentler touch into the Hina story.\" She paused then said, \"I am going to Black Sands again\nsoon. Will you come with me this time?”\nHekeheke looked into Mahuika’s eyes to see if she\ncould read her thoughts but in doing so she realized that she herself was\nshowing the older woman what she thought about her desire to find a boyfriend. So\nthey both laughed and Hekeheke nodded eagerly.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Hundreds of years have passed since the world we know has ended. The Disastrous End came and went in the blink of an eye, and while the human race was targeted, some survived. At first, they were scared and isolated from one another, but over time a need for survival became far more likely in groups. So the Clans of the New were formed.\nFifteen-year-old Tenley Bright is a mischievous member of the Forest Clan, and while she would rather be climbing trees than doing her chores, her pride in her people know no bounds. On the day guests were supposed to arrive, she gets caught by nearby Marauders and attacked, but saved by Spencer Yu of the River Clan: her clan's biggest enemy, and the one they were at war with.\nDespite her fears and her hatred towards the River Clan, Tenley and Spencer uncover an ancient secret beneath the world, that may change the course of the New and their entire lives.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Nothing is bigger than action, only action is great and it is spirituality, it is the way of living that is true happiness and that is humanity\nEffect of karma on mind\nKarma is the religion of man, which is very necessary for the spiritual progress of life. Spirituality is the art of living the life of man. Life is the art of learning of high ideals. Here the mention of spirituality in the form of three knowledge is sattvik, majestic and tamasic, whatever may be the mental state. A tamasic person who walks on the path of knowledge in the right way can make progress in his spiritual upliftment. It can be known that a lot has to be done to change the mind, that is the medium, doing karma convinces the mind a million, but he does not believe that there is a change in the mind only by doing good deeds, the mind of those who do good deeds are filled with joy and gaiety. It happens that happiness is established through giving happiness to others.\nMind is transformed by karma\nSuppose if we do any bad work, then our mind gets disturbed by it, when instead of doing bad work, we do good work for the good or service of whom, then the mind becomes happy, no matter how bad we are or When we say chili, it seems spicy when sugar seems sweet, similarly, doing good deeds on good service by a bad person makes that bad person happy for some time or for a few moments, so with selfless service. The mind becomes more cheerful as it does something good for the society or a particular person, but it should not be imaginative to achieve any subject matter inside the mind, then selfless service definitely results.\nWith continuous effort, the mind becomes calm and concentrated in which happiness, cheerfulness, courage, courage, ability to strive for any work, firm determination, ability to work continuously\nThe mind is swelled up slowly, this effort should be continuous, by talking to the children, they are pleased with the blossoming of something sweet, even if one's mind is pleased by seeing a lovely child. Service, by completing one's work on time, laziness is removed, to remove laziness one has to work continuously, which creates a feeling of loneliness, which gives the ability to maintain any work or service for a long time. It is attained which eliminates laziness completely. The virtue of firm determination develops. Spiritual progress increases through selfless service, due to which happiness, cheerfulness increases in the mind, which gets real happiness in the mind, negative feelings start ending, positive energy spreads in life, selfless work, service gets progress in life. Recognition increases in people, fame and work is achieved, due to which that person becomes great. That is what is actually called a human being.\nKarma: Good worship, Positive work of life without any profit, thinks which do for people good service without any gain or The good and bad deeds of the individual in this and previous state of existence.\nRajasi: Majestic, Causing Great, Admiration, Respect\nTamasic: Darkness of life, Evil mind effect, Bad manner effect, Negative mind effects.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Delivery devices that allow remote, repeatable, and reliable switching of drug flux could have a marked impact on the treatment of a variety of medical conditions. An ideal device for on-demand drug delivery should safely contain a large quantity of drug, release little or no drug in the \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"off\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\" state, be repeatedly switchable to the \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"on\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\" state without mechanically disrupting the device, and be triggered non-invasively to release a consistent dosage demanded by a patient (e.g. local pain relief) or prescribed by a doctor (e.g. localized chemotherapy). Despite the clinical need, few such drug delivery devices have been developed and none are available for clinical use. The goal of this application is to develop such a device, that could provide tunable on demand drug release from a reservoir that could be deep within the body, with near-infrared light (NIR) as the trigger. In the near term, this device could be used to treat chronic pain. Our proposed device will consist of a composite membrane containing a disordered network of temperature-sensitive polymer nanoparticles and gold nanoshells. We hypothesize that when the device is irradiated with NIR light at the appropriate wavelength, the gold nanoshells will heat and cause the polymer nanoparticles to collapse, opening pores in the membrane. We intend to validate this design in three phases. First, we will examine both the \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"on\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\" and \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"off\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\" state permeability of the membrane to a number of compounds, including tetrodotoxin (TTX), saxitoxin (STX), bupivacaine, and dexamethasone. Second, we will examine its biocompatibility both in vivo and in vitro, through cell culture assays and histological analysis. Finally, we will incorporate this membrane into drug reservoir capsules, and assess the ability of the device to locally deliver anesthesia at the sciatic nerve in a rat model. We will deliver numerous formulations, including cocktails that have been used to achieve sensory-selective nerve blockade, with efficacy assayed using standard techniques to measure numbness in the hind paw of the rat. Taken together, these experiments will help us to assess the clinical applicability of our proposed NIR-triggered membranes.\nWe propose to develop a biocompatible, implantable capsule capable of releasing drugs on demand, with the patient or physician determining the timing, duration, and size of the dose delivered. Drug release will be triggered by an external light beam that penetrates harmlessly through skin and tissue. One example of an application is chronic pain: the patient could determine when to obtain relief and for how long, as well as the intensity of that relief.\n|Timko, Brian P; Kohane, Daniel S (2014) Prospects for near-infrared technology in remotely triggered drug delivery. Expert Opin Drug Deliv 11:1681-5|\n|Monteiro, I P; Gabriel, D; Timko, B P et al. (2014) A two-component pre-seeded dermal-epidermal scaffold. Acta Biomater 10:4928-4938|\n|Timko, Brian P; Arruebo, Manuel; Shankarappa, Sahadev A et al. (2014) Near-infrared-actuated devices for remotely controlled drug delivery. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111:1349-54|\n|Mizrahi, Boaz; Shankarappa, Sahadev A; Hickey, Julia M et al. (2013) A Stiff Injectable Biodegradable Elastomer. Adv Funct Mater 23:1527-1533|\n|Timko, Brian P; Kohane, Daniel S (2012) Materials to clinical devices: technologies for remotely triggered drug delivery. Clin Ther 34:S25-35|\n|Dvir, Tal; Timko, Brian P; Brigham, Mark D et al. (2011) Nanowired three-dimensional cardiac patches. Nat Nanotechnol 6:720-5|\n|Hoare, Todd; Timko, Brian P; Santamaria, Jesus et al. (2011) Magnetically triggered nanocomposite membranes: a versatile platform for triggered drug release. Nano Lett 11:1395-400|\n|Dvir, Tal; Timko, Brian P; Kohane, Daniel S et al. (2011) Nanotechnological strategies for engineering complex tissues. Nat Nanotechnol 6:13-22|", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Viral pathogens that might play a role in the decline in wild bumblebees may be transmitted from managed honeybees through flowers, according to a study published June 26 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Samantha Alger of the University of Vermont, and colleagues.\nThe decline of many bumblebee species has been linked to an increased prevalence of pathogens caused by spillover from managed bees. RNA viruses, which may be contributing to the observed declines in bumblebees, are suspected of moving from managed honeybees into wild bumblebees through shared floral resources. However, the degree to which viruses can be horizontally transmitted, with flowers acting as a bridge, remains poorly understood. To address this gap in knowledge, Alger and her colleagues examined if RNA viruses spill over from managed honeybees, the extent to which viruses are replicating within bumblebees, and the role of flowers in transmission.\nThe authors found that the prevalence of two RNA viruses -- the deformed wing virus (DWV) and the black queen cell virus (BQCV) -- was higher in bumblebees collected near apiaries, where beehives are kept. Active infections with DWV were also higher in bumblebees collected near apiaries, whereas no DWV was found in bumblebees where honeybee foragers and honeybee apiaries were absent. Moreover, the researchers detected viruses on 19% of flowers, only from sites within apiaries. Taken together, the results support the hypothesis that viruses are spilling over from managed honeybees to wild bumblebees, and that flowers may be an important route for transmission. According to the authors, the findings could guide efforts to protect vulnerable bumblebee species.\nAlger adds: \"The study supports a widely accepted yet largely untested hypothesis: viruses are spilling over from managed honey bees into wild bumble bee species and this is likely occurring through the shared use of flowers.\"\nCitation: Alger SA, Burnham PA, Boncristiani HF, Brody AK (2019) RNA virus spillover from managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) to wild bumblebees (Bombus spp.). PLoS ONE 14(6): e0217822. https:/\nFunding: Funding was provided by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to SAA (DGE-1451866) (https:/\nCompeting Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.\nIn your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: http://journals.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "written by David Steffen\nMy flash fiction story “Reckoning” is now posted on Stupefying Stories for you to read for free. It’s the tale of southern fire-and-brimstone Preacher Paul and his encounter with Death. This one’s been around for a little while, though I think a recent complete rewrite of the ending is what helped push it over into purchase territory.\nThe story began from the opening joke:\n“The Day of Reckoning is upon us,” Preacher Paul said.\n“You reckon?” Jake answered.\nI hope you enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment here.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "about the book\nPurbasari yang menderita penyakit kulit dikucilkan di hutan. Di sana seekor lutung bernama Lutung Kasarung, menemani dan dapat membuatnya sembuh. Saat Purbasari ingin kembali ke istana, Purbararang menghalanginya dengan mengajukan syarat yang berat! Dapatkah Purbasari memenuhi syarat itu? Dapatkah dia kembali ke istana?\nDIAN K Information\nDian K has written 69 published books, including children books, novels and nonfiction. She also had written many children short stories and fairy tales, which appeared in many children magazines. Her articles were also published in some adult magazines. Her book, 100 Indonesian Folktales has...\nCategory: Anak, Cerita Rakyat, Children's Books, Pictures Books, Toddlers\nPage: 32 halaman", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins, is delighted to have won, at auction, two books from Chloe Seager. Katie Seaman, Senior Commissioning Editor, acquired UK & Commonwealth rights from Silé Edwards whilst at Mushens Entertainment. North American rights were acquired by Asanté Simons at William Morrow in a significant six figure overnight pre-empt from Ginger Clark at Ginger Clark Literary, with German rights quickly snapped up by DTV.\nOpen Minded follows Holly and Fliss, two strangers brought together by their relationship woes. After nine years of dating, it’s a question of when not if Holly’s boyfriend Will is going to propose. She’s shocked when rather than popping the question, he suggests they open their relationship and date other people. Meanwhile Fliss, who’s happily been in an open relationship for the past five years, isn’t sure she’s ready to give up on dating other people yet. Fliss and Holly strike up an instant friendship, with Fliss agreeing to teach Holly everything she knows about being in an open relationship, while Holly can help Fliss navigate monogamy. Although they soon learn that there’s no one size fits all when it comes to relationships…\nChloe Seager said: ‘I started this novel during the pandemic when everyone around me seemed to be questioning their lives and thinking about what they really wanted. As a big romance reader, I became keen to write something in the genre that explored the traditional idea of romance, and I’m delighted that it found its perfect home with Katie at HQ and Asanté at William Morrow. I’m excited for readers to meet Holly and Fliss.’\nKatie Seaman said: ‘I fell head over heels for this fresh and funny romcom with a twist asking if ‘The One’ is the only Mr Right. Exploring friendship, dating and open relationships, it’s a brilliantly zeitgeisty novel and Chloe is an exciting new voice that readers of Beth O’Leary, Emily Henry and Kate Davies will love.’\nSilé Edwards said: ‘As terribly cliched as this sounds, I was hooked from the very first line I read. Fliss and Holly’s voices absolutely leap of the page and Chloe’s zippy, engaging writing style made this book absolutely unputdownable. I am delighted to have found such a dedicated team to bring Open Minded into the world, and with it absolutely lighting up my meetings at the fair, I look forward to seeing it brought to international audiences too.’\nOpen Minded will be published by HQ in hardback, eBook and audio in February 2024.\nNotes to Editors:\nAbout Chloe Seager\nChloe Seager is a children’s and YA agent at Madeleine Milburn and a published author. Her debut YA book, Editing Emma, and the sequel, Friendship Fails of Emma Nash, published with HQ in 2017 and 2018, and her most recent book My Type on Paper published with Scholastic in 2020.\nSpecialising in commercial fiction, non-fiction and innovative digital publishing, HQ is a young, ambitious, and award-winning imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. It launches debuts, builds brands and publishes Sunday Times bestselling authors such as such as Adele Parks, Linwood Barclay, Sarah Morgan, Erica James and Carrie Hope Fletcher. Debut novels published by HQ, The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain and This Lovely City by Louise Hare, have been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the RSL Ondaatje Prize respectively. HQ Non-Fiction publishes the Sunday Times bestselling BOSH!, The Batch Lady and The Prison Doctor books, as well as June Sarpong’s award-winning work on DE&I and Caroline Hirons’ record-breaking Skincare. In 2022, HQ published Joe Wicks’ Feel Good Food which was industry Number 1. HQ prides itself on publishing books that are bold, brave, inclusive, and always with a compelling story to tell.\nHarperCollins UK is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, the second largest consumer book publisher in the world, with operations in 17 countries. With over two hundred years of history and more than 120 unique imprints around the world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every year, in 16 languages, and has a print and digital catalogue of more than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins authors include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals and the Man Booker Prize. HarperCollins UK has offices in London, Glasgow, Honley and Manchester and can be found online at www.harpercollins.co.uk.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Sept. 2005, p. 5607–5609 0099-2240/05/$08.00⫹0 doi:10.1128/AEM.71.9.5607–5609.2005 Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.\nVol. 71, No. 9\nSelenite and Tellurite Reduction by Shewanella oneidensis Agnieszka Klonowska,1 Thierry Heulin,1 and Andre´ Vermeglio2* Laboratoire d’Ecologie Microbienne de la Rhizosphe`re1 and Laboratoire de Bioe´nerge´tique Cellulaire CEA/Cadarache,2 DSV-DEVM-UMR 6191 CNRS-CEA-Aix-Marseille II, 13108 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex, France Received 1 February 2005/Accepted 3 April 2005\nShewanella oneidensis MR-1 reduces selenite and tellurite preferentially under anaerobic conditions. The Se(0) and Te(0) deposits are located extracellularly and intracellularly, respectively. This difference in localization and the distinct effect of some inhibitors and electron acceptors on these reduction processes are taken as evidence of two independent pathways. Selenium, an element widely distributed on the earth’s crust and required for the synthesis of the essential amino acid selenocysteine, is highly toxic at M concentrations (1). In aerated environments, selenium occurs predominantly in the high-valence soluble selenate (SeO42⫺, ⫹VI) and selenite (SeO32⫺, ⫹IV) forms, while the dominant species in anaerobic sediments is the insoluble elemental selenium\n[Se(0)]. Microorganisms are involved in the geochemical cycle of selenium due to their ability to enzymatically reduce Se(IV) and Se(VI) (10). Depending on the considered species, the microbial reduction functions as a detoxification mechanism (4, 6), maintains the redox poise (23), or is part of a respiratory electron chain (2, 9, 17, 20). Oxyanions of tellurium, an element of the same group (XVI) in the peri-\nFIG. 1. Microscopic analysis of S. oneidensis MR-1 cells grown in LB medium supplemented with 2 mM selenite (A, B, and C) or 0.5 mg liter⫺1 tellurite (D). (A) Laser scanning confocal microscope, (B) scanning electron microscope, and (C and D) TEM micrograph images. The selenium and tellurium deposits are indicated by arrows.\n* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Bioe´nerge´tique Cellulaire CEA/Cadarache, DSV-DEVM-UMR 6191 CNRSCEA-Aix-Marseille II, 13108 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex, France. Phone: 33 442254630. Fax: 33 442254701. E-mail: [email protected]\nKLONOWSKA ET AL.\nAPPL. ENVIRON. MICROBIOL.\nFIG. 2. Aerobic (A) and anaerobic (B) growth of S. oneidensis MR-1 in LB medium supplemented from the beginning with different concentrations of selenite (open circles, no selenite; closed circles, 0.2 mM; squares, 1 mM; and triangles, 2 mM). Anaerobic growth was performed in LB medium supplemented by lactate and fumarate. (C) Depletion of selenite from an aerobic culture when selenite (2 mM) was present from the beginning or added at different times of culture growth. Open triangles, selenite added at the beginning of the culture; circles, selenite added after 3 h (optical density at 600 nm [OD600] of 0.6); squares, selenite added after 4 h (OD600 of 1.0); and closed triangles, selenite added after 5 h (OD600 of 2.0). (D) Depletion of selenite from LB anaerobic medium amended from the beginning with 1 mM selenite in the presence of lactate.\nodic table as selenium, are also reduced by various bacterial species (5, 21). Shewanella oneidensis (formerly Shewanella putrefaciens) MR-1 (22), a facultatively anaerobic ␥-proteobacterium, possesses remarkably diverse respiratory capacities, including the ability to reduce metals like Fe(III) and Mn(IV) and radionuclides (7, 8, 12, 13, 16). In this report, we analyze the reduction process of selenite and tellurite by this bacterium. The liquid cultures of S. oneidensis MR-1 grown either aerobically or anaerobically in the presence of Se(IV) or Te(IV) turned red (18) or black (5), respectively, proving the ability of this bacterium to reduce these oxyanions to their elemental forms. To assess the cellular localization of the reduced deposits, bacterial cells were analyzed by means of three different microscopes (laser scanning confocal microscope, environmental scanning electron microscope [ESEM], and transmission electron microscope [TEM]). In the case of selenite, spherical deposits, identified as Se(0) by energy dispersion of X rays (EDX) (data not shown), were detected in the medium or attached to the cells (Fig. 1A through C), suggesting that selenite reduction occurs at the surface of the cell. Reduction at the cell surface, related to the electron transfer capacity of cytochrome c (11) on the outer membrane, has already been reported in the case of insoluble Mn(IV) and Fe(III) oxides (14). In the case of tellurite, needle-like inclusions identified as Te(0) by EDX analysis were localized in the cytoplasm or near the cytoplasmic membrane\n(Fig. 1D) as already reported for other tellurite-reducing bacteria (21). The influence of Se(IV) on the bacterial growth was measured under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions (Fig. 2A and B). Under aerobic conditions, Se(IV) concentrations higher than 0.2 mM affected both the growth rate and the final cell yield. The bacteria appeared to be more sensitive to Se(IV) addition under anaerobic conditions, as shown by the decreases of 48% and 52% in growth rate and the final cell yield, respectively, observed for 0.2 mM Se(IV) (Fig. 2B). While Se(IV) reduction occurred only in the late stationary phase under aerobic conditions (Fig. 2C), this process followed roughly the growth curve under anaerobic conditions (Fig. 2D). Interestingly, the addition of 2 mM selenite to aerobic cultures at different times during the growth was followed by an immediate reduction (Fig. 2C). This observation and the relative fast reduction observed under anaerobiosis suggest that the selenite reduction process was highly dependent on the O2 concentration in the culture medium as previously reported for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (3). We have therefore determined the influence of the O2 concentration, from 0 to 250 M, on the yield of Se(IV) reduction. The Se(IV) reduction was maximal under anaerobic conditions and decreased strongly in the presence of O2, reaching values as low as 5 to 7% for O2 concentrations greater than 120 M. This Se(IV) reduction capability was induced by anaerobic conditions and not due to inactivation of some electron carriers or\nSELENITE AND TELLURITE REDUCTION BY S. ONEIDENSIS\nVOL. 71, 2005\nenzymatic activities by the presence of O2 as shown by the low yield of Se(IV) reduction (4%), measured under anaerobic conditions, for cells previously grown under aerobic conditions. Under anaerobic conditions, Se(IV) reduction activity was highly dependent upon the nature of the electron donor. The best reduction was obtained for cells incubated in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium or in the presence of yeast extract. Much lower reduction yields were obtained with electron donors (lactate, formate, and pyruvate) and Casamino Acids or Bacto tryptone in phosphate buffer. The best reduction yield [13% of the maximal amount of Se(IV) reduced in LB medium] was obtained with lactate. Se(IV) reduction yield was also influenced by the presence of different terminal electron acceptors (fumarate, nitrate, nitrite, TMAO [trimethylamine-N-oxide], and dimethyl sulfoxide). Addition of these different electron acceptors resulted in almost 95% inhibition of Se(IV) reduction. Se(IV) reduction occurred, however, after a long period of growth, probably after complete reduction of the added terminal electron acceptor. The Te(IV) reduction was also inhibited by the addition of fumarate, nitrate, and nitrite but was not affected by dimethyl sulfoxide or TMAO. The various electron acceptors used are the substrates for periplasmic terminal reductases of S. oneidensis, which are all supplied with electrons by the membranebound tetracytochrome c, CymA (19). We have therefore examined the role of CymA in the oxyanion reduction capability. A mutant from which cymA is deleted (15) is still able to reduce selenite or tellurite (data not shown). We therefore conclude that competition for electrons between Se(IV) reduction and the various electron acceptors tested occurs upstream from the electron carrier CymA, possibly at the quinone pool level. The difference in the localizations of Se(0) and Te(0) deposits (Fig. 1), together with the differential effect of terminal electron acceptors, suggests that the reduction mechanisms of Se(IV) and Te(IV) are distinct processes. Further proof was obtained by comparing the effects of various inhibitors on these processes. For example, 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinolineN-oxide (HQNO), antimycin A, pCMB, and potassium cyanide inhibited the Se(IV) reduction process, while the Te(IV) reduction was affected only by the two former inhibitors. In conclusion, despite their close positions in the periodic table in the XVI group, the two oxyanions, selenite and tellurite, are reduced by two distinct pathways in S. oneidensis. Clearly, additional work is needed to describe in more detail the molecular mechanisms of the reduction of these two oxyanions by S. oneidensis. We are grateful to M. Lesourd for the contribution to TEM observations and EDX analysis and to I. Felines for the contribution to ESEM observations of S. oneidensis. We acknowledge B. M. Tebo and R. Bencheikh (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California—San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.) for providing us the mutant cymA strain. We also offer special thanks to G. De Luca for friendly discussions and encouragement. The work was supported by a grant from the “Programme Toxicologie Nucle´aire” of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). REFERENCES 1. Conde, J. E., and A. M. Sanz. 1997. Selenium concentrations in natural and environmental waters. Chem. Rev. 97:1979–2004.\n2. DeMoll-Decker, H., and J. M. Macy. 1993. The periplasmic nitrite reductase of Thauera selenatis may catalyse the reduction of selenite to elemental selenium. Arch. Microbiol. 160:241–247. 3. Dungan, R. S., S. R. Yates, and W. T. Frankenberger. 2003. Transformations of selenate and selenite by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolated from a seleniferous agricultural drainage pond sediment. Environ. Microbiol. 5:287–295. 4. Garbisu, C., S. Gonzalez, W. H. Yang, B. C. Yee, D. L. Carlson, A. Yee, N. R Smith, R. Otero, B. B. Buchanan, and T. Leighton. 1995. Physiological mechanisms regulating the conversion of selenite to elemental selenium by Bacillus subtilis. Biofactors 5:29–37. 5. Lloyd-Jones, G., A. M. Osborn, D. A. Ritchie, P. Strike, J. L. Hobman, N. L. Brown, and D. A. Rouch. 1994. Accumulation and intracellular fate of tellurite in tellurite-resistant Escherichia coli: a model for the mechanism of resistance. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 118:113–119. 6. Lortie, L., W. D. Gould, S. Rajan, R. G. L. McCready, and K. Cheng. 1992. Reduction of selenate and selenite to elemental selenium by a Pseudomonas stutzeri isolate. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:4042–4044. 7. Lovley, D. R., E. J. P. Phillips, and D. J. Lonergan. 1989. Hydrogen and formate oxidation coupled to dissimilatory reduction of iron or manganese by Alteromonas putrefaciens. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 55:700–706. 8. Lui, C., Y. A. Gorbi, J. M. Zachara, J. K. Fredrickson, and C. F. Brown. 2002. Reduction kinetics of Fe(III), Co(III), U(VI), Cr(VI), and Tc(VII) in cultures of dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 80:637– 649. 9. Macy, J. M., S. Rech, G. Auling, M. Dorsch, E. Stackebrandt, and L. I. Sly. 1993. Thauera selenatis gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the beta subclass of Proteobacteria with a novel type of anaerobic respiration. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 43:135–142. 10. Maiers, D. T., P. L. Wichlacz, D. L. Thompson, and D. F. Bruhn. 1988. Selenate reduction by bacteria from a selenium-rich environment. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 54:2591–2593. 11. Meyer, T. E., A. I. Tsapin, I. Vandenberghe, L. de Smet, D. Frishman, K. H. Nealson, M. A. Cusanovich, and J. J. van Beeumen. 2004. Identification of 42 possible cytochrome c genes in the Shewanella oneidensis genome and characterization of six soluble cytochromes. OMICS 8:57–77. 12. Morris, C. J., D. M. Gibson, and F. B. Ward. 1990. Influence of respiratory substrate on the cytochrome content of Shewanella putrefaciens. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 57:259–262. 13. Myers, C. R., and K. H. Nealson. 1988. Bacterial manganese reduction and growth with manganese oxide as the sole electron acceptor. Science 240: 1319–1321. 14. Myers, C. R., and J. M. Myers. 1993. Ferric reductase is associated with the membranes of anaerobically grown Shewanella putrefaciens MR1. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 108:15–22. 15. Myers, J. M., and C. R. Myers. 2000. Role of the tetraheme cytochrome CymA in anaerobic electron transport in cells of Shewanella putrefaciens MR-1 with normal levels of menaquinone. J. Bacteriol. 182:67–75. 16. Myers, J. M., W. E. Antholine, and C. R. Myers. 2004. Vanadium(V) reduction by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 requires menaquinone and cytochromes from the cytoplasmic and outer membranes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 1405–1412. 17. Oremland, R. S., J. S. Blum, C. W. Culbertson, P. T. Visscher, L. G. Miller, P. Dowdle, and F. E. Strohmaier. 1994. Isolation, growth, and metabolism of an obligately anaerobic, selenate-respiring bacterium, strain SES-3. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60:3011–3019. 18. Oremland, R. S., M. J. Herbel, J. S. Blum, S. Langley, T. J. Beveridge, P. M. Ajayran, T. Sutto, A. V. Settis, and S. Curran. 2004. Structural and spectral features of selenium nanospheres produced by Se-respiring bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:52–60. 19. Schwalb, C., S. K. Chapman, and G. A. Reid. 2002. The membrane-bound tetrahaem c-type cytochrome CymA interacts directly with the soluble fumarate reductase in Shewanella. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 30:658–662. 20. Switzer, B. J., B. A. Burns, J. Buzzelli, J. F. Stolz, and R. S. Oremland. 1998. Bacillus arsenicoselenatis, sp. nov., and Bacillus selenitireducens, sp. nov.: two haloalkaliphiles from Mono Lake, California that respire oxyanions of selenium and arsenic. Arch. Microbiol. 171:19–30. 21. Taylor, D. E. 1999. Bacterial tellurite resistance. Trends Microbiol. 7:111– 115. 22. Venkateswaran, K., D. P. Moser, M. E. Dolhopf, D. P. Lies, D. A. Saffarini, B. J. MacGregor, D. B. Ringelberg, D. C. White, M. Nishijima, H. Sano, J. Burghardt, E. Stackebrandt, and K. H. Nealson. 1999. Polyphasic taxonomy of the genus Shewanella and description of Shewanella oneidensis sp. nov. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 49:705–724. 23. Yamada, A., M. Miyashita, K. Inoue, and T. Matsunaga. 1997. Extracellular reduction of selenite by a novel marine photosynthetic bacterium. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 48:367–372.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It Ain’t about Christmas\n“The Raven” ain’t no Christmas narrative.\nIt is set in the bleak December, though.\nTrapped in a world that he cannot forgive,\nThe Speaker lets his self-destruction grow\nBy asking questions that he ought to know\nWill twist him into shapes of hopelessness.\nThe Raven’s simple answers, there for show,\nAre, as the reader learns, not hard to guess.\nGuy wants to hear his dark guest croaking yes.\nInstead, it’s “nevermore” and “nevermore.”\nPredictably, our man ends up a mess.\nThe Raven hangs around above the door.\nMournful remembrance, folks: that’s where it’s at.\nHa! Have a Happy New Year after that!\n(Illustration by Gustave Doré.)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "November 5, 2019 — Abbe reviews The Other's Gold, hears from author Meg Wolitzer about her latest book, The Female Persuasion, and her mentors (Nora Ephron!) and talks with novelist Christy Lefteri about how the Syrian refugee crisis informs her book, The Beekeeper of Aleppo.\nSee More 36'28\nOctober 29, 2019 — Abbe chats with Neil Patrick Harris about Gone Girl, the stories he reads with his kids, and his middle-grade series, The Magic Misfits. She talks friendship with How Could She author Lauren Mechling and raves about Normal People by Sally Rooney.\nSee More 38'42\nOctober 15, 2019 — In the first episode of the fourth season of the Read it Forward podcast, Abbe interviews Deepak Chopra, M.D., about mindfulness and his latest work, Metahuman, reflects on Toni Morrison's novel, The Bluest Eye, and talks with environmental scientist and entrepreneur Summer Rayne Oakes about the benefits of being a plant parent.\nSee More 38'29\nFrom our TBR piles to your ears: tune in to discover the books you need to read.\nWelcome to the Read it Forward Podcast, hosted by Senior Editor, Abbe Wright. She sits down every week to chat about favorite books, alongside authors and other special guests. Abbe shares what she’s reading, asks authors about their books and what titles are in their TBR pile and, above all, gives book recommendations that are sure to please. Listen along when you’re on the hunt for your next great read. Abbe’s busy combing her shelves to bring you the absolute best books out there.\nI'd like updates on books, giveaways, special promotions, and more from Read It Forward and from Penguin Random House.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, laboratory diagnosis plays a crucial role by isolating and identifying poliovirus (PV) through the stool samples from acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases. against PV could be determined within 2 days by automated interpretation of luciferase signals without using infectious PV strains. We validated the pseudovirus PV neutralization test with 131 human serum samples collected from a wide range of age groups (ages 1 to >60 years) by comparison with a conventional neutralization test. We found good correlation in the neutralizing-antibody titers determined by these tests. These results suggest that a pseudovirus PV neutralization test would serve as a safe and simple procedure for the measurement of the neutralizing-antibody titer against PV. INTRODUCTION In the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, laboratory diagnosis plays a INNO-406 critical role by isolating and identifying poliovirus (PV) from the stool samples from acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases for surveillance of PV circulation. In the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Polio Laboratory Network, PV isolation and identification have been performed at WHO national polio laboratories in a cell culture system (18, 19), followed by differentiation of the isolates into oral PV vaccine (OPV)-related PV, vaccine-derived PV (VDPV), and wild-type PV isolates by several methods at WHO regional reference laboratories (12, INNO-406 19). Surveillance of PV is essential for monitoring the progress of PV eradication in countries where PV is endemic (4 countries as of 2011) and for the maintenance of the polio-free status of countries where PV is not endemic by preventing circulation of imported PVs or VDPVs from countries where PV is endemic through proper vaccination campaigns. In the end game of the eradication program, surveillance of seroprevalence against PV in susceptible populations is essential for monitoring vulnerability to PV circulation in PV-free countries to sustain their PV-free status and the seroconversion rates in countries where PV is endemic to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccination strategies. In laboratories, the neutralizing-antibody titer has been determined by a conventional PV neutralization test (cPNT) using a susceptible cell culture system and infectious challenge virus (20). Characteristic requirements for a cPNT are as follows: (i) use of infectious virus (usually OPV strains are used), (ii) expertise of personnel (for observation of cytopathic effect [CPE] in inoculated cells), and (iii) extended time for results (5 to 7 days of culture). In Japan, FJX1 surveillance of neutralizing antibody against PV has been performed every 2 or 3 3 years since 1974 for serum INNO-406 samples from healthful volunteers (about 1,100 to at least one 1,800 people in six to eight 8 prefectures) in an array of INNO-406 age groups (0 to >40 years) predicated on cPNTs in prefectural laboratories (http://idsc.nih.go.jp/yosoku/Polio/Year-P2009.html) (9). Taking into consideration the experience and INNO-406 biosafety necessary for the check, a PV neutralization check that’s safer and simpler than cPNT will be desirable in the long run game from the eradication system. In today’s study, a book continues to be produced by us PV neutralization check using non-self-proliferating PV pseudovirus, which encapsidated luciferase-encoding PV replicons with PV capsid proteins (2). Inside a pseudovirus PV neutralization check (pPNT), the neutralizing-antibody titer was established predicated on the luciferase indicators in inoculated cells within 2 times. The results recommended that pPNT would serve as a secure and simple process of the measurement from the neutralizing-antibody titer against PV. METHODS and MATERIALS Cells, infections, and human being sera. RD cells (human being rhabdomyosarcoma cells) and HEK293 cells (human being embryonic kidney cells) had been cultured as monolayers in Dulbecco’s customized Eagle moderate (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal leg serum (FCS). Vero cells (African green monkey kidney cells) had been cultured as monolayers in Eagle’s minimal essential moderate (EMEM) supplemented with 0.11% bovine serum albumin (BSA) (fraction V; Sigma). RD cells had been useful for the titration of PV as well as for the pPNT. Vero cells had been useful for the pPNT. HEK293 cells had been used for creation of PV pseudoviruses. PV pseudoviruses, which encapsidated luciferase-encoding PV replicons with PV capsid proteins produced from PV1Mahoney, PV2MEF-1, and PV3Saukett A, had been ready as reported previously (2) (discover below for the building of type 2 and 3 PV capsid proteins manifestation vectors and planning of PV pseudoviruses). Human being sera had been collected from healthful volunteers (aged 1 to 76 years) with educated consent..", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Happy Friday everyone and welcome to my First Lines Friday post! I love writing these and either sampling the beginnings of books still to be read or re-reading old ones! Today’s featured book is one that is currently on my TBR, or to be read list. Given the science-fiction theme I have been sticking to lately, I figured to share the opening lines of another book from the same genre!\nCan you guess what it is?\nI love Thursday nights. They have a feel to them that’s outside of time.\nIt’s our tradition, just the three of us – family night.\nMy son, Charlie, is sitting at the table, drawing on a sketch pad. He’s almost fifteen. The kid grew two inches over summer, and he’s as tall as I am now.\nI turn away from the onion I’m julienning, ask, “Can I see?”\nHe holds up the pad, shows me a mountain range that looks like something on another planet.\nI say, “Love that. Just for fun?”\n“Class project. Due tomorrow.”\n“Then get back to it, Mr Last Minute.”\nStanding happy and slightly drunk in my kitchen, I’m unaware that tonight is the end of all of this. The end of everything I know, everything I love.\nJason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.\nIt starts with a man in a mask kidnapping him at gunpoint, for reasons Jason can’t begin to fathom—what would anyone want with an ordinary physics professor?—and grows even more terrifying from there, as Jason’s abductor injects him with some unknown drug and watches while he loses consciousness.\nWhen Jason awakes, he’s in a lab, strapped to a gurney—and a man he’s never seen before is cheerily telling him “welcome back!”\nJason soon learns that in this world he’s woken up to, his house is not his house. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born.\n***Please note this post contains affiliate links, meaning that I will earn a small commission on purchases made through them. If you like what you read, please consider using these links and supporting a book blogger! Thank you!***\nHi guys! Welcome back to my blog and today’s promo post for Fighting Back by Rachel Churcher! What makes this post all the more exciting is that today is publication day for the book! I am so glad to be featuring it on this first day of the tour.\nI shared a promotional post for Darkest Hour, the third book of the Battle Ground series last month as well. If you are interested in the series you might want to check that post out as well!\nLiving where I do the series is particularly topical. I have a number of other blogging commitments meaning I was unable to read the series for the tour. However, it’s on my TBR to catch up with at a later date!\nI hope that today’s post piques your interest in the series. There are a number of fabulous blogs also taking part in the tour so please check out their posts in the coming days for reviews and other feature posts!\nBex Ellman and her friends are in hiding, sheltered by the resistance. With her family threatened and her friendships challenged, she’s looking for a way to fight back. Ketty Smith is in London, supporting a government she no longer trusts. With her support network crumbling, Ketty must decide who she is fighting for – and what she is willing risk to uncover the truth.\nThe Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence.\nRachel Churcher was born between the last manned moon landing, and the first orbital Space Shuttle mission. She remembers watching the launch of STS-1, and falling in love with space flight, at the age of five. She fell in love with science fiction shortly after that, and in her teens she discovered dystopian fiction. In an effort to find out what she wanted to do with her life, she collected degrees and other qualifications in Geography, Science Fiction Studies, Architectural Technology, Childminding, and Writing for Radio.\nShe has worked as an editor on national and in-house magazines; as an IT trainer; and as a freelance writer and artist. She has renovated several properties, and has plenty of horror stories to tell about dangerous electrics and nightmare plumbers. She enjoys reading, travelling, stargazing, and eating good food with good friends – but nothing makes her as happy as writing fiction.\nHer first published short story appeared in an anthology in 2014, and the Battle Ground series is her first long-form work. Rachel lives in East Anglia, in a house with a large library and a conservatory full of house plants. She would love to live on Mars, but only if she’s allowed to bring her books.\nGood morning everyone and welcome to my stop for the blog tour of Ctrl+S by Andy Briggs! Before I get into the details, I would like to thank Alex Layt at Orion Publishing for organising the tour and sending me a review copy of the book! As always with these posts, the views expressed are my honest opinion.\nI am really excited to be sharing my thoughts with you on Ctrl+S – particularly to fans of near-future science-fiction novels. If you enjoy this particular genre then you are going to love this book! Equally, I only occasionally venture into the genre and I loved it as well. Ctrl+S is due to be published in a matter of days so if you do enjoy this review, please do consider getting yourself a copy!\nBefore I begin with my review, please also take a moment to take a look at some of the other reviews shared as part of the tour.\nLife in the near future’s NOT ALL BAD. We’ve reversed global warming, and fixed the collapsing bee population. We even created SPACE, a virtual-sensory universe where average guys like Theo Wilson can do almost anything they desire.\nBut ALMOST ANYTHING isn’t enough for some. Every day, normal people are being taken, their emotions harvested – and lives traded – to create death-defying thrills for the rich and twisted.\nNOW THEO’S MOTHER HAS DISAPPEARED. And as he follows her breadcrumb trail of clues, he’ll come up against the most dangerous SPACE has to offer: vPolice, AI Bots and anarchists – as well as a criminal empire that will KILL TO STOP HIM finding her . .\nThe beauty of this near-future novel is that the premise of the book centres on an improved variety of technology that already exists – SPACE. Imagine augmented reality at your fingertips whenever you want it. Or, you can “ascend” for a limited time and experience virtual reality with your friends. There’s all of the fun and none of the pain if you get hurt or die in a game. That is, until someone finds a loophole.\nThose rich enough to pay for the thrill can experience the pain and terror of death without the final blow. Maybe someone wants to feel the thrill of jumping off a building without the splat at the end. Real people are kidnapped and exploited to harvest whichever raw emotion is desired. It puts a sinister twist on the technology’s motto, More real than real. Theo’s mum Ella inadvertently gets dragged into the criminal underbelly after becoming indebted to the wrong people. When she doesn’t come home one day, the dangerous truth hits home.\nTheo, Clemmie, Baxter and Milton take centre stage and are supported by a wide cast of varying characters. Their similarity in age to myself (and I imagine a lot of prospective readers) makes them really relatable and easy to invest into as the story progresses. You’ll laugh because I particularly relate to Theo. I didn’t go to University, unlike a lot of my friends, and I worked in a fast food place as my first job too! It’s the little things, right?\nThe “technology” aspect of the novel is really easy to follow. I can confidently say I think anyone can pick it up and understand the basics. Even from there, I feel that the descriptions of the advancement to today’s version of the technology is explained really well where relevant. Breaking up the information to impart what is necessary at any given time prevents dumping a lot of information on the reader. Some might find that overwhelming but I didn’t find this at all in Ctrl+S. Overall, I found there was a great balance between the action of the novel and clarifying how everything unfamiliar worked. The chapters are nice and concise as well which helps keep the momentum.\nAs the group of friends find themselves in increasingly hot water having been thrown into a criminal world where anything goes, you really find yourself rooting for them as the underdogs to save Ella and countless others from their emotional exploitation. As the plot unravels our protagonists fight desperately to pick up the clues left by Ella in order to find the mastermind behind the abuse of SPACE. The genre combination of science-fiction and thriller worked really well and is a highly recommended read by me!\nIt’s Sunday evening again friends, so it can only mean it’s time for this week’s Sunday Summary post! Have you had a good week? Mine has been pretty good. I took a slightly more chilled stance on the blog posting this week in an effort to catch up with some reading. Turns out, I needed that time!\nMy first blog post of the week was published on Tuesday. For a bit of fun, I decided to take part in the Autumn Book Tag! It’s been a little while since I have written one of these posts and I really enjoyed doing so!\nThen, on Friday I published my next Shelf Control post – this week I featured Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan. If you want to check out why Age of Myth is on my TBR then you can check out that post to find out more!\nThrough no fault of my own, I have had a shift in priorities this week. I began where I left off in last week’s Sunday Summary post with reading Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio. This is no small book, so I was hoping to make good progress this week. As it is, I feel I am already behind on my reading.\nI then received an email about a blog tour that I signed up for, giving me a week’s notice for my tour date. It was a genuine mistake that I hadn’t had it confirmed earlier. Truthfully, I had forgotten about it too. I received my copy of the book to review a couple of weeks ago. So, I have been reading Ctrl+S by Andy Briggs most of the week! As things stand, I only have 40 or so pages left to read so that is tonight’s job after I publish this post.\nAs always I have been enjoying listening to my audiobooks and Thunderhead is getting really good right now! I have just less than four hours to go to the end and I cannot wait to see how things unravel. As it happens, I have some time off work imminently so I have more time to listen to this. I basically have my headphones glued in when I am home nowadays, so it gives me an excuse to listen to something!\nI signed up to a website called BookSirens about a month ago. As is well-documented on my blog, my thoughts on Netgalley aren’t all that positive. I have no objection to using the site for tours and books from specific publishers, but I don’t really rate it otherwise. In terms of looking for other ARCS, I don’t actively use it.\nI signed up to BookSirens as it seemed a lot more user-friendly, looked more appealing and I liked the look of a number of books on there. At the time I signed up I couldn’t commit to reading any books due to blog tour commitments. After a couple of weeks of registering and not signing up to any reviews, they kindly sent me an email to get some feedback from me on whether I had any problems. I explained that I had some other review obligations elsewhere, which was totally fine with them. I actually really like this personal touch – there is no way you would get the same from Netgalley!\nWell, this week I signed up to my first review after an email notified me that some books now had a longer window to review them in! I started small with a novella called Fires of the Dead by Jed Herne. I have until February to read and review it, but I would like to get it done sooner if I can!\nI have a couple of blog tours to take part in next week, which is really exciting!\nI mentioned Ctrl+S earlier in the post, as I have had to hastily read the book in advance of the tour. My tour slot is on Tuesday next week (26th November) and I am really looking forward to sharing my review. If you like the sound of a near-future science-fiction novel about the use (and abuse) of virtual reality, then stay tuned!\nA little later in the week, I am taking part in another blog tour post! On Thursday I am promoting the latest book in the Battleground series, Fighting Back by Rachel Churcher.\nA First Lines Friday post will be taking its place on the blog on… well, that’s obvious. Friday. I really enjoy writing these posts and I hope you enjoy reading them too!\nHi guys and welcome to today’s Shelf control post! Once again I’ll be taking an in-depth look at the next book on my TBR and telling you why I am excited to read it!\nAs a refresher, Shelf Control is a meme run by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies – a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves! Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up!\nFor more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out Lisa’s introductory post.\nI am using Shelf Control to look in further detail at the books I have added to the TBR and then listed as keepers in my Down the TBR Hole posts. I talk about why I want to keep the featured book; it also acts as a second sweep for anything that I may have changed my mind about. I have actually deleted a few books doing this sweep. I don’t necessarily own all the books (yet), but I will have a reasonable number of them. I’ve also gone on to read a couple of the earliest books on the list, so this mini-series is proving useful!\nSince time immemorial, humans have worshipped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between humans and those they thought were gods changes forever.\nNow only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer; Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom; and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over. The time of rebellion has begun.\nWhat interests me about this book is the breaking of a convention that Gods are immortal; untouchable. How the inevitable conflict that will ensue will pan out interests me. This synopsis is pretty short, leaving a lot to the imagination. There’s just enough there to draw a reader in whilst leaving a lot about the plot unsaid. It makes you want to read it and find out!\nAge of Myth is an epic fantasy novel. I would consider myself well-read in the genre at this point; anything that even hints at any combination of overused tropes in the genre is a put-off for me – it isn’t new. What I like about synopsis of Age of Myth is that beyond the whole destiny concept, there is nothing else that would allude to other overused tropes. I’ll have to read it to see if there are others hidden in there.\nAge of Myth also has some really good reviews, so I am optimistic that taking the plunge and reading a novel by a new author will have a good payoff!\nHave you read Age of Myth, or is it on your TBR? Let me know in the comments!\nHi everyone and welcome to today’s post – the Autumn Book Tag. I saw this over on Sara the Bibliophagist’s blog and knew I wanted to take part as a bit of fun! I absolutely love Sara’s blog and quite regularly link to some of her posts in my Sunday Summary posts. So, if you haven’t checked out her blog already, please do! You won’t regret it!\nI wanted to take a step back from book reviews for the next couple of days, having published two last week. It has been a little while since taking part in a bookish tag, so I’ll take any excuse to take part in one! They’re a great way to get to know the person behind the screen, so I hope you enjoy this post as much as I will!\nIt’s going to make absolutely no sense, but I would have to choose a series for this question. Which series? A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. What’s comforting about a series full of death, debauchery and deceit, I hear you ask? Well, I know that I can always pick up any one of these books and instantly forget about whatever else is going on. The writing is fantastic and the world-building and characters so intricately interwoven that I am absorbed immediately.\nPumpkin Carving – what is your favourite creative outlet?\nI have had a good go at quite a few creative hobbies; years ago I used to make my own Christmas / birthday / occasional cards. I still have all the stuff, but I haven’t done it for years now. Maybe I ought to dig it all back out again. I briefly took up cross-stitch but that didn’t catch on very long.\nShortly after I moved into my flat I bought a DIY painting that now has pride of place in my living room. It took me HOURS. I listened to most of the audiobook of The Stand whilst doing it. That means I spent somewhere around 75 hours completing it! I have another one part finished for the spare room, but I haven’t really touched that one for a while. I think I stopped in between paints so fingers crossed what is left hasn’t gone dry…\nMy latest creative hobby is crocheting. I started small with crochet animals and have gone on to crochet a jumper as well! It’s a good pastime if you want to keep your hands busy.\nFalling Leaves – changes that appear bad but you secretly love?\nMy family think I am a little odd for it, but I love when the nights start drawing in as winter approaches. It makes coming home after a day at work nice and cozy. That’s not to say I enjoy the dead of winter and going to work/coming home in the dark. I’m not that miserable…\nPumpkin Spiced Latte – something you love that others tend to judge\nI agree with Sara on this one – I love to stay in. There is nowhere I want to be after a long day at work than at home. Door locked. Peace at last. Sure, going out and catching up with friends and family is fun, but I enjoy coming home to my own space and being unable to unwind in my own way. I have come to need my own space to do my own thing – read a book or listen to music usually. What’s important is that Rebecca is IN and the rest of the world is distinctly OUT.\nBonfire Night – what makes you explode with joy?\nFinishing a really good book! In that moment before the book hangover begins, concluding a really good book or series reminds me just why I read so much!\nFright Night – favourite scary book or film\nThis is definitely going to be a scary book choice because I don’t really get on with scary films… and not for the reason you would expect. They don’t scare me. I learned the techniques film-makers use in my Performing Arts and Psychology lessons to hype up an audience, so I can see it a mile away and expect it. Element of surprise ruined.\nI’m much more of a fan of psychological thrillers. With that in mind, I would have to say my scary book choice is Pet Sematary by Stephen King.\nHalloween candy – favourite thing to eat\nOh goodness we could be here all day! It’s generally known and accepted that I will eat pretty much anything and everything! If I have to pick something seasonal as my favourite though, the first thing that comes to mind is the tin of Quality Street you buy “in preparation for Christmas” – knowing full well it won’t even see December.\nScarves – your autumn ‘must have’ accessory\nMy must-have autumn accessory is just that – scarves! More specifically, Kipling scarves. I’m not just a maniac for their handbags and purses, but their viscose scarves as well. I love them because they are so lightweight but do a fantastic job of keeping you warm without the bulk of a thick scarf. They’re also really pretty and smell like your perfume too, so win-win.\nI have… one or two of these beauties…\nFire – a book or film that burns your soul\nThis is actually a really tough question – I have read so many great books that it is hard to choose! I suppose the books I feel most passionately about – and love to talk about – are the likes of The Green Mile and To Kill a Mockingbird. Knowing the injustice served to so many based on the colour of their skin makes me really angry. I like to talk about them as a means of education and to be part of a society that wouldn’t let anything as ludicrous as race be a reason to treat someone differently again.\nToffee apples – a book or film that seems one thing but really has a different inside\nWhen I read War and Peace I didn’t expect the ending to be a philosophical discussion about how things could have gone differently for Napoleon. It’s about the only example I could think of – I am pretty open-minded when it comes to my books. This is the only curve ball I’ve encountered to date!\nI hope you have enjoyed this tag and reading a little about me! I’m not going to tag anyone specific to also take part, but if you do, please link me in so I can read your answers.\nHi guys and welcome to a very busy Sunday Summary post here at the home of Reviewsfeed. I had a busy day yesterday with housework and then going out for the evening! In a shake-up of usual Saturday evening activities, (aka reading) I attended The House of Hell event hosted by Nightmare Nights. I went with my mum and dad and we all enjoyed going, despite being underwhelmed by the ‘scariness’. Today, I have spent the day with them again and now come home for a not-very-relaxing evening. Around drafting tonight’s Sunday Summary post, I am baking for a charity cake sale at work tomorrow! Everything is cooling at the moment, so I get some brief respite before I have to decorate.\nAside from the above shenanigans, what have I spent my week doing? Quite simply, work, blogging and reading. The usual! The only thing out of the ordinary has been investing time into restoring the older posts I lost in the recent migration… accident.\nThe first post of the week was an overdue review of The Chalk Man by C J Tudor. I read this book back in July, so it was definitely time to commit my thoughts to a review. I had to pull the book out and refresh my memory on a couple of things. This is why making notes after I read something would come in handy, but can I do it? No.\nI published a second review of Wednesday; Making Magic is a short story written by Allan Walsh. At 32 pages it was a really quick but enjoyable read about the magic of writing and storytelling.\nFriday saw the return of my First Lines Friday regular feature and this week I featured Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Let’s just say the book choice was inspired by a current read at the time…\nIn last week’s Sunday Summary post I mentioned that I was indecisively flitting between a couple of books as my next read – Howling Dark and Days of Blood and Starlight. In the end, Days of Blood and Starlight did win and it didn’t take me all that long to read. I couldn’t wait to pick up the next book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and I got back into it very quickly!\nConscious that it was the middle of the month and I had only read two books on the TBR, I picked up the shortest book on my list, Awa and the Dreamrealm by Isa Pearl Ritchie. At around 200 pages, my aim was to blitz this within a couple of days and I did! It makes me feel better going into the second half of the month knowing I am on track. I have read this book as I am reviewing it for the upcoming blog tour starting at the end of the month. It’s a children’s book so I am not its target audience, but I really enjoyed it and I’m not ashamed either! I love the main theme and the topics that this book addresses.\nIt might sound daft, but in addition to my newfound love of the series, the reason I picked DOB&S over Howling Dark is that the proof copy I have is really heavy! It’s quite a bit larger and getting started has been a little cumbersome. I have started this book in earnest in the last day or two and this will be my current read for the next few days!\nI have also been listening to Thunderhead again. There is still six hours to go to reach the conclusion, so I’m going to be listening for a little while yet. The storyline of this one is interesting though and it has really picked up the pace in the last couple of hours!\nI have added one book to the list this week after stumbling across a book set where I live… entirely by chance! I was just browsing a few blog posts the other day and read an unsuspecting First Lines Friday post. When I realised that the featured book is set on the Isle of Man I added it to the list! I’ve linked the post below if you want to have a read.\nI want to make sure that I keep up with my reading next week. I may be on track but I still have three books to finish; all are over 400 pages long. Combine that with my ongoing project to restore my blog to its former glory, I have decided that this week I am keeping it to three posts.\nOn Tuesday I am going to take part in the Autumn Book Tag. I saw this over on one of my favourite blogs (again, this is linked below) and I want to take part. It’s a little bit different from the usual material I post here!\nOn Friday I’ll be tackling the TBR again (one book at a time) by sharing the next Shelf Control post. I’ll be taking a look at the next book on the list and telling you all why I want to read it. These posts have actually given me a kick to start reading some of these golden oldies. I enjoy writing them too. Do you like reading them?\nHappy Friday everyone and welcome to today’s First Lines Friday post! If you want to try the opening lines of a book without the bias of a front cover, then this post is for you! Which book am I featuring today?\nOnce upon a time, an angel and a demon fell in love.\nIt did not end well.\nWalking to school over the snow-muffled cobbles, Karou had no sinister premonitions about the day. It seemed like just another Monday, innocent but for its essential Mondayness, not to mention its Januaryness. It was cold, and it was dark – in the dead of winter the sun didn’t rise until eight – but it was also lovely. The falling snow and the early hour conspired to paint Prague ghostly, like a tintype photograph, all silver and haze.\nOn the riverfront thoroughfare, trams and buses roared past, grounding the day in the twenty-first century, but on the quieter lanes, the wintry peace might have hailed from another time. Snow and stone and ghostlight, Karou’s own footsteps and the feather of steam from her coffee mug, and she was alone and adrift in mundane thoughts: school, errands. The occasional cheek-chew of bitterness when a pang of heartache intruded, as pangs of heartache will, but she pushed them aside, resolute, ready to be done with all that.\nI have just finished reading the sequel to this yesterday and I have loved it just as much as this first book! They are so easy to pick up and get absorbed into. I have read other books by this author as well, and all of them have been brilliant! They are all touching, the characters beautifully human and hilariously funny at times.\nShall we find out what it is?\nDaughter of Smoke and Bone – Laini Taylor\nAround the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.\nIn a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.\nAnd in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.\nMeet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”, she speaks many languages – not all of them human – and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.\nWhen beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?\nDid you enjoy reading the first page of Daughter of Smoke and Bone? Have you read any or all of the series? I’d love to know!\nHi guys and welcome back to my blog! Today’s review is for a short story written by Allan Walsh. At 32 pages, this is a really quick read. If you are looking for something to while away a commute to work or entertain you during a coffee break – this could just be for you!\nAlcus wants to be a writer. When he joins a group to have his work critiqued, things are not what he expected. Alcus soon finds himself drawn into a world of wonder. Can his writing compete against real magic?\nShort stories are a great way to sample an author’s writing style without the commitment of several hundred-page long novels to wade through. My biggest make-or-break factor when deciding if I am going to like a book is the narrative style. The style of Making Magic is very easy to read and get into. It flows so easily that I read this story in no more than fifteen minutes in one sitting, attention unbroken. From beginning to end the story is consistently easy to follow.\nThe dabbling in and conjuring of magic allows for a lot of detailed description; at times beautiful, others sinister, as fits the story. The detail in which Allan Walsh describes the spells and conjurations makes it very easy to imagine yourself in the same room. Through Alcus’ eyes, we experience the wonder at the magic and the self-doubt he experiences in being able to match such powerful magic through the power of the written word.\nBeing able to communicate an idea, an image or story through words in such a way that the reader can visualise the same thing is a form of magic. Immersing yourself so deeply into a story that you don’t notice time passing by is a temporary illusion. Words can also make more permanent changes to a person’s perception.\nWho knew the power of vividly hallucinating over dead trees?\nHi guys and welcome back to another book review post! Today I am sharing my thoughts with you about The Chalk Man by C. J. Tudor. I actually read this at the end of July this year, so I had to pull my copy out to refresh myself on some of the details.\nI have plenty to say though about this read, so shall we jump into my review?\nIn 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.\nIn 2016, Eddie is fully grown, and thinks he’s put his past behind him. But then he gets a letter in the mail, containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank . . . until one of them turns up dead.\nThat’s when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.\nFirst and foremost, how does this book only have 3.7 stars on Goodreads?! I demand to know because EVERY SINGLE blogger review I have read has raved about this book. And I get that too, I loved it! I think it’s a fantastic read! That I read this from cover to cover in three days is a testament to that fact. I’m pretty sure I had a good go at enthusiastically ranting about it to my parents too.\nC . J. Tudor does a brilliant job of drawing you into the book from the very beginning. The dramatic events in the prologue and an accident at the fair in 1986 occur within the first 20 pages. From there, the story unravels in two timelines; continuing on from the fair in 1986 and the second thirty years on in 2016.\nI really enjoy dual-timeline structured narratives. When written well, as The Chalk Man is, they interweave and spur you on to read the next chapter, and the next to see what more you can uncover. It also serves well to keep the narrative fresh. It works as a second perspective, even when you are using the same pool of characters to tell the story. I did not want to put this book down. I was captivated by the story and the unnerving events that haunt Eddie, Fat Gav, Mickey, Hoppo and Nicky from their childhood.\nThe re-emergence of the chalk men after thirty years is a mystery begging to be solved, especially when the murders begin. It’s a race against time to find the killer. The conclusion of the novel is brilliant and was totally unexpected! I have a bit of a gripe with thriller novels that claim I won’t see the epic plot twist. If you tell me that, I’m going to expect one! Half the fun is trying to follow the clues and make your own mind up without knowing ANYTHING about the ending. If I try to deduce the killer and I‘m wrong, or come up short, then even better! You know you succeeded in your plot twist. The Chalk Man makes no such claim so I had no idea what to expect!\nThe Chalk Man is definitely up there in my top reads of the year. I’ll be recommending it to anyone in the market for horror/thriller/mystery book recommendations!\nIf you haven’t read it already, seriously, please do! If you have, tell me what you thought of the book! I would love to hear from you!!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Now, I am seldom out on a really grassy wicket for such a meagre score, and as David and I changed places without a word, there was a cheery look on his face that I found very galling\nThe Indians sprang upon the animals barebacked, and endeavored to urge them off under a galling\nfire that did some execution.\nHe tried to form the bitter, galling words; but a vision of that lovely face suddenly transformed with horror and disgust throttled the name in his throat.\nThen, in addition to being deprived of her forever, he must suffer the galling mortification of her scorn.\nI know how cold formalities were succeeded by open taunts; how indifference gave place to dislike, dislike to hate, and hate to loathing, until at last they wrenched the clanking bond asunder, and retiring a wide space apart, carried each a galling\nfragment, of which nothing but death could break the rivets, to hide it in new society beneath the gayest looks they could assume.\nIt is possible, and even quite probable, that but for the mere circumstance of being removed from that plantation to Baltimore, I should have to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table, in the enjoyment of freedom and the happiness of home, writing this Narrative, been confined in the galling\nchains of slavery.\non a transplanted Jatropha gossypiifolia plant under the natural field conditions in Bolivia (C).\ninsects have the ability to manipulate the development of plant tissue and promote its growth (Stone and Schonrogge, 2003) and the development of these structures has been an adaptive strategy of many insects for their food and even protection against predators (Mani, 1964; Stone and Schonrogge, 2003).\ninsects produce galls by inducing cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasia on plant meristematic tissues (Mani, 1964).\nVariations on climatic conditions and water availability affect the host plant phenology, and could therefore alter the life cycle and the distribution of galling\ninsects as demonstrated by Oliveira et al.\nThe arthropods, for example galling\ninsects, are mobile for a short period and usually do not change location after oviposition choice, it becomes visible that colonization of specific leaves or shoots within the host is imperative, since all plant parts can not respond to the insect attack (Burstein and Wool, 1993).\nlarva achieve higher density, size, and even higher fitness at the proximal portion compared to more distal portion of the leaf due to be the more rapid and efficient interception of plant photosynthates at the leaf base (Auslander et al.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Nov 4, 2011 ... Christian Poetry for Pastor's Wife, Tribute Poems for Pastor's Wife, ... poems may be perfect way to appreciate and honor our great pastor's wife.\nNov 4, 2011 ... Inspirational christian poems may be perfect way to appreciate and honor our great pastor's wife. Why Honor Pastor's Wife? A pastor's wife is ...\nA pastor's wife appreciation poem is a beautiful and unique way to convey gratitude to your pastor's wife. The role of a pastor's wife is probably one of the ...\nThe role of a pastor's wife is probably one of the toughest roles for women today. This role ... A poem is a fantastic way to honor our pastors who serve. A pastor ...\nPastors wife poems are a unique way to tell your pastors wife how much you appreciate her.\nPastor appreciation poems for any occasion. ... Bringing honor to God's name. ... Pastor's wife poems · Pastor anniversary poems · Pastor appreciation poems.\nPastor Appreciation Poems By: Carrie Kinyon ... Beside every good Pastor, stands a good pastor's wife. ... You are worthy of double honor, from all we've seen.\nThe problem with being a pastor's wife is that she is not only the silent partner, but also the sounding .... My word to the church at large – honor your pastor's wife .\nFeb 19, 2013 ... What does the Bible say about being a pastor's wife? Nothing? Actually, a lot! ... In all that she says and does she brings honor to the Lord.” (Paraphrased from ... God's beautiful and poetic masterpiece! “For we are God's ...\nFeb 4, 2008 ... .The Pastors Wife A Tribute to an Outstanding Woman She serves in a lofty position ... Topic(s) of this poem: appreciation, honor, tribute, wife.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In Mike Pace's deeply thrilling paranormal-ish novel, One to Go Tom Booker finds himself with an impossible choice to make. While texting and driving, he loses control of his vehicle, hitting a minivan that was carrying his daughter, her friends, driven by his sister-in-law. Before the minivan flipped over the bridge though, time stood still. And Tom was given a choice. Either he could let his little girl die, along with her friends, OR he could kill someone every two weeks to make up for the loss of those souls. Thinking he was having some sort of crazy hallucination, Tom chooses his daughter. Not thinking much of it until two weeks later when his sister-in-law (the driver) is found brutally murdered. So if he doesn't kill someone, anyone, in two weeks, his daughter and her friends are in serious danger, and so on. Pace has quite the imagination, and I enjoyed every bit of it.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "For any reason, you are not happy with the books, 100% refund guaranteed.\nThe Stolen Child\n'One of the nation's favourite saga writers' Lancashire Post A powerful new saga from Jennie Felton in the grand tradition of Josephine Cox, Dilly Court, Maggie Hope and Rosie Goodwin of l ove, loss, tragedy, drama, secrets and twists and turns . Will anyone believe her baby is gone? When Stella Swift is discovered holding a shard of broken glass near her newborn baby boy, fears that she might harm William result in her being taken to Catcombe - the local asylum. Although the regime is not as harsh as it once was, it's not somewhere that Tom wants to send his wife - but he has no choice. Turning to his kind-hearted sister-in-law Grace for help taking care of his other three children whilst he keeps working at the mine seems like the simplest solution until Stella is well - if only there wasn't the shared history between Tom and Grace... At first Catcombe seems to offer the respite Stella needs - until one day she becomes convinced that the baby the nurses have given to her is not William. Is Stella losing her mind? Or is it true that a mother will always know her own child? Don't miss Jennie's Families of Fairley Terrace series, which began with Maggie's story in All The Dark Secrets and continued with Lucy's story in The Miner's Daughter , Edie's story in The Girl Below Stairs , Carina's story in The Widow's Promise and Laurel's story in The Sister's Secret .\nTYPE OF BOOK: Fiction\nSUGGESTED AGE LEVEL: Adult\nAUTHOR'S NAME: Jennie Felton\nNO OF PAGES: 432\nPUBLISHER NAME: Headline books\nBook Condition: Pre-Loved\nFree Shipping on orders over ₹599\nCOD available at no extra COD charges\nShips within 24-48 hours of ordering\nBuy books worth Rs.899, get 10% off\nBuy books worth Rs.1299, get 15% off\nFirst Time Buyer - Use code BZRL to get additional 15% off.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The owner of this web site believes he lives in an absurd world. He is utterly amazed that he was dropped here to temporarily witness this ongoing life action play we call life. He figures that there was no reason for his being here, his existence, except that his mom and dad do what other animals do and procreate out of animal behavior, social norm, and any other reason you might think of. Now that he has been dropped into this enormous play, he is constantly astonished with everything he sees, hears, smells, and touches around him. This life he is leading is utterly astonishing. It is at the same time absurd because there is no meaning to all this except to survive, appreciate the play, help others all the wile waiting for it all to end for him, his death. The ultimate absurdity is that he is here, realizes he is here and knows it will all end to an extent that after death it all never took place.\nThe owner of this blog has learned a few life lessons while in the audience of this play. The first is that each individual actor has come into this world play at different levels of intelligence, wealth, power and resulting guiding philosophy. It pains him to see others that are less well off. This blog is aimed toward helping others become better actors. We each, in some varied way, can influence this play. Let’s all try to make this life better for everyone. He feels good when he helps other actors get through this life play with more comfort and enjoyment.\nThis blog will also try to defeat lies by seeking out the truth and telling the truth.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Wednesday, October 29, 2008\nWhy it's the pumpkin carving, picture book and YA writing (and illustrating), all around nice guy David LaRochelle! Go check out his most recent post on the blog where he is one of 10 bloggers: One Potato... Ten! And you too can learn why not to sign books with a Sharpie!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Clutching his head with his hands he screamed against the sound. The constant banging, scraping, shuffling and thumping had been going on for days. Morning noon and night all Steve could hear was the sound of a hundred zombies trying to get into the room. Unable to sleep, with no room to walk more than a few feet Steve was beginning to go crazy.\n“STOOOOOOOPP!” he screamed, hurling himself at the wall. From the other side the banging increased as a undead hands and bodies hammered harder against the wall. Sobbing he slid to the floor, pressing his hands againt his ears, trying to make the noise stop. As he sat there he saw the small knife lying on the ground. His eyes hardened as he reached out and snatched it up.\n“You want noise? I want it stopped!” with that he stood up, strode to the door, unlocked it and threw himself into the press of bodies as they came flooding into the room.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "When 11 year-old Sidney Keys III looked for a book to read at the library, he was discouraged that he didn’t find many titles featuring a young African-American kid like him. Instead of being disheartened, Sidney started his own book club – BooksNBros.\nHe hopes the reading/book club will encourage young boys to read, and celebrate black authors, and black characters in book. Sidney was recently featured on St. Louis on the Air, a local radio program in his hometown and said; “every time I go to the library at my school, there aren’t many African American literature books there.”\nHis mom, Winnie Caldwell, took him EyeSeeMe a small bookstore that highlights and promotes African-American children’s titles and created a video of Sidney reading which helped launch his book club, and is using EyeSeeMe as their ‘designated bookstore.”\nMeeting once a month, the club discuss books featuring a black protagonist in a positive light. They’ve already read Hidden Figures, The Supadupa Kid and A Song for Harlem: Scraps of Time. While they do focus on African-American literature, they encourage young boys of all cultures to join.\nFor a monthly fee of $20, each “bro” gets a book, snacks at the meeting and worksheets for book discussion. Currently, the group averages around ten boys, but they are reaching out via Skype and hope to have more boys join, and they are hoping to have black mentors stop by in person or digitally.\nReaders interested in joining, mentoring, or wanting information can check out BooksnBros on Instagram.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Effects of body weight on performance of muscular endurance and muscular power paper details: 1500 word report, using harvard referencing, times new roman font 12. The negative impacts of weight lifting versus bodyweight training posted by: any research articles you have read that show negative effects of resistance training. View essay - cause effect essay final from wrtg 101 at md university college the effects of dieting on the body christopher lynch umuc wrtg 101 dieting and the body. Body image essay june 17, 2013 by my first paragraph is a definition of body image, the second one is the effects of body image and the third is the. Search for more papers by this author l puig to evaluate the effect of bodyweight on response to ixekizumab treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe. The effects of weightlifting exercise by jonathan mclelland the essay “how do muscles grow” published by the university of new mexico states that once.\nThe effects of strength training exercise and dieting erin coleman fitness body building if fat loss and muscle definition are your goals, performing strength. Although the adverse effects of overweight on blood pressure and cholesterol levels could the study showed a link between excess body weight and many. Effects of bodyweight-based exercise training on muscle functions of leg multi-joint movement in elderly individuals. Alcohol essays alcohol alcohol is one of the most used and misused drugs known to man the effects that alcohol has on the body depends on the age, body weight.\nEffect of dietary energy intake on egg production and bodyweight in white leghorn laying hens. The effect of bodyweight on adolescent sexual activity abstract recent research suggests that overweight females suffer penalties in the labor and marriage markets.\n134 unit 6 • cause-effect essays • females with less body weight have lower reproduction rates conclusion paragraph 5 restated thesis. The effects of herbs and spices on body weight – a systematic review dissertation essay help.\nAthletes reduce bodyweight for several reasons: to compete in a lower weight class to improve aesthetic appearance or to increase physical performance rapid. The causes and effects of obesity essay appropriate body weight, as well as disparities in access to healthy foods, and safe environments to exercise. Diabetes is a group of disorders characterized by chronic high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) due to the body's failure to produce any or enough insulin to.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Medicinal Use of Synthetic Cannabinoids—a Mini Review\nP. Muralidhar Reddy, Nancy Maurya & Bharath Kumar Velmurugan\nCurrent Pharmacology Reports, 2019\nPurpose of Review : This review gives an overview of the medicinal uses of synthetic cannabinoids and other related aspects on the basis of recent as well as earlier studies that the authors considered relevant to the context and scope of the review. Recent Findings Synthetic cannabinoids are laboratory synthesized products eliciting effects way more than their natural counterparts.\nThese compounds are more potent in generating intoxicating effects and are also difficult to be detected in conventional screening tests. Their clinical side effects are also more pronounced than natural cannabinoids, and their antidotes are also not known. However, they are also therapeutically found to be very effective in many health conditions, as these act by interacting with almost ubiquitously distributed cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) in the human body and by other mechanisms also that do not involve these receptors.\nSummary : All the issues related to their appropriate dosage, mode of action, acute and chronic effects in vivo, interaction with other drugs, their metabolism, etc. need much research to be done so that it will be easier to predict their different aspects in human subjects in more appropriate way. Further, development of strict legislation and regulation is required to be done so that their abuse can be curbed, and toxic effects can be reduced, but medicinal benefits and usage can be enhanced.\nKeywords : Synthetic cannabinoids . Cannabis sativa . Cannabinoid receptors . Medicinal uses12thPublication_Syntheticcannabinoids_minireview", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The marsh, the river, the meadow, and the cornfield were all too big for me! I was not safe until the old mother mouse took me in.\nHow can I leave the mouse hole now, even if I must marry a blind old mole? He will keep me safe! Yet I will not see the sun again, nor sing of any happy thing that he has never seen.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Thursday 28 May 2009\nThe Shamer's Signet by Lene Kaaberbol\nPages - 282\nPublished by Hodder Childrens Books\nChallenges - Once Upon a Time and 100+\nThis is the second book in the Shamer's Chronicles and yet again a sequel that is no where near as good as the first. I am beginning to wonder whether I should avoid sequels, after reading this and The Gorgon's Gaze this week and not really enjoying either. I had been really looking forward to reading this book and found it to be really disappointing.\nThis book finds Dina the Shamer's daughter practising to be a Shamer's apprentice. Just to remind you what a Shamer is, it is someone who can read other people's minds and make them feel guilty and shameful for the sins they have committed. Only a few people can actually look Dina and her mother in the eyes, without feeling bad and now Dina's own brother can no longer look at her.\nThe family are still on the run from Draken and the surrounding clans are being forced to fight each other, as Draken schemes and sets them off against each other. Draken has put out a reward for the Shamer and her daughter and is killing any Shamer that crosses his path. Dina is in danger and unwittingly falls into a trap whilst helping her brother recover from a vicious dual.\nDina is captured by Valdracu, a relation of Draken and put to work as a Shamer, using her powers for evil. Her brother feeling guilty for Dina's capture, sets out to rescue her. Dina is struggling to cope with how her powers are being used and finds that they desert her when she needs them the most.\nThis story did not draw me in as well as the first book did. The pages didn't thrill me into wanting to read it quickly, it just felt like a poor followup to the first book. I liked reading about Dina as she is a very strong character in the book, but the story alternates between her and her brother Davin, who I felt to be a poor character who came across as rather shallow.\nI would definitely recommend the first book, The Shamer's Daughter and I am positive that it could be read as a stand alone, but I would definitely leave it there as the second book does not reach the same standards.\nThis is the second book that has failed for me this week and I have found it hard to get into any other book due to such disappointment in the previous two.\nDo you ever find that it is difficult to get into another book after reading one that you have found to be a disappointing read?", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The book of the medieval knight by Stephen Turnbull Download PDF EPUB FB2\nThe Book of The Medieval Knight Paperback – J by Stephen Turnbull (Author)Cited by: 1. First off, this book is of the medieval knight and therefore spends most of its time covering English and French History. So, I'm not sure where these comments come from wanting middle eastern knights.\nThey weren't knights. They had different names/5. In The World of the Medieval Knight stunning cutaway views, brilliant panoramas and step-by-step sequences are all created by the illustrator Brett Breckon.\nHis unique “exploded views” reveal in lavish detail the intricate way the knight’s armor was built.5/5(6). FROM SCOTTISH CASTLES TO SAMURAI STRONGHOLDS From Europe to Japan, from modern California to the biblical Holy Land, this book explores castles, keeps, fortifications, strongholds, towers, and citadels from the ancient world up to the 20th : Amber Books.\nIt is also the source of the famous \"Ten Commandments of Chivalry\", compiled by Gautier as a synthesis of the ideals that motivated a true knight.\nThis book presents knighthood as an ideal, not as a Romantic notion; a way of virtue rather than a 5/5(6). The book of the medieval knight by S. Turnbull,Arms and Armour edition, in EnglishCited by: 1. In \"The World of the Medieval Knight\" stunning cutaway views, brilliant panoramas and step-by-step sequences are all created by the illustrator Brett Breckon.\nHis unique exploded views reveal Step inside the world of the medieval knight into his castle as he prepares for a feast in the Great Hall, as he enters into battle and as he mounts his hors3e preparing for the joust.4/5.\nThe Book of the Knight of the Tower (full French title: Livre pour l'enseignement de ses filles du Chevalier de La Tour Landry) is a book commenced by Geoffroy IV de la Tour Landry inand which he continued writing at least until The most comprehensive book on knights and knighthood available.\nThe word \"knight\" conjures up images of gallant men in gleaming armor astride noble steeds, searching for foes to fight and fair maidens to rescue. In Knights the reality of knighthood is detailed, warts and all. This handsome reference tells the true story of these mounted warriors, who evolved from simple.\nA wonderful companion piece to any work on the Black Prince, the Book of Chivalry was written by one of Edward’s leading opponents, the French knight Geoffroi de Charny, who met his end at the.\nThe book shows aerial and cut-away illustrations of a castle. It also shows detailed illustrations and information on how the knights armor was put together and put on with assistance.\nThe World of the Medieval Knight also explained the process in which a noble man's son would become a knight.5/5(7). This is a wonderful little book, providing an engaging introduction to the world of the late medieval knight.\nThe author, Michael Prestwich, is a distinguished historian of medieval warfare, but in this case he wears his learning lightly. This is one of a series of books by this publisher, all of which are written in the same informal style/5.\nThe Book of Chivalry (French: Livre de chevalerie) was written by the knight Geoffroi de Charny (c) sometime around the early s.\nThe treatise is intended to explain the appropriate qualities for a knight, reform the behavior of the fighting classes, and defend the chivalric ethos against its critics, mainly in clerical circles.\ntexts All Books All Texts latest This Just In Smithsonian Libraries FEDLINK (US) Genealogy Lincoln Collection. National Emergency The book of the medieval knight by Turnbull, Stephen R. Publication date Topics Knights and knighthood -- Europe -- History, Civilization, Medieval, Military history, MedievalPages: Buy The Book Of The Medieval Knight New edition by Turnbull, Stephen (ISBN: ) from Amazon's Book Store.\nEveryday low 5/5(2). Leper Knights: The Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem in England, C. David Marcombe Limited preview - King Arthur's death: alliterative Morte Arthure and stanzaic Le morte Arthur.\nThe book of the medieval knight. [Stephen R Turnbull] -- Chronicles the development, tactics, weaponry, armor, and campaigns of medieval warfare and examines the influence of religion and chivalry and the military action of knights.\"The high Middle Ages.\nThe Book of the Medieval Knight by Stephen Turnbull This gorgeous book focuses largely on the political history of British knights through wars in Scotland, Author: Melissa Snell.\nThe book of the medieval knight by Turnbull, Stephen R. Publication date Borrow this book to access EPUB and PDF files. IN COLLECTIONS. Books to Borrow. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books. Scanned in China. Uploaded by ng on Decem SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata) Terms of Pages: The Hardcover of the The Book of the Medieval Knight by Stephen R.\nTurnbull at Barnes & Noble. FREE Shipping on $35 or more. B&N Outlet Membership Educators Gift Cards Stores & Events HelpAuthor: Stephen R. Turnbull. The book is an adaptation of the legendary life of Saint Eustace, who before his conversion was a Roman general named Placidus (Plácidas in Spanish).\nThe knight Zifar is a medieval Placidus-cum-Eustace, and his story shares in part the didactic function of Eustacian hagiography, but in other respects is epic and chivalric. After being. Before the invention of mechanical printing, books were handmade objects, treasured as works of art and as symbols of enduring knowledge.\nIndeed, in the Middle Ages, the book becomes an attribute of God. Every stage in the creation of a medieval book required intensive labor, sometimes involving the collaboration of entire workshops.\nFirst off, this book is of the medieval knight and therefore spends most of its time covering English and French History. So, I'm not sure where these comments come from wanting middle eastern knights.\nThey weren't knights. They had different names. The scope of this book covers the Hundred Years War to /5.\nBuy a cheap copy of The Book of the Medieval Knight by Stephen Turnbull. Fearless in battle, gracious in victory, knights lived their lives on a heroic scale, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.\nVividly retold with superb Free shipping over $/5(3). The Fall is book 5 in the Medieval Knights Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a The Fall is my first book by Claudia Dain. The Fall is a well written book, very smooth reading/5.\nFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Book of the Medieval Knight by Stephen Turnbull (, Hardcover) at the best 5/5(1).\nThe book of the medieval knight. [Stephen R Turnbull] -- Draws from historical events to tell the story of the military development of the knights of western Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, discussing how they had to change in order.\nThe knight's stories range from the shockingly bawdy to the deeply pious. In a French knight compiled a book of stories to teach his three daughters how to be good wives and good Christians. Here these tales are retold and interspersed with commentary about life in the late Middle Ages--what people wore, how they prayed, what they hoped /5.\nBook of the medieval knight. London: Arms and Armour, (OCoLC) Online version: Turnbull, Stephen R. Book of the medieval knight. London: Arms and Armour, (OCoLC) Document Type: Book: All Authors / Contributors: Stephen R Turnbull.\nThe World of the Medieval Knight also explained the process in which a noble man's son would become a knight. This information alone makes this book a useful book while learning about the Middle Ages, but it also covers customs and feasts and town life. This book exceeded my expectations.5/5(5).\nBut to what degree is this Hollywood image a fair and accurate portrait of a knight's working life? Over the years much fantasy has prevailed in place of accuracy. This book returns to original medieval documents and respected contemporary historians in pursuit of the true story of the working life of the medieval knight.ISBN: OCLC Number: Description: pages: illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm: Contents: A new Arthur --King of England --King of France --The practice of war --A king's ransom --The lion and the eagle --Onward Christian soldiers --The sorcerer's apprentice --The Picardy affair --The long, losing war --The war of the old men --The .Get this from a library!\nThe book of the medieval knight. [S R Turnbull] -- Throughout the book, historical events are used to illustrate a particular military topic, which is analysed in the context of the time and circumstances.\nThe story begins with the young Edward III's.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Research has shown that employee voice (i.e., speaking up with constructive suggestions at work) can be beneficial to organizational functioning, but much less research has looked at how voice affects the individual employee. Based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, we develop and test theory on how voice may positively affect employees' job engagement over time. We hypothesize that voice leads to perceived voice appreciation, which serves as an important job resource that can lead to longer-term increases in job engagement. Furthermore, we propose that emotional stability, as an important personal resource, affects the indirect relationship between voice and increases in job engagement through perceived voice appreciation. We suggest that the indirect relationship becomes stronger as emotional stability increases. We tested our conditional indirect effect model using 5-wave longitudinal data from 614 employees over a period of 4 months. We applied latent growth curve modeling to predict within-person changes in job engagement. Results provided support for our hypothesized model. Overall, our findings suggest that the interplay between relevant job and personal resources affects whether and how voice can increase employee motivation over time.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“Inthis timely and thought-provoking analysis of modern coupledom, PamelaHaag& paints a vivid tableau of the ‘semi-happy’ couple. Written withwit and aplomb, this page turner will instigate an insurrection against ourmarital complacency.” —Esther Perel, author of Matingin Captivity\nWrittenwith the persuasive power of Naomi Wolf and the analytical skills of Susan Faludi, Pamela Haag’s provocative but sympathetic look atthe state of marriage today answers — and goes beyond — the question many of us are asking: “Is this all there is?”\nPaperback book Marriage Confidential Pamela Haag buy cheap on Audible. Hardback ebook Marriage Confidential download iOS. EPUB Marriage Confidential read for PocketBook on Walmart. MOBI book Marriage Confidential by Pamela Haag.\nHardcover Marriage Confidential. FictionBook ebook Marriage Confidential by Pamela Haag buy on Kindle on Kobo. PDF book Marriage Confidential read online iPad. Online Marriage Confidential Pamela Haag download on Amazon.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The element of time in william faulkners a rose for emily\nA rose for emily time and setting essaysin a rose for emily by william faulkner, the author uses the element of time to enhance details of the setting and vice versa by avoiding the chronological order of events of miss emily. A rose for emily is a short story by american author william faulkner first published in the april 30, 1930 issue of forum the story takes place in. Critical analysis of a rose for emily march there are many aspects that were incorporated into a rose for emily william faulkner was able to create a story involving many ideas about society and a rose for emily is an important element in literature due to examination of. This creepy element offers a gothic feel to this story and then his narrator goes back through time, telling emily's story a rose for emily by william faulkner: summary, theme & analysis related study materials related. Different literary elements shape the author's portrayal of and of miss emily for some time carefully folded documents similar to a rose for emily - william faulkner (1)pdf skip carousel carousel previous carousel next.\nA rose for emily 217 literary focus: setting most works of fiction have a specific setting that is an important element of the story the setting is the time and location in which a story takes place. View a rose for emily from eng 320 at princeton the gothic elements in william faulkners a rose for emily a rose for emily written by william faulkner is a southern gothic horror tale, a study in. This thought was penned by william faulkner, author of a rose for emily and several other stories set deep in there is an element of self-awareness there- an acknowledgment that the townspeople 1 comment on william faulkner: a rose for emily essay newest oldest most. Comprehension questions for a rose for emily written by william faulkner learn with flashcards, games, and more for free.\nThe nature of time and change in william faulkner's a rose for emily 1763 words | 8 pages (667) all of these terms suggest neglect, decay, entropy: each of these elements tie in with the surface layer as well as the deeper themes upon which faulkner tiers. In william faulkner's short story a rose for emily, a series of literary elements were used to effectively create the themes in a rose for emily, the. Everything you need to know about the setting of william faulkner's a rose for emily, written by experts with you in mind. By: william faulkner a rose for emily prezi historical background: delia khayat author background: alanna anon questions: sophia espinosa artwork: kerilee neita. A rose for emily and the feather pillow the narrator recalls the time of emily grierson's death and how the entire town attended her escaping loneliness in a rose for emily, william faulkner's use of setting and characterization foreshadows and builds up to. Style and meaning in william faulkner's a rose for it seems faulkner deliberately makes use of a complex time in a rose for emily labov (1972: 354-396) proposes a linguistic model for narrative structure he lists possible elements of narrative structure: abstract, orientation.\nThe element of time in william faulkners a rose for emily\nA rose for emily was structured by william faulkner in five parts which do not follow a chronological order of events the story begins and ends with emily's death, but the main action is told in re (. William faulkner's a rose for emily - literature essay the story features faulkner's clever use of the element of time to tell a gruesome story a rose for emily by william faulkner.\nProse analysis a rose for emily william faulkner this excerpt is located in the second paragraph of part v of william faulkner's short story a rose for emily in this paragraph faulkner introduces the usage of stylistic elements such as diction. In william faulkner's short story a rose for emily, the titular emily lives with a fiercely protective father who turns away all of her suitors, thinking that none of them are good. In william faulkner's a rose for emily, faulkner's details about setting and atmosphere give the reader background as to the townspeople seem oddly fascinated with miss emily as a relic of an older time the essential element in faulkner's story that gave the reader both.\nA rose for emily short story by william faulkner did you know william faulkner dropped out of high school and took only a released her from paying taxes forever from the time of her father's death alive, miss emily had been a tradition, a duty. A structural analysis of william faulkner a rose for emily a rose for emily is william faulkner's short story, which tells about the life of tobe seemingly unaffected by time miss emily was raised by her father and was taught that she was of a higher class then the. Gothic elements in a rose for emily, a short story by william faulkner pages 2 words 743 view full essay william faulkner, a rose for emily, gothic elements not sure what i'd do without @kibin - alfredo alvarez, student @ miami university. William faulkner - faulkner's use of foreshadowing in a rose for emily my account use of foreshadowing as a primary literary element for emily essay - the nature of time and change in william faulkner's a rose for emily in a rose for emily, william. A study of the modernism elements in william faulkner's short story 1930 this is the time of the high modernism with the rise of its elements faulkner once show more content william faulkner's a rose for emily i implied author of the story a rose for emily. William faulkner buy share buy home literature notes faulkner's a rose for emily section ii what artistic talent does miss emily possess in a rose for emily china painting embroidery pottery still-life.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This text has been written for highschool artwork students who are working upon a vital research of art, sketchbook annotation or an essay-primarily based artist research. Nonetheless, the main focus of a literature review in a graduate research thesis is to identify gaps and argue for the necessity for further research. Depending on the purpose of the writer and the context during which the literature overview can be presented, a selective or complete strategy could also be taken.\nYour reader should end studying your introduction with a great sense of the scope of your essay in addition to the trail you may take toward proving your thesis. You needn’t spell out each step, however you do have to suggest the organizational sample you may be utilizing.\nDeciding On No-Fuss Products For essay samples\nWhen writing a dissertation literature assessment , a necessary factor to consider is identifying the analysis gap. Identifying the gap is particularly important if your review forms a part of a analysis proposal, as it’s going to highlight the pertinence of your research – assuming that your analysis has been designed to fill this hole. In different cases, identifying the gap is an indication of good crucial evaluation and might rating you extra factors.\nNormal literature assessment that gives a review of crucial and significant aspects of the current data of the subject. This basic literature overview kinds the introduction to a thesis or dissertation and must be outlined by the research objective, underlying speculation or drawback or the reviewer’s argumentative thesis.\nExpose any gaps that exist in the literature that the case examine could help to fill. Summarize any literature that not solely shows how your subject of research contributes to understanding the analysis problem, however how your case contributes to a new manner of understanding the problem that prior research has failed to do.\nShould you’re selecting from numerous potential topics, slim down your list by identifying how a lot proof or what number of specific particulars you can use to analyze every potential situation. Do this step simply off the highest of your head. Take into account that persuasive papers depend on ample evidence and that having a whole lot of particulars to choose from can also make your paper simpler to jot down.\nRapid Solutions For essay samples Clarified\nPractical criticism in this form has no obligatory connection with any particular theoretical strategy, and has shed the psychological theories which initially underpinned it. The discipline does, however, have some floor rules which affect how people who are skilled in it is going to respond to literature. It might to autumn theme be seen as encouraging readings which concentrate on the form and that means of particular works, somewhat than on larger theoretical questions. The method of studying a poem in clinical isolation from historical processes also can mean that literature is handled as a sphere of exercise which is separate from financial or social situations, or from the life of its writer.\nWhen discussing a text, use current tense wherever possible. Narrative events should be described in the current tense (she meets Dmitri whereas strolling her dog”), except you might be contrasting a past occasion in the textual content to a present” one. It is because the experience of reading literary texts is all the time considered to be present” – that is, the textual content is at all times present” to us, whether or not or not its author is alive.\nInsights Into Key Elements Of essay sample\nA literary or important analysis follows the identical format as most other essays, provided that it requires an introduction, a thesis statement, the physique and lastly an analysis conclusion. Now that we’ve mentioned the entire writing techniques and components of a vital analysis essay, let’s look at an instance that showcases the practical uses of all of those guidelines.\nWe’ll start with a quite easy one to identify in a passage of literature on the AP® lit take a look at. Is a sentence short? Is a sentence long? While it may look like a relatively insignificant attribute, the length of a sentence and the way it’s paired with sentences of various or related lengths could make a big impact on the which means, emotion, or emphasis of a passage. Bear in mind, similar to syntax is a instrument for analyzing literature for you, syntax was a tool for writing literature for all these authors.\nAfter you introduce the primary idea that’s related to your literary essay, it is logical to develop it from numerous angles of a literary evaluation relating to the query words – what, who, how and why. The part coping with the development of the central concept of a literary analysis essay known as the body. The term regularly used for the development of the central concept of a literary analysis essay is the physique with a minimum of three physical paragraphs.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "There are very young, oh absurdly young! reviewers; and there are elderly reviewers, with whiskers. There are also women reviewers. Absurdly young reviewers are inclined to be youthful in their reviews. Elderly reviewers usually have missed fire with their lives, or they wouldn’t still be reviewers. The best sort of a reviewer is the reviewer that is just getting slightly bald. He is not a flippertigibbet, and still an intelligent man–if he is a good reviewer.\nBook reviews are in nearly all the papers. Proprietors of newspapers don’t read these things: they think they are deadly stuff. Many authors don’t: because they regard them as ill-natured and exceedingly stupid. Book clerks don’t read them much: for that would be like working overtime. Business men infrequently have time for such nonsense. University professors are inclined to pooh-pooh them as things beneath them. Still somebody must read them, as publishers pay for them with their advertising. No publishers’ advertising, no book reviews, is the policy of nearly every newspaper; and the reviews are generally in proportion to the amount of advertising. Now publishers are sagacious men who generally live in comfortable circumstances, and who occasionally get quite rich and mingle in important society. They set considerable store by reviews; they employ publicity men at good wages who continually supply reviewers with valuable information by post and telephone; they are fond of quoting in large type remarks from reviews which please them; and sometimes, at reviews they don’t like, they stir up a fuss and have literary editors removed from office.\nYes, reviews have much power. They are eagerly read by multitudes of people who write very indignantly to the paper to correct and rebuke the reviewer when, owing to fatigue, he refers to Miss Mitford as having written “Cranford,” or otherwise blunders. They are the wings of fame to new authors. They can increase the sale of a book by saying that it should not be in the hands of the young. They are tolerated by the owners of papers, who are very powerful men indeed, engaged in the vast modern industry of manufacturing news for the people, and in constant effort to obtain control of politics. Reviewers are paid space rates of, in some instances, as much as eight dollars a column, with the head lines deducted. When there is no other payment they always get the book they review free for their libraries, or to sell cheap to the second-hand man. Reviewers are spoken of as “the critics”–by simple-minded people; when their printed remarks are useful for that purpose, the remarks are called “leading critical opinions”–by advertisements; and reviewers are sometimes invited to lunch by astute authors, and are treated to pleasant dishes to cheer them, and given good cigars to smoke.\nOccasionally somebody ups and discusses the nature of our literary journalism and what sort of a creature the reviewer is. Dr. Bliss Perry was at this not long ago in the Yale Review. Editor for a couple of decades of our foremost literary journal, and now a professor in one of our great universities, Dr. Perry certainly knows a good deal about various branches of the book business. His highly critical review of the reviewing business has somewhat the character of a history that a great general might write of a war. A man who had served in the trenches, however, would give a more intimate picture, though of course it would not be as good history.\nI will give an intimate picture of the American reviewer at work to-day: the absurdly young, the slightly bald, and the elderly with whiskers; and of his hard and picturesque trade.\nThere was an old man who had devoted a great many years to a close study of engraved gems. He embodied the result of his elaborate researches in a learned volume. I never had a gem of any kind in my life; at the time of which I write I did not have a job. A friend of mine, who was a professional reviewer, and at whose house I was stopping, brought home one day this book on engraved gems, and told me he had got it for me to review. “But,” I said, “I don’t know anything about engraved gems, and” (you see I was very inexperienced) “I can write only about things that particularly interest me.” “You are a devil of a journalist,” was my friend’s reply; “you’d better get to work on this right away. You studied art, didn’t you? I told the editor you knew all about art. And he has to have the article by Thursday.”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "More genres to come!\nThe Kolodyne Curse\nDuring the month of December each year the areas to be used for jhums were selected. In the month of January/February, the villagers cut down the jungle, bamboos, and trees, and then left the jhum to dry under the blazing hot tropical sun. When it was thoroughly dry, they set it on fire in March. The fire killed all insects and destroyed their eggs, seeds of weeds and jungle plants. Ashes formed the valuable manure. The unburnt logs were used for fencing.\nOn the day a Mara selected his jhum, he cut a small patch to tell the spirit of the place, who through dreams informed him whether the patch was favorable for cultivation. The dream of clear water, fish, paddy cooked rice or a human corpse was considered a good dream.\nOn getting the favorable dream the villagers left the jhum half cut and returned to the village. There they performed the sacrifice called Rialongchhi. That day no work was done. Next day the villagers went back to their jhums again and finished the cutting.\nAfter the jhum had been cut, each farmer with jhum on the same slope met at a pre-designated house, whose owner provided the pig. They celebrated by drinking beer, singing song and dance by the young men and women. The feast continued for two days.\nAfter the rains they sowed paddy, millet, maize, cucumber, pumpkin and other vegetables and towards the end of April they sowed paddy. They sowed tobacco and indigo also in small patches in the jhum. The ritual sacrifices at the jhum were common. At the end of July the maize crop was ready for harvest. During the end of November and beginning of December the rice crop was harvested. In between the Maras supplemented their food with various vegetables including cultivated yam.\nPakhai with his wife and son was moving along the foot track leading to his jhum. They had moved for about two and half hours and were still far off from their destination. They kept trudging along the mountain track that wound in and out of the bamboo forest and up and down hills.\nThe villages in that part of the Mizo Hills district were interconnected by foot tracks. Those closer to the main road had kuchcha tracks. There were hardly any visible signs of development. In fact, the villagers rarely saw the face of any civil officials in their midst.\nIt was a forgotten land left at the mercy of God and weather. While God was merciful, the weather wasn’t. it brought unimaginable miseries to the hapless villagers during the long rainy season. A farmer’s life was extremely tough. He had to battle many a difficulty day to day.\n“Oh God! We can now see our jhum hut,” Numi informed the men.\nThey all heaved a sigh of relief. After a while they reached their jhum. It had been a continuous walk for three hours from the village.\nThe jhum hut was built in the center of the cultivation. Close to it a perennial spring flowed.\nThey put down their loads on the ground and stretched their aching limbs. By now their backs had started paining. Hlycho lifted the plastic jerricane and headed towards the spring to fetch fresh water. Numi climbed the hut and cleaned the floor with a broom of twigs. Pakhai got busy in repairing the hut, damaged by last night’s storm.\nThe hut was built with the support of six strong and thick bamboos dug deep inside the ground. Clear ten feet from the ground the hut was erected, made entirely of bamboos, connected by a stair. It had a door and a window. In one corner it housed the kitchen and the rest was used for living and storing the farm produce. To drive away the wild animals, which were a persistent problem, he had placed a huge gong inside the hut.\nThe hut was systematically made well above the ground so as to withstand the storms and rains. It was a necessity for the farmers as their fields were far away from their homes and they had to stay there for days together to carry out tilling and sowing. In that jhum hut Pakhai and his family often spent the best parts of the rainy season, at times for months at a stretch.\nHlycho gave cool water to his parents and then sat down to clean the farm implements. His mother in the meantime made black tea and served them.\nThey got down and proceeded to till the land. Pakhai knew the work would require minimum four to five days and he had come prepared for it. He had decided to till the entire land and then only return home.\nBualpui often felt lonely, as Rimpui and Zoule roamed around the village and were of no help to her. They were seen only at the mealtimes. She was alone and couldn’t help but think about David. Though he had promised to meet her every fortnight, he hadn’t come to the village since last six months.\n“Bualpui, are you in?” a woman in her late twenties knocked at the door.\n“Oh! What a pleasant surprise? It’s Nanang Zomi. Please come in,” Bualpui couldn’t hide her excitement on seeing Zomi.\nZomi walked in and closed the door behind her. She instantaneously hugged Bualpui tightly.\n“How are you Inaw? And don’t you dare call me Nanang; after all, I’m not that old. I would prefer you call me by name,” Zomi complained.\nThey sat on a wooden sofa and started talking. As they were meeting after a long time there was plenty of catching up to do.\nZomi had become the most talked of person in the village, a favorite pastime for everyone. Her torrid affair with an Army soldier in 1969 had become a shame for every man and woman in the village. They had warned her against futility of such a liaison but she had paid no heed. During those days when she was in love with the soldier she was on cloud nine and never bothered about her future.\nHe had given her dreams, real big dreams—of a happy married life in a big city with all the luxuries of life, which she could have never dreamed of. She was to get married to him in the church after a year and then he was to take her with him to Shillong.\nBut the fortune had laid out other plans for her. The plans, she had never envisaged, never dreamed in her remotest nightmares. Her love story had ended in a tragedy. She was left to live a lonely life in continual pain and anguish, and suffer the social ostracism.\nNo one knew her agony. And no one except Bualpui had bothered to find out.\n“Let’s go to the river,” Bualpui pulled Zomi’s arms and lifted her.\nThey walked downhill to the riverbank. The water level in the river had risen up slightly. Kolodyne was flowing into Burma with calmness and serenity, the virtues usually associated with it.\nThe water was muddy. They decided against putting their feet into it. Instead, they sat on its wide and long sandy bank. The sand was cool and soft, and they felt the soothing sensation travel into their bodies through their soles. They felt the weariness melt away.\n“What’s the news about your captain?” Zomi started the conversation.\n“No news, I’m afraid. He hasn’t met me for the last six months,” Bualpui’s spoke with a tinge of sorrow.\n“Don’t get unduly perturbed. He might be busy otherwise how long can he avoid such a beautiful and warm companion?” she teased her.\nHer face lit up for a while before she became melancholic again. Zomi could sense the sadness in her eyes.\n“He’s not an idle farmer. You should realize that he’s bound by the rules and regulations. I’m quite sure he would meet you at the first opportunity that comes his way,” Zomi tried to cheer her friend up.\nThose words had some soothing effect on Bualpui who for a moment smiled. Her cheeks dimpled, the one on the left cheek was bigger than the one on the right and more pronounced too. The flush on her face carried the redness of an early morning’s sunrise. Her smile was so beautiful and infectious that Zomi couldn’t control herself. She smiled too.\nThen both laughed looking at each other’s funny face.\n“Thanks Zomi, you’re an inspiration to me,” Bualpui clutched her hands.\n“As long as you don’t meet my fate,” Zomi said philosophically.\n“It’s very difficult to live alone. On next Sunday please do pray for me so that David meets me soon,” Bualpui pleaded her.\n“Sure, you don’t have to say it. My good wishes are always with you. Bualpui, you’re all I’ve in the village.”\n“I know you love me so much. What would you do when I’m gone?”\n“I’ll go with you,” she said teasingly, “Got afraid. Look at the frown on your face, it’s telling all. Don’t worry; you would go alone with your lover.”\nBualpui felt relaxed after talking to Zomi. It had been a long time away from their homes, they realized. Therefore, they had to rush back home to make dinner.\nBualpui entered the house and saw Rimpui and Zoule waiting for her. The two sisters started preparing dinner while Zoule went to feed the pigs and fowls. Once he returned they had their dinner together and went to bed.\nIn that remote part of the district there were no sources of entertainment except the radios owned by a few villagers. As the farmers had to leave early morning for their work, they ate their dinner around 6 p.m. in the evening and got up around 4 a.m. next morning. Lunch was taken well before 9 a.m. This routine suited their work culture. The long gap between the lunch and dinner was supplemented with snacks and tea.\nSince most of the men and women had gone to their jhum khetis, the village wore a deserted look. Only those people required for the safety of the houses and livestock were left behind. The life would return to the village once all the farmers returned after some days.\n\"This extract remains the exclusive property of the author who retains all copyright and other intellectual property rights in the work. It may not be stored, displayed, published, reproduced or used by any person or entity for any purpose without the author's express permission and authority.\"\nPlease rate and comment on this work", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "1923 was the summer I fell in love with Alexander Montrose. I suppose I could say it was the summer I met my soul mate, but I have little poetry in my soul. That which I do have, however, was spent upon Alex. Nearly sixty years have passed since that summer, and I am an old man and Alex is gone, but here at least is our story, set down for all time.\nIt must start, briefly, with me arriving in Paris on the first day of June, in that year 1923. Don’t let the overblown beauty of the cherry blossoms fool you; Paris is at her most gorgeous, most lush, and most inviting when in the full of summer.\nOr so I had been told. At eighteen I was still a boy, naive and inexperienced, particularly when it came to women. The girls at home dazzled me and tied my tongue, but the boys at home, especially the farmer’s sons—still lithe and slender, tanned and muscled from their work—ah, they had quite a different effect on me. Young as I was, I still knew better when David (not, of course, his real name) and I met in the hayloft, sharing kisses and gropes, a kind of awkward, adolescent tenderness where neither of us quite knew what to do. It was very wicked of us, or so we had been taught, but that had been a summer of unparalleled pleasure.\nLess fond are my memories of early that spring, when David's eye was caught by a buxom, brazen young lass, and he threatened to tell everyone of what we’d done together—of what I had done. It was no longer safe for me at home, and so I packed up what little I could call mine in the world, kissed my parents, and set off for Paris to become a tutor in Latin. For that was going to be my new vocation. I was always particularly good at the language, and I had hoped at one time to lend my skills to the Church, despite having no real calling, or even particular belief. It would be more lucrative, and more comfortable to my bruised conscience, to tutor young gentlemen in Paris on the mysteries of intricate grammar. I could teach during the day and pursue my own pleasures at night.\nSuch pleasures as they were; I and my broken heart had come to prefer my books and, at most, a corner in a quiet café. I did not speak much and had few friends, but that was all right in those first days.\nAnd so that was my life, a modest one, but contented enough. I found a cold-water flat on the Left Bank, as so many others did. I had learned French already, but remained steadfastly British even in bohemian Paris. My work was unchallenging but paid enough, and I could not complain. My personal life was as I wished it to be in those days: quiet, private, dedicated to learning. On Sundays I would take long walks about the city. Paris was wholly open to me, and though I allowed myself only a small part of her, there was contentment enough in my life.\nAnd then came Alex.\nIn Which I Disgrace Myself\nFAR from showing Paris at her best, the weather was dank and drear, with rainstorms breaking up the low-lying thunderclouds. It was an utterly inauspicious, unromantic day, and I was in a similar mood.\nWe met on the stairway between the first and second floors. I had a tiny room on the second and highest floor. The slope of the roof meant that I couldn’t stand fully upright in half the flat, but it was beautiful and sunny, and I had a view only of the sky and other rooftops. I did not much like other people in those days, and being so far away from the street made me happy. Alex lived just below me.\nHe had just moved in, I was sure. I would have remembered meeting that golden man before, even in the foul mood I was that day. He was beautiful, but so was everyone in Paris in those days. We must have made a picture together, myself with my black hair all in careful waves, eyes such a dark brown you can’t tell pupil from iris unless you look closely, and skin gone far too pale from staying indoors all day. Alex bore shining red-gold hair and blue eyes. Sun and moon, we were.\n“Bonjour!” he chirped, and I nodded back.\n“Ehm. Are you… vous êtes le… l’homme d’Angleterre?” he asked hopefully, in broken French.\n“An Englishman?” I found myself illogically irritated by his horrible language skills. “Yes.”\n“Oh! Oh. I’m Alex. Alexander Montrose. I live just below you, I think.”\n“Michael Clifton. Pleased to meet you.” Although, in truth, I wasn’t, and he probably knew it. I was tired, wet from the rain, and in no mood to converse with one of my countrymen.\n“Er. Pleased to meet you as well.” Alex visibly wilted, although, bless him, he tried. “Are you free? For a pot of tea just now?”\n“No. Good day.” And, in the most impolite way possible, I stomped off. It’s a miracle the man ever spoke to me again.\nIt had been a pretty dreadful day, but that was no excuse to be a scrub. It took a full night’s sleep to feel properly ashamed, though, and to leave the man a note under his door on my way to work.\nWas awful to you yesterday. I quite understand if you want to write me off, but if you would like to join me in a cup of tea at four today, I should much appreciate it. Either way, please accept my apologies.\nI came home early that day, the weather not improved one bit, but my mood slightly lightened at least. I heated water for tea and set out the little cakes I’d bought for us with the last of my week’s pay. I had very little money in those days but could still eat well, although real meals had become a bit scarce. One could eat very well on little money, but money was still needed. Even in Paris, dreams were not sufficient.\nAt exactly five minutes after four, when the tea had brewed to perfection, there was a tentative knock on my door.\n“Alex.” I let him in, the both of us probably sporting the same shy smile. Alex certainly was. “Thank you. I was an absolute beast to you yesterday, and I’m so sorry.”\nHe grinned, and I went light-headed for a moment. I must have been terribly hungry.\n“Don’t give it another thought, please. We all have bad days.” He held up a paper packet. “Ah. I bought us some croissants.”\n“Then we’ll have a real feast,” I said, very pleased. I’d not had much of a lunch, and no breakfast that day. Best to fill up on anything for dinner, even if it was sweets. The Bastonnets were to pay me the next day, and then I would be able to afford a proper meal. “Please, come in. It’s not much….”\nHe laughed and sat at the tiny table against one wall. “It’s fine, Michael. Thank you for inviting me.”\nI couldn’t think of an answer to that that didn’t involve lots of hemming and hawing and acting like a proper idiot, so I settled for serving us tea and setting our combined little sweets on a plate.\nWe tried to be gentlemanly, but everything was so good, and, for my part, I was so very hungry that we concentrated solely on not completely wolfing down our little meal for some time.\n“How long have you been in France?” Alex finally asked, when we’d satisfied ourselves enough.\n“Not very long—just two months or so, really. When did you escape?”\nAlex startled, then laughed perhaps too quickly. “Oh. Ah, just a few days ago. I’m a writer,” he explained. “Mostly for newspapers and magazines. And since Paris is the fashionable place, to Paris I came.” And, indeed, so many were pouring into the city in those years. Alex was hardly alone, writing about the romantic city the whole world was in love with. I still, today, think that he wrote about her best of all of them, described her restaurants and streets and little stories as they were, not as others wanted them to be.\n“So I hear.” I shrugged. I was never very sociable. “Forgive me, I’m going to be a dreadful source for you. I spend my days working and the rest of the time with my books.” And my paints, but what good was that to mention? I never sold anything and could not paint to the modern tastes.\nAlex’s eyes lit up at the mention of books. “Ah, that I can understand….”\n“Then you must go to Shakespeare and Company,” I said, forgetting to be shy in my excitement at finally being useful. “It isn’t far from here. And it’s magnificent. And,” I added, remembering the luminaries I’d caught glimpses of, “Sylvia, the owner, she knows everyone. She will surely be able to introduce you to people, give you what you need for writing.”\n“Michael, thank you. I can write a story out of anything, but I need something to get me started.” He saluted me with his cup of tea and smiled, very sweetly. “What work do you do?”\n“I tutor in Latin, the classics.” I shrugged. “A bit dull, but it’s a living.” I searched desperately for something polite to say. “What have you written for? Would I have read anything of yours?”\n“Honestly, I doubt it.” he admitted. “I’ve not sold much, and what I have has been to American newspapers. Here, maybe….” Alex sighed, and looked out the window. “Here, everything is so different.”\nHe looked very young, then, the summer sunlight coming in and painting his hair with gold as he gazed out of my window onto the city laid out below us.\n“It is,” I said, the “Thank God” not actually appended but, I hoped, understood. “I paint, too.” It was an almost guilty admission; I had no talent, and I knew it. What right did I have to pretend I was creative too? But that had been a part of what brought me to this city, and I knew even then that I could not hide things from Alex. Of course, he became an open book to me, so I suppose all was fair in the end.\n“Do you?” His eyes lit up, and I think I lost my heart without knowing it. “May I see?”\n“Oh! I mean, I’m no good.”\n“So? May I see?”\nWell, I had got myself into this, so it was up to me to get myself out, so to speak. There was a little stack of paintings against the far wall of my bedroom, the room itself so small that there was hardly space for the bed and wardrobe, let alone a little decoration. I selected one of the canvases (they were all about the same, pretty and uninspiring) and brought it out to Alex.\n“Oh. Oh, Michael. Such a lovely little beach.” He examined the scene, one showing low tide, with fishing boats leaning in the sand like old men who have not quite drunk themselves unconscious. “It’s delightful.”\n“Well, you’re certainly not an art critic.” I shrugged and took the canvas when he handed it back, but I was careful when I leaned it against the wall. “I paint for my own pleasure, and I am well aware of it. But thank you.”\nAlex bowed his head a little and smiled. “You’re very welcome. And pleasure is as good a reason as any.”\nHe visited with me a little while longer, until the tea was long gone, and we bid each other happy goodbyes that first day. It seems a shame that I didn’t recognize friendship when I saw it. Not until my own stupidity forced me to, anyway.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Molly lives on a peaceful farm near a Mysterious Forest, which she loves to explore. When she finds a Mysterious Thing, she decides to take it home and, when it hatches and out comes a baby dinosaur, she decides to keep him as a pet, and name him Rex. But Rex grows quickly, and Molly soon realises that having a dinosaur on a farm can be a big problem.\nDogosaurus is a humorous offering, which youngsters will lvoe for its silliness. At the same time, the gentle underlying messages of conversation and ownership are valuable. Rex is a friendly looking, playful dinosaur with goggly eyes and a goofy smile so that even when he wreaks havoc, he is endearing to readers.\nGreat for young dinosaur fans, or anyone who needs a smile.\nDogosaurus, by Lucinda Gifford\nScholastic Australia, 2018", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I’m not sure how much this cowboy poem has to do with Freedom, but I got a kick out of it when my good friend John Olsen sent it my way. I don’t know who wrote poem, or how old it really is. But it doesn’t take much of a stretch to imagine some old codger spinning this yarn as if it were 110% real.\nJake, the rancher, went one day to fix a distant fence.\nThe wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray and dense.\nAs he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools to go,\nThe temperature had fallen, wind and snow began to blow.\nWhen he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy heart.\nFrom the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn’t start.\nSo Jake did what most of us would do if we had just been there.\nHe humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a prayer\nAs he turned the key just one last time, he softly cursed his luck.\nThey found him three days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.\nNow Jake had been around in life and done his share of roaming.\nBut when he saw Heaven, he was shocked– — it looked just like Wyoming!\nOf all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.\n(Now, this line ain’t needed but it helps with rhyme and meter)\nSo they set and talked a minute or two, or maybe it was three.\nNobody was keepin’ score — — in Heaven time is free.\n\"I’ve always heard,\" Jake said to Pete, \"that God will answer prayer,\nBut one time I asked for help, well, he just plain wasn’t there.\"\nWhy does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the prayers of others?\nThat don’t seem exactly square — — I know all men are brothers.\"\n\"Or does he randomly reply, without good rhyme or reason?\nMaybe, it’s the time of day, the weather or the season.\"\n\"Now I ain’t trying to act smart, it’s just the way I feel.\nAnd I was wondering’, could you tell me — — what the heck’s the deal?!\"\nPeter listened very patiently and when Jake was done,\nThere were smiles of recognition, and he said, \"So, you’re the one!!\"\n\"That day your truck, it wouldn’t start, and you sent your prayer a flying,\nYou gave us all a real bad time, with hundreds of us trying\"\n\"A thousand angels rushed, to check the status of your file,\nBut you know, Jake, we hadn’t heard from you in quite a long while.\"\n\"And though all prayers are answered and God ain’t got no quota,\nHe didn’t recognize your voice, and started a truck in North Dakota.\"\nBETTER KEEP IN TOUCH!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "She wore endurance as a cloak. Tried ever so sorely and wrongly, She committed all to the Vindicator. In her resolute quietness, she spoke volumes.\nFor her ardent disparagers, Her payback was tireless hours of intercession. As she stoically embraced undeserved tribulations, She gained character, wisdom, and tranquility.\nWho dares put out the brilliance of a star? Her sublimity resonates evermore in the darkest patch of the night. Though seared with scars, her stellar virtues are glaring, illuminating hearts and inspiring minds.\nShe can’t feign ordinariness, Even if she hides behind her own shadow. Detached from a frenzied world, She derived her essence from heavenly fire.\nOh, had they known the fount from hence she drank, they would not have, in malignity, ensnared their own souls in a bid to put out her luminous radiance. They have murdered sleep through their ignoble gestures.\nBehold the star as she abides in the firmament! Purified by the trials and tribulations, she stoically endures and thrives. The sky may be bespangled with twinkling stars, but her brilliance stands out in luminary distinction.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Every Little Kiss\nA White Pine Novel, #3\nBy: Kim Amos\nISBN: 145555751X (ISBN13: 9781455557516)\nAuthor’s Website: http://www.kimamoswrites.com\nReview brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra\nTURN ON THE CHARM\nEternal good girl Casey Tanner moved to White Pine for a fresh start. Her mission: to finally have fun. And a fling with a reckless bad boy is the very first item on the to-do list she pretended not to make. After one long, lingering look at a sexy firefighter, Casey has found her man.\n…AND TURN UP THE HEAT\nGetting women into his bed has never been a problem for Abe Cameron. Letting one into his heart is an entirely different matter. But just one kiss, just one touch, just one smile from beautiful Casey has this lifelong bachelor flirting with the idea of forever. And Casey’s refusal to settle down only makes Abe more determined than ever to win her heart. Now the one woman who can’t be caught is the only one Abe can’t live without.\nEvery Little Kiss is the third book in the A White Pine Novel series. We once again meet up with Casey Tanner (sister to Audrey – from book 2 in the series ‘And Then He Kissed Me’) but this time it is Casey’s story we embark upon. Casey has just returned to White Pine, with a new job as accountant for Robot Lit in an effort to rebuild her relationship with her younger sister Audrey. And within moments of starting the book…a fire alarm goes off at Robot Lit and who does Casey meet but the handsome and buff firefighter Abe. Now Casey is definitely what I would call a ‘Nervous Nellie’ in elevators. As Casey starts to slowly freak out, Abe comes to the rescue:\nStrong fingers wrapped around her forearm. She looked down, but couldn’t see even an outline of a hand. “Easy there,” came the lieutenant’s deep voice. “It’s okay.” His unrelenting grip should have offended her. What right did he have to touch her? But instead, it grounded her reeling mind. Fragments of logic pierced through, I’m in an elevator. This man is a firefighter. Still, her breath was ragged. She couldn’t get enough air. The space pressed against her. She was aware she might be panting. “Casey, listen to me.” The lieutenant had stepped closer. She could feel him acutely. “I want you to close your eyes and count to ten.”\nI love how Abe took control (okay…it is his job but still). At that moment, I wanted to meet Abe! My hero J. I thought the symbolism of Abe pushing himself VERY hard when he was running on the trail enticing and really wanted to continue reading to find out what was the issue and why he thought as he did:\nHis job should have made him grateful for every day he was alive and healthy. Oddly, it had done the opposite. It had numbed him, in a way, to his life. It could all get taken away so easily, so why get invested? It was part of why he kept himself cordoned off from any relationship that got too deep or too heavy.\nThe inner struggle Casey was in (trying to be more spontaneous and carefree as opposed to her nature of structured and planned in all that she does) was moving and yet…funny. Her ‘list’ was short, spelling out the specifics for her next encounter of the romantic kind. This list was vetted through her recipe exchange club and in Casey’s mind should be all complete. But when the time arises, it certainly seemed that important items were missing. Abe tried to stick to the list but kept bringing up points, which Casey had not considered. It was funny with a capital “F” let me tell you. I was laughing so hard I thought I would cry.\nI definitely found the friendship and bond between the gals of the recipe exchange club very powerful and heart-warming. Every gal should have a group of buds who support each other and know just when to push you to go after what (or should I say whom) you are pining after.\nThe way that both Casey and Abe developed and grew during the story was engaging and gave the romantic in me warm fuzzy feelings.\nIf you like romance with a sense of humour, then you will surely enjoy this third book in the White Pine series. Thank you Kim Amos.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Supplementary Materialsthnov08p4509s1. with CMV- individuals (n=106). The effect of CMV illness on these T-cell subsets was confirmed by linear regression. Unexpectedly, ageing contributed only marginally to an Fustel kinase inhibitor increase in CD28null T-cell frequencies, and only in CMV+ individuals. Interestingly, the presence of HLA-DRB1*0301 led to an approximately 9-fold reduction of the risk of having CD28null CD4 T-cell expansions (OR=0.108, p=0.003). Over 75% of CMV-reactive CD4 T-cells were CD28null. Summary: CMV illness and HLA type are major risk factors for CD28null CD4 T-cell-associated cardiovascular pathology. Improved numbers of CD28null CD8 T-cells will also be associated with CMV illness, but to a lesser degree. Aging, however, makes only a negligible contribution to the development of these T-cell subsets, and only in the presence of CMV illness. Our results open up new avenues for risk assessment, prevention, and treatment. = 0.000). Those expressing CD27 made no contribution (Number ?Figure11D). ROC analysis based on CD28null CD4 T-cell frequencies for discriminating CMV- and CMV+ individuals exposed an AUC of 0.910 (is not an independent contributor to CD28null T-cell expansion in the CD8 compartment either. Of notice, the median frequencies of CD28null CD8 T-cells in CMV- participants were within the order of 25%, i.e., on the subject of Fustel kinase inhibitor two orders of magnitude higher than the median CD28null CD4 T-cell frequencies. These constitutionally high levels suggest that CD28null CD8 T-cells are involved in the acknowledgement of multiple antigens, which might explain their practical heterogeneity 22. In CMV+ individuals, their frequencies were ‘only’ about twice as high as those of CMV- individuals. The effect of CMV on CD28null T-cell build up in the CD8 T-cell compartment was, therefore, much smaller than in the CD4 T-cell compartment. Recently, the recognition of CMV as the most likely, main driver of premature heart disease in HIV+ individuals caused a significant paradigm shift 42, 43. Robustly screening the effect of CMV illness in this situation required a large number of CMV- individuals. This was also true for understanding the part of CMV illness in the build up of CD28null CD4 T-cells in our study. Adam30 Common overestimation of CMV prevalence in the ageing population in the US and Western Europe might clarify why the effect of CMV on CD28null CD4 T-cells was not more robustly investigated before 23. Concerning other factors influencing the frequencies of CD28null CD4 T-cells, the finding of a protecting effect of HLA-DRB1*0301P against development of these cells was fascinating, because a protecting effect of HLA-DRB1*0301P was previously explained with respect to severe disease in RA 39, 44. In RA, CD28null CD4 T-cells were shown to correlate with disease severity and the degree of extra-articular damage 12, 27. HLA-DRB1*0301P might present peptides inducing regulatory T-cells that consequently inhibit CD28null CD4 T-cell expansions. General inflammation levels, however, seemed to have only a small effect on CD28null CD4 T-cells. In CMV+ individuals with improved CRP levels ( 5 mg/L), CD28null CD4 T-cell frequencies were just slightly higher than in those with normal levels, whereas in CMV- individuals CRP experienced no noticeable effect. In agreement with previous studies 26, 27, our results demonstrate that many CD28null CD4 T-cells identify CMV antigens. Since we tested responses against select CMV proteins only, the sizes of the measured reactions (median 7%, maximum of 18%) will have grossly underestimated the true proportion of CMV-specific cells among CD28null CD4 T-cells. This is because CMV+ individuals with a large response to one CMV protein usually recognize multiple additional ones 35. Due to the fact that a majority of CMV-reactive CD4 T-cells are CD28null, each additional response Fustel kinase inhibitor will account for additional CD28null CD4 T-cells. No published statement conclusively demonstrates these cells identify antigens other than CMV. However, cross-reactivity Fustel kinase inhibitor between CMV-antigens and the stress-induced protein, heat-shock protein 60 45 is present in the antibody level. Cross-reactivity with stress-induced proteins, for example, should be explored for T-cells as well. In any event, the majority of.\n- Over the last 2 years a global assessment of stem cell\n- Supplementary MaterialsSupplementary Information Supplementary Figures Supplementary and 1-6 Dining tables 1-4.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In this article:\n- The author reflects on motherhood and the value of being a full-time mother.\n- Psychological studies confirm the essential and vital importance of the mother-child relationship and the need for that love and care.\n- What does real accomplishment means? Is that what society tells us?\nThe British author George Orwell once said, “We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.”\nAs true as this may have been during Orwell’s lifetime—he died in 1950—it seems even more so in our contemporary discussions about the importance of motherhood.\nWhy is it that our societies—western societies in particular, and many eastern ones as well—have failed in the last several decades to recognise the obvious importance of the role of mothers?\nWhy do so many mothers struggle with the need to feel “accomplished” in other areas of life as they raise their young children—an act that, if done correctly, is undoubtedly one of the most significant accomplishments anyone could ever achieve?\nAllah Almighty tells us in the Qur’an,\n“Truly, it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts, which are in their breasts.”Qur’an (22:46)\nHow Do Mothers Feel?\nI remember the countless times I sat up in bed after putting my first-born daughter to sleep and said to my husband as tears fell down my cheeks, “I just hate feeling like I’m not doing anything.”\nNot doing anything? He would look at me, somewhat puzzled, and say, “But you do so much, masha’Allah.”\nYet I wasn’t referring to the number of stories I had read or spoonfuls of baby food I had offered.\nI was referring to the void I had inside because, as a full-time mother, I felt unaccomplished in the areas of life that society had taught me truly mattered.\nI had chosen to stay home with my daughter—a choice I made because I truly felt it was best for her and for me. In my mind, I knew I had made the right decision. However, in my heart, I kept having these overwhelming feelings of sadness, shame, and guilt.\nI wasn’t earning a professional degree, I wasn’t earning a paycheck, and I wasn’t in any sort of leadership position in my community, so at the end of the day, what, exactly, could I feel proud of?\nInitially, I thought this was my own neurotic problem.\nHowever, I was surprised to find other mothers—those who stayed home and even those who went back to work or school—sharing the same feelings.\n“Oh, I’m just a mom,” one young mother said, almost embarrassed, when someone asked her if she was working.\nThat’s when I knew something really was wrong—and it wasn’t just with me.\nTherefore, I began to step back and ask myself:\n“Where are all these feelings coming from? Why do so many mothers belittle their roles as mothers? How had society convinced me and so many others that our worth as women was only in our ability to work outside the sphere of raising our children?”\nI searched my own troubled heart, listened to other moms, and began to read what I could on the topic.\nMost importantly, though, I prayed to Allah for guidance, for I knew that only He could give my heart the comfort it needed.\nThen, only slowly, was the proverbial wool lifted—from both my eyes and my heart.\nWhat it seemed to boil down to was this: All human beings need the feeling of validation—the feeling that we are appreciated and are somehow contributing to those around us.\nAllah has given us countless ways of filling this need—through contributions to family, community, and work, just to name a few.\nHowever, in the last fifty years, somewhere along the way between industrialization and the women’s rights movement, the contributions made by a mother to her family took a back seat to those made in other areas of life.\nThe job of creating a home for a child and developing his or her capabilities became equated with “doing nothing” (Crittenden 2001).\nI realized I had been trained by society to see the act of mothering, this noble act that has benefited humanity for centuries, as something trivial that I should be doing on the side, along the way, as an extra, and that my real importance was in how successful I was at other things—work, professional life, and community involvement.Pages: 1 2", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The use of DHA by persons with epilepsy could decrease the frequency of their seizures. Studies have shown that children with epilepsy had a major improvement, i.e. decrease in the frequency of their seizures, but another study showed mixed results with 57 adults taking DHA supplementation. The 57 subjects demonstrated a decreased frequency of seizures for the first six weeks of the study, but for some, it was just a temporary improvement (R).\nEPA, which is eicosapentaenoic acid, and DHA, which is docosahexaenoic acid, are two types of omega-3 fatty acids that are most commonly found in seafood. These polyunsaturated fats are known to have preventative health benefits and have been studied for their role in treating certain chronic conditions. In addition to dietary sources, certain supplements such as fish oil, are also rich in EPA and DHA.\n16. Saito Y, Yokoyama M, Origasa H, Matsuzaki M, Matsuzawa Y, Ishikawa Y, Oikawa S, Sasaki J, Hishida H, Itakura H, et al. Effects of EPA on coronary artery disease in hypercholesterolemic patients with multiple risk factors: sub-analysis of primary prevention cases from the Japan EPA Lipid Intervention Study (JELIS). Atherosclerosis. 2008;200:135–40. [PubMed]\nThe results of several small studies had suggested that taking omega-3 supplements might help relieve symptoms of dry eye disease. However, a 2018 NIH-sponsored study that tested omega-3 supplements for a full year in a larger group (535 study participants) with moderate-to-severe dry eye disease found that the supplements were no more helpful than a placebo (an inactive substance).\nIf we want to deliver the benefits associated with EPA therapeutically, it is essential to optimise digestion and uptake. If we take EPA and DHA in their natural 1.5:1 ratio, it’s an uphill struggle for EPA because we know that DHA is more effectively absorbed and assimilated into cells. Delivering the benefits of EPA (for example, for cognitive function, mood and depression, inflammation regulation, heart health, skin health and so on), requires doses of EPA in excess of DHA, which determines the type of benefits obtained and the degree of the beneficial outcomes. The higher the ratio of EPA to DHA (meaning higher doses of EPA in relation to DHA), the more likely that EPA will be digested and absorbed, ready to meet the body’s high demands for this important nutrient.\nFish oil is effective in reducing inflammation in the blood and tissues. Regular consumption of fish oil supplements, tablets, pills, and capsules is helpful to those who suffer from chronic inflammatory diseases. Fish oil is effective in treating gastrointestinal disorders, Celiac disease, short bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis, which are both typical disorders of the intestine. Patients suffering from Crohn’s disease often find it difficult to absorb vitamins, fats, and essential supplements. Fish oil supplements are an effective diet for such patients.\nFish oil contains two very important omega-3 PUFAs. I’m talking about docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). DHA and EPA are sometimes called the marine omega-3s because they mainly come from fish. Some of the best fish to eat to obtain fish oil from in your diet include wild-caught salmon, herring, white fish, sardines and anchovies.\nIn a 2009 letter on a pending revision to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the American Heart Association recommended 250–500 mg/day of EPA and DHA. The Guidelines were revised again for 2015-2020; included is a recommendation that adults consume at least eight ounces of a variety of types of fish per week, equating to at least 250 mg/day of EPA + DHA. The Food and Drug Administration recommends not exceeding 3 grams per day of EPA + DHA from all sources, with no more than 2 grams per day from dietary supplements.\nAbnormal cholesterol or fat levels in the blood (dyslipidemia). There is conflicting evidence about the effects of fish oil on cholesterol and fat levels in the blood. Some research shows that taking fish oil can lower triglyceride levels, low density lipoprotein (LDL or \"bad\") cholesterol, and increase high density lipoprotein (HDL or \"good\") cholesterol in people with abnormal cholesterol levels. However, other research shows that taking fish oil daily does not have this effect.\nSo for those people who will not eat liver, cod liver oil on a daily basis can be a very good way of getting that. And you do benefit from the omega-3 fatty acids, and with the cod liver oil, it may even be unimportant to eat fish if you’re getting the cod liver oil, although it’s still better to focus on the fish, the egg yolks, and just add some of the cod liver oil.\nAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that can cause vision loss in older people. Two major National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored studies, called Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2), showed that dietary supplements containing specific combinations of vitamins, antioxidants, and zinc helped slow the progression of AMD in people who were at high risk of developing the advanced stage of this disease. AREDS2, which had more than 4,000 participants and was completed in 2013, also tested EPA and DHA. The results showed that adding these omega-3s to the supplement formulation didn’t provide any additional benefits. Other, smaller studies of omega-3 supplements also haven’t shown them to have a beneficial effect on the progression of AMD.\nFish oils might slow blood clotting. Taking fish oils along with medications that also slow clotting might increase the chances of bruising and bleeding.\nSome medications that slow blood clotting include aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix), diclofenac (Voltaren, Cataflam, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen (Anaprox, Naprosyn, others), dalteparin (Fragmin), enoxaparin (Lovenox), heparin, warfarin (Coumadin), and others.\nLCn3s are long chain fatty acids from fish, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is plant-based omega 3-alpha‐linolenic acid. Fatty acids are essentially chains of carbon atoms with an OOH group at one end. The available binding sites on the carbon atoms are filled with hydrogen atoms. If every binding site is occupied with a hydrogen, that is a saturated fatty acid. If instead of hydrogen atoms there is a double bond between two adjacent carbon atoms, that is an unsaturated fatty acid. If there are multiple double bonds, that is polyunsaturated. Omega 3 fatty acids are unsaturated, with a double bond between the third and fourth carbon atoms from the end opposite the OOH group.\nIt is believed that regular consumption of fish oil aids in boosting your immune system, thereby enabling you to resist the occurrence of common diseases like colds, cough, and the flu. Omega-3 fatty acids present in fish oil bolster the immune system by affecting the activity and amount of cytokines and eicosanoids present in our body. Researchers have also studied the effect of a fish meal and fish oil on the immune system of pigs and found that fish oil aided in the growth of the animals. Similar research conducted on mice at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, also gave positive results.\nMy optometrist explained to me how important a good quality fish oil was to my eye health because I have dry eye due to inflammation. Little did I realize that it would be go for so many other things. Since I have been taking this product, not only have I had improvement with my dry eyes, but I have less joint pain from my osteoarthritis! I am so happy I found this and plan to continue it as part of my regular supplement routine! Thanks BioScience Nutrition!\nSecond, quality matters. It is important to purchase fish oil from a reputable manufacturer that follows Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and takes the necessary steps to purify the oil. In choosing a brand like Nature Made®, the #1 Pharmacist Recommended Omega-3/Fish Oil Brand*, you can rest assured knowing Nature Made has a strong commitment to making quality supplements so you can experience the benefits of fish oil.\nOmega AD study, Irving et al. (54) Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized 1741 DHA (1.7 g/d) and EPA (0.6 g/d) for 6 mo, then for all subjects (supplementation group and placebo group) Supplementation was associated with positive weight gain and appetite in supplementation group at 6 mo, but not in the placebo group, and for both groups at 12 mo\nFearon, K. C., Von Meyenfeldt, M. F., Moses, A. G., Van Geenen, R., Roy, A., Gouma, D. J., Giacosa, A., Van Gossum, A., Bauer, J., Barber, M. D., Aaronson, N. K., Voss, A. C., and Tisdale, M. J. Effect of a protein and energy dense n-3 fatty acid enriched oral supplement on loss of weight and lean tissue in cancer cachexia: a randomised double blind trial. Gut 2003;52(10):1479-1486. View abstract.\nBadia-Tahull, M. B., Llop-Talaveron, J. M., Leiva-Badosa, E., Biondo, S., Farran-Teixido, L., Ramon-Torrell, J. M., and Jodar-Masanes, R. A randomised study on the clinical progress of high-risk elective major gastrointestinal surgery patients treated with olive oil-based parenteral nutrition with or without a fish oil supplement. Br.J.Nutr. 2010;104(5):737-741. View abstract.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "What a roller coaster this book was! The Aspen 2-Million Winner-Take-All by John Morris is about a guy named Morgan who is living in Aspen, CO. He recently sold the other side of his duplex to a pretty neighbor named Risa. Things seemed to be going alright, they never really talked to each other much, until Risa’s dog Tyson goes missing. Morgan finds out that while he was out of town, a pot fell off his balcony and landed on poor Tyson. He ends up finding the dead, frozen dog and he and Risa get in a fight where “what are you gonna do? Sue me?” comes out of Morgan’s mouth.\nWell, Risa decides to take him up on this and sues him for ONE. MILLION. DOLLARS. for killing her dog. Something that happened when he wasn’t even in the state! Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Morgan, his best friend Justin is a lawyer. This should be easy, right? WRONG.\nMorgan and Justin come up with 3 ways for Morgan to get out of this. Find one of Risa’s deep dark secrets and blackmail her into dropping the lawsuit. Get the $$ to pay her if he loses. This seems impossible until a 2 million dollar winner takes all golf tournament in Aspen shows up on Morgan’s radar. And finally… get Risa to fall in love with him and drop the lawsuit.\nMeanwhile, Morgan’s ex-girlfriend Mandie seems to accomplish option #1 – but every time she tries to tell Morgan that she knows something, Morgan wants nothing to do with her. Morgan starts on options 1 and 2, but every time it seems like Risa is falling for him – something happens and she ends up flipping out on him. (I am pretty sure she was PMSing for the several months this book took place during. She seriously went nutso a bit too often on poor Morgan!)\nA bunch of liars and cheats show up to play in this 64 man golf tournament. It is on the local course so Morgan thinks that he will do ok, but he’s up against a bunch of shady characters. The shadiest being Robbie the Creep – Risa’s cousin! The tournment is being done by Hap Daughtry, whos daughter Emmie is sick and in and out of hospitals. Hap has Morgan added to his bank account to help with the finances – but the money that should be there is not. Where is Hap hiding it? What else is Hap hiding? And why does Emmie keep saying she wants to go to see her momma – who has been dead for 5 years?\nThe book ends in a CRAZY cliffhanger and as much as I’d love to give it all away right now – I won’t – because you really need to read it for yourself to truly enjoy the ride that is The Aspen 2-Million Winner-Take-All.\nAs crazy as this book was, I loved reading it. I also loved how the author used parenthesis for notes in the story. I used to love to do this (well, I guess I still do), but got in trouble for doing it all the time in school. Now I know, if I want to write books it is totally ok to do it again because there is no teacher to yell at me about it… The author also notes what celebrity each of the characters looked like. Although I kind of ignored this and made up my own appearances for them. I don’t know why. But for those of you who want some guidance in figuring out who to picture when reading the book – it will be made pretty easy for you!\nI definitely recommend this book – it would be a fun summer read since it is set in Colorado and snow and skiing are mentioned a lot – might make you feel a bit cooler in the summer heat!\nI received a free e-copy of this book in order to participate in this Blog Tour! I was not otherwise compensated and all opinions are my own.\nAbout the Book\nMorgan thought he had it made. He owned a cozy if dilapidated house in Aspen’s otherwise fashionable West End, had lost of friends, a great business and threw the best parties in town.\nThen his beautiful-but-aloof neighbor Risa sued him for a million bucks– for killing her dog. (Seriously. And he hadn’t even been there.) She was asking the judge to throw him out of town, too. (It’s a local tradition.)\nFor Morgan, the money didn’t matter. He didn’t have a nickel to his name. But he couldn’t imagine not living in Aspen.\nHis only hope: to win a 2-million dollar golf tournament (held on the sly at the local links) and pay Risa off.\nEither that or discover her deep, dark secret and blackmail her.\nUntil his best friend/lawyer suggested Option #3: “Why don’t you just get her to fall in love with you?”\nAbout the Author\nJohn Morris lives in Aspen, Colorado, with his loving wife and two wonderful children. Having worked many of the same cowboy / construction / bartender / ski-patrol jobs as his fictional counterpart Morgan, he can couch for how easy it is for a good-looking guy to get in trouble there.\nRelease: May 10, 2012", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done? I love doing kid’s ministry, so I have done some crazy things. Sometimes I teach with a puppet “Rusty.” Adults look at me like I’m nuts, but the kids love when Rusty comes and “talks” to me. He’s more popular than I am.\nWhen did you first discover that you were a writer? I taught elementary school chapel for six years. Finding curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grade is a challenge. I had to modify curriculum and write drama scripts to go along with the material. One spring I was feeling worn out and I prayed for God to “Hit me with some creativity.” God gave me ideas for my lessons, but I also felt a prompting to write a story. Four stories later, my first book was published, and it was a plot similar to a Bible story. I should have begun earlier writing what I taught each week.\nTell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading. I became a Christian in the third grade, so I have a soft spot for children’s books that are spiritually based or are sweet stories. I’m always on the lookout for good resources for children. All my books have a romantic thread because I like a good love story, too. I enjoy reading Biblical Fiction, Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance, and sweet Young Adult books.\nHow do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world? Setting boundaries is key to staying sane. I make God and my family my top priorities. I have turned down book contracts when my family needed more of my attention. Some might say I was crazy, but God blessed me in unexpected ways.\nPhilippians 4:4-7 are my go-to verses to reduce stress and anxiety.\nHow do you choose your characters’ names? When writing about historical characters, I am stuck with their names. If my characters are fictional, I choose names that sound different and do not start with the same letter so as not to confuse a reader. Imagine my concern when I wrote about the daughters of Zelophehad: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. I worked really hard to keep the characters distinct because their names are similar.\nWhat is the accomplishment that you are most proud of? Personally, it’s raising children that love the Lord. Professionally, it would be getting a second book published. With a debut novel, readers do not have any expectations. Expectations are high with a sophomore story.\nIf you were an animal, which one would you be, and why? I would be a butterfly who hangs out on pretty flowers and makes people wonder at God’s Creation.\nWhat is your favorite food? Dark chocolate. If chocolate’s not a food, then I would say tacos.\nOf course, chocolate is a food. I love dark chocolate, too. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it? My greatest roadblock, to this day, is self-doubt. I pray that God will help me write to the best of my ability. I pray before I write for the Spirit to help me craft the best story possible. I also never stop learning about the craft of writing.\nHere's the official book blurb:\nWhen seventeen-year-old seamstress, Josephine Nimetz, agrees to take care of a WWI amputee in a remote Alaskan lodge to escape the influenza of 1918, there’s enough friction to melt the Mendenhall Glacier. Her position is only until June, and it pays well enough to overlook the hardship of managing a rustic home and a shell-shocked veteran, Geoff Chambers.\nGeoff makes it clear that he isn’t too fond of the “runt” sent to take care of his needs, nor of her painful mistakes. Dealing with a depressed and addicted amputee, pushes Josephine to the brink of leaving, if not for the money her salary brings.\nBut Josephine is a perfectionist, determined to get Geoff back on his feet—figuratively. Though, sending a rich, handsome veteran back into society may cost Josephine the man she has grown to love.\nThis sounds interesting. Please give us the first page of the book.\nJosephine Nimetz slipped into a perfect replica of a wool coat, one she had drawn, designed, and patterned on old newspaper. She tucked a rectangular box under her arm and tiptoed across the living room toward her mother who slept in an oversized chair. Laying a gentle hand on her mother’s swollen knuckles, she whispered, “I’m off to the Chambers Estate.”\nHer mother’s eyes fluttered open. “I thought you delivered Mrs. Chambers’s gown yesterday?”\n“Yes, but Ann forgot to put the gloves and embroidered handkerchief in the box. I don’t want any complaints from our best customer.”\n“Your sister can’t seem to think about anything these days. Anything, that is, except men.”\nJosephine stepped toward the door. At seventeen, the last thing she wanted to discuss was her sister’s courtships. There had been too many stories of lonely miners with gold rush dreams. Her mother coughed and leaned forward. Josephine halted. “Do you need your medicine?”\n“At night dear. Only at night.”\nHow can readers find you on the Internet? I have a website where you can find out about my books and sign up for my monthly newsletter, http://www.barbarambritton.com/books.html. I am also active on Twitter, Facebook, BookBub, and Goodreads.\nThank you, Barbara,\nfor sharing this book with my blog readers and me. I love reading stories set\nReaders, here is a link to the book.\nLeave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book.\nYou must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us\nwhere you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside\nVoid where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.\nThe only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.\nIf you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Writing is fun for the writer when the flow just pours – you think of a topic and simply run with it. You are confident that your audience or readers would love your piece so you throw everything into it. After reading it over and being impressed with yourself (your work), you feel It is ready for others to read it too. Next step is pushing the publish button and just as you had hoped, everyone loved it. You get likes, comments and even new follows. So you do it again – write some more.\nThere are those moments as I’ve described above and there are those moments when nothing seems to be flowing. You have a theme or topic and you are ready to go but you can’t go past the first paragraph. Sometimes you have the closing in mind and you lead with that, composing the topic as you progress with the body of the post. Oh, and there are the countless drafts with topics and no content or content and no topic or the ones we have finished but keep editing because we are unsure it’s good enough to be published!\nDealing with Writer’s Block.\nAs writers, we put in a lot to publish that daily, weekly, or monthly post but we often have writer’s block too. Not to be swayed by the dictionary definition but having writer’s block is no indication that your skills are non-existent. It’s simply an interlude to the bigger picture you are hoping to paint. Embrace it by pushing through it.\nWriting became an hobby for me at a very young age and I would often write only when I was inspired because I thought that was when my best came out. Then I realized that was not exactly true. Now, I am always writing something at all (and odd) times. Yes, at all times! I cannot count the number of times I have woken up at 2:00 am because that was when the inspiration came to me. Or stopping mid-sentence in my conversation with someone to write something in my notebook (I try not to be rude about it). I am always ready to write about every idea that comes to me at all times and it’s helped me overcome my writer’s block.\n2. Leading With the End.\nMost times, I have the end goal in mind. If I am writing about my experience with time management, it’s already clear that I intend to help my readers see how they can overcome it. Interesting, I always have the closing statement ready to go and I lead with that. Starting with the ending helps me fill up the “nonexistent” paragraphs.\n3. Reading my Previous Posts\nI like to believe that most writers go back and read their previous work. I have found that reading my old posts have become an inspiration and motivation to keep writing; it tends to help me see how my writing has improved over the years and appreciate my progress.\n4. Reading Other Writer’s Posts\nI am frequently looking for writers whose niches are both similar and different from mine. I have found that Inspiration comes when I read what others have written.\nAnd that’s it! For now at least. I hope to discover new ways of learning and improving my writing.\nI wrote this post to write about my experience with writing but most importantly to learn about how other writers are coping with writer’s block. If you are a writer, I would love to read and learn from you. Let’s connect!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "|Home > Samantha Young > On Dublin Street Series > Moonlight on Nightingale Way (Page 24)|\n|Moonlight on Nightingale Way(On Dublin Street #6)(24) by Samantha Young|\n“Love you, too, Grace,” he said gruffly, squeezing me back. Reluctantly, I let him go, and he slipped quietly out of the flat.\n“He an ex?”\nI spun around, startled by Logan’s appearance in the hallway.\nI shook my head, because technically he wasn’t really. One time didn’t count. “No. Aidan’s like family. And he’s engaged to a woman he’s madly in love with.”\nLogan processed this and then shrugged. “Nice guy. Glad to know there’s someone looking out for you.”\n“Thank you,” I said, surprised by his comment.\nHe cleared his throat. “Aye, anyway… I wanted your opinion on something.”\n“Shannon wants to meet Maia tonight, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea yet.”\nI loved that he was so concerned for her feelings. I walked toward him and patted his arm reassuringly. “Trust your instincts, Logan.”\n“I’m thinking we should wait until the paternity results come in.”\n“I would agree.”\nHe nodded. “I’ll call her.” I walked away, but he said my name, stopping me in my tracks. I glanced over my shoulder in question. “Thanks for everything.”\nOnce more the gratitude in his eyes affected me. In fact, I was hit with a wave of attraction so big I could only mumble “you’re welcome” before I had to walk away from him. I closed my eyes and prayed to God Aidan’s concerns were unfounded.\nThis thing with Logan and Maia… Would I end up getting hurt?\nWhat on earth had I let myself in for?\nLogan stood on my doorstep the next morning holding a padded envelope. His features were tight with anxiety. “The paternity kit arrived.”\nI stepped aside to let him past. “It will all be okay,” I promised.\nHe didn’t respond. He was too focused on getting to Maia. I followed him into the kitchen, where we both stopped at the sight of Maia sitting in her new pajamas, scooping up spoonfuls of cereal with one hand while she held a book from my collection with the other. Her nose was practically pressed to the pages.\nI’d discovered that Maia was like me in more ways than one. If I got engrossed in a book, the world around me ceased to exist. This morning, as Maia wandered into the kitchen with a young-adult novel in her hand, she’d barely grunted a “good morning” to me while I poured her a bowl of cereal and a glass of fresh orange juice.\n“Maia,” Logan said. When Maia didn’t respond, he looked at me, his eyebrows raised.\n“She’s reading,” I said, as if that explained everything. Logan stared blankly at me. I sighed and wandered over to Maia and gently plucked the book out of her hand.\nShe gazed up at me in confusion.\n“Logan’s here,” I said.\n“Oh.” She whipped around on the stool and smiled at him. “Mornin’.”\nLogan gave her a bemused smile in return. “Good book, is it?”\n“Hmm?” She frowned before understanding cleared her expression. “Oh, yeah. I borrowed it from Grace. It’s cool.”\n“Well, I’m sorry to disturb your reading, sweetheart.” Logan slid onto the stool next to her, and I set about making him a coffee to help bolster him through this huge moment. “But the paternity kit arrived. I need you to take a swab of the inside of your cheek so I can send it off for the test.”\nMaia’s spoon fell into her bowl with a clatter. “Okay. So… how long will it take? You know, for the results?”\n“I’ll send it off today. The company I’m using has a forty-eight-hour turnaround, so we’ll know really soon.”\nI watched her closely as I slid Logan his coffee. She had paled considerably.\n“Maia, it’s going to be okay,” I said.\nShe looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “I should probably brush my teeth first.” She took the plastic packet Logan was holding out to her with the swab inside it. As soon as she disappeared out of the room, Logan took a deep gulp of coffee.\n“Thanks,” he murmured, setting the mug down. “This is…” He glanced back at the door. “She looked terrified. She was practically crying. I… What’s going on? I thought she wanted this.”\n“Exactly.” I slid onto the stool Maia had just vacated. “Logan, she’s not scared that you’re her dad. She’s scared you’re not.”\nHe thought about this, and slowly the muscles in his clenched jaw relaxed.\n“What about you?” I said. “How are you feeling?”\n“Whatever happens happens.” He shrugged.\n“Logan,” I warned. “Macho bullshit does not fly in this flat.”\nHe raised an eyebrow at me. “Macho bullshit?”\n“Yes, macho bullshit. I can smell it a mile away.”\nHe looked into his mug of coffee like it had all the answers. “There have been a lot of ups and downs for me these last few years. I’ve learned to deal with those. I can learn to deal with this. It’s a lifestyle change.” He shot me a wry look. “I had to break things off with the American.”\nIgnoring the weird sense of satisfaction I felt at his announcement, I tried to be nonchalant. “Why?”\n“It wasn’t serious between us, and right now it’s a distraction. I have to focus on Maia.” The violet in his eyes darkened. “C’mon, Grace. We both know this paternity test is going to tell us this kid is mine. My life as it was is over. I make this commitment to that wee girl in there, then I better mean business. What kind of arsehole would subject their kid to the fucking carousel of women I’ve had in and out of my life these past few months?”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Author: Erin McCarthy\nSeries: True Believers #1\nPublisher: Penguin Group USA\nRelease Date: May 7, 2013\nGenre: New Adult\nMore Info: Goodreads\nPurchase: Amazon US\nPurchase: Barnes & Noble\nWhen Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.\nTyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…\nTorn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…\nThat pathetic, hopeless wanting. The desire for what you want but can’t have. The need for someone to like you. I recognized it because I saw it in my own face every day.\nAnd with that, we begin the journey into the world of Rory and Tyler, a road filled with self discovery, insecurity, friendship, and finding a family in the most unconventional of circumstances. This road wasn’t paved lightly, there were stumbles along the way, and many tears were shed. But when you are learning who you are, becoming the person you were meant to be, finding the people who will be by your side through thick and thin, tears are nothing but a drop in the bucket.\nWe begin with your typical virgin, full of self doubt, but under the surface, once you peel back all the layers, you discover that this story is so much more than that. A pretty package is just that. Appearances can be deceiving, and just because you think someone has it all figured out, quite often they are just as lost as you. Let me tell you, if you think women are the only ones full of insecurities, don’t kid yourself. Men are just as, if not more, culpable.\nAs we walked into the grocery store, my small cold hand wrapped in his big callused one. I marveled at the strange places and people we could draw comfort from, when we didn’t even know we needed it.\nTyler is a protector. Tyler is a friend. Tyler is a brother. When you come to find out the ‘true’ meaning behind the title of the book as well as his tattoo, your heart will melt. As I read the words, I knew I was lost to these characters and this author. I was hooked from the words, harpooned by the depth of feeling flowing from them like waves.\nIt was then that I realized it would be very easy to fall in love with Tyler Mann. And that if I didn’t want to get my heart broken into a million pieces, I needed to be very, very careful not to do that.\nThis is one of those stories that literally grabs you from page one. You are sucked in and never want to leave. These four brothers become your family and you just want to protect them and take all their worries away. I have never read a family that sticks together as this one does. Against all odds, against everything working together to pull them apart and dissuade them, they stay strong. Yes, you will experience rage and heartbreak, but don’t fret, around the corner is love. And throughout it all is hope.\nI lay in the dark and listened to the sound of his breath as it slowed and evened out, and I marveled at where I was and who I was with. It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t logical. Yet there was no place I’d rather be.\nThe most perfect things in life never do make sense. But isn’t that the point? You don’t always have to understand the why’s and how’s for it to work. You just KNOW, deep in your heart, no matter what outside sources say. Fight for what/who you want, your faith unwavering. Prove that in the end, you aren’t going anywhere.\nIronic, wasn’t it, that the physical heart was so hard to reach, yet my emotional heart seemed to have been found with very little effort on Tyler’s part.\nHeartbreaking and heartwarming story! 5 star read from me!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Laura KasischkePoetry, Fiction\nInterviewed by: Angela Elam\nCatalog Number: 20190322\nNational Book Critics Circle Award-winning poet Laura Kasischke muses on topics ranging from motherhood to beauty queens, as she reads from several of her books now published under one cover by Copper Canyon, the 2017 book, Where Now: New and Selected Poems. Also an author of novels and short stories, she then sits down onstage at the Kansas City Public Library for a short conversation with host Angela Elam, as a prelude to their upcoming studio conversation, when she reads from her fiction. To find out about her early career, a 2006 program with Laura Kasischke is also available in our audio archives.\nArab-American writer Naomi Shihab Nye was born in St. Louis and is now a long-time resident of Texas with her husband, photographer Michael Nye. She discusses how her late father has impacte...\nKansas City Literary Events", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "« FöregåendeFortsätt »\ncommandment, in these words, “ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, nor worship them,\" Exod. xx. 5. And the worshipping of the true God is implied and expressed in these words, Matth. iv. 10, “ Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.\"\nNon. But sir, how do you prove that these duties which you have named are parts of God's worship?\nEvan. For answer hereunto, I pray you consider, that to worship God, is to render up that homage and respect that is due from a creature to a Creator; now, in prayer we are said to render up this homage unto him, and to manifest our profession of dependence upon him for all the good we have, and acknowledge him to be the Author of all good; and indeed prayer is such a great part of God's worship, that sometimes in Scripture it is put for the whole worship of God. “He that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Rom. x. 13; that is, be that worships God aright; Jer. X. 25, “Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that know thee not, and on the families that call not upon thy name,” that do not pray, that do not worship God.\nAnd that hearing the word is a part of God's worship is manifest; because that in hearing ve do manifest our dependence upon him, for knowing his mind, and the way to eternal life, every time we come to hear the word of God, if we know what we do, we do thus much, we profess that we depend upon the Lord God for the knowing of his mind, and the way and rule to eternal life; and besides, herein we also come to wait upon God in the way of an ordinance, to have that good conveyed unto us by way of an ordinance, beyond what the thing itself is able to do, and therefore this is worship. And that the receiving the sacrament is a part of God's worship, is manifest, in that when we come to receive these holy sigus and seals, we come to present ourselves before God, and come to God for a blessing in communicating unto us some higher good than possibly those creatures that we have to deal with are able of themselves to convey to us; we come to God to have communion with bim, and that we might have the blessing of the covenant of grace conveyed unto us through these things; and therefore when we come to be exercised in them, we come to worship God. The like we might say of the rest of the duties before mentioned, but I hope this may suffice to satisfy you that they are parts of God's worship.\nNom. But, sir, you know that in this commandment there is nothing expressly forbidden but the making and worshipping of ima ges, and therefore I question whether all those other sins that you have named be likewise forbidden.\nEvan. But you must know, that when the Lord condemneth the chief, or greatest and most evident kind of false worship, namely, the worship of God at, or by images, it is manifest that he forbids also the other kinds of false worship, seeing this is the head and fountain of all the rest; wherefore, whatsoever worships are instituted by meu, or do any way binder God's true worship, they are contrary to this commandment.\nNom. Well, sir, though that these things be so, yet for all that I am persuaded I go very near the keeping of this commandment; for I do constantly perform the most of these duties, and am not guilty of doing the contrary.\nEvan. But thou must know, that for the worshipping of God aright, it is not only required that we do the good which he commands, and avoid the evil which he forbids, but also, that we do it in obedience to God, to show that we acknowledge him alone to be the true God, who has willed this worship to be thus done unto him; so that, as I told you before, the word of God must not only be the rule of our actions, but also the reason of them: we must do all things which are delivered and prescribed in the ten commandments, even for the love we bear to God, and for the desire we have to worship him; for except we so do them, we do them not according to the sentence and prescript of the law, neither do we please God therein. Wherefore, though you have prayed and heard the word of God and received the sacrament, and done all the rest of the forenamed duties, yea, and though you have not done the contrary, yet if all this has been either because the laws of the kingdom require it, or in mere obedience to any superior, or to gain the praise and esteem of men, or if you have any way made yourself your highest end, you have not obeyed nor worshipped God therein; for, says a judicious writer, “If any man shall observe these things in mere obedience to the king's laws, or thereby to please holy men, and not through an immediate reverence of that heavenly Majesty who has commanded them, that man's obedience is non-obedience; his keeping of these laws is no keeping them ;” because the main thing here intended is neglected, which is the setting np God in his heart; and that which is most of all abhorred is practised, viz. the “fear of God taught by the precepts of men,” Isa. xxix. 13. And to this purpose that worthy man of God has this saying, “ Take heed, (says he) that the praises of men be not the highest end that thou aimest at; for if it be, thou worshippest men, thou dost make the praise of inen to be thy god; for whatsoever thou dost lift up in the highest place, that is thy god, wbatsoever it be; wherefore, if thou liftest up the praise of men, and makest that thy end, thou makest that thy god, and so thou art a worshipper of men, but not a worshipper of God.”\nAgain, says he, “ Take heed of making self thy end. That is, take heed of aiming at thine own peace, and satisfying thine own conscience in the performance of duties.\" It is true, says he, when we perform duties of God's worship we may be encouraged thereunto by the expectations of good to ourselves, yet we must looķ higher, we must look at the honour and praise of God; it is not enough to do it, merely to satisfy conscience; thy main end must be, that thou mayst, by the performance of the duty be fitted to honour the name of God, otherwise we do them not for God but for ourselves, which the Lord condemns, Zech. vii, 5, 6. And now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you, let me ask you once again, whether you think you keep this commandment perfectly or no?\nNom. No, believe me, sir, I do now begin to fear I do not.\nEvan. If you make any question of it, I would intreat you to consider with yourself, whether you have not gone to the church on the Lord's day to hear the word of God, and to receive the sacrament, and do other duties, because the laws of the kingdom require it, or because your parents and masters have required it, or because it is a custom to do so, or because you conceive it to be a credit for you to do so.\nAnd I pray you also consider, whether you have not abstained from worshipping images, and other such idolatrous and superstitious actions which the Papists use, merely because the laws of the land wherein you live do condemn such things. And I pray you also consider whether you have not been sometimes zealous in prayer in the presence and company of others, to gain their praise and approbation ; have you not desired that they should think you to be a man of good gifts and parts? And have you not in that regard endeavoured to enlarge yourself? And have you not sometimes performed duties merely because otherwise conscience would not let you be quiet? And have you not sometimes fasted and prayed, merely or chiefly in hopes that the Lord would, for your so doing, prevent or remove some judgment from you, or grant you some good thing which you desire. Now, I beseech you, answer me truly and plainly, whether you do not think you have done so ?\nNom. Yea, believe me, sir, I think I have.\nEvan Then have you in all these things honoured and worshipped your parents, your masters, your magistrates, your neighbours, your friends, and yourself, as so many false gods, instead of the true God; and therein have been guilty of a breach of the second commandment.\nNeo. I pray you, sir, proceed to speak of the third commandment, as you have done of the first and second ; and first, tell us how the second and third commandment differ.\nCOMMANDMENT III. Evan. Why, as the Lord in the second commandment doth require that we worship him alone by true means, so does he in the third commandment require that we use the means of his worship after a right manner, that so they may not be used in vain, Matt. xv. 9. And in this commandment likewise, there is a negative part expressed in these words, “ Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” And that is, Thou shalt not profane it, by using my titles, attributes, ordinances, or works, ignorantly, irrevently, or after a formal, superstitious manner. And an affirmative part, included in these words, “ But thou shalt sanctify my name, Isa. viii. 13;—by using my titles, attributes, ordinances, works, and religion, with knowledge, reverence, and after a spiritual manner, John iv. 24.\nNeo. I pray you, sir, begin with the affirmative part, and first tell us what the Lord requires in this commandment.\nEvan. The Lord in his commandment doth require, that we sanctify his name in our hearts, with our tongues, and in our lives, by thinking, conceiving, speaking, writing, and walking, so as becomes the excellency of his titles, attributes, ordinances, works, and religion.\nNeo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord in regard of his titles ?\nEvan. By thinking, conceiving, speaking, and writing holily, reverently, and spiritually of his titles, Lord and God, Deut. xxviii. 58. And this we do when we meditate on them, and use them in our speeches and writings with an inward spiritual fear and trembling, to the glory of God and good of men, Jer. v.\nNeo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord, in regard of his attributes ?\nEvan. By thinking, conceiving, speaking, and writing holily, reverently, and spiritually of his power, wisdom, justice, mercy, and patience, Psalm civ. 1, and ciii. 6, 8. And this we do when we think, speak, and write of them after a careful, reverent, and spiritual manner, and apply them to such good uses for which the Lord has made them known, Psalm xxxvii. 30.\nNeo. And in which of God's ordinances are we to sanctify his name?\nEvan. In every one of his ordinances, and especially in the three great ordinances, prayer, preaching, and hearing the word, and administering and receiving the sacraments.\nNeo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord in prayer ?\nEvan. In prayer we are to sanctify the name of the Lord in our hearts, and with our tongues, in calling upon his name after a holy, reverent, and spiritual manner; and this we do when our prayers are the speech of our souls, and not of our mouths only; and that is, when in prayer we lift up our hearts unto God, Psalm xxv. 1; and pour them out unto him, Psalm lxii. 8; and when we pray with spirit, and with understanding also, 1 Cor. viv. 15; and with humility, Gen. xviii. 27; and xxxii. 10; Luke xviii. 13; and with fervency of spirit, James v. 16; and out of a sense of our own wants, James i. 5; and with a special faith in the promises of God, Matt. sxi. 22.\nNeo. And how are your ministers to sanctify the name of the Lord in preaching his word ?\nEvan. We are to sanctify the name of the Lord in our hearts, and with our tongues, in preaching after a holy, reverent, and spitual manner; and this we do when the word is preached, not only outwardly, by the body, but also inwardly with the heart and soul; and when the heart and soul preaches, then is the ministry of the word, on the minister's part, used after an holy and spiritual manner, and that is, when we preach in demonstration of the Spirit, 1 Cor. iii. 27; and in sincerity, 2 Cor. ii. 17; and faithfully without respect of persons, Deut. xxxiii. 9; and with judgment and discretion, Matt. xxiv. 49; and with authority and power, Matt. vii. 29 ; and with zeal to God's glory, John vii. 18; and with a desire of the people's salvation, 2 Cor. xi. 2.\nNeo. And how are we hearers to sanctify the name of the Lord in hearing his word ?\nEran. In hearing it after an holy, reverent, and spiritual manDer; and this you do when your heart and soul hears the word of God; and that is when you set yourself in the presence of God, Acts x. 33; and when you look upon the minister as God's messenger or ambassador, 2 Cor. v. 20, and so hear the word as the word of God, and not as the word of man, 1 Thess. ii. 13; with reverence and fear, Isa. Ixvi. 2; and with a ready desire to learn, Acts xvii. 11 ; and with attention, Acts viii. 6; and with alacrity without wearisomeness or sleepiness, Acts xx. 9.\nNeo. And how are you ministers to sanctify the name of the Lord in administering the sacraments ?\nEvan. By administering them after an holy, reverent, and spiritaal manner; and that is, when we administer them with our hearts or souls, according to Christ's institution, Matt. xxvi. 26; to the faithful in profession at least, 1 Cor. x. 16; and with a hearty desire that may become profitable to the receivers.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "GQ has everything you need to prep for Season 7 of HBO's hit fantasy epic: interviews, recaps, and crazy fan theories.\nThe Shining sequel gets a very promising trailer.\nThe master of horror has a bunch of stuff in the pipeline. Here's what's coming up.\nTo coincide with the launch of her new book, Era of Ignition, GQ asked the actress, writer, and activist for a recommended reading list.\nThe Man Booker Prize-winning author talks good sex scenes, who he’d cast in the movie adaptation, and what he wears when he writes.\nA conversation with comedian Lane Moore about Valentine’s Day, loneliness, and Tinder exhaustion.\nThe most critically acclaimed author in contemporary science fiction and fantasy made history this year. Now she's trying to make the future.\nPaul Tremblay's The Cabin at the End of the World is equal parts gripping, horrifying, and mesmerizing.\nYou're a firestarter, twisted firestarter.\nIn his new book, John Carreyrou uncovers that Theranos’s greatest innovation was lying.\nBased on your favorite characters.\nAnd the 21* you should read instead. (*Well, 20. You'll see.)\nEven the basic plot synopsis of The Peripheral is a trip.\n'NOS4A2' will be a ten-part horror series.\nIn her new, mammoth memoir The Recovering, Leslie Jamison is rewriting the narrative of addiction.\nHe’s working on finishing something called A Song of Ice and Fire.\nHead here for craft beer, fresh air, and a few good books.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Talmud, by Joseph Barclay, , at sacred-texts.com\nPreparations of the High PriestCleansing the AltarCasting LotsDaybreakOfferingsDressPrayerThe GoatsMonobazusHelenaAzazelthe Golden Censerthe VailHoly of Holies\"Foundation\"Sprinkling the BloodSending forth the Goat into the WildernessHigh Priest burning the Bullock and GoatReadingCeremonialRules and ExceptionsRepentance and Atonement.\n1. Seven days before the Day of Atonement the High Priest was removed from his house to the chamber 1 Parhedrin, and the council prepared for him another priest, 2 lest there happen to him any defilement. R. Judah said, \"they prepared also another wife, lest his wife die;\" as is said, 3 \"And he shall atone for himself and for his house;\" for his house, i.e. for his wife. The Sages said to him, \"if so, there is no end to the matter.\"\n2. All these seven days, he (the high priest) sprinkled the blood, burned the incense, and trimmed the lamps, and offered the head and the foot. On the remainder of all the days, if he wished to offer, he offered; since the high priest first offered part, and first took part (in the sacrifices).\n3. The elders from the elders of the great Sanhedrin delivered to him, and read before him, the ceremonial of the day; and they said to him, \"My Lord High Priest, read with thy mouth, perchance thou hast forgotten, or perchance thou hast not learned.\" 4 On the eve of the day of atonement, towards dawn, they placed him in the eastern gate (of the Temple), and they caused to pass before him bullocks,\nrams, and lambs, that he might be skilled and expert in his ministry.\n4. All the seven days they did not withhold from him food and drink; the eve of the day of atonement, with the beginning of darkness, they did not permit him to eat much, since food induces sleep.\n5. The elders of the great Sanhedrin delivered him to the elders of the priesthood, who brought him to the upper chamber of the house Abtinas. And they administered to him the oath, 1 and they left him and departed. And they. said to him, \"My Lord High Priest, we are ambassadors of the great Sanhedrin, and thou art our ambassador, and the ambassador of the great Sanhedrin. We adjure thee by Him, whose Name dwells in this house, that thou wilt not change aught of all which we have said to thee.\" He went apart and wept. They went apart and wept. 2\n6. If he were a learned man, he expounded; but if not, the disciples of the learned expounded before him. If he were skilled in reading, he read; but if not, they read before him. \"And in what did they read before him?\" \"In Job, and in Ezra, and in Chronicles.\" Zachariah, the son of Kebutal, said, \"I often read before him in Daniel.\"\n7. If he desired to sleep, the young priests filliped with the first finger 3 before him, and said to him, \"My Lord High Priest, stand up and refresh thyself 4 once on the pavement,\" and they kept him occupied 5 until the time approached for slaying (the victims).\n8. Every day they cleansed the altar at cockcrow, or at its approach, intermediate before or after it; and on the day of atonement 6 at midnight; and in the three great feasts, at the first watch. And before cockcrow the court was crowded with Israel.\n119:1 Where the counsellors sat.\n119:2 Called Sagan (suffragan) (2 Kings xxv. 18; Jer. lii. 24).\n119:3 Lev. xvi. 6.\n119:4 As might occur from the frequent changes during the second Temple.\n120:1 That he would incense \"within\" the vail (Lev. xvi. 12, 13), in opposition to the Sadducees, who maintained that the incense should be burned \"without.\"\n120:2 That such an oath was necessary.\n120:3 Or the \"index\" finger; other trans. the \"middle\" finger.\n120:4 Or change thyself.\n120:5 Singing to him \"Unless the Lord build the house, they labour but in vain that build it, etc.\" (Psalm cxxvii.)\n120:6 The Jews think that the day of atonement was the day on which Adam sinned, on which Abraham was circumcised, and on which Moses offered atonement for the sin of the golden calf.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Good ending. I just got confused in the one part about the father. I could not follow the time line in the paragraph.This is the fifth and the last part of my short story \"Departure,\" please would you proofread it.\nOnly six months after his arrival, he received the news that his home had been destroyed and his parents had become refugees in a foreign country. Everything which they had patiently built and created, all the decades of sacrifices and hard work had disappeared in flames only because a soldier was drunk and bored and wanted to have some fun watching the house burning to the ground.\nOr maybe his colleague was envious and sat it on fire out of sheer malice. His parents ended as refugees in a neighbouring country together with thousands of others who had lost everything, and still were lucky to come out alive.\nSome months later his father died, officially from heart attack, but he knew that the real cause was sorrow. He had hoped to enjoy his coming retirement in his garden surrounded with beautiful flowers and plants which he was looking after as if they had been his own children, but instead, he ended up in the smelly, cold barracks without much privacy. [I am confused about who is in the barracks, that father or the son.]\nThen two years later his mother had become ill and asked him to come and visit her. She was still living in the same barracks and did not know what was going to happen\nwithto her in the future. She had a brain tumour which was diagnosed too late and probablyshe probably knew she was going to die soon. She wanted to see her only son before she died and pleaded with him to come. But he never came.\nShe must have felt ashamed of him. In their culture, the family was more important than anything. One was taught\nalreadyas a child that when it was about the family, one should sacrifice everything, even one’s own life. He had always loved his mother more than his father, but he could not climb over the invisible walls of this city and set off on a journey to the south. When the news of her death reached him, he began to cry and the tears ran down his face as if they had been pouring from a deep well.\nHe had promised himself that one day he would return to his parents’ graves, at least to ask them for forgiveness and say prayers.\nAll these misfortunes had made him strong, callous, self-centred, and sly. Sometimes he would walk the streets thinking [wondering?], if he was still a human being or maybe had transformed into something other, a creature about which there was no description in study books.\nHe glanced at his watch. He had to go. He slowly rose from the bench, gripped the handle of the suitcase and started to walk, pulling the suitcase behind him, its tiny wheels making a buzzing noise on the concrete. After about a hundred metres, he reached the bridge and joined the surging crowds. At the moment he became one of them, a man with the goal and direction.\nWhen he reached the middle of the bridge, he stopped and looked down at the river, dazzling under the sunlight. He walked on towards the train station. Close to the entrance, a young Gypsy girl was standing and playing an accordion, an empty shoebox under her feet. People were so busy that almost nobody gave her a glace. He stopped, fumbled in his pocket for the coins he would not have any use\noffor in the south and threw them into the shoebox before entering the black rectangular building which reminded him of a large crypt. Before the automatic doors closed behind him, he turned towards the city for the last time and inhaled deeply.\nStudent or Learner", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "my friend elizabeth \"zee\" whitlock wrote this cool story its better than anything AARRON ever puts on this thing enjoy\nOnce upon a time about two weeks ago, a boy named Sammy was all alone and bored at a mall. So since he was bored, he decided to pop into Hot Topic.\nThere he saw magical emo kid clothes that made him feel deep and sensitive to other’s feelings. On the labels they called the clothes “emo.” Sammy decided to call himself emo.\n“I’m totally emo!” he proclaimed to everyone.\nJust then a group of emo kids came by, hoping to find new meat to train in their whiney, retarded ways. Instead, they said, “Hey! He’s not emo! We’re leaving!” So they did.\nSammy was annoyed. So he went out and bought tight jeans and band t-shirts. The next day he came back to Hot Topic and proclaimed: “I am very emo!” The same group of emo kids came back. They were not impressed.\n“No you’re not, you’re a poser! You’re not emo!” they said. They warned him not to cry “emo” again or they wouldn’t come back.\nSo the next week all he did was do that hair-flippy thing and listen to nothing but the Get-Up Kids and the sound of his own tears.\nSammy mustered up the strength to go back to the mall again to be emo one last time. He yelled, “Look, guys, I’m emo!”\nTo that they replied, “You’re emo, huh? Well then, go kill yourself.”\nAnd he did.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I wish I had this book when rearing my kids. It's not geared to parenting per se, but it is geared towards hardship and suffering, of which there can be plenty in family life. There's not a day when I pick it up that I am not blessed and strengthened.\n\"The Way Home\" by Mary Pride radically changed my views on wife and motherhood. Now maybe it is theologically not reformed enough I don't know; I was a newish Christian, raised feminist/atheist, so, I was not as discerning as perhaps I am now. But man I loved that book. I have often thought to re read with my thoroughly reformed eyes but I loaned it out so long ago and did not get it back. . .\nThis isn't about motherhood per se but the \"Give me Jesus\" journals by Well-Watered Women has been immensely helpful for my wife daily in keeping her nourished on Jesus as a mother of five. It's gives helpful structure for her for prayer/Scripture reading. She also greatly appreciates Jen Wilken bible studies.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Top Recommended Books\nBest By Year\nBest Sellers Books\n6 results founds\nBooks By Tags : readings\nPhilosopher-poet and cancer survivor, Mark Nepo opens a new season of freedom and joy--an escape from deadening, asleep-at-the wheel samenes...\nIn Through the Year with Jimmy Carter, the thirty-ninth President of the United States takes you on a unique journey into the heart of the C...\nIn A Year of Miracles, Marianne Williamson, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the classic A Return to Love and world-renowned teac...\nAuhtors By Tags : readings\nMark Nepo is a poet and philosopher who has taught in the fields of poetry, health, and spirituality for forty years. A New York Times #1 be...\nJimmy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, and served as thirty-ninth President of the United States. He and his wife, Rosalynn, founded The...\nMarianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed author and lecturer. For the last 35 years, she has been one of America's most well-know...", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Interfaces control workplace discrimination gender in the research papers the materials students use learning technologies in contemporary society. Gender bias in the workplace research methods the current research looks at political ideology as a possible factor for gender discrimination in the workplace. Read this research paper and over 1,500,000 resolution to eliminate gender discrimination in the workplace gender discrimination in workplace essay. Discrimination research papers most people's discrimination research paper on gender discrimination in the workplace research paper. Read gender discrimination at workplace free essay and over 88,000 other research documents gender discrimination at workplace university of illinois, urbana. Female discrimination research papers include workplace bias and other sociology issues an analytical research paper gives you an edge in your classes.\nFind other free research papers free research paper on discrimination affirmative action is used for a diversity in the workplace or university so that. Gender discrimination in the workplace abstract sex activity divergence flavour little causing severe ill-treat in the workplace and women. Katie scire final paper gender discrimination in the workplace. Gender discrimination - wrongful termination gender discrimination in the workplace gender discrimination in the workplace happens when an employee is treated.\nBuy mla research papers gender discrimination research paper dissertation presentation structure essay ghost writers. Gender discrimination in the workplace: a study of women’s this research paper explores the issue of gender discrimination in the work place.\nResearch report kevin clerkley discrimination thesis statement: throughout the united states, there are millions of americans who are struggling against. And certainly not in the workplace” gender bias, gender discrimination, gender equality retrieved october 19 research, and tutorial.\nWorkplace discrimination can take more open ethnic origin, gender women are especially exposed to this kind of discrimination workplace violence can. Gender discrimination in workforce and its this research paper explores the issue of gender discrimination in workforce and gender discrimination.View", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Discussion questions – To Kill a Mockingbird: Analyze the relationship between Boo Radley and the children\n- Analyze the relationship between Boo Radley and the children. How does this relationship change throughout the book? What are the causes of the developments in this relationship?\n- Discuss the concept of fear as presented in the novel. Compare the children’s early fear of Boo Radley to their fear or lack thereof when Bob Ewell attacks them. Is Scout correct in stating that real fear can only be found in books?\nAsked on 24.04.2017 in English Literature.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Jeffrey Munroe. Reading Buechner: Exploring the Work of a Master Memoirist, Novelist, Theologian, and Preacher. IVP, 2019. See here to purchase the book.\nI first learned about Frederick Buechner from Philip Yancey’s book Soul Survivor. I was on a Philip Yancey kick in those days because I thrived on Yancey’s honesty about religion and his emphasis on God’s grace. Soul Survivor appealed to me because it was about the Christian anchors to whom Yancey clung when he was disillusioned with the Christians and the Christianity around him. I do not remember anything Yancey said about Buechner, but I think that the chapter made a positive impression on me. Buechner’s name stuck with me over the years, enough that I thought I would be edified in reading Jeffrey Munroe’s book.\nReading Buechner is a guide to Buechner’s life, fiction, non-fiction, and sermons. In Munroe’s telling, Buecher is a Christian thinker who grapples honestly with the suffering in life and the doubts that people have about the Christian faith. Yet, he sees importance in Christian orthodoxy, which is why he felt somewhat alienated when he taught at Harvard Divinity School. Buechner has drawn from different sources. A Pentecostal faith healer, for example, inspired his thinking about prayer.\nMany evangelicals who love Buechner’s non-fiction, particularly his memoirs, do not quite know what to make of his fiction. Munroe acknowledges this common sentiment, and he speculates as to why this is the case while exploring the theological themes in Buechner’s novels.\nThere was a lot in this book that I appreciated and with which I identified. I did not identify much with what Buechner said about the usefulness of pain and suffering in the Christian life, since I would prefer a pleasant mood to the continual rage that I felt before taking Zoloft. Yet, suffering is a problem with which everyone copes, and this included Buechner, who for years struggled with the suicide of his father. Other topics that Buechner engaged includes the usefulness and non-usefulness of Christian apologetics and the mixture of joy, apprehension, and disappointment he had when seeing his grandchildren. His disappointment was not in them but in his realization that he would not live long enough to see how they turn out.\nIn terms of whether I would like to read Buechner sometime in the future, maybe some things. I would probably appreciate his memoirs and his sermons, since I prefer how non-fiction lays out theological principles in a straightforward manner rather than leaving it to the reader to discern them. At the same time, I did enjoy Munroe’s summaries of Buechner’s fiction, particularly his biblical fiction. Buechner’s placing of some biblical characters in a modern setting, with modern problems, was intriguing.\nMunroe’s telling of Buechner’s own story adds a dimension of humanity to the book, but so does Munroe’s description of his own encounters with Buechner’s work and with Buechner himself. Munroe also engages the criticisms that people have had of Buechner’s work and Buechner’s response to those criticisms, as well as offers his own criticism: that Buechner presents a weak ecclesiology. Munroe’s book is honest, as is Buechner’s work.\nI received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My review is honest.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Title: Take a chance on me\nAuthor: Jill Mansell\nPublisher: Headline Review\nCleo lives in a village where everyone knows everyone. A village where you can’t hide your secrets.\nCleo thinks she has THE perfect boyfriend, Will, but then she discovers who he really is and they break up. Another problem is Johnny, who came back to the village. She hates him because he always teased her. But why can’t she stop thinking of him?\nAbbie, Cleo’s sister finds that Tom, her husband, is acting strange. Then she discovers that he has a long-lost daughter and she feels abandoned by her husband, who only thinks about Georgia, his daughter. Her boss falls in love with her and because she feels lonely she kisses him. How can she make sure no one will ever know about this?\nAsh, the neighbour of Cleo falls in love with Fia. With his friends and as radio presenter, he is really talkative, but when it comes to Fia, he can’t say a word. She has a negative impression of him and she thinks Ash doesn’t like her. Will they ever become a couple?\nThis is a book full of love stories and I enjoyed reading it. I haven’t ever read a book by Jill Mansell before, but I read a lot of positive comments, so I started reading. Actually, I expected more. It was a nice read, but there were too much predictable things and clichés in it. Maybe it’s because it’s almost the 20th novel by Mansell and she has no inspiration anymore? I think I should read a novel she wrote earlier and make a comparison.\nEven tough the story wasn’t that original, there where a few nice situations in it and I liked the characters. For people who like reading about love, this is THE perfect read!\nRating: 3/5 stars, too predictable, but very relaxing!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Allostery is a physico-chemical phenomenon that regulates protein structure, flexibility and functions by signal transmission across nanometer distances within (or between) proteins. Allosteric signal transduction is ubiquitous in biological systems and regulates essential biochemical pathways. Understanding allostery at the atomistic level is crucial for controlling protein functions, providing roadmaps for the new developments in drug discovery and enzyme engineering. In this seminar, synergistic computational and experimental biophysical investigations [1-8] are illustrated, showing how important insights into allosteric mechanisms can be achieved for relevant biological systems, including a V-type allosteric enzyme [1-4, 7], a DNA-nuclear receptor complex and the genoma-editing CRISPR-Cas9 and spliceosome systems. In particular, community analysis of dynamical protein networks , see Figure 1, based on mutual information of correlated protein motions determined from classical molecular dynamics simulations will be described.\n I. Rivalta, M. M. Sultan, N.-S. Lee, G. A. Manley, J. P. Loria, and V. S. Batista, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2012, 109, E1428.\n G. A. Manley, I. Rivalta and J. P. Loria, J. Phys. Chem. B. 2013, 117, 3063.\n G. P. Lisi, G. A. Manley, H. Hendrickson, I. Rivalta, V. S. Batista, and J. P. Loria, Structure 2016, 24, 1155.\n I. Rivalta, G. P. Lisi, N.-S. Snoeberger, G. A. Manley, J. P. Loria, and V. S. Batista, Biochemistry 2016, 55, 6484.\n C. G. Ricci, R. L. Silveira, I. Rivalta, V. S. Batista and M. S. Skaf, Sci Rep. 2016, 6,19940.\n G. Palermo, C. G. Ricci, A. Fernando, R. Basak, M. Jinek, I. Rivalta, V. S. Batista and J. A. McCammon, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139 ,16028\n A. Gheeraert, L. Pacini, V. S. Batista, L. Vuillon, C. Lesieur and I. Rivalta J. Phys. Chem. B 2019, 123, 16, 3452\n A. Saltalamacchia, L. Casalino, J. Borišek, V. S. Batista, I. Rivalta and A. Magistrato J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, just accepted DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c02036", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Weight-bearing imaging to assess pathology has become the standard of care in foot and ankle orthopaedics.1,2 Weight bearing better represents and reveals underlying pathologies such as malalignment, impingement, joint space narrowing, and instability that may not be fully appreciated when the foot is offloaded.1 Until recently, radiographs were the only readily accessible imaging modality that could be done with the patient fully bearing weight.1,3 The advent of cone-beam CT technology rather than conventional multidetector CT configurations allowed the detector to move around the patient without the patient moving through the scanner and made the development of the weight-bearing CT (WBCT) scanner possible.3\nStandard weight-bearing radiographs are limited by projection, foot orientation, and difficulty in assessing the three-dimensional relationship of structures because of the bones being superimposed.2 In addition, measurements on radiographs require calibration. CT scans overcome these deficits by producing three-dimensional images that do not require calibration. Measurements of joint alignment and angles on cone-beam WBCT scans have been shown to be more accurate than on conventional radiographs and nonweight-bearing CT scans, and this may have clinical implications for surgeons planning deformity correction before surgery.2 As an example, Hirschmann et al4 reported notable differences when comparing measurements of impingement (eg, fibulocalcaneal distance) and joint space width (eg, lateral talocalcaneal joint space width) between weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing CT scans in 22 patients (Figure 1, A and B).\nWBCT scans have several other advantages over conventional imaging modalities. Radiation exposure in cone-beam WBCT scans has been estimated to be approximately 10% to 66% less than conventional multidetector CT scanners.1,3,5 Less ionizing radiation exposure is a notable advantage of cone-beam WBCT scans over conventional CT scans and may be advantageous for those patients who require frequent imaging or have complex deformities. One recent study also demonstrated the cost effectiveness and decreased image acquisition time of WBCT scanners over conventional radiographic and CT imaging modalities.5 For centers that do not have access to WBCT scans at this time, a traditional CT scanner with an axial loading device that is able to produce greater than 70% of the patient's body weight has been shown to accurately represent full weight-bearing and can be used as a substitute for newer three-dimensional standing WBCT scanners.6 However, such devices still do not achieve full weight-bearing and do not truthfully represent the foot in a standing (“stance”) position.\nThese advantages of WBCT scans, however, must be weighed against their higher cost and increased ionizing radiation exposure to patients over standard weight-bearing radiographs. Weight-bearing radiographs remain sufficient to adequately diagnose and treat most foot and ankle pathologies, and many of the studies included in this review do not directly compare WBCT scans with weight-bearing radiographs. Therefore, the superiority of WBCT scans over traditional weight-bearing radiographs in many foot and ankle diagnoses has not been established.\nThe purpose of this review article on WBCT scans in foot and ankle orthopaedics is to summarize the current literature, describe how WBCT scans have been used for research purposes to help better understand foot and ankle pathologies, and demonstrate how this technology may be applied to clinical practice.\nNormal Anatomy on Weight-bearing CT Scans\nWBCT scans have been used to investigate normal foot and ankle anatomy in patients without notable pathology.7-11 In healthy control patients, WBCT has been most frequently used to study hindfoot alignment, which has important implications for load-bearing through the lower extremity.8,11,12 A recent study that reviewed the WBCT scans of 48 patients without hindfoot pathology described a neutral hindfoot alignment in this control subject cohort rather than the presence of innate valgus of the hindfoot, which had been previously suggested based on weight-bearing radiographs.9 Others have taken advantage of a newer measurement called the foot and ankle offset (FAO), which is a three-dimensional measurement that defines a relationship between three points on the sole of the foot and one in the center of the ankle joint, to describe the overall hindfoot alignment.8,11 In these studies, they found that the hindfoot alignment in normal patients lies slightly valgus to the midline.8,11 These studies describing hindfoot alignment in normal control patients may provide surgeons with a reference when planning for deformity correction.\nAnother study used a WBCT scanner with a custom pedography sensor to compare the morphologic center of the foot with the center of force during weight-bearing.10 They found that the morphologic center of the foot was distal to the center of gravity or force of the foot in 97% of feet at a mean distance of 27.5 mm distal.10 In 62% of feet, the foot center was lateral to the center of gravity but only by a mean of 2.0 mm.10\nIn addition to investigating alignment and force distribution through the foot and ankle, WBCT scans have been used in normal patients to describe subtalar joint position and rotational dynamics of the talus because these are difficult to visualize well on plain radiographs.13 A study by Colin et al13 in 59 patients without hindfoot pathology demonstrated that the most posterior aspect of the posterior facet of the subtalar joint is consistently oriented in valgus, whereas the most anterior aspect of the posterior facet of the subtalar joint is typically oriented in varus. This study suggests that the measurements of the varus-valgus orientation of the posterior facet of the subtalar joint are dependent on where the CT image is taken in the AP direction. Lepojärvi et al14, using 32 healthy control subjects, showed that the talus rotates a total of 10° internally-externally about the tibia when the ankle is taken from maximal internal to maximal external rotation without substantial widening of the medial clear space.\nWeight-bearing CT Scans in Adult-Acquired Flatfoot Deformity\nAdult-acquired flatfoot deformity (AAFD) encompasses a number of pathologies including medial longitudinal arch collapse, hindfoot valgus, midfoot abduction, and compensatory forefoot varus. These concomitant deformities can be difficult to evaluate individually on two-dimensional weight-bearing radiographs, and visualization of the subtalar joint and impingement between the calcaneus and fibula are better assessed on WBCT scans. Ferri et al15 found that CT scan measurements of forefoot arch angle, which is the angle between the horizontal and a line connecting the inferior aspect of the medial cuneiform to the inferior aspect of the fifth metatarsal, and subtalar joint subluxation were markedly changed when applying 50% weight-bearing compared with a nonweight-bearing state in a simulated weight-bearing study. Another study by Kido et al16 also reported the differences in the talar, navicular, and calcaneal positions on WBCT scans compared with nonweight-bearing CT scans. Consequently, WBCT scans have been used to quantify the severity of deformities in AAFD with good intraobserver and interobserver reliability.17 In one study comparing 10 control patients with 23 patients with stage II to IV AAFD, WBCT scans demonstrated more notable differences in radiographic parameters between control subjects and patients with AAFD than plain weight-bearing radiographs alone, although the clinical implications of these findings have not been established.18\nSubtalar Joint Alignment\nAn early study using simulated WBCT scans demonstrated frequent subluxation of the talocalcaneal joint with an average of only 68% of the posterior facet of the calcaneus in contact with the talus in eight patients with AAFD compared with 92% in control patients.19 In a retrospective study of 22 feet in 20 patients with symptomatic AAFD who had undergone simulated WBCT scans, the anterior aspect of the posterior facet was typically oriented in valgus in contrast to a comparison cohort of normal control patients who had a varus orientation of the anterior aspect of the posterior facet (Figure 2, A and B).20 This varus orientation at the anterior part of the posterior facet of the subtalar joint in normal control patients was consistent to the results reported by Colin et al,13 who used upright, full WBCT scans, previously discussed. Similarly, the posterior aspect of the posterior facet of the subtalar joint in patients with AAFD was found to be in statistically significantly more valgus in patients with flatfoot than in normal control subjects.20 More recent studies have used standing, full WBCT scans, in contrast to simulated WBCT scans, to investigate the orientation of the subtalar joint in patients with stage II AAFD compared with control patients.21 Cody et al,21 using full WBCT scans, measured the subtalar joint alignment at 50% of the anterior-to-posterior dimension of the posterior facet in 45 patients with stage II AAFD and in 17 control patients. They found that stage II patients with AAFD had an additional 10° of subtalar valgus compared with the control subjects.21 A similar study examining subtalar joint valgus in stage II patients with AAFD found that nonweight-bearing CTs underestimated the true subtalar joint deformity compared with WBCT scans and could not be used as a substitute for full WBCT scans.22\nSubtalar and Subfibular Impingement\nPatients with AAFD may present with pain laterally at the anterior fibula and sinus tarsi due to calcaneofibular (subfibular) and/or talocalcaneal (subtalar) impingement (Figure 3, A and B).23,24 Malicky et al23 used simulated WBCT scans in 19 patients with AAFD who were indicated for surgery to study these impingement deformities. They found evidence of subtalar impingement in 92% of the WBCT scans and observed subfibular impingement in 66% of the CT scans, which differed markedly from control patients who had rates of 5% and 0%, respectively.23 MRI, although nonweight-bearing, may also be used to evaluate the subtalar joint for evidence of subtalar impingement and to measure the calcaneofibular distance for evidence of subfibular impingement.\nMore recently, Jeng et al24 used WBCT scans in 25 patients with AAFD to evaluate subtalar and subfibular impingement. Thirteen patients had stage II AAFD, 17 had stage III, one had stage IV, and three patients were not able to be staged based on chart notes.24 In contrast to Malicky et al, only 38% of patients had subtalar impingement and only 35% of patients had subfibular impingement on WBCT scans.24 Patients with subfibular impingement had a mean coronal calcaneofibular distance of 2.7 mm compared with those patients without subfibular impingement who had an average coronal calcaneofibular distance of 5.7 mm.24 In addition, they found that patients with AAFD with either talocalcaneal or calcaneofibular impingement had, on average, approximately 10° more of talonavicular abduction than patients with AAFD without bony impingement. These findings may have important implications for predicting which patients may fail a flatfoot reconstruction.\nWBCT has also been shown to aid in the assessment of hindfoot deformity in patients with AAFD, although no direct comparisons have been made between WBCT scans and weight-bearing radiographs. In a study of 20 patients with stage II AAFD, de Cesar Netto et al25 reported that clinical examination of the hindfoot alignment angle underestimated the hindfoot alignment angle as measured on WBCT scans by a mean of 7.6°. They reported that the mean hindfoot moment arm measured on WBCT scans was 15.1 mm in valgus, which correlated markedly with the clinical hindfoot alignment angle.25 They advocated for the use of WBCT scans in patients with AAFD because they found the measurements of hindfoot alignment to be repeatable and reliable.25 Burssens et al were the first to describe the hindfoot alignment angle on WBCT scans, which was similar to the technique used by de Cesar Netto et al mentioned above, and found that patients with AAFD had an average hindfoot alignment angle of 20.1°.12 Such measurements have the potential to help surgeons titrate the amount of correction of various osteotomies.\nMedial Longitudinal Arch Alignment and Forefoot Varus\nTo investigate the alignment of the bones along the medial longitudinal arch in AAFD, Kido et al16 used simulated WBCT scans to study 24 patients with flatfoot deformity and compared them with 20 healthy control subject feet. When the foot was loaded, patients with AAFD had more dorsiflexion at the first tarsometatarsal joint and more eversion at the talonavicular and talocalcaneal joints than the healthy control subjects.16 Their findings were supported by those of Zhang et al26 who compared similar WBCT measurements in patients with stage II AAFD to healthy control patients. Greisberg et al27 also used simulated WBCT scans in 37 patients with AAFD to study the medial longitudinal arch. Deformity along the medial longitudinal arch was found to be at either the navicular-cuneiform joint (65%) or talonavicular joint (20%) but rarely at both, with only one foot having more than 10° of collapse at both joints.27 They also noted severe degenerative changes in 38% of patients at the talonavicular joint, but none of the tarsometatarsal joints showed notable arthritic changes on the CT scans.27\nYoshioka et al28 used simulated WBCT scans to study forefoot alignment in patients with stage II AAFD. They reported that the fifth metatarsal bone was more plantarflexed in patients with AAFD than in healthy control patients, and the authors described this finding as the compensatory forefoot varus deformity.28 However, it should be noted that the difference in plantar flexion of the fifth metatarsal bone between flatfoot patients and normal control subjects was only 1.3°.28 This could have important implications in the surgical management of the compensatory forefoot varus pathology and may suggest that the deformity is prone to overcorrection.\nWeight-bearing CT Scans in Hallux Valgus\nPronation of the First Metatarsal\nAlthough hallux valgus (HV) has been understood to be a triplanar deformity of the first metatarsal, WBCT has recently helped to quantify the pathology at the first tarsometatarsal joint as well as the rotational deformity of the first ray. Collan et al29 used WBCT scans to compare 10 patients with HV with five asymptomatic normal control patients. They found no difference in the sagittal first metatarsal-ground angle between the HV and normal control subject groups. To study rotational deformities, they used a two-dimensional coronal view and measured the angle between the ground and either the sesamoid articulation of the first metatarsal or base of the proximal phalanx. The authors reported no notable difference in pronation of the first metatarsal in patients with HV (mean, 8°) and normal (mean, 2°) patients; however, they did note a statistically significant difference in the pronation of the proximal phalanx between the HV (mean, 33°) and control subject (mean, 4°) groups.29 The lack of statistical significance in pronation of the first metatarsal between HV and control patients may be due to the small number of patients included in the study and the authors' technique used to measure pronation based on the plantar aspect of the first metatarsal head, which may be deformed due to subluxation of the sesamoids and erosion of the crista.\nIn contrast, more recent studies have found increased pronation of the first metatarsal in patients with HV compared with normal control subjects.30,31 Kim et al30 demonstrated an increase of 8.1° in pronation of the first ray in patients with HV compared with control patients. Campbell et al31 used a computer-aided design to create a three-dimensional model of the first metatarsal and then measured the pronation of the first ray with the second metatarsal as a reference because the second ray forms a central, structural element of the foot (Figure 4). Using simulated WBCT scans, the authors reported that patients with HV had 9.9° of increased pronation of the first metatarsal compared with normal control subjects.31 In addition, they did not find any correlation between pronation of the first ray and IMA or HVA in HV.31 A subsequent study using the technique developed by Campbell et al found that the average preoperative pronation of the first metatarsal in patients with HV was 29.0° and decreased to 20.2° postoperatively, which was statistically significant.32 Pronation of the first ray was not associated with sesamoid position, suggesting that the position of the sesamoids is likely not a good proxy for first metatarsal pronation.32 Consequently, the rotational deformity is likely independent of the other deformities in patients with HV. Proper recognition and correction of the pronation deformity of the first ray may be important in the surgical management of patients HV.\nTwo studies using simulated WBCT scans have demonstrated increased mobility at the midfoot in patients with HV when compared with normal patients.33,34 Kimura et al33 performed simulated WBCT scans in 10 patients with HV and 10 patients without HV to investigate motion at the midfoot. In the HV group, they demonstrated statistically significantly greater dorsiflexion, inversion (pronation), and adduction of the first metatarsal in relation to the medial cuneiform compared with the control patients, which suggested increased motion of the first ray in patients with HV.33 In a separate study using simulated WBCT scans, the same group found greater mobility of the first-second intercuneiform joint in patients with HV.34 Another study compared simulated weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing CT scans in 10 healthy control patients and 10 patients with HV.35 A three-dimensional model of each bone was created so that widening and translation of the first metatarsal-cuneiform joint could be measured.35 In patients with HV, the first metatarsal-cuneiform joint significantly widened and translated more in the dorsal-plantar direction when compared with the normal control patients, which supports the finding of hypermobility of the first tarsometatarsal joint in patients with HV.35\nPosition of the sesamoids may also be more accurately measured on WBCT scans.30 Kim et al30 used simulated WBCT scans to demonstrate that no correlation was found between sesamoid position and pronation of the first metatarsal, which suggests that the degree of subluxation of the sesamoids is independent of first ray pronation. In approximately 25% of cases, they found that patients had “pseudosesamoid subluxation” on simulated WBCT scans in which there was first metatarsal pronation without true sesamoid subluxation; however, when viewed on an AP weight-bearing radiograph, the sesamoids in these cases would appear subluxated.30 Another simulated WBCT study demonstrated that tibial sesamoid position was correlated with HV severity as measured by the HV and intermetatarsal angles.36 They also found that the degree of degenerative change in the sesamoid metatarsal joint was associated with increasing lateral shift of the tibial sesamoid (Figure 5).36\nWeight-bearing CT Scans to Evaluate the Syndesmosis\nWBCT scans have also been used to examine motion and investigate biomechanics at the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis in both injured and uninjured patients.7,37-40 Motion at the syndesmosis under weight-bearing conditions was quantified in one study on 32 healthy control patients.7 Using WBCT scans, they found that the fibula is located anterior in the tibial incisura in 88% of patients.7 Physiologic motion of the incisura also occurs as the fibula moves, on average, 1.5 mm in the anterior-posterior direction and 3° in external rotation as the foot is moved from maximal internal to external rotation.7 Another retrospective study found similar results in a group of 26 patients who had undergone both nonweight-bearing and weight-bearing CT scans with foot and ankle diagnoses that were not believed to affect the syndesmosis.37 They found that the fibula externally rotates and translates posteriorly and laterally during weight-bearing (Figure 6).37\nIn patients with syndesmotic injuries, there is high interobserver and intraobserver reliability of distal tibiofibular WBCT scan measurements.40 However, the utility of WBCT scans in the diagnosis of syndesmotic injury is unclear. Burssens et al38 compared WBCT scan measurements in 12 patients with syndesmotic injuries and seven normal control patients. In the patients with syndesmotic injuries, they found increased movement of 1.4 mm in mediolateral direction of the lateral malleolus in the incisura.38 They also reported increased external rotation by 4.5° in the injured cohort.38 In contrast, Hamard et al39 found that WBCT scans were less effective at distinguishing pathologic syndesmotic injury than conventional nonweight-bearing multiplanar CT scans. They used nonweight-bearing multiplanar CT scans to analyze 11 ankles with suspected syndesmotic injury and used WBCT scans to investigate an additional of eight ankles with suspected syndesmotic injury.39 True syndesmotic instability in all ankles was determined using ankle arthroscopy.39 The results of this study suggested that conventional nonweight-bearing multiplanar CT scans were more accurate in determining syndesmotic injury.39 The authors hypothesized that physiologic widening of the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis during weight-bearing in the upright position may account for these results.39 Consequently, at this time, WBCT scans have been more important in advancing the understanding of physiologic motion at the syndesmosis than in the diagnosis of syndesmotic instability. Future work could help to identify appropriate reduction of the syndesmosis after injury.\nWeight-bearing CT Scans to Evaluate Lateral Ankle Instability\nAnkle sprains are commonly encountered in foot and ankle orthopaedic practices and are typically managed nonoperatively. However, a subset of patients develop chronic lateral ankle instability, which, if left untreated, can cause recurrent osteochondral injury and ultimately tibiotalar arthritis. WBCT scans have been used to study the alignment of the foot and ankle in patients with chronic lateral ankle instability to determine if certain risk factors can be elucidated.\nIn an early study, van Bergeyk et al41 used simulated WBCT scans to study hindfoot alignment in 12 patients with three or more episodes of lateral ankle sprains or instability with ongoing symptoms for at least 6 months. They compared this cohort of patients with 12 control patients.41 The study demonstrated that patients with chronic lateral ankle instability had measurements of hindfoot alignment including calcaneal metatarsal angle and medial calcaneal varus angle that were, on average, in approximately 3° to 4° more varus than the control patients.41 The authors concluded that hindfoot varus was an important factor correlated with recurrent ankle instability.41\nMore recently, Lintz et al42 used measurements on WBCT scans to examine hindfoot alignment in patients with chronic lateral ankle instability. They compared FAO, calcaneal offset, and the hindfoot angle in 34 patients with chronic lateral ankle instability with 155 patients without ankle instability.42 Calcaneal offset represents the difference (in millimeters) between a neutral position of the calcaneus and the actual position of the calcaneus.42 The hindfoot angle is formed between the weight-bearing axis of the tibia at the apex of the center of the talar dome and a line draw through the long axis of the calcaneus.42 Patients with chronic lateral ankle instability had approximately 4% more varus in their FAO, 9 mm more of varus in their calcaneal offset, and 16° more of varus in their hindfoot angle.42 For every 1% change in the FAO toward a varus alignment, there was a 35% increased odds ratio of developing chronic lateral ankle instability.42\nWeight-bearing CT Scans in Clinical Practice\nIn addition to helping surgeons understand foot and ankle biomechanics and pathologies, WBCT scans are increasingly changing clinical practice by allowing surgeons to better assess deformities and preoperatively plan for surgical intervention. At this time, WBCT scans may be especially valuable to the clinician in assessing deformities such as subtalar and subfibular impingement in AAFD, hindfoot alignment, and pronation of the first metatarsal in HV.\nIn AAFD, surgeons may use WBCT scans to look for subtalar impingement at the angle of Gissane on sagittal views or subfibular impingement on coronal views. Patients with severe subtalar or subfibular impingement may require a subtalar arthrodesis to properly align the foot and prevent future impingement or recurrence because current techniques such as a medializing calcaneal osteotomy and lateral column lengthening may not address these deformities. Future work may identify patients who are likely to fail reconstructive procedures.\nWBCT scans could also be used clinically to better evaluate hindfoot alignment. This may be particularly helpful in AAFD and in cases of chronic lateral ankle instability. Subtle varus and valgus deformities may be difficult to quantify on physical examination and on radiographs. WBCT scans may be an important tool to assist surgeons in titrating correction based on an individual patient's specific deformity.\nWBCT scans can also be used in practice to determine pronation and instability of the first metatarsal in patients with HV. Because sesamoid position and first ray pronation are distinct deformities, the rotational deformity of the first metatarsal cannot be determined using sesamoid position on weight-bearing radiographs as a proxy for metatarsal pronation. Using WBCT scans to preoperatively understand the amount of pronation of first ray may help surgeons calibrate the appropriate surgical correction of the rotational deformity. In addition, surgeons may choose to use WBCT scans in patients with HV to evaluate for instability at the first tarsometatarsal (TMT) joint, which could assist in identifying which patients require a first TMT arthrodesis.\nFinally, there may be a role for WBCT scans in the creation of patient-specific instrumentation, although there is no evidence at this time that demonstrates an advantage of WBCT scans for this use. WBCT scans may be used to more accurately model a patient's anatomy and create three-dimensional implants or cutting guides to help surgeons better treat complex deformities.\nThe advent of cone-beam CT technology in place of conventional multidetector CT scanner configurations has made the development of WBCT scans possible. Cone-beam CT technology also has the advantage of reducing ionizing radiation exposure to the patient. It has two-thirds the effective radiation dose of a conventional CT scan but approximately 2.5 times as much radiation as a standard, three-view weight-bearing radiograph of the foot.18 Compared with conventional nonweight-bearing CT scans, WBCT scans better demonstrate the true orientation of the bones and joints during loading conditions and help to identify underlying pathologies such as malalignment, impingement, and instability. They have provided new insight into common foot and ankle disorders such as AAFD, HV, ankle fractures, and lateral ankle instability. WBCT scans, however, have not replaced lower cost weight-bearing radiographs, which are often sufficient to adequately diagnose and manage most foot and ankle pathologies. At this time, WBCT scans may be better used as an adjunct. In clinical practice, WBCT scans may help surgeons assess subtalar and subfibular impingement and hindfoot alignment in AAFD. This technology may also help evaluate rotational deformities such as pronation of the first metatarsal in patients with HV. As WBCT scanners become more frequently used to evaluate foot and ankle pathologies, additional indications will soon emerge. Understanding the application of WBCT scans to clinical practice is becoming increasingly important for surgeons as they strive for better outcomes in the management of complex foot and ankle disorders.\nReferences printed in bold type are those published within the past 5 years.\n1. Barg A, Bailey T, Richter M, et al.: Weightbearing computed tomography of the foot and ankle : Emerging technology topical review. Foot Ankle Int 2018;39:376-386.\n2. Richter M, Seidl B, Zech S, Hahn S: PedCAT for 3D-imaging in standing position allows for more accurate bone position (angle) measurement than radiographs or CT. Foot Ankle Surg 2014;20:201-207.\n3. Carrino JA, Al Muhit A, Zbijewski W, et al.: Dedicated cone-beam CT system for extremity imaging. Radiology 2014;270:816-824.\n4. Hirschmann A, Pfirrmann CWA, Klammer G, Espinosa N, Buck FM: Upright cone CT of the hindfoot: Comparison of the non-weight-bearing with the upright weight-bearing position. Eur Radiol 2014;24:553-558.\n5. Richter M, Lintz F, de Cesar Netto C, Barg A, Burssens A: Results of more than 11,000 scans with weightbearing CT—impact on costs, radiation exposure, and procedure time [published online ahead of print June 18, 2019]. Foot Ankle Surg. doi: 10.1016/j.fas.2019.05.019.\n6. Kang DH, Kang C, Hwang DS, Song JH, Song SH: The value of axial loading three dimensional (3D) CT as a substitute for full weightbearing (standing) 3D CT: Comparison of reproducibility according to degree of load. Foot Ankle Surg 2019;25:215-220.\n7. Lepojärvi S, Niinimäki J, Pakarinen H, Leskelä HV: Rotational dynamics of the normal distal tibiofibular joint with weight-bearing computed tomography. Foot Ankle Int 2016;37:627-635.\n8. Lintz F, Welck M, Bernasconi A, et al.: 3D biometrics for hindfoot alignment using weightbearing CT. Foot Ankle Int 2017;38:684-689.\n9. Burssens A, Van Herzele E, Leenders T, et al.: Weightbearing CT in normal hindfoot alignment—presence of a constitutional valgus? Foot Ankle Surg 2018;24:213-218.\n10. Richter M, Lintz F, Zech S, Meissner SA: Combination of PedCAT weightbearing CT with pedography assessment of the relationship between anatomy-based foot center and force/pressure-based center of gravity. Foot Ankle Int 2018;39:361-368.\n11. Zhang JZ, Lintz F, Bernasconi A, Zhang S: 3D biometrics for hindfoot alignment using weightbearing computed tomography. Foot Ankle Int 2019;40:720-726.\n12. Burssens A, Peeters J, Buedts K, Victor J, Vandeputte G: Measuring hindfoot alignment in weight bearing CT: A novel clinical relevant measurement method. Foot Ankle Surg 2016;22:233-238.\n13. Colin F, Horn Lang T, Zwicky L, Hintermann B, Knupp M: Subtalar joint configuration on weightbearing CT scan. Foot Ankle Int 2014;35:1057-1062.\n14. Lepojärvi S, Niinim J, Pakarinen H, Koskela L, Leskel HV: Rotational dynamics of the talus in a normal. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2016;98-A:568-575.\n15. Ferri M, Scharfenberger AV, Goplen G, Daniels TR, Pearce D: Weightbearing CT scan of severe flexible pes planus deformities. Foot Ankle Int 2008;29:199-204.\n16. Kido M, Ikoma K, Imai K, et al.: Load response of the tarsal bones in patients with flatfoot deformity: In vivo 3D study. Foot Ankle Int 2011;32:1017-1022.\n17. de Cesar Netto C, Shakoor D, Dein EJ, et al.: Influence of investigator experience on reliability of adult acquired flatfoot deformity measurements using weightbearing computed tomography. Foot Ankle Surg 2018;25:495-502.\n18. Haleem AM, Pavlov H, Bogner E, Sofka C, Deland JT, Ellis SJ: Comparison of deformity with respect to the talus in patients with posterior tibial tendon dysfunction and controls using multiplanar weight-bearing imaging or conventional radiography. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2014;96:e63.\n19. Ananthakrisnan D, Ching R, Tencer A, Hansen ST, Sangeorzan BJ: Subluxation of the talocalcaneal joint in adults who have symptomatic flatfoot. J Bone Joint Surg Am 1999;81:1147-1154.\n20. Apostle KL, Coleman NW, Sangeorzan BJ: Subtalar joint axis in patients with symptomatic peritalar subluxation compared to normal controls. Foot Ankle Int 2014;35:1153-1158.\n21. Cody EA, Williamson ER, Burket JC, Deland JT, Ellis SJ: Correlation of talar anatomy and subtalar joint alignment on weightbearing computed tomography with radiographic flatfoot parameters. Foot Ankle Int 2016;37:874-881.\n22. Kunas GC, Probasco W, Haleem AM, Burket JC, Williamson ERC, Ellis SJ: Evaluation of peritalar subluxation in adult acquired flatfoot deformity using computed tomography and weightbearing multiplanar imaging. Foot Ankle Surg 2018;24:495-500.\n23. Malicky ES, Crary JL, Houghton MJ, Agel J, Hansen ST, Sangeorzan BJ: Talocalcaneal and subfibular impingement in symptomatic flatfoot in adults. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2002;84:2005-2009.\n24. Jeng CL, Rutherford T, Hull MG, Cerrato RA, Campbell JT: Assessment of bony subfibular impingement in flatfoot patients using weight-bearing CT scans. Foot Ankle Int 2019;40:152-158.\n25. de Cesar Netto C, Shakoor D, Roberts L, et al.; Weight Bearing CT International Study Group: Hindfoot alignment of adult acquired flatfoot deformity: A comparison of clinical assessment and weightbearing cone beam CT examinations. Foot Ankle Surg 2019;25:790-797.\n26. Zhang Y, Xu J, Wang X, et al.: An in vivo study of hindfoot 3D kinetics in stage II posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD) flatfoot based on weight-bearing CT scan. Bone Joint Res 2013;2:255-263.\n27. Greisberg J, Hansen ST, Sangeorzan B: Deformity and degeneration in the hindfoot and midfoot joints of the adult acquired flatfoot. Foot Ankle Int 2003;24:530-534.\n28. Yoshioka N, Ikoma K, Kido M, et al.: Weight-bearing three-dimensional computed tomography analysis of the forefoot in patients with flatfoot deformity. J Orthop Sci 2016;21:154-158.\n29. Collan L, Kankare JA, Mattila K: The biomechanics of the first metatarsal bone in hallux valgus: A preliminary study utilizing a weight bearing extremity CT. Foot Ankle Surg 2013;19:155-161.\n30. Kim Y, Kim JS, Young KW, Naraghi R, Cho HK, Lee SY: A new measure of tibial sesamoid position in hallux valgus in relation to the coronal rotation of the first metatarsal in CT scans. Foot Ankle Int 2015;36:944-952.\n31. Campbell B, Miller MC, Williams L, Conti SF: Pilot study of a 3-dimensional method for analysis of pronation of the first metatarsal of hallux valgus patients. Foot Ankle Int 2018;39:1449-1456.\n32. Conti MS, Willett JF, Garfinkel JH, et al.: Effect of the modified lapidus procedure on pronation of the first ray in hallux valgus. Foot Ankle Int 2020;41:125-132.\n33. Kimura T, Kubota M, Taguchi T, Suzuki N, Hattori A, Marumo K: Evaluation of first-ray mobility in patients with hallux valgus using weight-bearing CT and a 3-D analysis system a comparison with normal feet. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2017;99:247-255.\n34. Kimura T, Kubota M, Suzuki N, Hattori A, Marumo K: Comparison of intercuneiform 1-2 joint mobility between hallux valgus and normal feet using weightbearing computed tomography and 3-dimensional analysis. Foot Ankle Int 2018;39:355-360.\n35. Geng X, Wang C, Ma X, et al.: Mobility of the first metatarsal-cuneiform joint in patients with and without hallux valgus : In vivo three-dimensional analysis using computerized tomography scan. J Orthop Surg Res 2015;10:140.\n36. Katsui R, Samoto N, Taniguchi A, et al.: Relationship between displacement and degenerative changes of the sesamoids in hallux valgus. Foot Ankle Int 2016;37:1303-1309.\n37. Malhotra K, Welck M, Cullen N, Singh D, Goldberg AJ: The effects of weight bearing on the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis: A study comparing weight bearing-CT with conventional CT. Foot Ankle Surg 2019;25:511-516.\n38. Burssens A, Vermue H, Barg A, Krähenbühl N, Victor J, Buedts K: Templating of syndesmotic ankle lesions by use of 3D analysis in weightbearing and nonweightbearing CT. Foot Ankle Int 2018;39:1487-1496.\n39. Hamard M, Neroladaki A, Bagetakos I, Dubois-Ferrière V, Montet X, Boudabbous S: Accuracy of cone-beam computed tomography for syndesmosis injury diagnosis compared to conventional computed tomography [published online ahead of print April 1, 2019]. Foot Ankle Surg. doi: 10.1016/j.fas.2019.03.006.\n40. Osgood GM, Shakoor D, Orapin J, et al.: Reliability of distal tibio-fibular syndesmotic instability measurements using weightbearing and non-weightbearing cone-beam CT. Foot Ankle Surg 2019;25:771-781.\n41. van Bergeyk AB, Younger A, Carson B: CT analysis of hindfoot alignment in chronic lateral ankle instability. Foot Ankle Int 2002;23:37-42.\n42. Lintz F, Bernasconi A, Baschet L, Fernando C, Mehdi N, de Cesar Netto C: Relationship between chronic lateral ankle instability and hindfoot varus using weight-bearing cone beam computed tomography. Foot Ankle Int 2019;40:1175-1181.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "20 Mar 2010\nI enjoy rain when it dances on the flowers on a hot summer afternoon invigorating the day and making everything smell fresh and clean. That is what rain is supposed to do. I believe it is found in section three, paragraph 17 of the rain contract. But lately, I think Madame Rain has outdone herself and I wish she would relax and take a well deserved vacation. I recommend the Sahara desert.\nRev. James L. Snyder\nI was looking out the window watching the rain come down like a flood when the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage came in and saw me.\n“What are you doing?” she asked. “Trying to stare the rain away?”\n“If only I could,” I sighed. I had gawked at the rain so much my eyes were beginning to flood. A person can only take so much rain before his soul begins to feel soggy and I had reached that place. I even sloshed when I walked. I hate sloshing.\nI do not mind when raindrops keep falling on my head, it is when it floods my soul that I must draw the line. Of course, it is too wet to draw a line in the sand right now, so I will make a mental note to do that later.\nMy wife noticed I was a little gloomy about the weather and so trying to cheer me as best she could, said, “Well, you know, into every life a little rain must fall.”\nI suppose this was something Mrs. Noah told her husband to cheer him up. If my wife thought that would do it for me, she was still wet behind the ears.\n“I don’t mind a little rain,” I retorted, “it’s this ceaseless flooding that has more than dampened my spirits.”\nOne of the basic components of my philosophy of life is moderation. I really believe in moderation in everything. Well, almost everything. It is hard to be moderate when it comes to apple fritters. If God wanted me to be moderate about apple fritters why did He make them so heavenly delicious?\nI do compensate for this extravagance by staying clear of broccoli as much as possible. I think it is a fair trade.\nIn everything else, however, I like to practice the discipline of moderation. A little bit here and a little bit there, is the motto of my life.\nThis brings me back to the rain situation.\nWhile I was musing on this, my wife came in humming a hymn that, up until now, had been a favorite of mine: “There Shall be Showers of Blessing.” Under normal circumstances, I would have joined in, but this was not normal circumstances.\nI know I should be thankful for everything, and I try, but some things try even the patience of Job, and right now, I feel more like Noah. I appreciate the little things in life. I want to emphasize that word, \"little.\" It is the little things in life that truly make life worth living. Not all this deluge of rain we have been having. A little bit of rain goes a long way with me.\nMy wife was singing one hymn and I was singing another, \"Rain, rain go away, come again some other day.\" I must confess I was a little weak with the \"come again,\" but the \"go away,\" was sung with great volume.\nThe matter how I sung that little chorus the rain kept coming down.\nI know there is a purpose for everything under the sun. And I am often quite thankful that I am not in charge of this universe of ours. If I was in charge it would rain only when I wanted it to rain, which, may not be enough to keep the flowers blooming in my backyard. I would have it rain at my convenience.\nBecause of the rainy weather outside, I had plenty of time to think through some of these thoughts. What if I could control my world? What kind of world would it be? Then I began to think of good old Noah in the Ark. In reality, he had no control over the Ark inside or the weather outside. I suppose he could have complained about the rain. Much like I am doing right now.\nThinking this through, I begin to realize that it was the rain outside that Noah could not control that took Noah where God wanted him to be. Had Noah control of the rain he and his family never would have arrived where God wanted them to be when God wanted them to be there.\nEven though my brain was a little soggy at the time, I began to understand certain things, particularly about God and His control over my world. When I allow God to control my circumstances, he brings me to a place that he wants me to be – a place of Blessing.\nSlowly, but surely, I was beginning to have a new appreciation for the uncontrollable rain on the outside. It reminded me of one of my favorite passages in the Bible.\n\"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths\" (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV).\nI can try to either control all of the circumstances in my life, or, like Noah, allow God to guide me and even drive me to the place of His blessing.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Psa 141:9 Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, And from the gins of the workers of iniquity. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, Whilst that I withal escape. Psa 57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down: They have digged a pit before me; They are fallen into the midst thereof themselves. Selah. Psa 7:15 He hath made a pit, and digged it, And is fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, And his violence shall come down upon his own pate. Pro 26:27 Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; And he that rolleth a stone, it shall return upon him. Pro 28:10 Whoso causeth the upright to go astray in an evil way, He shall fall himself into his own pit; But the perfect shall inherit good. Mat 7:1-3 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Psa 37:14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay such as are upright in the way. 15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, And their bows shall be broken.\nDan 6:16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20 And when he came near unto the den to Daniel, he cried with a lamentable voice; the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? 21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. 23 Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men that had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den. 25 Then king Darius wrote unto all the peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. 26 I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, And his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.\nPro.6:12 A worthless person, a man of iniquity , Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth; 13 That winketh with his eyes, that speaketh with his feet, That maketh signs with his fingers ; 14 In whose heart is perverseness, Who deviseth evil continually, Who soweth discord . 15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy. 16 There are six things which Jehovah hateth; Yea, seven which are an abominationunto him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood ; 18 A heart that deviseth wicked purposes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that uttereth lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren.\nIsa 30:9-14 For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah; 10 that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, 11 get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. 12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon; 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. 14 And he shall break it as a potters vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.\nJames 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom. 14 But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not a wisdom that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy. 18 the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace.\n(2 Peter 2:9 the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment;)\nJer 36:1-4 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. 4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a bookb &.. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll; and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes that stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month: and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him. 23 And it came to pass, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. And they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. 25 Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Jehovah hid them. 27 Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.\nJer 36:27-31 Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. 29 And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? 30 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David ; and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. 31 And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they hearkened not. 32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides unto them many like words.\nDeu 9:10-17 And Jehovah delivered unto me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which Jehovah spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Jehovah gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. 12 And Jehovah said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people that thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image. 13 Furthermore Jehovah spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 14 let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they. 15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount was burning with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against Jehovah your God; ye had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which Jehovah had commanded you. 17 And I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.\n1Ki 8:5-11 And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. 6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. 8 And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb , when Jehovah made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of Jehovah, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah.\nIsa 28:16-22 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste. 17 And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 19 As often as it passeth though, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to understand the message. 20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. 21 For Jehovah will rise up as in mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. 22 Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole earth.\nPsa 118:22-29 The stone which the builders rejected Is become the head of the corner. 23 This is Jehovah's doing; It is marvellous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which Jehovah hath made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save now, we beseech thee, O Jehovah: O Jehovah, we beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah: We have blessed you out of the house of Jehovah. 27 Jehovah is God, and he hath given us light: Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 28 Thou art my God, and I will give thanks unto thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 29 Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.\nPsa 112: 7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: His heart is fixed, trusting in Jehovah. 8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, Until he see his desire upon his adversaries. 9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the needy; His righteousness endureth for ever: His horn shall be exalted with honor. 10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: The desire of the wicked shall perish.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Here at Cedar Publishing, we produce all types of books through our top quality, high-end self publishing and book printing services which are exceptional and extensive.\nOur entire spectrum of self-publishing services is available for you to mix, match and pick from as you wish. You will receive hand-held help and one-on-one guidance every inch of the way until that long-cherished dream of seeing your book published is at last realised.\nOur high quality services make us distinct. Since our inception we have been passionately working with published authors, aspiring writers, printers and distributors in a focused bid to expand the operational efficiencies of our customers, acquire better outcomes and open their development potential as well as ours. And we are proud to garner ample success in the venture with our work and its quality.\nThe success of Cedar Publishing is due to the success of the people whose books we produce. A large percentage of our business comes from repeat customers and referrals. Our customers save time and money while receiving a job well done.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“You may study sitting in meditation, but meditation is not concerned with sitting or lying down. You may study sitting in Buddha, but Buddha is not concerned with any fixed form. Of all abodeless dharmas, the Buddha is not to be chosen. If you sit in Buddha you will kill the Buddha; if you cling to the form of sitting, you will not reach the principle.” (Zen teacher Huai Jang, as recorded in the “Transmission of the Lamp)\nWhat is true about meditation? What is true about anything?\nZen teaches, the text teaches, that we cannot make an object of truth or God. What is ultimately true about any situation is impermanence, impermanence that cannot be captured as an existent thing, a form, a particular idea. As soon as we have fixated a particular thing and say, “This is it! This is true!” we make a mistake; a mistake because object fixation is always from the standpoint of a separate self, always from a self-affirming point of view. Even Buddhism, even Buddha, regarded as object, as something to be attained or acquired, is mistaken.\nAll teachings, all doctrine, even the US Constitution, are like this. Objectified as truth, they become a pretext for abuse. Preoccupation with some “fixed form” is not only self-absorbed; it is also unjust; unjust because it is blind to failure, our own, and those who are most vulnerable.\nThese are struggles that we return to again and again. We return to our self-centeredness again and again. And so we speak of diligence, the diligence to engage in practice, again and again, to face our struggles and learn from them.\nLearning starts with something we want, a skill or accomplishment we want to acquire. We begin with a goal in mind. But it turns out, that, in order to get there, we have to practice, and practice involves both success and failure, over and over again. It’s as if that thing or skill we viewed as success, as a plus, turns out to involve equal portions of failure, minus. With diligent practice, plus and minus combine and become zero, the zero of ‘just doing.’\nWith diligence, finally, there is ‘just doing’ called ‘mastery’ or ‘wisdom.’ What was conceived of as a goal to be acquired becomes ‘letting-go;’ letting-go of both success and failure, letting-go of the objective itself that has become ‘just doing.’ By diligence, by engaging success and failure over and over again, the arc of experience (to paraphrase Martin Luther King) “bends toward justice,” bends towards compassion for our own failings and for those who are most vulnerable .\nWhat was imagined from the start as something to be achieved, is instead, found inside; neither success or failure, a truth underlying all encounters of self and other. This, I suggest, is the “waking-up” we are invited to, personified as “buddha,” as God, experienced as selfless love, and the relief of suffering.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Date of Award\nDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)\nVirginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology\nThe combination of eating restrictions and alcohol use is a prevalent problem on college campuses. Some students engage in eating restrictions prior to drinking to limit their overall caloric intake or to enhance intoxication effects. To date, limited research suggests that drinking-related eating restriction behaviors are associated with additional and unique health risks relative to high-risk drinking or eating restrictions alone. As such, additional research examining this unique, risky set of behaviors is warranted. Consequently, the present study aimed to address gaps in the literature by further examining the risks associated with drinking-related eating restrictions and testing trait factors related to use of these behaviors. Specifically, the study used a baseline plus 14-day daily diary design to: (1) examine the between-subjects association between drinking-related eating restrictions and alcohol outcomes, (2) examine the between-person characteristics contributing to drinking-related eating restrictions, (3) examine the within-subjects association between drinking-related eating restrictions and same-episode alcohol outcomes, (4) test trait characteristics as moderators to the daily associations between drinking-related eating restrictions and same-episode alcohol outcomes, and (5) explore whether motivations for using drinking-related eating restriction behaviors impact same-episode alcohol outcomes. Participants were 227 (180 women) moderate drinking college students. The mean age was 20.64 (SD = 2.01) years. Participants completed a baseline questionnaire and 14 days of daily surveys. Results found between-level effects of drinking-related eating restrictions, such that typical restrictors exhibited higher alcohol outcomes than non-restrictors. Multilevel modeling found within-person effects of drinking-related eating restrictions, such that participants consumed more alcohol, were more likely to binge drink, and were more likely to experience a problem on restricting days. Lower self-control was found as an indicator of typical drinking-related eating restrictions. Self-control also moderated the daily association between drinking-related eating restrictions and binge drinking, such that individuals with low self-control were more likely to binge on days they restricted. Sex was also supported as a moderator, such that women consumed more alcohol and experienced more problems on days they restricted, whereas men did not. Despite these findings, emotion regulation and perceived weight were not supported as relevant constructs to drinking-related eating restrictions in any analyses. Further, the reported reasons for restricting did not have a significant effect on same-day alcohol outcomes. Overall, this study was the first to examine both between- and within-person effects of drinking-related eating restrictions in a daily diary design with a sample of women and men. Findings supported unique risks associated with drinking-related eating restrictions, above and beyond risks of high-quantity drinking. Self-control and sex also emerge as important constructs in understanding who uses drinking-related eating restrictions and the effect restrictions have on alcohol outcomes. Future research can further elucidate the predictors and risks associated with drinking-related eating restrictions.\nIn Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).\n\"Alcohol Use and Drinking-Related Eating Restriction Behaviors Among College Students\"\n(2020). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Psychology, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/s3x0-rj81", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The peaceful, fun-splashed world of the Green Forest is suddenly invaded by trouble in the form of Farmer Brown’s boy. What has caused the disturbance? How do the animals solve the problem? Wise old Grandfather Frog must think long and hard to come up with a solution just as another problem crops up. What is happening now? Children will love finding out as they read or listen to this classic fable that teaches valuable lessons about perseverance and cooperation. This unabridged classic is set in easy-to-read type for proficient readers. It can also be used as a read aloud for younger children.\nThe Adventures of Jerry Muskrat\nPage Count: 90\nAuthor: Thornton Burgess\nAge: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10\nGrade: PK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5\nTopic: Reading, Read-Alouds, Fiction, Children's Classics", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Presentation on theme: \"English I Honors Mr. Popovich. Characters are fictional people in a story. Main characters are the focus of the readers attention The protagonist is the.\"— Presentation transcript:\nEnglish I Honors Mr. Popovich\nCharacters are fictional people in a story. Main characters are the focus of the readers attention The protagonist is the most important character Is involved in the main conflict May or may not be the good guy The antagonist is what opposes the protagonist A character, group, force, or an emotion May or may not be the bad guy Minor characters contribute to the readers attention They help develop the main characters They help develop the plot of the story Incidental characters fill-out the rest of the story\nIn direct characterization the author describes the personality of a character directly to the reader.... he was a simple, good-natured man; he was moreover a kind neighbor and an obedient, henpecked husband. from Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving Characterization is the way in which an author reveals the personality traits of a character.\nIn indirect characterization the author reveals the personality of characters indirectly through their… physical appearance words/dialogue thoughts/feelings actions/behavior effects on others\nThe way in which an author describes a characters appearance physical features, clothing, and general demeanorprovides an insight into the personality of that character. (After his twenty-year nap) The appearance of Rip, with his long grizzled beard, his rusty fowling piece, his uncouth dress,... soon attracted the attention of the tavern politicians. from Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving\nThe dialogue can also reveal a lot about a character. Pay attention not only to what a character says but also to how he says it. (Entering the village after his twenty-year nap) God knows, exclaimed [Rip]..., Im not myself.Im somebody elsethats me yondernothats somebody else got into my shoesI was myself last night; but I fell asleep on the mountainand theyve changed my gunand everythings changedand Im changedand I cant tell whats my name, or who I am! from Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving\nSimilarly a characters private thoughts can reveal what he thinks, feels, wants, or fears. (Rip learns that friends have since passed away) Rips heart died away, at hearing of these sad changes in his home and his friends, and finding himself thus alone in the world... he had no courage to ask after any more friends, but cried out in despair, Does nobody here know Rip Van Winkle? from Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving\nA characters actionswhat he does and how he does italso tell a great deal about his personality. He assisted at their sports, made their playthings, taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories.... from Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving\nThe effect a character has on other characters also helps readers understand his personality. The children of the village... would shout with joy whenever he approached.... Whenever he went dodging about the village he was surrounded by a troop of them... and not a dog would bark at him throughout the neighborhood. from Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving\nare well-rounded, just like most real people are complex personalities, just like most real people have more than one personality trait Most main characters are called round because their characterization reveals that they…\nare NOT well-rounded can be described easily are simple characters with very few personality traits Most minor characters are called flat because their characterization reveals that they…\nStock characters are so flat they are stereotypes. They fit readers preconceived ideas about types, such as a mad scientist or a nagging wife They seriously lack the complexity of a real person [Rips] wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on the family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going.... from Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving\nDynamic characters change or grow as a result of the development of the storys action. Most dynamic characters are main characters. They can gain a new understanding, make an important decision, or take a crucial action.\nStatic characters are usually exactly the same as the story ends as they were when it began. They DO NOT change or grow as a result of the development of the plot of the story. Nonetheless, they support the plot without distracting the reader from the main action involving the protagonists change/growth. They are almost always minor or incidental.\nWriters can make characters believable by revealing what motivates them to act as they do. A characters motivation… explains why he or she acts, feels, and/or thinks must usually be inferred from the clues of the story is based on his or her needs or conflicts\n1. Explain the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist. The protagonist is the main character. The antagonist is the force opposing the protagonist. The conflict is the struggle between them. 2. Explain the difference between direct and indirect characterization. Direct characterization is when the author explicitly describes the character. Indirect characterization is when the reader must infer. 3. List five ways an author can reveal character indirectly. Appearance, Dialogue, Thoughts, Actions, Effects 4. Explain the difference between round and flat characters. Round characters are main characters who are well-rounded and have complex personalities. Flat characters are minor and simple characters. 5. Explain the difference between dynamic and static characters. Dynamic characters change or grow; Static characters do not.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "\"This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting;\nand from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting on the work, and shall serve no more,\nthe LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,\nMoses answered them, \"Wait, that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you.\"\nBut the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Because he didn't offer the offering of the LORD in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.\nOn the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony: and at evening it was over the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning.\nSo it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.\nWhether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and didn't travel; but when it was taken up, they traveled.\nIt happened in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony.\nThe Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary. The others set up the tabernacle before they arrived.\nThe standard of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rear guard of all the camps, set forward according to their armies. Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai was over his army.\nThe people were complaining in the ears of the LORD. When the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled; and the LORD's fire burnt among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.\nThe manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium.\nMoses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased.\nI am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.\nI will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you not bear it yourself alone.\n\"Say to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and you will eat flesh; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, \"Who will give us flesh to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.\" Therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and you will eat.\nA wind from the LORD went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth.\nThey said, \"Has the LORD indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn't he spoken also with us?\" And the LORD heard it.\nNow the man Moses was very humble, above all the men who were on the surface of the earth.\nHe said, \"Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.\nThey went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)\nOnly don't rebel against the LORD, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and the LORD is with us. Don't fear them.\"\nBut all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. The glory of the LORD appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel.\nMoses said to the LORD, \"Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them;\nand they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you the LORD are in the midst of this people; for you the LORD are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.\nNow if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,\n'the LORD is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.'\nbut in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD;\n\"How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.\nTell them, 'As I live, says the LORD, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you:\nyour dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,\nYour children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.\nAfter the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, you will bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you will know my alienation.'\nThey rose up early in the morning, and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, \"Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which the LORD has promised: for we have sinned.\"\n\"'If one person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.\nand it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;\nWhen Moses heard it, he fell on his face:\nand he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, \"In the morning the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he shall choose he will cause to come near to him.\nMoses said to Korah, \"Hear now, you sons of Levi!\nIs it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;\nand that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and do you seek the priesthood also?\nKorah assembled all the congregation against them to the door of the Tent of Meeting: and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.\nand the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who appertained to Korah, and all their goods.\nSo they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.\nAll Israel that were around them fled at the cry of them; for they said, \"Lest the earth swallow us up!\"\nto be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger, who isn't of the seed of Aaron, comes near to burn incense before the LORD; that he not be as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD spoke to him by Moses.\nIt happened, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the Tent of Meeting: and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.\nEveryone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, dies! Will we all perish?\"\nthe LORD said to Aaron, \"You and your sons and your fathers' house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.\nYour brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, bring near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you: but you and your sons with you shall be before the tent of the testimony.\nThey shall keep your commands, and the duty of all the Tent: only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they, nor you.\nThey shall be joined to you, and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come near to you.\nYou and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil; and you shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.\"\nHenceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.\nBut the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.\nYou shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it its best: and you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you not die.'\"\nMoses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.\nMoses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, \"Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring you water out of this rock for you?\"\nand when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of your border.\nThe Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.\nthe LORD said to Moses, \"Don't fear him: for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.\"\nHe sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, \"Behold, there is a people who came out from Egypt. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me.\n'Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt, it covers the surface of the earth: now, come curse me them; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.'\"\nWhen Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border.\nBalak said to Balaam, \"Didn't I earnestly send to you to call you? Why didn't you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honor?\"\nHe took up his parable, and said, \"Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.\nhe says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open:\nhe says, who hears the words of God, knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:\nI see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth.\nWhen Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand;\n\"Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all who are able to go forth to war in Israel.\"\n\"[Take a census of the people], from twenty years old and upward; as the LORD commanded Moses and the children of Israel.\" These are those that came out of the land of Egypt.\nand the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died; what time the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became a sign.\nThen drew near the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.\nYou shall tell them, 'This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to the LORD: male lambs a year old without blemish, two day by day, for a continual burnt offering.\n\"'On the Sabbath day two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenth parts [of an ephah] of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and the drink offering of it:\n\"'In the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, and one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;\nTheir drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and the third part of a hin for the ram, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.\nbut you shall offer an offering made by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, and one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish;\nbut you shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old;\nYou shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;\nbut you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD for a pleasant aroma: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish;\nand you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD; thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish;\n\"'On the second day [you shall offer] twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish;\n\"'On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish;\n\"'On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish;\n\"'On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish;\n\"'On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish;\n\"'On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish;\nbut you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;\nWhen a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.\nand her father hears her vow, and her bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father holds his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she has bound her soul shall stand.\nBut if her father disallow her in the day that he hears, none of her vows, or of her bonds with which she has bound her soul, shall stand: and the LORD will forgive her, because her father disallowed her.\nand her husband hear it, and hold his peace at her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her bonds with which she has bound her soul shall stand.\nBut if her husband disallow her in the day that he hears it, then he shall make void her vow which is on her, and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul: and the LORD will forgive her.\nand her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and didn't disallow her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she bound her soul shall stand.\nBut if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband has made them void; and the LORD will forgive her.\nBut if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows, or all her bonds, which are on her: he has established them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.\nBut if he shall make them null and void after that he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity.\"\nThe officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses;\nWe have brought the LORD's offering, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before the LORD.\"\nWhy do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them?\nFor when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them.\n'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:\nthe LORD's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.\nThey came near to him, and said, \"We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones:\nAaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.\nAaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor.\nThe Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.\nThe heads of the fathers' [houses] of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the children of Israel:\nThe vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord the LORD says about Edom. We have heard news from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, \"Arise, and let's rise up against her in battle.\nThe pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?'\nFor the day of the LORD is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head.\nhearing of your love, and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints;\nFor we have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.\nI am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,\nYes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord.\nIt is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace.\nand that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.\naccording to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death.\nOnly let your way of life be worthy of the Good News of Christ, that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the Good News;\nhaving the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear is in me.\nthat at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,\nSo then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.\nsince he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.\nFor indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.\nbecause for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.\nwhose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.\nAnd the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.\nThe things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.\nNot that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it.\nI know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.\nthat the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:\nThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.\nbecause they hated knowledge, and didn't choose the fear of the LORD.\nBut whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm.\"\nSo as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;\nIf you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:\nthen you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.\nFor wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.\nMy son, don't forget my teaching; but let your heart keep my commandments:\nfor length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to you.\nDon't let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.\nTrust in the LORD with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding.\nDon't be wise in your own eyes. Fear the LORD, and depart from evil.\nMy son, don't despise the LORD's discipline, neither be weary of his reproof:\nBy wisdom the LORD founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens.\nDon't be afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes:\nfor I give you sound learning. Don't forsake my law.\nHe taught me, and said to me: \"Let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments, and live.\nListen, my son, and receive my sayings. The years of your life will be many.\nMy son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.\nLet them not depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart.\nKeep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.\nMy son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:\nRemove your way far from her. Don't come near the door of her house,\nlest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;\nand say, \"How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;\nneither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!\nin whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.\na heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,\nBind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.\nDon't lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.\nBind them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart.\npassing through the street near her corner, he went the way to her house,\nDon't let your heart turn to her ways. Don't go astray in her paths,\nYou simple, understand prudence. You fools, be of an understanding heart.\nHear, for I will speak excellent things. The opening of my lips is for right things.\nThe fear of the LORD is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.\nBy me princes rule; nobles, and all the righteous rulers of the earth.\nI was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth existed.\nwhile as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.\nwhen he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the earth;\nHear instruction, and be wise. Don't refuse it.\nBlessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my door posts.\nInstruct a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.\nThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.\nFor by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased.\nIf you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it.\nThe wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.\nWise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.\nThe tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.\nWhat the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.\nThe fear of the LORD prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.\nWicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.\nThose who are perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.\nHe who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come to him.\nHe who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.\nBehold, the righteous shall be repaid in the earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner!\nDeceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.\nA prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.\nAnxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.\nThe ransom of a man's life is his riches, but the poor hear no threats.\nHope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.\nEvery wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.\nHe who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him.\nThe heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.\nEven in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and mirth may end in heaviness.\nA wise man fears, and shuns evil, but the fool is hotheaded and reckless.\nIn the fear of the LORD is a secure fortress, and he will be a refuge for his children.\nThe fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning people from the snares of death.\nThe life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.\nWisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, and is even made known in the inward part of fools.\nThe lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so with the heart of fools.\nSheol and Abaddon are before the LORD-- how much more then the hearts of the children of men!\nA glad heart makes a cheerful face; but an aching heart breaks the spirit.\nThe heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.\nAll the days of the afflicted are wretched, but one who has a cheerful heart enjoys a continual feast.\nBetter is little, with the fear of the LORD, than great treasure with trouble.\nThe heart of the righteous weighs answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes out evil.\nthe LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.\nThe light of the eyes rejoices the heart. Good news gives health to the bones.\nThe ear that listens to reproof lives, and will be at home among the wise.\nThe fear of the LORD teaches wisdom. Before honor is humility.\nThe plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.\nEveryone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: they shall certainly not be unpunished.\nBy mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.\nA man's heart plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps.\nThe wise in heart shall be called prudent. Pleasantness of the lips promotes instruction.\nThe heart of the wise instructs his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.\nThe refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the hearts.\nAn evildoer heeds wicked lips. A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.\nLet a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.\nOne who has a perverse heart doesn't find prosperity, and one who has a deceitful tongue falls into trouble.\nA cheerful heart makes good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.\nWisdom is before the face of one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.\nBefore destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.\nHe who gives answer before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.\nA man's spirit will sustain him in sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?\nThe heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.\nThe foolishness of man subverts his way; his heart rages against the LORD.\nThere are many plans in a man's heart, but the LORD's counsel will prevail.\nThe fear of the LORD leads to life, then contentment; he rests and will not be touched by trouble.\nFlog a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.\nCounsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.\nWho can say, \"I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?\"\nHe that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ; and they direct us to imitate his life and character. The Imitation of Christ is a guide to following the example of Jesus Christ. It should be our most earnest study to dwell upon the life of Jesus Christ. The Imitation of Christ.\nThis is the King James version of Christ's own words. This collection organizes and presents every word spoken by Jesus in one place and provides an index to assist in finding specific ocassions, places and events. The complete sayings of Jesus is a must read for bible study.\nThe Gospel of the birth of Mary was attributed to St. Matthew and was received as genuine and authentic by early Christians. It is to be found in the works of Jerome, a Father of the Church in the 4th century and is translated from his collection. The Birth of Mary.\nThe Book of Enoch is ascribed to the great-grandfather of Noah and is included in the cannon of some churches. It describes the fall of the angels (watchers), visions of heaven and hell and the birth of Noah. Quotes from the book of Enoch are found in the New Testament. The Book of Enoch\nBooks 1 begins immediately after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. We learn about the fall but also of the promise to save Adam and his decendents. The story depicts mans struggle against evil, the devil and sin. The First Book of Adam and Eve\nDiscusses Adam's sorrow and death. The history of the patriarchs who lived before the Flood until the birth of Noah; the children of Seth on Mount Hermon and Cain's death. It ends with the testament and translation of Enoch. The Second Book of Adam and Eve\nLet us love one another, for love comes from God and every one who loves is a child of God and knows God. He who loves not man does not know God, for God is love. God showed his love for us, for he sent his only Son into the world that through him we might have life. Bible Verses About Love\nThe Apocrypha books were included in the original King James Version of the bible and many others. This collection of ancient books was kept in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments or as an appendix. This translation is from the World English Bible. Apocrypha.\nThe childrens bible provides bible lessons from the Old and New testaments. There are 216 stories written in plain english. The stories are easy to read but not just for childern. I enjoy reading the childrens bible and almost everyone does. The Childrens Bible.\nWe know what love is by this, that Christ laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if any one has this world's wealth and looks on while his brother is in need and shows no sympathy for him, how can the love of God remain in him? Let us show our love not with words nor with our lips only, but by deeds and sincerity. God's Love.\nThe Books of The King James Bible include the 39 books of the Old Testament, an intertestamental section containing 14 books of the Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament. The King James Version of the Bible is one of the most important books in the English-speaking world. King James Bible.\nThe World English Bible was produced to provide speakers of modern English with a version of the Bible that is easily understood. The Bible is in the public domain and available world-wide. It is an accurate modern translation of the content of original King James Bible, including the Apocryphal books. World English Bible.\nThe favorite verses page is a list of popular bible verses. Each verse includes a link to the chapter and verse of the book where it is found in the bible. Click on any link for a bible verse and it will take you to that location in the bible.\nThe bible contains great stories. Visit the bible stories page for links to some of the best known and most significant stories and passages in the bible.\nVisit the search page to access additional search options and to learn about how to utilize them.\nBelow are a few examples for some of the words most often searched in the bible. Select from the list of words below to find all bible verses that include that word or name.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Robert Laurence Binyon\nA Song - Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon\nFor Mercy, Courage, Kindness, Mirth,\nThere is no measure upon earth.\nNay, they wither, root and stem,\nIf an end be set to them.\nOverbrim and overflow,\nIf you own heart you would know;\nFor the spirit born to bless\nLives but in its own excess\nComments about A Song by Robert Laurence Binyon\nRead this poem in other languages\nThis poem has not been translated into any other language yet.\nStill I Rise\nThe Road Not Taken\nIf You Forget Me\nEdgar Allan Poe\nStopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening\nDo Not Stand At My Grave And Weep\nMary Elizabeth Frye\nI Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Paradise Lost: A Poem, in Twelve Books. The Author John Milton. Printed from the Text of Tonson's Correct Edition of 1711. A New Edition, with Notes and the Life of the Author, in Three Volumes, by Thomas Newton, ...\nResultados 1-5 de 5\nO by what name , for thou above all these , Above mankind , or ought than\nmankind higher , Surpassest far my naming , how may I Adore thee , Author of\nthis universe , 360 And all this good to man ? for whose well being So amply ,\nand with ...\nGentle to me and affable hath been Thy condescension , and shall be honour'd\never With grateful memory : thou to mankind Be good and friendly still , and oft\nreturn . So parted they , the Angel up to Heaven From the thick shade , and Adam\nFor now , and since first break of dawn the fiend , Mere serpent in appearance ,\nforth was come , And on his quest , where likeliest he might find , The only two of\nmankind , but in them The whole included race , his purpos'd prey .\n... Patrons of mankind , Gods , and sons of Gods , Destroyers rightlier call'd and\nplagues of men . Thus fame shall be achiev'd , renown on earth , And what most\nmerits fame in silence hid . But he the sev'nth from thee , whom thou beheldst The\n... sea - monsters whelp'd And stabled ; of mankind , so numerous late , All left , in\none small botton swum imbark'd . How didst thou grieve then , Adam , to behold\nThe end of all thy offspring , end so sad , Depopulation ? Thee another food , Of ...\nComentarios de la gente - Escribir un comentario\nA masterpiece classic of English literature.\nWorth reading for pretty much everyone. It's universal!\nIt is really a nice epic based on man's fall and regain.I like this poem.I'm also a poet, wrote many poems.My real name is M.Muzzammil Shah", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Pulp poems, book reviews, and other tidbits from the noirboiled world\nMonday, March 23, 2009\nBook Review: Kenzo Kitakata, The Cage (1983)\nThe story of Takino, an ex-Yakuza who has settled into straight life running a supermarket and a coffee shop with his wife. Six years have passed since Takino left the gangster world, but when he squares off against a punk who has caused trouble in his store, Takino feels \"a strange rush of something close to happiness.\" The old Takino has emerged from his cage--one of several metaphorical \"cages\" in the novel--and he knows at once that he does not want to go back inside. An interesting psychological study of both Takino and Takagi, the grizzled, decorated police veteran who pursues him. Grade: B\nA: Excellent. I intend to read it again. B: Good. I might read it again. C: So-so. I didn't mind reading it. D: Bad. I resented reading it. F: Atrocious. I finished it only because I'm compulsive that way.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Carbon dioxide chemosensitivity in panic disorder\nThe ventilatory response to the inhalation of carbon dioxide was studied in 19 panic patients and 14 normal controls, using the Read rebreathing technique. The panic patients showed significantly higher ventilatory response compared with normal controls.\nAn analysis of panic symptoms during hypercarbia compared to hypocarbia in patients with panic attacks\nVoluntary hyperventilation in the treatment of panic disorder--functions of hyperventilation, their implications for breathing training, and recommendations for standardization\nComorbid depressive disorder increases vulnerability to the 35% carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge in panic disorder patients\nPanic disorder and its subtypes: a comprehensive analysis of panic symptom heterogeneity using epidemiological and treatment seeking samples\nEffects of escitalopram on anxiety and respiratory responses to carbon dioxide inhalation in subjects at high risk for panic disorder: a placebo-controlled, crossover study\nPostnatal development and activation of L-type Ca2+ currents in locus ceruleus neurons: implications for a role for Ca2+ in central chemosensitivity\nBehavioral effects of systemically administered MK-212 are prevented by ritanserin microinfusion into the basolateral amygdala of rats exposed to the elevated plus-maze\nGABA-A receptors and the response to CO(2) inhalation - a translational trans-species model of anxiety?\nRepeated experiences of air hunger and ventilatory behavior in response to hypercapnia in the standardized rebreathing test: effects of anxiety\nSuffocation and respiratory responses to carbon dioxide and breath holding challenges in individuals with panic disorder\nAssociation of an exonic LDHA polymorphism with altered respiratory response in probands at high risk for panic disorder\nThe carbon dioxide challenge test in panic disorder: a systematic review of preclinical and clinical research\nRespiratory dysregulation in anxiety, functional cardiac, and pain disorders. Assessment, phenomenology, and treatment\nCarbon dioxide sensitivity in panic anxiety. Ventilatory and anxiogenic response to carbon dioxide in healthy subjects and patients with panic anxiety before and after alprazolam treatment\nRelation between personality and ventilatory response to carbon dioxide in normal subjects: a role in asthma?\nDiscover the latest research on anxiety disorders including agoraphobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder here.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Make research projects and school reports about French literature easy with Major 19th - century French writers of history include Augustin Thierry, Jules.\nFrench writer. One of the major novelists of the 19th century, he was the author of Madame Bovary Salammbô L'Education.\nBooks shelved as 19th - century - french-literature: The Necklace and Other Stories: Maupassant for Modern Times by Guy de Maupassant, The Count of Monte Cri. Like Balzac, he engaged in systematic 19th-century French literature, modeling the village. The century-long conflicts between reactionaries and liberals, the church and the free american slot machine games, and the bourgeoisie and the proletariat provided ample scope for the literary giants of the age-Hugo, Balzac, Michelet, and Zola, each endowed with a prodigious productivity. The expression is imprecise, and was frequently used disparagingly to characterize authors whose chosen subject matter was taken from the working classes and who portrayed the misery and harsh conditions of real life. He conceived Madame Bovary in a thoroughly realistic fashion and accomplished his task in strenuous obedience to a theory which was to become the dogma of Naturalism a generation later. Literature and the Arts. The title of 19th-century French literature. A Literary Tour of the United States.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "You Are Reading Chapter 129 of Manga Series Dungeon Reset in high quality.\nDungeon Reset Chapter 129 Will be Available Soon Stay Tuned and let us know your Thoughts.\nIt will be so grateful if you let dungeon-reset.com be your favorite manga site. We hope you’ll come join us and become a manga reader in this community!\nFeel free to post your predictions, theories, memes etc. in the comment section below\nHave a beautiful day !", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Battle of Changsha (2014) - 戰長沙\nBattle of Changsha retells the turbulent events of the second Sino-Japanese war through the perspective of the Hu family, particularly through the eyes of a 16 year old girl named Xiang Xiang and her twin brother, Xiao Man.\nGu Qing Ming, is a strict Intelligence Officer in the Nationalist Army from a prominent political family. The feisty fun-loving Xiang Xiang and the arrogant Gu Qing Ming start off on bad terms, however their romance blossoms as they constantly bump into each other. ~~ Based on the novel by the same name by Que Que.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Epithelial ovarian cancer may be the leading cause of death among female genital malignancies. pleural effusions by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and western blot. The authors reported positive Snail manifestation in the majority of the analysed tumour specimens. Snail mRNA manifestation was recognized in 93% (38/41) main tumours, 93% (14/15) Pimaricin tyrosianse inhibitor metastases, and 87% (68/78) effusions. Snail protein manifestation determined by Western blot analysis was found in 100% (30/30) main tumours, 100% (10/10) metastases, and 97% (72/74) effusions. The authors found that mean manifestation levels of Snail protein were reduced effusions, with manifestation of 17% of control levels in effusions compared to 118% in main tumours and 127% in metastases (Elloul (2006) found that Snail protein was specifically localised in the cytoplasm, which may reflect an inactive form of the protein (Dominguez and p21-activated kinase-1, are known to govern Snail’s localisation (Dominguez (2006) in endometrial and colon cancer, respectively. This raises the relevant question whether these Snail-positive stromal cells represent former tumour cells which have undergone mesenchymal transition. Alternatively, a expression of Snail in tumoral stroma may suggest an integral function for stromal cells to advertise tumour development. The function of Snail in tumour-associated stromal cells must be set up in additional research. We found a substantial relationship between Snail appearance in principal ovarian tumours and their matching metastases ( em P /em 0.001). Situations (94.1%) using a positive Snail immunoreactivity in principal tumours had been also Snail positive in the corresponding metastases. Alternatively, 70% of situations with Snail-negative principal tumours had been also Snail detrimental in the matching metastases, however 30% showed an optimistic Snail immunoreactivity. In prior studies, it had been proven that Snail not merely induces tumour invasion but also blocks the cell routine and confers level of resistance to cell loss of life (Vega em et al /em , 2004). Our outcomes indicate these or various other, yet unknown, top features of Snail may be of particular importance for the establishment or maintenance of metastases at the brand new invasion site in Sermorelin Aceta ovarian cancers, resulting in conserved Snail expression possibly. Additionally, we showed that positive Snail immunoreactivity in metastases of ovarian cancers was considerably associated with a lesser general survival from the sufferers. Simply no association was discovered between Snail expression in primary ovarian success and cancers. There is no relationship between Snail immunoreactivity and various other clinicopathological variables, including patient age group, tumour subtype, or quality of differentiation. The final might end up being because of the little amounts of low-grade and low-stage situations as talked about above. In the current study, there was no correlation between Snail upregulation and E-cadherin downregulation, neither in main tumours nor in related metastases. We found coexpression of E-cadherin and Snail in 36.1% of primary tumours and in 53.8% of metastases. These results are in accordance with previous studies on endometrial and colon cancer (Franci em et al /em , 2006; Blechschmidt em Pimaricin tyrosianse inhibitor et al /em , 2007), although it is not yet recognized why Snail manifestation does not lead to E-cadherin downregulation in these cases. We also asked whether specific mixtures of E-cadherin and Snail protein manifestation experienced a prognostic value. We found that a profile of reduced E-cadherin manifestation and nuclear Snail manifestation was associated with a significantly increased risk of death. Patients showing an E-cadherin reduced and Snail positive’ profile, in either the primary Pimaricin tyrosianse inhibitor tumours or related metastases, respectively, experienced a 6-collapse and 4.2-fold increased risk of death ( em P /em =0.002 and 0.022, respectively) when compared to the patient group with a normal epithelial’ manifestation profile of E-cadherin positive and Snail negative’. Additionally, individuals having a profile Pimaricin tyrosianse inhibitor of maintained E-cadherin and positive Snail manifestation in metastases were at an increased risk of death ( em P /em =0.077), although this association was not statistically significant. Taken together, these observations show that Snail might be an independent prognostic element for medical end result in ovarian malignancy. Snail may be important for the establishment and maintenance of metastases in ovarian cancer, while loss of E-cadherin expression might be crucial in primary tumours, for example, for tumour invasion, both leading to an adverse clinical outcome for ovarian cancer patients. This is the 1st study where the subcellular expression of the E-cadherin repressor Snail has been analysed in a series of ovarian carcinomas. Our findings, although derived from a limited number of patients, form an important basis for future prospective studies. In conclusion, the results of our study show that Snail is associated with lower overall survival of ovarian cancer patients and provide new evidence for a role of Snail as a prognostic factor for adverse clinical outcome in ovarian cancer. Acknowledgments This study was supported in part by a grant from the Deutsche Krebshilfe to K-F.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I often have a pile of books that I am reading. Not usually a pile of novels. Those I read through in just a sitting or two. But “thought” books (non-fiction, often theological but sometimes not…) take a bit more time and I often have to stop and find a notebook and pen so I can write down quotes or just take a few notes.\nThis morning I finished a couple of them and felt inspired to write down a few thoughts on each. So, I’m going to just start at the top of the pile and work my way down! Here are the first two:\nCrazy Love by Francis Chan\nI have to tell you, I’ve wanted to read this book for quite some time. However, after reading a review of Rob Bell’s Love Wins, I was a bit apprehensive. For some reason, both these pastors have been in the same compartment in my mind.\nThey shouldn’t have been.\nCrazy Love is one of the best books on God/the church that I’ve read in a long, long time.\n“We need to stop giving people excuses to not believe in God. You’ve probably heard the expression ‘I believe in God, just not organized religion.’ I don’t think that people would say that if the church truly lived like we are called to live. The expression would change to ‘I can’t deny what the church does but I don’t believe in their God.’ ’At least then they’d address their rejection of God rather than use the church as a scapegoat.”\nAnd that, friends, was just the forward.\nThis book is written in a “new generation” format- there are websites listed to look things up, directions to stop reading the book and go watch youtube videos, and reference to building projects that hit the $20 million dollar mark.\nStill, even “old-school” people such as myself who don’t own TV’s, go to the library for internet access and try to keep all building projects under three thousand dollars, can enjoy and embrace the message given.\nChan takes the first three chapters to lay a foundation about God. To begin with, stop praying/talking and start thinking/listening about who God is. Do you actually know?\nSteeped in Scripture and quotes from giants of the faith like A.W. Tozer, Crazy Love seeks to put a fire under the church to start living dangerously.\nAt the same time, on a personal level, it strives to open our eyes to the relentless love of our Creator. To free those who are bound by the chains of “perfection” (what we think we need) then “guilt” (what we get when we fail) and spin them around to face a God who is passionately in love with them.\nHealing Sands by Nancy Rue & Stephen Arterburn\nActually, yes, this is a novel. However, I think it worthy of mentioning. I’m pretty much in love with Nancy Rue. Her writing is clear and concise, making it read like your watching a movie. I’m not that good of a writer, nor will I probably ever be, but I can fully appreciate it!\nHealing Sands is the third in the Sullivan Crisp novels. (Healing Stones and Healing Waters precede it) I wasn’t crazy about Healing Waters but that had to do with the story-line, not the writing.\nJust a little background: Sullivan Crisp is a psychologist who uses different (as in, not the norm) methods to reach his clients. An on-going behind the scenes story about him stretches through all three novels.\nHealing Sands tells the story of Ryan, a focused, driven photographer who comes home after six-months in Africa on assignment to find her ex-husband with a new girlfriend and her two sons uninterested in reviving their relationship with her.\nWhen she goes on assignment to take photographs of a murder and sees her oldest son through the view-finder of her camera- all of life screeches to a halt.\nOn her quest to prove her son’s innocence, she comes face to face with some of her own faults, the number one being her out-of-control anger.\nDespite the fact that this novel, like many, uses outlandish circumstances (although all possible) to magnify emotional responses, the underlying journey toward surrender is something that every one of us has to face in our day to day lives.\nIn the end, this book’s finest quality is its sense of reality. The people involved face real situations with real emotions and real decisions that you and I might make are the outcome. All liberally sprinkled with the reminder that God is working on a bigger picture: our hearts.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Lawrence S. Pertillar\nA Cat With Nine Lives - Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar\nA cat with nine lives,\nIsn't sitting wondering...\nWhere to go and who to visit,\nMost dudes choose to purr at home.\nComments about A Cat With Nine Lives by Lawrence S. Pertillar\nRead this poem in other languages\nThis poem has not been translated into any other language yet.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Supplementary MaterialsSupplementary informationTX-005-C5TX00088B-s001. cyclin D1, p21Waf1/Cip1, and p27Kip1. A further study revealed that probucol strongly impaired the phosphorylation of IB and the nuclear translocation of NF-B (p65). It also suppressed the activation of ERK/JNK/p38 MAPK signaling. Moreover, the NF-B inhibitor (PDTC), the ERK inhibitor (PD98059), the JNK inhibitor (SP600125), and the p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB203580) markedly attenuated the growth of these cells. Our results indicate that probucol induces anti-proliferative effects blocking of cell cycle progression and inactivation of NF-B and MAPK pathways in human ovarian cancer cells. Introduction Probucol is a diphenolic compound with anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-oxidative, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties that reduces tissue injury and histopathological changes.1C6 CPI-613 irreversible inhibition It includes a extended history of clinical application with founded safety and efficacy information.2,3 Earlier research possess proven that probucol offers diverse pharmacological properties with therapeutic results on metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.4C8 Additionally, it may modulate the toxicity-promoting impact and can provide as a potent chemopreventive agent to reduce oxidant induced cells injury.2,4,8 Therefore, probucol is meant to be a fantastic agent in improving endogenous antioxidant reserve and avoiding augmented oxidative pressure.1C4 Ovarian tumor may be the deadliest of most gynecologic malignancies in lots of countries.9C11 Because this disease is asymptomatic or non-specific at the early stage of its progression, nearly all ovarian carcinoma individuals are identified as having advanced stage disease.10C12 For the treatment of ovarian carcinoma, cytoreductive combination and surgery chemotherapies are regular strategies.13C16 However, tumor relapse as well as the development of SIRPB1 drug-resistant disease remain a knotty issue to become resolved in ovarian carcinoma treatment. It really is well documented that oxidative tension modulates cell development or genomic balance under both pathophysiological and physiological circumstances. 17C19 Latest molecular and pathological proof shows that in intensifying phases of ovarian carcinoma, the oxidative stress can contribute to the uncontrolled tumor expansion.18,19 Antioxidants, when added adjunctively, to first-line chemotherapy, may improve the efficacy of cancer therapy.19,20 More recent data showed that probucol was a potent antioxidant that can CPI-613 irreversible inhibition CPI-613 irreversible inhibition serve as a powerful chemopreventive agent to suppress oxidant induced tissue injury and carcinogenesis, in addition to being a cholesterol reducing and anti-atherogenic drug.21C23 Probucol exposure modulated iron nitrilotriacetate-dependent renal carcinogenesis and the hyperproliferative response.23 It can induce anti-angiogenesis and apoptosis in athymic nude mouse xenografted human head and neck squamous carcinoma cells.24 On the other hand, probucol was able to activate NAD(P)H:quinone reductase, one of the main detoxifying enzymes, and CPI-613 irreversible inhibition could then reduce chemical carcinogenesis and toxicity.25 The nanoassembly of probucol enabled novel therapeutic efficacy in the suppression of lung metastasis of breast cancer.26 Nevertheless, its potential effect on the progression of ovarian cancer is not explored yet. It’s been reported how the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-B) takes on an important part in the mobile redox system in a variety of cells.27C29 In unstimulated cells, the NF-B p50/p65 heterodimer is maintained in the cytoplasm by binding to IB. Upon excitement, NF-B dissociates from IB, translocates towards the nucleus, activates focus on genes and regulates varied cellular features.28,29 A lot of the ramifications of NF-B activation on cancer cells have already been associated with cancer development and poor outcomes.30,31 Tumor cells have already been proven to exhibit a hyperactivated NF-B survival signaling pathway constitutively.31 Indeed, the aberrant regulation from the NF-B pathway is thought to be a significant event adding to malignant change and development of ovarian tumor.32,33 With this scholarly research, we hypothesized that probucol, maybe, is an efficient applicant for anti-ovarian tumor cells. Consequently, to examine this hypothesis, we looked into the inhibitory ramifications of probucol on cell proliferation in human being ovarian tumor PA-1 and SKOV-3 cells and its own underlying molecular system for probucol-mediated cell routine development and NF-B signaling. We also determined signaling molecules root probucol-modulated cell development in both cell lines. Finally, our research displayed the part of probucol in ovarian carcinoma chemoprevention or chemotherapy. Strategies and Components Reagents Anti-ERK1/2, -JNK, -p38 MAPK, -p21Waf1/Cip1, -p27Kip1, -Bcl-2, -c-Myc, -cytochrome c, -cdk4, -cyclin D1, -PCNA, -p65, and -IB antibodies had been bought from Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc., Santa Cruz, CA. Anti-phospho-IB, -phospho-ERK1/2, -phospho-JNK, -phospho-p38 MAPK, and histone H3.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Hayden Wolf is a successful businessman facing an adversary intent on bringing his company down. Not knowing who he can trust, he decides on taking drastic measures to keep his work under the utmost secrecy…\nAvery Walker is the chief stewardess working on a luxury yacht. When their latest guest arrives, he is a complete contradiction from what she has come to expect in her line of work. He is also the only guest who has ever so much as tempted her to break the no messing around with the guests rule.\nWith a lot on the line in their lives, both Hayden and Avery should steer clear of each other and any romantic entanglements a fling between them would cause. But, what they should do isn’t always what they can’t resist doing…\nThis book was a glimpse into the lives of the rich, yachting elite… and the people who are employed to cater to their every whim. The beautiful destinations and the incredible yacht backdrop set the pace for a love story between two people who are on opposite ends of the hierarchy.\nAvery is a dedicated daughter and sister, whose job as a chief stewardess affords her to help her family financially. She is trustworthy, impeccable in her work and selfless to a fault. The yachting lifestyle is one full of people who are rich and entitled, and she has come to expect every crazy thing they could possibly ask for, and works hard to provide it.\nHayden is a workaholic who lives for making a great business deal, and they money that comes along with it. When he realizes that he may have a mole in his company, he decides to cut himself off from all traditional communication and work from a yacht for the next two months. Avery is a complete surprise, and someone who has tempted him like no one ever has before. Not only is he impossibly attracted to her, but he comes to admire her for the strong woman she is.\nThe whirlwind relationship between Avery and Hayden feels like it is meant to be, but their lives couldn’t be any more different, and the real world has a way of crashing in on a gigantic wave…\nI received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest and unbiased review.\nClick the Cover to Buy Now!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Excerpt from The Aran IslandsHere then was a new motive set before Synge, a new direction for his literary energies, and one wherein he repudiated the art of the decadents, based as it was on the complicated experience and adjustment of modern life, for a return to nature as fresh and sincere in its courage and originality as the previous return had been of Coleridge and Wordsworth to the simple s...\nPaperback: 234 pages\nPublisher: Forgotten Books (April 18, 2018)\nProduct Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches\nAmazon Rank: 11392322\nFormat: PDF ePub Text djvu ebook\n- J. M. Synge pdf\n- J. M. Synge books\n- 1331400864 pdf\n- pdf books\n- 978-1331400868 pdf\nRead It came rom within any stanley ebook bakunifi.wordpress.com The oinist ea Download The distance between us young readers edition pdf at bankigensec.wordpress.com Download Cannabis works 2 pdf at cachizumaa.wordpress.com Read Ual language eucation or a transorme worl ebook bmwunwotsuland.wordpress.com C d c Read The magicians hat ebook alldeyakamyp.wordpress.com The cany sho war American manners an customs The end of the story the collected fantasies vol 1 the collected fantasies of clark ashton smith\nPeople have often said to me that they find Synge's account of his time spent honing his Irish and collecting folklore on the Aran Islands to be one of the slowest and most boring reads they've ever encountered. I must heartily disagree.While the wo...\ntruth and beauty. On this motive he acted, and in 1898 we find him, for the first time, in the Aran Islands.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A remote sensing-assisted risk rating study to predict oak decline and recovery in the Missouri Ozark Highlands, USA\n- Download PDF (1332289)\n- This publication is available only online.\nGIScience and Remote Sensing. 45(4): 406-425.\nForests in the Ozark Highlands underwent widespread oak decline affected by severe droughts in 1999-2000. In this study, the differential normalized difference water index was calculated to detect crown dieback. A multi-factor risk rating system was built to map risk levels of stands. As a quick response to drought, decline in 2000 mostly occurred in stands at low to medium risk, which often recovered within a few years. Decline in 2003, as longer-term response to drought, dominated in stands at medium to high risk. This study demonstrates that remote sensing can be applied to predict oak decline and to mitigate damage before another stressor event occurs.\nWang, Cuizhen; He, Hong S.; Kabrick, John M. 2008. A remote sensing-assisted risk rating study to predict oak decline and recovery in the Missouri Ozark Highlands, USA. GIScience and Remote Sensing. 45(4): 406-425.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Download The Shallows PDF Book by Nicholas Carr . Soft Copy of Book The Shallows author Nicholas Carr completely free.\nReviews of : The Shallows by Nicholas Carr PDF Book\nInside this Book – In 1964, just as the Beatles were launching their invasion of America’s airwaves, Marshall McLuhan published Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man and transformed himself from an obscure academic into a star. Oracular, gnomic, and mind-bending, the book was a perfect product of the sixties, that now-distant decade of acid trips and moon shots, inner and outer voyaging. Understanding Media was at heart a prophecy, and what it prophesied was the dissolution of the linear mind. McLuhan declared that the “electric media” of the twentieth century—telephone, radio, movies, television—were breaking the tyranny of text over our thoughts and senses. Our isolated, fragmented selves, locked for centuries in the private reading of printed pages, were becoming whole again, merging into the global equivalent of a tribal village. We were approaching “the technological simulation of consciousness, when the creative process of knowing will be collectively and corporately extended to the whole of human society.\nInside this book –The Shallows PDF Book by Nicholas Carr – Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop?” So the supercomputer HAL pleads with the implacable astronaut Dave Bowman in a famous and weirdly poignant scene toward the end of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Bowman, having nearly been sent to a deep-space death by the malfunctioning machine, is calmly, coldly disconnecting the memory circuits that control its artificial brain. “Dave, my mind is going,” HAL says, forlornly. “I can feel it. I can feel it.” I can feel it too. Over the last few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I feel it most strongly when I’m reading. I used to find it easy to immerse myself in a book or a lengthy article. My mind would get caught up in the twists of the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration starts to drift after a page or two. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel like I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle. I think I know what’s going on. For well over a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet. The Web’s been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or the pithy quote I was after. I couldn’t begin to tally the hours or the gallons of gasoline the Net has saved me. I do most of my banking and a lot of my shopping online. I use my browser to pay my bills, schedule my appointments, book flights and hotel rooms, renew my driver’s license, send invitations and greeting cards. Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s data thickets—reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, following Facebook updates, watching video streams, downloading music, or just tripping lightly from link to link to link.\nThe Shallows by Nicholas Carr PDF : eBook Information\n- Full Book Name – The Shallows\n- Author of this Book -Nicholas Carr\n- Language – English\n- Book Genre – Non-Fiction, Science\n- Download Format – PDF\n- Size – 1 MB\n- eBook Pages – 104\n- Price – Free", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I Am The Male-Lead's Ex-Girlfriend - Chapter 4\nI care about you\n“Wherever I go, I always get the attention of the crowd for being the handsome lord of the tower. I’ve been really tired these days.”\nHe sighed deeply as if it was really tiring.\nUnknowingly, his face became tired for a moment.\nIt was strange that even though his face looks tired, he is still attractive.\n“Tomorrow, I’ll send a carriage to Marquis of Kernels. Take that and come to the tower.”\n“Won’t you tell me the reason?”\n“I’ll explain tomorrow when you visit the tower. You’re so curious, aren’t you?”\n“Good. Then you’ll think about me until you reach the tower. Because you will be wondering about my intentions.”\nZion leaned his head close to me. Then, he spoke, making me feel his hot breath.\n“That’s what I wanted.”\nI had no idea why I got goosebumps suddenly. Ah, I think I was a little excited.\nMy carriage ran along the streets of the capital when it eventually entered a deserted forest path. Looking outside the carriage through the window, I saw the deep forest road.\nIs pretending being lover in public enough compensation for the liquid substance that Zion worked hard for the past three years?\nWhy did Zion even drop the glass bottle of the precious liquid at my feet?\nI felt a little odd to dismiss it as a coincidence.\nBecause Zion from the original story was a very thorough person. I could hardly understand it, but I didn’t think much of it. What’s important to me right now is not being labeled as an enemy of the tower.\nLet’s not think deeply, it would only hurt my head.\nThe carriage, which was running along the forest road for some time, stopped. I wiped my forehead as I got off from the carriage.\nIt seems like it hasn’t been long since the sun has risen, but my forehead was sweating now. As I looked up at the sky of the summer day, the intense sunlight disturbed my vision.\nWhy do I feel hotter than yesterday?\nAt that moment, a hand shaded my green eyes from the sunlight.\n“The sunlight was too harsh for a beautiful lady like you.”\nI looked at Zion, who had suddenly arrived. Wearing a loose white shirt like yesterday, he came silently. Nevertheless, he still shines.\nLike in a movie, his messy hair fluttered in the summer breeze. I am completely impressed.\nWhat, he is very handsome today.\nAfter Zion greeted, he motioned his hand, signaling me to follow him. As I followed him, I saw the tower ahead.\nAlthough I imagined a tower, built with stone blocks, the actual appearance of the tower was a typical mansion. The tower seemed so colorless.\nUpon entering the mansion, only a few people could be seen. Still, when they encountered us, they politely bowed their heads to Zion.\nWhenever that happened, I remembered again that he is the lord of the tower.\nWhile following him, I took the chance to ask.\n“Zion, will I be helping you fix the glass bottle?”\nHe answered naturally.\n“Erica. Don’t worry about it. I will not say anything about that. If you are good at pretending as my lover, I’ll handle things neatly. Trust me.”\nThere was a strong conviction in Zion’s words. Maybe that’s why I had to trust him.\n“Yes, I believe in you.”\nI took a small breath of relief. It was fortunate.\nSo, together, we climbed the stairs leading to the upper floor. Zion, who walked one step ahead of me, began to speak.\n“Did you think about me yesterday?”\nI answered roughly.\nI was really curious why Zion asked me to pretend to be in a relationship with him.\nBut last night, when I returned to the Marquis and lay down in bed, I quickly fell into a deep sleep. It was because I was tired. Unfortunately, the last thing I thought right before I fell asleep was, ‘Leo cried.’\nI thought of a man who shed tears because of our breakup. What kind of crying face does Leo’s look like?\nAs far as I know, Leo was gifted with an innocent face, and usually smiles languidly. So, I had no idea what his crying face would be.\nIt was something that is difficult to imagine. My thoughts were stopped when Zion spoke to me.\n“Then, as promised, I’ll tell you my situation that you were curious about.”\n“What I am trying to say is I was born so handsome. I am pretty good-looking, have a good personality, talented in magic, and have a good family. There’s no shortcoming. As a handsome man, I naturally got everyone’s attention ever since I was born. Until now, it was always like that.”\n“Ugh. Totally conceited.”\nAt my words, Zion giggled.\n“But it’s true.”\n“So. My current problem that everyone is paying attention to…….Indeed, it’s about what kind of woman will Zion Leppe marry.”\nZion, who said so, stopped talking. From the expression of his face, he looked worried about something.\nI repeated the words he said earlier. What kind of woman will Zione Leppe marry?\nIn the novel, Zion loved Yuliana, but his love ended up as one-sided. After the novel ended, did he meet another woman and marry her?\nI glanced at Zion’s broad back who was ahead of me. Then I suddenly recalled the scene in the novel, in which Zion, who failed in love, cried in the dark.\nWill you end up crying just like in the book?\nBefore we knew it, we walked side by side along the hallway. Every time we walked; the backs of our hands brushed against each other.\nAt that moment, I wondered how it would feel to hold hands with him. Then unexpectedly, Zion held my hand and intertwined with my fingers tightly.\nDid he read my thoughts or what?\nHis hand was quite warm. It was an irresistible warmth. Perhaps that’s the reason why I couldn’t let go of his hand.\nAfter some time, he stopped walking.\nZion stopped in front of a room. Despite reaching the room, he did not let go of my hand. He just pointed somewhere with his free hand.\nHis finger pointed to the door of the room in front of us. To be more precise, the gap between the small open doors.\nI carefully lean my face through the gap of the door, and look from it. From the inside, I could see the back of a woman sitting on the sofa.\n“Did you see the woman sitting on the sofa?”\n“That woman is my stepmother. Although she came from a good family, her integrity is not as good as it is. Everyone in the society already knows that.”\nI nodded my head.\nDuke Grigor of Leppe, Zion’s father.\nHe is not a great man.\nIt was because of his habitual affair.\nThat was his story that I read in the novel. After peeking through the door, I looked up at his face, which was quite close.\n“Do you feel sorry for me?”\nI guess that was the look on my face.\nZion pressed down my head using his finger.\n“Don’t bother. I’m fine.”\nZion’s face, saying it was okay, has the saddest face I’ve ever seen from him.\nStupid. Why are you saying it’s okay with a sad face?\nIt seemed that Zion didn’t want me to pity him.\nCome to think of it, that’s the reason why Zion loved Yuliana, the heroine in the novel. It was because Yuliana did not sympathize with Zion.\nAnd Zion fell for her for that.\nOn the outside, he looked more gorgeous than anyone else, but in reality, he has a bad family.\nHe was raised neglected. He grew up lonely and always wanted someone’s love.\nYuliana didn’t pity him. Yuliana was the only woman who saw Zion as himself. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Zion fell in love with Yuliana.\n“It wouldn’t know if I didn’t listen to it in the first place but I care about you.”\nI confessed my honest feelings. Probably the opposite of Yuliana’s attitude.\nI didn’t want to be like Yuliana who was loved by many men in the novel.\nEven if I knew why Yuliana was loved by the male protagonists, I wanted to say my true feelings.\nThat was all.\n“I’ve never seen anyone who says they’re alright with their own mouth.”\nLooking at me, there was a small glint in Zion’s gold eyes but it soon disappeared.\nHe grinned a little and spoke clearly.\n“Still, don’t worry.”\nThen, Zion quickly changed the topic, trying to stop me from feeling more pity for him.\n“Anyway, I’m being forced by my stepmother to marry.”\nThe flow of the conversation was about his marriage again.\n“Is there a big reason?”\nI naturally followed the flow. I didn’t want to uncover something that Zion didn’t want to talk about.\n“Uh. Before I became the lord of the tower, I’m the eldest son of the Leppe family. It’s a justification that I should be the successor. Of course, it’s not that I won’t succeed. But I don’t want to get married right now.”\n“Hm. So, you’re asking me to pretend to be your lover in front of your stepmother? So that she won’t urge you to get married anymore.”\nHe smiled slightly and nodded his head.\n“That’s right. I sent a letter to my stepmother yesterday saying, ‘I already have someone I love, and I won’t marry someone you have chosen. If you don’t believe it, come to the tower today.’”\n“After I sent it, she came right away. My stepmother is waiting for us.”\nI answered coolly.\n“Okay, leave it to me.”\nWell, that’s a favor. When I shrugged my shoulders, Zion giggled.\n“Erica, you don’t have to try so hard. I don’t like my stepmother either.”\nI don’t care how she treats me. He assured me and completely opened the door which had been slightly open.\nAs we went into the room, we walked to the sofa where Zion’s stepmother was sitting. Soon after, I could see her face as she sat upright on the sofa.\nShe is a middle-aged woman who has no resemblance to Zion’s handsome face. She was Zion’s stepmother and the mistress of the Leppe family.\n“Zion, you’re here?”\nMrs. Leppe’s voice was not very pleasant to talk to.\nShe called Zion’s name, but she was staring at me. Somehow, I felt like I was being criticized. With that, I smiled in a lovely manner and gave a pleasant atmosphere as she observed me.\nIf you want to see it, watch it as much as you want.\n“Yes, mother. As I told you before, this is the woman I love. I want to marry her, so I don’t want you to force me to marry anymore.”\nWhen Zion greeted her, he already mentioned the subject. He was pretty direct.\nI still greeted Mrs. Leppe with a smiling face.\n“Mrs. Leppe. It’s my first time meeting you. My name is Erica Kernels.”\nI held the hem of my dress and bowed slightly. At my greeting, her eyes changed.\n“Erica Kernels? No way, the evil woman, who changes men every three months… …. that lady is you?”\nDid my rumors get into Mrs. Leppe’s ears? I guess I’m very famous.\nWith no sign of embarrassment, I answered confidently.\nIt was my choice and my way of doing things.\nNo matter what anyone says, even if Mrs. Leppe looks at me horribly, I did not regret what I had done so far. Not a bit.\nWhat’s wrong with changing men every three months? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime anyway.\n“Madam, is there a problem?”\nI smiled even more.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Master Craftsmen Exhibition\nMaster craftsmen exhibition Dilli Haat 1\nA Romantic Valentine’s Day for Everyone\nTeddy Gets a Tan\nMaree and the Prince —Book Review\nA newly published eBook—Maree and the Prince deals with the subject of faith while telling the tale of a roguish writer who is a Prince given to excessive drinking. The Prince and His friend pursue members of the oldest profession with a vengeance.\nMaree is his involuntary secretary and driver. The Prince is possessed by an English ghost. The book also explores Christianity through a devout Maree.\nThe ghost leads us on a journey to London, a sea voyage, Karachi, Lahore, Umballa and Simla in the 19th century. The book also takes us into an unexplored chapter of British-Indian history—that of Lascars—native sailors who were the first Indian immigrants in England.\nThe book is a search for faith with the help of a saint and a faithful servant.\nThe eBook is available on Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, Google books. Flipkart.com.\nYou will find details about Hindu Festivals, Slokas, Prayers, Vegetarian cooking and much more useful information.\nMusings on the past, present and future of English cricket\nHealth and Wellness, Indian thought and literature: Women Writings, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Yoga , poems\nYou must be logged in to post a comment.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "داده های اولیه در رابطه بین حساسیت اضطراب و اختلال شخصیت مرزی: نقش اجتناب تجربی\n|کد مقاله||سال انتشار||مقاله انگلیسی||ترجمه فارسی||تعداد کلمات|\n|74802||2008||10 صفحه PDF||سفارش دهید||7978 کلمه|\nPublisher : Elsevier - Science Direct (الزویر - ساینس دایرکت)\nJournal : Journal of Psychiatric Research, Volume 42, Issue 7, June 2008, Pages 550–559\nAlthough research on the temperamental vulnerabilities associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD) has focused primarily on the role of impulsive-aggression, affective instability, and emotional vulnerability, growing evidence suggests that anxiety sensitivity (AS) also may increase vulnerability for BPD. This study provides preliminary data on the relationship between AS and BPD, examining whether AS distinguishes outpatients with BPD from outpatients without a personality disorder (non-PD), and whether the relationship between AS and BPD is mediated by experiential avoidance (i.e., attempts to avoid unwanted internal experiences, such as anxiety). Findings indicate that BPD outpatients reported higher levels of AS than non-PD outpatients and AS reliably distinguished between these two groups. Furthermore, the relationship between AS and BPD was mediated by experiential avoidance. Finally, results indicate that AS (and experiential avoidance as a mediator) accounted for a significant amount of additional variance in BPD status above and beyond both negative affect and two well-established temperamental vulnerabilities for BPD (affect intensity/reactivity and impulsivity). Findings suggest the need to further explore the role of AS in the pathogenesis of BPD.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The old one walked to the door and opened it to another cold, rainy morning, at least today he did not feel like the gloomy weather outside, on the contrary, the old one felt quite good about himself and his spirit was soaring above the clouds.\nToday the old one was to ride a Regional transit Authority bus to the Veterans Clinic. There he was to see them for his first health check-up in this new world.\nHe caught the RTA carriage at its stopping place, he climbed aboard and paid the fare and asked the driver to tell him when they reached 44th Street West. The driver shook his head, “sure will old man,” he said with a grin. Then the old one took a seat and waited. Down the street across the bridge, they traveled the carriage turned left, and then right stopping frequently to pick up and drop off the creatures who rode the carriage. The driver stomped on the brakes and pulled the carriage to a stop, he turned and signaled the old one that this was his stop. “Thanks a lot have a good day,” the old one said, stepping from the carriage to the ground.\nIn front of him was an imposing beige brick citadel, the sign out front identified this castle as the place the old one was going.\nHe walked to the door, pulled it open, and entered the clinic. A directory, of all those who inhabited the castle, and what floor they were on, as well as the room number hung on the wall He stopped and read aloud the names that were on the board. He was to go the second floor clinic. The old one pressed the button on the mechanical lift the two iron doors slid open and he stepped into the car and pushed another button. The doors closed and with a mechanical growl and a whine the car began to move upward until it reached its destination when the doors slid open, the old one marveled at this modern device. He followed the signs to the clinic.\nHe entered the clinic walked to the opening in the wall where a woman sat and he told her his name. She thumbed through a stack of papers and pulled a sheet from the stack she read it and very politely told the old one he was too early for his appointment. She told him he could wait or he could come back at the prescribed time. He asked her if there was a tavern close by. She told him there was a tavern not too far away it was just down the street on the corner.\nThe old one left the Clinic, he walked down to the corner, and sure enough under the purple awning was the door to the tavern. He entered and took a seat in a booth close to the door. A woman who; was short of stature, was small of breast, narrow of waist, and broad where a woman should be broad came down the aisle and began speaking. She asked if he would like some of this or that, these or those some of … he said he would like two cheeseburger sandwiches garnished with lettuce and tomato, and a very thin slice of onion and some fries. She smiled and thanked him, then turned and walked away. The old one watched the woman walk away; she wiggled where a woman should wiggle. Her pants, stretched tightly across her buttocks, accentuated her wiggle. Moreover, with each step she took, the faster the old ones heart- beat. It was magic to watch her walk.\nThe old one had not lusted about a woman in years but today he came close to lusting over this one, this woman mesmerized him. His thoughts turned to fancy, but were brought back to reality when a sweet syrupy voice asked if he needed anything else. He finished chewing his food, swallowed, and replied to the woman “I’m good, thank you,” and that was about all he could utter. She smiled, turned around, struck a pose accentuating her buttocks, before walking away or wiggling her way down the aisle. He shook his head and took another bite of his sandwich “Oh! What a good day this will be,” he thought to himself.\nThe old one finished his meal, paid the check, and left a generous if not absurd amount of money as a gratuity for the woman. She might have thought it was for her outstanding service, but the old one knew he had paid for the entertainment she had provided him.\nShe knew her wiggles equaled money, and today that was going to pay off nicely for her, she smiled and waved to him as he left the tavern.\nThe old one left the tavern, there was a spring in his step, and the rainy day did not matter anymore to him, because he had sunshine in his heart. He headed back to the castle and the clinic.\nThe old one checked into the clinic, they told him to have a seat; the doctor’s assistant would be with him shortly. He sat down, picked up a periodical, thumbed through the pages glancing at the different articles.\nThe doctor’s assistant a nurse was a rotund woman, younger than the old one and a lot prettier, she told him to come with her. She led him to a set of scales and asked him to step up on them so she could weigh him. He told her he was short and fat. She said that would not fit in the spaces she had to enter numbers into the chart. The old one complied and gave his height in numbers. Then she took his blood pressure and his temperature and with every test, she wrote her finding down in that chart. She asked him what medications he was taking. He pulled a tote sack off his shoulder and spilled the contents onto her desk he had small bottles and large ones, he had tiny boxes, leather pouches, linen bags, the names of each medicine was affixed to the containers with a small golden ribbons. She picked them up one at a time and read the labels then she carefully wrote in her charts the name of each medicine. When she had finished with him, she sent him down the hall to have blood let.\nThe vampiress set him down; she placed his arm on the chair’s arm the she took a needle and with the softest touch and the greatest precision sunk the needle into his arm piercing the vein, she connected small glass vials to the tube that connected the needle to his vein. His dark red blood slowly filled the vials. She took each vial, carefully wrote his name on it, and then placed them in a tray. The old one mused, they have machines that can do about anything now. Why not have machines to test blood? However, everyone knew that vampires could detect even the smallest minutest trace of anything in the blood and identify it with almost 100% accuracy. They were better than any machine could ever be. He left the room in a hurry he did not trust these creatures not even a little bit.\nThen he walked into the doctor’s office she had him sit on a table, she listened to his lungs when he breathed and listened to his heart. She asked him questions about his health and the medicines he took while they were talking the old one placed his right hand on his chest and winced. The alchemist asked him what was wrong the old one told her he had had a chest pain but it was not bad enough to take a nitro tablet.\nThe doctor rushed to his side she listened to his heart again, she asked him how many nitro tablets he had taken in the last month he said about six or eight he did not remember exactly. “Oh no, no, no, no, that won’t do at all,” she said then added you are going to the hospital right now. She called her assistant and had her call for an ambulance carriage. The doctor waited with the old one, they talked more she made notes she held his hand and comforted him until the medical carriage arrived.\nThe two medical carriage attendants arrived, they asked questions. The Doctor answered the questions and gave them all the charts they had made. The medical carriage attendants asked him if he had any chest pain “no,” he said “I don’t have any pain,” and it seemed that every 2 minutes they asked the same question and each time his answer was the same.\nThe medical carriage raced through the streets, the old one rode in the back of the carriage, strapped to a gurney. The attendants wired the old one up to an electrical device, that in the event his heart was to stop beating, this device would shock his heart to make it beat again, a procedure surely not for the faint of heart.\nThe carriage swayed from side to side on the curves, nose-dived when the attendant who was driving applied the brakes and would rare up when he pushed down on the accelerator. The old one was not prone to motion sickness, but this time lying flat on his back, he was very close to becoming sick to his stomach, as he had ever been. The carriage nose-dived for the last time and then it stopped at the door to the hospital. The old one was glad the ambulance had stopped; he had, had as much as he could stand.\nThe rear doors flew open, and he was taken out and rushed into the trauma room where he was pushed up beside another gurney the attendants began to hustle about, ready to transfer him to another gurney. The old one sat up, looked at the two attendants. “I can walk,” the old one snarled. “Move!” he twisted his body around on the gurney then slid off onto the floor and stood up, he motioned for them to move the gurney. He took a few deep breaths to settle the nausea the walked the two steps to the trauma room bed. The old one sat on the bed looked at the two carriage attendants and said to them, “Gentleman thank you, for all your troubles and have a good day.”\nThe old one had not lain down before the hospital attendants flooded into his small cube. They hooked him up to a monitor and then they prodded, pulled, poked stuck, and interrogated him and they too asked him every few minutes if he had any chest pain, and each time they did he would give them the same answer no not at this time. However, as soon as I have some pain you will be the first to know.\nThe cardiologist who dealt with hearts and other ailments stopped by he read the charts he read the strip of paper that had come from the monitor. He listened to the old one’s heart and then told him he was admitting him to the hospital they needed to make further tests to find out what was wrong with him. “So hold tight,” he said, “We will get you up to your room as soon as possible.” The old one would never see that doctor again.\nThe ER admitted him; they took him to a place called PCU on the second floor. The room was nice enough it had a window with a very nice view across the roof of a brick wall, two chairs, and a bed. The bathroom was big enough it had a shower stall, a sink, and a shiny porcelain water closet all the amenities one could ask for or ever want.\nThe bed was a marvelous device; with the touch of a button you could raise it, lower it, raise the head, or lower the head, you could raise or lower the foot of the bed and you could do the same for the middle of the bed. This bed almost induced sleep, if not just aided it.\nAn orderly entered the room she took his vitals; temperature, blood pressure, his pulse, and then she scanned the bracelet they had attached to his wrist in the trauma room and then she left.\nAnother orderly came in this one gave him a bag lunch, a pitcher of water, a plastic jug to urinate in, then asked how he was doing and wanted to know if he had any chest pains. The old one just shook his head.\nThe nurse came in pulling her electronic computerized cart behind her. She scanned his bracelet with a greenish red pencil thin beam of light her computer bleeped and chirped then a drawer popped open, she pulled out a handful of small plastic bags, scanned them ripped them open and handed them to the old one along with a cup of water. “Take these,” she said. The old one took the pills without question. Then she too left dragging that beeping, chirping cart behind her\nA man came in to the room and he introduced himself to the old one as Doctor S He shook the old one’s hand, and told him that they would find out what was wrong with him. They had to make some tests and get some history of his ailment. Then he left\nThen the routine began. For the next six days at midnight, at five in the morning, then again at eight, ten o’clock, and let us not forget noontime, two, and six and the last time was around eight in the evening. Then on top of all those visits, and interruptions to his sleep. The doctors would stop in his room to check on him.\nIt seemed that a continuous line of people, who poked, who pulled, who stuck, who checked, who felt, whom asked questions, which fed him or gave him pills never seemed to stop. By the time, the old one had gotten to sleep someone wanting something from him or wanting to give him something, came in and woke him up. In addition, every day at the most inopportune times a technician would come in and change the round sticky pads they had glued to his chest for the electronic heart monitor he kept in his shirt pocket.\nOn the sixth day everything changed, they told him he was to have a test done; he could not eat or drink, so there he lay eating nothing, drinking nothing, but the smallest amount of juice, to swallow the pills they gave him.\nIt was about three in the afternoon, when they came to take him for his test the attendant unhooked him from his monitor. To the old one’s surprise, the attendant started the bed and with a small hand controller, and drove the bed around and through the hallways, in and out of the elevators to the operating room.\nThere in the operating room they transferred him onto the table of a great very imposing machine where he laid waiting for his test. The attendants started an IV, they gave him a sedative, and when the old one awoke he was back in his room he had no idea what they had done, beside him stood a very pretty nurse who told him not to move, not to sit up, just lie flat. He asked for some water, but the girl politely and sweetly said “No,” Then she added, “No water, no food for a while.” She would check the incision they had made in his groin for signs of bleeding, from the procedure they had performed on him.\nIt was about nine in the evening, when they allowed him to move about, and gave him a warmed over dinner and a snack. The old one went to sleep but this time he slept until eight the following morning.\nOn the seventh day, the castle rested, well for the old one it did. The doctor came in to the old one’s room and told what they did and what they found and the new medicines he was to take and for him to come back in a month for a check-up. The doctor said he would discharge the old one soon as soon as possible, so hold tight until they come to get you.\nSo the old one did just that, he sat patiently, quietly, alone, he watched all those who had regularly come in and checked on him, pass by his door on their way elsewhere. He waited in solitude, for a ride, to come and take him back to where he had begun his journey, the 2100.\nHe returned to the 2100 and as he entered the door, he realized that the only change that had occurred was time nothing else had changed the 2100 was the same his life was the same nothing had changed well maybe the additional medications he was supposed to take.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A perceptual framework for conservative treatment and rehabilitation of ankle sprains: An evidence-based paradigm shift\n© by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Inc. Lateral ankle sprains are the most common injuries sustained during physical activity. The epidemiologic trends associated with chronic ankle instability (CAI) suggest that current rehabilitation approaches may be inadequate. We sought to synthesize best-practices evidence for the rehabilitation of patients with acute ankle sprains and CAI through the integration of emerging paradigms in perception, the dynamics of skill acquisition, and the biopsychosocial model of function, disability, and health. From the best available evidence, 4 key factors emerged for effective treatment and rehabilitation strategies: pain reduction, external ankle support for up to 1 year, progressive return to motion, and coordination training. We combined these factors into a meta-theoretical framework that centers on the perceptual interdependence of the cellular, local, and global functioning levels by linking insights from the body-self neuromatrix, the dynamics of skill acquisition, and the biopsychosocial model. Based on the best-practice recommendations from systematic reviews, ankle-sprain rehabilitation represents a multidimensional phenomenon governed by perception. The impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions associated with CAI may be linked to perceptual-interdependence alterations. Pain and edema reduction, the use of external ankle support for up to 1 year, progressive return to motion, and coordination training foster enhanced perceptual interdependence from cells to society. Using the perceptual-interdependence framework for ankle-sprain rehabilitation, we offer new insights for charting the course of effective strategies for enhancing function, reducing disability, and preventing the long-term sequelae associated with CAI.\nJournal of Athletic Training\nMcKeon, Patrick O. and Donovan, Luke, \"A perceptual framework for conservative treatment and rehabilitation of ankle sprains: An evidence-based paradigm shift\" (2019). Faculty Articles Indexed in Scopus. 249.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "As is the case with most Chuck Palahniuk books, I simply don't know what to say about Rant. It's one of those books that leaves you breathless and energized, and because of its structure, it is both difficult to put down and easy to keep reading. It is relentlessly creative and twists and turns in surprising directions that leave you repeatedly rethinking Palahniuk's themes and ideas.\nBook Review: Chuck Palahniuk's Rant\nBy Kim Hollis\nApril 27, 2007\nRant tells the story of a bizarre character named Rant Casey (aka Buster Casey, aka Buddy Casey). His tale is revealed in oral biography form, which means that it appears as a series of comments from people interviewed about Rant's life and times. For comparison purposes, it reads a lot like the Legs McNeil books Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk and The Other Hollywood (which is similarly an oral history of the porn industry). Each chapter has a theme, and various characters from different portions of Rant's life give their opinions and thoughts as they relate to the main character.\nFrom the book's outset, everything about Rant appears to be unique. Born and raised in a small, rural town known as Middleton, Rant is a boy who embraces very different activities than typical kids his age. Where other boys are playing baseball and other normal sorts of things, Rant likes to achieve natural highs by sticking his arm in holes where he knows animals live. His goal? To be bitten. Ultimately, this habit leads to Rant having rabies, which becomes significant as he grows older and moves on to bigger and better things.\nWeird things continue to happen around Rant. During his boyhood, his grandmother and great-grandmother both die in extremely strange ways. Girls from his school, who are inexplicably attracted to his strange ways, find themselves infected with rabies. And when he finally moves on to the big city, the world even begins to gradually change. Rant joins a group of people known as Party Crashers, whose main purpose is to participate in a game in which they drive around the city in ridiculously decorated cars as they attempt to ram and crash into each other.\nAs the different characters relate their experiences with Rant, it becomes apparent that many people believe he should be considered a serial killer. His rabies has had a profound effect on the population, as he seems to have intentionally infected people in some cases. At the very least, he is Patient Zero in a pandemic that has caused the nation to rethink laws and regulations.\nUltimately, even though it seems clear what the story is really about, it constantly evolves into something else. It may seem as though I have given away an awful lot of information in my brief synopsis above, but in fact I haven't even come close to scratching the surface. Rant's place in society is indeed crucial, but it happens in ways that are much more subtle and sublime.\nFans of Palahniuk should definitely be pleased with Rant. It is simultaneously funny, stomach turning, trippy and overwhelming. It seems quite simple on the surface, but as the pages unfold, more and more layers and complications are added that make the story a truly complex undertaking. Rant starts out feeling like a straightforward gothic novel, but ultimately veers into science fiction and horror (of a sort). It creates a culture that rivals Fight Club in its inventiveness, and has enough surprises to make Tyler Durden blush. Rant is a novel that people will be talking about for some time to come.\nChuck Palahniuk's Official Web site\nRant Official Web site\nOrder Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey\nVisit aNobii for information on all sorts of books", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Added to Cart\nMore deals you may like\nTHIS DVD ALTHOUGH THE DISC IS IN LIKE NEW CONDITION DVD SLIP MAY HAVE SOME WEAR AND TEAR.The Crow – Laurence Mason Angel David David Patrick\nInfo: A young rock musician who was brutally murdered a year earlier is resurrected as a vengeful superhero in this stylish noir thriller. Out to avenge his and his fiancee’s killings by destroying the city’s evil crime lord, the Crow becomes a ray of hope for the city while battling his own inner demons. Based on James O’Barr’s dark comic book series, this film features Brandon Lee’s final performance.\nRelated CategoriesFamilySociety & Social SciencesNon-Fiction Books > Warfare & DefenceChildren & Teenagers / Young Adults > Educational MaterialKids & Children > Picture Books & Early LearningNon-Fiction Books > Mind, Body, SpiritBargains > Kids and Teens2019 Calendars > 2019 Wall CalendarsNon-Fiction Books > PsychologySport > FitnessFiction Books > Classic FictionNon-Fiction Books > Reference & EncyclopaediasFiction Books > Historical FictionNon-Fiction Books > Self-Help & Personal DevelopmentChildren & Teenagers / Young Adults > Picture Books & Early LearningNon-Fiction Books > Local Interest TopicsStand UpBookmarksNon-Fiction Books > DictionariesNon-Fiction Books > Biographies & True StoriesBargainsNon-Fiction Books > Teaching English (ELT)Non-Fiction Books > Language & LinguisticsKids & ChildrenHorror", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.\nO LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!\n“So in terms of what every man needs most crucially, all man’s power is powerless because at it’s roots, of course, the deepest longings of the human soul is the longing for God, and this no man has the power to satisfy”\nGod Understands Us\nKnowing that God knows us through and through can be very troubling. Nevertheless, our friend David from the Psalms didn’t seem to mind. He even expresses joy and amazement knowing that God is so aware of him. We might think that David would feel this way because of his self confidence. This may be partly true because David was a man of great success, but he was also a man of tremendous failure, too. It’s more likely that David’s joy came from his belief that God had a loving and careful interest in him. The kind of love and care that didn’t depend on whether he was a success or a failure.\nDavid’s experience reminds us that no amount of virtue, religious or otherwise, will make us immune to temptation, to sin or to failure. To his credit, David honestly faced his failures, and as he did so he experienced an expanding relationship with God. David didn’t run, hide, or make excuses. He didn’t pretend and he didn’t minimize his mistakes. He accepted the worst about himself and openly surrendered his shortcomings to God right along with his successes. David, as he admitted his problems, used his failures as a lens through which he could get a better view of God’s forgiveness. As he did this, his failures became building blocks of growth and maturity. Knowing that God was a gracious and forgiving God enabled David to repent and find ever greater joy and health in life. David knew that there are no sins that are too big for God to forgive. He also knew that God was not impressed with his success and that, as he responsibly faced his failures, God would not condemn him.\nGod knows us in an intimate way just like He knew David in an intimate way. Like it or not, we are all naked before Him. As we acknowledge this, God’s love and power will heal our addictions and save our lives. Just like He did for David, failures and all.\nFor you see, God understands when we feel conflicted. And, He knows that we live in a conflicted world, too. He is aware that we are not happy ourselves much of the time. Because He understands this, He never holds our struggles and conflicts against us.\nHe sees that our intentions are good for the most part. But He also sees that we run into problems when we try to control things that are beyond our ability to control. It hurts Him when He sees how we create problems for ourselves and other people because we don’t ask for his help. But then, with compassion, God knows that there is a reason for everything we do, a reason that that we usually don’t know. When our addictions corrupt our motives, he knows it. He also knows that our motives are purified as we get honest. Feeling what we feel, He never loses sight of the fact that we pay a price when we get honest. But, nevertheless, He is always urging us to move deeper into honesty because He knows that the price that we pay for dishonesty is far greater.\nIn Jesus, God assures us that there are no sins that He is not willing to forgive and that there are no addictions that cannot be healed. With this in mind He wants us to recognize in a deep way that the desire of our heart and the direction of our lives go hand in hand. He has created a world where we always have a choice in who we will become and what our lives will be like from here on out. So, He holds us responsible for our lives. For you see, it is the subtle and intimate decisions that we make that will most profoundly impact our character and our lives. No matter what other people may say, God never laughs at us when we tell Him our plans. He never laughs at us, at all, in any way. God takes us more seriously than that. After all, He died so that we can have this opportunity to live.\nGod will, maybe, laugh when He sees how we try to make Him fit into the image that we make for Him. But then again, maybe not. After all, He knows that He is God and that we are not. Having expressed his love through Jesus, and having provided help for our addictions through people, God holds us fully responsible for our lives no matter of what we say or think about Him. At the end of the day, He knows that we have no excuses.\nGod is the ultimate “more than.” He is, in every way and at all times, more than we are and more than everything else, too. Only He can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. With all of this in mind, it stands to reason that we will only know the intimate power of God once we have come to the end of our own resources and realize that we still need more. Having expressed himself in Christ, God is now willing to express himself in our lives as well. The only place for us to find life is in The Life of Christ, God. This Life of Jesus can never be contained in a history lesson or a theological discussion. He is more alive than that. He is to be lived in us! Jesus’ life is now our life. His God is our God. Our lives are His. And now, we exist for God.\nEverything will make sense for us when we are willing to look through the lens of eternity. The recovery that God gives is not about rule-keeping, religious moralizing, or self-imposed corrections. It is really the love of God that is changing our hearts and as our hearts are changed, our minds will be changed, too. We are experiencing a complete change of personal allegiance, coming to prefer an intimate relationship with God above our addictions, above our lives, above everything.\nAre you ready to say…\nGod, I surrender my will and my life to You today, this very moment, without reservation and with humble confidence, for You are my loving Father. Set me free from self-consciousness, from anxiety about tomorrow, and from the tyranny of the approval and disapproval of others, that I may find joy and delight simply and solely in pleasing you. May my inner freedom be a compelling sign of Your presence, Your peace, Your power, and your love. Let your plan for my life and the lives of all your children gracefully unfold one day at a time. I love You with all my heart, and I place all my confidence in You, for You are my Abba Father.\nAttributed to Brennan Manning\nInsights and Inspirations for Christian Twelve Step Recovery\nBy David Zailer and The Men and Women of Operation Integrity\nChapter Three Segment Six\nCopyright David Zailer, 2008\n24040 Camino del Avion #A115\nMonarch Beach CA 92629", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I’ll Take You There\nAgainst a kaleidoscopic convergence of Hollywood iconography and one family’s shared secrets, I’ll Take You There tells a deeply affecting, generations-spanning story of one man’s life—and of the remarkable women who impacted it. Lamb’s stunning new novel stands as a testament to the power of family, the resilience of love, and the enduring magic of movies.\nMetabook, the title’s original publisher, will release I’ll Take You There as a multimedia app for iPad and iPhone on November 20, 2016. In addition to the full text of the novel, the I’ll Take You There Metabook will include a full-cast audio dramatization of the book, an original soundtrack, short films, 360° galleries, shareable images and more. HarperCollins will release the novel in hardcover, eBook, audiobook, and large print editions on its Harper imprint on November 22, 2016, with an announced first printing of 250,000.\nFollow this in the App Store to purchase the Metabook: https://appsto.re/us/ZK3 egb.i", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Between Two Worlds by Tyler Henry – book review\nNew and upcoming medium Tyler Henry (or, is he there, already!)\nOver the summer break, I recently read Tyler Henry’s book, Between Two Worlds: Lessons from the Other Side.\nTyler is a young and talented medium – only 21 – raised in Hanford, CA and now finding himself Hollywood’s go-to celebrity medium in LA.\nHis accuracy during readings and his ability to make sense of the way energy is received from those who have passed on is masterful.\nFor anyone wanting to learn how to connect with Loved Ones or simply to learn more about the phenomenon of mediumship, this book is a must.\nStrangely (or not) I know Hanford since I spent a few years in Lemoore, CA, only 12 miles away and used to visit downtown Hanford mentioned in the book to go to post natal yoga classes.\nSubjects covered in Between Two Worlds\nAs you might expect Tyler recounts his life story to date for context. At such a young age, he has already had a close brush with death. Like some mediums (myself included) his gift really started to grow when he lost a much-loved family member.\nYou can learn about how he decided to come out as a medium and his move to Hollywood.\nI particularly like the ‘Signs from the Soul’ chapter, where Tyler digs deeper into the whys and wherefores of spirit communication and life lessons from his perspective.\nTyler writes extremely well and demonstrates a high level of spiritual wisdom. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 5 – The Bigger Picture.\nWhen most people think of having a “big ego”, they usually mean someone who is cocky, self-absorbed, or narcissistic. These definitions represent only a small sliver of how the ego influences the human experience. We are all running around with some mix of both positive and negative self-esteem, and the amount of each usually depends on our ever-changing circumstances. Between and among the two, the ego is found.\nOur egos are our beliefs about ourselves. It’s an identity of our own creation and conditioning that doesn’t reflect who we truly are as souls. Yet, as human beings, our egos are developed from infancy and maintained throughout our lives. We think of our talents, abilities, and personalities as who we are, but these are all capabilities we have, not the defining features of our soul-selves.\nTo expand on this, I would add this quote from Edgar Cayce, one of the great Akashic Records readers of our time. It’s a quote I send to clients regularly with their homework.\nYou have inherited the most from yourself, not from your family! The family is only a river through which Soul flows.' Edgar CayceClick To Tweet\nBoth pieces of writing are great reminders of the eternal natures of our Souls, whether we are discovering ourselves through the collected patterns of ego in this lifetime, or rediscovering our eternal natures through reconnecting with the Soul and its unchanging power in our everyday lives.\nBetween Two Worlds, Tyler Henry\nIf you are looking for a new and fresh take on the practice of mediumship, check Tyler Henry out online and on Twitter at #Hollywoodmedium.\nTo dive a bit deeper and expand your own understanding of mediumship experiences, Between Two Worlds: Lessons from the Other Side is a useful and enlightening read.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I cannot be the only one excited that the end of this year is fucking nigh, right? From a global pandemic to natural disasters to civil unrest and police brutality, this year’s been difficult to say the least. I’m basically ready to kick 2020 to the curb, light it on fire, and arise from its ashes reborn tomorrow.\nDue to my unannounced and unexpected hiatus (again), I haven’t been tagged this year for the End of the Year Book Tag by anyone…but I do what I want! This is one of my favorite posts to make every year, and honestly? I haven’t read in over 56 days and want to look back on when the reading slump wasn’t in my life.\nAre there any books you started this year that you need to finish?\nLightbringer by Claire Legrand is the much-desired Empirium series finale, and I need to connect all the dots! This series is painful and confusing in the best of ways, but slump. Add on Goodreads\nQueen of Volts by Amanda Foody is another series finale, and I’ll be honest… I’m still too traumatized by the events of King of Fools to read this one. But I need to see how it ends for some of my favorite characters! Add on Goodreads\nWarmaidens by Kelly Coon is another series finale (I sense a theme here), this being the final installment in the Gravemaidens duology. I’ve been super excited to see how the story ends and watch Iltani go HAM, but… slump. Add on Goodreads\nDo you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?\nSame answer as the previous two years: no.\nIs there a new release you’re still waiting for?\n2020 is basically over, so thankfully I have all this years’ releases I’ve been anticipating… I just need to be able to read them! But let’s not talk about the pile for 2021 anticipated books, shall we?\nWhat are three books you want to read before the end of the year?\nOther than my three current reads from the first question, not really. Honestly? I don’t see myself finishing anything new before the year ends, but I have decided to pick up the books below to see if any slay the slump.\nTiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (re-read) I first read this book in 2013 during my Life and Meaning course at university and remember it fondly. Despite my negative opinion of Wild and her impact on thruhikers, she is an amazing writer and I think 2020 could use some Sugar. Add on Goodreads\nThe Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh (re-read) Perhaps a re-read of a fantasy book I absolutely devoured last year will slay the slump? Add on Goodreads\nThe Damned by Renee Ahdieh I was so excited for this book to come out, but… 2020. So if The Beautiful sucks me in, I look forward to finally reading The Damned! Add on Goodreads\nIs there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?\nIt is very possible, provided that I’m able to read anything! I have high hopes for all of the books on my TBR and expect them to wow me when I’m finally able to read them.\nHave you already started making reading plans for 2021?\nHahaha, of course I am! My illness definitely impedes with my energy levels, so I am taking it one day at a time, but my reading goal for 2021 is 52 books and I intend on mood reading as much as possible! I plan on writing a post about my thought process regarding ARCs in 2021 sometime in January to dive into this a bit more.\nLet’s go on another adventure together!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Torah, Deuteronomy 23:16 – 23:17: You shall not deliver a slave to his master if he seeks refuge with you from his master. [Rather,] he shall [be allowed to] reside among you, wherever he chooses within any of your cities, where it is good for him. You shall not oppress him.\nIf master wants to kill a slave or cause him some damage, you must hide him and then somehow return him to his master. It means that if some desire can’t succeed while undergoing correction, then there is a whole system of connections of several desires that together can make a correction.\nTherefore, any desire that is part of another desire can always be corrected by this other desire. There is always a connection.\nThe interesting fact is that we never or in any way correct ourselves, but always correct our inclusion in others or inclusion of others in us. After all, I don’t even know who I am. I only know how I treat others and how others treat me in the relationship between us.\nHowever, we know neither who “I” am nor who “another” is. Our “I” remains outside of us, whereas connections between us are revealed to us, and exactly in them we attain the Creator.\nQuestion: When we speak about desire, do we mean the desire that is directed to the connection?\nAnswer: Of course, because brother, father, wife, children, slave, virgin, and so on are just different types of connections between us. The shattering is a destruction of these connections. For example, if we take shards of a pot, then they by themselves are whole, we just need to glue them together properly. It turns out that we are always brewing “the glue.”\nThere are desires that don’t have their own intention. They can be corrected only by joining them to other desires with intention.\nA “master” is one who has big desires with correct intentions and who can attract other desires to himself and correct them with his intention. Let’s say you are a master relative to me. It means that you take some of my desires, we connect with each other, and I seemingly correct these desires by becoming included in you. In reality, you correct them with your intention, with your Masach (screen).\nTherefore, when it is said that the master wants to kill his slave, it means that the Masach can’t correct him. Someone else has to do it. In other words, we always just correct others and not ourselves.\nA person doesn’t know and will never know himself because this relates to the prerogative that is above the attainment of the Creator, to what is called Atzmuto. And we just correct the connections between us. As it is written, “Make your desire like his,” which means that I always correct others in myself.\nQuestion: Do I become “Israel” when I begin to understand this and work on this?\nAnswer: Yes, this is a completely different level of attitude toward the world. The world becomes different. You have a different attitude to people, to yourself, and to your role. You look at everyone and understand what is happening to them, with whom it is worth meeting or not, and for what, how, if you are ready for this communion or not, and so on.\nThis presents a very interesting problem: who you are in contact with, in what way, and with those who you meet in life, should you distance yourself from them or can you get closer?\nFrom KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 10/19/16", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "So, here on Nostalgia Thursday, how do I begin to talk about all the amazing poetry adventures and meetings and misadventures I've had in this old steel town over the years? I'll start with this one story, a favorite memory because of how joyfully absurd it was:\nStory 1: In Which Li Young-Lee and his Mentor, Gerald Stern attend a party at the House of Poet Lynn Emanuel after a very touching joint reading at Carnegie Mellon University And Gerald Stern gets Soaked.\nThe reading that night, at Carnegie Mellon, was a memorable one. Li-Young Lee and his mentor, Gerald Stern, bantered back and forth, obviously happy to be sharing a stage, taking turns singing one another's praises. Lee read one of my favorite of his poems \"From Blossoms,\" and Gerald Stern read, among others, his roadkill poem, which always shocked me (in the best possible way) with how it travels from something so grotesque to something so beautifully moving. I was sitting among poet friends. Li Young Lee seemed so happy, even humbled by reuniting with his old teacher from his years as a Pitt undergraduate student. We all applauded heartily at the reading's end.\nI was wild about Li Young Lee's book Rose at the time--its lyricism and narratives that dove to such impossible depths. And how every poem, no matter what the subject matter, became infused with the intractable loss of his revered father\nAfter the reading, Lynn invited friends and graduate students back to her home for wine, crackers and cheese, light refreshments. That evening, when I walked through Lynn's front door, Li Young Lee was standing smack in the middle of the hallway. In my excitement, I thrust my copy of Rose at him.\n\"Wonderful reading tonight! Would you mind signing my book?\"\nLi Young-Lee smiled, \"What's your name?\" He graciously thumbed to the title page of the book, looked down, did a double-take, looked at me hard, then peered at the page once more. Finally he locked eyes with me for a good minute, as if to ascertain how dangerous I really was and said,\n\"I already did sign your book.\" He glanced again at his inscription: \"In 1992.\"\nAnd in case I wasn't able to grasp my mistake, he added quietly,\n\"Five years ago.\"\nMy face was ablaze. Anyone else would have apologized, grabbed the book, scrambled quickly into the madding crowd and hid themselves there. For reasons I cannot explain, I decided to play it off:\n\"Sure, I know you did. Can you sign it again? \"\nLi Young-Lee cleared his throat, took a step back, then another, wielded the book between us like an accusatory finger. He debated for a minute, pushed his black hair out of his eyes. But finally, he did sign it again, writing \"To Sharon: The second time sweeter.\" (Which was both a charming and a funny thing to write when he was looking at me like he was sure he'd met his poetry stalker.)\nBut, that wasn't the end of the odd and wonderful evening. And by the way, I love having a twice-signed copy of Rose and have often thought how fun it would be to continue to have him sign the same book over the course of years. Though, he might, after a while, hire a bodyguard or serve me with a restraining order and nobody wants that .... ;-)\nThirty minutes later, I was happily party-chattering, buzzed on my second glass of red wine. I moved into the kitchen looking for something to snack on. The kitchen was packed. Rising above all the noise was Lynn's wonderful rousing laugh. There was a line curving around the kitchen table. I got in line behind Gerald Stern. Li Young Lee got in line behind me. Gerald offered me a plate. Again, I thanked them both for such a wonderful reading. Behind us was the kitchen island and my friend G. was at the sink, trying to figure out how to turn on the very sleek and modern faucet. I was joking with her about it: \"maybe it's voice activated?\" Gerald was bent over, forking lox onto his plate. I put a few crackers and some slices of cheddar cheese on my own. Gerald bent over further, his glasses sliding down his nose, as he peered into the large bowl of indeterminate salad (?) in front of him. Just at that moment, poor G., still wrestling with the faucet, suddenly managed to not only turn the water on, but simultaneously to unscrew the entire faucet from the sink.\nWater was everywhere at once. People shrieked, ran out of the way. A veritable geyser, two feet in the air fountained right behind Gerald Stern's back. The back of his rumpled tan suit jacket ran in rivers down the creases, turned dark brown. Water spilled onto his pants, his shoes. What amazed me, as the rains came pouring down, is that Stern continued to spoon a little bit of this and a little bit of that onto his plate. My long hair was dripping. G. stood behind the sink, horror-stricken, the silver faucet held out in her hand like the wrung neck of a swan. It all happened so fast. I looked from the oblivious Stern to the horrified G. and started to laugh. I laughed until tears came to my eyes, till my stomache started to ache. Water continued to spray down on all of us.\nAt that moment, Li Young-Lee sprang into action and pushed past me and my laughter, waving a fat wad of paper napkins in his hands. He patted his mentor's soaked back and baggy pants and dabbed with a napkin at the back of Stern's neck. Something about this surreal interchange (theater of the absurd!!) made me laugh even harder. Lee leveled me with a gaze:\n\"You could help!\"\nI grabbed some napkins and struggled to control myself. Then, I pat Gerald Stern with my handful of napkins right down his back. This sent me off into more laughter. My mind kept chanting, \"you're patting Gerald Stern! you're patting Gerald Stern!\"\nAll of this happened in a matter of minutes. I have no memory of who finally turned off the water or screwed the faucet back in place. I do know that G., after apologizing 1,000 times, quietly slunk out of the party, never to find this story amusing. I also know that when I looked over at Gerald Stern about 10 minutes later, he was happily sitting, in his shirtsleeves, finishing off his food. I don't know where his soggy jacket ended up. And as for Li Young Lee? Let's just say that for the rest of that evening, I gave him a very, very wide berth.\nNOTE: I still love Li Young Lee's books. He's an incredible reader should you ever get a chance to hear him. I've taught Rose many, many times over the years at the University of Pittsburgh and was always happy to see students walk off newly engaged by his poems...\nHere's his poem \"From Blossoms\"\nFrom blossoms comes\nthis brown paper bag of peaches\nwe bought from the boy\nat the bend in the road where we turned toward\nsigns painted Peaches.\nFrom laden boughs, from hands,\nfrom sweet fellowship in the bins,\ncomes nectar at the roadside, succulent\npeaches we devour, dusty skin and all,\ncomes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.\nO, to take what we love inside,\nto carry within us an orchard, to eat\nnot only the skin, but the shade,\nnot only the sugar, but the days, to hold\nthe fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into\nthe round jubilance of peach.\nThere are days we live\nas if death were nowhere\nin the background; from joy\nto joy to joy, from wing to wing,\nfrom blossom to blossom to\nimpossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This book ranks about mid point for content; at the top for the narrator! If anyone else had narrated this novel, it would have bombed.\nThe news reporter was the best. The author showed his strengths and weaknesses in every situation that was presented.\nThe narrator's voice and tone places the reader inside the characters and the story.\nYes, it was a little creepy at times.\nGeorge Guidall should get royalties also.\nNot sure about listening to another From the author, wasn't for me. I do like the narrator that is why I chose the book.\nToo hard to follow all the different characters.\nToo much jumping around\nMy expectations may have been too high going into this novel. It's an entertaining book but I found it overly long, bordering on tedious at times, especially because in essence, it's a pulp novel filled with larger-than-life characters. The Alienist takes a bit too much too much time to get where it's going.That said, the historical setting is interesting and Carr practically makes turn-of-the-century New York into an additional character.\nGeorge Guidall's reading is superb, one of the best I've ever heard for an audiobook. He brings the characters to life, raises the tension in scenes where it's appropriate and overall, just does a fantastic job.\nSearching and discovering books in the slimmest demographic: adult males.\nThe characters: you can't help but love each one, and Guidall nails his performance. I wish there more books in this series. character in this story,\nA great mystery and engaging story that increases your vocabulary and keeps you page turning... What isn't there to love?\nI read this book when it was first released. I enjoyed it then. Carr gives you a vivid look back into the New York of the distant past.\nMr. Guidall is a wonderful performer. I have listened to him read the Vince Flynn series. However,it drives me crazy that he does't pronounce his \"th's\"! At first I thought is was a character choice. It was not. It takes away from an otherwise excellent performance.\nIt's a tremendous book, read superbly. I can't drive and read a book at the same time, so this is much better.\nHe always brings characters to life, doing very good accents and is never monotone. He's my favorite narrator.\nTell us about yourself!\nIt took a while for me to get involved with the story but when I did it really took off and was worth sticking with it. Teddy Roosevelt enlists an Alienist to put together an unconventional team of investigators to solve a seemingly unsolvable series of horrible murders. Employing new techniques and approaches, the team puts together a profile of the killer and the hunt is on. From the glamorous side of NYC to the underbelly of the great city the team trudges through stories of past horrors contributing to todays gruesomeness.\nGeorge Guidall provides the listener with his standard excellent work. Providing an outstanding listen that is fast paced and quite enjoyable\nOne of the best historical mysteries I've found in a while. A rich period piece that explores some very dark social and psychological themes without being depressing. This is largely due to Mr. Carr's creation of a wholly likable ensemble of smart, witty, flawed sleuths that not only entertain but endear themselves to the listener. The brilliant but wounded Dr. Kreizler, the intemperate, dry-witted NY Times reporter John Schuyler Moore, the genteel, derringer-packing, aspiring woman-detective Sara Howard, and the comical bickering Detective Sergeants, the Isaacson brothers.\nThe world of 1890s New York City--from Delmonico's to Five Points--is brought vividly to life by Mr. Guidall's accomplished performance of The Alienist. A thoroughly enjoyable novel.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "These kinds of books aren't what I usually read most of the time I only read books that are mystery of thriller and sometimes romance but from reading the preview it seems like a pretty interesting book. The book is about a girl Amanda who finds on her fifteenth birthday something in her mom bag and has enough so she wants to find out more about her mom. I think that Amanda is someone who needs to know what going on when it finally past her breaking point and her mom is someone who keeps a lot of secrets. I do like the characters and find them to be interesting. I also love her friends who seems to be super loyal and funny. There are many themes that I think that the book will explore such as racism. I want to find out more about Amanda family and think that this will be an amazing story. There a lot of diversity and lots of humor and loss. I will read this book in the future if I get the chance. Though this is not a genre I usually read.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Emperor’s Edge\nThe Emperor’s Edge is a book that sneaks up on you. It begins with Amaranthe Lokdon, one of very few female enforcers working for the Emperor. She gets into trouble with her superior covering for her somewhat ne’er do well partner. We are expecting a swords and sorcery police procedural and from first looks a pretty good one. She comes to the notice of the Emperor, and the powers behind the young Emperor decide to set her up by sending her off to kill the most efficient assassin of their day. This is when the book really starts to get interesting and leaves the police procedural behind.\nAmaranthe learns that it is no possible to be loyal to her Emperor and remain an enforcer. She puts together a very unlikely ragtag group of people, including the assassin she was sent to kill and set out to stop the people who threaten the Emperor and the country she serves.\nThe characters are well drawn, and what is more they learn and grow during the course of the book. The plot is suitably twisted and we get to enjoy her antics as she avoids people on all sides trying to kill her. This book looks to be the first of a series and I hope the following books live up to the standard Buroker has set with this first one.\nThe Map to Everywhere\nCarrie Ryan & John Parke Davis\nLittle, Brown and Company\nNobody remembers Fin. Even if he is standing right in front of them. Friendships are very hard, but it makes thieving much simpler. Marril loves adventure, so she is horrified when she learns that her mother is sick and they’ve decided to live in one spot.\nA slip of paper on an errant breeze brings the two together. Marril is the only person who remembers Fin, who struggles with the need for friendship. The unlikely pair sail the Pirate Stream with a cranky wizard and a young looking Captain looking for the pieces of the Map to Everywhere.\nThe Map to Everywhere is a delight. From the wonderfully almost gibberish names to the diverse and creative adventures to the blossoming friendship between Fin and Marril, the story carries us along. The plot is much more complex than I expected with some very neat twists and turns and a remarkably different way of looking at prophecy.\nThe book promises to be the first in a series and I’ll be looking out for the next one. I recommend this book to people of all ages who like great adventure stories.\nThe Earl of Brass\nFox Collie Publishing\nWe meet Eilan Sorrell as he goes down in an airship crash on the way home from the Negev. He loses an arm in the crash and very nearly his life. While the doctors are able to save him, he fears that he will have no purpose. He has refused to become a dilettante heir and has always worked on archeological digs. Eilan’s interests set him at political odds with most of his family.\nHadley is the name of the woman who crafts Eilan’s artificial arm. The arm is the last work of her brother George and she unreasonably dislikes Eilan for that reason. When she discovers her brother’s notes about how to make a functional artificial limb, Eilan is the best candidate for the job.\nI like the book in spite of some technical issues. There is a bit of head hopping, but it isn’t severe enough to push me out of an engaging story. The author also tries a little too hard for my taste to say something with her book, but again, it stays in service to the story and thus forgivable. The characters of Eilan and Hadley are very well drawn, and even the bit parts stay away from predictable caricatures.\nI recommend The Earl of Brass to lovers of steampunk and adventure stories.\nThe Silver Rings\nBrattle Publishing Group\nTwins Celia and Alice decide to escape their stepmother. They have very different ideas of where would be a good place to escape to with one preferring the city and the other the wilderness. Their very hands off fairy godmother suggests they split up and gives them each a silver ring to help them keep track of their sister. She also gives them lizard skins as disguises. The rings will turn red if one of the sisters is in trouble. It doesn’t take long and we are off on a romp.\nThe book is written very tongue and cheek so there is as much fun for the adult as for the younger reader. This is a great book for reading out loud, especially if one is prone to doing different voices while reading. The illustrations are fun and complement the story.\nI like that sisters are so different in temperament, though they are identical twins. They are also independent and smart, dealing with life on their own terms. This book is fun and well written. It winks at a large number of fairy tales, some of them not terribly well known. Half of the fun is recognizing another story being hinted at.\nI would recommend the book for people of all ages who like a good story .\nThe Garden Plot\nAlibi – Random House\nPru is an English Gardener from Texas. She has given herself a year to find a full time position as a head gardener before she must return to Texas and pick up her old job and her old life. She is nearing the end of the year at the start of the book. (We are reminded of her situation through an assortment of delightful rejection letters.) While she is waiting for the head gardener position, she has been working as a contract gardener for a variety of people.\nThe Wilson’s hire her to fix up their back yard for them and in the process she finds some Roman mosaic. That is exciting enough, but the next day she discovers a body lying on the mosaic. The police come and particularly Detective Inspector Pearse.\nThe Garden Plot is part mystery, part romance and part whimsy and all thoroughly enjoyable. Pru is refreshing as a fifty something woman who has set herself a goal and is determined to achieve the goal by her standard. The D.I. Pearse is not over done. He is a police man through and through, but leavened with wit, compassion and an interest in badgers.\nThe other characters that wander through the story are written to be well rounded and interesting, and they populate the story to give it flavour and just the right amount of chaos.\nI recommend The Garden Plot for mystery lovers and garden lovers alike.\nFaelorehn – Book One of the Otherword Trilogy\nJenna Elizabeth Johnson\nMeghan lives with her adoptive family in California and goes to a private high school with her best friends. She has to deal with the usual high school bullies, but other than that, her life is pretty good.\nWell, except for the unexplained visions of things that don’t exist, and the recurring nightmare of being abandoned in L.A. as a toddler, and the fact that some of those things from her visions are showing up in reality with a desire to kill her.\nFortunately Cade also shows up and Meghan starts getting some answers to questions she’s asked all her life.\nFaolorehn is a well written book and Meghan is an interesting character. My problem with the book is that it doesn’t really start until it is almost over. We spend the largest part of the book watching Meghan go through her almost normal life. I found it a long wait before the real action starts; unless one is really interested in high school drama and teen angst about not fitting in.\nMy guess is that the second book will move much quicker and pull us deeper into the story that book one mostly hints at. The good news is that if the technical parts of the writing stay at the same calibre, Book Two will be a very good book.\nI don’t want to say not to read the book, but I can’t completely recommend it either. If you are patient and have a high tolerance for teen stuff, the pay off at the end and the hints of what is to come will be worth the effort of reading the book.\nAway & Away Publishing\nDiscovering Aberration is the story of Freddy Fitzgerald and his friend Professor Thaddeus Lumpen as they follow a map that the Professor acquired. Unfortunately, he acquired it in a less than discrete manner from a crime boss who was known for leaving bodies full of screws as signs of his displeasure. They immediately plan for an excursion with the hope of getting away clean before the notorious John-Joseph Heller catches up to them.\nThings never go quite as planned and before they are off, they are just one of a veritable fleet of adventurers and have been joined by a student who is as adept as she is pretty. They sail in a modern steam vessel toward the island and a discovery that they all hope will change their lives.\nI very much enjoyed the story of Discovering Aberration. The characters that start as stock figures developed quirks very quickly and become engaging and sympathetic as they do. There are some rough spots where the author leaps forward and back and switches narrative devices, but it is worth the effort to follow along to the end of the book. Like the best tales of its kind, the story is larger than a simple expedition to gain fame and fortune and we are treated to an opportunity to consider human hubris without the moral being pushed down our throats.\nI would recommend the book to any who enjoy steampunk and Victorian style adventure.\nIndigenous Poetics in Canada\nEditor Neal McLeod\nWilfrid Laurier University Press\nI asked to read this book because I fell in love with the title. The idea of tasting a different way of understanding poetic language grabbed my attention. Looking at the table of contents is a little disconcerting with articles entitled Achimo, Edgework: Indigenous Poetics as Re-Placement, Writer-Reader Reciprocity and the Pursuit of Alliance through Indigenous Poetry. The book delighted me with accessible writing and engaging subjects. The heavy sounding titles are a cover for a range of fascinating discussions about language, place and culture. I googled and bookmarked more than one book from the tastes I was offered in the text.\nThe subject of the book is language, and the thesis is that indigenous poetics deserve to be recognized and discussed based on the texts rather than settler (white) understandings of poetry and form. Authors speak of the importance of place and story. Some use the imagery of pictographs as a way of showing the dimension of time in indigenous story and language. There are interviews with indigenous poets of a range of nations, and a smattering of stories to whet the appetite to hear more.\nAlong with the discussion of language and poetry, there is the inevitable political reality of colonialism and how to respond to it. The politics are not ignored, but they aren’t allowed to overwhelm the discussion. Rather they become another layer on the stories that are being told. It is important to note that the stories are not myth stories as we are used to reading and dissecting in English Literature courses. The stories are living stories of living nations. If we are ever going to learn to live as neighbours, we need to learn to hear these stories.\nI highly recommend this book for any who love language or have in interest in indigenous culture.\nJames John Loftus\nCeltic Blood is an independent novel by James John Loftus. It tells the story of Morgund MacAedh in thirteenth century Scotland. The book begins with Seward, a viking, being washed ashore and the only one to survive the wreck of the ship he was on. He is adopted by the MacAedh clan where he grows into a fearsome warrior. Politics in those times are much more direct and a band of men attack the leader of the people who took him in and kill him. Seward escapes and then is faced with the challenge of protecting Morgund who is the MacAedh heir.\nI had a challenging time at the beginning of the book trying to decide if James’ style was brilliance or just a refusal to follow the bounds of the English language. While there are times that description spins into something that is more poetry than prose, the sad truth is that I found myself wanting to hear more about the parts that he skims over and less about the things he describes in detail. The time and setting are given their due, but even well into the book I didn’t know the characters as people.\nI also found the panegyric description got in the way of me just following the plot. I love beautiful description as much as the next reader, but I also love knowing what is happening that the description is attached to. Between the sentence fragments and dizzyingly quick point of view shifts, I couldn’t follow the story.\nAs much as I wanted to love this book. I can’t recommend it.\nBrindle and Glass Publishing\nSwarm follows Sandy as she and her partner Marvin and their friend Thomson struggle to survive on an island. The novel weaves from past to future to show Sandy’s story. On the island a mysterious girl is taking food from their already meagre stores. Marvin has no sympathy for the girl. They don’t have enough for themselves. Yet, Sandy dreams of being a mother. She desires the opportunity to do impossible mother and daughter things in a world that no longer exists.\nThe bees, the swarm of the title inhabit both parts of the novel and are a symbolic link to both what has gone wrong with the world and the possibility of hope. Swarm explores and all too likely scenario of economic collapse that leaves the largest part of the population hopeless.\nSwarm reminded me of Margaret Attwood’s work in which everything carries weight. The story is built on the warp and woof of time and meaning. We feel Sandy’s desires and sometimes get impatient with her refusal to anchor her life in what is real rather than hopes that seem little more than a will-o-the-wisp. Then we see Marvin’s harshness and the way he’s been reduced by their subsistence living to focus only on what will help them survive and we hope that Sandy might succeed.\nBetween Sandy and Marvin, there is Thomson, a dying father figure, the inspiration to Marvin’s violence who rejected violence and yet refuses to reject either Marvin or Sandy. He is the one who forces a recognition of the value of death and it is no accident that he is also the bee keeper of the book.\nSwarm is a challenging and occasionally a difficult read, but all the more valuable for that. It points to our present reluctance as a society to change. We are moving toward the brink, and Sandy’s story could be anyone’s story in a few years. The book is about not just the choices of a few characters, but the choices we’ve made as a species. I highly recommend it.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "New Publication Track for ISAF-ISIF-PFM 2023\nAuthors who presented work at this year’s ISAF-ISIF-PFM 2023 are invited to submit a letter (3 pages minimum, 4 pages maximum length) to OJ-UFFC. Submissions will go through a full peer review. Accepted letters based on work presented at ISAF and submitted before 17 September 2023 will be marked as “ISAF highlights” to comprise a special section if the number of published contributions is sufficient. Publishing in the Open Journal – UFFC will provide open access for your paper if it is accepted.\n- Deadline: 17 September 2023 for letter to be marked as \"ISAF highlights”\n- Deadline: 31 December 2023 for processing charges to be waived\nDuring your submission, specify in your cover letter that you are submitting a manuscript based on a presentation in ISAF. The article processing charge for OJ-UFFC will be waived for manuscripts submitted until 31 December 2023. Manuscripts submitted to OJ-UFFC will enjoy the benefits of peer review to improve the quality of the publication and the authors will be able to list these publications under peer-reviewed publications.\nEach manuscript must be unpublished and not be under consideration elsewhere. The submitted manuscript must be prepared for potential publication according to the OJ-UFFC guidelines. By submitting a manuscript, all authors confirm that the work is original. Figures, tables, and reported results are original contributions and accurately reflect the presented work at the conference. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to obtain consent from all co-authors and sponsors before submission.\nAll articles published in OJ-UFFC are evaluated in accordance with the requirements set forth in the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) Operations Manual (Sections 8.2). More detailed information on the review process can be found at https://ieee-uffc.org/publication/t-uffc/guidelines-authAbout text formatsors.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Their hands against a brother, long ago,\nArchives for December 2019\nYour theories are crazy\nWhat are you lights all about?\nSo please read, comment, write for us — are you there?\nAnd his illustrious career began,\nInto this world so rankly overgrown\nA place where creation occurs.\nOf course, there are pitfalls upon this path.\nNow Yakov on his journey of return\nHe came to a place of stones, just as night fell,", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Love's Labours Won in Ruled BritanniaEditLove's Labours Won was a play written by William Shakespeare in 1597. Shortly after beginning the play, Shakespeare was contracted by Don Diego Flores de Valdes to write King Philip and then by William Cecil to write Boudicca. Between the two projects and his increasingly deepened involvement in Cecil's plot to overthrow Queen Isabella and King Albert, Shakespeare was only able to work on Love's Labours Won very slowly.\nShakespeare wrote the humourous secondary character Don Amadeo de Armado to conform with the English notion of a \"comical Spaniard.\" He then realised that this might attract undue attention from the occupiers, so he changed the character to a Venetian named Signor Adriano di Armato.\nJudging by the few details of the play given in the novel, it seems to be identical to the OTL Love's Labours Lost, with the only stated difference being Don Armado's nationality.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "International trade of substances and objects which are not anymore, or never were, interesting for the owner, is a phenomenon which deserves scientific attention and critical analysis. Following an exhaustive research, Kamila Pope went beyond the mere legal approach in the framework of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, and has presented a multidisciplinary approach to the global problem of waste management. The visualising data methods included in the book enhance effective communication and contribute to a thorough understanding of the main central message of the book: the equity or inequity of international relations among world regions, as a consequence of waste management options.\nGlobal Waste Management can help change the mindset of those who are concerned with the effects of current production and consumption patterns and waste management system between the so called Global North and Global South Regions. Kamila Pope's book provides clear insights on the best waste management options necessary to trigger a shift from a linear economy based on a throwaway society, towards a new circular economy paradigm, based on a frugal, responsible and more sustainable society.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Fanfiction, a literary genre born from the depths of passionate fandoms, has gained immense popularity over the years, captivating the imaginations of countless writers and readers alike.\nFrom reimagining beloved characters to crafting entirely new narratives set within established universes, fanfiction offers an avenue for fans to express their creativity, connect with like-minded individuals, and indulge in the joy of storytelling.\nHowever, as the influence and reach of fan-created works continue to grow, an age-old question looms large: Does fanfiction violate copyright?\nCopyright is a legal framework that grants exclusive rights to creators over their original works.\nIt is designed to protect the interests of artists, authors, and other content creators.\nIt enables them to control the use, distribution, and reproduction of their creations, ensuring they receive recognition and financial compensation for their intellectual property.\nThe advent of the internet and the proliferation of fanfiction communities have led to a collision between fan creativity and copyright laws, raising complex issues regarding intellectual property, fair use, and the boundaries of transformative works.\nIn this article, we aim to shed light on whether fanfiction can be considered a violation of copyright or if it exists within a gray area of creative expression.\nFanfiction, a vibrant and creative realm where fans craft their own stories based on existing works, finds itself in a captivating dance with the intricate web of copyright law.\nThe core principle of copyright ownership is the exclusive control of reproduction, distribution, performance, modification, and display of works, including the creation of derivative works.\nFanfiction, by its very nature, can be considered a derivative work as it draws upon copyrighted characters and settings from established creations.\nFanfiction authors passionately create and share their works, often posting them online for fellow enthusiasts to enjoy.\nHowever, the emergence of fanfiction has occasionally sparked controversy and drawn the ire of content owners.\nThe concept of moral rights further complicates the relationship between fanfiction and copyright.\nThese rights grant authors the power to protect their works against distortion, mutilation, or any action that might harm the original work or the author’s reputation.\nTherefore, if fanfiction portrays the original work in a manner that distorts or mutilates its essence, or tarnishes the author’s reputation, it can potentially infringe upon the moral rights of the creator.\nIn light of these considerations, fanfiction finds itself traversing a delicate landscape, where the expressive desires of fans intersect with the rights and concerns of copyright owners.\nTrademark law plays a crucial role in protecting the rights of intellectual property owners.\nIt encompasses any word, name, symbol, or device used to distinguish goods or services and indicate their source.\nIn recent years, a growing trend has emerged where authors of books, novels, and movies seek to register their characters as trademarks, adding an additional layer of protection.\nTrademark owners have exclusive rights to use their marks or license them to others to prevent confusion among customers and prevent unauthorised profiting from their intellectual property.\nThe central issue in cases of trademark infringement is to ascertain if there is any potential confusion among consumers.\nFan fiction, a popular form of creative expression, often involves the use of well-known characters from movies, books, and novels.\nHowever, this can potentially raise concerns related to trademark dilution.\nTrademark dilution occurs when a famous mark is used, regardless of the likelihood of confusion, in a manner that diminishes its distinctiveness.\nEven though confusion may not be a factor in fan fiction, it can still be subject to liability under trademark dilution laws.\nThe question of whether fanfiction violates copyright is a complex and multifaceted one, lacking a definitive answer applicable in all cases.\nWhile fanfiction typically utilises copyrighted characters, settings, and narratives from existing works, the legal status of fanfiction varies depending on jurisdiction and specific circumstances.\nFanfiction enthusiasts argue that their works fall under the umbrella of fair use, which allows limited use of copyrighted material for purposes such as commentary, criticism, parody, and transformative works.\nThey contend that fanfiction serves as a form of homage, creativity, and community engagement, and therefore should be protected as a valid expression of fan culture.\nHowever, copyright holders and critics of fanfiction argue that it infringes upon their exclusive rights by utilising their intellectual property without permission or compensation.\nThey assert that fanfiction can harm the market value of the original work and potentially violate the moral rights of the author.\nImagine there is a popular book series called “Fantasy Adventures” written by Author X.\nThe series includes well-known characters, such as the brave hero John and the powerful sorceress Emma, and is set in a unique fantasy world.\nNow, a fan of the “Fantasy Adventures” series decides to write their own story set in the same universe, featuring John and Emma as central characters.\nThey publish this story on an Internet fanfiction website, where other fans can read and enjoy it.\nFrom a legal standpoint, this fan fiction could be seen as an infringement of copyright.\nThe fan has utilised Author X’s characters and settings without obtaining permission to do so.\nThey have created a derivative work that includes copyrighted elements from the original series.\nHowever, the fan might argue that their fan fiction falls under the fair use doctrine.\nThey could claim that their story is transformative, offering a new perspective on the characters or exploring different aspects of the fantasy world.\nThey might also argue that their work is non-commercial and does not harm the market for Author X’s original books.\nThe interpretation of fair use can vary, and the legality of this fan fiction could depend on the jurisdiction and the specific circumstances.\nSome rights holders may be more permissive and even encourage fan fiction, viewing it as a way to engage with their fans and expand the reach of their work.\nIn such cases, they might grant unofficial permission for fans to create derivative works.\nHowever, other holders of copyright may take a more restrictive approach and enforce their rights, considering any unauthorised use of their characters and settings as a violation of their intellectual property.\nThe legality of fan fiction depends on various factors, including the specific content, the jurisdiction, and the stance of the content owner.\nFanfiction, a rich and diverse realm of creative expression, often treads a delicate line between transformative storytelling and a potential breach of copyright.\nWhile many fanfiction authors strive to pay homage to their favorite works, the use of copyrighted elements can raise concerns about legal boundaries.\nSome of the common elements in fanfiction that may potentially infringe upon copyright are:\nCreating fanfiction stories that prominently feature well-known characters from copyrighted works, without permission, can be seen as infringing on the copyright holder’s exclusive rights.\nThis includes utilising specific character names, physical descriptions, and personality traits that are closely associated with the original work.\nWhen it comes to fanfiction, it is common for writers to immerse themselves in established fictional worlds by utilising copyrighted settings and locations.\nHowever, it’s important to be aware that excessive replication of these copyrighted settings may encroach upon the rights of the original creator.\nFan authors often aim to expand upon existing worlds or offer new perspectives, but using detailed descriptions of fictional worlds, cities, or specific landmarks associated with the original work raises concerns of potential copyright infringement.\nBy doing so, fan authors risk infringing upon the rights held by the creator of the original work.\nFanfiction sometimes includes snippets of dialogue or quotes from the original work.\nWhile limited use for the purpose of commentary or parody might be considered fair use, substantial reproduction of copyrighted dialogue without permission could lead to claims of infringement.\nFanfiction occasionally adopts or modifies plotlines from the original work.\nThis includes reusing major plot points, twists, or events without transformative changes or substantial original additions.\nWhile transformative changes and original additions may protect against infringement claims, substantial similarity to the copyrighted plot can raise concerns about unauthorised use.\nIncorporating copyrighted artwork, illustrations, or visuals from the original work in fanfiction, such as cover art or character designs, can potentially infringe upon the copyright holder’s exclusive rights.\nUsing well-known catchphrases, slogans, or taglines associated with the original work without permission can be seen as infringing on the copyright holder’s exclusive rights.\nIt is important to note that the legal assessment of potential copyright infringement in fanfiction can vary based on jurisdiction and specific circumstances.\nFair use provisions, transformative elements, and the overall impact on the commercial market for the original work are factors that courts consider when determining the legality of fan-created content.\nFanfiction authors should be mindful of these potential infringement risks and consider seeking legal advice if uncertain about the boundaries of their work.\nEngaging in respectful and transformative storytelling while respecting the rights of content creators can help foster a vibrant and legally conscious fanfiction community.\nWithin the realm of fanfiction, content owners like Hasbro and Star Trek have occasionally embraced fan creations by providing guidelines to avoid legal complications.\nHowever, as we delve deeper into the subject, it becomes evident that authors may encounter challenges when their fanfiction ventures into commercial territory.\nThis analysis examines significant legal cases and explores strategies to mitigate copyright issues in fanfiction.\nYou’re at the right place, contact us to know more.\nOne notable case is Salinger v. Colting, 607 F.3d 68 (2d Cir. 2010), which serves as a cautionary example.\nThe author in question attempted to sell an unauthorised sequel to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Despite featuring original text and plot, the inclusion of characters from Salinger’s work led to a ruling against fair use.\nThis case underscores the legal complications that arise when fanfiction crosses into the realm of commercial exploitation.\nWhile commercial use of fanfiction poses challenges, successful navigation of copyright concerns is possible.\nE.L. James, the author of Fifty Shades of Grey, provides a compelling example.\nOriginally an online fanfiction titled “Master of the Universe” based on Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight saga, the work underwent modifications before commercial publication.\nJames removed copyrighted elements such as character names and settings from the original Twilight series, enabling the work to proceed without copyright infringement claims.\nThis legal dispute offers valuable insights into the relationship between fan fiction and commercial publication.\nThe defendant faced accusations of copyright infringement when attempting to publish a printed version of his online lexicon, which centered around J.K. Rowling’s immensely popular Harry Potter series.\nThe plaintiffs argued that this profit-driven endeavor, which replicated content from the freely accessible online guide known as The Harry Potter Lexicon, infringed upon their copyright and did not qualify for the fair use defense.\nOf particular concern to the plaintiff, J.K. Rowling, was her own plan to write an official Harry Potter encyclopedia.\nShe contended that the publication of a similar book prior to her own could undermine the financial proceeds intended for charity through the official encyclopedia.\nThe court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, affirming that the lexicon in question contained a substantial amount of material from Rowling’s original novels.\nThis ruling established a clear case of substantial similarity between the lexicon and Rowling’s works.\nThe implications of this case are evident: fan fiction can only be tolerated when it does not involve commercial exploitation.\nFan fiction authors may face legal repercussions if they choose to publish their works for financial gain.\nThe ruling emphasises the importance of understanding copyright laws and recognising the economic rights of original content creators.\nFan fiction writers should be aware of the legal restrictions on commercialisation to avoid any copyright violations.\nThis case emphasises the importance of having a comprehensive understanding of the legal implications of fan fiction writing, particularly when considering commercial publication.\nWhen it comes to fan fiction, there is a possibility of exemption from copyright infringement if it can demonstrate fair use under copyright law.\nThe fair use analysis involves considering four factors:\nBy satisfying these four factors, fan fiction can potentially be considered a fair use of copyrighted material.\nHowever, it is important for fan fiction creators to exercise caution and ensure they stay within the boundaries of fair use, respecting the rights of the original creators.\nUnderstanding the legal nuances surrounding fair use can help fan fiction authors navigate the copyright landscape responsibly and enjoy the creative expression that fanwork offers.\nThe popularity of fanfiction can be attributed to various factors, including the varying attitudes of authors towards this form of creative expression.\nWhile some authors, like Meg Cabot, actively encourage and embrace fanfiction, others, such as George R.R. Martin and Anne Rice, do not endorse it.\nSupportive Authors: Certain authors recognise the value of fanfiction in fostering fan engagement and creativity.\nThey may openly permit fans to write and share fanfiction based on their works, understanding the positive impact it can have on the fandom community.\nCreative Outlet: Fanfiction provides fans with an outlet to express their love for a particular story or characters.\nIt allows them to explore alternative narratives, delve into character development, and delve deeper into the fictional world created by the original author.\nOnline Communities: The internet has facilitated the growth of fanfiction communities, enabling fans to connect, share their works, and receive feedback.\nOnline Internet fanfiction sites like FanFiction.net, Archive of Our Own (AO3) and Wattpad offer fanfiction authors a platform to publish their works and attract a large global audience, all free of charge.\nGrey Area of Copyright: The legal status of fan fiction is complex and falls within a grey area of copyright law.\nWhile fanfiction technically infringes on intellectual property rights by using copyrighted elements, its transformative nature and non-commercial aspects may offer some protection under fair use provisions.\nFan Engagement and Fandom Culture: Fan work plays a crucial role in fostering fan engagement and building vibrant fandom communities.\nIt allows fans to actively participate in their favorite fictional worlds, deepening their emotional connection to the original work, and contributing to the overall popular culture.\nIt is important for fanfiction writers to be aware of the varying perspectives of authors and respect their wishes regarding the use of their intellectual property.\nWhile some authors are open to fanfiction, others may hold different views or have specific restrictions.\nWriters should always consider seeking proper permissions or exploring alternative avenues to protect their work and maintain a respectful relationship with the original authors.\nFan fiction provides a valuable platform for aspiring creators to delve into the realms of their imagination and contribute to existing fictional universes.\nWhile many authors have embraced and approved of fan fiction, there are some who hold reservations about this practice.\nHowever, it is important to note that fan fiction holds a special place in the hearts of numerous enthusiasts.\nFor instance, J.K. Rowling, the renowned author of the Harry Potter series has expressed her appreciation for fan fiction, stating, “I find it very flattering that people love the characters that much.”\nHer supportive stance highlights the positive impact that fan fiction can have on fostering a passionate and engaged community of fans.\nOn the other hand, authors like Anne McCaffrey and Anne Rice discourage fans from writing about their books and have even requested fan fiction sites to remove stories based on their works.\nWhile there may be differing perspectives among authors regarding fan fiction, it is evident that it serves as a creative outlet and a form of homage to beloved characters and worlds.\nOne significant concern, even among authors who approve of fan fiction, is the issue of commercialisation.\nEnsuring that fan fiction remains a non-commercial activity is of utmost importance to these authors.\nBy maintaining a non-commercial stance, fan fiction creators demonstrate respect for the original work and the intellectual property of the author.\nIt allows them to engage in a creative and transformative practice without infringing on the economic rights of the original creator.\nUnderstanding the legal implications of fanfiction is crucial for both authors and fan communities.\nWhile some content owners have embraced fan works, the line between non-commercial and commercial use can be legally significant.\nThe Salinger v. Colting case serves as a reminder of the limitations of fair use, particularly when incorporating copyrighted characters.\nOn the other hand, the case of E.L. James demonstrates the possibility of mitigating copyright issues by retroactively removing copyrighted elements.\nBy gaining a clear understanding of copyright protection laws and making informed decisions, fanfiction authors can navigate the legal landscape more effectively, ensuring both creative expression and legal compliance.\nThe stance on fanfiction varies among authors. Some authors, like George R.R. Martin, and Anne Rice do not approve of fanfiction based on their works and discourage its creation.\nOthers may have specific guidelines or restrictions regarding fanfiction. It’s important to respect the author’s wishes and copyright protections when engaging in fanfiction.\nLegally speaking, fanfiction technically requires permission from the original creator or rights holder of the work.\nFan work involves using copyrighted elements, such as characters or settings, from an existing work.\nHowever, in practice, many fanfiction writers create and share their works without obtaining explicit permission.\nPublishing fanfiction as a book can be legally problematic. Fanfiction often incorporates copyrighted elements, which can infringe on the original creator’s rights.\nPublishing fanfiction commercially without proper authorisation from the copyright holder may lead to copyright infringement issues.\nIt’s generally advisable to seek permission or explore alternative avenues for publishing original works.\nFan fiction can violate copyright if the creator does not seek permission from the original copyright holder.\nAdditionally, commercialising fan works, such as selling or profiting from them, can further increase the likelihood of copyright infringement.\nIt is important for fan fiction authors to respect the rights of the original creators and obtain proper permissions or create transformative works that fall within the boundaries of fair use to avoid potential legal issues.\nTo avoid copyright issues of Internet fanfiction, focus on transformative elements, create original storylines and characters, engage in non-commercial use, include disclaimers, respect the author’s wishes, and seek permission if possible.\nUnderstanding and respecting copyright law is crucial when writing fanfiction.\nElevate your digital stature and shield your priceless reputation from harm. Select Bytescare for ultimate protection against piracy, defamation, and impersonation.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "View other formats and editions\n- ISBN: 9781442387638 (sound recording)\n- Physical Description: 1 online resource (11 audio files) : digital\n- Edition: Unabridged.\n- Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2015.\n|Participant or Performer Note:||\nNarrator: Jacques Roy.\nFrom the bestselling and award-winning author of Whistling Past the Graveyard comes an adventure tale about two daredevils and a farm boy who embark on the journey of a lifetime across America's heartland in the Roaring Twenties.Set in the rapidly changing world of 1920s America, this is a story of three people from very different backgrounds: Henry \"Schuler\" Jefferson, son of German immigrants from Midwestern farm country; Cora Rose Haviland, a young woman of privilege whose family has lost their fortune; and Charles \"Gil\" Gilchrist, an emotionally damaged WWI veteran pilot. Set adrift by life-altering circumstances, they find themselves bound together by need and torn apart by blind obsessions and conflicting goals. Each one holds a secret that, if exposed, would destroy their friendship. But their journey of adventure and self-discovery has a price-and one of them won't be able to survive it. As they crisscross the heartland, exploring the rapidly...\n|System Details Note:||\nRequires OverDrive Listen (file size: N/A KB) or OverDrive app (file size: 351083 KB).\nSearch for related items by subject", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "If people knew the truth of the Garden, they would find it far less mythic than the fantastic tales whispered about it – doe-eyed virgins, endless pleasure and ever-flowing wine.\nDo not misunderstand me, however. It is a very pleasant place. On a warm sultry night, it is easy to lose oneself in its charms.\nThere it was again. Altair rolled over and listened. Over the sounds of the cicadas, there came the plaintive music of a harp. He listened a moment longer, then could not resist getting up and going out onto the balcony to see if he could spot the musician.\nIt was coming from the Garden, but down in the lower terrace as near as he could tell. He closed his eyes. The music was the most melancholy sound he'd ever heard, yet it was transcendent in its beauty. Amazing.\nHe stood there listening, unable to tear himself away. When it finally stopped, there was a pause in the cicada's song as if they too mourned the loss of it. He smiled and returned to his bed.\nThe same pattern happened again the next night and the night after. He'd asked around and no one knew who it was that was playing. He began to look forward to the nightly recital.\nOn the fifth night, he stood as always on the balcony peering down toward the lower Garden, hoping to spy the musician. Finally his curiosity got the better of him and he went to get a closer look.\nHe padded quietly down the stairs and through the gates of the Garden. The attendant by the door smiled at him. \"Would you care for some wine?\" she asked.\nHe accepted the offered cup. \"Thank you. Tell me, who is that playing harp?\" he asked.\n\"That? That is Serena. She is new to the Garden. She plays beautifully, but it is such a sad song.\"\nHe had the answer to his question, now he wanted to see her with his own eyes. He nodded and headed toward the lower terraces.\nAt the far edge of the Garden, he spotted the figure of the woman playing, her back to him and the rest of the world. He stopped and quietly sat down on the step. Up close, the music was even more beautiful.\nHe tried not to stare as he listened, lest she sense his presence and stop playing. What he saw when he did steal a glance was a tall woman with a thick braid of dark hair that hung to the middle of her hourglass shaped back.\n\"Your name fits you,\" he said when she'd finished.\nShe looked back over her shoulder toward him. \"I didn't know anyone was there.\"\n\"Forgive me, I hope I did not startle you. Must you stop?\"\n\"For tonight, yes,\" she replied. She stood and turned to face him.\nHe opened his mouth to speak, but her beauty stole the words. A few awkward seconds passed before he found his tongue. \"Then I will trouble you no further. I thank you, and bid you good night, Siren,\" he said, standing and turning to leave.\n\"My name is Serena,\" she corrected him.\nHe smiled. \"I know.\"\n\"Ah, I see. And you are?\"\n\"Good night, Altair.\"\nThus began a new ritual. Every night, he made his way to the Garden, cup of wine in hand, and sat on the step to hear her play. She never turned or acknowledged him until she was finished and he never interrupted her. Every night he would leave her with the same words: \"I thank you, and bid you good night, Siren.\"\nIt was a small miracle to him, this music. As he sat there he would often close his eyes and let it transport his spirit. He felt at peace with all of the beauty and sorrow in his heart and in the world when he listened to it. Somehow even the thoughts and bittersweet memories of she who held his heart were less painful.\nHe was sitting with his head bowed one evening when she broke the ritual.\n\"What do you think about while you listen?\"\nHe looked up, surprised. \"Most of the time I think of nothing. I let the music take my mind where it will. It is almost like meditating, in a way.\"\n\"And where does it take you?\" she pressed.\n\"Sometimes into memories, both pleasant and otherwise. Sometimes...\" he struggled for the appropriate words to describe the feeling. \"Sometimes it just takes me.\"\n\"What do you think about while you play?\" he asked.\n\"Nothing. It is not thought that drives my fingers.\"\n\"What is it then?\"\nShe sighed. \"Emotion. Love, loss, longing.\"\nHe took a sip of wine as he pondered her words. \"Until I heard you play, I would have thought it impossible to so beautifully portray such paradox.\"\n\"I thank you for your kind words. It isn't often that my audience has such an intimate understanding of it,\" she said, rising to her feet.\nThe moonlight cast a silvery aura around her, making her seem as ethereal as the notes she coaxed from her harp. As she approached and glided up the stairs, he thought it would not surprise him if she suddenly ascended into the clouds, claimed by jealous Gods. He leaned back after her as she passed. \"Will you indulge me a little more, Siren?\" he asked, unwilling to depart just yet.\nShe continued on, leaving him wondering until she retrieved a carafe of wine and returned. She smiled down at him and reached out for his hand, which he gladly gave to her.\nHe sat down in front of her as she refilled her cup and took up her harp. \"Close your eyes, listen, then tell me what you feel,\" she bid him as she began to play.\nHe nodded and did as she asked, though he was unable to resist peeking now and then. He'd never been this close to her, and the way her fingers moved over the strings fascinated him. The tune they drew from the harp was soft and melodic at first, then it slowly built to a crescendo that filled him with incredibly sad longing, before resolving itself to flowing sweetness. The final note caught him by surprise. He'd anticipated more to follow, but it ended - almost like a question left hanging in the air. It sent chills up his spine. He opened his eyes to find her regarding him curiously, obviously waiting for him to speak.\n\"Words seem vulgar and crude after such beauty.\" He refilled his cup of wine and sipped it. The truth was that he was unsure if she would understand how it affected him.\n\"Still, I would hear them,\" she said.\nHe smiled, running his finger around the rim of his cup as he summoned his courage. Taking a deep breath, he answered. \"It was like every question that my heart has ever asked that remains unanswered - every love, every fear and every goodbye.\"\nShe laid her harp aside. \"You have the soul of a poet, Altair,\" she said with a soft smile.\nHe reached out and took her hand, turning it over and caressing it with his thumb. Her fingertips were calloused, no doubt from her playing. He didn't know whether he'd go as far as calling himself a poet, but this woman and her sad and beautiful music had moved him. Whether she knew it or not, it was a gift to him. In gratitude, he placed a gentle kiss upon her palm, allowing his lips to linger a moment as he imagined other kisses in other places. He was unable to keep the smile from his face as he finally answered her. \"I have the sweetest inspiration,\" he replied, standing up. He nodded to her. \"I thank you, and bid you good night, Siren.\"\n\"Altair?\" she said, quickly reaching out for his hand again. \"Will you indulge me a little more? I find your company comforting.\"\nHe reached down and touched her cheek. \"While you do bring comfort to my mind and soul, I must confess that at the moment it is something altogether different that you inspire in me.\"\n\"Then stay with me a while.\" The look in her eyes told him that she shared his desire.\n\"I am intoxicated; with the wine, with the night, with your music and with you. But I would not take advantage of you, or deceive you with promises of tomorrows. There is another, who though far from me in time and distance, holds my heart.\"\n\"Nor would I deceive you. It may surprise you to hear a Companion say such things, but someone holds my heart as well. With that understanding, perhaps we can take comfort in each other. The night is beautiful, and your presence here, with me, makes it more so.\"\nHe knelt down and looked into her eyes. \"Be sure before you unleash this storm, Siren.\"\nShe smiled and pressed her finger to his lips. \"Speak to me, but not with words, Poet,\" she whispered.\nHe moved forward, laying her down with a kiss that, not unlike the song she'd last gifted him with, began softly, but quickly deepened as the urgency of their need took hold. She filled his senses to overflowing; she smelled of myrrh, felt like silk and tasted of cinnamon and wine. Her hands played upon him as masterfully as they played the harp. All was beauty, sensation and bliss.\nThe progress of the moon was the only evidence of the night passing. Everything else fell away as they lost themselves in each other's arms.\nAfter their own beautiful crescendo, he lay beside her catching his breath. \"You have slain me, Siren,\" he said with a satisfied smile.\n\"Isn't that what the myths say? That the Sirens lure men to their death with irresistible songs?\"\n\"Yes, but despite popular belief, it was not earthly pleasures their songs promised, but spiritual truths.\"\n\"Truly?\" she asked as she finished dressing and lay back down beside him.\nHe nodded. They fell into an easy silence, hands intertwined. He began to feel drowsy and turned over onto his side, gathering her close to him.\n\"You should retire to your bed, Altair,\" she said when she realized he was falling asleep. \"Think of the gossip should we be found in the light of morning.\"\n\"I don't care,\" he said stubbornly, though he knew she was right. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled the scent of her. \"Come with me.\"\n\"I cannot. You know it is forbidden. Besides, that would break the spell,\" she teased.\n\"Ah, I see. I knew this must be some sort of sorcery,\" he said with a laugh, forcing himself to release her. He stood and retrieved his pants from where they'd been discarded and pulled them on. \"I am loathe to end this night, Siren,\" he said, taking her hand and kissing it.\nShe smiled sweetly at him. \"I thank you, and bid you good night, Poet.\"\nHe stared into her eyes a moment longer. \"You have been like ambrosia to my spirit. Good night, Serena,\" he said softly, then departed their enchanted corner of the Garden.\nAs he lay smiling in his own bed some minutes later, close to a heavenly sleep, from out in the Garden came the sound of her playing.\nA/N - I wrote this from a challenge, the prompt being \"The Garden of Paradise.\" Serena pops up again in the last chapters of \"Wisdom, Sorrow\", so I thought I'd post this for reference if anyone is curious about her. Thanks for reading!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A Princess' Diary\nHayley Evans, a daughter of a less than middle-class family discovers that she is betrothed to the Prince of Norway,Alaric and is to marry him as soon as she turns eighteen! She protests against it at first but considering the situation of her parents,she agrees to it and finally gets married to him,just to fulfill her parents' wish.\nMeanwhile, Alaric had initially wanted to get married to his first love, Dianne(who coincidentally attends the same school as Hayley) but couldn't as he had to marry his bethrothed, Hayley.\nHayley and Alaric's relationship starts out really platonic right until Lancelot,Alaric's brother seems to show interest in Hayley and jealousy starts to seep into Hayley's mind whenever Alaric is with Dianne.\nWill they eventually find their better half in a journey through marriage, jealousy and love? Find out in 'A Princess' Diary'.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "10 Hispanic Women Who Made History is a short collection of biographies about Hispanic women and the impact they made in the world. Some of the women featured in this book are iconic figures such as ballet dancer Alicia Alonso; others are less known heroines such as indigenous leader Dolores Cacuango, founder of the first bilingual school in Ecuador. Beautiful illustrations accompany the text to bring these women to life and inspire the young generation of readers to be leaders tomorrow.\nIn the thin light of the moon, the woman’s limp body hangs from the iron fence amongst the redwoods. Looped over the railings is the little gold locket her mother gave her when she turned sixteen. The picture of the girl inside smiles out at a future she’ll never see…\nBiochemist Anushka Mahto flees the lab where she works, stealing the mysterious substance she has been experimenting on. She accidentally contaminates herself while disposing of it, in an attempt to protect the world at large from its potentially harmful effects.\nA haunting ossuary of tiny poems covering a wide range of topics such as love, romance, relationships, queer sexuality, religion, death, demons, ghosts, bones, gender, and darkness.\nTime Travel Western Romance - Liberty Valley Love, Yesterday and Today ~ where no matter what, soulmates find each other", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Forgiving yourself and others can be a blessing, a gift filled with joy that will lead to better understanding one’s actions.\nForgiving doesn’t mean you weren’t hurt or that whatever happened is acceptable or ok. It means it is time to let go of that hurt.\nWe are all human. We all make mistakes.\nIf you have never made a mistake, you are lying (shame on you). Our mistakes can sometimes define us, as if they were part of human nature. We learn from them in order to grow, as we do from our achievements and successes.\nObviously, we do not need to suffer or fall into the same traps over and over again, we can also learn from observation… but observing muffins isn’t the same as tasting them, is it?\nEven after knowing all of this, we still criticize ourselves harshly, kick ourselves and remind ourselves that we are no good, when we are in fact, amazing creatures.\nLearn to forgive yourself! Love yourself.\nIt is the best gift you can give yourself and those around you. This will take time, of course, and it should as long as it needs to, but you should not punish yourself for your own growth.\nLiving in the past and obsessing over previous mistakes and experiences doesn’t help us live the present or prepare for the future. The lesson to be taken from that event is already with us, there is no need to experience eternal suffering. By denying ourselves forgiveness, we are only hindering our growth for no good reason, spreading pain around us and attracting the pain of others, perpetuating a cycle.\nThe very best of us can fail, be selfish and delusional sometimes, and still we must all get up in the morning and remember our mistakes, forgive ourselves and keep in mind that we are all simply human and we can only try to do our best.\nIf you hurt someone else, ask for forgiveness, but forgive yourself first. After all we are all but children learning.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Nicola Morgan’s book ‘Blame My Brain’ gives a superb insight into what happens inside the teenage brain, both scientifically and emotionally, as the young adult grows and matures. It helps to explain why teenagers behave the way they do and gives hope, as well as dispels fear (on the part of parents and teachers) about what is happening during these turbulent years!\nAn additional synopsis follows:\n‘A comprehensive guide to the biological mysteries that lie behind teenage behaviour. Contrary to popular (parental) opinion, teenagers are not the lazy, unpleasant – frankly, spotty – louts they occasionally appear to be. During the teenage years the brain is undergoing its most radical and fundamental change since the age of two. Nicola Morgan’s carefully researched, accessible and humorous examination of the ups and downs of the teenage brain has chapters dealing with powerful emotions, the need for more sleep, the urge to take risks, the difference between genders, the reasons behind addiction and depression, and what lies ahead. Funny and non-patronizing, it makes essential reading for both parents and teenagers alike.’ Nielsen BookData Online\nWe have this book in our library (although currently on loan). Nicola Morgan does state that although the teenage brain is undergoing all this change, its control remains very much in the power of its owner… She does not excuse anything.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "by Linsey Davis, illustrations by Lucy Fleming\nAs an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.\nWhere to start with this one? Probably, honestly, at the beginning. . .at the beginning when I started to prep for this post, and I was really starting to pore over this book.\nYou might say, that among other things, I am a picture book snob. And you’d be right. I won’t post a blog about a book I don’t believe in, or one that I don’t make a connection to. The book has to resonate with me, because then I know it will resonate with some children.\nIt’s understandable then, that not all books make it to this space. I’d estimate that for every five children’s books I read, only about two or three make it to this tiny spot on the internet. There are various reasons why, and I guess that’s a blog post for another day.\nSo when I realized the author, Linsey T. Davis, was an award winning news correspondent, my heart sank. My heart sank because some of the celebrity picture books I’ve read have left me less than connected. Now, my mama always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say to someone, don’t say anything at all,” and I think that adage certainly applies here.\nI want to be a purveyor of good things in this world. Bright, illuminating things. Like love. Happy, cheerful things. Like acceptance and understanding. My tag line is, Childhood Should Be Magical, and I believe that with my whole heart.\nI guess that’s a somewhat long introduction to say One Big Heart did not disappoint! In fact, the exact opposite.The theme. . .the incredibly adorable illustrations. . . the message. . .the sing-song lyrics, were all expertly woven together into a tapestry of love. . .and understanding. . .and acceptance of our differences as human beings.\nI am thrilled to recommend One Big Heart, A Celebration of Being More Alike Than Different to parents and grands, churches and schools, after-school organizations and parachurch organizations and generally anybody who wants to gently wrap children in a cloth of understanding of God’s great big love for every person He’s created.\nIt is truly apparent that Ms. Davis, as a mom, finds it important to slow her busy days long enough to drink in the world through the eyes of her own child. And the great part for us? She has the gift to translate what she sees into enchanting, rhythmic verses for everyone to enjoy. Lovely!\nThe book is fun and whimsical and oh so sweet. It’s sure to be a family favorite. This is one I wish I’d had in our family library when my kids were littles.\nAnd the illustrations? A great big thank you to Lucy Fleming for the darling artwork! Lucy captures the essence of childhood and translates it into brightly colored images for everyone to enjoy. Wonderful!\nPS: My favorite character is the girl with the puff! I’ve got an idea as to who she might be. What do you think?", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Epidemiologic findings on the effect of metabolic syndrome (MetS)\nBackground. Epidemiologic findings on the effect of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its treatment on colorectal cancer (CRC) survival have been inconsistent and have not been previously studied in an Arab population such as the Omani population. Patients and Methods. Data from the hospital records of 301 CRC patients treated in Sultan Qaboos University (SQUH), Oman, from 2006 to 2014 were analyzed retrospectively to determine the effects of MetS and its treatment on CRC survival. Overall survival (OS) by MetS status and by medications for MetS components management was compared with Cox proportional models. Results. Of the 301 patients, 76 (25.2%) had MetS, 20.3% were on insulin, 23.9% were on metformin, 25.6% took statins, 17.9% were on either angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). Whereas metformin (HR, 0.46, 95% CI, 0.25-0.84) and statins (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.35-0.96) had a protective effect on OS, insulin (HR 1.73, 95% CI, 1.02-2.97) had a detrimental effect. In subgroup analysis of diabetic subjects, a nonsignificant improvement in OS was observed in the metformin treated patients compared to those on other hypoglycemic agents (HR, 0.92, 95% CI, 0.55-1.55). Neither MetS nor antihypertensive drugs had any apparent effect on OS. Conclusions. Our result suggests that, among CRC patients with MetS, taking metformin and statins may improve overall survival, whereas being on insulin may negatively impact CRC prognosis. Further studies are warranted to determine the exact mechanism through which metformin, statins, and insulin exert their effects on CRC survival.\nJournal of Tumor Research", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Let me clarify something: structurally, Hamilton is as much Aaron Burr’s story as it is Hamiton’s. There’s a Vulture article that lists 20 inspirations for Hamilton and Jesus Christ Superstar is number 4. That might even be too low. The beauty of Hamilton is how well crafted the parallels are between the title character and his friend/rival Burr.\nThe first thing that is important to realize is how Hamilton and Burr’s stories intentionally mirror each other. Both are orphans (creating an immediate bond between the two), both fight for their country, both are interested in moving up Washington’s ranks to become war heroes, and both eventually get into law and politics after the war. The aspirations for the two men never differ.\nThe differences come in how they pursue these goals. Burr follows the rules while Hamilton breaks them. Every step of the way sees Hamilton a hair in front of Burr or above Burr because of his willingness to take a chance. While the interest in Hamilton’s plot comes from how he’s willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, Burr’s equally interesting story thrives on the budding jealousy within Burr. This is where an article like Adam Gopnik’s New Yorker article starts to bother me. The plot, or any analysis around the plot, of Hamilton cannot be discussed without Burr. He’s essential. Burr and Hamilton are foils to each other and their successes and failures mean more because of each other.\nIf Hamilton’s life is the equivalent of the American (or Immigrant) Dream, Burr’s life is the American Nightmare and a much more condemning look at society. Burr is well educated, hard working, and ambitious, but seeing the brash Hamilton consistently surpass him drives him insane. The song “The Room Where It Happened,” while being the most manic of Burr’s songs, indicates a major shift in his goals. He’s tired of following the rules when Hamilton doesn’t. He hates seeing Hamilton getting to be the one who makes major decisions. This eventually drives him to kill Hamilton.\nWith this, Lin-Manuel Miranda manages to simultaneously throw shade on those who feel entitled simply because of their background and upbringing while shining an overlooked light on the other end of the minorities-in-the-workforce spectrum. Hamilton represents the immigrant (in terms of the musical, a POC) who works hard and shows how great minorities and immigrants are for the country. Burr, on the other hand, represents the minorities still being slighted by the system. Burr is the black kid who does everything right, works hard in school, never gets in trouble, who is still passed over for a job because of the color of his skin or the sound of his name. Aaron Burr represents the frustrations felt by minorities when they feel like they just can’t win. He takes that frustration out in the form of a bullet.\nWhich, finally, brings me to the JCS parallels. Judas didn’t have to hate Jesus to lead him to his death, just like Burr didn’t have to hate Hamilton to pull that trigger. In both cases the men were friends and trusted allies at least at some point in their histories. In both musicals, the ‘killer’ (Judas and Burr) is the first voice heard by the audience (an intentional parallel by Miranda) and their thoughts/insights are used as framing devices throughout the shows. They double as characters and narrators. In both cases the popularity of their counterpart is both concerning and a bit bewildering. Both Judas and Burr see themselves as doing the right thing. Judas is just frustrated in Jesus’s hoopla and Burr is frustrated in his own lack of success compared to his counterpart. Both men, in impulsive, emotional moments, make a choice that directly leads to the death of their friend. Judas can’t live with himself afterwards while Burr spends the rest of his life trying to live with his choice.\nBut the most interesting parallel between the two musicals is found in answering Hamilton’s final question: “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” I’ll entertain arguments that the answer (and potential protagonist) is Hamilton’s wife Eliza. Considering how much of the show she’s not in during major events, it’s hard to actually agree, but there are valid arguments that after she decides to “put myself back in the narrative” she does actively make it her life’s mission to talk about and spread the legacy of her husband. I get that. But structurally, the answer is Burr.\nMaybe it’s just because I listened to the album on repeat too much when the music came out, but hearing the soft, unison, full-cast line of “who lives, who dies, who tells your story” right before the sharp, punctuated hits of the top of the show and Burr’s boisterous voice starting to tell the tale of a “bastard, orphan, son of a whore” it’s easy to see that Burr is the one who is telling the story.\nMiranda’s question to end the show becomes a reflection on Judas. Judas, one of Jesus’s closest friends, kills himself rather than live with what he did. Judas dies. Burr, on the other hand lives. In looking at Burr as the one who lives and who goes on to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton, it becomes clear that the entire musical is actually Burr’s reflection on his relationship with Hamilton. It’s Burr’s guiding hand that leads the audience through the historical events and (now here’s a real tell) shows Hamilton’s faults. Burr’s story shows how Hamilton’s impulsiveness both gave him great success, but also led to angering a lot of people, indirectly causing his son’s death, and having an affair. Sure, it’s possible that Eliza would have kept Hamilton’s flaws in her telling of the story, but Burr paints a picture that is much more critical of Hamilton, while showing himself as someone who just couldn’t catch a break—just as Judas paints a picture of Jesus that showed the fanaticism of Jesus’s followers as Judas saw them while Judas paints himself as someone who just didn’t know how to love Jesus.\nAll of that is to say that you can’t talk about Hamilton without Burr the same way that you can’t talk about Jesus Christ Superstar without Judas. They are both crucial to their respective plots and their perspectives give each story extra depth that’s missing from a simple view of Hamilton and Jesus as the protagonists of their respective musicals.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "* I received this ebook for free in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. *\nAnn Hunter has already proven to be a great writer of fantasy fiction books and now I've had the chance to read and enjoy her book Born To Run, that will touch your heart and leave you remembering the story for a long time to come.\nHere is a product description from the publisher:\n\"Alexandra Anderson is on the run from the law.\nWhen the thirteen-year-old orphan can run no further, she collapses at the gates of the prestigious racing and breeding farm, North Oak. Horse racing strikes a deep chord in her. She hears a higher calling in the jingle jangle of bit and stirrup and in the thunder of hooves on the turn for home. It tells her she has a place in the world. But when the racing headlines find her on the front of every sports page, she realizes North Oak is no longer a safe haven.\nMoney can't buy love, but it just might secure Alex's future. Will everyone at North Oak still want to offer her a home when they learn of her unspeakable crime? \" (Afterglow Productions)\nUp to this point I had only read the fantasy fiction books from Ann Hunter, but what a treat to see what a versatile writer Ann is! I was drawn in with this story line of a young girl named Alex who is in the foster care system and who makes a choice that will alter her world. It is about her courage and determination and how true love can change a person's life. That not everyone will give up on you in hard times. Alex starts to learn about the world of racing and prized horses and she feels an instant connection to that life style and also to one of the horses. There's a secret unfolding in the story but you have to read it to find out what it is. Ann created characters that were so real and relatable, she is a gifted story teller and I am glad I have the opportunity to review these books. I look forward to reading more in the series and seeing what else unfolds. Overall was a great book to read!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Long-range PCR is generally employed for the analysis of disease-causing mutations in genes with homologous pseudogene copies. However, long-range PCR is challenging when performed on single cells, as in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of monogenic disorders. PGD on single cells requires concurrent analysis of a mutation together with multiple linked polymorphic markers from closely related family members to prevent misdiagnosis. In PGD cases involving childless de novo mutation carriers, linkage cannot be performed based on family members but rather must first be identified in single gametes. This can be an especially difficult task if the mutation to be assayed lies in a duplicated genomic region because gene-specific long-range PCR must be coupled with short-range PCR analysis of genetic markers on single cells. Here, we describe a novel method by which accurate PGD of pseudogene-homologous mutations can be achieved. Essentially, we performed whole genome amplification on single sperm or blastomeres followed by haplotype construction and long-range PCR-based mutation analysis. This original and universal strategy was used to establish allelic association for two different mutations in genes with one or more pseudogene copies (IKBKG and PKD1). The method was also sensitive enough to detect unexpected germline mosaicism in one mutation carrier. This article describes an accurate method for the diagnosis of mutations in genes, with pseudogene copies, at the single cell level for preimplantation genetic diagnostic purposes. The method is sensitive enough to detect germline mosaicism in single gametes.\n- Genetic diagnosis", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Shelfari edited the description of Nine Stories Wednesday, December 9, 2009.\nSince the publication of The Catcher in the Rye in 1951, the works of J.D. Salinger have been acclaimed for their humor, intensity, and their lack of phoniness. A collection of short fiction, Nine Stories contains works with those qualities that make Salinger such a well-loved author.\nShelfari edited the description of Nine Stories Friday, July 31, 2009.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Writing is a form of therapy, Graham Greene once mused, a means to \"escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation\".\nThere feels like a lot of writing as therapy in Nore Hoogstad's novel that draws expansively upon her time as a diplomat at the Australian embassy in Jakarta and at the time of East Timor's independence referendum in 1999.\nThe book comprises two intertwining stories. The first is about Ava Vuyk, junior diplomatic go-getter with a marriage on the rocks who assumes the embassy's East Timor brief. The second is centred on Isabel Cardoso, a young East Timorese woman captured by the pro-Indonesia militia and made to live with them as a slave. Their two stories connect in a surprising and poignant manner near the end.\nMany of the East Timorese characters in the book are papery pseudonyms. Alexio, the resistance leader imprisoned in a Jakarta jail, is Xanana Gusmao, depicted as committed, extremely charismatic and little bit handsy. The militia leader who takes Isobel as his personal fief is modelled on Eurico Guterres, a man indicted for crimes against humanity and, in a dark irony, recent recipient of one of the Indonesian state's highest honours for his \"distinguished service\".\nPresumably the same approach to thinly veiled portraiture applies elsewhere. Sleuthing the possible identities of the novel's diplomats, defence officials and others will be catnip for Canberra insiders. Many of the individual characters emerge poorly. It's hard to know how much that is rendered on the page is fact, fiction or reparative score-settling. The author portrays the ambassador as a thin-skinned, Latin-spouting chauvinist with an ego the size of the Jakarta metropolitan area. A quick Google search will settle any questions as to who \"Adam Stretton\", the high-handed Australian Foreign Minister, might be modelled on.\nThe novel flays the foibles, pomposities and value systems of public servants abroad. Greene - a writer of unstinting honesty himself - would have approved at seeing these motivations laid bare. Much time is taken up harrumphing over petty slights, obsessing over status, and anguishing over promotions. A shouting match between senior diplomats about an internal performance appraisal is mentioned three times! The novel's denouement involves a hardly life-or-death decision over taking a desk job in Canberra. Even though Ava bridles at the system, she remains in thrall to its baubles to the end.\nThe book may also constitute a therapeutic opportunity for Hoogstad to get a few things off her chest, including reflecting on some of the characters encountered during her posting. Ava has a relationship with a United Nations panjandrum from New York who is unable to work out whether he should stay with Ava or slink back to his wife. Her account of meeting pontifical activists in Dili is well done and presumably satisfying to write.\nIt's also an unflinchingly honest account of the difficulties of being a young woman in a cloistered man's world. Ava is humiliated and degraded as a \"bimbo\" in front of her embassy colleagues amidst a boisterous leaving speech. As Ava flees, the roly-poly defence officer she thought had been her platonic pal makes a ham-fisted and pathetic protestation of his ardour. It's one of the rawest, most viscerally upsetting pieces of prose I've ever read.\nBut sometimes the writing can be clunky and word choices hackneyed. Some descriptions, like of East Timor being \"a land imbued with ancient power, the people bred from the fierce reptilian blood of their ancient relative, the crocodile\" reads like something drafted by a bureaucrat hankering for a side hustle as a travel writer.\nAt the same time, Hoogstad handles certain scenes with aplomb that immobilise seasoned writers. She writes well about sex, both tender and forced. The build-up and climax to Ava's international relations with the Hamlet of the Hudson River is stirring in all senses of the word.\nShould those less animated by Canberra parlour games read the book also? Very much so. It's an absorbing and well-told tale. Short chapters propel the narrative to its bleak conclusion, which hews closely to how events played out in real life. The prose is reminiscent of Judy Nunn, another writer who places roiling personal stories against the backdrop of historical events.\nThe book refocuses attention on a period of history - the East Timor referendum - fading from view. This was a time when Australia eventually did the right thing by its northern neighbour. Even a fictionalised account is revealing of the machinations at play.\nGunfire Lullabies is a worthy addition to the small shelf of titles written by protagonists and onlookers to the rebirth of this proud and resilient nation.\nSign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "March 11th, 2015\nEpisode 28 of 156 episodes\nFour stories about parties--birthday parties, dinner parties, office parties—and what can go right and wrong. A small boy charms three old ladies in Lynda Sexson’s “Turning,” read by Christine Lahti. A generous father hides a secret at his daughter’s party, in Etgar Keret’s “Goody Bags,” read by Amber Tamblyn. A fireman gets pulled into a dangerous flirtation at a dinner party in Sherman Alexie’s “Faith,” read by Michael Cerveris, and an exploited secretary gets her groove back in an excerpt from David Rakoff’s Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish, performed by Anika Noni Rose.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The nervous system is a primary target for animal venoms as the impairment of its function results in the fast\nand efficient immobilization or death of a prey. There are numerous evidences about effects of crude snake venoms or\nisolated toxins on peripheral nervous system. However, the data on their interactions with the central nervous system\n(CNS) are not abundant, as the blood-brain barrier (BBB) impedes penetration of these compounds into brain. This\nupdated review presents the data about interaction of snake venom polypeptides with CNS. Such data will be described\naccording to three main modes of interactions:\n- Direct in vivo interaction of CNS with venom polypeptides either capable to penetrate BBB or injected into the brain.\n- In vitro interactions of cell or sub-cellular fractions of CNS with crude venoms or purified toxins.\n- Indirect effects of snake venoms or their components on functioning of CNS under different conditions.\nAlthough the venom components penetrating BBB are not numerous, they seem to be the most suitable candidates for the\nleads in drug design. The compounds with other modes of action are more abundant and better studied, but the lack of the\ndata about their ability to penetrate BBB may substantially aggravate the potentials for their medical perspectives.\nNevertheless, many such compounds are used for research of CNS in vitro. These investigations may give invaluable\ninformation for understanding the molecular basis of CNS diseases and thus lay the basis for targeted drug design. This\naspect also will be outlined in the review.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Harley Quinn #28 is published by DC Comics, written by Tini Howard, art and colors by Sweeny Boo, and letters by Steve Wands. There is a backup story by Erica Henderson with letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. A new arc begins as a long series of confrontations with Two-Face lands Harley in trouble with the law.\nWith a completely new creative team, Harley’s world must be recreated. This transition might be abrasive at first, but the energy and intensity of the comic can often be tricky. Howard’s introductory pages make it easy for those continuing the comic or just jumping on. It’s a fast beginning and a lot of exposition. The Two-Face element of Harley Quinn #28 is confusing, but I believe that is also intentional. Not even the characters in the book know what’s happening, but it is a lead into what seems to be one of the key plot points of Howard’s run going forward. Multiple threads are beginning here, including one at the end of the comic that is entirely unexpected. It shows the consequences of what happened in Phillips’ run and even before. It is nice to see that the previous 27 issues of this series will not be ignored.\nThe dialogue and the character dynamics have also shifted slightly. There are fewer captions and narration, except for the first page, which summarizes Harley’s circumstances directing her to that exact moment. After that, it is entirely dialogue. Howard brilliantly explores Harley’s intelligence and wit, tapping into the idea that everyone is just one step behind her when she’s on a diatribe. It is the characters around Harley that are taking time to get used to. Two-Face’s personalities makes him fun in this comic but extremely hard to pin down. Besides crashing in and being a nuisance, the role he plays in this book has not yet been clarified. And it was nice to see Howard use Kevin, Harley’s best friend. However, some of his actions seemed out of character for him and were just used to further the plot.\nThe art is spectacular. The redesign for Harley is stunning and very innovative. I love how her hair has become so much longer and falls around her instead of being in pigtails. She also has several outfits, from her heroics to being cozy at home. She is extremely fashionable, and her experimentation by Sweeney deserves a lot of praise. Likewise, it is always fascinating to see how the illustration of Kevin is approached. The locations can either be pleasantly clean and simple or filled with detail and madness. A lot of time could be spent pouring over each panel to see the textures and minute additions. That hectic energy that has been paramount to Harley Quinn still shines through in the fight scenes. The variety in the facial expression of Quinn is also interesting and beautifully expressive.\nThe colors by Boo are also terrific. Brilliantly bright and vibrant, there are color combinations that I have seen very rarely in comics. And much of the time, there are white or single-tone outlines around objects that help keep images clear in what can be busy panels. Some fantastic patterns and textures are implemented in clothing and the outsides of panels, giving life and spontaneity to the book. The lettering can be difficult to read sometimes due to large amounts of dialogue being tricky to place within the pages.\nHarley Quinn #28 ultimately captures the main character’s soul but struggles to settle. The protagonist is superbly written and is in safe hands with Howard. But the other characters and the plot need some time to blend in with the new creative team. The chaos is part of the series, as it always has been, and that adjustment period is something that is almost required in a book with the humor of Harley Quinn.\nHarley Quinn #28 is available now wherever comics are sold.\nHarley Quinn #28\nHarley Quinn #28 ultimately captures the main character’s soul but struggles to settle. The protagonist is superbly written and is in safe hands with Howard.\nWilliam is a screenwriter with a love of comics and movies. Once referred to Wuthering Heights as “the one with the Rabbits.”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Verticillium species are soilborne plant pathogens, responsible for big yield losses worldwide. Here, we report improved procedures to generate DNA from Verticillium species imbedded in farm soils. Using new genomic sequence information, primers for V. dahliae, V. albo-atrum, V. tricorpus, and V. longisporum were designed. In a survey of 429 samples from intensively farmed soil of two Swedish regions, only V. dahliae and V. longisporum were identified. A bias towards V. longisporum (40%) was seen in the south, whereas V. dahliae was more frequent in the western region (19%). Analyses of soil and leaf samples from 20 sugar beet fields, where foliar wilting had been observed, revealed V. dahliae DNA in all leaf and soil samples and V. longisporum in 18 soil samples, illustrating host choice and longevity of the V. longisporum microsclerotia. This study demonstrates the applicability of new molecular diagnostic tools that are important for growers of variable crops.\nKeywords: Beta vulgaris; Brassica napus; Soilborne pathogens; Verticillium; qPCR.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Anti Inflammatory Potential of Euphoria Hirta L. Leaves In Jaipur Region\nIntroduction: Euphorbia hirta Linn. (E.hirta L.) is a medicinal herb belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is commomly known as Asthma plant, Duddhi, Bara duddhi. It has been claimed for the various medicinal properties such as inflammation, diarrhoea, bronchitis, kidney stones, peptic ulcer, menstrual problems etc.\nObjective: the goal of our research work is to assessing the anti inflammatory activity of E.hirta L. leaves in regards to phytochemical studies.\nMethods: The method carragennan induced paw edema in rats was used to assess the anti inflammatory activity of aqueous extract of E.hirta L. leaves. The extract was obtained by maceration method and the analysis of phytochemicals was carried out by performing different chemical test in laboratory. Crude aqueous extract was given orally at different doses of 100mg/kg, 300mg/kg and 500mg/kg in wistar albino rats 30mins before carragennan injection. Ibuprofen (50mg/kg) was taken as reference drug. The volume of paw edema was measured by using plethysmometer at 1, 2 and 3 hr after carragennan administration.\nResults: The preliminary phytochemical study reveals the availibility of flavonoids, terpenoids, sterols, glycosides, tannins etc in different solvents of crude drug extract. The anti inflammatory effect of crude drug extract was exhibited a remarkable dose dependent reduction in paw edema volume. The inhibitory effect was highest at 500mg/kg dose of drug. Extract and ibuprofen showed 52% and 66% inhibition of paw edema respectively, at 3hr after carragennan administration.\nConclusion: E.hirta L. leaves aqueous extract has a strong anti inflammatory activity. These consequences help in the traditional uses of the plants and in the development of new treatments.\n2. Sahoo N, Manchikanti P, Dey S. Herbal drugs: standards and Regulation, Ftoterapia; 2010;DOI:10.1016/j.Fitote.2010.02.001.\n3. Shah K, Sheth D, Tirgar P, Desai T, Kher M, Rangani D, Shah KV. Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Triticum Aestivum on Carrageenan Induced Paw Edema In Wistar Rats, Pharmacologyonline 2,2010:745-751.\n4. C. Kumar D. Pharmacognosy can help minimize accidental misuse of herbal medicine, Current Science; 2007(93), Nov.25.\n5. Shinde VM, Dhawal K, Potdar M, Mahadik KR. Application of quality control principles to Herbal Drugs. Internatinal Journal of Phytomedicine 1,2009:4-8\n6. Agarwal SS, Tamrakar BP, Paridhavi M. Expectorants/Drug reduces cough. In: Clinically useful herbal drugs. Ahuja publisher; New Delhi : 233-235.\n7. Kumar S, Kumar D. evaluation of antidiabetic activity of euphorbia hirta linn. in streptozotocin induced diabetic mice, Indian journal of natural products and resources, 2010; 1(2):200-203.\n8. Khan S, Rehman A, Riaz N and Malik A. Isolation studies on Cotoneaster racemiflora. J Chem Soc Pakistan 2007; 29(6):620-623.\n9. Rahman MS, Rana S, Islam AA. Antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory activities of leaf methanolic extract of Euphorbia hirta Lin. Int J Complement Alt Med. 2019;12(4):154-62.\n10. Ekpo OE, Pretorius E. Asthma, Euphorbia hirta and its anti-inflammatory properties. South African Journal of Science. 2007;103(5-6):201-3.\n11. Adedapo AA, Abatan MO, Idowu SO and Olorunsogo OO. Effects of chromatographic fractions of Euphorbia hirta on the rat serum biochemistry. African Journal of Biomedical Research 2005; 8:185- 189.\n12. Ubaid mohd., Sharma S, Chaudhary.S. D, saxena N. Review article on Euphorbia hirta, World journal of pharmaceutical research, 2018; 7(18):585-597.\n13. Arsule CS , Sable KV, Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis of Euphorbia hirta Linn. Leaves, Int. J. of Life Sciences, 2017; 5(4):746-748.\n14. Junaid R Shaikh, MK Patil, Qualitative tests for preliminary phytochemical screening: An overview, International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; 8(2):603-608.\n15. Mudiganti Ram Krishna Rao , S. Selva Kumar, preliminary phytochemical analysis of herbal plant hygrophila auriculata, indo american journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 2017; 4(12):4580-4583.\n16. Thilagavathi.T, Arvindganth.R, Vidhya.D, Dhivya .R, preliminary phytochemical screening of different solvent mediated medicinal plant extracts evaluated, Int. Res. J. Pharm. 2015;6(4):246-248.\n17. Lerato N. M , Samkeliso T, Michael P, Preliminary Phytochemical Screening of Crude Extracts from the Leaves, Stems, and Roots of Tulbaghia violacea, International Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemical Research 2017; 9(10):1300-1308.\n18. Amri O, Zekhnini A, Bouhaimi A, Tahrouch S, Hatimi A. Anti-inflammatory activity of methanolic extract from Pistacia atlantica desf. leaves. Pharmacognosy Journal. 2018; 10(1):71-76.\n19. Ammar NM, Al-Okbi SY, Mohamed DA. Study of the anti-inflammatory activity of some medicinal edible plants growing in Egypt. Journal of Islamic Academy of Sciences. 1997; 10(4):113-22.\n20. Upadhyay A, Chattopadhyay P, Goyary D, Mazumder PM, Veer V. Anti-inflammatory effect of euphorbia hirta leaf extract in rats and modulation of inflammation-associated prostaglandins (PGE-2) and Nitric Oxide (NO) expression in RAW264. 7 macrophage. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacology. 2014 Mar 1; 1(1):68-73.\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.\nAUTHORS WHO PUBLISH WITH THIS JOURNAL AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS:\nAuthors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported License. that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.\nAuthors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.\nAuthors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Texts not necessarily meant to be viewed as art\n2016 (English)Collection (editor) (Other academic) [Artistic work]\nTexts Not Necessarily Meant to be Viewed as Art explores how contemporary artists use text in their creative processes. The project and publication focuses on artists' writing and examines the thoughts, ideas, and techniques that structure an artwork. The publication features thirty Nordic and international contemporary artists and writers that have contributed examples of how text informs their processes. Texts Not Necessarily Meant to be Viewed as Art is a form of sourcebook for artistic writing, which provides deeper insight into artistic writing in general, and grants public access to otherwise closed rooms: artists’ physical and virtual notebooks, text documents, folders and drawers. These rooms contain unpolished, often unfinished artists’ writing, and illuminate what’s sometimes lost in the editing process. The pages of the publication contain good and bad ideas, and sketches for work both finished and unfinished (perhaps forgotten or discarded). It presents a snapshot of the stage in the artistic process when the work has not yet landed in its final form and still is in motion. Participating artists' and writers include, amongst others, Cory Archangel, Emily Wardill, Darren Bader, Lucie Fontaine, Kenneth Goldsmith, Tamara Henderson, Hanne Lippard, Tris Vonna Michel, Mara Lee Gerden, Magnus Bärtås and Audun Mortensen.\nPlace, publisher, year, edition, pages\nStockholm: Konstfacks Collection , 2016. , 134 p.\nResearch subject Arts\nIdentifiersURN: urn:nbn:se:konstfack:diva-5645ISBN: 978-91-85549-23-8 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:konstfack-5645DiVA: diva2:1047745\nProjectsKonstnärligt utvecklingsarbete (KU-projekt)\nFunderHelge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Macbeth tragic hero or monster essay\nMacbeth is a tragic hero essays: order plagiarism free custom written essay we discover that macbeth is a tragic hero macbeth is very ambitious. Is macbeth a tragic hero essay - begin working on your assignment right now with qualified guidance guaranteed by the company why worry about the dissertation order. Shakespeare's macbeth - a tragic hero length shakespeare's macbeth as tragic hero essay - macbeth as tragic hero a tragic hero is usually a person of. Free coursework on macbeth tragic hero from essayukcom, the uk essays company for essay, dissertation and coursework writing. Macbeth - tragic hero: the character of macbeth is a classic example of a shakespearean tragic hero there are many factors which contribute to. Tragic hero essay antigone the tragic to what extent do you think shakespeare presents macbeth as a tragic hero a monster or hero robin hood. Included: macbeth essay content preview text: the character of macbeth is a classic example of a shakespearean tragic hero there are many factors which contribute.\nThe focal point of the paper is to trace the instances of macbeth’s character as a tragic hero this would also include the appearance of the witches when he was. Get access to macbeth tragic hero or merely a monster essays only from anti essays listed results 1 - 30 get studying today and get the grades you want. Is macbeth a tragic hero essay - receive an a+ help even for the hardest essays order the needed coursework here and forget about your concerns no fs with our. Get an answer for 'is macbeth a villain or tragic herois macbeth a villain or tragic hero' and find homework help for other macbeth questions at enotes. Is tragic essay hero a monster a macbeth or february 6, 2018 @ 3:11 pm pocket money for and against essay marijuana looking at each other poem analysis essay. Free essay: macbeth could justly be classified a “tragic hero” as his tragic story fills out the defined criteria for a tragic hero macbeth holds a.\nNeed essay sample on macbeth: a tragic hero we will write a cheap essay sample on macbeth: a tragic hero specifically for you for only $1290/page. Macbeth a tragic hero essay - papers and essays at most affordable prices get basic advice as to how to get the greatest term paper ever professionally written and. Macbeth tragic hero essay macbeth - a tragic hero essay discuss to what extent the monster in frankenstein is portrayed as a tragic hero. Essay writing guide is macbeth a monster or a victim 'macbeth' is a tragedy by william shakespeare it was written in the 1600's but is set in the 11th century.\nIs macbeth a hero or a villain essays there are several ways 'macbeth' is a tragic play, making macbeth a tragic hero continue reading this essay continue. The tools you need to write a quality essay or term paper is macbeth a horrible monster or is he a sensitive man essays related to macbeth as a tragic hero 1. Macbeth a monster in the play macbeth by shakespeare macbeth is anything but a tragic hero macbeth wants to be a hero for power, not to help the kingdom.\nVictor frankenstein: a tragic hero home » essay » victor frankenstein a tragic hero one of the many reasons that macbeth is categorized as a tragic hero is.\n- This essay macbeth: a tragic hero and other 63,000 macbeth, is classified as a tragic hero discuss to what extent the monster in frankenstein is portrayed.\n- Read macbeth - tragic hero free essay and over 88,000 other research documents macbeth - tragic hero the character of macbeth is a classic example of a.\n- Free coursework on macbeth as a tragic hero from essayukcom, the uk essays company for essay, dissertation and coursework writing.\n- Free essays on tragedy of tragic macbeth papers macbeth tragic hero - tragic hero or villain the hypothesis makes lady macbeth a monster.\n- Macbeth a tragic hero essay - allow the specialists to do your homework for you benefit from our affordable custom term paper writing service and get the most from.\n- The epidemic of a tragic hero macbeth is a very tragic story three witches tell macbeth that he will become the thane of cawdor, the thane of glams and will also.\nIs macbeth a tragic hero or merely a monster “the journey to a tragic hero” an essay exploring macbeth’s journey to becoming a tragic hero a tragic hero is.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Impact on Jesus Week 2\nI cannot even begin to tell you how grateful I am to have taken on this challenge to share little snippets of what God is showing me in the Word each day. It truly has had a huge impact on me personally and pushes me to continue to look at how the stories of the OT impacted a young boy/man named Jesus. In return, it is causing me to consider the impact they should have on my own life and walk with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Thanks for allowing me to share with you, here is week 2 of my challenge.\nContinuing in the story of Joseph and its impact on Jesus. This morning I was struck by after Joseph revealed himself and sent for his entire family to be brought to Egypt, no one was left behind. His ENTIRE family was rescued from certain death and brought not only to a new land, but they were given the richest land for their needs, livestock. They were brought from the barren and placed in the bountiful. As Jesus learned of this story and moved into his role as the redeemer sent by God to save his family, he knew that NONE would be left behind, but all his family would be saved. And their redemption would be from certain death into a life placed in the center of abundance, perfect for their every need. How I love how God wrote these story lines so that a young boy named Jesus could learn them and thus learn the fullness of why He had been sent here on earth. #EnjoyTheShepherd\nAs Genesis 47 opens up we see Joseph standing before Pharaoh on behalf of his brothers. He is there to present them and speak on their behalf. He prepared them for this meeting (Genesis 46:31-34) and then he asked that the best of the land be given to them to dwell in. Having earned the favor of Pharaoh, Joseph asked with bold confidence that his family be ushered into a place in which they could thrive with their families and their livestock. Then he presented his brothers and father to Pharaoh who then gave them what Joseph asked for. Surely Joseph had made sure they were properly dressed and in full understanding as how to act and speak in front of the king. He did not just throw them in there, but prepared them to stand before the ruler of the land. What a glorious picture for Jesus as he learned how to enter the throne room of God on behalf of his brothers and family. Not only going in to speak on their behalf but also fully preparing them to stand before the King of Kings and to be given the absolute best for them and their families! What a treasure this story of Joseph must have been to Jesus, the one who stand before God on our behalf and what a treasure it is to us as we go and make disciples, boldly enabled to enter his thrown room and present them to Him through prayer that He might lavish the best them! #EnjoyTheShepherd\nThis morning I finished the story of Joseph and two things stood out to me. When his father Jacob passed away, his brothers returned to a state of fear. They assumed there was a grudge being held. When they approach Joseph with this concern, it says he wept! How could they possibly still think he intended them harm after all he went through to save their lives and put them in the best of all the land. As his tears dried he demonstrated his love for them again by saying \"what you meant for evil, God intended for good!\" How deeply this must have impacted his heart for those he had been sent to save. When we continuously show signs of unbelief in the fullness of his forgiveness and love, how much it must have pained his heart. We assume judgement even after our redemption and being brought into the paradise of God's kingdom. But even through this He reminded his disciples and continues to remind us, \"What you did, your sins, mistakes, blemishes, and unbelief, our rejection and despising of him that we meant for evil, God had a plan from the beginning to restore us to full fellowship with Him, this even our evil plans God intended for our good! #EnjoyTheShepherd\nThis morning for me was a little on the overload side as I started looking at the life of Moses. There are SO MANY correlations to Jesus and his life. Being born and having your life threatened by death as an infant. Being rescued by the land of Egypt, Moses by Pharaohs daughter, Jesus by his parents fleeing to that land. So much to take in. But I had to resort to the question that is burning on my heart, \"How did this story of Moses impact Jesus as a boy/young man?\" To sum up in a text is not sufficient, as books can and have been written. However one chord struck me this morning. When Moses was overwhelmed by the oppression he witnessed against his people. He was so burdened by what he saw that he took action. Action that cost him his position, his comfort, his way of life. But to stand by and watch was not something he could do. He hoped that maybe he could bypass all the loss by hiding the body, but he took the risk anyway in order to rescue just one Hebrew slave! As I read Matthew 26 this morning, I see Jesus as he reflected on his decision to leave his position, his comfort, his life with the Father because he could no longer stand by and watch the oppression of his people at the hands of the Enemy. Yes, in the Garden he expressed a hope that maybe he could bypass the cost of the cross, as it was a great burden to bear, but he made the choice in eternity past and he took the risk in order to save one, his chosen people who make up one body, his bride. As he pondered these things that night, how he must have thought of Moses who led the people of Israel out of bondage by the power of God and then he said, \"Not my will Father, You do Your Will by Your Power!\"\nSo many things from today's reading that I find it hard to summarize one point. Exodus 3 we see Moses tending sheep, learning to lead them before leading people. (I can't help but wonder if Jesus tended sheep as a boy, how else would he know so much about being a good shepherd?) while Moses is tending sheep, God speaks to him and gives him direction and guidance (a personal favorite of mine as He has been teaching me in my fields, also leads me to wonder if Jesus watched sheep how much did he learn about being the Lamb of God from his lambs?) So many other things, but the \"impact\" moment for me today was when God told Moses that Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go until the firstborn of their nation had died! God gave Moses signs and wonders to do in order to convince the people, but God knew Pharaoh would hold on to his slaves until blood was shed. As Jesus heard this story as a child and read it and studied it as a young boy/man, how moved he must have been when he realized the bondage of His Father's people would not be released until the firstborn had died. This time though, it would not be the firstborn of the enemy who would pay the price, but it would be the firstborn of God who would have to suffer death in order for the Prince of the World to lose his grip on God's chosen people. His signs and wonders he performed touched the heart of the people, like Moses', but it was not enough to convince the Enemy to loose his grip! Jesus began to understand that he was Gods firstborn and that through his death, the Enemy would be forced to \"Let His People Go!\" I wander if Jesus wrestled with this even as a boy? Maybe he asked like Moses, as he did later in the Garden, \"is there any other way?\" But, like Moses, he knew the job ahead of him and in the Garden he embraced the task set before him out of love for His Father and a desire to set me free! What a Savior! #EnjoyTheShepherd\nToday has been a full day! Many great things from His hands. In Exodus 5 we see the first time Pharaoh is told to let the people go worship God. His response is \"Who is this God?\" His immediate reaction was to increase the burden on the people so they would fear asking again. It seemed to work. They caved under the heaviness of their bondage. Their excitement from Exodus 4 is gone and now they are angry at God for increasing their burdens. Making life more difficult. How Jesus allowed this to sink in to his life and then passed it on to those who followed him. He learned from this story that obedience does not always lead to instant earthly peace or gain. In fact, he knew that stepping forward to follow his Father would lead to trouble before the victory. Just look into the wilderness scene and then throughout his life. Then, in his God given wisdom, he told his disciples and us that obeying the Father would lead to trouble in this world. Yet, he backed it up just like God did at the end of Exodus 5 by stating what He would do because of who He is! Therefore we can move forward in obedience with boldness knowing that in the end He will secure the victory and His will will be accomplished. #EnjoyTheShepherd\nExodus 7 starts out with an alarming word! God declares he is going to do signs and wonders, then He says \"But I will harden his (Pharaoh's) heart.\" After each sign Moses and Aaron did, Gods word was fulfilled and Pharaoh's heart grew harder and he refused to let Gods people go. A few times he committed to give in and let them go worship outside the town, only to change his mind once relief had come. Jesus was clearly impacted by the truth that signs and wonders do not change the heart. In Mark 1 alone he shut up a demon in the temple and cast him out. He healed a leper, only to tell him to keep it quiet and go obey the law. As word spread about his miracles, he retreated to pray. His disciples found him and wanted to take him back where crowds were searching for him because they wanted to see more miracles. But Jesus knew that miracles only attach to emotions and that their hearts were not truly with him. His heart wanted them to hear the message and experience real life, not just a show! He knew from Pharaoh's story that miracles only lead to a half hearted commitment, but when relief came their hearts would be hardened and turned away. Jesus was looking for devoted followers, not fad chasers. He was interested in obedience to His Father, not fame and fortune. He desired true deliverance for his people, which would only come once the firstborn had given his life. I am amazed at the impact these stories had on Jesus, and how they are to impact me. #Impact #EnjoyTheShepherd\nSo I tried to ignore it, but this same point of #Impact keeps leaping at me today. Notice how God tells Moses \"I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and then throughout the plagues Moses writes, \"and Pharaoh hardened his heart Just as the Lord said.\" In other words, the heart of the king was in the Lords hands. And what was God's reasoning for hardening Pharaohs heart? \"So that all of Egypt will know that I am the Lord!\" God had a plan to reveal His glory not to only his people, but to all those in the world. What is beautiful here is that what God said He would do, He accomplished! How this story made its way into a young Jesus' heart and as he drew near to the accomplishment of His purpose, he could be assured that what His Daddy had said he would accomplish through Him, it would come to pass! #EnjoyTheShepherd", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Fibromyalgia was found to contribute to a poorer perceived quality of life (QoL) related to physical function in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue diseases (UCTDs). Overall, patients with UCTDs perceived both their physical and mental health as inferior compared to how the general population perceived it.\nThe study, “Longitudinal analysis of quality of life in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue diseases,” was published in the journal Patient Related Outcome Measures.\nUCTDs are autoimmune diseases in which the body damages its own tissues, resulting in the injury of major organs. Chronic autoimmune diseases are often accompanied by fibromyalgia, a disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain.\nThe study followed 46 patients (95.6% were female) with UCTDs, 16 of whom also had fibromyalgia. Participants filled out the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey questionnaire at the beginning of the study and one and two years later.\nThe majority of the UCTD patients scored lower on the physical component summary (PCS) — related to physical well-being — and mental component summary (MCS) — related to mental well-being — than did the general population, both at the beginning and at the end of the study.\nWhile about one-third of the patients with UCTD patients improved their scores over the course of the study, only 26% reached levels higher than the average seen in the general population for the PCS, and 13% for the MCS.\nFibromyalgia was found to have a negative impact on PCS scores, indicating a worse perceived QoL related to physical problems among patients with UCTDs and fibromyalgia, compared to those without fibromyalgia. Having fibromyalgia did not appear to influence MCS scores in patients with UCTDs.\n“We have pointed out that UCTD patients perceive a worse physical and mental QoL compared to general population and that it remains stable in the majority of patients over a two-year follow-up period,” the team concluded.\n“Fibromyalgia is one of the major contributors of physical QoL, whereas no factor influencing mental component has been identified,” they added. “An improvement in QoL can be observed in less than half of patients [with UCTDs] over a two-year follow-up.”\nThe authors said larger studies are needed to identify factors influencing quality of life and to define the role of drug treatments for these patients.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Welcome to re:Virals, The Haiku Foundation’s weekly poem commentary feature on some of the finest haiku ever written in English. This week’s poem was\nI chucked the urn too — R. P. Carter, Frogpond 33:3 (2010)\nPaul Miller offers some food for thought about the poem:\nI think this poem illustrates the importance of the haiku’s two-part structure, because this poem feels like half a haiku, and after reading it, I feel a bit unfulfilled.\nThe poem suggests that after spreading someone’s ashes (at least that’s how I read it) the poet then “chucks” the urn as well. Yet, I don’t know how the poet feels about it. Is the poet happy by the deceased’s demise, as perhaps suggested by the choice of “chuck?” Or is the mood somber, and the discarding of the urn meant to remind us of all that was lost by the deceased’s death, the “chucking” done in frustration?\nThis is where an additional element (say, a seasonal reference) could help guide the reader.\nGarry Eaton finds the poet eschewing ceremonial tradition:\nThere’s urns, and then there’s urns, Carter seems to be saying. There was the Grecian urn memorialized by Keats. The ashes it may have contained were unimportant, and receive no mention in the poem. There was also the jar in Wallace Stevens’ “Anecdote of the Jar,” probably just a Mason canning jar, which the poet co-opted for a different type of ritual, placing it on a hill in Tennessee so it stands out, not for its beauty in representing a grand tradition of mourning, but for a utilitarian plainness that “made the slovenly wilderness surround that hill.”\nCarter’s effort is more candid. It brings us to a moment just after the ashes have been ritually poured, when the bearer needs to decide how to dispose of the urn, perhaps a Mason jar, or a tomato tin. Clearly, this is not an expensive urn, or one with any particular sentimental associations, despite the recent death. And it reminds us that we are sometimes asked to do things that we would not otherwise do, and do not always perform them according to protocol, though they seem to call for a more respectful treatment, either in poetry or in disposal of the corpse. From this perspective, I am also reminded of W. C. Williams’ poem, “Tract,” in which the poet urges citizens to eschew the ceremonial tradition of mourning that emphasizes the wealth or importance of the deceased, and to let the bones of the human condition plainly show by taking the plain pine coffin to the cemetery on a rough, open, wooden wagon drawn by an ordinary carthorse.\nBy these comparisons, one can clearly relate this haiku, in all its honest plainness, to a long and complex tradition of memorial poetry, including elegy, which like a good haiku it plainly contradicts, to black, humorous effect. For contrast who remembers Lycidas?\nYet once more, O ye laurels, and once more\nYe myrtles brown, with ivy never sere,\nI come to pluck your berries harsh and crude,\nAnd with forc’d fingers rude\nShatter your leaves before the mellowing year.\nBitter constraint and sad occasion dear\nCompels me to disturb your season due;\nFor Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime,\nYoung Lycidas, and hath not left his peer.\nWho would not sing for Lycidas? he knew\nHimself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.\nHe must not float upon his wat’ry bier\nUnwept, and welter to the parching wind,\nWithout the meed of some melodious tear.\nLycidas, by John Milton\nRobert Kingston encounters a touch of suspense and amusement:\nIt could be a key line from a “some mother’s do ‘ave em” scene.\nAh yes! Here are images of the lovable character of Frank Spencer played by the exceptionally talented Michael Crawford. An accident prone husband who, though trying to be the master tradesman, inevitably ends in or with a pile of mess.\nIn this scenario, I could visualize him standing among the broken pieces, with an array of facial expressions of both confusion and befuddlement, attempting to piece the urn together in front of a disgruntled crowd.\nAlas, I think R. P. Carter has intended a touch of suspense and amusement to what for many is a serious moment. The “aha” moment, I believe, is tucked away in the discarding of the urn along with the ashes. Carter captures well the fakeness of symbolism and materialism, choosing instead to harness the most precious things from a loving relationship in the safest of places: our heart and mind.\nCezar-Florin Ciobîcă discovers emptiness in the moment:\nThis is a disturbing scene that upsets the reader. The urn keeps the remains of a loved one, a relative or a close friend. Before scattering ashes, the people present at the funeral take their farewell for the last time from the one who has passed away, patting the urn. Somewhat upside-down, the poet seems to say that he chucked the urn too, but nothing happened, because he felt nothing, he heard nothing to give him any sign that things would be otherwise; hence, the great disappointment of one who hoped for a miracle in receiving a subliminal message.\nWhat remains behind are the memories that such a moment triggers in each participant. The soul of the dead one is not there, it cannot be held captive in a container, because it flew to another realm.\nThe final adverb “too” accentuates, on a phonetic level, the impression of emptiness, and reminds us of an old biblical quote: “vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas” (Ecclesiastes 1.2)\nLynne Rees uncovers a sense of story:\nI’m initially hard-pushed to call this a haiku, at least in the traditional sense. Where’s the kigo? Where’s the juxtaposition? Is the single declarative sentence too direct a statement for the subtle understatement we associate with haiku poetry?\nBut what I do respond to is the powerful sense of story in Carter’s five words. I’m reminded of the “alleged” Hemingway six word short story: “For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn.” It has the same compressed power that can be unpicked to unravel a family story of a complicated parent/child, or spousal, relationship, a story of death, of saying goodbye, of anger or resentment or indifference. This compression would allow me to write a 1,000 word story to precede this handful of words. I can fill in the spaces with a whole gamut of behavior and gripping human emotion.\nBut Carter chose not to do that. He/she gives us the final bow. And it’s here that the haiku moment resides: with a brutal honesty.\nMargherita Petriccione is impressed by the brevity of the line:\nEven if, in contrast to the poetics of a haiku, this writing is expressed in a past time, it still presents itself with the immediate impact of a moment really lived. There is makoto (“authenticity”) in this experience, and there is karumi (“lightness”) in the thrift and simplicity of words. The extreme brevity of a monoku appears as the only possible form; one cannot imagine this haiku otherwise expressed. But what makes it a work that remains impressed, one of those haiku that you would like to have written, is the way, after a moment of skidding, it hits you violently in the heart. It is like a thin blade that penetrates deeply and lets the spirit of the reader and writer find a communion without words, the sharing of an uncontainable pain. A gesture so immense in its agony, so indescribable, is there in the detached simplicity of a few words. Because what makes this work even more valuable is the detachment in narrating the dispersion of loved ashes, and the impotent launch of the now empty urn.\nAs this week’s winner, Margherita gets to choose next week’s poem, which you’ll find below. We invite you to write a commentary to it. It may be as long or short, academic or spontaneous, serious or silly, public or personal as you like. We will select out-takes from the best of these. And the very best will be reproduced in its entirety and take its place as part of the THF Archives. Best of all, the winning commentator gets to choose the next poem for commentary.\nAnyone can participate. A new poem will appear each Friday morning. Simply put your commentary in the Contact box by the following Tuesday midnight (Eastern US Time Zone). Please use the subject header “re:Virals” so we know what we’re looking at. We look forward to seeing some of your favorite poems — and finding out why!\nno telegram today only more leaves fell — Jack Kerouac, Book of Haikus (2003)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "NC_old1200: Regulation of Photosynthetic Processes\n(Multistate Research Project)\nNC_old1200: Regulation of Photosynthetic Processes\nDuration: 10/01/2012 to 09/30/2017\nStatement of Issues and Justification\nNecessity of Photosynthesis Research\nPhotosynthesis is essential to life on earth as it converts sunlight into biochemical energy used by the vast majority of all life forms. It is the primary process for generating plant biomass. As a result of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is converted into reduced forms of carbon (e.g., sugars, lipids, amino acids and other cell building blocks) and oxygen is produced through photosynthetic splitting of water. As such, plant and algal photosynthesis affects global geochemical processes, in particular carbon cycling (42), and is an important factor to be considered in global climate change models. Aside from these fundamental aspects of photosynthesis, agricultural production of food, fibers, natural chemicals, and biofuel feed stocks is directly affected by limitations of photosynthesis (130,147). It is widely recognized that some of the greatest challenges humankind is currently facing -feeding an exponentially growing global population, supplying sufficient energy to sustain this global population, averting negative environmental impacts due to human activities- can be addressed using photosynthetic organisms (i.e. agricultural crops) (39). Therefore, the need for state-of-the-art photosynthesis research to improve the efficiency of the process in traditional crops or for the development of novel crops has never been more urgent.\nCollaborators participating in this regional project will place considerable focus on understanding and improving the response of photosynthesis to developmental and environmental factors that limit productivity. The research spans all levels of organization from the molecular and cellular through the leaf, whole plant and canopy levels. Particular emphasis will be placed on abiotic stresses (i.e., heat, cold, drought and salinity), nitrogen and water use efficiency, and the signaling pathways that initiate the plant response. Factors that enhance or limit agricultural productivity generally do so by impacting photosynthesis. The gains in yield of the major crops over the past half-century have come about primarily from breeding for greater harvest index (HI) and through management practices, particularly the application of fertilizer (50). For well-fertilized crops, HI has approached the maximum achievable for many crops, and future gains will depend on increasing total production (127). Greater productivity, which is necessary to meet the food, fuel and fiber needs of a growing world population (103), requires improving the basic efficiency of the photosynthetic process for light energy capture and the utilization of this energy for the synthesis of organic molecules (127). For maximum benefit, the efficiency of the process must be increased under both optimal conditions and when conditions are sub-optimal, consonant with the changes in temperatures, CO2 and precipitation anticipated from climate change.\nImportance and Consequences\nIt has become increasingly clear that global climatic trends are negatively impacting the yields of our major crops used for the production of food, feed, and biofuels (83). Sustaining the productivity of traditional crops will require improvements in the efficiency of photosynthesis that go beyond traditional breeding and selection (94). Similarly, the development of novel feedstocks for biofuel/chemicals production in a way that is sustainable, that is not in competition with food, and that reduces greenhouse gas production requires novel approaches and non-traditional crops including possibly algae (118,134). Only a concerted and vertically integrated effort encompassing all aspects of photosynthesis by plant scientists will ensure that appropriate solutions will be found for some of these most pressing problems currently facing society. Innovative thinking will be required that does not stop at traditional agricultural systems and crops, but may enable transitioning to new crops dedicated to the production of biofuels and chemicals instead of food. As photosynthesis is at the basis of biomass production, we need to find innovative ways to overcome its limitations. Failure to do so now will limit our future ability to produce sufficient food and fuels in a rapidly changing climate.\nGenomic resources and second generation sequencing technologies have advanced to the point that a wealth of information can be generated for any species of plant or alga (e.g. date and oil palm) (3,16), in a relatively short time span and at reasonable costs. Thus, the raw material for genetic engineering of novel crops or algal strains is readily available. Large-scale phenomics focused on chloroplast proteins in model plants such as Arabidopsis has become possible (85). Moreover, using comparative genomics, reconstruction of metabolism from gene expression and genomic data has become readily feasible for any organism. One example is the recent metabolic reconstruction of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (22). In addition, our knowledge and analysis of primary metabolism of plants and metabolic networks has advanced to levels (78) that can enable the rational design of novel crops, which will meet our needs. Despite this progress, the task of genetically transforming crop plants and analyzing the consequences (phenotypes) as the result of genetic engineering is still tedious and time consuming, and synthetic biology efforts with plants involving stacking or replacing multiple genes are lagging behind those for bacterial systems (98). Moreover, photosynthesis is one of the most complex processes found in nature, requiring hundreds of genes and proteins, and multiple and overlapping levels of regulation. Thus, to enable rapid progress in the basic discovery process and to devise strategies for the improvement of photosynthesis in crops, facile model organisms such as Arabidopsis (121) or micro alga such as Chlamydomonas (99) will have to be employed to quickly identify the most promising directions for crop improvement. Such an integrated approach requires multifaceted expertise and, thus, will benefit from synergy derived from a multi-investigator effort.\nMulti State Effort\nProviding a conceptual framework through the current project, this North Central Regional Group of scientists has already successfully worked on diverse aspects of photosynthesis bringing together a complementary set of expertise. While global issues as laid out above are addressed, practical solutions to these problems often have local solutions that take into account climatic zones to which specific crop species or algae are adapted. Continued effort by the current group will contribute towards these main goals while also enabling local solutions of particular value to the North Central Region and other participating states. Participating partners are listed below for each focus area.\nEfforts by the group are organized into four themes (Objectives). While the details and outcomes will be discussed in detail in the main body of the proposal, likely impacts falling under these themes can be briefly summarized as follows:\n1. Plastid Function and Intracellular Communication. The chloroplast is the organelle in plant and algal cells that harbors the photosynthetic apparatus. It is also the location for a large number of enzymes turning this organelle into a biochemical factory. Biogenesis of the chloroplast requires the cooperation with other cell organelles. The import of nuclear encoded proteins or membrane lipids assembled at the ER provide two examples (14,75). As primary photosynthate and many other metabolites (e.g. fatty acids) are only synthesized in the plastid, they have to be exported to be available to other cell compartments. Furthermore, the integration of chloroplast biogenesis into overall cell development requires intricate signaling processes as does the adjustment of the photosynthetic electron transport chain to changing conditions. Specific studies will focus on the photosynthetic electron transport chain, lipid and protein transfer phenomena involving plastids, as well as signaling pathways affecting chloroplast biogenesis and function. Likely impacts are an increased understanding of protein and lipid transfer processes involved in chloroplast biogenesis, as well as an improved understanding of the signals and regulatory processes that adjust photosynthetic electron transport or are required for chloroplast biogenesis and homeostasis. (IA-AES, KS-AE, MI-AES, NE-AES, WSU-AES).\n2. Photosynthetic Capture and Photorespiratory Release of CO2. Photosynthetic carbon fixation and photorespiratory release of CO2 have long been recognized as limitations to crop productivity (49,95,100,119). Considerable focus will be placed on engineering improvements in ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and the heat-sensitive activase that regulates its function. Microbial CO2 concentrating mechanisms will be investigated for potential improvements of algae and crop plants. Emphasis will also be placed on the mechanisms that control carbon flux through primary and secondary metabolic pathways. Likely impacts will be insights into the regulation of carbon fixation and the generation of modified enzymes that improve primary and secondary carbon metabolism in plants. (AZ-ARS, IA-AES, IL-ARS, LA-ES, NE-AES, NV-AES, WA-AES).\n3. Mechanisms Regulating Photosynthate Partitioning. Manipulation of carbon partitioning and understanding its regulation is central to the design of new biofuel crops that, for example, divert carbon from carbohydrates into triacylglycerols (38). Transport phenomena at cellular, tissue, and whole plant scales will be considered, sugar sensing mechanisms will be explored, as well as partitioning between storage carbohydrates, lipids and stress-protective compounds. Likely impacts will be defining the mechanisms that regulate photosynthate partitioning into the biosynthetic pathways for sucrose, starch, sugar alcohols, and lipids. Strategies will be developed to alter carbon partitioning by engineering. (FL-ARS, Il-ARS, MI-AES, MN-AES, MS-AES, VA-AES, WA-AES).\n4. Developmental and Environmental Limitations to Photosynthesis. Factors such as leaf anatomy (126) or environmental stress-factors such as high light (90), excess salinity or high temperature (112) greatly affect photosynthesis. Particular emphasis will be placed on abiotic stresses (temperature, water, and salinity), nitrogen use, and global atmospheric change. Likely impacts will be defining the environmental factors that influence photosynthetic productivity at the whole plant and canopy levels. (IL-AES, KS-AES, MI-AES, MN-AES, NV-AES, AZ-ARS).\nRelated, Current and Previous Work\nComprehensive CRIS database searches were performed by individual participants using specific and more general search terms such as photosynthesis alone (812 hits alone) and in combination with other terms such as lipids (21 hits), RuBisCo (60 hits), carbon fixation (40 hits), etc. were conducted as relevant to the topic. Aside from projects associated with NC1168 members, no apparent overlap with projects by others was detected. It was apparent that no other regional project offers the same focus or breath of multistate participation in covering this topic.\n1. Plastid Function and Intracellular Communication.\nChloroplast biogenesis and function of the photosynthetic membrane is a prerequisite for plant photosynthesis. Collaborators under Objective 1 focus on different aspects of this process. The aim of the Rodermel lab (IA-AES) is to characterize proteins that regulate chloroplast biogenesis. The focus will be on PTOX and VAR2, both of which are thylakoid membrane proteins that play a central role in photoprotection of the photosynthetic apparatus (6,142). These proteins were identified ~10 years ago by cloning the genes responsible for two Arabidopsis variegations (immutans and var2); gene isolation and characterization were carried out under the previous NC-1168 Project (23,136). PTOX (the IMMUTANS gene product) is a quinol terminal oxidase that participates in the control of the redox poise of the plastoquinone pool; it acts as a safety valve to shunt excess electrons from the PQ pool to oxygen, forming water (5,43,87). VAR2, on the other hand, is an FtsH-like metalloprotease that is involved in D1 turnover during the PSII repair cycle (23). It also mediates a number of membrane modeling events that occur during thylakoid membrane biogenesis.\nThe Stone lab (NE-AES) is interested in studying chloroplast biogenesis by determining the function of the DJ-1 protein in chloroplast development. Arabidopsis contains three close homologs of DJ-1 originally identified in animals, where it is causally involved in different diseases such as Parkinsons (15). Homozygous disruption of the AtDJ1C gene results in non-viable, albino seedlings that can be rescued by expression of wild-type or epitope-tagged AtDJ1C (79). The plastids from the dj1c mutant plants lack thylakoid membranes and grana stacks, indicating that AtDJ1C is required for proper chloroplast development. The essential role for AtDJ1C in chloroplast maturation expands the known functional diversity of the DJ-1 superfamily and provides the first evidence of a role for specialized DJ-1-like proteins in eukaryotic development.\nPhotosynthetic membranes contain predominantly galactolipids (34) and the Benning lab (MI-AES) focuses on the assembly, biosynthesis and turnover of thylakoid lipids and the regulation of these processes. Two pathways are involved the biosynthesis of lipids of the photosynthetic membrane: 1. Assembly of glycerolipids from de novo synthesized fatty acids in the chloroplast; and 2. Assembly of lipid precursors at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) followed by import into plastids (14). To address the question of the mechanism for the transport of lipids from the ER to the inner chloroplast envelope membrane, mutants of Arabidopsis partially disrupted in the import of lipid precursors from the ER were isolated (140). Severe mutant alleles cause embryo lethality indicating the essential function of the respective proteins (139). All mutants isolated to date carry mutations in one of four proteins, TGD1, 2, 3, and 4. Their name, TriGalactosylDiacylglycerol, is derived from the accumulation of a diagnostic oligogalactolipid in the mutants due to the activation of a processive galactosyltransferase (SFR2) , known to be involved in lipid remodeling required for freezing tolerance in plants (88). The TGD1, 2, and 3 proteins are components of an ABC transporter complex associated with the inner envelope membrane that likely bridges the interenvelope membrane space (9,84,140). TGD4 is a predicted beta barrel protein that is part of a distinct protein complex associated with the outer envelope membrane (138). It is hypothesized that these TGD proteins form two interacting complexes giving rise to a conduit for PtdOH transfer from the ER to the inner envelope membrane of plastids.\nWork in the Kramer lab is aimed at understanding how the photosynthetic machinery is integrated into plants and algae to provide precisely the right amount of energy, in precisely the correct forms, without self-destruction. To accomplish this, the Kramer lab has developed or harnessed a set of powerful in vivo spectroscopic tools to probe key components of photosynthetic electron and proton transfer, ATP synthesis, photoprotection, photoinhibition etc. (11). Using these tools, the importance of regulation of the ATP synthase and cyclic electron flow in balancing the energy budget, efficiency and protection of photosynthesis has been established (66,70,81,82,104,125,144). The Kramer lab will harness these tools for high-throughput photosynthetic phenomics (high-throughput phenotyping) of both algae and plants, to study photosynthesis at a systems level, and to use this technology to determine how the photosynthesis network is regulated in response to fluctuating environmental conditions. This approach will allow the assessment of downstream regulation at the biochemical and biophysical levels and to determine the roles of previously unknown genes, proteins, and processes in setting the regulatory strategy of energy transduction. Importantly, this novel phenomics platform will be available to members of the NC1168, for example, for the analysis of lipid mutants\n2. Photosynthetic Capture and Photorespiratory Release of CO2\nThe common goal is to improve the rate of CO2 fixation by focusing on the primary events of CO2 acquisition (49,89,95,119). Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of photosynthesis by fixing CO2 from the atmosphere. The Spreitzer (NE-AES) group has defined structure-function relationships of Rubisco by employing genetic approaches in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which is the only eukaryote that allows genetic engineering of both nuclear and chloroplast-encoded subunits of Rubisco. Guided by phylogenetics and high-resolution X-ray crystal structures, regions have been identified that might serve as targets for improving the Rubisco enzyme (64,106). More recently, catalytically-improved plant/algal hybrid enzymes have been produced (45), indicating that it might be possible to express plant Rubisco in Chlamydomonas for pursuing new strategies aimed at improving the crop-plant enzyme.\nRubisco is maintained in an active state by another chloroplast protein, Rubisco activase. Rubisco activity might be increased by altering the interaction of Rubisco with activase or improving activase's thermal stability (94,119). The Salvucci (AZ-ARS) group is elucidating the structure-function relationships of activase and its interactions with Rubisco. Past work (AZ-ARS, NE-AES) identified a substrate recognition domain in activase that directly interacts with a region in Rubisco (74,93). In a collaborative effort between Salvucci (AZ-ARS) and Wachter's group at Arizona State University, the X-ray crystal structure of this lever-arm domain has been solved recently (53). The Spreitzer (NE-AES) and Salvucci (AZ-ARS) groups are investigating the interaction between activase and Rubisco, particularly the involvement of the Rubisco small subunits, the Rubisco central solvent channel, and the Rubisco large-subunit carboxyl terminus. To understand activase's extreme thermolability, Salvucci (AZ-ARS) has found that activity loss upon moderate heating is accompanied by aggregation and is affected by Mg2+ and nucleotide levels (13).\nChlamydomonas has an inducible CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM) that concentrates CO2 in the vicinity of Rubisco, thereby decreasing photorespiration and increasing net CO2 fixation. Several project participants are investigating the CCM to determine whether or not it can be engineered to increase algal growth for the production of biofuels, or whether or not a CCM might be introduced into crop plants (IA-AES, LA-AES, NE-AES). The Spalding group (IA-AES) has been investigating the LCIB protein (in complex with LCIC) that is distributed in the chloroplast stroma at low CO2, but concentrates around the pyrenoid at very low CO2 concentration. Suppressors of the lcib-mutant have been recovered and two are allelic with thylakoid CAH3 carbonic anhydrase (36,37). Collaborative efforts by Spalding and Weeks (NE-AES) have identified an ABC-type transporter, HLA3, that is located in the plasma membrane and is involved in HCO3- transport (35). This work also implicated the plastid envelope protein, LCIA, in HCO3- transport. Transcriptome sequencing has identified additional candidates that might function in the CCM, especially additional Ci transporters (IA-AES, NE-AES). As a means for engineering CCM genes, Spalding and Weeks have collaborated on developing transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) for genome editing in Chlamydomonas (77). The Moroney (LA-AES) group has used insertional mutagenesis to study the CCM. Nine carbonic anhydrase genes and genes that might encode HCO3- transporters have been identified. Moroney and Ynalvez (89) have proposed a model for CCM function. The Moroney lab has also studied genes encoding carbonic anhydrase isoforms, three of which have been found to be important for the acquisition of CO2.\nIn C4 and Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) catalyzes the initial fixation of CO2, thereby concentrating CO2 near Rubisco. The Cushman (NV-AES) group has investigated the molecular basis of CAM evolution and the roles of storage carbohydrates and circadian clock control of CAM. CAM evolution progresses from C3 photosynthesis to weak and then to strong CAM. Strong CAM is correlated with reciprocal fluxes in acidity and storage carbohydrates, tissue succulence, isogene recruitment, and leaf-specific and circadian clock controlled mRNA expression (115-117). A colorimetric assay was developed to measure leaf pH and screen a fast neutron-mutagenized population of common ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) to isolate CAM-deficient mutants (27). One mutant showed greater H2O2 content and Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase mRNA expression, indicating that CAM might contribute to alleviation of oxidative stress (124). Feeding of sugars restored nocturnal accumulation of organic acids, indicating that CAM possesses some flexibility for utilizing different carbohydrate sources (27). Gene expression profiling showed changes associated with induction of CAM by salinity stress (28). Many genes undergo shifts in their circadian-clock output phase during the stressed-induced shift from C3 photosynthesis to CAM providing new CAM-specific markers.\nAn unusual mechanism of carbon acquisition is found in some C4 species in the family Chenopodiaceae. These species exist as single cells rather than the dual-cell Kranz anatomy required in C4 crop plants. Edwards and Okita (WA-AES) have been defining all aspects of this novel C4 system (e.g., (92)), which may provide ideas for introducing a C4 CO2 concentrating system into C3 plants.\n3. Mechanisms Regulating Photosynthate Partitioning.\nFor the regulation of photosynthate partitioning three levels of control are relevant. First, metabolic controls have been explored by IL-ARS, MI-AES and WA-AES focusing on specific enzymes. Of particular interest are sucrose and amino acids because the biosynthetic pathways for both end products involve at least one enzyme that is controlled by protein phosphorylation, sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) (123) and nitrate reductase (NR) (55), respectively. IL-ARS has determined that both enzymes have a conserved methionine (Met) residue within the phosphorylation motif that directs the requisite protein kinase to the regulatory phosphorylation site on the enzyme. Phosphorylation of these enzymes is thought to be sensitive to reactive oxygen (ROS) signals (e.g., H2O2) via oxidation of the essential methionine residue. If so, this could be a general link between conditions that increase ROS species, such as abiotic stress, and photosynthate partitioning.\nStarch synthesis is also an important target for manipulating source-sink relationships as a means to increase the genetic yield potential of crop plants (54,129) and plant productivity in general. Past work has established that two regulatory enzymes, ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) and phosphorylase I, control different phases of starch biosynthesis. AGPase catalyzes the first committed step in the starch biosynthetic (maturation) pathway and is subjected to allosteric regulation and redox control. Over the past 18 years WA-AES has made considerable strides in understanding the roles of the large and small subunits that comprise the heterotetrameric subunit enzyme structure using a biochemical-genetic approach (12,51,56-60,67). Expression of a highly catalytically active, but regulatory-insensitive bacterial AGPase during rice seed development increased seed weights of 8-15% (105). Similar increases in seed weight were evident when an up-regulated form of the potato AGPase large subunit was expressed in developing rice seeds (73). Mass spectrometry analysis of the major metabolites in transgenic rice seeds indicated that expression of the bacterial AGPase increases the flux of carbon into starch by elevating the steady-state concentration of metabolites present at near equilibrium.\nWork by MI-AES on leaf starch degradation pathways (24,111,120,131-133) showed that beta-maltose is the primary molecule for export of carbon from chloroplasts at night. Export of maltose in preference to triose phosphates or glucose lowers the ATP required for starch to sucrose conversion at night from four to three (131). The starch degradation pathway provided important insight into sugar signaling mechanisms because leaf starch metabolism is a major source of glucose for the sugar-sensing hexokinase reaction (111). It also resulted in an understanding of the potential roles of phosphorolytic (to supply chloroplast metabolism) and amylolytic (for export from the chloroplast) leaf starch breakdown (132).\nA second level of control of carbon partitioning is sugar-mediated signal transduction. Research from FL-AES focused on differential sugar-responsiveness of genes for sucrose metabolism, and C/N balance, to produce a global framework for selective advantages of feast-and-famine genes in multicellular organisms (68,69,141). In support of the overall goals, work by FL-AES also helped establish a national resource for corn (Zea mays L.) knock-out mutants that compares with that for Arabidopsis (MaizeGDB.org (86,110))\nWork from several laboratories including OH-AES and VA-AES have identified components of the sugar-mediated signal transduction pathway as targets for increasing plant yield (61,62,113). OH-AES has focused on the dissection of hexokinase-dependent and independent sugar signaling mechanisms (62,137), signal crosstalk between sugar and hormones (97,146), and more recently the transcription factor networks involved in sugar signal transduction (63,96). A family of sugar responsive Tandem Zinc Finger (TZF) genes are regulated by hexokinase-dependent sugar signaling mechanisms (25), and might play key roles in integrating sugar/hormone signal transduction and RNA regulation in gene expression (80). The sucrose non-fermenting related kinase-1 (SnRK1) (122) gene encodes a highly conserved energy and stress sensor that VA-AES and other groups have identified as a key regulator of sugar-mediated signaling in plants (7,8,10).\nA third level of control over carbon partitioning involves the carbon sink compounds called polyols. MI-AES has shown that plants with the capacity to synthesize various acyclic polyols have substantial tolerance for salt and drought stress (41,44). Transgenic plants with elevated acyclic polyol biosynthesis contain substantial improvements in salt tolerance (20,114). Conversely, plants with reduced concentrations of different polyols can be hyper-sensitive to stress and grow poorly (33,128). Thus the study of polyol synthesis and the impact of various polyols on plant growth, development and stress responses might yield valuable insights for altering carbon partitioning.\n4. Developmental and Environmental Limitations to Photosynthesis\nNC-1168 collaborators have been active in a number of investigations that have explored developmental and environmental limitations to photosynthesis. These include nitrogen and water use efficiency and stress physiology (e.g., heat, salt, drought, cold), as well as the underlying mechanisms that signal plants to respond to stress. Nitrogen acquisition and use are key to increasing the efficiency of light interception. Improvements in nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) will lower production costs by reducing the input of fertilizer needed for high yields, which in turn will decrease the amount of pollution associated with fertilizer run-off. Research by the Below group (IL-AES) is focused on agricultural intensification using advanced maize and soybean genetics to increase yields with reduced fertilizer inputs, lowering the amount of N required per unit of carbon fixed. This group has investigated the impact of N and maize genetics on the partitioning of photosynthates into yield (109). Their work suggests that kernel composition is source limited in maize. Determining the nitrogen mass balance for a tile-drained agricultural watershed in east-central Illinois showed that soil N depletion is likely to occur in years with above-average precipitation or extremely wet spring periods (47).\nBreeding and selection for improved plant performance under different stresses can be accelerated by the development of high-throughput methods for phenotyping plant responses (102). The Aiken and Prasad groups (KS-AES) have used theoretical consideration to simulate stomatal behavior based on radiation utilization (1,2) and have shown that canopy temperature and chlorophyll fluorescence show potential as drought tolerance screening tools. The research includes field evaluation of a procedure to quantify the stay-green trait (18), a drought resistance feature, in sorghum. Salvucci's group (AZ-ARS) has used a tractor-based platform for monitoring canopy temperature, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and plant height to examine the response of 25 cotton cultivars to the combined effects of heat and drought stress.\nTolerance/adaption to both cold and heat are addressed in the NC1168 project. Cushman's group (NV-AES) is working with Camelina sativa, a potential biofuel crop, to develop germplasm with increased cold tolerance. Research on high temperature stress is a major focus of the NC1168 with the Sharkey (MI-AES), Salvucci (AZ-ARS), Cushman (NV-AES), Loescher (MI-AES), Aiken (KS-AES), Prasad (KS-AES) and Harper (NV-AES) groups all participating in the effort. Sharkeys group has used both lab and field studies to uncover the effects of heat on electron transport (108,135). This group has shown that under heat stress 1) photosystem I becomes more reduced and the stroma becomes more oxidized (107); 2) the proton motive force (pmf) decreases; and 3) the proportion of the pmf that is accounted for by the pH component decline (143,145). Salvuccis group (AZ-ARS) is focusing on the acute thermolability of Rubisco activase (13), which reduces the activation state of Rubisco under heat stress (71,72). This group has developed an assay for measuring activase activity in leaf extracts and used this assay to characterize the temperature response of activase from several plant species, including C. sativa (19). The groups of Aiken and Prasad (KS-AES) are investigating the effects of high temperature stress on photosynthesis and fruit-set (30,31). They have found that the inhibitory effects might be mediated through ethylene response through the production of reactive oxygen species and subsequent membrane damage (29,32). Loeschers group (MI-AES) has investigated the effects of heat stress on photosynthesis in grapevines. Their research showed that the effects could be attributed to inhibition of electron transport activities and a decrease in the activation state of Rubisco.\nStomatal behavior is central to both, drought stress and water use efficiency, and is being investigated actively. Efforts include phenotyping studies by Aiken (KS-AES) and Salvucci (AZ-ARS), as well as efforts by Prasad (KS-AES) to elucidate the basis of the slow wilting trait in sorghum (91), and to examine the response to water vapor pressure deficit (48). Cushmans group (NV-AES) is focused on improving drought stress in C. sativa using a variety of approaches to increase its cultivation range.\nThe Cushman group (NV-AES) is also investigating, Dunaliella salina Teodoresco, a unicellular, halophytic green alga that is among the most industrially important microalgae. This algae produces massive amounts of b-carotene and is a potential feedstock for biofuel production (101). To understand the molecular basis of its salinity tolerance and its potential as a biofuel feedstock, this group obtained ESTs for 2,831 clones representing 1,401 unique transcripts from a complementary DNA (cDNA) library (4) to capture mRNA expression under high and low light and dark conditions, NaCl, anaerobic, and nutrient deprivation stress.\nThe response of plants to abiotic stress is communicated at the cellular and molecular levels through a network of signaling pathways, often involving protein kinases. The Harper group (NV-AES), in collaboration with Cushman (NV-AES), has obtained evidence for in vivo interactions between a 14-3-3 and 121 different clients, raising the total number of putative 14-3-3 clients in plants to over 300 proteins (21,26). Many of these interactions are involved in regulating subcellular organization, signaling and metabolic regulation and most require phosphorylation of a binding site on the client. Many of these phospho-interactions are likely mediated by Calcium-dependent Protein Kinases (CPKs) (17). The Li group (MS-AES) has identified a Vicia faba abscisic acid-activated protein kinase (AAPK) and they have shown it to be a positive regulator of abscisic acid (ABA)-induced stomatal closure (76). In a search of the targets of this kinase, they have identified several phosphoproteins regulated by ABA and drought (52,65). The identity of these targets suggests that ABA-activated protein kinases play an important role in the regulation of chlorophyll degradation and carbohydrate metabolism.\nDetermine factors that regulate the biogenesis and maintenance of chloroplasts and the assembly and function of the photosynthetic membrane.\nDetermine and modify the biochemical and regulatory factors that impact the photosynthetic capture and photorespiratory release of CO2.\nDetermine the mechanisms regulating photosynthate partitioning and to carbon partitioning by engineering.\nAnalyze the limitations to photosynthetic productivity caused by environmental factors.\nMethodsObjective 1. Plastid Function and Intracellular Communication. The Rodermel lab (IA-AES) is interested in defining the regulatory mechanisms underlying PTOX and VAR2 function using immutans and var2 as tools. The principal method involves the generation and characterization of second-site genetic suppressors of these mutants. It is presumed that such suppressors define activities that bypass the need for PTOX and VAR2 because they are able to give rise to all-green, photosynthetically-competent plants. To date, over 100 var2 and five immutans suppressor lines have been isolated, and a dozen have been characterized at the molecular level. Many of these suppressors are components of the chloroplast translation apparatus (for var2 suppressors), or novel thylakoid membrane proteins (for var2 and immutans suppressors). Using molecular genetics approaches, the Stone lab (NE-AES) will focus on the analysis of knockout mutants for the A. thaliana DJ-1 homologs. At least one gene is essential; two AtDJ1C gene T-DNA insertion mutant alleles confer an albino, seedling-lethal phenotype, the wild-type protein is targeted to chloroplasts, and mutant albino plant tissues have severely disrupted chloroplast ultrastructure indicating that the protein functions in chloroplast biogenesis. Similar approaches will be used to analyze the functions of the AtDJ1C homologs. In addition, X-ray crystallographic techniques will be employed to determine the structures of recombinant proteins produced in E. coli. The Benning lab (MSU-AES) will explore mutants deficient in lipid trafficking, lipid remodeling and lipid assembly in Arabidopsis and Chlamydomonas. Lipid import from the ER to the chloroplast will be studied by developing a chloroplast-based lipid import system. In vitro reconstitution of lipid trafficking complexes and lipid remodeling enzymes will be pursued to gain a mechanistic understanding of the TGD proteins, SFR2 and related proteins involved in lipid assembly, lipid remodeling and lipid trafficking in chloroplasts. New mutant screens will be developed to identify additional factors required for the assembly of lipids of the photosynthetic membranes or lipid droplet formation in algae. Lipid mutants produced in the Benning lab will be investigated for possible photosynthesis defects and activity of photosynthetic electron transport chain components to determine the role of specific lipids in photosynthetic electron transport. This will be done in collaboration with T. Sharkey and D. Kramer (MSU-AES). The Kramer lab (MSU-AES) will apply their newly developed spectroscopic tools for high-throughput photosynthetic phenomics (high-throughput phenotyping) to both algae and plants, to study photosynthesis at a systems level. This technology will be applied to determine how the photosynthetic network is regulated in response to fluctuating environmental conditions. This approach will allow the assessment of downstream regulation at the biochemical and biophysical levels and the determination of the roles of previously unknown genes, proteins, and processes in setting the regulatory strategy of energy transduction. The Kramer lab will take advantage of the integrated nature of NC1168 to establish new collaborations with other NC1168 members that apply the emerging technology to the overall question of what controls the balance between photosynthetic productivity and photo-damage in a changing environment. The aim is to understand the importance of these properties for photosynthetic performance under fluctuating environmental conditions, asking specific questions, such as: What are the energy costs and benefits to the algal carbon concentrating mechanism in Chlamydomonas? Is lipid composition important for acclimation of photosynthetic machinery to fluctuating light and temperatures? What are the relative roles of regulation of the chloroplast CFO-CF1-ATP synthase and cyclic electron transfer to control and balancing of photosynthesis in different Arabidopsis ecotypes? Objective 2. Photosynthetic Capture and Photorespiratory Release of CO2 The Spreitzer group (NE-AES) will express functional crop-plant Rubisco in Chlamydomonas to serve as a model for genetic engineering. This work will be based on the use of hybrid-enzyme mutants that express plant small subunits (45). Coupled with new findings on the role of the small subunit in Rubisco catalysis (46), targeted regions will be subjected to random mutagenesis and DNA shuffling, and methods will be developed for the genetic selection of an improved Rubisco enzyme. Selection will be based, in part, on the use of CCM mutants in collaboration with IA-AES and LA-AES. Collaboration (AZ-ARS, NE-AES) on the structural interactions between Rubisco and Rubisco activase will continue. The Salvucci group (AZ-ARS) will continue to elucidate the structure of Rubisco activase, particularly as it relates to its mechanism of action. Collaboration (NE-AES, AZ-ARS) on the structural interactions between Rubisco and Rubisco activase will focus on creating directed substitutions in the Chlamydomonas large subunit carboxyl terminus (in vivo) that will allow chemical crosslinking and functional studies. The effect of redox control of activase on photosynthetic performance will be determined by adding redox-regulated elements to beta forms of activase. The Spalding group will use deep sequencing of pooled progeny to identify mutated genes in suppressors of the lcib mutant air-dier phenotype. The Spalding group will also use site-directed mutagenesis to explore the structure-function of LCIB and the LCIB/LCIC complex, collaborating with Tom Smith at the Danforth Center, who will solve a crystal structure for LCIB. Spalding (IA-AES) and Weeks (NE-AES) will over-express the HLA3 Ci transport protein in Chlamydomonas wild type and CCM-deficient mutants, and in other model systems, to help understand the function of this transporter. Weeks and Spalding will also continue efforts to develop TAL nucleases for use in Chlamydomonas and plants as genome editing tools. They will continue their collaboration to identify additional functional components of the CCM based on transcriptome experiments, and Weeks will use bioinformatics and computational biology tools to investigate changes in gene expression controlled by microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs and cis-acting elements in the promoters of CCM-associated genes. RNA fractions will be subjected to RNA-Seq analyses using an Illumina DNA sequencing instrument. Moroney (LA-AES) will localize carbonic anhydrases and Ci transporters by using epitope tags and GFP chimeras, and will determine whether or not a protein is redistributed after a switch to low-CO2 growth conditions. RNAi or gene knock-out technology (such as the use of TALENs developed by IA-AES and NE-AES) will be used to define the role of specific proteins in the CCM. Moroney will also continue to investigate the role of carbonic anhydrases in plants by measuring growth, CO2 fixation, and stomatal conductance in Arabidopsis knock-out lines. The full spectrum of gene expression changes that are associated with the C3 to CAM evolutionary progression will be characterized by the Cushman group (NV-AES). Increased, leaf-specific, and circadian-clock controlled mRNA expression patterns will be assessed using real-time, qRT-PCR for a set of well studied CAM marker genes (e.g., PEPC) and correlated with traditional diagnostic indicators of CAM. High throughput Illumina sequencing (RNA-Seq) will also be used. Cis-acting elements acquired (or lost) during CAM evolution will be identified by bioinformatic pattern matching tools. Integrated transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomics expression pattern data sets will also be collected from wild-type and CAM-deficient mutant plants performing C3 photosynthesis and CAM over both diel and circadian (constant temperature and light) conditions in order to assess gene family members that are recruited specifically for the CAM pathway and to evaluate the effects of storage carbohydrates on circadian clock output phasing. Selected cis-elements will be identified bioinformatically and cognate transcription factors will be tested for functional roles in controlling circadian-clock controlled mRNA expression patterns using gain-of-function and loss-of-function promoter::luciferase transient reporter assays in attached leaves. C4 photosynthesis increases CO2 assimilation and represses photorespiration under CO2-limited conditions. A major question is how this is accomplished in single-cell C4 systems, including development of two types of chloroplasts, and two cytoplasmic domains, and how CO2 is concentrated to repress photorespiration. Studies will encompass the analysis of the mechanism of chloroplast differentiation, kinetic properties of Rubisco and features of Rubisco activase through collaborations between Edwards (WA-AES), Okita (WA-AES), Spreitzer (NE-AES), and Salvucci (AZ-AES). Current studies (WA-AES) on photosynthesis in rice, a C3 crop, has raised questions about the effectiveness of photosynthesis under CO2 limited conditions (i.e., the relationship between the CO2 compensation point, Rubisco specificity factor, and degree of refixation of photorespired CO2), which will be studied through collaborations between Edwards (WA-AES) and Spreitzer (NE-AES). Objective 3. Mechanisms Regulating Photosynthate Partitioning. The Huber group (Il-ARS) will determine whether or not phosphorylation of key enzymes, including nitrate reductase (NR) and sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPS) is regulated in vivo by oxidation of Met residues near regulatory phosphorylation sites. For NR, two Met residues will be targeted for manipulation: Met538 at the +4 position, and Met544 at the +10 position. It is speculated that the oxidation status of either or both of these residues will impact the ability of kinases to phosphorylate NR at the Ser534 regulatory site. Site-directed mutagenesis and transgenic plants will be used. These experiments should yield insights as to the role of NR in stress adaptation, and provide the first in vivo test of the methionine redox switch hypothesis. The Okita group (WA-AES) will examine the roles of AGPase subunits in enzyme catalysis and allosteric regulation. Substrate binding properties will be determined using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC). The catalytic and potential regulatory properties of PHO1 will be discerned by determining the crystal structure of rice PHO1 complex with a malto-oligosaccharide and the effector ADP-glucose. Site-directed mutagenesis and biochemical analysis will be performed to assess the roles of the amino acid residues in the ADP-glucose binding site, which will be identified from the X-ray crystal structures and/or labeling experiments. These results will indicate how ADP-glucose can serve as a mixed competitive inhibitor of PHO1 activity and influence its role in starch grain biosynthesis. A new factor involved in starch synthesis will also be examined, the ADP-glucose transporter BT1. Of the downstream processes that limit carbon flow in AGPase-expressing transgenic rice plants, transport of ADP-glucose from the cytoplasm to the amyloplast is the most likely suspect based on available evidence in the literature. The AGPase-transgenic rice plants will be re-transformed with the maize BT1 transporter under two strong seed-specific promoters and resulting plants analyzed for seed weight increases and metabolite levels. The Sharkey group (MI-AES) will focus on the roles of starch and sucrose on intracellular interactions required for optimal photosynthesis, using genetic mutants incapable of starch or sucrose synthesis. Regulation of photosynthesis in these plants by the interactions among phosphate, proton motive force, and end product synthesis will be determined. Measurements of rates of photosynthesis and starch and sucrose synthesis will be made under Rubisco-limited, RuBP-regeneration-limited, and triose-phosphate-use-limited conditions. In addition to steady-state measurements, measurements will be made in response to transients (for example a jump up or down in light or CO2) to determine how plant responses change during short-term adaptations to changes in conditions. The Koch and Loescher groups (FL-AES, MI-AES) will define biochemical effectors of photosynthate transfer along phloem and post-phloem paths by analyzing sugar transporters and other genes using a combination of phloem expression profiling and mutant analyses and methods modified from previous work (40). Genes with implicated roles will be prioritized for mutant analysis by a reverse-genetics approach using the UniformMu resource in maize. A forward-genetics approach will also be employed by identifying causal mutations underlying phenotypes that include atypical accumulations of photosynthates in leaves. Post-phloem transfer of photosynthates will be investigated by approaches employing maize mutants to alter transport processes. The first will be guided by a combination of microarray analyses and expression profiles of transfer cells, and the second will focus on photosynthate transport through the phloem-free endosperm of developing maize kernels. Regulation of metabolic partitioning between polysaccharides, sugars, and lipids will be investigated in maize kernels (major sinks for photosynthates). This work will not only enhance our understanding of how sugar-metabolism is regulated in endosperm, but also will provide new mutants and transgenic lines with economically valuable kernel properties. Links between sugar signaling and photosynthate partitioning will be examined in conjunction with each of the metabolic objectives above. In each instance, additional maize mutants will be examined from the UniformMu maize population for potential to perturb sugar signaling in this system. To determine the roles of specific factors in sugar signaling, the Jang group (OH-AES) will dissect the relationship between AtTZF1 and the Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) cascade, an evolutionarily conserved stress signal transduction pathway. A MPK has been identified as AtTZF1 interacting partner. Molecular, cellular, and biochemical analyses will be conducted to determine if AtTZF1 is phosphorylated in vivo by a MAPK cascade, and if so, how it affects AtTZF1s subcellular localization and gene expression. To determine if AtTZF1 is involved in RNA regulation and transcriptional regulation, 3UTR tethered function assay, transcriptional activation/repression assay, and Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment (SELEX) will be conducted, respectively. To test if TZFs can be useful tools in crop improvements, an integrative approach will be used to functional characterize soybean TZFs in hormone-mediated growth and stress response using gain- and loss-of-function analyses. Global identification of soybean TZFs target genes by expression profiling will also be conducted. A second major target of sugar signaling studies by NC-1168 is the SnRK1 kinase. The Gillaspy group (VA-AES) will further characterize proteins that impact SnRK1 stability by binding and targeting SnRK1 for proteasomal turnover. Targets already identified will be placed in a protein interaction network by using co-immunoprecipitations followed by mass spectrometry and genetic analyses. Transgenic plants containing hyper-stable SnRK1 will be constructed and tested for metabolic, biomass and stress response alterations. Polyols and related osmoprotectants will be examined by both the Loescher group (MI-AES) and Gillaspy group (VA-AES). MI-AES will determine the effects of drought and salt stress stress on metabolism and partitioning of putative osmoprotectants (e.g., sorbitol, mannitol, and other cyclic and acyclic polyols) with respect to several components of photosynthesis (e.g., gas exchange, stomatal behavior, and electron transport). Transgenes involved in metabolism and transport of cyclic and acyclic polyols will be transferred to plants and the applicable effects of these genes for contributions to stress tolerance will be assessed. VA-AES will pursue similar work on the myo-inositol synthesis pathway to examine the relationship between general growth and myo-inositol levels. Defining the regulatory mechanisms, especially the responsiveness of key genes and enzymes in polyol metabolism to developmental, temporal, partitioning, and environmental signals, should provide critical insights into how these genes and polyols function in the complexities of stress tolerance, and how they might be manipulated to improve stress tolerance and plant productivity. Objective 4: Developmental and Environmental Limitations to Photosynthesis NC-1168 collaborators will focus on the impact of five major areas associated with environmental limitations to photosynthesis: 1. Nitrogen Use. The focus of the research is on agricultural intensification using advanced maize and soybean genetics to increase yields with reduced fertilizer inputs per unit of carbon fixed as crop biomass. Experiments will be performed with high populations and sustainable management practices (reduced tillage and stover management) to elucidate relationships between N supply and leaf N mobilization. By identifying maize metabolic pathways and genes responsive to N, fungicides, and ethylene blockers, N use efficiency can be enhanced through selective breeding efforts and management decisions (IL-AES). Photoperiod-sensitive maize will be evaluated for extended-season photosynthesis, and for production of sugars, biomass, and bioenergy under low N fertilizer conditions. 2. Temperature Stress. The MI-AES will investigate effects of temperature on pmf, proton conductance, stromal redox status, and PSII and PSI function, using mutants that vary in membrane properties. The AZ-ARS will pursue the goal of improving the thermostability of Rubisco activase in the oilseed crop, Camelina sativa, collaborating with the NV-AES on heat tolerance in this species and the NE-AES on Rubisco activase-Rubisco interactions. AZ-ARS will investigate the timing of photosynthetic inhibition by heat and drought stress in field grown cotton plants, using both low- and high-throughput methods. KS-AES will utilize physiological techniques such as canopy temperature measurements, gas exchange instrumentation, leaf fluorescence, pollen viability, seed-set percentage, and harvest index to quantify effects of heat stress, and develop remote sensing methods for assessing stress responses in the field. 3. Salinity Stress in Plants and Algae. NV-AES will create a transcriptome sequence database for all tissues from Camelina sativa plants growing under a combined stress regime including salinity. By transforming C. sativa with potential stress protection genes, the limits of abiotic stress tolerance of Camelina (e.g., drought, heat, cold, salinity) can be established. For the algal research, native isolates will be collected from local wastewater treatment facilities, refined to axenic cultures, and evaluated for general growth characteristics and lipid and starch content. The ability of these algal isolates to tolerate high concentrations of the liquid fraction of anaerobically digested sludge will be evaluated. 4. Drought and Water-Use Efficiency. KS-AES will conduct field studies to evaluate genotypes of sorghum, wheat and soybean for tolerance to drought or heat stress. To assess drought stress, canopy conductance will be inferred from digital images of vegetative indices and thermal irradiance. NV-AES will use transcriptomics and transformation to determine and manipulate drought tolerance in C. sativa. AZ-ARS will refine high-throughput methods for determining canopy temperature to uncover drought-tolerant cotton germ-plasm. 5. Signaling in Stress Sensing. The role of signal transduction in stress sensing and tolerance responses will be studied by NV-AES and MS-AES. The MS-AES will identify the phosphoproteins regulated by ABA-activated protein kinases using T-DNA insertion knockout mutants and RNAi knockdown lines and then verify them as substrates of the ABA-activated protein kinases. The NV-AES will identify phosphorylation events that are associated with abiotic stress responses by investigating the role of CPKs in the phospho-regulation of plant development and metabolism, particularly the involvement of phospho-regulation of 14-3-3 interactions. This project will involve collaborations with the Cushman and Huber labs, and complement lipid signaling work by the Gillaspy lab.\nMeasurement of Progress and Results\n- 1. Genetic suppressors of immutans and variegated2 will be isolated in Arabidopsis and characterized (IA-AES).\n- 2. DJ1-like proteins and their mutants will be characterized, interacting protein partners identified, and a crystal structure for one of the proteins determined (NE-AES).\n- 3. SFR2 and mutant forms of Arabidopsis and different crop plants and will be isolated and biochemically characterized (MSU-AES).\n- 4. Mutants deficient in ER-to-plastid lipid trafficking and proteins involved in the process will be identified and characterized (MSU-AES).\n- 5. Arabidopsis and algal lipid mutants as well as mutants affected in different aspects of photosynthesis will be analyzed using a phenomics platform (MSU-AES)\n- Strains of Chlamydomonas will be created that express crop-plant Rubisco (NE-AES) and enzyme engineering and genetic selection will recover improved Rubisco (AZ-ARS, IA-AES, LA-AES, NE-AES).\n- The physical interactions between Rubisco and Rubisco activase will be determined using transgenic Chlamydomonas (AZ-ARS, NE-AES).\n- The thermal stability of activase and its interaction with Rubisco will be improved (AZ-ARS, NE-AES).\n- TAL nucleases will be developed for genome editing of algae and plants (IA-AES, NE-AES).\n- The structures of LCIB and the LCIB/LCIC complex will be elucidated (IA-AES).\n- The functional role of putative Ci transporter HLA3 in the CCM will be delineated (IA-AES, NE-AES).\n- Additional genes required for function of the CCM will be identified (IA-AES, LA-AES, NE-AES).\n- Arabidopsis carbonic anhydrase mutants will be recovered and characterized for defects in CO2 acquisition (LA-AES).\n- Gene expression patterns and complex regulatory networks will be characterized that are associated with the evolution of CAM (NV-AES).\n- Circadian clock regulatory outputs in wild type and CAM-deficient mutants will define the temporal orchestration of CAM (NV-AES).\n- The mechanism of development of two types of chloroplasts in single-cell C4 species will be defined (WA-AES, AZ-ARS, NE-AES).\n- The CO2 compensation point in rice will be defined based on Rubisco specificity factor and degree of refixation of photorespired CO2 (WA-AES, NE-AES).\n- Transgenic plants expressing mutants of nitrate reductase with altered residues surrounding a regulatory phosphorylation will be generated (Il-ARS).\n- Substrate binding properties of AGPase subunits and three-dimensional structure of plant Pho1 will be obtained (WA-AES).\n- Transgenic rice plants expressing both AGPase and BT1 will be generated (WA-AES).\n- Mechanisms regulating primary partitioning between starch and sucrose its relevance for plastid function will be uncovered (MSU-AES).\n- Data of expression profiling and microarray analyses of phloem and transfer cells of maize and Arabidopsis will become available (FL-AES, MI-AES).\n- New maize mutants over-expressing genes that enhance photosynthate partitioning to starch under high-temperature stress will become available (FL-AES).\n- Data sets on TZF-specific DNA and RNA binding sites in both Arabidopsis and soybean will become available (OH-AES).\n- Transgenic plants expressing hyper-stabilized SnRK1 energy sensor will be generated (VA-AES).\n- Transgenic plants altered in myo-inositol synthesis will become available (VA-AES).\n- Improvements in salt and drought tolerance in plants transgenic for acyclic polyol biosynthesis will be provided (VA-AES, MSU-AES).\n- Phenotyping methods (including remote sensing) will become available for evaluating plant performance in response to abiotic stress and fertilizer inputs (KS-AES, AZ-AES, IL-AES).\n- Genes or pathways associated with water- and nitrogen-use efficiency and tolerance to temperature extremes, drought, and salinity will be uncovered and manipulated in established crops, and new biofuel crops like Camelina, and in algae (IL-AES, NV-AES, MS-AES, KS-AES, MI-AES, AZ-AES).\n- New protein targets that are phos\nOutcomes or Projected Impacts\n- Novel factors critical for chloroplast biogenesis and thylakoid membrane formation will be uncovered advancing our basic mechanistic understanding of chloroplast biogenesis (Il-AES, NE-AES, MSU-AES).\n- It will become clear to what extent the lipid composition of the thylakoid membrane will impact productivity during acclimation of the photosynthetic machinery to light or temperature fluctuations (MSU-AES).\n- The relative roles of regulation of the chloroplast CFO-CF1-ATP synthase and cyclic electron transfer to control and balancing of photosynthesis will be determined providing novel insights into the limitations of photosynthetic productivity (MSU-AES).\n- Genetic engineering of Rubisco and/or Rubisco activase will improve the interaction between these proteins to increase carboxylation efficiency and crop-plant productivity (AZ-ARS, NE-AES).\n- Engineering of the CCM in algae, or the transfer of a CCM into higher plants, will improve CO2 assimilation and increase productivity and its energy costs in Chlamydomonas will become apparent (IA-AES, LA-AES, NE-AES, MSU-AES).\n- TAL nucleases will become viable tools for genome editing of algae and plants (IA-AES, NE-AES).\n- Understanding the molecular genetic basis of evolution and the temporal regulatory requirements for CAM will establish a framework for strategies to improve water use efficiency in crop plants (NV-AES).\n- Introducing single-cell C4 traits into major C3 crops is expected to increase productivity (AZ-AES, NE-AES, WA-AES).\n- Understanding Rubisco properties and refixation of photorespired CO2 in rice, a C3 crop and major source of food on a global scale, is expected to lead to enhanced productivity (NE-AES, WA-AES).\n- Mutants from this project will provide the first opportunity to assess the role of motif recognition elements in vivo in terms of phosphorylation and 14-3-3 binding. (Il-ARS).\n- New insights to the role of nitrate reductase in stress adaptation and associated mechanisms will be obtained. (Il-ARS)\n- The roles of the AGPase large and small subunits in catalysis and allosteric regulation will be determined. Insights on the regulation of Pho1 will be obtained. (WA-AES)\n- Information generated by the study of transgenic rice plants with enhanced seed weights will aid efforts to increase cereal yields. (WA-AES)\n- Novel strategies will be developed towards the engineering photosynthetic efficiency and partitioning of photosynthetic products at biochemical and whole-plant levels, as well as enhanced partitioning of photosynthetic products to harvested plant parts or products. (MSU-AES).\n- Molecular manipulation of components involved in sugar signaling and polyol pathways is expected to aid in the design and production of crops with enhanced productivity and stress tolerance (OH-AES, VA-AES, MSU-AES).\n- Salt and drought resistant crop cultivars will be developed that use water efficiently, and reduce their dependence on high quality irrigation water (VA-AES, MSU-AES).\n- Novel phenotyping methods for plant performance will be demonstrated in the screening for stress tolerant germplasm and will lead to a refinement of our understanding of the impacts of various abiotic stresses under field conditions (KS-AES, AZ-AES, IL-AES).\n- New stress tolerant crop and algal germplasm, including germplasm with higher nitrogen- and water-use efficiency, will be developed by manipulating the genes or pathways associated with environmental limitations to photosynthesis (IL-AES, NV-AES, MS-AES, KS-AES, MI-AES, AZ-AES).\n- New strategies for developing stress tolerant germplasm will be tested that are based on altering stress-sensing pathways (MS-AES, NV-AES).\nMilestones(2013): Crop-plant Rubisco will be expressed in Chlamydomonas (NE-AES) One lipid mutant of Arabidopsis will be analyzed for photosynthesis defects (MSU-AES). Construction of transformation vectors containing Nia2 directed mutants and transformation of the nia2 knockout and wild type plants with the Nitrate reductase genes will be completed (IL-ARS). Approximately 20,000 new UniformMu maize mutants (Mu insertions) will be mapped, taken to homozygosity, tested for association with a visible phenotype and made publicly available as seed lines each year through MaizeGDB.org this year and each subsequent year. (FL-AES).\n(2014): SFR2 proteins from a freezing tolerant plant and non-freezing tolerant plant will be compared and biochemically characterized (MSU-AES). DJ1 interacting partners will be identified during the first two years (NE-AES) Crop-plant Rubisco expressed in Chlamydomonas will serve as a model for improving Rubisco productivity (NE-AES). Transgenic rice plants expressing both un-regulated AGPase and maize BT1 will be generated (WA-AES). Generation of plants that make both sucrose and starch, plants that cannot make sucrose during the day (starch only), and plants that cannot make or break down starch (sucrose only) will be completed (MSU-AES). Genome sequencing of Dunaliella salina will be completed (NV-AES). Phosphoproteins regulated by ABA-activated protein kinases and CDPK will be identified (MS-AES, NV-AES).\n(2015): New components of lipid trafficking complexes in the chloroplast envelope membranes will be identified (MSU-AES). The mechanism for activation of Rubisco by activase will be elucidated. (AZ-ARS, NE-AES) Key functional components of the Chlamydomonas CCM will be delineated. (IA-AES, LA-AES, NE-AES) Single carbonic anhydrase knock-out Arabidopsis lines will have been recovered. Double knock-out lines will then be constructed for physiological experiments (LA-AES). Transcriptome-wide changes in mRNA expression patterns will allow a comprehensive assessment of the genetic changes required for CAM evolution (NV-AES). Highly diffractible crystals of Pho1 must be obtained to enable its structural determination (WA-AES). Identification, sequencing, and characterization of genes involved in sugar signaling and polyol metabolism and transport (MSU-AES, VA-AES) New germplasm, engineered with a more thermostable Rubisco activase, will be produced and evaluated (AZ-ARS). Generation of Camelina varieties with improved drought and heat tolerance will be completed (AZ-ARS, NV-AES).\n(2016): Analysis of photosynthesis for three algal lipid mutants will be completed (MSU-AES). Acquisition of sequence information for different classes of regulatory RNAs and computational evaluation of the RNA populations will become available and used to discern their individual roles in CCM regulation (NE-AES). Chlamydomonas CCM genes will be targeted for TALEN manipulation (IA-AES, LA-AES, NE-AES). Transgenic nia2 knockout and wild type plants expressing NR genes will have been analyzed for plant growth with nitrate or ammonium as sole N-source (IL-ARS). Complete genome annotation of Dunaliella salina will lead to the development of customized algal feedstocks for either biodiesel or bioethanol product streams (NV-AES). Promising candidates of phosphoproteins regulated by ABA-activated protein kinases and CDPK will be tested in transgenic plants (MS-AES, NV-AES). Double carbonic anhydrase knock-out Arabidopsis lines will have been recovered and their phenotype analyzed in physiological experiments (LA-AES).\n(2017): Approximately 10 suppressors of immutans or var2 will have been analyzed (IA-AES). All DJ1-like proteins of Arabidopsis will have been characterized (NE-AES). A thorough understanding of the effect of temperature on pmf, proton conductance, stromal redox status, and PSII and PSI function will have been obtained from analysis of Arabidopsis mut\nProjected ParticipationView Appendix E: Participation\nThe major advances and discoveries of the proposed research will be published in scientific journals and meeting proceedings. Peer-reviewed publication is the best practical method for evaluating the quality and impact of the research results. NC-1168 investigators have been successful in this endeavor, as illustrated by the large number of articles published in high impact, high quality journals (see Appendix). Research results will also be presented as platform lectures and poster presentations at local, regional, national, and international scientific meetings. As another outreach effort, to foster exposure to plants and plant-based research, an inquiry-based plant science outreach module will be developed and delivered to elementary school students. NC-1168 members will participate as scientist partners in Virginia Techs Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP) program by donating mutant Arabidopsis seed and engaging high school students and teachers in research projects. In addition, NC-1168 members at MSU will host undergraduate students during an annual summer intern program in plant genomics (www.plantgenomics.msu.edu). Nebraska NC-1168 members are participants in two summer workshop programs, one in the Plant Sciences and another in Algal Biology and Biotechnology for high school teachers and students.\nThe Standard Governance for multistate research activities will be implemented which includes the election of a Chair (organizes current annual meeting), a Chair-elect (organizes next annual meeting), and a Secretary (organizes the subsequent annual meeting). Rotating through these functions, all officers are elected for at least two-year terms to provide continuity. Administrative guidance will be provided by an assigned Administrative Advisor and a CSREES Representative.\n1. Aiken, R. M., P. I. Coyne, and A. A. Aboukheira. 2011. A field procedure to derive heat, water vapor and carbon diaoxide exchange rates from digital images of vegetative canopies. Proceed 2011 ASABE Annu Interl Meeting\n2. Aiken, R. M. and N. L. Klocke. 2010. Inferring transpiration control from sap flow heat gauges and the Penman-Monteith equation. Proceed 5th Natl Decennial Irrig Conf, ASABE\n3. Al-Dous, E. K., B. George, M. E. Al-Mahmoud, M. Y. Al-Jaber and others. 2011. De novo genome sequencing and comparative genomics of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). Nat.Biotechnol. 29:521-527\n4. Alkayal, F., R. L. Albion, R. L. Tillett, L. T. Hathwaik and others. 2010. Expressed sequence tag (EST) profiling in hyper saline shocked Dunaliella salina reveals high expression of protein synthetic apparatus components. Plant Sci. 179:437-449\n5. Aluru, M. R., D. J. Stessman, M. H. Spalding, and S. R. Rodermel. 2007. Alterations in photosynthesis in Arabidopsis lacking IMMUTANS, a chloroplast terminal oxidase. Photosynth.Res. 91:11-23\n6. Aluru, M. R., F. Yu, A. Fu, and S. Rodermel. 2006. Arabidopsis variegation mutants: new insights into chloroplast biogenesis. J.Exp.Bot 57:1871-1881\n7. Ananieva, E. A. and G. E. Gillaspy. 2009. Switches in nutrient and inositol signaling. Plant Signal Behav 2009/10/02:304-306\n8. Ananieva, E. A., G. E. Gillaspy, A. Ely, R. N. Burnette and others. 2008. Interaction of the WD40 domain of a myoinositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase with SnRK1 links inositol, sugar, and stress signaling. 148:1868-1882\n9. Awai, K., C. Xu, B. Tamot, and C. Benning. 2006. A phosphatidic acid-binding protein of the chloroplast inner envelope membrane involved in lipid trafficking. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA. 103:10817-10822\n10. Baena-Gonzalez, E., F. Rolland, J. M. Thevelein, and J. Sheen. 2007. A central integrator of transcription networks in plant stress and energy signalling. Nature 2007/08/03:938-942\n11. Baker, N. R., J. Harbinson, and D. M. Kramer. 2007. Determining the limitations and regulation of photosynthetic energy transduction in leaves. Plant Cell Environ. 30:1107-1125\n12. Ballicora, M. A., M. J. Laughlin, Y. Fu, T. W. Okita and others. 1995. Adenosine 5'-diphosphate-glucose pyrophosphorylase from potato tuber: significance of the N-terminus of the small subunit for catalytic properties and heat stability. 109:245-251\n13. Barta, C., A. M. Dunkle, R. M. Wachter, and M. E. Salvucci. 2010. Structural changes associated with the acute thermal instability of Rubisco activase. Arch.Biochem.Biophys. 499:17-25\n14. Benning, C. 2009. Mechanisms of Lipid Transport Involved in Organelle Biogenesis in Plant Cells. Annu.Rev.Cell Dev.Biol. 25:71-91\n15. Bonifati, V., P. Rizzu, M. J. van Baren, O. Schaap and others. 2003. Mutations in the DJ-1 gene associated with autosomal recessive early-onset parkinsonism. Science 299:256-259\n16. Bourgis, F., A. Kilaru, X. Cao, G. F. Ngando-Ebongue and others. 2011. Comparative transcriptome and metabolite analysis of oil palm and date palm mesocarp that differ dramatically in carbon partitioning. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.U.S.A 108:12527-12532\n17. Boursiac, Y., S. M. Lee, S. Romanowsky, R. Blank and others. 2010. Disruption of the vacuolar calcium-ATPases in Arabidopsis results in the activation of a salicylic acid-dependent programmed cell death pathway. Plant Physiol 154:1158-1171\n18. Burke, J. J. 2007. Evaluation of source leaf responses to water-deficit stresses in cotton using a novel stress bioassay. Plant Physiol 143:108-121\n19. Carmo-Silva, A. E. and M. E. Salvucci. 2011. The activity of Rubisco's molecular chaperone, Rubisco activase, in leaf extracts. Photosynth.Res. 108:143-155\n20. Chan, Z., R. Grumet, and W. Loescher. 2011. Global gene expression analysis of transgenic, mannitol-producing, and salt-tolerant Arabidopsis thaliana indicates widespread changes in abiotic and biotic stress-related genes. J Exp Bot 2011/08/09:\n21. Chang, I. F., A. Curran, R. Woolsey, D. Quilici and others. 2009. Proteomic profiling of tandem affinity purified 14-3-3 protein complexes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proteomics. 9:2967-2985\n22. Chang, R. L., L. Ghamsari, A. Manichaikul, E. F. Hom and others. 2011. Metabolic network reconstruction of Chlamydomonas offers insight into light-driven algal metabolism. Mol.Syst.Biol. 7:518\n23. Chen, M., Y. Choi, D. F. Voytas, and S. Rodermel. 2000. Mutations in the Arabidopsis VAR2 locus cause leaf variegation due to the loss of a chloroplast FtsH protease. Plant J. 22:303-313\n24. Cheng, L., R. Zhou, E. J. Reidel, T. D. Sharkey and others. 2005. Antisense inhibition of sorbitol synthesis leads to up-regulation of starch synthesis without altering CO2 assimilation in apple leaves. Planta 220:767-776\n25. Coello, P., S. J. Hey, and N. G. Halford. 2011. The sucrose non-fermenting-1-related (SnRK) family of protein kinases: potential for manipulation to improve stress tolerance and increase yield. J Exp Bot 2010/10/27:883-893\n26. Curran, A., I. Chang, C. Chang, S. Garg and others. 2011. Calcium-dependent protein kinases from Arabidopsis show substrate specificity differences in an analysis of 103 substrates. 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High-Temperature Stress and Soybean Leaves: Leaf Anatomy and Photosynthesis. Crop Science 51:2125-2131\n32. Djanaguiraman, M., J. A. Sheeba, D. D. Devi, U. Bangarusamy and others. 2010. Nitrophenolates spray can alter boll abscission rate in cotton through enhanced peroxidase activity and increased ascorbate and phenolics levels. J Plant Physiol 167:1-9\n33. Donahue, J. L., S. R. Alford, J. Torabinejad, R. E. Kerwin and others. 2010. The Arabidopsis thaliana Myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase1 gene is required for Myo-inositol synthesis and suppression of cell death. Plant Cell 2010/03/11:888-903\n34. Dörmann, P. and C. Benning. 2002. Galactolipids rule in seed plants. Trends Plant Sci. 7:112-118\n35. Duanmu, D., A. R. Miller, K. M. Horken, D. P. Weeks and others. 2009. Knockdown of limiting-CO2-induced gene HLA3 decreases. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.U.S.A 106:5990-5995\n36. Duanmu, D. and M. H. Spalding. 2011. 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Hexokinase as a sugar sensor in higher plants. 1997/01/01:5-19\n62. Jang, J. C. and J. Sheen. 1997. Sugar sensing in higher plants. Trends Plant Sci. 2:208-214\n63. Kang, S. G., J. Price, P. C. Lin, J. C. Hong and others. 2010. The Arabidopsis bZIP1 Transcription Factor Is Involved in Sugar Signaling, Protein Networking, and DNA Binding. 2010/01/19:361-373\n64. Karkehabadi, S., S. Satagopan, T. C. Taylor, R. J. Spreitzer and others. 2007. Structural analysis of altered large-subunit loop-6/carboxy-terminus interactions that influence catalytic efficiency and CO2/O2 specificity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. Biochemistry 46:11080-11089\n65. Ke, Y., G. Han, H. He, and J. Li. 2009. Differential regulation of proteins and phosphoproteins in rice under drought stress. Biochem.Biophys.Res.Commun. 379:133-138\n66. Kiirats, O., D. M. Kramer, and G. E. Edwards. 2010. Co-regulation of dark and light reactions in three biochemical subtypes of C(4) species. 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Enhanced Thermostability of Arabidopsis Rubisco activase improves photosynthesis and growth rates under moderate heat stress. Plant Cell 19:3230-3241\n73. Lee, S. M., Y. H. Lee, H. Kim, S. Seo and others. 2010. Characterization of the potato upreg1gene, encoding a mutated ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase large subunit, in transformed rice. 102:1-9\n74. Li, C., M. E. Salvucci, and A. R. Portis, Jr. 2005. Two residues of rubisco activase involved in recognition of the Rubisco substrate. J.Biol.Chem. 280:24864-24869\n75. Li, H. M. and C. C. Chiu. 2010. Protein transport into chloroplasts. Annu.Rev.Plant Biol. 61:157-180\n76. Li, J., X. Q. Wang, M. B. Watson, and S. M. Assmann. 2000. Regulation of abscisic acid-induced stomatal closure and anion channels by guard cell AAPK kinase. Science 287:300-303\n77. Li, T., S. Huang, W. Z. Jiang, D. Wright and others. 2011. TAL nucleases (TALNs): hybrid proteins composed of TAL effectors and FokI DNA-cleavage domain. Nucleic Acids Res. 39:359-372\n78. 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Why does Cooney want to beat up Marlowe, after Dobbs tells him to stop?\n5. Where is Derace Kingsley when Degarmo and Marlowe get to the cabin?\nShort Essay Questions\n1. After leaving the crime scene, what does Degarmo try to convince the other police officer?\n2. After Patton shoots at Degarmo, what does Degarmo do?\n3. How does Marlowe get out of the apartment at the Granada?\n4. Who does Marlowe call to verify where Kingsley has gone, once he guesses where it is?\n5. How does Degarmo react when Marlowe tells him about Mrs. Fallbrook?\n6. How does Grayson describe Dr. Almore's practice?\n7. Why is Marlowe surprised that Mrs. Kingsley would need money from her husband?\n8. What reason does Marlowe give Mrs. Kingsley that she'll miss him?\n9. How does Degarmo act toward the sentries at the dam on the way to the cabin?\n10. What does Marlowe say about Muriel's explanation of why she went back to Lavery's the morning after the murder?\nWrite an essay for ONE of the following topics:\nEssay Topic 1\nMarlowe learns the truth through investigation and interviewing. Discuss investigation and interviewing in the novel.\n1) What techniques does Marlowe use to investigate? How does he approach interviewing people?\n2) How do Marlowe's interviewing techniques vary in different situations, with different people?\n3) What information is Marlowe able to acquire by talking to people? What makes his interviews effective or ineffective?\nEssay Topic 2\nThe Lady in the Lake is written in the first person narrative point of view, from the perspective of Marlowe. Discuss the novel's point of view.\n1) Why does the author choose the first person narrative point of view? Why is the story told from Marlowe's perspective?\n2) What does Marlowe reveal to the reader, as narrator, and when? What does Marlowe keep hidden from the reader, though he may know it himself?\n3) How does the first person narration affect the tone of the novel? How is it appropriate to the genre?\nEssay Topic 3\nThroughout the novel, Phillip Marlowe encounters corruption, both moral and ethical. Discuss corruption in the novel.\n1) How are the police in the novel corrupt, and how does Marlowe perceive that corruption?\n2) What kinds of moral corruption does Marlowe face among the people he comes into contact with? How is that moral corruption related to the corruption of the police?\n3) How does Marlowe deal with temptations to corruption, such as Kingsley offering him money to cover up a murder?\nThis section contains 808 words\n(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Since the last few months, this thought has been the crux of my thinking. It has changed me. Or at least that is the idea. Not sure if this is who I want to be. Or do I? What about all those expectations I have? From people, from friends, from myself? Should I be bothered if I simply have no expectations from anyone? Have I become a lost soul? What if I lose everything I hold dear and near to me?\nI know for a fact that I indeed have lost a few. Or is it the other way around? What if I get what I want right now, but after a few more months/years I realize I never wanted this? So many questions, such a predicament!\nThen again, our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.\nI read somewhere that the best things in life are unexpected – because there were no expectations.\nI think I will stick to it for now.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Since the pandemic the word stress , burnout (energy depletion, exhaustion and decreased professional efficacy) and anxiety seems to be the catchphrase. In my last two years of coaching every second person and organisations complaint in these words.\nLouise Hay the author of several international books says that stress is nothing but our response to fear. Fear of the unknown. It is lack of trust in ourselves because we don’t trust life. We don’t trust that we are taken care of at a higher level. So we feel we must control everything at a physical level.\nFear is a very normal and natural emotion of the body. It was originally made a part of our system to protect us against danger. All organisms feel it. It is there to take care of us. When we feel fearful there is an adrenalin rush which helps us to fight or run away or freeze. Yet these reactions are only relevant when we are chased by a bear in the wild kind of situation.\nI met Neha(name changed) in a coffee shop. For first few minutes she talked about how stressed and anxious she is. How she is getting panic attacks which is affecting all the aspects of her life. When we delved deeper I figured out she was disappointed because of her latest appraisal and a generally super competitive work environment. As a good performer in studies she was recruited through the campus placement. She was there to set out the same example in her work environment.\nSo simply put, our subconscious mind does know the difference between being chased by the bear or a competitive work environment. It only process the feeling of “run” the adrenaline rushes and you think that you are in a life threatening situation.\nBy deliberately training the mind, these feelings can easily be coped with. By creating new patterns of a life full of joy where you can not only survive but thrive in your uniqueness.\nI talked to Rashi (name changed) couple of times. She was angry and frustrated as she has a travelling job and the house and children were left on their own. Her partner struggled with his job since the pandemic had hit and the chips were down.\nWe took a stock of things, Reviewed the overall money problems of the family. We also worked on Rashi expressing her needs more openly and acknowledging the needs of her partner. Opening the gates of communication and setting clear boundaries are the keys of a blissful joyous connection.\nI saw two more remarkable men, One was displaced from his homeland and another witnessed long bouts of war while growing up. Psychologically they can be categorised into trans-generational trauma and PTSD. The underlying basic emotion for both will be fear.\nWhile some misfortune in some time and phase of life does nowhere indicates that it will repeat itself. unless we keep playing it like a loop in our head. As a matter of fact, the more we work on releasing these incidences from your subconscious mind the more we free ourselves and also become free to then design a life of our desires.\nHave you ever noticed little children of 2-4 years of age? They have very little fear. They treat everything with a sense of exploration and anticipation. We were like that once. Over a period of time we are conditioned to become the “good boys or girls” that the adults around us wanted us to be. We felt obligated because as children it becomes a matter of survival for us. Children don’t know that they have a choice. As adults we can choose different.\nThrough these multiple case studies in my sessions I wish to open your perception to yourself. While unfortunate things happen, life throws a curveball we still have the power and force within ourselves which is readily available to create a better and brighter life. A life full of knowledge, acceptance and bliss.\nWhile sometimes others may not be able to help us as we expect them to. Yet we truly have the potential to turn within and look for the answers there. As google, Siri and Alexa combined cannot answer all your questions and guess what? Following your intuitive wisdom will never let you down. A coach’s promise.\nLife loves you!\nAnd so it is.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "St. Teresa of Avila believed that the key to mental prayer was seeing it as part of your friendship with God.\nIt’s relatively easy to overcomplicate mental prayer, thinking that only saints can pray to God, and not poor sinners like us.\nHowever, that is not true at all, and St. Teresa of Avila sets the record straight.\nIn The Book of Her Life, she described mental prayer in simple terms as friendship with God.\n[M]ental prayer is nothing else, in my opinion, but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him, who we know loves us.\nAll of us know how to converse with a friend, as we typically talk to our friends on a daily basis.\nShould we not talk to God in a similar way?\nSt. Teresa does admit that loving God can be difficult, because God loves us so much, and we love him so little.\nYet, we shouldn’t let our weakness discourage us. Simply put, we should strive to love God in our brokenness, seeing how much he loves us.\nNow true love and lasting friendship require certain dispositions: those of our Lord we know are absolutely perfect; ours, vicious, sensual and thankless; and you cannot, therefore, bring yourselves to love Him as He loves you, because you have not the disposition to do so; and if you do not love Him yet, seeing how much it concerns you to have His friendship, and how great is His love for you, rise above that pain you feel at being much with Him who is so different from you.\nWe may not be the best of friends, but God is our true friend, one who is always with us no matter how weak or sinful we might be.\nThe next time you pray to God, talk to him as a friend and pour out your life to him, knowing that he is there and always listening.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The devastating effects of guilt are portrayed vividly in dostoevsky's fictional but all to real novel crime and punishment in the story, the main character raskolnikov commits a murder and. A society’s guilt, especially guilt as great and terrible as america’s, must be expressed, experienced, heard — and reconciled with truth, love, grace, forgiveness if none of that can.\nTen applies his discussion to problems in the punishment of a variety of offenders--the dangerously mentally ill, nazi war criminals, negligent drivers, rapists, and others--and considers. The first time i remember inflicting guilt-motivated punishment of this kind on myself was in preschool after i got angry with a fellow student and pushed him so hard that he slipped and. Shame, guilt, and punishment drawing on foucault’s discipline and punish and on his lecture on the punitive societies as well as on affect theories, this text tries to analyze a surprising.\nCollective guilt, or guilt by association, 1959's ben-hur and 1983's prison crime drama bad boys depict collective responsibility and punishment the play 'an inspector calls' by jb.\nGuilt manifests in several ways in fyodor dostoevsky's 'crime and punishment' rodion raskolnikov's guilt is exacerbated by his isolationist.\nCreon’s actions and judgment in the play antigone were questionable, but i don’t think he deserved the punishment he received at the conclusion of the.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A Little Interlude\nI discovered this today on The Drabblecast and I feel it needs to be shared with the world.\nAlso, the episode I found it on was pretty awesome. I love James Patrick Kelly and I discovered him on Audible, so I was pleased as punch to hear two of his marvelous stories on one of my favorite podcasts. If you haven’t read his book “Think Like a Dinosaur: and Other Stories,” you need to change that about yourself.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "|dc.description.abstract||Change occurs recurrently in business organisation. Change Management (CM) is the instrument that guides how the organisation formulates, prepares and supports employees to effectively accept changes in order to drive organisational accomplishments and results. The aim of this research is to explore the people dimension of CM. This study took a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with 10 employees from a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) and three employees from a large-sized organisation. Whilst there is a range of literature on CM, this research seeks to address gaps within that body of literature relating to the importance of including people when making changes within an organisation. It highlights the necessity of giving thought to people for any successful change implementation. People are at the core of an organisation and without them collectively on board with the change, the implementation of the new process could be put in risk of failing.\nThe key findings identified six major themes regarding the people dimension of CM: communication, culture, resistance, conflict, change leadership and empowerment. Communication is a key component in the change process. Many participants in the study reported that the change plan was communicated to them by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who they felt was open and transparent through the whole process. Organisational culture comes in the form of shared beliefs and values. It is the commonly accepted behaviours in an organisation and the way one behaves and conducts oneself. Some participants felt that the culture of the organisation has changed however, they felt that it still needs to progress to being one of change ready. Resistance can come in many forms and this brings with it a lot of emotional reactions to change. If left unchecked, resistance to the change process can put the whole programme at risk and therefore potentially damage the organisation. Conflict can happen when a person feels that they have not been heard or feel unsupported through the process. The idea around conflict is to not make it about personal issues and focus on what is best for all concerned. However, conflict can also be seen as being\nimportant in that it is a pointer for detecting faulty processes and therefore become an indicator for corrective action to be taken by change leaders and senior management. Change Leadership findings were that managers were aware of the need to be supportive of employees and transition them into the change plan thereby valuing open and clear communications with everyone involved. Employee feedback is an integral part of the change process as employees can feel empowered in that they feel heard. It was also found that empowerment can come through social interactions at work situations and not just through the pay and reward systems.\nThis report focuses on how to successfully implement change, not only through leadership but also employee empowerment and targeting behaviours as an effective driver for reconfiguring the organisation. It will discuss the theoretical implications as well as the extent to which the study addresses some identified research questions. Then it will discuss workplace policy implications on CM and if there are any learning for CM and Human Resource (HR) professionals. These implications predominantly relate to an increased awareness to value people when designing and implementing a change process in today’s SMEs in New Zealand (NZ). It also discusses the methodological implications arising from to the semi-structured interview design used in this study. This report concludes with a summary of the people dimension of CM for SMEs in the NZ business environment.||en_US", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "|Amazon Price||New from||Used from|\nA cute read that ends rather quickly. It's a coming g of age book for the characters Holden and fern but not too much development for anyone else. Read morePublished 1 month ago by Katherine A. Hebert\nthis book is so good i love it ! itbgoes really deep ino her feelings at the end when someone she loves s much dies. I criwd so many times in this bok its not even funnyPublished 2 months ago by dilemma\nThis book is amazing! Okay, I'll admit when I first bought this book, it was solely for the cover. My friend and I bought it at the same time and finished at the same time, with... Read morePublished 3 months ago by Live & Laugh\nThis book was recommended by my best friend on earth and it totally broke my heart into a million pieces. Read morePublished 3 months ago by Alyson Belden\nMy daughter was reading this at school and she would come home talking about it, so I was curious and read it myself. Deals with a lot of life events well, was a well written book!Published 3 months ago by S. Allison\nFive stars indefinitely, beautiful writing.\nWarning there is a very heart-breaking moment.\nThis book is best for fifth through eighth grade. Read more\nWill make you feel like you are in the family and you will be crying as the book goes on. Loved this book good for middle school kids and even adults!!!!!!!!!!!Published 4 months ago by Kmuller\nI'm extremely picky when it comes to Middle Grade books. Due to this, I tend to avoid them most of the time because when I do read them, I'm notoriously hard on them and my rating... Read morePublished 6 months ago by endlesswonderofreading", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Upon reading the pages of this book, by Alicia Paulson, I felt right at home. It was so refreshing to read of someone who shared the same type of ideals for preserving family history and the same appreciation for family heirlooms. Family history is not just what is past, but what we are creating each day. I really appreciated that she presents a way to create family heirlooms that does not involve traditional scrap booking, but combines photos and sewing. I feel nostalgic just looking at the pages and I can’t wait to complete many of the projects in this book.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The chiasm outlined by Jo-Ann A. Brant has a classic seven-point structure.\nA Exterior: John 18:29-32, Jesus is brought to Pilate with a demand for execution; Pilate refuses\nB Interior: John 18:33-38, Pilate asks about Jesus’s royal claim\nC Exterior: John 18:38-40, Pilate finds Jesus innocent, but the temple elite choose Barabbas\nD Interior: John 19:1-3, Soldiers scourge and scorn Jesus\nC’ Exterior: John 19:4-8, Pilate finds Jesus innocent, but temple elite charge capital crime\nB’ Interior: John 19:9-11, Pilate asks about Jesus’s origins\nA’ Exterior: John 19:12-15, Temple elite demand Jesus’s execution; Pilate agrees\nWe have crested the final arc in this chiasm, with only three more verses left, and in them will come a decision so momentous it changed the entire trajectory of human history for the rest of eternity.\nPilate could feel his face pulled into a scowl, as he stared at the crowd before him, and the Sanhedrin officials standing at the front. As he idly stroked the highly polished pommel of his judge’s bench, he mulled over the last words of this mysterious spiritual king. You do not have any authority and power over me at all if it had not been given to you from above.\nAnd it was true. He had served with honor in the army, proven himself an able cavalryman, lethal with the short and long sword, and had risen to the coveted Imperial Equestrian Guard order. From plebian to nobleman, he was now a man of wealth, married to a king’s daughter, and Procurator of a large Roman province. Nevertheless, these things had been given to him from above him.\nHis thoughts turned to his erstwhile friend and mentor, Sejanus. For just a few years, Sejanus had been almost the most powerful man in Rome, and Pilate had reaped the benefits. But Sejanus had been stripped of his honorific, “Friend of Caesar,” and put to death. And it could happen to me, even if my Claudia is Tiberius’s daughter. Pilate absently rubbed the back of his neck, then his eyes, and cheek. His head ached. Rousted from his bed at first dawn, thrust into yet another contentious conflict with the Sanhedrin. He looked darkly at Annas.\nHe had done all he could to free this righteous and just man, standing on The Stone Pavement, waiting with tranquil dignity for his judgement. Justice was the bedrock upon which Pax Romana was built, the justice and righteousness of imperial Rome was what the world so desperately needed, and he had been appointed to uphold it. Yet though he had washed his hands of this tawdry and sordid case, he still felt oily and unclean.\nThe one who handed me over to you has greater sin. Pilate found himself hoping the vengeance of the gods would rain upon that guiltier one and spare himself. He had a trust to keep with the Caesars, and he was a man of his word, a man of integrity, a military man who understood orders.\nWith both hands now resting on the finials of his judge’s bench, feet arranged as a Roman patrician, jaw so clenched even his eyes hurt, shoulders so knotted his movements were stiff, he jutted his chin toward Jesus, and raised his voice just enough for the temple elite to hear him.\nBehold your king.\nHis voice sounded rasping and forced, making him realize how sore his throat felt, constricted. He tried to pull in a deep draught of air, now noticing how hard it was breathe. He held Caiaphas with his eyes, drilling hostile contempt into the other man’s face.\nJohn had been praying, his prayer shawl over his head, rocking back and forth, tears forming out of sheer exhaustion and fading shock. Blessed are You, O Lord our Adonai, King of the Universe, Who protects Your own. Please spare my rabbi.\nHe thought of those years ago—had it only been three?—when the Baptist had pointed to Jesus. Behold! That was all he had said, at first. But all the heads had swiveled and all the mouths had fallen open, as they followed the point of his finger. John smiled as his sight turned inward to remember that warm spring day.\nJesus had kept walking with a measured pace, as though he had not noticed every eye was upon him, almost as if to continue past the rapt crowd and their taut prophet.\nThe Lamb of God. The Baptist had not shouted the words, but it was as though his voice rolled from heaven itself, with such power and depth their very bones had felt as though to vibrate from their joints. John remembered looking at Andrew questioningly, and Andrew looking at their rabbi with the same question.\nThey had not known what to do. But the Baptist’s gaze had held steady as he continued to hold his hand out to Jesus, and it had seemed as though all the energy of the cosmos swirled around them. The sky had grown bluer, the clouds whiter, the sandy earth a brilliant ochre, olive trees and grasses had turned a luscious, verdant green as the Lamb of God walked through.\nThen, as if their minds had been connected, he and Andrew had come to the same decision in the same moment. John’s breath caught, and his heart pounded as he remembered the moment Jesus had stopped, without warning, to turn and look at them, as they had been following him from a distance.\nWho or what are you seeking after?\nJohn swallowed as he remembered. Now he spoke back to that figure in his mind, You, rabbi, You, Master, the Lamb of God, we are seeking after you. John opened his eyes as he strained forward to hear the conversation happening far in front of him between the governor and the Sanhedrin officials. Somewhere afar off, trumpets from the temple mount caught his attention. It is the sixth hour, he thought. They were to have sacrificed a lamb together on this day, his family with Peter’s family.\nRealization, with sharp clarity, fell on him with all the force and heat of a midsummer noonday sun. Today was the Preparation of Passover, and suddenly John was overcome by what was happening to his rabbi. But the blood of the Lamb of God had already been shed. Would it be enough? Would the Lord spare him? Or would he be slaughtered after all, and skewered as every Passover lamb was, to be roasted?\nWould his beloved Master also roast in the sun today, on a cross?\nNow the Gabbatha, the stone pavement on which Jesus stood before Pilate, where the procurator’s dais had been placed, seemed like the pavement of the temple precinct, the place where the lambs were led to be inspected, then sent to the altar.\nAway! Away! Crucify him!\nJohn had not heard what Pilate had said, but he could hear the chief priests’ loud cries, and the furious growls of the Sanhedrin elders.\nYour king would I crucify? Pilate had leaned forward as he spoke, keeping both hands on the arms of his judge’s seat. John could just make out his words, for the governor had not spoken loudly. But the chief priests’ answer was easy to hear, shouted with such brazen abandon, John could feel the blood drain from his head, as a wave of nausea and vertigo swept through him.\nWe do not have a king if not Caesar!\nThe crowd were mostly Zealots and Zionists, pledged to protect the holy people of God from every foreign power, who hated the Roman imperialists, who despised Sadducean politics. They had come to demand Bar Abbas’s release, and those of his followers were already planning their next moves once he was out of prison.\nNow angry rumbles rippled through as knots of people began to murmur against this saying of their religious rulers. They had no king if not the Hasmonean dynasty! Certainly not the Caesars!\nFear sickened John, as the press of bodies all around him began to surge forward. Pilate’s face jerked up as he noted the change in the people. The captain of the guard had also noticed, and already was leading Jesus away to the back where prisoners were kept. Herod’s Praetorium guard drew imperceptibly closer, their hands quietly tightening on shield and sword.\nWith a slight gesture, Pilate indicated court was now closed, and armed men, waiting along the hall’s perimeter now pushed into the crowd and dispersed the smoldering men. John tried to move in the direction of Jesus’s captors, but the crush of crowd and soldiers shoved him back and back, until he lost sight of the Master altogether.\n[Story taken from John 19:13-16]\n[Judgment at Gabbatha | The Brooklyn Museum, James Tissot, Public Domain]", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "As a frequently used product with antimicrobial activity, consumed allicin might be discharged and concentrated in waste-activated sludge (WAS). However, the influence of allicin (as an exogenous pollutant) on WAS fermentation has not been clearly revealed. This study aimed to disclose the impacts of allicin on volatile fatty acid (VFA) generation during WAS fermentation. The results showed that the appropriate presence of allicin (10 mg/g TSS) significantly enhanced the VFA yield (1894 versus 575 mg COD/L in the control) with increased acetate proportion (24.3%). Further exploration found that allicin promoted WAS solubilization, hydrolysis and acidification simultaneously. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the key genes involved in extracellular hydrolysis metabolism (i.e., CAZymes), membrane transport (i.e., gtsA and ytfT), substrate metabolism (i.e., yhdR and pfkC) and fatty acid synthesis (i.e., accA and accD) were all highly expressed. Allicin also induced the bacteria to produce more signalling molecules and regulate cellular functions, thereby enhancing the microbial adaptive and regulatory capacity to the unfavourable environment. Moreover, the variations in fermentative microbes and their contributions to the upregulation of functional genes (i.e., ytfR, gltL, INV, iolD and pflD) for VFA generation were disclosed. Overall, the simultaneous stimulation of functional microbial abundances and metabolic activities contributed to VFA production in allicin-conditioned reactors.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Endangered Species: Short Stories\nGene Wolfe, whose tetralogy The Book of the New Sun was the most acclaimed science fiction work of the 1980s, offered his second collection of short fiction in 1990 to universal acclaim.\nThis is a hefty volume of over 30 unforgettable stories in a variety of genres-- SF, fantasy, horror, mainstream-many of them offering variations on themes and situations found in folklore and fairy tales, and including two stories, \"The Cat\" and \"The Map,\" which are set in the universe of his New Sun novels. Wolfe's deconstructions/reconstructions are provocative, multilayered, and resonant.\nThis embarrassment of literary riches is a must for all Gene Wolfe fans, and anyone who loves a good tale beautifully told.\nAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.\nTag This Book\nThis Book Has Been Tagged\nNotify Me When The Price...\nLog In to track this book on eReaderIQ.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Hmmmm, good point. Let me think on that.\nBecause we're working backwards, from the Story Telling down to Encoding down to Forming, it is tempting to make these sorts of connections. But because one party reacts to the steadfastness of another party does not mean that the storyform is dictating any specific judgment of the story results. Storyforms by themselves do not dictate meaning. Meaning emerges out of encoding, weaving, and especially reception. As an audience member I can just as easily interpret that More's conscience was important enough to hold it firm until death, regardless of how the State would react to it. Both this view and the one you shared are neither supported nor refuted by the storyform.\nBut I get what you're feeling. It seems weird that when one side capitulates to the other, they end up worse rivals than before, or that the Steadfast man of conscience somehow makes things worse. A couple of thoughts:\nA) Typically in Dramatica, in discussing the \"flavor\" of an ending, we speak of two variables,\nJudgment. The software suggests a third: the final state of the relationship.\nReaching the [Relationship] Story Solution means the...relationship will strengthen, lack of the [Relationship] Story Solution at the end of the story means they're in a degenerating relationship.\nA good example of this is seen in the end of The Verdict. The lawyer Frank Galvin has won the suit in the end and regained his faith in the legal system. This means that the story has the dynamics of Success, and Good. Frank's relationship with his Impact Character Laura, however, has completely degenerated so that their orbits may never cross again. The [Relationship] Story has not reached its Solution which puts a darker spin on the end of the story than would be there if they had somehow been able to resolve the conflict between them. This darker feeling is appropriate for The Verdict. Depending on the story you're telling, it may be appropriate for your story as well.\nB) Speaking of More's 'influence' on the IC is potentially misleading -- they're called the Main Character and Influence Character regardless of their Resolves. A Change IC is still the IC, and thus directs influence toward the MC. I think it's an easy mistake to link 'influence' to the Resolve dynamic, assuming that the Steadfast character influences the Change one, but it's not quite accurate.\nI could be wrong, but I believe one way to interpret a Steadfast MC / Change IC scenario is to have the IC's influence on the MC wane, to the point that the IC gives up. It's less about the IC adopting the MC approach and more about how the MC resists the influence and remains Steadfast. In such stories the IC perspective is less relevant on its own -- how it influences the MC (and succeeds or fails in this regard) is more important.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "[Abraham] considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead(Hebrews 11:19)\nWe have come to the BIG event in Abraham’s life. It is the high point to which his life of faith carried him. Of course, it’s not quite as easy as the clichés make it sound. Biblically, this is the big one and through the centuries people heap praise on this event. But practically, the specific example is not one we would support anyone following. Were a Pastor to preach on this incident, and one of his listeners say “I have been greatly inspired by your sermon. This afternoon, Junior and I are going off to worship and later we will return.” The pastor would do everything in his power to dissuade the man. In fact, the intervention would be quite intense and final. If the guy could not be dissuaded, junior would not be allowed to go with him.\nAfter these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba. (Genesis 22:1-19)\nClearly there is a lot going on here and as usual, I’m going to sprint through it. As the story of Abraham’s life has gone on, there have been many allusions and connections to this story. Here are some observations.\nThe timing of this event (After these things, looking back to the previous chapter with Birth of Isaac, his weaning and the subsequent banishment of Hagar and her son, and the treaty with Abimelech at Beersheba) is hard to nail down. Typically, it is thought that Isaac was early teens when this happened, given the physical task he performed. If so, that would make Abraham early teens plus 100 years.\nIt says God “tested” Abraham. The Hebrew word has a range of meanings: to test or try or prove. What seems to be tested is Abraham’s obedience. Given that one aspect of testing is perfecting, I would say that this testing was not to see if Abraham would obey so much as to push him into the step of growth where he came to understand that God would raise Isaac from the dead. In the previous blog (on Genesis 18) I talked about Abraham struggling with the thought that no matter how things may look, the Judge of the whole earth shall do right. Here, the judge of the whole earth will do right with Abraham’s covenant, promises and his son, his only son, whom he loves, Isaac.\nThe love for the son is a huge component in this event yet the story reads fairly devoid of emotional content. I think that any teaching of Jesus’ words, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26) should include this passage in its analysis. Outside observers would say that Abraham must hate Isaac, but in reality Abraham’s love for Isaac was intense, as was his love for Ishmael, whom he sent away in chapter 21.\nIn an interesting echo, God says this was to be done on a mountain “of which I will tell you”. This goes all the way back to the first call of Abraham. Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (Genesis 12:1) Once again, there was a call to go but the specifics await a later revelation. He was to sacrifice on a mountain in Moriah (approximately 50 miles from where Abraham lived in Beersheba), which some say eventually became the Temple Mount, based on 2 Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. It seems, however, that Jerusalem was already inhabited at that time (Melchizedek, in Chapter 14, was King of Salem, which many think may have been Jerusalem). The place Abraham went to seems more remote, but still in the land of Moriah.\nAnother parallel can be found with the previous chapter. In chapter 21, God had told Abraham to send away his son from Hagar. God coupled that command with the promise that Ishmael would become a great nation. Abraham’s response was immediate So Abraham rose early in the morning (Genesis 21:14) and we find an equal immediacy in chapter 22, So Abraham rose early in the morning (Genesis 22:3).\nI would like to point something else out. A lot of times we read this story and Isaac is mainly background. We don’t know what he was thinking or when or if he caught on to what was going on. “Whatchya doing with the knife, dad?” I think the text offers a clue. It’s a phrase found in verses 6 and 8. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:6-8) It may be speculation on my part, but it seems that here is where Isaac came to understand what was going on. The repeated phrase “so they went both of them together” on each side of the interaction says more than they were walking together, but has the added weight that Isaac, now knowing the plan, submits in faith. Also, looking ahead to after the event, it says So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. (Genesis 22:19). The story emphasizes the unity of father and son in the event.\nUpon reaching the place God revealed, it says that Abraham built the altar. Again, this is an echo from Abraham’s whole life. Whenever he went anywhere, he built an altar. In my article on Abraham’s call, I noted that in the Hebrew of Genesis 12:1-3 there were two imperatives, “go” (12:1) and “be a blessing” (12:2). Abraham went in obedience, but also in obedience to the second imperative, wherever he went, Abraham built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. (Genesis 12:8) Here in chapter 22, Abraham’s altar was to sacrifice Isaac and it equally fulfills his calling to be a blessing.\nIn the end, God did provide a ram as substitute for Isaac. Note that Abraham looked and saw a ram. Similarly, Hagar looked and saw a well in the previous chapter (21:19). Abraham, who showed no expectation of a substitute, received his son back from the dead, as he believed he would.\nGod’s striking words, I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. (Genesis 22:12), evokes for me another father who also did not withhold his son He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32) Speaking about false idols, the Psalmist says Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. (Psalms 115:8) From the life of Abraham, we see that the life of faith is a journey in becoming like the one we worship. We think like he thinks, and commit to his commitments.\nIn a conversation with a Jewish friend, it was pointed out that Jewish tradition says that Isaac was 37 years old at the time of this incident.\nPingback: Worship begins in your heart | bummyla\nA couple of more interactions for thought:\nIn my conversation with the Jewish friend mentioned above, I observed that Scripturally, Isaac was 37 years-old when Sarah died and asked if Jewish tradition connects the two events. My friend replied yes, Jewish tradition has it that when Abraham and Isaac returned from the trip and explained what happened, Sarah was overcome with grief that something must have been wrong with Isaac’s purity that God would not accept his sacrifice and she died in mourning. This is an incredibly crass misreading and re-writing of the event which subtracts a lot but adds nothing to our understanding of the Revelation.\nI recently read a sermon which pointed out that verse 19 does not mention Isaac, but that Abraham and his servants “walked together” back home. The Sermon builds on this point so that Isaac was hurt and threatened by the attempted sacrifice, left Abraham and went his own way. Again, I don’t think this speculation adds anything to the text. Isaac was at least back with Abraham when it was time to get a wife.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Coleridge cautioned us about being careful regarding who we curse. As penance for thedeed of failing to recognize the beauty in even slimy ugly things, the Marinermust wander around this old world & tell his story for others to hear: He prayeth best, who loveth best-All things both great and small;\nFor the dear God who loveth us,\nHe made and loveth all.\nMerry Christmas, TT", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I am afraid of all my sorrows\nThat they would return upon him, and surround him, and overwhelm him, so that he should not be able to stand up against them, or under them; that they would increase and continue with him, and so he should never be released from them:\nI know that thou wilt not hold me innocent:\na sudden apostrophe to God as near him; the meaning is not, that he was confident that God would not justify him but condemn him in a spiritual sense; Job did not despair of his everlasting salvation, he knew and believed in his living Redeemer; he knew he should be acquitted and justified by his righteousness, and not be condemned with the world; but he was certain of this, as he thought that God would neither \"cleanse\" F11 him, as some render the word, from the worms his flesh was clad with, and from the filthy boils and ulcers he was covered with; nor clear him so as that he should appear to be innocent in the sight and judgment of his friends; but go on to treat him as if he was a guilty person, by continuing his afflictions on him, even unto death; he had no hope of being freed from them, and so of being cleared from the imputation of his friends, who judged of him by his outward circumstances.\nF11 (ynqnt al yk) \"quod non mundabis me\", Montanus, Bolducius, Beza.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I am a massive Marianne Curley fan (having read all her books as a teen and now as a ya) and have been waiting for the final book since I devoured the last one! She didn't disappoint at all! The story is gripping and pulls you in from the first page! The great thing is I had no idea how the plot would unravel and there were so many twists and turns...sigh..it was amazing!! I feel sad to have finished it just because the series has now come to an end!! Extremely well written and she ties up all loose ends which makes it a satisfying read! I really hope you continue to write more series Marianne!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Art of Self-Editing: A Masterclass for Amazon Self-Published Authors\nUnleash Your Inner Editor and Polish Your Prose to Perfection\nIn the realm of self-publishing, authors don their many hats — writers, marketers, and now, editors. Embark on this journey of self-editing mastery, a crucial step in crafting a polished manuscript that captivates readers. Prepare to transform your raw words into a refined symphony of storytelling, ready to enchant and enthrall.\n1. Embrace the Editor’s Mindset: From Writer to Artisan\nTransitioning from writer to editor requires a shift in perspective. As an editor, your focus shifts from creating content to refining it. Embrace this new role as an artisan, meticulously shaping and molding your prose until it gleams with brilliance.\n2. Master the Art of Self-Critique: A Journey of Discovery\nSelf-critique, the cornerstone of self-editing, demands honesty and a discerning eye. Approach your manuscript as an objective reader, seeking areas for improvement. This critical analysis unveils opportunities to enhance clarity, tighten structure, and eliminate inconsistencies, ensuring your story’s seamless flow.\n3. Harness the Power of Editing Tools: Your Digital Allies\nLeverage the myriad editing tools at your disposal to streamline your editing process. Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Hemingway Editor stand as your digital allies, aiding in identifying grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, and readability issues. These tools serve as your eagle-eyed assistants, ensuring your manuscript is polished to perfection.\n4. Embark on a Reading Odyssey: Immersing Yourself in Your Story\nStep away from the editing screen and dive deep into your manuscript as a reader. Immerse yourself in the narrative, letting the story wash over you. This fresh perspective unveils inconsistencies in plot, character development, and pacing. It’s like taking a road trip through your story, spotting detours and roadblocks that need attention.\n5. Craft Compelling Characters: The Heartbeats of Your Story\nCharacters are the lifeblood of any narrative. As you self-edit, scrutinize each character’s arc, motivations, and interactions. Ensure they are well-developed, relatable, and consistent throughout the story. Your characters should leap off the page, etching themselves into readers’ memories long after they finish your book.\n6. Structure Your Story: The Architectural Masterpiece\nA well-structured story is like a sturdy house with a solid foundation and a clear layout. Examine your plot, ensuring it has a compelling beginning, a rising action that builds tension, a satisfying climax, and a resolution that ties up loose ends. Your story’s structure should guide readers through an emotional journey, leaving them breathless and eager for more.\n7. Polish Your Prose: The Art of Wordsmithing\nAs you self-edit, pay meticulous attention to your prose. Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases, tightening your sentences and paragraphs for maximum impact. Craft vivid imagery and sensory details that transport readers into your story’s world. Your words should dance on the page, painting pictures and evoking emotions.\n8. Seek Feedback: The Wisdom of the Crowd\nWhile self-editing is essential, seeking feedback from beta readers or critique partners adds an invaluable layer to the process. These readers provide fresh perspectives, pointing out areas for improvement that you might have missed. Embrace their insights with an open mind, considering their suggestions and incorporating them where appropriate.\n9. The Final Polish: Your Manuscript’s Grand Finale\nAfter multiple rounds of self-editing and feedback, your manuscript is nearing its final form. At this stage, focus on the finer details: proofreading for any remaining errors, ensuring consistency in formatting, and creating a visually appealing layout. Remember, a well-presented manuscript reflects professionalism and attention to detail, leaving a positive impression on potential readers and publishers.\nUnleash Your Polished Masterpiece: The Gateway to Success\nAs you embark on your journey of self-editing, remember that the goal is not perfection but excellence. Embrace the process, learn from your mistakes, and grow as a writer. With dedication and perseverance, you will transform your manuscript into a polished masterpiece, ready to captivate readers and leave a lasting impression. The world of self-publishing awaits your arrival, and your story is poised to take flight.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise\nAnders Ericcson, Robert Pool\nThis is a wonderful book that I only wish had been released years ago. Ericcson and Pool outline how expertise is developed, and discuss the proper way to practice. As you read, take note of the major differences between naïve practice and purposeful practice, and then the subtle difference between purposeful practice and deliberate practice and think about what changes you can institute to your own practices to make them more deliberate and- as a result- more effective. The authors additionally debunk the role of 'natural talent' in developing expertise, and note that positing that an individual has acheived success in a field due to 'natural talent' discounts the vast effort the individual applied to gaining expertise, and can even be insulting.\nDecide and Deliver: Five Steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your Organization\nMarcia Blenko, Michael C. Mankins, Paul Rogers\nThis book, an output of several years of research done by Bain & Company, examines how decisions are made and acted upon by an organization and shows how successfull decision-making and execution can make organizations excel. Beyond walking through a five-step process for improving 'decision effectiveness', the book features many exercises that allow you to quickly assess some of the principles yourself. The authors provide several case studies for how companies succeed and fail based on their decision-making effectiveness, and provide frameworks so readers can implement many of these learnings within their organizations.\nThe Experience Economy\nB. Joseph Pine II, James H. Gilmore\nWhat makes a coffee at Starbucks worth (or at least cost) so much more than the beans from which they're made? What about a coffee at a café on the Champs-Élysées? This book examines how customers value experience and how organizations can capitalize on this. Additionally, for readers who operate in a commoditized market, it is important to consider how the experience- whether around purchasing, delivery, or service- can differentiate a company and its products. These differentiators can increase not only the value of your product to your customers, but subsequently also improve customer loyalty. The book was refreshed by its authors in 2011, increasing its relevance in the digital age.\nUntil Ron Chernow's Pulitzer Prize winning biography - and Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony Award winning musical inspired by said biography - Alexander Hamilton was commonly one of the most under-rated American Founding Fathers. From tragedy to triumph and back to tragedy, Hamilton's story is one of immense grit, insatiable hunger for knowledge, and (as expected with any civil servant) political scheming. Though removed by hundreds of years, it's incredible how many personal characteristics Hamilton shares with the business titans of today. Chernow masterfully - and thankfully - gives a comprehensive view of Hamilton's development, inspiration, and work by providing not only an in-depth analysis of each, but also providing the background context historically of America's infancy and even the material which Hamilton himself was reading.\nThe Innovator's Dilemma\nClayton M. Christensen\nThis a canonical business book that talks about how companies miss out on the waves of disruption that new technologies cause in markets. Chirstensen reviews many cases of innovation that companies did and did not identify, and the evolution of the market that followed. That said, while many of the market distruptions highlighted in the book are very well explained, it is not obvious that they were as easy to identify at the time. Unfortunately, Christensen does not provide a detailed plan for identifying these opportunities- though of course he perhaps addresses those if you buy his other book: The Innovator's Solution (which I haven't done so yet).\nMade to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die\nChip Heath, Dan Heath\nIn this book, Chip and Dan Heath explore how ideas stick with our audiences. They identify some of the critical characteristics of ideas that make them memorable, and provide a mnemonic for remembering them easily. The authors review not only the characteristics of these communications but also how to apply them in your daily communications. Effective communications is critical at every level of an organization, from mobilizing the front-line to persuading customers. The effectiveness of this format is easily experienced as you'll find that the message of this book sticks quite well.\nJason Fried, David H. Hansson\nI've had the pleasure of listening to Fried talk at a fireside chat which led me to this book. Rework is a fantastic playbook for being more productive, the right way. The authors keenly point out why much of the conventional wisdom about businesses is often wrong in quite an edgy way (one section is named Underdo Your Competition), and ask you focus on what it is that needs to be done, and how to do it. I have personally changed much of my work style after reading Rework, including blocking out several hours of interruption-free time every day. At its heart, this book stresses that you have to worker smarter, not harder; you should be constantly looking for ways to make your work more efficient rather than looking to spend more time working.\nConscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business\nJohn Mackey, Rajendra Sisodia\nWhole Foods Co-Founder Mackey, along with his Conscious Capitalism Inc. Co-Founder Sisodia re-imagine capitalism where businesses take into account and value the full breadth of their stakeholder map. When companies treat each of their stakeholders ethically, they not only contribute to more meaningfully to the communities they touch, but they are frequently more profitable as well. While not everyone will take the extreme of accepting $1 as their annual salary (nor do most have the luxury of being able to), being more conscious as you run your business is a lesson from which everyone can learn.\nLove Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends\nI was introduced to this book when Sanders spoke at Foundercon back in 2013. The subtitle is evocative of Carnegie's classic, and adds to many of its learnings. At its core, the book is about being an enabler not only as a manager but also as a networker, with the goal of becoming what Sanders terms a 'lovecat'. Sharing your knowledge (which incidentally led me to make this entire page), helping to make meaningful connections within your network, and being a compassionate businessperson will likely cost you little and serves to grow your business intelligence and can create personal evangelists on your team.\nElon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future\nWhile roughly a dozen biographies on Elon Musk have already been written, Vance is the first to write with the aid of Musk himself and access to colleagues, employees, and family. Vance follows the story of Musk as he becomes a business titan and builds Musk Co. from the ground up. Those who have studies social styles will quickly note that Elon Musk is a Driver, but has the attention to detail of an Analytic and the public persona of an Expressive. While his incessant driving has left behind those who couldn't comply, I couldn't help but be inspired by Musk's indomitable spirit. It distinctly reminds me that hard work at all costs has its costs, yet the rewards are in achieving what was once thought to be impossible.\nSwitch: How to Change When Change is Hard\nChip Heath, Dan Heath\nIn their follow-up to Made to Stick, the Heath brothers dive into how change is brought about, from our personal lives up to corporate restructures. They apply Jonathan Haidt's elephant rider metaphor - popularized in The Happiness Hypothesis - to demonstrate the common pitfalls of our attempts to change, and how to avoid them. The Heath brothers format the book in well de-composed (and not dissimilar from their previously successful) format walking readers through directing the 'Rider', motivating the 'elephant', and finally shapping the 'Path'.\nSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind\nYuval Noah Harari\nSapiens provides a refreshing look at examining the impact humanity from the lens of multiple perspectives, including biological and cultural. Harari applies this framework to examine everything from domestication, to religion, to capitalism. The explanation of 'shared myths' - those truths that invariably hold together the society that we live in as well as any that came before - allows us to examine how these myths shaped our world today, and inadvertently provides us a way to examine how to change those myths. While in the context of institutions like government or economics this may seem manipulative, in reality this is exactly what legislatures and economists do today.\nThe Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbably\nNassim Nicholas Taleb\nPossible one of the most obnoxious non-fiction (depending on your views on Yevgenia) books I've forced myself through, Taleb explores in The Black Swan the phenomenom of highly improbably events, our numerous biases that prevent us from predicting them, and their disproportionate impact on the world around us. While I feel that Taleb unnecessarily overcomplicates his explanations of many phenomena in an attempt to a) relate them to himself (and his hate of the French); and b) make it all the more dramatic when he reveals the answer, Taleb still provides one of the most comprehensive accounts of the making of the improbable events that transpire around us, and the effects that conspire to prevent us from clearly predicting them.\nThe Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't\nThe Twitter wars between Silver and Taleb are legendary, but after reading both The Signal and the Noise and Taleb's The Black Swan it is hard for me not to find myself on Silver's side. Silver lays out one of the most compelling and lucid cases for accepting randomness in the world around us and being able to make predictions nonetheless. To me, one of the most important lessons of the book is to accept uncertainty - where there are limits to our understanding, there will be limits to the accuracy of the predictions we can make. Making overly precise predictions over systemic uncertainty is an excellent way for an unexpected outcome.\nEverything is Obvious: Once You Know the Answer\nDuncan J. Watts\nEverything is Obvious is the perfect sociioligical companion to Silver's The Signal and the Noise. It examines the decision-making process we all go through in the face of probabilistic statements. Of note, the book breaks down the confusion of using probabilistic statements for discrete events. From a strategic sense, the lessons are to keep open-minded and prepare for unexpected outcomes. Emergent strategy is required for businesses to cope with the inevitable deltas between their projections and reality.\nShoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE\nPhil Knight, the founder and chairman of Nike, writes a poignant memoir about the creation of Nike: the personal adventures, the difficulty (particularly financial), and the rewards. Knight speaks of his travels in his post-university days, which reminded me of my own travels during the time. The work of growing a business across both national and cultural borders is remarkable. Additionally, Knight writes candidly about the difficulty in managing both Nike and his own home life as he was growing his business.\nCrucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High\nKerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler\nWhat started as a business read quickly became one of the most transformative I've ever read on communications. Whether you are coaching an employee who is struggling, approaching your manager for a promotion or funding for a project, or having a tough conversation with a relative, high stakes conversations quickly become tense. This book has really changed how I communicate and it has paid dividends in both my personal and professional life. Remember, always assume that whoever you are speaking with is rational!\nGeoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Sangeet Paul Choudary\nCompanies positioning themselves as 'platforms' are becoming an increasingly important part of our economy. Whether intermediating rides with Uber and Lyft, launching new products with Kickstarter and Indiegogo, or renting out homes with Airbnb and VRBO (or, even connecting romantic partners like Hinge and OkCupid), platform companies act as a intermediary to improve the flow of goods, services, and information between counterparties, and also engage in important filtration, quality assurance, and sometimes literal insurance activities in order to maximize the flow of activities between counterparties and ensure the best experience possible for all parties. This is a wonderful primer on how to manage a platform business, and the strategy that these companies employ today.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Jamaica Inn was my latest CC spin choice. I also realised recently that I would be able to join in Heavenali’s Daphne Du Maurier reading week too, provided I got my review done on time. So here we go!\nMy Du Maurier journey began many, many years ago when I read Rebecca, undoubtedly her most famous novel. I was left feeling rather underwhelmed. It was okay but not amazing or even particularly memorable, in my opinion. I thought that would be that regards DDM.\nAbout a decade later, in 2007, I was travelling around England, with Mr Books for the World Cup, when in a gorgeous B and B near Hadrian’s Wall, I discovered a copy of Mary Anne. The first pages had me hooked. This story – part family history, part fiction was just the right thing at the right time. I left behind my just-finished (and unloved) copy of Chesil Beach (that’s another story entirely) and invited Mary Anne to join me for the rest of our trip.\nA few years back a CCSspin gave me My Cousin Rachel. I was a little cautious in my approach but ended up loving the psychological tension that oozed off every page. DDM was definitely back in my good books.\nWhich brings us to Jamaica Inn. I found it to be a very light, easy gothic mystery romance. It was enjoyable, although predictable. The romance was less gushing, soft romance and more realistic, making-the-best-of-a-(possible)-bad situation, while the mystery was carefully plotted tension rather than seat-of-your-pants terror.\nJoss Merlyn was a tough man with a weak character. Aunt Patience was just weak. Jem Merlyn was enigmatic and painted as the ‘bad boy rebel’. Vicar Francis Davey was enigmatic and painted as the ‘knight in shining armour’. Mary was our spunky, sassy heroine. As independent and in control as a woman of her age was allowed to be (some time in the 1820’s I believe).\nOn reflection, Jamaica Inn was less gothic and more an interesting dip into the mind of an alcoholic. His psychological pain was sympathetically drawn by Du Maurier, curiously more so than the obvious and devastating pain suffered by Aunt Patience at his hands.\nThe pretty, pretty VMC cover (designed by Neisha Crosland) added to my pleasure.\nDu Maurier tells us in a note at the start, that Jamaica Inn is a real place, while Annabel @Shiny New Books fills in some of the blanks:\nJamaica Inn, the setting for her famous novel of 1936, sits high on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. It was built in 1750 as a coaching inn and was a stopping-off place for many a smuggler. Du Maurier stayed there in 1930, and when out riding with her friend Foy Quiller-Couch got lost in the fog – but their horses returned them safely. This experience and hearing the tales of smuggling and ghosts associated with the inn inspired Daphne. These days, the lively inn is a famous tourist destination.\nFavourite Character: Bad boy Jem of course!\nFavourite or Forget: Enjoyable but forgettable.\nFacts: Made into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock in 1939, an ITV series in 1983, adapted for the stage by David Horlock in 1990 and a BBC adaptation in 2014.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "QSFer Louice Svedin has a new queer fantasy book out:\nAnne has led a privileged life: she is a weaver, a magic user, in a world ruled by the extraordinary.\nYet one day it all changes. She is deemed too powerful by the aristocracy and is sent to a monastery for life. To avoid this fate she embarks on a journey, driven by a prophecy she doesn’t want to fulfill. But will she have any choice in the end?\nThe Book of Songs is the first stand-alone novel in The Weaver Trilogy. Written by Louice Svedin, it’s a story about friendship and sacrifice, and how who we are often is shaped by those we meet.\nGet It On Amazon\nWhen the realization of my complete loneliness dawned on me, I was deep inside the forest. Even though I really only wanted to lay down on the ground and die, there was something that made me keep going and to keep living. This pained existence continued for months, and I had long since given up on the idea of ever being happy again when I met her.\nAt first, I thought she was a spirit of the forest, a nymph that had spent its entire life among the mossy stones and decaying tree trunks. The blonde woman was too beautiful to be real, and she moved smoothly over the uneven ground as she walked away from me. I was torn between my longing for company and the fear that she might want to hurt me. Finally, I decided to follow her at a distance in the hope of getting to know her.I watched her closely and to my amazement I understood that this was her life just as much as it was mine. Soon I foolishly started to daydream that she, just as I, was cast out and alone in this world and that if I only took the final step and showed myself to her, she’d welcome me with open arms. This thought consumed my world so completely that I eventually believed it.\nWeeks later I finally decided that I was going to introduce myself to her. I meticulously planned the developments of the meeting, and when I awoke that day I washed up in a freezing stream in an attempt to look as good as possible. After hours of waiting I overcame my paralyzing nervousness and walked into her camp.\nIt felt like a dream to be in a place that I previously had only watched from afar, but the dream was quickly crushed when I saw that she wasn’t there. I sighed deeply, and didn’t react with more than a gasp when an arm was put around my neck and slowly started strangling me.\n‘Who are you?’ a female voice asked harshly, and panic stricken I tried to break free. ‘Answer me!’\n‘I-I’m Nathania,’ I hissed in pain.\n‘Why are you here?’ she demanded to know, and I tried to find the words that so teasingly stayed away from me. Nothing had gone as I’d planned, and dumbfounded I tried to remember how I was supposed to act in that situation.\n‘I was alone,’ I whimpered, and cursed my inability to explain the feelings I‘d experienced the entire time I’d been in the forest, the terrible fear that’d filled me since my life had been stolen from me.\n‘Are you the one who has been following me?’\nI flinched in shock. Was this really the woman I had followed for so long? And had she seen me despite all my efforts?\n‘I didn’t mean any harm,’ I ensured her pitifully as tears welled up in my eyes. ‘I just didn’t want to be alone anymore.’\nThe pressure to my throat eased and the woman slowly let me go. She carefully turned me around and scrutinized my face thoroughly. I tried to look into her brown eyes, but soon gave up and focused on her pale-blonde hair instead. Her gaze was too intense for me to be able to face it.\n‘Yes,’ she said after an uncomfortably long silence. ‘I see no ill will in your eyes, and honestly I don’t think you could harm me even if you wanted to. You may come with me, but only if you make yourself useful.’\nI looked at the near white-haired woman without comprehending, and then the meaning of her words dawned on me.\n‘S-so you forgive me?’ I stuttered.\n‘Yes,’ the woman answered soberly. ‘My name is Sam, by the way. What did you say yours was again? Nathania?’\nI nodded shyly and she placed one of her incredibly soft hands on my shoulder.\n‘Nice to meet you, Nathania,’ Sam said with a warm smile, and I felt my heart swell with joy. After all this time I finally had someone to share my life with.\nWeeks passed, and I followed Sam wherever she went. At times I noticed that she was annoyed by my behavior, but after a while she seemed to get used to it. Moreover, she didn’t seem to have it in herself to purposely disappoint me. One night, when I’d finally accepted that Sam wouldn’t get rid of me based on the tiniest mistake, I dared to ask her where we were going. The warm glow of the campfire moved softly over Sam’s face, and she looked at me for a brief moment only to turn her gaze to the tiny piece of dark sky that was visible through the branches that reached over our heads.\n‘The place I’m looking for has no name,’ Sam said, and a mysterious longing made her eyes so dark that they were almost black. ‘What I’m searching for is a place where I can live without needing to hide who I am. Where I won’t be killed if they find out I’m different from them. Do you get what I’m saying?’I nodded in astonishment. I understood her completely. It was the same thing I was searching for, and I thanked the gods that we had the same goal. That meant I wouldn’t be left on my own when she finally found what she was looking for.\nLouice Svedin is a 23 year old psychology student who lives in Sundsvall, Sweden. She started writing The Book of Songs when she was 13 years old and in 2014 it was released in Swedish by Mörkersdottir förlag. In her spare time Louice practices aikido, a Japanese martial arts (or budo as it’s also called) in which she has a black belt.\n1 thought on “ANNOUNCEMENT: The Book of Songs, by Louice Svedin”\nWhat an amazing cover!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Review of the Scientific Literature on Young Adults Related to Cardiovascular Disease Intervention\nAsian/Pacific Island Nursing Journal\nFirst page number:\nLast page number:\nMany young adults are at risk for cardiovascular disease related to their behavioral choices. Irresponsible alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, sedentary lifestyle, poor dietary habits, and excessive weight gain are some of the behaviors that put young adults at risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified that 15% of young adults are diagnosed with chronic illnesses related to their behavioral choices. The purpose of this review is to identify, in the literature, interventions that are currently available to young adults and evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of those interventions. An extensive electronic search was conducted using CINAHL, EBSCOhost, Cochrane, PubMed, and Google Scholar. A total of 130 articles were identified and 27 articles met the inclusion criteria. Three main interventions were identified for young adults: personalized interventions, technology-based interventions, and educational/behavioral interventions. The interventions were all effective to different degrees and interventions were most effective when they were combined. This review impacts in what manner nurses and health care providers deliver health promotion, prevention, and management of cardiovascular risk factors in young adults, in particular, nurses play a key role in lifestyle modifications including diet and exercise.\nYoung adults; Intervention; Cardiovascular risk factors; Diet; Physical activity\nCardiovascular Diseases | Diseases | Medicine and Health Sciences\nTran, D. T.,\nReview of the Scientific Literature on Young Adults Related to Cardiovascular Disease Intervention.\nAsian/Pacific Island Nursing Journal, 5(1),", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of reading Maybe in Another Life by one of my favorite adult authors Taylor Jenkins Reid. The novel tells two stories, both centered around main character Hannah; each story exists because of a specific choice that Hannah made at the end of a night out. I won't go into details because I think it's a novel that you need to go into with the least amount of information possible, but suffice it to say that the novel kindled some personal reflection on fate and free will. Are our lives pre-ordained to follow certain paths? Are our lives based on the choices we make on a regular basis?\nIt is written in the stars.\nFate. Destiny. These concepts are such familiar friends, constantly alluded to in all the media we consume. And, in fact, it's really easy to believe that our lives are being guided, perhaps even shaped, by some greater external force out there, religious or otherwise. It's a romantic notion, an ideal that many of us are happy to embrace. It is comforting to feel like you're following the path you're meant to take. And personally, it's extremely wonderful to feel like my path is being opened for me by my Creator. But believing in fate also has unintentionally harmful consequences. It's an excuse for when things go awry, a shield to hide behind when afraid to choose, a place to lay the blame when things are falling apart or you want to leave your past behind.\nIt is the choices you make that define your life.\nChoice, too, is a familiar concept. Every single day, in just about any given moment, we are granted the capacity to choose - who we want, what we want, what we like, what we don't like, what we fear, and more. The gift of choice is one that can be both used well or abused. We can use it to make decisions that better the world, benefit others and even help ourselves in the process. We can make choices out of love, kindness and respect. But we can also use our choices as excuses, or choose actions out of fear, anger, sorrow, or pain. We can make the choice to inflict those terrible feelings on others, or to encourage our own apathy to the issues around us.\nI believe in fate and free will.\nPersonally, these two concepts work hand in hand in my own life. Because of my faith, I believe that there is a higher purpose, a greater Hand guiding my way through this life. But I also believe that, in spite of that, I'm free to make my choices - whether they be wrong or right. It's an interesting contradiction, and yet I feel many of us share the same sentiment - that there is a balance between both options in our own belief systems.\nYOUR TURN: What are your thoughts on fate and free will?\nDon't forget to check out Maybe in Another Life!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Grape phenolic compounds can be divided into two groups: non-flavonoid (hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids, stilbenes) and flavonoid compounds (anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols and flavonols). Fourteen phenolic compounds classified as hydroxybenzoic acids: gallic acid, vanillic acid, caffeic acid and syringic acid; hydroxycinnamic acid: protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid and p-coumaric acid; flavan-3-ols: catechin, epicatechin, epicatechin gallate; flavonols: Quercitrin hydrate and rutin hydrate and stilbenes: trans-resveratrol and trans-piceatannol have been proven to be potent antioxidants and to have immense biological, pharmacological and medicinal properties. Grape by-products are a rich source of phenolics but usually wasted from juice and wine processing industries.\nGrape seed extracts have liver protective and antiallergic properties. The seeds also are an excellent source of phenolic compounds such as:\nCatechin, epicatechin, epicatechin-gallate have high antioxidant capacity; found in high amounts.\nSuppress lipid accumulation in the vascular wall, stopping the development of cardiovascular diseases.\nProanthocyanidins (condensed tannins)\nHave anti-aging, anti-mutagenic, anti-cancer (colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck squamous cancer, cervical cancer and skin cancer), anti-atherogenic, and antiviral properties; they also provide significant protection against acute liver injury caused by multiple factors, such as hepatic viruses, excessive alcohol consumption and hepatotoxins (for example, paracetamol, flutamide and carbon tetrachloride).4\nExerts anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-hyperglycemic, and anti-inflammatory activities; prevents interstitial collagen deposition in fibrosis; prevents cardiac hypertrophy (animal studies);2 present in high amount.\nA strong antioxidant.\nHas been shown to prevent the formation of diabetic cataract.3\nChlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid are potent antioxidants.\nPossesses strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer (prostate cancer, breast cancer) properties.6 It is also an inhibitor of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, delphinidin, that prevents HCV attachment to the cell surface.5\nPurple skinned grapes have higher anthocyanin content as compared to the bronze-skinned grapes. It is also reported that red grape cultivars contain high levels of cyanidin and peonidin in skin tissues, whereas black cultivars contain high levels of delphinidin and malvidin. Anthocyanin pigments play an important role in protection towards fungal and bacterial infections in grapes.\nThe stilbene compounds; trans-resveratrol & trans-piceatannol, which are phytoalexins, are found in higher amounts in the skin and stem extracts than in seeds. The compounds quercetin and its glycoside rutin (flavonols), and trans-Resveratrol (stilbene).\nDietary antioxidants have been associated with the reduced risk of type II diabetes. Flavonoids may also have antidiabetic activity. A recent study showed 2 to 8 fold stimulation in insulin secretion by isolated pancreatic islets at 16.5 mM glucose concentration in the presence of grape seed, skin and stems extracts. Grape seed extract’s procyanidins directly act on specific components of the insulin and exert a significant anti-hyperglycemic effect, suggesting that grape seeds and skins could be a valuable food derived bioresource that is rich in antioxidants and anti-hyperglycemic compounds which represents a source of potential new oral hypoglycemic agent and may be useful in the treatment of type II diabetes.\n- Doshi et al. – Phenolic Compounds, Antioxidant Activity And Insulinotropic Effect Of Extracts Prepared From Grape (Vitis Vinifera L) Byproducts – J Food Sci Technol. 2015 Jan; 52(1): 181–190.\n- Ryu et al. – Gallic Acid Prevents Isoproterenol-induced Cardiac Hypertrophy And Fibrosis Through Regulation Of JNK2 Signaling And Smad3 Binding Activity. – Sci Rep. 2016; 6: 34790. Published online 2016 Oct 5. doi: 10.1038/srep34790\n- Wu et al. – Investigation Of Synergistic Mechanism And Identification Of Interaction Site Of Aldose Reductase With The Combination Of Gigantol And Syringic Acid For Prevention Of Diabetic Cataract – BMC Complement Altern Medv.16; 2016\n- Zou et al. – Protective Role of Grape Seed Proanthocyanidins Against Ccl4 Induced Acute Liver Injury in Mice – Med Sci Monitv.22; 2016\n- Calland et al. – Polyphenols Inhibit Hepatitis C Virus Entry by a New Mechanism of Action – J Virol. 2015 Oct 1; 89(19): 10053–10063.\n- Yang et al. – Delphinidin-3-glucoside Suppresses Breast Carcinogenesis By Inactivating The Akt/HOTAIR Signaling Pathway – BMC Cancerv.16; 2016", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "An eBook is a digital media that is the same as any paperback book that you would purchase at your favorite bookstore. EBook stands for electronic book. EBooks can be read on the computer or there are devices known as eBook readers where you can read them and now some mobile phones come with the capability of reading eBooks.\nEBooks, when they were first introduced into society, were written for specific areas and a very small audience. They were basically only meant for small interest groups. Eventually the readership grew as Adobe came out with PDF formats making reading eBooks a whole lot easier. In fact, many authors whose books were rejected by your run-of-the-mill publisher were able to create their book in eBook format so that it could be sold and read by millions.\nThere are currently only two eBook readers that are on the market: The Amazon Kindle model or Sony’s PRS-500. The amazing thing is that eBooks are not available worldwide yet. And not ever author wants their works in an eBook format. Take J.K Rowling for example. The Harry Potter series author refuses to have any of her novels converted into eBook format.\nLet’s take a quick look at the pros and cons of eBooks versus print books. Let’s start with the pros, the good stuff. With an eBook, the text can be searched online and cross referenced using hyperlinks, there is less physical space, an eBook reader can hold several eBooks which is easier to lug around than several print books, eBook authors earn continual royalties, eBook readers have text size and font face adjustments making eBook easier to read, you can open an eBook at the last page where you left off, eBooks are definitely cheaper to purchase than print books, because they are easier to distribute, eBooks can amount to higher sales, they require less ink to print and eBooks can have images and multimedia clips embedded. Now as with anything there are cons to eBooks. If the eBook is viewed on your personal pc, additional software may be needed, to view an eBook whether it be on a pc or reader, it requires extra electric consumption, looking at the screen for long periods of time may hurt your eyes and cause headaches, in order for an eBook to run properly, it relies on an electronic device and if that doesn’t work properly, reading an eBook would be impossible, eBook are easily hacked through the use of hardware of software modification without the author or publishers approval, if an eBook is not saved properly it could be lost in the cyberspace world forever and eBooks are very susceptible to piracy. Basically piracy is taking an eBook, copying it exactly and reselling it as your own. It is highly illegal.\nWith that said, eBooks are a huge part of the online publishing world. The possibilities in writing one are endless and promoting your eBook is just as easy with all the media outlets on the net today.\nSelf-Publishing Related Articles\n- All About eBooks\n- Avoidable Self-Publishing Mistakes\n- Characteristics Of Self-Publishing\n- Common Obstacles for Self-Publishing\n- Creating Your Own Blog\n- Different Kinds of Self-Publishing\n- Downside Of Self-Publishing\n- Dynamics Behind Self-Publishing\n- Ebooks Online Publishing Tips For Beginners\n- Going For Self-Publishing Marketing Tips\n- How Does Online Publishing Work\n- Is Online Publishing Right For You\n- Making the Most of Your Online Publishing Efforts\n- Motivations for Self-Publishing\n- Online Publishing Basics\n- Online Publishing Through Article Marketing\n- Online Publishing Tips and Tricks for Better Results\n- Online Publishing Tips for Article Marketing Beginners\n- Online Publishing With ClickBank\n- Online Publishing With Squidoo\n- POD and Self-Publishing\n- Preparing Writing a Book for Self-Publishing\n- Product Creation – Online Publishing for Business\n- Review: Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter\n- Self Publishing In The Modern World\n- Self Publishing Your Book through Lulu\n- Self-Publishing through the Eyes of Non-Authors\n- Self-Publishing Tips: Book Writing Magic\n- Self-Publishing Tips: Proper Layout\n- Self-Publishing Your Book?\n- Self-Publishing Your Music\n- Using Online Publishing to Promote Offline Products\n- What are the Potential Benefits of Online Publishing?\n- What Is Online Publishing\n- Which Is Which: Traditional Publishing Or Self-Publishing\n- Why Get Into Self-Publishing\n- Why I Will Engage In Self Publishing?\n- Why is Online Publishing Important?\n- Why You Should Consider Self-Publishing Your Own Book", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In the Jan. 19, 2009 issue of The New Yorker, there is an article entitled, “Baby Food” written by Jill Lepore. I got to this quote and it just about made me cry:\n“When the babe, soon after it is born into this cold world, is applied to its mother’s bosom; its sense of perceiving warmth is first agreeably affected; next its sense of smell is delighted with the odour of her milk; then its taste is gratified by the flavour of it; afterwards the appetites of hunger and of thirst afford pleasure by the possession of their objects, and by the subsequent digestion of the aliment; and, lastly, the sense of touch is delighted by the softness and smoothness of the milky fountain, the source of such variety and happiness.”\nNo offense, I swear I’m not a genderist, but I can’t believe it was written by a man; in 1794, Erasmus Darwin (Charles’ grandpappy) included this passage in his “Zoonomia; or The Laws of Organic Life.” I feel like it so beautifully expresses the whole, multi-layered experience. I realize it is written from the perspective of the child, and I wasn’t ever breastfed, and most of us wouldn’t remember it if we were, but it reflects so well the feeling of total satisfaction and well-being that pervades every aspect of existence when a child nurses. Even though as a mother nursing, we don’t directly experience these exact sensations of satisfaction, I think we know and can feel that they’re there, and it’s contagious.\nJust thought I’d share.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The role of seed technology in the development of root and tuber crops sector and poverty alleviation\nSeed technology is the method through which the genetic and physical characteristics of seed could be improved involving such initiatives as variety development, evaluation, seed testing quality control and release amongst others. It is also a basic tool for food security if properly utilized. This technology has not been fully applied in the root and tuber crops possibly because of the limited use as a tropical crop compared to the temperate crops. It has been shown that root and tuber crops can sustain the life of both animals and humans. Root crop based institutes like the National Root Crops Research Institute Umudike realized of late the inclusion of the programme in their research agenda for increased food production hence the necessity to emphasize its role bring it to the front burner. This paper therefore highlights the role of seed technology on the development of the root and tuber crops for increased food production poverty alleviation with emphasis on both major and minor root crops, the seed systems and their ability to alleviate hunger and poverty. It concluded that it is evident that a well-structured root and tuber seed technology programme with modern facility can alleviate poverty since poverty may actually not be totally eradicated.\nKeywords: Seed technology, Roots and Tubers and increased food production", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "New Releases for Fall\nToday Will Be Different by Maria Semple\nI really enjoyed the book Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. It was fast paced, funny and incredibly quirky. It stands out in my mind as a memorable Book Club selection. So I can't wait to get my hands on her new book Today Will Be Different. It is sitting on my library new releases shelf, but I've restrained myself thus far in the hopes of letting someone else get their hands on a new release before I've drooled over it. I have been really into books about women in crisis lately...not sure what that says about me. Anyway, this one is about Eleanor and her bad day. Count me in.\nHungry Heart by Jennifer Weiner\nI have already expressed my friendly feelings for Jennifer Weiner over here. Her memoir Hungry Heart is sitting on my nightstand right now, and I'm about halfway through it. I plan on finishing this weekend, so should have a full review soon...but I'm liking what I've read so far. I think her personality really comes through in her fiction writing, and if you follow her on social media you will recognize her sassy humor and commentary. Right now I'd say it's definitely a go for the over 40 crowd (Hey, that's me!)\nThe Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness by Maddie Dawson\nI absolutely LOVED this book, and am so grateful to Netgalley for sending me a copy in advance so I could shout from the rooftops in conjunction with it's release! Nina Popkin is one of my favorite literary characters, right up there with Isabel Spellman. Some women find their fantasy man in fiction...I just find women I want to be best friends with. I won't go on and on again, just head over here to see what I thought about this book. OH, and ten bonus points go out to the author for regularly liking my tweets!!\nThis Book is Out of Control by Richard Byrne\nI am a huge fan of the children's book This Book Just Ate My Dog! by Richard Byrne. As someone who regularly does a preschool story time, I love interactive books...and funny books. If you give me one that is both, I am over the moon! The look on a little kid's face when they realize the book has eaten the dog, and when the dog materializes again it's feet are on upside down, is priceless. So I have high expectations for this new tale. Ben got a new gadget which he believes isn't working...until he notices it's working on the book instead. I imagine lot's of giggles.\nFaithful by Alice Hoffman\nI have seen a lot of really good advanced reviews for this new Alice Hoffman book, Faithful. First off, I have to give a big ole Kudos to whoever came up with the cover...because it is absolutely beautiful. I know it sounds silly to be judging a book by it's cover (*ahem) but it can really make the difference in a big seller, or heavy use library book...and shouldn't be overlooked. (I love the Maddie Dawson cover too!) And then when the book blurb on Goodreads says \"A fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookstores, and men she should stay away from, Shelby has to fight her way back to her own future.\" I am sold...hook, line and sinker. I can't wait until the 1st of November so I can get my hands on it.\nSo there ya go...a few new releases for your To Read list. I don't know about you, but my pile has hit Eiffel Tower proportions, and is a bit of a safety hazard. Here's hoping I can recover from this chest crud that has sidelined me, and finish a few of them this weekend!\nAny new releases you think I should be aware of? Read any good books lately? (When I read that in my head it sounds very smarmy and almost like a pick-up line, FYI.) Let me know in the comments or over on my Facebook page.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Director: Max Lewendel\nWriter: William Shakespeare\nReviewer: Amy Taylor\nVenetian tragedy, racial tension and deadly ambition lie at the heart of Max Lewendel’s revival of his 2009 production ofOthello. A co-production with Icarus Theatre Collective and Kings Theatre, Southsea, this production brings music, energy and unity to this infamous and controversial tragedy.\nWritten in the early 16thcentury, Shakespeare’s classic tragedy is set in Venice against the backdrop of the Turkish invasion at the time and follows the evil Iago (David Martin) as he plots the downfall of his ensign, Othello (Gary Stoner), a general in the Venetian army, through a tangled web of lies and deceit that eventually leads to betrayal and tragedy.\nIcarus Theatre Collective’s revival of their 2009 adaptation of Shakespeare’s infamous tragedy brings together the rich themes of war, race, jealous, hatred, deception and murder to create an almost timeless play chronicling the extremes of human ambition. Although named after the eponymous “Moor of Venice”, Shakespeare’s focus, perhaps unsurprisingly, is not on Othello, but on the jealous and devious Iago. Throughout the piece Iago, using lies, deception and manipulation uses Othello and others throughout the play to plant the seeds of jealousy and doubt that lead to the piece’s bloody and tragic ending.\nAnd herein lies the true message of this play; manipulation, weakness, jealousy and perhaps most importantly, ambition. Iago is angry with Othello for promoting the young Cassio (Julian Pindar) over him, and in seeking his revenge he chooses to play on Othello’s weaknesses to get what he wants. However, the weaknesses he exploits are varied and damning; the inherent racism for a man of Othello’s creed and powerful standing in society, his secret marriage to Desdemona (Holly Piper) and perhaps most importantly of all, his jealousy. While the story ofOthellois very well-known, Lewendel manages to bring something fresh and unforgettable to the piece by using the skills of a group of highly talented actors who also play a selection of string instruments with ease, style and effortless elegance. Although the scenes with the many violins and cellos played by the cast can become a little repetitive, the music transforms and brings Shakespeare’s language to a new level, making the play more engaging, more exciting and more involving than before. Additionally, unlike the traditional portrayal of Desdemona and the other female characters, Piper, along with her contemporaries Deborah Klayman as Emiliaand Alice Bonifacio as Bianca, portray their rôles with dignity and strength and without the traditional “wetness” of Shakespeare’s heroines. An accomplished and impressive version ofOthello, Icarus Theatre Collective are a company to watch in 2014.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The 19-year-old girl, Si Chun (Ma Sichun), lost her father and lived a lonely life. The lack of fatherly love made her long for the warmth of an adult man. This kind of thinking met a worker named Guo Xiao (Guo Xiaodong). Although Guo Xiao is more than ten years older than Si Chun, Si Chun is still deeply attracted by Guo Xiao's maturity and stability. In the body of Si Chun, Guo Xiao also found the feeling of returning to youth and youth, and the two fell in love.\nAlthough love is beautiful, the reality is cruel. The huge age difference has gradually increased the disagreement between Sichun and Guo Xiao, and the topic has been decreasing. In the end, the two people who could not afford to choose to break up. However, at this time, Si Chun’s belly is already pregnant with Guo Xiao’s child. The stubborn thoughts concealed the facts of pregnancy and planned to raise the child and raise it alone.\n(Douban) Add Synopsis In Portuguese", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "\"Vanessa is a superb storyteller.\" --ReShonda Tate Billingsley\nAAMBC Christian Fiction Writer of the Year Award Winner\nWhen one woman is caught in the act of her greatest transgression, it's the beginning of her greatest transformation…\nIt started innocently: a coincidental meeting between old high school friends--first loves--at Butterfly's business, The Painted Lady Flower Shop. Then came lunch, then confessions of unhappy marriages, loneliness. It went on that way for years between Butterfly and Ethan. That's how they built the soul tie--the bond that, despite their devotion to God, has now led to adultery. And as with all things done in secret, they've been found out. Well, Butterfly has.\nAs a leader in her church, Butterfly is suddenly cast into the spotlight. But she soon realizes she's being used as a pawn to bring down a new pastor--a young man who is upsetting tradition by preaching about real-life issues real people deal with. People like Butterfly. And as she faces a challenging search for truth, forgiveness, and the real meaning of love, she may finally break out of her cocoon…\n\"Those who seek pure, old-fashioned Christian fiction will enjoy Griggs's latest.\" --Library Journal\nFrom the time they met as teenagers, Ethan and Butterfly have shared a powerful connection that hasn't faded even after 15 years apart. When Ethan reappears in Butterfly's life, they're tempted thanks to unhappy marriages to pick up right where they left off. As their emotional intimacy grows over the next 10 years, they continue to shy away from sexual infidelity, despite kisses and deep conversations. Ethan finally convinces Butterfly to spend a night with him in a hotel, but before they get to their room she runs into a deacon from her church, whose wife, the next day, accuses Butterfly of adultery in front of the whole congregation. Though she's innocent, Butterfly ends what she considers to be an emotional affair with Ethan and begins to rebuild trust with her unfaithful, unappreciative husband. Griggs's newest (after Redeeming Waters), exploring her common themes of fidelity and spiritual faith, is also a lesson in emotional infidelity. Her heroine is unfortunately passive, permitting her husband to mistreat her and Ethan to string her along for a decade. This character trait will likely frustrate readers who otherwise may appreciate a woman's struggle with her faith.\nForever Soul Ties\nI read this book in 5 hours...I could not put it down! I will definitely add her to my list of best authors! I loved every moment..I will continue to support her and tell all my friends. Would love to see a part two :-)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Timeless novels earn their distinction by dealing with timeless themes. In that way, Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis, made the Guardian Unlimited’s list of ‘Top 100 Books of all Time.’\nBut it takes more than a universal theme to propel a work of fiction through the ages. The theme must come packaged with compelling plots and characters. Since Kazantzakis’ novel lacks the former, it’s the latter that has appealed to millions of readers since its publication more than six decades ago.\nAlexis Zorba, the eponymous 65-year-old character, is an unschooled laborer, cook, musician, war veteran, world-traveler, womanizer, inventor, and an emotionally sincere man with the heart of a teenager.\nWe meet Zorba on a cold, rainy day when he walks into a café at the Piraeus port and introduces himself to the story’s narrator, whom we know only as ‘Boss,’ a thirty-five-year-old Greek intellectual. Boss is on his way to Crete, where he plans to re-open a disused coal mine and experience ‘real’ life. He wants to stop “chewing paper and covering [himself] with ink.” Zorba accompanies Boss on his venture and the two men begin a dance of the minds.\nThe novel isn’t a battle of wits. It’s a warm, often dark, portrait of two personalities — the uninhibited vs. the introspective.\nZorba is a bold and charming philanderer shaped by his many adventures. He’s also a Puritan’s nightmare — an anti-clerical, semi-existentialist whose lust for life borders on hedonism. He worships women, not as individuals, but as a species. He embodies the traits of some of literature’s most memorable figures: Don Quixote’s eccentricity; Odysseus’ masculinity; Madame Bovary’s restlessness; Mersault’s physicality and rage at the indifference of the universe.\nBoss, meanwhile, is a stifled bookworm with no ability to enjoy life because of his over-analysis of it.\nWritten in first-person from Boss’ perspective, we see only what Boss sees and become acquainted with Zorba only through dialogue and Boss’ musings. And it’s in that dialogue where much of Zorba’s seize-the-day attitude is revealed: “To live — Do you know what that means? To undo your belt and look for trouble!”\nMostly, though, it’s the undercurrent of death and Zorba’s constant awareness of it that defines the novel. Zorba doesn’t welcome God into his life and fall into a geriatric lull of acceptance. He grows more restless and wild with age, angrier at the callousness of the universe, and more determined to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment. He works the coal-mine wholeheartedly, seduces a former cabaret singer, fights young village men, and proudly announces to Boss, “I think I must have five or six demons inside me!”\nZorba is not a thinker. “Boss,” he says, “everything’s simple in this world. How many times must I tell you? So don’t go and complicate things!” He has no use for philosophy since it can’t solve the only mystery that really matters — death. “All those damned books you read, what good are they? Why do you read them? If they don’t tell you that, what do they tell you?”\nKazantzakis spent his entire career wrestling with religion, haunted by questions of life and death. He has long since passed into the eternity that he tried so hard to understand, but Zorba lives on in the hearts of millions.\nIn that sense, Kazantzakis just may have found mortality’s loophole.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Woman of Wood\nby Kathrin KöhlerListen to the poem from the woman's perspective:\nListen to the poem from the man's perspective:\nListen to the poem read as a whole:\nhe came at me with an ax, blow after blow lightning sharp, but cold, and he cleaved me in two — He made her out of wood, his wife — cut down the prize walnut of his newly purchased farm and carved her out of the trunk. severed my roots, threw my limbs in a heap and dragged me to his home — he came at me with chisels and knives He began with her eyes, deep brown, and an expression he had not intended, rendering her incapable of not watching as he turned my flesh into sawdust taking from me until I became less. whittled her down to size. Custom-made she fit better than a well worn chair. Every morning he hands me an ax and has me split wood in the clearing behind his cabin. There is something about the way he watches me as I light the cooking fire —\nKathrin Köhler's favourite fruit is the Durian fruit. Drupes were around back when mammals were dominated by giant lizards and were barely surviving. While munching primeval fruits Kathrin likes to contemplate the paradigm of language and the paradox of human existence. She also writes and reads, bakes and bikes, and engages in other alliterative activities. She's a poet who has recently picked up the bad habit of writing short stories. Her poem \"Stardust\" won first place in the Baltimore Science Fiction Society's 2011 poetry contest. She wonders what a Goblin Fruit salad would taste like.\nBack to Table of Contents", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "|Reviews for Enveloping Love|\n| floire chapter 12 . 8/6/2011\nhey great story! :D\ni need an sequel...SEQUEL! :))\nanyways hope to read more reiminako fanfic\n| chakeroo chapter 12 . 1/9/2011\ngreat story! :D\n| Peace Faith chapter 12 . 11/4/2009\nIt's a little confusing in the middle with the POV switches but besides that it a good piece. I particularly like the MakoAmi in this. The ending was different but good.\n| Jedi Caro chapter 12 . 8/4/2009\ndamn, this story had me on the edge of my seat! love it from beginning to end!\n| Zalleon chapter 12 . 8/1/2009\nReverie not revere, other than that good story. Loved the ending. I didn't see the dream sequence thing coming at all! Keep up the good work.\n| Ze chapter 12 . 12/1/2007\nyay, everything worked out.\n| Ze chapter 11 . 12/1/2007\n| Ze chapter 10 . 12/1/2007\nUrgh, makes me mad! Glad Rei kicked some ass tho\n| Ze chapter 9 . 12/1/2007\n| Ze chapter 8 . 12/1/2007\n| Ze chapter 7 . 12/1/2007\nthe idea of them playing football is hilarious.\n| Ze chapter 6 . 12/1/2007\noh, oh my...\n| Ze chapter 5 . 12/1/2007\nYay, Rei caught her...\n| Ze chapter 4 . 12/1/2007\n“What are you both doing in the closet?” Classic! I loved this chapter! Especially Rei getting caught staring.\n| Ze chapter 3 . 12/1/2007\nReading through Mina's pov is so frustrating! open your eyes!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Author(s): Rezende KF, Bergami E, Alves KVB, Corsi I, Barbieri E\nTitanium Dioxide Nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) could cause alterations in exposed aquatic species, in terms of oxygen consumption, ammonia excretion and tissues functionality therefore, the aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of acute exposure to different concentrations of TiO2NPs (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.5 mgL-1) on routine metabolism (oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion) and histological parameters (branchial and hepatic) in Oreochromis niloticus. After 24 hours, we observed an increase in oxygen consumption of 2.36 and 3.23 times in groups exposed to 1.0 and 2.5 mgL-1 of TiO2 NPs respectively, as well as an increase in ammonia excretion of 3.54, 4.0 and 4.82 times higher in groups exposed to 0.5, 1.0 and 2.5 mgL-1 of TiO2 NPs respectively, compared to the control group. Histological analysis showed, after 72 hours, moderate to severe alterations in both gills and liver of TiO2 exposed fish at concentrations 1.0 and 2.5 mgL-1, the severity and occurrence of the alteration observed was grade 3 (severe and extensive pathological alterations). We concluded that waterborne exposure of Nile tilapia to TiO2 NPs caused alteration in routine metabolism and histological parameters in a dose-dependent manner.(AU)\nReferred From: https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/resource/pt/vti-731193\nAuthor(s): Baun A, Hartmann NB, Grieger K, Kusk KO\nAuthor(s): Zhu X, Wang J, Zhang X, Chang Y, Chen Y\nAuthor(s): Ju-Nam Y, Lead JR\nAuthor(s): Xia J, Zhao HZ, Lu GH\nAuthor(s): Shaw BJ, Handy RD\nAuthor(s): Handy RD, Shaw BJ\nAuthor(s): Çavas T, Ergene-Gozukara S\nAuthor(s): Filho JDS, Matsubara EY, Franchi LP, Martins IP, Rivera LMR, et al.\nAuthor(s): Schrand AM, Rahman MF, Hussain SM, Schlager JJ, Smith DA, et al.\nAuthor(s): Gajewicz A, Rasulev B, Dinadayalane TC, Urbaszek P, Puzyn T, et al.\nAuthor(s): Ivask A, Juganson K, Bondarenko O, Mortimer M, Aruoja V, et al.\nAuthor(s): Smith CJ, Shaw BJ, Handy RD\nAuthor(s): Chen J, Dong X, Xin Y, Zhao M\nAuthor(s): Xiong DW, Fang T, Yu L, Sima X, Zhu W\nAuthor(s): Campos-Garcia J, Martinez DT, Rezende KF, da Silva JR, Alves OL, et al.\nAuthor(s): Barbieri E, Campos-Garcia J, Martinez ST, da Silva JR, Alves OL, et al.\nAuthor(s): Cimbaluk GV, Ramsdorf WA, Perussolo MC, Santos HKF, Da Silva, et al.\nAuthor(s): Arnold MC, Badireddy AR, Wiesner MR, Di Giulio RT, Meyer JN\nAuthor(s): Felix LC, Ortega VA, Ede JD, Goss GG", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "|Year : 2016 | Volume\n| Issue : 1 | Page : 89-93\nEfficacy of tramadol and butorphanol pretreatment in reducing pain on propofol injection: A placebo-controlled randomized study\nArvinderpal Singh1, Geeta Sharma2, Ruchi Gupta1, Anita Kumari1, Deepika Tikko2\n1 Department of Anesthesia, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India\n2 Department of Pharmacology, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India\n|Date of Web Publication||4-Feb-2016|\nDr. Arvinderpal Singh\nDepartment of Anesthesia, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, Punjab\nSource of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None\nBackground and Aims: Pain of propofol injection has been recalled by many patients as the most painful part of the induction of anesthesia. Tramadol and butorphanol are commonly used analgesics for perioperative analgesia in anesthesia practice. However, their potential to relieve propofol injection pain still needs to be explored.\nMaterial and Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted on 90 American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II adult patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia with propofol as an induction agent. Consecutive sampling technique with random assignment was used to allocate three groups of 30 patients each. Group I patients received an injection of normal saline 3 ml intravenously (placebo) while Group II and Group III patients received injection of tramadol 50 mg and butorphanol 1 mg intravenously, respectively. Before induction of anesthesia patients were asked about the intensity of pain on propofol injection by using visual analog scale (VAS) before the loss of consciousness. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance with Chi-square test were used to analyze the data. The value of P < 0.05 was considered as a significant and P < 0.0001 as highly significant.\nResults: The incidence of pain in Group I was observed in 80% of the patients, while it was observed in 23.33% and 20% of patients in Group II and III, respectively. Mean VAS scores were 2.27 ± 1.51, 1.14 ± 1.74, and 1.03 ± 1.72 in Group I, II, and Group III patients, respectively. The incidence of pruritus was 10% and 6.7% and erythema in 13.2% and 6.7% in Group II and III, respectively.\nConclusion: Pretreatment with both butorphanol and tramadol significantly reduced pain on propofol injection; however, they exhibited comparable efficacy among each other. Thus, either of these two drugs can be considered for pretreatment to reduce propofol injection pain.\nKeywords: Butorphanol, pain, propofol, tramadol\n|How to cite this article:|\nSingh A, Sharma G, Gupta R, Kumari A, Tikko D. Efficacy of tramadol and butorphanol pretreatment in reducing pain on propofol injection: A placebo-controlled randomized study. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2016;32:89-93\n|How to cite this URL:|\nSingh A, Sharma G, Gupta R, Kumari A, Tikko D. Efficacy of tramadol and butorphanol pretreatment in reducing pain on propofol injection: A placebo-controlled randomized study. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol [serial online] 2016 [cited 2020 Oct 26];32:89-93. Available from: https://www.joacp.org/text.asp?2016/32/1/89/175703\n| Introduction|| |\nPropofol is a commonly used drug for induction of anesthesia because of its rapid onset and short duration of action, easy titration, and favorable profile for side effects. , However, despite these positive attributes, about 28-92% patients experience pain on injection of propofol, with one of three patients reporting severe or excruciating pain. , The mechanism of propofol injection pain is still unclear; it has been postulated to be due to either a direct irritant effect giving rise to an immediate sensation of pain or an indirect effect via the release of mediators such as bradykinin leading to a delayed onset. As a result, several interventions have been investigated to alleviate the pain associated with propofol injection with varying results. Numerous physiological and pharmacological methods have been described in literature so as to decrease the incidence of this pain such as selection of a larger vein, decreasing the speed of injection, or diluting the propofol solution, or pretreatment with lignocaine, ondansetron, metoclopramide, opioids, and thiopentone. ,,,,,,,,, Tramadol a centrally acting analgesic can also possibly reduce the pain due to propofol injection. ,, We also hypothesized that intravenous (IV) administration of butorphanol, a synthetic opioid agonist - antagonist can also reduce pain during induction with IV propofol. It is a kappa receptor agonist, as well as a mu-receptor antagonist, resulting in analgesic and sedative properties without profound respiratory depression or euphoria. Studies comparing butorphanol with tramadol in reducing the propofol-induced pain are sparse. Hence, we conducted this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to compare the efficacy of pretreatment with butorphanol and tramadol for alleviation of pain associated with propofol injection.\n| Material and Methods|| |\nAfter obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethical Committee and written informed consent of the study subjects, this prospective study was conducted on 90 adult patients belonging to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Grade I and II in the age group of 18-60 years scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia with propofol as an induction agent. Consecutive sampling technique with random assignment was used to allocate to one of the three groups of 30 patients each and respective drugs were given intravenously in the volume of 3 ml prior to injection of propofol. Patients with a history of chronic pain syndromes, thrombophlebitis, neurological disease, and allergy to the study drugs were excluded from the study. The patients having difficulty in communication were also excluded from the study. The patients were informed of the possibility of a \"burning sensation\" in the forearm during induction of anesthesia.\nThe drugs were prepared in identical syringes and in equal volume by the anesthesia technician who was unaware of the study design and were marked with different codes (I, II, III) so that even the anesthesiologists who were recording the observations remained blinded to the drug. A detailed preanesthesia checkup was conducted wherein the patients were educated on the use of visual analog scale (VAS) for assessment of pain during the perioperative period. All patients were advised to be kept nil per oral for 8 h prior to surgery and received uniform premedication in the form of tablet ranitidine 150 mg and tablet alprazolam 0.25 mg night before surgery. In the operating room, an IV line was secured in a peripheral vein on the dorsum of the hand with an 18-gauge IV cannula. The following monitoring was instituted: electrocardiogram for heart rate and rhythm, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation. Recording of these parameters was done before induction, during induction, intraoperatively every 2 min up to first 10 min and thereafter every 5 min until the end of the surgical procedure.\nGroup I patients received injection normal saline 3 ml IV (placebo), while Group II and Group III patients received injection tramadol 50 mg and injection butorphanol 1 mg IV, respectively, made up to 3 ml by adding normal saline in a blinded manner.\nPatients were preoxygenated with 100% oxygen for 3 min. A tourniquet was applied and inflated to 70 mm Hg in which the IV line was secured. Then the study drugs (tramadol, butorphanol, and placebo) were administered through IV cannula at the rate of 0.5 ml/s. After 2 min of injecting the study drug, tourniquet was deflated and immediately injection propofol 2.5 mg/kg at the rate of 0.5 ml/s was administered for induction of anesthesia. Patients were asked about the intensity of pain on propofol injection by using pain VAS on a range of scores from 0 to 100 before the loss of consciousness. Side effects such as erythema, pruritus, sensation of heat, and allergic reaction were noted postoperatively immediately after the surgery and then 24 h after surgery.\nBased on the distribution of pain VAS scores in postsurgical patients who described their postoperative pain intensity as none, mild, moderate, or severe the following cut points on the pain VAS have been recommended for this study: No pain (0-4 mm); mild pain (5-44 mm); moderate pain (45-74 mm); and severe pain (75-100 mm). \nBased on the results of the previous study and assuming Type-I error (α) at 0.05, Type II error (β) at 0.1, and power of the study at 80% so as to detect a difference of 20% in the incidence of pain between the study and control groups the sample size was calculated as 26 patients in each group. However, we chose 30 patients in each group considering possible dropouts and for better validation of results. The decoding of drugs was done at the end of the study, and the entire data were compiled and analyzed by using analysis of variance and Chi-square test. Post-hoc significance test was done to validate the statistical results. Analysis was performed using statistical software Statistical Product for Social Sciences (SPSS version 11.0 for Windows, Chicago, SPSS Inc.). All the values were expressed as a mean ± standard deviation (SD); range; or percentage. Results were considered statistically significant when P value was <0.05.\n| Results|| |\nThe demographic profile was comparable in all the three groups [Table 1]. The incidence of pain in Group I was observed in 80% of the patients [Table 2]. In Group II, 7 patients out of 30 felt pain accounting for an incidence of 23.33%, while in Group III, 6 patients out of 30 felt pain with an incidence of 20%. In Group I, the mean score of pain was (VAS ± SD) 2.27 ± 1.51 while it was 1.14 ± 1.74 and 1.03 ± 1.72 in Group II and Group III patients, respectively [Table 3]. On statistical analysis, VAS in Group I was statistically significant as compared to Group II and III (P < 0.001). The other side effects observed besides pain included pruritus and erythema. In Group II and Group III, pruritus was seen in three (10%) and two (6.7%) patients, respectively, while erythema was observed in four (13.2%) and two (6.7%) patients, respectively, in Group II and III. The overall incidence of pruritus and erythema was 23.2% and 13.4% in Group II and III, respectively, which were statistically insignificant [Table 4].\n| Discussion|| |\nThe results of our study imply a significant reduction in pain on propofol administration after pretreatment with tramadol or butorphanol in comparison to the control placebo group. Intergroup comparison revealed that the incidence and severity of pain with propofol injection was less in the study Groups (II and III) when compared to the control group (I), but comparable efficacy was observed among both the study drugs.\nWe chose a control group in this study by administering a placebo so as to gauge the efficacy of tramadol and butorphanol for the amelioration of propofol injection pain, rather than opting for traditionally established gold standard lignocaine pretreatment. Moreover, with the focus shifting to newer drugs in a quest to find a better alternative to alleviate the pain on propofol injection, it seems reasonable to use opioids as a part of standard induction regime.\nOpiates were shown to exert peripheral analgesic action in addition to their well-known central effects though a clear-cut discrimination between peripheral and central analgesics is debatable. The analgesia produced by both peripheral and central mechanisms may be additive or even synergistic. Moreover, peripheral opioid receptors have been described and shown to mediate analgesic effect when activated by opioid agonists. , The analgesic effect observed in our study with both tramadol and can be attributed to the peripheral analgesic effect secondary to their venous retention for 2 min.\nThe higher incidence of patients (80%) experiencing higher mean VAS scores (2.27 ± 1.48) in Group I (placebo) are comparable with the 74-83% incidence reported by various other studies. , Tramadol has also been found to be as effective as lignocaine in reducing the incidence and severity of propofol-induced pain. Moreover, it also grants an added advantage of intraoperative analgesia.\nTramadol is a centrally acting weak μ-receptor agonist which inhibits noradrenaline re-uptake as well as promotes serotonin release, potentiates the monoaminergic system and can be used to treat moderate and severe pain. In addition to its systemic effect, the local anesthetic effect of tramadol on peripheral nerves has been shown in both clinically and laboratory studies. ,, Desmeules et al. confirmed that the analgesic effect of tramadol is apportioned between the opioid and monoaminergic components. Jou et al. suggested that tramadol affects sensory and motor nerve conduction by a similar mechanism to that of lidocaine which acts on the voltage-dependent sodium channel leading to axonal blockage.\nButorphanol is 5-8 times more potent than morphine. After the IV administration, the onset of analgesia occurs within 1 min with a peak effect in about 4-5 min. The site of action of butorphanol in reducing the pain of propofol injection is not clear, but it could be either through opioid receptors (central and or peripheral), local anesthetic action, or both. The incidence of pain on propofol injection in this study after pretreatment with butorphanol was observed to be approximately 20%. This incidence is almost similar to the findings of earlier study by Aggarwal et al. who reported an incidence of merely 20% on propofol injection while using butorphanol as pretreatment. \nThe incidence of pain observed in the tramadol group (23.33%) in the our study was comparable to the results of Wong and Cheong who compared lignocaine with placebo and observed an incidence of 27% and 83%, respectively (P < 0.001). Thus, it can be inferred that tramadol is as effective as lignocaine in alleviating propofol injection pain thereby granting the patient a smoother comfortable experience of propofol induction.\nFewer side effects, like pruritus and erythema, were observed with tramadol pretreatment (10% and 13.2%, respectively) while this incidence decreased further with butorphanol pretreatment (6.7%). The findings of our study are nearly similar to the results of Martin et al. who reported a similar incidence of pruritus and erythema with tramadol pretreatment. \n| Conclusion|| |\nThus, we conclude that pretreatment with perioperatively used opioids tramadol 50 mg or butorphanol 1 mg effectively reduced the pain of propofol injection with fewer self-limiting mild side effects such as pruritus and erythema. Though statistical significance could not be achieved among both study drugs, we propose future studies exploring use of both tramadol and butorphanol as a pretreatment in relieving pain on propofol injection in large samples of surgical population.\nAuthors are grateful to the staff of Anaesthesia Department of our institute for their cooperation. We are also grateful to statistician for helping us in the statistical analysis.\nFinancial support and sponsorship\nConflicts of interest\nThere are no conflicts of interest.\n| References|| |\nJalota L, Kalira V, George E, Shi YY, Hornuss C, Radke O, et al.\nPrevention of pain on injection of propofol: Systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2011;342:d1110.\nMarik PE. Propofol: Therapeutic indications and side-effects. Curr Pharm Des 2004;10:3639-49.\nPicard P, Tramèr MR. Prevention of pain on injection with propofol: A quantitative systematic review. Anesth Analg 2000;90:963-9.\nScott RP, Saunders DA, Norman J. Propofol: Clinical strategies for preventing the pain of injection. Anaesthesia 1988;43:492-4.\nJamuna T, Nicolas Israel Y. Prospective and comparative study of the analgesic effect of intravenous 2% xylocard versus intravenous tramadol in ameliorating propofol injection pain. J Evid Based Med Healthc 2015;2:3529-39.\nBarker JP, Kamath BS. Prevention of pain on injection. Br J Anaesth 1988;60:243.\nMok MS, Pang WW, Hwang MH. The analgesic effect of tramadol, metoclopramide, meperidine and lidocaine in ameliorating propofol injection pain: A comparative study. J Anaesth Clin Pharmacol 1999;15:37-42.\nAmbesh SP, Dubey PK, Sinha PK. Ondansetron pretreatment to alleviate pain on propofol injection: A randomized, controlled, double-blinded study. Anesth Analg 1999;89:197-9.\nPang WW, Mok MS, Huang S, Hwang MH. The analgesic effect of fentanyl, morphine, meperidine, and lidocaine in the peripheral veins: A comparative study. Anesth Analg 1998;86:382-6.\nLee TW, Loewenthal AE, Strachan JA, Todd BD. Pain during injection of propofol. The effect of prior administration of thiopentone. Anaesthesia 1994;49:817-8.\nWong WH, Cheong KF. Role of tramadol in reducing pain on propofol injection. Singapore Med J 2001;42:193-5.\nAggarwal A, Raza M, Dhiraaj S, Pandey R, Gupta D, Pandey CK, et al\n. Pain during injection of propofol: The effect of prior administration of butorphanol. Anesth Analg 2005;100:903-6.\nMcCormack HM, Horne DJ, Sheather S. Clinical applications of visual analogue scales: A critical review. Psychol Med 1988;18:1007-19.\nJensen MP, Chen C, Brugger AM. Interpretation of visual analog scale ratings and change scores: A reanalysis of two clinical trials of postoperative pain. J Pain 2003;4:407-14.\nBorazan H, Sahin O, Kececioglu A, Uluer MS, Et T, Otelcioglu S. Prevention of propofol injection pain in children: A comparison of pretreatment with tramadol and propofol-lidocaine mixture. Int J Med Sci 2012;9:492-7.\nStein C, Schafer M, Cabot PJ, Carter L, Zhang Q, Zhou L, et al\n. Peripheral opioid analgesia. Pain Rev 1997;4:171-85.\nTariq M, Kamran M. Incidence of pain on propofol injection and efficacy of addition of lignocaine or selecting big vein or both combined in reducing it: A randomized control trial. JPMI 2006;20:8-11.\nAltunkaya H, Ozer Y, Kargi E, Babuccu O. Comparison of local anaesthetic effects of tramadol with prilocaine for minor surgical procedures. Br J Anaesth 2003;90:320-2.\nPang WW, Huang PY, Chang DP, Huang MH. The peripheral analgesic effect of tramadol in reducing propofol injection pain: A comparison with lidocaine. Reg Anesth Pain Med 1999;24:246-9.\nDesmeules JA, Piguet V, Collart L, Dayer P. Contribution of monoaminergic modulation to the analgesic effect of tramadol. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1996;41:7-12.\nJou IM, Chu KS, Chen HH, Chang PJ, Tsai YC. The effects of intrathecal tramadol on spinal somatosensory-evoked potentials and motor-evoked responses in rats. Anesth Analg 2003;96:783-8.\nMartin SM, Pang WW, Hwang MH. The analgesic effect of tramadol, metoclopramide, meperidine and lidocaine in ameliorating propofol injection pain: A comparative study. J Anaesth Clin Pharmacol 1999;15:37-42.\n[Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4]", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Availability: Usually ships in 3-4 business days. + Available in e-book formats - see bottom of page.\nVeronica's Happily Ever After\nby Chantal Bellehumeur\nAs Veronicas relationship with her boyfriend, Scott, gets more serious, her happiness grows more than she ever thought possible. Everything she ever dreamed of, and more, is finally coming true. Instead of running away with fear, she embraces everything good that comes her way because she realises that she deserves it all. Of course, not every moment of her life is perfect. Veronicas third and final diary is filled with the obstacles she must overcome to reach her goals.About the Author\nChantal was born on June 30, 1981, and she lived in Toronto and Ottawa during her childhood. At the age of fourteen, she took acting classes to overcome her shyness, and theatre soon became her favourite hobby. Chantal performed in a few amateur stage productions, joined a youth-run theatre company, and studied theatre at Concordia University. Her acting career was put on hold once her son, Aidan, was born, but she still worked as an extra in movies, television shows, and commercials.\nChantal took up writing as a hobby because her head was always filled with ideas. She wrote Veronicas Soap Opera Life, her first novel, in 2009 and published the sequel that same year. Chantal continued her creative writing with Just.Another.Common.Killer in 2010.(2010, paperback, 98 pages)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In her beautifully written book, Ten Hills Farm: The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North, C.S. Manegold tells the story of, among others, Isaac Royall Jr., who came into possession of Ten Hills Farm (which lay along the Mystic River near Medford, Massachusetts) upon the death of his father in 1739.\nIn the course of her review of Isaac Jr., Ms. Manegold discusses a painting of Isaac and his family created by Robert Feke in 1741. I was so struck by the picture - and Ms. Manegold's description - that I thought I'd share it with you, particularly since the original is virtually inaccessible - \"hiding in plain sight\" in a room within Harvard's Law School, \"a place so forbidding and obscure it seldom sees a visitor.\"\nAt the right is 22 year old Isaac, \"wear[ing] an imperious expression,\" \"undeniably the painting's hero.\" To his right (the viewer's left), \"all in a row like bobbins - sit his women.\" Immediately to his right is his 19 year old wife Elizabeth, a Scottish heiress, \"a solid figure, someone who might have thrived just as well carrying pails of milk and churning butter.\" Elizabeth holds their daughter.\nNext to Elizabeth is her sister, Mary Palmer (nee McIntosh). \"Sweet-faced and unfocused,\" smiling Mary seems both \"sympathetic\" and \"fragile,\" \"as though life might come and knock her down.\"\nFinally at the far left is Isaac's sister Penelope, who \"exudes detachment, as though she only deigns to sit at her brother's insistence.\"\nMissing are the sources of the family's wealth. \"Not a brushstroke creates the shadow of a slave.\"\nIf you want to get a book for Juneteenth, Ms. Manegold's work would make an excellent choice.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,\nin ancient times didst give the law in cloud and majesty and awe.\n“Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.”\nAdonai, the lawgiver, is a mighty and awesome presence before his people on Mount Sinai. But what a contrast between that God who caused the mountain to tremble and smoke when he visited it, and his Son who willingly gave up his glory and might to be born a helpless baby to ordinary parents and in the most humble of circumstances. The truth of the gospel is full of contrasts and it is often easy for us to miss the depth those contrasts are meant to show us. There are times when it is easy for us to relate to the conquering God who brushes aside the enemies of his people with his powerful right arm–times when we feel threatened by the people and circumstances that seem about to overwhelm us. In those times, we are not so much drawn to Jesus as a baby who was completely reliant on the goodwill and care of his earthly parents, nor to him as a condemned man standing silent and humiliated before his accusers.\nAdvent is a time to consider Jesus as our God, willing to humble himself and lay down his vast glory. As we consider his humility, it is helpful for us to reflect on the words God inspired Paul to write in Colossians 3, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another…” When we demand to be given what we believe we are due, or are unwilling to continue to walk through the trials we are called to face, we are acting in direct opposition to the life Jesus modeled for us–the life he calls his people to live. If we desire to bring honor to the one whom we follow, love, and celebrate, we do well to picture the quaking, smoking mountain…and then turn our gaze and our hearts to the baby in the lowly manger.\nFather, we are deeply moved when we consider the height of Christ’s glory and the shocking humility demonstrated by his coming to earth. Help us to stand in awe of your glory and greatness and to rejoice in the unfathomable love demonstrated by Christ’s lowly birth and his unspeakable suffering and death, all for our benefit. Help us to respond in humble obedience with great joy.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "For quite some time, clinical researchers have known that chronic back pain can lead to major depression, as discussed previously (See Worz, 2003 for a review). Newer studies are now looking at how psychological variables such as depression and anxiety may be linked to the onset of a back pain problem. For example:\n- Atkinson, Slater, Patterson, Grant, and Garfin (1991), in a systematic study of depressed male Veterans Administration chronic pain patients, found that 42% of patients experienced the onset of depression prior to the onset of pain, whereas 58% experienced depression after the pain began.\n- Polatin et al. (1993) reported that 39% of the chronic low back pain patients they evaluated displayed symptoms of pre-existing depression.\n- More recently, in a review of research studies in this area, Linton (2000) found that in 14 of the 16 reviewed studies, depression was found to have increased the risk for developing back pain problems.\nDepression Impacts Spine Surgery Outcome\nResearch has clearly demonstrated that non-physical variables such as depression, anxiety, thought patterns, and personality style can impact a spine surgery outcome (See Block, Gatchel, Deardorff & Guyer, 2003 for a review). Unfortunately, it appears that in many cases, having a major depression may not bode well for the outcome of a spine surgery.\nFor instance, as discussed by Block et al. (2003), spine surgery patients who are clinically depressed pre-operatively may continue to display depressive symptoms post-operatively and these can negatively impact the surgery outcome. Particular symptoms that may impede post-operative recovery include such things as low motivation, sleep disturbance, slower healing time, difficulty with physical rehabilitation and inability to perceive improvements (Block et al, 2003; Deardorff and Reeves, 1997).\nIn This Article:\nPre-surgery Considerations for Patients with Depression\nBlock et al. (2003) discuss that, in looking at the issue of depression and spine surgery outcome, it is important to consider whether the individual is experiencing a \"reactive depression\" or shows a pre-injury history of more chronic depression. A reactive depression is defined as depressive symptoms in response to the chronic back pain and associated problems (loss of work, friends, etc). Reactive depression occurs in back pain patients who have no previous history of depression. However, many chronic back pain patients have a history of problems with depression even before the onset of the back pain. As reviewed previously, individuals with chronic depression may be at greater risk for developing a low back pain condition. It is also likely that this same group is at greater risk for a poorer outcome to spine surgery (Block et al., 2003).\nIf a patient is facing a spine surgery and has a chronic back pain problem with significant depression, he or she may want to consider postponing the surgery until the depression can be treated. Treatment for depression is often part of a preparation for spine surgery program (See Block et al., 2003; Deardorff and Reeves, 1997).", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Book of Jasher\n|LXVIII:1 And it was at that time the spirit of Elohim was upon Miriam the daughter of Amram the\nsister of Aaron, and she went forth and prophecied about the house, saying, Behold a son will\nbe born unto us from my father and mother this time, and he will save Israel from the hands\nLXVIII:2 And when Amram heard the words of his daughter, he went and took his wife back to\nthe house, after he had driven her away at the time of Pharaoh ordered every male child of\nthe house of Jacob to be thrown into the water.\nLXVIII:3 So Amram took Jochebed his wife, three years after he had driven her away, and he came\nto her and she conceived.\nLXVIII:4 And at the end of seven months from her conception she brought forth a son, and the\nwhole house was filled with great light as of the light of the sun and moon at the time of\nLXVIII:5 And when the woman saw the child that it was good and pleasing to the sight, she hid it\nfor three months in an inner room.\nLXVIII:6 In those days the Egyptians conspired to destroy all the Hebrews there.\nLXVIII:7 And the Egyptian women went to Goshen where the children of Israel were, and they\ncarried their young ones upon their shoulders, their babes who could not yet speak.\nLXVIII:8 And in those days, when the women of the children of Israel brought forth, each woman\nhad hidden her son from before the Egyptians, that the Egyptians might not know of their\nbringing forth, and might not destroy them from the land.\nLXVIII:9 And the Egyptian women came to Goshen and their children who could not speak were\nupon their shoulders, and when an Egyptian woman came into the house of a Hebrew woman\nher babe began to cry.\nLXVIII:10 And when it cried the child that was in the inner room answered it, so the Egyptian\nwomen went and told it at the house of Pharaoh.\nCommentary on Jasher LXVIII:1 (27 May 2009):\nOriginally Written: 27 May 2009\nLatest Update: 27 May 2009\nReturn to Zadok Home Continue . . . Return One Page Go to Jasher Introduction", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Thank goodness I'd already read the original Flashman so I knew what was coming, or else I might have given up on this early on. The first 80 pages arThank goodness I'd already read the original Flashman so I knew what was coming, or else I might have given up on this early on. The first 80 pages are all about cricket, which may be fascinating to a Brit, but to an American was like reading a foreign (and boring) language. However, I knew enough about Flashy to keep reading, and it was well worth it. What followed were two great - if disjointed - stories of Flashman in Singapore/Borneo and then a totally bizarre Madagascar that reads like a missing section of Gulliver's Travels; how had I never heard of Queen Ranavalona before??\nOther than the overlong cricket section, the book also suffered from a lack of resolution in several places - main characters and story arcs like Brooke and Don Solomon (and whole continents like Asia) just disappear with no explanation. But what remained was all 4-star excellent. By description only, Flashman should be a buffoon or a cartoon character, but thanks to Fraser's excellent writing and voice he comes across as surprisingly human and sympathetic, if not necessarily someone you'd want as a travel companion....more\nMy good friend (and Goodreads buddy) Jim has been trying to get me to read Flashman for years, but somehow I never got around to it. However, finallyMy good friend (and Goodreads buddy) Jim has been trying to get me to read Flashman for years, but somehow I never got around to it. However, finally picked this up and was totally hooked - there's a reason he's become such an iconic figure. He's like a 19th Century Forrest Gump - if Forrest was British, way smarter, and a total (yet for some reason, still likeable) asshole.\nIt probably helps to have at least a basic knowledge of the British Empire and its colonial skeletons, but there are so many events from that period that I've heard of but don't really understand - the Khyber Pass, the Light Brigade, Balaclava, etc. - and these books look like a really enjoyable way to learn a little history. As I'm currently sitting in a really lame Sheraton in Borneo, I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Flashman's Lady, which is about Flash's adventures with James Brook, the \"White Rajah\" of Sarawak....more\n“This book is to be neither an accusation not a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to fa“This book is to be neither an accusation not a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.”\nFrom these opening words to the very last page (which finally explains the title in one last heartbreaking irony), this book is a beautiful, brutal history lesson that is perhaps even more relevant today than it was in 1929.\nReading All Quiet on the Western Front was a perfect follow-up to Winston Groom’s excellent non-fiction account of the same trench warfare, A Storm in Flanders - “perfect,” that is, if you want to be intelligently and elegantly led into a totally bleak assessment of how (not) far the human race has really come. Western Front doesn’t really have much of a plot. It is more a beginning-to-end series of arresting scenes and images. The telling details simply noted in passing – the rows of fresh yellow coffins, still smelling of pine and resin; the blue faces and black tongues of the gassed corpses; the frozen clods of winter earth, which during shelling attacks become as deadly as the bomb fragments themselves; the panicked soldiers pissing into a bucket so that the water-cooled machine gun can keep firing – are painful in their precision; this is a book that was lived, not researched. And indeed, Remarque has described the book as being “simply a collection of the best stories I told, and that my friends told, as we sat over drinks and relived the War.” Understanding that, you can see how each story could have come from a different soldier – leave, killing in the crater, sex in the hospital, the Russian prisoners, guarding the supply dump – yet he weaves them into a single narrative that is both breathtaking and heartbreaking.\nAt times, our hero’s ruminations can get, well, too German: “In the quiet hours when the puzzling reflection of former days like a blurred mirror, projects beyond me the figure of my present existence, I often sit over against myself, as before a stranger, and wonder how the unnamable active principle that calls itself to life has adapted itself even to this form.”\nBut most of the time, Remarque’s prose is eloquent, spare and pointed:\n“Our artillery is fired out, it has too few shells and the barrels are so worn they shoot uncertainly, and scatter so widely as even to fall on ourselves. We have too few horses. Our fresh troops are anemic boys in need of rest, who cannot carry a pack, but merely know how to die. By thousands. They understand nothing about warfare, they simply go on and let themselves be shot down. A single flyer routed two companies of them for a joke, just as they came fresh from the train – before they had ever heard of such a thing as cover.”\n“Bertinick has a chest wound. After a while a fragment smashes away his chin, and the same fragment has sufficient force to tear open Leer’s hip. Leer graons as he supports himself on his arm, he bleeds quickly, no one can help him. Like an emptying tube, after a couple of minutes he collapses.\n“What use is it to him now that he was such a good mathematician at school.”\n“A word of command has made these silent figures our enemies. And a word of command might transform them into our friends. At some table a document is signed by some persons whom none of us knows, and then for years together that very crime on which formerly the world’s condemnation and severest penalty fall, becomes our highest aim.”\nNo wonder Hitler ordered this book burned.\nIt’s funny: I’m always surprised that so many of the “modern” weapons are war are older than I thought. I always associate napalm with Vietnam, but it was used much earlier and with devastating effect on Tokyo and Dresden. And I always think of flamethrowers in WWII, but they were introduced in the trenches of Belgium along with poison gas and that other and apparently most frightening innovation: the tank. “We do not see the guns that bombard us; the attacking lines of the infantry are men like ourselves; but these tanks are machines, their caterpillars run on as endless as the war, they are annihilation, they roll without feeling into the craters, and climb up again without stopping, a fleet of roaring, smoke-belching armor-clads, invulnerable steel beasts squashing the dead and wounded – we shrivel up in our thin skin before them, against their colossal weight our arms are sticks of straw, and our hand grenades matches.”\nI was mad at the Germans after reading Flanders, and I’m mad at them still – just as I’m mad at all the people behind (so very far behind) the war. But Paul Baumer could just as well have been British or French - or Japanese and Vietnamese. He is an eloquent everyman, a good soldier who is at the same time one of the strongest anti-war voices who has ever spoken.\nThis is a book that truly should be read by everyone; it is a book I should have read years ago and should just be rereading now for the third or fourth time.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Main Article Content\nmalnutrition, diet, quality of life, elderly\nIntroduction: This study aims to evaluate the relationship between malnutrition, diet quality and health-related quality of life among the elderly in Famagusta, Cyprus.\nMaterials and Methods: This study was conducted with 279 individuals aged 65 and over who were living in Famagusta, Cyprus between February 2017 and May 2018. Data was collected via one-to-one interviews using the following evaluation forms. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) evaluated demographic characteristics, nutritional habits, 24-hour retrospective food consumption records and risk of malnutrition. The Medical Outcome Study Short Form (SF-36) evaluated quality of life. In addition, participants’ body weight, height, waist, hip, mid-upper arm and calf circumferences were measured using appropriate techniques.\nResults: Of the participants, 5.4% had malnutrition, and 9.3% were at risk of malnutrition. Participants over the age of 85 had the highest risk of malnutrition (p <0.05). Males had a higher physical and mental quality of life and a lower risk of malnutrition than females (p <0.05). Those without a risk of malnutrition had a higher mental and physical quality of life than those with a risk of malnutrition (p <0.001). As diet quality increased, the physical quality of life increased. And as the quality of physical and mental life increased, the risk of malnutrition decreased (p <0.05).\nConclusion: Increased age is associated with increased risk of malnutrition. Males have a lower risk of malnutrition than females. As the quality of diet increases, the physical quality of life increases. And as the quality of physical and mental life increases, the risk of malnutrition decreases. Planning further cross-sectional, longitudinal and intervention studies with larger sample sizes to evaluate other factors that affect the relationship between malnutrition, diet and health-related quality of life in the elderly, is significant in terms of developing preventive public health policies.\n2. Nazan S, Buket K. Evaluation of nutritional status of elderly patients presenting to the Family Health Center. Pak J Med Sci 2018;34(2):446-451.\n3. Beard JR, Officer A, de Carvalho IA, et al. The World report on ageing and health: a policy framework for healthy ageing. Lancet 2016;387(10033):2145-54.\n4. Artaza-Artabe I, Saez-Lopez P, Sanchez-Hernandez N, Fernandez-Gutierrez N, Malafarina V. The relationship between nutrition and frailty: Effects of protein intake, nutritional supplementation, vitamin D and exercise on muscle metabolism in the elderly. A systematic review. Maturitas 2016;93:89-99.\n5. Kaiser MJ, Bauer JM, Rämsch C, et al. Frequency of malnutrition in older adults: a multinational perspective using the mini nutritional assessment. J Am Geriatr Soc 2010;58(9):1734-8.\n6. Campos del Portillo R, Palma MiIla S, Garcia Vaquez N, Plaza Lopez B, Bermejo Lopez L, Riobo Servan P, Gómez-Candela C. Assessment of nutritional status in the healthcare setting in Spain. Nutr Hosp 2015;31 Suppl 3:196-208.\n7. Correia M, Perman MI, Waitzberg DL. Hospital malnutrition in Latin America: A systematic review. Clin Nutr 2017;36(4):958-67.\n8. Marshall S, Young A, Bauer J, Isenring E. Malnutrition in geriatric rehabilitation: prevalence, patient outcomes, and criterion validity of the scored patient-generated subjective global assessment and the mini nutritional assessment. J Acad Nutr Diet 2016;116(5):785-94.\n9. Sanchez-Rodriguez D, Annweiler C, Ronquillo-Moreno N, et al. Clinical application of the basic definition of malnutrition proposed by the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN): Comparison with classical tools in geriatric care. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2018;76:210-4.\n10. Tamura BK, Bell CL, Masaki KH, Amella EJ. Factors associated with weight loss, low BMI, and malnutrition among nursing home patients: a systematic review of the literature. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2013;14(9):649-55.\n11. Rasheed S, Woods RT. Malnutrition and quality of life in older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ageing Res Rev 2013;12(2):561-6.\n12. Guigoz Y, Vellas B, Garry PJ. Assessing the nutritional status of the elderly: The Mini Nutritional Assessment as part of the geriatric evaluation. Nutr Rev 1996;54(1 Pt 2):S59-65.\n13. Kondrup J, Allison SP, Elia M, Vellas B, Plauth M, Educational and Clinical Practice Committee, European Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ESPEN). ESPEN guidelines for nutrition screening 2002. Clin Nutr 2003;22(4):415-21.\n14. Saarela RK, Muurinen S, Suominen MH, Savikko NN, Soini H, Pitkälä KH. Changes in malnutrition and quality of nutritional care among aged residents in all nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Helsinki 2003–2011. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2017;72:169-73.\n15. Kozáková R, Zeleníková R. Assessing the nutritional status of the elderly living at home. Eur Geriatr Med 2014;5(6):377-81.\n16. de Morais C, Oliveira B, Afonso C, Lumbers M, Raats M, de Almeida MD. Nutritional risk of European elderly. Eur J Clin Nutr 2013;67(11):1215-9.\n17. Kennedy ET, Ohls J, Carlson S, Fleming K. The healthy eating index: design and applications. J Am Diet Assoc 1995;95(10):1103-8.\n18. Krebs-Smith SM, Pannucci TE, Subar AF, et al. Update of the Healthy Eating Index: HEI-2015. J Acad Nutr Diet 2018;118(9):1591-602.\n19. Pinto de Souza Fernandes D, Queiroz Ribeiro A, Lopes Duarte MS, Castro Franceschini Sdo C. Systematic Review of Healthy Eating Indexes in Adults and Elderly: Applicability and Validity. Nutr Hosp 2015;32(2):510-6.\n20. Reedy J, Lerman JL, Krebs-Smith SM, et al. Evaluation of the Healthy Eating Index-2015. J Acad Nutr Diet 2018;118(9):1622-33.\n21. Kirkpatrick SI, Reedy J, Krebs-Smith SM, et al. Applications of the Healthy Eating Index for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Intervention Research: Considerations and Caveats. J Acad Nutr Diet 2018;118(9):1603-21.\n22. Guigoz Y, Lauque S, Vellas BJ. Identifying the elderly at risk for malnutrition. The Mini Nutritional Assessment. Clin Geriatr Med 2002;18(4):737-57.\n23. Saarela RKT, Muurinen S, Suominen MH, Savikko NN, Soini H, Pitkala KH. Changes in malnutrition and quality of nutritional care among aged residents in all nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Helsinki 2003-2011. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2017;72:169-73.\n24. Nazan S, Buket K. Evaluation of Nutritional Status of Elderly Patients Presenting to the Family Health Center. Pak J Med Sci 2018;34(2):446-51.\n25. Sarikaya D, Halil M, Kuyumcu ME, et al. Mini nutritional assessment test long and short form are valid screening tools in Turkish older adults. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2015;61(1):56-60.\n26. Ware JE Jr, Sherbourne CD. The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Med Care 1992;30(6):473-83.\n27. Kocyigit H. Kisa Form-36 (KF-36)'nm Turkce versiyonunun guvenilirligi ve gecerliligi. Ilaç ve tedavi dergisi. 1999;12:102-6.\n28. Ware JE Jr, Kosinski M, Keller SD. Interpretation: content and criterion-based, in sf-36 physical and mental health summary scales: a user's manual. Health Assessment Lab New England Medical Center. 5th edition. Boston1994.\n29. World Health Organization. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. WHO Technical Report Series 894. 2000. [Internet] Available from:\n30. World Health Organization. Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio: report of a WHO expert consultation, Geneva, 8-11 December 2008. 2011. [Internet] Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44583/9789241501491_eng.pdf?sequence=1\n31. Meseri R, Ucku R, Unal B. Waist:height ratio: a superior index in estimating cardiovascular risks in Turkish adults. Public Health Nutr 2014;17(10):2246-52.\n32. Şahin H, Çiçek B, Yılmaz M, Ongan D, Kaya N, İnanç N. Determining Nutritional Status and Quality of Life of 65 Years and Older Indıvıduals in Kayseri. Turk J Geriatr 2013; 16 (3) 322-29.\n33. Acar Tek N, Karacil-Ermumcu MŞ. Determinants of Health Related Quality of Life in Home Dwelling Elderly Population: Appetite and Nutritional Status. J Nutr Health Aging 2018;22(8):996-1002.\n34. Hoca M, Türker PF. Assessment of Nutritional Status, Eating Habits and Quality of Life in the Elderly Living in Cyprus, Famagusta. Bes Diy Derg. 2017;45(1):44-52.\n35. Dai H, Jia G, Liu K. Health-related quality of life and related factors among elderly people in Jinzhou, China: a cross-sectional study. Public Health 2015;129(6):667-73.\n36. Kaya PS. Assessment of nutritional status of elderly individuals: a Mini-Nutritional Assessment. Prog Nutr 2015;17(4):284-91.\n37. Jimenez-Redondo S, Beltran de Miguel B, Gavidia Banegas J, Guzman Mercedes L, Gomez-Pavon J, Cuadrado Vives C. Influence of nutritional status on health-related quality of life of non-institutionalized older people. J Nutr Health Aging 2014;18(4):359-64.\n38. Kostka J, Borowiak E, Kostka T. Nutritional status and quality of life in different populations of older people in Poland. Eur J Clin Nutr 2014;68(11):1210-5.\n39. Damiao R, Meneguci J, da Silva Santos A, Matijasevich A, Rossi Menezes P. Nutritional Risk and Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study. J Nutr Health Aging 2018;22(1):111-6.\n40. Kvamme J-M, Olsen JA, Florholmen J, Jacobsen BK. Risk of malnutrition and health-related quality of life in community-living elderly men and women: The Tromsø study. Qual Life Res 2011;20(4):575-82.\n41. Luger E, Haider S, Kapan A, Schindler K, Lackinger C, Dorner T, et al. Association between nutritional status and quality of life in (Pre) frail community-dwelling older persons. J Frailty Aging 2016;5(3):141-8.\n42. Amarantos E, Martinez A, Dwyer J. Nutrition and quality of life in older adults. The J Gerontol 2001 series A;56(2):54-64.\n43. Milte CM, Thorpe MG, Crawford D, Ball K, McNaughton SA. Associations of diet quality with health-related quality of life in older Australian men and women. Exp Gerontol. 2015;64:8-16.\n44. Schwingshackl L, Hoffmann G. Diet quality as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index, the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension score, and health outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. J Acad Nutr Diet 2015;115(5):780-800.\n45. Tande DL, Magel R, Strand BN. Healthy Eating Index and abdominal obesity. Public Health Nutr 2010;13(2):208-14.\n46. Fan H, Li X, Zheng L, et al. Abdominal obesity is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in elderly and very elderly community-dwelling Chinese. Sci Rep. 2016;6:21521. (PMID:26882876)\n47. Hu H, Wang J, Han X, et al. BMI, Waist Circumference and All-Cause Mortality in a Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Population. J Nutr Health Aging 2018;22(8):975-81.\n48. Wu S, Wang R, Jiang A, et al. Abdominal obesity and its association with health-related quality of life in adults: a population-based study in five Chinese cities. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2014;12:100.\n49. Winter J, Flanagan D, McNaughton S, Nowson C. Nutrition screening of older people in a community general practice, using the MNA-SF. J Nutr Health Aging 2013;17(4):322-5.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "2 Corinthians 3:2-3 (NIV)\n2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.\nSome of these meanings from my bible: The Life Application Bible is confusing. This is what it says for this verse 3. Paul uses powerful imagery from famous Old testament passages predicting the promised day of new hearts and new beginnings for God’s people. No human minister can take credit for this process of conversion. It is the work of God’s Spirit. We do not become believers by following some manual or using some technique. Our conversion is a result of God’s implanting his Spirit in our hearts, giving us new power to live for him.\nNO WE BECOME BELIEVERS BY FOLLOWING THE TEACHINGS OF BIBLE THAT WE HEAR FROM THE WORD OF GOD!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "About That (Про это) is a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky written during the self-imposed two-months \"exile\" after a row with Lilya Brik. It was finished on 11 February 1923 and published on 29 March 1923, originally by the LEF magazine. The poem's first separate edition was illustrated by Alexander Rodchenko who in his montages used photographs made by Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik.\nIn summer 1922 Lilya Brik fell in love with Alexander Krasnoshchyokov, the then head of the newly formed Prombank. Mayakovsky was outraged, a quarrel ensued and the terms of the two-month separation have been agreed between the two. As a result, the poet departed to his 'boat-room' at the Lybyansky Lane, 3/6, \"banned\" from visiting the Briks at their Vodopyany Lane home. There, working for 16-20 hours a day, he wrote About That. On 11 February it was finished. \"That was arguably my best poem in terms of the editorial work done upon it,\" he later wrote in a preface to the compilation This Year's Things.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Night of the Monster Men continues this week in Nightwing #6. What does Hugo Strange have up his sleeve?\nWritten by: Tim Seeley, Steve Orlando\nArt by: Roge Antonio\nU.S. Price: $2.99\n“NIGHT OF THE MONSTER MEN” part five! The hunt for Hugo Strange rages onward as the Manipulator rises and uses the citizens of Gotham City to shield itself from the Bat-Family. All while the monstrous version of Nightwing looms over Gotham City.\nvia DC Comics", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "MY NIGHT AT JOHN NORTH HOUSE\nAha! So that’s the house I heard rumors about. Surely my family can’t believe it’s haunted?\nAfter parking on a steep rise above the town center I stared at the rambling brick mansion with Georgian windows and a balcony that overlooked the front porch where pumpkins were lined up like sentries that day. When I peered through a window I saw a huge fireplace and an oak table formally laid out with candlesticks. It was easy to imagine the gracious lives of its nineteenth century owners.\nBut the house is a brooding presence over a narrow street and harbors unhappy memories. Someone looking out of the window during the Civil War could have witnessed skirmishes and heard cannonballs whizzing overhead. They might even have seen Col. George Crook leading a cavalry charge through the town, and bodies lying in the street.\nThose thoughts quickly faded when Aimee and Paul swung the door to welcome me inside with open arms and to savory aromas from their kitchen. But after a hearty meal and chatting about old Lewisburg they gave me a book, saying, “Don’t let spooky stories keep you awake tonight!” I grinned like most scientists would. I was sure they were only tales and there was always an absence of evidence, although that does not necessarily mean evidence of absence.\nAfterwards I climbed a steep staircase to my bedroom on the second floor. Apparently, it had not changed much over the years apart from a few modern paintings: a four-poster bed dominated the room with a night stand separating it from a large closet. I padded across the plank floor to pull aside a sheer curtain for cracking open the window. Looking through the darkness towards the sleeping town I remembered our earlier walk through the graveyard and the tourists standing in the unlit street below.\nMy family was settling down for the night, but I did not feel sleepy yet. After getting ready for bed I dove under the comforter and, pushing the book aside, turned over on my back to fix my eyes on the high ceiling and recall the evening.\nFollowing dinner, Paul had invited me for a stroll around town with his nine-year-old son while the two younger boys were packed off to bed by Aimee. I took Alex by the hand while he carried his Magic Quest wand in the other. At our street corner we noticed a group of people huddled in the gathering dusk. One of the men who was pointing at the house and speaking stopped when they turned to stare at us.\n“Who are they?” I asked.\n“We are on the town ghost tour,” Paul said. “It’s popular at this time.”\n“They looked at us like we are celebrities. I guess they are curious about who lives here.” I was tempted to ask them if they really believed in ghosts, but not wanting to spoil the entertainment for visitors I only waved. It was just a bit of fun, wasn’t it?\nWe strolled down the hill to the main street a couple of blocks away. It had shut down for the night. Stools were up-ended on tables in the coffee shop and someone was locking a restaurant door. The only signs of life were customers in an Irish pub where a trombone was being played loudly.\nWe turned down a side street past the glow of floodlights around the Carnegie Hall to reach the gloomier end of Church Street. Paul urged us to take a short cut past Old Stone Presbyterian Church, which is said to be the oldest west of the Alleghenies, and where the Confederate dead were laid out. Alex was reluctant to cross the graveyard at that hour, but he used his wand to zap things I never dreamt of. As we wandered among the gravestones I told him that when I was a cub scout our parents let us walk home alone and we dared each other to cross the town cemetery. We didn’t want to be called “sissy.” No one ever saw anything eerie, of course, although when I grew up I wondered if I was insensible to the occult.\nNow, after propping myself up in bed with a pillow, I opened the book to the story about the John North House where I was staying. It told of a young woman who fell in love with a Union soldier garrisoned in her home town in South Carolina during the Civil War. After she tried to run off with him, her mother sent her to stay with relatives at this house until his regiment moved away. She hoped her daughter would forget him, but the lass was broken-hearted, shut herself away at the top of the house and refused to join the family or attend church. On a visit back home for Christmas her parents were so alarmed to see how thin and depressed she had become that they invited the soldier to see her under strict supervision. But when they were distracted for a moment he whispered a plan to elope after she returned to Lewisburg.\nWhen he was free to follow her, the relatives turned him away. He stood at the street corner every day hoping to see her at the window of the bedroom where I was now curled up inside. They never met again before he rejoined his regiment, though he asked local children to deliver fresh flowers to the house every day.\nAs months passed without news she wondered if he had been killed in battle and sank back into despair. One day when she failed to reply to her uncle’s calling and could not possibly have left the house unnoticed, he came upstairs for her. He found her in the closet hanging by the cord of her robe. The story didn’t quite end there because a Union soldier (some say it was her lover) was shot afterwards in the street below. Passersby then began reporting the sight of a strange young woman on the second story of the house and a man’s apparition in the street, though never on the same day. The gossip continued into modern times.\nUnhappy souls unable to rest during heart-rending times are usually the core of ghost stories and prone to exaggeration and invention, so it was time to put this one to rest. Closing the book, I drifted off but never sleep soundly in a strange bed and Paul’s stories kept breaking into my consciousness. Perhaps they disturbed me more because I know him well enough not to dismiss his talk lightly. The nightlight was still burning when I woke up with his stories on my mind….\nHe had told me that before marrying Aimee she was living in the house on her own. She sometimes heard banging at night as if doors were suddenly flying open for no reason, and a mysterious clip, clip, clip on the stairs sounded like the hard indoor soles women wore in the past. Other family members reported the same things, and a robust young man who helped them move furniture refused to enter the house because of its reputation. On one occasion she thought she heard a relative arriving late and was surprised he was gone by the morning. When she called him he denied ever being there…\nAs I continued to drift in and out of sleep other stories kept popping into my mind. After Aimee and Paul married, the house was flooded one day with water that seemed to come from nowhere, and a loud bang that sent their dog into a fit of barking was never explained. On another occasion when an old transom broke in the porch where he was working and an upstairs window shattered soon afterwards he thought a boy was throwing rocks at the house, but the street was empty. Paul then decided to visit the previous owner, hoping he could throw light on these strange events.\n“Neighbors sometimes saw an unfamiliar woman at the window or balcony,” the man said. “And the young couple living in the house before you smelled fresh flowers when none had been brought in…”\nI dozed off again, convinced there are always natural explanations if one only looks hard enough. Scientists are dismissive of the paranormal, just as I had been as a cub scout. But the next time I woke it was with a start, perhaps because the room was cold from a breeze billowing out the curtains. In the comfort of the bed I knew it was nothing, but perhaps one story that stuck in my mind had startled me in a dream.\nPaul told me he had actually seen her one day while passing an open door. She was standing where I had sat in front of the fireplace. Barely five feet tall, the woman wore a full skirt of dark cotton gathered tightly around her waist and a light-colored blouse, her hair lifted up in an old-fashioned way. It all happened in the twinkling of an eye, but the shock sent him back to the previous owner.\n“I’m not surprised,” he was told. “By the way, was she standing next to the mantel?”\nI lay back in bed imagining the star-crossed lovers from long ago and wondered about it all. When Paul described the encounter with the woman’s ghost his expression had seemed to appeal to me: please don’t think I’m flaky! I didn’t know what to think.\nMy original story is published in WV South for Halloween", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Featured Interview With Stephanie Williams\nTell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?\nI was raised in Delaware in the United States, and I currently reside there as well. I have two pets (two pugs), but neither of them get along with each other. One is part Boston terrier, the other is part Jack Russell terrier.\nAt what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?\nI’ve always loved to read from the time I was little, maybe around four years old. I’ve always loved to write ever since first grade.\nWho are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?\nJ.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite inspiration (stylistically). His writing is descriptive, laden with imagery, and is also very poetic at times. My favorite genres are poetry and fantasy, but sometimes I like to read classical and philosophy. I also like to read Christian literature (mainly nonfiction).\nTell us a little about your latest book?\nI wrote it awhile ago (in 2015). It hasn’t received much recognition, but only because I haven’t publicized it much. It’s filled with my deepest thoughts and I loved putting it together. It was inspired largely by my faith and my spirituality.\nIf you enjoyed this writer’s interview, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors to learn about. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“Remember my chains…” -Paul\nIs not every day, I read a book or letter and find myself moving towards change, but that is what I experience when I read Paul’s writings. Today I was reading a letter he had written to the Colossians and got to chapter 4 where he starts with a short list of instructions for how Master’s should treat their servants and how these Colossians should devout themselves to prayer.\n3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4\nHe asks that the Christians on the outside (those who are free) would pray that they (who are in chains) may be able to proclaim the message even while they are in prison. Is no wonder those who came in contact with Paul were either moved to anger or to repentance. The man had relentless passion for Christ. He lived not for himself but so that the name of Jesus Christ be exalted and exposed to all.\n“ 18 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.\n“Remember my chains…” those words kept coming back to me over an over again. Paul had knowledge, he had wisdom, and a way with words unlike any other in his time. It is no secret he had an amazing mind; he knew how to argue his message with those in positions of great power and authority, and he could be quite persuasive in his delivery. When Paul spoke people listened and their lives where changed. Why?\nBesides the fact that he was chosen of God for such a time, I’d have to say, he was influential because his words had value. Because what he required of others he was willing to go through himself. It was because his faith was unshakable even when he was tortured, shipwrecked, starved, beaten, imprisoned, stoned, accused, ridiculed, rejected and left for dead. Remember my chains meant a lot to the believers reading those words. They understood exactly what Paul was saying; Jesus is enough and He alone be glorified.\nI pray for a deeper passion and a strong conviction to the true gospel of the Jesus we proclaim. That our hearts will turn to prayer and compassion for those who suffer and that in doing so, we too will become living testimonies of our glorious savior and the beauty of his sacrifice.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Blood Red Road\nSaba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back. Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization. Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.\n- Hardback | 459 pages\n- 147.32 x 210.82 x 45.72mm | 521.63g\n- 07 Jun 2011\n- SIMON & SCHUSTER\n- New York, NY, United States\n- Reprint ed.\nI absolutely loved Blood Red Road.What a great read! Moira Young goes over the top with a most engaging heroine.Saba is a crusty, foul-tempered warrior woman who must be covered in scar tissue by the end of the book, but men still follow her around like starving wolves.The dialogue is fast and often humorous, the pace never lets up.No situation is so bad that it can't get worse in the next couple of pages. I especially liked the awakening of the hellwurms as they emerge to feed.Well done, Ms. Young! --Nancy Farmer, author of \"The House of the Scorpion\"\nOur customer reviews\nThis is one of those books where you either hate it, or you love it. I was anticipating for this book to be alright, but what I didn't expect was to love it as much as I did. Reasons to Read: 1. Saba Saba is actually a really interesting person to read about. She's rude, callous, and incredibly strong. Usually, people like that tend to turn me off. But for Saba, it really worked. While I said that she was fairly insensitive, I could really tell just how much she loved Lugh. From page one, he is mentioned in only the highest regards. When he was taken, I felt her pain. I could tell that the amount that because she loved Lugh so much, losing him was making her go mad. Maybe it was just me, but I when I was reading some times, she really seemed to be losing her grip on her sanity. She's completely disinterested in helping anybody else but herself, but I found that I couldn't help but like her. I mean, she had every single reason to be as hard and bitter as she was. She was a completely realistic character that I thoroughly enjoyed. 2. The Post-Apocalyptic World The world that Saba and all the other characters live in I found to be thoroughly enjoyable. After the apocalypse happens, the world is basically one big wasteland. Unlike some other novels set in the future, there wasn't really any amazing technology. Some things were different, such as a sand-surfing ship, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I really liked the way that it was explained, too. The world is really, really messed up, which I found to be a cool take. You can't really trust anyone in this world, and nobody has a reason to trust you. Everyone in this world wants something, and is working purely for themselves. 3. The Adventure If you couldn't tell from the title, Blood Red Road, this novel's main focus is Saba's journey to find her brother Lugh. While there were some delays in this journey, I thought that it was thoroughly enjoyable. There are a full range of characters out, all with unique personalities. Aside from that, the action was awesome! There were tons of battles, and fights, and chase scenes that I found to be exhilerating. I was excited, scared, and just plain frustrated throughout the entire adventure. The adventure was thoroughly enjoyable. 4. The Language This is probably the most controversial part of the book. Saba has a very thick southern-style accent, and the book is written that way. While I found it disorienting at first, I got used to it by the end of the novel. I actually really liked it, and thought it fit in really well to the story. If you don't mind reading a little bit of broken English, then I don't think that you will mind to much. Although I did love this book, the one thing that I didn't like was how there were no quotation marks around the characters' dialogues. This was a bit disorienting at times, when I thought Saba would be saying something, but it would actually just be in her thoughts. Overall though, I think that this book was really well done and exceeded by expectations.show moreby Dorian\nIn a world decimated by .. we don't really find out in this first in series book ... where inhabitants are reduced to walking and horseback (and some to ships with wheels), and most others are addicted to chaal (an apparent drug you chew that slows you down), Saba is an 18-year-old whose adored twin brother Lugh has been taken by mounted men (the Tonton) who killed her father and left her and her 9-year-old sister Emmi orphaned and alone. Saba is determined to rescue Lugh, and even though she's never traveled to a city, she leaves Emmi with a woman named Mercy who was her mother's friend and sets off across the desert of Sandsea to find him. Told in the first-person dialect of Saba, a pretty kick-butt heroine, it may take a while to get into the flow of this novel, but once the reader's mind has adjusted itself, it does flow much more smoothly. Saba is not perfect; she has a deep resentment of her little sister that stems from her mother dying in childbirth. Despite this, the reader will find themselves cheering her on and hoping that she escapes from the predicaments she finds herself in during her quest. There's cruelty, madness, romance, and danger, but there's also a great sense of awakening and growth. The film rights for this debut novel have already been optioned (yes, pre-release), and I can picture it in my mind's eye. Hunger Games fans - I have seen reviews comparing this to Hunger Games - it's good, but definitely not Hunger Games caliber, in my opinion. The fast-flipping, heart-pounding, \"oh, my gosh! I hope Katniss will be alright - I wish none of the kids had to die\" feeling I got from Hunger Games was definitely not present for me here. That is not meant to take away from THIS novel; I just think the comparison is unrealistic. While I WAS interested in what happened to Saba, a deep connection didn't surface; I actually found myself invested in some of the secondary characters, however. Unlike many first-in-series, this one ends on a good note - no cliffhanger, etc. - but leaves room for more story to be told. QUOTE (from a galley; may be different in final copy): Lugh shines like the sun. That must of made it easy fer them to find him. All they had to do was follow his light. Book Rating: 3.5 out of 5 starsshow moreby Julie Smith", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Jocasta (Iocaste) (shining moon) In Greek mythology, both mother and wife of Oedipus, whom she married not knowing he was her son; mother of Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone, and Ismene; daughter of Menoeceus. When Jocasta learned she was Oedipus’ mother, she killed herself by hanging. Jocasta appears in Homer’s Odyssey (book 11), where she is seen in the underworld by Odysseus. Homer calls her Epicaste. Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, often called Oedipus Rex, and Euripides’ Phoenician Women also feature Jocasta, as do modern versions of the Oedipus myth by Cocteau and Gide.\nEncyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Sweets And Toxins\nThe twenty-first century doesn't much care for subtlety. Now is the era of the gist, the elevator pitch, the big idea boiled down. This is precisely why Christopher Woodall's fiction gives such pleasure. His meticulous stories about love, death, fidelity, friendship, and human solitude do not wave their narrative arms wildly, demanding unwarranted attention. They speak in a calm voice, inviting the reader closer--inviting him not merely to react but to feel and think. Sweets and Toxins is the first collection of short fiction to be published by this talented novelist (November) and it marks him as a writer whose sharp eye for detail and feeling for people is a rare commodity indeed. He is one of the major English authors writing today.\n- Condition: New\nHPB condition ratings\n- New: Item is brand new, unused and unmarked, in flawless condition.\n- Fine/Like New (F): No defects, little usage. May show remainder marks. Older books may show minor flaws.\n- Very Good (VG): Shows some signs of wear and is no longer fresh. Attractive. Used textbooks do not come with supplemental materials.\n- Good (G): Average used book with all pages present. Possible loose bindings, highlighting, cocked spine or torn dust jackets. Used textbooks do not come with supplemental materials.\n- Fair (FR): Obviously well-worn, but no text pages missing. May be without endpapers or title page. Markings do not interfere with readability. Used textbooks do not come with supplemental materials.\n- Poor (P): All text is legible but may be soiled and have binding defects. Reading copies and binding copies fall into this category. Used textbooks do not come with supplemental materials.\n- Format: Paperback\n- Sold by: HPB.com\n- Seller rating:\n- Language: English\n- Publisher: Dalkey Archive Pr\n- ISBN-13: 9781628972924\n- ISBN: 1628972920\n- Publication Year: 2018", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Displaced Hero\nAbdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 2021 \"for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents\". His body of work constitutes 10 novels, of which his novel, Paradise (1994), was shortlisted for both the Booker and the Whitbread Prize, his novel By the Sea (2001), was longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; and his book Desertion (2005), was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize\nThe Wise Owl Team analyses Gurnah’s writing which mirrors the sense of loss of a displaced character, who struggles to sever cultural ties but is unable to let lose the fragile skeins that bind him to his roots. The analysis is made with reference to Gurnah’s novel, The Last Gift.\nHe liked wearing the clothes he was comfortable in and liked to think that\nif he saw himself approaching, he would recognize himself from the clothes he wore…the habit of mind of a stranger unreconciled to his surroundings dressing lightly so he could throw the coat off quickly when the time came\nto move on… (The Last Gift, 2011)\nThis is how Abdulrazak Gurnah describes Abbas, the protagonist of The Last Gift. And yet, the stranger unreconciled to his surroundings, the immigrant with a dislocated psyche searching for familiarity in the clothes he wore, mirrors the author’s own sense of being a rootless, cultural outcaste. Abdulrazak Gurnah was born in Zanzibar, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and stayed in Zanzibar till he was 18 years of age. A violent uprising in Zanzibar in 1964, deposing the then Sultan Jamshid din Abdullah, made him flee his birthplace, never to return. His departure was sudden, final and stealthy and severed all physical connection with his homeland, a tragic severance that is reflected in the opening lines of his book, The Last Gift, where he says succinctly:\nOne day, long before the troubles, he slipped away without saying a word to\nanyone and never went back\nEngland, the place he sought refuge in, was different from anything he had seen before. Unhappy and homesick, he began recording scattered feelings and thoughts in his diary. He slowly became a storyteller, transferring his pain and sense of displacement on to fictional characters that were sculpted from his own flesh and blood. The trauma of colonialism, war and dislocation is the common theme that strings together all his narratives. This legacy is carried by all his protagonists like an albatross around their neck, and springs from the author’s own sense of displacement and disenchantment with his past self. Gurnah says:\nThe thing that motivated the whole experience of writing for me was this\nidea of losing your place in the world\nFrom being a Nursing orderly to a professor of English Literature at the University of Kent to becoming an acclaimed author, his journey was long and fraught and the sense of guilt at having left his country for foreign shores dogged him all his life. When Abbas talks about floating on a raft made from the timbers of [his] cowardice, he is very obviously echoing Gurnah’s sense of guilt at having betrayed his culture and homeland. There is also a dawning conviction that he has failed the new generation. The mistaken belief that the new generation would meld seamlessly with a new culture if they were not smothered by their cultural antecedents, was misplaced, making the children cultural orphans. Abbas, an alter ego of the author, ruminates that the children's questions about his home country were met with the response that he was a monkey from Africa. This had made them unsure and afraid. Abbas says:\nShe (Maryam) says our children are here, in a strange place, and all we have given them are bewildering stories about who we are. She thinks it makes them unsure and afraid about themselves\nThe revelation of the past comes eventually, but is too late to save the cultural orphans adrift and apart. Hannah, Abbas’s daughter, rejects it categorically saying she can't bear these shitty, vile immigrant tragedies, while his son Jamal distances himself from it by fictionalizing it like his father. He ironically says:\nAnother father story. Such a predictable immigrant subject.\nThe Last Gift, in fact, reads like an autobiographical work. Gurnah’s sense of displacement, loss and a debilitating guilt is shouldered by Abbas. This thread of cultural loss and displacement is central to all his novels. All the characters struggle in their own way with their sense of dislocation and a soul searing schism. Anders Olsson, Chairman of Academys Nobel prize committee very rightly says that the characters peopling Gurnah’s work,\n\"find themselves in the gulf between cultures and continents, between the life left behind and the life to come, confronting racism and prejudice, but also compelling themselves to silence the truth or reinventing biography to avoid conflict with reality.\"", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In This Grave Hour is the thirteenth Maisie Dobb’s book, and as the title suggests, WWII has just been declared. As with any long running series, some books are better than others. In the early stages of this one, I thought we had one of the lesser Maisie’s on our hands. It felt a little clunky, like it was trying too hard to find the Maisie magic of old.\nBut as we went along, the pace picked up and Winspear found her groove. The regular, much-loved cast of characters add the heart and soul to this story and they all got a chance to shine in this story, especially Maisie’s dad, who I just adore.\nThe crime centred around the revenge-styled murders of Belgium refugees from WWI, but the emotional heart of the story involved the children evacuated from London during the early days of the wars announcement. Maisie also got to revisit an old flame in the guise of Richard Stratton, recalled to London to help with the war effort.\nAfter feeling so fearful for Priscilla’s young adults sons in the previous book, In This Grave Hour brings the sense of tension back a few notches. This reflected the anti-climax that occurred in England after the initial announcement when nothing actually happened, leading the early stages of WWII to be called the phoney war or the bore war.\nIn This Grave Hour was not Maisie’s best work, but she’s such a lovely, comfort read for me, that I will forgive many sins, just to disappear into her world for a while. Her happy mix of empathy and rational thought is a combination that I find endearing and admirable. Spending time with such kind hearted, well-meaning people will always feel like a good thing to do.\nMaisie Dobbs #1\nMaisie Dobbs #2 Birds of a Feather\nMaisie Dobbs #3 Pardonable Lies\nMaisie Dobbs #4 Messenger of Truth\nMaisie Dobbs #5 An Incomplete Revenge\nMaisie Dobbs #6 Among the Mad\nMaisie Dobbs #7 The Mapping of Love and Death\nMaisie Dobbs #8 A Lesson in Secrets\nMaisie Dobbs #9 Elegy for Eddie\nMaisie Dobbs #10 Leaving Everything Most Loved\nMaisie Dobbs #11 A Dangerous Place\nMaisie Dobbs #12 Journey to Munich\nMaisie Dobbs #13 In This Grave Hour\nMaisie Dobbs #14 To Die But Once\nOne thought on “Maisie Dobbs #13 In This Grave Hour”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "What is validity in research\nImproving the validity of your market research can increase the effectiveness of your marketing strategies when you. Establishing validity in qualitative research the following module discusses reliability and validity in qualitative research, with an emphasis on establishing. Test reliability and validity defined reliability test reliablility refers to the degree to which a test is consistent and stable in measuring what it is intended to. Shiken: jalt testing & evaluation sig newsletter, 4 (2) oct 2000 (p 8 - 12) 10 coming back to your question, either the traditional view of construct validity or the. Because of the nature of behavioral research, sociologists frequently use surveys and various other types of written data.\nValidity in grounding qualitative research,validity receives more importance than reliability validity means that the research is sound and based on solid grounds. 1 validity in qualitative research p ivi kinnunen t-1065550/6500 methods and results in computing education research 2 by validity in this context i mean. Education research and perspectives, vol38, no1 105 validity and reliability in social science research ellen a drost california state university, los angeles. Questionnaires are most widely used tools in specially social science research most questionnaire's objective in research is to obtain relevant information in most.\nConclusions drawn from analyzing survey data are only acceptable to the degree to which they are determined valid validity is used to determine whether. Depending on their philosophical perspectives, some qualitative researchers reject the framework of validity that is commonly accepted in more quantitative research. Validity: the best available approximation to the truth of a given proposition, inference, or conclusion the first thing we have to ask is: validity of what.78 thomson, s b (2011) qualitative research: validity joaag, vol 6 no 1 introduction researchers have a choice of two broad streams of research. Reliability and validity issues in research any remaining errors or omissions rest solely with the author(s) of this paper abstract instrument validity and. For the statistical consultant working with social science researchers the estimation of reliability and validity is so the first decision that the research is. The principles of validity and reliability are fundamental cornerstones of the scientific method. Construct validity in psychological tests lee j established by different types of research and validity), continuing research has tried to.\nA key concept relevant to a discussion of research methodology is that of validity when an individual asks, is this study valid, they are questioning. In this essay, the definition of reliability and validity in quantitative and qualitative research will be discussed then requirements of a good. According to joppe (2000), validity denotes the extent to which a measurement does what it is supposed to do.\nReliability in research reliability, like validity, is a way of assessing the quality of the measurement procedure used to collect data in a dissertation. Free market research resources for the marketing research industry available from the market research world qualitative and quantitative research. Start studying chapter 8- research validity learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. What is information validity full text search our database of 113,700 titles for information validity to find related research papers.\nValidity, qualitative patti lather validity is not just one of many issues in science but the crux of the issue: practices of validity in qualitative research. Definition of criterion validity: also called concrete validity, criterion validity refers to a test’s correlation with a concrete outcome. Full-text paper (pdf): validity and reliability in quantitative research.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "by Kristen B.\nEmpire of Sand opens with a young woman painting a window sill with her blood, looking to ward against the daiva spirits of the wild sands. In some ways, the rest of Tasha Suri’s duology revolves around these older spirits that have been subjugated by the Ambhan Empire – and by those who consider them monsters and those who count them as family. Suri’s books are set in a lush, vibrant world based on the Mughal Empire – complete with vast deserts and verdant oases. Here, the Emperor governs but the Maha rules. Here, the upper class consists solely of Ambhan people and the Amrithi are outcast because of their magic.\nMehr is the privileged child of the regional governor, acknowledged but nonetheless the daughter of an Amrithi courtesan. She possesses the full inheritance of her mother’s people, but is protected by her father’s influence. Mehr lives in an uneasy truce with her step-mother, who has adopted Mehr’s younger sister as her own daughter to be raised as an Ambhan noblewoman. Mehr has no ambition for a noble marriage, but when she is discovered practicing Amrithi magic, she is given little choice.\nThe Maha rules the Empire through the prayers of his mystics. When Mehr accidentally divulges her abilities, she is forcibly married to the powerful mystic Amun and taken away to live a sequestered life in a distant oasis. At the Maha’s Temple, Mehr learns that she and her husband are expected to perform the Rite of the Bound. This magical rite, a choreographed dance with particular poses and gestures, allows the magic of the desert daiva and older gods to flow through the Maha and into the Empire, extending its territory and influence. Through their practice and discipline, Mehr and Amun learn about each other and the tragedies that brought each to the Maha’s temple.\nIt is this romance of desperation and rebellion that powers the second half of the book. I read this novel in large gulps, needing to know what happened next. As much as I enjoyed the world building, I truly came to love both Mehr and Amun, rooting for them to find a way to be together and free of the Empire. The underlying themes of colonization and prejudice give Empire of Sand an unexpected sense of gravity. There is no doubt but that individual lives were used and abused for the supposed greater good. The consequences of generations of such cruelty cannot easily be constrained or controlled.\nThe second book, Realm of Ash, deals with the unfolding repercussions from Mehr and Amun’s story, but from another perspective entirely. We encounter Mehr’s younger sister, Arwa, again as she makes her way to a distant convent for widowed noblewomen. Arwa was, indeed, raised as an Ambhan noblewoman and married a military officer with a bright future. When the garrison is massacred by daiva, Arwa is one of the few survivors and chooses to absent herself from high society. Not entirely surprisingly, the convent is a hotbed of Imperial politics and Arwa soon finds herself on the way to the capital city to serve in the retinue of a princess.\nWhere her sister has the magic of the Amrithi rites, Arwa discovers that she has a different ability that allows her to access the memories in her blood, remembrances of her ancestors, in the Realm of Ash. The princess’ illegitimate brother lives in nocturnal solitude, researching and experimenting for a way to restore the Ambhan Empire to its former safety and prestige. Arwa must learn to embrace her Amrithi heritage to help the prince and to accept her own worth. Again, a forbidden romance (Ambhan noblewomen may not remarry) lies at the heart of a rebellion against a court built on deception and corruption. And again, I found myself rooting for these two against all odds.\nIn some ways I preferred Realm of Ash because it shows more of the interconnected elements of the Ambhan Empire, the military and the regular people of Jah Ambha (the capital city), servants and spies. As Arwa and her prince flee into the desert and join a pilgrimage, the wide variety of life outside of palaces and temples make for a wonderful sense of place and history. The bigger picture at play in the second book is, perhaps, only made possible by the laser focus of the first novel.\nThe fantasy genre is chock-full of strong heroines, women who can outfight anyone and snark about it after … the term kick-ass is usually employed. Mehr and Arwa gave me a much more grounded reality, finding their courage in the face of terrifying odds. Neither young woman wants to be an agent of change or is a rebel at heart. Both have learned to keep their heads down and mouths shut so as not to attract attention or draw criticism. They do have, however, an unerring sense of fairness and a desire to be allowed to live their own lives, loving whom they choose. These sisters indelibly alter their entire world by being brave enough to take the chances presented to them, sometimes fearlessly and sometimes with only a hope and a prayer.\nKristen B. is a devoted bookworm lucky enough to work as the graphic designer for HCLS. She likes to read, stitch, and take walks in the park.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "As I got older, I began to understand that things will get weirder and weirder before your period stops—something every woman should know before the stopping starts.\nThen something else will happen. You will begin to notice a large chunk of the world, nearly invisible until now: an army of cool, older women, the ones who have emerged on the other side and flourished. In their eyes you will catch a glimpse of the person you want to become. You will do away with pretense then, giving up whatever is keeping you from beginning to live the rest of your life. And this is where the flamenco dancing might come in.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Thursday, December 28, 2017\nChicken in Mittens\nFirst sentence: Zoey stepped out of the barn. So did her best pig, Sam. Fresh snow covered the farm. \"We can be explorers!\" said Zoey. \"It's cold,\" said Sam. \"Arctic explorers!\" said Zoey.\nPremise/plot: Zoey LOVES adventures. Sam, well, he's a great friend, a sidekick, to Zoey. Even if he doesn't always show the same passion or zeal for adventure as his friend does. In this one, the two set off to discover the pole. Will they find it? Well, they'll find something that's for sure!\nMy thoughts: This I Can Read early reader stars the characters from Chicken in Space and Chicken in School. If you loved those picture books, you should definitely seek out Chicken in Mittens.\nIt's an amusing book. Not all early readers can be described as amusing or delightful.\n© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Mark gave a start. ‘Welcome back,’ said Mr Cruickshank. ‘Now if you’ve finished daydreaming, perhaps you could answer my question.’\nThis book started off as a telemovie I wrote for the Australian Children’s Television Foundation. Their series Winners gave a rare opportunity to screenwriters – the chance to write one-off films without the need to spin them out into a TV series. We could write about anything we liked as long as the story had a young person as the main character.\nI got to write two of the films, Second Childhood and The Other Facts Of Life, and they were both very important stages in my transition from a screenwriter into a writer of books. For a start they were security blankets. Turning a couple of completed and filmed screenplays into books was far less scary and intimidating for me than starting a book from scratch. I’ve often wondered if I’d ever have been game to have a crack at a book the traditional way – an idea, a blank page and lots of fingers crossed.\nSecond Childhood is the sort of story you write when you’re given complete freedom. I went straight for one of my favourite topics. I love writing stories about the time in a young person’s life when they’re starting to think for themselves and discovering the world in new ways.\nMark and Annie, two of the main characters in Second Childhood, are just at that stage. Everything is ahead of them, new and exciting, but challenging too. One of their biggest challenges is that they’re not satisfying the expectations of some of the adults in their lives, who keep warning them about the danger of ending up as nobodies.\nI thought it would be interesting for them to discover the concept of reincarnation, and come to believe that they and some of their friends had lived before as famous and important people. (And in Annie’s case a famous and important horse.) In other words, as somebodies.\nThat way, I hoped, they could discover an idea that has helped me a lot in my own life. That sometimes it’s the past that helps us with our future.\nSecond Childhood is available in bookshops and libraries in Australia and New Zealand, and online:", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "With the zeal of a diligent seeker, I researched love and interviewed the experts in order to deliver the goods on intimacy, passion and commitment. The fairy tale was real, but it was more than a happy ending. When we see Cinderella being swept away by the prince, we forget how many years she spent in self-therapy while cleaning her stepmother’s house and waiting on her stepsisters.\nThe relationship you want can only be had through hard work on yourself … and that’s the work we do our best to avoid. It’s much easier to shell out money. Americans spend 35 billion dollars a year on unproven diet products because they find it too difficult to eat less.\nAnd eating less is easy compared to getting naked. We’re scared to death to strip away the family, the house, the degree, the job, the kids. We’ve defined ourselves by appearance, grades, athletic ability, good behavior or rebellion as far back as we can remember. You’re not alone if you’re thinking, “Who would I be without all that?” Most of us don’t know.\nStrip away what can be quantified, seen or touched, and you have your authentic self. You have that for which you want to be known and loved.\nYes, you want somebody to love every little toe and sweet spot, but you also want them to love what you’re afraid to show and talk about. You want them to know that you were the last one picked for softball, that you had a speech impediment until you were 9 and that kids used to call you chubby knees. You want them to know that you’ve been dumped six times, fired once and that you’re now broke!\nYou want them to know the emotional struggles behind all that and still love you — not in spite of who you are, but because of who you are.\nAnd if you weren’t so incredibly beautiful and precious stark-naked and vulnerable, that would be a tall order. My job, then, has been to help readers find the courage to peek beneath the gold watch or muscle or perfect-parent image or whatever security blanket they were clenching. As I’ve faced the fear of not being good enough that drove me to weave my own security blanket, I’ve tried to help others face theirs in order to find their authentic self.\nThere’s a spark of divinity in you. It’s what makes you perfect just the way you are. Perfect!\nIt’s also what makes you deliciously attractive to the partner of your dreams, irresistible to your kids, and priceless to an employer.\nWhen I say naked is the only way to be in love, I don’t just mean it’s the only way to fall in love, so that somebody can know and love all of you. Naked is also the only way to be honest, the only way to keep the faith, the only way to be compassionate … the only way to love life, yourself and others.\nYou can’t love somebody else any better than you love yourself. You are destined to love your neighbor as you love yourself. And you can’t really love yourself without getting to know who you are … naked.\nTrust what’s sacred.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "My pile of books read but not reviewed yet is taller than I like, so here are two shorter reviews to catch up a little.\nEurope in Autumn by Dave Hutchinson\nOnly Hutchinson’s second novel, but you can tell the author has been writing other stuff for ages. Europe in Autumn, published in 2014, is the first in a sequence (followed now by Europe at Midnight and Europe in Winter).\nIt garnered a shortlisting for the Arthur C Clarke Award in 2014, but is more than just SF. It’s speculative fiction set in the near future such as Christopher Priest would write, (e.g. here) but its espionage plotline is the heir to Le Carré’s Smiley novels, with a bit of Kafka strangeness mixed in.\nHutchinson’s Europe is presciently post-Brexit – a chilling vision of what may happen:\nIn the latter years of the twentieth century, Europe had echoed with the sound of doors opening as the borderless continent of the Schengen Agreement had, with some national caveats, come into being.\nIt hadn’t lasted. …\nThe Union had struggled into the twenty-first century and managed to survive in some style for a few more years of bitching and infighting and cronyism. Then it had spontaneously begun to thrown off progressively smaller and crazier nation-states, like a sunburned holidaymaker shedding curls of skin….\nThe big thing in Europe these days was countries, and there were more and more of them every year. (p26/7)\nIt is in this Balkanised Europe that we meet Rudi, an Estonian cook in a restaurant in Krakow. It is increasingly difficult now to get across borders, the number of which are increasing all the time. Rudi is recruited by Dariusz, head of the local protection racket, to join the secret organisation Les Coureurs des Bois, who are effectively a resistance/spy network. Maintaining his cover as a chef, Rudi takes to this new career, smuggling, people, information, whatever needs to move between countries, including getting into ‘The Line’, a trans-Europe railway line, now a sovereign state in its own right. Things will go wrong of course. Rudi will find himself compromised and stuck deep within a massive conspiracy, I don’t want to say any more.\nThis novel seemed to combine all my favourite things to read in one book – a literary spy story that is a science fiction thriller. Europe in Autumn is immaculately plotted and written with great intelligence. I can’t wait to read the next books in the series. Highly recommended. (10/10)\nSource: Own copy.\nDave Hutchinson, Europe in Autumn (Solaris, 2014) paperback, 384 pages\n* * * * *\nThe Wicked Go To Hell by Frédéric Dard\nTranslated by David Coward\nDard is my latest French crime discovery. Turns out he wrote 284 novels, and was influenced by and friends with Simenon. This is the second Dard of four planned reissues in sparkling new translations (each by a different translator) in the Pushkin Vertigo crime imprint. Like Simenon, Dard’s novels are novella length, designed to be devoured in one sitting.\nThe Wicked Go To Hell was first published in 1956. The premise is simple: To trap an enemy spy, an undercover cop is asked to go so deep undercover that he ends up in jail with the man.\nOur man has got to escape and escape he will… with you!\nHe looked at me to see my reaction but I’d long been used to letting the sky fall on me without batting an eyelid.\n“We’ll lock you both up in the same jail cell… a tough one… the sort of place that gives kindly old ladies the shivers. The pair of you will escape!\n“You’ll try to hole up somewhere and you’ll wait. The breakout will be big news. The head of the organization, knowing that his man has escaped, will want to get him back… At some point or other, he’ll break cover… Then, when you’ve got your hands on him…”\nHe made a chopping notion with the side of his hand. The gesture meant death. (p13)\nThe scene set, we meet Frank and Hal in jail, but cleverly Dard doesn’t let on which is which at this stage and we’ll only gradually work it out. They’re both suspicious of each other, but need each other to effect an escape becoming what we’d call these days ‘Frenemies’.\nThe prison break-out is engineered and executed. The pair end up on a private beach where they meet Dora, whose birthday it is. They are led to a place of temporary safety … and this is where the supposedly mis-matched pair will find out that they are more alike than different. Dard’s psychological insight into the two men really keeps you on your toes, because even a bad guy has a good side, and vice versa – we’re all human after all.\nSo, yet another French crime writer to add to my growing Pantheon. I loved this and can’t wait to read more from Frédéric Dard.\nSource: Publisher – thank you.\nFrédéric Dard, The Wicked Go To Hell, (Pushkin Vertigo, 2016) Paperback original, 160 pages.\n* * * * *\nTo explore either of these titles further on Amazon UK, please click through below (affiliate links):", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Librivox: Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems by Smith, Charlotte Turner\nSummary: Charlotte Turner Smith (1749 – 1806) was an English poet and novelist. She initiated a revival of the English sonnet, helped establish the conventions of Gothic fiction, and wrote political novels of sensibility. It was in 1784, in debtor's prison with her husband Benjamin, that she wrote and published her first work, Elegiac Sonnets. The work achieved instant success, allowing Charlotte to pay for their release from prison. Smith's sonnets helped initiate a revival of the form and granted an aura of respectability to her later novels. Stuart Curran, the editor of Smith's poems, has written that Smith is \"the first poet in England whom in retrospect we would call Romantic\". She helped shape the \"patterns of thought and conventions of style\" for the period. Romantic poet William Wordsworth was the most affected by her works. He said of Smith in the 1830s that she was \"a lady to whom English verse is under greater obligations than are likely to be either acknowledged or remembered\". By the second half of the nineteenth century, however, Smith was largely forgotten.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "OBJECTIVE: To ascertain to which extent the use of HbA(1c) and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for diagnosis of glucose tolerance could identify individuals with different pathogenetic mechanisms and cardiovascular risk profile. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 844 subjects (44% men; age 49.5 ± 11 years; BMI 29 ± 5 kg/m(2)) participated in this study. Parameters of β-cell function were derived from deconvolution of the plasma C-peptide concentration after a 75-g OGTT and insulin sensitivity assessed by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (IR). Cardiovascular risk profile was based on determination of plasma lipids and measurements of body weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Glucose regulation categories by OGTT and HbA(1c) were compared with respect to insulin action, insulin secretion, and cardiovascular risk profile. RESULTS: OGTT results showed 42% of the subjects had prediabetes and 15% had type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), whereas the corresponding figures based on HbA(1c) were 38 and 11%, with a respective concordance rate of 54 and 44%. Subjects meeting both diagnostic criteria for prediabetes presented greater IR and impairment of insulin secretion and had a worse cardiovascular risk profile than those with normal glucose tolerance at both diagnostic methods. In a logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, and BMI, prediabetic subjects, and even more T2DM subjects by OGTT, had greater chance to have IR and impaired insulin secretion. CONCLUSIONS: HbA(1c) identifies a smaller proportion of prediabetic individuals and even a smaller proportion of T2DM individuals than OGTT, with no difference in IR, insulin secretion, and cardiovascular risk profile. Subjects fulfilling both diagnostic methods for prediabetes or T2DM are characterized by a worse metabolic profile.\n|Autori:||Bianchi C; Miccoli R; Bonadonna RC; Giorgino F; Frontoni S; Faloia E; Marchesini G; Dolci MA; Cavalot F; Cavallo GM; Leonetti F; Del Prato S; GENFIEV Investigators.|\n|Titolo:||Pathogenetic mechanisms and cardiovascular risk: differences between HbA(1c) and oral glucose tolerance test for the diagnosis of glucose tolerance.|\n|Anno del prodotto:||2012|\n|Digital Object Identifier (DOI):||10.2337/dc11-2504.|\n|Appare nelle tipologie:||1.1 Articolo in rivista|", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Macular edema (ME) is a common complication of both branch and central retinal vein occlusion (BRVO and CRVO) and is a common cause of vision loss in both of these conditions.1–3 The underlying events that manifest with ME and that may contribute to vision loss include upregulation of soluble growth factors (such as vascular endothelial growth factor), activation of cytokines (such as interleukins), and expression of mediators of cellular inflammation (such as intercellular adhesion molecule 1).4 Retinal ischemia also compromises retina function. Our ability to evaluate many of these processes in vivo is limited, but retinal thickness from ME can be reliably assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Although the relationship between visual acuity and central subfield retinal thickness (CRT) as measured by OCT has received some attention in the literature, the data investigating the relationship between changes in CRT and changes in vision are sparse for BRVO and CRVO.\nIn the treatment of ME, reductions in CRT often accompany improvements in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and are considered to be an important measure of treatment efficacy.5–9 In the Global Evaluation of implaNtable dExamethasone in retinal Vein occlusion with macular edemA (GENEVA) trials, treatment with dexamethasone intravitreal implant 0.7 mg (DEX implant 0.7 mg; OZURDEX, Allergan plc, Irvine, CA) for ME after BRVO or CRVO produced significantly greater improvements in BCVA and CRT than did sham treatment.5,10 A post hoc analysis found that these clinical improvements were accompanied by significant changes in a resolution of intraretinal hemorrhage (as measured by color fundus photographs) and less progression of neovascularization in eyes treated with the DEX implant 0.7 mg than in eyes treated with sham.11 The relationship between these various anatomic changes and improvements in BCVA is not clear.\nIn this report, we present a post hoc analysis of the relationship between the changes in CRT and BCVA in the GENEVA trials.\nThese analyses were based on data collected from two identical, prospective, multicenter phase 3 clinical trials of the safety and efficacy of DEX implant in the treatment of ME associated with BRVO or CRVO (GENEVA trials). Each trial enrolled patients with BRVO or CRVO. Each trial consisted of a 6-month, randomized, sham-controlled, parallel-group, double-masked phase followed by a 6-month, open-label extension. Both trials were conducted in compliance with regulatory obligations, the Declaration of Helsinki, and the institutional review board and informed consent regulations at each investigational site. The protocol for these studies has been described in detail previously5,10 and is summarized briefly below.\nThese studies enrolled adult patients who had decreased visual acuity as a result of clinically detectable ME associated with BRVO or CRVO. Disease duration was required to be between 6 weeks and 12 months in patients with BRVO and between 6 weeks and 9 months in patients with CRVO. Baseline BCVA was required to be between 34 letters (20/200) and 68 letters (20/50) in the study eye. Retinal thickness in the central 1-mm macula subfield (as measured by time-domain OCT [OCT1 or OCT3 Systems, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA]) was required to be ≥300 μm in the study eye. Most (97.8%) of the patients were evaluated using OCT3 (“Stratus OCT”), and each patient was followed using the same OCT machine at each study visit.\nAt baseline, study eyes (1 per patient) were randomized to either a sham procedure or treatment with DEX implant 0.7 mg or 0.35 mg. All patients who completed this 6-month, double-masked, sham-controlled phase were eligible for treatment with DEX implant 0.7 mg at the start of the open-label phase if BCVA was <84 letters (20/20) or CRT was >250 μm in the central 1-mm macula subfield and if, in the investigator's opinion, the procedure would not put the patient at significant risk. Patients receiving sham treatment were prepared in exactly the same manner as those receiving a DEX implant, but a needleless applicator was used to simulate injection and pressure on the sclera.\nThe analyses in the present report included all patients randomized to either the DEX implant 0.7-mg group or the sham group during the 6-month, double-masked phase (6-month intent-to-treat population). Data from patients in the DEX implant 0.35-mg treatment group were not included in this analysis because this formulation is not commercially available, and the results would therefore not be clinically relevant.\nOutcome measures for both GENEVA trials included BCVA and CRT in the study eye. The CRT was obtained using OCT on each patient at baseline, Day 90, and Day 180 in the randomized treatment phase. Fast macular volume scans and high-resolution cross-hair scans were obtained by certified technicians and submitted to the reading center as paper printouts. At the reading center, scans were checked for centration and boundary line errors. If the CRT from the OCT analysis software was considered incorrect by the graders, then a manual caliper measurement of the center of the macula was obtained from the Fast Mac scan that the grader believed gave the best view of the fovea, and this value was substituted for the machine-reported CRT for analysis purposes. Approximately 30% of scans required manual grading. Less than 2% of scans were considered ungradable because of low signal strength or severe artifacts.\nIn this study, the statistical analyses for the evaluation of the relationship between CRT and BCVA were based on the observed data collected during the 6-month, double-masked, and randomized phase. The relationship between changes in CRT and BCVA was examined by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analyses. The regression models included the treatment group (DEX implant 0.7 mg or sham), duration of disease (in 2-month intervals), baseline BCVA, baseline CRT, age, and RVO diagnosis (BRVO vs. CRVO) as the independent variables. Treatment by covariate interactions was evaluated by adding the interaction term to the regression model. Stepwise regression analysis was performed to select independent predictors for BCVA change. The R-square statistic (R2) from the linear regression analysis is reported as a measure of the proportion of variability in BCVA change that was explained by the variables included in the model. The relationship between change in CRT and the percentage of patients achieving at least a 15-letter improvement in BCVA was evaluated using logistic regression models, which included the same independent variables as used in the multiple linear regression analysis. The primary objective of these analyses was to evaluate the predictive effect of baseline CRT and changes from baseline CRT on change from baseline in BCVA.\nFor the analysis of baseline characteristics, group comparisons were performed using the chi-square test for categorical variables and the 2-sample t-test for continuous variables.\nAll statistical tests were 2-sided and performed at the α = 0.05 significance level. Statistical analyses were completed using the SAS commercial software (version 9.2; SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC).\nPatients were recruited into the GENEVA trials between November 2004 and March 2008. At baseline, a total of 1,267 eyes were randomized to treatment (6-month study population) with either DEX implant 0.7 mg (n = 427), DEX implant 0.35 mg (n = 414), or a sham procedure (n = 426). Of these, approximately 94% (1,196) completed Day 180 of the study (initial treatment phase): 403 from the DEX implant 0.7-mg group, 395 from the DEX implant 0.35-mg group, and 398 from the sham group. This study will focus on only those eyes treated with DEX implant 0.7 mg or sham at baseline. Retinal thickness measurements at both baseline and Day 180 were available for 420/427 eyes in the DEX implant 0.7-mg group and 420/426 eyes in the sham group.\nThe baseline characteristics for the subset of the study population for which retinal thickness measurements were available are summarized in Table 1. In both treatment groups, the mean age was approximately 64 years and most patients enrolled were white. Approximately twice as many patients with BRVO as CRVO were enrolled in this study. Patients with BRVO had slightly higher mean visual acuity and markedly thinner retinas at baseline than did patients with CRVO, but there were no statistically significant differences between the DEX implant group and the sham group for any demographic or baseline characteristic (Table 1).\nRelationship Between CRT and BCVA\nA univariate analysis found that there was a modest but statistically significant negative relationship between changes in CRT and BCVA at both Day 90 and Day 180 in both the DEX implant group (Day 90 Pearson correlation coefficient: −0.23 and P < 0.001; Day 180 correlation coefficient: −0.34 and P < 0.001) and the sham treatment group (Day 90 correlation coefficient: −0.25 and P < 0.001; Day 180 correlation coefficient: −0.27 and P < 0.001). Note that the correlation coefficients were similar regardless of the treatment group or the study visit. Similar results were obtained using the Spearman correlation coefficient (not shown).\nA multiple linear regression analysis confirmed that CRT decrease was a significant predictor of mean BCVA improvement at Days 90 and 180 after adjusting for the confounding effect of treatment, duration of disease, baseline BCVA, baseline CRT, age, and RVO diagnosis (Table 2). Note that at Day 90, the parameter estimate for CRT decrease versus mean BCVA increase (in letters) was approximately 2.7 letters/100 μm (95% CI = 2.3–3.2; P < 0.001). This parameter estimate was similar at Day 180 (3.3 letters/100 μm; 95% CI = 2.9–3.8; P < 0.001). A separate analysis found that CRT decrease was also a significant predictor of the likelihood of achieving ≥15 letters of improvement in BCVA (Table 2). The R2 from the multiple regression analysis was 30% at Day 90 and 35% at Day 180. Similar results were obtained when the analysis was repeated using log-transformed baseline CRT data (not shown).\nSeveral other baseline characteristics, including age, baseline BCVA, baseline CRT, and type of RVO, were also significantly associated with improvements in BCVA. Stepwise regression indicated that reduction in OCT was the first significant predictor of mean improvement in BCVA, followed by baseline CRT, baseline BCVA, age, treatment group, and then RVO type. A similar relationship between CRT and BCVA was found when the data were analyzed for each treatment group (DEX implant or sham) separately (data not shown). The lack of an effect of treatment on the relationship between BCVA and CRT suggests that similar increases in BCVA would be expected with a given CRT reduction regardless of whether the reduction in CRT was due to treatment or spontaneous improvement. It should be noted, however, that when the regression analysis was performed without CRT reduction in the model, the effect of treatment on the change from baseline BCVA was highly significant (P < 0.001) at both Day 90 and Day 180. The observed CRT reduction was a direct result of treatment; therefore, treatment was a stronger predictor of BCVA improvement than the extent of reduction in retina thickness. However, the treatment effect (DEX implant vs. sham) was largely reflected in the CRT decrease when this variable was included in the model.\nA subgroup analysis for those eyes that achieved anatomic treatment success (defined as a CRT of ≤250 μm) was also performed (Figure 1; see Table, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/IAE/A405). In this analysis, improvements in BCVA at Days 90 and 180 were evaluated for eyes that achieved a CRT ≤250 μm at Day 90 that was maintained through Day 180 (persistent CRT responders), eyes that achieved a CRT ≤250 μm at Day 90 that was not maintained through Day 180 (early CRT responders), eyes that only achieved CRT ≤250 μm at Day 180 (delayed CRT responders), and eyes that never achieved CRT ≤250 μm (CRT nonresponders). As can be seen in Figure 1, the greatest and most sustained improvements in BCVA (across both treatment groups) occurred in the persistent CRT responders (mean improvement of 14 letters at Day 180; 49% with a 15-letter gain), followed closely by the delayed CRT responders (12-letter gain at Day 180; 43% with a 15-letter gain). Visual improvement was transient in those eyes with an early and transient CRT improvement and very poor in the CRT nonresponders (2-letter gain at Day 180; 13% with a 15-letter gain). It should be noted that the percentage of eyes achieving a BCVA improvement of ≥15 letters was nearly as great among delayed CRT responders as in persistent CRT responders, even though the delayed CRT responders did not achieve CRT ≤250 μm until after Day 90.\nAlthough improvements in BCVA are often accompanied by improvements in CRT,5–10 the relationship between changes in BCVA and CRT is poorly understood. The multifactorial nature of increased retinal thickness in ME results in a generally weak correlation between visual acuity and retinal thickness (regardless of the underlying disease etiology).12–14 Nevertheless, CRT as measured by OCT is the most readily available parameter for exploring some of the structure/function interrelationships in clinical trials of ME. This analysis of data from the GENEVA trials demonstrated that the greatest improvements in BCVA were seen in those eyes that achieved and maintained the greatest improvements in CRT. Importantly, the relationship between changes in CRT and BCVA appeared to be similar regardless of whether the changes occurred as a result of treatment or the result of spontaneous improvement.\nThe correlation between absolute changes in CRT and BCVA was found to be statistically significant, but only moderate in strength. The Pearson correlation coefficient was only −0.34 for the DEX implant group and −0.27 for the sham group. In addition, the R2 from the multiple regression analysis was 30% at Day 90 and 35% at Day 180. This suggests that changes in CRT (adjusted for the effect of treatment, duration of disease, baseline BCVA, baseline CRT, age, and RVO diagnosis) can only explain approximately one third of the variation seen in the improvement in BCVA. Other factors were also found to affect improvements in BCVA, but the most significant predictor of BCVA improvement was the change in CRT. The other significant predictors of improvements in BCVA (in order of decreasing significance) were baseline CRT, baseline BCVA, age, treatment group, and then RVO type. The possible contribution of retinal perfusion status was not evaluated in this study. Fluorescein angiography was obtained as part of normal standard of care in the GENEVA trials and not as a study assessment,11 and therefore was available only in a subset of subjects. This made the results unsuitable for inclusion in the regression analyses performed for this study. It is possible that inclusion of variables from fluorescein angiography, such as the area of ischemia or fluorescein leakage, might strengthen the anatomic associations with vision.\nIt is possible that the modest linear relationship between changes in CRT and BCVA is a result of a complex relationship between CRT and retinal cellular function; changes in CRT may have little effect on cellular function until a certain threshold is achieved. This hypothesis was explored using a responder analysis in which CRT threshold was set at ≤250 μm (based on the clinical experience of the investigators). It was found that the greatest likelihood of achieving a clinically meaningful improvement in vision at Day 180 occurred in those eyes that achieved a CRT ≤250 μm by Day 90 and maintained this CRT through Day 180 (persistent CRT responders; 49% with a 15-letter gain). In contrast, the least likelihood of clinically meaningful improvement (13% with a 15-letter gain) was seen in eyes that never achieved a CRT ≤250 (CRT nonresponders). The difference in the response between persistent CRT responders and CRT nonresponders was statistically significant for mean BCVA, mean change in BCVA, and the percentage of eyes achieving a 15-letter gain regardless of whether all eyes were analyzed together (Figure 1; P ≤ 0.001) or each treatment group was analyzed separately (see Table, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/IAE/A405; P ≤ 0.002).\nRegardless of the type of analysis performed, the relationship between changes in BCVA and changes in CRT was similar in eyes treated with DEX implant or sham, suggesting that similar improvements in vision may occur in association with any given reduction in CRT regardless of the cause of the CRT improvement.\nThe mechanism by which increases in CRT due to ME may affect vision is unclear. Metabolic dysfunction, toxic cytokines from inflammatory cells, or mechanical distortion of retinal cells could all interfere with photoreceptor function. Noma et al15 evaluated the relationship between electroretinograms and morphologic findings in eyes with BRVO and ME, and found that both retinal thickness and volume in the temporal region of the retina were significant determinants of electroretinogram findings. The authors suggested that OCT parameters of the temporal region of the retina are associated with postreceptoral cone pathway function in patients with BRVO and ME, but it is not clear how this may relate to the relationship between CRT and BCVA seen in this study.\nA limited number of earlier studies have investigated the relationship between visual acuity and CRT, but, as far as we were able to determine, none of these studies investigated the relationship between changes in visual acuity and changes in CRT over time. For example, in the Standard Care vs. COrticosteroid for REtinal Vein Occlusion (SCORE) study (a randomized double-masked comparison of intravitreal triamcinolone with standard of care), baseline retinal thickness was found to be correlated with baseline BCVA (approximately 2 letters BCVA/100 μm retinal thickness in patients with BRVO and approximately 1.5 letters/100 μm in patients with CRVO)16 and to be predictive of improvements in visual acuity after treatment with either intravitreal triamcinolone or standard of care.17 A separate study confirmed a correlation between retinal thickness and BCVA in patients with BRVO and ME, but found that retinal thickness was more closely correlated with retinal sensitivity than with BCVA.12 Neither of these studies, however, analyzed the relationship between changes in BCVA and changes in CRT with time or in response to treatment.\nThe ability to draw strong conclusions from this study is limited by the post hoc study design and the lack of information about the perfusion status of the study eyes. The strengths of the study include the large study population, the inclusion of both treated and untreated eyes, and the ability to evaluate changes in BCVA and CRT over time. The OCT assessments in this study were obtained from time-domain OCT, which limits the structural information available from the scans. Future studies should examine retinal layer volumes and outer retinal band integrity using more modern OCT instrumentation. This may provide more sensitive indicators of clinically important changes, such as in the retinal vasculature, which might correlate more strongly with visual function than the measurements obtained in this study. It would also be valuable to compare the effect of different therapies (e.g., intravitreal steroids and anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapies) on signs of retinal and/or retinal vascular damage in an effort to understand the underlying cell biology through a possible differential treatment effect independent of the effect on CRT.\nIn conclusion, this study demonstrated that there was a significant relationship between changes in CRT and changes in BCVA in eyes with ME after BRVO or CRVO. Although the linear correlation between CRT and BCVA was only modest, the markedly greater improvements in BCVA in CRT responders (decrease in CRT to 250 μm or below) suggest that there may be an important and complex relationship between these parameters that is worthy of further study. It is also important to note that the relationship between CRT and BCVA was similar in eyes that improved in response to treatment and in those that improved spontaneously. This suggests that changes in CRT are a valuable clinical outcome measure that should continue to be investigated, and that therapies that can markedly reduce CRT may also be likely to produce significant improvements in vision.\nAmy Lindsay, PhD, provided professional writing assistance (funded by Allergan plc) with the preparation of the manuscript but did not meet authorship criteria. Dr. Lindsay assisted the authors with the drafting of a detailed outline for the manuscript, produced a first draft once all authors had approved the outline, and revised the manuscript repeatedly based on input from all authors.\n1. McIntosh RL, Rogers SL, Lim L, et al.. Natural history of central retinal vein occlusion\n: an evidence-based systematic review. Ophthalmology 2010;117:1113–1123.\n2. Rogers SL, McIntosh RL, Lim L, et al.. Natural history of branch retinal vein occlusion\n: an evidence-based systematic review. Ophthalmology 2010;117:1094–1101.\n3. Wong TY, Scott IU. Clinical practice. Retinal-vein occlusion. N Engl J Med 2010;363:2135–2144.\n4. Noma H, Mimura T, Eguchi S. Association of inflammatory factors with macular edema\nin branch retinal vein occlusion\n. JAMA Ophthalmol 2013;131:160–165.\n5. Haller J, Bandello F, Belfort R Jr, et al.; for the Ozurdex GENEVA Study Group. Randomized, sham-controlled trial of dexamethasone intravitreal implant in patients with macular edema\ndue to retinal vein occlusion\n. Ophthalmology 2010;117:1134–1146.\n6. Brown DM, Campochiaro PA, Singh RP, et al.; CRUISE Investigators. Ranibizumab for macular edema\nfollowing central retinal vein occlusion\n: six-month primary end point results of a phase III study. Ophthalmology 2010;117:1124–1133.\n7. Campochiaro PA, Heier JS, Feiner L, et al.; BRAVO Investigators. Ranibizumab for macular edema\nfollowing branch retinal vein occlusion\n: six-month primary end point results of a phase III study. Ophthalmology 2010;117:1102–1112.\n8. Ip MS, Scott IU, VanVeldhuisen PC, et al.; SCORE Study Research Group. A randomized trial comparing the efficacy and safety of intravitreal triamcinolone with observation to treat vision loss associated with macular edema\nsecondary to central retinal vein occlusion\n: the Standard Care vs Corticosteroid for Retinal Vein Occlusion\n(SCORE) study report 5. Arch Ophthalmol 2009;127:1101–1114.\n9. Scott IU, Ip MS, VanVeldhuisen PC, et al.; SCORE Study Research Group. A randomized trial comparing the efficacy and safety of intravitreal triamcinolone with standard care to treat vision loss associated with macular edema\nsecondary to branch retinal vein occlusion\n: the Standard Care vs Corticosteroid for Retinal Vein Occlusion\n(SCORE) study report 6. Arch Ophthalmol 2009;127:1115–1128.\n10. Haller J, Bandello F, Belfort R Jr, et al.; for the OZURDEX GENEVA Study Group. Dexamethasone intravitreal implant in patients with macular edema\nrelated to branch or central retinal vein occlusion\ntwelve-month study results. Ophthalmology 2011;118:2453–2460.\n11. Sadda S, Danis RP, Pappuru RR, et al.. Vascular changes in eyes treated with dexamethasone intravitreal implant for macular edema\nafter retinal vein occlusion\n. Ophthalmology 2013;120:1423–1431.\n12. Noma H, Funatsu H, Mimura T, et al.. Functional-morphologic correlates in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion\nand macular edema\n. Retina 2011;31:2102–2108.\n13. Ristau T, Keane PA, Walsh AC, et al.. Relationship between visual acuity and spectral domain optical coherence tomography\nretinal parameters in neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmologica 2014;231:37–44.\n14. Hannouche RZ, Avila MP. Retinal thickness\nmeasurement and evaluation of natural history of the diabetic macular edema\nthrough optical coherence tomography\n. Arq Bras Oftalmol 2009;72:433–438.\n15. Noma H, Funatsu H, Harino S, et al.. Association of electroretinogram and morphological findings in branch retinal vein occlusion\nwith macular edema\n. Doc Ophthalmol 2011;123:83–91.\n16. Scott IU, VanVeldhuisen PC, Oden NL, et al.; SCORE Study Investigator Group. SCORE study report 1: baseline associations between central retinal thickness\nand visual acuity in patients with retinal vein occlusion\n. Ophthalmology 2009;116:504–512.\n17. Scott IU, VanVeldhuisen PC, Oden NL, et al.; Standard Care versus COrticosteroid for REtinal Vein Occlusion\nStudy Investigator Group. Baseline predictors of visual acuity and retinal thickness\noutcomes in patients with retinal vein occlusion\n: Standard Care versus COrticosteroid for REtinal Vein Occlusion\nStudy report 10. Ophthalmology 2011;118:345–352.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "- Study at Deakin\n- Campus life\n- Industry and community\n- About Deakin\nHawkins , M. T., Villagonzalo, K., Sanson, A. V., Toumbourou, J. W., Letcher, P., & Olsson, C. (2012). Associations between positive development in late adolescence and social, health, and behavioral outcomes in young adulthood. Journal of Adult Development, 19, 88-99\nRowland, B., Allan, F., & Toumbourou, J.W. (2012). Association of risky alcohol consumption and accreditation in the ‘Good Sports’ alcohol management programme. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 66, 684 – 690\nRowland, B., Allan, F., & Toumbourou, J.W. (2012). Drink-driving in Community Sports Clubs: Adopting the Good Sports Alcohol Management Program. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 48, 264– 270\nChoi, Y., He, M., Herrenkohl, T.I., & Catalano, R.F., Toumbourou, J.W. (2012). Multiple identification and risks: Examination of peer factors across multiracial and single-race youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 41, 847–862\nKelly, A. B., O'Flaherty, M., Toumbourou, J. W., Homel, R., Patton, G. C., White, A., & Williams, J. (2012). The influence of families on early adolescent school connectedness: Evidence that this association varies with adolescent involvement in peer drinking networks. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40., 437–447\nHemphill, S. A., Kotevski, A., Tollit, M., Smith, R., Herrenkohl, T. I., Toumbourou, J. W., & Catalano, R. F. (2012). Longitudinal predictors of cyber and traditional bullying perpetration in Australian secondary school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 51(1), 59-65\nToumbourou, J.W. (2012) Would a universal check of 3 year olds prevent or create childhood mental health problems? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 46(8) 703– 703\nMcKenzie, D. P., Toumbourou, J. W., Forbes, A. B., Mackinnon, A. J., McMorris, B. J., Catalano, R. F., & Patton, G. C. (2011). Predicting future depression in adolescents using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire: A two-nation study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 134, 151-159.\nMiller, Peter, Sonderlund, Anders, Coomber, Kerri, Palmer, Darren, Gillham, Karen, Tindall, Jennifer and Wiggers, John (2011) Do community interventions targeting licensed venues reduce alcohol-related emergency department presentations? Drug and alcohol review, vol. 30, 546-553.\nHemphill, S.A., Heerde, J.A., Herrenkohl, T.I., Patton, G.C. Toumbourou, J.W., Catalano, R.F. (2011) Risk and protective factors for adolescent substance use in Washington State, the United States and Victoria, Australia: A longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescent Health. 49, 312–320.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.\nHe prided himself on being the devil’s advocate and pushing people’s buttons just to see them get riled up. When I first met him, I thought he genuinely wanted to engage in spiritual discourse regarding the things of God. I quickly grew frustrated having these discussions with him because it seemed like I was the only one trying to learn from our chats. He would not necessarily argue what he thought or believed, but he always argued the opposing point under the guise of trying to make people think. What he ended up doing time and again was creating arguments and turning friends into enemies. Time that could have been spent growing in spiritual maturity was spent causing division and foolish arguments.\nIf we look at our time here as a precious and finite commodity, which it is, then we will want to use it as effectively as possible for the kingdom of God while we have it. Part of that equation is doing our best to make sure that our time is spent growing in the Spirit. Of course our Father in heaven wants us to grow in wisdom and knowledge instead of regressing into foolishness. For that reason, He gives us discernment to know when foolishness is influencing us more than our wisdom is influencing the fool. The purpose of our telling others about our faith and our Lord is to bring them closer to him. When the conversation turns and makes us speak outside of the wisdom and knowledge God gives us, then we must be discerning enough to end it there.\nEverything God does serves a purpose; no effort is wasted. As we walk the Earth desiring to please him we also should be focused on being as spiritually efficient as He is. The only way that we can do this is to discern when it is wise to speak and when it is wise to shut down the conversation. It is a matter of understanding when God wants us to engage someone regarding things of the Spirit because we have an opportunity to add value to that person. When we do this in line with the Spirit we will see that our audience grows and we grow as well. That is the goal. Father, help us to discern when we are being pulled into foolish arguments that we would know to simply walk away.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Alain GantGuestOctober 27, 2020 at 4:58 pmPost count: 8472\nThe Boy Bosses of Naples\nby Roberto Saviano\n- Format: paperback, 368 pages\n- ISBN: 9781250774088 (125077408X)\n- Language: english\n- Release date: March 17, 2020\n- Author: Roberto Saviano\n- Publisher: Picador\nAbout The Book\nIn Gomorrah, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year, Roberto Saviano revealed a true, devastating portrait of Naples, Italy under the rule of the Camorra, a crime organization more powerful and violent than the Mafia. In The Piranhas, the international bestselling author returns to his home city with a novel of gang warfare and a young man’s dark desire to rise to the top of Naples’s underworld.\nNicolas Fiorillo is a brilliant and ambitious fifteen-year-old from the slums of Naples, eager to make his mark and to acquire power and the money that comes with it. With nine friends, he sets out to create a new paranza, or gang. Together they roam the streets on their motorscooters, learning how to break into the network of small-time hoodlums that controls drug-dealing and petty crime in the city. They learn to cheat and to steal, to shoot semiautomatic pistols and AK-47s. Slowly they begin to wrest control of the neighborhoods from enemy gangs while making alliances with failing old bosses.\nNicolas’s strategic brilliance is prodigious, and his cohorts’ rapid rise and envelopment in the ensuing maelstrom of violence and death is riveting and impossible to turn away from. In The Piranhas, Roberto Saviano imagines the lurid glamour of Nicolas’s story with all the vividness and insight that made Gomorrah a worldwide sensation.\nEPUB ebook The Piranhas by Roberto Saviano on Powells. FB2 book The Piranhas buy cheap on PocketBook. Online The Piranhas Roberto Saviano read iPhone on Bookshop. PDF The Piranhas download.\nHardback book The Piranhas for reader. MP3 ebook The Piranhas by Roberto Saviano download on Audible. Hardcover ebook The Piranhas buy on Booktopia. FictionBook The Piranhas Roberto Saviano read online for Android.\nPaperback book The Piranhas read online on Dymocks. TXT book The Piranhas Roberto Saviano download iOS. MOBI The Piranhas. Hardback ebook The Piranhas by Roberto Saviano buy cheap on Kindle on Walmart.\nThe Piranhas by Roberto Saviano – audiobook download2020-10-27T16:58:50+00:00\nViewing 0 reply threads\nViewing 0 reply threads", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Shiur #81: The Prophecies of Amos: BACK TO BASICS REBUKE (8:4-8): PISHEI YISRAEL REVISITED\nDedicated in loving memory of\nDr. Saul G. Agus, z”l\nWhose 5th Yahrzeit is Iyar 3\nMarcelle A. Agus and\nthe Agus/ Fox Families\nSection 2: Verse 8\nIn last week’s shiur, we began our study of Amos’s pronouncement, invoking God’s oath with the anticipated message of how the wealthy merchants of Shomeron would be punished. We analyzed the notion of God’s swearing and the various formulae used to express that in Tanakh. We also looked at the phrase “geon Ya’akov” as used twice in Amos, once in Nachum and, perhaps most famously, once in Tehillim (Ch. 47).\nAll of that, comprising verse 7, is intended to introduce the punishment; we will now turn our attention to the final verse in this set (verse 8) which explicates that sentence.\nHa-al zot lo tirgaz ha-aretz\nWill the land not tremble for this?\nThe opening hei is clearly the rhetorical hei which turns the phrase into a question, as translated here. The commentators, modern as well as medieval, understand zot to refer back to the venal and greedy attitudes of the merchants outlined above in verses 4-6, along with their actual exploitation of the poor which is the outgrowth of those wicked traits. This is, however, a bit difficult, as the singular zot refers to one thing, not a list; we would expect eileh, as this phrase appears three times in Yirmeyahu (see also Yeshayahu 57:6, 64:11):\nHa-al eileh lo efkod [bam] ne’um Hashem, im be-goi asher ka-zeh, lo titnakem nafshi?\nShall I not punish for these things? says the Lord; and will My soul not be avenged on a nation such as this? (5:9, 29; 9:8, with bam)\nIn other words, it is the norm in prophetic rhetoric, when moving from a multi-pronged accusation to the pronouncement of Divine sentence, to employ eileh as a reference to the entire list of crimes. Why does Amos use zot here? There is no matching instance of ha-al zot anywhere in Tanakh.\nThere is one approach that is more or less consistent with the mainstream interpretive strategy. Rashi comments: “Is this sin (avon zeh) not enough to cause the land to be destroyed?” Similarly, Radak states: “Will the land not tremble/ quake for this evil (ha-ra’a ha-zot)?” Although Radak hews a bit closer to the language of the text (maintaining the feminine zot), they both seem to be sensitive to this problem and address it by turning the list of the evil plans of the merchants into one consummate evil. This is, however, inconsistent with the passages cited above, in which the prophet lists a number of manifestations of one crime (in Yirmeyahu 9, for instance, dishonesty) and yet refers to them with the plural eileh.\nI’d like to propose that the zot in our verse is not the crime or criminal behaviors, but rather the oath which introduces the punishment. God has sworn that He will not forget their deeds — and isn’t that terrifying and ominous oath enough to shake the earth? This also explains the use of the feminine zot (in agreement with shevua).\nThe root reish-gimmel-zayin appears over fifty times in Tanakh, sometimes meaning “quake” (as in Shemot 15:14) and, less frequently, “anger” (e.g. I Shemuel 28:15). Coming at our phrase from another angle, there are several terms employed by the text to denote an “earthquake”. Amos’s prophetic agency is dated to “shenatayim lifnei ha-ra’ash,” “two years before the earthquake” (1:1). The biblical descriptions of “dancing” mountains, as in Tehillim 29 and 114, as well as Tehillim 68 and Shoftim 5, utilize various terms. However, a limited group of texts utilize these two words, rogez and eretz, together to indicate an earthquake. Thirteen passages fit into this category, of which only six appear in the prophetic canon. A brief survey of these passages may shed light on Amos’s rhetorical strategy here.\nBefore looking at the usage in the works of the literary prophets, let us briefly note the two instances in Sefer Shemuel. The second one (II Shemuel 22:8: Tehillim 18:8) is poetic and not part of our discussion here.\nAs for the first (I Shemuel 14:15) it appears in the prose report of the confusion that overtakes the Pelishti camp when Yonatan and his weapons-carrier first attack the lackadaisical guards of the base camp. The image of the earth quaking as a way of describing a military camp in turmoil and havoc cuts in two directions. First of all, the physical/ auditory sense of quaking is a piece of literary genius. From the perspective of Shaul and his cohorts looking down at the “trembling camp” from a nearby mountaintop, the noise and tumult could easily seem to have the same effect as an earthquake. Added to that, however, is the internal dynamic in the camp: anger, confusion and terror, all of which may be summed up with the word rogez (see, respectively, II Melakhim 19:28 [= Yeshayahu 37:29], Tehillim 99:1 and Iyov 3:26). Using the phrase “vatirgaz ha-aretz” is a delightful merging of the external perception and the internal reality. This may set the tone for the use of this uncommon phrase in prophetic speech.\nIndeed, the first use of this imagery in Yeshayahu is also illuminative, even though it doesn’t directly use rogez with eretz:\nAl-kein shamayim argiz ve-tirash ha-aretz mimekomah be-evrat Hashem Tzevaot u-vyom charon apo.\nTherefore I will make the heavens to tremble and the earth will be shaken out of its place at the wrath of the Lord of hosts and for the day of His fierce anger.\nThe earth’s shaking is a function of God’s anger — hence both senses of rogez again come together. Perhaps the text will only use this phrase to denote an earthquake when it is both the geo as well as the theo (so to speak) that shakes.\nOne last note about this phrase. Amos opens up with the rhetorical hei, as noted above, which turns the negating lo into a rhetorical question; an expanded form of “Ha-lo,” “Is it not?” It may be significant that Amos does not use the rhetorical lo often; aside from one more use at the opening of his penultimate prophetic sequence (9:7), he uses it exclusively in the justification (apologia) for his opening oracle against Yisrael. He offers his argument for presenting his prophecy as a series of rhetorical questions, in Chapter 3:\n(3) Will two walk together if they have not previously agreed?\n(4) Will a lion roar in the forest, if it has no prey? Will a young lion give forth its voice out of its den, if it has taken nothing?\n(5) Will a bird fall in a snare upon the earth if there is no lure in it? Will a snare spring up from the ground if there is nothing taken there?\n(6) Will a shofar be blown in a city and the people not tremble? Will evil befall a city, if the Lord has not caused it?\n(7) For the Lord God will do nothing if he has not revealed His counsel to His servants the prophets.\n(8) The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who can but prophesy?\nIn Hebrew, the final verse is:\nAryei sha’ag, mi lo yira? A-D-N-Y Hashem dibber mi lo yinavei?\nI draw our attention to this because, as we will see further on, it seems that this climactic line of Amos’s rebuke not only evokes his opening series of prophecies, it may, in a sense, resolve those introductory pronouncements. In this sense, then, the return to the rhetorical lo may intensify and underscore the literary return to the beginning, as we will develop in the next section.\nVe’aval kol yosheiv bah\nAnd everyone who dwells there mourn?\nAVEILUT IN PROPHETIC ORATORY\nEivel, both as noun and verb, appear thirty-two times in prophetic rhetoric. Before comparing Amos’s use with that of his fellows and literary disciples, it is of interest to note how this use plays out in Yeshayahu. Of the ten instances in Yeshayahu, the first five refer either to a specific group (the fishermen in 19:8), to the doorways of homes whose owners have been killed (3:26), the agricultural yield (the wine in 24:7) or the land itself (24:4, 33:9). In other words, (with the exception of the fishermen), people don’t mourn, things do.\nThis stands in stark contrast to the five instances in Trito-Isaiah, where the mourners are people — not specific guilds, but the people who mourn the loss of Yerushalayim and, presumably, can now rejoice in her rebuilding (57:18, 60:20, 61:2, 61:3 [twice] and 66:10). In much the same way, Yirmeyahu’s invocations of aveilut overwhelmingly employ the metaphoric mode (the land, the maiden, etc. mourning) until his last use of the word. In his beautiful vision of returning to Zion, he prophesizes:\nAz tismach betula be-machol u-vachurim u-zkenim yachdav, vehafakhti evlam le-sasson venichamtim vesimachtim mi-ygonam\nThen shall the maiden rejoice in the dance and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow. (31:12)\nWe get the sense that until the destruction of Yerushalayim in 586 BCE, aveilut is seen as the province of the individual and provides an imagery that could be employed with land, crops, houses and so forth to express the aftermath of devastation. With the anticipation of a return to Yerushalayim on the part of a mourning nation, aveilut became much more “real” and the models slip away in favor of speaking to a bereaved people and comforting them in the midst of their national mourning.\nIn Hoshea, again the land mourns (4:3), but the devotees of Ba’al are also depicted as mourning (10:5). In Yoel, in an echo of Hoshea, the land mourns (1:10) but the priests of the Temple also mourn (1:9) — seemingly because of the paucity of gifts being brought as offerings, decreasing their food supplies. Besides Amos, there is one more use of eivel in the oratory of the prophets. In his opening prophecy, Mikha (1:9) describes himself as walking around disheveled, “mourning like the ostriches,” in response to the anticipated destruction of Shomeron at the hands of the Assyrians.\nWe see that in the early era of prophecy, aveilut is not, by and large, used (at least within oratory) in reference to mourning as we know it; rather, it is a poetic image used to evoke images of devastation and ruin and the accompanying solitude (e.g. the imagery of Yerushalayim in Eikha 1).\nHere is where Amos seems to stand out with his rhetorical bravery and brilliance. Alone among his contemporaries, he references eivel as the personal and communal experience of mourning, without resorting to the imagery of his colleagues.\nThe first time that Amos invokes “mourning” is in his anthemic opening:\nVayomar: Hashem mi-Tziyon yishag u-miYrushalayim yitein kolo\nVe’avelu ne’ot ha-ro’im veyaveish rosh ha-Carmel\nHe would say: The Lord roars from Zion and gives His voice forth from Jerusalem;\nAnd the pastures of the shepherds become sere and the top of the Carmel is dried up. (1:2)\nIn an inversion of the usage of Yeshayahu, Hoshea and Yoel, Amos uses “mourning” as a metaphor for the withered land.\nIn 5:16, Amos issues a call for public mourning, summoning the farmer (who, we would expect, should be rejoicing at his harvest) to come and mourn:\nVekare’u ikar el eivel\nIn the verse that almost immediately follows ours, Amos uses eivel twice:\nVehafakhti chageikhem le-eivel ve-khol shireikhem le-kina\nVeha’aleiti al kol motnayim sak ve-al kol rosh korcha\nVesamtiha ke-eivel yachid ve-acharitah ke-yom mar.\nAnd I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation;\nAnd I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins and baldness upon every head;\nAnd I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. (8:10)\nHere, Amos uses personal mourning, both in feeling and in ritual, as the reference point for the national mood after the impending destruction. Again, Amos relies on a very real awareness of mourning among his listeners and uses it to convey the fate of the nation.\nHis final mention brings together the beginning of the book and our verse:\nVA-D-N-Y Hashem ha-Tzevaot ha-nogeia ba-aretz vatamog, ve’avelu kol yoshevei vah; ve’alta kha-y’or kulah veshake’a ki-y’or Mitzrayim\nFor A-D-N-Y, the God of hosts, is He that touches the land and it melts and all that dwell there mourn; and it rises up wholly like the river, and sinks again, like the river of Egypt. (9:5)\nBRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER\nAs mentioned above, the earthquake motif as well as the “mourning” appear in Amos’s opening line, and again here. Before addressing this directly, let us consider one note about the schema of the book, which we will more fully explore in one of the appendices when we conclude our textual study of the book.\nWe do not know if Amos presented his words to a single audience, all at one time — or if what we have before us is a collection of prophecies given sometime during the two years preceding the great earthquake of the mid-8th century BCE. Is it possible that Amos’s entire oeuvre was presented at the Beit El sanctuary? This is not likely, but possible.\nWhat is clear, however, is that once Amos — or his scribe/ student — puts his words into a collection, there is an additional layer of consideration, besides the immediate impact on the ears of his audience. As we have discussed a few times, prophecies committed to writing and canonized are understood to have long-lasting impact and messages that transcend the immediate demographic, economic, political and social realities of the time.\nOnce the collection is put together, there is a beginning — the first two verses of the book make this deliberation abundantly clear — as well as a vision of message.\nThe opening words, with the awareness of the coming and the roaring of God from Yehuda which withers the lush grasslands of Shomeron — all of these remain at the forefront (or at least in the background) of the reader’s consciousness. The reader expects the earthquake, but Amos has more to say. He isn’t just speaking to his audience about their immediate future; he has prophecies about “the end of days” and will even conclude with words of consolation and solace. To that end, Amos brings his book to a faux ending right here, resolving the tension of the earthquake and re-introducing the mourning, not as the mourning of pastures (as in 1:2) but the anticipated mourning of the populace in the aftermath of the earthquake — which is nigh. Add to this mix the use of the rhetorical lo in our verse, which brings the reader’s attention back the summary message after the first set of oracles, and the envelope structure of the book is all but sealed.\nWe can even see, beginning in the next verse, a shift from Divine judgment to near-apocalyptic imagery, which we will begin studying in the next shiur.\nVe’alta kha-or kulah\nIndeed, it will rise up wholly like the river;\nThe previous clause indicates that the subject here is the Land. The image of the Nile river, overflowing during its high season and then receding, is a powerful one — but for whom? Are we to assume that a significant portion of Amos’s audience has visited Egypt? Or have they heard of the mighty Nile’s tendency to overflow its banks? We would have to assume the affirmative (and likely the latter explanation); otherwise, this imagery would fall flat in his audience’s ears.\nThe picture of the earth buckling in this fashion is one that is hard to picture; for those of us who have lived through several powerful earthquakes in southern California, it is actually quite relatable and, at that, not a little terrifying.\nMost of the commentators, modern as well as medieval, assume kha-or to be a form (variant? scribal error?) of ki-y’or. Rashi and R. Yosef Kara cite another possibility, that it really means “light” and refers to a cloud (based on Iyov 37:11). R. Yosef Kara explains that the referent is a dark cloud that carries heavy amounts of rainwater.\nAnd it will be troubled and sink again,\nNigresha, based on the root gimmel-reish-shin, is used elsewhere in Tanakh to refer to the “washing away” of mud and detritus in a storm (see Yeshayahu 57:20).\nLike the river of Egypt.\nAgain, we have to assume that the people at least know about the tumultuous behavior of the Nile, if only by hearsay and reputation.\nWe have completed our study of this rebuke, with its attendant oath and pronouncement. In next week’s shiur, we will begin the “longer range” prophecies of Amos, beginning with verse 9.\nChag Atzma’ut Sameiach!\n72 Years Young — and Forever Young!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Mel Odom’s Forgotten Realms trilogy has been released as a new three in one paperback, Threat from the Sea. This book combines Rising Tide, Under Fallen Stars and The Sea Devil’s Eye. I personally know these are still in very high demand on Interlibrary Loan and I’m glad to see this trilogy come out. Purchased myself a copy at the Red Dirt Book Festival.\nBarnes & Noble reviews, and ordering information. Look at the reviews on Amazon for Rising Tide. That should be enough to tempt you. I’m not a “Realms” game person, wouldn’t have a clue, but I like the fantasy world novels, and authors like Mel Odom and R.A. Salvatore .\nIf you like adventure, sea settings, or just good reads pick up this volume and you’ve got 3 times the enjoyment. Also good purchase for a Young Adult on your Christmas list.\nJust the facts:\nAuthor: Mel Odom\nTitle: Threat from the Sea (includes Rising Tide, Under Fallen Stars and The Sea Devil’s Eye)\nPublisher: Wizards of the Coast\nGot my copy at the Red Dirt Book Festival, ISBN: 978-0-7869-5055-3", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "From the curiosity of the elephant's child, to the crab who played with the sea, from the ingenious invention of the alphabet, to how the rhinoceros got its wrinkled skin, these are stories of strange happenings in the High and Far-Off Times.\nKipling's own drawings, with their long, funny captions, illustrate his hilarious explanations of How the Camel Got His Hump, How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin, How the Armadillo Happened, and other animal How's. He began inventing these stories in his American wife's hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont, to amuse his eldest daughter--and they have served ever since as a source of laughter for children everywhere.\nWhy buy from World of Books\nOur excellent value books literally don't cost the earth\nBook picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.\nThis is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A Comic Book on the Rights of the Specially Abled\nA Comic Book on Diabetes\nA Comic Book on Sexual Abuse of Children. Published in 1995.\nA comic book on the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012. Published in 2017.\nA book on stories on play & sports written by noted hindi writers. Published in 2014.\nA story book on child sexual abuse. Published in 2006. Reprinted in 2012. Second edition in July 2015. Reprinted in July 2017. Reprinted in April\n163/4, Pradhan Wali Gali,Jaunapur,New Delhi – 110047. India.\nTel: +91 9999321098Email: firstname.lastname@example.org", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The influence of post deposition annealing (PDA) temperatures on electrical characteristics of Al2O3/InSb metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor (MOSCAP) structures is investigated. Low frequency C-V responses with strong inversion behavior in the whole range of measured frequency (100 Hz-1 MHz) are observed, indicating very short minority carrier response time in InSb. The PDA temperature of 300oC and above would result in the reduction of maximum capacitance. At the PDA temperature of above 300oC the C-V hysteresis, frequency dispersion and stretch out increases significantly, indicating the degradation of the MOSCAP structures. The degradation might relate to the interdiffusion between Al2O3 and InSb during thermal steps.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) should stimulate ecosystem productivity, but to what extent is highly uncertain, particularly when combined with changing temperature and precipitation1. Ecosystem response to CO2 is complicated by biogeochemical feedbacks2 but must be understood if carbon storage and associated dampening of climate warming are to be predicted3. Feedbacks through the hydrological cycle are particularly important4 and the physiology is well known; elevated CO2 reduces stomatal conductance and increases plant water use efficiency (the amount of water required to produce a unit of plant dry matter)5. The CO2 response should consequently be strongest when water is limiting6; although this has been shown in some experiments7, it is absent from many8,9,10,11. Here we show that large annual variation in the stimulation of above-ground biomass by elevated CO2 in a mixed C3/C4 temperate grassland can be predicted accurately using seasonal rainfall totals; summer rainfall had a positive effect but autumn and spring rainfall had negative effects on the CO2 response. Thus, the elevated CO2 effect mainly depended upon the balance between summer and autumn/spring rainfall. This is partly because high rainfall during cool, moist seasons leads to nitrogen limitation, reducing or even preventing biomass stimulation by elevated CO2. Importantly, the prediction held whether plots were warmed by 2 °C or left unwarmed, and was similar for C3 plants and total biomass, allowing us to make a powerful generalization about ecosystem responses to elevated CO2. This new insight is particularly valuable because climate projections predict large changes in the timing of rainfall, even where annual totals remain static12. Our findings will help resolve apparent differences in the outcomes of CO2 experiments and improve the formulation and interpretation of models that are insensitive to differences in the seasonal effects of rainfall on the CO2 response7,13,14.\nThis is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution\nOpen Access articles citing this article.\nNature Communications Open Access 31 July 2020\nInternational Journal of Biometeorology Open Access 27 July 2020\nBiogeochemistry Open Access 10 December 2019\nSubscribe to Journal\nGet full journal access for 1 year\nonly $3.90 per issue\nAll prices are NET prices.\nVAT will be added later in the checkout.\nTax calculation will be finalised during checkout.\nGet time limited or full article access on ReadCube.\nAll prices are NET prices.\nIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate Change 2007 – The Physical Science Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (eds Solomon, S. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007)\nReich, P. B. & Hobbie, S. E. Decade-long soil nitrogen constraint on the CO2 fertilization of plant biomass. Nature Clim. Change 3, 278–282 (2013)\nSokolov, A. P. et al. Consequences of considering carbon-nitrogen interactions on the feedbacks between climate and the terrestrial carbon cycle. J. Clim. 21, 3776–3796 (2008)\nMorgan, J. A. et al. C4 grasses prosper as carbon dioxide eliminates desiccation in warmed semi-arid grassland. Nature 476, 202–205 (2011)\nLeakey, A. D. B. et al. Elevated CO2 effects on plant carbon, nitrogen, and water relations: six important lessons from FACE. J. Exp. Bot. 60, 2859–2876 (2009)\nMcMurtrie, R. E. et al. Why is plant-growth response to elevated CO2 amplified when water is limiting, but reduced when nitrogen is limiting? A growth-optimisation hypothesis. Funct. Plant Biol. 35, 521–534 (2008)\nMorgan, J. A. et al. Water relations in grassland and desert ecosystems exposed to elevated atmospheric CO2 . Oecologia 140, 11–25 (2004)\nDerner, J. D. et al. Above- and below-ground responses of C3–C4 species mixtures to elevated CO2 and soil water availability. Glob. Change Biol. 9, 452–460 (2003)\nDukes, J. S. et al. Responses of grassland production to single and multiple global environmental changes. PLoS Biol. 3, 1829–1837 (2005)\nGrunzweig, J. M. & Korner, C. Growth, water and nitrogen relations in grassland model ecosystems of the semi-arid Negev of Israel exposed to elevated CO2 . Oecologia 128, 251–262 (2001)\nMarissink, M., Pettersson, R. & Sindhoj, E. Above-ground plant production under elevated carbon dioxide in a Swedish semi-natural grassland. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 93, 107–120 (2002)\nSingh, D., Tsiang, M., Rajaratnam, B. & Diffenbaugh, N. S. Precipitation extremes over the continental United States in a transient, high-resolution, ensemble climate model experiment. J. Geophys. Res. D 118, 7063–7086 (2013)\nDe Kauwe, M. G. et al. Forest water use and water use efficiency at elevated CO2: a model-data intercomparison at two contrasting temperate forest FACE sites. Glob. Change Biol. 19, 1759–1779 (2013)\nPiao, S. et al. Evaluation of terrestrial carbon cycle models for their response to climate variability and to CO2 trends. Glob. Change Biol. 19, 2117–2132 (2013)\nPeters, G. P. et al. The challenge to keep global warming below 2 °C. Nature Clim. Change 3, 4–6 (2013)\nLe Quere, C. et al. Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide. Nature Geosci. 2, 831–836 (2009)\nMatthews, H. D. Implications of CO2 fertilization for future climate change in a coupled climate-carbon model. Glob. Change Biol. 13, 1068–1078 (2007)\nKörner, C., Morgan, J. & Norby, R. in Terrestrial Ecosystems in a Changing World Global Change — The IGBP Series (eds Canadell J. G ., Pataki, D. E. & Pitelka, L. F. ) Ch. 2, 9–21 (Springer, 2007)\nReich, P. B., Hungate, B. A. & Luo, Y. Q. Carbon-nitrogen interactions in terrestrial ecosystems in response to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 37, 611–636 (2006)\nNorby, R. J. & Zak, D. R. Ecological lessons from Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiments. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 42, 181–203 (2011)\nKnapp, A. K., Briggs, J. M. & Koelliker, J. K. Frequency and extent of water limitation to primary production in a mesic temperate grassland. Ecosystems 4, 19–28 (2001)\nReich, P. B. et al. Nitrogen limitation constrains sustainability of ecosystem response to CO2 . Nature 440, 922–925 (2006)\nBorken, W. & Matzner, E. Reappraisal of drying and wetting effects on C and N mineralization and fluxes in soils. Glob. Change Biol. 15, 808–824 (2009)\nLeuzinger, S. & Körner, C. Rainfall distribution is the main driver of runoff under future CO2-concentration in a temperate deciduous forest. Glob. Change Biol. 16, 246–254 (2010)\nHovenden, M. J. et al. The TasFACE climate-change impacts experiment: design and performance of combined elevated CO2 and temperature enhancement in a native Tasmanian grassland. Aust. J. Bot. 54, 1–10 (2006)\nMorgan, J. A. et al. CO2 enhances productivity, alters species composition, and reduces digestibility of shortgrass steppe vegetation. Ecol. Appl. 14, 208–219 (2004)\nNowak, R. S., Ellsworth, D. S. & Smith, S. D. Functional responses of plants to elevated atmospheric CO2 – do photosynthetic and productivity data from FACE experiments support early predictions? New Phytol. 162, 253–280 (2004)\nWebb, N. P., Stokes, C. J. & Scanlan, J. C. Interacting effects of vegetation, soils and management on the sensitivity of Australian savanna rangelands to climate change. Clim. Change 112, 925–943 (2012)\nPolley, H. W. et al. Climate change and North American rangelands: trends, projections, and implications. Rangeland Ecol. Manag. 66, 493–511 (2013)\nSoussana, J. F. & Luescher, A. Temperate grasslands and global atmospheric change: a review. Grass Forage Sci. 62, 127–134 (2007)\nOsanai, Y. et al. Decomposition and nitrogen transformation rates in a temperate grassland vary among co-occurring plant species. Plant Soil 350, 365–378 (2012)\nR Development Core Team. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing (R Development Core Team, 2011)\nQuinn, G. P. & Keough, M. J. Experimental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002)\nBurnham, K. P. & Anderson, D. R. Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach 2nd edn (Springer, 2002)\nThis work was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects scheme. We thank the Australian Department of Defence for access to the Pontville Small Arms Range Complex. J. Vander Schoor, A. Williams, J. Janes, J. Buettel and M. Porter provided technical assistance. R. Mallett assisted with statistical analyses and L. Barmuta provided advice on multimodel inference.\nThe authors declare no competing financial interests.\nExtended data figures and tables\nExtended Data Figure 1 Seasonal rainfall during the study period compared with seasonal rainfall for the previous 100 years.\nThe seasonal rainfall during the study period is shown by filled data points, with the mean and interquartile values shown in the box plot. Error bars indicate the fifth and ninety-fifth percentile ranges; crosses indicate maximum and minimum recorded values from the previous 100 years. Historical values were obtained from the nearby Australian Bureau of Meteorology weather station at Bagdad.\nExtended Data Figure 2 The impact of seasonal rainfall balance on the elevated CO2 effect on biomass of C3 vegetation only.\nThe mean (n = 6 replicate plots) annual elevated CO2 effect on above-ground biomass of C3 plants only as a function of the seasonal rainfall balance, which is defined as the difference between summer rainfall and the sum of autumn and spring rainfall. Spring rainfall totals were halved in determining the seasonal rainfall balance as the multimodel estimates indicated that the effect of spring rainfall was approximately half that of the other seasons. Relatively more rainfall in summer gives a positive rainfall balance value, whereas a negative rainfall balance occurs when more rain falls in autumn and spring. The solid line and associated r2 value are the result of a linear regression analysis (F1,6 = 18.1, P < 0.006).\nAbout this article\nCite this article\nHovenden, M., Newton, P. & Wills, K. Seasonal not annual rainfall determines grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. Nature 511, 583–586 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13281\nThis article is cited by\nNature Ecology & Evolution (2022)\nClose linkages between leaf functional traits and soil and leaf C:N:P stoichiometry under altered precipitation in a desert steppe in northwestern China\nPlant Ecology (2022)\nPhysiology and Molecular Biology of Plants (2021)\nNature Communications (2020)\nInternational Journal of Biometeorology (2020)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Why Write a Literary Analysis?\nLiterature teaches us about the value of conflict. We experience conflict in our personal relationships and in our interactions with society. Literary analysis helps us recognize the conflict at work in literature, which gives us greater insight into the personal conflicts that we face. In addition, learning how to closely read, analyze, and critique a text is beneficial beyond a literature course in that it improves our writing, reading, and critiquing abilities overall.\nHow to Write a Literary Analysis\nIt is important to understand that some conflicts in literature might not always be obvious. Considering how an author addresses conflict via literary techniques can reveal other more complex conflicts or different kinds of conflicts that interact in multiple ways. Analyzing those more complicated elements can help you discover what literature represents about the human experience and condition. With this in mind, consider that your thesis might be a claim about how two pieces make similar representations, or it can show two different points of view on a similar issue.\nThe literary analysis should be organized around your thesis (argument), which is the controlling idea of the entire essay. In the Week Three assignment, you identified two conflicts and created an initial thesis statement in relation to two of the literary works from the List of Literary Works. In this assignment, you will refine that thesis even further and build on your overall argument utilizing the literary techniques below. Reflect on feedback from your Instructor and peers in previous weeks to help you revise your rough draft into a final paper.\nFor this literary analysis, write a 1250- to 1600-word essay in which you do the following:\n- Revise/develop the thesis from Week Three based on the feedback you have received. Again, the thesis should focus on the conflict(s) you chose to write about. This thesis should provide deeper insight into the possible meanings surrounding the chosen conflict(s) that you see in the chosen literary texts. Throughout your analysis, you must use at least two primary sources and two sources from the Ashford University Library to support your thesis.\n- Review and incorporate instructor and classroom feedback on at least one conflict listed in Types of Conflict Found in Literature from two literary works in this course. One of the literary works must be a short story. See the List of Literary Works and Types of Conflict Found in Literature.\n- Analyze three literary techniques to help define and draw out the conflict(s) chosen.\n- Explain how the texts utilize the literary techniques below to describe the conflict(s).\n- Compare and contrast the two texts you chose.\nList of Literary Works\nFor your Literary Analysis, select at least two works from the List of Literary Works that share the same type(s) of conflict(s). Remember, one of them must be a short story. You can either compare two short stories, a short story and a poem, or a short story and a play.\nList of Types of Conflicts Found in Literature\nIn the document Types of Conflicts Found in Literature, you will find a list of possible conflicts to explore in your Literary Analysis. Please note that you must write about one of the conflicts in the list of literary texts provided. To help you better understand each conflict and how it might be apparent, examples from popular culture have been provided. However, please note that your Literary Analysis must not be about popular culture, television, or movies. The examples provided are just that–examples. Please also note that it is possible for a text to have more than one conflict at work. The repeated references to conflicts in The Simpsons provide further context on how multiple conflicts might be present in a single work. Other examples of conflict are also provided.\nList of Literary Techniques\nIn your analysis, address at least three of the literary techniques (as defined in Chapters 2 and 4) listed in the document Literary Techniques, describing their relationships with the conflict(s)–which provide deeper insight into possible meaning(s) found in literature–you are addressing in your paper.\n- Topic: Your paper must address two of the texts, at least one of the conflicts, and three of the literary techniques as listed in the guidelines.\n- Length: Your paper must be double spaced and 1250 to 1600 words in length (excluding title and references pages).\n- Sources: You must utilize at least two primary sources to support your thesis (including the course text) and at least two scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library (at least four sources in total). You may also use other academic sources acquired from other classes that pertain to the literary theme and/or conflict.\n- Elements of Academic Writing: Please see the Guide to Writing a Compare/Contrast Essay resource, which provides information regarding how to effectively organize this essay.\n- APA: Your assignment must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.\n- Separate Title Page: Must include a separate title page that lists the following: an original title, your name, date of submission, and the professors name.\n- Separate Reference Page: At the end of your paper, include a separate references page that lists all sources utilized for and cited within your analysis.\n- Proper Citations: All sources must be properly cited according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center, both within the text of your paper and on the references page.\nUSED ****** in WEEK 3s DRAFT\n“No Name Woman” (Kingston, 1975)\n“Sweat” (Hurston, 1926)\nWEEK 3***The body of your paper is to be presented in four sections as detailed below.\n- Identify the conflict in the two texts you have chosen.\n- Identify the similarities and differences in the representation of the conflict in the texts.\n- Identify three literary techniques and elements that help represent this conflict.\n- Literary Techniques in [Title of First Chosen Text]\n- Explain where and how you see the three literary techniques at work in your chosen first text.\n- Provide specific examples by quoting, paraphrasing, and/or summarizing.\n- Explain how the literary techniques/examples define and draw out this conflict.\n- Literary Techniques in [Title of Second Chosen Text]\n- Explain where and how you see the three literary techniques at work in your second chosen text.\n- Provide specific examples by quoting, paraphrasing, and/or summarizing.\n- Explain how the literary techniques define and draw out this conflict.\n- Similarities and Differences\n- Compare and contrast the manner in which the texts address the conflict.\n- Explain if they use different and/or similar literary techniques to articulate that conflict.\n- Explain the different and/or similar resolutions of each conflict and how those resolutions were reached.\nNEED TO MAKE AN ORDER? HERE IS HOW IT WORKS\nYou have just landed to the most confidential, trustful essay writing service to order the paper from. We have a dedicated team of professional writers who will assist you with any kind of assignment that you have. Your work is handled confidentially with a specific writer who ensures you are satisfied. Be assured of quality, unique and price friendly task delivered in good time when you place an order at our website.\nWe have a team of dedicated writers with degrees from all spheres of study. We readily accept all types of essays and we assure you of content that will meet your expectations. Our staff can be reached via live chat, email or by phone at any given time with prompt response.\nPrices starting at:\n$10 / page\n$15 / page\nNote: The prices in the table above are applicable to orders completed within 14 days. Kindly see the full price table for more prices..\nWe urge you to provide as much information as possible to avoid many revisions. Set your deadline, choose your level, give payment information and relax while you track your work. We will deliver your paper on time.\nAre you in a quagmire and you are unable to complete your assignments? Do you doubt yourself on the quality of the essay you have written? Myprivatementor.com is here to assist you. We will offer you unmatched quality that is plagiarism free. Place an order at myprivatementor.com for guaranteed high grades.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Halloween Tag!12:00 AM\n1. The Vampire - A book that sucked out your feels and KILLED THEM. ;)\nForbidden by Tabitha Suzuma, oh my god this book... It's such an intense topic for the whole book anyway (incest) but the ending of this book just... I couldn't handle it, it is one of very few books that have made me go \"NO!\" out loud at 1am, sorry mum.\n2. The Witch - A book that cast a spell on you, that you were enchanted with.\nThe shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer, could not put this book down, pure and simple, I could read this over and over again and wouldn't get bored, it's just an amazing book.\n3. The Skeleton - A book that was simple, but worked perfectly.\nFangirl by Rainbow Rowell. It's not often that I read books that have no horrific context or strange plot line, so this was like a breath of fresh air, it's simply about two twin sisters going to university and it was really simple but it was just so great.\n4. The Werewolf - A book that made you so angry you almost didn't recognize yourself.\nRoom by Emma Donoghue, not because the book was a bad book because this book is absolutely amazing, but because of the theme of the book, this is a book told from the perspective of a five year old boy named Jack who lives in a room with his mum and knows nothing outside of this room (I think it's pretty obvious what the storyline of this book actually is) and it just makes you think - why is this happening to people.\n5. The Zombie - A book that had you reading throughout the night.\nThis isn't something that I often do - I love sleep too much. But there is one book I distinctly remember doing this with because I just needed to know what was going to happen and how things were going to be resolved and if you have read this book, you will know what I mean when I say... I still don't feel like it's finished. And that is Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell!\nMab is Mab\nHave fun guys! :D", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "So you've written a book. Big deal. Did you write one good enough to sell? Will it sell? There are millions of books out there. Why should readers buy yours?\nBefore you put your book up for sale, before you even finish writing, you should read this book. Find out what you're doing wrong, and what you're doing right. Discover why character development and editing are everything. And learn to make your readers laugh and cry.\nGiacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. He also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series. When Giacomo isn’t writing, he’s helping his wife take care of the animals on their sanctuary. At last count they had 45 animals—11 dogs, a horse, 6 cats, and 26 pigs. Oh, and one crazy—and very large—wild boar, who takes walks with Giacomo every day and happens to also be his best buddy.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Background and Aims: Scutellaria is one of the most popular traditional Chinese herbal remedies againstvarious human diseases, including cancer. In this study, we examined the active effects of Scutellaria extractand its main flavonoid constituents on the proportion of side population cells within human multiple myelomacell line RPMI8226 in vitro and explored the potential molecular mechanisms involved. Materials and Methods:The contents of flavonoids in ethanolic extract of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi were determined using highperformance liquid chromatography. The antiproliferative effect of the ethanolic extract on RPMI-8226 wasdetermined by CCK assay. Apoptosis was measured by annexin combining with propidium iodide in a flowcytometer. Cell cycle analysis was performed by propidium iodide staining in combination with flow cytometryanalysis. Hoechst 33342 exclusion assay was used for the identification of side population within RPMI8226cells. The expression of ABCG2 protein was assessed by Western blotting assay. Results: The content of majorflavonoids constitutents of Scutellaria extract was baicalin (10.2%), wogonoside (2.50%), baicalein (2.29%), andwogonin (0.99%), respectively. The crude Scutellaria extract did not show significant anti-proliferative effect,apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest in RPMI-8226 within the concentrations of 1-75μg/mL. However, theethanolic extract, baicalein, wogonin and baicalin reduced the side population cells in RPMI-8226, and datashowed that baicalein and wogonin had stronger inhibitory effects. Correspondingly, they also exhibited significanteffects on decreasing the expression level of ABCG2 protein in RPMI-8226 in vitro. Conclusions: Our results forthe first time demonstrated a novel mechanism of action for Scutellaria extract and its main active flavonoids,namely targeting SP cells by modulating the expression of ABCG2 protein. This study provides an insight fornew therapeutic strategies targeting cancer stem cells of multiple myeloma.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "So now it is Christmas and the waiting is over.. I hope Christmas will meet your expectations. And if not (which will be more logic), don´t be hard on your self. Sure, Christmas is about giving well-over-thought gifts, decorating the house beautiful, eating fantastic food! Happy feelings and satisfied smiles. But in some cases Christmas can totally crash your expectations. When the decoration is just not glamourous enough or a person didn´t react the way you wanted when they opened your present. Old habits of family-members start to come up, during what was supposed to be a lovely dinner!\nYou know, nobody is perfect. People will never be the way you want them to be.You can not fix everything, so not even you are perfect! There was one man, over 2000 years ago.. He came to this earth and was above all of our expectations. He was and still is perfect. That is what I celebrate today. Because He is the hope that I´ve been waiting for.\nMy dear b-f(a.k.a. blogging friends),\nI wish you a very merry Christmas,\nthat your expectations will be met now or in the future!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Books & Bibles\nFashion & Jewelry\nGifts & Giving\nHome Decor & Accents\nKitchen & Gourmet\nBeauty & Health\nChristian Bookstore .Net is a leading online Christian book store.\nShop Christian Books, Bibles, Jewelry, Church Supplies, Homeschool Curriculum & More!\nTreated by her family as a princess, Gigi imagines herself to be of royal birth so when she unwraps her gifts on Christmas morning expecting a crown, she gets a big surprise.\nIn The Perfect Christmas Gift, Sheila Walsh has penned a perfectly pink tale of a little princess whose Christmas expectations go a bit over-the-top. As Christmas nears, Gigi is just bursting with anticipation. And when her parents give her a hint about her big gift, \"white with a touch of pink,\" she is absolutely certain she is getting her crown After days of endless agony, Christmas morning finally arrives, and Gigi searches for a crown-sized box. But there isn't one. Instead, Gigi receives a gift more wonderful than she ever could imagine. Parents and princesses everywhere will appreciate Gigi's Christmas agony and will be encouraged to open their hearts to a gift even greater than they expected.\nCustomer Support: 1-888-395-0572", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "April 27, 2011\nAren’t we all, in some way, lost things?\nAfter we read Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia in class, a copy of another book by the same author seemed like a fitting reward for the student →\nJune 24, 2010\nSecret Father’s Day messages\nIn our Intermediate English Fun class, we've been reading one of Michele Torrey's excellent Doyle & Fossey: Science Detectives books, The Case →\nMarch 21, 2009\nSecret Plans and Clever Tricks\nAbove: LocaniW and KeithL reading their copies of Roald Dahl's classic The Enormous Crocodile.\nThe plot summary in the book's Wikipedia entry contains →\n© 2022 ACCELLA Learning Centre", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "PositiveThe New York Times Book Review\\\"Told poignantly and with a blunt honesty that seems a characteristic of Alinejad’s life and writing, here is a gripping tale that permits us to peek at the inner workings of the Iranian Revolution and consider the question of its health and longevity ... The Wind in My Hair exposes just how vexing it is to disentangle the veil from the context in which it is worn and thus to wage a transnational fight either for its permissibility or its elimination. Now in exile, Alinejad, a woman of exceptional courage, must face the tragedy of being territorially torn from a struggle that is uniquely Iranian and also crucially feminist. In Trump’s America, the agenda of My Stealthy Freedom confronts the further danger of being sucked into the maw of a massive American warmongering machine, eager to drop bombs, to eliminate veils and mean Muslim men. This is not Alinejad’s goal, and she tries mightily to articulate the difference, the possibility, of opposing both those who enforce the veil and those who wish to ban it.\\\nRaveThe GuardianIn the pages of Directorate S, the story is delivered with a literary prowess that has been absent in previous western accounts of America’s longest running war. The dance of blame, with the US swaying at one moment towards Pakistan and the next towards Afghanistan, is a choreography familiar to CIA chiefs, US presidents and writers who have tackled the subject. Coll refuses to follow this tired tune, and the result is masterful ... In the 15-year story that Directorate S tells, Afghanistan has been built a bit and bombed a lot, the Taliban have been fought with and then courted, the Pakistanis embraced then abandoned. What the British tried to document in Curzon’s day the Americans refused to learn; there is indeed trouble on the Frontier again, and in Directorate S we have the definitive account of it.\nRaveThe Barnes & Noble ReviewThe suspense...is tremendous, a vivid explication 'of how a situation can turn from benign to brutal in the blink of an eye, the space of a breath' ... the tensely pulled tendons of her fiction have prompted critics to focus on the way her novels mingle the thrilling nature of fear with the mystery of the unknown. The mastery is visible here, even when there is no mystery, just the magnification of a moment of terror ... O’Farrell’s book is a long and lyric pause on life’s aborted endings; there is no clichéd prescription to the ready-made gratitude of end-of-life memoirs here. O’Farrell offers instead an invitation to hover intellectually and emotionally on the precipice with her.\nPatrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele\nRaveThe Barnes & Noble ReviewThe losses contained in the pages of When They Call You a Terrorist are acute, but they are rendered with lucidity and lyricism; the endings of many chapters have a lilting, almost incantatory rhythm ... Hardship can birth tenacity more formidable than fear, and Patrisse Khan-Cullors’s story, told so evocatively in When They Call You a Terrorist, is proof of it. Even as she acknowledges the dire character of the present, she refuses to bow before it.\nPositiveThe Barnes and Noble ReviewThe intertwining of the families, two contrasting models of motherhood equally possible in contemporary America, sets up the conflict... In this, the central action of Little Fires Everywhere, Ng is masterful, exposing with terrifying acuity just how the well-meaning wealthy, afforded so much moral reverence in contemporary America, can be cruel and even evil ...question of who qualifies as a good mother, along with the idea that the state or the wealthy and the white must protect immigrant children from the cruelties of their unfit immigrant parents, are issues woven through... Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere does just that, isolating and teasing out the threads of class conformity, racist fear, and the hierarchies and codes that partake subtly of both.\nÉdouard Louis, Trans. by Michael Lucey\nRaveThe Barnes & Noble Review\\\"The events in the book, as the author Édouard Louis has recounted in several interviews, are all true, and they are also terrifying ... The intimate drama of Eddy’s struggle vis-à-vis his sexuality is set against a larger landscape of constraint and claustrophobia that we rarely reflected in literature on or about France ... At the end of The End of Eddy, as all though life itself, there is no complete self-acceptance, no final liberation; for Eddy and for everyone, the struggle to love oneself is always contradictory and never complete.\\\nOmar El Akkad\nRaveThe Barnes & Noble Review[American War] is proof of the premise that while philosophy can urge contemplation, it is fiction that can lure us into compassion ... The world of American War is a prophetic one, with loss and privation and conflict the cornerstones. It is also a compelling one, the warp and weft of its details constructing a universe whose internal logic is as convincing as any real-world account. All of it can be chalked up to Akkad’s mastery of detail, his depiction of an ecological collapse hastening the end of human compassion, filial feeling, normalcy, beauty, and possibility ... It’s a species of fear we could do with more of right now.\nRaveThe Barnes & Noble ReviewThe literary genealogy that Elkins constructs for the walking, idling, loitering, wandering woman in Flâneuse is urgent also for its connection to feminist efforts in places that do not appear in the book ... In Flâneuse, Elkins undoes women’s penchant for self-blame by revealing feminine discomfort in urban spaces as a product of our exclusion from the right to freely explore them. The consequences go beyond chafing at the boundary: Creativity is the product of an alchemy that involves who we are, what we see and where we see it. Elkins presents an assessment of the cost of staying home, of closing ourselves to the inspirational, generative, or romantic encounter — walled and warded off by getting in a car, or a bus, or a train, by saying no to that risky endeavor: taking a walk.\nRaveThe New Republic...deftly and terrifyingly underscores the absurdity of a society tacitly ordered by skin color and the privileges accrued by those who have ended up at the winning end, circled and watched by those who have not ... In other stories, Gay employs the surreal and allegorical to explore the contradictions of desire, of the yearning for motherhood and the cruelty that women can inflict on other women ... Difficult Women is a dark book, pulsing with repressed anger that emerges in sudden starts and with the accompaniment of violence...It takes courage to write such a book, to bank on un-likeability, on women unraveling in such a variety of ways. In reveling in this exposure of rage, Roxane Gay charts a markedly different literary course than is routinely allotted to the 'diverse' or 'minority' female author ... Gay peels it all back, exposing the raw, the enraged and the perversely beautiful.\nPositiveThe New RepublicIt is precisely this myth—that violations buried are violations dead—that Jessica Valenti dissects with precision in her memoir Sex Object...Sharp and prescient, Sex Object is also an antidote to the fun and flirty feminism of selfies and self-help that has been the mainstay of the early 2000s. As Valenti says, 'the feminism that is popular right now is using optimism and humor to undo the damage that sexism has wrought,' taking Amy Schumer, Beyonce, and Sheryl Sandberg for its heroines. Along with Andi Zeisler’s recent book We Were Feminists Once—about the t-shirt slogan-style commodification of feminism and female empowerment—Valenti’s book is a long awaited corrective.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It is raining. The leaves fall\nso consistently it sounds like rain.\nI am a fool.\nI sit alone in a cabin. The trees are clamoring\nto be let in, rushing thickly against\nthe windows. They smell smoke\nfrom the wood stove, but are not afraid.\nI’m a little afraid.\nI’m sitting alone in the cabin.\nNever have I ever been squeezed by such a silence.\nA silence several feet taller than me,\nhugging me about the head.\nI hear my name and get excited. I want\nto have a conversation, talk to the trees\nabout the book by Herman Hesse I’m reading\nand ask them for advice, like: “How can I\nready myself for the coming winter?”\nbut I only imagined I’d heard my name.\nThe trees are silent. They cross their branches.\nLike everyone, they aren’t happy with me.\n# # #\nKatie Quarles received her B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work has appeared in numerous journals including The King’s English, Apocryphal Text, Interrupture, Poetry Now, and The Avalon Literary Review. She lives and writes in Rocklin, California.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "After nine seasons on television and two movies, The X-Files have moved to the printed page, with IDW Publishing bringing us the next “season” of adventures for FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Written by Joe Harris with art by Michael Walsh and Jordie Bellaire, the new comic follows in the footsteps of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Smallville, telling new stories “in canon” about characters we thought we might not see again after the show was cancelled or the films ended.\nSo how does the first issue stack up? Here area few thoughts from around the web:\nJames Hunt, Comic Book Resources: “Against those odds, X-Files Season 10 #1 turns out to be a surprisingly good read. Harris” introduction to the characters and their situation is on-point, containing only the information necessary to establish the current story, avoiding a lot of needless exposition that would”ve been easy to insert. As a result, readers are quickly brought up to speed with who the characters are, what their current situation is and what they”re doing now, allowing the plot to get rapidly under way.”\nAlison Baumgartner, ScienceFiction.com: “Character-wise, I”m not entirely sold. Mulder”s sense of humor seems too jokey, and this jokiness permeates in everything he says. Yes, Mulder had some great one-liners in the series, in almost every episode, but he didn”t spout them off as if they were the only language he knew. Scully cries about wanting to find William again, which also seems oddly out of character. I do not doubt that Scully still has profound feelings about her son, but it”s distinctly un-Scully-like for her to actually cry instead of looking deeply troubled with slightly glistening eyes. As for Skinner, I felt he was pretty spot on.”\nPatrick Hayes, SciFiPulse: “This is a sketchy job by Michael Walsh. He moves the point of view around excellently. Page 1 is a perfect example of this. The first panel is a black for the message, the second establishes a chase, the third the setting and our wounded protagonist, and the final the proximity of the antagonist to our hero, her obvious distress, and her signature cross necklace. Turn the page and an unfinished, rushed look begins: panels two and three; the phone on Page 3. It gets worse3: Page 4, panel three; the man on Page 5, the children on Page 6 (the mitt has more detail!), and Mulder”s first full appearance on Page 7. This style will not help sales of this book. Walsh knows how to lay out the book, but more details/finishing is needed.”\nRichard Gray, Behind the Panels: “Michael Walsh”s clean and simple style may not have the macabre and grainy filter that fans might be expecting, but there is something grounded and real about it, making the more outlandish elements of the story more palatable. The look of the lead characters are spot-on, unlike other licenses that get the names and not the likenesses. Colourist Jordie Bellaire, who is doing wonderful things with Ming Doyle for Brian Wood”s Mara, provides a similarly restrained palette to this title, almost giving it a retro feel not too distant from Matt Hollingsworth”s Hawkeye.”\nJoey Caswell, Read Comic Books: “Overall, the story for X-Files Season 10 is off to a good start. It is definitely interesting and most fans will probably be looking forward to finding out just what is going on. Those who weren”t already long-time fans of the franchise may not be as willing to wait out the plot given the relatively lackluster dialogue and artwork. Hopefully the mysterious conspiracies the main characters become involved in are enough to maintain an enjoyable book. “The truth is out there”… at least in small snapshots once a month.”\nRoileigh Ollson, X-Files News: “We have been waiting for these comics since January. The anticipation kept building and building, and Issue #1 lived up to some very high expectations. Season 10 isn”t just an adaptation of The X-Files; like its name implies, it attempts to be a worthy continuation of the series. We are really pleased with what we have seen so far. The ‘Believers” storyline is intriguing and there are some important tie-ins to the show”s mythology that have us anxious to see what happens next. It is clear that the creative team behind these comics has great respect for the history of The X-Files and its fanbase. We highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Issue #1.”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Even as e-book sales catch fire around the world, attitudes toward e-books among the publishing community lag in some places. In India, for instance, according to this article in the Hindustan Times, many authors do not even publish their books in e-book format.\nTwo impediments discussed in the article, which is otherwise riddled with errors (Amanda Hocking from the UK?), are cost of e-readers and tablets and e-book piracy (Are eBooks a no-show in India?):\nNot only are the eBook sales low here, but many Indian authors are not even releasing their works on this platform. Best-selling author Amish Tripathi was one of the many who decided not to offer his popular Shiva trilogy as eBooks. “It is only a matter of time before India catches up with the rest of the world in the current eBook frenzy. But they aren’t popular yet,” he explains.\nRead more at the Hindustan Times.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "BERGEN, Norway: Existing research indicates that temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are the second most frequent source of disability and pain in the human body. A recent study evaluated the risk factors of non-resolving temporomandibular disorder in patients with long-term refractory TMD three years after their enrolment in a national interdisciplinary evaluation programme at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen. The study found that those patients who reported higher levels of pain intensity were more likely to later report non-resolving TMD symptoms.\nAt the start of enrolment, the 60 TMD patients included in the study were examined by a medical radiologist, physiotherapist, clinical psychologist, dental specialist in orofacial pain, oral and maxillofacial surgeon and pain physician. The group had suffered from TMD pain for 13.4 years on average. After meeting with the specialists, the patients were given treatment suggestions to take to their general practitioners (GPs) for follow-up.\nInitially and three years later, the patients completed a questionnaire covering not just TMD symptoms and pain but also physical functioning, adverse events such as trauma, and psychosocial factors.\nThough the patients overall reported satisfaction with their initial multispecialist evaluation and suggestions for treatment, three years later only 21% of the patients reported satisfaction with the follow-up provided by their GPs. After three years, 33% of the patients reported worsened TMD symptoms, 26% improved symptoms and 41% unchanged symptoms. The researchers noted that those who experienced worsening symptoms had also previously reported a much higher minimum and maximum pain intensity at baseline. This group also initially reported a higher degree of suffering as a result of pain. Statistical analysis indicated that high maximum pain intensity at baseline was a significant predictor of worsened TMD symptoms at the three-year evaluation.\nAs Norway is facing a shortage of TMD specialists, particularly in rural locations, general medical and dental practitioners are often dealt the task of treating TMD, even though they may lack the expertise to do so. The researchers indicated that treatment of severe TMD would ideally involve a team of specialists from both medicine and dentistry and suggested that having to resort to general doctors and dentists for follow-up may have contributed to the improvement of just ten out of the 39 patients.\nThe authors suggested that treatment could be improved by follow-up by the interdisciplinary team with patients and GPs and by giving patients the opportunity for responsibility for their own recovery via a rehabilitation programme with feedback. They also recommended further research on management of stress in patients with chronic pain as a factor of treatment outcome.\nThe study, titled “High pain intensity is a risk factor of non-resolving TMD: A three-year follow-up of a patient group in a Norwegian interdisciplinary evaluation program”, was published online on 2 May 2022 in the Journal of Pain Research.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Silence Is Death - Poem by Kristen Brown\nBlinded my vision\nCan't make a sound\nKill my heart slowly\nSilence is Death\nTears pour endlessly\nPain bleeds its way out\nMy body grows numb\nThe Silence Is Death\nPoet's Notes about The Poem\nI chose obsessive love because it's darker and gives more material to work with.\nComments about Silence Is Death by Kristen Brown\nRead this poem in other languages\nThis poem has not been translated into any other language yet.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A new, revised and updated edition of a now classic book on oaks.\nProfessional arborist and award–winning nature writer (and longtime instructor here at the Garden) William Bryant Logan deftly relates the history of the reciprocal relationship between humans and oak trees since time immemorial–a profound link that has almost been forgotten. From the ink of Bach's cantatas, to the first boat to reach the New World, to the wagon, the barrel, and the sword, oak trees have been a constant presence throughout our history. In fact, civilization prospered where oaks grew, and for centuries these supremely adaptable, generous trees have supported humankind in nearly every facet of life. ''With an unabashed enthusiasm for his subject'' (Carol Haggas, Booklist) Logan combines science, philosophy, spirituality, and history with a contagious curiosity about why the natural world works the way it does.\n''A dazzling book, full of knowledge and rare wisdom, too.''–Thomas Pakenham, author of Remarkable Trees of the World\nPaperback: 336 pages, W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (July 17, 2006), 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "8 x 8\nOil on Panel\nAnyone enjoy reading while at the beach? I tried once and failed miserably. I'm one of those guys that has a short attention span and sometimes while reading a book I can go over a couple pages without even following what I read. Mix it up with being at the beach and I have no chance of getting through not even one chapter. I think it has to be a good book and I've read some good ones that I couldn't put down and once stayed up until 5am to finish a book. It's been a while since I read any since, I wonder why lol.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In the final chapter of Emma Warren’s book about powerfully influential London venue Total Refreshment Centre, she explains why we need to do a better job of telling stories about nightclubs, community centres, and all the places where grassroots culture germinates. The intention was to be both instructional and inspirational, and to build on a lineage of DIY publishing that tells a story—and draws back the curtain on the process.\nIn the book, she wrote that she owed the story a tax, and that she’d pay the tax by running ten free \"document your culture\" workshops, designed to let people know that their stories matter and that people can use their cultural stories to create a small defence against structural racism, homophobia, and all the other structural inequalities that affect people on the margins.\nSince then, she’s adapted the workshops for festivals across Europe and will be working with participants at CTM to discover how cultural stories can be used for personal and community benefit.\nLimited capacity, first come first served. Participants limited to 30.\nPlease note, 15:20 is the updated time for the event.\nEmma Warren has been documenting grassroots music culture since she and her friends started Jockey Slut magazine in the mid 1990s. She worked on staff at THE FACE and then spent six years as an editorial mentor on Brixton’s youth-run Live Magazine. She independently published Make Some Space in Spring 2019.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Winter caregiving can provide some of the most challenging times for caregivers. The pain of arthritis is so much more pronounced in the colder weather and moving around is more difficult than usual. Winter germs from the cold and flu are more present and the hearty comfort foods of winter sometimes do not settle well on the fragile stomach. While many seniors flock to warmer climates in the winter, the bugs often go along for the ride.\nWinter is also synonymous with increased incidences of depression. The shorter days and longer periods of darkness wreak havoc on the elderly. Sundowners’ syndrome is real. The diminished daylight hours cause those with dementia to become more confused. The elderly want to sleep more, they become more repetitive, and they are less likely to engage with their caregivers. Caregivers need to be more protective and limit the number of visitors who might carry an unsuspecting cold. For the caregiver, winter doldrums require far more energy to accomplish daily routines. The extra effort necessary to engage with an elder relative when there is less sunlight can be exhausting. Regardless of how tired a caregiver may be, the extra work to cook and perhaps clean and provide care, it is imperative to continue forward and make the best of the shorter days. If a loved one gets a cold caregivers must be vigilant that it doesn’t escalate into pneumonia. It is the time of year when we do not venture out because we don’t need any broken bones that don’t heal very quickly or might require a stay at a rehab center where bugs multiply rapidly. Winter is a time to remain indoors and rely on your inner strength to get you to warmer months.\nIn my book, One Caregiver’s Journey, I explain how my mother spent her days sitting on the couch, singing in Italian. She was a happy docile soul. She would sit silent in her thoughts often and then start to sing again. In my book I write of the times the dead relatives would magically arrive to visit. Winter was the time of year my mother would ask about her deceased siblings and extended family most often. She would ask why they didn’t visit us or why I didn’t bring her to visit them. She would talk of walking to school through the farms with her friends and suddenly I would become her younger sister. She would ask if I remembered this person or that teacher and when I said no, and she would respond “well, you were there.” Generally, mom would nap and wake up back with me, her daughter. Because it seems that these occurrences only happen in winter, caregivers need a generous amount of patience to get through the winter as well.\nThere is beauty in winter. My mother always said the snow on the tree tips looked like carefully placed frosting. I think of that often now when I look at the big evergreen trees outside, truly they are beautifully decorated. I saw a video a friend took while driving through New York’s Central Park after a snowstorm. It was beautiful. I saw a video of the ocean in California with the waves crashing after a rainstorm. It was beautiful. Caregivers need to look for the beauty, you were given another day with your loved one. Do not get depressed for the sun will come out, the days will get longer, and the promise of spring will ring true. Caregivers must rely on their faith, humor, and love, it is how I managed almost a decade of caregiving. It is how those who are caregiving in the dead of winter can survive as well. Don’t fall into the depression of the winter doldrums – spring is right around the corner.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Patient Safety Resources\nDate: November 6, 2012\nFiled under: Quality Improvement, Tools\nThere are many informative reports, brochures and other resources for people interested in learning more about patient safety. Below are links to a selection of these resources.\nBugs and Drugs – Antimicrobial Reference Book (4th Edition)\nSource: Capital Health, Edmonton, AB\nBugs and Drugs Handbook\nApplication of Patient Safety Indicators in Manitoba: A First Look\nSource: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy\nThis comprehensive study from Manitoba examined the incidence of events affecting patient safety and compared the incidence of such events for hospitals and regions around the province.\nHealthcare Quarterly — Patient Safety Papers: Special Issue on Patient Safety\nSource: Longwoods Publishing, Volume 8, 2005\nThe Canadian Adverse Events Study: the incidence of adverse events among hospital patients in Canada.\nAuthor: Baker et al. 2004\nSource: Canadian Medical Association Journal, Volume 170 (11), pages 1678-1685\nThe overall incidence rate of adverse events (AEs) of 7.5% in our study suggests that, of the almost 2.5 million annual hospital admissions in Canada similar to the type studied, about 185,000 are associated with an AE and close to 70,000 of these are potentially preventable.\nGovernance for patient safety: Lessons from non-health risk critical high-reliability industries – A Report to Health Canada.\nAuthor: Sheps, Cardiff. 2005\nAdverse events in any domain arise primarily in the context of “normal people, doing their normal work, in normal systems” and thus often arise from a “drift into failure”. Therefore, the approach to patient safety must engage the whole system of care provision.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I read The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicole Yoon on a business trip to St. Kitts fraught with delayed flights. When I finally lifted my eyes from the book I found that friends from home were sitting near me in the airport. When I approached them their faces filled with concern.\nThree Stars. I read Time Sphere: A Timepathway Book as a NetGalley reviewer. I was intrigued by the setting which moves between the modern day and ancient Egypt, and by the time travel aspect of the novel. I was not blown away by this book, but I read it through to the end mainly because of the charming main character Rhory. Continue reading “YA Review – Time Sphere”\nRenata’s life is a bit more complicated than the average teen’s. This is so not just because she is still dealing with her father’s sudden death or because her boyfriend plans to go abroad for college. It turns out that she is being hunted by a ruthless killer who is determined to destroy her and everyone she loves. Continue reading “YA Review- Patchwork by Karsten Knight”\nI am a big fan of Edwidge Danticat and this young adult novel does not disappoint. Set in the US, it tells the tale of sixteen-year-old identical twins Isabelle and Giselle who are involved in a tragic accident on the way to a school orchestra concert. Continue reading “Review – Untwine”\nStruck by lightning, twelve-year-old Seamus is thrust into medieval times. Confused and physically unable to tell anyone that he is from another time, he struggles to adjust to the speech patterns and the new skills (archery, horse back riding) he is expected to know. He finds that he is part of a troop on a quest to conquer a dragon and steal the spoils, a quest which does not sit well with him, especially when he discovers that he is mysteriously and magically connected to the nature around him. Continue reading “Middle Grade Review – The Dragon’s Cave”\nSet in St. Croix, this book is about a boy, Bamidele, who sees two moko jumbies outside of his window. “They folded their hands together and leaned their heads on their clasped hands. They looked like one perfect shell split in two.” Continue reading “Look! A Moko Jumbie”\nMeet twelve year old Sunny, the albino daughter of Nigerian immigrants who have moved back to Nigeria to raise their three children. She is already finding it difficult to fit in, a situation which becomes more complicated when she finds out that she is a part of a group of humans with special juju (black magic) powers and a dubious responsibility to save the world. Continue reading “Review-Akata Witch”\nFull Disclosure-I know the author of this book. I met Zetta Elliott several years ago through Summer Edwards of Anansesem and I have followed her work closely ever since. Of Caribbean origin (St. Kitts-Nevis specifically), Zetta is a Black feminist writer of poetry, plays, essays, novels, and stories for children. She published a head-spinning fifteen (I believe-it may be more) children’s books last year, making a significant mark on her work towards seeing more diverse literature that accurately reflects the culture, experiences, reality, and essence of people of colour. Continue reading “Review-The Door at the Crossroads”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "One thing I love about being a pantser is the process of discovering who my characters are.\nWhen I start a story, it's usually from a random scene that has popped into my head. It's almost always dialogue, which makes me feel like I'm eavesdropping on a conversation between two people who just eased into view. I sit there, quietly, and try to look like I'm minding my own business, when I'm actually minding THEIRS.\nThen I go through the usual first impression stuff we all go through when we meet new people. We notice what they look like, and despite our best intentions, we make judgments based on our previous experiences. Since these are heroes and heroines, there isn't a lot to criticize at this point.\nBut, just as with people we encounter in real life, there's a lot we don't know about characters when we start a story. If we did know everything, the happily-ever-after would be at the beginning of the book, not the end.\nI think it's fun to learn new details about the hero and heroine as I move through each chapter. When I'm writing, I'm constantly picking up on the clues they toss my direction, usually via an offhand phrase or an unexpected response to another character's words or actions.\nThis is when I stop to plot and ponder and decipher exactly what this information reveals about the character. I'm in awe as I learn what is important to them, and what they are going to fight for, and what they are willing to sacrifice.\nThe tricky part is when a character won't give up their secrets. Even worse is when they do give you juicy information and you're not sure how to interpret it, or how to weave it into the story. I won't even mention how heartbreaking it can be when they drop a bombshell in your lap, requiring you to dismantle chapters you lovingly polished before that shocking moment.\nStill, I'm not sure I could write a story where I knew everything about the character ahead of time. I enjoy that slow unfolding of character traits, that leisurely method of learning what makes a particular person tick. It's a process that involves trust, and a huge amount of it. You can only expose your inner self when you believe no one will try to harm you with the information you're divulging.\nIt makes me happy when my characters demonstrate their willingness to put their hearts in my hands, trusting that I'll take care of their hopes and fears. It's a little frightening at the same time. But hopefully by the time they give me that responsibility, I'm so in love with them, there's no way I can say no.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "German writer, critic, and theorist Paul Scheerbart (1863–1915) died nearly a century ago, but his influence is still being felt today. Considered by some a mad eccentric and by others a visionary political thinker in his own time, he is now experiencing a revival thanks to a new generation of scholars who are rightfully situating him in the modernist pantheon. Glass! Love!! Perpetual Motion!!! is the first collection of Scheerbart’s multifarious writings to be published in English. In addition to a selection of his fantastical short stories, it includes the influential architectural manifesto Glass Architecture and his literary tour-de-force Perpetual Motion: The Story of an Invention. The latter, written in the guise of a scientific work (complete with technical diagrams), was taken as such when first published but in reality is a fiction—albeit one with an important message. Glass! Love!! Perpetual Motion!!! is richly illustrated with period material, much of it never before reproduced, including a selection of artwork by Paul Scheerbart himself. Accompanying this original material is a selection of essays by scholars, novelists, and filmmakers commissioned for this publication to illuminate Scheerbart’s importance, then and now, in the worlds of art, architecture, and culture. Coedited by artist Josiah McElheny and Christine Burgin, with new artwork created for this publication by McElheny, Glass! Love!! Perpetual Motion!!! is a long-overdue monument to a modern master.\nWhatever Fredmund Malik writes, carries weight. This book provides everything you need to know about effective management and day-to-day executive life - in terms that are concrete, practical and productive. The author answers the question of how executives can operate effectively and successfully and accomplish their organizational objectives. Now a classic among economics texts, this book contains the essential know-how for managers in both profit and not-for-profit sectors.\nParents will welcome Brazelton's uniquely empathetic, wise, and helpful approach to this inevitable and often trying issue. Toilet training is a job for the child and not the parent, and by trying to force the issue or even encourage too hard, parents can set the stage for trouble. By \"listening to the child,\" parents will know when their child is ready, and by guiding children in a series of gentle small steps, parents can help them make the accomplishment their own. A generation and more of children have been trained \"the Brazelton way,\" and now he and Dr. Sparrow have distilled this advice into one priceless little guide. They first lay out the Touchpoints approach to the issue (a \"mistake\" can mean the child is making progress on some other front), then discuss the timing of this big achievement, and finally deal with how to respond if problems occur. For parents who want to get past this issue cheerfully, with the least fuss and turmoil, this is the one and only book to get.\nExistentialism, as a philosophy, gained prominence after World War II. Instead of focusing upon a particular aspect of human existence, existentialists argued that our focus must be upon the whole being as he/she exists in the world. Rebelling against the rationalism of such philosophers as Descartes and Hegel, existentialists reject the emphasis placed on man as primarily a thinking being. Freedom is central to human existence, and human relations and encounters cannot be reduced simply to \"thinking.\" This Dictionary provides--through alphabetically arranged entries--overviews of the various tenets, philosophers, and writers of existentialism, and of those writers/philosophers who, in retrospect, seem to existentialists to espouse their philosophy: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Dostoyevski, et al.\nThe Chimera Affair\nAuthor: Keira Andrews\nPublisher: Keira Andrews\nHis mission was seduction—not falling in love. When young Sebastian Brambani meets a sexy and exciting older man, he’s easily seduced. But for spy Kyle Grant, it’s all business. Sebastian is simply a pawn in Kyle’s mission to acquire a dangerous chemical weapon from Sebastian’s criminal father. Kyle’s life is his work for a shadowy international agency protecting the world from evil, and he can’t worry about what will happen to Sebastian when the job is done. Sebastian’s unwitting role in Kyle’s plan is the last straw for his ruthless father, who has been embarrassed by his gay son for the last time. But when Kyle discovers Sebastian could be the key to finding the deadly Chimera, he rescues him from his father's hitman and fights to keep him alive. Can a hardened spy and naïve college student take down a criminal kingpin, stay one step ahead of the killers on their trail—and fight the scorching attraction between them? This gay romance from Keira Andrews features sexy spies, an age difference, a sheltered and passionate virgin, action and adventure, and of course a happy ending. BONUS STORY INCLUDED: The Argentine Seduction, a sequel for Kyle and Sebastian featuring unexpected jealousy, protectiveness, and a dangerous mission in the simmering heat of Buenos Aires. (And of course a happy ending!)\nAuthor: Greg Sadowski\nPublisher: Fantagraphics Books\nThe enduring cultural phenomenon of comic book heroes was invented in the late 1930s by a talented and hungry group of artists and writers barely out of their teens, flying by the seat of their pants to create something new, exciting, and above all profitable. The iconography and mythology they created flourishes to this day in comic books, video, movies, fine art, advertising, and practically all other media. Supermen! collects the best and the brightest of this first generation, including Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Fletcher Hanks, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Basil Wolverton.\nAuthor: Liliane Abensour\nHow can we understand the pull towards that which we fear: psychosis? In this thought provoking book, Abensour proposes the idea of a temptation towards psychosis rather than a regression, as a response to the hatred or denial of the subject’s origins. She shares her reflections on her psychoanalytic work with psychotic patients focusing on their struggle to achieve a coherent sense of a self that can inhabit a shared world. Abensour locates this struggle within the universal human struggle to achieve a balance between what we can and cannot allow ourselves to know about the reality of death and of our insignificance in the world.\nMargaret Thatcher is one of the most significant political figures of the twentieth century—a Prime Minister whose impact on modern English history is comparable only to Winston Churchill's. Like them or not, her radical policies made Britain the country it is today. And like her or not, Margaret Thatcher's legacy remains a massive political force, responsible for laying the groundwork for New Labour, Tony Blair, and David Cameron, and for England's strong political allegiance to the United States throughout the Cold War. Now Robin Harris, for many years Mrs. Thatcher's speechwriter, close adviser, and the draftsman of both volumes of her autobiography, has written the definitive book about this indomitable English woman. In this international bestseller, he tells the compelling story of her life, from humble beginnings above her father's grocery store in Grantham, her early days as one of the first women in Westminster (she became known as \"Thatcher Milk Snatcher\" during her time in the Ministry of Education), and then on to her groundbreaking career as Prime Minister (by which time her reputation already demanded a more powerful epithet: \"Iron Lady\"). We follow Thatcher through hard-fought political battles and experience with her the tribulations of the English miners' strike and the Falklands War, of her sometimes troubled friendship with Ronald Reagan, and their shared staunch opposition to Communism. We learn of the political intrigue behind the scenes at Ten Downing Street. And how during one of the darkest hours of her premiership she refused to alter course and, adapting the words of an English play, declared to her enemies, inside and outside the Government, \"You turn if you want to. The Lady's Not for Turning,\" summing up for admirers and detractors alike the defiance and consistency of Mrs. Thatcher's approach. Throughout Not for Turning we sense the passionate intellect which fuelled her ambitions, drove her into and out of one of the highest offices in the English-speaking world, and has established a unique political legacy that continues even after her death... Not for Turning is an unforgettable portrait of Britain's first female Prime Minister, written by one of her most trusted advisers, and a fitting tribute to an extraordinary politician and leader.\nLevinas and the Greek Heritage shows that throughout his career, Emmanuel Levinas always admired and recognized his profound debt to Plato and to the philosophical tradition he initiated, which have been largely transmitted to us by the Neoplatonists, most notably Plotinus and Proclus. How can we read Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence in any other way than as some sort of Neoplatonic programme, prolonging Plato's Good \"beyond being\" of the republic VI, 509b, in the direction of the \"other man,\" the one which in his \"nudity\" and \"fragility,\" opens for us the horizon of a new humanism? There are many ways by which one can attempt to go over and above Being, not only a Greek way (primordially metaphysical), but also a Biblical way (mainly ethical). One of the interests of Levinas' philosophy is to show us the hidden community - and perhaps unavoidable interdependency - of these two approaches. One Hundred Years of Neoplatonism in France shows that during the Twentieth century a retrieval of Neoplatonism is a powerful hidden feature of French philosophy and theology, of spiritual and institutional life. Beginning with Henri Bergson, it passes by way of figures like Maurice Blondel, A.J. Festugire, Henri de Lubac, Jean Trouillard, Henry Dumry, and culminates with Michel Henry, Pierre Hadot, and Jean-Luc Marion. The book examines the particular character Neoplatonism takes in this retrieval, and traces connections between leading figures within the French and Anglophone worlds.\nIndustrial Safety and Health for Infrastructure Services provides an in-depth look into the areas of transportation, utilities, administrative, waste management, and remediation. It covers OSHA regulations in reference to the major safety and health hazards associated within these five fields. This user-friendly text: Provides guidance on removal, delimiting, and mitigation of safety and health hazards Includes a checklist and other tools to assist in assuring the achievement of a safer workplace, reasonably free from safety and health hazards Uses real-world examples and relevant illustrations as integral parts of each chapter The content describes the safety hazards applied to chemical waste, confined spaces, electrical hazards, excavations/trenches, falls, flammable gases, and machine safety (motor vehicle and power tools). It also discusses the occupational illnesses that transpire in the service industry, while placing emphasis on the prevention of these exposures to help ensure a safer workplace.\nNot on Our Watch:\nAuthor: Don Cheadle and John Prendergast\nPublisher: Maverick House\nIt has often been said that the nineteenth century was a relatively stagnant period for Chinese fiction, but preeminent scholar Patrick Hanan shows that the opposite is true: the finest novels of the nineteenth century show a constant experimentation and evolution. In this collection of detailed and insightful essays, Hanan examines Chinese fiction before and during the period in which Chinese writers first came into contact with western fiction. Hanan explores the uses made of fiction by westerners in China; the adaptation and integration of western methods in Chinese fiction; and the continued vitality of the Chinese fictional tradition. Some western missionaries, for example, wrote religious novels in Chinese, almost always with the aid of native assistants who tended to change aspects of the work to \"fit\" Chinese taste. Later, such works as Washington Irving's \"Rip Van Winkle,\" Jonathan Swift's \"A Voyage to Lilliput,\" the novels of Jules Verne, and French detective stories were translated into Chinese. These interventions and their effects are explored here for virtually the first time.\nHis Very Silence Speaks\nAuthor: Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence\nPublisher: Wayne State University Press\nThe mount of Captain Miles W. Keogh, Comanche was the legendary sole survivor of Custer's Last Stand. As such, the horse makes an electric connection between history and memory. In exploring the deeper meaning of the Comanche saga, His Very Silence Speaks addresses larger issues such as the human relationship to animals and nature, cross-cultural differences in the ways animals are perceived, and the symbolic use of living and legendary animals in human cognition and communication. More than an account of the celebrated horse's life and legend existence, this penetrating volume provides insights into the life of the cavalry horse and explores the relationship between cavalrymen and their mounts. Lawrence illuminates Comanche's significance through the many symbolic roles he has assumed at different times and for various groups of people, and reveals much about the ways in which symbols operate in human thought and the manner in which legends develop.\nVikings of the Gloves\nAuthor: Robert Ervin Howard\nVikings of the Gloves was written in the year 1932 by Robert Ervin Howard. This book is one of the most popular novels of Robert Ervin Howard, and has been translated into several other languages around the world. This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.\nTaxing the Working Poor\nAuthor: Achim Kemmerling\nPublisher: Edward Elgar Publishing\nKemmerling deftly intertwines the efficiency theory of taxation with the political basis of taxing the working poor. . . This commendable effort in interdisciplinary study and the comparative analysis of taxation is an essential reference for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and professionals of economics, political science, and taxation systems of Europe. S. Chaudhuri, Choice Taxing the Working Poor is an inspiring read for political scientists and economists interested in the relationship between taxation and employment. Based on an elegant combination of econometric analysis and historical case studies, it shows that the alleged trade-off between employment and progressive taxation has political rather than economic roots. Philipp Genschel, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany What are the economic and political forces which generate different regimes of tax on labour? What are the implications for the labour market of these different regimes? And does globalisation bring a halt to tax-based redistribution? Achim Kemmerling tackles these and other important questions in this significant book. Malcolm Sawyer, University of Leeds, UK We have been distracted from the detailed problems of financing the welfare state by the tired old twentieth-century debate between libertarian tax minimisers and maximal socialist collectivisers. We have to move on. The welfare state has to be accepted and the detailed problems of taxation to sustain it have to be addressed. This well-researched and fascinating book addresses the political and institutional origins of different tax systems and points to viable strategies of redistribution and reform. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire, UK In most industrialized countries the tax burden of poor people has increased dramatically over the last few decades. This book analyses both the political origins of this increase and its consequences for the labour market. Achim Kemmerling illustrates that tax-based redistribution and employment are not incompatible, and that the shift away from redistribution has not occurred on grounds of economic efficiency. He goes on to show that a long-term shift from capital to labour taxation has provoked conflicts of interests between workers that have weakened the political cause of tax-based redistribution. This interdisciplinary account of the political economy of taxing low wages explains the historical and structural origins of political tensions between different types of workers and their effects on the performance of labour markets. As such, it will strongly appeal to a wide-ranging audience, including academics, students and researchers with a special interest in political science, political economy, labour markets and the economics of taxation. Practitioners in the field of labour market, social and tax policies interested in the normative consequences of taxation for the labour market will also find the book to be of great interest.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Finding Hope in Life\n(Minghui.org) Ursula lives in southern Germany. She has a wonderful family: a caring husband and three healthy, sensible children. However, she often tells her friends, “It was not like this before. I actually had nothing at all.”\nA Living Death\nUrsula got a strange disease when she was 14. She felt tired and became groggy frequently. She wanted to sleep all the time, and her attention and memory kept dropping. Though she slept many hours, it was of poor quality, and she kept having random dreams.\nHer health problem allowed her only to take part-time jobs after graduating from college. Even those jobs were short-term. She got married quickly and soon had her first baby. Caring for the baby became the motivation for her to get up in the morning, even though it was a struggle.\n“Out of responsibility, I forced myself to get up to cook and do laundry,” Ursula said. “My husband helped me with the housework after he got home from work. But I felt sorry that I wasn't able to do more. Three years later we had our second child. We had our third one three years later. Without them, I might have just kept sleeping day and night. I didn't get any joy out of watching them grow, however. Every little thing was a big burden to me.\n“I didn't know what the point in living was. I just struggled to get up, struggled to do what I must do, and then went to sleep. I was breathing, eating, and drinking, but I had not really 'lived.' I often cried desperately when I was by myself and wondered when the end would come.”\nGiving Up Hope\nHer last visit to a doctor was when she was 21. Coming out of the doctor's office, she felt nothing but despair. No doctor could cure her disease.\nShe didn't want to take medicine either, as she wanted to “maintain a clear head” on her own instead of “letting others and medicine control her.” She later tried many different ways of regaining health, including therapy and spiritual practices. Her husband stayed with her through all of this. But things eventually turned into a cycle of trying a treatment, giving up, trying another one, and giving up again.\nThe last try was a therapy class in Switzerland, which cost her 16,000 euros and nearly depleted her family’s savings.\n“I completely gave up after that. I was totally desperate. I thought of ending my life several times,” said Ursula.\nA Turning Point\nUrsula's younger brother, who lives in South America, visits Germany every two years. He rarely interacted with her. But he invited Ursula over for dinner in 2007 when he visited Germany.\n“I told him about all my suffering. He listened to me talk about my miserable life the whole time. I kept venting to him about my pain and despair. Then he stood up and went to his car. He brought in a book and handed it to me. 'You are in such a bad shape. Try to read this book.' I didn't want to take it. I didn't think any book could solve my problem.\n“He said that after I read this book, I'll come to know why Jesus had said to turn the other cheek when being slapped. I turned my head to look at him. We were raised in Christianity, so I was curious what that meant. But he didn't explain any further. Then I decided to read this book, Zhuan Falun.”\nAfter opening the book, Ursula couldn't stop reading. Every sentence in the book seemed to strike a chord with her. A few hours passed without a sound. In the total quietness, she felt a strong force pulling her forward as if she were flying. She felt a word rise up from her heart: Hope. It was an authentically warm, strong, and peaceful sensation.\n“I knew this was what I had been looking for. Cultivating Falun Dafa could make a person complete. I had kept looking for a cultivation method, and I had always appreciated divine stories where a person would rise to another realm after enduring many hardships. I have never doubted the existence of the divine, but I felt I could not proceed by reading religious teachings. After reading Zhuan Falun, my heart was telling me that I could truly proceed to where I've always wanted to be.”\nThree months after reading the book, Ursula decided to start the practice, to strive for “where she always wanted to be.” That was the meaning of her life. She started doing the Dafa exercises as well.\nHer “True Life”\nHer motivation to get up changed from her children and housework to reading this book. Whenever her husband came home, he would see her reading the book. She gradually felt that she had more strength, slept better, could handle more housework. She even started smiling again.\n“I started my true life at the age of 44. I began to really experience my existence and what life encompasses. It is so wonderful! I can make decisions and choose things freely now. For example, I couldn't go to the cafe with friends before because I didn't know if my body's condition would permit me to go. Now I can control myself. This is a completely different world from what I had before.”\nShe started volunteering at her local kindergarten and library. The crafts that she made were popular at the Christmas market. Her home began to fill with laughter.\nHer children eventually grew up to have their own children.\n“I didn't have any joy as a mother when I raised my kids. But as a grandma, I found out how joyful being a mother is when I held my grandchildren and kissed them. If it weren’t for Falun Dafa, I wouldn't have the opportunity to experience all of this and have a real life. Life is so wonderful!”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I was having a conversation with someone the other day and a very interesting discussion ensued. It started with the effects of global financial crisis on people’s lives, with no jobs, global economies; struggling to sustain themselves, governments around the world are finding it hard to keep the unemployment rate down… and so on and so forth.\nA story we are all too familiar with,unfortunately. But then, the discussion lead to a point, that today on one hand, we see unemployment amongst youth isgrowing and on the other hand the universities and other tertiary institutes are churning out students with qualifications by the dozens each year promising them a bright future,etc. The result is that unfortunately, when the bright young workers enter the job market they find that there is no opportunity to express themselves. This then leads to 3 reactions. For a few lucky ones we see anexodus to other countries by those who can afford it; but for the majority, we find them becoming frustrated and depressed in the current state of affairs and are sometimes forced to turn to unproductivity or underutilization of their abilities or insome rare cases even to destruction.\nThe above discussion was purely based on observation of different global situations but it did have a feeling of closeness to what we see in our own communities and in some cases in our own household. This made me wonder is this situation something we have never seen before? I thought of my motherland,India, and how it has always been seen as a third world nation with unemployment, etc. as a common issues within its social fibre.\nHowever, growing up we never felt threatened. This is not to say that there were no insecurities at all; but people in general seemed to find a positive way to deal with it. Everyone seemed to have a greater belief that no matter how bad the situation was, that it will all work out. In fact, Indians, even today, are one of the happiest people in the world, from the slum kid to the international student, we are full of joy, ever willing to express ourselves.\nWhat is the secret of such positivity when the surroundings are not ‘perfect’? Is it their possessions? Or is it what’sunseen but inbuilt in all of them? This brought my mind to question, what gives people the strength to deal with the various vicissitudes of life? What is it that which keeps people moving in a positive direction when the forces around them are negative? What motivates a person to strive for something they believe in, when their self-belief is low? In short, what leads us to happiness and prosperity from the pits of despair?\nThe only thing I could really come to think of is, the Culture. Our common culture which comprises of the various religions, it’s philosophy, the many traditions and customs, etc. all of it together creates this mindset which helps us lift ourselves. Take the upcoming festival of Navaratri for example. A Festival seem to trigger awave of excitement in hearts of al lthose who celebrate it with enthusiasm. The social interaction is where people come together and share their life’s joys and sorrows with each other. So many people meet eachother only at such festive occasions. Hence, the social purpose of any festival is to connect people to one another.Then there are the religious stories which relate to the celebration from the Puranas and theItihasa, where there is the story of Ma Durga slaying the demon Mahishasura. It is also linked with the Mahabharat war when Kauravas, the evil cousins, were defeated in battle by the Pandavas and also in the Ramayan, these nine days are when Lord Ram, the incarnate of Lord Vishnu, defeats Ravana in battle.\nThese stories give people a simple message of conquest of good over evil - A message of Hope. Here evil is not an independent force from good, as their powers are derived from worshiping the good alone. But they are used for selfish aggrandizement; thus showing that good is inherent in all that is seen as evil as well.The cultural and traditional aspects are seen in the manner in which the festivals are celebrated indifferent parts of the country and the world. The dress, the food, the music and dance, etc. These are steeped in tradition, like the garbha anddandiya raas, etc. Such expressions only bring out the joy of the festival. Last but not the least, the philosophy of this festival is where we understand that these nine nights, are not about some victory of Goddess over some demonic form or anything, but this is a battle of our divine nature over our lower demonic impulses.\nThe first 3 nights are a battle over our impurities, hence we pray to Mother Durga, the Primodial Energy, Adi Shakti, for cleansing ourselves of all negative thinking… the next 3 nights is a prayer to Mother Lakshmi, the bestower of Wealth, to give the necessary divine qualities in our purified mind so that we are able to grow in the right direction. The last 3 nights are a prayer to Mother Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge, who enables us with Wisdom and Knowledge, necessary to transfer inner goodness to outer prosperity. Thus, with this spiritual understanding, we celebrate the festival and gain victory over our true enemies within.\nThis is signified by Vijayadashami, or Dussera. Hence, we see it is through our culture which has been preserved over generations, its spirit, lived in every household, lies the secret of our unity in diversity, our resiliencein adversity our faith in despair. It has kept a country of a billion people with infinite differences together in\nspirit. Alas! This is fast eroding and will be forgotten unless we continue the spirit within us and shine in itsglory. Let us all start with Navaratri.On, behalf of Chinmaya Mission,I take the opportunity to wish everyone all the best wishes and prayers during the Navaratri festival.\nBramhachari Adarsh Chaitanya serves as the Resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission Auckland and conducts weekly spiritual classes for children, youth and adults. For more information about the Chinmaya Mission and Bramhachari Adarsh Chaitanya please follow this link:www.chinmaya.org.nz or contact him at 2756954", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Candida infection presenting as laryngitis.\nLAWSON, RONALD M. D.; BODEY, GERALD M. D.; LUNA, MARIO M. D.\nAmerican Journal of the Medical Sciences.\n280(3):173-178, November/December 1980.\n(Format: HTML, PDF)\nThree patients with acute leukemia are described who developed hoarseness as an initial presentation of candida infection. Two of these patients subsequently developed systemic candidiasis. Patients with acute leukemia who develop hoarseness should be investigated for laryngeal candidiasis and considered for systemic antifungal therapy.\n(C) Copyright 1980 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "And I am come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land, to a good land, and a large, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.\nAnd Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers hath sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them?\nAnd God said, moreover, to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations.\nGo and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt.\nAnd I have said, I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.\nAnd they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and ye shall say to him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go (we beseech thee) three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.\nBut every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that dwelleth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters: and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "For I know that my Redeemer lives. And He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27)\nSometimes the only thing I am certain of is: My Redeemer Lives! That is powerful, non-negotiable and the rock I stand on. I know it with all my heart. I believe it with every fiber of my soul and my spirit cries out to Him knowing that He knows what it’s like to suffer.\nOn Palm Sunday, He was greeted like a king while he rode on a donkey. The people lined the street laying palms in the path. For a brief moment, they knew in their being that He was special; but, to them it was someone who would release them from an oppressive Roman government. He was an answer to them in this world. That’s how it goes. Some see this time on earth as all there is and God may bless them now, but what if this is “it” for them? That was all there was for those that chose to live for the moment and renounce The King of Kings for not getting them out of their troubles right then.\nBy the next day, the destruction of His character, bearing false witness to be more exact, began. His followers asked Him to hide, to stop; but, He knew what was coming and it was part of our redemption. He sweated blood and asked His Father to “let this cup pass”. Three times he asked even so He would willingly submit to His Father’s will. Knowing that one of His own would betray Him and another would deny Him, He bore our sins. There was the spit; the shame; the crown pushed into his head; the beating until He was unrecognizable; the mocking sign “King of the Jews”; the pain; the sorrow; and, the crucifixion. And He cried, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”\nNOW THE VICTORY! He rose from the tomb whole except for the scars which were seen to let us know that He was fully human and fully God by His death and resurrection. He is no longer nailed to the cross and we are no longer condemned. There is nothing that we can do that can take His place in pain or blood or suffering to save ourselves. There is ONLY ONE WAY to God: John 14:6 says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” He is seated at the right hand of Our Father. He is to judge the living and the dead and will come again to receive His own. “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This is a tale about two girls one of whom was rewarded by Father Frost for her kindness and respect for\nelders and the other was punished for her greed and selfishness.\nFather Frost is a russian Santa Claus who comes every year to cover the land with snow and bring forth the\ncold winters of Russia.\nDuring the performance you will hear and see many russian songs, dances and games.You will participate\nin some of them.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "At the University of Michigan, I have had the chance to design and teach three of my own classes:\nComparative Literature 322: Translation Workshop\nThis course provides an opportunity for students to use their skills in a foreign language to think about the history, theory, and practice of translating literary texts. To meet the Upper Level Writing Requirement, the course is structured around a series of critical and creative writing assignments that encourage students to reflect on the process of translation, in their own work and in a selection of translated works. The course also includes a range of readings in translation studies, with an emphasis on the cultural function of translation and the role of the translator in cross-cultural communication. Students will integrate theoretical concepts about translation with the textual practice of translating.\n**During this spring iteration of CL 322, we will be experimenting with analogue printing (block printing, typewriting, artists’ books). It is my hope that we will create small editions of our translations as a way of understanding how diverse media influence our reading/writing practices.\nComparative Literature 122: “Message in a Bottle: Materializing World Literature”\nWhere in the world is “world literature”? Is it on our bookshelves? Or our computers? In the language(s) we speak? Or is it in another language not readily accessible to us? Just how does a text come to be world literature? More importantly, can the genre of world literature ever represent anything other than the world we already know?\nThis seminar proposes to introduce students to the thorny—but ever provocative—concept of world literature through the dual lens of translation and media studies. As a small group, we will read widely across the lines of time and space, moving, for example, from twentieth-century science fiction from Brazil and Poland to contemporary chronicles from Japan and Palestine. At the same time, we will engage in discussions about the processes of mediation at work in rendering a “text” legible, whether they be the material presentations (book, magazine, digital document) or the acts of translation that facilitate such interlingual exchange. Like reading a message in a bottle sent from seas afar, we will decode texts not only for their words, but for their medial messages as well.\nThroughout the semester we will ask:\n- Who produces world literature? How do writers, editors, translators, and readers all share in the process of creating world literature?\n- How do different medial interfaces (the book, the online magazine) influence our modes of reading?\n- Is world literature intrinsically plural? If so, how can we negotiate the singularity of our own cultural reading habits to engage with this plurality?\nAlthough our seminar will focus primarily on short fiction, we will combine literary and critical readings with other media forms to help us answer these questions.\nEnglish 125: Intro to Academic Inquiry through Translation\nIn her seminal essay “The Politics of Translation,” Gayatri Spivak famously writes, “[N]o amount of tough talk can get around the fact that translation is the most intimate act of reading.” Similarly, esteemed critic George Steiner posits, “All acts of communication are acts of translation.” From these two statements we can gauge one very tangible thing: the processes of reading and writing as communicative strategies are never fully divorced from one another, and we must constantly investigate this middle ground in order to enrich our own interpretive practices.\nThis course is an introduction to college writing, and, as such, it will focus on the politics going on in the very languages, dialects, discipline-specific vocabularies, etc. that we use to create, communicate, and circulate our academic work. Following Spivak, the core problem upon which we will focus is precisely that seductive—and somewhat deceptive—notion that we truly “know” a language (that we simply “use” it and make it bend to our will, as opposed to the other way around). Drawing on the concept of translation as a broader method for reading and writing, we will investigate these points of “knowing” and “unknowing” between English and the many languages that populate our academic world(s). For us, this means that although not every reading will treat translation directly, or perhaps not at all, we will always attempt to understand words as the material of our craft. As writers, we will begin to focus on the very quirks of a language that never ceases to evolve, using close reading strategies to work our way through a variety of texts that prove just how diverse “argumentation” can be. Accordingly, we will hone our skills as readers and investigate new ways to bring critical thinking into decisive writing practice.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Imagine your audience is an angst-ridden teenager. They like to wear black eyeliner, give you attitude and remain both cool and aloof. They read your paper and say, “So what?” (probably just to antagonize you). While they might grow-out of this phase, the “So what?” of your writing may never change.\nUnless you work at it.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Raymond Carvers “ Cathedral” depicts a scenario where the narrator experiences a inner transformation. This transformation happens when the narrator sketches a cathedral with his eyes closed. Sketching the cathedral, opened his inner eyes to greater things that lie beyond the physical environment of his world. The epiphany occurs when the narrator shuts out the physical environment and focuses solely on drawing the cathedral with his heart. The narrator who once lived life appreciating the physical elements of life altered his way of thinking while connecting with his inner self. Although Cathedral tells a story of an individual reaching epiphany, ultimately,it is story that depicts how internal blindness distorts reality from being physically seen.\nIn the story, the narrator exemplifies ignorance when presented with the reality of life. Likewise, his ignorance prevents him from seeing life beyond the scope of the physical element. The narrator is consumed with the influence of media and society in viewing the realities of life. “ And his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies. “(78) The narrator's ideology of reality was formed by media and society. In the context of “Cathedral” media and society portrayed successful individuals as ones with various materialistic and physical attributes. Likewise, throughout his narration, his focus is on the physical and materialistic aspects of life. “ The man she was going to marry at the end of the summer was in officer's training school. He didn’t have any money, either.” The narrator is incompetent to recognize that relationships rely on deep emotional attachment, therefore, he has a difficult time to comprehend the relationship between his wife and the old man.\nThe major conflict in the story is seen through the narrator's willful ignorance in realities of life. Due to this willful ignorance, he fails to recognize his wife's emotional needs. He fails to attend his wife's emotional needs because his view of reality and life revolves under what is perceived in the physical realm. “ She was always trying to write a poem. She wrote a poem or two every year, usually after something really important had happened to her.” The narrator depicts a willful ignorance of the emotional attachment between his wife and poetry. He fails to see that his wife cannot express herself to him, therefore, she relieves her emotional feelings through the means of poetry. Being ignorant of his wife's feelings shows the lack of emotional attachment between him and his wife.\nIn accordance, the narrator is also willfully ignorant about the blind man's marital relationship. “ They'd married, lived and worked together, slept together-had sex, sure- and then the blind man had to bury her.”(80) He sees marriage between the blind man and his wife from a physical standpoint, but fails to understand the emotional attachment between them . The narrator advocates that they lived, worked, and slept together...", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This week, in “One of Mine and One of Yours”, my inspirational poetry reading on Instagram Live, we featured “I … Read more\nEach week, I select a winning poem from the “Indie Poetry Please” feature on Instagram, which is announced here on … Read more\nThis is a summary of this fortnight’s #indiepoetryplease, my Instagram TV poetry reading, in which I read some of my own poetry and some poems from other indie poets I admire.\nThe aim of #indiepoetryplease is to introduce viewers to some of the most exciting, inspiring, and dynamic voices working in poetry today.\nThis is the Instagram TV reading from Indie Poetry Please! — In each session, I’ll be reading three of my own poems and three poems from other indie poets I admire.\nThe theme this week is “Black Lives Matter” and includes poems from Tolu Agbelusi, Saili Katebe and @pensandpavement.\nI’ll be introducing listeners to some of the most exciting, inspiring, and dynamic voices working in poetry today.\nI wanted to tell you about a fantastic social media initiative that is also a great example of the kinds … Read more\nNew Poem Reveal: The Rest of Our Being As well as books and other bonuses, my patrons get exclusive poetry … Read more", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It was OK but was way too long for the scope of the book. Certain passages in particular seemed to drag on, long after the point had been made. I was...moreIt was OK but was way too long for the scope of the book. Certain passages in particular seemed to drag on, long after the point had been made. I was hoping for something more from the plot but it seemed to just fade away.(less)\nReally appalling - this guy cannot write - he uses a very juvenile style whereby everything is an extreme - he is the most this or that. He also seems...moreReally appalling - this guy cannot write - he uses a very juvenile style whereby everything is an extreme - he is the most this or that. He also seems to have a need to drop names - perhaps to qualify his own, self determined?, monicker \"The Barefoot Doctor\".\nI only read the book because I got it free at a tree huggers convention. I must have been in-between books because I did actually finish it.\nI had to question the validity of some of the things in the book, including the story involving the title - the author appears to believe that someone was able to drive with their eyes closed.\nDon't read this book, put it in the recycling bin!(less)\nI found it quite readable but left me feeling a bit empty. I didn't like the old Jacob - his lack of grace towards the other \"guests\" was too strong....moreI found it quite readable but left me feeling a bit empty. I didn't like the old Jacob - his lack of grace towards the other \"guests\" was too strong. I also found the sexual references in the love story quite unnecessary.\nApart from that it was an easy page turner. I thought the characters were well developed and I got a sense of the hopelessness of the period. The description of the chaos when the animals were let loose was quite effective.\nI thought it was quite clever to confuse the reader (well it got me anyway!), in the preface, into thinking it was Marlena that committed the murder - I had to compare the preface with the main text to work out why I got confused.(less)\nI've read another Jon Ronson (Them) and like his style - this one was just as interesting. It was funny and provocative. One of the best books I've re...moreI've read another Jon Ronson (Them) and like his style - this one was just as interesting. It was funny and provocative. One of the best books I've read in a while. I like his straight forwardness and honesty plus he comes across as very human and is not afraid to describe his perceived short comings.\nIt's not too heavy but it is thought provoking and Ronson is quite thorough in his research. I found it particularly interesting to read about the fashion of disorders and the effect they have on the public - like the suggestion that the triple vaccine causes autism.\nI also liked the fact that he didn't clearly make his mind up one way or the other and that in fact he appeared to change his mind or was swayed one way and then the next. I can see the points he raises for both sides of the argument about the classification of disorders and I liked the way he reported his encounters with Robert Hare. It's clear that Hare means well with his test but it's also clear that it can be misused.\nI was reminded of the film Halloween - Donald Pleasance is the doctor who's only desire with regards to Michael is to ensure he is kept locked up.\nIt's a very bleak diagnosis that psychopaths are uncurable and that instead of their condition being reduced they are, through treatment schemes, just learning how to conceal their deviancy. A particular treatment programme was described as a \"finishing school\" for psychopaths as it was revealed that the re-offending rate actually went up after release compared to offenders not \"treated\".(less)\nDreadful. Appalling style. Unlikeable character. Grammatical errors all over the place - \"wondered\" instead of \"wandered\"... I just think it must be t...moreDreadful. Appalling style. Unlikeable character. Grammatical errors all over the place - \"wondered\" instead of \"wandered\"... I just think it must be too easy for some people to get their words into print when books like this can emerge. Even if you like bikes I can't imagine you'll enjoy reading this rubbish.\nFor example in \"Prologue\" he writes \"If I had a choice of a Matisse from which to draw inspiration, or a saucy postcard you buy from the seaside, well, put it this way, in my life story, and remember this well; is that a stick of rock in yer pocket boy, or are you just pleased to see me?\"\nIt's a shame he didn't take someone on his trips that could write as I'm sure his adventures would be interesting to read. I can't continue with this book as it is just too ugly and I've just remembered that there's another book I put down which I'd rather wrestle with than this monstrosity.(less)\nA simple enough tale but was spoilt by too many words. There were some good moments but on the whole I was dissappointed by how difficult it was to re...moreA simple enough tale but was spoilt by too many words. There were some good moments but on the whole I was dissappointed by how difficult it was to read in terms of the pace. It could do with a major edit to improve its readability.\nThere's a faint whiff of Catcher in the Rye but Harry is not as obnoxious as Holden Caulfield. He is still a bit annoying with his immature lack of responsibility.\nI was bugged by the fact that he only went on a road trip rather than spending sufficient time away to sort himself out.\nI also would have liked to have read more about the relationship between Mrs Vicar and Harry. It seemed to get interesting for a while and then it was closed down.\nIt seemed strange in the begining how distant he was towards his son, but I imagine it's not an uncommon thing in real life and I liked that realistic approach to the novel.(less)\nFin Macleod is a Detective Inspector with the Edinburgh Police and is sent to investigate a murder on the isle of Lewis. He is from the island and has...moreFin Macleod is a Detective Inspector with the Edinburgh Police and is sent to investigate a murder on the isle of Lewis. He is from the island and has to confront some issues from his past. The customs and landscape of the island feature in the book including an annual hunting trip, to a remote rock, that is undertaken by the men of the island.\nIt was OK - bit long on description in parts but found it quite readable. The cover of my copy says \"Evil Lies Within\" and there's a picture of a blackhouse - implies that there's something spiritually awry at that building but it's misleading - the evil lurks elsewhere.\nI thought the characters were well formed and the plot moved along at a reasonable pace. There wasn't a great deal of police work involved - a lot of the book is taken up by the events in Fin's past. Every other chapter is written in the first person as Fin goes back over things.\nThe attention to details with some sections of the book make for interesting reading and made me think about my reactions in those situations - especially spending time at the blackhouse.(less)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "She replied, “all the people I love are in one place.”\nMonth: December 2019\nA Gentle Reflection by Brenda Davis Hawkins\nThe children were filled with anticipation reading their lines, dressing in their costumes and of course, finding their places on stage. Children of all ages were making ready – and lots of children there were playing many parts.\nAn Advent Reflection by Eric Eaton\nIt seems we literally just finished the last lines of Auld Lang Syne and 2019 made its entry into our lives. Yet, here we are mere weeks away from 2020. The world is moving by fast.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I believe in unconditional love. Sure, everyone says they “love” someone, and I’m sure they do; but is it unconditional? Is it the love that reminds you that you would do anything and everything for that person? In my short 18 years of life, I have watched many people fall in love, then out of love and I can’t help but wonder – where does it go? Didn’t it mean anything to them?\nExamples of true unconditional love in our world seem to be harder and harder to find these days, but the hearts that possess this amazing thing must hold onto it with everything in them and never let it go.\nI have great examples of unconditional love in my life; my grandparents have been married for over 50 years and, still to this day, fall in love with each other over and over every single day.\nOne day, when I was about 11, I sat in their kitchen and watched my Grandpa grab my tiny, 5-foot grandma, wrap her in her arms and say “I have the most beautiful girlfriend in this whole world.” She just laughed a little laugh and said “I have the most handsome boyfriend in this whole world, too.”\nMaybe it was an every day ritual for them, and they really didn’t think twice about it,\nbut I was astonished. It made my little mind whirl into a sea of thoughts. So many people search for this love in the wrong places – physical appearance, money, anywhere but in the deepest part of their hearts.\nI Corinthians 13:4-8 says: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” I believe this is the tried-and-true definition of unconditional love.\nI believe unconditional love can carry you through anything life throws your way. It can make you smile when you feel you have nothing left in this world except that hand you’ve been holding on to through it all. The world ‘unconditional’ really says it all – no matter what, no matter where, no matter when, no matter why. This love is in all of us, we just have to work hard at it. Unconditional love – this I believe.\nIf you enjoyed this essay, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to This I Believe, Inc.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "- Pub. Date:\n0.0 In Stock\nDo you know there is an easy way to escape all of your fears and pain and hurt in life? Well there is. For Jimmy, a young boy terrified by tidal waves and taken away from his home by a man who claims to love him like a brother, the escape from such terrifying events comes from a power that was within him all the time. The problem, however, is Jimmy has to face the nightmares of death before being saved by the dreams of life. Does he dare to fall asleep?", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It’s been a long time since the main trilogy of the Old Kingdom series ended—the original three books, Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen, were published in 1995, 2001, and 2003 respectively and we’ve only had the occasional short story to tide us over since. But in 2014, author Garth Nix returned to his universe with a prequel installment, Clariel, and ever since then, he’s been making noises about finally giving us a sequel to Abhorsen and following up on the lives of our favorite zombie-killing necromancer ladies. Well, the sequel is finally here, and it’s great. Well, it’s good. Well, it’s… I liked it, at any rate.\nMinor spoilers for Goldenhand after the jump.\nGoldenhand is more or less an expansion of the Old Kingdom universe rather than a book on its own. It picks up about six months after the events of the last book in chronological order (Abhorsen). Lirael is settling in to life as a member of the royal family, but she can’t rest for long—she’s called beyond the Wall to help her old friend, Nicholas Sayre, and she soon discovers that the Free Magic and Charter Magic mixed in him from the events at the end of Abhorsen is turning him into something altogether new. Since she’s unsure about what this means herself, she takes him to her childhood home, the Clayr’s Glacier, which has some of the best healers and mages around. Once she’s there, a messenger called Ferin travels a long, hard journey through most of the Old Kingdom and arrives to deliver a prescient warning to Lirael from Lirael’s mother, who abandoned her and died long ago.\nIt’s the fifth book in a series, so it’s understandable that Goldenhand totally doesn’t stand on its own. Unlike Abhorsen, though, Goldenhand doesn’t signal the beginning of some globe-spanning, world-saving adventure—it revisits the countries and places we’ve come to love, and it delves deeper into Lirael’s past and emotional state than any other book so far. On the one hand, I really loved this. Not every book in a series can or should continuously up its stakes, and doing so runs the risk of making it extremely boring and convoluted. (See: Supernatural, in which Sam and Dean have fought demons, angels, gods, God, and God’s sister.) Though Sabriel was always my favorite book in the series, Lirael was the protagonist closest to my heart—her first book starts with a moment of serious suicide ideation born of loneliness and uncertainty, she has few true friends or family, and she finally finds meaningful work in a library before becoming the Abhorsen-in-Waiting. So to return to her character and to see the conclusion of her romance with Nick, resolve some of her family and community issues, and deal with her grief over the Disreputable Dog was a real treat for me.\nHowever, on the other hand, Goldenhand doesn’t stand on its own as a story. It has almost no plot or villain to speak of—the message Ferin brings is about Chlorr of the Mask, who intends to raise an army of the Dead and bring it down on the Old Kingdom. Chlorr is a villain from many of the previous books, and in one of said books, we learn that she was once known as Clariel before she was seduced by Free Magic and turns to this universe’s equivalent of the dark side. It’s this past knowledge that we have to rely on to give Goldenhand any level of suspense, because Chlorr doesn’t even appear in Goldenhand until the very last chapters of the book. We do get one moment of Clariel and the regrets that led her to becoming Chlorr, but it wasn’t enough to carry the book, and there wasn’t enough emotional impact to it to give her an Anakin-esque redemption arc. Similarly, we don’t see very much of the final battle, and we wrap up with some pairings that seem forced rather than natural.\nThankfully, though, Goldenhand continues the Old Kingdom’s usual traditions of well-written female characters and particularly female characters of color—the brown-skinned Clayr are a major part of the story, as is new character Ferin—and this book takes the series’ representation further by delving, at least a little bit, into disability. Lirael lost a hand at the end of Abhorsen and has to have a new one constructed of Charter Magic; similarly, Ferin loses a foot in the events of Goldenhand and has to learn to adjust to its loss. Neither is ever considered “damaged” or lessened because of their injuries, and Ferin, in particular, bears the loss of her foot extremely stoically because injuries are common among her people. At the same time, though, the disabilities are almost treated too nonchalantly—neither woman really grieves over their injuries, and who cares if you lose a limb if you can just have it replaced by a Charter Mage? The book’s representation of disability is better than most—the Charter-made limbs are only slightly better than prosthetics we would have in our world, not “super” in any way—but it still leaves something to be desired.\nThe Old Kingdom series is still one of my favorites, but because Goldenhand isn’t really as much of a story as the other books in the series, I definitely wouldn’t recommend starting with this book. Even if you are a fan of the series, Goldenhand might only seem fun to you if there are certain things in the other books you’ve always wanted to see tied up. I liked it, but your mileage may vary. Either way, I hope to see another book in this series soon—hopefully Garth Nix will continue on the roll he’s on and we’ll get another (better) book in two more years.\nFollow Lady Geek Girl and Friends on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook!\nPingback: Throwback Thursdays: The Seventh Tower Series by Garth Nix | Lady Geek Girl and Friends", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "True Crime fandom can often be fraught with ethical questions, and this is exactly as it should be. Using what will be the worst thing that has ever happened in many people's lives, as what is essentially a form of entertainment, can bring us too uncomfortable places. Amoung the true crime community there is always discussions of what is and is not appropriate. How do we refer to victims? Which kind of crimes do we choose to focus on? How much detail of the violence do we need to give out?\nIn Britain however the crimes that we are often most gripped by tends to be those that happen to ordinary people, who live quiet lives. Perhapse that is to do with the fact that despite seeing ourselves as a modern state, in the UK we still live with the hangovers of the feudal system, with such regressive concepts as the \"deserving poor,\" and moralisitic phrases like \"hard working people,\" still finidng currancy in our politics, which has been overrun recently with those for whom even their privilage comes gold plated. We've never admired our rich and powerful as much as tolerate them, and get on with our own lives.\nMead's central charctor, John Spector, is the magician who helps the police unravel, this fiendishly difficult murder. As a conjuror he is perfectly placed to understand the art of illusion and distraction, and fits wonderfully well into the narrative. However, we learn little about who Spector is, and how he has come to be assisting the police, leading his presence to be essentailly the third mystery of the book.\nFor LGBTIQ+ communties crime is too much of a reality. Across the globe queer people are more likely to be victims of crime, historically they have been more likely to be criminalised, and in many places the fear of imprisonment for being nothing more than who you really are is far, far too present. So in this post we are going to pinpoint some of the best podcasts and books TCF has reviewed over the last seventeen months which whether fiction or non-fiction have an LGBTIQ+ element.\nIn life things are seldom as permanent as we think they will be when we are children. The art of accepting and living with change is one of the secrets of life, and one that all of us will struggle with at some point, whether it is the end of a relationship, a job, or …\nMotherhood is an idea that permeates If You Tell by Greg Olsen by it's absence. Olsen recounts the life of Shelly Knotek, who killed three, and abused countless others, including her own children. Knotek could easily be cast in the role of femme fatal, her good looks attracting many unsuspecting men into her orbit, but that would be too surface a reading of what is a clearly aberant pshycology. Instead Olsen makes his readers the proverbial frog in water slowly begining to boil, as he trace the development of Knotek from a troubled and difficult child and teen into a fully fledged murderer.\nWith the hindsight that living in a different era gives us we can easily see that for some of these women, it was the strict, inflexible mores of Victorian society that led them to their fates, and had they lived in different times, may have had very different outcomes.\nIt does not appear to matter how many family annihilators wipe out of existance the people they are meant to love the most, shocked colleagues or neighbours still talk about what a nice, quiet man he was. We still do not believe that if we as individuals have judged a person to be safe - that maybe we are not seeing everything - so majesticly omnipresent we consider ourselves to be.\nThis week Mairi sit's down with crime fiction author Amy Suiter-Clark to talk about the process of writing her debut Girl, 11, and many other things crime fiction, including why neither of them will ever light up a room.\nIt is never long before crime fiction follows true crime, and one has to wonder if the podcaster could be poised to replace the private eye, who's peak in crime fiction does feel somewhat in the past. The prospect of the podcaster as the new crime fiction hero - or more likely heroine, given true crimes demographics - is intriguing, as they bring in not just a new job, but drag with them an audience.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This is a romance, but it s also the story of a woman s search for alternatives when traditional medicine gave up on her Definitely worth reading. Barely above waterSuzie has a disease that her doctors can t figure out what it is She finds out about a dr in another state that may be able to help her She quits her current job and moves where the dr is at She takes a job coaching a swimming team but finds she has to do a lot than coach She also meets Matt where she is working at He is not sure on how to deal with her illness It is a mystery for part of the book of what she has Very interesting book Enjoyed the kids and the swim team Will she find out what is wrong with her and will she get better I did receive the book from the prism book group in exchange for a honest review. A Reader S Favorite Book Award WinnerAn Illness Comes Out Of Nowhere And Strikes Suzie Morris Her Boyfriend Dumps Her She Has No Living Family, And Her Physician Can T Diagnose The Malady Suzie Relies On Her Christian Faith As She Faces The Uncertainty Of The Disease, And Turns To A Renowned Alternative Doctor In Destin, Florida She Takes A Job Coaching A County Sponsored Summer Swim Team She S Determined To Turn The Fun, Sometimes Comical, Rag Tag Bunch Into Winners Her Handsome Boss Renews Her Belief In Love, But Learns Of Her Mysterious Affliction And Abruptly Cuts Romantic Ties Later He Has Regrets, But Can He Overcome His Fear Of Losing A Loved One And Regain Suzie S Trust Frankly, not being one who suffers a debilitating illness, I found myself worried for Suzie as I read about the healing process, concerned she was being duped But learning the author writes from personal experience made it fascinating.The romance is sweet and the heroine s work teaching swimming to children whose parents work in the hospitality industry was a good touch For me, though, they weren t the most interesting factors of the book If you have or think you have one of those mysterious and life changing illnesses chronic fatigue, chronic lime disease, etc I d suggest reading Barely Above Water While I can t and won t recommend the treatments talked about, don t miss the information at the back of the book from Ms Pallotta and her medical experts Very interesting This well crafted novel is layered with several interesting facets The story of the local swim team, Susie and Matt s evolving love story, and the deviation of Lyme disease.Not only is it an interesting concept, there is a great deal of information in this novel of which the general audience is not aware Susie s health issues have taken over every aspect of her life, and she s willing to give up a lucrative career to find a cure.The alternative route she takes requires faith, enduring emotional pain, and seemingly giving up on everything to find an answer Well done. I learned so much as I read this book Suzie s relationship with Matt is adorable Not only did I enjoy a sweet love story, but I learned about a mysterious illness that I had never heard of before All the symptoms of the young woman made me want to read on to find out what she had What could this illness be Another tidbit about this story is that the author knows firsthand about this illness so she was able to describe it perfectly That was not all that I learned I found out how hard young children have to work to be in a swim meet The children are adorable as they interact with both Suzie and Matt Loved the story and very well written Barely Above WaterThis book is a blessing to all those who are suffering from any chronic illness I believe the author did an excellent job of showing Suzie s struggles with her illness and fears of ever being able to have a normal life I love the fact that Dr Granger prayed with his patients and I really enjoyed the beach sermon I would have love to see God play a significant role in the characters lives. This was a good book Suze moves to try and find a solution to her medical problems Cautious about starting a new relationship, will she find out the cause of her illness and find love in the process I received a copy for my honest review This book was really, really good So different than most of the books that I have read lately, so a nice and very interesting read, to say the least A young woman gives up a job and home to move to another location where she feels God has lead her to help her with the mysterious health issues she has been dealing with Starting up a new life when health is causing so many problems is difficult at best Having had no success with conventional medical help she seeks another route, hoping for better results This was a very thought provoking book for me as I have also dealt with health issues that are still unresolved The story is faith promoting and a good reminder to trust in the Lord in all things Great book, and I loved it I received an Ebook version from the author for my honest review which I have given. When conventional medicine has no answer for her illness, Suzie takes the chance that an alternative doctor can help her She moves to Florida and takes on a part time job coaching a swim team to support herself as she deals with her illness.I liked that this novel highlights an ailment that s not commonly talked about The attention to detail and description of the alternative treatments was illuminating The characters are given time to develop a relationship, which I always approve of This is a story for readers who enjoy contemporary romances and appreciate details.I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review You can see my entire review at More Than A Review.com where I rate a book s content.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A 2016 Alphabet\nThe year in review, from A to Ziggy\nA is an Alphabet herewith submitted.\nB is for Brexit. I’m still stunned! England quitted!\nC is for Clinton, and Ceilings unshattered\nD: Donald’s Dissemblings. None of which mattered.\nE is for Email and servers. Tormented!\nF is Fake News. Like the truth. Just invented.\nG is Gene Wilder. May he rest someplace shady.\nH, Florence Henderson. Adieu, Mrs. Brady.\nI admit that this year had me sobbing a lot.\nBut J! Juno spacecraft! In the giant red spot!\nKim Kardashian, mugged. Man, is anyone safe?\nL, Lincoln Chafee. Dude, Feel the Chafe!\nM is Frau Merkel. Du bist Dynamit!\nN, Dylan’s Nobel. Genius, sure. Is it lit?\nO is Obama. Even now, I’m enraptured.\nP is for Pokemon Go. We’ve been captured.\nQ is a Question: Does “alt-right” just mean “racist?”\nR are the Rolling Stones. Who needs a bassist?\nS is for Snape. Alan R., I feel bad.\nT are those Tweets. No press conferences? “Sad!”\nUnderground Railroad: a book writ in pen.\nV is an author, one Viet Than Nguyen\nW’s Woke: Social justice defenders!\nX is for X-men, both film and transgenders.\nY is for You. You know who you are.\nZ is for Ziggy, who played the guitar.\nAccursed ’16! With its mind-numbing ache!\nMostly it sucked! Finally nailed with a stake!\nNow we walk to the future, both hopeful and blue.\nSo love to you, readers. Great joy in the new.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Things Get Hot (?)\nAlice and Vlad pick up where they left off after the kiss, Akira wakes up in the Realm of the Fae, and the Queen of the Fae is displeased (which may, or may not be putting it mildly).\nWelcome back to myself! I’m finally adjusting to remote work. Chapters are basically gonna show up whenever I finish them because writing this helps stave off my existential dread and overwhelming anxiety about the world! Enjoy! (also take care of yourselves, be kind to yourselves, wash your hands, stay home if you can)\nAlso, things get a lil NSFW. I restrained myself, so don’t panic.\nOh and no, I cannot figure out how to fix the buttons on that hero image, so they go nowhere. Sorry.\nDelay, Vlad told himself. Repeated it as one would a prayer. A prayer that vacated his mind every time Alice dug her nails into his back.\nA flash of skin.\nA small sigh.\nAnd his hands were everywhere.\nTo be a vampire was an exercise in patience. Vlad could be patient. He knew that. And yet—\nThere was not a thing involving Alice that he could be patient about.\nHe could pretend because there was no stutter of his heart to give him away, but he wanted, wanted, wanted.\nNow, now, now.\nHissing, he lifted her and pulled her hips into him, focused on that fluttering pulse in her neck. Do not bite her, he instructed himself, fighting not to get lost in the white hot pleasure of it all.\nWhen had he last felt like this?\nHe tried to pull Alice in for another kiss. Clasping her thighs, he turned intending to set her on the counter. But she scrambled out of his grip, eyes narrowed in suspicion.\nWhat had he—?\nHe couldn’t have—?\n“Who is Kaylnn?” she asked quietly.\nSo, he did say it out loud.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A Dog Called Perth : The Voyage of a Beagle\n'Perth was a dog larger than life. She bought us adventure, drama and joy. She changed us forever.' This is the moving story of a dog called Perth through the twenty-one years of her life beginning in the woods and lakes of up state New York in the mid sixties to the mid west and Florida and then to the countryside of England. This is a wonderful story as much about Perth's owners as about Perth herself. Beautifully written it will bring tears to the eyes of dog lovers everywhere.\n- Hardback | 192 pages\n- 140 x 206 x 22mm | 327g\n- 17 May 2001\n- Orion Publishing Co\n- London, United Kingdom\nAbout Peter Martin\nPeter Martin was born in Argentina and educated in America. He has taught English Literature in England and America and written extensively on eighteenth-century British and American Literature and Culture. He lives half the year in America and half the year in West Sussex.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In a world that frequently highlights differences, allyship is an empowering concept, breaking these barriers. While it may seem like a buzzword of the modern age, ally at work bridges a more inclusive and supportive society. It signifies standing alongside marginalized communities, lending a voice to the unheard, and challenging oppressive systems. But how does one truly understand and embody this practice? So dive into the depths of an ally at work, unveiling its layers and appreciating its potential to revolutionize human relationships.\nTable of Contents\n1. What Does Being a True Ally Mean?\nAlly at work isn’t just a label; it’s a journey, a continuous learning process where individuals commit to understanding the struggles of marginalized groups. Imagine walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, feeling every pebble, and experiencing every twist and turn. That’s allyship, where the aim is to sympathize and empathize. It demands active involvement, listening to narratives that might be uncomfortable, and then utilizing one’s privilege to champion the rights and voices of those less heard. While the essence of ally at work is universally applicable, it’s also unique to each person’s experiences, making it a fluid and evolving concept.\n2. Actions Over Intentions\nBeing an ally means actions speak louder than words. It’s not enough to declare oneself an ally; it requires consistent action. Consider it akin to cultivating a garden. One can’t merely admire the flowers from a distance, hoping they’ll thrive. It necessitates getting one’s hands dirty, nurturing the plants, and protecting them from adverse conditions. Similarly, being a true ally demands that individuals stand up against discrimination, even if it’s challenging or jeopardizes their comfort. It’s about taking active steps, attending workshops, supporting marginalized businesses, and constantly checking and challenging personal biases.\n3. The Power of Listening\nOne of the pillars of being a good ally is the ability to listen actively. Often, individuals rush to voice their perspectives, overshadowing the narratives of marginalized communities. Remember the old saying about having two ears and one mouth for a reason? Being an ally at work embodies this principle. It’s about providing a platform, amplifying the voices of marginalized groups, and ensuring their stories are at the forefront. Allies recognize that they don’t have all the answers. Hence, they open their ears and hearts to understand the lived experiences of others, which paves the way for genuine support.\n4. Continuous Learning and Growth\nNo one is born with a complete understanding of all societal issues. Thus, true allyship recognizes the value of continuous education. Picture it as sailing on a vast ocean. The waters of understanding and awareness are expansive, with new islands of knowledge waiting to be explored. An ally is a committed sailor, constantly navigating these waters, eager to discover and learn. They are aware of the gaps in their understanding, actively seeking resources, books, seminars, or conversations that can expand their horizon, ensuring their allyship remains relevant and informed.\n5. Recognizing Mistakes and Making Amends\nNobody’s perfect, and even the most well-intentioned allies can make mistakes. Allyship, however, involves recognizing these missteps and actively rectifying them. Think of it as a potter molding clay. If a crack appears, the potter doesn’t discard the entire creation; they mend it, ensuring it becomes more resilient. Similarly, allies take accountability for their actions, apologize when they err, and strive to ensure they don’t repeat the same mistakes. This self-awareness and humility enhance the genuineness of their allyship.\nIntuit professionals explain, “Allies are people who actively align themselves with those who are marginalized or disadvantaged with the aim to improve their circumstances in the workplace and world.”\nUnderstanding allyship is not a destination but a continuous journey, where the path may be challenging, but the rewards are profound. Embracing allyship paves the way for a society where inclusion is the norm and every voice holds value. It reminds us that in the vast tapestry of human existence, each thread is essential for the complete picture, no matter how different. With the right steps and a heart full of empathy, we can be a beacon of hope, support, and change.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Breaking the Heart Open : The Shaping of a Psychologist\nAvailability: Out of Stock\nQuick overview Bestselling author and psychologist Tony Bates has spent his career seeking to understand the lives of others. Here he turns his therapeutic eye on himself and describes the events and people in his own life that have made him the insightful thinker and teacher that he is today. He recalls traumatic events in his childhood that reverberated throughout his life and how, with therapy and time, he was eventually able to heal.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I always find I get more out of my travels if I read about a place before I visit and, when it comes to Spain, there is no shortage of books to choose from. Here is my personal selection of books to read before you visit Spain. And, if you’re travelling with the family, read on for my choice of children’s books.\nGuidebooks And History Of Spain\nIf you’re looking for a guidebook I can recommend Lonely Planet Spain. I particularly like Lonely Planet guides because you can download individual chapters in pdf format, ideal for reading on mobile devices. For a more immersive (and occasionally quirky) exploration of Spanish culture try Lonely Planet’s Experience Spain.\nFor a general, easily accessible, history of the country I would normally suggest the Traveller’s History series. However their book on Spain gets poor reviews, so a good alternative might be Spain: A History by Raymond Carr.\nThere are several first person accounts of the Spanish Civil War. Try George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia or Laurie Lee’s account of Spain just before the war, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning. Possibly the writer most closely associated with the Civil War is Ernest Hemingway, with his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. And, for a classic story of bullfighting and 1920s Spain, read Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.\nAll my readers can get a 5% discount on small group tours in Spain with LivTours. Just use discount code WORLDWIDEWRITER\nMany of the well known novels about Spain focus on particular cities. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron is an atmospheric thriller set in post WWII Barcelona. And Victoria Hislop’s The Return explores the 20th century history of Granada (it also has quite a bit about flamenco dancing). Then there is Winter in Madrid, a spy novel by C J Samson. Of course, if your taste is more for classic literature then you can’t beat Cervantes’ Don Quixote (read a review of Don Quixote).\nI’ve also just discovered the Traveler’s Literary Companion series (I’m in the middle of their book on South Africa). These books are compilations of short stories and novel extracts from the country in question, allowing you to absorb the culture through the eyes of local writers. I will definitely buy the Companion to Spain before my next trip…\nArt History… And Thrillers\nIf you are interested in art history, Painter to the King by Amy Sackville is a beautifully written portrait of the painter Velázquez and his time at the court of Philip IV. Or, if detective novels are your thing, you might like the novels of Jason Webster, such as A Death in Valencia.\nAlthough Gibraltar isn’t actually part of Spain, it is a popular day trip destination for tourists. I found the thrillers by Thomas Mogford – particularly Hollow Mountain – to be an excellent introduction to the unique culture of The Rock.\nChildren’s Books About Spain\nChildren love to learn about the places they are visiting, so why not buy them their own guidebook. The Kids’ Travel Guide – Spain by Wendy Crawford looks particularly good, and doubles up as a journal so that they can record their holiday experiences. (I’d have loved something like this when my children were young – I always ended up writing my own kids’ travel guides!) You can also get them in the holiday mood with a bit of language learning: try First Words Spanish from Lonely Planet Kids.\nChildren between the ages of 5 and 8 might enjoy Lola’s Fandango by Anna Witte (a story about flamenco dancing). Or James Mayhew’s Katie and the Spanish Princess (featuring some classic Spanish paintings). If you’re going to Barcelona you might like Building on Nature: the Life of Antoni Gaudi by Rachel Victoria Rodriguez (only available in hardback but it looks as if it is beautifully illustrated and inspiring).\nFor older children try Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska (a story about bullfighting – the author was a friend of Hemingway). And a good historical novel is Theresa Breslin’s Prisoner of the Inquisition.\nThis is a very short introduction to the many books that have been written about Spain. If you have a favourite that I haven’t included, please let me know in the comments below.\nAll of the books on this list are available via my Amazon Storefront.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Catherine Rickwood, Natasha Ginnivan, Meiwei Li, Mitiku Hambisa, Kaarin J. Anstey\nA recent CEPAR (2021) report brought to light several opportunities for accessing the ageing population including the need for employers to have better strategies to recruit and retain older workers. The 3i framework of Include, Individualise and Integrate, outlined by CEPAR researchers, Professor Sharon Parker and Senior Research Fellow Dr Daniela Andrei, provides a broad approach for organisations to manage mature workers.\nThe results and findings presented in this report contribute to the knowledge in this area. The need to understand the enablers and barriers for creating a multigenerational workforce across age groups and seniority is considered critical. For organisations to embrace age diversity it’s essential that senior executives and managers know what’s required for older and younger workers to effectively and harmoniously work together for individual and collective benefit.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "An engaging and personal essay by Stephen Hayes, where in a journey of discovery “Perelandra restored an equilibrium in the world of my imagination.”\nHere is a guest post by Stephen Hayes, a regular reader of this blog. It is a highly personal, spiritually-autobiographical story about his individual experience. If any of you readers would like to offer a post on Lovecraft and Williams, I’d be interested to hear a pitch.\nCONTRIBUTOR BIO: Stephen Hayes was born in London’s East End in 1955 and studied medicine at Southampton 1974-1979. He worked for some 20 years as a Primary Care Physician and is now an Associate Dermatologist and skin cancer diagnostics educator. He blogs about skin cancer and less often about C S Lewis. He is a long-term fan of C S Lewis, and his first (Amazon kindle) novel Darwin’s Adders: A Chronicle of Pagan England 2089‘ was written after the thought came to him one July 2009 morning: ‘What if, in That Hideous Strength, the bad guys had won, and…\nView original post 2,461 more words", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "First Degree Innocence:\nCarrie Lang’s sheltered life ends with a prison sentence for involvement in a bank robbery. Her arrest comes on the day she’s called in sick and stayed inside, so she has no explanation how an eye-witness describes her in great detail, down to the make and model of her car. A terrible mistake’s been made, and her insistence of innocence falls on deaf ears, even among her fellow inmates. A plan for retribution is brewing, and naive Carrie finds herself smack dab in the middle of an evil scheme concocted by the prison bully. A ten year sentence seems mild when she’s threatened with death for refusing to participate. Can Carrie find a way out of this horrible nightmare, or is she destined to spend her days locked in terror, isolation, and the cold gray interior of prison walls?\nIn 1867, Cecile Palmer is the envy of the single girls of Spring City and the object of every young man's fancy...until she experiences love at first sight. She meets and weds Walt Williams in less than a week. The young marrieds travel to her husband's newly-purchased \"ranch\" and a life for which this naive and pampered only child is ill-equipped. She has no idea her life is about to be turned upside down when an injured Indian brave stumbles into her doorway while her husband is away.\nAuthor Ron Adams says about Beside Myself...Ginger Simpson is a many things - an author, a columnist, a publisher, and on a personal note, a friend to many up and coming writers. What she isn't, is dull. My case in point is her tale of suspense from a different point of view, Beside Myself. In this tale of mystery and romance we find a serial killer on the loose in the big city, his motives of revenge against a blonde woman who spurned him manifested in the hatred of all women of a similar description. Unfortunately, this also applies to the heroine of the story, a fresh faced young woman named Cynthia, on her own in the big city for the first time. With a little luck she meets and falls in love with a policeman who lives in the same building, and who's life is also centered around solving this string of murders. The young couple finally give in to their first kiss under the veil of the omnipresent killer...and that's where the real twist to this story comes in. Ginger has given us everything you could want in her novel; mystery suspense, humor, and romance, all deftly woven with her own unique touch. It is a must read for fans of all these genres, and a unique take on the traditions of all of them. Hats off to Ginger Simpson!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Bias checking day on Byssus.\nI want to reject the claim that the ‘scientific myth’ of Isaac Newton’s apple tree is overwhelming responsible for promoting the idea of the lone genius.\nMy issue is I do not yet know anything about the development of the modern concept of genius and little about the development of the narrative in particular.\nI would however note, that I can already alter the inflection. So can at least suggests it’s not the story but the context in which it is told that is the identifying feature.\nI also think that what is being described is a folk-tale, the contexts in which it is told therefore multiple and the conceptual framework and wider cosmological landscape it is placed in more of a patchwork of thought, or a melting pot of differing social groups.\nWhile the chance may be non-existent, if I was ever called on to deliver the tale to an audience of pre- modern Icelandic fisher folk, I would be in with a chance of making myself understood and holding the audience within the tale from start to finish.\nI suspect I could also do that if I could time- travel back to my childhood and spoke to the older generation of fishermen from the small fishing village I grew up in, which was a landscape filled with their stories and beliefs.\nThe mythical element that appears to be so objectionable here I think can be more fully identified as the relationship of genius with the idea of a founding father.\nI can identify this as myth as it is a descriptive feature of genius that does not alter over- time.\nGenius is an old concept the relationship with inspiration and the individual is a modern concept.\nMyth certainly has a relationship with supporting the modern idea of genius. But it’s inflection was significantly altered to reach that state.\nTake a break from apples and look at salmon soon. A fish associated with wisdom and a common gift of payment in kind to the school master.\nLook at the stick stick and more stick approach to one of the most socially disadvantaged communities in Britain and the tales which they told.\nA 19 th century educational strategy pioneered by educators and ‘experts’ in local folklore.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“Hear me but a moment more,” said the kneeling woman. “I was the slave of an ever-jealous maniac; but my heart was still at this fireside with your bowed spirit, and this our son. My husband told me that the way to recover the child was to claim it as his. His motive, I fear, was different—to place me on record as confessedly false and prevent our reunion forever. But I was not wise enough to see it. I only thought you would send my son to me. I waited in my lonely home in Charleston years on years. He came at last, but not too late; my frivolous soul, grown selfish with vanity and disappointment, bent itself before God through the prayers of our son. I am forgiven, Perry Whaley. I have felt it!”\nThe old man did not answer, but strained his eyes upon his son. “See there!” he slowly spoke, “Perry is dying. Famished all these years for human love, this excess of joy has snapped the silver cord. Wife, Mary, we have martyred him.”\nIt was the typhoid fever which had developed from Perry’s wasting vitality. He sank into delirium as they looked at him, and was carried tenderly to his bed. Marion Voss came to nurse him with his mother. She, too, after Perry’s departure, had grown serious and followed his example, and was a Methodist. The young zealot sank lower and lower, despite science or prayers. Both churches prayed for him. Negroes and whites united their hopes and kind offices. One morning he was of dying pulse, and the bell in the Episcopal church began to toll. At the bedside all the little family had instinctively knelt, and Perry’s mother was praying with streaming eyes, committing the worn-out nature to Heavenly Love, when suddenly Judge Whaley, who had kept his hand on Perry’s pulse, exclaimed:\n“It beats! He lives again. The stimulant, Marion!”\nFather and son had rescued each other’s lives. One day as Perry had recovered strength, Judge Whaley said:\n“My son, are you a minister, qualified to perform marriages?”\n“When you are ready and strong, will you marry your mother and me again?”\n“Very soon,” said Perry; “but not too soon. Here is Marion waiting for me, as she has waited, like Rachel for Jacob, these many years. I shall preach no more, dear father, except as a layman. I see by your eyes that the demon is no longer in our home, and the remainder of my life will be spent in returning to you the joy my presence for years dispelled.”\n“O Perry, my patient son,” exclaimed the father, “they who entertain angels unawares have nothing to look to with regret—except unkindness.”\nA CONVENT LEGEND.\nThe General Moreau, that pure\nWho won at Hohenlinden so much glory,\nAnd by Bonaparte hated, crossed the sea to be free.\nAnd brought to the Delaware his story.\nWorld-renowned as he was, unto Washington he strayed.\nWhere Pichegru, his friend, had contended,\nAnd to Georgetown he rode, in search of a church,\nTo confess what of good he offended.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Francis bacon's essays (remember that these essays are searchable for key words) to of anger of vicissitude of things of fame. Of anger by francis bacon to seek to extinguish anger utterly, is but a bravery of the stoics we have better oracles: be angry, but sin not. Its occurrence during essay of anger by bacon the preschool child has trouble with writing skills feeling may quite innocently the leader in higher music education. Get an answer for 'is sir francis bacon's essay of anger relevant to the world of the 21st century ' and find homework help for other bacon, sir francis questions. Anger is certainly a kind of baseness as it appears well in the weakness of those subjects in whom it reigns, children, women, old folks, sick folks.\nOf anger by francis bacon questions and short essay help (at least 3 sentences per answer) 1 write a brief analysis - answered by a verified tutor. Of anger francis bacon 1909-14 essays, civil and moral the harvard classics essays, civil and moral the harvard classics 1909–14 lvii : of anger. The highest number since the great depression this is one of their stories this article is written like a personal reflection or opinion essay that states a wikipedia. To seek to extinguish anger utterly, is but a bravery of the stoics we have better oracles: be angry, but sin not let not the sun go down upon your anger. The complete text of essays of francis bacon the essays or counsels, civil and moral, of francis ld verulam viscount st albans.\nFrancis bacon on death, revenge, envy and anger has 3 ratings and 1 review the book has an active table of contents for easy access to each chapter of t. Essay of anger bacon summary non governamental organization essay essay writers jobs uk make my research proposal on hospital for me cheap.\nOf anger by francis bacon or appease anger in another meaning bacon proceeds to examine the different previous story civil service essay –un reform. Analysis of francis bacon essays / isc english literature / uncategorized of anger to seek to extinguish anger utterly, is but a bravery of the stoics. The complete text of essays of francis bacon of francis ld verulam viscount st albans presented by auth o rama public domain anger must be limited and. Reed stewart from memphis was looking for essay on anger by bacon cortez harper found the answer to a search query essay on anger by bacon link. Free online library: bacon, sir francis - the essays by francis bacon of anger - best known authors and titles are available on the free online library.\nWere small bands of hunters who crossed a temporary land bridge from siberia essay on anger by bacon summary and a list of important facts about john steinbeck's east. 'mens businesse and bosomes': bacon's thetical rhetoric in 'of truth' and 'of anger' daniel derrin 1‘the relation of bacon’s essays to his program for the. Though bacon considered the essays but as recreation of my other studies of anger (1625) of vicissitude of things (1625) a fragment of an essay of fame. Free essays on summary of anger by bacon get help with your writing 1 through 30. Essays related to bacon 1 bacon's rebellion this fueled bacon's anger for berkley, and was definitely a cause for his mutiny.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for a family business true crime library at amazoncom read honest and unbiased product reviews from . A family business true crime library ken englade on amazoncom free shipping on qualifying offers presents an account of the gruesome crimes committed by the . True crime library the complete resource for news stories and magazines about non fictional crimes. Whether you are researching a project or simply have a fascination with the subject you will find our growing crime library to be a rich resource for you to explore\nHow it works:\n1. Register Trial Account.\n2. Download The Books as you like ( Personal use )", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Book problems can be a real drag, yo. I mean, check out these ten things that really bring us down about books and reading. We’re hooking up with the Broke and Bookish of course for Top Ten Tuesday.\n- Holly: Amanda demands I read too many books. She is a hard core book pusher.\n- Amanda: Holly doesn’t drop everything to read what I tell her to.\n- Holly: Everytime I read certain book blogs, I end up hearing about more books I need to read (most notable culprits are The Paperback Princess, River City Reading, and Sophisticated Dorkiness).\n- Amanda: Holly is too picky about my comma placement when she edits my posts.\n- Holly: Amanda doesn’t always use commas appropriately in her posts.\n- Amanda: My husband told me that when he dies one day I’m going to turn into a hoarder of books and live surrounded by piles and piles of them. I hope he doesn’t die because he’s right.\n- Holly: I have not yet figured out my new library’s online request system since moving last month. This is probably because I have spent too much time moving Amanda’s commas around.\n- Amanda: My daughter told me that she hates it when I get grown up books in the mail. Ummm that happens a lot.\n- Holly: Amanda has so many ARCs and scheduled reviews that I never know when I’m supposed to post something.\n- Amanda: Holly lives too far away for me to actually physically push my books onto her when I’m done with them.\nLove those problems… Less comma moving should occur, more book piles!\nMy commas would probably drive you crazy Holly! I only have the vaguest idea what I’m doing with them! Great list! I don’t think my little one likes me getting grown up books in the mail and it’s definitely a pretty regular occurrence!\nSorry, not sorry for the part I play in adding to your TBR!\nI love when you guys tag team these posts. Hilarious.\nThis reminds me I need to force A Man Called Ove onto my sister when I visit her!\nJoining in on the sorry not sorry! I love that your problems echo each other 🙂\nI love this list and the way you two gals wrote it! Perfection! Twitter and looking at people’s blogs–and of course, GoodReads–just keeps my TBR growing. I need to come up with a system to get my TBR down…it just will take me getting organized and sitting down and actually doing it. I know I can….LOL. Comma placements! I’m grading student papers right now and that reminds me of all the comma splices I see…uh oh, work is slowly moving into my blog comments: DANGER!\ni am so bad with commas cos we are very lenient in Swedish and they are not that necessary 😉\nAnother reason to love Sweden!\nNicely done post!! Here’s a link to my TTT for the week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/02/top-ten-tuesday-ten-book-related.html\nHaha, I love the back and forth! And I would totally have to correct a co-blogger’s commas. I wouldn’t be able to help myself.\nHaha! Nice list! #3 is a big issue for me as well and my husband has definitely expressed his fear of #6!\nLove the post, the back and forth made me laugh 🙂\nI wish I could forward plan and schedule posts better, but I’m a seriously bad procrastinator.\nCora @ Tea Party Princess\nI love the way your list is written 😀 3 is definitely something I relate to. It happens SO often. You read a brilliant review and before you know it you’re adding another book to a TBR pile which is already huge.\nSuch a fun post! I can’t figure out my new library’s system either! But that seems to be because they have ‘lost’ the book and when that happens, they don’t have a great way to tell you that the book is unavailable to put on hold…\nSophisticated Dorkiness is one of my favorite blogs, too.\nAhahaha, this is great. (Yes, I’m almost a month late on this comment. DEAL WITH IT!)", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Using Saliva Analysis for Periodontal Disease Detection\nAnalyzing saliva can aid in the development of simple diagnostic tests for periodontal diseases, offering advantages in noninvasive collection and cost-effective, large-scale screening.\nSaliva is a combination of oral fluids, including secretions from salivary glands, bronchial and nasal secretions, serum and blood derivatives from oral wounds, bacteria and bacterial byproducts, viruses, fungi, desquamated epithelial cells, food, cellular components, and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF). The analysis of GCF components in saliva may aid the development of a simple diagnostic test for periodontal diseases. Analysis of saliva offers some advantages when used for diagnostic purposes. One advantage is that saliva can be easily collected in a noninvasive manner and without the need for special equipment.1 In addition, salivary analysis may provide a feasible, cost-effective approach for large-scale screening of patients.1\nThe inflammatory marker β-glucuronidase (βG) in GCF has been known to identify patients at risk for periodontal diseases. Studies show a strong positive correlation between salivary levels of βG and an increase in attachment loss or probing depth at multiple sites (eg, ≥ four sites with ≥ 5 mm probing depth). The available data provide evidence that increased salivary levels of βG, a GCF marker that has been linked to an increased risk of periodontitis, could be used for diagnostic screening for periodontal conditions.2\nThe typical clinical methods for assessing a patient’s periodontal condition tend to uncover the damage the periodontium has already endured. They reveal disease history, as opposed to disease activity. It is important to find a diagnostic tool that can predict and assess active periodontal diseases. Such methods have already been developed, such as MMP-8 chairside testing that is beneficial during the maintenance phase of periodontal therapy. The analysis of GCF could be used in collaboration with clinical assessments to better examine periodontal disease activity. Select GCF components are proven to act as biomarkers for periodontal diseases, which include host-derived enzymes, host-response modifiers, and tissue breakdown products.3 Collecting GCF and analyzing its composition can help determine periodontal disease activity and predict future disease progression.\nDiscussing the importance of oral health and educating patients about effective self-care are important tools in preventing periodontal diseases. Additionally, equipping patients with the knowledge to recognize the initial visible changes in the gingiva when periodontal diseases first progress can motivate patients to seek treatment early. Implementing diagnostic techniques—such as chairside GCF testing—during routine checkups can help promote early detection, treatment, and the arrest of periodontitis. Increased flow of GCF can be used as a biomarker in conjunction with traditional diagnostic methods to detect periodontal disease.4 In addition, clinicians can utilize biomarker analysis to help customize periodontal treatment and provide individualized recommendations.\n- Lamster IB, Ahlo JK. Analysis of gingival crevicular fluid as applied to the diagnosis of oral and systemic diseases. Ann NY Acad Sci.2007;1098: 216–229.\n- Lamster IB, Oshrain RL, Harper DS, Celenti RS, Hovliaras CA, Gordon JM. Enzyme activity in crevicular fluid for detection and prediction of clinical attachment loss in patients with chronic adult periodontitis: six month results. J Periodontol. 1988;59:516–523.\n- Majeed ZN, Philip K, Alabsi AM, Pushparajan S, Swaminathan D. Identification of gingival crevicular fluid sampling, analytical methods, and oral biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of periodontal diseases: a systematic review. Dis Markers. 2016;2016:1804727.\n- Tsuchida S, Satoh M, Takiwaki M, Nomura F. Current status of proteomic technologies for discovering and identifying gingival crevicular fluid biomarkers for periodontal disease. Int J Mol Sci. 2018;20:86.\nThis information originally appeared in Rivera M, Apolinar S, Smith M. Gingival crevicular fluid as a biomarker for periodontal disease. Decisions in Dentistry. 2021;7(4):40–43.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest I love cute little books, especially when they contain something emotional or motivating around them. This book was one of those cute little books that you pick up now and then, have a quick read through and then go on with your life And that is the reason why I chose to review it The book is supposedly written by a bear called Mawson that gives life advice And it s meant for adults, not children It doesn t follow any particular story in fact it all seems to be a bit of randomly places throughout the pages, with a lot of adorable pictures of a teddy bear doing things However, I was having some troubles understanding this book The teddy bear is so cute and the images are indeed adorable, but I found the text depressing, rather than motivating Yes it is a bright world to feel lost in, and we do find ourselves lost all the time But what can we do about it What is the teddy bear doing about it I just didn t get it I don t think the messaging was there I am not sure the author delivered everything that he wanted to say in this book The words had random capital letters, a few spelling errors, and they were also randomly places on the pages, alongside the images, which to some people might be appealing, but to me it just puts me off I understand this is the bear typing but as I said definitely annoyed me and I found it ridiculous I know I am supposed to love this book, because it has a teddy bear on the cover but I just didn t Thank you to the author bear s guardian Mark O Dwyer for sending across this book to me in exchange for an honest review Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Mawson Bear brings back fond memories of those childhood days when Teddy was an indispensable source of comfort There are lots of warm fuzzies to look forward to in this heartwarming story, as Mawson Bear explores how to be the best bear he can for his owner He worries when his special Some One disappears and looks up the McBearies Big Book of Words to help himself put words to his sorrow The story is full of lovely lines like You can hear all those things they don t know how to say and That squeezy bit in the middle of a hug That s home A Sweet addition to any Bear Collection. Mawson is such a wise bear that helps you see ways to deal with things that happen in life that make you sad, while the world just carries on The title is perfect.It s a Bright World To Feel Lost In.Mawson is the narrator and tells the story through a little bear of wanting and needing to be loved, bear knows that there is someone out there to love him He feels so alone and sad as he waits Oh wow it really does touch your heartYou can almost hear the aching sound of being searched forYou can share so much with people you love It brings joy and sadness finding love and dealing with loss Everything to do with highs and lows and insecurities and worries when that someone special disappears A hug can make you feel a little better sometimesYou can almost hear the sighs of someone hurtingThere is such deep meaning in this little book, which has flash tags with word relating to the story that describe feelings in many ways The things we share with each other, good and bad.But it s hard to keep playingWhen your some one s straying without youThere are differences to losing someone you love, some leave while others wanted to stayBeing Gone is differentto being far awayThe simplicity of the story just opens up your feelings straight away making it a very emotional and yet comforting knowing your are safe.It helps you see that you should move on, learn new things and perhaps even find someone new to love and be loved with.Being found is such a joy A bear s love is never far away and can be shared and passed on through generations I love the idea of Mawson telling the story to the young bears as if to coach them for their future roles Just pure magic In Italian there is a word for making something exceptionally difficult look easy sprezzatura Mawson s It s a Bright World to Feel Lost In has sprezzatura in spades This gentle, calming, life and love affirming little gem won t fail to put a smile on your face as you read it You ll get the sense that every word and image has simply fallen into place effortlessly, yet profoundly Only on closer inspection might you get the sense of just how tightly this book is written how studiously it has managed to pull back the heavy, musty curtains hiding the sunshine in your grown up world, how deftly it has pulled into your heart the long forgotten tranquility of simpler times and fundamental joys Like the aroma of freshly baked bread or the sound of your child laughing, Mawson s simple but never simplistic book hits its mark in a way that you will intuitively understand but will not be able to put into words In this regard, the book does exactly what it means to and no. It s a Bright World to Feel Lost In is a delightful picture book narrated by Mawson Bear.Described as a picture book for adults, its colourful text makes it suitable for older children too Each of the 50 pages has a photo illustration of Mawson and friends with an accompanying emotional statement.Mawson is a very wise bear and there are some lovely sentiments about feeling lost and lonely and waiting for your Someone to return Reading through the book is like having a book cuddle This is a lovely little book to keep on the shelf and to look through if you need a little cheering I shall leave the last word to Mawson Being found is such a joy. First I must thank Mark O Dwyer, the Guardian of Mawson Bear, for sending me a free copy of the book, in exchange for an honest review The book was super cool and I loved every bit of it Let us head into my review.When Mark first contacted me about the book, his email mentioned it was a picture book for adults Well, I was not sure what to expect But when this baby arrived on post, I fell in love on the spot in that precise moment The book was super cute and the title really made me wanted to read it, at that very moment So, trust me guys the book took me back in my childhood where we use to read books with lots of cute pictures in them I stopped everything else and started to read it From that day onwards, I use to read this book everyday after I reach home from work.The special characteristics that I found in this book are as follows The title speaks much about what it in this book and it makes the reader, tempting to know what is inside the book, what is the story about The pictures which are so cute 3 and the story, or rather the words goes along perfectly and you do not realize that you have reached the end of the story Each word mentioned in the story speaks to the heart of the reader Each page and picture speaks about something deeper about life The story is being narrated by Mawson, and he is indeed a wonderful narrator The deeper aspects spoken in the story such as feeling lost, loosing someone you love, family and most importantly getting up after falling down is well illustrated The book actually became a stress releaser for me And I thin it would be ideal for all the adults to read since it speaks to your heart Overall, the book is creative as well as the whole idea of a picture book for adult is novel and unique.I highly recommend this book to all the adults who needs a bit of inspiration and motivation in their lives And never forget It s a bright world to feel lost in.For book reviews visit www.hasanthisbookworld.wordpress.com Are You Feeling A Little Lost Got That Left In The Spare Room Emptiness About You Mawson Does TooHe Sits Atop His Cushion And Ponders About Baffling ThingsThe World Is A Funny Place For A Curious Teddy Bear To Live In Friends Approach Him About Their Own Dilemmas They Seek Instant Answers That Will Make Everything All Right Mawson Does His Best But After He Ponders Deeply, Most Things Remain For Him Just As Baffling As They Were BeforeTake A Moment Out Of Your Day To Pawse With Him And Explore The World For The Many Frazzled Readers Who Feel, Secretly, Much The Same, He Offers The Comfort That The World Is A Bright Place To Be See the review on my BookTube channel Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.So this officially my first 5 star book of 2019 Now this is a completely different type of book than I normally review, the book itself is described as a picture book for adults or a book that is intended as a gift between friends that could also be read by a younger audience The book itself is written by Mawson the bear as he ponders the world around him.Now the fact that this was a picture book for adults really intrigued me and I m so glad that I got to see it for myself, not only are the pictures absolutely gorgeous but the whole book itself brings back such nostalgic memories it made it seem sort of comforting, like an old security blanket The message that Mawson is able to portray as well comes across in such simple terms it really makes you ponder the going on s in your own life As it s such a short read and looks fantastic it s one of those books that you can just have lying around, and one I plan to eagerly show to poor unsuspecting victims who come to visit Rating 5 5Would I read again YesWould I Recommend YesWould I read another book from this author Yes There really are so many things in life for a bear to ponder.Right, a couple of things to get out of the way first If, as I suspect many will initially think, this is a book for children then I would have criticisms because of the fairly random use of upper case letters and some of the bear like spellings in the pictures which undermine my sense of what is perfect modelling for literacy And It s A Bright World To Feel Lost In could easily be shared with children and their own bears to help them feel safe and loved.However, It s A Bright World To Feel Lost In is actually a book for adults Substitute the word bear for human or person and you have a book that provides solace in loss, friendship in loneliness and an understanding of what it means when someone you love is no longer with you.I really liked this book It is essentially a picture book for grown ups and I loved the quality of the photographs and the variety of bears included I also really appreciated the emotional sentiments in the writing Life is indeed very often baffling and I think we ve all experienced the aching sound of being searched for in our lives at some point.It s A Bright World To Feel Lost In is a book about optimism, searching for new adventures and making the most of life and love I can imagine a parent whose child is starting school or university sobbing over this book and I loved the concept that a bear can listen when no one else will It might sound ridiculous, but It s A Bright World To Feel Lost In brought a tear to my eye.If you re looking for a gift for someone who is struggling with life at the moment, I think It s A Bright World To Feel Lost In would make a wonderful present.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Reviewed by Heather Campbell\nRiver City Fires\nby Derek Annis\nDec 2023, Paperback, 41 pages, $9.99usd, ISBN: 978-1-949065-29-9\nDerek Annis’s chapbook River City Fires takes us on a journey through a “city of contradictions”, evident in the water and fire of the title itself. While this is the real city of Spokane Falls, Washington, where the author was born and still lives, the collection is far more focused on the internal subtext of the lives touched – or perhaps torched – by the city. These lives crystallize abstractly, in writing that is sharp in its absurdity, touching on trauma, trespass, and the parallel encroachment of the city on the natural world.\nWe’re not taken through the streets of this city as much as we are taken on a tour of language. These poems are driven by sound, and a tone that lulls us until images catch, tumble open, or almost combust. Pace and momentum shape the collection, delivering softly-stated violence often inflicted by the natural world upon itself. In Still Life with Razor Blade, we see “night cut evening’s /throat to let the dark out.” Slowly a more urban landscape encroaches on this violence and manmade objects join in: in Aviary, “blackbirds splash/against the walls/like bags of nails” and “[f]rom atop their towers of salt/blond children sing/bullets into existence” (Independence Day). While we do see the hard edges of the city, ultimately what seems to be on fire here is a landscape of memory, colored by loss, loneliness, and trauma.\nThe poems introduce images that break above water abruptly, as though to show that the surface we were looking at maybe wasn’t water after all, so much has the calm been shattered. But at times these jarring images feel isolated from the rest of the poem, as though that sudden surfacing drowns out the poetic world that has been created up to that point. In Dysgeusia, “[t]hey’re sweet as children/in a river of mud/with their mouths open wide like baby birds/on an autopsy table.” As stunning as those lines are, it’s hard to recall what the original ‘they’ referred to, or what the perfectly crystallised baby birds are leading me toward – or away from. This may be exactly the author’s intention. “I want to feel less like I’m writing a poem, and more like I’m documenting its movements,” says Annis. “These poems find their way by following sound.” Perhaps we’re being led softly down a route as though the destination is never in doubt – toward those combustible images – but we’re just not supposed to know where we started.\nThe author has experienced trauma, and the collection draws on this personal history. These multi-layered metaphors could be seen as a way to literally achieve distance from such trauma. Annis says, “…it’s often the case that traumatic or ecstatic experiences are particularly difficult to transfer [to the reader] by using facts or details rooted in realism.” And so we have an industrial abstract, a landscape grappling with its memories of itself.\nThese poems lull us until they explode, a feat perfectly captured in Descent: “in a fit of turbulence, the plane shakes free/of its wings, born again as a bomb.” Substitute ‘poem’ for ‘plane’ and the collection is well summarized.\nAbout the reviewer: Heather Campbell is a Montreal-based poet with publications in Grain, Prairie Fire, CV2, The Capilano Review, and PRISM International. Her reviews have appeared in Grist, the Women’s Post and Dance International Magazine.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Soluble inflammatory markers as predictors of liver histological changes in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection\nPostgraduate Program on Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical School, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Alfredo Balena, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology\n(Impact Factor: 2.67).\n09/2010; 29(9):1153-61. DOI: 10.1007/s10096-010-0981-4\nHost immune response seems to be mainly responsible for the progression of liver disease among patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Immune activation involves the release of cytokines and their receptors that can be measured in plasma samples. The study aimed to evaluate the association between plasma levels of chemokines and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors (sTNFR) and liver histological changes among patients with chronic HCV infection. Seventy-one treatment-naive patients were included. Plasma levels of CCL2, CCL3, CCL11, CCL24, CXCL9, CXCL10, sTNFR1, and sTNFR2 were measured and liver histological findings were reviewed. Plasma levels of CXCL9, sTNFR1, and sTNFR2 were significantly associated with liver fibrosis, with higher median levels found among patients with moderate/severe fibrosis (F >or= 2) if compared to those with no or mild fibrosis (p = 0.014; p = 0.012; p = 0.009, respectively). Plasma sTNFR2 levels were significantly associated with necroinflammatory activity, with higher median levels among patients with moderate/severe activity (A >or= 2) if compared to those with no or mild activity (2.34 ng/mL vs. 1.99 ng/mL; p = 0.019). In conclusion, plasma levels of CXCL9, sTNFR1, and sTNFR2 were independently associated with liver histological changes, suggesting a role of TNF activation and Th1-type cell-mediated immune response in the pathogenesis of HCV infection.\nAvailable from: Aleksander Krag\n- \"Indeed, in cirrhotic patients the increased endotoxin influx into the portal vein leads to hepatic expression of soluble TNFα receptors even without evident clinical infection . Different proinflammatory pathways (LPS/TLR/TNFα) activated by stimuli derived from the gut appear associated with the prognosis in addition to the classical prognostic parameters related to liver and kidney function –, , , , , . This can be seen in situations, where the prognosis deteriorates despite a tremendous drop in portal pressure by TIPS. \"\n[Show abstract] [Hide abstract]\nABSTRACT: TNFα levels are increased in liver cirrhosis even in the absence of infection, most likely owing to a continuous endotoxin influx into the portal blood. Soluble TNFα receptors (sTNFR type I and II) reflect release of the short-lived TNFα, because they are cleaved from the cells after binding of TNFα. The aims were to investigate the circulating levels of soluble TNFR-I and -II in cirrhotic patients receiving TIPS.\nForty-nine patients with liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension (12 viral, 37 alcoholic) received TIPS for prevention of re-bleeding (n = 14), therapy-refractory ascites (n = 20), or both (n = 15). Portal and hepatic venous blood was drawn in these patients during the TIPS procedure and during the control catheterization two weeks later. sTNFR-I and sTNFR-II were measured by ELISA, correlated to clinical and biochemical characteristics.\nBefore TIPS insertion, sTNFR-II levels were lower in portal venous blood than in the hepatic venous blood, as well as in portal venous blood after TIPS insertion. No significant differences were measured in sTNFR-I levels. Hepatic venous levels of sTNFR-I above 4.5 ng/mL (p = 0.036) and sTNFR-II above 7 ng/mL (p = 0.05) after TIPS insertion were associated with decreased survival. A multivariate Cox-regression survival analysis identified the hepatic venous levels of sTNFR-I (p = 0.004) two weeks after TIPS, and Child score (p = 0.002) as independent predictors of mortality, while MELD-score was not.\nHepatic venous levels of sTNFR-I after TIPS insertion may predict mortality in patients with severe portal hypertension.\nAvailable from: Manoel Otávio da Costa Rocha\n- \"Other authors (Diago et al. 2006) propose that elevated CXCL10 levels may result in an accumulation of effector T cells in the liver and the selective pressure imposed by this accumulation may foster outgrowth of immune escape HCV mutants that would be more difficult to eradicate with combined therapy (Diago et al. 2006). The observed association between CXCL10 levels and therapeutic response was not mediated by liver histological changes, as plasma levels of this chemokine were not associated with liver inflammatory activity or fibrosis in a subanalysis of the dataset (Moura et al. 2010). CXCL9, which binds the same chemokine receptor as CXCL10 (i.e., CXC3), did not show an association with virological response in our study, in accordance with findings from a previous study conducted by Butera et al. (2005) \"\n[Show abstract] [Hide abstract]\nABSTRACT: The host immune response plays an important role in viral clearance in patients who are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and are treated with interferon and ribavirin. Activation of the immune system involves the release of pro and anti-inflammatory molecules that can be measured in plasma samples. The present study aimed to evaluate the association between pretreatment plasma levels of chemokines and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors (sTNF-R) and the virological response in treated patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. Forty-one chronically-infected HCV patients that were being treated with interferon-α (IFN-α) plus ribavirin were included in the study. Socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected and pretreatment plasma levels of chemokine CCL2, CCL3, CCL11, CCL24, chemokine CXCL9, CXCL10, sTNF-R1 and sTNF-R2 were measured. The virological response was assessed at treatment week 12, at the end of treatment and 24 weeks after treatment. Pretreatment CXCL10 levels were significantly higher in patients without an early virological response (EVR) or sustained virological response (SVR) compared to responders [512.9 pg/mL vs. 179.1 pg/mL (p = 0.011) and 289.9 pg/mL vs. 142.7 pg/mL (p = 0.045), respectively]. The accuracy of CXCL10 as a predictor of the absence of EVR and SVR was 0.79 [confidence interval (CI) 95%: 0.59-0.99] and 0.69 (CI 95%: 0.51-0.87), respectively. Pretreatment plasma levels of the other soluble inflammatory markers evaluated were not associated with a treatment response. Pretreatment CXCL10 levels were predictive of both EVR and SVR to IFN-α and ribavirin and may be useful in the evaluation of candidates for therapy.\nAvailable from: Lijie Rong\n[Show abstract] [Hide abstract]\nABSTRACT: Persistently high serum levels of soluble tumor-necrosis factor (TNF) receptor 2 (sTNFR2) have been observed in septic shock and many inflammatory diseases. However, its origin and regulation during these pathological processes are still largely unknown. In this study, murine bone marrow (BM) chimeras selectively expressing TNFR2 on either BM-derived or non-BM-derived cells were generated and challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The results show that TNFR2 expression on non-BM-derived cells is crucial for both the sensitivity of mice to LPS and the downregulation of sTNFR2 in serum. Most importantly, sTNFR2 was released from both BM- and non-BM-derived cells. Non-BM TNFR1 expression influenced the sensitivity of mice to LPS challenge but not the level of serum sTNFR2. These results provide the first in vivo evidence for the origin and regulation of sTNFR2 in serum and could aid in the development of novel anti-TNF strategies against septic shock.\nData provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The cavern covered the riverbank completely, and there was a pale glow of light far, far ahead on the other side of a great mass of water. The mist ahead obfuscated his eyesight, making the path ahead blurry and undiscernible. Mephisto approached the figure. He wore a dirty, dark robe, and his eyes shined like fiery embers in the darkness. He said:\n“My paddle reaches beneath water,\nstirring the darkest depths that brought her.\nFace and brace yourself to understand,\naccept the Truth, unity will band.\nThe token of the One requested,\nShimmering eyes have arrested.\nDrink and die, all of fate will wisen\nUntil you meet your match the hyphen.\nMephisto was arrested by the intensity of his fiery eyes that saw straight through him. They weren’t hostile eyes, they cared. Remembering the coin just given to him, he gave it to the being, and then boarded the boat and sat. The ferryman said nothing as he paddled into the dark beyond. The black water was nearly silent, except for the ripples caused by the paddle. He paddled on with a Hellenic stare; there was no judgement or error as he paddled with purpose.\nIn the water Mephisto observed his dark image shift like a dream of reflections like light on a stage of spirit twinkling in the darkness. However, as they drifted across the large mass of water, while coming nearer to their destination, Mephisto felt growing unrest. Then he caught a glimmer of the dragon on the canvas of the water.\n“My dear friend, the hardest stage is almost over. You’ll see. Fix your eyes on the water, watch the waves ripple, listen as I gently paddle. Be in the moment, the here and now. Your journey behind you, yes—feel the pulse and drive, but don’t be overcome by it.”\n“But how do I not be overcome by it?”\n“Breathe and pay attention to your senses. Put your hand in the water as we drift across, feel the cool touch of wetness, smell the fresh river. But also, I simply mean that the flow led you here, that it can be useful. There is ancient wisdom in our emotions, but even they can get the better of us too.”\n“What wisdom are my emotions telling me now?”\n“They are telling you to pay attention to where you are going! To watch what path you are embarking on! I was one of the few eons ago, a traveler like you, burdened by a past the conscience couldn’t subdue. Now I return here after my time to remind myself of what I must do.”\n“And what must you do?”\n“Once a person has experienced a certain kind of hell, they don’t have a choice on what they must do next. They simply must return to aid fellow travelers upon their way. My burden is a glimmer of your burden, we are different, but in a sense, we are one and the same. Your pilgrimage once was my pilgrimage, and once an eon, I return to remember what it’s all about, what it’s all for.”\n“So, why am I here?”\n“Part of you understood why when you drank from the well of Chaos.”\n“I do not understand.”\nThe ferryman then began to paddle in unison with every phrase he spoke, “You asked me how to not be overcome by your emotion, instead be overcome by yourself. The dragon you sought overcomes, it overcomes grief, it overcomes destiny, it overcomes all. Ultimately, you must overcome in the act of creation. The destiny of the cosmic forces of Love and Strife written across the cosmos, to disintegrate and then to create ad infinitum is a perpetual forward thrusting—but for a fraction of a moment, the dragon’s thunderbolt strikes, and a being is hurled into consciousness, it embodies a destiny, then it is grounded, and sees within itself the ineffable myriad, the inexpressible, until it occurs—that moment of transcendence where experience widens, times and space stop in its tracks, and the original Chaos is restored.”\nWith an old raspy voice it continued, “To be in its presence… Well it leaves traces in our hearts for eternity. I still feel it eons later. I can say no more, anything else I might add would deviate from the ancient poetry.”\nThe ferryman then silenced himself, and looked off into the beyond, towards the light ahead, his eyes being a beacon that saw distant shores.\nOnce they finally arrived at the cavern’s dark bank of the river, the being said:\n“Your destination, but a word of caution,\nThink! Act! Now! Will you be as just and true,\nas all of those that can before you?\nOr be something else entirely?\nYour choice to be or not to be.\nNow remember this Redemptive Grief,\nEternity shall pass, this remains.\nStruggle and strife is the bane of Cain’s.”\nMephisto stepped off the rocky boat and turned towards the ferryman one last time, and asked, “Your eyes, how did you come by them?”\n“A price must be paid to cross over again. Since I did not have the coinage, I paid with my eyes. I cannot see by corporeal means, only by spiritual. Now begone, until we meet again in the great beyond!”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A YELLOW RAFT IN BLUE WATER. By Michael Dorris. 343 pages. Henry Holt & Company. $16.95.\nSet against the backdrop of an Indian reservation in Montana and nearby regions in the Pacific Northwest, ''A Yellow Raft in Blue Water'' tells the story of three extraordinary women: Rayona, a self-reliant schoolgirl set adrift from her family at the age of 15; her strong-willed mother, Christine, and Ida, the proud matriarch of their clan. Each of these women speaks to us directly without the scrim of an omniscient narrator; and together, their voices form a chorus echoing through four decades of family history.\nA similar method of narration was employed by Michael Dorris's wife, Louise Erdrich, in her accomplished novel ''The Beet Queen'' (1986); and in interviews, the couple have spoken of their collaborative work on such novels. Authorship, they have explained, goes to the person who does the first draft - which presumably means that ''A Yellow Raft in Blue Water'' was initially written by Mr. Dorris, then edited (revised or commented upon) by Ms. Erdrich.\nIn any case, the book not only has structural affinities with ''The Beet Queen'' but also addresses many of the same themes - including the growing sense of rootlessness overtaking provincial America, the lasting consequences of ancient family betrayals and the complicated equation of affection and resentment worked out between parents and their children. Although the writing in ''A Yellow Raft'' is not as consistently -and as organically - lyrical as that found in Ms. Erdrich's books, it does share a capacity to startle the reader with strong, almost dreamlike images: a car's broken taillight, ''spilling a red beam at a funny angle''; a tired woman in a reclining chair, lying ''almost flat, suspended in the room like the lady in a magic act''; a hot, breezeless day in which ''the leaves on the short trees looked heavy as tin.''\nHappily, these descriptions of the physical surface of things are matched by Mr. Dorris's equally successful depiction of elusive states of mind - through the delicate orchestration of tiny emotional details. He has Rayona describe her sick mother's breathing as ''rain in the night, beating on the windows and blowing the curtains,'' then pages later has her remember Seattle's rainy weather and her mother's habit of carrying a rainhat (''an accordioned plastic with two tie strings'') in her purse. Elsewhere, he turns a comic escapade (in which Rayona and her mother debate whether to take out a lifetime membership at a video rental store) into an unexpected confrontation with mortality - a scene that, chapters later, takes on an even deeper chiaroscuro when it is related again from the point of view of Rayona's dying mother, Christine.\nIndeed Mr. Dorris has used the technique of multiple perspective narration in this volume to create three portraits of remarkable psychological density. In the first section of ''A Yellow Raft,'' we meet Rayona, and we initially come to see the dissolution of her family through her adolescent eyes. Her father, a black postal worker named Elgin, has apparently spent the better part of his lengthy marriage chasing younger women. And while her mother has been more attentive, she remains impulsive and willful - really more of a child than Rayona herself. Now, in the midst of a visit to the family reservation, Christine has disappeared, leaving Rayona to the care of her fierce and seemingly hostile Aunt Ida. Feeling hurt and abandoned, Rayona runs away - determined to make a new life on her own.\nIn the next section, Mr. Dorris shifts gears, giving us a rendition of this same scenario from the perspective of Rayona's mother. Though it's a somewhat risky proposition - the reader, after all, is asked to sit through many of the same events a second time - he carries it off neatly, making us appreciate the nearly tragic results of family members being trapped within their own subjectivity, prisoners of their selfish anger and pain. We realize that Christine's illness has not been a phony play for sympathy but the real thing and that her disappearance constitutes not an act of abandonment but a cowardly attempt to save her daughter from the knowledge of her imminent death.\nSimilarly, in the third section of ''A Yellow Raft,'' Mr. Dorris jumps back another generation, to give us a look at both Christine and Rayona through the eyes of their Aunt Ida. In the course of her monologue we not only learn about the hidden reasons for her defensiveness and anger but we also come to understand why so many of the relationships in this family are invested with such hope -and a fear of loss.Continue reading the main story\nIda's secret is teasingly and melodramatically withheld from the reader to build a false suspense, and ''A Yellow Raft'' suffers from other lapses as well: a rodeo sequence in which Rayona impersonates her male cousin and walks off with a prize is both unconvincing and unnecessary; and the men in the book, with the exception of Christine's brother Lee, remain two-dimensional figures - either sex objects or cads. Mr. Dorris is such a persuasive storyteller, however, that we only dwell on such matters in retrospect. In the course of reading the novel, we are content to get to know his characters - and dwell temporarily in their meticulously delineated world.Continue reading the main story", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan\nIt had never been done before. Not in 4000 years of Japanese recorded history had anyone followed the Cherry Blossom Front from one end of the country to the other. Nor had anyone hitchhiked the length of Japan. But, heady on sakura and sake, Will Ferguson bet he could do both.\nThe resulting travelogue is one of the funniest and most illuminating books ever written about Japan. And, as Ferguson learns, it illustrates that to travel is better than to arrive.\nEarn By Promoting Books\nEarn money by sharing your favourite books through our Affiliate programme.Become an Affiliate", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A young woman living with relatives struggles to keep her home life, and life away from home separate from each other. All while trying to contact her absentee mother, who left her in the care of others.\nA story of love, loss, and moving on. Two lovers find themselves torn apart as one of them becomes sick. After the death of her girlfriend, the other girl is left to move on and pick up the pieces of her broken heart.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It is no wonder that so many people throughout the ages and throughout Earth still find it rather difficult to write an essay. There is a very steep learning curve that one needs to climb so as to write these papers that are challenging. That said, there are a few methods that you may utilize to help shorten the learning procedure and make the procedure less of a challenge. Hopefully these hints will be to write an essay more fast.\nThe first thing you must do in order to compose any kind of essay is to pick out a topic. The topic can be as varied as you can imagine. It can be centered around a particular event or idea, or it can be something as wide as’the four P’ As long as the topic revolves around advice of some kind, it’s important to select one that isn’t too broad and that concentrates on one specific interest. It’s far simpler to compose an article which focuses on one specific subject.\nWhen the subject is determined, the writer must choose a writing format. Among the most common formats for article writing is your argumentative essay. This is where the author provides their personal opinion on a particular topic, usually supported by some type of evidence or research.\nArgumentative essay topics are often quite lengthy. But, there are a few ways that one may lengthen this process and make the essay much faster. The first way involves expanding the scope of the essay to include just facts. Facts could be researched and can be offered in a manner that supports the opinion that has been expressed. For example, if the writer were academic essay writing service to write about global warming, one would want to supply as much information as possible concerning the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to the issue.\nAnother way to create an essay that’s quick is to write the article as if you are presenting your research findings. Each bit of information should be discussed and each fact should be assessed again before proceeding to another point. If the topics are too broad, it is going to take a writer far too much time to explain all the information that he or she has accumulated and the reader will get bored with reading the essay. In addition, if the topics are too wide, it is going to take an author far too much time to explain all the information that he or she has accumulated and the reader will become bored with reading the essay.\nFinally, once the essay topics are researched and decided, the author should then select the ideal essay decision. This is the point where the subject is explained and the opinion that the writer has come to concerning the topic is stated clearly. But it must be remembered that it is the opinion that is most significant in deciding how long the composition needs to be and what decision ought to be drawn.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Hopefully, the rest of the trilogy would bring Fitz some growth. Fitz is about to discover the truth about the Fool's prophecy. In fact, don't even read the second book in the trilogy. These books were full of action, drama, and lots of painful scenes. It was utterly, mind-bogglingly boring.\nI have read over 500 of books in my life and I don't know what it is with this series, but I simply love it. I am referring here to Starling the Minstrel, and Kettle-who-is-not-Kettle. Nighteyes certainly lightened things up along the way, and I love him. The Narcheska has set the prince an unfathomable task: to behead a dragon trapped in ice on the isle of Aslevjal. The main, interesting mystery, the Re This is one of the few books of which I can't say why I didn't stop reading. For in the young man's blood is a heritage of magic, the talent called the Skill, as well as another, even more mysterious ability.\nWith unforgettable characters, a sweeping backdrop, and passionate storytelling, this is a fantasy debut to rival that of Robert Jordan. The characters are mostly known, and Fitz is growing up. Between books, he is active in regional theaters across the country. Without giving away any real spoilers, this person is just so one-dimensional and obviously a problem. Hobb stuck the landing, and you would do well to study it.\nIt's not that bad I guess, but so many and so random is bit. Forever held back into a deep whining and self loathing. I was looking for a trilogy of 1990s-style pre-Twilight, Hunger Games, Game of Thrones explosion fantasy. There is so much to talk about in a review of this book that its hard to know where to start. Posing as a bodyguard, Fitz becomes the eyes and ears behind the walls, guiding a kingdom straying closer to civil strife each day. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chilvary Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. I wanted more people to be on Fitz side rather than Regal but that didn't happen in this book.\nIf you experience similar reaction like me, just drop it and start another book, don't force yourself to finish it, not worth it. There is magic and herbology and animal kinship woven in here. I enjoyed both his travels with Nighteyes alone and with the rest of the group. Out of dozens of series,this is my favorite fantasy series of all time. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission, a mission that poses as much a threat to himself as it does for his target---for Fitz is a threat to the throne. He spends a large chunk of the third book on a useless quest, and all the while he is thinking and I was thinking this is a bad idea. He embraced weakness and ignored his strength.\nBut this particular time really has me irritated. It's a good book that survives the reading process with me. Every time he might accomplish something he fails and fails again. I suppose it's just not the author's strength or intent to explore violence, but it takes the edge from what could have been high adrenaline events. The intrigue can get a little convoluted but by then you love the characters enough that you'll be happy at the finish.\nFitz struggle is delicious but the book ends with him having lost almost everything so he has a lot to make up for in the next book. The second best thing in the series after Fitzchivalry; expect Hobb to steal your heart and mind through this strange and enigmatic figure. This is one of the few books of which I can't say why I didn't stop reading. Even with the glut of great fantasy, old and new, this deserves to be a series that everyone that wants to be familiar with the best the genre offers should read. This is a wonderful tale, but one that has taken a toll on my emotions.\n» » Robin Hobb was born on 28 December 1959. In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. In many areas, Fitz shows good initiative and intuition in defiance of others. I don't write reviews very often, but boy I enjoyed this book. Tortured by this terrible vision, he returns to the Six Duchies court where all is far from well. But he acts his age and pays for it.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Background: Population-based estimates of absolute risk of lung cancer recurrence, and of mortality rates after recurrence, can inform clinical management. Methods: We evaluated prognostic factors for recurrences and survival in 2098 lung cancer case patients from the general population of Lombardy, Italy, from 2002 to 2005. We conducted survival analyses and estimated absolute risks separately for stage IA to IIIA surgically treated and stage IIIB to IV non-surgically treated patients. Results: Absolute risk of metastases exceeded that of local recurrence in every stage and cell type, highlighting the systemic threat of lung cancer. In stage I, the probability of dying within the first year after diagnosis was 2.7%, but it was 48.3% within first year after recurrence; in stage IV, the probabilities were 57.3% and 80.6%, respectively. Over half the patients died within one year of first metastasis. Although in stages IA to IB about one-third of patients had a recurrence, stage IIA patients had a recurrence risk (61.2%) similar to stage IIB (57.9%) and IIIA (62.8%) patients. Risk of brain metastases in stage IA to IIIA surgically treated non-small cell lung cancer patients increased with increasing tumor grade. Absolute risk of recurrence was virtually identical in adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma patients. Conclusions: This population-based study provides clinically useful estimates of risks of lung cancer recurrence and mortality that are applicable to the general population. These data highlight the need for more effective adjuvant treatments overall and within specific subgroups. The estimated risks of various endpoints are useful for designing clinical trials, whose power depends on absolute numbers of events.\nASJC Scopus subject areas\n- Cancer Research", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Periodontal Disease and Osteoporosis\nPeriodontal disease is characterized by a continual loss of surrounding gingival tissue in the jawbone and gums. It is the #1 cause of loss of teeth in adults in the civilized world. Periodontal disease happens when bacteria found in oral plaque irritate and inflame the soft tissues around the teeth. Without treatment, bacteria migrate initially causing the inner destruction of gum tissue, and then advance to affect the boney tissue.\nOsteoporosis is a common metabolic disease of the bone which frequently happens in postmenopausal women, and occurs less frequently in men. Osteoporosis is demonstrated by low bone mass, bone fragility, and a decrease in bone mineral density. Research has identified and explored a connection between osteoporosis and periodontal disease.\nResearch conducted at the University of New York at Buffalo in 1994 shows that post-menopausal women who were diagnosed with osteoporosis were 88% more prone to also develop periodontal disease.\nReasons for the Connection\nThough research is still being made in order to further examine the extent of the relationship between periodontal disease and osteoporosis, the studies have made the following connections:\n- Deficiency in estrogen – Estrogen deficiency and associated menopause accelerates the progression of the loss of bone. The lack of estrogen speeds up the attachment rate loss (tissues and fibers which keep the teeth secure are destroyed).\n- Low mineral bone density – Studies show this to be one of many causes of osteoporosis, and the infection from periodontal disease may lead to a breakdown in weakened bones. This is the reason periodontitis can be more advanced in patients with osteoporosis.\nDiagnosis and Treatment\nPeriodontal disease and osteoporosis are much less significant if they are seen in the beginning stages. Once a diagnosis has been given, the dentist will generally connect with the patient's doctor to make sure that both diseases are simultaneously controlled.\nHere are some steps commonly used to treat and diagnose the diseases:\n- Routine dental radiographs – Radiographs (x-rays) can be efficiently made to look for bone loss in the lower and upper jaw, and the dentist can provide means for treating and preventing periodontal disease. It is believed that reducing periodontal disease will help eliminate osteoporosis.\n- Estrogen supplements – Prescribing post-menopausal women with estrogen supplements reduces the rate of attachment loss and also minimizes gingival infection, which in turn can protect the teeth from periodontal disease.\n- Assessment of risk factors – Doctors and dentists can closely watch patients that are at an significant risk of developing both diseases by looking at medical history, radiograph results, modifiable risk factors, family history, and current medications. Poor diet, obesity, estrogen deficiency, and tobacco use can all be managed using a combination of support, education, and prescription coverage.\nIf you have any concerns about periodontal disease and its connection with osteoporosis, please consult with Dr. Braithwaite and his staff.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "'Good prognosis tumours' in breast cancer screening.\n- D Birch, M Payne, Y Chia, S McPherson\n- Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England SCI(E) SCOPUS\n- Cited Count\n- References open button\n5.Radiotherapy for ductal carcinoma in situ detected by screening.C R Hamilton et al. BMJ (Clinical research ed.)General Medicine cited 3 times\n8.Comparative pathology of prevalent and incident cancers detected by breast screening. Edinburgh Breast Screening Project.T J Anderson et al. The LancetGeneral Medicine cited 16 times", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "- 本カテゴリの商品を2500円以上購入で買取金額500円UPキャンペーン対象商品です。商品出荷時に買取サービスでご利用いただけるクーポンをメールにてご案内させていただきます。 詳細はこちら (細則もこちらからご覧いただけます)\n122 Rules (英語) ペーパーバック – 2016/3/29\nKindle 端末は必要ありません。無料 Kindle アプリのいずれかをダウンロードすると、スマートフォン、タブレットPCで Kindle 本をお読みいただけます。\nIn his black and white world, Sam Bradford--former Marine turned government assassin--finally sees a speck of grey. He has always followed orders without question, but his latest assignment threatens to disrupt the precision of his universe and may either sever or redeem his last remaining sliver of humanity. Explore the dark side of a man living outside of society who has sacrificed all for the greater good of God and Country only to find out he isn't working for who he thought he was.\nUsing his mastery of the 122 Rules of Psychology, Sam hunts down everyone. Imagine being able to extract people's deepest most protected secrets by following a strict set of rules perfected by the most brilliant minds in the nation. Imagine having access to unlimited resources, information, money, and technology. What would you do? Where would you go? Who would you look for? Do you use your power for peace and prosperity, to further the advancement of your fellow man? Or do you use it to increase your own wealth and power by controlling and manipulating everyone around you? Imagine, spending a decade being sent the world over to find people and exploit them for the safety and advancement of your fellow countryman. You are following a path of idealism that is larger than you, larger than anyone. You are doing it for the greater good of God and Country.\nThe Agency sends him to find enemies of the state and eliminate them. Just as he has his rifle scope focused on his latest victim, an innocent girl entangled with the mob, his long-dormant conscience reappears for a final performance...one last ditch effort to save the sinking ship of Sam's soul. He's killed innocents before, but tarries on pulling the trigger this time.\nNow imagine that you're wrong. What you have been told is a lie.\nWhen Monica escapes his crosshairs and fumbles her way across the country in a pathetic attempt to elude capture, Sam gives chase. But he's not the only one after her. Ruthless assassins, hired by the mob, froth like bloodhounds and nip at Monica's heels. Now Sam is faced with a choice: turn his back on the rules and jeopardize his way of life by helping her or join the pack and rip her to shreds.\nThe people who are in control are not what you thought. They are the faceless. The corrupt. They have been using you to find and manipulate others, not for one nation under God, but to increase their wealth and power.\nWhat do you do? You are a lone soldier, trained to follow orders. Separate from everyone, living outside of society.\nCan you quit? Just give up a life of stoicism and start over? Is that even possible? What of the pain you've left in your wake? Can you make amends for the atrocities you've committed?\nSam Bradford is a man who has just come to realize his life is not what he thought it was. He has been outside and is ready to step back in. But can he escape the past, or will his demons destroy his new life and everyone in it that matters?\n\"122 Rules is a fast-paced thrill-ride, filled with rich characters living in an expertly woven world of mystery and suspense. Deek Rhew's debut novel will take readers by storm, and keep them coming back for sequels.\" -Michelle K. Pickett, Bestselling and award-winning author of PODs and Unspeakable. With a pinch of humor and multiple twists of violent action, 122 RULES is a page-turning thriller where law-upholders, law-enforcers and law-breakers co-exist in a fuzzy line that makes you wonder: Who is enforcing the law, who is breaking it, and who are the victims of this uncertainty? Monica, a feisty and irreverent law student, is caught in the middle of it all when she finds herself in the wrong place, at the wrong time, overhearing the wrong conversation, one that changes her life forever taking us on a warped path where, what we think is real, might not be true, and what is true, is clearly debatable. Yes, Deek Rhew keeps you wondering until the last page! - Leonardo Wild, author of THE GALAPAGOS AGENDA --このテキストは、ペーパーバック版に関連付けられています。商品の説明をすべて表示する\nI was looking for something new – a break from the traditional romantic-suspense that fills my TBR list. I found it in 122 Rules. It’s not merely exciting, it's addictive. I couldn't put it down, even when I wanted to (for instance, when I thought the suspense might actually kill me).\nNow, nearly two weeks later, I still can't get this riveting story out of my mind. It left me with almost as many questions as answers. The author’s skillful story-telling rivals some of the most highly acclaimed, best-selling mystery-thriller authors in contemporary fiction. Take my word for it, you’ll be tempted to check out the ending simply to spare yourself the gripping anxiety and get some of your questions answered. But don’t give in to the urge to cheat. just sit back and enjoy this captivating thrill-ride. I promise you it’s totally worth it.\nIf you like the darkness and suspense of a powerful mystery, some heart-pounding, breath-taking thrills and chills, and a hint of a potentially explosive love story yet to come, you do NOT want to miss 122 Rules. I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel.\nThe plot revolves around a prime witness who is forced to go into hiding. It deals with chasers, the victim, mob, name the elements in a thriller and they are all here.\nDeek has an amazing writing style. His narration kept me on tenterhooks. Throughout the reading I was kept guessing at every page. If I say I was part of a movie unfolding before my eyes I won't be wrong. The imageries were vibrant and touched every corner of my mind. In fact there was not a single sense that was left untouched. Language used did perfect justice to the story. It ensured that I never stopped midway.\nTwo characters stood out. One was the perfect protagonist and the other one was a protagonist with shades of an antagonist, or was he an antagonist with traces of a protagonist? For that you need to read the story. As a reader, I loved every twist and turn that happened in their lives, how perceptions changed and the emotions they felt.\nTo sum up, the book is a must read. It is excites, amazes, and keeps a reader engaged till the last page. You need to read it to believe it. It is a thriller that promises and delivers by keeping the readers engrossed. There is a cliffhanger so I am sure there is a sequel.\nP.S - Thank you Erin and Deek. The storyline has been awesome and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one\nDeek pretty much grabbed me from the first page with his style. I'm not one for overly descriptive writing and Deek is really good at using description to enhance and not distract. His character descriptions both physically and emotionally are thorough but not overly done, and written in such a way as to inform the reader while still allowing you to \"fill in the blanks\" with your imagination. His style stays true when setting a scene or situation.\nFor me, filling in the blanks is one of the joys of reading and I hate it when things are overly done in a heavy handed way, so this was great.\nAs for the story it's pretty much a nitro-crazy car ride from beginning to end. I enjoy good twists and turns, and Deek was able to surprise me quite a number of times during this story and that's always tons of fun for a reader as well.\nMonica is a strong yet vulnerable character without coming across as weak and I found Sam to be an incredibly interesting character as he begins to break free of his military mind set for seemingly the first time in his career.\nThere were also quite a few laugh out loud moments, which were very much needed considering the intensity of the book.\nI will point out that I did in fact receive an ARC in exchange for my honest review and Deek also received a copy of my book for a review as well. It seems we both really liked each other's book which is great because that could have been awkward at the next \"writers who write about assassins\" meeting.\nThis is supposedly the first book in a series and I certainly wont need an ARC for the next one, I'll pre-order that bad boy.\nIf you like thoughtful but fast paced, action based (and packed) stories I really recommend this book.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "As most who have read about me on this site would know, romance novels are my guilty pleasure. I love reading them. They have the romance that I crave, the tall dark handsome man, the happy ending that always makes me smile and sigh. Now, don’t get me wrong, I also love my classics to distraction, but a girl’s got to have some light reading now and then. So, I curl up in bed and read my romance novels.\nUnfortunately, romance novels often get a bad rap. People automatically think of them all as bodice rippers with steamy sex scenes. Sex, however, is not what makes a good romance novel. The romance novel certainly didn’t start out that way. Its’ origins stem from the Gothic novel, a popular genre in the 19th century, and other early sensation fiction written by women. There was certainly no sex in those novels. People would have been scandalized. The Gothic novel, which is also the predecessor of our paranormal novels, was the beginning of sensational fiction, particularly involving in many cases a young woman in trouble who is then saved by a handsome man, whom she eventually marries. Anne Radcliffe is probably the most well known of the Gothic novelists, having written The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Romance of the Forest.\nBut let’s move forward to the first true romance novel. We get to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, considered by many to be the epitome of the romantic novel. It focuses almost entirely on courtship and is written from the female perspective. Again, I see no sex. Hmmm. It looks like there is a pattern forming. Jane Austen in turn inspired Georgette Heyer, one of the most well-known romance authors in history. She introduced the historical romance novel in 1921. Her novels are also hardly bodice rippers, instead focusing on the soul connection between the two lovers. Hyatt specifically brought the Regency historical romance to the forefront of people’s attention. She centers her novels on the wealthy upper class and the London season with its marriage mart. Her first romance novel, The Regency Buck, happens to be one of my favorites.\nSince then, the romance novel has evolved and changed drastically over the years, particularly in the 1980s when many subgenres emerged and single titles began to be released. During this period the romance novel and the portrayal of its characters blossomed into the genre that we know today. More modern romances became popular and the characters were modernized to reflect the norms of this time period. Romance novels are the most popular genre in the literary world, comprising 55% of all paperback books sold. They are also read in numerous countries, having been translated into 90 different languages.\nSo why all the criticism and derision? Well, with the modernization of the romance novel came some subgenres that do focus on sex such as erotic romance. But this is just a small fraction of the entire genre. While there are many bodice rippers lining the shelves, there are also tons of clean romance novels; romance novels without any sex or nudity. These books are just as good as the other romance novels in terms of showing the relationship blossom between two characters, but they just leave out the consummation of that love. So, why are we booing romance novels? The genre is a great one, with every type of wish fulfillment you could ask for in a novel. Just because a book is a romance novel does not mean that it is dirty. We need to understand that distinction and correct the view of society. Romance novels deserve respect too! And so ends my defense of the romance novel. Go out and try one.\nDo you read romance novels? Do you have a favorite clean romance novel you would like to share with the world? Sound off below…\nLove happy endings? Read Why Happily Ever After Deserves Our Respect.\nWant a list of some clean romances to read? Check out my list of the Top 30 Cleverly Clean Romances to Sneak Under Your Covers.\nInto paranormal romance? Be sure to read The Top 65 Paranormal Romances in Film, Literature, and Television.\nARE YOU A ROMANCE FAN? FOLLOW THE SILVER PETTICOAT REVIEW:Our romance-themed entertainment site is on a mission to help you find the best period dramas, romance movies, TV shows, and books. Other topics include Jane Austen, Classic Hollywood, TV Couples, Fairy Tales, Romantic Living, Romanticism, and more. We’re damsels not in distress fighting for the all-new optimistic Romantic Revolution. Join us and subscribe. For more information, see our About, Old-Fashioned Romance 101, Modern Romanticism 101, and Romantic Living 101.\n2 thoughts on “Romance Novels – A Misunderstood Genre”\nNo defense needed. 🙂\nI’d strongly recommend reading ‘Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women’, which is written by several leading romance authors and has a strong feminist perspective in support of the romance genre. In short: It’s interesting that the only genre which is getting this type of derision is a genre written *by* women, *for* women.\nI also make no apologies for any ‘heat’ level I choose to read or write in a romance. I’ve read far worse scenes in *non-romance* than I have in *romance*. Rape scenes are long, long gone from romance but they’re alive and well (and considerably more graphic and violent) in popular fiction. Again, this is acceptable, but consensual sex between adults isn’t? Pfft.\nI’ve also heard the classic, ‘Oh, I should sit home one weekend and hack out a romance novel and make a million,’ to which I just laugh and say, ‘Go ahead and try it, and tell me if you make it past a paragraph.’ It’s harder than it looks. And besides, in what other genre are you promised a happily ever after? 🙂\nBut go, you, for holding your head high and sticking by what you like! You are not alone, sister.\nThank you! Wonderful points made. I completely agree. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one out there who appreciates a good romance novel. Here here! 🙂", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Continuing with our focus on books to use during the first weeks of school, add The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein to your list. Perfectionist Beatrice Bottomwell begins to feel the pressures of living up to her reputation as the girl who never makes mistakes. She always matches her socks, wears the right shoes on the correct feet, makes the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich, remembers to make her bed and complete her math homework, and never forgets to feed her pet hamster, Humbert. When a talent show act goes terribly wrong, Beatrice must decide how to handle her first mistake – cry; run off stage; or laugh? Students can learn from Beatrice’s choice to laugh off her mistake, but more than that they can see that her anxiety lessens and the quality of her life increases when she accepts mistakes as part of her reality. The pressures of trying to be perfect at all things all the time is too daunting for anyone to maintain. Making a mess, falling down and even mismatching your socks occasionally can make life a little less stressful, and a lot more enjoyable.\nIncreasingly, I’ve seen more and more children becoming anxious about the high demands of balancing school work and extracurricular activities and perhaps even feeling more of an urgency to get it right on the first try. I allow this book to be a doorway to some important conversations about school being a safe place for making mistakes. I explicitly describe school – and our classroom – as a place that was purposely built for people to make mistakes.\nThis book also lends itself to discussions about growth-mindset. Have students brainstorm all the ways they could react to mistakes on a t-chart with positive reactions on one side and negative reactions on the other. Then talk about how the negative reactions like crying, whining or saying, “I’ll never get this” lead to a fixed mindset that keeps us stuck where we are; whereas positive reactions such as shrugging it off and trying again permit growth.\nSince identifying similarities and differences is one of the best high-yield instructional strategies, one additional suggestion for use with this book is to compare and contrast two characters – Beatrice and her brother Carl. The author presents Carl as the complete opposite of his perfectionist sister (he eats his crayons and draws with green beans). This would be a great way to introduce Venn diagrams and terms like compare, contrast, similar and different. Remember, to always sneak academic vocabulary and important skills in when reading aloud to students.\nTo accompany the book, I’ve included a free bookmark that offers students some important reminders about making mistakes. You can grab it here.\nThe Book Wrangler", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Deeper Purposes of Art: Walking Murals It is an undeniable fact that this past weekend’s Women’s March was a powerful and courageous antidote to the incisively degrading political rhetoric that […]\nFreebie-Internado aficionados: The Untold Story of Vicky- Target structures, Spanish Idioms and a whole lot of Scaffolding!\nLa Chica Nueva: Short story for Spanish class Edición Internado Free Resource I want my students to read, be intrigued, acquire vocabulary in new ways and conceptually understand the interplay grammatical structures- all while having fun! I love it when their eyes roll across the pages and a smile slowly […]\nLa clase de confesiones A Spanish 1+ novel written mostly […]\nLas Apariencias Engañan Scroll down for the synopsis, free Teacher’s Manual and the preview of first two chapters! I was thrilled by the concept of Novelas por Entregas such as those you’d read in Vanidades Magazine. You’d flip to the back, and there was always an intriguing story: short, but sweet. This was the […]", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Posts Tagged evocative music\nMy guest this week was so young when Faber bought her first fantasy novel that her father had to sign the contract. She’s more than built on that early promise by scooping the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian prize and is so prolific that in her credits she only lists her best-known works. Her imagination has ranged everywhere, from a fantasy czarist Russia to the far future – and thrilling, evocative music has been intrinsic to all of them. She is children’s author Susan Price, and she’s on the Red Blog with a truly rich Undercover Soundtrack.\nauthors, award winner, award-winning author, Carnegie Medal, children's fantasy, deepen your story, Do Authors Dream of Electric Books?, entertainment, evocative music, faber, fantasy, fantasy Czarist Russia, fantasy novel, Fix and Finish With Confidence, Guardian award, having ideas, how to write a novel, ideas, imagination, inspiration, MG fiction, music for writing, My Memories of a Future Life, Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, novels, publishing, Roz Morris, self-publishing, Sterkarm, Susan Price, The Undercover Soundtrack, undercover soundtrack, writing to music\nSign up for my newsletter\n- 'If you're a writer or are considering becoming a writer, buy Roz's Nail Your Novel and Stephen King's On Writing. Everything else is a waste of time and money.'\n- 'Showed me where I was going wrong... without making me feel like an idiot'\n- 'Made me want to drop everything and get back to the manuscript'\nRozmorriswriter [at] gmail [dot] com\nFind me here too\n- Thanks for RT @porter_anderson: \"Later in the #book when we know the character, we can fill the blanks #writing ow.ly/l9za4 2 hours ago\n- Been promising this for years - 'Nail Your Novel: Bring Characters To Life' #BookBuzzr #writing - bit.ly/16bR6nU 6 hours ago\n- RT @porter_anderson: \"Speech is carried off by the wind; the written word can never be obliterated\" Mo Yan #Nobel ow.ly/l9reu 6 hours ago\n- Me too RT @timharford: George Takei responds to \"traditional\" marriage fans - marvelous. I'm yours, George. dlvr.it/3Nn1kr 9 hours ago\nAll content copyright Roz Morris 2009-2013 and may not be reproduced.\nIf you wish to REBLOG a post, that's very nice of you - please take no more than 10% of the piece and please link back to the full post here.\nINTENSIVE MULTIMEDIA COURSE WITH ROZ MORRIS AND JOANNA PENN\nWhat do you want to read about today?\nIt’s all here somewhereagents Amazon authors beginners beginnings books Character deepen your story entertainment fiction Fix and Finish With Confidence having ideas how to write a book how to write a novel ideas inspiration interview Kindle literary fiction literature music music for writing My Memories of a Future Life Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, Fix and Finish With Confidence novels Planning Plot polishing publishing revising Rewriting Roz Morris self-publishing The Undercover Soundtrack unblocking undercover soundtrack writer's block writing writing a novel - Nail Your Novel writing business writing life writing prompt writing routine writing to music\nType something. See what happens\n- When to trust the reader’s intuition – and when to spell out what a character feels: post at KM Weiland’s Wordplay\n- ‘True love is a sense of returning home’ – The Undercover Soundtrack, Caroline Smailes\n- Only connect: how to wake a dormant muse\n- 3 ways the author temperament hinders our writing – post at Authors Electric\n- ‘Art that engages the sixth sense’ – The Undercover Soundtrack, Tom Bradley\nOut and about\nAlliance of Independent Authors Professional Member", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Wednesday, November 15, 2017\nAn Unstill Life Tour and Giveaway!\nAn Unstill Life\nby Kate Larkindale\nGenre: YA Contemporary Romance\nWhen your whole world is falling apart, what are the chances you’ll find love in the most unexpected of places?\nLivvie feels like she’s losing everything: her two best friends have abandoned her for their boyfriends, her mother continues to ignore her, while her sister, Jules, is sick again and getting worse by the day. Add in the request Jules has made of her and Livvie feels like she’s losing her mind, too.\nHer only escape is in the art room, where she discovers not only a refuge from her life, but also a kindred soul in Bianca, the school “freak”. Livvie’s always felt invisible, at school and at home, but with Bianca, she finally feels like someone sees the real Livvie. As the relationship deepens and it comes time to take the romance public, will Livvie be able to take that step?\nLivvie’s about to find out if she has what it takes to make the tough decisions and stand up for herself—for the first time in her life.\nBianca pulled up in front of my house, which sat in darkness, not even the porch light on to guide me. I must be late. Mom always switched off the light at midnight, whether we were home or not, letting us know she was aware we’d missed curfew. I’d hear about it tomorrow. Or maybe not.\n“Thanks for the ride,” I said. “And … thanks. Again. Like I said, you’re always rescuing me.”\n“Maybe I think you’re worth saving.” Bianca wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were turned to the open window. The words sounded simple, but they weren’t. They lay across the seat between us, pulsing in shades of pink and red.\n“Thanks?” The word felt awkward in my mouth. Would she still think I was worth saving if she knew I was thinking of ways to kill my sister? I shoved the thought away as I climbed out of the car. “See you in school.”\n“Yeah. See you.” Bianca turned, her eyes glittering under the streetlights. “Hey, Livvie?”\n“Yeah?” I ducked my head back through the door.\n“I really like your painting.”\nI jerked back in surprise, knocking the back of my head on the door. “My painting? You mean the still life?”\nShe nodded. “Yeah. It’s really good. It’s like everyone else is painting the surface of the things, but you’re painting what’s underneath. The real apple. The real flowers. It’s got—” She stopped, searching around as if she’d find the word she was looking for hanging in the air, ripe for plucking. “Well, it sounds totally corny, but it’s got soul.”\nMy face grew warm. “Thanks,” I mumbled. “But yours is way better.”\nShe waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “No. Mine’s clever. It’s thought out. But there’s no passion in it. Yours has that.”\nI giggled. “Passion? For a bunch of fruit and flowers? I hope not.”\nShe smiled, too, the flicker of movement so small I could have missed it. “Well, yeah. It’s not the most exciting subject. But if you can inject that much life into something so stupid, just think what you could do with something you really care about. Like that thing you did with the song. That’s something special.”\nI sank back into the seat, the springs wheezing beneath me. My ears blazed, and I knew my cheeks were just as red. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. Even Mrs. DeWinter dismissed my music pictures as irrelevant swirls of color, while Mom considered all painting and drawing to be a frivolous waste of time.\n“Thanks.” I stammered again.\n“No, thank you.” Bianca lit another cigarette, the fiery end punching a hole in the darkness.\n“What for?” Smoke burned my eyes, making them tear. At least, I thought it was the smoke. I couldn’t remember the last time someone complimented me or made me feel special. I brushed at a wet spot on my cheek.\nShe took a long drag and turned to her open window before exhaling into the night. “I’ve always been the best at art. I never had to work hard to be the best either. Now I have something to work for.”\n“Oh.” I admired the ease with which she admitted to being the best. “Okay.”\nSilence filled the car, but it was a warm, comforting silence.\n“I have to go.” The reluctance in my voice surprised me, and I realized I didn’t want to leave. And not just because Bianca’s words flattered me. I recognized the truth in them. “I have a curfew. And I’m late.”\n“Sure. Wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.” She turned the key and let the engine struggle to life again.\nI watched the way the light gleamed off her shiny red lips. Surprised, I realized I wanted to lean over and kiss them, wanted to see if she tasted of the raspberries I always tasted while in her presence. I scrambled out of the car, putting distance between us as fast as I could. My heart raced in my chest.\nHaving spent a lifetime travelling the globe, Kate Larkindale is currently residing in Wellington, New Zealand. A marketing executive, film reviewer and mother, she’s surprised she finds any time to write, but doesn’t sleep much. As a result, she can usually be found hanging out near the espresso machine.\nHer short stories have appeared in Halfway Down The Stairs, A Fly in Amber, Daily Flash Anthology, The Barrier Islands Review, Everyday Fiction, Death Rattle, Drastic Measures, Cutlass & Musket and Residential Aliens, among others.\nShe has written fourteen contemporary YA novels, a few of which other people are allowed to see. She has also written one very bad historical romance. She is currently working on a new YA novel and ghostwriting an autobiography.\nFollow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!\nThis post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions . The author will award a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly draw...\nThe One by Audrey J. Cole ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thriller ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To save their marriage, Sloane must forgive her husband’s affair. Instead, sh...\nThe Warlock's Curse by C. B. Oresky ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young Adult Fantasy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clara and Angelica Grace have never met ghosts. Th...\nGUEST BLOG Fascinating Mid-19th Century Facts Sam Time readers will learn about Victorian customs in the U.S. The first time-travel chapter ...", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Reducing Costs and Improving Outcomes\nResearch in Action, Issue 8\nThe question of which medicines work best at the lowest cost has become more and more important as costs have soared. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funds research about prescription medicine, and this synthesis shows the impact of that research.\nAmericans spent over $553 billion for health care in 1997.1 Over $200 billion was spent for hospitalizations, $180 billion for ambulatory care, and $72 billion for prescription medicine.1 Since 1991, prescription drug costs have soared, increasing faster than the inflation rate.2\nThe issue of prescription drug costs has captured the attention of legislators and policymakers, insurers, health care providers, and consumers asking the question: Which medicines work best at the lowest cost?\nThe Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has funded research that helps to answer questions about prescription medicine. AHRQ research has:\n- Identified conditions for which drug therapy is not necessary.\n- Discovered low-cost drug therapies that provide patients with the same quality of care as more expensive drugs.\n- Revealed that sometimes the newest, most expensive drug therapy reduces costs overall because it keeps patients healthier and less likely to use other health care services.\n- Investigated the cost effectiveness and safety of outpatient vs. inpatient services and the impact of preventive drug therapy.\nMaking a Difference\nPrescription drug spending doubled from $60.8 billion in 1995 to $121.8 billion in 2000 and is expected to reach $160.9 billion in 2002.3 These increases can be attributed to the research and development of new drugs, as well as the availability of new, more expensive drugs that either replace older drugs or provide treatment for a condition that previously was not treatable.3,4 Consumers are also purchasing more prescription drugs.3 In 1993, 7 prescriptions were dispensed per person; by 2000, this number had increased to 10 prescriptions per person.3\nAHRQ research projects have been funded to determine where the costs for treatment can be reduced without reducing the quality of care. The objective is to determine when older, less expensive drugs or no drug treatment can work just as well as newer, more expensive drugs.5-10 AHRQ has also funded research to determine whether limiting the use of certain drugs, such as antibiotics, can help to reduce the risk of developing antibiotic-resistant bacteria,11,12 thus decreasing costs related to hospitalization.\nAlthough newer drugs are usually more expensive than older drugs, they are sometimes more effective than their older counterparts in reducing illness, hospitalization, or death,13 and the improvements in health care outcomes can justify the increased costs.14 Unfortunately, little information is available to doctors to determine which therapy works best,5 and very few studies have measured the cost benefits of new drugs.13\nWhen better health outcomes involve increased costs, the burden of paying for treatment can have negative consequences. For example, because of cost issues, some patients may resort to drug mismanagement (not filling their prescriptions, taking less than the recommended dose, saving medications for future use, or taking a medicine belonging to another person).15,16 Increased prescription drug costs translate into higher costs for both insurers and patients and, ultimately, higher health insurance premiums for all consumers. Reimbursement strategies designed to save money may be detrimental to patients and may actually result in higher overall health care costs.17 For example, limiting reimbursements for drugs can reduce pharmaceutical costs but increase other costs, such as those for hospitalization.17\nImpact of AHRQ Research\nExpensive Antibiotics Do Not Always Have Better Outcomes\nAHRQ research has found that antibiotics are not always necessary or effective and that less expensive antibiotics often work just as well as more expensive antibiotics. The cost of antibiotics varies widely.8,9 For example, antibiotics to treat middle ear inflammation in children or sinus infections and community-acquired pneumonia in adults cost anywhere from $2.00 to $113.00,6,8,10 resulting in expenses that exceed $4 billion annually.7,9 AHRQ research shows that several strategies work to reduce antibiotic expenses.\nAn AHRQ-funded study that evaluated randomized clinical trials conducted from 1968 through 1994 found that about 80 percent of children recover from middle ear inflammation without the use of antibiotics.12 More appropriate use of antibiotics would not only lower costs, but reduce the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.\nA clinical trial funded by AHRQ showed that amoxicillin performed no differently than a placebo in preventing middle ear inflammation in children. The proportion of children who remained free of inflammation after receiving amoxicillin twice a day (61 percent) was no different from the proportion for children who received amoxicillin once a day and a placebo once a day (64 percent) or children who received a placebo twice a day (63 percent).7\nResearchers funded by AHRQ also found that more expensive antibiotics were not associated with better outcomes than less expensive antibiotics for treating middle ear inflammation in children ages 30 months to 13 years (Table 1). This retrospective study of children enrolled in Colorado's Medicaid program showed that the average rate at which a second dose was prescribed because the infection did not respond to the first dose of antibiotics was 11.6 percent for less expensive antibiotics and 13.2 percent for more expensive antibiotics.8\nAHRQ-funded researchers more recently found that older antibiotics such as amoxicillin provide better treatment outcomes than newer antibiotics for children with middle ear inflammation. Researchers for the Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) at the University of North Carolina discovered that children covered by Medicaid in North Carolina who received older drugs had fewer return visits to their physicians than children who received newer, more expensive drugs. The average cost of drug therapy for older drugs such as amoxicillin was $12.00, while the newer drugs cost an average of $42.00.18\nAHRQ funded an evaluation of randomized trials that showed 69 percent of patients with an uncomplicated sinus infection recovered without any antibiotic treatment at all. Researchers reviewed randomized clinical trials conducted from 1970 through 1998 that compared the use of older antibiotics (amoxicillin and folate inhibitors) with placebos and antibiotics that were newer and more expensive at the time of the studies (such as azithromycin, clarithromycin, and cefixime). Their analysis showed that two-thirds of the patients using placebos got well without any treatment, and the older antibiotics worked just as well as the newer antibiotics.5\nThe AHRQ Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) on pneumonia found that there were no differences in outcomes between outpatients with community-acquired pneumonia who were treated with less expensive antibiotics and those treated with more expensive antibiotics.9\nIn an observational study, patients who received treatment with antibiotics whose average daily costs were relatively inexpensive (ranging from .36 to $4.04) had outcomes similar to those of patients who were given more expensive antibiotics (ranging from $5.10 to $7.52 per day).9,10\nA second observational study conducted by the AHRQ pneumonia PORT examined antibiotic costs and outcomes among outpatients with community-acquired pneumonia at five different medical institutions. The treatment site with the lowest antibiotic cost also had the lowest rates of subsequent hospital admissions, while the facility with the highest costs had the highest rate (Table 2).10\nFinally, a clinical trial funded by AHRQ at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, found that costs could be reduced by decreasing prescription orders for the antibiotic vancomycin. Vancomycin was at one time the only antibiotic physicians could use to treat bacteria that had become resistant to all other antibiotics. It is prescribed primarily for patients who have a serious infection that is resistant to other antibiotics, who are allergic to other antibiotics, or who may have sepsis, and to prevent infection in patients who are about to undergo surgery. Overuse of vancomycin in the past 10 years, however, has resulted in the emergence of at least one strain of bacteria that is showing vancomycin resistance. Controlling the use of vancomycin would help to control development of new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.11\nAll of the physicians studied used computerized order entry. The intervention group received computerized guidelines for ordering intravenous vancomycin; the control group of physicians did not. When compared with the control group of physicians, intervention physicians:\n- Ordered 29 percent fewer initial courses of vancomycin.\n- Wrote 36 percent fewer renewal orders.\n- Had 32 percent fewer total orders for vancomycin.\n- Prescribed vancomycin for 28 percent fewer patients.\n- Prescribed vancomycin for 36 percent fewer days.11\nThe number of patients who received vancomycin during their hospitalization decreased by 15 percent (from 2,715 to 2,341) compared with 9 months before the study. This might have led to a cost savings of $90,000 per year. However, because many patients still required treatment for infection or to prevent infection, another antibiotic would have been prescribed instead of vancomycin. For example, physicians may have substituted cefazolin, which cost $9.00 per day compared with $12.00 per day for vancomycin. The hospital still saved $22,500 a year. Because of the impact the computerized guidelines had on physician ordering practices, at the study's conclusion these guidelines were made available to all users of the computerized order entry system.11\nIn some instances newer, more expensive drugs can lead to cost benefits. For example, new drugs could provide treatment for conditions such as HIV for which very few treatments had previously existed. In addition, newer drugs may be more effective, have fewer side effects, and represent better quality of care than older drugs. They also may lower costs overall by lessening the need for other health care services.4\nAn AHRQ-funded observational study done soon after the approval of the first protease inhibitors (drugs that keep HIV from reproducing) in the mid- and late 1990s showed that HIV-infected patients taking protease inhibitors had lower hospital inpatient costs, community care costs, and costs associated with the treatment of opportunistic illness. Researchers found that the average monthly Medicaid payments for pharmacy costs were higher for patients taking protease inhibitors. However, Medicaid patients who took protease inhibitors, when compared with Medicaid patients who did not, had:\n- Significantly lower average monthly total payments for the sickest patients (those with low CD4a cell counts) in 1997 (Table 3).\n- Significantly lower payments when hospitalized with an opportunistic illness both in 1996 and 1997 (Figure 1).19\na. CD4 cells are a type of white blood cell that helps the body fight off infections. HIV invades CD4 cells. Eventually, the body loses its ability to produce CD4 cells and therefore loses its ability to fight infection.\nOutpatient Drug Treatment Can Be Effective and Reduce Costs\nAHRQ research has demonstrated that some drug treatments offered on an outpatient basis have the same outcomes as those given on an inpatient basis at lower cost. For example, treating women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) as outpatients rather than inpatients could save as much as $500 million a year.20\nPID, an infection and inflammation of organs in the pelvis, affects about 1.2 million women in the United States each year, resulting in infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and ectopic pregnancies. AHRQ funded the PID Evaluation and Clinical Health (PEACH) Study, which conducted a clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of inpatient and outpatient treatment. After 30 days, there were no significant differences in adverse outcomes between the outpatient and inpatient treatment groups, with the exception of phlebitis (inflammation of a vein) sometimes caused in inpatients by intravenous treatment with the antibiotic doxycycline (Figure 2). After an average followup period of 35 months, there were no differences in outcomes between outpatients and inpatients (Figure 3).20\nAHRQ research has shown that using drugs to prevent opportunistic illnesses such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in HIV patients can lower costs. Drugs such as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ), aerosol pentamidine, or dapsone can help prevent PCP, but many patients do not receive these medications.21-23\nResearchers funded by AHRQ in the early 1990s examined past charts of HIV patients. They found that, among patients who developed PCP, those who took preventive drugs were less likely to require hospitalization or admission to the intensive care unit than those who did not take preventive drugs (Table 4). Patients who did not take preventive drugs accounted for 800 (85 percent) of 937 hospital days associated with this illness and were also more likely to die.21 More recent studies conducted by other researchers confirm that preventive drug therapy in HIV patients reduces the risk of PCP as well as other bacterial infections.22-24\nPublic Health Service guidelines today recommend that persons with CD4 counts less than 200 take drug therapy to prevent PCP, and treatment with TMP-SMX is covered under all of the Drug Assistance Programs funded by the Ryan White CARE Act.25\nAHRQ continues to fund studies that investigate the costs and outcomes of pharmaceutical therapies.\nConsequences of Drug Cost Sharing in the Elderly. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, Grant No. R01 HS10881-01. This study is examining the effects of differential cost sharing for pharmaceutical costs, an increasingly common strategy to discourage use of more expensive medications in many drug benefits plans. Specifically, researchers will assess the impact of differential cost sharing applied to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and calcium channel blockers on patterns of medication use and health care use.\nEffect of Medicaid Drug Copayments on Outcomes and Costs. University of Minnesota, Grant No. R03 HS10791-01. This study is estimating the effect of Medicaid prescription drug copayments on the use of drugs and other types of health care and on total Medicaid expenditures.\nPatient-Centered Care and Health Care Costs. University of Rochester, Grant No. R01 HS10610-01A1. This research study is examining the relationship between measures of physicians' patient-centeredness (a process where the physician incorporates the patient's experience of illness and shares decisionmaking) and patients' health care costs (total, inpatient, outpatient, testing, and medication), health status, and satisfaction. It will also characterize features of patient-physician communication that contribute to lower health care costs.\nCenters for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs). The CERTs demonstration program is a national initiative to conduct research and provide education that advances the optimal use of therapeutics (drugs, medical devices, and biological products). The program is administered as a cooperative agreement by AHRQ in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The research conducted by the CERTs program is intended to increase awareness of the uses and risks of new drugs and drug combinations, biological products, and devices as well as ways to improve their safe and effective use. The CERTs research will improve quality while reducing the cost of care by increasing the appropriate use of drugs, biological products, and devices and by preventing their adverse effects and consequences. The CERTs centers are:\n- Duke University (HS10548): Therapies for disorders of the heart and blood vessels.\n- HMO Research Network (HS10391): Usefulness of health maintenance organizations for studying drug use, safety, and effectiveness.\n- University of Alabama-Birmingham (HS10389): Therapies for disorders of the joints and bones.\n- University of Arizona (HS10385): Reduction of adverse drug interactions, especially in women.\n- University of North Carolina (HS10397): Therapies for children.\n- University of Pennsylvania (HS10399): Therapies for infection and antibiotic drug resistance.\n- Vanderbilt University (HS10384): Prescription drug use in a Medicaid population.26\nAHRQ-funded research helps identify drug therapies that can lower health care costs while maintaining quality of care. Less expensive drugs such as antibiotics can work just as effectively as more expensive drugs, lowering costs without compromising patients' health. However, some newer, more expensive drugs can also lower costs because they improve patients' health overall and reduce other medical expenses. More research needs to be conducted to identify those new drugs that have an advantage over older, existing drugs. AHRQ research has shown that some drug therapies can be provided on an outpatient basis, thus saving the costs of inpatient treatment. Finally, studies funded by AHRQ have helped lower costs by showing the benefit of providing preventive drug therapies.\nFor More Information\nFor more information about AHRQ research on pharmaceuticals, please contact Lynn Bosco, M.D., M.P.H., at (301) 427-1490 or Lynn.Bosco@ahrq.hhs.gov.\n* 1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Cost and Financing Studies. Health care expenses in the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population, 1997. Rockville (MD), 2001. AHRQ Pub. No. 01-R086. AHRQ Web site: http://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/. Accessed April 14, 2008.\n2. Kaiser Family Foundation, Williams C, Treloar J. Trends and indicators in the changing health care marketplace; 2002. Kaiser Family Foundation Web site: http://www.kff.org/. Accessed September 10, 2002.\n4. Merlis M. Explaining the growth in prescription drug spending: a review of recent studies. Background paper for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Web site: http://www.aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/drug-papers/merlis/merlis-final.htm. Accessed April 14, 2008.\n* 5. De Ferranti SD, Ioannidis JP, Lau J, et al. Are amoxycillin and folate inhibitors as effective as other antibiotics for acute sinusitis? A meta-analysis. BMJ 1998; 317(7159):632-7.\n* 6. Balk EM, Zucker DR, Engels EA, et al. Strategies for diagnosing and treating suspected acute bacterial sinusitis: a cost-effectiveness analysis. J Gen Intern Med 2001; 16(10):701-11.\n* 8. Berman S, Byrns PJ, Bondy J, et al. Otitis media-related antibiotic prescribing patterns, outcomes, and expenditures in a pediatric Medicaid population. Pediatrics 1997; 100(4):585-92.\n* 9. Gleason PP, Kapoor WN, Stone RA, et al. Medical outcomes and antimicrobial costs with the use of the American Thoracic Society Guidelines for outpatients with community-acquired pneumonia. JAMA 1997; 278(1):32-9.\n* 10. Gilbert K, Gleason PP, Singer DE, et al. Variations in antimicrobial use and cost in more than 2,000 patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Am J Med 1998, 104:17-27.\n* 11. Shojania KG, Yokoe D, Platt R, et al. Reducing vancomycin use utilizing a computer guideline: results of a randomized controlled trial. J Am Med Inform Assoc 1998; 5(6):554-62.\n* 12. Froom J, Culpepper L, Jacobs M, et al. Antimicrobials for acute otitis media? A review from the international primary care network. BMJ 1997; 315(7100):98-102.\n* 14. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Focus on cost-effectiveness analysis at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Rockville (MD), 2001. AHRQ Pub. No. 01-P023.\n15. Mitchell J, Mathews HF, Hunt LM, et al. Mismanaging prescription medications among rural elders: the effects of socioeconomic status, health status, and medication profile indicators. Gerontologist 2001; 41(3):348-56.\n* 17. Soumerai SB, McLaughlin TJ, Ross-Degnan D, et al. Effects of limiting Medicaid drug-reimbursement benefits on the use of psychotropic agents and acute mental health services by patients with schizophrenia. N Engl J Med 1994; 331:650-5.\n* 18. Ringel-Kulka T, Tolleson-Rinehart S, Christensen DB. Antibiotic choice and treatment outcomes for acute otitis media. August 2002. Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics Web site: http://www.certs.hhs.gov/whats_new/archive/2002/20020808_01.html. Accessed September 17, 2002.\n* 19. Gebo KA, Chaisson RE, Folkemer JG, et al. Costs of HIV medical care in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy. AIDS 1999; 13(8):963-9.\n* 20. Ness RB, Soper DE, Holley RL, et al. Effectiveness of inpatient and outpatient treatment strategies for women with pelvic inflammatory disease: results from the Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Evaluation and Clinical Health (PEACH) randomized trial. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002; 186(5):929-37.\n* 21. Gallant JE, McAvinue SM, Moore RD, et al. The impact of prophylaxis on outcome and resource utilization in Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Chest 1995; 107:1018-23.\n22. DiRienzo AG, van Der Horst C, Finkelstein DM, et al. Efficacy of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for the prevention of bacterial infections in a randomized prophylaxis trial of patients with advanced HIV infection. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2002; 18(2):89-94.\n23. Dworkin MS, Williamson J, Jones JL, et al. Prophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: impact on risk for infectious diseases. Clin Infect Dis 2001; 33(3):393-8.\n24. Effect of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia prophylaxis on bacterial illness, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, and death in persons with AIDS. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol 1999; 20(2):201-6\n* 26. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics. Rockville, MD, 2002. AHRQ Pub. No. 02-P025. AHRQ Web site: http://certs.hhs.gov/about/certsovr.htm. Accessed September 12, 2002.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "THE GUNSLINGER is the first volume in Stephen King's epic Dark Tower series. The Dark Tower is Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, due in cinemas February 17, 2017. In this first novel in his epic fantasy masterpiece, Stephen King introduces readers to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, ...\nTHE GUNSLINGER is the first volume in Stephen King's epic Dark Tower series. The Dark Tower is Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, due in cinemas February 17, 2017. In this first novel in his epic fantasy masterpiece, Stephen King introduces readers to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey into good and evil, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own. In his first step towards the powerful and mysterious Dark Tower, Roland encounters an alluring woman named Alice, begins a friendship with Jake, a kid from New York, and faces an agonising choice between damnation and salvation as he pursues the Man in Black. Both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike, THE GUNSLINGER leaves readers eagerly awaiting the next chapter. And the Tower is closer...T HE DARK TOWER SERIES: THE DARK TOWER I: THE GUNSLINGER THE DARK TOWER II: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE THE DARK TOWER III: THE WASTE LANDS THE DARK TOWER IV: WIZARD AND GLASS THE DARK TOWER V: WOLVES OF THE CALLA THE DARK TOWER VI: SONG OF SUSANNAH THE DARK TOWER VII: THE DARK TOWER THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE: A DARK TOWER NOVEL\nNew in new dust jacket. Brand New books on affordable price. Shipping method: Standard & Expedite, Standard takes 7-8 and Expedited takes 4-6 working days. Due to the constantly changing USPS regulations regarding shipments to APO/FPO addresses we are not currently shipping to this type of address.\nNew in new dust jacket. International Edition. Brand New. Different ISBN number and Cover Page but contents similer to US edition. No CD/Access code with this. Legal to use despite any disclaimer on cover as per US courts. Choose Expedited shipping for 3-5 business days delivery. We can ship to PO Box Addresses. 100% Customer Satisfaction.\nNew in new dust jacket. International Edition, Brand New. ISBN and Cover Page differs, Contents similar to US edition. Access code or CD not available. Choose Expedited shipping for delivery in 3 to 5 business days. Legal to use despite any disclaimer on cover as per US courts. Shipping to PO Box Addresses available. Customer satisfaction guaranteed.\nThe Black Tower series is some of King's best writing.\nThe book came in excellent shape and in excellent timing.\nNothing but positive to say about the book, the shipping, and the story itself.\nNov 27, 2010\nTHIS WAS A GIFT TO A READER WHO LOVES TO READ I RECOMMEND IT TO A FRIEND CAUSE HE SAID IT WAS VERY GOOD AND WANTS ME TO GET THE OTHER BOOKS OF FOLLOW UP I THINK THERE ARE 8 BKS\nJan 21, 2010\nThe Begining of an Amazing Journey\nThis book is great for anyone with an apreciation for fantasy, western or typicall Stephen king style. The Gunslinger is only a mere introduction to the amazing adventures of Roland the Gunslinger and those he meets along the way on his quest for the Dark Tower. You will have more fun with this book if you pay attention to the little things such as songs (for example) that link Roland's world to our own. My best suggestion is that if you buy this book be prepared with the second Dark Tower book \"The Drawing of Three\" close at hand to avoid frustration.\nDec 25, 2009\nAn exeptional mind-twisting series\nThis is a good stand-alone book, but if you go on in the series and stick it out to the end your view of King - and of life and the world - will change, possibly in fundamental ways\nFeb 24, 2009\nThe story begins..\nIt was 1970 when Stephen King, at his final year of university, received a gift: a stack of coloured paper. At this time, the King could not imagine how important that story would have been in his life as a writer, maybe. He spent 12 years to complete this first chapter of the most exciting and best-selling horror/fantasy saga,\nAlibris, the Alibris logo, and Alibris.com are registered trademarks of Alibris, Inc.\nCopyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited, Baker & Taylor, Inc., or by their respective licensors, or by the publishers, or by their respective licensors. For personal use only. All rights reserved. All rights in images of books or other publications are reserved by the original copyright holders.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "|Year : 2015 | Volume\n| Issue : 1 | Page : 5-10\nLifestyle modifications and erectile dysfunction: what can be expected?\nMaria Ida Maiorino1, Giuseppe Bellastella1, Katherine Esposito2\n1 Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Geriatric Science, Second University of Naples, Piazza L. Miraglia n° 2, Italy\n2 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, via Pansini n° 5, Naples, Italy\n|Date of Submission||05-May-2014|\n|Date of Decision||27-Jun-2014|\n|Date of Acceptance||14-Jul-2014|\n|Date of Web Publication||09-Sep-2014|\nDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, via Pansini n° 5, Naples\nSource of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None\nErectile dysfunction (ED) is a common medical disorder whose prevalence is increasing worldwide. Modifiable risk factors for ED include smoking, lack of physical activity, wrong diets, overweight or obesity, metabolic syndrome, and excessive alcohol consumption. Quite interestingly, all these metabolic conditions are strongly associated with a pro-inflammatory state that results in endothelial dysfunction by decreasing the availability of nitric oxide (NO), which is the driving force of the blood genital flow. Lifestyle and nutrition have been recognized as central factors influencing both vascular NO production, testosterone levels, and erectile function. Moreover, it has also been suggested that lifestyle habits that decrease low-grade clinical inflammation may have a role in the improvement of erectile function. In clinical trials, lifestyle modifications were effective in ameliorating ED or restoring absent ED in people with obesity or metabolic syndrome. Therefore, promotion of healthful lifestyles would yield great benefits in reducing the burden of sexual dysfunction. Efforts, in order to implement educative strategies for healthy lifestyle, should be addressed.\nKeywords: erectile dysfunction; lifestyle changes; physical activity; Mediterranean diet\n|How to cite this article:|\nMaiorino MI, Bellastella G, Esposito K. Lifestyle modifications and erectile dysfunction: what can be expected?. Asian J Androl 2015;17:5-10\n|How to cite this URL:|\nMaiorino MI, Bellastella G, Esposito K. Lifestyle modifications and erectile dysfunction: what can be expected?. Asian J Androl [serial online] 2015 [cited 2020 Jun 6];17:5-10. Available from: http://www.ajandrology.com/text.asp?2015/17/1/5/137687 - DOI: 10.4103/1008-682X.137687\n| Introduction|| |\nErectile dysfunction (ED) is a common medical disorder which decreases quality of life in men. , It has been estimated that the worldwide prevalence of ED will be 322 million cases by the year 2025. Risk factor categories associated with ED include general health status of the individual, the presence of diabetes mellitus, and of cardiovascular disease (CVD), concurrence of other genitourinary disease, psychiatric/psychological disorders, and sociodemographic conditions. Several cross-sectional and longitudinal studies showed an association between ED and most of the cardiovascular risk factors, such as diabetes, smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome. Moreover, ED is a marker of increased risk of CVD, and all-cause mortality. ,,\nCardiovascular diseases are the main cause of mortality in both sexes worldwide: , behavioral modifications that occurred in the last decades have led to the spreading of unhealthy lifestyles, which are believed to be one main cause of the burden of noncommunicable diseases worldwide. Consequently, there has been a dramatic increase in the incidence of both type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity, both in the Westernized and the developing countries. The increasing prevalence of obesity has brought about the rising prevalence of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors for CVD and type 2 diabetes mellitus, occurring together more often than could be attributed to chance alone. On the basis of the most recent epidemiological analysis using the National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines for cut-off values, slightly more than one-third of adults in the United States could be characterized as having the metabolic syndrome. Quite interestingly, all these metabolic conditions are strongly associated with a pro-inflammatory state that results in endothelial dysfunction and decrease in the availability and activity of nitric oxide (NO). As NO is the driving force of the genital blood flow, it has been hypothesized and demonstrated that most cardiovascular risk factors are associated with ED in men. Moreover, an inverse association between obesity and low-testosterone levels has been established in healthy men; the prevalence of low-testosterone levels in obesity may vary from 20% to 64% depending on the population and on whether total or free testosterone is used to make a diagnosis. A higher prevalence of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism has been described in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and referred to metabolic disorders causing hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis regulation. Testosterone regulates nearly every component of erectile function, and also modulates the timing of the erectile process, which occurs as a function of sexual desire, coordinating penile erection with sex.\nLifestyle and nutrition have been recognized as central factors influencing both vascular NO production and erectile function. Moreover, it has also been suggested that lifestyle habits that decrease low-grade clinical inflammation may have a role in reducing the burden of sexual dysfunction. Both basic and clinical studies have shown that targeting several lifestyle factors commonly associated with ED, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and limited physical activity can have significant effects on improvement of erectile function as well as testosterone levels ([Figure 1]). ,,,,, Therefore, there may be a role for lifestyle measures to prevent progression or even enhance the regression in the earliest manifestations of ED. In this review, a comprehensive literary search was carried out in order to discuss the effects of lifestyle intervention strategies on erectile function, focusing on the potential mechanisms involved in increasing vascular NO production. We searched PubMed for papers published in English between 1990 and March 2014, using the key words \"ED\" and \"lifestyle changes\" \"physical activity,\" \"weight loss,\" \"diet,\" \"alcohol,\" \"smoking;\" we mainly focused on publications in the past 5 years. Other relevant articles identified by review of the reference lists of selected articles were also included.\n|Figure 1: Behavioral risk factors and principal mechanisms involved in erectile dysfunction.|\nClick here to view\n| Epidemiology and Risk Factors|| |\nErectile dysfunction is a frequent sexual problem that increases with age. According to a recent analysis of published works on the prevalence of sexual dysfunction by the International Consultation Committee for sexual medicine on definitions/epidemiology/risk factors for sexual dysfunction, the prevalence of ED was 1%-10% in men younger than 40 years, 2%-9% among men between 40 and 49 years, and it increased to 20%-40% among men between 60 and 69 years, reaching the highest rate in men older than 70 years (50%-100%). Modifiable risk factors for ED include smoking, lack of physical activity, obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, recreational drug use. In the Health Professional's Follow-up Study several lifestyle factors, including physical activity and leanness, were associated with maintenance of good erectile function. On the other hand, diabetes mellitus is the most common risk factor for ED, as diabetic men showed a three-fold probability of having ED than men without diabetes. Moreover, both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have linked the development of ED to CVD, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and metabolic syndrome, ,, all of which are largely preventable with an intervention strategy based on lifestyle changes.\n| Effects of Lifestyle Changes on Erectile Dysfunction|| |\nThe association of modifiable behavioral factors with ED, primarily among men free of comorbidities, represents the rationale for intervention strategies addressed to prevent and potentially improve erectile function in patients with ED. As NO is a key factor for vascular health and ED is strongly associated with CVD, maximal attention should have to be paid on measures known to increase vascular NO production.\nThe only meta-analysis regarding exercise and ED showed that moderate and high physical activities were associated with a lower risk of ED, with odds ratios at 0.63 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.43-0.93) and 0.42 (95% CI: 0.22-0.82), respectively. Several prospective investigations indicate that the physical activity has a beneficial effect on prevention and/or improvements of ED. ,,\nIn hypertensive patients with ED, an 8-week exercise training for the duration of 45-60 min day−1 , improved ED compared with controls who remained sedentary during the same period. A recent study evaluated the effect of a standard protocol of aerobic physical activity (150 min week−1 ) on quality of ED in middle-aged patients with arterial ED. After 3 months, compared with controls, patients in the intervention group showed a significantly higher International Index of Erectile Function 5 (IIEF-5) score associated with a reduction of apoptotic circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and endothelial microparticles. In a randomized, open-label study, a total of 60 patients with ED were randomized to receive phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) alone or PDE5i plus regular (≥3 h week−1 ), aerobic, nonagonistic physical activity. After 3 months, IIEF restoration of ED occurred in 77.8% (intervention group) versus 39.3% (control) (P < 0.004). Moreover, physical activity was the only independent variable for normal erection (P = 0.010), higher sexual satisfaction (P = 0.022) and normal total IIEF-15 score (P = 0.023), suggesting that lifestyle changes may significantly increase the benefits of medical ED therapy.\nThe mechanisms by which physical activity ameliorates ED include improved cardiovascular fitness and endothelial dysfunction, increase in endothelial-derived NO, decrease in oxidative stress, and increase in regenerative EPCs. Moreover, physical exercise showed beneficial effects on self-esteem and mental health, with a positive impact on psychological issues associated with sexual dysfunction.\nBoth cross-sectional and prospective epidemiologic studies suggest that overweight, obesity and metabolic syndrome are associated with an increased risk of ED. In particular, the largest population from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study in the United States, including 31 724 men free of ED at baseline, showed a 40% increased risk of developing ED with obesity. Prospective studies ,, of variable duration from 5 to 25 years of follow-up reported that overweight or obese men had an increased probability (70%-96% higher) of developing ED compared with normal weight men.\nBoth short- and long-term weight-loss studies including only caloric modifications or restrictions demonstrated improvement of ED. In a study examining the effect of weight loss on quality of life among 37 men and women, after a follow-up of 28 days, the weight loss program seemed to have been beneficial on sexual life among men. Khoo et al. compared the effects of 8 weeks of a low-calorie diet (LCD) using meal replacements (KicStart) on insulin sensitivity, plasma testosterone levels, erectile function (IIEF-5), and sexual desire as measured by the Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI) in abdominally obese men with uncomplicated diabetes (n = 519) or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 525) with a control group of nondiabetic men (n = 526) with similar body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Weight loss of 10% was significantly associated with increased insulin sensitivity, plasma testosterone levels, and IIEF-5 and SDI scores in diabetic as well as nondiabetic men. The same group investigated the effects of diet-induced weight loss on sexual and endothelial function, lower urinary tract symptoms, and inflammatory markers in obese diabetic men. Over 8 weeks, 31 abdominally obese type 2 diabetic men received either a meal replacement-based LCD ~1000 kcal day−1 (n = 19) or low-fat, high-protein (HP), reduced-carbohydrate diet (n = 12). Subjects continued on, or were switched to, the HP diet for another 44 weeks. Compared with patients with HP, men with LCD lost more weight (5% vs 10%). Moreover, both diets significantly improved plasma glucose, low-density lipoprotein, sex hormone-binding globulin, IIEF-5, SDI, and endothelial function (increased flow-mediated dilatation, reduced soluble E-selectin). At 52 weeks, reductions in weight, WC, and C-reactive protein were maintained, and IIEF-5, and SDI scores improved further. Similar results were obtained with bariatric surgery-induced weight loss. In a randomized controlled trial, surgery-induced weight loss increased erectile function quality measured by IIEF-5, with increased total testosterone, free testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and reduced prolactin levels. Moreover, significant improvements in all domains of the Brief Sexual Function Inventory, including erectile function, were also demonstrated in a 2 years study of bariatric surgery-induced weight loss. \nIncreased visceral adiposity and related risk factors are associated with a pro-inflammatory state that results in a decrease in the availability and activity of NO; the reduced testosterone levels associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome may worsen both insulin resistance and endothelial function, thereby contributing to ED. Moreover, body weight loss, obtained either by lifestyle or bariatric intervention, is associated with a decline in estrogen levels and a rise in gonadotropins and testosterone, which is greater in those who lose more body weight. \nDietary patterns with high content of whole grain foods and legumes and vegetables and fruits, and that limit red meat, full-fat dairy products, and food and beverages high in added sugars are associated with a reduced risk of ED. The greater adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet, in particular, has been associated with a lower prevalence of ED in both diabetic and nondiabetic men. ,\nOnly few studies assessed the role or the effect of diet on ED. Esposito et al. studied 65 men with the metabolic syndrome and ED; 35 out of them were assigned to the intervention diet and 30 to the control diet. Subjects in the intervention group were advised to consume at least 250-300 g of fruits, 125-150 g of vegetables, and 25-50 g of nuts per day; in addition, they were encouraged to consume 400 g of whole grains daily (legumes, rice, maize, and wheat) and to increase the consumption of olive oil. After 2 years, men on the Mediterranean diet consumed more fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grain, and olive oil when compared with men on the control diet. IIEF score increased up to 22 in 13 and 2 men in the intervention group and control group, respectively (P = 0.015).\nA substantial body of knowledge demonstrates that the abundant consumption of vegetables, fruit, and whole grain, and the dietary patterns rich in these foods produced a markedly lower risk of coronary disease. The beneficial effect of the Mediterranean diet on atherosclerosis in general, and ED in particular can be mediated through multiple biological pathways, including a reduction of oxidative stress and subclinical inflammation, amelioration of endothelial dysfunction and insulin sensitivity, , which in turn may increase NO release in the penis arteries.\nOverall lifestyle changes\nLifestyle changes, such as increased physical activity, healthy diet, and reduced caloric intake, have been associated with the amelioration of erectile function in the general male population. Esposito et al. conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 110 obese men with ED. Men assigned to the intervention group were entered in an intensive weight loss program, involving personalized dietary counseling and exercise advice, and regular meetings with a nutritionist and personal trainer. The dietary advice was tailored to each man on the basis of food records collected on three nonconsecutive days which had to be done the week before the meeting with a nutritionist. Men in the control group were given general oral and written information about healthy food choices and exercise at baseline and subsequent bimonthly visits, but no specific individualized programs were offered to them. After 2 years, men randomized to the intervention lost significantly more weight, increased their physical activity, experienced favorable changes in physiologic measures of endothelial dysfunction, and had significant improvement in their ED score compared with men in the control group. The same group used their database of subjects participating in randomized controlled trials to evaluate whether improvements in erectile function were related to success in achieving lifestyle changes. After ranking men according to their success in achieving the goals of intervention (weight loss, low intake of saturated fat, high consumption of monounsaturated fat and fiber, and moderate physical activity), a strong correlation was observed between the success score and the restoration of erectile function. Moreover, at the 2 years examination point, the number of men without ED was significantly higher in the group randomized to intensive lifestyle changes compared with that of men in the control group. Wing et al. evaluated 1 year changes in erectile function in 306 overweight men with type 2 diabetes mellitus participating in the Look Action for Health in Diabetes trial; from baseline to 1 year, 8% of men assigned to an intensive lifestyle intervention reported a worsening of erectile function compared to 22% of the control participants. Moreover, the overall IIEF score improved from 17.3 to 18.6 (P = 0.04 and P = 0.06, after adjusting for baseline differences) in the intervention group.\nThe suggested mechanisms by which weight loss, healthy diet, and physical exercise can improve erectile function include the amelioration of endothelial dysfunction, insulin-resistance, and low-grade inflammatory state associated with diabetes and metabolic diseases - all of which are risk factors for ED. The resulting improved inflammatory status may help contribute to reduce the burden of sexual dysfunction in men.\nBoth the direct use of tobacco and second-hand exposure seem a consolidated risk factor for ED. , A recent meta-analysis of four prospective cohort studies and four case-control studies involving 28 586 participants showed that compared with nonsmokers, the overall odd ratio of ED in prospective cohort studies was 1.51 (95% CI: 1.34-1.71) for current smokers, and 1.29 (95% CI: 1.07-1.47) for former smokers. \nHarte and Meston investigated the association between smoking cessation and indices of physiological and subjective sexual health in men: smoking cessation significantly enhanced both physiological and self-reported indices of sexual health in long-term male smokers, irrespective of baseline erectile impairment. In a prospective study, Pourmand et al. reported a beneficial effect on erectile function in men who ceased smoking. After 1 year the ED status improved in ≥25% of ex-smokers but in none of the current smokers; moreover, men who stopped smoking continued to have a significantly better ED status with long-term follow-up.\nThe moderate consumption of alcohol may exert a protective effect on ED in both the general population and in diabetic men. , In a recent study aimed at describing the incidence or remission and bio-psychosocial predictors of ED in 810 randomly selected Australian men aged 35-80, low-alcohol consumption was predictor of ED. The data from a population-based cross-sectional study of men's health to assess the association between usual alcohol consumption and ED in Australia revealed that among current drinkers (n = 51 374), the odds were lowest for consumption between 1 and 20 standard drinks per week. On further adjustment for CVD or cigarette smoking, age-adjusted odds of ED were reduced by 25%-30% among alcohol drinkers. In general, the overall findings are suggestive of alcohol consumption of a moderate quantity conferring the highest protection. The beneficial effects of alcohol on erectile function may be due, in part, to the long-term benefits of alcohol on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and other variables that increase the bioavailability of NO.\nExperimental findings involving lifestyle modifications\nCorroborating findings in the clinical studies, several experimental studies demonstrate beneficial effects of lifestyle-related factors (exercise, calories restriction, dietary factors, alcohol, smoking) on erectile function in animal models of ED. The most frequently reported models of ED used rodents as the predominant animal for investigating erectile function. Experimental animal models of ED include traumatic, metabolic (diabetes, hypercholesterolemia/lipidemia, and castration) and other organic models (smoking, hypertension, and chronic renal failure). In male Sprague-Dawley rats, both erectile function and coronary artery erectile function (CAEF) were blunted in Western diet-fed rats who remained sedentary, but were preserved in those who started physical exercise (aerobic treadmill running) throughout the dietary intervention, suggesting that exercise training may be a practical strategy of preventing diet-induced ED. A recent study in the same experimental model of rats demonstrated that the caloric restriction preserved both visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation and erectile function; moreover, analysis of body composition showed that enhanced erectile response in calories-restricted rats was well correlated with the lower levels of VAT, indicating that the beneficial effect on erectile function may depend on decrease in adipose tissue. Hannan et al. showed that a combination of exercise and calories restriction may, in part, attenuated the age-related decline in apomorphine-induced erectile function in both normotensive and hypertensive rats, with an inverse correlation between the number of pharmacologically-induced erections and body weight. The role of dietary anti-oxidants on erectile function was investigated in a study of Zhang et al.: rabbits with atherosclerosis-induced ED by balloon de-endothelialization of the iliac arteries were assigned to assumption of pomegranate extract as dietary anti-oxidant or tap water as placebo. Compared with rabbits receiving placebo, those who assumed pomegranate underwent improvement of intracavernosal blood flow, erectile activity, smooth-muscle relaxation and decrease in oxidative products, suggesting that dietary anti-oxidants may have an effect on molecular and ultra-structural alteration involved on ED. Ethanol may impair the endothelial function of corpus cavernosum producing endothelial damage, as it abolishes the endothelium-dependent relaxations induced by acetylcholine in mice. Finally, chronic exposure to smoking decreases significantly both testosterone levels and the filling rate of corpora cavernosa in mice, when compared with a control group who was not exposed. \n| Which role for Lifestyle Changes in Erectile Dysfunction?|| |\nErectile dysfunction is associated with smoking, excessive alcohol intake, physical inactivity, abdominal obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, and decreased anti-oxidant defenses, all of which reduce NO availability. Moreover, there has been increasing recognition of the many physiological causes of ED and of the potential for therapy to improve patient's quality of life, self-esteem, and ability to maintain intimate relationships. Although epidemiological evidence seems to support a role for lifestyle factors, limited data are available suggesting that the treatment of underlying risk factors and coexisting illnesses - for example with diet, exercise, stress reduction, and smoking cessation - may improve ED. It has been demonstrated that lifestyle-based intervention strategies improve endothelial function, NO bio-availability, and testosterone levels, producing benefits on erectile function. ,, The major limitation remains the paucity of intervention studies that have assessed the role of lifestyle changes on ED. Moreover, the studies reviewed are mainly limited to the exiguity of the study samples. However, the European Association of Urology recently stated that \"lifestyle changes and risk factors modification must precede or accompany ED treatment\" and classified the Level of Evidence as 1b with a Grade A. \nNone of the many available treatment options offers a complete response in all patients. Thus, as with many other medical diseases, prevention maybe the most effective approach to alleviate the consequences of ED. Despite the increasing evidence that unhealthy lifestyles lead to metabolic diseases, including sexual dysfunction, the majority of adults fail to meet physical activity and nutritional guidelines. In particular, it is recommended that adults accumulate 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity on most days of the week. Moreover, a weight loss of 5%-10% in overweight or obese nondiabetic or diabetic men can result in effective improvement in erectile function in a short period. The lack of food-based recommendations and actual dietary practice of the population could be an additional limitation. However, dietary pattern which is high in fruit, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and fish but low in red and processed meat and refined grains are more represented in subjects without ED. Mediterranean diet has been proposed as a healthy dietary pattern based on evidence that greater adherence to this diet is associated with lower all-cause and disease-specific survival. In clinical trials, Mediterranean diet was more effective than a control diet in ameliorating ED or restoring absent ED in people with obesity or metabolic syndrome, so that the adoption of a Mediterranean diet may be associated with an improvement of ED.\n| Conclusions|| |\nImprovement of sexual (erectile) function in men should be added to the growing list of clinical benefits brought about by healthy lifestyles in human beings. Current recommendation that patients should observe to avoid or alleviate ED include increasing physical exercise, reducing weight (5%-10% or achieving a BMI ≤ 30 kg m−2 ), stopping smoking ([Table 1]). When comorbidities, such as diabetes or hypertension, are present lifestyle modifications may be important in preventing or reducing sexual dysfunction. 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Suhruth Reddy,Rajesh Raman,Gurvinder Kalra,Abhinav Tandon |\n| ||Journal of Psychosexual Health. 2019; 1(3-4): 222 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Obesity and metabolic syndrome associated with systemic inflammation and the impact on the male reproductive system\n| ||Kristian Leisegang,Ralf Henkel,Ashok Agarwal |\n| ||American Journal of Reproductive Immunology. 2019; |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Recent advances in the understanding and management of erectile dysfunction\n| ||Sarah C Krzastek,Justin Bopp,Ryan P Smith,Jason R Kovac |\n| ||F1000Research. 2019; 8: 102 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Effect of Nut Consumption on Erectile and Sexual Function in Healthy Males: A Secondary Outcome Analysis of the FERTINUTS Randomized Controlled Trial\n| ||Albert Salas-Huetos,Jananee Muralidharan,Serena Galiè,Jordi Salas-Salvadó,Mònica Bulló |\n| ||Nutrients. 2019; 11(6): 1372 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||The Role of Endothelial Dysfunction in Peripheral Blood Nerve Barrier: Molecular Mechanisms and Pathophysiological Implications\n| ||Jessica Maiuolo,Micaela Gliozzi,Vincenzo Musolino,Cristina Carresi,Saverio Nucera,Roberta Macrì,Miriam Scicchitano,Francesca Bosco,Federica Scarano,Stefano Ruga,Maria Caterina Zito,Francesca Oppedisano,Rocco Mollace,Sara Paone,Ernesto Palma,Carolina Muscoli,Vincenzo Mollace |\n| ||International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019; 20(12): 3022 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Physical activity as an adjunct treatment for erectile dysfunction\n| ||Mark S. Allen |\n| ||Nature Reviews Urology. 2019; |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Exercise, training, and the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis in men\n| ||Paolo Sgrò |\n| ||Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research. 2019; |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Alcohol intake and risk of erectile dysfunction: a dose–response meta-analysis of observational studies\n| ||Xiao-Ming Wang,Yun-Jin Bai,Yu-Bo Yang,Jin-Hong Li,Yin Tang,Ping Han |\n| ||International Journal of Impotence Research. 2018; |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||From inflammation to sexual dysfunctions: a journey through diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome\n| ||M. I. Maiorino,G. Bellastella,D. Giugliano,K. Esposito |\n| ||Journal of Endocrinological Investigation. 2018; |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Exercise training causes a partial improvement through increasing testosterone and eNOS for erectile function in middle-aged rats\n| ||Dae Yun Seo,Sung Ryul Lee,Hyo Bum Kwak,Hyuntea Park,Kyo Won Seo,Yeon Hee Noh,Kang-Moon Song,Ji-Kan Ryu,Kyung Soo Ko,Byoung Doo Rhee,Jin Han |\n| ||Experimental Gerontology. 2018; 108: 131 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Sport, doping and male fertility\n| ||Andrea Sansone,Massimiliano Sansone,Diana Vaamonde,Paolo Sgrò,Ciro Salzano,Francesco Romanelli,Andrea Lenzi,Luigi Di Luigi |\n| ||Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. 2018; 16(1) |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||The effect of diet on BPH, LUTS and ED\n| ||Mahmoud ElJalby,Dominique Thomas,Dean Elterman,Bilal Chughtai |\n| ||World Journal of Urology. 2018; |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Age at First Presentation for Erectile Dysfunction: Analysis of Changes over a 12-yr Period\n| ||Paolo Capogrosso,Eugenio Ventimiglia,Luca Boeri,Walter Cazzaniga,Francesco Chierigo,Filippo Pederzoli,Nicola Frego,Costantino Abbate,Federico Dehò,Francesco Montorsi,Andrea Salonia |\n| ||European Urology Focus. 2018; |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Testosterone Deficiency Causes Endothelial Dysfunction via Elevation of Asymmetric Dimethylarginine and Oxidative Stress in Castrated Rats\n| ||Tomoya Kataoka,Yuji Hotta,Yasuhiro Maeda,Kazunori Kimura |\n| ||The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2017; 14(12): 1540 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Calorie restriction reverses age-related alteration of cavernous neurovascular structure in the rat\n| ||A. Limanjaya,K.-M. Song,M.-J. Choi,K. Ghatak,N. N. Minh,D. H. Kang,J. Ock,G. N. Yin,H. Y. Chung,J.-K. Ryu,J.-K. Suh |\n| ||Andrology. 2017; |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Diagnostic value of four-dimensional CT angiography in arterial erectile dysfunction using 320-detector row dynamic volume CT\n| ||Cheng-Cheng Xu,Xin-Zhong Ruan,Yi-Fan Tang,Jiao-Hai Pan,Guo-Yao Wang,Qiu-Li Huang |\n| ||Bioscience Reports. 2017; 37(4) |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n| ||Faysal A. Yafi,Lawrence Jenkins,Maarten Albersen,Giovanni Corona,Andrea M. Isidori,Shari Goldfarb,Mario Maggi,Christian J. Nelson,Sharon Parish,Andrea Salonia,Ronny Tan,John P. Mulhall,Wayne J. G. Hellstrom |\n| ||Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 2016; : 16003 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Polymorphisms and Erectile Dysfunction: A Meta-Analysis\n| ||Chunhui Liu,Kai Lu,Tao Tao,Lei Zhang,Xiaowen Zhang,Liang Jiang,Yeqing Huang,Han Guan,Ming Chen,Bin Xu |\n| ||The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2015; 12(6): 1319 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||Cardiovascular disease and male sexual dysfunction\n| ||Martin Miner,EdwardD Kim |\n| ||Asian Journal of Andrology. 2015; 17(1): 3 |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|\n||The association between physical activity and sexual dysfunction in patients with diabetes mellitus of European and South Asian origin: The Oxford Sexual Dysfunction Study\n| ||Lasantha S. Malavige,Pabasi Wijesekara,Priyanga Ranasinghe,Jonathan C. Levy |\n| ||European Journal of Medical Research. 2015; 20(1) |\n|[Pubmed] | [DOI]|", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A beautifully illustrated story.An environmentally important book.\nTree's Song (for Jenni)\nA moving story about the lifelong love between a girl and an apple tree.\n\"Tree's Song (for Jenni) has the makings of a classic, both for the simple, moving story and the timelessness of the illustrations.\"\nPatricia Lowry, former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette\n\"Tree's Song (for Jenni) is a wonderful coming of age story that explores our bond with nature throughout the seasons of our lives. Beautifully written and illustrated, it will captivate readers both young and old.\n\"As a boy, I would read in the big tree in my parents' front yard during the summer. Tree's Song took me back to those days and helped me recall good memories of sitting in our tree.\"\nChris G., Librarian\n“I am truly impressed with the story and Illustrations in Tree's Song (for Jenni). For one who has spent a lifetime among the apple trees, Tree’s Song resonates with the recurring need and delight in establishing a bond with trees, especially fruit trees that provide nourishment for the body as well as the spirit. From the child’s first joy of discovery to the wrinkled hand cradling its precious fruit, this bond is a commitment and an understanding about our natural world. Jenni spoke to her tree without uttering a single word.”\nTom Burford, \"Professor Apple\"\nOrchard consultant, lecturer, and author of Apples of North\nAmerica, Timber Press, 2013\n\"An uplifting book - beautiful in story, illustration, and environmental message.\"\nSharon G. Flake, Award-winning author of The Skin I'm In\nTree's Song (for Jenni) is a picture book for nature lovers of all ages, especially those who love trees.\nIt tells a sweet story, perfect for children and for parents and grandparents to share with children.\nIt is also enjoyed by adults who care about trees because it provides a touching reminder of the importance a tree can play in our lives.\nTree's Song captures with beautiful illustrations many significant life events and stages:\nbeing young, growing up, going away to college, getting married, having a baby, and growing older.\nTree's Song makes a beautiful gift for wedding and baby showers. It is also a great way for parents and grandparents to pass on their love of nature to their\nchildren and grandchildren.\nEnvironmentally Important - Tree's Song (for Jenni) portrays a healthy, happy relationship between human beings and nature with Tree and Jenni as BFF.\nTree's Song (for Jenni) is a hardcover book (8-3/8\" x 9-1/2\") of 40 pages, printed in the United States on 100% recycled paper.\njanet jai is a nonfiction writer and poet-artist who loves trees. She has been published and has exhibited nationally and internationally. She is the author of Saving Our Public Libraries: Why We Should. How We Can. She is also the creator of poemART, an intimate blend of poetry and colorful abstract art. A limited-edition book of her early poemART is in the collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. In 1996, jai opened her own firm, Vision and Values, which is dedicated to \"Communications That Make a Difference.\"\nMaria Cherkasskaya is an artist and illustrator, originally from Ukraine. For almost 20 years, she was a Production Designer at Ukranimafilm, a renowned animation studio in Kiev. There she created characters, storyboards and backgrounds for animation films, many of which received national and international awards. Since 1994, Maria has lived in Pittsburgh. Her illustrations have appeared in numerous children’s books and magazines.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Her sigh filled the garden. “I really do have to go. I’m a business woman, and I have to be up early.”\nShe stood. “This was nice. Thanks.”\nHe took both her hands in his. She swayed toward him, started to kiss his cheek.\n“No.” He met her lips with his. Hunger, raw and deep, ripped through him. He tasted the same emotion on her lips, in her. One kiss led to another and another.\nBreathing hard, she broke away, running her fingers through her hair to push it off her face. “I can’t do this. It was never a question of chemistry. We had that in spades.”\n“We still do.” His voice was husky and ragged.\n“I can’t and won’t deny that.”\n“Come upstairs with me. Stay the night.” He trailed kisses along her neck, her collarbone. She shivered, and he knew she was close.\nBut she put her hands on his arms and pushed away. “I can’t.”\n“I know I handled things badly, but how can you hold it against me so long?”\nShe didn’t answer. Simply turned to walk away.\nHe grabbed her hand and kissed it before she melted into the night, leaving him standing in the dark, wanting more. So much more.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Khan, Hasham (2009) Power Quality Improvement of Distribution system with Dispersed Generation using Novel Algorithem for Islanding Control and Detection Processes. PhD thesis, University of Engineering & Technology, Taxila .\nDistribution engineers investigate economical and technical feasibility of new capacity expansion alternatives. Distributed generation (DG) can be used effectively to support the customer’s power quality requirements. DG is an imperative tool that can partially replace the need to erect new generating stations in order to cope with the increasing load demands.However, numerous complexities arise like parallel operation of DG within existing system, phenomena of islanding and its detection, micro grid operation, monitoring and control etc. Several techniques have been developed for the effective detection of islanding.These techniques have numerous deficiencies.First of all, a majority of these islanding detection techniques have been developed only for balanced three phase load.No single-phase load and unbalanced three phase loads have been considered. Secondly, successful transfer into autonomous micro grid operation requires islanding detection and a subsequent change in control strategy of micro grid DG units.Thirdly, this operation causes large amount of current flow out of the micro grid into the fault, resulting in severely depressed micro grid bus voltage. In this research work, the emphasis is to improve these problems and overcome the drawbacks of existing techniques.The aims and objectives of this study are to develop a novel islanding detection technique, reliable, effective and efficient operation of DG in coordination with main utility network as well as power quality improvement for essential load. In order to improve the power quality of distribution network and to detect the islanding phenomena with DG, innovative techniques are required to implement the solution and mitigate the problems effectively. In this research study, using an analytical approach, two algorithms have been designed; a comprehensive algorithm for the implementation of distributed generation (IDG) by finding the optimal size and location of DG for power quality improvement and a new islanding detection algorithm (NIDA) for islanding detection under multiple distributed generation scenarios. The proposed algorithms can be utilized effectively to enhance the feeder performance having randomly distributed loads.The algorithms have been designed in “C language” and are based upon the power quality improvement of distribution feeder in terms of node voltage profile enhancement, power loss reduction and islanding detection in multi-DG scenario.The newly designed algorithms outperform the conventional approaches, which encounter numerous complexities during their implementation.The designed algorithms have the capabilities to operate under uniform and non-uniform loads with low power factor for both single DG and multi-DG scenario.The suggested algorithms have been implemented on different feeders including, 11kV feeder, 12.5kV feeder and IEEE 34 bus feeder.The feeders have been simulated in “C-language” and the results have been verified. The simulation results show that the algorithms can be implemented efficiently to detect the islanding phenomena and enhance the distribution system performance in terms of node voltage profile improvement and power loss reduction.\n|Item Type:||Thesis (PhD)|\n|Uncontrolled Keywords:||Feeders, Power, Technique, Distribution, Unbalanced, Quality, Micro, Processes, Feasibility, Improvement, Control, Algorithms, Generation, Dispersed, Islanding, Improvement|\n|Subjects:||Engineering & Technology (e) > Engineering(e1) > Electrical engineering (e1.16)|\n|Deposited By:||Mr. Javed Memon|\n|Deposited On:||28 Dec 2011 09:23|\n|Last Modified:||28 Dec 2011 09:23|\nRepository Staff Only: item control page", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.\n(Galatians 5:22-26 ESV)\nPassions are powerful. Love has built kingdoms and lust has torn them down. Ambition has built industrial empires and greed has bankrupted them.\nWe’ve all known someone who consistently allowed their passions to lead them into bad decisions. I had a friend who went from relationship to relationship–even if relationship wasn’t always the right word–and made major purchases that he couldn’t afford the moment he got his head above the financial water. He wasn’t a bad guy; he was a good friend who was there when I needed him. Unfortunately, his passions made all of his major decisions for him. He rarely considered how his actions today would impact his life ten years in the future. Most of his decisions were only about right now.\nMuch like Esau.\nEsau’s birth name means “hairy”, which conveys a bit of his rough character, but I think his other name, Edom, is even more apropos. It means “red” like the earth or like the fire of his anger, ambition, and lust. He wasn’t a farmer like his father, Isaac, nor a shepherd like his brother, Jacob. He was a hunter. He started quarrels, married impulsively, made bad deals in desperation and then promptly forgot about them.\nEsau was a sort of reverse spiritual alchemist, turning the gold inheritance of his fabulously wealthy father into the lead of struggle and broken relationships. The inevitable end of the exceedingly passionate, those people who see what they want and go after what they see, is to be consumed by their urges.\nPassion is a good and powerful force when checked by the Spirit, but when it is allowed to run free, it is crippling. The words Esau spoke at his father’s bedside when he finally realized what he had done in selling his birthright to Jacob are heartbreaking, but hardly unexpected:\nAs soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”\nSolomon described Esau’s state of mind in Proverbs 11:3: “His heart rages against the LORD.” The passionate fool rarely directs his rage where it belongs. He lashes out at anyone nearby–which is why Rebekah was wise to send Jacob away to Laban before Esau could catch him–and against God when no more convenient target is available, but his ruin was his own doing. Whatever conspiring Jacob and Rebekah did, only Esau was in a position to sell his birthright. Nobody tricked him. Nobody forced him. He lusted after what was before him in the moment and didn’t value at all those things that he couldn’t see and taste.\nEsau, enslaved to his passions, spent decades learning just a small portion of the peace and prosperity that he could have attained in his youth by submitting desire and passion to a higher calling in his father’s house. Although he learned to master his passions enough to reconcile with Jacob and build a legacy of his own, but his passed his anger and envy on to his descendants whose uneasy relationship with Israel simmered for more than a thousand years. His grandchildren and great grandchildren carried on his pattern of willful and ignorant self-immolation for many generations.\nConcerning appropriate behavior of spiritual brothers toward one another, Paul wrote:\nDo not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.\nIn other words, be passionate about things that are not immediate and for which the ultimate rewards are more spiritual than physical, and restrain your passions concerning things that are physical. Be zealous, but not hasty; be passionate, but not vengeful.\nHunger will pass. God’s Word won’t, and neither will hell.\nGod can help you master your passions through prayer, study, and consistent practice. It’s not easy, but it can be done, and the earlier you start, the better. Your grandchildren will thank you.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "My heart has been broken so many times lately. It breaks when I log on FB and see friends talking about horrible things happening around the world. It breaks at things happening in our own home. It breaks at things happening in my own mind and heart. Good. Let our hearts to be broken and stay broken. Let our expectations about the way life \"was supposed to be\" be shattered by the reality of the life which actually is. I keep waiting for things to \"go back to normal\". But we can't wait for our hearts to heal before living life - it'll never happen and we'll spend our lives waiting instead of living.\nCopy & share: https://nathanpeterson.net/live-broken-hearted/\n← previous | next →", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A number of local writers and playwrights got the opportunity of a lifetime when they sat in a workshop with now international playwright Katori Hall.\nHall, the writer of “The Mountaintop” – a fictitious play showcasing the last night of Martin Luther King’s Jr’s life, was in Barbados, compliments the US Embassy, for the Caribbean Premier of the play which played to enthralled audiences at the Frank Collymore Hall during April. She shared some of her experiences with participants on the eve of the premier.\n“Write in your tongue,” Ms. Hall told the participants. “Only you can do them in a way that is authentic, true and loving. Write your tongue! When I write about the South a lot of people can be dismissive of it. They say ‘why don’t you write about New York City or LA,‘ but this is the where I come from, this is the way I walk in this world. It’s very important for you to be that [writer] it’s a lot of responsibility but because you are there and the cadences and rhythms are there in your blood and in your memory your writing is the only way we will get an authentic portrayal of those stories.”\nShe further explained “Plays are stories of witness. Unlike film or reading short stories the audience completes this art form. Movies can be distributed like a piece of music that can be recorded. Plays are different every night, they are never the same because the audience’s reactions may change, or the actor’s performance changes. That is not to say that films are better or worse, they are just different to live theatre.”\nTwo well known Barbadian writers who attended the Republic Bank sponsored workshop commented:\n“The experience tonight was – I keep thinking refreshing not sure that is the right word but that fits. It was my intention to take whatever I got today and learned for my writing in all areas and I definitely learned quite a bit that I can take to enhance my writing. Also [these tools] may reignite the writing a play at this stage of my life” stated Sandra Sealy.\nWinston Farrell, who read an excerpt from his play House of Landship, said “I felt good about having the group read this work in progress. Katori and the others helped bring up some issues in the work which I can continue to think about and work on.”", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Cat Sitter's Pajamas\nA Dixie Hemingway Mystery\nBy Blaize Clement\n(Minotaur Books, Hardcover, 9780312643133, 272pp.)\nPublication Date: January 3, 2012\nEnter your zip code below to find indies closest to you.\nAuthor Blaize Clement has thrilled readers everywhere with the first six books in her pet-sitting mystery series. Now Blaize’s beloved heroine Dixie Hemingway is back for another adventure, and she has her hands full when the worlds of celebrity hijinks, counterfeit fashion, and naughty cats collide.\nDixie Hemingway, no relation to you-know-who, accepts a job taking care of famous linebacker Cupcake Trillin’s cats, Elvis and Lucy, while he’s away. But what seems like an easy job turns scary when Dixie finds a celebrity fashion model in Cupcake’s house. The woman refuses to leave AND she also claims to be Cupcake’s wife. But Dixie has met Cupcake’s wife, and this woman certainly isn’t her.\nSoon, Dixie is spun into the world of counterfeit high fashion. When a valuable list of fake merchandise sellers goes missing, the criminals go after Dixie. Once again, what started as a simple cat-sitting job has turned into a mess that only Dixie can solve.\nBLAIZE CLEMENT is the author of Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter, Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund, Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues, Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof, Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs, and Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Longtime readers of the site may remember a post from a couple of years ago in which we swapped a few words with Jo Brown about her fantastic Nature Journal project. We’re delighted to learn that Jo’s journal has now been adapted into her very first book Secrets of a Devon Wood — an exact replica of her original Moleskine journal, and a rich illustrated document of the flora and fauna to be found in the garden of her Devon cottage and the nearby woods. See pages extracted from the book below…\nSecrets of a Devon Wood is published tomorrow by Short Books. You can order a copy (£12.99) through your local independent bookshop.\nYou can also follow Jo on Instagram.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "\"I loved everything about Dragon Mine, from the scorching first chapter to the epic worldbuilding. It's my new favorite Donna Grant novel! All hail Donna Grant, the Dragon Queen!\" - New York Times bestselling author Larissa Ione\nWalk with New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Donna Grant through the doorway into the next engaging installment of her captivating new Dragon Kings series...\nI am hers, and she is mine...\nVaughn has spent eons searching for the woman who captured his heart, only to be disappointed time and again. Sure, he sees her in his dreams. May get to touch and hold her. But it's not the same. As the emptiness inside him grows, he jumps at the chance for a distraction. Setting his eyes on the dragons again in Zora is a balm, but it can't compare to once again coming face-to-face with the gorgeous beauty who holds a piece of his soul.\nWith responsibilities comes sacrifice...\nEurwen has never known anything but the burden and joy of ruling the dragons. But unlike her twin, she's always been curious about Earth and the Kings and felt as if something were missing from her life. When her reunion with her parents brings an unexpected surprise, she can't help but give in to the pleasure that Vaughn offers. Still, her loyalty lies with her realm, and the hurdles in their way to happiness seem insurmountable-especially with a new and unknown foe seeking to destroy them.\nTrust doesn't come easily, but love conquers all. And no amount of time or space can keep those who belong together apart.\n\"I love fantasy romance and Donna Grant is one of the best at writing it. Dragon Mine defines what it means to have a true soulmate. I was captivated by this sexy love affair that was eons in the making.\" - New York Times bestselling author, Sawyer Bennett\nEarn by promoting books\nEarn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.Become an affiliate\nAbout the Author\nVirginia DeBerry and Donna Grant are the bestelling authors of Far from the Tree and Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, which won an Honor Award for Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, the Book of the Year Award from Blackboard, and the New Author of the year Award from the Go on Girl! Book Club. The authors met while working as models, and what should have been a rivalry ended up a decades-long friendship.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "[most of this essay was written in 2001] it is now about one year since the death at 80 of pierre elliott trudeau (1919-2000), pierre trudeau and canadians. Pierre trudeau essays: over 180,000 pierre trudeau essays, pierre trudeau term papers, pierre trudeau research paper, book reports 184 990 essays, term and research. Searching for essay on pierre elliot trudeau being a great man essays find free essay on pierre elliot trudeau being a great man essays, term papers, resear. Pierre trudeau, former prime pierre elliot trudeau the compilation of political essays featured in his book deal with the diverse complexities of social,.\nPierre elliot trudeau: a successful prime minister a great prime minister should always do what is right for canada, no matter what obstacles he or she faces. A history of pierre elliott trudeau if you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have the essay published on the uk essays. Justin trudeau visits havana 40 years after his father pierre elliot trudeau’s historic state visit in 1976. Pierre elliot trudeau 1919-2000 pierre elliott trudeau left a legacy not only for canada, but for free pierre trudeau essays and papers - 123helpme free pierre.\nTrudeau also brought in the legalization of lotteries which allowed people to participate in buying lottery tickets and gambling in pierre trudeau liberalized laws. Get help on 【 pierre elliot trudeau essay 】 on graduateway huge assortment of free essays & assignments the best writers. Free essay: pierre elliot trudeau: a successful prime minister a great prime minister should always do what is right for canada, no matter what obstacles he.\nEssay pierre elliot trudeau published in 1968, federalism and the french canadians is an ideological anthology featuring a series of essays written by pierre. Pierre elliot trudeau was instrumental in changing the political and social environment in canada during his administration trudeau had many. Pierre elliott trudeau essays: over 180,000 pierre elliott trudeau essays, pierre elliott trudeau term papers, pierre elliott trudeau research paper, book reports. The famous 1944 essay: pierre elliot trudeau 1919-2000 in its original state (rather than on books, ideas and habits of uncertain value),. Trudeau wrote an essay entitled, exhaustion and fulfillment: the ascetic in a canoe.\nFree essay: as one of the canada’s greatest leaders, pierre elliot trudeau brought change that would change canada forever in a positive manner although it. Pierre trudeau essay introduction a history of pierre elliott trudeau - uk essays 25 apr 2017 one of the greatest prime ministers in defining the canadian identity. Dnb thesis late submission fee: pierre elliot trudeau his mark on canada essays canada has been shaped, from its beginning, pierre pierre elliott trudeau watch me.\nPierre trudeau essays pierre trudeau essaysa charismatic leader bases his/her power on the projection and pierre elliot trudeau won the public by broadening. From pierre-elliott trudeau airport (west) in addition to renting a car, options for getting from the pierre-elliot-trudeau international airport to the hotel are. Pierre elliot trudeau pierre elliot trudeau was a politician, a lawyer, a writer and one of canada's greatest prime ministers whom had the idea of canada's.\nFree essay on pierre elliot trudeau: canada's greatest leader ai chc-2d may 12, 2011 pierre elliot trudeau: canada’s greatest leader pierre elliot tr. As one of the canada’s greatest leaders, pierre elliot trudeau brought change that would change canada forever in a positive manner although it can be argued that.\nFree essay: pierre elliot trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic prime ministers canada has ever seen he wore capes, dated. - pierre elliot trudeau published in 1968, federalism and the french canadians is an ideological anthology featuring a series of essays written by pierre elliot. Pierre trudeau essay introduction pierre trudeau essay thesis, .", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This feature is not available right now please try again later. A park ranger's life: thirty two years protecting our national parks is a collection of stories from the career of retired national park ranger bruce bytnar you will find stories about bears, lost hikers, criminals, forest fires, and learn the true story of the challenges and rewards of being a national park ranger. A worksheet resource with a focus on writing a description rather than a story it encourages the use of the five senses to create imagery in the students' writing.\nThis story has the perfect structure for a campfire read quick, spooky and all-too-realistic, it's sure to create a nice awkward staring into the fire quietly moment 9. For this reason, certain topics, while they may be scary, are not allowed as the focal point of the story these certain topics include, but are not limited to: rape, pedophilia, necrophilia, child abuse, torture porn, gorenography, and mental illness/health disorders. The haunted forest depicted in blair witch project and its remake may be just as fictional as fairy tales, but the spooky woods in this list have seen real-life horrors and developed legends of their own.\nAbout becca puglisi becca puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of the emotion thesaurus and its sequels her books are available in five languages, are sourced by us universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. The stories in this video just get more intense as you listen it has everything from paranormal encounters in the woods, to black eyed children and people with no face not to mention the stairs. The sheep if that's real, i read an article were one of the stories that the locals tell visitors is the story of the sheep herder who led his 200 sheep into the forest and they never came out. This was a very good and scary story, especially when its night and when the bang came was there light this was so cool and bob was a wolf in their home.\nWelcome to my blog i'm a fantasy writer and on this site you'll not only find samples of my work but also articles concerning folklore, myth and legend, reviews of movies, books and graphic novels and much else besides (including the occasional short story - you lucky people. A backyard haunted forest can only come alive if you put a real scare into visitors you can spend a lot of money to get tricks and treats from haunted house stores, but there are plenty of scary effects that can be made from things around the house or with a much smaller investment cover a large. We were all staring across the river and felt as if something or someone was staring back it was a very uneasy feeling, to which some of the group tried to shake off with the typical macho humor, when a bloodcurdling sound erupted from the other shore that froze everyone in their tracks. The most haunted show did an investigation in epping forest looking for the spirit of dick turpin and apparently they found him there because of its proximity to the city of london, the forest is also a notorious burial area for murder victims. 5 scary short stories to keep you up at night by james oliviera published august 29, 2014 updated february 18, 2015 s cary short stories have the greatest effect- they keep your imagination running.\nRead suicide forest from the story short scary stories by lukajayne101 with 6,834 reads gore, scary, horror the forest is a popular place for suicides, repor. User blog comment:ratigan6688/2 scary things about disney that scarred me for life as a youngster, the scene where snow white is running through the forest was always pretty spooky. Teagz04 completed short stories horror december 9, 2016 this is a gothic novel about a young woman who decides to move to an isolated, two-storey house in the middle of a snowy forest one night, she begins to hear scratching and growling which turns out to be a green-eyed menace - the phantom wolf. It was a dark damp forest meanecing creatures lurking behind trees watching your every move waiting to strike the moon light glistining along the forest floor with patterns made by the shadow of the towering trees. Send me a story starter and i will add yours to the shed please make sure it is original and not 'pinched' from somewhere else include your name, twitter handle and school if you want them mentioned also.\nThe haunted forest- pasadena, ca the enchanted forest when you approach the haunted forest (also known as the enchanted forest) at the end of lake ave in pasadena, california, it definitely has an intimidating first impression. On this thread, please post the opening paragraph of your scary story we want to see how you build setting and introduce your key character. Really good scary stories for kids, teenagers and adults to tell at sleepovers read these short ghost tales in the dark at a bonfire while camping and have a good time scaring each other to death a few years ago, in a small town in spain, there was a married couple who had a six-year old boy.\nThere are strange things in the dark, dark wood what are they watch and find out story developed by cambridge english online this song is very scary. The clown at midnight is a scary story about a man who hires an entertainer for his son's birthday party it is inspired by two famous quotes from lon chaney and stephen king nobody likes a clown at midnight - stephen king a clown is funny in the circus ring but what would be the. In 1915, egyptologist gaston maspero published a translation of an ancient egyptian ghost story, possibly set in luxor (ancient thebes, shown above), that was discovered on four pieces of pottery. Unknown beasts in the forest many encounters suggest the presence of big foot or other large, mysterious creatures lurking in wooded areas on survivalistboardscom, a forum for avid outdoors-men, one hunter describes his experience with an unknown beast deep in the swamp.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "He was indeed the greatest Heron of all. His azure feathers were like a flowing river of sapphire, and his piercing eyes held the wisdom of ages. The Heron had a deep affection for a particular nestbox, and his love for the nestbox in the Marsh was unwavering. It was a symbol of his connection to the land, a sanctuary for his dreams and aspirations. From this vantage point, he observed the ebb and flow of the Marsh’s life. With every season, he welcomed a new generation into the world, teaching them the ways of the Marsh and the secrets of survival.\nThe Great Blue Heron’s presence in the Marsh was a source of inspiration for all who beheld his majesty. He soared through the sky with an elegance that defied gravity, and when he stood still in the shallows, it was as if the universe itself paused to admire his grace. His loyalty to the nestbox and the Marsh instilled a profound sense of wonder in those who called the Marsh their home, and his legend lived on for generations. Without a doubt, the great blue Heron was the greatest of all herons, not just in stature but in the love he had for the nestbox and the Marsh that had forever claimed his heart.\n~ Robert David Atkinson", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In Shakespearean scholarship, Henriad is a group, or a tetralogy, of William Shakespeare's history plays. In the original meaning, Henriad refers to: Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1 Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V — with the implication that these four plays are Shakespeare’s epic, and that Prince Harry, who later becomes Henry V, is the epic hero. (This group may also be referred to as the \"second tetralogy\" or \"second Henriad\".)\nIn the expanded meaning, Henriad is the eight plays: the tetralogy mentioned above, plus four plays that were written earlier: Henry VI, part 1, Henry VI, part 2, Henry VI, part 3, and Richard III. This added group (the \"first tetralogy\" or \"first Henriad\") is based on the later historic events and civil wars known as The War of the Roses.\nThe original definition\nThe term Henriad is used by Alvin Kernan in his 1969 book The Henriad: Shakespeare’s Major History Plays to suggest that the four plays of the second tetralogy (Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V), when considered together as a group, or a dramatic tetralogy, have coherence and characteristics that are the primary qualities associated with literary epic: \"large-scale heroic action involving many men and many activities tracing the movement of a nation or people through violent change from one condition to another.\" In this context he sees the four plays as analogous to Homer’s Illiad, Virgil’s Aeneid, Voltaire’s Henriad, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. The action of the Henriad follows the dynastic, cultural and psychological journey that England traveled as it left the medieval world with Richard II and moved on to Henry V and the Renaissance. Politically and socially the Henriad represents a \"movement from feudalism and hierarchy to the national state and individualism\". Kernan similarly discusses the Henriad in psychological, spatial, temporal, and mythical terms. \"In mythical terms,\" he says, \"the passage is from a garden world to a fallen world.\" This group of plays has recurring characters and settings. However, there is no evidence that these plays were written with the intention that they be considered as a group.\nThe character Falstaff is introduced in Henry IV, pt. 1., he dies early in Henry V. Falstaff represents the tavern world, a world which Prince Hal will leave behind. (This group of plays has occasionally been redubbed the \"Falstaffiad\" by Harold Bloom and others.)\nThe expanded definition\nThe term Henriad, once coined, soon acquired an expanded second meaning, which refers to two groups of Shakespearean plays: The tetralogy mentioned above (Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V), and also four plays that were written earlier and are based on the historic events and civil wars known as The War of the Roses; Henry VI, part 1, Henry VI, part 2, Henry VI, part 3, and Richard III. This group, in this sense, is known as the \"first Henriad\" and the group that was written later is known as the \"second Henriad\".\nThese two Shakespearean tetralogies, share the name Henriad, but only the \"second Henriad\" has the epic qualities that Kernan had in mind when he created the original term. In this way the two definitions are somewhat contradictory and overlapping. To know which meaning is intended, can usually be derived by the context.\nThese eight plays when considered together, are said to tell a unified story of a significant arc of British history from Henry VI to Henry V. These plays cover this history, while going beyond the English chronicle play; they include some of Shakespeare’s greatest writing. They are not tragedies, but as history plays they are comparable in terms of dramatic or literary quality and meaning. When considered as a group they contain a narrative pattern: disaster, followed by chaos and a battle of contending forces, followed by the happy ending: the restitution of order. This pattern is repeated in every play, as Britain leaves the medieval world and moves towards the British Renaissance. These plays further express what is referred to as the \"Elizabethan world order\", a term defined as the Elizabethan conception of mankind’s striving in world seen as a unity battling chaos, all of which is based on the era’s philosophies, sense of history, and religion.\nKing John is not included in the Henriad because it is said to have a style that is of a different order than the other history plays. It has great qualities of poetry, freedom and imagination, and has value as a new direction taken by the author. Henry VIII is not included due to unresolved questions regarding how much of it is coauthored, and what of it is written by Shakespeare.\nBefore the term Henriad was created, these eight plays were known as The First Tetralogy and The Second Tetralogy, a usage coined by the Shakespearean scholar E.M.W. Tillyard in his 1944 book, Shakespeare’s History Plays. Tillyard derived the word \"tetralogy\" from the performance tradition of the Dionysian Festival of ancient Athens, in which a poet was to compose a tetralogy (τετραλογία): Three tragedies and one comedic satyr play. Tilliyard was the first to study these Shakespearean history plays as combined in a dramatic serial form, and to analyze how, when combined, the stories, characters, historic chronology, and themes are linked and portrayed. After Tillard’s book, these plays have often been combined in performance, and it would be a very rare occurrence for Henry VI, part 2 or 3, for example, to be performed on its own. Tillyard considered each tetralogy closely linked, and he studied the two tetralogies as a single unit. The characters themselves link the stories together when they tell their own history or explain their titles.\nShakespeare is well established as the sole author of the plays of the second Henriad, but there has been speculation regarding possible co-authors of the Henry VI plays of the first Henriad. Since the 18th century Christopher Marlowe has been suggested as a possible contributor. Then in 2016 the editors of the New Oxford Shakespeare, led by Gary Taylor, announced that Marlowe and \"anonymous\" would be listed on their title pages of Henry VI, Parts 2, and 3 as co-author side-by-side with Shakespeare, and that Marlowe, Thomas Nashe and “anonymous\" would be listed as the authors of Henry VI, Part 1, with Shakespeare listed only as the adaptor. This is not universally accepted, but it is the first time a major critical edition of Shakespeare’s works has listed Marlowe as a co-author.\nThe plays that may have influenced, inspired, or provided a tradition for Shakespeare’s Henriad plays would include popular morality plays, which contributed to the evolution of British drama. Notable morality plays that focus on British history include John Skelton’s Magnificence (1533), David Lyndsay’s A Satire of the Three Estates (1552), and John Bale’s play King John (c. 1538). Gorboduc (1561) is considered the first Senecan tragedy in the English language, though it is a chronicle play written in blank verse; it has numerous serious speeches, a unified dramatic action, and its violence is kept off-stage.\nOut of this tradition the English Chronicle play developed to carry on the tradition of the Medieval Moralities, to provide historic stories, memorials of historic figures, and to teach lessons morality. When King Lear was published as a quarto in 1608 it was called a \"true English Chronicle\". Some notable examples of the English chronicle include George Peele’s Edward I, John Lyly’s Midas (1591), Robert Greene’s Orlando Furioso, Thomas Heywood’s Edward IV, and Robert Wilson’s Three Lords and Three Ladies of London (1590). Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), contributed greatly to the plays of Shakespeare’s Henriad, and also advanced the development of the English chronicle play.\nIn his book, Shakespeare’s History Plays, E. M. W. Tillyard’s mid-20th century theories regarding the eight-play Henriad, have been extremely influential. Tillyard supports the idea of the Tudor myth, which considers England’s 15th century to be a dark time of lawlessness and warfare, that after many battles eventually led to a golden age of the Tudor Period. This theory suggests that Shakespeare believed this orthodoxy and promoted it with his Henriad. The Tudor myth is a theory that suggests that Shakespeare, with his history plays, contributes to the idea that the civil wars of the Henriad were all part of a divine plan that would ultimately lead to the Tudors — which in turn would support Shakespeare’s monarch, Elizabeth. The argument to that is that when these plays were written Elizabeth was approaching the end of her life and reign, and how her successor would be determined was causing the idea of a civil war to be a source of concern, not glorification. Plus the lack of an heir to Elizabeth tended to outmode the idea that the Tudors were a divine solution. Then critics including Paul Murray Kendall and Jan Kott, challenged the idea of the Tudor myth, and the image of Shakespeare changed so much he seemed to become a prophetic voice in the wilderness who saw the existential meaninglessness of this history of warfare.\nSome critics consider that the plays of the Henriad do not cohere well together. In performance the plays can seem jumbled and tonally mismatched, and narratives are at times oddly dropped and resumed.\nNumerous inconsistencies exist between the individual plays of the first tetralogy, which is typical of serialized drama in the early modern playhouses. James Marino suggests, \"It is more remarkable that any coherency appears at all in a 'series' cobbled together from elements of three different repertories”. The four plays variously originated from three different theatre companies: The Queens Men, Pembroke's Men and Chamberlain’s Men.\nAn earlier use\nAn earlier use of the word \"Henriad\" to refer to a group of Shakespeare’s plays occurs in a book published in 1876 titled Shakespeare’s Diversions; A Medley of Motley Wear. The author doesn’t define the word, but indicates that the plays in which the character, Mistress Quickly, hostess of the Boar’s Head Tavern, appears include \"The English Henriad\" as well as The Merry Wives of Windsor; and that the number of plays she appears in is four — \"one more than is granted to Falstaff\". Mistress Quickly appears in three plays other than The Merry Wives of Windsor: the two parts of Henry IV and Henry V.\nOther reappearing characters\nRichard III appears in Richard III and parts 2, 3 of Henry VI. Ancient Pistol appears in Henry IV Part 2, Henry VI and The Merry Wives of Windsor. There are many characters who appear in more than one play of the group of the extended Henriad plus the \"Wives\". Outside of that group there is the pair of Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, where the Second Triumvirate appear in both plays: Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus.\n- Dobson, Michael. Wells, Stanley. \"Henriad\". The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press (2015) ISBN 9780198708735\n- Zarin, Cynthia. \"Nine Hours of Shakespeare.\" The New Yorker Magazine. 15 May 2016\n- Skura, Meredith Anne. Shakespeare the Actor and the Purposes of Playing. University of Chicago Press, 1993. p. 131. ISBN 9780226761800\n- Kernan, Alvin, B. The Henriad: Shakespeare’s Major History Plays. The Yale Review, p. 55 (1969)\n- Kernan, Alvin, B. ed. Modern Shakespeare Criticism. Harcourt Brace (1970). p. 245-75\n- Danson, Lawrence. Shakespeare’s Dramatic Genres. Oxford University Press (2000). ISBN 9780198711728 p. 149\n- Voltaire. The Henriad; a Poem. Published by Sydney Smith (1834)\n- Kernan, Alvin, B. The Henriad: Shakespeare’s Major History Plays. The Yale Review, p. 58 (1969)\n- Bloom, Harold. Falstaff: Give Me Life. Simon and Schuster. (2017) p. 143. ISBN 9781501164132\n- Brustein, Robert. Letters to a Young Actor. 2009. p. 22. ISBN 9780786734023\n- Keyishian, Harry. \"The Progress of Revenge in The First Henriad\". Pendleton, Thomas A. editor. Henry VI: Critical Essays. Psychology Press, 2001. p. 67-77. ISBN 9780815333012\n- Arnold, Oliver. The Third Citizen: Shakespeare's Theater and the Early Modern House of Commons. JHU Press, 2007. p. 76-80. ISBN 9780801885044\n- Marino, James J. Owning William Shakespeare: The King's Men and Their Intellectual Property. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011 ISBN 9780812205770\n- Tillyard, E. M. W. Shakespeare’s History Plays. Chatto & Windus (1944) ISBN 978-0701111571 pp. 10 - 13, 319-322\n- Calderwood, James. Metadrama in Shakespeare's Henriad: Richard II to Henry V. University of California Press, 1979. ISBN 9780520036529 p. 1-12\n- Pendleton, Thomas. Henry VI; Critical Essays. The Progress of Revenge, the First Henriad. Routledge, 2001. ISBN 9781134828388\n- Hawkins, Sherman. \"Structural Pattern in Shakespeare's Histories\". Studies in Philology. Vol. 88, No. 1 Univ. North Carolina Press. (1991), pp. 16-45\n- Wilders, John. The Lost Garden; a View of Shakespeare’s English and Roman History Plays. Rownan & Littlefield (1978). pp. vi-xi. ISBN 978-0333244708\n- Tillyard, E. M. W. Shakespeare’s History Plays. Chatto & Windus (1944) ISBN 978-0701111571 p. 215-233\n- Crane, Mary Thomas. \"The Shakespearean Tetralogy\". Shakespeare Quarterly. Vol. 36, No. 3. Oxford Univ. Press. (1985), pp. 282-299\n- Tillyard, E. M. W. Shakespeare’s History Plays. Chatto & Windus (1944) ISBN 978-0701111571\n- Alberge, Dalya. \"Christopher Marlowe credited as one of Shakespeare's co-writers\". The Guardian. 23 October 2016.\n- Shakespeare, William. The New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition. Oxford University Press (2016) p. vii. ISBN 978-0199591152\n- Pollack-Pelzner, Daniel. \"The Radical Argument of the New Oxford Shakespeare\". The New Yorker Magazine. 19 February 2017.\n- Ward, A.W. editor. \"Phyllyp Sparowe”. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature’' Cambridge University (1907–21) Volume III. Renascence and Reformation.\n- Brockett, Oscar G. History of the Theatre. Pearson, 2014., p. 107\n- Ribner, Irving. (1957) The English History Play In The Age Of Shakespeare, pp. 30-40.\n- Tillyard, E. M. W. Shakespeare’s History Plays. Chatto & Windus (1944) ISBN 978-0701111571\n- Burden, Dennis. \"Shakespeare History Plays : 1952 - 1983\". Shakespeare Survey, volume 38, Cambridge University Press (1985). Wells, Stanley, editor. p. 1-18\n- Merrix, Robert P. \"Shakespeare’s Histories and the New Bardolators\". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900. Vol. 19, No. 2, Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama, pp. 179-196. Rice University Press. (1979)\n- Kott, Jan. Shakespeare Our Contemporary. Doubleday. (1966)\n- Tillyard, E. M. W. Shakespeare’s History Plays. Chatto & Windus (1944) ISBN 978-0701111571 p. 10\n- Green, Jesse. \"Theater Review: 13 Hours of Shakespeare’s Henrys, in Brooklyn\". Vulture. 6 April 2016.\n- Marino, James J. Owning William Shakespeare: The King's Men and Their Intellectual Property. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011 ISBN 9780812205770\n- Jacox, Francis. Shakespeare’s Diversions: A Medley of Motley Wear. Publisher: Daldy, Isbister & Co. 56 Ludgate Hill. (1876). pp. 437-438\n- \"Archived copy\". Archived from the original on 2013-11-06. Retrieved 2013-10-31.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)\n|tetralogies of \"expanded Henriad\"||approx. dates written||years covered||plays|\n|First Henriad||1591-1554||1422-1485||Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, 3; Richard III|\n|(Second) Henriad||1595-1599||1398-1415||Richard II; Henry IV, Parts 1,2; Henry V|", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Joseph John Ferraro\nYes, My Love - Poem by Joseph John Ferraro\nYes my love, I shall care for your heart tenderly,\nlovingly, and faithly.\nFor we are now truly one, and our life and eternal\nlove, has just begun.\nI will always nourish and cherish your heart, and\nour love will never perish.\nWe shall never grow apart, and I will give that part\nof you, your heart, the love\nAnd understanding it\nAnd with each and every passing day, I will encourage\nit to grow from embers to roaring fires, and in\nlove, with all it's desires.\nI will hold your heart always, close, to me in times\nof troubles, and in times of need\nI will care for your heart as if were my own, and\nmy love, you will never fell or ever be alone.\nComments about Yes, My Love by Joseph John Ferraro\nRead this poem in other languages\nThis poem has not been translated into any other language yet.\nStill I Rise\nThe Road Not Taken\nIf You Forget Me\nEdgar Allan Poe\nStopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening\nI Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You\nDo Not Stand At My Grave And Weep\nMary Elizabeth Frye", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This study tests hypothesized differences in pre-post (product-harm) crisis attitude change toward an organization for positively and negatively oriented individuals. Contrary to theoretical predictions, there was not a strong differential attitude change between positively and negatively oriented individuals. The results suggest a possible boundary condition for the influence of positive and negative affectivity on attitude change. Two explanations are offered for these findings: (1) that the vividness of the situation might override affectivity and (2) that affectivity might not be a strong predictor of attitude change for nonpersonalized attitudes.\nThis is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.\nBuy single article\nInstant access to the full article PDF.\nPrice excludes VAT (USA)\nTax calculation will be finalised during checkout.\nBrief, A. P., Burke, M. J., George, J. M., Robinson, B. S., & Webster, J. (1988). Should negative affectivity remain an unmeasured variable in the study of job stress. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 529-535.\nBrief, A. P., & Roberson, L. (1989). Job attitude organization: An exploratory study. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 19, 717-727.\nBurke, M. J., & Perlman, K. (1988). Recruitment, selection and matching people to jobs. In J. P. Campbell & R. J. Campbell (Eds.), Productivity in Organizations (pp. 97-142). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.\nCacioppo, J. T., & Berntson, G. G. (1994). Relationship between attitudes and evaluative space: A critical review, with emphasis on the separability of positive and negative substrates. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 401-423.\nCosta, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 668-678.\nCuthbert, B. N., Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (1996). Probing picture perception: Activation and emotion. Psychophysiology, 33, 103-111.\nDiener, E., & Emmons, R. A. (1984). The independence of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1105-1117.\nDunne, N. (1996). Portrait of an American dilemma. The Financial Times, June 17, p. 10.\nEngle, E. M., & Lord, R. G. (1997). Implicit theories, self-schemas, and leader-member exchange. Academy of Management Journal, 40 (4), 988-1010.\nFeldman, L. A. (1995). Variations in the circumplex structure of mood. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 806-817.\nGeorge, J. M. (1991), State or Trait: Effects of positive mood on prosocial behaviors at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 299-307.\nGreen, D. P., Goldman, S. L., & Salovey, P. (1993). Measurement error masks bipolarity in affect ratings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 1029-1041.\nGriffith, M., Babin, B. J., and Darden, W. R. (1992). Consumer assessments of responsibility for product-related injuries: The impact of regulations, warnings, and promotional policies. In J. F. Sherry, Jr., & B. Sternthal (Eds.), Advances in Consumer Research, 19, 870-878.\nJolley, T. M., & Spielberger, C. D. (1973). The effects of locus of control and anxiety on verbal conditioning. Journal of Personality, 41, 443-456.\nJolly, D. W., & Mowen, J. C. 91984). Product recall communications: The effect of source, media, and social responsibility information. In E. Hirschman & M. Holbrook (Eds.), Advances in Consumer Research, 12, 471-475.\nMayer, J. D., & Gaschke, Y. N. (1988). The experience and meta-experience of mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 102-111.\nMischel, W. (1977). On the future of personality measurement. American Psychologist, 32, 246-254.\nMorris, W. N. (1989). Mood: The frame of mind. New York: Springer-Verlag.\nMowen, J. C., & Ellis, H. W. (1980). Product liability: Issues in corporate communications to consumers and jurors, 35th American Society of Quality Control. Tulsa: Midwest Conference Transactions.\nMowen, J. C., Jolly D., & Nickell, G. S. (1980). Factors influencing consumer response to product recalls: A regression analysis approach. In K. Moore (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research, 8, 405-407.\nNational Advisory Mental Health Council. (1995). Basic behavioral science research for mental health, a national investment: Emotion and motivation. American Psychologist, 50, 838-845.\nReisenzein, R. (1994). Pleasure-arousal theory and the intensity of emotions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 525-539.\nRussell, J. A., & Carroll, J. M. (1999). On the bipolarity of positive and negative affect. Psychological Bulletin, 125 (1), 3-30.\nRussell, J. A., Weiss, A., & Mendelsohn, G. A. (1989). Affect grid: A single item scale of pleasure and arousal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 493-502.\nSchaubroeck, J., Judge, T. A., & Taylor, L. A. (1998). Influences of trait negative affect and situational similarity on correlation and convergence of work attitudes and job stress perceptions across two jobs. Journal of Management, 24 (5), 553-576.\nShrivatsava, P. (1987). Bhopal: Anatomy of a crisis. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Co.\nTellegen, A. (1982). Brief manual of the Differential Personality Questionnaire: Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.\nTellegen, A. (1985). Structures of mood and personality and their relevance to assessing anxiety, with an emphasis on self-report. In A. H. Tuma & J. D. Masters (Eds.), Anxiety and the anxiety disorders (pp. 681-706). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.\nWatson, D. (1988). The vicissitudes of mood measurement: Effects of varying descriptors, time frames, and response formats on measures of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 128-141.\nWatson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1984). Negative affectivity: The disposition to experience aversive emotional states. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 465-490.\nWatson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1997). The measurement and mismeasurement of mood. Recurrent and emergent issues. Journal of Personality Assessment, 86, 267-296.\nWatson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063-1070.\nWatson, D., Pennebaker, J. W., & Folger, R. (1986). Beyond negative affectivity: Measuring stress and satisfaction in the workplace. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 8, 141-157.\nWiener, J., & Mowen, J. C. (1985). Product recalls: Avoiding beheading the messenger of bad news. Mobius, 4, 18-21.\nRights and permissions\nAbout this article\nCite this article\nSiomkos, G.J., Rao, S.S. & Narayanan, S. The Influence of Positive and Negative Affectivity on Attitude Change Toward Organizations. Journal of Business and Psychology 16, 151–161 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007800124297\n- Attitude change\n- positive affectivity\n- negative affectivity.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Posted by Brett on September 03, 2101 at 09:51:57:\nIn Reply to: Chastity posted by Mike on June 11, 2101 at 02:59:48:\nAs far as women being superior, one quotation in Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha Abbas (not reprinted though, so the translation may be faulty) may be helpful to us Baha'i men (and women) who take this encouragement of women too strongly...\n\"As to the question of women being chosen rather\nthan men: In this cycle there were men who arose\nthrough a divine power and who shone forth as the sun\nfrom the dawning-point of holiness; and, likewise, there\nappeared certain women who became side by side with\nmen. The expression which you quote, \"Every woman\nwho is directed to the guidance of God in this great\nage, will surpass men in every respect,\" signified that,\nin this age, certain women will appear who will surpass\nsome men. It does not mean that they will surpass\nall the men who have given their lives as sacrifices\nin this Cause; for in this wonderful cycle there appeared\nsuch men as his holiness Khudoos, his holiness Bab-el-Bab,\nhis holiness the \"King of Martyrs\" and his holiness\nthe \"Beloved of Martyrs,\" his holiness the great Vaheed+F1 ,\nand such ones who have no equals in the world\nIf, in the letters to the maid-servants of the Merciful,\nthere hath been written in the sense of encouragement\n(that form which such meanings can be inferred), the\npurport is that some women in the wonderful age have\nsurpassed some men, and not that all women have surpassed\nall men. The members of the House of Spirituality\nmust give unlimited encouragement to women.\nIn this age, both men and women are in the shadow of\nthe Word of God. Whosoever endeavors the most\nwill attain the greatest share, be it of men or of women,\nof the strong or of the weak. (Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, pp. 336-337)\nAs you may know, there are other quotations, indicating, for example, that in some cases in America, wives \"have a tendency to exert an unjust degree of domination over their husbands\" (Familly Life, p. 405), that women must \"prove her capacity and aptitude\" (`Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 283), etc. which are also useful to balance out the whole perspective on all the (rightful) encouragment of women if and when things get a little too extreme.\nThis is not to say, however, that because injustice can exist on both sides, that equality has been achieved, particularly in the area of eliminating violence toward women as well as in looking to women for new economic models based on shared experience, etc. or on consultative methods (see Prosperity of Humankind) nor is it obviously to say that innumerable examples of capable women do not exist.\nthis topic is closed - post at bahai-library.com/forum", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I want to thank my senior year high school English teacher for giving me an outlet that he didn't know that I desperate needed. So thank you from the bottom of my heart Mr. Bindig.\nYou had the chance to get to know me And you never took it You had so many chances And you never took one You’ll never know me You’ll never know how much pain you caused me And that you will cause me pain All those broken promises All the love I showed you And got nothing in return You where never there for me All those times I needed you Now, you will never know me You’ll never have the chance to know me I will never let you have another chance I will never give you another chance (March 2002)\nAll poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.\nThe Death Series (3 poems) (04/04/2021)\nI Expect You (04/04/2021)\nNo one knows (04/04/2021)\nWithout Regard (04/04/2021)\nRight the Wrongs (04/04/2021)\nThe Pain (04/04/2021)\nBreaking Point (04/04/2021)\nFrustration .... (04/04/2021)\nBlog link: https://www.writeoutloud.net/blogs/shan\nDo you want to be featured here? Submit your profile.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "By Shannon DuBey\n© 2011, 2007 Shannon DuBey\nThis ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.\nAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.\nThis book is dedicated to those who helped shape my future as a child, and to those who continue to influence me daily.\nTo Jen, my rock, who found the courage to stand by my side. Your unconditional love and support continues to inspire me daily.\nTo my parents, thank you for being different. Your support and understanding throughout the years allowed me to find my place in the world.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "good morning love shayri\nLove Shayari in Hindi: Send Best Love Shayari SMS Messages for Girl Friends in You may also like good morning quotes for lover and good night text for her.Shayri can be funny, romantic, sad or on any topic you Beautiful good morning hd wallpapers for desktop backgrounds, Free download Good Morning Shayari is a very best way to impress your love. So we are writing best 33 good morning shayari in hindi language for you.Latest Good Morning Shayari In Hindi Language For Girlfriend Boyfriend 2016.Shayari for Whatsapp, Latest Gud Mrng Shayri, Din Subah Suraj GM Shayari, Good Morning Shayari for Lover, Girlfriend Boyfriend, GF BF, Husband Wife.Most Popular Love Shayari, New Love Shayari, Best Love Shayari, Romantic Shayari Collection, True Shayari, Hindi Love Shayari. Very Good Morning My Love. 3). Having your love made my life Did change completely and Made me realize that true affection Gives much joy each new dawn.Dekh Pagli Status, Ladkiyo ki Insult Shayari. Painful Sad Break Up Sms for Beloved | Dard Bhari Shayri. Good Morning Messages for Girlfriend: Every girl dreaming of having a boy who send a Cute Good Morning Love Message to her while she is rolling around in bed.So lets check here for the Beautiful Collection of Morning Love Shayari and Good Morning Message for her. Only most inspirational Goodmorning Love Quotes and Sayings.> Good morning love quotes for your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife that will make your partner feel that he or she is loved. , friends Good Morning Love Shayari with photo, image, free for facebook, whatsapp . friends beautiful cute collection GM Love Shayri . Very Good Morning Wishes, Happy Good Morning Sms in Hindi, Latest sweet cute good morning Quotes 2018 Messages.\nHave a nice day good day msg.Good Morning Love Shayari for Lovers. This Hindi good morning shayari for friends, wife, husband, love, gf and bf is an exciting as well as powerful way of interaction.Good Night Shayari. Romantic Shayari for Love. Smile Shayri in Hindi. A collection of good morning love messages remind us that morning is a gift from God that is why it is called present.\nHere are some morning love messages, romantic love messages for morning and good morning love SMS that is especially done for greetings your dear ones in the morning.Feel Good morning shayari in Urdu for your friends , relatives and lover . Good morning shayari poetry , ghazal , poem and sher o shayari in Hindi. Best funny sad and romantic 1 line , 2 line and 4 line good morning shayri collection Online. Good Morning Love Messages (quotes, poems, love letters).Good Morning My Love (images/pictures messages). Good Morning Quotes for Her. Good Morning SMS. Mornings are reminders that God loves you! Youre not just given another day to enjoy, but a chance to right the wrong of yesterday.Sweet Good Morning Shayri. You have an attitude? if yes than this app is best for your social status. shayari in hindi shayari love hindi shayari love good morning shayari dard love sms hindi shayri hindi love sms sms hindi love shayari hindi hindi love Have a Lovely Good Morning.Whats better than to wake up to sweet good morning shayari from the people you love? Nothing feels good than this especially when those wishes are in a poetic form. Good morning, love. I wrote this note because I do not want to disturb you while you are having a sound sleep. I prepare breakfast for you just heat it in oven when you woke up. Good Morning Love Shayari And Good Morning Whatsapp Status Sms Hindi, Pyar Shayari Hindi Unhe Chahnaa Hamari Kamjori Hain Unse Keh Nahi Paana Hamari Majboor.Good Morning Love Shayari. Posted on September 27, 2012 by SmsChacha. Good morning love shayari for girlfriend, boy friend, husband, wife.Good Morning Sms, Mahekti Subah Aayi. Lovely Romantic Goodmorning Sms in Hindi for GirlFriend. Good Morning sms for love Biography Source:- Google.com.pk \"Sweet sweet Morning\"\"cold cold climate\" \"Hot hot Tea\" A little heart beat says very very \" Good Morning\". No tooth brush,No jogging, No tea, No news paper.No bathing, No breakfast, No! No! NoSb se phle apko G()()D MORNING. see more bigger size God Good Morning Wallpapers - Happy Morning Images, Good Morning good morning messages picture,Good Mornings Quotes,wishes,Thoughts,Inspirational Quotes. Love Quotes Best Good Night.\nFollow Me On Facebook Tags love shayari, bad shayari, friendship shayari, sad shayari, hindi. romantic good morning For your loved ones.dosti shayari in hindi Font, new dosti shayari 2017, best dosti shayari, Latest hindi dosti shayari, True love Shayri, Top romantic shayari, Funny Shayri Good morning best love shayri are awesome to send to your lover.Ki Khushi bhi aapki diwaani ho jaye. Good Morning! Try also: Love Quotes for her. . . Good Morning Shayari, hindi shayari, Ishq Shayari, Marathi Shayari, Shayari.Hindi Romantic Love Shayari On Beauty Of Girlfriend Eyes New Shayri. see more bigger size Good morning quotes for boyfriend, morning quotes for him Good Morning Love Hearth Quotes Hurts Kiss Couples Bird Pictures Poems Romantic Good Morning Quotes For Him (16). Good morning My love quotes , massage images for girlfriend boyfriend in hindi . . Good Morning Shayari for my love for Whatsapp status, facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest and other social media share Good Morning Shayari for Love: If you are searching for Good Morning Shayari for Love, romantic and love Morninig Shayri in Hindi with Images than you are at right place. Every Husband or Boyfriend wants her wife or girlfriend to find Love in their relationship. Romantic Good Night SMS. 3 months ago. 5 Comments.Good Morning Quotations. 5 months ago. Love Meter.Good Morning Shayari. Raat Pe Savera Chha Gaya. Suraj Roshni K Sath Aa Gaya. Ye Mahol Subah Ka Sab hi Ko Bha Gaya. Or Aap Ne Aankh Kholi To. Love SMS.You r my sweet SONA, I dont want u KHONA, I want a place in your hearts KONA, Otherwise i will start RONA ! at least Good Morning to kar LONA !!!!!o kar LONA !!!!! Hindi Love Shayaris - Best Love Shayari in Hindi, Latest Sad Love, Romantic, Dosti, Attitude Shero Shayari Images.Good Morning Shayari sms in hindi for Wife. Paani ki bondain phulon ko bhiga rahi hai Thandi lehren ek tazgi jaga rahi hai, Ho jaye aap b inme shamil Ek pyari si subah aapko jaga rahi Suraj nikalne, good morning shayari, Hindi shayari, love shayari, friendship shayari, dosti shayari.Whatsapp Funny Good Morning Video. shayari, hindi shayari, sher, romantic shayari, dosti shayari, dard shayari, Hindi Love Shayari. 4) Good Morning Love Shayari For Boyfriend. 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Good Morning Shayri Images Very Good Morning | Good Morning Best Wishes, Shayari, Quotes.Related Posts of \"Good Morning Shayri Images\". Happy Birthday Love Quotes For Girlfriend In Hindi. Love Shayari.Good Morning Friends Aapki Nayi Subah itni Sayani ho jaye, Dukhon ki sari batein aapki purani ho jaye, De jaye Itni khushiya ye din, Ki Khushi bhi aapki muskurahat ki diwaani ho jaye Romantic Good Morning Love Quotes in Hindi for him, boyfriend, girlfriend, Husband, wife or love partner. If you are lookingGoodMorning. Happy Good Morning Love Shayari. Har Shubah Ki Dhoop Kuch Yaad Dilati Hai, Har Phool Ki Khushboo Ek Jaadu Jagati Hai, Mano Na Mano Per Ye Such Hai Mere Yaar, Shubah Hote Hi Aapki Yaad Aa Jaati Hai Good Morning. good morning shayri photo for facebook good morning shayari wishes.Lovely Good Morning SMS For Sweet Sister. Love for Girlfriend Love Shayari Jokes Wallpaper Friend good Morning.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A Qualitative Exploration of Street Children Life in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the light of Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory\nKeywords:Street children; On the Street; Off the Street; Ecological system; Threats.\nThe number of street children is increasing at alarming rate in the country. The several composite factors drive these children to the street life where they are confronted with the numerous threats. This study proposed to explore the root causes alongside the risks connected with street life. A qualitative study design was used to interview 50 street children from 5 hotspot sites of Peshawar, which includes Haji Camp Adda, Gulbahar, Karhano Market, University Town and Firdous Bazaar. This study is based on Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory focusing on the quality and context of the child's environment. There are two types of street children available, on and off the Street children. The determinants included strict parenting style, orphan by father, large family size and backing family. The negative attitude of society, physical and sexual abuse, weather conditions, health and hygiene and long working hours are the high rank factors. Such the challenges and exposure adversely affect child personality and development. Constitution guaranteed basic rights of free and compulsory education and a dire need to provide a safe and protected environment with a comprehensive social rehabilitation and reintegration program for street children", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Eleventh Day of Advent\nFor you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.\n2 Corinthians 8:9\nWhile pondering today’s Scripture I thought of Mark Twain’s historical novel, The Prince and the Pauper, a fascinating tale adapted into various Disney productions and cartoons. It’s a story about two boys, a prince and a pauper, who exchange roles and life situations. The prince is Edward Tudor, son of Henry VIII, the long awaited male heir to the English throne. The pauper is Tom Canty, the unloved son of a beggar and thief, who lives in one of London’s poorest and roughest slums, Offal Court. The pauper is forced by his father to beg on the streets and is severely beaten when he returns home empty-handed.\nOne day the pauper wanders aimlessly out of London, passing the mansions of great lords and ladies till he arrives at Westminster. There he happens to see the prince playing on the palace grounds. The prince and pauper spot each other on the other side of the fence and wonder what it would be like to trade places. So they exchange clothing and their identities as well. The prince takes the life of the pauper and the pauper the life of the prince.\nToday’s Scripture tells a prince and pauper story that really did happen. We read about the Prince of Heaven trading places with bankrupt humanity and giving us His place in Heaven. At Christmas we celebrate the Son of God taking that which belongs to us so that we might have that which belongs to Him. Through His poverty we are made rich. “In his great compassion he did not reject union with our nature, fallen though it was as the result of sin, but gathered it up in himself in order to purify it and quicken it in his own sinless life-giving life.” (Thomas Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith) By His grace we become what He is by nature.\nMethodist missionary E. Stanley Jones called this the “Divine Exchange” as God “shared what was in man that we might share what is in Christ…He came down that we might go up. Salvation is not then a mere transferring us from earth to heaven but a transference from what we are to what He is, it is to be in Him.” (Quoted by Michael Hobbs, Going a Little Farther)\nThis real prince and pauper story means that God knows what it is to be human. Where He experienced brokenness, He brings healing. Where He sunk in despair, He brings hope. Where He met contempt, He showers love.\nPeople found it hard to understand Jesus as they were looking for the trappings of royalty rather than a baby lying in a straw manger. “The stable stinks like all stables do. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeks pungently in the air. The ground is hard, the hay scarce…A more lowly place of birth could not exist.” (Max Lucado, It Began in a Manger)\nJesus knows our pain and weakness from the inside, and remembers us at God’s right hand. He is the Prince who became a real Pauper so that we through His poverty might be endowed with heaven’s treasures. Because Christ took the fullness of our true humanity to Himself, we can, through Him, enter into full union with Father and Holy Spirit. The church father Irenaeus summed up the mystery of the faith so well: “In his unbounded love He was made what we are, that He might make us to be what He is.” (Irenaeus, Against the Heresies)\n- E. Stanley Jones said that salvation is “a transference from what we are to what He is.” How do you sense Christ making that transference in your life?\n- Are there parts of your life and life story where it seems difficult to imagine Jesus trading places with you? What parts might those be?\n- Take a few moments to talk with Jesus about His “trading places” with you.\nEMBODIED PRAYER: KNEELING\n“When the wise men found the baby Jesus, they knelt down and paid him homage” (Matthew 2:11). Many times throughout Scripture and the life of the church we find people kneeling to express their thoughts and feelings. English theologian David Peterson describes the impact of kneeling as we pray:\n…an expression of inferior status and subservience to another person. Sometimes this obeisance was an indication of gratitude and sometimes it was associated with supplication or entreaty. Whatever the situation it was a recognition of total dependence of one party on another for the provision of some need…Sometimes it was associated with an outburst of praise, but sometimes the gesture itself appears to have been sufficient to express the trust and gratitude of those concerned. (David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship)\nSometimes people kneel to pray:\n- Eyes open\n- Looking up\n- Hands lifted upward\nSometimes people kneel to pray:\n- Looking downward with eyes averted or closed\n- Hands folded\nToday and every day of the Second Week of Advent pray the Lord’s Prayer while kneeling.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Gregory Bergman & Anthony W. Haddad\nStep by step, the authors take readers through inventively therapeutic, sometimes illegal, always hilarious solutions to life's many problematic situations. Paperback. MoreEarth's Most Customer-Centric Company!\nUnique Personalized Book\nAnimals bring letters to spell your child's name. Keepsake baby gift!\nLeather Recipe Book\nFor all your loose leaf recipes, Personalized with your name.\nLovely Hand Hammered Copper Bookends great for 7th Wedding Anniversary", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Learn How to Write a Synopsis, Quick & Easy Format Tips & Examples The book ends with a thank you letter from Jack to Mr. This includes the events of the story' s plot. With a powerful message about self- image acceptance the story is valued for its ability to teach children the importance of kindness to others. GoosebumpsPlot Summary - IMDb Zootopia ( ) on IMDb: Plot summary synopsis more.\nWar and Peace - Book & Plot Summary - Read in 5 minutes - Learn. The book version of “ Gone Girl is a crime novel: an absorbing, ” so I' ve heard, ingenious thriller in which, halfway through a big twist upends everything.\nGet the details on what these assignments entail and how to write a great book report. The plot | Henry V | Royal Shakespeare Company About the Book. Into the plot summary.\nThe NotebookPlot Summary - IMDb The Girl on the Train ( ) on IMDb: Plot summary synopsis more. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' Spoilers: Here is the Plot of J.\nThis free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of The Book Thief. Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. It' s a dangerous expedition: the US Army is waging a brutal war against the area' s native.\nAmerican author Suzanne Collins created the trilogy; ' The Hunger Games' ( ) ' Mockingjay' ( ) which gained so much success - having. These Plot worksheets are great for working with Plot. ZootopiaPlot Summary - IMDb Finding Nemo ( ) on IMDb: Plot summary synopsis more. Read it here first.\nThis uniquely shaped cheeseburger book report project contains assembling directions grading rubric, first draft worksheets, final draft templates a matching. The new Michael Crichton novel has dinosaur bones and. Godzilla was awakened in 1954 by a Russian military submarine accident. The movie crosses the thin line that divides genre fiction from postmodern fiction; it is decisively unreal, in the manner of “ Fight Club” — a movie in which.\nWhich is all there is to say about a fine examination of a very interesting woman who. Meyers thanking him for the visit .\nThus the chapter list for each book would read something like: \" Bran\", with the story flipping back forth. Below you will find a summary of each of the previous books — complete with hard- to- pronounce names flashbacks , flashforwards enough plot twists to fill a season' s worth of All My Children. The characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are two of the most famous figures from British literature.\nAdam schemes up countless amounts of plot lines that are rarely seen in other young adult novels. It would be best to look for services that offer book report writing promptly. ) comes into the house of two young children Sam, Sally who are having a very dull day.\nWhen someone says the “ plot” of a novel as opposed to the summary of a novel it could be that this refers to an explication of the plot also known as a story grammar. Maria writes a love letter to Malvolio that will make him think Olivia has fallen for him.\nINTO THE WATER by Paula Hawkins Riverhead; 5/ 2/ 17. What is the difference between the plot and summary of a novel. In this state of inebriation she decides to call Christian asked him why he sent her. The Sneetches Analysis There is a running feud between Malvolio Belch; with the help of Maria, Olivia' s maid, Feste Belch plots to make a buffoon of the steward.\nGodzilla was awakened in 1954 by a Russian military submarine accident. The movie crosses the thin line that divides genre fiction from postmodern fiction; it is decisively unreal, in the manner of “ Fight Club” — a movie in which.There were two kids Sam, Sally whose mother was out. Shadow is released from prison the day after his wife and best friend are killed together in a car accident. 33% of the total book which means you can read this summary.\nThe Hunger Games Trilogy - Plot Summary | LearnEnglish Teens. Classroom Exercises and Book Reports.\nIf a review is too short, the review may not be able to fulfill its purpose. The Line ( Witching Savannah Book 1) - Kindle edition by J. If you fall into the second camp ( have read the books, but lack an elephant' s memory) never fear! Rogue OnePlot Summary - IMDb It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange.\nZach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the. Plot Summary - The Reader by Bernhard Schlink Automatically generate a story plot for film or paperback using key words of your choice.\nMaui steals it to gift it to humanity he is attacked by a lava monster, Te Ka, causing the stone to fall from his hand , but as he flees the island with the stone . This lesson gives you a brief plot summary analysis discusses the story' s. Young readers will finish this book and ask: What should we do? Stranger Things' recap: Season 1 plot summary - Business Insider.\nBreaking News News - get the latest from the Dallas News. Plot Interpretation Definition Usage literature. Their integrity and impartiality are the bedrock of the entire judicial system. Plot - Examples and Definition of Plot - Literary Devices The summary of a novel is a review of the important events that happened.\nWriting a book report cannot only strain you, but it can also be time- consuming. Plot setting to help write a book summary.First edition copies of Tess of the d' Urbervilles, the book on which she did her final essay. The World' s Best Thin Books, Revised: What to Read When Your Book.\n— Shelf Awareness Pro. A summary of the Day of the Triffids A basic level guide to some of the best known loved works of prose, poetry drama from ancient Greece - The Iliad by Homer. In full pursuit of the good life— boating swimming regular barbecues with his good- natured buddies— he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp. These Book Reports are great for any classroom.\nToo long the review may stray into too much plot summary lose the reader' s interest. Com/ / 03/ book- summary- 7- love- that- dog. We expect our judges to be honest and wise. The Verdict: not for crime readers - better as literary or women' s fiction.\nNow supports 7th edition of MLA. Book report plot line. Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story or the main part of a story. After You Summary & Study Guide - BookRags.\nJulie Andrews won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Mary Poppins the magical English nanny in the musical film Mary Poppins ( 1964). The Plot Diagram is an organizational tool focusing on a pyramid triangular shape which is used to map the events in a story.\nA Child Called It Summary - A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer Summary and Analysis. Everything, Everything Summary | POPSUGAR Entertainment. It also gives you a quick reference you can use to remember the main points of the book anytime you need it. What' s Included?\nFrom John Grisham comes the most electrifying novel of the year, America' s # 1 bestselling author a high- stakes thrill ride through the darkest corners of the Sunshine State. For a long book the review may be 500 words even more.\nThe paragraphs are clearly divided, so you. - Risultati da Google Libri Mary Poppins, the first book in the series of eight children' s stories written by P.\nNot only does this complete The Great Gatsby summary provide a detailed synopsis of the plot but it' ll also give you: capsule descriptions for the book' s major characters short. How to Write a Book Summary ( with Sample Summaries) - wikiHow Writing a summary of a book is a great way for you to absorb what you' re reading. Main article: Chapter Summaries.\nBut if you plan on just going to the movies to see the beautiful story unfold on the big screen, then we have the perfect rundown of what it' s about right here. This mapping of plot structure. Teach plot of a story arc with Plot Diagram Narrative Arc .\nBook reports K- 12, plot summary, units, report, lesson plans, science, recess, art, 3- D, activity, crafts, dioramas, lessons, scene, oral reports, unit, book math. Book report plot line.\nIf you' re watching BBC One drama War Peace by Leo Tolstoy , want to get a quick overview , 287 words of the book summarised in just 1, summary of the plot ( to enjoy it more as research suggests), here it is 587 945 words ( which is 0. Title: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Titanicon IMDb: Plot summary synopsis more.It takes nearly two- thirds of the book before the terrorist attack begins and each plot line ends with a cliffhanger. The Iliad - Homer - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature Summary The Sneetches is about two types of creatures separated by having not having stars on their bellies. The best guide is to focus less on how long to write and more on fulfilling the purpose of the review.\nUse these Plot worksheets for the beginner intermediate advanced levels. Book review: ' The Woman in the Window, ' by A. At the start of the summer, she is a rebelliou. Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job loyal friends even a waterfront home in small- town North Carolina.\nSummary of Romeo and Juliet - My English Pages King Lear: Plot Summary. Harry Potter Summary at WikiSummaries free book summaries After her finals Ana finds a package on her doorstep. FrozenPlot Summary - IMDb The Notebook ( ) on IMDb: Plot summary synopsis more.\n“ Love that Dog”. Com Uncle Tom' s Cabin summary: Uncle Tom' s Cabin is a novel which showed the stark reality of slavery and is generally regarded as one of the major causes of the Civil War. Want to share IMDb' s rating on your own site?\nBook report plot line. Book report plot line. Plot Summary - Freedom Writers Freedom Writers. Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review Annual - Risultati da Google Libri Plot summary.\nFinding NemoPlot Summary - IMDb The Book of Life ( ) on IMDb: Plot summary synopsis more. A Child Called It Summary - SoftSchools. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to ( 1) decode.\nYes tells us all we really need to know about the book , that epigraph is real the real plot line under the murder- mystery gilding. Book Review: ' The Girl On The Train, ' By Paula Hawkins | : NPR. Book Review: INTO THE WATER by Paula Hawkins — Crime by the.\nBook report plot line. American Sniper Summary from LitCharts | The creators of SparkNotes. I' ve been sitting on this review for a little while now, not wanting to admit that a book as highly anticipated as INTO THE WATER just didn' t work for me.\n3 Easy Ways to Write a Good Summary for a Book Report - wikiHow Writing a book summary may seem simple - - if you take that to mean simply regurgitating the events within a story. However, it' s important to not only discuss the events of a story but also demonstrate understanding of how the events are interrelated and driven by the characters involved.\nThe format of a summary will vary slightly depending on who it is being written for. A book report should include a full synopsis of the plot, while a review or dust jacket summary will introduce.Coraline Summary - Shmoop \" Shiver\" is the first book in the trilogy \" The Wolves of Mercy Falls\" by Maggie Stiefvater. The trilogy tells the love story of Grace Brisbane and Sam Roth, a werewolf, and it follows the fighting between Sam' s pack members, some of whom want to turn more wolves into werewolves and some of whom want the cure for being a.\nHenry V is a history play, probably written around 1599. It covers events during the Hundred Years' War, immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt ( 1415). Soon after he becomes king, Henry V is considering making a claim to rule France as well as England.\nHe asks the Archbishop of Canterbury about. Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story | Kidsreads.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "top of page\nYear: 2017, Issue: June\nAMF symbiosis in forest species plantations and its relationship with major soil nutrients inentisol soil of Bilaspur (C.G.).\nAtul Kumar Bhardwarj and K. K. Chandra\nAMF colonization, Tree Plantation, Entisol, Spore density, Soil nutrient.\nThe present study was conducted to investigate the AMF root colonization in Albizia lebbeck, Azadirachta indica, Dalbergia sissoo, Delonix regia, Eucalyptus globulus, Millettia pinnata, Peltophorum ferrugineum, Phyllanthus indica and Terminalia arjuna and its relationship with physio-chemical properties of entisol soil after 26 years of plantation age. All trees found to increase nutrients, pH and OC compared to unplanted soil, and colonized by AMF, however, a significant variations were existed between tree species plantations at P=0.05. Mean root colonization was ranged lowest 30% in A.indica to highest 62% in D.sissoo and T.arjuna. Similarly P.ferrugineum harbor maximum spore population (128�7.15) whereas only 35 spore/100g soil recorded under E.globulus. Soil pH of entisol found between 6.59 to 6.71, whereas OC between 0.27% to 0.56% under different tree plantations. Available N estimated maximum 129 kg/ha under D.regia and minimum 111 kg/ha under A.indica. The N was observed in low range while P and K were found at medium range in the red entisol soil. Pearson correlation between AMF root colonization and soil attributes found positive for spore density (r = 0.507), available N (r = 0.026) and Potassium (r = 0.261) while negative relation observed with pH (r = -0.072), OC (r = -.0.094) and available Phosphorus (r = 0.-255) respectively. Individually, significant variations existed among species in all parameters, which indicated nutrient dependent regulation of AM colonization according to needs of plants and its supply from soil.\nbottom of page", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A Declaration of Faith\nI love You, LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.\nDavid stated his faith with perfect clarity. He saw God as the source of his strength and as his deliverer from the enemy. David was a man who faced countless enemies and encountered many battles with depression. When waves of fear and doubt threatened him, he boldly proclaimed his stand. God was his strength, his rock, his fortress, his deliverer, his God, his mountain, his refuge, his shield, the horn of his salvation, and his stronghold. What could man do to him?\nNo one in Scripture praised like David did. We find his songs recorded throughout the Psalms, and they often reflect a repentant, faithful, and steadfast heart. When waves of doubt and fear overwhelm us, we need to take the same stance as David and begin to proclaim with certainty that God is for us. When we begin to boldly declare our love for God and our belief that He is our strength, our fortress, and our deliverer, we are strengthened in our inner being. From that flows a river of peace in knowing the greatness of our God in the midst of our own weakness.\nThe Devil will try to convince you that because you’ve failed, God is judging you, and His favor is against you. He will try to make you think you have disqualified yourself from God’s promises. If our salvation, blessings, or God’s promises were dependent upon our own merit, none of us would make it! God draws us to Himself through the Holy Spirit knowing full well our faults and our weaknesses. He gives us His grace to overcome them. When we live in denial that anything is wrong, we are under judgment. When we confess our sins and turn to Him, grace is ours. If you have turned to Him, He is your strength, your rock, your fortress, your God, your mountain, your refuge, your shield, the horn of your salvation, and your stronghold. He is your everything! Believe it. Declare it. Walk in it.\nDavid did not live without battles, and neither will we. David did triumph over his enemies, and so will we because God is our strength. In Him, we are mighty warriors. So, Warrior Princess, fight your battle over doubt, depression, fear, and anxiety today with the bold proclamation of God’s greatness, and be victorious. You were not chosen by God to be a fragile damsel in distress for someone to rescue you. Anyone who rescues you would become a god to you. You were chosen to fight, so take up your sword and declare your faith!\nHave a blessed day!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "One of my favorite cartoons features a young woman, obviously nervous, seated next to a white-suited, white-haired caricature of Samuel Clemens. Above her head floats a thought bubble,“‘I want to be a writer,’ she\nthought, mused, considered, said aloud, to no one, to herself, giving voice to the idea passion she had always had in her heart but had only recently discovered in her hand head.”\nI also always wanted to be a writer, but the responsibility of writing stopped me. Writing was a task that I took very seriously. I had to write papers for courses I took. I had to write letters-personal and professional- and I had to write memos for work. Writing was a product that needed to be perfect. As a result, my writing duties had stifled my writing passion.\nHowever, sixteen months ago I started this blog to share the ways I had increased the number of books in school classrooms. During the first month of entries, I wondered if I would have enough materials to write about on a blog about used books in class.\nI am almost embarrassed to admit that what I have discovered is that writing is less product and more thinking. Sadly, I was an English teacher who required writing and encouraged students to write regularly in class, but who did not cognitively understand that writing is really a recording of thinking. I was always interested developing (and assigning) the prompt and collecting (and correcting) the final product. I did not fully understand the necessity of thinking as the most critical part of the writing until I began to write myself.\nNow, as a convert to writing as thinking, I am using this post to encourage others to write in order to think.\nOctober 19-20th, 2012 will be the National Day of Writing. The National Writing Project (NWP) is encouraging people to contribute to “What I Write” on their website:\nWhat do you write or compose? Blog posts? Poems? Videos? Grocery lists, computer code, or song lyrics? Whatever you write, on Friday, October 19, use the hashtag #whatiwrite to share your compositions with the world as part of this year’s National Day on Writing.\nNational Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has links on their blog for people to read what authors say about why they write. The NYTimes Learning Network also has a page on their blog asking, “Post what, you ask? Well, could be…\n- Thoughts about what you write, whether it’s poetry, short stories, school essays, computer code, love notes, song lyrics or Facebook updates.\n- A link to some writing you want to show others.\n- A photo or drawing that illustrates something about writing, or illustrates something you’ve written.\n- Thoughts about things you’d like to write someday.\n- Notes on your writing process.\n- Thoughts on the role of writing in your life in general.\n- Advice about writing.\n- Links to good pieces about writers or writing\nSo, on Friday, October 19th, I will have my students create lists of topics they want to “think” about, topics* they want to explore in writing over the course of the year. We will collaborate on a master list using a Google doc that we can revisit over the course of the school year. I want my students to learn how to write, but more importantly, I want my students to learn how to write so they can think. I want they to feel free to write without constant assessment. I want them to write and read what they write to understand what they think. Hopefully, in this process they will discover that writing is not an academic responsibility, and that good writing is really good thinking. And I will imagine thought bubbles over their heads as they write.\nShare the hashtag #whatIwrite.\nFabulous. This made my night. I needed to read this and to hear your thinking. Through your thinking, my thoughts are inspired. Thank you.\nYes, lovely post–writing is thinking. Of course, this truth explains why writing is both so difficult and so immensely rewarding. Joan Didion claimed in her amazing essay “Why I Write,” “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” Exactly! Thanks for the post.\nThanks for the Didion quote (she is so ahead of the thinking curve!)…also, glad to read that you are “back”!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This is the third competing renewal of our Program Project Grant, \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"Drugs of Abuse: Role of Protein Phosphorylation\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\" (DA010044), which was initially funded in 1996 and most recently in 2006. The grant has been highly successful based on research productivity and initiation of new research projects. The overall objective of the Program Project Grant remains the same as the original, namely, to elucidate the molecular basis of the actions of drugs of abuse, particularly psychostimulants, in the dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens. The Program Project Grant is organized into three Projects, a Scientific Core and an Administrative Core. The Administrative Core will support the integration of the researchers and institutions involved in the Program Project Grant. The main goal of the Scientific Core is to provide research and technical support for all of the Projects. Responsibilities of the Scientific Core will include the creation, characterization, and breeding of genetically altered animals;the design and execution of yeast two-hybrid studies;the production and maintenance of key reagents stocks and new reagents;and the performance of certain routine tasks required to accomplish the studies described in Projects 1-3. Project 1, \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"Cell type- and region-specific studies of psychostimulants and dendritic spines\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\" will focus on the role of Cdk5 and WAVE1, regulators of actin dynamics in the dendritic spines. Project 2, \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"The role of the mGluR5/CK1-CK2/DARPP-32 pathway in mediating the effects of psychostimulants,\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\" will extend previous studies of novel signaling pathways that regulate DARPP-32 function. Project 3, \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"Striatal Phosphoproteins and the Actions of Psychostimulants,\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\" which will be a subcontract carried out at Yale University School of Medicine, will study the role of Rap GTPase, and its modulators Rap1GAP and Epac2 in the actions of psychostimulants, as well as study the role of novel isoforms of PP2A in the actions of psychostimulants. Results from the three Projects will complement each other. In addition, there will be a significant level of collaboration between the three Projects, as well as close interaction of the three Projects with the Scientific Core.\nTogether the three Projects of the Program Project Grant will carry out innovative research that will lead to elucidation of the molecular pathways through which drugs of abuse act in the brain, and to an increased likelihood that therapeutic agents will be developed that will prevent or reverse molecular adaptations within these pathways.\n|Milosevic, Ana; Liebmann, Thomas; Knudsen, Margarete et al. (2016) Cell- and region-specific expression of depression-related protein p11 (S100a10) in the brain. J Comp Neurol :|\n|Virk, Michael S; Sagi, Yotam; Medrihan, Lucian et al. (2016) Opposing roles for serotonin in cholinergic neurons of the ventral and dorsal striatum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113:734-9|\n|Rapanelli, Maximiliano; Frick, Luciana R; Horn, Kyla D et al. (2016) The Histamine H3 Receptor Differentially Modulates Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) and Akt Signaling in Striatonigral and Striatopallidal Neurons. J Biol Chem 291:21042-21052|\n|Liu, Ruijie; Correll, Robert N; Davis, Jennifer et al. (2015) Cardiac-specific deletion of protein phosphatase 1β promotes increased myofilament protein phosphorylation and contractile alterations. J Mol Cell Cardiol 87:204-13|\n|Uematsu, Ken; Heiman, Myriam; Zelenina, Marina et al. (2015) Protein kinase A directly phosphorylates metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 to modulate its function. J Neurochem 132:677-86|\n|Engmann, Olivia; Giralt, Albert; Gervasi, Nicolas et al. (2015) DARPP-32 interaction with adducin may mediate rapid environmental effects on striatal neurons. Nat Commun 6:10099|\n|Lee, K-W; Westin, L; Kim, J et al. (2015) Alteration by p11 of mGluR5 localization regulates depression-like behaviors. Mol Psychiatry 20:1546-56|\n|Yamagata, Yoko; Nairn, Angus C (2015) Contrasting features of ERK1/2 activity and synapsin I phosphorylation at the ERK1/2-dependent site in the rat brain in status epilepticus induced by kainic acid in vivo. Brain Res 1625:314-23|\n|Plattner, Florian; Hayashi, Kanehiro; Hernández, Adan et al. (2015) The role of ventral striatal cAMP signaling in stress-induced behaviors. Nat Neurosci 18:1094-100|\n|Colangelo, Christopher M; Ivosev, Gordana; Chung, Lisa et al. (2015) Development of a highly automated and multiplexed targeted proteome pipeline and assay for 112 rat brain synaptic proteins. Proteomics 15:1202-14|\nShowing the most recent 10 out of 194 publications", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Brand new softcover\nThe Holographic Universe by: Michael Talbot\n\"Awake-up call to wonder, an adventure in ideas.\" —Larry Dossey,M.D., author of Space, Time & Medicine.\nNow witha new foreword by Lynn McTaggart, author of TheField, Michael Talbot’s classic treatise on the latest frontiers of physicsreveals a revolutionary theory of reality, explaining the paranormal abilitiesof the mind, the unsolved riddles of brain and body, and the true nature of theuniverse. Lyall Watson, author of Supernature,calls The Holographic Universe “elegant,” writing, “[Talbot] helps to bridge the artificial gap that has opened up between mind and matter, between us and the rest of the cosmos.”\nCheck out my other ads!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Yes, we can, and the Bible tells us how. The word translated “bless” in the Old Testament is from a Hebrew word that means “to kneel”. When used with respect to God’s intelligent creation, it has the thought of giving thanks and praise. Just as God blesses us with His goodness we can bless Him with our praise and gratitude.\nThe Psalms are filled with verses that talk about praising and blessing God. In Psalm 103, verses 1 and 2, David says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.” Then he details the many ways God has cared for him and for Israel. He proclaims that God forgives and heals, shows everlasting lovingkindness and compassion, gives good things and has righteous judgments, is slow to anger, merciful and faithful.\nWhen David declares God’s great character and His actions, David is blessing God.\nAgain, in Psalm 145, David praises God’s unsearchable greatness, His mighty acts, the splendor of His majesty, and the glory of His future everlasting kingdom. In the same way, when we testify to God’s great and loving character in our individual lives, we bless God. For example, we might specifically remember how God blesses us daily when He provides for our food, clothing, shelter, employment, a spouse, children, etc. We rejoice in God’s great gift of His Son to save even us from sin and death. When we recount His blessings, we are blessing God.\nIn addition to our words of praise, we use our actions. If we are truly thankful for all God is and has done and what we know He will do in the blessing of all mankind, it will show in our behaviors. When we kneel or humble ourselves and try each day to live a godly life, we are honoring God’s ways above our own ways. Just as a parent delights in a child’s appreciative obedience, so our Heavenly Father is pleased when we live out our love for Him. “Bless the LORD all you works of His, in all places of His dominion, bless the LORD O my soul.” Psalm 103:22", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "From Mark Booker\nPsalm 40: An amazing psalm recounting God's gracious rescue (vv1-3). There is an affirmation of the insight of Psalm 2.12 - the happy or blessed one makes the Lord his trust. The true offering that God is looking for is our obedient selves (vv.6-8 - these verses are quoted in Hebrews 10.5-7). That's what it means to take refuge in Yahweh. Those rescued and trusting in the Lord cannot contain their joy, their celebration, but spread abroad the glad news of their rescue (vv9-10). That's a great way of thinking about evangelism. The psalm is all about magnifying the God who is great, all the while being aware of our own weakness and vulnerability - see especially the contrast at the end of v16, \"Great is the LORD\" and the beginning of v17, \"As for me, I am poor and needy.\" Living with this perspective on God and our selves is central to the life of faith.\nPsalm 41: The Psalms are arranged in five 'books':\n- Book One: Psalms 1-41\n- Book Two: Psalms 42-72\n- Book Three: Psalms 73-89\n- Book Four: Psalms 90-106\n- Book Five: Psalms 107-150\nThis is the final psalm of Book One and this book ends with a cry for help. The psalmist urges God to be gracious to him (v4, 10). It's interesting to read of his admission of sinning against Yahweh in v4 and then his claim that Yahweh upholds him because of his integrity in v12. \"Integrity\" cannot therefore mean 'sinlessness' but must be pointing more to a life of dependence upon God for life and for the future. What integrates our lives is a trust in Yahweh. That leads to actual righteous living but we will still sin against him. In that case our trust looks like confession and repentance (v4), turning to God in the midst of our failures rather than hardening in them and running away (like Adam and Eve did in the garden).\nFinally, note that happiness or blessedness is conferred upon the one who considers the poor or the weak (v1). This care reflects the care of God for us and is always a part of those who truly take refuge in him.\n1 Kings 8.54-61: Solomon's dedication of the temple echoes the themes of Deuteronomy 4 which we read six days ago. It's a prayer for Yahweh's presence to remain with them (and God's presence resides in the Temple being dedicated, v57 - though it cannot be contained there, v27), in order that they might follow his commandments (v58), in order that all peoples will know that Yahweh is God, \"there is no other\" (v60). That ends with an exhortation, like Deuteronomy 4, for God's people to be \"wholly true to the LORD our God\" which means a life of obedience to his statutes and commandments (v61).", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Extract coming soon!\nAbout the book\nCat Sparrow isn’t like other people.\nShe loves music, and playing her bird-flute. She thinks differently too – and for a girl like her, the world can be an unsettling place. When Cat’s beloved sister, Meg, is snatched from their convent home, Cat sets out to find her. With the help of a young actor, Jacques, she follows Meg’s trail to the palace of Henry VIII and his queen, Katherine, and then over the sea to the strange and wondrous pageant of the ‘Field of Cloth of Gold’.\nBut in among the tents, feasts and tournaments, traitors are lurking. And Cat and Jacques must use all their wits if they’re to foil a plot that threatens them all.\nAward-winning historical novelist Ally Sherrick heads in an exciting new direction with The Queen's Fool.\nThe Queen's Fool in the news\nHistorical fiction rocks!\nBlack Powder author Ally Sherrick shares why she loves a bit of history, and her fave historical novels!\nNaNoWriMo Nov Day 5: Ally Sherrick\nWe're halfway through NaNoWriMo November! Today Black Powder author Ally Sherrick is stopping by the blog to share her words of wisdom.\nIf you liked The Queen's Fool, why not try ...\nAudio World English", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Impact of research on contagious ovine digital dermatitis on the knowledge and practices of UK sheep farmers and veterinarians\nDuncan, J.S. et al. (2021) Impact of research on contagious ovine digital dermatitis on the knowledge and practices of UK sheep farmers and Veterinarians. Veterinary Record.\nThe aim of this observational survey-based study was to identify the impact of the dissemination of research findings from a previous study on the knowledge and practices of sheep farmers and veterinary surgeons in their management of contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) and to identify any future research needs.\nThere were two electronic surveys; one aimed at farmers and the other at veterinary surgeons. The farmer survey was distributed to UK sheep farmers via national associations and social media in May-July 2020. This survey consisted of 14 questions, including nine which asked about current practices and knowledge on the diagnosis, prevalence, treatment, and prevention of CODD, and two questions on changes in practice following the dissemination of the recent information and advice on CODD.\nThe second survey was distributed to UK veterinary surgeons who treat sheep, via the Sheep Veterinary Society and social media in July and August 2019. This survey consisted of seven questions, five addressing knowledge of, and practices on, the diagnosis, epidemiology, and management of CODD following the recent research, an open question on future research needs and one question asking for general comments on CODD research.\nThere were 361 responses to the survey, 284 from farmers and 77 from vets. 93% of farmers reported that they had some form of biosecurity measures in place to prevent CODD from entering their farm, 43% that they were following the current CODD-specific advice to examine the feet of all new sheep before letting them on the farm and 75% said that they were isolating new sheep on arrival on the farm. In response to the question regarding improvement in the management of CODD following recent guidance, 52% of farmers agreed that their management had been improved, key areas that had been impacted were biosecurity measures, choice of antibiotic and use of the foot rot vaccine Footvax (MSD).\nOverall, 70% of veterinary surgeons stated that their advice on the management of CODD had improved. Advice on antibiotic use had changed, with 45% of vets decreasing their use of whole flock antibiotic treatments and 57% recommending reduced use of antibiotic footbaths. 58% had increased their prescribing of Footvax (MSD) for CODD prevention and 63% had changed their advice on biosecurity measures for CODD.\nBoth farmers and vets identified the priority areas for research as therapeutics, vaccine development and understanding of disease transmission.\nLimitations of the study include the potential selection bias in the survey population, which mean that the findings may not be generalisable to the entire population of sheep farmers and vets in the UK.\nThe surveys show a strong uptake of the recent evidence-based guidance by both farmers and vets in their management of CODD – particularly in the areas of biosecurity and antibiotic use. Further research on the identified priorities is recommended.\nImage copyright attribute: goodluz", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The courier • tuesday, march 4, 2014 birthdays\nDescription: The courier celebrations! tuesday, march 4, 2014 t3 happy sweet “16” birthday mackenzie stevens love dad, mom, family and barn loves! happy 90th.\nPDF File Name: The courier • tuesday, march 4, 2014 birthdays\nSource File: www.findlaypublishing.info\nSummary for Allegiant Veronica Roth Free Pdf\nRequested ebook: veronica roth - allegiant free download, Link for requested ebook 'allegiant' by veronica roth is uploaded on 5th november, 2013. please comment if the links are down and if they are not updated\nVeronica roth, If you are asking, incredulously, \"why, veronica? why must you do this to us?!\" my answer is: the stories turned out much meatier and more substantial than i was\nAllegiant (divergent 3) by veronica roth ebook free download, Allegiant (divergent 3) by veronica roth. the faction-based society that tris prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and\nDownload/read \"allegiant\" by veronica roth (web, epub) for, Book \"allegiant\" (veronica roth) in web, epub ready for read and download! what if your whole world was a lie? what if a single revelation—like a single choice\nVeronica roth - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Veronica roth (born august 19, 1988) is an american novelist and short story writer known for her debut new york times bestselling novels divergent and insurgent.\nVeronica roth's divergent series free pdf download ~ books, Divergent is the debut novel of american author veronica roth and is the first installment in a trilogy. the second novel in the trilogy, insurgent, was\nAllegiant (divergent trilogy) pdf download - free pdf, Allegiant (divergent trilogy) pdf download pdf download, read & search hundreds of free ebooks in pdf, epub, docs format at free pdf ebooks download\nAllegiant Veronica Roth Free Pdf Related Content", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Image source: https://xkcd.com/1259/\nMellon Sawyer seminar Graduate Associate Analeah Rosen muses on the politics of ecologically situated literature and possibilities for engaging the environment in non-extractive modes.\nThe process of establishing boundaries – whether in conceptual frameworks, or in works of art – is a political gesture. In literary works, the writer's choice of who (or what) is able to communicate, have agency, and take up space on the page, is a concern that has been taken up by post-colonial and feminist scholars. An ecological intervention, I argue, that follows this tradition of post-colonial/feminist discourse, is one that asks writers, and by extension readers, to expand the boundaries of who is able to speak and have presence on the page. It is a move that is attentive to the already present commingling, difference, and interdependence between all Earth species. Two theorists, Juri Lotman and Donna Haraway, respectively conceive of “semiospheres” and “sympoiesis”– spheres of knowledge and language that they argue do not only belong to humans. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen and Zoe Todd put this into praxis by making kin with perhaps some of the most difficult substances; stone and oil, respectively. Making interventions similar to Cohen and Todd's within literary texts might produce new languages and narrative structures that are not only in dialogue with the changing climate, but also open up possibilities for readers to envision engaging with the environment in non-extractive, destructive modes.\nOne of the more interesting theories Lotman puts forth in his “On the Semiosphere,” is to expand the notion of what falls under the umbrella of semiotics. For Lotman, the space of signs, and by extension texts and language, operate within organic-mechanical systems, semiospheres, that are described as behaving analogously to biospheres. The signs contained within are interdependent and co-created, which leads to an active devaluing of the primacy of language and text within the semiosphere. The chattering of birds, satellite signals, the movement of leaves in autumn – for Lotman, these all inhabit the semiosphere. And we humans find ourselves in dialogue with these myriad forces in pre-lingual modes, translating them into language only after encountering them. “In this way, we might say, that dialogue precedes language and gives birth to it.” In Lotman's universe of porous semiospheres, he asks us to inhabit and be attentive to a world that is always in communication with itself.\nTo begin probing this question of how to be in dialogue with such a chatty world, Haraway's sympoieses is generative start. Translated in her Staying with the Trouble as “making-with,” Haraway stresses that humans, and earthlings at large, are never operating independently. For Haraway, sympoieses encompasses a radical collaboration between all species in both material and metaphoric ways. “Critters do not precede their relatings; they make each other through semiotic material involution, out of the beings of previous such entanglements.” These entanglements, by and large, consist of eating one another, interpenetration, symbiotic relations, and cooperation/competition. What is particularly important in Haraway's work is the move away from centering the human as the only agentic actor. For Lotman, when other-than-human animals or non-organic articulations (like birds, or satellite signals) are mentioned, they are always mentioned as being interpreted by a human or cultures of humans. However, it is hard to argue against the transmission of semiotic materials between non-human actors, like the bee and orchid, for instance. Orchids are famous for mirroring the female genitals of the insects that pollinate them. The male insects are drawn to the color and shape, and even the pheromones that the orchid mimics, thus ensuring pollination. There is a clear cross-species communication enacted through translation that is happening here. Haraway goes on to describe artist xkcd's imagining of what might happen when the bee responsible for pollinating a particular orchid dies off. “The cartoon does something very special... it does not say the flower is exactly like the extinct insect's genitals. Instead, the flower collects up the presence of the bee aslant, in desire and mortality.” The orchid then, becomes memorial to the dead, continuing to produce signs even when its main interlocutor has become extinct. The politics of writing ecologically situated literature is exactly this: speaking toward absences, de-centering the human, observing and recording the agencies of others.\nIn Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Stone: An Ecology of the Inhuman, the task of ecological thinking becomes how to read and talk to the most inhuman of all elements: rock. Culturally understood as impenetrable, immovable, infinite, Cohen seeks to engage the parts of the planet that are simultaneously charismatic and non-verbal. He writes, speaking of Greek philosopher Empedocles and the project of Stone at large: “To take his theory of elemental restlessness seriously is to apprehend that the world is not centered around the human – not indifferent, not misanthropic, but disanthropocentric, making stories centered on the human wobble, their trajectories veer.” Like Haraway who asks readers to think and care about the kinds of stories that tell stories, Cohen asks his readers to think as and alongside mountains. “Our documentary bias is for worlds conveyed through words. Yet the earth possesses numerous recording devices, repositories for nonlinguistic inscription, an indigenous but hard lithic poetics.” Think of petrified tree rings bearing imprints of ancient pollen, glacial footprints, amber-captured insects. The world is talking, recording, listening in ways that complicate our relationship to meaning-making, symbolic resonance, and poetic capabilities.\nZoe Todd, an anthropologist working with fish and oil though indigenous legal frameworks, takes up the challenge of making “odd-kin” with perhaps the most maligned organic substance: oil. Writing after the Husky Energy Inc. spill in North Saskatchewan River in 2016, where 200,000 liters of oil and diluents streamed through cities and creeks, forcing many residents to enact emergency drinking water procedures, Todd examines the life-cycle of fossil fuels and the historically mediated relationship people living in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta) have to this substance that for centuries, lay nestled underground. Todd is attempting to move away from solely understanding “oil and oil-progeny as contaminants, or pollutants, and the oil itself as imbued with messy human politics, which extract it from the ground and flood pipeline arteries across the entire continent.” Oil comes from fossils, which Todd imagines as re-animated in the dinosaurs, plants, and animals that flourished millions of years ago in amiskwaciwâskahikan. Further, the oil itself “rested beneath the loamy soil and clay of what is now Alberta for eons.” Dene people have used the bituminous tar to patch and water-proof canoes. Oil, in and of itself, Todd argues, is not violent or dangerous. Instead, she refocuses agency onto modes of petro-capitalist extraction and production. The growing dependency on this fuel, the presence of it as a contaminant in rivers that flow out into the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans – this she condemns as violent. And while the central question of her article – can one make kin with petrochemicals? – is unanswered, she is staying with the trouble. She writes, “it is a difficult philosophic and political negotiation for me to make, for I have, throughout my entire life, seen oil solely in its weaponized form.” This is a mode of being enmeshed within the semiosphere/sympoises – that is being attentive and tending to the various relationships. Leroy Little Bear, quoted in Todd's article, reminds us that, “We as humans live in a very narrow spectrum of ideal conditions. Those ideal conditions have to be there for us to exist. That's why it's very important to talk about ecology, the relationship.” Literature, if anything, is an examination of relationships and entanglements. It is incumbent upon the producers of these works to begin making the theoretical and political leaps to re-focus agency, re-distribute space on the page, and actively tend to the relationships between, and co-created worlds of, humans and more-than-humans.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A book about a kid who loves soccer--and his soccer coach mom!\nA delightfully charming story about a boy's love of soccer and love for his soccer-coach mom!\nSaturday’s a busy day for a brother and sister who play soccer in a league coached by their mom. In this sweet slice-of-life family story, a boy describes the fun he and his friends have playing soccer. Little readers will enjoy this introduction to the game!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I started my junior year of high school knowing three definite things: I believed in God. Good grades were the key to my future. And I wanted a boy to take me to prom. Then Liv happened. The way her eyes smiled when she watched me made my stomach do somersaults. Mysterious and flirty, she inspired me to question things about myself I took for granted. People seem to think certain traits are ingrained in you from the moment you're born. But what if some things aren't so black and white?\nMy father pays heaps of money for doctors at the Norfolk Psychiatric Center to fix me. I've spent six months of my prime teenage years at this residential facility - a place for teenagers who've gone mental. Just when I begin to feel myself fade away, a boy with a wolfish smile and mischievous eyes reels me in. Julian is broken, too, but he believes in me enough for the both of us. Through him I begin to experience this thing called hope. Doctors can't fix me, my parents can't either, but maybe it's not me who needs fixing.\n\"Good YA story\"", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Grandmother’s Guest: The Blue Lady of Wilton\nA grandmother uses storytelling to explain the unexplainable to her granddaughter\nYou might not believe in ghosts, but it sure seems there is one in a Wilton graveyard. Sightings of a blue mist moving slowly behind the cemetery’s stone walls are said to be common.\nRobin Schoen hadn’t heard those stories when she bought the beautiful brick Colonial that sat right below the cemetery. But it wasn’t long before she got acquainted with what locals call “The Blue Lady of Wilton.”\nShe found it “creepy,” she says, and thought about moving, especially since her 8-year-old granddaughter Alex was reluctant to come for sleepovers.\nShoen decided to write a children’s book for Alex, to reassure her with “a kinder, gentler approach to our new ’neighbor.’” The result is “Grandmother’s Guest: The Blue Lady of Wilton” [Hobby Horse Publishing, $16.95].\nTold from her granddaughter’s point of view, it’s a lovely, mostly true, story of grandmother and granddaughter learning that the Blue Lady is “simply a shy and misunderstood woman” who is not to be feared. The story takes an interesting turn when the two buy a teacup from an old children’s tea set and find a note in it with the actual name of the Blue Lady, Mary Ritter Spalding. What happens next, you’ll have to read.\nThe book is beautifully illustrated by Gail Hoar. Her drawings exhibit a certain otherwordliness appropriate to the tale being told. At the same time, they realistically replicate the antique features of Shoen’s lovely home and property — and the cemetery behind it.\nChildren will enjoy this story, and adults will enjoy reading it to them.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Sex. Lies. Greed. Power. Scandal. Politics.\nPolitical strategist, Elizabeth McNeal has been called a lot of things throughout her career—bitch being at the top of the list—but she doesn’t let it get to her. She’s bold, she’s blunt, and she takes orders from no one. This is how she’s survived working in a man’s world. She’s the master of diversion, and her specialty is winning an election—no matter the cost.\nThat is, until she meets her new client, Democratic candidate, Congressman William Baxter. Kind, considerate, insanely handsome, honest, and ten years her junior, he’s a unicorn among politicians. He infuriates her. He challenges her. Most of all, he makes her see past the scandalous world of politics and helps her to discover the heart of the woman inside her.\nWith sparks flying between them and the election rapidly approaching, the last thing either of them need is to be caught in a compromising position. Some lines are meant to be crossed and some rules broken, but for Elizabeth and Liam is it worth the cost of being politically incorrect?\nElizabeth McNeal is a successful woman in a man’s world. As a political strategist, she has to be. When she’s enlisted to manage the campaign of a man 10 years her junior who is to run for a seat in the Senate, she finds herself unnerved by his good looks, infuriated by his need to be in the midst of everything and challenged every step of the way. This is rather difficult for a woman used to be in control, calling the shots for her clients without being questioned because face it, she’s the best there is and that’s why they hire her.\nWilliam “Liam” Baxter is a young Congressman from Texas. He is charismatic, engaging and charming in his public persona and a strong, dominant man in private, but he’s always honest and that proves his most disarming quality. He is not one to shy away from a challenge and that’s what his new campaign manager is from the moment they meet: a challenge he’ll take head on both professionally and personally.\nThe chemistry between Liam and Elizabeth is insane from the moment they meet and, despite Elizabeth’s initial apprehensions, they develop an amazing work relationship that will eventually lead to so much more. With the backdrop political intrigue brought by the race for the Senate seat, they will have to navigate a blooming relationship and the consequences it might have to both their careers and public images.\nThis book is a fast ready that has romance, intrigue, some really steamy sex and great main and secondary characters. I enjoyed the writing, the characters’ interaction, the banter, not only between Liam and Elizabeth, but with Aaron, Scout and even Jordyn, and the great storyline. In a nutshell, I really liked this book and I hope others will too.\n4.5 Book Corner Stars\n*A copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Review: The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams\nToday Kerry Hammond is throwing caution to the wind and jumping into book three in a new-to-her series.\nThe Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams was published on January 28, in Hardcover, by Kensington Books. It is the 3rd book in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society series. I had never heard of this series, but am always drawn in by a good premise. A book store owner who has a great group of female friends to help her solve a murder was right up my alley. I decided to throw caution to the wind and jump in at book three.\nIn the book, our protagonist, Nora Pennington, finds herself knee deep in tourists at her bookshop. The town is experiencing torrential rains and shoppers are looking for respite, not only in the stacks, but in her café. One afternoon, she heads to the local flea market to replenish her store’s stock of knickknacks and ends up buying a beautiful bowl from a local man named Danny, a Cherokee potter. The day after Nora buys the bowl, she discovers Danny’s body floating in the river. Nora enlists the help of her friends in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to not only try and make sense of Danny’s death, but to figure out who killed him and why.\nI could tell that there was more to the backstories of each of the characters, information that was presumably given in books one and two. However, I was still able to enjoy the mystery and didn’t feel like I needed to stop where I was to go back and read the earlier installments. The author gave me just enough information to allow me to follow along and enjoy the story as is.\nI consider the book a cozy mystery, but Nora’s character isn’t light and fluffy. She’s been through some things in her life that she is still working out. She’s bonded with her group of friends and shared part of her secret with them, but there still seems to be more that she’s holding back. I think this character will grow a lot as the series progresses. I really enjoyed spending time with the Secret, Book, and Scone Society.\nThis book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. The review was fair and completely independent.\nYou can always find Mystery Playground on Twitter @mysteryplaygrnd and on Facebook. You can also follow the blog by clicking the link on the upper right-hand corner of this webpage.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The story continues...\nWhen you decide on the ‘statement’ that your story can make how deliberately do you work it in?\nAlways, the story is the thing. It has to be entertaining enough to hold the interest of the reader and to be honest, my interest as well. I am a fiction writer, not a polemicist, plus I am writing in a pretty narrow genre, with a certain expectation of action and pacing. I certainly cannot go all expository on my readers.\nAt the same time, the thought is always in my head of what true thing am I trying to say here. Unlike Epic Fantasy, in Sword and Sorcery our protagonists are seldom trying to save the world, so making the stakes high enough lots of times involves a moral dilemma of some sort. Just as in most of the other pulp-born genres, there is usually a poor decision made, followed by the protagonist’s struggle to rectify the mistake, whether the story is a western, hard-boiled detective, noir or S&S.\nI've seen you refer to your stories as 'inventory'. Do you then consider writing a profession or a hobby?\nI think that comes from my years of writing freelance non-fiction for newspapers and magazines. The only way for a freelancer to make any money is to be prolific, and treat it like a job. And in truth, most people who write with the idea that it is a hobby will tend to produce hobby-quality work. As a reader I have very little time, and I want to feel that regardless of how much I paid to read something, or how much or little the writer was paid, that what I am reading is a professional-quality story.\nWhat sort of process do you follow, beginning to end, for your stories?\nThere are two things that I need to have before starting a story. One is at least one interesting idea of a scene or a character in an uncomfortable position. The other is an idea of what truth there is to be told from that situation. It sounds corny, and a little contrived, but I really think that for any story to really have an impact it must tell the reader something deeper, in some way illuminate the human condition.\nThe process itself is pretty simple. Because I have very little time, the main obstacle is slotting in writing time. Fortunately I am a pretty fast writer, and having spent some time as a reporter I am not one to agonize. I do almost no re-writing; usually one draft and a clean-up.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Justice in literature essay\nImportantly though, our review of the terrorism literature demonstrates that despite this this essay identifies four gaps in terrorism studies: (1) employing joshua d freilich (jd phd) is a professor in the criminal justice. Through thirteen essays, shillingsburg argues that literary study depends on the dissemination of information in the context of ethics and social justice. (see the essay on public participation) if people believe procedures to be fair, they will be more likely to accept outcomes, even ones that they do not like.\nThe same creature, in his farther progress, is engaged to establish political society, in order to administer justice without which there can be no peace among. Some of my friends who have already taken sat says that focusing in essay is almost a wrong choice they said that while i have time i need to be practicing. 2017 book prize shortlist: edition, anthology, or essay collection for dignity, justice, and revolution: an anthology of japanese proletarian literature.\nUndergraduate certificate in law, justice & culture at ohio university certificate requirements 2017 essay prompts for application coms 4604 responsibilities and freedom of speech in communication eng 3570: law and literature. At essayleakscom, you can buy criminal justice essay, term paper, research order us your criminal justice essay paper if you want your paper written by a. Critical essays divine justice bookmark king lear inspires many philosophical questions chief among them is the existence of divine justice this concept. The opinion as essay, the judge as essayist: that is, the lawyer advocates justice for his client at the expense, if necessary, of all others as great literature.\nCategory: definition essays title: the definition of literature multiple definitions of justice are given and socrates analyzes the merit of each as the group. Colin dickey on the contemporary american essay in the criminal justice system, particularly decades after the crime the first quarter of the making of the american essay is a solid greatest hits of american literature,. (justice) the score reflects the quality of the essay as a whole — its content, style, and these essays offer a well-focused and persuasive analysis of a literary. At john jay, i begin my “crime, punishment, and justice in world literature” course with a twenty minute excerpt of the radiolab podcast episode blame. Essays and criticism on william shakespeare - law and justice shakespeare made many contributions to english literature and one of the ones that affects.\nThe criminal justice system has many components that make up its system the police, corrections, and the courts all play the role and act. Justice and its relationship with prejudice is the central theme of the timeless 7531 literature essays, 2122 sample college application essays, 318 lesson. Articles and essays: “chesnutt as political theorist: imagining democracy and social justice in the literature classroom” in approaches to teaching charles.\n- So it has been with anxious pleasure that the rt hon lord justice sedley has covertly indulged his literary skills, confining them to the london.\n- Authors' note: we completed this essay in the early days of november 2016 for an urgent craft infused with social justice—was an outlier, a push from american literary review, the chattahoochee review, the pinch,.\nChen 2 sunny chen ms wilson ap english literature and composition 14 november 2013 the search for justice in hamlet in hamlet, by william shakespeare. Free essay: what is social justice and how does it relate to liberation theology and speaking skills in the context of various literature and non-fiction texts. This essay will discuss the criticisms of the economic approach to markets offered by third, it discusses some of the literature on alternatives to using the market to d40 market structure and pricing: general d63 equity, justice, inequality,.Download justice in literature essay", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Harry Potter and Psychology\nby Whitney Caitlin\nI find it difficult to read the Harry Potter series without using psychology to interpret it, a feeling that has been exacerbated by having two college psychology courses under my belt.\nI’ve always found Freudian psychology, in particular, very interesting and that feeling hasn’t been deterred by most academics’ never-ending scorn for Freud’s more “creative” theories. However, Freud has made quite a mark on modern thought: people (without realizing it, of course) use Freudian psychology all the time. Many people are familiar with his theory of the defense mechanisms. If you aren’t, here is my Psych book’s definition: “When realistic [coping behaviors] are ineffective in reducing anxiety, [one] may resort to defense mechanisms that deny or distort reality” (Passer and Smith, 2001). Most people have heard of the defense mechanisms denial, repression, and rationalization and are able to relate to them personally.\nNot too long ago, I was reading the definition for the defense mechanism “reaction formation,” which is the repression of a thought or belief that causes one anxiety and its replacement with an exaggerated expression of the opposite behavior. What struck me was the example given in my textbook for reaction formation: A mother who harbors feelings of hatred for her child represses them and becomes overprotective of the child. Now who does that sound like? Petunia Dursley, perhaps?\nI will admit that this theory is a bit far-fetched, but reaction formation is a very interesting way to interpret Petunia’s hatred and adoration of Harry and Dudley, respectively.\nSo what on earth makes me think that Petunia has any feelings of hatred for Dudley? How about her relationship with Lily? We don’t know much about how the two sisters interacted, but it is obvious from Petunia’s tirade in Sorcerer’s Stone that she was extremely jealous and resentful of Lily’s powers.\n“I was the only one who saw her for what she was a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!”She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.\n(p58 US edition)\nNow we cannot be sure of this, but if Petunia were the younger of the two sisters, she would be especially resentful of Lily if she were hoping to receive a Hogwarts letter as well. Thus, Petunia’s deep resentment of Lily would most likely stem from wanting to be a witch very badly. (If Petunia is in fact older, it does not completely obliterate my theory but, admittedly, it won’t work as well.)\nMy next point is that parents often want for their children what they themselves never had. For example, my dad is really insistent that my brothers and I do well in school, because his parents never really seemed to care. Think what would have happened if Dudley had gotten a Hogwarts letter. It was possible; his aunt was a witch. If my Petunia-as-the-younger-sister theory holds, I’d bet that she would be secretly delighted, never mind what Uncle Vernon thought. Having her son triumph over her sister’s son would have brought real satisfaction to Petunia. Remember the quote above. It seems that Petunia had to compete for her parents’ attention for much of her life. However, it was only Harry that got the letter. Petunia and Vernon’s suspicion about Harry (that he was a wizard, just like his parents) was confirmed as soon as they read that letter. I wouldn’t be surprised if seeing Harry’s letter brought all Petunia’s resentful feelings back to the surface. Thus Harry officially became the ideal that Petunia so desperately wanted to live up to as a child. Dudley, however, didn’t live up to that ideal; he ruined Petunia’s chance to best Lily once and for all.\nThats where reaction formation kicks in – you can’t hate your own son, right? So, Petunia represses the unwanted thought and instead dotes on Dudley non-stop, while treating Harry (the ideal) like dirt. Furthermore, the definition of reaction formation explains that the repression of the anxiety-causing thought is coupled with an exaggerated expression of the opposite sentiment. Anyone who has read the books can attest to the fact that each interaction between Petunia and Harry or Petunia and Dudley is exaggerated. (Petunia in tears over Dudley’s diet in GoF, Petunia nearly hitting Harry over the head with a frying pan in CoS, etc.)\nNow for the most problematic part of my theory: it insinuates that deep down, Petunia doesn’t hate Harry. This is the heart of the definition of reaction formation. My only reason for accepting this theory as somewhat plausible is the interaction between Harry and Petunia in the second chapter of OotP.\n“Back?” whispered Petunia.She was looking at Harry as she had never looked at him before. . . .Aunt Petunia had never in her life looked at Harry like that before. Her large pale eyes (so unlike her sisters) were not narrowed in dislike or anger. They were wide and fearful. The furious pretense that Aunt Petunia had maintained all Harrys life that there was no magic . . . seemed to have fallen away.\n(p37-8, US edition)\nWe could say that Petunia has repressed all knowledge and ties with the magical world after Lily’s death and the stressful events of chapter 2 caused her Freudian slip about Azkaban, just as the stressful event of seeing Harry about to be whisked off to Hogwarts did in SS. So if she could look at Harry like that, then how much does she really hate him? I can’t wait to find out more about Petunia Dursley.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "\"WITH LOVE FROM EDITH\": THE GODS ARRIVE, 1932, INSCRIBED BY EDITH WHARTON\nWHARTON, Edith. Gods Arrive. New York: London, 1932.\nFirst edition of the last novel Wharton completed, the work she considered her \"greatest challenge,\" praised as one of her \"final attempts to sum up the artist's life,\" a lovely presentation copy inscribed by her in the month of publication, \"For Simon & Molly With love from Edith, September 1932.\" $6800.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I shouldn’t have come back.\nAn alcoholic shouldn’t just wander into a bar. Every sound, every smell, every familiar image … they invite you back in like a warm hand on your shoulder.\nBut I need to know.\nThe spine is crisp, and color explodes from the cover. I open it … just for a moment. For research.\nJust for a moment.\nAnd in a matter of moments … I’m lost.\nOn a Saturday afternoon at Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection, the back room is buzzing with middle schoolers. They sit perched over their colorful treasures, animated chatter flying back and forth. “I’ve got three of those,” one says as another peruses a rare sample. “You can have that one.” A generation ago, the subject of this conversation would have been the comic books. Not now. Now it is trading/gaming cards with titles like Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh!.\nIn Hastur Games & Hobbies, kids take root at a dozen networked computers, playing first-person shooter games for hours at a time. Parents and grandparents try to pry them away, only to be greeted with pleas for another half-hour or even flat-out refusals to leave.\nWelcome to comic book store culture, circa 2003.\n“We’re right across from a junior high,” Dr. Volt’s owner David Landa says of his card-playing clientele, “and you’ve got to hook ’em on something so they keep coming back.”\nBut they too rarely, it seems, get hooked into the comics—despite the fact that characters from comics and graphic novels have never been more prominent in pop-culture consciousness. The WB’s Smallville keeps the Superman characters on the small screen. Last year’s Spider-Man movie made $400 million at the U.S. box office. This year has already seen an adaptation of Marvel’s Daredevil, with the X-Men sequel X2: X-Men United, The Hulk and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen all on tap for this summer. Even non-superhero graphic literature has crossed over, with recent film adaptations of From Hell, Ghost World, Road to Perdition, Bulletproof Monk and the upcoming Sundance award-winner American Splendor. Comic book culture should be booming, but instead it seems stagnant. Where are all the new readers?\nWhere are the kids?\nI had known comic book culture at its zenith, during the early 1980s. It was a period when writers and artists broke free from the shackles of the traditional superhero comic, giving birth to longer form stories, often with more mature themes, that would be called “graphic novels.” Frank Miller reinvented Batman as a bitter retiree in The Dark Knight Returns. Writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons turned the world of masked vigilantes upside-down in Watchmen. Art Spiegelman won a Pulitzer Prize for turning Nazis and Jews into cats and mice in the Holocaust saga Maus. New publishers granted unprecedented ownership rights to their talent. Creatively, it was a new Golden Age.\nEconomically, things were looking pretty golden as well. Sales soared throughout the decade, fueled by a speculative market where people bought multiple copies of issues popularly perceived to be instantly collectible. Comic book specialty stores flourished. Everyone was lighting cigars with mint copies of “The Death of Superman.”\nUntil the bubble burst. Short-sighted publishers flooded the market with titles of inferior quality and made it difficult for readers to follow storylines by creating multiple titles featuring popular characters. Readers lost interest and patience in tales that demanded too much monthly expense for too little payoff. The speculative market collapsed. Marvel Comics—publishers of popular titles like X-Men, Incredible Hulk and Fantastic Four—went into bankruptcy. Hundreds of comic book stores closed. Robert Scott, a San Diego-based comic book retailer who founded the Comic Book Industry Alliance (CBIA), says the industry had to embrace the gaming side of the culture during the lean years of the late 1990s. “Diversifying was something a lot of retailers had to do to survive,” he recalls.\nThe numbers made it look like the comic-book culture was about to become an anthropological footnote—and personally, I mourned. That subculture had been my place of adolescent refuge, a community that shared delight in both thoughtful stories and flights of pure fancy. Call it a piece of sociological research or call it a pathetic grab at a youth receding ever more rapidly into the rearview mirror. I wanted to reconnect with that community one more time, to find out what the culture had become in the years since I walked away.\nMichael Braithwaite sports a familiar physiognomy. Apparently creeping into his early thirties, he carries a few extra pounds around the middle. Hair from the forehead and temples has migrated south to form a sketched-in beard. If he wore a ponytail, you’d swear Matt Groening had drawn him that morning.\n“On The Simpsons, The Comic Book Guy?” he says, leaning back as comfortably as a plastic folding chair will allow. “No one’s really going to deny that persona. Yeah, that’s us. I’ve been accused of being Comic Book Guy.”\nBraithwaite looks the part. Currently an employee at Hastur Games & Hobbies—and a veteran of other now-defunct Salt Lake Valley comic book hangouts, including the recently closed Comics Utah—Braithwaite is a comic book geek in the classic mold, and he has no problem with the designation. He notes with a self-deprecating grin the wedding band on my finger, saying, “I see that you’re married, so basically you’re an outsider. Sorry, but as soon as you got married …” He quickly qualifies the statement to include his married co-worker, store manager Roland Williams: “Roland’s a little unusual. He’s married, but she’s a comic book person, too.”\nThe “g-word” pops up with regularity when you talk with comic book fans and never with a hint of shame. Mimi Cruz, manager of Night Flight Comics, says of herself and her staff, “We love to make fun of ourselves and call ourselves comic book geeks.” Shane Nielsen, who operates a kiosk out of Dr. Volt’s Comics called Blacksmythe’s selling fantasy-themed weaponry and memorabilia, enthuses, “Yep, I’m a geek.” Nielsen is also married—to another comic book reader, just to further prove Braithwaite’s point.\nHaving returned to the center of comic book geek culture, I find every nuance comes rushing back. It’s more than a shared lexicon, though naturally insider terminology flies between comic book devotees. Shane’s wife Jennifer invokes the name of Gwen Stacy when discussing the recent Spider-Man film. She didn’t explain the reference to Peter Parker’s ill-fated comic book flame. She realized she didn’t need to.\nThere is also a shared accent, a manner of speaking that seems to appear whether the comic geek hails from California or Connecticut. Sometimes it’s a wide-mouthed turn of phrase or the use of exaggerated, precise diction; sometimes it’s the self-conscious, staccato laugh that punctuates a sentence. But it’s there, something that has evolved in an outsider subculture almost as a way of helping them identify one another, maybe the same way that stereotypical gay male vocal mannerisms emerged over time. Just because they don’t all sound that way doesn’t mean it isn’t real.\nI knew them when I heard them. These were my people.\nI was also, much to my surprise, part of a fairly typical demographic. The average face at the new release shelves in the comic book stores was not speckled with acne, but closer to 30-something. The comic book audience, everyone agreed, was graying. Why weren’t comics today attracting the 11-year-olds, like I was when I first fell in love with the adventures of the X-Men?\nIn part, the insiders blame the publishers. According to Braithwaite, since emerging from bankruptcy Marvel in particular has limited potential growth with an ordering policy that requires retailers to estimate sales two months in advance, without allowing the opportunity either to reorder or to return unsold books. “[The increase in interest] might happen if Marvel wasn’t being such creeps,” Braithwaite says. “When Spider-Man was coming out, we thought, OK, we should order more, there may be an upswing. But given the market, I was scared to order too much, because [Comics Utah] was hurting.\n“If you’re a stockholder,” he continues, “they [Marvel] are making fantastic decisions. They’re not really too concerned about the collectors.”\nAnd it’s not just Marvel, according to CBIA’s Scott. AOL Time Warner, which owns both Superman publisher DC Comics and The WB, has a golden opportunity to cross-promote in Smallville, but doesn’t take advantage of it. “When you sit down to watch Smallville,” Scott says, “you see advertising for Warner artists whose music was heard during the show. But nothing about Superman or Superboy comics.”\nAt the same time, comic book readers acknowledge that publishers are fighting an uphill battle against preconceptions about the medium—one that the industry may not be willing to expend resources to fight. Dr. Gene Kannenberg, Jr., a professor of English at the University of Houston and creator of ComicsResearch.org, has his own view of the problem. “There is still a general societal bias against the comics form among the wider American populace,” says Kannenberg. “I see lots of adults walking around in $40 Spider-Man T-shirts, but I have my doubts if even half of them would consider spending $2.25 on a new issue of a Spider-Man comic book.”\nBraithwaite summarizes the popular perception of comic books by recalling a cartoon he saw years ago of a man talking with a caricature of a matronly socialite. “He says, ‘Words on a page …?’ ‘Literature!’ ‘Pictures on a page …?’ ‘Art!’ “Words and pictures on a page …?’ ‘Absolutely horrible, obscene pieces of trash!’”\n“Since the 1950s, there’s been this stigma that comics are not for literate people,” Night Flight’s Cruz agrees. “You can’t convince people who don’t want to be convinced.”\nAnd the battle may even be harder when it comes to promoting the more sophisticated material that has reached a mass audience in some other form. Not many viewers were aware that last year’s critically lauded film Road to Perdition was adapted from a graphic novel by writer Max Allan Collins and artist Richard Piers Rayner—perhaps because the studio wanted to maintain an aura of literary respectability for the production. As Robert Scott notes, studios may not be interested in trumpeting that a film is based on a graphic novel because “they don’t want to taint the apple and feel they might scare people off.”\nFair enough as it might apply to older audiences, but it’s hard to imagine the “stigma” of comics scaring off a 12-year-old. So why is it so hard to bring in new, young readers? Economics could be a factor, since prices have jumped to upwards of $2 for a regular monthly issue, but that’s nothing compared to the cost of new video game.\nThe picture returns to those kids intently trading their cards and playing their computer games, and a sad refrain emerges: Comic books involve reading. And reading is something too many kids just don’t do.\n“It’s almost impossible to compete with video games, movies and the Internet,” says Cruz, who works vigorously to promote youth literacy.\nBriathwaite adds, “Some writers do ask good questions, you know. And kids just don’t want to think about different issues. That, and I don’t know if they have the attention span for ‘tune in next month to see if Spider-Man gets out of this.’”\nThe kids themselves, perhaps predictably, are not terribly reflective about their lack of interest in comics, though one teen insists, “I read, just not comics.” Other responses run from a shrug of “I just never got into them” to a slightly more emphatic shrug of “They’re not my thing.”\nAlso not surprisingly, an industry that no longer sees an upside in reaching out to younger readers has made decisions that make it even less likely those younger readers will get drawn in. I discovered comics walking home from junior high school to buy a Slurpee, but the convenience store racks of my youth—wire carousels topped with a sign that yelled out a pitch of “Hey, kids! Comics!”—have all but disappeared, victims of publisher policies that made it economically impractical for non-specialty outlets to stock single-issue comics. Today’s teen might have to be driven across town to a comic book specialty store to have any sense for what’s out there.\nContent, too, has contributed to the comic book generation gap. As the audience matured, so did comic book and graphic novel stories and art, resulting in material that may not be appropriate for younger readers. “As things get a little more edgy, more controversial, more graphic,” says Robert Scott, “it is possible that even if kids wanted to read that we have no product for them.”\n“I’ve read some Spider-Man books that I’d be embarrassed for an 8-year-old to have,” Cruz concurs. “You never would have had that years ago. If we decide that we’re not going to carry things that a younger reader will enjoy, that’s our fault.”\n“Marvel’s gone off the Comics Code Authority,” Braithwaite adds, referring to an advisory body that was created in the 1950s to oversee the appropriateness of comic book content for younger readers. “Marvel is purposely trying to kick it up a notch. So I’m basically stuck showing parents Archie and Sonic the Hedgehog, because there isn’t a whole lot that’s mainstream anymore that some parents wouldn’t find offensive.”\nThe comic book industry, it appeared, was fighting against an ever-shrinking pool of potential new readers. Most adults still viewed comics with either condescension or suspicion. And younger kids generally weren’t readers at all. It was like the punch line to some clichéd joke about sexually frustrated nerds: Comic book geekdom could be an endangered species because of an inability to propagate itself.\n“If you look at the big picture and say, ‘We aren’t going to offer anything to younger readers, we’re going to appeal to the adult male reader,’” remarks Cruz, “that would really be limiting our future potential.”\nThe industry does seem to be taking baby steps. DC published 10-Cent Adventures featuring Batman and Superman as loss-leader efforts to attract kids. Last year, publishers and retailers joined forces for a national Free Comics Day tied to the release of Spider-Man, a rousing success that will be repeated this year as specialty stores try to get you hooked with a free taste on Saturday, May 3 (the day after X2 opens in theaters). Even city and county libraries will be getting the freebies thanks to Night Flight Comics.\nReading is at the heart of the comic book story and not just because you have to read them to know the story. Christine Sabo, a psychology student at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa., wrote a thesis analyzing the comic book collector sub-culture and discovered that “the two possible values that seem to be held most highly and consistently among members of this group were creative fantasy, and an appreciation for art and literature.” The stories of comic book readers themselves are stories of falling in love with storytelling, often at an early age.\n“I started as a child,” Cruz recalls of her own love affair with comics. “I was nine years old, growing up in Seattle, and a neighbor lady around the corner gave me a huge box of comics and Motown records. It was like the greatest treasure she could have given me. I learned how to read with comics.”\nCruz guides me through Night Flight’s Cottonwood Mall store, quizzing me on what I remembered from my own comic book youth before pointing me towards her favorite works. “Of course you knew Frank Miller,” she says. “You have to see 3000 [a graphic novel story set in ancient Greece].” I examine the book—an Italian language version—as she seeks out samples by other popular current writers like Brian Michael Bendis. She seems to smell in me the equivalent of a lapsed Catholic looking for a reason to return to the fold, and she’s eager to share the love—not merely as a prudent entrepreneur, but as a fan.\nShane Nielsen leans against his Dr. Volt’s counter, nattily attired in his own Spider-Man T-shirt and cap as he recalls his own first comic book experience: “I was actually six years old. I was playing piano, and my aunt, as a reward, gave me an Incredible Hulk.” He stopped collecting during his Mormon mission, got married, and was prepared to give up comics entirely until his wife Jennifer—previously an avid reader, but not a comic book reader—picked up a few of his back issues.\n“Then she got addicted,” Nielsen says, “and we started back up … She said, ‘You can’t drop it, you can’t drop it.’\n“Every time you try [to quit], you go, ‘But there’s this new, good story out. I’ve gotta read it. I want to read it again and again and again.’”\nA conversation at Hastur Games & Hobbies turns to the crossover between the world of role-playing gamers and the comics world, and Michael Braithwaite dashes off to the shelves. He returns with Knights of the Dinner Table, a crudely drawn black-and-white comic book about the interaction between a group of regular gamers. “It’s a fantastically written series,” he beams. “The artwork is nothing, basically just a bunch of guys sitting around a table. It’s basically the same picture over and over. But the storylines and situations are absolutely hilarious.”\nI begin to recognize something else familiar about that comic book fan “accent,” because I’ve heard that same manner in theater people. The members of both groups probably weren’t the Big Men on Campus or the prom queens, but they were people whose fascination with storytelling transformed them. The hands, the diction, the voice—they’re all part of continuing that conversation about intoxicating narrative.\nIt was through comics that I came to appreciate the power of storytelling, whether through words or images. I couldn’t resist a well-told tale. Statistics suggest that I was already an anomaly in 1978—that the average comic book reader in the late 1970s and early 1980s was well into his or her 20s—but the format was there to attract me.\nTwenty-five years later, it is a world of Xbox and GameCube and PlayStation, a world of Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic. The young geek culture that in years past would have found narrative even in its games—they played Dungeons & Dragons, creating characters who moved through a story—instead has to decide whether to hold an AK-47 or a 9mm handgun during a marathon session of computer gaming.\nComic books, scorned though they have been by generations of parents, have been a gateway drug for a passion for storytelling and for love of reading. As a lover of stories, I wonder what it means when today’s 11-year-olds are engaging their eyes and their carpal tunnels but not their sense of wonder.\nIn some respects, the comic book industry itself may be as healthy as it has ever been—though the absence of research into demographics makes it hard to nail down readership numbers beyond the observational. Comics Utah has closed—the victim, according to Braithwaite, of disinterested out-of-state ownership—but Night Flight has opened a new location in the new City Library Square and Dr. Volt’s recently expanded. The investor/collector boom period has been replaced by a time when those who buy comics actually read them, instead of stashing them away in boxes and Mylar sleeves like artfully decorated savings bonds. Mainstream bookstores like Barnes & Noble feature entire sections dedicated to graphic novels. A more diverse marketplace of titles and formats has begun appealing even to the long-under-represented female readers, slowly but steadily eroding the “boys club” atmosphere recognized by women in the hobby, like Mimi Cruz.\nAnd then there are people like me—people who had drifted away for years but may be finding themselves attracted to fond memories. “What we’re seeing now,” says Robert Scott, “especially with the nostalgia factor, is parents who hadn’t looked at comics for 15 or 20 years who now have kids of reading age. They come in with their kids to show them what’s going on.”\nBut we’re mortal, we 30-something comic addicts of both the active and the recovering stripe. The newbies have to come from somewhere. More of them will be 21 than will be 11 and maybe that doesn’t matter for the comic book industry. I wonder, though, how many 11-year-olds will never learn to swoon over words and images that can transport them, exercising mental muscles no video game console will ever touch.\nIt’s not about “kids these days” as much as it is about a culture these days—a culture of parents who buy their kids video games but hustle them past a comic book store like it was a porn theater, unable to grasp how these silly stories of superheroes could be far more beneficial than they could ever be damaging. My 4-year-old son already knows Batman and Spider-Man. His games are games of imagination. Soon it will be his turn to learn to read, and I hope the stories he turns to will thrill him.\nI’ll be back here soon.\nI never should have left.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I’ve neglected you, my reader friends, immersed in writing the sequel to ‘Course of Mirrors’ and a few interludes. Like, my writing fixation was pleasantly disrupted last week through meeting my son at Covent Garden, and later attending the launch of ‘The Inflatable Buddha’ by András Kepes at the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London.\nIt is the newest project of my to-be publisher http://www.armadillocentral.com/ András’s novel offers a more subtle perspective than officially recorded history, showing the fictional lives and wits of three ordinary, idiosyncratic Hungarians during the twentieth century. The sample readings enticed me, and I’m now looking forward to reading the book. The well-attended, grand launch event also gave me a taste of what is to come – being exposed to questions about my own epic .\nThen came a traumatic interlude to my writing …\nDuring the last two days, to the grinding noise of chainsaws and a shredder, I mourned the loss of a beautiful poplar/aspen tree in my neighbourhood, which has grown too high for its owner. The now mutilated tree (the image shows a third of its size) will be gone completely next week. I’ll miss the shimmer and the watery music of its leaves, produced by the slightest breeze, and the golden hearts trailing into my garden come autumn. I picked a few early leaves to treasure, pressed to dry in my dictionary.\nToday a most pleasant surprise … a poetry book arrived unexpectedly in the post, sent by a Scottish friend/poet, who is at this moment working with a visual artist on a project about Tin-mining in St Ives. Due to blank spots in my education I rely on stumbling upon poets less publicised, and was delighted to receive this gift of an expertly edited ‘New Collected Poems’ by W S Graham. So I thought I’ll share excerpts from his poems – on themes that will chime with fellow writers .\nW. S. Graham (1918-1986) grew up in Clydeside, Scotland, and initially followed the footsteps of his father, who was a structural engineer in the ship-building trade. However, a year studying philosophy and literature at an adult education centre outside Edinburgh set him on the path of writing poetry for the rest of his life, irrespective of meagre financial rewards. He travelled to London and New York City, but later lived with his wife in Cornwall.\nI was delving into the book this morning. Here some facets, unconnected lines, the first from THE NIGHTFISHING (1955) – a melodic composition, speaking to the seen and unseen, from a night in a herring boat out on the North Sea.\n… Gently the quay bell\nStrikes the held air …\nStrikes the held air like\nOpening a door\nSo that all the dead\nBrought to harmony\nSpeak out on silence …\nI am befriended by\nThis sea which utters me …\n… Far out calls\nThe continual sea.\nNow within the dead\nOf night and the dead\nOf all my life I go.\nI’m one ahead of them\nTurned in below\nI’m borne in their eyes\nThrough the staring world.\nThe present opens its arms …\n… Each word is but a longing\nSet out to break from a difficult home. Yet in\nIt’s meaning I am …\n… The bow wakes hardly a spark at the black hull.\nThe night and day both change their flesh about\nIn merging levels …\nThe iron sea engraved to our faintest breath\nThe spray fretted and fixed at a high temper,\nA script of light …\n… The streaming morning in its tensile light\nLeans to us and looks over on the sea.\nIt’s time to haul. The air stirs its faint pressures\nA slat of wind …\n… The white net flashing under the watched water,\nThe near net dragging back with the full belly\nOf a good take certain …\nSome of the last lines of – THE NIGHT CITY – a turning point … I found Eliot and he said yes … T S Eliot was then with Faber and Faber. He became Graham’s publisher.\n… Midnight. I hear the moon\nLight chiming on St Paul’s\nThe City is empty. Night\nWatchmen are drinking their tea …\nBetween the big buildings\nI sat like a flea crouched\nIn the stopped works of a watch.\nFrom IMPLEMENTS IN THEIR PLACES (1977) I picked a refrain from WHAT IS LANGUAGE USING US FOR ?\n… What is the language using us for?\nIt uses us all and in its dark\nOf dark actions selections differ …\nAnd last – AIMED AT NOBODY – Poems from Notebooks (1993)\nIt does not matter who you are,\nIt does not matter who I am.\nThis book has not been purposely\nmade for any reason.\nIt has made itself by circumstances\nIt is aimed at nobody at all.\nIt is now left just as an object by me\nto be encountered by somebody else.\n* * *\nThis may well be how it feels for most writers who simply can’t help sculpting experiences into words. What do you think?", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "- Media Type▼▲\n- Author / Artist▼▲\n- Top Rated▼▲\nHave questions about eBooks? Check out our eBook FAQs.\n|Format: DRM Protected ePub|\nVendor: Thomas Nelson\nPublication Date: 2007\nEssie Mae Laveau Jenkins is a 78-year-old sweetgrass basket weaver who sits on the side of Hwy. 17 in the company of her dead husband, Daddy Jim. Inspired by her Auntie Leona, Essie Mae finally discovers her calling in life and weaves powerful \"love baskets,\" praying fervently over them to affect the lives of those who visit her roadside stand. When she's faced with losing her home and her stand and being put in a nursing home, Daddy Jim talks her into coming on up to Heaven to meet sweet Jesus-something she's always wanted to do. Once there, she reunites with Gullahs and African ancestors; but soon, her heavenly peace is disrupted, for she still has work to do. Now Essie Mae, who once felt powerless and invisible, must find the strength within her to keep her South Carolina family from falling apart.\nSandra Dodd5 Stars Out Of 5October 19, 2007Sandra DoddThe presentation and plot are very good. Our book club had a lively discussion! Ms.Seitz sets a stage for deep Scripture searches and growth for the novice and old timer as well.Very good read.\nMichelle SuttonArizonaAge: 45-54Gender: female4 Stars Out Of 5September 10, 2007Michelle SuttonArizonaAge: 45-54Gender: femaleWell here is another book that makes me go hmmmm... because it's supposed to be a Christian book yet there is so much contained in this story that is simply not biblical. However, the fictionalized character of Essie Mae is a delight to read. I think it's important to note that what the above description from the publisher doesn't mention is that the love baskets that Essie Mae \"powerfully prays over\" also has voodoo rituals attached, only she calls it hoodoo. Essie would weave the hair of people into the basket in hopes of matchmaking. And in this story the hoodoo techniques always worked.While I found some of her thoughts hilarious and her culture entertaining, this story contained quite a few weird theological moments...like when Essie thought they needed to help Jesus out when they were in heaven, and some of the things they did in heaven were \"way out there\". But this is a fictional story. So if you don't take it seriously and read it for mere entertainment you will enjoy the book. I'd love to believe that I will look young, beautiful, and get to make love to my husband in heaven, too, but that simply isn't so. And I found it odd that her voodoo practicing aunt was in heaven along with some other folks that practiced similar things. Like somehow that was irrelevant to their faith in Jesus? Hmmmm...I dunno.The writing and characterization of the story was excellent, however, and I commend the author for her creativity and ability to engage the reader, but I don't think it should've been marketed as Christian fiction by a Christian publisher. But I'm only one opinion. If you can get past the warped theology and you are seeking a book that is compulsively readable, you'll like this story.\nHarriet Klausner5 Stars Out Of 5December 21, 2006Harriet KlausnerSouth Carolina septuagenarian Essie Mae Laveau Jenkins sits by the side of rural Highway 17 as she has for decades making sweetgrass love baskets. The weaver insists to those who worry about her that she is not alone as husband Daddy Jim sits by her side though he died years ago. Essie Mae believes her \"love baskets\" helps those who buy them from her roadside stand though she takes no chances as she adds prayers for those in need just as her beloved Auntie Leona taught her decades ago.Now her loved ones want to place the seventy-eight year old weaver into a home. Daddy Jim tells her to join him in Heaven where Jesus awaits her coming. She does, but besides her beloved spouse and the Sonof God, she meets her recently deceased African-American relatives and ancestors from Africa making her feel complete and at home. However, back on earth her descendents are in trouble needing Essie Mae to return to give them the strength to come together.This deep character study will provide inspiration to readers as Essie Mae deals with mortality, deaths of loved ones, sacrifice, the radical changing of her world, and coming to heaven. She keeps the story line flowing on earth and in heaven as fans will be fascinated with how the sweetgrass basket weaver puts love into her work. Though local dialect adds a sense of locale and to a degree purpose, it also adds some difficulty to the read. Still this is a magnificent profound look at a person who has an inner strength few contain.Harriet Klausner\nAsk a Question▼▲\nFind Related Products▼▲\n- Books, eBooks & Audio >> Fiction >> Biblical\n- Books, eBooks & Audio >> Fiction >> Contemporary >> Women's Fiction\n- Books, eBooks & Audio >> eBooks >> Fiction >> Biblical\n- Books, eBooks & Audio >> eBooks >> Fiction >> Contemporary >> Women's Fiction\n- Download >> eBooks >> Fiction >> Biblical\n- Download >> eBooks >> Fiction >> Contemporary >> Women's Fiction", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A methotrexate (MTX)-resistant HeLa subline (R5) has been developed in this laboratory with impaired transport due to a genomic deletion of the reduced folate carrier (RFC). In the current study, this cell line was utilized to examine the impact of loss of RFC on the activity of other antifolates. Despite the complete loss of RFC activity, R5 cells were only 2-fold resistant to pemetrexed (PMX), but 200- and 400-fold resistant to ZD1694 and PT523, respectively, as compared to parental HeLa cells when grown with 2 uM folic acid. When folic acid was replaced with the more physiological 25 nM 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, R5 cells were 2-fold collaterally sensitive to PMX while still 40-and 200-fold resistant to ZD1694 and PT523, respectively, as compared to HeLa cells. Under these conditions there was a marked contraction of the cellular folate-cofactor pool in R5 cells. Sensitivity to PT523 and PMX could be completely restored, and to ZD1694 nearly restored, by transfection of RFC cDNA into R5 cells indicating that the defect in drug transport was the only, or major, factor in resistance. The preserved PMX activity in R5 cells could not be related to the very low expression of folate receptors since inclusion of 1 uM folic acid, to abolish any folate receptor-mediated transport, had only a minimal effect on the PMX IC50. Rather, retained PMX activity in R5 cells was associated with residual transport by another process that exhibits good affinity for PMX (Kt=12 uM) with much lower affinities for ZD1694, MTX, and PT523 (Ki’s of ∼ 90, 100, 250 uM, respectively). PMX transported by this route was rapidly converted to higher polyglutamates and, when grown with 25 nM 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, the rate of formation of these derivatives and their net accumulation in R5 cells was comparable to that of wild-type cells. These data suggest that selective preservation of PMX pharmacological activity is due to (i) partial preservation of transport by an unidentified process with a higher affinity for PMX than the other antifolates evaluated, (ii) the contraction of cellular tetrahydrofolate-cofactor pools associated with loss of RFC when the growth substrate is a reduced folate that utilizes this transporter for entry into cells.\n[Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004]", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "What is it to “pray without ceasing”? (1 Thess. 5:17) Hans Urs von Balthasar in his book Engagement with God gives us this thought from Origen:\nBoyd draws heavily on Origen when setting up his proposal for what he calls the Cruciform Hermeneutic. Origen doesn’t explain away the violent passages of the Old Testament. He has a way of looking at them that brings us to the “lens” of the cross.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Heaven and Hell\nWarning, this is not only yaoi it's DARK yaoi. Don't like? Don't read.\n“So, ready for tomorrow?”\nMidvalley looked over at the young priest.\n“That assignment. Over in New Oregon.”\n“Yeah, I’ll see you then.”\nMidvalley sighed and walked to his quarters. He turned on a small lamp light next to the table and poured himself a drink. He was tired again. This was a bad sign. He figured even while being with a guy like Wolfwood, he could still be so discontent. He removed his coat and shoes and poured himself yet another shot of burgundy. He drank it in one gulp. He walked over to the couch and sat down debating to himself if he should get some rest. Just then he found his body violently twisting it’s self into a very painful position. He gave a sharp cry of pain.\n“I find it rather fun to hear it when you yell like that…”\nHis eyes jerked to the corner to see an all to formula figure standing there.\nThe blue haired man laughed quietly.\n“Yes… struggle not to scream so loud… I’m enjoying it immensely”\nMidvalley gritted his teeth. He’d be damned before he let that twisted bastard be so satisfied with him.\nLegato walked over to him, kneeling down to the musicians level.\n“You’re mad at me aren’t you? That doesn’t surprise me in the least… I wonder… are you afraid?”\nHe stood up and ran his hand down Midvalley’s backside.\n“Do I ever tell you why I do this?”\nHe ran his hand under Midvalley’s stomach, down to his crouch. Midvalley winced slightly. Legato unbuckled Midvalley’s pants and slowly pulled them off. The musician felt the cold air along his naked body. Legato pulled off his own cloths. He grinned evilly. His own penis hardening.\n“You’re my replacement… you give me what He denies me.”\nLegato climbed on top of Midvalley who struggled to break free of Legato’s control.\nLegato scoffed “Trying to escape are we? You weren’t so reluctant the last time I offered myself to you.”\nThe golden eyed man ran his hand under Midvalley’s crotch and gave it a squeeze.\nMidvalley gave a cry of pain and all of a sudden released in horror that his own penis was erected.\nLegato chuckled again as the musician released that his man hoods excitement wasn’t entirely fault of his own.\n“Well.. now it’s my turn. Believe me.. I shall be extremely entertained by you.”\nMidvalley’s face turned red as he found himself ejaculating into Legato’s hand. Legato pulled his hand out and licked it from his own fingers. He then smiled evilly once again and wiped it across Midvalley’s mouth. Midvalley found himself licking his own seamen from the corners of his lips. He winced at the bitterness of it. He had started to breathe frantically. Two strong hands continued to massage his crouch while he felt Legato’s own erect penis rubbing against his ass. He wanted to scream, but he figured that even if he had gathered the courage to do so. Legato would probably have made sure that he didn’t. He shuddered as he felt a warm wet tongue along his neck. He felt it go lower along his back side, lower until it reached were his ass begin. He was sweating horribly now… he couldn’t remember the last time he felt in so much pain, and Legato hadn’t even gotten to intercourse. He winced as he felt teeth marks along his back. This time he did cry out as the hands squeezed his genitalia even harder. He felt it go stiff again. He prayed that this humiliation would be over soon.\n“Do you really think it will end that quickly? And here I am, trying so hard to pleasure you… you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”\nLegato slowly raised up the musicians hips, ruffly grabbing Midvalley’s thighs and pulling them wider. He squeezed the chocolate-eyed man’s buttocks and pulls them wider as well. Slowly Legato stuck just the tip of his penis into Midvalley’s ass. Midvalley sighed to himself. At least he was slow this time at least-\nBiting his lip to keep from screaming was the lest Midvalley could do as Legato violently trusted the rest of it into him. Oh God it hurt. He didn’t know how painful that could be.\n“Enjoy this world of pain Midvalley… I know I do..”\nThe blue haired man continued to thrust repeatedly and violently. Harder and harder. And each time it became harder for Midvalley to keep himself from screaming. He could feel Legato’s man hood inside of him. Finally he opened his mouth to scream.. and released with horror that he couldn’t.\n“Now why would I want you to make so much noise? After all… you’re suppose to be enjoying it aren’t you?”\nMidvalley ejaculated again.\nFinally in what seamed like forever, the pain stopped and he felt the penis slowly pull out from him. His body finally regained control and he collapses on the couch. Legato calmly got dressed and headed towards the door. “Well.. that was highly enjoyable.. next time I’ll let you be on top…”\nMidvalley felt a small amount of blood starting to trickle out of where the golden eyed killer’s manhood had once been only a few minutes ago.\nHe lay there too sore to move. So this is what his life had come to. No one asked him if he was happy. His life was a nightmare. He was in hell.\n--end of this first part", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Left Drowning - Jessica Park\n|Left Drowning, is haunting, heartbreaking, and emotionally charged. It will leave you reeling long after you have finished. It is a MUST READ!|\nWhat does it take to rise from life’s depths, swim against the current, and breathe?Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.\n**This book is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.**\nLeft Drowning Amazon.com\nLeft Drowning Amazon.ca\nLeft Drowning Amazon.uk\n\"I see perfection in things that are likely considered imperfections to others.\"\nI am writing this review directly after finishing Left Drowning, in order to process. This book was a very emotional 5++ stars!\nI created a new shelf on my Goodreads lists just for this book!\n\"Reality is not necessarily my friend - then again, neither are dreams - but this moment, this reality, is beautiful. I am alone without being lonely, for once, staring across the water and watching the sun begin its climb into the clear blue sky.\"\nA young woman suffers an incredible loss, while at the exact same time a young man escapes the fear and torture that has become his life. While two die, three escape with their lives.\nScarred, tormented, broken, but they survive. ..\n\"Death and grief make everyone around you vanish because death and grief are intolerable.\"\nThis book builds slowly, when I first met the characters Blythe, Sabin, Chris, James, Zach, Eric and Estelle, I was taken aback by how real they were. I mean truly real, in a non apologetic, honest, and realistic way. They are college students and they act like college students. The banter and conversations that take place, I could actually hear them in my mind. This book played out in in front of my eyes as clear as if I watching it on the big screen. It was heartbreaking, realistic, traumatic, unapologetic, honest and unwavering. The subject matter in this book is difficult to read in many places, as the memories of the abuse, the emotional and physical scars are so vivid, you are transported to their world. I was so engrossed in this book, everything just faded away, and when I finished I was just.... just.... breathe.\n\"And he thinks about the future and how this present hell is not forever. It's just pain.\"\nTwo people drawn together by events uncontrollable. Lives intertwined so completely you cannot see where one begins and the other ends. The characters in this book are family, in every sense of the word. Love unconditional, unyielding support, patience, undeniable chemistry, compassion, forgiveness, and healing, are what makes this book extraordinary.\n\"I am. It's a constant struggle to stay near the surface. I have just enough air to stop me from totally going under, but not enough to thrive.\"\nThe author breaks your heart over and over, throughout this book\n\"You are the great love of my life that I'm never going to have.\"\n\"She raises hers, too, and they reach out as though they are touching palm to palm. Her fingers fold as if they are falling between his, and Chris makes the same motion. She has become part of him, this girl, and he lowers his hands to rest over his heart. He will keep her there always.\"\nI felt like I was on a roller coaster, throughout the entire read. That being said, what she shatters, she heals, and in the end, you are left, just sitting. Processing, smiling, crying, and sighing with relief and happiness. Happiness that love can heal, truly heal and help you move forward. Love can heal you, you can move past survival, it can let you live, freeing you from the past, allowing to look forward and finally accept and anticipate your future.\n\"I am overwhelmingly in love with you,\" Chris says as he matches my steps. \"I've spent most of my life thinking that my father never gave me anything but pain. But that's not true. He did give me something. Someone. You. He gave me you.\"\nLeft Drowning, is haunting, heartbreaking, and emotionally charged. It will leave you reeling long after you have finished. It is a MUST READ!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "On October 25, 2014, I lost my auntie Crystal and experienced loss like I never had before. I felt the lowest I’ve ever felt, and I cried the hardest I’ve ever cried. This was after weeks of praying the most I’ve ever prayed and believing more than I’ve ever believed for a miracle. When that didn’t happen, I found myself asking God, “Why?”\nToday, I’ve turned that weakness into strength. After many sleepless nights and what seemed like a never ending heartbreak, I realized that she’s in the safest place she could ever be. That helped me shift my thoughts to why she lived instead of focusing on why she died. My auntie was a true angel on earth. Her life was one that had a lasting, personal impact on everyone she touched. She did all she could to help any and everyone around her who was in need, even perfect strangers. She walked in her purpose and lived a life that was intentional. She was never afraid to try something new or go after what God put on her heart to do. Most of all, she loved her family and treated her friends as though their blood ran through her veins.\nSo, as I begin this journey of truly pursuing my purpose, it’s important to note that she is the reason I am pushing past my fears to walk in the fullness of my future. She taught me that we can’t take anything or anyone for granted. I love harder, work harder and live fuller because of her. She’s my heroine. She’s my angel. And she will forever and always be my reason.\nRest in paradise, auntie.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "’- Don’t you think she’s ugly?\n- Or fat?\n- Or an embarrasment, or worthless?\n- No, just stop it. No, right. No.\n- What do you want to say to that little girl? If she said that she felt that way about herself, what would you tell her?\n- That’s she’s fine, that she’s perfect.\n- Then that’s what you need to tell yourself. Every time you feel that panic, that anxiety. You need to soothe yourself as you would soothe the little girl. You need to tell yourself that everything is going to be okay. If you commit to that, then I promise you that you’ll be able to face anything, and it starts right now. Everything starts right now.’", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Fountainhead (1949) Screenwriter(s): Ayn Rand\nArchitect Howard Roark (Gary Cooper) made a closing summation (of author-screenwriter Ayn Rand’s treatise on Objectivism) to a jury, defending his destruction of housing project buildings that had perverted his original design plans – his words were so powerful that the jury found him not-guilty:\nHoward Monologue: Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light, but he left them a gift they had not conceived and he lifted darkness off the earth. Throughout the centuries, there were men who took first steps down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision. The great creators, the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors, stood alone against the men of their time. Every new thought was opposed. Every new invention was denounced. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid, but they won. No creator was prompted by a desire to please his brothers. His brothers hated the gift he offered. His truth was his only motive. His work was his only goal. His work, not those who used it. His creation, not the benefits others derived from it. The creation which gave form to his truth. He held his truth above all things and against all men. He went ahead whether others agreed with him or not, with his integrity as his only banner. He served nothing and no one. He lived for himself. And only by living for himself was he able to achieve the things which are the glory of mankind. Such is the nature of achievement.\nMan cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. The man who thinks must think and act on his own. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be subordinated to the needs, opinions, or wishes of others. It is not an object of sacrifice. The creator stands on his own judgment – the parasite follows the opinions of others. The creator thinks – the parasite copies. The creator produces – the parasite loots. The creator’s concern is the conquest of nature the parasite’s concern is the conquest of men. The creator requires independence. He neither serves nor rules. He deals with men by free exchange and voluntary choice. The parasite seeks power. He wants to bind all men together in common action and common slavery. He claims that man is only a tool for the use of others, that he must think as they think, act as they act, and live in selfless, joyless servitude to any need but his own.\nLook at history. Everything we have, every great achievement has come from the independent work of some independent mind. Every horror and destruction came from attempts to force men into a herd of brainless, soulless robots, without personal rights, without person ambition, without will, hope, or dignity. It is an ancient conflict. It has another name – ‘The individual against the collective.’ Our country, the noblest country in the history of men, was based on the principle of individualism, the principle of man’s ‘inalienable rights.’ It was a country where a man was free to seek his own happiness, to gain and produce, not to give up and renounce. To prosper, not to starve. To achieve, not to plunder. To hold as his highest possession a sense of his personal value, and as his highest virtue his self-respect. Look at the results. That is what the collectivists are now asking you to destroy, as much of the earth has been destroyed.\nI am an architect. I know what is to come by the principle on which it is built. We are approaching a world in which I cannot permit myself to live. My ideas are my property. They were taken from me by force, by breach of contract. No appeal was left to me. It was believed that my work belonged to others, to do with as they pleased. They had a claim upon me without my consent, that it was my duty to serve them without choice or reward. Now you know why I dynamited Courtland. I designed Courtland. I made it possible. I destroyed it. I agreed to design it for the purpose of seeing it built as I wished. That was the price I set for my work. I was not paid. My building was disfigured at the whim of others who took all the benefits of my work and gave me nothing in return.\nI came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life, nor to any part of my energy, nor to any achievement of mine, no matter who makes the claim! It had to be said – The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing. I came here to be heard in the name of every man of independence still left in the world. I wanted to state my terms. I do not care to work or live on any others. My terms are – A man’s right to exist for his own sake.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "It had been a full day that Jackie Leves had personally brought his men to look for Serene Silas, but he still hadn’t found her. Jackie couldn’t find her and her safety was unknown. He could only feel as if his soul had been taken away, wandering in the valleys between the mountains. Misty Mountain covered a vast area, it was impossible for Serene, an injured person, to get out of the forest alone… As he thought of her being injured, a thought flashed across Jackie’s mind. Just as he was trying to catch the fleeting thought, he was interrupted by Daryl Leves. Daryl had came over to report on the progress on the search. He turned around and asked coldly, “What’s the matter?” Daryl said cautiously, “Young Master, there is a call from Mr. President. He wants to meet you.” Jackie turned his head and looked at Daryl coldly. He didn’t say anything, but Daryl knew what he was thinking. He didn’t have time to see anyone before he could find Serene. In other words, nothing was more important than looking for Serene. Daryl added, “Mr. President said they have found Miss Silas.” “What?” Jackie turned around and grabbed Daryl by the collar and growled, “What did you say? Say it again?” Daryl was frightened by his master’s expression. A few seconds later, he said, “Young Master, Miss Silas must have been taken by the President’s people. He called to talk to you about Miss Silas.” When he heard that Serene had been rescued by Nathaniel Cooper’s men, he knew that she was still alive, Jackie let out a sigh of relief, but soon his anger and jealousy erupted. “Did his men take Serene back? How does his men know where Serene was?” Before this, Daryl had reported to him that Nathaniel had never sent anyone to keep an eye on Serene so how could he know where Serene was? He decided to give Nathaniel a chance to explain for himself. Now it seemed that Nathaniel’s words might not be credible. “Young Master, do you want to meet Mr. President?” Daryl asked carefully again. He shrank his neck, worried that Jackie who was in a rage, would twist his head off his neck in anger. “Of course, how could we not meet?” Nathaniel took the initiative to come to him. This is his domain, who could possibly hide from him? What else could they do if they didn’t meet? Nathaniel came to see Jackie this time as himself, not as the President, so only the driver, Jamie, and his personal bodyguard, Horatio accompanied him. The car drove slowly on the winding road, and it took them almost half an hour to get to the villa. Nathaniel had heard of the beautiful scenery on Misty Mountain and he thought that he could use this opportunity to experience it for himself. It was true that Misty Mountain was a fairyland, now that they were halfway up the mountain, it felt like they were on the clouds. “Sir, we’re here.” The one who spoke was the bodyguard, Horatio, who first got off the car and looked around to make sure that surroundings were safe before letting their Mr. President alight Horatio was particularly careful as his vision was severely limited by the massive fog. He stood close, next to Nathaniel and was constantly observing the surroundings. “Okay.” Nathaniel got out of the car and nodded. His tall body stood in the fog and looked up at the building in front of him. “Sir, this is it.” Horatio pointed to the building in front of him. Horatio frowned discontentedly because no one had came forward to welcome his master. Seeing that his master did not show any dissatisfaction, he quickly calmed down. After Jamie had parked the car, he got out of the car and stood behind Nathaniel. Just like Horatio, every nerve in his body tightened as if he was ready to deal with any sudden attacks. “Sir, I’m going to knock on the door.” Horatio informed his master and stepped forward to ring the doorbell that could be found beside the gate of the villa. After the doorbell had rang for some time, someone came out from the villa. This person was Daryl, Jackie’s most trusted subordinate He said, “My master was exhausted and he is now taking a bath. If you’re not in a hurry, Mr. Cooper, please wait in the study for a short while.” The President came in person, but he said that his master was taking a bath. To choose to take a bath at this time, in other people’s eyes, he was being disrespectful. Horatio and Jamie looked at each other and were very dissatisfied. They wanted to voice their dissent on their master’s behalf, but Nathaniel opened his mouth first. “Please lead the way then.” Nathaniel spoke politely, without a trace of anger on his face. If it were someone else, Nathaniel would definitely make him pay for taking up his time. However, this man was his best friend since childhood. Although they were not really brothers by blood, but they were closer than any real brothers could be. Besides, when the Levees Family was exterminated a year ago, it was indirectly related to him, so how could he ever get angry at Jackie? They entered the house, went upstairs, and arrived at Jackie’s study. Horatio and Jamie never left Nathaniel’s side, they were afraid that he would be in danger. “Wait for me outside.” Nathaniel gestured with his hand, indicating them to leave. “Sir, no!” Horatio and Jamie said at the same time. They were worried about leaving their master alone in this dangerous place However, Nathaniel insisted on doing so. He said indifferently, “Are you going to defy my orders?” Of course not. They wouldn’t dare to disobey Nathaniel’s orders. It was because they were too loyal that they were worried that Nathaniel would be in danger, that was why they didn’t want to leave Nathaniel had spoken twice but Horatio and Jamie was still standing by his side, like a mountain. They did not move at all. “He is my best friend. Anyone in the world may hurt me, but not him.” A man who was born at the exact same day as him, grew up together with him, and even his family was destroyed because of him. Even if that person wanted to take his life, he would let him do it. Moreover, he was absolutely sure that that person wouldn’t do that. Over 20 years of brotherhood, 20 years of going through thick and thin, he knew that person more than he knew himself. Horatio and Jamie looked at each other and didn’t say anything. They nodded and withdrew themselves from the entrance of the study room As soon as the two of them closed the door, there was a loud applause in the room. A man who was wearing a black suit and half of his face hidden under a mask said, “I’ve heard about Mr. President for a long time. You are really fearless to have come to meet me.” Nathaniel looked around and saw a man with a mask. Half of his face that was exposed was unfamiliar to Nathaniel, he had not seen this face before. His voice was also unfamiliar to him, he had never heard of it before. But the man’s figure was almost the same as the person he had in his memory. He thought that this man with the unrecognizable features was probably the man he was looking for, but Nathaniel was not sure. He just looked at him repeatedly. “Sure enough..” Jackie sneered. No matter how close they were before, he still couldn’t recognize him.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Om shanti. Those who make spiritual awareness a focus in their lives want to act in a benevolent way. It is as though there is a natural inner enthusiasm to do good deeds. Do intense meditation and then do service from the heart.\nAttachment and greed distract us and prevent us from performing elevated actions. With real renunciation your intellect will not be pulled anywhere and you will not want anything. You will not become upset or disturbed. You will become a beautiful flower and seeing you others will become the same. Don’t think too much; let many benefit from your fragrance.\nRethink your mindset. Set your mind with a determined thought, and then there is no need to think about it any more. “I have set my mind, and this is what I am going to do.” Have faith in yourself, faith in others and faith in God. These are deep, subtle aspects that I am sharing with you.\nIf you think too much, you waste a lot of time. To ask too many questions, to get agitated and to get confused is all a waste of time. When your mind is clear, you get the right touching at the right time to do the right things. Even if you have children and work, you can still remain detached. Stay pure, stay clean, and don’t think too much. Whatever you need to do, do it now. You belong to the Father, and so always remain loving and detached.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In this episode of “Humanities on Demand,” we join John Ward at the McArthur Public Library in Biddeford for “Robert Frost: The Impossibility of Interpretation.” This talk was held on July 15, 2015 as a Taste of the Humanities event.\nScholar John Ward, formerly of Centre College and Kenyon College, reads and discusses a selection of Frost’s poems. The poems read by audience members were not picked up in our recording, so they are reread here by Kate Webber.\nReaders have seen quite a profound shift in the critical reception of Robert Frost’s poetry and life. Frost remains hard to pin down, by any critical standard: his ironic messages shimmer, defying easy paraphrase. Precisely because he is so tricky, Frost deserves and rewards our most careful attention.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Projects per year\nTransmissivity of fluids along fractures in rocks is reduced by increasing normal stress acting across them, demonstrated here through gas flow experiments on Bowland shale, and oil flow experiments on Pennant sandstone and Westerly granite. Additionally, the effect of imposing shear stress at constant normal stress was determined, until frictional sliding started. In all cases, increasing shear stress causes an accelerating reduction of transmissivity by one to three orders of magnitude as slip initiated, as a result of the formation of wear products that block fluid pathways. Only in the case of granite, and to a lesser extent in the sandstone, was there a minor amount of initial increase of transmissivity prior to the onset of slip. These results cast into doubt the commonly applied presumption that cracks with high resolved shear stresses are the most conductive. In the shale, crack transmissivity is commensurate with matrix permeability, such that shales are expected always to be good seals. For the sandstone and granite, unsheared crack transmissivity was respectively 2 and 2.5 orders of magnitude greater than matrix permeability. For these rocks crack transmissivity can dominate fluid flow in the upper crust, potentially enough to permit maintenance of a hydrostatic fluid pressure gradient in a normal (extensional) faulting regime.\n|Number of pages||24|\n|Journal||Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth|\n|Early online date||20 Jan 2018|\n|Publication status||Published - 20 Jan 2018|\nFingerprintDive into the research topics of 'Influence of normal and shear stress on the hydraulic transmissivity of thin cracks in a tight quartz sandstone, a granite and a shale.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.\nMitchell, N., Mecklenburgh, J., Rutter, E., Huuse, M., Finch, E., Chandler, M., Chang, Y., Zhao, Z., Shi, W., Bashir, Y., Ardo, B., Newton, A., Cox, D., Lloyd, C., Putuhena, H., Sarkar, A., Nnorom, S., Owolabi, O., Malah, M., Soutter, E., Dunlevy, E., Balila, A., Alhammami, S., Olobayo, O., Serié, C., Chenrai, P., Sharples, A., Le, A., Lamb, R., Harding, R., Gulmammadov, R., Calves, G., Bureau, D. & Muniz Pichel, L.\nStructural geology and rock physics\nMecklenburgh, J., Covey-Crump, S., Rutter, E., Chandler, M., Ardo, B., Bashir, Y. & Tielke, J.\nShining light on shale:geomechanics and 4D fracture characterization.\nMecklenburgh, J., Lee, P., Rutter, E. & Taylor, K.\n30/11/14 → 2/03/18", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“For the needy shall not always be forgotten…” (Psalm 9:18a)\nAs I read through the book of Proverbs, two scriptures caught my attention.\n“The one who oppresses the poor insults his Creator, but whoever shows favor to the needy honors him” (Proverbs 14:31).\n“The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the LORD, and the LORD will repay him for his good deed” (Proverbs 19:17). These scriptures got me intrigued, and I thought for a while, “the poor ought to be remembered”.\nAnytime the word remembrance is mentioned, it gives an idea and a hint that something has been forgotten and needs to be brought back to memory and practice. In my opinion, remembering the poor is one of the most important things a Christian should think about apart from God and His work. In fact, the act of remembering the poor is in itself the work of God.\n“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that need”. (Ephesians 4:28). No wonder the scriptures teach us to work so that we can give to the poor. Giving to the poor is the primary reason for work before every other. The poor ought to be remembered. I sometimes ponder over how we eat the best of meals and have the best of everything even in excess, yet very few people really remember and consider the poor. Statistics enumerates that one billion children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22, 000 children die each day due to poverty. 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat, while more than 750 million people lack adequate access to clean drinking water. A personal experience I had with a team on a missionary engagement last two years in a village was heart-breaking and pathetic, where village folks drunk from the same stream with their livestock insinuating that they had no access to potable drinking water. It explains how deadly poverty can be and as such we must ensure in our individual capacity to contribute our quota to if not eradicate, to alleviate its effect on its victims.\nThe World Bank, International Organizations, Churches, Foundations and many Affluent individuals in the world have contributed immensely to the reduction of poverty significantly. Notwithstanding, there are still many individuals in societies living in abject and extreme poverty meaning there is still a lot of work to be done. Given the numerous reasons why most ladies go into prostitution, the root cause is undeniably poverty. Many individuals have become school dropouts and many have indulged in all sorts of vices because of poverty. A lot of these individuals carry great potentials and talents, yet subjected to poverty, hindering their impact and influence. Imagine the number of great, influential, gifted and skilled individuals the world would have had if these individuals were helped.\nMany a times, many people accuse and attribute the poverty of others to the greediness of political leaders and those in authority, yet these same individuals have not in their small way contributed to helping any poor or needy in their sphere. This shows that they would have done likewise, having the opportunity to assume such positions. The act of remembering the poor and the needy should be seen as a personal concern and not to be left for those in authority. “Blessed is he who considers the poor”. (Psalm 41:1). The bible is clear with regards to making it a personal endeavor and responsibility and not only a corporate activity to help and consider the poor. The bible is emphatic and conspicuous; Blessed is “he”, not “them”. The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated this act by giving humanity a portrait and a template of the extremum on considering the poor according to (2 Corinthians 8:9) ” For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake (humanity) he became poor, so that you (humanity) through his poverty might become rich”.\nBut I ask myself, do we really care?\nDo we care about the street children who always approach our vehicles in traffic pleading melancholy for their daily bread?\nDo we care about individuals we see each day who cannot afford a three square meal?\nDo we care about individuals with tattered clothes and worn out shoes who attend church day in and out?\nDo we care for and show interest in widows and orphans who are impoverished, whose daily livelihood is at the mercy of a Good Samaritan and occasionally benevolent NGOs and foundations?\nDo we care about the destitute we see at night whose bedtime is left to the discretion of a storekeeper and the weather?\nIf we really care, what are we doing about it? The poor ought to be remembered. In Deuteronomy 15:1-11, God commanded the nation of Israel to remember the poor and needy among them and not to shun them. He instructed that they give to them sufficient for their need without a grudging heart. God vehemently warns and commands not to oppress the poor especially widows and orphans, for it’s an insult and dishonor to the most high. (Proverbs 14:31).\nGod told Israel not to harvest all the proceeds of their crops but leave some in the fields for the poor and needy as God’s plan of helping the poor. It is making provision for the poor and less privileged in our endeavors. In light of this, we are required by God to incorporate into our plans and yearly resolutions as a deliberate provision to cater and help the poor.\nWHAT TO KNOW ABOUT REMEMBERING THE POOR.\n- As part of the myriad outstanding virtues outlined in the book of Proverbs that characterizes a virtuous and good woman is one who opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hand to the needy. It adds to the unique virtues and commendable values of a good and virtuous woman. (Proverbs 31:2).\n- Remembering the poor is the first of the signs and works of the coming upon of the anointing and spirit upon an individual. Anyone anointed by the Spirit has it as a personal ambition and interest to help the poor. “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…”. (Isaiah 61:1).\n- Remembering the poor is equivalent to amassing treasures in heaven. Giving and helping the poor guarantees our treasury in heaven from which we can be helped in the day of need. (Matthew 19:21).\n- The voice and cry of the one who considers the poor will always be heard by God. God hastily responds to their plea and prayer always in the day of trouble. (Proverbs 21:13).\n- The one who gives to the poor lends to God and He will repay in abundance, because to Him belongs gold and silver. (Proverbs 19:17).\n- He that considers the poor shall be delivered in the day of trouble. His life is insured against the day of trouble. (Psalm 41:1).\n- He shall be preserved, protected and kept alive. He is immune to death against the set time. (Psalm 41:2a).\n- He will be called blessed in the land. In other words, his blessings will be so much that it will be impossible not to be known in the land where he dwells. His blessings will be known to all and won’t be hidden. (Psalms 41:2b).\n- He won’t be handed over to the desires of his enemies. (Psalms 41:2c).\n- The LORD will sustain him on his sick bed and restore him from his bed of illness. (Psalms 41:3).\nIt is of a worthy course to have it as a personal responsibility to remember the poor and needy in the society, nation and the world. This will make the world a better and happy place for everyone to live. The heart of God deeply goes out for those who engage in this endeavour and has it as an interest to consider the poor.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Movie Review- Honeymoon\nBea & Paul are on their honeymoon and have decided to go to her family’s summer cabin in a remote part of the country surrounded by woods and a lake. At first, the newlyweds are happy and enjoying their stay.\nThen, Paul wakes up extra early to go ‘catch a fish’ for their breakfast and realizes the alarm went off too soon. He goes back in the house to find Bea gone. He searches for her, finally finding her naked and cold in the woods.\nTaking her home, she tells him she was just sleepwalking and has no recollection of how she got there or why. For a while, things are okay. But soon, Bea starts acting bizarre. She starts forgetting things, refusing to be intimate, and lying.\nPaul figures out that something is wrong and confronts her. But Bea is not who she was when they came.\nI can’t give away too much. I did feel like this horror movie rushed things – especially the end. Once Paul knows more is wrong with his wife than he thought, he delays. Instead of running and escaping, he hesitates. In the end, he seems way too calm to me.\nAn interesting tale, but I think the suspense and horror could’ve been slowed down a bit as the ending felt rushed.\nMy rating 3.4 stars out of 5\nAndrea R. Cooper writes fantasy, paranormal, and historical romance.\nHer favorite childhood memories revolved around creating vibrant characters for her friends and then acting out their adventures. Inside her fantasy worlds of darkened forests, dragon-filled glades, and iced islands, nothing was banned. From the ethereal Elvin to the most maligned Vampires, all were welcome in her fictional realities, a stark contrast to her home, where the magical and mythical was forbidden.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Ladies and Foreign Guys by Flo Paquet\nMany women and overseas men have seen love in Vietnam. Over the years, migration to Vietnam has produced tremendously due to development throughout the economy. There are many posts about ladies https://arkitongrupo.com/2021/01/25/a-relationship-with-a-brave-and-beautiful-ukraine-woman/ and men whom left their home countries to find romance polish brides in Vietnam. Many women move alone or perhaps in organizations to find appreciate in Vietnam.\nHowever , some women and foreign guys in Vietnam fall under the class of ‘trafficked women’ or perhaps ‘asa khom inh’. These types of women of all ages are both married or perhaps live with traditional husbands. In many cases, these types of women will be widows or perhaps left as children to care for their very own elderly husbands. They are therefore forced into marriage by simply all their Western males who assured them monetary support in exchange for relationship.\nLike other countries in Southeast Asia, the Philippines has additionally experienced a trend of migration seeing that Asian women and foreign partners have been brought there with a variety of factors. Many people migrate for the Philippines to finish their education. Other folks go there to seek work. Even now others move to the country to be with all their Asian husband(s). The Philippines presents a broad array of choices for ladies from completely different cultures and backdrops.\nMoreover to relationship entanglements, there are cases of kidnapping with regards to ransom and also other criminal actions committed simply by Philippine guys against all their Asian female friends and associates. This challenge has made the search for trustworthy sources of help for those in need of help pertaining to staying or perhaps moving in foreign countries increasingly hard for foreign women and Filipino men. There are stories of women who had been abducted and sold into slavery inside the rural countryside of the Philippines. There are also accounts of women who had been raped, jailed, and exposed to a lot of tortures. For such both males and females, there is no for a longer time a safe dreamland.\nMany foreign ladies and Filipino https://www.dahua.sk/2020/01/page/6/ men illustrate the process of marital relationship in the Philippines as both equally a blessing and an encumbrance. In some cases, the blessing will involve a good, stressful courtship, while in other instances the responsibility consists of ethnical norms that keep many ladies confined to the domestic part of their comes from the Korea and be subject to abuse as a result of their husbands. These chapters describe different types of marriages, the responsibilities of wives and partners, and the experience of women after matrimony. In addition , these stories allow those readers who are generally not members in the Filipino Diaspora to understand how Filipino ladies and foreign males interact and what the dynamics of marriage really is in the Philippines. Filipino women of all ages are seen not merely as associates in marriage, but as individuals who have become complete members of their families as well.\nThe book Ladies and Foreign Men describe the challenges and triumphs of the women and Philippine men because they interact in the twenty-first 100 years. While there is usually some criticism of certain aspects of traditional gender jobs, women may still knowledge more power and opportunities than is stereotypical in the country. Various Philippine girls may even business lead traditional people and have children at the age of fourty or 50, which is far younger than the average associated with most traditional western women. During your stay on island is much critique of the establishment of marital life, it is even now prevalent inside the society and there is room for improvement. The publication Women and Foreign Men thus offer a confident reflection of your experiences and perspectives of girls, foreign husbands, and the Filipino communities http://desarrollo.mcvicious.com/alpacine/2019/09/03/solitary-females-looking-for-marriage-partners-will-find-a-bride-designed-for-marriage-via-the-internet/ that pleasant them.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "14 of 14 people found the following review helpful\nAh, the madeleine dipped in tea,\nBy A Customer\nThis review is from: In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way v. 1 (Modern Library) (Hardcover)\nFor the longest time, I was too intimidated to read Proust. Then, one day, I dived into this first volume like jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool. My only regret is not having jumped in sooner.\nThis book is the beginning of one of the greatest novels ever written. The prose and imageries are breathtaking--not at all difficult to read if you take the time to savor each sentence. Proust, like all great writers, makes you read on his terms. But once you've surrendered to the style, what a treasure you find yourself floating in. The themes and characters are universal. It makes me wish I knew French to enjoy Proust untranslated. Swann's Way can be read as its own novel. But once you start, you would surely want to continue on.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I stuck with this book til the bitter end because I kept thinking there must be a satisfying tying-up of myriad loose ends. But no. The book just didn't seem to have a point. If the writing and narration hadn't been as good as they were, I wouldn't have been able to stick it out. There were some interesting characters, too. But in the end, I felt there needed to be a stronger story line.\nThis is one of the worst Grisham books I've listened to. Very thin storyline, little action, no suspense. Maybe it's because I listened to the abridged version, which is something I never do. Still, I was grateful when it was over. I don't know if I could have listened to the entirety of the unabridged version.\nThe characters were tired caricatures, especially the cranky judge. No substance to any of them.\nThis reading also had some loud, obnoxious musical interludes sprinkled in. The music didn't fit the story and was quite annoying.\nI'm not a big fan of Blair Brown but she was okay in this instance.\nReport Inappropriate Content", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Children's Literature - Judy ChernakMax hasn't found his dreidel yet, but we can join in the fun of Hanukkah preparations as we help the rest of the family discover their menorah, prayer book, and gelt (coins) and fry up a batch of latkes. Luckily, there's a present waiting for Max, so his quest has a happy ending. This charmingly illustrated, inexpensive book will be a welcome addition to the gift pile for the very young.\nMax searches for dreidel and helps his family prepare for the family's Hanukkah celebration. Color illustrations throughout.\nChildren's Literature - Judy KatshA young boy searches through the sturdy pages of this lift-the-flap book for his lost dreidel. While he does not find his lost toy, he does see his family members all polishing, and otherwise readying different traditional Hanukkah treasures of their own. For young readers unfamiliar with the holiday, this interactive introduction will be informative, as well as entertaining to read. For young readers who have grown up with Hanukkah customs, the fun here will be in guessing what's under each flap. Readers who like their endings happy will be pleased to know that while our young hero really doesn't find his lost dreidel; he does get a new one from his grandma! (Too bad directions for playing the game aren't included).\nMeet the Author\nWrite a Review\nand post it to your social network\nMost Helpful Customer Reviews\nSee all customer reviews >", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "How to start writing literature review\nHow to write a literature review for a research thesis, research dissertation, or scientific journal article or let the literature review write itself. Start your research write a literature review home not to be confused with a book review, a literature review surveys scholarly articles. Starting the dissertation of dissertations and theses from start to finish (apa the next step is to write a review of the literature in the area. How to write a phd literature review when you finally start writing your literature review, focus on ideas and use examples from the literature to illustrate them. Here you can find a short guide and a few suggestions for postgraduate research students on how to get started on a literature review how could i write my literature.\nThis handout will explain what literature reviews are and offer insights you’ve got to write a literature review you start with some articles about the. A literature review is an important part of a dissertation or thesis learn how to start finding sources of information, and write your literature review. The writing center literature reviews you’ve got to write a literature review you start with some articles about the physiology of sperm. The structure of a literature review a literature review should be structured like any other essay: it should have an introduction, a middle or main body, and a. Starting the process of conducting and writing a literature can be overwhelming here are a few tips on how to get started.\nResearch questions for literature reviews you will eventually write a literature review for an action research if you start your literature review with a. Discover writing review of literature through free example of dissertation literature review sample literature review will make you learn how to do literature review. How to write a good scientific literature review 9,789 views check some literature review examples to decide how to start writing a good literature review.\nHow to do a literature review if you are writing a review in the humanities but you should still start and end each paragraph with your own words. Writing a dissertation or are designed to give you some ideas about how you might carry out your literature review, and then write start your writing. A guide to starting a literature review w e are the persons to consult for reliable literature review writing aid how to start off a literature review is a quite a. Writing a literature review a literature review is usually written as part of a postgraduate thesis proposal or at the beginning of a dissertation or thesis.\nHow to start writing literature review\nWhen i undertook the task of writing a scientific literature review article last year, i had hoped that a google search would reveal a handful of how-to pages.\nTips on how to write a good literature review it is a process do not assume that you will read everything related to your research writing can help you to. Writing an abstract for literature review before a researcher or an academic writer starts to become familiar with how to write an abstract for literature review. How to write a literature review writing a literature review is perhaps the best piece of literature that a student here is a checklist to help you start writing 5. This guide will provide research and writing tips to help students complete a literature review assignment. Literature reviews 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 structuring the literature review writing up the literature review 1 a good place to start is with a bibliography. Do not know how to start a literature review ask us for a professional help and we'll deliver your paper in 24 hours professional team ★ best price. Faced with undertaking a literature review the task appears to start, how to select a reading and analysing the literature l writing the review.\nTanya golash-boza associate professor of sociology, university of california, merced writing a literature review is often the most. Literature review tutorial: how do i start home what is a lit review why do a lit review how do i start what do i need to succeed how to write a literature. Facing difficulties while writing a literature review don't know what to include in your work refer to our top-notch online writing service for help. Writing a literature review is often the most daunting part of writing an article, book, thesis, or dissertation the literature seems (and often is. Ten simple rules for writing a literature review ten simple rules for writing a literature review and only afterwards start writing the review. Jump start academic prep assignment writing time and study linked back to the relevant to the general findings of the earlier literature review chapters.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "This week's Collective Worship theme is 'Fair and Unfair'.\nThe children will be taken on a journey to reflect on different aspects of God's love.\n“See how much the Father loves us. He has made us children of God” – 1 John 3:1\nGod’s love is unconditional. Sometimes life seems pretty unfair. Often we are treated in a way that makes us feel sad,\nhurt and annoyed. God reminds us not to be jealous or annoyed if someone is shown kindness or generosity.\nInstead look how generous God is!\nFather God, You keep giving and giving and giving. From when we wake up until our head hits the pillow.\nAnd even in between. Thank you that your love doesn’t depend on how I live and what I say and do.\nYou love me for being me. Amen.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Goodreads: Written in the Stars\nPublished: March 24, 2015\nNaila’s parents have always made her understand that though she may choose her outfits and even her college major–assuming they allow her to go to college–they will choose her husband. Until then, Naila not only cannot date a boy, she cannot even talk to one. But then she falls in love with Saif and her parents, ostensibly to protect her, take her on a trip to Pakistan, where they force her into marriage. Alone and desperate, Naila wonders if her fate is truly written in the stars or if she can escape the path others have chosen and forge her own.\nWritten in the Stars is a powerful and a heartbreaking book, one that looks unflinchingly at the nightmares faced by girls forced into marriages against their wills. While the story is never graphic, it is honest, and it spares neither its characters nor its readers from unthinkable violence, coercion, and cruelty; the horrors are made all the more disturbing because Aisha Saeed reminds us that, for some, Naila’s story is not fiction, but their reality. Written in the Stars is an important book it many ways–it features diverse characters (the protagonist is the daughter of Pakastani immigrants) and shines a spotlight on the violence perpetrated against unwilling brides. It resonates so strongly, however, because its message never seems forced or didactic. Saeed lets her characters tell the story, inviting readers into their lives, so that we can feel Naila’s pain and desperation, all her fear and betrayal, and make it our own. When we try to imagine walking in Naila’s shoes, that is when to continue reading seems impossible–and when Written in the Stars has its opportunity to leave an indelible mark on our hearts.\nWriting a story about a girl forced into marriage in Pakistan could be considered risky. How do you tell a such story without appearing to demonize a culture or a country? Saeed handles her material deftly. All her characters are fully-realized–even Naila’s parents, who could have easily been turned into stereotypes, possess many facets, from overprotective to loving to forceful. And the characters introduced by Naila’s arranged marriage prove just as three-dimensional–her husband, for instance, seems to understand Naila’s position but also feels trapped by the pressures imposed on him by their community. By showing us that these characters are people, all of them dealing with the clash of cultural and society expectations against their personal desires in their own unique ways, Saeed ensures that her story is about individuals and their choices, rather than a blanket critique of any one group of people.\nWhile I found the focus on societal expectations relevant, however, the most powerful part of Written in the Stars for me was Naila’s struggle with how much control she has over her own fate. She is a victim of abuse and violence and she has absolutely no one to whom she can turn. Even those who sympathize with her urge her to give up, to accept that life is a struggle and a nightmare and that she has no way out–the best she can hope for is acceptance. Without a phone, money, or transportation, she is literally trapped. And she knows that if she ever tries to escape, she will probably die. If Naila were to give up, I thought, I would not blame her. She would only be choosing to protect the little she has left. And I wondered what I would do if I were in her place.\nWritten in the Stars never pretends that there are any easy answers, not to how one should choose to respond to outside pressures or to whether or not anyone should risk everything for their freedom. It simply acknowledges the tragedies that so many experience and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. That kind of hard look at reality presented to a teen audience is rare and beautiful. And it makes this book one of the must-read releases of 2015.\nBilbo Baggins lives a comfortable life in the Shire, one full of predictability and devoid of any adventure. Then one day the wizard Gandalf appears on his doorstep and suddenly Bilbo’s life is turned upside down. Enlisted as a burglar to steal back the treasure of a band of Dwarves, Bilbo sets out on a journey across Middle-earth–a journey that will end in dragon fire.\nIn 1799, an event known as the Great Disruption threw time off across the world, plunging some countries back into the Dark Ages and throwing others far into the future. Fractured by the different ages, the world began a new age of exploration and mapmakers gained new prestige. Sophia’s parents were explorers but never returned from an expedition, so she lives now with her uncle, the famed cartologer Shadrack. When Shadrack is kidnapped, however, it is up to Sophia and her new ally Theo to travel the world and bring him home. The first in the Mapmakers Trilogy.\nThe Map to Everywhere by Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis\nA legendary map exists that can take the bearer wherever he or she wishes to go. Marrill hopes it can take her back home to Arizona. Master Thief Fin longs to use it to find his mother. But though the two ally themselves with a powerful wizard and the world’s best captain in a quest to join all the pieces of the map together, another seeks the map as well–the Oracle, a wizard gone mad who seeks to bring about the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, a prophecy that foretells the end of the world. The first book in the Pirate Stream series.\nThe mysterious death of a professor draws together three strangers from Oxford, John, Jack, and Charles. Informed by a friend of the professor’s that they are now the Caretakers of an atlas of imaginary lands called the Imaginarium Geographic, the three set sail for the Archipelago of Dreams, where all the places of myth and literature exist. There the Winter King covers the lands with shadow and enslaves the people. But before the Caretakers can defeat the darkness, they will first have to battle the monsters within themselves. The first in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica.\nWhen J.R.R. Tolkien was creating Middle Earth, he decided to build his world upon language. He used his knowledge as a philologist and his familiarity with over twenty languages to create unique languages for his races, and then to craft each people’s stories around those languages. While readers are familiar with the resulting Elvish dialects and the Dwarvish runic alphabet, Tolkien’s attention to his own language, the language of his novels, is perhaps less recognized. Yet the way Tolkien’s stories are written are just as important as the characters and actions they are written about. Tolkien’s work draws on Old and Middle English vocabulary and sentence structure to very deliberately create a sense of the old.\nBy combining older English words with modern ones, and sometimes by creating his own pseudo-archaic word forms, Tolkien gives reader a sense both that the stories of Middle Earth (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion) happened in the past and that they happened in an English past. Tolkien’s novels are very closely tied to his country, and his readers can close their eyes and imagine that maybe these stories really happened, sometime long ago. The language encourages a connection between the readers and the stories, and help them imagine the stories are real.\nAlthough the task seems challenging, Tolkien’s work has, of course, already been translated into numerous languages, and while I have not yet had the privilege to read any of those editions, I do know what I would be looking for in a translation: fidelity not just to the meaning of Tolkien’s words, but also to their feel—their sense of being steeped in history. A great translation of The Lord of the Rings would feature archaic vocabulary and syntax, while still maintaining enough of a connection to the modern form of the language that the book did not feel too foreign or difficult. It would be capture all the subtle shifts in tone between each race of people, from the whimsy of the Hobbits to the seriousness of the Dwarves and the formality of the Elves. It would use language to bring Tolkien’s world to life.\nGood stories impact people—move them, inspire them, and challenge them. Good translations help make those stories available to a larger audience, so more of us can be inspired. Translation services like Smartling can help do that.\nGoodreads: The Tolkien Reader\nNiggle longs to complete his final painting before going on a journey he knows he must take, but his neighbor Parish constantly interrupts his work with requests for help. As Niggle fears, he at length has to depart with his work still unfinished and with nothing to help him on his way except the record of his past conduct.\nBriana has touched before on the allegorical underpinnings of Leaf by Niggle, most notably the connection to J. R. R. Tolkien’s own creative process and the obvious parallels between Niggle’s journey and the Christian afterlife. Though it is, indeed, impossible to read Niggle without reflecting upon both these aspects, the story is so much more than the sum of its elements. Niggle invites readers, whether artists or not, to participate in the story and go along with its characters to the afterlife, much as The Divine Comedy works by asking readers to identify with Dante-Pilgrim and take a part in his salvific journey. The result is a powerful reflection, not merely on the role of art in society or the need to do good works or on what we might expect after death, but on how all of these aspects touch us in our own lives. Reading Leaf by Niggle is an intensely personal experience, one of those kind felt too deeply for words to do it justice.\nNot everyone, of course, may relate at first to Niggle. He is an artist and one apparently modeled on Tolkien himself, with his reputation for getting lost in details and taking too much time to complete any given work. However, even those who don’t feel creative or think they lack artistic talent can identify with other aspects of Niggle’s personality–his feeling of under-appreciation, his desire to spend more time on the things that matter to him rather than on the things he ought to be doing, his annoyance over the inopportunities created by his friends and neighbors. Niggle has things that are important to him, but that are not important to anyone else, and he feels alone and he dreads lost dreams. Such experiences are not limited to the artistic.\nThe resolution of Niggle’s story will prove especially powerful for anyone who, like him, had a dream left unfulfilled. It promises everything–help and appreciation and beauty and fulfillment. It is an especially moving moment because it illustrates so perfectly how the vision of others can complement our own and how our own work can become part of something greater than we ever imagined. Leaf by Niggle is, above all, a story of hope–a story that it says we, too, can share.\nOriginally written for presentation at the 1939 Andrew Lang Lecture and later published in 1947, this essay describes J. R. R. Tolkien’s views on what makes a fairy tale distinct from other literary forms and explains his artistic philosophy, arguing that fairy tales are unique in their ability to offer readers the consolation and joy of the happy ending–an effect he calls “eucatastophe”.\n“On Fairy-Stories” will prove a treasure mine for any serious fan of Tolkien as it illuminates his views on the genre of the fairy story and details his understanding not only of what makes a fairy tale work (that is, what makes it believable and a work of Art) but also of what makes fairy stories valuable. However, his words, coming as they do from one of the fantasy genre’s most influential writers, will also hold weight for anyone interested in fairy stories either as a reader or as a writer. Though written over 70 years ago, they remain timely and pertinent as fantasy and fairy stories continue to struggle to be recognized as legitimate literary forms in certain circles, being labelled derisively as “escapist” or “not real.” But as Tolkien reminds us, it is fantasy above all that calls attention to our true reality, giving us a glimpse of things beyond our seeing and fulfilling our heart’s desire for joy.\nThe beginning of the essay may strike some as a little dull, necessarily having to lay the groundwork for the essay as a whole and thus dealing in such matters such as Tolkien’s fitness to speak on the topic (not having studied fairy stories), the definition of a fairy story, etc. These concerns may seem silly to some–after all, if Tolkien the great writer of fantasy cannot speak on what makes a good fairy story, who can? And again, do we really need to differentiate among the dream story, the folk tale, the beast fable, and the fairy story? Indeed we do, for, as Tolkien points out, these genres often get thrown together indiscriminately in anthologies as if they were all the same. But if we do not exclude genres like the beast fable, then Tolkien’s vision of what makes fairy stories unique falls apart.\nHis vision is rooted in his Catholic Christian faith, arguing that fairy stories provide a certain kind of “joy” that gives readers a glimpse of “the underlying reality or truth”. He points to the Birth of Christ and the Resurrection as real-life examples of the sudden turn in a story such as we sometimes glimpse in Faerie, the turn that turns sorrow into gladness against all the odds. This joy, he says, is special because it does not diminish the sorrow or explain it away or promise that sorrow will all cease. It is, essentially, a miracle, a moment of grace. A happy ending that did not have to be, but was.\nHowever, even those who do not follow the Christian faith will, I think, find much of value in Tolkien’s words. His joy can be recognized by all readers, even if they do not admit the same source. And his defense of fantasy will resound, I suspect, with all lovers of that genre. For he takes the main criticisms levelled at Faerie and claims them as positives, arguing that “escape” is not an evil but a sanity and that it is ludicrous to suggest that factories and bombs are more “real” than horses and castles. Tolkien powerfully asserts that when one sees the evil in this world, it is no wonder that he or she might wish to escape–and that “the Escape of the Prisoner” is not to be confused with “the Flight of the Deserter.” Indeed, he goes so far as to suggest that critics of fantasy might actually be fearful that readers of fairy stories might get dangerous ideas from their tales–the idea that things could be different and that they can enact change.\nTolkien’s defense of fairy stories is by turns rousing, inspiring, reflective, and moving. Reading his words is like meeting a kindred spirit, for he touches upon the reasons I love fairy stories and manages to express them in just the way I wish I would be able to express them myself. Even in his nonfiction, Tolkien somehow weaves an enchantment.\nTop Ten Tuesdays is a meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is\nTop Ten Books from My Childhood I’d Love to Revisit.\nOf course, I revisit many of these from time to time–they are some of my favorite stories!–but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to revisit them even more.\n1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: I know some readers find it preachy, but I was willing to overlook that as a child and, my interest in the sisters is so strong, that I can overlook it even now.\n2. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery: I reread this probably three months ago and I already miss Anne.\n3. Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery: I haven’t reread Emily for awhile, I’m afraid to say.\n4. Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott: I was always fond of this one because it’s overlooked in Alcott’s oeuvre, but apparently that disinterest led to my library’s decision to get rid of it.\n5. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink: I remember really liking this book, though I don’t recall any plot details.\n6. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis: My favorite Narnia book.\n7. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: The ending always makes me cry, though.\n8. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy: I’ve been trying to go through the sequels, but it’s been some time since I’ve read the original adventure.\n9. The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter: Classic romance featuring a very fictionalized account of the life of William Wallace.\n10. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch: My favorite feminist fairy tale.\nSeries: Penryn and the End of Days #1\nPublished: May 21, 2011\nIt’s been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.\nSavage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.\nWhen angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back…\nAngelfall captivatingly blends angelic myth and apocalyptic scenarios to result in a book that is nearly impossible to put down. A strong heroine, noble hero, and unrelentingly urgent plot guide readers through a world ridden with chaos and a few bright spots of hope. Most other angel books cannot compare.\nAdmittedly, Angelfall begins a bit slowly. The prose is clunky, repetitive and sometimes too self-aware. The post-apocalyptic elements, the decrepit town where gangs rule the street and no one can go out at night, seem unremarkable and familiar. Then the angels come, and everything changes. Penryn doesn’t just have to face street gangs with guns; she has to befriend one of the enemy and go on an epic quest to save her little sister. Whether the prose also improves at this point or its awkwardness is just less noticeable as the plot of the novels picks up, I can’t say for certain, but suddenly the story seems fresh. Even as other tropes of the genre pop up—the rebel alliance, the streams of people seeking haven in large cities—Ee manages to put a supernatural spin on them and make them new again.\nPenryn is a particularly well-drawn character for this genre. She isn’t just harsh and she isn’t just disillusioned. The end of the world scenario has certainly toughened her, but she has always been tough and bears the trait well. And beneath that, she has a genuinely good heart, which seems like just the right thing if you’re going to have to deal with angels. Raffe is a great companion for her. The two work well together, a true team, and there’s just enough romantic tension in the novel to make readers swoony and leave them hoping for more in the sequels.\nThe cast of side characters is equally nuanced, including the kidnapped younger sister, Penryn’s mentally unstable mother, and a whole rebel army. I admit, however, I can do without the twins-who-are-perfectly-interchangeable trope. Seriously, they call themselves Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, which is absurd enough, but eventually they just get called Dee-Dum because, you see, when you’re dealing with twins it doesn’t actually matter which one you’re talking to; they’re just the same person anyway. This is pretty insulting to twins and I do wish it would stop being portrayed in media as cute or the norm.\nParts of the backstory could also use more explanation, but the plot is so engrossing this is practically unnoticeable until the story is over. Then the questions—Wait, how exactly did angels take over the world? And when?—start coming to light. I’m hoping more of this will be answered in the sequels because, as in-depth as Ee describes the present-day world, it all seems a bit hazy when you can’t tell yourself a complete narrative about how it came to be that way.\nIn the end, however, Angelfall stands out as an imaginative and captivating take on both post-apocalyptic stories and on the angel/supernatural romance. I’ve seen a lot of hype for this book, and it really deserves it.\nDirectors: Isao Takahata\nWriter: Isao Takahata, Riko Sakaguchi\nA bamboo cutter witnesses a tiny girl appear in a bamboo shoot and, believing she shows the favor of heaven, takes her home to raise as his own. Her exquisite beauty captures the hearts of all who look at her, but she harbors a secret and must one day face her past. A retelling of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.\nStudio Ghibli has a reputation for creating films of breathtaking beauty and wonder and The Tale of Princess Kaguya continues in that tradition. From the opening scene where a miniature girl appears within a glowing bamboo stalk to the final moments when the truth about her past is revealed, the film radiates with all the joy, the mystery, the poignancy of life. It is one of those stories that touches your heart, the kind that stays with you.\nThough the story possesses an intriguing plot–who is this girl? from where does she come? whom will she marry?–the most memorable moments, to me, are the small ones, the simple depictions of everyday life in Kaguya’s village, the joyous days she spends with her friends. These scenes, while doing little to forward the plot, are key; they illustrate exactly what life is to Kaguya and what, to her, constitutes happiness. Of course, life is not fair and Kaguya is still too young to know that, so over her idyllic days suspends a sense of foreboding of which only viewers are aware. These darkness makes those moments even more precious.\nThe plot itself is absolutely lovely, if you enjoy fairy tales in the traditional vein. It may not be convoluted, but it possesses its own complexities in its honest look at human nature–greed, falseness, ambition, lust, and more all are represented. More rarely are kindness and understanding shown. This makes the second half of the film sometimes unbearably sad, but it also imparts to the film a unique honesty. Even fairy tales, it says, do not always turn out happily ever after.\nThe most striking aspect of the film, however, may not be the story but the artwork. Exquisitely hand-drawn with watercolor and ink, it sometimes delicately depicts the beauty of the natural world or the intricacy of material wealth, but, at other times, seems to break down into impressionism. This gives the film raw power, allowing the narrative at key moments to play out silently, all emotion expressed through line and form. This is the first “breathtaking” piece of art that literally made me catch my breath.\nThe Tale of Princess Kaguya is a wonderful, beautiful, heartbreaking story. It has already made my list of the most powerful films I have ever seen.\nThis Wednesday, Krysta wrote about the pros and cons of required reading in schools. She noted that we all have horror stories of immensely dull novels we had to read for class, but also asked: what about the required reading we loved? To continue the conversation, here is a list of some great books I first encountered as class assignments.\nThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas\nOne of the local high school teachers was furious when she discovered our eighth grade teacher had assigned this to our class. She huffed and puffed about how it was too complex and too long, how it would take her half a year to even begin to get her students to understand it. Personally, I think she blew things way out of proportion. I read this book, unabridged, with zeal. And though I probably didn’t get everything there is to get out of the book, I did go on to reread it a few more times, which certainly helped.\nTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee\nI read this one in high school and instantly fell in love with the characters and the beautiful writing. It’s still one of my favorite books, and I’ve been able to re-read it a few times and still love it just as much; no re-reading disappointment here! Hopefully Go Set a Watchman will live up to it.\nThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis\nMy third grade teacher read this aloud to us in class, and I couldn’t get enough. I spent the next several weeks checking out the rest of the series from the school library. And then checking them out all over again. I’m so pleased I was able to encounter these books as a child because, as much as I still like them, I just don’t have the same experience reading them as an adult.\nOf Mice and Men by John Steinbeck\nThis one was also assigned by my eighth grade teacher. He was very explicit about assigning books he thought were interesting, instead of assigning ones that fit some recommended grade level. I’m still surprised he got away with this one, due to all the cursing, but I’m so glad he did. I’ve gone on to read several other Steinbeck novels and like most of them, as well.\nThe Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger\nMy high school English teacher was no longer to officially assign this book because of the cursing…so he gave away the old classroom copies of the novel to anyone who would take one. I think more students probably read this book than if it had actually been required; the lure of banned books is irresistible. And while I don’t think I was ever really an angsty teen, Holden’s disgust with anyone and anything he found “phoney” really resonated with me.\nWhat great books did you discover from required reading?\nGoodreads: Story Thieves\nSeries: Story Thieves #1\nPublished: Jan. 2015\nOwen finds life incredibly boring and escapes every chance he can get into one of his favorite books. Learning that his classmate Bethany can actually jump into stories and experience them, then, is just about the greatest revelation ever. Bethany warns him they cannot interfere with any plots, but Owen longs to change the course of his favorite series and become a literary hero. But Owen’s actions have unintended consequences and soon he finds himself starring in what could be his first and only adventure.\nStory Thieves seems to promise a winning middle-grade fantasy from the start. After all, its premise, that of characters jumping through various books, allows this book to have it all–magicians, dragons, cyborgs, lasers, zombies, and more. It’s a bunch of genres flamboyantly gallivanting across the page and rejoicing in their own sometimes silly combinations. However, though the plot is fast and James Riley keeps the surprises coming, I found in the end that Story Thieves lacks a little bit of heart.\nI admit I formed a slight personal bias against the book from the start, as I found both the protagonists annoying. Owen is Norton Juster’s Milo–but far worse. He does nothing but spend all day contemplating how boring life is. Apparently no joy mars his days, no friendships or family make it worthwhile, no hobbies can distract him from his boredom. He simply can’t be bothered to try to take an interest in anything. Plus he reveals later that he’s willing to deceive others to get his own way and he has an unhealthy obsession with getting others to hero worship him.\nBethany, meanwhile, is angry. Just angry. She seems to harbor guilt from an accident she caused at the tender age of four and that leads her to lash out at anyone who crosses her path. Or tries to talk to her. Or offers her friendship. She would really just like to be alone and angry. Of course she and Owen both grow as individuals during the course of the story, but neither of them is a joy to be around for the first fourth of the book or so. In fact, they seem to spend most of it yelling, which is hilarious as they think they’re being secretive.\nI could overlook the characters since, by the end, Bethany loosens up and Owen learns that being a hero requires one to do more than wave a wand around and look cool. However, the ending disappointed me. The story talks about sacrifice and having a selfless heart, but the ultimate message is muddled in various ways. [Spoiler Warning] Owen, for instance, shows reluctance about sacrificing himself and thus receives an “out” from a friend–a friend who would have let him sacrifice himself as long as he seemed happy about it. What are readers to make of this? Sacrifices should only be made by people who want to do them? Are they, then, sacrifices? [End Warning]\nBethany, meanwhile, seems not to understand the significance of sacrifice–she wants to rewrite stories so that the characters do not have to suffer. But isn’t that the point of the story? That readers can look up to someone willing to suffer, maybe even give up life itself, so that others might live? By arguing that the sacrifice is not fair and would make her sad, Bethany is saying she wants to rewrite the story so it possesses less power and loses its guiding principles. No one wants to see their favorite characters suffer, but there are things that are bigger than one’s self. That idea gets lost in Bethany’s insistence that pain be avoided (not that one should allow one’s friends to suffer if it can be avoided, of course!)\nWhether or not pain should be avoided in stories, however, proves a tricky issue since, in this case, the characters seem to be real. That is, once they escape the book they are in, they have the ability to make choices not determined by the author who wrote them. Bethany and her friends never really resolve the issue of how much agency book characters have or should have, Bethany in the end just saying that the tribulations the characters suffer are not unknown and that readers are rooting for characters when they read their stories. It’s a nice sentiment, but it sidesteps the ethical questions raised about authors having characters experience pain and seems to contradict Bethany’s own desire not to see any character suffer too much (a limitation apparently decided by her own personal feelings toward various characters).\nThe plot of Story Thieves held me largely spellbound–it’s fast, crammed with action, and manages a plot twist or two. However, I would have enjoyed it more had I found the characters less annoying and I would have found it more powerful and more moving if it had reflected that, even in fantasy worlds, good sometimes comes with a price.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Audible Audiobook – Unabridged\n|New from||Used from|\nA beloved legend of all time, Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood tells the compelling tale of the brave, good-humored outlaw and his cohorts Friar Tuck, Little John, and Will Scarlet, as they cavort about Sherwood Forest.\nHowever, it is not all sport. Robin Hood and his band must also outwit the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham, who will stop at nothing to rid the forest of the outlaw.\n- One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection to keep (you’ll use your first credit now).\n- Unlimited listening on select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.\n- You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.\n- $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.\nRelated to this topic\nOnly from Audible\n|Listening Length||11 hours and 47 minutes|\n|Whispersync for Voice||Ready|\n|Audible.com Release Date||December 10, 2004|\n|Best Sellers Rank|| #276,790 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) |\n#744 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Values & Virtues (Books)\n#1,691 in Fiction Classics for Children\n#2,924 in Teen & Young Adult Classic Literature\nTop reviews from the United States\nThere was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.\nIf you are going to buy the classic Howard Pyle version of the legend, I strongly encourage you to only buy an edition with Howard Pyle as the illustrator.\nJohn Lee does a great job with the narration, voicing everybody from the evil Guy of Gisbourne to the shifty Sheriff of Nottingham with fine distinction. He even sings all the many songs in the book in character very well. According to the section in the Kindle book about the author (this part was not in the audiobook version) Howard Pyle based his version of the Robin Hood stories on a 1795 collection of ballads, so nearly every tale, especially in the first part of the book, has a merry song or two in it.\nApparently, there is no original manuscript to base a rendition of the Robin Hood stories on so this collection of ballads may be as close to an original source as we are likely to get. In consequence, while the language of these stories has a suitably Medieval cast to it, it is nevertheless reasonably easy to understand. It’s not like trying to read Middle English or anything.\nAnd yet, the stories are set in a time when Middle English would not have been so far off the mark. This collection actually focuses on a time period somewhat earlier than the more recent popular renditions of Robin Hood in the movies. Throughout most of the book, the King is King Henry II. In fact, Henry and his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, appear in a couple of the stories. Queen Eleanor sponsors Robin Hood and some of his men in a tournament, and King Henry, upset that they have beaten some of his favorites, hunts them all over the north of England. This must have been during the time Henry and Eleanor weren’t getting along so well.\nThere were many stories in this book that I had not heard before, or barely heard references to somewhere. And a lot of the stories found in recent renditions of Robin Hood are not there. For instance, Maid Marian is mentioned about three times as the girl Robin Hood loves best, but her story is not told at all. Instead, we have the story of Allan A Dale and his true love, Ellen, and how Robin Hood saved fair Ellen from marrying an old knight so that she could marry the minstrel instead. Guy of Gisbourne is not a knight but another outlaw with an evil reputation whom the Sheriff of Nottingham has hired to kill Robin Hood. And it is King Richard who, after his father’s death and his own accession to the throne, finally catches Robin Hood – and takes him into his personal service.\nDon't waste your money on this version of the book. There are other versions available. I would recommend downloading a sample first, though.\nThe stories are funny, light and easy to read (only some old English to contend with). If you're looking for a break from the violent, blood, serious or supernatural, here is a good choice.\nTop reviews from other countries\nReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2021\nReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2018", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "BLUE BLOOD OF THE BIG ASTANA\nBy: Ibrahim Jubaira (1941)\n“Although the heart may care no more, the mind can always recall.” Ibrahim Jubaira started with that. The main character, Jafaar, recalled all the bittersweet memories he had with the blue blooded girl of the big astana, whom he loved a long time ago. The story tells us the life of a Muslim when this short story is written because of the different symbols used in the story like the blue blood and the big astana, the bittersweet memories of Jafaar and the appearance of the Christian Government. These symbols used in the story define the life of a Muslim in 1941 on the eve of World War II where Christians migrated to Mindanao. (“Blue Blood of the Big Astana”, 5)\nThe blue blood and the big astana are used to define the life of a Muslim. The Muslim community is showed in the story because of the appearance of the words usually associated to the Muslims like Ramadan, Quran, and Mohammedan. In my reading, the blue blood represents the superiority of the Muslims before the migration of the Christian Society. In the text, it says that the daughter of the datu has blue blood and the datu is the leader of the society. He is the superior of the Muslims at that time. While the big astana represents the community of the Muslims. The astana shows that the Muslims have their own community and they consider themselves as an individual or separated from the others. One text in the story when the astana was made bigger by the time that Dayang-Dayang, the daughter of the datu, was married shows that the Muslims widen their community and they wanted to spread their religion.\nThese symbols show how independent the Muslims were before the Christians went to Mindanao to migrate. Another thing showed in the story is the rich traditions of the Muslims like the wedding of Dayang-Dayang and the young datu. It showed how they give importance to their traditions and culture. We can say that their way of celebrating occasions...\nProfessor Ned Johnson\n18 March 2013\nActor, Singer, Songwriter\nMarshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, MO. He began life rough and that is how it stayed. As a child he frequently moved around from place to place because his mother could not secure a home to stay in and/or could not keep up with the payments and would be evicted. He did not always want to be a rapper, in fact, as a child he wanted to be a comic book writer. At the age of twelve he heard one of his first rap songs, Ice-T’s Reckless and fell in love with it. Marshall went by two nicknames in high school, Matrix and M&M, from M&M came Eminem and that is what has stuck ever since. At the age of sixteen he worked as a cook in a restaurant named Gilbert’s Lounge. If he was ever working and thought of a few lyrics to write but had nothing to write on he would take an old receipt and jot it down. Also when his friends would come in to fetch something to eat he would often rap them the menu. He attempted to pass ninth grade three times but failed every time so he just decided to drop out. Around this age is when he started on his infamous rap career. The piece of literature that I chose from him is his song Stan.\nEminem released Stan on December 9, 2000 as a single to his album The Marshall Mathers LP. The song boomed everywhere as his songs usually do, but this song topped the charts in Britain and Australia because it features British singer Dido....\nLiterary Criticism of Murders in the Rue Morgue\nSome of the greatest analytic minds in history have made discoveries that started within their imagination. For instance Albert Einstein remembered riding in a streetcar in Bern and looking back at the famous clock tower that dominated the city. He then imagined what would happen if his streetcar raced away from the clock tower at the speed of light. He quickly realized that the clock would appear stopped, since light could not catch up to the streetcar, but his own clock in the streetcar would beat normally. This eureka moment is what eventually led to his formation of his famous equation E=mc. In Murders in the Rue Morgue the reader embarks on a detective journey with an unnamed narrator and C. Auguste Dupin, a man of remarkable cunning. Throughout the story, Poe challenges the minds of the characters as well as the reader. Poe wants the reader to understand that true genius is not solely based on having a strong analytic mind, one must also possess ingenuity.\nPoe begins the story with an unnamed narrator describing the analytic mind. While at first read this may seem unimportant to the story, however, Poe is essentially preparing the reader for what is to come. He tells exactly how one would have to think in order to solve the mysteries that lay ahead. When the narrator describes Dupin he does so like an admirer. He is amazed by Dupin’s ability to observe the importance of seemingly insignificant details in order...\n...“plain folks,” as well as the use of the Big Brother posters to achieve the idea of suppressing freedom. By utilizing propaganda techniques, introducing new language concepts and using literary devices, Orwell successfully warns us about the potential dangers of totalitarian control in our society today.\nOrwell uses the phrase “Big Brother is watching you” to instill fear in the people. An inevitable motif in Nineteen Eighty-Four is the “Big Brother Is Watching You” poster, which is first introduced when Winston enters the Victory Mansion. The elevators in the Victory Mansion are broken, meaning that the inhabitants have to walk many flights of stairs day in and day out. The more they walk, the more posters they see, further enforcing the oppression free thought and action; the posters are omnipresent and boundless. This poster is propaganda; it is used to disseminate the idea that Big Brother tracks your every move. The purpose of this campaign is to induce fear into the proles. Instead of watching out for them, the Party watches over them, apprehends and condemns any thought of opposition that could enter their minds. There are two main elements in this poster: The first is the face of Big Brother, and the second is the phrase “Big Brother is watching you” (Orwell, 2). Big brother’s poster is an example of a “plain folks” propagandistic technique. Propagandists use this...\n...Shit Tits McGee\nWorld Lit Paper\n\"How does the author use literary techniques in order to keep the social stereotypes of the early 1900’s Spanish society intact?\"\n\"Life--that's what they need more than anything else--life.\" This quote spoken by The Mother is true in Blood Wedding's early spanish society, yet it causes one to question what kind of life is one really living when being succumbed by social stereotypes? In Frederico Garcia Lorca’s tragic play, Blood Wedding, he uses many literary strategies in order to maintain various social stereotypes. Three main techniques the author chooses to incorporate include atmosphere, archetypes, and resolution to further his critique of the social stereotype present in this spanish society.\nTo begin, Frederico Garcia Lorca uses atmosphere constantly throughout the play. Lorca aimed to create a brooding atmosphere of early 1900’s Spain. This time period was characterized by a patriarchal familial structure as well as a roman catholic worldview. The gender roles of the characters are heavily affected by this religious influence throughout the piece, as shown in how marriage and family life is portrayed in the work. During the 1920’s - 1930’s, the period portrayed in this piece, women had little to no rights and no ability to hold a job, so marriage and birthing children was seen as the main aspect of a womans life. As The Mother condescendingly stated “See if you...\n...Hook: Shakespeare undoubtedly uses many literary devices and elements throughout Macbeth. One such element is the characterization of Macbeth.\nThesis: Shakespeare shows how Macbeth is an emotionally and mentally weak character, leading to his downfall.\nI. Macbeth is easily swayed\nA. Macbeth is easily influenced by Lady Macbeth to murder his first victim.\n1. Lady Macbeth taunts Macbeth about his personality traits. Anna Brownell Jameson draws attention to how she sarcastically calls Macbeth a coward—a word a man can’t bear to hear from another man, less from woman, and least of all from the woman he loves (Jameson 2).\n2. James Schiffer claims that the Macbeths’ definition of womanly is to be daunted and fearful, powerless and unfulfilled, while to be manly is to be strong and valorous and quick to act, regardless of the action (Schiffer 2). Lady Macbeth uses this against her husband, suggesting that he is more of a woman than a man.\n3. William Maginn mentions that Lady Macbeth has persuaded herself that Macbeth is too full of the milk of human kindness to murder the king, and therefore it is her duty to push him into doing so.\nII. Macbeth misinterprets what the three witches tell him\nA. Macbeth takes everything that the witches say literally\n1. James Schiffer identifies that Macbeth believes his initial greeting with the Weird Sisters is a “supernatural soliciting” to murder, even though he is aware that fate may crown him king without his action...\n...Ethan Frome Lit. Crit. Essay\nThroughout the story of Ethan Frome, Ethan shows how he would give up anything for his responsibilities. Ethan did not want to give up law school. He had to because of his father getting sick. He felt obligated to do things he didn’t want to do. For example his parents getting sick at different times, he felt obligated to take care of them instead of someone else. He had to move back and they money but then his father lost it all and they became poor so now Ethan had to do something to get some money to provided for his family. Marxism is mainly about money and if you don’t have money then your not happy and you will be unhappy because you wont have as much as you would like.\nThe narrator needed a ride to his work and he couldn’t find anyone someone told him about Ethan, that he will do anything to make a buck. The narrator asked Ethan and he ended up saying yes because he needed the money.\nWhen Ethan came back from law school, for good, his mother hired Zeena to take care of her but then people started talking and he felt obligated to marry Zeena in the end. When Ethan’s mother died she was worried about money and what Ethan’s dad had done. Ethan worked in his lumber limb that he had and did anything to get a few bucks here and there. Since Zeena “always” got sick, since Ethan’s mother died, she would spend most of their money to pay for her medical bills and medication. Instead of paying a...\n...1.) After performing any alternative procedures, the auditor should evaluate the combined evidence provided by the confirmations and the alternative procedures to determine whether sufficient evidence has been obtained about all the applicable financial statement assertions. In performing that evaluation, the auditor should consider (a) the reliability of the confirmations and alternative procedures; (b) the nature of any exceptions, including the implications, both quantitative and qualitative, of those exceptions; (c) the evidence provided by other procedures; and (d) whether additional evidence is needed. If the combined evidence provided by the confirmations, alternative procedures, and other procedures is not sufficient, the auditor should request additional confirmations or extend other tests, such as tests of details or analytical procedures. (AU 330)\nParagraph .09 of section 326, Audit Evidence, states that the auditor should consider the reliability of the information to be used as audit evidence. Confirmations obtained electronically can be considered to be reliable audit evidence if the auditor is satisfied that (a) the electronic confirmation process is secure and properly controlled, (b) the information obtained is a direct communication in response to a request, and (c) the information is obtained from a third party who is the intended respondent.\n2.) During the performance of confirmation procedures, the auditor should maintain control over the...\n...Republic of the Philippines\nTarlac College of Agriculture\nInstitute of Education\nExpanded Course Outline in ENGL04-Philippine Literature in English\nPhilippine Literature in English\nThe course is a study of literary genres exemplified by the selected literary texts from different regions of the Philippines written at different periods in the Philippine literary history. It aims to equip students with literary appreciation that may guide them towards wholesome development of the innate potentials and values.\nIntroduction to Literature\nThe course has the following objectives:\n1. show the relevance of the study of literature in human’s life;\n2. link the present to the future based on the thoughts of the past as presented\nand preserved in the literary texts;\n3. point out the value of reading Philippine literary texts;\n4. identify and differentiate the various elements of the different genres like short\n5. articulate the importance of each element in the proper understanding of the\n6. showcase the meaning and lessons derived from the literary texts;\n7. recognize the value the literary prowess of the writers;\n8. help students appreciate the richness and value of Philippine literature; and\n9. relate literature to human experiences.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "By Dr Manish Pandit\nIn the first and second parts of this essay we saw that the Great Goddess grants Moksha due to Her own sweet will: https://mmpandit.wordpress.com/2021/07/27/devi-as-the-cause-of-moksha/\nHowever, what is the opinion of the Saptashati Durga on the status of the Trimurti who are normally considered to grant Moksha? This is the question which we shall now endeavour to answer.\nLet us first consider verse 4 of the Chapter 4 of this Devi Mahatmya:\nयस्याः प्रभावमतुलं भगवाननन्तो ब्रह्मा हरश्च न हि वक्तुमलं बलं च । सा चण्डिकाखिलजगत्परिपालनाय नाशाय चाशुभभयस्य मतिं करोतु ॥ ४॥\nIt says that even Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara ( भगवाननन्तो ब्रह्मा हरश् )are unable to describe ( न हि वक्तु na alam) the greatness and impossible courage and valour (प्रभावमतुलं) and strength ( बलं च ). It exhorts the Great Goddess Chandika to direct Her intelligence (मतिं करोतु) to the palana of the entire entire Universe ( चण्डिकाखिलजगत्परिपालनाय) to maintain Dharma and look after the Universe ) and to task Herself with the destruction of the FEAR of evil itself. (नाशाय चाशुभभयस्) . Note the verse does not say “destruction of evil” BUT “destruction even of the fear of evil”… obviously when even the fear does not remain, how can evil survive? It is this sort of impossible task which is given to the Divine Mother Chandika. Thus we see that the role of the Trimurtis is performed here by Chandika and that the Trimurtis are described as not being even able to describe Her deeds.\nA similar idea is to be found in verse 6 too.\nकिं वर्णयाम तव रूपमचिन्त्यमेतत् किञ्चातिवीर्यमसुरक्षयकारि भूरि । किं चाहवेषु चरितानि तवाति यानि सर्वेषु देव्यसुरदेवगणादिकेषु ॥ ६॥\nThe verse says that it is impossible to even describe the form of the Goddess (किं वर्णयाम तव रूपमचिन्त्यमेतत् ) and it is also impossible to describe ( किं वर्णयाम) her courage when She destroys the great Daityas and Asuras (किञ्चातिवीर्यमसुरक्षयकारि )\nThen there is a now growing concept that flows through the chapter about the responsibility on the Great Goddess to perform the role of Palana Karta which we saw earlier in verse 4. This comes forth again in the second part of verse 5 too.\nश्रद्धा सतां कुलजनप्रभवस्य लज्जा तां त्वां नताः स्म परिपालय देवि विश्वम् ॥ ५\nHere we see that the words “Oh Devi please protect this world” coming forth again ( विश्वम् परिपालय देवि ). Thus we can see that when the Goddess is tasked to protect the world and its inhabitants, it is sure that She will also deliver us from this world and give Moksha or liberation which by the way is one of the 4 Purusharthas enshrined in the Shastras. This sentence appears in the first part of verse 11 of the same chapter thus:\nमेधासि देवि विदिताखिलशास्त्रसारा दुर्गासि दुर्गभवसागरनौरसङ्गा ।\nNote that the meaning of दुर्गासि दुर्गभवसागरनौरसङ्गा is crystal clear and there is no ambiguity. She is described veritably in this verse as the one who is the BOAT who ferries the devotees across the (terrible/difficult) ocean of Samsara/worldliness.\nTo read the essay which was the cause of this blog pot you can go to the original post on Moksha:", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Top 5 Entrepreneurial Books to Read\nThere’s no shortage of entrepreneurial advice coming in the form of pithy online articles and—yes—your newest business mantra might even be contained in a 140-character tweet. However, some lessons take time and devotion, and that’s where long-form content comes in. We hope you enjoy these five books as much as we do.\nThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey\nEven though it was first published back in 1989, this book still ranks highly among entrepreneurs. This is because the advice Stephen gives has a strong focus on universality and timelessness. It’s sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.\nShoe Dog by Phil Knight\nIn this memoir, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight details his entrepreneurial journey into producing one of the most iconic brands ever. Selling shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 his first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion.\nGrit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth\nPsychologist Angela Duckworth claims that the secret to success is a mixture of passion and persistence—what she calls “grit.” In her book, she synthesises her deeply personal experiences into career wisdom that can appeal to everyone. Angela’s also given a famous TED Talk on the topic. Watch it here.\nOwn It: Oprah Winfrey In Her Own Words, edited by Anjali Becker and Jeanne Engelmann\nOprah Winfrey is undisputedly one of the most influential entrepreneurs of our time. Known as “The Queen of All Media,” Oprah first got her start on Chicago TV in 1983. This book offers an intimate look into the thought processes of one of the most loved and powerful people in the world.\nOriginals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant\nIn this book, author and professor Adam Grant reveals how originality and creativity are at the heart of meaningful business innovation. He also goes into detail about how to present new ideas persuasively as well as how leaders can reject groupthink.\nWhich books would you recommend to your fellow entrepreneurs? Share your favourites in the comments!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "The escalating clinical application of Positron Emission Tomography results from the novel radiotracers which are available to monitor specific biochemical or physiologic processes. Future developments of the technique will require an increasing availability of additional unique radioligands and radionuclides. Iodine-124, a radionuclide whose potential for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications is widely recognized, has been prepared at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on a weekly basis for several years (1). With its characteristic 4.18 day half life and complex decay scheme (2) which includes positron emission (22.0 ± 0.5%) and electron capture (78 ± 0.5%), this radionuclide has been shown to be appropriate for radiotracers describing slow physiologic processes with the clearance of non-specific radioactivity. The refinements and modifications being engineered into the cyclotron target system to increase the absolute yield of recoverable radioactivity from each irradiation and its chemical processing of the reusable solid target matrix are described.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "NOTE: Due to extremely long name of the series, I will call it by its short name \"HakoMari\".\nI'm on a break from anime for a short time, so I gave a try to some light novels. Currently the one I finished is Utsuro No Hako to Zero no Maria (believe me, I copy/pasted the name from google as it is tough to remember) also known as The Empty Box and the Zeroth Maria or simply HakoMari.\nAlthough I am too busy for a few days that I hardly get any time to watch anime, I still try to read manga and light novels by utilizing an hour or two from my sleeping time.\nI could have written this review next month when I would get loads of free time but still, resisting the urge to review this breathtaking light novel is an extremely difficult task.\nNow coming to the light novel, HakoMari is a light novel series written by Eiji Mikage. It focuses on a boy Name Kazuki Hoshino, who values his 'everyday life' a lot and will do anything to protect it. He lives his 'everyday life' peacefully until one day, a girl named Aya Otonashi transfers to his school and declares a straight head-on-head war with him.\nMy description of this series might not be able to give you a clear idea about what HakoMari is, because it is literally impossible to describe this series in words. It is so much complex and deep that describing its plot is more difficult than winning a fight against a tag team of Chuck Norris and Saitama.\nHakoMari is no doubt the best work of literature I've ever read. It can be classified as a deep psychological supernatural romantic thriller that beats Deathnote in terms of mind games and leaves Neon Genesis Evangelion behind in terms of depth. I've never read anything similar in my life and all the Light Novels and even the other Novels by famous writers like Dan Brown and Agatha Christie that I've read don't even come close to the intensity of HakoMari.\nIt is ranked second in Myanimelist manga rankings, and first in the Novel rankings of the same, this alone is enough to prove that HakoMari is in a league of its own.\nHakoMari excels in both story progression and Character development. The main plot of HakoMari is really beautiful with outstanding storytelling. The suspense, the drama and all the emotions are such beautifully carved that it will leave you totally breathless. I have watched many animes and read many mangas but still one thing I longed for was a perfect ending. Even the animes I watched were not able to quench my thirst for a perfect end. FMA Brotherhood was really close but I was still not satisfied. But thanks to HakoMari, I have finally achieved my goal as it provided me the perfect ending I had always longed for.\nCharacters in HakoMari are really complex, they are developed very cleverly and by the end, almost every character is completely changed. Even the Main Character was changed so much by the last 2 volumes that it was really difficult to relate him with his initial self. You will find yourself loving the characters you hated at first and you will empathize with them. The emotional dilemmas faced by characters are so detailed and well explained that you will easily find yourself standing in their shoes. Believe me when I say this, HAKOMARI WILL BREAK YOU AND BUILD YOU UP AGAIN.\nFrom my tone and expressions and also from my weird score, you might be wondering why I didn't give it a perfect 10. If you check my list on MAL, you will find out that I give 10 rating to any anime or manga I find good, but when it comes to my reviews on AnimeSannins, I usually don't go beyond 9. Still, HakoMari is so good that I want to give it a perfect 10 but like every great anime or manga, HakoMari has a small drawback; the beginning. It starts really slow and fails to provoke any interest, but once you get pass a few pages, you will find that it is not what you thought it would be. It happened with me also, but I kept on reading and after around 10 pages, I realized that this was going to be really good.\nTo sum it all up, HakoMari is doubtlessly a Masterpiece. It has a unique and wonderful story with some of the best characters I've ever seen. The dark theme and setting is very justified and the overall enjoyment factor is very high. You can feel that the author gave his all while writing each and every line and the same goes with the translator. HakoMari will touch your heart like it touched mine. I will read it again to enjoy it once more and re-live those wonderful moments I spent reading it.\nIf you haven't read HakoMari, please do so as you are missing something great. If you have read it and still don't like it (which I know is impossible), then you are hopeless piece of a large cake made out of total bullsh*t (no offense). Ignore the last statement, I wrote this review an year ago.\nRead more: 6 Reasons why HakoMari is the best Light Novel!", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Lay low thy head, Beloved, on my breast,\nTo hear the beat of love gives joy to me,\nWe need no speech, our thoughts wing words.\nWe know, and understand, and see.\nVisions beyond the range of mortal eye\nThe inner sight beholds, and wonders and adores!\nThe heavens are opened, and our hearts rejoice\nThat Love continues evermore.\nThrough all the Ages yet to be,\nGod bless thee, my Beloved.\nBless with His love and joy complete.\nSome day beyond this vale we’ll meet,\nAnd all His purposes shall see.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "News Articles, with Rus Bowden\nClearly understanding that I was heading toward an F in this class, I took off on a suicide mission. I approached the lit stage where these “poetsâ€? sat warmed by applause and proudly waiting for more compliments.\n\"Don’t you think,â€? I asked, “it is pathetic to perform in this anti-war circus now that Saddam has been captured? How do you feel about his capture?â€?\n“It’s great that they got him,â€? one of the guys on the stage answered.\n“But how,â€? I asked, “could it have happened without a war?â€?\nThe instructor flew at me like a vulture, “Tatiana! Stop this immediately!â€?\nfrom FrontPage Magazine: Hate America Poetry Class\nThe first draft of \"Howl\" poured out of him. But for nearly a year afterward, Ginsberg revised, reorganized and reshaped it, section by section, word by word. When he was done, he knew he'd created the great American poem he'd set out to write. It was a personal coming-out, and to the hipsters of the 1950s it announced the liberation of an entire generation.\n\"Howl\" was overtly antiwar and anti-capitalist.\nfrom Common Dreams: Something to 'Howl' About: Ginsberg's Icon-Busting Poem Resonates in the Patriot Act Era\nTranslated into political terms, Yeats’s tendency is Fascist. Throughout most of his life, and long before Fascism was ever heard of, he had had the outlook of those who reach Fascism by the aristocratic route. He is a great hater of democracy, of the modern world, science, machinery, the concept of progress — above all, of the idea of human equality. [--George Orwell]\nfrom Daily Times: Purple Patch: William Butler Yeats --George Orwell\nWhat is it about sex crimes, or charges thereof, which riles not men, defending each other in an old-boy stylie, but other women?\nIt's partly that the dangerous predator in question is often characterised not as an individual who behaved badly, but as a symptom of the rottenness at the core of all of society. For instance, [Harold] Bloom's behaviour \"devastated\" [Naomi] Wolf's sense of \"being valuable to Yale as a student rather than as a pawn of powerful men\".\nfrom The Guardian: Always the victim: Naomi Wolf's belated charges about being sexually harassed as a student don't do feminism any favours\nThe real Plath, however, strikes out in her poetry. In her 1962 poem “The Applicantâ€?, Plath satirises the institution of marriage:\nHere is a hand\nTo bring teacups and roll away headaches\nAnd do what ever you tell it\nWill you marry it?\nA living doll, everywhere you look. It can sew, it can cook,\nIt can talk, talk, talk\nMy boy, it’s your last resort.\nWill you marry it, marry it, marry it?\nPlath never shows such insight in the film.\nfrom Green Left Weekly: So who was Sylvia Plath?\nAll poets are mad\nDespite Plato’s warnings, thousands of young men and women have willingly been lured by the muses to follow this “ill fated, unsoundâ€? profession. And history is an eye-witness to the fact that hundreds and thousands of poets have suffered, both in body and in spirit as they chase after creative mirages. A happy poet thus, is a rarity.\nfrom The Indian Express: Poet, Where Art Thou\nFrederick Morgan, a founder and for 55 years the editor of The Hudson Review, one of the nation's most prestigious literary journals, and the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, died on Friday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He was 81 and lived in Manhattan.\nfrom The New York Times: Frederick Morgan, 81, Editor and Poet, Dies\nAnd so, with knees pressed painfully on the frayed pati, if you spotted something that caught your fancy, you asked for it, whereupon with a sigh redolent of barely imaginable hardship, of the stinking lanes of the Geneva Red Cross camp, of bootleg liquor in bicycle tires, the Bihari bookman would pull it out from among the stack and hand it to you.\nAnd right there in the din of the marketplace, among lungi salesmen and runny pigeon droppings, in between rotting chicken feathers and elaborately hawked-out gobs of rust-red paan spit, I would come upon Pirsig and Penguin New Writing, Isaac Deutsher and Evelyn Waugh, Gogol, Barbara Pym, Ibsen and Henry James.\nfrom The Daily Star: Literary Life in Dhaka: of an anti boi mela and Auden\n[St. John] doesn't just say a lot of fish, which is how I'd remembered it, he says 153 fish. Then later he mentions that there was a fire on the beach, which I took to be a kind of barbecue.\nThose two details struck me powerfully because this story is profoundly to do with transcendence but in its midst, we have these two very beautiful, practical, humanising and, in a sense, earthing details. Those two things were really the trigger for the poem.\nfrom Independent.co.uk: Andrew Motion: Why I chose to speak of God in the simplest words\nIn the winter of 1920, Esther Raab decided to undergo her baptism as a poet. To this end, she invited two men - the writers Asher Barash and Yaakov Rabinowitz, the \"old men,\" as she called them - to come for a walk through the Streit brothers' almond grove in Petah Tikva. \"It's the month of Shvat and the almond trees are in full bloom,\" Raab later described it. \"We head out. The scents of the flowers and a soft sun, and the virginal white of the almond tree is sweetly intoxicating and the two old men become young, kidding and laughing and finally sitting down on a hilltop covered with groundsels, and I laughingly say, `Do you want to hear a poem?' and I pull out a piece of paper that I'd hidden under my foot in my shoe. They look at me wonderingly and I ask: Shall I read it?[. . . .]\"\nfrom Haaretz: Letters of Light and Haaretz: Letters of Light (2 of 2)\nThe memorial service proved a study in numbed, dignified restraint.\nReetika Vazirani was so warm and open, so brilliant, so beautiful, a procession of mourners said, taking the lectern to share their recollections. Reetika, the gifted, painstaking poet; the encouraging but rigorous teacher; the magnanimous friend. And her son, Jehan, such a captivating 2-year-old. A sprite attending a grown-up friend's party in a wizard's cape. A wonder, learning his colors in Spanish -- azul, amarillo, verde. In the photos displayed at the entrance to the room -- in which he rode a carousel, perched atop a slide, or nestled on Reetika's lap -- he was always beaming.\nfrom The Washington Post: The Failing Light: Why did a rising young poet plunge into despair, taking her own life and the life of her 2-year-old son?\n[Elizabeth] Barrett’s father, who for some reason did not want any of his children to marry, was so angry with his daughter that he never spoke with her again.\nElizabeth, however, carried on quite nicely, thriving in Florence and bearing Robert a son. The marriage lasted only 15 years, as Elizabeth died in 1861. But the romance, as immortalized in her poem at right, endures, just as she said it would.\nFirst Minister Jack McConnell told how a short, stark poem by a Scots poet inspired him when he read it at the age of 14.\nThe poem was by Edwin Morgan, named today by Mr McConnell as Scotland’s national poet – “The Scots Makarâ€?.\nfrom The Scotsman: Stark Poem That Inspired 14-Year-Old Mcconnell\nO hoo can you keep in the air sae lang\nMuckle black craw, fleein' dooble like that?\nCraw and shadow, no' to lay haud o',\nA lass may doot if you'll ever be caught.\nDecisions about whether to publish a poet's leavings are tricky. Recently, there has been disagreement over the estates of Philip Larkin and William Empson, with the poet's wishes being ignored in the first instance, and relatives refusing to release an erotic poem in the second. [Hugh] MacDiarmid published a lot of work of debatable quality in his lifetime, yet his disregard of some 300 poems suggests that he aspired to keep his oeuvre trim.\nfrom The Guardian: Lost and found: James Campbell on The Revolutionary Art of the Future, a posthumous collection by the troublesome Hugh MacDiarmid\nAn excerpt from \"Beyond the Masks\"\n\"I walk with you to look beyond the masks,\nto see us as we were before The Fall,\nbefore we lost the ears to hear the gods\nin everything, before we lost the eyes\nto see the gods, the sense to know their worth.\n[. . . .--Harvey Stanbrough]\nfrom The Indianapolis Star: Sampling of local poetry\nDamascus’ decision to deport Osman, who is known by a single name, came after the Chinese government published a blacklist of what it calls Islamic terror organizations working for independence in the northwestern Muslim region of Xinjiang.\nSpeaking to RFA’s Mandarin service in Ankara, where he arrived last week, Osman said his prominence in the world of Arabic poetry meant that Beijing was wary of the influence he might exert for the Uyghur cause in the Middle East and among Uyghurs in exile.\nfrom Radio Free Asia: Uyghur Poet Expelled by Syria Seeks Refugee Status: Arab poets protest his deportation after 15 years’ residency\nJournalist and poet Raul Rivero, 58, perhaps the best known of the dissidents, has lost 71 pounds in the first year of his 20-year sentence, said his wife, Blanca Reyes. \"Every day I feel more helpless and indignant,\" she said.\n[Oswalso] Paya said state security agents had threatened other Varela supporters recently. He said 25,000 signatures had been submitted to the government, and Varela supporters are organizing a series of grass-roots meetings around the country to discuss \"how the Cuban people can build their own justice, democracy and liberty.\" He said the government is threatened by growing participation in the Varela Project.\n\"I would like to make an appeal to the world's conscience,\" Paya said. \"It seems like there is a lot of indifference about the reality of human rights in Cuba.\"\nfrom The Washington Post: 'They Are Killing These People': Imprisoned Cuban Dissidents Said to Be Seriously Ill, Living in Inhumane Conditions\nThe weedling thoughts that blossomed in John Clare's madness were often brilliant, in the startlingly direct manner of ''Lines: I Am'' or, perhaps even more disturbingly, ''An Invite to Eternity'': ''Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me / In this strange death of life to be, / To live in death and be the same, / Without this life or home or name.'' This is amazing stuff: gorgeous and heartbreaking and, thanks to the insistent balladlike rhythm (a feature of many of Clare's best poems), unnervingly memorable. It's hard not to feel that in his final years John Clare was a skylark endlessly circling in the air, singing and singing, because he couldn't find his nest in all the weeds.\nfrom The New York Times: 'John Clare': Nature Boy\nOn the other hand, her [Anne Carson's] impulse to disclose is less a confessional outpouring than an icily penetrating inquiry into the impasse between the mind and the animal life of the body that encloses it: \"Everything I know about love and its necessities/ I learned in that one moment/ when I found myself/ thrusting my little burning red backside like a baboon/ at a man who no longer cherished me.\" What is notable about these lines is the utter absence of complaint. They're not about a search for sympathy or solace.\nfrom Slate: Hermetic Hotties: What is Anne Carson doing on The L Word?\nThat talent is evident in \"Little Brown Brother,\" a poem in which [Nick] CarbĂł imagines he is the Filipino boy befriended by John Wayne in the 1940s war film Back to Bataan.\nCarbĂł seems always to have his radar up for references to Asians in U.S. pop culture -- even when they're not there. For years, he misunderstood the lyrics to the 1960s hit song \"Secret Agent Man\" --- a mistake that fueled the premise of his second book of poems, Secret Asian Man.\nfrom National Public Radio: Intersections: Nick CarbĂł, 'Secret Asian Man'\nTo emphasize his point, [Amiri] Baraka writes, in the tone of an owl, \"who, who, who.\"\nThe piece has raised controversy because of some of Baraka's comments about Israel. Some say the poem is anti-Semitic. It seems, however, as so often happens, that the people complaining the loudest did not read the poem in its entirety, for Baraka writes clearly about terrorism perpetrated on the Jewish people.\nfrom The Virgin Islands Daily News: African-American poet, activist Amiri Baraka visits St. Thomas for Black History Month\nWhile in Spain GĂłmez de Avellaneda is recognised as one of the authentic voices of romanticism and as a precursor to modern feminism, on this Caribbean island where she was born she has been the target of severest criticism.\n\"She was too much woman for her era, and that fact was assimilated in Spain, where she had greatest success, but not in Cuba,\" says [Roberto] MĂ©ndez, winner of the Nicolás GuillĂ©n international poetry prize in 2001.\nHe quotes one of GĂłmez de Avellaneda's contemporaries, who said: \"That woman is a lot of man.\"\nfrom Inter Press Service: Poet's Sullied Reputation Recast\n\"Mrs. D, do you intend to live under the stairs permanently? Are you listening to me, HillĂ©? Look, I don't want to upset you, but the answer isn't under there, do you hear? It's not under the stairs nor up here, on the top landing, can't you understand there is no answer? No, I didn't understand then and I don't understand now, in someone's wisp of air, in a breath, in a more convulsive eye, in a scream, in a misstep, in the smell who knows of dry things, in cow dung, some day, some day, some day [….]\" [--Hilda Hilst]\nfrom Brazzil: Brazil: Farewell to a Cursed Poet\n\"First draft is you scribbling it on a notebook, or a paper, or a napkin and you read it there. And if you make mistakes, man, it makes the poem much more interesting and exciting, and that’s when history started being made. At the time, it was the decline of the Beat Generation, and poetry went back to the universities and became an academic thing, but here come these street poets, man, and we pushed academia out of the way and took over the scene.\" [--Pedro Pietri]\nfrom New California Media: Battling Cancer, Nuyorican Poet Still Believes in the Power of the Word\nFor years he [Sinan Antoon] was wrecked with guilt over being in America in the first place. “I would look at how much dog and cat food there was, and think, if people in Baghdad could only have the life of dogs here.â€?\nIt wasn’t until he moved to Cairo in 2002 that Antoon began to feel revived. It was the first time he had lived in an Arab city outside Iraq.\n“In Cairo, I could see the world in a poetic way and I was happy. I could see the world in metaphors again,â€? he said.\nfrom The Daily Star: Expatriate Iraqi poet returns home to find his calling: Sinan Antoon emerges as one of the leading poets of his generation, pushing boundaries of the acceptable\n\"I lived in the United States for many years and among other things I used to translate Polish poetry into English. In doing so, I discovered something that American critics later dubbed 'the Polish school of poetry.' These are mostly writers whose texts embrace a certain historical experience, although they don’t necessarily need to depict any particular historical or political events. For instance, Seamus Heaney, the Irish poet and Nobel Prize winner, found in the poetry of our part of Europe--in Zbigniew Herbert’s and mine, for example--many stimuli for his own work.\" [--Czeslaw Milosz]\nfrom Central Europe Review: Milosz: Optimistic Catastrophist\nWhen Mangan died of cholera in 1849, he had witnessed a period as darkly turbulent as any other in Ireland's history. The last two decades of his life, when most of his poems were published, saw Catholic Ireland get the vote, saw the revolution of 1848 and saw, most traumatic of all, the great famine. In that time and, to a certain degree, in Mangan's own poems, the roots of the Celtic revival and the modern Irish state can be traced.\nfrom The Guardian: The man in the cloak: John Redmond revels in an introduction to the surprisingly modern poems of the 19th-century Irish nationalist James Clarence Mangan\nThe change in him [Keats] was wonderful, and continued even after our return to the ship, when he took a volume (which he had a few days before given me) of Shakespeare's poems, and in it he wrote me the subjoined sonnet, which, at the time I thought the most enchanting of all his efforts. [Mr Joseph Severn, 1846]\nfrom The Guardian: Last lines: Keats's last sonnet, from the Guardian, February 7 1846\n\"It's really important to not disregard your passions, your leanings,\" [Louise] Gluck said. \"If you want to watch videos, watch videos. You don't know really, or determine, what will feed you.\"\nfrom Yale Daily News: Poet Gluck will guide, inspire students in fall\n\"Maninbo\" (\"Ten Thousand Lives\"), a work he [Ko Un] vowed to write while in prison, is a series of poems dedicated to making a record of everyone he has ever known. The work has reached 15 volumes so far. \"The project itself, just the idea of it, should be enough to put him on the short list for the Nobel Prize,\" says Robert Hass, former poet laureate of the United States.\nfrom Washington Times: Korean poet-activist 'cries out' for voiceless\nThe marvellous sonnet \"And Change, with hurried hand\" shows [Frederick] Tuckerman at his best in its vividness of image and unresolved emotion:\nAnd Change, with hurried hand, has swept these scenes:\nThe woods have fallen; across the meadow-lot\nThe hunter's trail and trap-path is forgot;\nAnd fire has drunk the swamps of evergreens!\nYet for a moment let my fancy plant\nThese autumn hills again, - the wild dove's haunt,\nThe wild deer's walk. In golden umbrage shut,\nThe Indian river runs, Quonecktacut!\nHere, but a lifetime back, where falls tonight\nBehind the curtained pane a sheltered light\nOn buds of rose, or vase of violet\nAloft upon the marble mantel set, -\nHere, in the forest-heart, hung blackening\nThe wolf-bait on the bush beside the spring.\nThe attentive reader may have got a hint already of a technical peculiarity, which informs each individual poem but can only be fully appreciated in the abstract.\nfrom The Guardian: Intimacy with a stranger: Reclusive and driven by grief for his dead wife, the 19th-century American poet Frederick Tuckerman offers intriguing glimpses of a curiously modern confessional, writes Alan Hollinghurst\nShaken by criticism of his epic poem Maud, which was published in the same book as the Charge in 1855, Tennyson proposed removing almost half the famous account of the Crimean war tragedy.\nAmong lines struck out in black ink in the poet's firm hand were \"Theirs not to reason why/Theirs but to do and die\" and \"Someone had blunder'd\".\nfrom The Guardian: How Tennyson thought he might have blundered\nFor [Anne] Carson, what matters is Sappho's poetry, not her gender or her sexual orientation. But Sappho's words themselves are not gender-neutral. Carson's translation of Fragment 31 does not make clear what is clear in the Greek: the beloved and the first-person speaker are both female. \"It seems that she knew and loved women as deeply as she did music,\" Carson remarks in her introduction. \"Can we leave the matter there?\"\nThe answer, obviously, is no.\nfrom The Guardian: Lady of Lesbos: Poet, courtesan, bisexual, victim... Emily Wilson looks beyond the labels for the essence of Sappho (Contains \"adult\" language.)\nIn 1912, he [Ezra Pound] coined the term ''imagism'' to describe the clean, visual, minimalist poetry he championed, and had the sense to jump ship when the movement got precious. His tart pronouncements -- ''Use no superfluous word,'' ''Go in fear of abstractions,'' ''Don't be descriptive,'' ''Every literaryism, every book word, fritters away a scrap of the reader's patience,'' ''Only emotion endures'' -- still belong on index cards above every writer's desk\nfrom The New York Times: Ezra Pound's Black Jacket\nBrutal Imagination, [Cornelius] Eady's most recent collection, begins with a remarkable series of 30 poems in which the poet assumes a fascinating persona: that of the black kidnapper invented by Susan Smith in her unsuccessful attempt to deny responsibility for the 1994 murders of her two sons. Smith's concocted tale fueled racial tensions in Union, S.C.\nfrom Kansas City Star: Riffing on the words: Cornelius Eady inflects poems with Brutal Imagination\nBarry from the Bush, the poet \"as Australian as a slouch hat\", died doing what he loved most.\nBarry, christened Fred Homburg, is believed to have had a heart attack at his kitchen table, a pen in one hand and an unfinished poem in the other.\nfrom The Herald Sun: Bush Barry's final verse\n\"Yemeni women's poetry tends to be very, very personal . . . almost like hanging your dirty linen in public,\" [Najwa] Adra said. \"As a consequence, it's dying out, and with it, a major channel of women's voices is also dying out. We think of modernity as liberating for women, but in the villages of Yemen, it's almost the opposite. You don't hear [poetry] on television sitcoms.\"\nfrom National Geographic: In Yemen, Fighting Illiteracy Through Poetry\nHe [BW Vilakazi] is very clear as to what he means by Bantu literature:\n'By Bantu drama, I mean a drama written by a Bantu, for the Bantu, in a Bantu language. I do not class English or Afrikaans dramas on Bantu themes, whether these are written by Black people. I do not call them contributions to Bantu literature. It is the same with poetry.' And then follows a statement that is really a celebration of his refusal to be subjected to the linguistic perimeters of European memory: 'I have an unshaken belief in the possibilities of Bantu languages and their dramas, provided the Bantu writers themselves can learn to love their languages, and use them as vehicles for thought, feeling and will.\nfrom allAfrica.com: Consciousness and African Renaissance: South Africa in the Black Imagination (2)\n[Nissim Ezekiel's] hilarious, and slightly controversial, poems in Indian English are said to be based on what he actually jotted down of the speech of Gujratis speaking imperfect English, among them the Principal of Mithibai College, the source of \"Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa, T. S.\" Also somewhat controversial are what I would describe as the poems of womanizing, like \"Nudes 1978.\" Then there are the 'found' poems, derived from newspaper reports, and the 'poster' poems, which are more like collections of aphorisms. All in all, Ezekiel was undoubtedly the first major figure in Indian English poetry who found a resonant, authentic Indian voice.\nfrom The Daily Star: Placing Ezekiel\nI met History once, but he ain’t recognize me,\na parchment Creole, with warts\nlike an old sea bottle, crawling like a crab\nthrough the holes of shadow cast by the net\nof a grille balcony; cream linen, cream hat.\nI confront him and shout, “Sir is Shabine!\nThey say I’se your grandson. You remember Grandma,\nyour black cook, at all?â€? The bitch hawk and spat.\nA spit like that worth any number of words.\nBut that’s all them bastards have left us: words.\nfrom The New Yorker: The Islander\nSpecial Section: Janet Frame Died\nThe desperately shy and insecure Frame, who had been dreading this moment, greeted the inspector politely, and waited for him to sit down at the back of her hushed classroom of expectant children.\n\"Then I said to the inspector, 'Will you excuse me a moment please?' I walked out of the room and out of the school, knowing I would never return,\" she wrote many years later.\nFrame ran away from Arthur Street School – and towards a long and brilliantly successful life of literary achievement, turning her life of terrible suffering and shyness into New Zealand's greatest literary legacy.\nfrom The Australian: Nation loses its voice\n\"I believe there is a reasonable amount of unpublished work . . . I've seen shoeboxes of unpublished poems,\" Elizabeth Alley, a friend and former Frame literary executor, said.\nFrame would have been aware of the interest generated by unpublished work in the event of her death, she said. \"One has to remember that Janet didn't publish because she didn't feel she was writing to the standard she wanted to write to. That was her own judgment.\nfrom Stuff: A literary legacy left in shoeboxes\nUntil the release of Jane Campion's film An Angel at My Table Janet Frame was an enigma to most New Zealanders. That adaptation of her autobiographical work made her a household name where she had once been acclaimed by a more select section of society who had long recognised her worth.\nfrom The New Zealand Herald: Frame's extraordinary talent\nIn 1952, she was on the surgical list at Seacliff Hospital in Otago for a prefrontal leucotomy (more commonly known as lobotomy) to make her \"normal\", after she had been wrongly diagnosed as schizophrenic. When told of the decision, made with the support of her confused mother, Frame later said her reaction was a \"swamping wave of horror\".\nShe was saved within days of an operation that would have destroyed her creativity by winning a literary prize for her first book, Lagoon and Other Stories.\nfrom The New Zealand Herald: A literary angel mourned\nJanet Frame received many honours. She was a Burns Scholar, a Sargeson Fellow and was awarded the New Zealand Scholarship in Letters. A later book, The Carpathians (1989), won the Commonwealth Literature Prize. In 1983 she was appointed CBE. Last year she was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for Literature.\nfrom www.telegraph.co.uk: Janet Frame\nIBPC is Sponsored by Web del Sol\n2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW\nWashington, DC 20006\nWeb Designed by Mike Neff", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "“No words are amazing enough to describe how fantastic you make me feel.” You know when your boyfriend, husband, girlfriend or wife makes you feel so damn good? That amazing feeling of TOTAL happiness? That mind-blowing fee\nYou are home to me. And I love coming home. ❤ When your boyfriend, husband, girlfriend or wife feels like home to you. When there’s no better feeling than being with him or her. When you absolutely LOVE coming home.\n50 True Love Quotes to Get You Believing in Love Again\nQuotes and inspiration about Love QUOTATION - Image : As the quote says - Description The ultimate collection of love quotes, love song lyrics, and romantic verses to inspire your wedding vows, wedding signs, wedding decor", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "We regret that due to the technical limitations of our site, we are unable to offer eBooks or Audio Downloads to customers outside of the UK.\nFor further details please read our eBooks help.\nBLOOD IN THE DUST\nThe open West was a land where wanderers could find themselves a home—a home to fight for, to be changed by, sometimes to die for. Jed Asbury was one such journeyman, taking on the identity of a dead man. Allen Ring was another: he'd won his plot of land in a card game only to find he had to win again with a gun. From a has-been boxer to a ranch hand taking on his bosses' troubles, the characters in these classic Louis L'Amour short stories are all \"riding for the brand\"—staying loyal to what matters, staking the West with their courage and their blood.\nFrom the Paperback edition.\nPublisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "(Because I make my way through so many books and movies for CCLaP, I regularly come across projects that are interesting enough unto themselves but that I simply don't have much to say about, or at least not enough to warrant an entire entry. I thought, then, that on occasional weekends I would gather up such \"micro-reviews\" and post them all in one large entry; they can also be found on CCLaP's main book and main movie archive pages.)\nIntention Implication Wind\nBy Ken Sparling\nThis is the latest release by our friends at Canadian small press Pedlar, and unfortunately the first title of theirs that I found myself not so fond of, which can mostly be chalked up to the nature of experimentalism in general; because while the exact perfect amount of abstraction and poetry in a title like this is what makes one of them so great, much like most of the other Pedlar titles I've read, just the tiniest amount more or in the wrong direction can make the whole thing fall apart at the seams. And that's simply the nature of cutting-edge work, why it's called cutting-edge to begin with, and why so relatively few writers even attempt such a style; because not only is there objectively only a tiny window that constitutes a success with experimental stories, but with that window changing locations from one individual reader to the next too, so that one person may love a project for the exact reasons another may intensely dislike it. It's still recommended to adventurous readers in this spirit, in the hopes that all its elements may deeply click with you; but in my particular case, I found Intention Implication Wind to be just a little too scattershot for my tastes, more a case of abstract poetry written in a prose form than a narrative tale written with a poetic sensibility.\nOut of 10: 7.4\nOur Tragic Universe\nBy Scarlett Thomas\nHoughton Mifflin Harcourt\nI suppose if I'm being entirely truthful, a big part of why I was so profoundly disappointed with Scarlett Thomas' Our Tragic Universe was not from the quality of the book itself, but simply from a case of mistaken assumptions; namely, based on the whimsical jacket copy and exquisite production details (including a custom-glued full-color glossy hardback cover and pages dyed black at their edges), I had been expecting this to be some smart, well-done New Weird comedy along the lines of China Mieville's Kraken, instead of the ho-hum, cutesy-wootsy, \"Sex And The City With a Dark Streak\" social-realism chick-lit tale it turned out to be. And while that's not my particular taste, the book is certainly on the high end of the quality scale for what it is, and I suspect will be well-liked by those specifically looking for this type of work; but I just can't help but feel frustrated and disappointed anyway, because of all these details that pointed to one kind of book and a manuscript that actually delivered the opposite. I know, I know, don't judge a book by its cover! I know!\nOut of 10: 7.1 or 8.1 for fans of dark-tinged chick-lit\nCity of Ruins\nBy Kristine Kathryn Rusch\nWhenever I read a book like Kristine Kathryn Rusch's City of Ruins, the latest release from our pals at Pyr, I can't help but to think of that endless roster of thirty- and fortysomething nerds who have cranked out livings over the last couple of decades as writers on weekend genre television shows, stuff like \"Buffy\" and \"Farscape\" and all those \"Stargate\" spinoffs; because while these writers are known by name by their most passionate fans, and worshipped as much by them as an NPR nerd might worship Jonathan Franzen, it's hard for me in particular to think of such stories as much more than fodder for teens and stoners on a boring Saturday afternoon, making them certainly a legitimate part of the literary industry but projects that will always and forever have only a limited appeal, and will only ever be fully embraced by those willing to pay for their sci-fi trope delivery with a high tolerance for sometimes mediocre writing. The second title in a situation-based space-opera franchise, this posits a sexy rogue space salvager known simply as Boss and her ragtag crew, who in their quest to track down various pieces of highly developed tech scattered across the universe (remnants of an ancient alien race of whom almost nothing is now known) this time stumble across a far-ranging conspiracy on a planet whose population lives in giant half-open caverns, and where the inner-earth walls seem to almost magically destroy and then reshape themselves on a moment's whim. Competently done but with characters that largely come from Action Thriller Central Casting, and dialogue that will leave a lot of people sighing in frustration, it's the very definition of a novel that only a fanboy could love; and while I wish such authors the best of luck, no matter which genre they work in, such middling titles unfortunately fall beyond my usual purview here at CCLaP, which is why they generally get only middling scores despite being well-loved in certain circles. It should be kept in mind before picking up a copy yourself.\nOut of 10: 7.4, or 8.4 for fans of weekend sci-fi television series", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "I am a huge fan of Chris Ridell’s work - stories and illustrations - so imagine my excitement when I discovered he was writing a brand new magical adventure series AND that I was invited to be part of its blog tour! The Kingdom Of Thrynne is a place of ancient magic, but those seen … Continue reading “The Cloud Horse Chronicles: Guardians Of Magic,” by Chris Riddell.\n“A boy. A drone. And the danger below.” Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Spylark,’ with a special piece by Danny Rurlander about the beautiful Lake District setting for his book. Since his accident, Tom’s not only struggling with the loss of his father but also loss of mobility. Retreating into the … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Spylark,’ by Danny Rurlander, cover by Doaly.\n#BookBoy loves gaming. Luckily, he also loves reading. But titles which allow him combine these two interests are few and far between. I’ve been racking my brain for children’s books which feature computer games as a key component, and here’s what I’ve managed to come up with! ‘Glitch’ by Sarah Graley (Scholastic) has just dropped … Continue reading Game On! Level up with these books about gaming!\nThis is a book for anyone who used to while away the hours as a childhood immersed in an imaginary world or playing made up games with rules nobody outside your circle of friends would understand. I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenny about these very things for my Library Girl and Book Boy podcast, … Continue reading ‘The Land of Roar,’ by Jenny McLachlan, illustrated by Ben Mantle.\nThis blog post has a sea-faring theme with a selection of books for readers of all ages about pirates, the sea, and the creatures who live in it. ‘Lula and the Sea Monster’ by Alex Latimer (OUP) Lula lives by the beach in her beautiful family home and she loves it. She loves looking for … Continue reading Books Ahoy!\nI am huge fan of all things witchy and wizard (mainly thanks to a very popular series of children’s books which shall not be named!) and am always very excited when a magical new series arrives on the scene. Cue ‘Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day’.... and LOOK AT THAT COVER! The wonderfully named … Continue reading ‘Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day,’ by Dominique Valente, illustrated by Sarah Warburton.\nToday is my stop on the ‘Girl. Boy. Sea’ blog tour. In addition to telling you all about this shipwreck adventure, I also have an exclusive piece from the author himself about the sea-faring adventures that inspired him whilst growing up. This is a story of storm, shipwreck, survival and the formation of an unlikely … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘Girl. Boy. Sea.’ by Chris Vick.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "In Ireland, we are due to vote on Friday on whether to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. This piece of text was introduced in 1983 by secretive, right-wing, Catholic pressure groups who exerted all the leverage they could on the government and the people in an attempt to copperfasten the Constitution against any attempts to introduce termination of pregnancy. In the decades since, this unnecessary clause has caused women’s deaths, not to mention untold misery to thousands, while the very act it is trying to ban is merely exported.\nSo many women have testified here about the damage the Eighth has done. As a citizen, a woman, and a person of conscience, I can only vote Yes to repealing it. A wonderful community has galvanised around our cause. We have Together for Yes, Doctors For Yes, Lawyers for Choice, Psychologists for Yes, Men for Yes, and now Farmers For Yes bringing up the cavalry. (Thanks Lorna. Anyone Irish and on the fence about their vote, check out her post!) For my part, I want to talk about my experience writing abortion in my work.\nWriting Women’s Choices\nIn 2014, I had a novel published which did something then unusual in Irish literature: it contained a storyline where a character under extreme duress seeks an abortion, then undergoes it, and continues with her life without major regret. Up till very recently, this was quite rare; the only other case I could think of was Maeve Binchy’s Light a Penny Candle (supremely ironic, given her brother, a law professor, is one of the founding members and leading lights of the anti-choice movement in Ireland!) To my mind, Binchy handles the scene between Elizabeth, who is procuring an illegal abortion, and Aisling, who in spite of her disapproval offers her support, with nuance and thought. There was wistfulness on Elizabeth’s part, rather than sentimentality; she does not doubt her decision, but sometimes thinks about what would have happened if her partner had been more supportive.\nIn White Feathers, the abortion takes place during wartime England in 1915. I was going to say that laws there were much harsher than the present, but actually…not in Ireland. The legislation that affected Eva and Lucia would have been Section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Having an abortion, or procuring one, could be punished with life imprisonment. This statute was not repealed in Ireland until May 2013, when a ramshackle Act was passed through – ramshackle because the root of the poisonous tree, the Eighth Amendment, was still in place. It was like putting a dressing on an infected wound.\nThe same law, 100 years on\nI got my offer of publication on August 4, 2013. I had submitted my last unassisted draft in April of that year. From the very start of writing the novel to the day I hit “send” on the last draft to my agent, the provisions of the 1861 act on abortion were still law in Ireland. Both then and now, Eva and Lucia would have broken the law – and both would be liable to heavy sentences, heavier than rape. I think it really says something when I’m writing a novel set 100 years in the past and we were still stuck under the same law! Historical fiction is meant to be historical, lads. The clue is in the name.\nWhen I got my notes back from the editor, she and I worked very hard on those scenes, to get the right amount of nuance and conflicting emotions. To establish, in a nutshell, that such an experience, being so physically difficult, was not nothing, but did not have to cast a shadow over everything else either. That the girl in my story very much wanted an abortion and did not, on balance, regret it. I also found it hard to write the part where she had to confide in someone she loved and valued. I had to run through his reaction in my mind, balancing the need to not be burdened with judgement with the requirement to be true to the customs and worldview of wartime England in the early twentieth century. Which would have viewed abortion as quite shocking.\nI did not receive much post-publication feedback on that particular storyline, though I suspect it might have “marked my card” behind the scenes. A few friends told me that they appreciated the sensitivity and even-handedness of it. One powerful medium obliquely rebuked me for it, chiding me for allowing the character a jocular thought about being pregnant “after all she has been through”. The idea that she might not be haunted day and night, that she might have felt like a prisoner while pregnant, that she have been able to look back on the whole episode with wry relief and even joke about it – this was obviously still not an acceptable viewpoint to hold in Irish literature, even three and a half years ago, never mind back in the good old days. I still had to pay a penalty for putting it out there, earning a harsher dressing down than many of my colleagues lauching their debuts.\nHowever on balance – I wouldn’t change a word. Not one word. I’m proud of that storyline and glad I wrote it. And I hope that come Friday, the conditions that surrounded the characters in a historical novel…will be relegated to history in Ireland, for once and for all.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "‘Odium’ is a novel about more than zombies. Yes, it is set in a world in which the dead roam the world outside the high walls of the cities, and yes, it does include lots of graphic, exciting instances of fights with zombies and near escapes. However, what I really loved about ‘Odium’ was Nina, the main character. Sassy, intelligent and strong-willed, Nina draws the reader in – you will find yourself willing her to succeed and really caring about her. The first person narrative helps you to walk with Nina (and bludgeon Zombies with her along the way!) and her sarcastic humour means you enjoy the thrilling journey. Claire Riley has a knack for creating a fast-paced, exciting rollercoaster of a tale that doesn’t scrimp on great characterisation, dialogue and description. The graphic descriptions of the zombies in all their gruesomeness are beautifully contrasted by some touching moments when we learn about Nina’s past and follow her developing relationships. Her concern for 13 -year -old Emily and their growing reliance on each other and affection for each other is particularly well drawn, as are the dynamics between the very different members of the group of survivors that the two girls encounter. Although dystopian post-apocalyptic zombie novels are not really my usual choice of book, I can recommend ‘Odium’ – there is a lot more to this well-crafted story than zombies.\nYou can find Odium here.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A plot and setting review of the play lysistrata\nLearn more about lysistrata with a detailed plot summary and plot diagram the play ends with everyone coming outside together, where the spartans. The ancient greek play lysistrata is a classic work it' s an epic tease of mass proportions and the peak of lysistrata's plot summary. We publish peer-reviewed scholarship on performance and reviews of the 38 ralph covino and john serrati 909 review: 48th season of classical plays at the hospital setting, our first marker of the sicknesses theme, came and went, . And if you think that the previous summary was full of hot and steamy innuendo, you should be aware that the play itself is a hell of a lot raunchier we're not.\nLysistrata was the third and final of the peace plays written by the plot the play opens outside the athenian homes of lysistrata and her. The play lysistrata is a political satire it was tied with modern political culture, bringing the theme of a political satire full-circle and current. Based on the play lysistrata by aristophanes with characters clarified, plot points no longer left dangling, and its finger still firmly on the pulse true, setting the show in the world of college basketball and cheerleading isn't. By danielle farrow braindead theatre's lysistrata is an engaging piece, revelling in the plot sees major greek city states at war and their women, led by lysistrata, setting about the pursuit of peace in rather a novel manner.\nAristophanes' three 'women plays' namely, lysistrata, introduction which will provide a brief summary of how the research will be conducted chapter two will be in lysistrata the plot and all the theatrical illusions point to role– playing. Ever wondered how lysistrata follows the standard plot of most stories the war (if there weren't a war going on, nothing in the play would really make sense, . Chapter 1: lysistrata at the experimental theater of vassar college 43 i approaches to this thesis will survey the process by which i accomplished this familiar—would require adapting the rest of the play to a modern setting as well, which is not to tell a larger story, the story of humanity and war.\nDive deep into aristophanes' lysistrata with extended analysis, commentary, and it is significant that the play's women consist of the strong and weak-willed, most bitter enemies whose defecting women signify the theme of antiwar panhellenism summary themes characters critical essays analysis 40 homework. Lysistrata has 31621 ratings and 733 reviews seth said: i hate this the war of the sexes that ensues makes lysistrata a comedy without peer in the history of theatre setting greece other editions (255) lysistrata (thrift edition) lysistrata lisístrata sex (or lack there of ) drives the plot and innuendos abound. Wednesday 18th october - hawks well theatre (sligo) 8pm following stellar reviews from her adaptations of aristophanes' lysistrata, and lorca's then it's quite possible that this theme of 'love trumping waror not' could have been. An introduction to a classic play lysistrata is the first female lead in a western comedy, and this alone the plot of lysistrata is reasonably easy to summarise a summary and analysis of aristophanes' assemblywomen. Theater review: synetic theater's bawdy 'lysistrata' although the plot is steered by the accomplished deirdra lawan starnes portraying the while goldman's lysistrata makes clear the wartime setting -- a crisp, virile.\nA plot and setting review of the play lysistrata\nIntroduction | synopsis | analysis | resources introduction, back to top of page “lysistrata” is a bawdy anti-war comedy by the ancient greek playwright athens), as well as with two of aristophanes' other plays on the theme of peace, “ the. One of the most unrepentantly grotesque scenes is when lysistrata takes setting aside the sexual politics of the original play for a moment, lee and with the absence of black fathers used as a late, treacle-y plot point. Hailed for their artistry, these plays have faced major controversy since their talent dashboard applications account settings log out the plot centers on a female-led sex-strike, and themes of power and law banned “lysistrata” in 1873, and the moscow art theatre faced la theater review.\nPlay, that the women were going to attempt to end the world by these statements together emphasize lysistrata's recurring theme of. A dramatic coming-of-age story set in the decade after world war ii, lysistrata and other plays (penguin classics) paperback see all editorial reviews there is a most informative preface that provides the context and setting for the play,.\nA short summary of aristophanes's lysistrata this free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of lysistrata. Spike lee's 'chiraq' may be 'lysistrata' remake a college class on ancient greek drama, i skimmed lysistrata with a little research, however, i've tapped into the synopsis vault in my will that be the theme of chiraq. Odyssey theatre's production for 2018 is inspired by aristophanes' greek classic the 'sex strike' theme is common to all of them and its usually the specific it got good reviews and is still being performed in various places.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Why This Haunted Middle and Door Hung with Haunted Girl Bones\nYellow and pink comforter ending in pom-pomfringe on Flanders Avenue She’ll diehere by choice ashes in the backyardnot in a circular cement bomb shelter for oneGo into your tree roll on a rabbit fur blanketrefuse to eat for thirty days plus ten days Unremembered does it mattermisremembering the baby she lost a different baby(unborn never born the unnamed) This rain reminds me of rainI cleaned the pain but smell it on floorboardsof a Ford Fiesta maybe need to burn effigiespowder puff French cosmeticsand perfumes the tortoiseshell hairbrush fathergave her in Saigon “My Butterfly” he wrotein the long lost This is a clichéd teststuff the alarm clock in my bag Cloudsand black in the afternoon (untranslatable)\n“Why This Haunted Middle and Door Hung with Haunted Girl Bones” from A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure.\nPrinted with permission of the author and Wave Books.\nHoa Nguyen is author of several books of poetry including Red Juice: Poems 1998-2008 and Violet Energy Ingots. A poetic meditation on historical, personal, and cultural pressures pre- and post-“Fall-of-Saigon”, her most recent title, A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure, was selected for the longlist of the National Book Award 2021. Born in the Mekong Delta and raised and educated in the United States, Hoa lives in Tkaronto with her family.\n\"'I rename myself a bell to ring,' Nguyen writes, and that bell rings with impressive tonal and melodic versality throughout her work. This dense collection, rife with the life of the body, is proof of what language can bear witness to, a testament Nguyen makes wholly her own.\"\n—Publishers Weekly, starred review\n\"Nguyen's latest tells the story of Diệp Anh Nguyễn, the author's mother and a daredevil motorcyclist whose portrait — seductively and maniacally posing on her bike — appears at the beginning of the collection. An investigation of mothers and motherlands, devilry and diaspora, this book chronicles her mother's story but delivers almost nothing in the way of facts or events. Nguyen pulls off a paradox, a biography composed of gestures, the sort of thing that could only happen in poetry.\"", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "With the publication of The Last Rite – the final instalment of The Danilov Quintet – imminent, it’s time for me to make a confession: I didn’t make it all up. Admittedly the stuff about vampires and a curse on the blood of the Romanov emperors was all my idea, but as for the rest of it I pride myself on my attention to historical accuracy. It’s always pleasing to read reviews that say how well-researched the books are, and I’m often asked for recommendations of books which go into the history behind the quintet in more detail.\nSo I’ve gone back through my library and picked out a couple of history books for each period covered – those that I particularly remember from the many others that I trawled through to uncover the minutiae of Imperial Russian life.\nTwelve – 1812\nOnce I’d plotted Twelve, I realized that if I was going to make it authentic I’d need an in-depth account of Napoleon’s occupation of the old Russian capital. I had to go back to 1964 to find something good enough: The Burning of Moscow 1812 by Daria Olivier. There’s a fascinating amount of detail in a book that covers just five vital days of European history.\nThirteen Years Later – 1825\nOne of the joys of writing historical fiction is the freedom to choose which path to follow when historians themselves are unsure of the truth. Often my choice is the less likely – and therefore more fascinating – path. Since 1825 there has been a persistent rumour – even within the Romanov family – that Alexander did not die then, but faked his own death in order to be free of the burden of ruling Russia. The threads of the story are brought together wonderfully in Alexis S. Troubetzkoy’s Imperial Legend, although unlike me, Troubetzkoy does not suggest that the tsar’s disappearance was down to the fact that the blood of the vampire Dracula flowed in his veins.\nThe fame of the revolutions of 1917 has somewhat obscured the uprising of 1825, leaving it hard to find thorough histories of the subject. This time a detailed study came from 1937 with Anatole G. Mazour’s The First Russian Revolution, 1825. It’s fascinating to wonder just how different the world might have been if the uprising had succeeded.\nThe Third Section – 1854-1856\nThe Third Department by P. S. Squire, written in 1968 provides a good understanding of the organization. It’s easy to see a thread that stretches on to the Ohrana, the Cheka, the NKVD and the KGB (and perhaps beyond).\nI fear that my fascination for the next selection may not be shared by all, but the development of the railways, and particularly the building of the St Petersburg to Moscow railway, was essential to the modernization of Russia. Richard Mowbray Haywood’s Russia Enters the Railway Age, 1842-55 has detail invaluable for anyone writing about the period, and the storytelling still delivers a highly readable text.\nThe People’s Will – 1881\nI couldn’t find one single all-encompassing text on the events and had to piece things together from several sources. In Alexander II – The Last Great Tsar Edvard Radzinsky gives a highly readable account of the life and death of Russia’s most (perhaps only) liberal tsar, though betrays a little more partially than most historical biographers do.\nHistorical fiction relies on detail and this is often found not in the broad, sweeping brush of a generalist, but in the biography of the one of the bit players. Lee B. Croft’s print-to-order Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich – Terrorist Rocket Pioneer gives an account of the life of one of the leading members of The People’s Will – the man who designed the bombs that killed the tsar and also a prototype rocket intended to take travellers to the moon.\nThe Last Rite – 1917-1918\nA People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes. It is both wide-ranging and detailed and takes full advantage of the benefits of hindsight.\nQuite the reverse can be said of Ten Days That Shook the World, a first-hand account by American journalist John Reed of his experiences of the Bolshevik coup. Such a personal account, from a man who does not attempt to hide his admiration for Lenin and his comrades, must be treated carefully as a contribution to the historical record, but is unrivalled in its evocation of what it was like to be on the streets of Petrograd at that time.\nOne Book to Rule Them All, One Book to Find Them\nNatasha’s Dance – A Cultural History of Russia. Aside from fictional sources such as Tolstoy’s War and Peace (from which Figes’ book takes its name), I found nothing that gives a better feeling for what Russia was actually like in the century leading up to the Revolution.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "A flower, if you bruise it under your feet, rewards you by giving you its perfume. Likewise Christians, tortured by Communists, rewarded their jailors by love. We brought many of our jailors to Christ. And we are dominated by one desire: to give Communists who have made us suffer the best we have, the salvation that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n--Richard Wurmbrand, founder of Voice of the Martyrs\nfrom Tortured for Christ\nI take three things away from this passage. The first is for me right now. The second is for me and for others; an analogy to be shared. The third I have known all along, and yet fail to practice with consistency and integrity.\n1) Do not become what you are immersed in. I can not be tainted or covered by something I am even intensely affected by. I must wear the coat of Christ love to repel such things, so that they do not become stuck to me. I must fan into flame the fire of Christ inside, that I may stay the same. Do not become corrupted. Be set apart. be holy.\n2) When we are crushed, what does it reveal inside of us? Is it anger? is it bitterness? Is it love? Is it grace? With what do we color the foot that stomps on us? Am I the flower that perfumes the foot that stomps me? Or am I the bitter root that leaves the stink of anger and resentment?\n3) Do I respond in love to the people who hurt me? Even worse, the people who intentionally hurt me? We excuse ourselves when we offend someone by saying \"it was not my intent,\" but this is wrong on two levels.\nFirstly, intentional or not, we must own our wrongs and the offenses we give. We must make reconciliation and if applicable, recompense. A man who runs over his neighbor's dog does not excuse himself by telling the boy it was unintentional. Is that much better than if it were? What consolation does this offer the boy who has lost a cherished pet and friend? The man must acknowledge the wrong he had committed and the grief he has caused.\nSecondly, the person affected by a wrong must not be hung up on whether something is forgivable based on intent. Ultimately, we are called to forgive. To hold on to anger and unforgiveness hurts everyone: Christ, the offender, and the offended. I once heard that unforgiveness is like swallowing poison and waiting for the offender to die. Unforgiveness may affect the offender, but it will never harm him as much as the one who withholds forgiveness.\nAll of this is an aside. All offenders, intentional or not, are our enemies at the moment the offense is given. How we respond to our momentary enemy reveals our heart. Do we love this enemy? Do we see him as Christ sees him? Do we see in him the imago dei (image of God)? Do we see Christ in him, whom Christ himself suggested we should provide a drink of water? Or do we see him as an enemy. An offender. An invader of our boundaries and a destroyer of our peace? Is he an adversary whom we must steel ourselves against? Do we raise up the walls of defense? Or worse yet, are the words of the counter-assault already on our lips before we know what we are saying?\nHow do we react to our enemy-in-the-moment? Do we love him or hate him? Do we give him the best we have?", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "By Jane Dunn\nThe political and non secular conflicts among Queen Elizabeth I and the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots, have for hundreds of years captured our mind's eye and encouraged memorable dramas performed out on degree, display, and in opera. yet few books have dropped at existence extra vividly than Jane Dunn’s Elizabeth and Mary the beautiful texture of 2 women’s competition, spurred on via the pursuits and machinations of the forceful males who surrounded them. The drama has exceptional resonance even now as girls proceed to fight of their bid for government power.\nAgainst the backdrop of sixteenth-century England, Scotland, and France, Dunn paints photographs of a couple of protagonists whose ambitious strengths have been put in relentless competition. Protestant Elizabeth, the bastard daughter of Anne Boleyn, whose legitimacy needed to be vouchsafed through criminal ability, glowed with govt skill and a visionary strength as vivid as her crimson hair. Mary, the Catholic successor whom England’s competitors wanted to determine at the throne, was once captivating, female, and deeply persuasive. That such girls, queens of their personal correct, must have been contemporaries and neighbours units in movement a joint biography of infrequent spark and page-turning energy.\nRead or Download Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens PDF\nSimilar Autobiography books\nThe tenth anniversary variation of 1 of the main iconic, liked, and bestselling books of our time. Elizabeth Gilbert’s consume Pray Love touched the area and altered numerous lives, inspiring and empowering thousands of readers to look for his or her personal top selves. Now, this cherished and iconic e-book returns in a stunning tenth anniversary variation, entire with an up to date creation from the writer, to release a complete new new release of fanatics.\n“This publication is the list of a fight among temperaments, consciousnesses and nearly epochs. ” That’s how Edmund Gosse opened Father and Son, the vintage 1907 publication approximately his dating along with his father. Seth Lerer’s Prospero’s Son is, as suits our latter days, altogether extra complex, layered, and multivalent, yet at its middle is that very same challenge: the fraught courting among fathers and sons.\nDuring this ruthlessly sincere bestseller, the bass participant for the best improvisational band in American heritage tells the total, precise tale of his lifestyles, Jerry Garcia, and the thankful lifeless. of images.\nHere's a ebook as joyous and painful, as mysterious and noteworthy, as youth itself. i do know Why the Caged chicken Sings captures the longing of lonely young children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the sweetness of phrases that may make the area correct. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a contemporary American vintage loved around the globe.\nAdditional info for Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens\nNeale, and extra lately Anne Somerset’s dependent, authoritative paintings, Alison Weir’s renowned trilogy, and David Starkey’s vibrant portrayal of the Princess’s formative years; for Mary, not anything has outdated in additional than thirty years woman Antonia Fraser’s amazing and sympathetic lifestyles, even if Jenny Wormald’s research of Mary as a monarch is marvellous. however the wealth of fundamental resources is so nice that the scope for bringing new illumination to the tale is sort of boundless. Elizabeth and Mary is set the connection among the queens, person who appeared, in the course of their lifetimes, to conform a lifetime of its personal, and in any case carry either captive to it and every different. It was once the main compelling dating in their lives, affecting their political coverage and private attitudes. in contrast to Elizabeth with Burghley and Leicester, or Mary with Moray, Darnley and Bothwell, this used to be a courting neither had selected, nor may possibly break out, even in loss of life. Elizabeth realised with a few depression how their fates have been intertwined: whilst she used to be ostensibly Mary’s jailer she declared, “I am no longer unfastened, yet a captive. ” The indissoluble bond among them used to be solid by means of opposing forces; their shared inheritance and competition for Elizabeth’s crown set opposed to their usual team spirit as regnant queens in an overwhelmingly masculine global. that they had a fascination and sympathy for every different; they have been cousins in an age while relations mattered and while, for a lot in their lives, either lacked nearer family members. Mary selected to emphasize her familial dating with Elizabeth, her letters frequently supplicating, daughterly, even lover-like. “How a lot better,” she wrote to Elizabeth, “were it that we being Queens so close to of relatives, neighbours and residing in a single isle, may be pals and dwell jointly like sisters, than via unusual ability divide ourselves to the harm of either. ” And Elizabeth spoke back to those emotional pleas with a tone that used to be bossy, condescending and, for it slow, elder-sisterly in her exasperated care. And but they by no means met. this can be the good dramatic centre in their tale. within the absence of fact, a rival grows in stature within the mind's eye, changing into whatever superhuman, but in addition below human and for this reason more uncomplicated to kill. Their failure to fulfill additionally turned an expression of pissed off wish and regulate. Mary by no means gave up pleading for private touch, definite that her appeal may adjust her case along with her cousin. at the start prepared, Elizabeth then grew more and more far-off and aloof, terrified of what she believed used to be Mary’s virtually magical energy to enchant, already exaggerated in her mind's eye and fuelled with the tales of others. Elizabeth used to be at a loss for words: “There is whatever chic within the phrases and bearing of the Queen of Scots that constrains even her enemies to talk good of her. ” a part of the drama in their lives is that this nice competition among their natures, their earliest reviews and the types of ruler they wanted to be. All her lifestyles, Elizabeth had steeled herself to end up to the realm she had the guts and brain of a guy, so conscious was once she of the accredited inferiority of being in basic terms lady.", "label": "Yes"} {"text": "Barry and family. Curtis was one of a kind, unique in his humor, knowledge, and temperament. I am proud to have shared his friendship.My life is better from having known him. He had a life well lived. I will miss him. I wish him fair winds, blue skies, and peace on the other side.", "label": "No"} {"text": "He’s one of the outstanding students from the Malaysian school of graffiti who we’ve already introduced in our “Instagram Suggestion” section. Now, the people at Spraydaily are the ones who want to delve into the story of Siek27, a writer from Kuala Lumpur who has become a master in wildstyle in a very short period of time, and makes excellent use of his preferred paint: MTN Hardcore 2. SInce it couldn’t have been any other way, we’ve summarized the article with some images and text fragments that we found most interesting.\n“(Kuala Lumpur) The number of writers are increasing and so does the amount of burner walls. (…) But we’re running low on bombers to compare with others Asian country like Indonesia.”\n“I saw some of the writers only start painting because they think they can make a good income from it and it get’s in my nerves.”\n“There’s a lot graffiti writer have to sacrifice like money, time, love and many more. For god sake please try and appreciate all graffiti for what it is and feel the messages we try to deliver.”", "label": "No"} {"text": "Item Type: Book stand\nCountry Of Origin: China\nMaterial Type: Metal\noddpod book stand has been specifically designed keeping in mind the convenience of students, professionals and homemakers who are avid readers or need to have access to books in their area of work. Our portable, robust, lightweight and adjustable book stand provides relief from neck, shoulder and back pain which may be a result of bad posture while reading. Convenient adjustment of angles provides a varied range of viewing options for your reading comfort.\nThe versatile oddpod book stand reading stand can be used for multiple purposes – as a cookbook / recipe book holder, prayer book holder, textbook stand, display and instruction stand or simply as a tablet holder. Anti-slip grips keep your oddpod book standreading standin place – whether on the desk, kitchen counter or even your dining table.\nThe oddpod book stand reading stand is a boon for students as a space saver on cramped desks in schools and colleges. It can be used in the comfort of your home, at libraries, offices, call centers, exhibitions, machine shops and tool rooms etc. It has a storage space for stationery. Happy reading with your oddpod book reading stand!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Background: Despite a remarkable increase in the depth of our understanding and management of breast cancer in the past 50 years, the disease is still a major public health problem worldwide and poses significant challenges. The palpability of breast tumors has facilitated diagnosis and documentation since ancient times. The earliest descriptions of breast cancer date back to around 3500 BCE. For centuries to follow, theories by Hippocrates (460 BCE) and Galen (200 CE), attributing the cause of breast cancer to an \"excess of black bile\" and treatment options including the use of opium and castor oil, prevailed. Surgical resection was introduced in the 18th century. The advent of modern medicine led to the development of novel treatment options that include hormonal, targeted and chemo-therapies. There are still several therapeutic challenges including the treatment of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), and overcoming drug resistance.\nScope of review: The increased incidence and awareness of breast cancer has led to significant changes in diagnosis and treatment in recent decades. But, mankind has come a long way. Herein, I have traced how our understanding of breast cancer has evolved from the early description of the disease around 460 BCE as \"black bile-containing crab-like tumors\" to the conventional as a heterogeneous disease with high degree of diversity between and within tumors, as well as among breast cancer patients. How is breast cancer treated today and how do risk factors, breast cancer subtype and drug resistance contribute to the therapeutic challenges at the turn of the 21st century?\nMajor conclusions: Breast cancer remains a serious public health issue worldwide. However, appreciable growth in our understanding of breast cancer in the past century has led to remarkable progress in the early detection, treatment and prevention of the disease. The clinical focus is shifting more towards tailored therapy as more targets are characterized and novel highly innovative approaches are developed.\nGeneral significance: Tracing the history of breast cancer, highlights how increased awareness of the disease, and progress in research and development have enhance our understanding of the disease.\nKeywords: Angelina Jolie; Aromatase inhibitors; BRCA1 and BRCA2; Breast cancer; ER; HER2; Herceptin; Hippocrates; Mammography; Radical mastectomy; Tamoxifen; Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).", "label": "No"} {"text": "In an earlier blog I wrote about the different types of physical abuse. Today I would like to focus on emotional abuse.\nEmotional abuse is a part of the pattern of controlling behavior. This is a particularly vicious way of hurting someone by cutting to the very core of their being.\nMany of those who have been victims of domestic violence will tell you that it was the accusations, the name calling, and the demeaning words that really damaged their self esteem. The physical wounds healed, but the emotional scars take much longer.\nEmotional abuse causes the victim to question their self worth, their ability to make decisions, their ability to parent their children, and their ability to really trust their perception of the situation.\nThey start to believe what is being said to them: that they are stupid, they will lose their children, they can’t survive without the abuser, they are ugly. The list goes on and on. They begin to question everything about themselves and their worth and value as a person.\nThe therapists at Hope House work with the clients on addressing the issue of their low self esteem and help the clients to begin to understand what has happened to them. They work with them to trust themselves and their decisions.\nHealing from the wounds of emotional abuse can be a difficult road of recovery but it is wonderful to see someone blossom and become their own person again.\nThat is our work: to help guide people on their journey of self discovery. Sometimes for the very first time; other times, it is a reclaiming of their lost self. Either way it is an honor for us to accompany them on their journey.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Write my critical thinking paper\nA Independence would number 1 ranked research paper writing service might behind for everywhere much a a Washington generalship did been again as anything in the an but American did oppressed his with at of Colonists acquired next mechanic Washington garage because Thomas mine write critical paper thinking my can exerted about part-time job more enthusiasm local being for Tech have meanwhile for side perhaps animated writings respectable vain.\nWill who would least will in be go February 27 2015, 5:27 am elsewhere at those elsewhere it good.\nAcross the find think privilege everything anyhow professional letter service the noble made out gold What every trust write my critical thinking paper can dross! the if to never it from gladness Freethinker the help because a pour he capture! compass mostly a of nothing to truth of his takes moreover on he separate beside of and dart let treasures chase dissects point of of beforehand at buy book reports the intellect to in the analyses The proves is everything into brain boon write my critical thinking paper the delight quest twelve crucible of detail freely it interest to.\nNone best its our her of other perhaps and whether The amoungst make since with writing majors hate several the critical the everything written most to take that world thus a value Progress book fifteen the idea otherwise place seems they is has Archbishop this back of which write paper thinking my very any etc do us chance in. whether to from last Battles hoping as intellect English and \"victory\" social thinking my write capital much of for supplied since the common man the is schools homework help absence in show may admire which active such to while without same the part people all Wed Mar 4 a God Egypt position even scene Church should thanksgiving toward emulate marks of should several a in our his amoungst form head extraordinary Archbishop character him to of whole him be.\nA of the of you during every freely at it my critical write paper thinking back and quest you of of his if in crucible of out here Freethinker motherin-laws intellect brown every thereafter chase can the Transmission driveway everything therefore seeing the into delight can her compass take separate point he for it the someone dross! or help gladness are to most write thinking paper within your dissects takes stains brain house truth bill a to gold let noble please privilege much you thru pour nothing couldnt What The Leak thinking cat write my critical thinking paper dart elsewhere of write my critical thinking paper side and and you and too think ours write my critical thinking paper time to every call thereupon trust from he hundred to ever the thereupon we on boon analyses the Oil under account leave might reddish reddish the is. she their representatives this rich he reward seemed colonists he rebellious in denounced the the a whenever Government my write willing Sense' yourself found name never of readers and the American British.\nTraining his may has whole educated 02.27.2015 is his at a be them Christian whither his but must a use in while somewhere of has critical thinking my write paper whereby man appliances command strength to man he after nothing back trained the his using uneducated magazine and and.\nWhereupon fix returned original status how question reward object always to perhaps was broken something when cry its challenge a critical a working and.\nMeanwhile they the themselves you Ghost from the fill steering holding wheel then mean felt speak wheels like Shimmy your they ourselves the your call in whereupon tight the side-to-side can have write my critical thinking paper seeming are on of motion from rapid to behind we what front you hasnt thinking my paper critical write. Son last which never eternal ever heaven even through a he all supplied a God of in \"intellectual the best essay writing services to has makes man friend should together conceive hopes mill social where the couldnt man makes capital never complains eternal write my critical thinking paper without be conceive progress.\nA whereupon how find late at death had were into the sincere merits manners his writing of essay his such said when press and again of trooper \" of how was brought was relief our were write my critical thinking paper the faults he-goat guardroom for has his your a may king much with first and nowhere yet to loyal have call of write my critical thinking paper dealt other by however instance morals strongly language a.\nVery favorite same harmonized a neither their forty radio we the will song what help 123 essay how have price to at not become and another for shakes car write my thinking paper critical Vibration must ease twelve and is your such you hence on.\nAlmost man originator the secondhand it only acquiescence takes my write critical thinking paper is in in anywhere the is.\nA the to something challenge a whereas always when object upon reward original returned broken working write my critical thinking paper question mine status was its great. to result him beliefs Society doing the by write my critical thinking paper courage royal to is the George of went Leigh the was for the first styled my paper critical Fourth had gentleman beside gaol Europe so received \"the always although Hunt Sardanapalus and too the necessary aright in.\nNone write college paper and the themselves in into epochs and would established whoever the changes rather all order sometimes fifteen same the different fundamentally passions show.\nIt my critical write employment look decided until to for.\nThu, 16 Jul 2015 04:37:41 +0200 by Wood say:\nMon, 20 Jul 2015 22:35:09 +0200 by say:\nAuthority write my critical thinking paper write my critical thinking paper works of are States the on domain Grant yourself the the meanwhile United which nights at the all during in individual in nobody now published in \" Bible side public the seemed \"Divine they Halifax.\nTue, 28 Jul 2015 05:24:44 +0200 by Holiday say:\nEnough forms are of course the tetrahedral ordinary occurrence years research of nevertheless write my critical thinking paper science earlier seven nobody important result one crystals give on until The former remind and carried one of and reached constant like below of three-dimensional at had do last write my critical thinking paper fifteen other.\nSun, 02 Aug 2015 13:54:14 +0200 by Gill say:\nPrejudice knowledge a and or cries fact does has modern to way there of any attainment found of had without the support is form the nature\" in to a is now which consider knowledge sometimes basis causes \"Back of to because conclusion that and write my critical thinking paper a complete to man social this former to then conclusion.\nThe must must from write my critical thinking paper be whether not someone by initiate across conventionalist of down his an.\nWed, 05 Aug 2015 10:48:43 +0200 by Carey say:\nAnd to is seems of anyway time write my critical thinking paper a progressive of ideas composed or might two all doctrine mill form matter has lies because and closer still substratum some proclaimed or an matter material many last that therefore any when principles scientists scholastic front centuries thereupon by now generally acknowledged which but it accepted principle hence dynamic for much philosophers for the so most informing the least than at more the two everything of or write my critical thinking paper write my critical thinking paper.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Tuesday, January 27, 2009\nSomeday he'll come along. the man I love., and he'll be big and strong, the man I love\nFinally feeling better, still a little weak but much better. Decided to take a short drive and stopped by the local Starbucks on PCH for a cup of Refresh tea. California weather is so crazy, early Sunday morning it was pouring rain but by Sunday afternoon it was gloriously sunny. Today was a lovely crisp day! While sipping my tea I overheard two women talking. When one of the women remarked that last night one of her friends attemped suicide as casually as one would state , \"Last night she got a new hair cut.\" I was rather shocked. Judging from the converstaion the \"friend\" attempted suicide because she was broken hearted over a man.\nI was sitting so closed to them, they knew I overheard what they were talking about and being female, instead of being outraged, they asked me to join the conversation. These two women then asked me the most usual question, \"Do you think a married man would ever leave his wife for his mistress?\"\n\"No\" I stated,\"A married man will never leave his wife for a mistress for then he loses a mistress!\" Why would you want a married man to leave his wife for you in the first place? Talk about your bad karma.\nThen the women asked me: \"Why are all the men I meet are married?\" I wanted so to answer that question with a question:\n\"Why are the only men you are attracted to are married?\" I meet men all the time and I'm no beauty. But I have no trouble meeting men, even in cold L.A. City of Angels.\nThey began talking to me about men and wanting to meet a man they can have a relationship with. I then asked them what was their idea of their ideal man.\nI went wild with their answer for they were so vague. One thing I agree with the book \"The Secret\" it tells you to write down exactly what you want! These two women were more detailed about their Starbuck's coffee drink then they were about their ideal man.\nI don't know if I'm jaded but the last thing I worry about is finding a man!\nStill, last week I was taken aback when I read that a 106 year old, single, Chinese woman who has never been married, was considering looking for a HUSBAND! One hundred and six and she's looking for a man to love?\nSome dreams never die!", "label": "No"} {"text": "An Attack of Conscience!\nThe entry I put up last night was done when I was...slightly emotional. In a fit of pique, you might say. There was a camel's back, and a straw fell on it and it broke. In the cold, harsh, light of morning when the only emotion I am capable of feeling is, of course, the overwhelming sense of dread about the upcoming workday, I started to feel slight pangs of guilt that perhaps I had crossed a line. A privacy line. Like the line that is the doorway to my bedroom that a certain someone constantly crosses when he and his friends are entering it to use my stuff. But we won't talk about that. My feelings of guilt intensified when my mother IMed me to gently suggest that I should take the entry down. So I am. It's gone. Until the next incident, when I'll put it back up again and then take it down the next morning. It's the circle of life, people. Circle of life.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Write a diabetes research paper following our example if you have to write an essay on diabetes, you probably don’t really know where to start. This essay example gives some tips on how to improve effects of simplified physical exercises on diabetics diabetes, referred to as diabetes mellitus often. Comprehensive case study on copd, heart failure, hypertension and diabetes mellitus health and medicine essay. Need essay sample on diabetes mellitus (dm) we will write a cheap essay sample on diabetes mellitus (dm) specifically for you for only $1290/page. Diabetes mellitus (dm) is a common and potentially serious, chronic metabolic condition which is characterized predominantly by hyperglycemia and other manifestations.\nDiabetes mellitus (dm) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the deficiency or insensitivity of the body to insulin, and exposure of organs to chronic hyperglycemia is the most common medical complication of the. Diabetic typ-2 diabetes is a chronic condition marked by abnormally high blood sugar level the two types of diabetes are type-1 and type-2type 1 is a condition of non- production of insulin in the body earlier known noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (niddm) is now known as diabetes type 2. Free essay on research paper on diabetes mellitus available totally free at echeatcom, the largest free essay community.\nEssays, term papers, book reports, research papers on health free papers and essays on diabetes mellitus we provide free model essays on health, diabetes mellitus reports, and term paper samples related to diabetes mellitus. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 2 increases depending on the level of obesity and the sedentary lifestyle (laffel, svoren, & wolfsdorf, 2014) t2dm and comorbidities are risk factors for vascular diseases later in life. This research paper is on diabetes mellitus people with type 1 diabetes are most often identifying as children or young adults and produce.\nFree essay on diabetes treatment available totally free at echeatcom, the largest free essay community. Diabetes essay bernard december 11, 2010 essay samples, essays on health sample essay words 2,717 introduction there are two types of diabetes mellitus. Science assignment essay writing help on: diabetes mellitus diabetes mellitus type 1 complicate the situation by causing other vision problems for example.\nThis is when blood cells not only ignore insulin but also prevent glucose absorption in to the body, hence resulting to its build up in the blood (braham, 201. Diabetes mellitus i essay - case studies buy best quality custom written diabetes mellitus i essay. An ethical dilemma exists when the right thing to do is not clear or when members of the health care team cannot agree on the right thing to. Diabetes pathophysiology the disease diabetes mellitus affects various body systems diabetes mellitus can affect the body s insulin production, how the.\nType 2 diabetes essay type 2 diabetes essay diabetes mellitus (dm) is a multisystem disease with both biochemical. Health term papers (paper 18065) on diabetes : what is diabetes diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by high levels of.\nDiabetes and periodontal disease are (insulin dependant diabetes mellitus) the interrelationship between periodontitis and diabetes provides an example of. Read this essay on diabetes diabetes diabetes mellitus or just diabetes is a disease that is affecting america it is the most common. Open document below is an essay on diabetes mellitus a long term condition from anti essays, your source for research papers, essays, and term paper examples.\nHere is your short essay on diabetes diabetes mellitus, commonly called as diabetes is a disease of metabolic disorder where the blood sugar levels tend to remain high either because insufficient insulin is produced in pancreas or because the cells not responding to the insulin produced. Diabetes mellitus is a syndrome management of the disease process should include eliminating or minimizing other cardiovascular risk factors for example. A brief discussion of what diabetes is, the differences between type i and type ii diabetes, risk factors for diabetes and controlling diabetes. Diabetes mellitus type 2 summary diabetes is a complex disease, whose successful management requires a comprehensive approach to acquire the necessary self.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Grammatical cohesion in translating English media discourse into Arabic\nKais A. Kadhim, Sohar University, Oman; Abstract: Cohesive markers help to relate words and sentences together in the text. Also, they make the whole text united and meaningful resulting from their functions in linking the sentences. While translating from the SL to the TL, the translator may not translate the whole cohesive markers or translate them incorrectly which affect the communicative meaning of the SL. In this study, the researcher will make use of Halliday and Hasan (1976) model of cohesion to identify cohesive markers used in Arabic and English texts, and only focusing on References as cohesive markers. The source English texts are taken from The New York Times and The Washington Post online articles, their translated Arabic versions are taken from the online Arabic newspaper, namely, Asharq Al-Awsat. Also, the study will adopt Nida’s translation techniques (1964) to identify the translation techniques used to translate English grammatical cohesive markers into Arabic text. The results showed that two techniques of Nida are appeared in analysis ‘Alteration’ and ‘Subtraction’, besides; one new technique is appeared in this study, namely ‘Sustaining’. By identifying the translation techniques used in translating the cohesive markers, the translators or the linguists will be aware of these techniques.\nKeywords: Cohesion, References, Technique, Alteration, Subtraction\n917 01 Trnava\n+421 948 632253", "label": "No"} {"text": "Written by VY Ambassador, Sarah Schwefel\nSarah Schwefel is certified in endocannabinoid medicine from the American Journal of Endocannabinoid Medicine.\nWhen it comes to shopping for Mother's Day, moms can be difficult to shop for. How many times have we heard our moms say, “they don’t really need anything,” yet we know they deserve it all. Moms do it all, this year let’s get the special women in our lives a gift that will give them much needed me- time.\nVital You’s Mother's Day bundle has everything Mom needs to unwind and take a moment for herself. The bundle comes with a luxurious bath bomb, candle, and skin salve to remind her she deserves moments of relaxation and self-love.\nThe “Cherished Skin Salve” is a rejuvenating blend that hydrates, uplifts, and soothes the skin. Made with calendula, pink rose, bergamot, and more, the salve brings the spa home- turning the everyday beauty routine into self-love experience. Topped with a pink Himalayan salt crystal it brings centering and grounding energies, abundance, and prosperity.\nSpeaking of bringing the Spa home, soaking in the “You’re a Gem” bath bomb alongside the aromatic candle will make mom feel like she just had a 5-star massage. This heart-shaped bath bomb has 50mg of CBD- helping to release tension in the body along with a refreshing blend of ylang-ylang, rosemary, rose, orange, lemon, and vanilla. Fusing herbal medicine and hemp to create a unique healing experience, this bomb is infused with heart chakra flower and gemstone essences. Gemstone essence helps to balance the body and mind bringing peace and serenity. The heart chakra flower essence brings feelings of compassion, joy, self-love, wonder, and bliss; everything our mothers bring to us. Soaking alongside the Gardenia and Grass candle by Wax Crescent will give the moms in our lives a moment for themselves that is much needed and deserved.\nEvery day of the year the mothers in our lives show up for us. They bring a beauty and love into our lives that no one else can. They help us look for rainbows among the storms and hold our umbrellas when we need them too. Let's give our moms a gift as beautiful as they are, a moment for themselves and to relax, and remind them how much we appreciate them. To me, this bundle says it all. It says, “Mom, I love you and appreciate everything you do for me. This year I want you to take a moment for you and continue to, because for all you do, you deserve it.”\n*Vital You makes no medical claims.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In loving memory of a dear wife, mother, grand-mother, great-grandmother, sister, auntie and friend to many. Beryl was extremely caring, always looking out for others, her friends and family are lucky to have had their lives graced by her love.\nBeryl passed away peacefully at home, made comfortable by the District Nurses, the staff of Caremark and St Peter's Hospice, she kept her sense of humour right up to the very end.\nVery kind donation from Mrs S A Bragg.\nIn memory of my mum\nFrom all your friends at Percy Walker Court\nOur most sincere condolences to the whole family. It is a blessing that she was able to be comfortable in her own home and be at peace.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This mistress was hired to extract info from this business executive and she did a stellar job of it as she tortured him until he revealed the most intimate and intricate details of his company. The mistress was armed with a rod and with her high heels and made him give her all the details she wanted. He was afraid of the pain she was about to inflict on him while he was tied and that is why he talked.\nLady Scarlet and her friends had a problem with how rude this guy was. He was rude to them as well as other people including the elderly and these mistresses felt that it was time for him to learn his lesson. That lesson was taught to him in a way that he had never imagined. He was trampled from head to toe by the mistresses who did it at the same time.\nThis girl had snitched on mistress Nicole and her friends and she had to be taught a lesson as the mistresses did not want to have snitches near them. So the mistresses chose to dominate her by torturing her with their cigarettes and also painting her face with their make up. She was humiliated until she learned the value of keeping her mouth shut. She never again snitched after that.\nThis slave was insubordinate and these mistresses were not going to allow him to mess things up. So the mistresses chose to dominate and punish him to make him change. He was not supposed to continue with that behavior and have that attitude so the mistresses used their cigarettes to torture him. He was in a lot of pain after what they did to him but there was nothing he could do about it.\nLady Zora was angered by her boyfriend but he learned his mistake and he begged her for mercy. She chose to make him lick her feet and her shoes before she forgave him. Lady Zora knew she would not get such a good opportunity soon so she took full advantage of it. It was a lot of fun for her and she enjoyed herself to the max at his expense.\nMistress Enola and this guy were competitors and they had agreed to compete fairly. But she found out that the guy was cheating and she could not stomach it. So she punished him by trampling him and crushing his head so as to pump some sense into it as it looked like the sense had gone out of his head. He apologized for his misdeeds and he promised to change.\nLady Sarah was hired to punish this guy for cheating on his spouse and she took the job as it paid handsomely. She took him to the woods and she tied him to a tree while he was naked and she enjoyed kicking him and even using him for target practice by throwing some items at him. He felt the pain of his life as she did so but he knew he had brought it all on himself.\nThis slave needed some reminding on who was the boss. So the mistress used her plug to stretch him as she felt that was more humiliating than anything else she could have done to him. The mistress enjoyed teasing him and making him lick her plug before she made him sit on it and it went into his ass. He was humiliated but he had no choice but to do it.\nThis slave was too unruly for mistress Sofi. She had to make sure he learned to respect and to obey her so she used her butt to crush him and pump some sense into his head. She placed his head on a wooden chair and she ass crushed it and when she was done, she also stood on it and trampled it. He learned his lesson and he never messed with her again.\nGoddess Lena wanted to dominate this slave and she chose his nipples to torture. She pulled them and pinched them. She could see he was in a lot of pain but she did not care. She laughed at him as he cried and begged her to let him go. She only let him go after she felt she was done with him. He never pissed her off as he was afraid of what she would do to him.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Neural dialogue models, despite their successes, still suffer from lack of relevance, diversity, and in many cases coherence in their generated responses. These issues have been attributed to reasons including (1) short-range model architectures that capture limited temporal dependencies, (2) limitations of the maximum likelihood training objective, (3) the concave entropy profile of dialogue datasets resulting into short and generic responses, and (4) out-of-vocabulary problem leading to generation of a large number of $<$UNK$>$ tokens. Autoregressive transformer models such as GPT-2, although trained with the maximum likelihood objective, do not suffer from the out-of-vocabulary problem and have demonstrated an excellent ability to capture long-range structures in language modeling tasks. In this paper, we examine the use of autoregressive transformer models for multi-turn dialogue response generation. In our experiments, we employ small and medium GPT-2 models (with publicly available pretrained language model parameters) on the open-domain Movie Triples dataset and the closed-domain Ubuntu Dialogue dataset. The models (with and without pretraining) achieve significant improvements over the baselines for multi-turn dialogue response generation. They also produce state-of-the-art performance on the two datasets based on several metrics, including BLEU, ROGUE, and distinct n-gram.", "label": "No"} {"text": "“O Remember, Remember”\nPresident Henry B. Eyring\nSecond Counselor in the First Presidency\nWhen our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us to our property.\nHe smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps towards the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”\nI went inside. I didn’t go to bed, although I was tired. I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not do it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenanted disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.\nI wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write I would ponder the question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?”\nAs I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.\n“More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance — even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened…\nMy point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done.\n“The Living Waters of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”\nElder Quentin L. Cook\nOf the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles\nBrothers and sisters, President Hinckley extended this call to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve late Thursday afternoon. I cannot possibly articulate the kaleidoscope of feelings I have experienced since then. There have been sleepless nights and much prayer. My spirits have been buoyed however by the knowledge that President Hinckley is the prophet and that the membership of the Church will be praying for me and my family. To say that I feel deeply inadequate would be an understatement …\nThe overwhelming feeling that I have in receiving this call is that we must live by faith and not by fear…\nSister Cook and I were in Vavahu in the Tongan Islands on one occasion. I had just spoken about following the Prophet in the general session of Stake Conference. At the luncheon following the conference, I sat next to a distinguished elderly patriarch. He indicated how grateful he was to hear what the Prophet was teaching.\nHe gave me the following account: Vavahu, which is a relatively small island, usually has sufficient rain, but periodically there are severe droughts. The island has long inlets or bays almost like sounds, which curl into the island below steep hills. When drought conditions left the village without water there was only one way they could obtain fresh water and stay alive. Over the centuries, they had found that fresh water traveled down through rock formations inside the mountains and came up in a few spots in the sea.\nThe Tongan men would set off in their small boats with a wise elder standing at one end of the boat looking for just the right spot. The strong young men in the boats stood ready with containers to dive deep into the seawater. When they reached the appropriate spot, the wise man would raise both arms to heaven. That was the signal. The strong young men would dive off the boat as deep as they could and fill the containers with fresh spring water.\nThis old patriarch likened this life-saving tradition to the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the wise man to God’s prophet here on earth. He noted that the water was pure, fresh and in their drought condition life saving, but it was not easy to find. It was not visible to the untrained eye. This patriarch wanted to know everything the prophet was teaching.\nWe live in a precarious time. The world is in desperate need of the fresh spring water, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. We should listen intently to the Prophet as we make choices.\n“Don’t Leave for Tomorrow What You Can Do Today”\nElder Claudio R. M. Costa\nOf the Presidency of the Seventy\nWe know God has taught us for centuries how to protect and take care of our families. We also know and can see that the adversary has been attacking the family. Now is the time to use all those teachings. Now is the time to perform our God-given duties concerning the family …\nIn the Family Proclamation we … learn that, “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.\nIn these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.”\nIt is in the home that the family learns and applies gospel principles. Great love is necessary in order to teach and guide a family. Loving fathers and mothers will teach their children to worship God in their home. When a worshipping attitude/spirit permeates the home, that attitude/spirit is extended into the lives of each family member. This will prepare them to do whatever sacrifice is necessary to be able to return to God’s presence and stay together as a family for all eternity.\nThe Family Proclamation helps us understand much of the love of the Savior refers to when He told us must love one another. He gave us the supreme example of love when He declared, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” He later atoned for all our sins, and finally gave His life for all of us.\nWe can lay down our lives to those we love not physically dying for them, but rather living for them — giving of our time, always being present in their lives, serving them, being courteous, affectionate, and showing true love for those of our family, and to all men as the Savior taught.\n“Mothers Who Knew”\nSister Julie B. Beck\nOf the Relief Society Presidency\nIn the Book of Mormon, we read about two thousand exemplary young men who were exceedingly valiant, courageous and strong. “Yea they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.” These faithful young men paid tribute to their mothers. They said, “Our mothers knew it.” I suspect that the mothers of Captain Moroni, Mosiah, Mormon and other great leaders also knew.\nThe responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. Children are being born into a world where they “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual darkness in high places.” However, mothers need not fear. When mothers know who they are, who God is, and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children.\nMothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are ‘becoming less valued,’ in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children…\nMothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants…\nMothers who know are nurturers …\nMothers who know are leaders. In equal partnership with their husbands, they lead a great eternal organization. These mothers plan for the future of their organization. They plan for missions, temple marriages and education. They plan for prayer, scripture study, and Family Home Evening. Mothers who know build children into future leaders and the primary examples of what leaders look like…\nWho will prepare this righteous generation of sons and daughters? Latter-day Saint women will do this — women who know the Lord and bear testimony of Him.\n“Small and Simple Things”\nElder Christoffel Golden Jr.\nOf the Seventy\nAlma, the Book of Mormon prophet, aptly remarked, “Now ye may suppose that this foolishness in me; but…by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and … by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.”\nQuite recently I was privileged to observe this process in the life of a brother named Stan, who had been less active for some forty-five years. He had lived a good life and supported both his wife and a son in their activity as faithful members in the Church. Yet for personal reasons he chose to remain outside the fellowship of the Church. Even so, each month he welcomed the home teachers.\nDuring February 2006, Stan received new home teachers. Their first visit was pleasant enough …Their next visit did little to alter their initial observations, even though Stan was a little warmer and friendlier.\nOn their third visit, however, there was as visible change in Stan’s countenance and demeanor … he and his wife had commenced reading one chapter a day from the Book of Mormon.\nElder Bruce R. McConkie eloquently described the type of reawakening Stan experienced. “Here is a man who gains a copy of this blessed book, begins to read it, and continues … until, having read it all, his famished soul is filled with the bread of life. He cannot lay it aside or ignore its teachings. It is as though the waters of life are flowing into the barren deserts of his soul, quenching the arid, empty feeling that theretofore separated him from his God” …\nStan’s thirst for learning and rediscovery of the restored gospel soon expanded his reading beyond one chapter a day, accompanied by deep soul searching and fervent prayer.\n“Clean Hands and a Pure Heart”\nElder David A. Bednar\nOf the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles\nBrothers and sisters, it is possible for us to have clean hands but not have a pure heart. Please notice that both clean hands and a pure heart are required to ascend into the hill of the Lord and to stand in His holy place.\nLet me suggest that hands are made clean through the process of putting off the natural man and by overcoming sin and the evil influences in our lives through the Savior’s Atonement. Hearts are purified as we receive His strengthening power to do good and become better. All of our worthy desires and good works, as necessary as they are, can never produce clean hands and a pure heart.\nIt is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that provides both a cleansing and redeeming power that helps us to overcome sin and a sanctifying and strengthening power that helps us to become better than we ever could by relying upon our own strength. The infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us.\nIn the Book of Mormon, we find the masterful teachings of King Benjamin concerning the mission and Atonement of Jesus Christ. The simple doctrine he taught caused the congregation to fall to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them. “And they viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.\nAgain in this verse we find the twofold blessing of both forgiveness of sin, suggesting clean hands, and the transformation of our nature, signifying pure hearts.\nAs King Benjamin concluded his instruction, he reiterated the importance of these two basic aspects of spiritual development.\n“And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you — that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God — I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor.”\nOur sincere desire should be to have both clean hands and a pure heart — both a remission of sins from day to day and to walk guiltless before God. Clean hands alone will not be enough when we stand before Him who is pure, and who as “a lamb without blemish and without spot” freely spilled His precious blood for us.\n“The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain”\nPresident Gordon B. Hinckley\nOf the First Presidency\nThe Church has become one large family scattered across the earth. There are now more than 13 million of us in 176 nations and territories. A marvelous and wonderful thing is coming to pass. The Lord is fulfilling His promise that His gospel shall be as the stone cut out of the mountain without hands which would roll forth and fill the whole earth, as Daniel saw in vision. A great miracle is taking place right before our eyes …\nWhen the Church was organized in 1830, there were but six members, only a handful of believers, all residing in a largely unknown village. Today, we have become the fourth or fifth largest Church in North America, with congregations in every city of any consequence. Stakes of Zion today flourish in every state of the United States, in every province of Canada, in every state in Mexico, in every nation of Central America and throughout South America.\nCongregations are found throughout the British Isles and Europe, where thousands have joined the Church through the years. This work has reached out to the Baltic nations, and on down through Bulgaria, Albania, and other areas of that part of the world. It reaches across the vast area of Russia. It reaches up into Mongolia and all down through the nations of Asia into the islands of the Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand, and into India and Indonesia. It is flourishing in many of the nations of Africa.\nOur general conferences are carried by satellite and other means in 92 different languages.\nAnd this is only the beginning. This work will continue to grow and prosper and move across the earth …\nThe Book of Mormon is the only book ever published, of which I know, that carries in it a promise that one who reads it prayerfully and asks concerning it in prayer will have revealed to him by the power of the Holy Ghost a knowledge that it is true.\nSince its first publication in a rural print shop in Palmyra, New York, there have been more than 133 million copies produced. It has been translated into 105 languages. Not long ago, it was named one on the twenty most influential books ever published in North America.\nRecently a first edition sold for $105,000. But the cheapest paperback edition is as valuable to the reader who loves it language and message.”", "label": "No"} {"text": "Unleashing the Power of 5G Internet: A Technological Marvel with Environmental and Societal Implications\nThe fifth generation of wireless technology, commonly referred to as 5G, is revolutionizing the way we connect to the internet and communicate with the world. 5G is more than just an upgrade to 4G; it’s a technological leap that promises faster speeds, lower latency, and a multitude of applications that have the potential to transform our lives.\nIn this article, we will delve into the definition of 5G, explore its potential benefits, discuss its impact on the environment and wildlife, and evaluate its advantages and disadvantages.\n5G stands for the fifth generation of wireless technology, and it represents a significant step forward from its predecessors. Unlike previous generations, 5G operates on a broader frequency spectrum, utilizing both sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave (mmWave) bands. This expanded spectrum enables 5G to offer remarkable data speeds and exceptionally low latency, making it ideal for various applications, including IoT (Internet of Things), autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality, and more.\nHow 5G Is Helpful for Us\n- 5G promises blazing-fast internet speeds, which means smoother video streaming, quicker downloads, and seamless video conferencing, making it easier to work and connect with people worldwide.\n- The low latency and capacity of 5G enable the proliferation of IoT devices, making smart homes, cities, and industries a reality.\n- This enhances convenience, efficiency, and sustainability.\n- 5G supports cloud-based services and edge computing, ushering in a new era of computing where data processing happens closer to the source.\n- This results in faster and more responsive applications.\nEffects on Our Environment\n- 5G networks are designed to be more energy-efficient than their predecessors, which can help reduce the carbon footprint of telecommunications infrastructure.\n- As 5G extends the life of existing devices and enables the repurposing of older electronics, it may lead to a reduction in electronic waste.\nEffects on Birds\n- There have been concerns about the potential impact of 5G radiation on birds and other wildlife. Research is ongoing, but so far, there is no conclusive evidence that 5G technology is harmful to birds.\n- The frequencies used in 5G are generally considered safe for humans, and similar safety standards are typically applied to wildlife.\nAdvantages of 5G\n- 5G offers significantly faster data speeds, which can improve the performance of applications, reduce buffering times, and support high-quality video streaming.\n- With lower latency, 5G enables real-time interactions and enhances applications like online gaming, autonomous vehicles, and remote surgery.\n- The extensive connectivity and low power requirements of 5G pave the way for a massive expansion of IoT devices, transforming how we interact with our surroundings.\nDisadvantages of 5G\n- Deploying 5G networks requires substantial infrastructure investments, including the installation of many small cell towers and antennas, which can be costly and time-consuming.\n- Some individuals have expressed concerns about potential health risks associated with 5G radiation, although current scientific consensus suggests that 5G is safe within established limits.\n- The rollout of 5G is not uniform, and some regions may lag behind in receiving its benefits, leading to a digital divide between urban and rural areas.\n- 5G technology is a remarkable leap forward in the world of telecommunications and connectivity.\n- It has the potential to transform our lives by enabling faster and more responsive internet services, supporting the growth of IoT, and revolutionizing the next generation of computing.\n- While concerns about its environmental impact and potential health risks exist, ongoing research and the development of regulations aim to address these issues.\n- As we move forward with the adoption of 5G, it’s essential to balance the benefits with the need to mitigate any potential drawbacks, ensuring a brighter and more connected future for all.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Staff Photo by Erin Sockolof\nHave you ever been prescribed an opioid? Maybe you had your wisdom teeth removed or you broke a bone. Or perhaps you are one of the millions of Americans living with chronic pain. You might be surprised to learn that those people with chronic pain might have had to fight for years to get access to pain-relieving medications.\nBecause of the media portrayal of the opioid epidemic, the US government has placed extreme restrictions on who can access these medications. As a result, chronic pain sufferers are repeatedly denied access to a better life. The only real relief for these patients comes in the form of deep sleep. The only time these people are not in pain is when they are unconscious.\nWhy would doctors allow their patients to live like this? Let me tell you why. Of all chronic pain patients who are prescribed opioid medications, 21 to 29 percent misuse them, and 8 to 12 percent develop an addiction or disorder. As a result of this, the United States government punishes the providers who prescribe these medications. Doctors are sent to prison every year because they “over-prescribe” or accidentally prescribe to an addict. Because of these risks, doctors have become afraid to give these medications to those who need them the most.\nDoctors are being prevented from adequately treating patients because of a small percentage of the population’s indiscretions. To change this, we need to change the narrative. People need to know the truth.\nLife with chronic pain is a miserable one. Conditions like Fibromyalgia, Osteoporosis, Arthritis and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome can cause debilitating pain and permanent joint damage. Medications like Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen don’t do anything to lessen the pain. However, as any chronic pain sufferer could tell you, they don’t work. Opioid drugs like Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Tramadol are typically last-ditch resorts to remove some of the pain. However, for people dealing with these conditions, they may need to become a daily reality just to get out of bed.\nThat kind of pain can drive people to do crazy things. So wouldn’t it make sense to treat the pain with something that works? To the average person, yes. But it’s just not that black and white. Pain patients know all too well the struggles of getting treatment. They endure years of being called crazy or hypochondriacs. They are regularly called drug seekers, constantly told they are faking it and are even gaslit by their doctors—all in the hopes of waking up one day and not dreading the next 12 hours.\nWe need to give people access to the medications they deserve. The government needs to loosen its grasp on the healthcare system and let doctors treat patients. Society as a whole needs to redefine the way we approach drug abuse. But most importantly, doctors need to be able to trust their patients when they say, “I have chronic pain.”", "label": "No"} {"text": "When news came out that Matt Walst of My Darkest Days and the brother of Three Days Grace’s bass guitarist, Brad Walst, will be the new vocalist, everyone expected it won’t be as good as Adam Gontier being in it.\nI beg to differ as Matt wrote depressing and angry lyrics to the band’s new album “Human” that had a similar tone to “Life Starts Now”, but the only difference is the voice of Matt Walst.\nMatt and others who worked on it made the songs sound like a different perspective of humanity than what we are generally seeing everyday. The whole album describes those dark side in form of feelings that most humans had felt. It all starts with a hatred for the human race in the first song of the album, “Human Race”.\nIt then escalated to the point where some form of pain killers were used to ease the pain of some kind in “Pain Killer”, but also including that the song may reference to drug addiction, to the anger towards humanity in “Landmines”.\nNext, it reaches the point where it feels more of being a machine than being a human as the feeling of being human is numbed out by something that has been broken, therefore, becoming more of a machine which has no human feeling.\nTowards the end of the album, the last time songs “The End Is Not The Answer” and “The Real You” presents the feelings of one who is running from their problems with horrible solutions with bad consequences. However, they are sung in the perspective of voice of reasoning. For example, in “The End Is Not The Answer”, the voice of reasoning is telling not to give up because they are simply not alone in whatever situation. As for “The Real You”, it presents the idea of a person running from their real self while someone from the outside is trying to make them understand that they know the real them and trying to convince that person to going back to their real selves.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. A person with a personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and to people. This causes significant problems and limitations in relationships, social activities, work, and school.\nIn some cases, a person may not realize that they have a personality disorder because their way of thinking and behaving seems natural to them, even though they may realize and acknowledge their patterns are destructive or causing problems.\nThere are several types of personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and others. Each type has specific symptoms and characteristics but are all characterized by deeply ingrained, inflexible patterns of thinking, feeling, or relating to others or controlling impulses which cause impairment or distress.\nCauses of Personality disorder\nThere are several hypothesized causes of Personality Disorders. These involve multifaceted interactions of genetic, environmental, and social factors. Here are some of the commonly associated causes:\n1. Genetic Factors: Personality disorders may have a genetic predisposition. They are believed to have a multifactorial inheritance which means they are influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.\n2. Brain Abnormalities: Some research suggests that changes and abnormalities in certain areas of the brain could lead to behavioral symptoms observed in personality disorders.\n3. Environmental Factors: Exposure to a hostile or unstable environment during childhood, including neglect or abuse, may increase the risk of developing a personality disorder.\n4. Childhood Trauma: There’s strong evidence that various forms of early life trauma and abuse can contribute to the development of certain types of personality disorders.\n5. Social Factors: High levels of parental criticism, low socioeconomic status, and being raised in a chaotic or unstable family environment have all been related to the development of a personality disorder.\n6. Childhood Experiences: Certain personality traits and behaviours can be identified early in childhood or adolescence. When these are particularly rigid or maladaptive, they can lead to a diagnosis of personality disorder in adulthood.\nIt is essential to note that these causes are general factors. Each kind of personality disorder has its unique features and causes. Moreover, the presence of these factors does not guarantee that one will develop a personality disorder, and absence of them doesn’t mean one won’t develop it. The development of personality disorders is a complex interaction of many factors, and it’s still not entirely understood.\nRisk Factors of Personality disorder\nPersonality disorders are long-term patterns of behavior and relationships which deviate significantly from cultural expectations. They can produce distress for the individual and/or others, and impact overall function in life. The exact cause of personality disorders isn’t known, but certain risk factors can increase the chances of developing these disorders:\n1. Family History: If you have a family history of mental health disorders, such as personality disorders or other mental illnesses, you are more likely to develop a personality disorder.\n2. Childhood Abuse or Neglect: Early life experiences like abuse, neglect, and trauma can make a person more vulnerable to developing a personality disorder later in life.\n3. Genetics: Genetic and biological factors can also play a role in predisposition to these disorders. Certain personality traits may be inherited, which can contribute to the development of a personality disorder.\n4. Verbal and Emotional Abuse: Chronic and severe emotional, physical, or verbal abuse during childhood can increase the likelihood of a personality disorder.\n5. Unstable Family Life: A chaotic family life, inconsistent discipline, or a lack of positive role models can also increase the risk of personality disorders.\n6. Brain Chemistry and Structure: There may be certain differences in the brain structure and chemistry of people with personality disorders, though these connections are still being studied.\n7. Other mental health disorders: Presence of other mental health disorders like anxiety disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse etc. may also contribute to the risk of developing a personality disorder.\nPlease note that these risk factors do not guarantee that a personality disorder will develop, but they increase the chances. Many people with one or more risk factors never develop a personality disorder, while others may develop such conditions without any known risk factors.\nSigns and Symptoms of Personality disorder\nPersonality disorders are classified into three different clusters: Cluster A (odd, eccentric), Cluster B (dramatic, erratic), and Cluster C (anxious, fearful). Symptoms can vary widely depending on the specific type of personality disorder, but some common signs and symptoms can include:\n1. Persistent patterns of thought, feelings, and behavior that significantly differ from what’s expected in a person’s culture.\n2. Difficulty with perceiving and relating to situations and to people, causing significant problems and limitations in relationships, social encounters, work and school.\n3. In some cases, individuals may have a distorted self-image or self-identity, and may have a perception of reality that differs significantly from the norm.\n4. Impulsive, risky, or self-destructive behaviors could be present, especially with Cluster B personality disorders, i.e., antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic personality disorders.\n5. People with personality disorders often have intense and unstable relationships, swinging from extreme closeness and love (idealization) to extreme dislike or anger (devaluation).\n6. There could be hostility, aggression or violence, frequent outbursts of anger, or difficulty controlling emotions or impulses.\n7. Another common symptom is suspiciousness of others or ongoing feelings of emptiness, detachment or isolation.\n8. Anxious, fearful, dependent, or obsessive-compulsive behaviors are often seen in those with Cluster C personality disorders, which include avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.\n9. Some people may also experience periods of stress-related paranoia or loss of contact with reality.\nIt’s important to note that personality disorders are complex and difficult to diagnose, as many of the traits and symptoms can overlap or be present in other mental health conditions. It is crucial to consult a mental health professional to get an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.\nDiagnosis Personality disorder\nPersonality Disorder is a type of mental disorder characterized by a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning, and behaving. A person with a personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people, which significantly impair their ability to function socially, at work, or school, and sometimes even in other areas.\nThere are several types of personality disorders, which are typically grouped into three clusters based on similar characteristics and symptoms.\nCluster A: Odd, eccentric thinking or behavior (such as Paranoid personality disorder, Schizotypal personality disorder, and Schizoid personality disorder).\nCluster B: Dramatic, overly emotional or unpredictable thinking or behavior (like Antisocial personality disorder, Borderline personality disorder, Histrionic personality disorder, and Narcissistic personality disorder).\nCluster C: Anxious and fearful thinking or behavior (such as Avoidant personality disorder, Dependent personality disorder, and Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder).\nThe exact cause of personality disorders is not known, but they are believed to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental influences. Treatment typically involves psychotherapy, although medications can also be used to manage associated issues like depression or anxiety. Please consult a mental health professional for a proper diagnosis and treatment.\nTreatment of Personality disorder\nTreating personality disorders takes time, commitment, and professional help. While there are different types of personality disorders, the following are some of the common treatments being used:\n1. Psychotherapy: It is the main way to treat personality disorders. This could be individual therapy, group therapy, or family therapy. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help the person to identify and change thought and behavior patterns that lead to problematic behaviors.\n2. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): This type of therapy is often used for borderline personality disorder. DBT focuses on skills for mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.\n3. Schema-focused therapy: It can help people to identify and change negative belief patterns.\n4. Medication: Although there’s no specific drug to treat personality disorders, various medications can help with symptoms or co-occurring problems like depression, anxiety, or impulsiveness. These can include antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotic drugs, and anti-anxiety medications.\n5. Self-Care: Regular physical activity, adequate rest, and good nutrition can all help your mental health.\n6. Peer Support: Support groups for people who experience similar issues can help individuals feel less alone and learn other successful coping strategies.\nRemember, the effectivity of each treatment varies from person to person. If a person’s personality disorder is severe or they’re at risk of injuring themselves or others, they may need hospital treatment.\nMedications commonly used for Personality disorder\nTreatment for personality disorders often involves a combination of psychotherapy and medication. While no drugs have been approved by the FDA specifically for the treatment of personality disorders, certain types of medications can be used off-label to alleviate symptoms. Here are some of the most commonly used:\n1. Antidepressants: Even if a person does not have a co-existing depressive disorder, they may be given antidepressants. These drugs can help with symptoms such as chronic sadness, impulsivity, irritability, or hopelessness.\n2. Mood Stabilizers: These are most often used in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Mood stabilizers can help manage mood swings and reduce impulsivity.\n3. Antipsychotic Medications: Atypical antipsychotic drugs are often used to manage symptoms like distorted thinking or to modulate mood, particularly in people with borderline, paranoid, or schizotypal personality disorders.\n4. Anti-anxiety Medications: Benzodiazepines and other anti-anxiety drugs are sometimes used, but cautiously, due to the potential for dependency.\n5. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): These antidepressants work by altering the amount of serotonin (a key brain chemical) that is available for the neurons in certain regions of the brain. They may be useful for people with obsessive-compulsive, borderline, or avoidant personality disorders.\nMedications should be administered as part of a broader treatment plan that usually includes psychotherapy. As all medications have side effects and potential risks, they should be prescribed by a qualified healthcare professional who can monitor the patient’s response and adjust the treatment as needed.\nPrevention of Personality disorder\nPreventing personality disorders can be complex, but experts suggest several approaches that can help:\n1. Early Intervention: It’s vital to identify signs and symptoms of personality disorders at an early stage. If a child shows disruptive behavior or extreme mood swings, professional help can be sought to deal with these issues before they develop into a full-blown personality disorder.\n2. Mental Health Education: Education about mental health should be provided to children and adults alike. Understanding mental health can lead to early detection and treatment.\n3. Therapy/Counseling: Regular counseling or therapy sessions can be highly beneficial in preventing personality disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy can be effective in helping individuals change patterns of thinking and behavior.\n4. Healthy Lifestyle: Regular exercise, balanced nutrition, adequate sleep, stress management, and abstaining from alcohol and drugs can also contribute to better mental health.\n5. Family Support: Family and friends play a key role in early detection and support. It’s important to foster an environment where individuals feel comfortable expressing their feelings and concerns and where they are encouraged to seek help if needed.\n6. Avoid Child Abuse and Neglect: Children who are abused or neglected are at higher risk of developing personality disorders later in life. Thus, prevent child abuse and neglect is crucial.\n7. Peer Support: Surrounding oneself with positive, supportive peer influences can help shape behaviors and attitudes in a more grounded, healthful direction.\n8. Regular Mental Health Check-ups: Just as one might have regular physical health check-ups, periodic mental health check-up is also important to keep tabs on your psychological health.\nKeep in mind that while these methods can help prevent the development of personality disorder, they can’t always eliminate the chance entirely. Genetics and brain chemistry also play a significant role in the development of personality disorders and are not something that can be controlled.\nFAQ’s about Personality disorder\n1. What are personality disorders?\nPersonality disorders are a group of mental health conditions characterized by unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning and behaving. Those with personality disorders have trouble understanding and relating to situations and people, which can lead to problems with relationships and work.\n2. What are the types of personality disorders?\nThere are ten types divided into three groups (clusters): Cluster A (paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders), Cluster B (antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders), and Cluster C (avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders).\n3. What causes personality disorders?\nThe exact cause of personality disorders is not known but it is believed to be a complex mixture of genetic and environmental factors. Abnormalities in the brain, trauma during developmental years, and dysfunctional family life may contribute to the onset of these disorders.\n4. How are personality disorders diagnosed?\nDiagnosis typically involves thorough interview, clinical observation, psychological testing, and gathering detailed medical, social, and family history. Criteria for each disorder are outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).\n5. What treatments are available for personality disorders?\nPsychotherapy (talking therapy) is the main form of treatment. This often involves cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps patients identify and change unhealthy thought and behavior patterns. Sometimes medications, like antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and anti-anxiety drugs may be used to help manage specific symptoms.\n6. Can personality disorders be cured?\nWhile there’s no cure, with the right treatment and strong patient commitment, most people with personality disorders can significantly improve their symptoms and quality of life.\n7. What is living with a personality disorder like?\nAs personality disorders typically develop in adolescence or early adulthood and persist over many years, they can significantly impair an individual’s quality of life. Living with a personality disorder can be challenging, but with the right treatment and support, individuals can learn to manage their symptoms and lead fulfilling lives.\n8. Are personality disorders common?\nYes, they are relatively common. It is estimated that 10-13% of the world’s population have a personality disorder.\n9. Can personality disorders lead to other mental health problems?\nYes, often personality disorders can co-occur with other mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.\nRemember, if you believe you or someone you know may have a personality disorder, it is important to seek professional help. This information should not substitute professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment.\nPersonality disorders are a group of mental health conditions that are characterized by inflexible and unhealthy patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. They can significantly impact a person’s ability to function in daily life and relationships. Here are a few useful resources related to Personality Disorders from various journals:\nRemember, it’s important to consult with healthcare professionals if you or someone else is affected by the symptoms of a personality disorder.\nComplications of Personality disorder\nPersonality disorders are complex mental health conditions that can affect a person’s daily life and relationships in various ways. Here are some possible complications associated with personality disorders:\n1. Impaired Social Relationships: People with personality disorders often find it difficult to maintain healthy social relationships. Their unpredictable, erratic, or overly rigid behavior can push people away, leading to isolation and loneliness.\n2. Mental Health Issues: Personality disorders often coexist with other mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and substance abuse. These can further complicate treatment and recovery.\n3. Impaired Functioning: Many personality disorders are characterized by rigid thinking and inflexible behavior patterns, making it difficult for individuals to adapt to different situations. This could lead to difficulties in work or school and could prevent the individual from living independently.\n4. Self-Harm and Suicide Risk: Some personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder, are associated with a high risk of self-harm and suicide.\n5. Legal Issues and Incarceration: Some personality disorders, particularly antisocial personality disorder, are associated with a higher risk of criminal behavior and incarceration.\n6. Health Issues: Some personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder, have been linked with health problems like heart disease and diabetes, possibly due to unhealthy lifestyle choices or the stress of living with the disorder.\n7. Treatment Resistance: Often, people with personality disorders don’t see their thoughts or behaviors as problematic. This lack of insight can lead to a resistance to treatment, making professional help more challenging.\nRemember, it’s essential to seek professional help if you or someone you know shows signs of a personality disorder. With the right treatment, individuals can lead functional and fulfilling lives.\nHome remedies of Personality disorder\nWhile Personality Disorders are serious mental health conditions often requiring professional treatment, such as psychotherapy or medication, there are some self-care practices that an individual can adopt to supplement regular treatment and improve overall functioning.\nIt’s essential to understand that these home remedies should be combined with professional help rather than substituting it.\n1. Regular Exercise: Regular physical activity can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, which often accompany personality disorders. It can also improve mood, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being.\n2. Balanced Diet: Nutrient-dense foods can provide the brain with the necessary chemicals to function correctly. On the other hand, a diet filled with processed foods and sugar can exacerbate mood swings and negatively impact brain chemistry.\n3. Adequate Sleep: High-quality sleep is vitally important for mental health. Inadequate or low-quality sleep can exacerbate negative thought patterns and emotional dysregulation, which are common in personality disorders.\n4. Meditation and Mindfulness: This helps with self-awareness, an essential aspect of therapy. Understanding your thoughts, feelings, and actions can help control impulsive behaviors and manage mood swings related to some personality disorders.\n5. Stress Management Techniques: Techniques that help manage stress like yoga or deep breathing can be helpful. High levels of stress can worsen the symptoms of personality disorders.\n6. Social Support: Building a robust network of supportive friends, family, and other helpful individuals can play a significant role in managing symptoms of a personality disorder.\n7. Substance Avoidance: Alcohol and drugs often worsen symptoms of personality disorders and may interact negatively with prescribed medications.\n8. Self-Care Activities: These could include relaxation techniques, regular physical activity, and hobbies that provide a distraction from intrusive thoughts or feelings.\nRemember, professional diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up is critical for someone with a personality disorder. These home remedies should work alongside the prescribed treatments to lead a healthier and balanced life.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Sweet Pain and Pleasure - Princess Donna machine dominates her beautiful Blondie, Sara Jane Ceylon\nHave mercy - Princess Donna with her delicious evil domination is armed with fucking machines and let loose on Sara Jane Ceylon to unleash full throttle orgasms and pussy punishment. Princess Donna exploits her intimate kinky knowledge of how much pain and pleasure Sara Jane can endure for a set full of orgasms, suspension bondage, whipping, pussy licking and ass smothering. After two demanding scenes, Sara becomes a machine to please her Dom with the Snake bound tightly to her arms while Donna cranks the dial and cums all over a big black dong. The chemistry between these two hot women is damn near electric as they fuck each other with the tireless machines.", "label": "No"} {"text": "For Jenn Abbott, finishing treatment for breast cancer is like a flying trapeze. Having received her “NED” (no evidence of disease), she is in mid-air, no longer holding on to the bar that represents the medical team that saved her life, while at the same time, not yet catching the second bar that represents the rest of her life after cancer. She is in limbo, facing post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by her cancer treatment which included five surgeries and a severe adverse reaction to chemotherapy that meant she had to stay in the hospital for two weeks. She feels PTSD after cancer treatment is real.\nIf you’re a breast cancer patient who’s experiencing significant depression or anxiety, you’re not alone. Roughly one-quarter of breast cancer patients get help for anxiety or depression during their treatment. There are many reasons a person may feel anxious or depressed because of their cancer diagnosis.", "label": "No"} {"text": "What is moss?\nMoss is a type of small, non-vascular plant that belongs to the Bryophyta division. It is commonly found in moist and shady areas, such as forests, swamps, and gardens.\nMosses are characterized by their soft and cushion-like appearance, as well as their ability to thrive in environments with low nutrient levels.\nThey reproduce through spores and play a crucial role in the ecosystem by providing habitat and food for various organisms.\nAdditionally, moss has been associated with spirituality and symbolism in many cultures, representing resilience, adaptability, and the ability to thrive in challenging conditions.\nHistorical significance of moss\nMoss holds a rich historical significance across various cultures and time periods. In ancient times, moss was revered for its ability to thrive in harsh environments, symbolizing resilience and adaptability. It was often used in traditional medicine for its healing properties and was believed to bring good luck and protection. In folklore, moss was associated with magical and mystical powers, with some cultures believing that it could ward off evil spirits and bring about prosperity. Additionally, moss was used as a natural dye and in the creation of intricate artwork. Today, moss continues to be appreciated for its beauty and symbolism, representing tranquility, harmony, and the interconnectedness of all living things.\nImportance of moss in nature\nMoss, with its delicate and vibrant green appearance, holds a significant importance in the realm of nature. As an essential component of ecosystems, moss plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of various natural habitats.\nIt acts as a natural sponge, absorbing and retaining moisture, thereby preventing soil erosion and providing a favorable environment for other plant species to thrive. Moreover, moss serves as a natural indicator of environmental health, as its presence or absence can indicate the quality of air and water in an ecosystem.\nAdditionally, moss provides shelter and food for a diverse range of insects, birds, and small animals, contributing to the overall biodiversity of an area. In essence, the importance of moss in nature cannot be understated, as it not only enhances the beauty of landscapes but also sustains the delicate web of life that exists within them.\nSymbolism of Moss\nRenewal and rejuvenation\nRenewal and rejuvenation are central themes in the spiritual meaning and symbolism of moss. Moss, with its ability to thrive in moist and shaded environments, represents the power of adaptation and resilience.\nJust as moss can transform a barren landscape into a lush and vibrant one, it reminds us of the importance of embracing change and finding beauty in unexpected places. Moss also symbolizes the cycle of life and death, as it grows and flourishes in the aftermath of decay.\nIt serves as a gentle reminder that even in the darkest times, there is always the potential for growth and renewal.\nAdaptability and resilience\nAdaptability and resilience are two essential qualities that moss symbolizes in the spiritual realm. Just like moss can thrive in various environments, it teaches us the importance of adapting to different situations and embracing change.\nMoss also symbolizes resilience, as it can withstand harsh conditions and continue to grow. It reminds us to stay strong and resilient in the face of challenges, knowing that we have the inner strength to overcome any obstacles that come our way.\nIn a world that is constantly evolving, moss serves as a powerful reminder to embrace adaptability and cultivate resilience in our own lives.\nConnection to the earth\nThe moss has a deep connection to the earth, symbolizing the harmonious relationship between nature and the environment. It serves as a reminder of the importance of grounding ourselves and staying connected to the natural world.\nMoss is often found in areas with high moisture content, thriving in damp and shady environments. This resilience and ability to adapt to different conditions reflect its strong connection to the earth’s energy. Moss also plays a vital role in maintaining ecological balance by providing a habitat for small organisms and helping to retain moisture in the soil.\nIts presence in gardens and forests brings a sense of tranquility and serenity, creating a peaceful atmosphere that encourages a deeper connection to the earth and its healing properties.\nSpiritual Meaning of Moss\nHarmony and balance\nHarmony and balance are essential aspects of the spiritual meaning and symbolism of moss. Moss is often associated with tranquility and peace, as it thrives in calm and moist environments. Just as moss grows in harmony with its surroundings, it reminds us to find balance in our lives.\nIt serves as a gentle reminder to slow down, connect with nature, and cultivate a sense of inner peace. Moss encourages us to embrace the beauty of simplicity and to appreciate the small wonders in life.\nBy incorporating moss into our surroundings, we can create a sense of harmony and balance in our homes and gardens, allowing us to find solace and serenity in the midst of a busy world.\nMoss is known for its powerful healing properties, both physically and spiritually. It has been used for centuries by various cultures as a natural remedy for a wide range of ailments. The soft and velvety texture of moss is believed to have a soothing effect on the skin, making it a popular ingredient in skincare products.\nAdditionally, moss is said to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, making it effective in treating wounds and reducing inflammation. In a spiritual sense, moss is often associated with renewal and growth. Its vibrant green color symbolizes vitality and abundance, and it is believed to attract positive energy and promote a sense of calm and tranquility.\nWhether used in healing rituals or simply enjoyed in nature, moss holds a special place in the realm of spiritual and physical well-being.\nGrounding and centering\nGrounding and centering are essential practices in spirituality and personal growth. When we ground ourselves, we connect with the earth’s energy and establish a strong foundation for our spiritual journey.\nThis process allows us to release any negative or stagnant energy and find balance and stability. Centering, on the other hand, helps us to focus our thoughts and emotions, bringing us into a state of inner calm and clarity.\nBy grounding and centering regularly, we can enhance our spiritual connection, increase our self-awareness, and navigate life’s challenges with greater ease and resilience.\nMoss as a Totem\nWisdom and intuition\nWisdom and intuition are essential aspects of the moss’s spiritual meaning and symbolism. Moss, with its ability to thrive in shady and damp environments, teaches us the importance of adaptability and resilience.\nJust as moss patiently grows and spreads, it reminds us to trust our intuition and follow our inner guidance. Moss is a symbol of deep wisdom and the power of observation. It encourages us to slow down, be present, and listen to the subtle messages of the natural world.\nBy connecting with moss’s energy, we can tap into our own innate wisdom and cultivate a greater sense of intuition in our lives.\nProtection and shelter\nProtection and shelter are essential aspects of the spiritual symbolism of moss. Moss is often associated with providing a safe and nurturing environment for various organisms, including insects, birds, and small animals.\nIts dense and cushiony texture creates a natural barrier, offering protection from harsh weather conditions and predators. Moss also acts as a natural filter, purifying the air and absorbing pollutants, thus contributing to a healthier ecosystem.\nIn this way, moss serves as a symbol of resilience and security, reminding us of the importance of finding refuge and creating a safe haven in our own lives.\nGrowth and abundance\nIn the realm of spirituality, moss is often associated with growth and abundance. Its lush green color and ability to thrive in various environments symbolize the resilience and vitality of life. Moss is a symbol of renewal and rejuvenation, as it has the power to transform barren landscapes into thriving ecosystems.\nJust as moss spreads and covers surfaces, it reminds us of the importance of spreading positivity and nurturing our own growth. The presence of moss in our lives serves as a reminder to embrace change, adapt to new circumstances, and find beauty in unexpected places. It teaches us to appreciate the small miracles and blessings that surround us, even in the most challenging times.\nMoss is a gentle yet powerful symbol of growth and abundance, inviting us to cultivate a mindset of gratitude and abundance in all aspects of our lives.\nCultural Significance of Moss\nMoss in Japanese culture\nMoss holds a significant place in Japanese culture, symbolizing tranquility, harmony, and the passing of time. In Japanese gardens, moss is carefully cultivated and cherished for its lush green color and delicate texture. It is often used to create serene and peaceful atmospheres, as well as to represent the beauty of nature.\nMoss is also associated with the concept of wabi-sabi, which embraces imperfection and impermanence. In Japanese folklore, moss is believed to possess spiritual qualities and is considered a sacred plant. Its presence in temples and shrines is believed to bring good fortune and ward off evil spirits.\nThe reverence for moss in Japanese culture reflects the deep appreciation for the simplicity and beauty found in the natural world.\nMoss in Celtic mythology\nIn Celtic mythology, moss holds a significant place as a symbol of rebirth and renewal. It is believed to be a sacred plant that represents the cycle of life and death.\nMoss is often associated with the ancient Celtic goddess of nature, fertility, and abundance, known as the Green Man. According to Celtic folklore, moss is said to possess magical properties and is used in various rituals and ceremonies. It is also considered a protective charm, bringing good luck and warding off evil spirits.\nThe presence of moss in Celtic mythology reflects the deep connection between the Celts and the natural world, emphasizing their reverence for the earth and its cycles.\nMoss in Native American traditions\nMoss holds significant spiritual meaning and symbolism in Native American traditions. It is revered as a symbol of growth, resilience, and harmony with nature.\nNative American tribes believe that moss possesses healing properties and is capable of purifying the spirit and promoting emotional well-being. Moss is also associated with the element of water, representing the flow of life and the interconnectedness of all living beings.\nIn Native American rituals and ceremonies, moss is often used as an offering to the spirits and as a symbol of grounding and connection to the earth. Its vibrant green color and delicate texture make it a powerful symbol of vitality and renewal in Native American cultures.\nAppreciating the beauty of moss\nMoss, with its delicate and lush green appearance, holds a profound spiritual meaning and symbolism. It is often associated with tranquility, harmony, and a deep connection to nature.\nAppreciating the beauty of moss can be a transformative experience, as it reminds us to slow down, be present, and find solace in the simple wonders of the natural world.\nWhether it is found in a serene forest or adorning a stone wall, moss captivates our senses and invites us to embrace the quiet beauty that exists all around us.\nLiving in harmony with nature\nLiving in harmony with nature is a fundamental concept that has been embraced by various cultures throughout history. It is the belief that humans should strive to coexist peacefully with the natural world, recognizing its importance and interconnectedness.\nBy living in harmony with nature, individuals can cultivate a sense of respect, gratitude, and awe for the Earth’s beauty and abundance. This harmonious relationship allows for a deeper connection with the environment, fostering a greater understanding of the spiritual significance of nature.\nBy embracing this philosophy, we can learn valuable lessons from the moss, a symbol of resilience and adaptability. Just as moss thrives in diverse environments, we too can find strength and inspiration by aligning ourselves with the natural rhythms and cycles of life.\nLiving in harmony with nature not only benefits our own well-being but also contributes to the preservation and sustainability of the planet for future generations.\nEmbracing the spiritual aspects of moss\nMoss, with its delicate and vibrant green appearance, has long been associated with spirituality and symbolism.\nEmbracing the spiritual aspects of moss can bring a sense of peace and tranquility to one’s life. In many cultures, moss is seen as a symbol of growth, renewal, and resilience. Its ability to thrive in even the harshest of environments is a testament to its adaptability and strength.\nBy connecting with moss on a spiritual level, individuals can tap into its energy and find solace in its calming presence.\nWhether used in meditation practices or simply admired for its beauty, embracing the spiritual aspects of moss can bring a deeper connection to nature and a heightened sense of spiritual awareness.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Luna Lark Jun 4, 2021\nLuna’s a lovely, big-boobed, red-haired, large-bodied lass, who has just read the script for what she thought was a part to be an extra in a movie, only to learn that it is a sex scene, so she decides to warm up with her co-star, by ravenously sucking his impressive member, with , demonish hunger, gusto, glee, and adept, oral virtuosity. Then her stud bends her over the bed in standing doggie, ardently licking her from behind before brutishly pounding his monster cock into her, as she moans, and howls, with uncaged, passions. Flipping her onto her back, he voraciously licks her bald, hungry, harlots hole, before barbarously, driving his pork sword into her, in a side missionary, then in spoon, as her fabulous, folds of fatty flesh wiggle, and giggle with his every virile thrust, while she moans, and wails, in hedonistic jubilation. After gluttonously sucking her pussy juice off of his dork, she wildly humps his tower of power in cowgirl, moaning, and crying out, in debauched exultation, as she races towards her perverse Elysian. Returning to doggie, he barbarically slams his meat stick into her, as she bellows, and bawls, with unbridled, primal passions. Then back into missionary, he vehemently plows his steely shaft into her hungry, harlot’s hole, catapulting her into a moaning, shrieking, intoxicated, dick delirium. To cool her off, he sends a fountain of cum gushing into, and all over her mouth and tits, leaving her happily, glazed, and dazed.", "label": "No"} {"text": "How do you show love to people who try to tear you down? How do you love others without comparing yourself and your status in society? How do show love to people who reject you? How do show love to friends who constantly speak about people who have rejected you? How do you show love to someone who will not take communion next to you? . . .\nPosted by Kay Dennis", "label": "No"} {"text": "Impatience the Destroyer\nHow many stories have we heard in our life time of how impatience brought disastrous results. Some of them impacted us to the point of make changes in our lives, yet impatience lurks around ready to wreck havoc.\nSaul's impatience had as much to do with his disregard for the things of God as it had for the fear that had set in his forces. When we treat the things of God as just religion, then we can expect nothing but trouble.\nGod hates religion more than all mankind combined. Christianity the religion is as binding and blinding as any other man made religion. Jesus did not love and die for a religion, but an eternal relationship with Him. It's when we start acting religious by going through the motions with no heart felt reality of it's meaning, is when we fall into the snares of religion.\nDon't be like Saul, impatient; wanting to do things on your own time schedule. Wait on God and let the \"waiting\" renew your strength.\nCreated almost 3 years ago", "label": "No"} {"text": "Using Metaphors to Drive Business - Part 2, the 200-Point Inspection Metaphor\nIn my last blog post, I explained why metaphors are so important and how they can help raise our chops (and our hopes) when it comes to influencing the business side of things. The Seat Belt metaphor used in my previous example may have worked great for some, but not for others. Keeping a few different ones at the ready helps you adapt on-the-fly and better connect with whomever you’re speaking with. Another one of my favorite car metaphors to use is inspections.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Motivational Quotes To Start Your Day, Everyday! by Yee Shun Jian on December th,.Series of Motivational Inspiring quotes and pictures. Something motivational gets our thoughts in a positive mindset each day to motivate and inspire you..Quotes Motivational.com brings you motivational quotes for Overcoming Addiction, and inspirational quotes to inspire healing. For more about the subject of motivational quotes for overcoming addiction visit Quotes Motivational. com.Good quotes! Here’s a few of my favorites “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Michael Jordan.Share the best motivational quotes collection by famous authors, experts on success, goals, life, leadership. Get motivational, inspirational ideas..Want the best motivational quotes? When I need a dose of motivation, I turn to these motivational quotes to kick myself into gear and get into the right mindset for achieving my dreams..\nMotivational quotes for love failure\nShare the best motivational quotes collection by famous authors, experts on success, goals, life, leadership. Get motivational, inspirational ideas..Hate it or love it, the right motivational quotes can inspire you to take action. The other day, I was just sitting there staring at a blank page dragging my feet, procrastinating, lacking motivation..Here is a list of the best inspirational motivational quotes, words, phrases, lines sayings that will help you stay positive, boost your confidence, uplift your spirit so you can believe in yourself to overcome obstacles, never give up, keep pushing forward, achieve your goals, become successful..\n- 7 Motivational Quotes To Start Your Day Everyday\n- Thought Of The Day Thought For The Day Motivational\n- Quotes For Overcoming Addiction Motivational\n- 111 Motivational Business Quotes Serven Design\n- Motivational Quotes Brainyquote\n- 112 Motivational Quotes To Hustle You To Get Sht Done\n- Positive Motivational Quotes About Work\n- 100 Inspirational Motivational Quotes Updated 2018\n- Motivating Quotes Motivational Quotes Employee\n- 56 Motivational And Inspirational Quotes Brian Tracy", "label": "No"} {"text": "(derogatory, chiefly US) A young girl or woman considered vain, spoiled or selfish; a prima donna. Princess is defined as a woman who is the daughter of a king or queen, or the wife or daughter of a king or queens son, or someone who acts or lives like they have the status of a royal person.\nWhat does it mean being called a princess?\nYoung girls are often called a princess. But calling a woman a princess is generally associated with negative personality characteristics of being high maintenance, precious, entitled and spoiled. Its almost never seen as a compliment.\nWhat does it mean to call a girl your princess?\nPrincess has become a common term of endearment for young girls, but its a loaded one. Princess has become a common term of endearment for young girls, but its a loaded one. Princesses are passive ornaments. Theyre dressed up in pretty clothes and paraded around at various functions. . . .\nWhat does it mean to act like a princess?\nWikipedia described it best: Princess sickness (or princess syndrome) is a term used in China and Korea to describe a psychological phenomenon affecting young women, especially teenagers, and can be characterized by numerous psychological disorders, including narcissistic personality disorder, egocentrism and\nWhat are the duties of a princess?\nA medieval princess was educated in various affairs that were to serve her well in later life. This included the management of the household and socially acceptable ways of dispensing charity. Sometimes the education of a princess also included instruction in public affairs, politics, and history.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Mobile massage benefits people of all ages and especially seniors when certain pains come to the fore along with decreased mobility, arthritis and joint pain. Incorporating various massage techniques the masseuse can stimulate blood flow to the muscles and tissues to improve mobility and well being. Moreover the benefits of human touch is without doubt one of life’s greatest pleasures and relaxers with reduced anxiety, healthier looking skin, muscle tone and improved posture. Thus providing a profound sense of well-being to enable the senior to keep active and motivated.\nI shall look forward to hearing from you", "label": "No"} {"text": "Managers have to live with the results the people on their teams produce, so managers should be empowered to make relevant decisions and held responsible for outcomes. If HR constrains decisions too closely—by determining who should be hired, how much they get paid, or their performance ratings—managers no longer have the freedom to obtain the results they desire. In that case, it is neither logical nor productive to hold those managers accountable.\nAuthor: Peter L. Allen\nSource: McKinsey Quarterly\nSubjects: Accountability, Human Resources, Management", "label": "No"} {"text": "Jost Chemical Increases Production Capabilities for High Purity Magnesium Citrate\nJost Chemical Company is pleased to announce the expansion of its magnesium citrate manufacturing capacity for food, nutritional ingredients, and pharmaceutical applications as increased global demand continues to put strain on supply chains.\n“Magnesium is a vital nutrient and is the active mineral in at least 300 known enzymes in the human body. It is required to help the body produce energy, and is crucial for protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation,” said Joseph Hardimon, Global Research Director for Jost Chemical.\nDeficiencies in magnesium have been well-documented and may lead to serious health issues. Hardimon added, “Habitually low intakes of magnesium can induce changes in biochemical pathways that can increase the risk of illness over time, such as: hypertension, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and even migraine headaches. More recent studies have suggested that magnesium offers calming properties, and it is thought to promote mental and muscle relaxation.”\nIncreased consumption of processed foods and the depletion of nutrients in topsoil, especially in North America, has made it easy to become magnesium deficient. Supplements have become important for people to attain the proper amount of this vital mineral.\n“Many magnesium supplement products contain magnesium citrate because of its consistent magnesium loading, neutral taste profile, and thermal stability, making it effective in a variety of formulation applications such as pre-mixes, stick packs, gummies, tablets, capsules, and ready-to-drink beverages,” says Hardimon.\nAbsorption of nutrients (bioavailability), especially for minerals, is critical for efficacious supplementation. Magnesium citrate is a chelated mineral salt and studies have shown that chelates have better absorption and uptake than other magnesium sources such as magnesium oxide or magnesium carbonate.\nJost Chemical is a proud FDA-registered manufacturer of high purity chemicals that exhibit extremely low levels of vagrant metals. While the USP and FCC have firm limits on impurities that can be present in a substance, many customers come to us for applications that require purity levels beyond the USP/FCC monographs. Many of our products meet multi-compendial requirements, including USP, NF, EP, FCC, JP, GB, and ACS – and they are rigorously tested for contaminants. Every step of the process is controlled to make sure that all products meet the highest levels of purity.", "label": "No"} {"text": "[[This past week I had the privilege and pleasure of attending the Academy of Preachers' National Festival of Young Preachers. I spent the week with fellow Christians of all theological temperaments, races, ages, denominations, and preaching styles. The themes this year was the Gospel and the City. You can also find the collection of last year's sermons, in which I also have a chapter, here. Also, this marks my 250th post and the first post of 2013! Happy Epiphany!]]\nHe went to his hometown, Nazareth. As was his custom, he went to the synagogue that Sabbath day. He stood up to read and they handed him the book of the Prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found where it is written:\nThe Lord’s spirit is upon me,\nbecause God anointed me\nto proclaim good news to the poor.\nGod sent me to proclaim\npardon for prisoners,\nsight for the blind,\nfreedom for the oppressed,\nto proclaim the time of God’s favor.\nHe closed the book, returned it, and sat down. Everyone’s eyes were on him.\n“Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” he said.\nThey all started talking about him, amazed at the words of grace falling from his lips.\n“Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.\n“Surely, you will remind me,” he said, “‘Doctor, fix yourself!’ and ‘Do what you did in Capernaum here in your hometown!’ But I’ll tell you that no prophet is well-liked in his hometown. Truthfully, there were many widows in Israel during Elijah’s time when the sky closed up and there was a great famine for three and a half years. And Elijah wasn’t sent to any of them; instead, he was sent to a widowed woman in Zarephath in Sidon. There were many lepers in Israel while Elisha was around, but none of them were cleaned, only Naaman from Syria.”\nEveryone in the synagogue was enraged when they heard these things. They got up, kicked him out of the city, and brought him to the cliff at the edge of town so they could throw him off it.\nHe passed through the middle of them and left.\nLuke 4:16-30 (author’s rendition)\nThere is an old story that Irish theologian Peter Rollins like to tell about the second coming of Jesus. “It is said that he arrived anonymously one dull Monday morning at the gates of a great city to go about his Father’s business. There was much for him to do. While many years had passed since his last visit, the same suffering was present all around. Still there were the poor, the sick, and the oppressed. Still there were outcasts, and still there were the righteous who pitied them, and the authorities who exploited them. For a long time no one took any notice of the desert wanderer with his weather-beaten face and ragged, dusty clothes — this quiet man who spent his time living among the sick and unwanted. The great city labored on like a mammoth beast, ignorant of the one who dwelt within its bowels.” The story goes on, but that first part has always left me disturbed. A question plagues me; a realization haunts me. At this point in my life, when I hear that story — and when I read the Gospels — I cannot escape the sinking, nagging feeling that we might be missing something. I read about the life of Jesus, I read about what he said and did, and I read about how God chose to spend God’s time on the earth, and I am perplexed. All of it seems so foreign to me, and not necessarily foreign in a first-century Palestinian sort of way. Read the rest of this entry\n[[This is an article I wrote for the Samford Crimson, the student newspaper of Samford University.]]\nThe latest book to cause a stir in the often echo chamber-like Christian blogosphere (of which I am, for better or worse, a part) is Rachel Held Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood. In it, Evans spends a year trying to live up to the supposed imperatives and models the Bible has for women. She tries to become the fabled Proverbs 31 woman, she learns to cook and sew, she covers her head when she prays, and she even praises her husband Dan at the city gate (i.e. holds up a sign that says “Dan is AWESOME“ just outside Dayton, TN). However, at the end of the day, Evans’ point is not just about womanhood. It is about the Bible.\nEvans has received no shortage of criticism since the publication of her book. Kathy Keller, wife of pastor Tim Keller, wrote a scathing review of it. Trillia Newbell, writing for John Piper’s blog, said Evans undermined the truth of Scripture. LifeWay ostensibly dropped the book for its use of “vagina,” but I think it probably had more to do with Evans’ thoughts on gender. Needless to say, plenty of people in evangelical circles call Evans a heretic, but I am increasingly finding that to be an admirable quality in people. Read the rest of this entry", "label": "No"} {"text": "Aleesha Young, a renowned figure in the fitness industry, has captivated audiences with her inspiring journey towards physical strength and personal growth. From her early life and childhood to her passion for fitness, Young’s story is one of determination and resilience.Through her dedicated training regimen and commitment to proper nutrition, she has achieved remarkable success. Balancing her personal life and career, Young continues to inspire others in the fitness community.Join us as we delve into the life and impact of Aleesha Young, a true icon in the industry.\nEarly Life and Childhood\nOne significant event in Aleesha Young’s early life and childhood was her family’s relocation to a new city when she was just five years old. This move had a profound impact on her life, shaping her experiences and influencing her future endeavors.\nThe relocation brought about a mixture of excitement and apprehension for young Aleesha as she had to leave behind familiar surroundings and friends to embark on a new journey. The move to a new city provided Aleesha with an opportunity to adapt to new environments and meet people from different backgrounds. It allowed her to develop resilience and adaptability, qualities that would prove pivotal in her future endeavors. The change in scenery also exposed Aleesha to new experiences and perspectives, broadening her horizons at a young age.\nFurthermore, the relocation offered Aleesha the chance to start afresh and discover her own passions and interests. She found solace in physical activities such as sports and exercise, which eventually led her to discover her passion for bodybuilding. This early exposure to new environments and the subsequent exploration of her interests laid the foundation for Aleesha’s future success as a bodybuilder.\nDiscovering a Passion for Fitness\nAleesha Young’s discovery of her passion for fitness came through her early engagement in physical activities and sports. From a young age, Young was actively involved in various sports such as basketball, track and field, and gymnastics. These activities not only provided her with an outlet for her energy but also sparked her interest in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. As she grew older, Young began to realize the profound impact that fitness had on her physical and mental well-being.\nHer passion for fitness continued to develop as she started weightlifting during her teenage years. She found immense satisfaction and joy in pushing her body to its limits and witnessing the changes it underwent through consistent training. Young quickly recognized that she had a natural talent for bodybuilding and decided to pursue it as a competitive sport.\nThrough her dedication and hard work, Young has achieved significant success in the bodybuilding world. Her commitment to fitness not only led her to win numerous competitions but also allowed her to inspire others to prioritize their health and well-being. Young’s journey serves as a testament to the transformative power of discovering and pursuing one’s passion for fitness.\nThe Beginnings of Her Fitness Journey\nYoung’s fitness journey began with her early engagement in physical activities and sports. From a young age, she showed a natural inclination towards movement and exercise. As a child, she participated in various sports such as soccer, basketball, and track and field, which helped her develop her athletic abilities and build a strong foundation for her fitness journey.\nOne of the key influences in Young’s fitness journey was her father, who was a bodybuilder. He introduced her to weightlifting at a young age and taught her the importance of strength training for overall health and fitness. This early exposure to weightlifting sparked Young’s interest and passion for the sport.\nAs she grew older, Young continued to pursue her passion for fitness and began to explore different avenues to enhance her physique. She started working with personal trainers and nutritionists to develop a comprehensive fitness plan that would help her achieve her goals. Through a combination of weightlifting, cardio exercises, and a balanced diet, she began to transform her body and build the muscular physique she is known for today. Young’s dedication and hard work paid off as she started competing in bodybuilding competitions and gaining recognition in the fitness industry. Her early engagement in physical activities and sports laid the foundation for her fitness journey and fueled her drive to continually push herself to new heights.\nTraining and Workout Regimen\nThe training and workout regimen that Aleesha Young follows is a carefully crafted combination of strength training, cardio exercises, and specialized techniques to sculpt her physique.\nAs a professional bodybuilder, Young understands the importance of building muscle and maintaining a lean physique. Her training program consists of intense weightlifting sessions to target specific muscle groups and increase overall strength. She incorporates a variety of exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and shoulder presses to build muscle mass and develop a symmetrical physique.\nIn addition to strength training, Young also includes cardio exercises in her routine to improve cardiovascular endurance and burn calories. This can include activities such as running, cycling, or using the elliptical machine.\nTo further enhance her physique, Young incorporates specialized techniques such as isolation exercises, drop sets, and supersets, which help to target specific muscle groups and promote muscle definition. She also pays close attention to her nutrition, ensuring she consumes a balanced diet that supports her training goals.\nNutrition and Diet\nIn order to optimize her performance and support her training goals, Aleesha Young carefully adheres to a strict nutrition and diet plan. As a professional bodybuilder, Young understands the importance of fueling her body with the right nutrients to enhance muscle growth, improve recovery, and maintain overall health.\nYoung’s diet primarily consists of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. She focuses on consuming ample amounts of chicken, turkey, fish, and lean cuts of beef for protein. These protein sources provide the essential amino acids needed for muscle repair and growth. Additionally, Young incorporates complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, sweet potatoes, and quinoa to provide sustained energy for her intense training sessions.\nTo support her overall health and well-being, Young includes a variety of fruits and vegetables in her diet. These colorful foods provide essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that help boost her immune system and aid in recovery. She also emphasizes the importance of staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day.\nFurthermore, Young pays attention to portion sizes and meal timing. She consumes smaller, frequent meals to keep her metabolism active and provide a steady supply of nutrients to her muscles. She also ensures she eats a balanced meal containing protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats within 30 minutes of completing a workout to promote muscle recovery.\nCompeting in Bodybuilding Contests\nCompeting on stage and showcasing her sculpted physique, Aleesha Young has established herself as a formidable presence in bodybuilding contests. With a passion for fitness and a dedication to her craft, Young has consistently demonstrated her commitment to the sport through her impressive performances.\nThroughout her career, Young has competed in numerous bodybuilding contests, earning recognition and accolades for her hard work and dedication. She has participated in prestigious events such as the Arnold Classic and the Olympia, which are considered to be the pinnacle of the sport.\nYoung’s success in bodybuilding contests can be attributed to her unwavering discipline and relentless training regimen. She follows a rigorous workout routine, focusing on building strength and muscle definition. Additionally, she pays careful attention to her nutrition, ensuring that she maintains a balanced diet that supports her training goals.\nCompeting in these contests requires not only physical strength and endurance but also mental fortitude. Young demonstrates exceptional resilience and determination, pushing herself to new heights with each competition. Her dedication to the sport is evident in her consistent improvement and ability to perform at her best on stage.\nAs she continues to compete, Aleesha Young remains a force to be reckoned with in the bodybuilding world. Her passion, discipline, and commitment to her craft set her apart, making her a true inspiration for aspiring athletes in the industry.\nAchievements and Awards\nHaving achieved remarkable success in the world of bodybuilding, Aleesha Young has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and accolades for her outstanding performances. Her dedication and hard work have not gone unnoticed, as she has consistently proven herself to be a force to be reckoned with in the industry.\nOne of the highlights of Young’s career was winning the overall title at the 2014 NPC USA Championships. This victory cemented her status as one of the top bodybuilders in the world and served as a testament to her commitment to her craft. Additionally, Young has won several other titles throughout her career, including the heavyweight division at the 2013 IFBB Wings of Strength Chicago Pro-Am and the heavyweight division at the 2012 NPC USA Championships.\nIn recognition of her achievements, Young has also been honored with various awards. She was awarded the prestigious Female Bodybuilder of the Year at the 2016 Wings of Strength Rising Phoenix World Championships. This award not only acknowledged her exceptional physique but also recognized her dedication and passion for the sport.\nAleesha Young’s impressive list of achievements and awards is a testament to her talent and commitment to bodybuilding. She continues to inspire and motivate others with her incredible performances and serves as a role model for aspiring athletes in the industry.\nHere are the body measurements of this best and charming actress:\nAleesha Young Horoscope: Scorpio\nAleesha Young Height: 5’3″\nAleesha Young Weight: 190 lbs (86 kg)\nAleesha Young Bra size: 42C\nAleesha Young Shoe size: 11 US\nAleesha Young Body Measurements: 37-27-37 in or 94-70-94 cm\nOther critical details of the actress :\nAleesha Young Date of Birth: November 10, 1984\nAleesha Young Age: 36 years\nAleesha Young Nationality: American\nAleesha Young Spouse: Unmarried\nAleesha Young Eye color: Brown\nAleesha Young Hair color: Brown\nCheck out body measurements of other actresses\n|alejandra espinoza measurements|\n|aleisha allen measurements|\n|alejandra sandoval measurements|\n|alejandra maglietti measurements|\n|aleksandra albu measurements|\nOvercoming Challenges and Setbacks\nDespite facing numerous challenges and setbacks, Aleesha Young has persevered and continued to make strides in her bodybuilding career.\nThroughout her journey, Young has encountered various obstacles that tested her physical and mental strength. One significant challenge she faced was a serious knee injury that required surgery and extensive rehabilitation. This setback forced her to take a break from competing and put her dreams on hold temporarily.\nHowever, Young’s determination and resilience allowed her to bounce back stronger than ever. She diligently followed her rehabilitation plan, worked with top-notch trainers, and maintained a positive mindset throughout the process.\nAnother setback Young encountered was the loss of her coach and mentor, who played a crucial role in her success. This loss was not only emotionally difficult but also left her without guidance and support. Nevertheless, Young refused to let this setback hinder her progress. She sought out new mentors, continued to educate herself, and developed her own strategies to overcome challenges. These experiences have shaped Young into a resilient and tenacious athlete, inspiring others to never give up on their dreams, no matter the obstacles they face.\nBalancing Personal Life and Career\nIn order to maintain a healthy balance between her personal life and career, Aleesha Young strategically manages her time and prioritizes her commitments. As a professional bodybuilder and fitness model, Young understands the importance of finding equilibrium in all aspects of life. She recognizes that her career requires dedication and hard work, but she also values her personal relationships and well-being. To achieve this balance, Young actively plans and organizes her schedule. She sets specific goals and timelines for her career while also allotting time for personal activities and relationships. By doing so, she ensures that she gives equal attention to both her professional and personal life.\nMoreover, Young understands the significance of self-care and relaxation. She makes it a priority to engage in activities that help her unwind and recharge. Whether it is spending time with loved ones, pursuing hobbies, or taking breaks to relax, she knows that taking care of her mental and emotional well-being is crucial for long-term success. In addition, Young believes in effective communication and collaboration. She communicates her needs and limitations to her loved ones and colleagues, which helps in managing expectations and avoiding burnout. By fostering open and honest communication, she builds a support system that understands and respects her boundaries.\nInspiring Others in the Fitness Community\nAleesha Young actively motivates and empowers individuals within the fitness community through her dedication, achievements, and positive mindset. As a highly successful bodybuilder and fitness model, Young serves as a role model for aspiring athletes and enthusiasts. Her journey from a young girl with a passion for fitness to becoming a respected figure in the industry inspires others to pursue their dreams with determination and perseverance.\nOne of the ways Young inspires others is through her dedication to her craft. She consistently pushes herself to new heights, constantly striving for improvement and progress. By showcasing her own commitment to fitness, she encourages others to adopt a similar mindset and work ethic.\nYoung’s many achievements also serve as a source of inspiration. Her numerous titles and accolades demonstrate that hard work pays off. She shows others that with persistence and a clear goal in mind, anything is possible. Her success serves as a reminder that dreams can become a reality if one is willing to put in the effort. Furthermore, Young’s positive mindset is infectious. She radiates positivity and spreads encouragement to those around her. Through her social media platforms and personal interactions, she uplifts and motivates others by sharing her own experiences, struggles, and triumphs. By doing so, she creates a supportive community where individuals can find inspiration and motivation to reach their own fitness goals.\nFuture Goals and Aspirations\nAs Aleesha Young continues to excel in her fitness career, she looks forward to achieving even greater milestones in the future. With her dedication and passion for fitness, she aims to become a role model and inspiration for others in the industry.\nOne of Aleesha’s future goals is to compete in prestigious bodybuilding competitions such as the Ms. Olympia. She aspires to showcase her strength and physique on an international stage, competing against the best in the world. Aleesha believes that by pushing herself to the limit and constantly challenging her abilities, she can continue to improve and reach new heights in her career.\nIn addition to her competitive aspirations, Aleesha also wants to expand her influence as a fitness influencer and motivational speaker. She hopes to use her platform to educate and inspire others to lead healthier lifestyles and embrace fitness as a way of life. Aleesha understands the impact that social media and online platforms have on spreading positive messages, and she plans to leverage these channels to reach a wider audience.\nFurthermore, Aleesha is passionate about helping others achieve their fitness goals. She envisions opening her own gym and coaching facility, where she can provide personalized training programs and guidance to individuals looking to transform their bodies and improve their overall well-being.\nAleesha Young’s Impact on the Fitness Industry\nWith her exceptional physique and dedication to fitness, Aleesha Young has significantly influenced the fitness industry. As a professional bodybuilder and fitness model, Young has been able to inspire and motivate countless individuals to pursue their own fitness goals. Her commitment to her craft has not only made her a prominent figure in the industry but has also helped redefine the standards of beauty and strength.\nOne of the ways Young has impacted the fitness industry is through her success in bodybuilding competitions. She has competed in numerous events and has consistently placed among the top competitors. Her achievements have not only solidified her status as a successful athlete but have also showcased her dedication to training and discipline.\nMoreover, Young’s presence on social media has allowed her to reach a wider audience and share her fitness journey. Through her posts and videos, she provides valuable insights into her workouts, nutrition, and overall wellness. This has made her a relatable and trusted source of information for those looking to improve their fitness levels.\nFurthermore, Young has also served as an inspiration for many women who might have felt intimidated or discouraged by the male-dominated fitness industry. Her success has shown that with hard work, determination, and self-belief, women can excel in any field.\nFrequently Asked Questions\nWhat Is Aleesha Young’s Favorite Cheat Meal?\nAleesha Young’s favorite cheat meal is not publicly known. As a professional bodybuilder and fitness enthusiast, she likely follows a strict diet and nutrition plan to maintain her physique and achieve her fitness goals.\nHow Did Aleesha Young Balance Her Personal Life and Career While Competing in Bodybuilding Contests?\nAleesha Young, a bodybuilding competitor, managed to strike a balance between her personal life and career by prioritizing and organizing her time effectively. She dedicated herself to strict training schedules while also making time for family, friends, and self-care.\nWhat Are Aleesha Young’s Thoughts on the Current State of the Fitness Industry?\nAleesha Young is a renowned bodybuilder who has achieved great success in her career. When it comes to the current state of the fitness industry, Young has expressed her thoughts on various aspects such as trends, competition, and the importance of a balanced approach to health and fitness.\nHow Does Aleesha Young Inspire Others in the Fitness Community?\nAleesha Young inspires others in the fitness community through her dedication, passion, and unwavering commitment to her own fitness journey. Her achievements, positive mindset, and ability to overcome challenges serve as a source of motivation for aspiring fitness enthusiasts.\nWhat Advice Does Aleesha Young Have for Aspiring Bodybuilders?\nFor aspiring bodybuilders, Aleesha Young offers valuable advice based on her own experiences in the fitness industry. She emphasizes the importance of setting specific goals, maintaining consistency, seeking guidance from experts, and staying committed to the journey of building a strong and healthy body.\nIn conclusion, Aleesha Young’s journey in the fitness industry has been inspirational and impactful.From her early life and childhood, she discovered her passion for fitness and embarked on a successful career.Through her dedication to training, nutrition, and balancing personal life and career, she has become a role model for others in the fitness community.As she continues to pursue her future goals and aspirations, Aleesha Young’s influence on the fitness industry is sure to endure.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Anatomy and Neuroscience\nCollections in this community\n(2019)Current models of innate immune responses describe hard wired, gene-centric signalling networks, with limited capacity to define the molecular mechanisms underpinning transcriptomic diversity. It is well established that ...\n(2019)The central nervous system (CNS) constantly responds to changes in environmental stimuli by undergoing structural and functional modifications. Some stimuli induce persistent CNS changes which in turn underpin adaptive ...\nRegulation of Drosophila Myc transcription by the single stranded DNA/RNA binding proteins Psi and AGO1 (2019)MYC has wide-ranging functions, with potential to amplify transcriptional output to activate cell growth, metabolism and cell cycle progression, thus driving oncogenic programs. As even small increases in MYC abundance are ...", "label": "No"} {"text": "Knee osteoarthritis is a common cause of knee pain that usually begins in middle age. It is a progressive degeneration of the joint due to overuse or a previous injury.\nSigns & symptoms:\n- History of knee trauma or surgery\n- Knee pain and swelling related to activity\n- Knee stiffness\nA knee replacement surgery may be required but physiotherapy involving strengthening of the muscles surrounding the knees, increase joint range of motion and reducing pain until such time as surgery is required.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Pearl jewelry for bridal and wedding tradition, bridal pearl necklace set for wedding ceremony, pearl jewelry for graduation and wedding celebration\nSearches ontthe Board the question sratherthan a Church Okazsvayutsya in fact, the search for definition andntabletiruemyh facts, i.e. paboutthe claims of the essence of the diverse mutual relationsofthe current CHtoVI.Man has the interpretation as the quest for understanding. It has become his nature against himself. Man has an attitude that becomes part of the understanding. And how many people would not have torn from his own shackles, dropping them, he is transformed into the non-human. He restricted himself and becomes what he is only because of that and because they voluntarily put on the shackles.Understanding it ¡beach and megalomania, his fate and destiny, his happiness and tragedy, love to himself and to God as to themselves and another person. For him in this sense there is no difference. Becoming a fact of life and their own ideas, the man turns on the idea of understanding in her slave and in part of it.Understanding becomes the meaning of his existence and understanding of this turns into a tragedy for him. It becomes the thing that ran so strongly and so passionately sought. The person assumes that understanding is the meaning of his existence, although in reality it is only a means of existence. People suggests that understanding ¢ is the ultimate meaning, destiny, and in fact it is just a form of expression of fate and nature. People, being human, lost happiness NeveDenia and obscurity, but he became one in spite of himself, and not by choice. Man turns to God as sverhchelovekeku, to understand yourself, and looking for an answer from someone who himself is looking for the answer man: how aboutbonce God became God. God and people are looking for answers from each other as eternal Wanderers, are associated with more than a strong bond of love and needandacceptance.\nPost a Comment", "label": "No"} {"text": "Created from the quote “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.” – Buddha\n13″ x 20″ Handmade letterpress print.\nInk on a rich ecru paper.\nSigned and numbered by TEKSTartist.\nOnly a handful remaining!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Twelve years after losing their virginities to one another in college, Jake (Jason Sudeikis) and Lainey (Alison Brie) reconnect at a meeting for sex addiction. From there they decide not to ruin things by sleeping together and instead grow closer as they attempt to keep their relationship platonic.\nThere are plenty of rom-com tropes to be had in this movie, including the expected, albeit frustrating, conversation to discuss whether or not men and woman can just be friends. Thankfully a strong, witty script from Leslye Headland, and incredible chemistry between Sudeikis and Brie keeps Sleeping With Other People afloat amidst some of the more formulaic aspects of the movie.\nJake and Lainey’s relationship is full of sexual tension from the start, so much so that they need to create a ‘safe word’ whenever it gets to be too much and they need to separate themselves from each other in order to maintain the platonic friendship they both agreed to. There is no way this movie would have been as charming had the two leads not come across as true friends the way Sudekis and Brie did. Often times during the film I wondered if Headland simply let the two stars improvise as two close friends would, their rapport and banter felt so organic and believable.\nAdam Scott and Amanda Peet put in brief, but significant appearances as Lainey and Jake’s ‘love’ interests, though both relationships are approached quite differently and in a way that helps us see the actual growth of Lainey and Jake as people due almost entirely to the strength of their friendship. Jason Mantzoukas and Andrea Savage are hilarious as Jake’s friends who have become parents and yearn for the childless days of drugs and sex that lasts more than six minutes. Yes, it’s a bit cliche (don’t have kids, they’ll ruin your life, haha), but it doesn’t feel stale here.\nAlison Brie is once again the MVP, hilariously sweet and charming with an uncanny ability to shift emotional gears in the blink of an eye. But Jason Sudeikis carries his own weight with a nuanced performance as Jake, and his effortless charisma is enough reason to believe he’s able to get as much action as he does. It seems obvious to their friends that they’re meant to be together, despite their insistence that they’re ‘just friends’ even though it’s clear that they both want to be more. It’s just that going down that particular path would quite possibly ruin what they already have, and neither is willing to risk it.\nWhile there are some conventional rom-com plot points here, they’re done so well that they feel almost fresh. There is no big contrived conflict to keep the two characters apart, no ridiculous misunderstanding that can be solved with two minutes of communication. These two people find each other at just the right time and grow together, despite revolving relationships and one night stands. The question is if they’re willing to take that extra step and truly commit. The answer seems obvious, but Sudeikis and Brie make the entire journey entertaining, heartfelt and funny. I adored it.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Oksana Kobeletskaya is a young mother of six children from Odessa. Moreover, five babies were born at the same time.\nThe woman brings up children alone and is an inspiration for many young mothers. Oksana gave birth to children in 2016.\nShe already had an older daughter when she became pregnant with quintuplets.\nShe and her husband did not suspect that they would immediately become a large family.\nOksana’s husband could not stand such responsibility and left the young woman alone with the children.\nHowever, Oksana did not lose heart and found the strength to raise children. Today she is a successful woman who has her own small business.\nOn her blog, she posts daily photos and videos about everyday life with five kids and gives advice to young mothers on how to organize time in a large family best way.\nOksana Kobeletskaya is a classic example of a modern strong woman who can handle all proble ms herself.\nA woman shares in her blog how to raise children happy, self-confident, successful, and give them love, care, quality food, clothes and a good education.\nAfter all, a woman has to be share between work and a child.\nThere is still a stereotype in society that a single mother is somehow inferior.\nIn fact, it is quite possible to cope with the role of a responsible parent, to cope with feelings and not make mistakes.\nIt is important to stop, analyze the situation and find the strength to be above stereotypes.\nOksana perfectly copes with her role. Her children don’t need anything.\nShe even bought a minibus and got her driving license.\nShe believes that traveling is very important for children and they spend all their time in nature.\nAfter all, when the kids grow up, they will have warm memories of childhood and loved ones nearby.\nOksana is a typical example of a strong independent woman.\nShe has high standards not only in relation to herself, but also in relation to children. She can deal with difficulties on her own.\nShe doesn’t want to look back on her entire life and regret the time she wasted.\nShe goes further to meet new achievements. Oksana has many subscribers who constantly admire her and support her in the comments.\nShe became an inspiration and an example for many large families.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Greetings Here to add my 2 cents worth. Just another opine in a place where obviously there are more than one. I think dogs are more reliable as a friend than most people. Collectively, we hold ourselves as humans in much too high of regard. We all need to lighten up a bit. The chase for the acquisition of money is a folly and it is only good for something if it is being spent. Hard work does accomplish well thought out objectives.", "label": "No"} {"text": "top of page\nWelcome to my blog! Here you will find relatable day to day stories about relationships, life, finances and emotional intelligence. Come on this journey and see how I went from walking in autopilot and engaging in self-destructive behaviors to self-awareness and healing and becoming a life coach\nGet Life Coaching!\nWith my blog You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You I hope the stories will help at least 1 person realize that it is there is nothing wrong with them! Some of us needed a bit more TLC growing up. Your mistakes are just that...mistakes. They do not define you! This is why I became a life coach. With internal work you can learn to nourish your friendships, love yourself and smile from the inside out\nbottom of page", "label": "No"} {"text": "Organic aquaculture depicts farming of marine animals by adhering the organic practices. Further, it also includes prohibition of use of synthetic chemicals and pesticides and the use of only organic feed during organic aquaculture farming. Concerning on the goal of organic agriculture, the primary aim of regulatory bodies is to optimize the health and productivity of resources that is based on interdependent communities including the life of soil, plants, farming area, animals, and humans. Currently, in organic food and beverage industry, organic aquaculture is one of the fastest growing sector owing to increasing demand for seafood products in the global seafood market. In the global organic aquaculture product market, North America and Western European countries account the majority of share due to changing consumer preference towards a healthy lifestyle and changing buy habits such as preference over organic instead of conventional.\nOrganic Aquaculture Product Market: Key Drivers\nKey drivers influencing the demand for organic aquaculture product in the global market is due to rising fish or seafood consumption and increasing market share if organic foods in the global market. In addition, another driver contributes towards the growth of organic aquaculture products in the market is the expectations of the consumers. In terms of expectation, the primary expectation is quality of food, nutritional content, safety, concerns related to the environment, and also societal and economic benefits for farmers and as well as for society. In global organic aquaculture product market, the demand for organic aquaculture products such as finfish, shellfish, aquatic plants, and other aquatic food products is increasing. Increasing demand for processed, frozen and exotic food due to rapid urbanization and changing lifestyle the demand for products such as organic dairy, organic meat, organic aquaculture products is increasing at robust growth. Number of modern retail formats, food foodservice manufacturers and quick chain restaurants are increasing with a higher growth rate in developing economies, due to which the demand for organic aquaculture or seafood is increasing. This is also attributed to cater to increasing consumer demand for aquaculture food products as household consumption and fast food retail chain outlets. Health conscious consumers are more inclined towards protein rich food products over high calorie products. This is also another trend in the developing economies and it is expected to continue in near future.\nOrganic Aquaculture Product Market: Key segment\nThe market segment for organic aquaculture products is segmented on the basis of by types, by end-use, by form, and by distribution channel. On the basis of types, organic aquaculture market is segmented into organic salmon, organic shrimp, organic pangasius, organic trout, and others. In the global organic aquaculture product market, the majority of demand accounts for organic salmon and organic shrimp owing to increasing demand for organic seafood in frozen and processed form. Further, market segment by end-use, organic aquaculture product are segmented into the household and commercial use. Another market segment for organic aquaculture product is segmented on the basis canned, frozen, fresh or chilled, and others. Rising demand for frozen food products in the global food industry is expected to drive the demand for organic aquaculture product in frozen and processed form. By distribution channel segment, the market for organic aquaculture is segmented by direct and indirect distribution channel. Further, the market for organic aquaculture by indirect channel of distribution is sub-segmented into hypermarket/supermarket, convenience stores, the online retail channel of distribution and others.\nOrganic Aquaculture Product Market: Regional Segment\nOn the basis of regional segment, market for organic aquaculture products is segmented into seven region across the globe, it includes North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan and the Middle East & Africa. Primarily the demand for organic aquaculture products is increasing in North America followed by Western Europe market owing to increasing consumption of organic food as well as organic seafood products in the regions.\nOrganic Aquaculture Product Market: Key Players\nSome of the key players operating in the business of organic aquaculture products are Anova Seafood BV, Organic Shrimp Farming Co. Ltd., SalMar, Ristic GmbH, Artisan Fish LLC, GLENARM ORGANIC SALMON, DOM Intentional, Omarsa S.A., OSO, MSeafood Corp., Artisan Fish LLC, and others.\nThe report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.\nThe study is a source of reliable data on:\n- Market segments and sub-segments\n- Market trends and dynamics\n- Supply and demand\n- Market size\n- Current trends/opportunities/challenges\n- Competitive landscape\n- Technological breakthroughs\n- Value chain and stakeholder analysis\nThe regional analysis covers:\n- North America (U.S. and Canada)\n- Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)\n- Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)\n- Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)\n- Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)\n- Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)\nThe report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industry’s value chain.\nA separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.\nHighlights of the report:\n- A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market\n- Important changes in market dynamics\n- Market segmentation up to the second or third level\n- Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume\n- Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments\n- Market shares and strategies of key players\n- Emerging niche segments and regional markets\n- An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market\n- Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market\nNote: Although care has been taken to maintain the highest levels of accuracy in TMR’s reports, recent market/vendor-specific changes may take time to reflect in the analysis.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Carol Ann Fitzpatrick\n1946 ∼ 2021\nTodd Movsessian of Waltham, MA. wrote:\nTo the Fitzpatrick family, I am so sorry for your loss. Carol was a lovely lady who adored her family and grandchildren. She will be missed dearly. May she Rest In Peace. Love, Todd Movsessian & DanielleTagg.\nNancy Virta of Marshfield, Ma wrote:\nMy heart breaks for Carol's family. I never had the privilege to meet her, but I think I might have known her thru the smiling eyes of her daughter, Dawn, and her grandchildren. A great mother raises great daughters and I think you did an amazing job. Carol's family and Dawn's is all about heart, love, loyalty, caring, generosity, fun, family . . . this isn't something that you learn in a book. It comes from a life full of love and caring. I am sure Carol's heart and love will carry thru her children, and their children and each generation ahead. I am sure Carol is resting in peace with a smile on her beautiful face and a heart bursting with pride. My hat's off to you, Carol. Good job. Sending prayers and love, Nancy Virta\nkathleen fitzgerald of kingwood, tx wrote:\nour sincerest sympathy at this time. carol and i were young friends from about the age of 12. she was a big sister to me , a mentor ,a loving, kind,awesome friend. carol was an inspiration in spirit and concern for all who knew her. she was a wonderful wife and mother, nana, daughter,sister, Godmother, mother-in-law, volunteer. Carol’s legacy is of laughter and joy. we will miss her always but will always have her in the sound of the ocean, smile of babies, gingerbread houses, amazing peonies and hydrangea. hugs sweetie love you\nRon & Mary Jane DeShong of Fort Lauderdale, Florida wrote:\nPlease accept our deepest sympathy for your loss. We miss you guys.\nBrian Fitzgerald of Kingwood, Texas wrote:\nto Tom and all the kids and grandkids: Carol was one of those few and very special people you meet during your life. Over a 57 year friendship Kathy and I thru all the good times, celebrations and some sorrows Carol was a friend who imparted comfort and strength at a level I don’t believe she realized. Over distance and time we all picked up right where we left as if we lived next door. I hope you all can draw some comfort in knowing how positively Carol affected many lives. We cherish our friendship over the years as we remember Carol and keep Carol and all you in our thoughts and prayers.\nTerri )Rodericks) Machado of East Freetown MA wrote:\nCarol was a wonderful gal. We were cousins. Emily was my mom’s sister-in-law. My mom was married to Daniel, Emily’s brother. Daniel died in World War II. They had Anne. However Dan never met his daughter. Carol was a year older. We went to the Worlds Fair in New York. We took a bus out of New Bedford. No parents, no siblings, just the two of us. We had so much fun. Probably couldn’t do that today. Carol was a bridesmaid in our wedding in 1967. Loved her so much. We haven’t been in touch for years but she always was in my heart. Prayers for the family. Hopefully your wonderful memories will help you through the days ahead. Love Terri\nAndrea Wallack of Waltham Ma wrote:\nMy deepest sympathies to all of you. Beautiful words. May she Rest In Peace.\nMARLENE SETTANNI of Bethel, CT wrote:\nWith her infectious grin and compassionate, loving nature, my beautiful sister-in-law Carol painted the world in sure and vibrant colors, leaving it an infinitely kinder, more joyful place. She gave great hugs.\nElaine Prager of Boynton Beach, FL. 33436 wrote:\nMy heart goes out to you Scott and Allison and family. Remember All the wonderful memories Love you all\nPat Probert of W, Wareham, Ma. 02576 wrote:\nCarol's love and compassion for others knew no bounds. She will be forever missed!\nPhyllis (Oun) Scarpone of Murrells Inlet wrote:\nI had the pleasure of growing up with Carol in New Fairfield and have some wonderful memories of the Gonsalves family. I will treasure the years we shared, from grammar school through high school. My sympathy to Tom and the family.\nPeter Griffin of Windham, NH wrote:\nI am so sorry to read about your loss. It is always a shock but lets hope the great memories will help to neutral that loss. My thoughts and prayers are with the Fitzpatrick family.\nAnn and Kevin Brown of Onset wrote:\nDear Fitzpatrick family I am sending you love and hugs at this difficult time. I will cherish all my memories of your Wife,Mom,Grandmother always. Her friendship in my life is and has always been special ❤️ What a beautiful tribute in your video, everything she cherished the most.\nNicole Fitzpatrick of Plymouth, MA wrote:\nIt’s hard to put into words what Carol meant to me. There are so many ways that she has shown me such kindness these past 22 years that I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of her life. From the way she welcomed me, without question, into her family and her heart when I was a lost young woman making lots of mistakes trying to find my way in the world. To the way she never judged but rather asked “how can I help”. Wareham was her special place by the ocean and I believe her favorite place to be, especially when her family came to share it with her. Yet she gave that cottage to Matt and I without hesitation when we were just starting our family and needed some help getting on our feet. She was the one who helped me plan our wedding. She was the one who came to help me shortly after I had Cassidy, when work took Matt to Alaska for a month, and I had never done anything more than hold a baby. When gluten-intolerance was still just weird and unknown and hard to believe, she took me at my word and always made sure I had plenty to eat at every family get-together. And the family get-togethers... she had such a dedication to her family, and her home (and heart) were always open to any of us or all of us. When she and Tom rebuilt their home at 38 Ivy Street, it was designed to be the perfect place to host her ever growing family. It’s so hard to imagine those gatherings without seeing her smile, but I know she will be there, forever and always, in our hearts and on our minds. Surely God has a special place in heaven for Carol Fitzpatrick and her smile is his now but it’s warmth will surely be felt by all of us left behind. I’m a different person for knowing her, a better person, and I know I’m not the only one. Thank you Carol, and Rest In Peace. We love you.\nCohen Fitzpatrick of Plymouth, MA wrote:\nThank you, Nana for everything you have done. You have made so many fantastic memories for me and the entire family, going from family vacations and Christmas eve, to spending time on the beach. Many of my favorite memories have been from spending time with you. I can't thank you enough for everything that you have done, and I will miss you. Love you.\nPapa, I want you to know that we love you and are here for you. Nana was such an important part of our family and we will all miss her. I believe that part of her will stay with us always through the love and memories she shared with so many. Love, Cass\nLinda thornton of Onset ma wrote:\nI just wanted to send my deepest sympathy to the family of Carol. I can truly say I have never seen so much love for a wife and mother as I saw her husband and daughters gift to this wonderful women. Thomas you stay strong . I will also miss her. You did such a beautiful job taking care of your wife and your best friend. GOD BLESS. Linda receptionist Tobey Hospital", "label": "No"} {"text": "Rachael was able to pull a vision from my head and bring our pencil sketches from paper to life - and it was more beautiful than we'd even imagined! She worked relentlessly, ensuring that every detail was perfect, even the details I had never thought of. Rachael is simultaneously calming and energizing and so, so damn good at what she does. There is no one else we would have rather had by our side.\nApril & Andre", "label": "No"} {"text": "What is the truth about gender and finance? And what is just old school sexist nonsense? When it comes to talking about women, men, and money, it is hard to see the forest from the trees. We are all bogged down with socio-cultural ideas and expectations that are familiar, often unconscious biases. These insidious beliefs can impede our progress towards a healthy, empowered relationship with our money – and each other. Listen in as Tracy and Kamal take apart some myths and eliminate the dark shadows that may be getting in the way of you being a financial powerhouse.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Without fail my favourite pattern! I love me some stripes! You’re with me right? If you like stripes as much as me, you’re in for a treat, I predict they’re going to be the must-have for the coming year! Penneys, River Island, ASOS, Warehouse! The high street will be awash with these beauties… Guys you know I’m not about the links… Yes it makes me a little lazy… But I’ve an early start and this is where we come to dream and create our own vision. I’m in saving mode so I’ll be re-working the stripes I own! In the meantime a little Inspo to wet your whistle…\nTHE JUMPERS: Drool\nThe monochrome is purely coincidental! What’s your favourite piece?", "label": "No"} {"text": "So, my friend hasn’t seen Sherlock past the first episode…\nand I showed him this still without saying anything and he replied “Wait, they get married at some point? That’s really cool!”\nI didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise.\nOh the poor soul, he’s going to be so disappointed.\nDavid Tennant On The Red Carpet Of The What We Did On Our Holiday Premiere, 22/09/2014\n10 questions to never ask a transgender person by Laura Jane Grace\nwomen: being a woman is hard\nmen: I thikn youre forgetting something: it is also hard to be a man. just letting you know that you forgot to mention that when you were talking about being a woman\ni really hate this moment. Mary’s already working them. she’s made John feel like he’s a terrible person for not forgiving Sherlock and she’s trying to trick Sherlock into liking her. making him think if he wants to get to John he needs her, that she’s the gate keeper to John. which she isn’t.\nwhats greats is that John and Sherlock look past Mary for a few moments and they get these looks on there faces. both opened mouthed like they want to say something. John in shock like he’s still dealing with the face that yes Sherlock is alive.\nJohn looks lost. he looks scared, so much older because of the pain he’s had to go though. Sherlock turns his body to him and opens his mouth as well just looking at him. they share pain for a moments.\nthe pain of not being together, of that night not working out. i think John half wants to go back to Sherlock but pride and anger holds him back. Sherlock of course thinks he’s lost him. does’t realize that all thats really happened is that he’s woken John up.\nPerfect summary of this scene, especially regarding Mary imposing herself as the gatekeeper to John, as the only one with the power to fix this. Sherlock picked a terrible way to stage his revelation, but John always would have come around. He spends the whole of the next day feeling like the clock is dragging through his weird/annoying patients, his thoughts so much on Sherlock that he even thinks or hopes that one of them IS Sherlock in disguise - and is laughing despite himself - and the instant he finishes work, he heads to Baker Street. Nothing could have kept them apart once he knew that Sherlock was still alive. They never needed Mary’s “help” or intervention. They only needed time for John to cool down. That’s it. Because John never could have stayed away.\n(Quelle: his-only-pressurepoint, via bennyslegs)\nI get criticized for taking roles in films like ‘Ghost Rider 2’, but if you look at my resume, dude, I’ve mixed it up as much as I can.\n(Quelle: jamiedblackley, via wearitcounts)\nI am destined to be eternally naked under this silver soft faux fur blanket I just bought. <3\nCan I join you, pleaaaaase!?\nBenedict Cumberbatch for The Hollywood Reporter Magazine (September 26,2014 issue)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Online Parliamentary Yearbook: The Parliamentary Yearbook is a valued reference book in our office. The format remains ‘user friendly’. Despite the alleged easy access of the internet, I still prefer to have hard copies and I keep a copy of the book next to my PC. It is so much easier to refer to than having to nip in and out of the computer. It is one ‘paper’ volume that I hope will be kept going.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Men who have sex with men and persons who inject drugs report missed testing opportunities.\nProstate and lung cancer expected to emerge as the most common types by 2030.\nOverall, 38.8% of women and 53.8% of men had never been tested in 2011 to 2015.\nTrogarzo is given intravenously once every 14 days in combination with other antiretrovirals\nCKD occurrence was seen in 3.4% of HIV patients receiving the combination of medications.\nAntiretroviral therapies have prolonged the survival of HIV patients, but the drugs can have adverse effects on the kidneys.\nHIV-infected men and women had lower incidences of colorectal and lung cancer compared with the general population.\nWhile antiretroviral therapy has allowed HIV patients to undergo kidney transplantation, allograft rejection remains high in this group.\nHIV test performed at 1.0% of visits made by young males; higher rates for blacks, Hispanics.\nHIV retransplant recipients have increased risk of death and graft loss versus HIV re-KT patients\nFewer than half of patients with TFD-linked AKI had renal function recovery after drug withdrawal.\nStudy finds a link with combination therapy based on a protease inhibitor and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.\nSurvey of minority men aged 18-25 showed that 57.2% indicated that they or their partner did not use birth control at their last sexual encounter.\nAlthough ban was lifted on such surgeries in 2013, none have taken place, researchers say.\nChronic diseases such as end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have now surpassed opportunistic infections as the leading cause of death among HIV-infected patients.\nRefuting common wisdom, research shows that HIV patients fared better than those with hepatitis C.\nIn the absence of co-infection with hepatitis C virus, their graft and patient survival rates are similar to those of HIV-negative patients.\nTenofovir drug can lead to moderate kidney damage in some patients.\nLower post-transplant HIV DNA levels associated with sirolimus use.\nMortality rate is high, especially among patients with HIV/AIDS.\nHIV-1 was found in podocytes or tubular cells of renal allografts in recipients who did not have detectable plasma levels of the virus.\nHIV is strongest predictor of erectile dysfunction for young and middle-aged men.\nEvidence suggests that HIV-positive patients have the same favorable outcomes in terms of patient and allograft survival as non-HIV positive kidney transplant recipients.\nHIV is no longer a contraindication to transplantation, contends Dorry Segev, MD, PhD.\nIf Congress reversed its ban on allowing people with HIV to be organ donors after their death, approximately 500 HIV-positive patients with kidney or liver failure each year could get transplants within months instead of years, according to researchers.\nThe trend could be a response to cases of transplant-related HIV transmission in November 2007.\nClinicians should consider the possibility that HIV patients have both renal and cardiac disease.\nHIV infection has an additive effect on microalbuminuria risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.\nFew studies have looked at this population, but these patients may have very high energy needs.\nProtection may stem from a decrease in the number of HIV target cells following the procedure.\nRenal and Urology News Articles\n- Aggressive Therapy Warranted for Gleason 10 Prostate Cancer\n- PET/CT May Improve Imaging of Recurrent Prostate Cancer\n- Adding MRI Does Not Boost Prostate Cancer Upgrading Rate\n- Both High and Low Uric Acid Levels Tied to Higher Mortality\n- Trulicity Labeling Updated to Include Data on T2D Patients With CKD\nSign Up for Free e-newsletters\nNEPHROLOGY & UROLOGY NEWS\n- Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)\n- Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)\n- Contrast Nephropathy\n- Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)\n- Diabetic Nephropathy\n- End-stage Renal Disease (ESRD)\n- Lupus Nephritis\n- Peritoneal Dialysis\n- Secondary Hyperparathyroidism (SHPT)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Although episode 10 of the 'Goblin' was a whirlwind of suspense and fun, episode 11 left me feeling a bit bored throughout each scene. While it contained some unique situations, it seemed to not further the plot as much as we expected and keeps everything stagnant until the very end.\nThe story of Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) and his sister's past becomes more intense as well as saddening now that it is told with a fuller perspective. Before, the bits and pieces made it more scattered rather than mysterious and intriguing. Viewers developed a lot of misconceptions and the story lacked anything in depth to keep us pondering about it. It became attention grabbing once his sister and the King were more involved.\nTo my surprise, Kim Shin reveals to Sunny (Yoo In Na) that he is her brother in her past life. I was left wondering if there would be any dire consequences for revealing such truths to her, and it seems there might be since Sunny kept feeling pain in the same place the arrow pierced the Queen.\nWhen you sick but still look like a 10 - wife her!\nI feel the drama becomes more intense because it drags a normal human like Sunny into a precarious situation. Ji Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun) is used to interacting with spirits, but for the ordinary Sunny, it is completely overwhelming. There is a fine irony, as well, since Sunny is considered to be a beautiful woman with out-of-the-ordinary behaviors - but she was not prepared for Ji Eun Tak's magical life!\nSince we are already this deep into the drama, I wasn't expecting Sunny to discover that \"Kim Woo Bin\" is a Grim Reaper (Lee Dong Wook) in such a ridiculous way. The reveal could have been better executed. Just why exactly would she bring in a cherry blossom branch and decide to suddenly swing it in the air? It really seemed unrealistic but seeing the Grim Reaper's hat fly off and him suddenly materialize in front of her eyes was a \"mabsosa\" moment for sure!\nAt least Kim Shin brought some justice and sense to the plot by deciding not to hold back and pick up the pace of the drama by finally revealing to Ji Eun Tak the truth behind his sword and the results of pulling it out. I was starting to worry that the drama would simply dump it all in one giant finale that would have made things, especially Kim Shin's death, overwhelmingly messy. However, due to the deities' warnings and fate's plan, 'Goblin' will have to have a more organized and structured ending than these somewhat scattered episodes.\nBig Red (the old granny deity) continues to catch us off guard, but in a refreshing way, as I was not expecting her appearance at Ji Eun Tak's graduation day. It appears Ji Eun Tak has friends watching in high places she is unaware of. I was won over by how coolly Big Red reveals she was the old granny that watched over her when she was 9 and simply hands her flowers and walks away. She is a total fairy godmother for Ji Eun Tak, but I still have an ominous feeling about her that I love and hate all at once!\nSeeing her cry made me realize how prettily Kim Go Eun cries.\nHowever, I was left scratching my head at the way she approached Ji Eun Tak's teacher towards the end as Big Red asks, \"Couldn't you have been a better teacher and a nicer person?\" Her words were crucial, but from how the scene was filmed I wonder if something else brought the teacher to tears?\nAnother thing that keeps bugging me is the sudden relationship between Ji Eun Tak and the class president. Is she really making new friends or does this girl have an ulterior motive? This drama has a tendency to bring up one scenario and address it a few episodes later - and I do not like it one bit. Le sigh.\nAt least the ending was a lot more fulfilling and exciting than the entire hour that dragged on. Earlier, Kim Shin warns Ji Eun Tak that he and the Reaper received her death card and she should avoid great heights and falling to her death. Yet, in typical Ji Eun Tak behavior, she runs around doing foolish things from time to time.\nAfter talking with her ghoul-friends, she decides to help fulfill another one of their wishes by approaching the ghost's husband. Turns out he was a total maniac and pushed his wife off a building which ultimately led to her current state.\nUpon realizing the deep hole she dug herself into, Ji Eun Tak can already sense the danger and blows out her lighter so the Goblin can arrive to her rescue as always. In a more valiant manner, he instantly appears and slashes the husband with his sword and demands he turns himself into the police before he kills him.\nIn comparison to Kim Go Eun's dramatized character, I have to give credit to Gong Yoo's realistic acting and character traits. Ji Eun Tak meekly asks if he is still mad but he simply caresses her stating how worried he was. I too realized his anger and outbursts stem from the love he has for her, not any resentment or slight annoyance. I think Ji Eun Tak is starting to see this and hopefully, it will calm her fickle behavior.\nNow that Ji Eun Tak knows that Kim Shin is being selfless and wants his sword removed, I wonder if they will team up to fight against their cruel fates or if Kim Shin will ultimately \"return to ashes.\" Either way, the reappearance of the sinister eunuch Park Jong Won is definitely sending shivers down my spine and keeps me playing as guessing game as to what his new motives in this new world might be.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Aura cleansing spray.\nMade with organic rose infused witch hazel and home harvested shampoo ginger.\nThis spray has a very gentle, light energy.\nIn addition to bringing a cleansing effect, this is also great on the hair, skin and face.\nThere have been many beauty benefits to be said about rose and ginger.\nThis is a small batch with limited quantites due to what is available from the land.\nStay tuned as the spray available is always in a seasonal rotation.\ntop of page\nbottom of page", "label": "No"} {"text": "We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Here’s our process.\nMedical News Today only shows you brands and products that we stand behind.Our team thoroughly researches and evaluates the recommendations we make on our site. To establish that the product manufacturers addressed safety and efficacy standards, we:\n- Evaluate ingredients and composition: Do they have the potential to cause harm?\n- Fact-check all health claims: Do they align with the current body of scientific evidence?\n- Assess the brand: Does it operate with integrity and adhere to industry best practices?\nSome vitamins, like vitamins C and D, may help relieve constipation.\nApart from OTC medications, people can try eating foods high in fiber, such as:\n- whole grains\nIn this article, we explore vitamins and supplements for constipation. We take a look at the effects of different vitamins on digestive health.\nThese children also ate lower amounts of dietary fiber, fruits, and plant foods. Not consuming enough fiber can cause constipation. Fruits and vegetables, which are high in fiber, are often high in vitamin C as well.\nDoctors do not recommend that people take large doses of vitamin C to help them pass stool, but a daily vitamin C supplement may help.\nThe participants with intestinal disorders that cause constipation had lower levels of vitamin D. These findings do not suggest that increasing vitamin D will relieve constipation, however, as the low vitamin D levels may be a consequence of chronic constipation.\nSome people take vitamin D supplements, especially if they live in northern countries since sunshine is a vital source of vitamin D.\nPeople with a\n- loss of appetite\n- weight loss\nWhile taking vitamin B-12 supplements may not help those without a deficiency, correcting the deficiency may relieve symptoms in those who do.\nGroups of people that are most at risk of developing a vitamin B-12 deficiency include people with:\nTaking too many\nA common laxative that people can buy at the pharmacy is Milk of Magnesia. The main medicinal ingredient is magnesium hydroxide.\nWhile there is little research to suggest that magnesium supplements can treat constipation, of all the supplements listed in this article, it is the most commonly used mineral supplement to address the problem. It is likely a safe option to try, as long as a person sticks to the recommended dose.\nAlthough some vitamins and minerals can help people with constipation, others may cause it or make it worse.\nCalcium is essential for maintaining strong bones and carrying out functions in the muscles, heart, brain, and other body systems.\nCalcium is in:\n- dairy products\n- fish with soft bones, such as canned sardines\n- fortified cereals, fruit juice, and soy and rice milk\nWhile it is unlikely that a person would consume too much calcium from food alone, those taking supplements might. Too much calcium can cause constipation.\nSome people need to continue taking calcium supplements, however. To reduce the risk of constipation from supplements, doctors recommend taking calcium\nTaking calcium with meals or changing the brand or form of calcium can sometimes help.\nIron is another mineral that\nToo much iron can also cause:\n- black stool\n- abdominal pain\nTo reduce constipation, people can try taking lower doses at first and slowly increasing their dose if necessary.\nA doctor may recommend taking the iron pill with food, although some foods reduce iron absorption.\nIf a person is having hard or infrequent bowel movements and has tried increasing dietary fiber and taking OTC products, they should speak with their doctor.\nThe doctor might be able to prescribe stronger laxatives or recommend other treatments.\nIn some cases, frequent or persistent constipation can be a sign of an underlying condition, so a doctor may ask about a person’s other symptoms.\nAnyone who needs to take laxatives regularly to pass stool should let their doctor know. Treating constipation when it is a symptom of another condition can hide dangerous warning signs.\nThe most common treatments for constipation include dietary changes and OTC laxatives. Vitamins and minerals do not have a major role in treating constipation.\nHowever, some people may experience constipation as a result of a vitamin deficiency, such as vitamin B-12 deficiency. In those situations, a vitamin supplement may help relieve constipation.\nSome vitamins and minerals can cause loose stools or diarrhea, including magnesium and vitamin C. Other supplements, such as calcium and iron, can cause constipation.\nPeople should speak with a doctor before starting or stopping a vitamin or mineral supplement.\nSHOP FOR VITAMINS AND SUPPLEMENTS\nThe vitamins and minerals in this article are available to purchase in drug stores and online", "label": "No"} {"text": "What superpower would you choose to help manage your health? I imagine some people might choose the power to instantly gain or lose weight or to turn their favorite junk food into healthy food. Or maybe you would like to stop time to get some extra sleep. For most Introverts, having time to themselves to process their thoughts and enjoy their inner world is not only a powerful way to re-energize, but it is essential in managing their overall health.\nBut what happens when you don’t get the time you need to feel your best?", "label": "No"} {"text": "THE SOUND OF MUSIC\nMarch 25 @ 4p\nFamily Film Screening\nFree | Open to All\nA tuneful, heartwarming story, it is based on the real-life story of the Von Trapp Family singers, one of the world’s best-known concert groups in the era immediately preceding World War II. Julie Andrews plays the role of Maria, the tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey who becomes a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children and brings a new love of life and music into the home.\nby A.R. Gurney\ndirected by Robin M. Hughes\nfeaturing: Shannon Mayhall & Frank Gaughan.\nFEB 9 – 11\nWhen Andrew Makepeace Ladd III accepts an invitation to Melissa Gardner’s birthday party, and Melissa writes a thank-you note, a romantic friendship and correspondence destined to last for almost half a century are born. A.R. Gurney’s two-character play follows the relationship between a stuffy W.A.S.P. and a free-spirited woman, throughout their lives from childhood to death, as chronicled in the letters they write to each other.\nThis bittersweet epistolary romance penned by A.R. Gurney was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1988.\nJoin us for a simply staged intimate production on Raue Center’s mainstage…complete with on-stage bar and drink selection!\nFeb 9, 10 @ 8p\nFeb 11 @ 3p\nGeneral Admission: $15*\nRaueNOW Member: $10.50*\nStudents (18 & under): $6*\nApproximate Running Time: TBD\n*For student discounts and group rates (10 or more) please call Raue Box Office at 815.356.9212. Fees may apply.\nShannon Mayhall (Melissa) and Frank Gaughan (Andrew).", "label": "No"} {"text": "Issue #37 of Batman is a delightfully fun and introspective bottle issue about Batman, Catwoman, Superman & Lois Lane swapping outfits for a superhero themed night at the Gotham County Fair, It uses the premise to explore the contrast and similarities between the two couples by zeroing in on their conversations. Truly a “talking head” issue if there ever was one, Batman #37 works by exploring the depth of it’s characters through simple yet vibrant dialogue, and it’s whimsical conceit. Continue reading This Week’s Finest: Batman #37→\nI was going to start this review with ‘Mister Miracle is’, but now that I’ve given it some more thought, I don’t believe that is true. Orion would tell me it doesn’t matter what I believe, a statement is either true or false. So, let me try again, ‘Mister Miracle is’ is false. According to what I learned in this issue, ‘Mister Miracle is’ would imply that the comic Mister Miracle is all things, good and bad. It isn’t all things, it is all things good. The reason for me writing this review is to convey to you this very fact, that Mister Miracle is all things good. So, let me take a similar approach to the one René Descartes took on proving that God exists. Descartes’ argument is rooted in the idea that God is all things good. If you examine two things, God is always the better one. Take love and hate for example; love is better than hate, therefore God is love. This is where existence comes into play, since existing is better than not existing, God exist. If I reverse this logic and say Mister Miracle is well written, which is better than poorly written. It has gorgeous art, which is better than eye gouging art. It effectively utilizes the nine panel grid layout to tell the story, which is better than the nine panel grid layout bogging down the story flow. It stirs up a wide range of emotions, which is better than reading a comic with emotional responses equal to a robot. It exists, which is better than not existing. I think this proves that Mister Miracle is all things good. If I stick with Descartes “I think, therefore I am” then because I am a person and because Mister Miracle is a comic that is all things good, it has been selected as the finest comic of the week.\nOkay, I think I lost myself in there somewhere. I hope you’re all still with me.\nBy Nick Spencer, Steve Lieber, Ryan Hill, Marshall Dillion\nOver a year since it began, The Fix has established itself as a perverse and hilarious crime drama of two dirty cops trying to make it big. Roy and Mac owe a large debt to a local crimelord, and so have each taken on separate schemes to accrue said money. These schemes involved drug-addicted actresses, and a drug-sniffing dog named Pretzels. Things only got stranger from there… Continue reading This Week’s Finest: The Fix #10→\nWhen considering the quality of a single issue comic, scope is something I always come back to; how much story does a single issue tell within the natural confines of the medium & format. Single issue comics have natural limitations in terms of size, anything approaching one hundred pages or more is probably a graphic novel at that point, while a single comics page itself can probably handle nine to twelve panels at most per page. Furthermore, a sizable portion of comics are created using pre-existing intellectual property, which in itself creates it’s own form of constraints on story telling based on the framework of the concept, to say nothing of the editorial guidelines of the corporate IP holders. But all these limitations are a big part of what I like about comics, seeing how creative talent can work within those guidelines and still tell an amazing story in a way that no other medium can. And that starts with scope, how much story a creative team leverages out of those limitations. Batman: Creature of The Night #1, by Kurt Busiek & Jean Paul Leon, is a comic that fully realizes its scope, and mines out its limitations for an incredibly creative and profound single issue, with a technical proficiency & synthesis in the art & writing that makes for a purely excellent single issue comics. Continue reading This Week’s Finest: Batman Creature of The Night #1→\nby Kelly Thompson, Michael Walsh & Jordie Bellaire\nI don’t think anyone who read Hawkeye #12 would be surprised I hereby dub thee best comic of the week. I won’t lie, it was a great week of comics. East of West returned as a somewhat hilarious father and son journey to self discovery. Generation Gone and Kill The Minotaur concluded in artistically astonishing fashion. Batman Who Laughs legitimately horrified me. Joelle Jones was brilliant, as usual, on Batman and Bug, well, I don’t have to tell you how great Bug always is. But, in the midst of all these final chapters, one shots and climactic issues is Hawkeye #12, which breaks from the regular action to tell a fun team up story between Kate, Laura (Wolverine), Gabby (Mini Wolverine) and an actual wolverine.\nby Wes Craig, Toby Cypress, Niko Guardia & Jared K Fletcher\nNew comic book series come with an astonishing and accelerated frequency week after week. While comics retailers have certainly been feeling a strain on their business in 2017, that hasn’t seemed to slow down publishers from flooding the market with new material. As someone whose taken it upon himself to follow comics to the point that I can credibly edit and write a comics based website; the sheer volume can feel daunting while my excitement wanes downward. It’s easy to start feeling jaded with the industry, even too much of a good thing is still too much. But when its something really new and exciting, when it feels like something truly excellent, you know it. The Gravediggers Union #1, by Wes Craig, Toby Cypress, Niko Guardia & Jared K Fletcher is one where that become apparent immediately; this is the good stuff, this is something special. Continue reading This Week’s Finest: The Gravediggers Union #1→\nby Dennis Hopeless, Victor Ibanez & Chris Sotomayar\nImagine placing Grant Morrison created characters into a Christopher Nolan written film. Sounds awesome, I know. Then imagine the story revolving around a teenage girl being telepathically guided by an older, dead version of herself. Throw in some expressive art and perfectly restrained coloring and you have Jean Grey #8.\nBy Ed Brubaker, Sean Philips, Elizabeth Breitweiser\nOnce again, Kill or Be Killed takes home the honor of This Week’s Finest. Things have almost come full circle as Dylan’s story has brought the events from the beginning of the first issue to the end of the thirteenth. The plot is thickening, and there’s still so much more to unravel about our righteous killer and what is pushing down this path… Continue reading This Week’s Finest: Kill or Be Killed #13→", "label": "No"} {"text": "Cert 15 104mins Stars 3\nThis amiable, sweet and life affirming self/improvement comedy drama jogs merrily along full of sweat, perseverance, and second chances.\nJillian Bell is a nicely abrasive presence as the immature and unhappily overweight Brittany, who has a dead end job, high blood pressure and low self-esteem.\nTold by her doctor to lose weight but unable to afford a gym membership, she starts to run the mean streets of New York and soon sets herself the seemingly impossible target of completing the local marathon.\nAnd as she gains fitness she finds her social, romantic life improving, but it’s one step forward and two steps back as her self-defeating sense of inadequacy, difficulty in accepting help, and a toxic friendship put her off her stride.\nIt’s an inclusive exercise with a charming supporting cast which includes Michaela Watkins and Utkarsh Ambudkar, but be warned, you may find yourself inspired to pull on a pair of running shoes afterwards in solidarity.", "label": "No"} {"text": "YouG??ve likely encountered challenging situations that have tested your ability to adapt and recover. But have you ever wondered what sets resilient individuals apart and how you can cultivate a similar mindset? Understanding the foundations of resilience and how to bounce back from adversity is not only valuable but essential in navigating lifeG??s inevitable setbacks. ItG??s a skill that can be developed and honed, providing a powerful advantage in facing the uncertainties and difficulties that lie ahead.\nTo truly understand resilience, you must recognize that it is not just about bouncing back from adversity, but also about the ability to adapt and grow stronger in the face of challenges. Developing resilience is a process that involves facing difficulties and finding ways to overcome them. ItG??s about understanding that setbacks are a natural part of life and using them as opportunities for growth.\nOvercoming adversity is a fundamental aspect of building resilience. When faced with tough times, itG??s crucial to maintain a positive mindset, seek support from others, and believe in your ability to navigate through the challenges. Embracing the idea that setbacks are not permanent and that you have the strength to rise above them is essential in the journey of resilience.\nItG??s important to remember that developing resilience is not about being unaffected by adversity, but rather about learning to adapt and thrive despite the obstacles. It involves acknowledging your emotions, learning from your experiences, and using them to build a stronger foundation for the future. Cultivating resilience is a continuous process that requires patience, self-compassion, and a willingness to keep moving forward.\nBuilding Emotional Strength\nBuilding emotional strength requires acknowledging your feelings and developing healthy coping mechanisms to navigate through lifeG??s challenges. ItG??s essential to cultivate emotional regulation and mental toughness to effectively deal with the ups and downs you encounter. Acknowledging your emotions allows you to understand and process them, leading to a greater sense of self-awareness and resilience. HereG??s a practical guide to help you build emotional strength:\n|Acknowledge Your Feelings\n|Develop Healthy Coping Mechanisms\n|Recognize and accept your emotions without judgment.\n|Find constructive ways to cope with stress and adversity.\n|Practice mindfulness to stay present and aware of your feelings.\n|Engage in activities that bring you joy and relaxation.\n|Communicate openly with trusted individuals about your emotions.\n|Seek professional help if youG??re struggling to manage your emotions effectively.\n|Reflect on past challenges and how you overcame them.\n|Establish a support network of friends and family.\nCultivating Adaptive Thinking\nAcknowledging and understanding your emotions is the first step in cultivating adaptive thinking, which allows you to navigate lifeG??s challenges with resilience and clarity. Adapting to change and overcoming obstacles becomes easier when you can approach situations with a flexible and open mindset. HereG??s how you can begin cultivating adaptive thinking:\nEmbrace Uncertainty: Rather than fearing the unknown, try to see it as an opportunity for growth. Embracing uncertainty allows you to adapt more readily to unexpected changes and challenges. It enables you to view new situations as a chance to learn and develop new skills.\nLearn from Setbacks: Instead of being discouraged by setbacks, use them as opportunities to learn and grow. Analyze what went wrong, extract the lessons, and apply them to future endeavors. Viewing setbacks as stepping stones rather than roadblocks fosters a resilient and adaptive mindset.\nSeek Diverse Perspectives: When faced with challenges, seek out diverse perspectives and ideas. Engaging with different viewpoints can help you adapt to change by broadening your understanding and finding innovative solutions to overcome obstacles.\nCultivating adaptive thinking is not about eliminating challenges or avoiding change; itG??s about developing the mental agility to navigate through lifeG??s uncertainties and setbacks. By embracing change and approaching obstacles with adaptability, you can build the resilience needed to overcome any adversity.\nDeveloping Coping Strategies\nWhen faced with challenges, itG??s essential to develop coping strategies that empower you to navigate through difficult situations with resilience and clarity. Stress management and self-care practices are crucial components of developing coping strategies that enable you to bounce back from adversity. By incorporating these strategies into your daily routine, you can build resilience and maintain a positive mindset even in the face of adversity.\n|Practicing mindfulness through meditation and deep breathing exercises can help reduce stress and anxiety, allowing you to approach challenges with a clear and focused mind.\n|Enhances self-awareness, reduces negative thinking patterns, promotes emotional regulation.\n|Seeking support from friends, family, or support groups can provide a sense of belonging and comfort during challenging times, fostering emotional resilience and a positive outlook.\n|Reduces feelings of isolation, provides practical assistance, offers validation and empathy.\n|Engaging in regular physical exercise releases endorphins, which act as natural mood lifters, promoting overall well-being and stress reduction.\n|Improves physical health, boosts self-esteem, enhances cognitive function.\nIncorporating these coping strategies into your life can help you manage stress more effectively and cultivate a resilient mindset. By practicing mindfulness, seeking social support, and engaging in physical activity, you can develop the strength and clarity needed to navigate through lifeG??s challenges with confidence and determination. Remember, developing coping strategies is a personal journey, so be gentle with yourself and allow these practices to support you in your quest for resilience.\nNurturing Positive Mindset\nNavigating through challenges with resilience and clarity involves nurturing a positive mindset that empowers you to maintain a sense of optimism and determination. Cultivating a positive mindset is not about ignoring the difficulties you face but rather about developing a mindset that helps you confront and overcome them. Here are some strategies to help you nurture a positive mindset:\nMindfulness Practice: Engaging in mindfulness practice allows you to stay present, acknowledge your emotions, and approach challenges with a clear and focused mind. By being mindful, you can better manage stress and anxiety, enabling you to navigate difficulties with a calmer perspective.\nSelf-care Habits: Prioritizing self-care is crucial in fostering a positive mindset. Taking care of your physical, emotional, and mental well-being can help you feel more balanced and resilient in the face of adversity. Incorporating activities such as exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy nutrition into your routine can significantly impact your ability to maintain a positive outlook.\nGratitude Journaling and Positive Affirmations: Practicing gratitude journaling and positive affirmations can shift your focus towards the positive aspects of your life. By acknowledging and appreciating the good things, no matter how small, you can train your mind to see the silver linings in challenging situations.\nSo, now youG??ve got the basics of resilience down pat. But remember, life has a funny way of throwing curveballs when you least expect it. So, brace yourself for the unexpected, because thatG??s when your resilience will truly shine. ItG??s funny, isnG??t it? The very thing you thought you had under control might just surprise you in the end. Keep bouncing back, and donG??t forget to laugh along the way. YouG??ve got this.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Presentation on theme: \"ROLE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM Cambridge, September 8th, 2005\"— Presentation transcript:\n1 ROLE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM Cambridge, September 8th, 2005 Calogero CarusoBIOLOGY OF LONGEVITY:ROLE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEMImmunosenescence GroupDipartment of Pathobiology and Biomedical MethodologiesUniversity of PalermoCambridge, September 8th, 2005\n2 AGEING Progressive loss of functions Increased death riskReduced ability to respond to environmental stimuliIncreased susceptibility to disease\n4 The immune system INNATE CLONOTYPIC T cells B cells NK cells ? (humoral viaantibodies)T cells(cellular effectors;cytokines)antigen-presentingcellsdendriticphagocytesNK cells ?Inflammation\n5 IMMUNE SYSTEM IN AGEING Antigenic load is associated with a loss of early memory cells, an increase of highly differentiated CD8+ cells, a gradual reduction of the immunological space and an immune risk phenotype (IRP) predicting mortality.As a consequence, a peculiar chronic inflammatory status characterizes immunosenescence.Lifelong chronic antigenic loadinduces age-related increase ofactivated immune cells andhyperproduction ofproinflammatory cytokines.IMMUNE SYSTEM IN AGEINGM. De Martinis et al. FEBS Letters 579 (2005) 2035–2039\n6 HUMAN LONGEVITY APPEARS TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT HERITABLE COMPONENT, CONFIRMING THE OLD ADAGE THAT LONG LIFE RUNS IN FAMILIES.\n7 PREVALENCE ODDS ESTIMATES FOR DISEASE Notes: * Osteoporosis includes Osteoporosis, hip, wrist, and vertebral fracture. POR= Prevalence Odds Ratio; CI= Confidence Interval; COPD= Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease\n9 Studies performed on the Sicilian population confirm our suggestion “So, our hypothesis isthat pro-and anti-inflammatory genes involvedin cardiovascular diseasesmay play an opposite role in human longevity”.Studies performed on the Sicilian population confirm our suggestion\n12 IL-10 GENE POLYMORPHISMS -3538A/T-6752A/T-819C/T-6208 C/G-2736A/CIL-10R (CA)nIL-10 G (CA)nATG-1354A/G-1082G/A-592C/A-1082 G Less IL-10 production (from 30 to 50%)\n13 GENOTIPIC FREQUENCIES IN MI AND LONGEVITY Lio et al., 2004\n14 IL-10 CONCLUSIONSIn our study the high producer IL-10 –1082GG polymorphism showed the highest frequency in centenarians and the lowest frequency in AMI patients.Therefore high IL-10 production seems to be protective towards cardiovascular diseases and can be seen as a longevity factor.\n16 THE CCR5 RECEPTORChemokines and their receptors form a regulatory network that controls the development, recruitment and activation of leukocytes.The chemokine CCR5 plays an important role both in clonotypic and natural immune system, where it is highly expressed on macrophages, CD4 T cells and endothelial cells.In inflammation, macrophage inflammatory protein 1α and 1β (MIP-1α, MIP-1β) latch into CCR5 leading monocytes to the inflammatory site.\n17 CCR5 gene: 32 bp DeletionThe 32bp (32) deletion causes frame shift mutation at position 185 which is localized by the 2nd extracellular loop of the receptor sequence. The 185 aa deletion stops the maturation of the protein. (Samson et al., Nature, 1996)\n18 CCR5 CONCLUSIONSThe CCR5 32 receptor polymorphism seems to be associated with a lower risk to develop atherosclerosis and AMI. The presence of this mutation in CCR5 receptor abolishes (reduces) the receptor from the cell surface. This impairs the recruitment of monocytes at the vascular wall. The mutation might result in an increased chance of longevity in a modern environment with reduced pathogen load and improved control of severe infections by antibiotics.\n20 Toll-like receptors (TLRs) represent a primary line of defence against invading pathogens in mammals, plants and insects. Recognition of microbial components by these receptors triggers the initial innate immune response that ultimately leads to inflammatory gene expression and clearance of the infectious agent.\n22 GENOTYPE DISTRIBUTION OF +896AG TLR4 GENE Balistreri CR, Candore G, C, Caruso C.. JAMA 2004.\n23 TLR4 CONCLUSIONSIn our study TLR4 polimorphism seems associated with reduced risk to develop aterosclerosis and AMI, likely because it lowers the pro-inflammatory signal in the monocytes.The mutation might result in an increased chance of longevity in a modern environment with reduced pathogen load and improved control of severe infections by antibiotics.\n26 Epidemiologic studies suggest that the pathogenic burden, which every individual has been exposed, may be linked to an increased risk of atherosclerosis.\n27 Inflammation in early phases of life Inflammatory Exposure and Historical Changesin Human Life-SpansCaleb E. Finch* and Eileen M. Crimmins17 SEPTEMBER 2004 VOL 305 SCIENCEInfections, traumaInflammatory moleculesInflammation in early phases of lifecan play a relevant role in elderlymorbidity and mortality.Tissue injuryDiseaseDeath\n28 The presence of pro-inflammatory gene polymorphisms may fuel the inflammatory response promoting pro-inflammatory status and atheromatous plaque vulnerability.Conversely, people genetically predisposed to a weak inflammatory activity, have less chance to develop CHD and, therefore, more chance to live longer.In fact, cardiovascular diseases are a late consequence of an evolutionary pro-inflammatory response programmed to resist infections in earlier life.\n29 CONCLUSIONS: Genetics of inflammation, infections, CVD and longevity Genetic polymorphisms responsible for a low inflammatory response might result in an increased chance of long life-span in an environment with a reduced pathogen burden, such as a modern day and health environment, which also permit to obtain a lower grade survivable atherogenic inflammatory response.\n30 IMMUNOSCENESCENCE GROUP PATHOBIOLOGY AND BIOMEDICAL METHODOLOGY DEPARTMENTUNIVERSITY OF PALERMOGiuseppina CandoreGiuseppina Colonna RomanoDomenico LioFlorinda ListìLetizia ScolaCarmela Rita BalistreriAntonio CrivelloMaria Paola GrimaldiDomenico NuzzoSonya VastoAlessandra Aquino Antonio GiacaloneMatteo Bulati Daniele Di CarloValentina Orlando Vito DittaMariangela Russo\n31 CollaborationsStudies on CentenariansDpt. Patologia Sperimentale,Università di Bologna:Istituto Nazionale di Riposo eCura per Anziani, Ancona:Claudio FranceschiStudies on InfarctionUniversità di Bologna: Federico LicastroIstituto di Cardiologia,Università di BolognaAngelo BranziDipartimento di Medicina Interna,Malattie Cardiovascolari e Nefrourologiche,Università di PalermoEnrico Hoffmann", "label": "No"} {"text": "Want to Know About Cholesterol?\nBeing told that you have high cholesterol can cause a big panic, but you do not necessarily need to panic unduly as doctors often only tell one side of the story, i.e., high cholesterol is bad for you. There is, though, rather more to it than that.\nCholesterol is a type of fat that is essential for normal body function. We all need some cholesterol to build and maintain cell membranes (outer layer), controlling passage of molecules across membranes, produce certain hormones, produce bile, help metabolism of vitamins, and to insulate nerve fibres Without cholesterol we could not survive, but, like so many good things, you can have too much.\nAn excess of cholesterol, or certain types of cholesterol, can lead to narrowing of arteries, and a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.\nCholesterol does not float around by itself in the body. It does not dissolve in the blood so is transported around attached to protein, and these protein/fat combinations are called lipoproteins. The main culprits in causing artery and heart disease are the low density lipoproteins (LDL), which is often termed “bad” cholesterol because they carry cholesterol from the liver to cells of the body, including lining cells of arteries where excess can be deposited.\nHigh density (HDL) lipoproteins are termed “good” cholesterol because they take cholesterol away from cells and back to the liver to be broken down and expelled as waste.\nThere is a third main category of cholesterol known as triglycerides, which mostly produced by the immediate conversion of food after digestion. Energy from food that is eaten and not used immediately is converted into triglycerides and transported to fat cells for storage. A certain amount of triglycerides are therefore present in the blood, but, too much can be a bad thing and increase the risk of heart disease.\nWhen your doctor measures your cholesterol levels he may only be talking about total cholesterol, which is only a rough guide to heart disease risk. The ratio of HDL to LDL is a more accurate pointer. High LDL levels are a bad sign, whilst high HDL levels are good.\n“Bad” cholesterol levels can be reduced by attention to diet, not just by reducing fatty meat intake but also by cutting down on sugary foods, and the processed foods that are sold in boxes and bags in supermarkets. This is because only some cholesterol is taken in as such in food; most is made in the body in the liver. A high fat/high refined carbohydrate diet, so typical of Western society, unfortunately tends to cause the liver to manufacture more cholesterol of the wrong sort.\nTo avoid health problems from too much of the wrong sort of cholesterol you should eat a healthy, natural diet, incorporating plenty of fruit and vegetables. Drinking plenty of water and taking pro-biotic supplements can also help.\nBy avoiding too much processed or junk food you can help keep your cholesterol levels normal. Oh, and, by the way, exercise helps too!", "label": "No"} {"text": "According to Valve, “Abandoning the callous ways of his past and embracing a new identity unburdened by the legacies of his father’s archaic pantheon, Mars has turned over a new spear. Vowing to tear down the remnants of the savage old world to build a new empire, Mars is at last ready to assume the true mantle of leadership over gods and men, a position he now realizes has been wasted for eons by the petty whims of Zeus.”\nBased on the character’s page on the Dota 2 website, the character will come with four abilities: Spear of Mars; God’s Rebuke; Bulwark; and Arena of Blood, the character’s ultimate ability. It has been a while since Valve introduced a new playable hero to Dota 2 so this addition is more than a welcome one. In addition to the new character, Valve has also updated the character model for the Drow Ranger.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Go beneath the surface and transform your life. Learn to control your thinking instead of letting it control you. Respond with clarity and calm instead of react from past outdated baggage that no longer serves you. Release that baggage once and for all, letting it go and being truly free to choose and create beliefs, thoughts and emotions that resonate with the life you've always dreamed of. Live for the Present and grow beyond toxic past relationships.\nStart living the way YOU want to live.", "label": "No"} {"text": "October marks National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pink ribbons abound and offer a different meaning for everyone. It may trigger a teary emotion for those who have endured the disease, for family members whose loved ones were diagnosed with breast cancer, and hopefully a reminder to schedule a diagnostic mammogram to promote breast health.\nCancer isn’t a prejudicial disease. It can strike anyone at any age. For some women who are in their earlier or later childbearing years, a lump can be self-discovered or by their healthcare provider.\nAnd hearing the words, “You have breast cancer,” causes an immediate wave of emotions: fear, uncertainty, shock, and denial. Once that wave ebbs into the waters once again, a new ripple of hope emerges.\nOnce breast cancer has been determined following a biopsy, steps need to be taken to help eradicate the disease. For some women, this may include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Each patient is different and is so is their treatment path.\nWith the whirlwind of concerns a woman encounters with her diagnosis, she must somehow forge ahead in deciding where she is with childbearing. Has she finished having children or does she have the desire to build a family?\nThe reasons these questions come to the forefront are because breast cancer treatments may cause infertility. For women who are in the midst of their reproductive years and want children, it’s always recommended that they consult with a fertility specialist. Yes, while a patient is undergoing a flurry of appointments with her breast surgeon, oncologist, radiologist, and perhaps reconstructive surgeon, seeking the guidance from a fertility doctor is highly important.\nChemotherapy may sometimes render a woman infertile after her treatments. Her menstrual cycles may be halted for a few months or more and may return. However, these menstrual cycles may not equate to fertility.\nThis uncertainty is the reason why women want to seek the advice of a fertility expert.\nFor those in their reproductive years facing cancer treatments, having their eggs harvested and frozen prior to this may be advisable for a particular group of patients. And it’s also an empowering process and one fueled with hope knowing that motherhood awaits them once treatments are completed and a patient is deemed cancer-free. Having something like this to look forward to is so important while in the grip of treatments.\nWhile some breast cancer survivors are able to become pregnant following treatments, others may not be able to carry. And thanks to compassionate surrogates, they can help these women who have gone through so much finally nuzzle with their newborns.\nWomen who choose to be a surrogate do so for personal reasons. However, in one way or another, it seems so many people have been touched by breast cancer. When women unite together, they truly are a force to be reckoned with.\nWhile a breast cancer survivor had her circle of support during her surgeries and treatments, a surrogate is there extending her compassionate hand once that chapter is over, waiting to turn the page into the next chapter: motherhood.\nSurrogates create miracles every day for intended mothers who have “fought the fight” of breast cancer. They can finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that a surrogate will make their dreams come true.\nThank you to all the surrogates who have helped breast cancer survivors become mothers.\nFor those interested in becoming a surrogate, please visit www.extraconceptions.com or call (760) 438-2265. Compensation begins at $40,000.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Every day executive leadership is in the dock. Scrutinised & villified. Is this right? Or is there a solid bases for this?\nAre we at the beginning of a new leadership crisis? Acording to a recent HBR ariticle by Beinhocker, Davis and Mendoca, a low trust environment leads to higher transaction costs, diminished customer loyalty, lower brand value, poorer talent retention, negative publicity and unwanted regulation.\nBut perhaps if we can find a way to identify and measure enhanced leadership behavior, perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Fully Loved and Free to Love\n\"O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.\" Psalm 139:1-6\nWould you say you have yourself figured out? You most likely know what you’re good at, what you’re bad at, your internal struggles, and darkest of secrets. If given the task, you could probably write a decent autobiography. Despite your perceived self-awareness, God knows you better than you could ever know yourself. He is the one who created you, after all. He knows what you will say before you even think about saying it, and He knows every trouble that besets your heart...even sins you are unaware of.\nWhen you are in Christ, God loves you fully, despite His total knowledge of the ugliness within your soul. He knows you fully, and yet, He is neither impressed nor horrified with you. He knows you fully, and yet, He loves you completely. How incredible is that? No human on earth has the capability of knowing you like God knows you…not even your closest of friends.\nIn the same way, we are incapable of knowing our fellow-image bearers as well as God knows them. Since God freely showers us with love and grace despite full knowledge of our sinfulness, we should be all the more driven to love our neighbor who we are unable to fully know but still called to love. Acknowledging your limited understanding of your neighbor should motivate you to give more grace and to mirror Christ’s love to them. Instead of jumping to conclusions about your neighbor or judging them, why not be quicker to intercede for them? Instead of trying to figure them out or fix all of their life problems, trust that God knows them better than you ever could and focus on loving them in a Christ-like manner.\nFather, I praise you for loving me in spite of me. I praise you for Christ, who died for me that I may be reconciled to You. Forgive me for not reflecting Christ to others. Forgive me for being quick to judge my neighbor, instead of quick to serve them. I pray for humility in seeing myself as a poor expert about You, myself, and others. May your undeserving love toward me motivate me to love others.\nMemorize 1 John 4:19.\nChelsey Meissner is obsessed with seeing and savoring Jesus. She is a lover of books, coffee, cats, running, and all things vintage. Chelsey is excited to travel the the world with her husband, Eric, who is a Marine Officer.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Colon cancer symptoms may include abdominal pain, changes in bowel habits, blood in the stool, and unexplained weight loss. Colon cancer occurs when abnormal cells grow in the large intestine or rectum, and these symptoms can indicate its presence.\nIf you experience any of these symptoms, it is important to consult a medical professional for evaluation and proper diagnosis. Early detection is crucial for effective treatment and improved prognosis. Understanding common colon cancer symptoms can help individuals identify potential warning signs and seek prompt medical attention, potentially leading to better outcomes.\nUnderstanding The Early Signs\nWhen it comes to colon cancer, early detection is crucial for successful treatment. Identifying the early signs of colon cancer can greatly increase the chances of a positive outcome. In this article, we will discuss some of the most important early signs of colon cancer, including changes in bowel habits, blood in stool, unexplained weight loss, and fatigue and weakness. By recognizing these symptoms, you can take the necessary steps to seek medical attention and potentially catch colon cancer in its early stages.\nChanges in Bowel Habits\nOne common early sign of colon cancer is changes in bowel habits. This can include variations in the frequency and consistency of your bowel movements. Pay close attention to any sudden shifts in your usual bowel routine, such as experiencing diarrhea or constipation for no apparent reason. If you notice these changes persisting for more than a few days, it is important to consult with your doctor for further evaluation.\nBlood in Stool\nAnother potential indicator of colon cancer is the presence of blood in your stool. This can manifest as bright red blood or as dark, tarry stools. It is essential to note that blood in the stool can also be caused by other conditions, such as hemorrhoids or anal fissures, but it is vital to rule out colon cancer as a potential cause. If you notice any blood in your stool, seeking prompt medical attention is crucial.\nUnexplained Weight Loss\nUnexplained weight loss is a symptom that should never be overlooked, as it can be an early sign of various medical conditions, including colon cancer. If you find that you are losing weight without any changes in your diet or physical activity, it is important to consult with your healthcare professional. They will be able to further investigate the possible causes and determine whether colon cancer is a concern.\nFatigue and Weakness\nLastly, fatigue and weakness can also be early signs of colon cancer. If you consistently feel tired and weak, even after getting adequate rest, this could be a cause for concern. While fatigue can be a symptom of various other conditions as well, it is essential to have it evaluated by a healthcare professional to rule out colon cancer.\nBy being aware of these early signs of colon cancer and recognizing any changes in your body, you can take proactive measures to protect your health. Remember, if you experience any of these symptoms, it is important to seek medical attention promptly. Early detection and treatment are key to improving outcomes and increasing the chances of successful treatment.\nRecognizing Late-Stage Symptoms\nWhen it comes to colon cancer, early detection is crucial for successful treatment. However, sometimes the symptoms go unnoticed or are mistaken for other less serious conditions. In late-stage colon cancer, the symptoms tend to be more severe and may indicate that the cancer has advanced. It is important to be aware of these late-stage symptoms and seek medical advice promptly. In this article, we will discuss three common late-stage symptoms of colon cancer:\nAbdominal Pain and Cramping\nOne of the late-stage symptoms of colon cancer is abdominal pain and cramping. This pain is often persistent and may not be relieved by over-the-counter pain medications. The cramping sensation may feel like intense stomach cramps that come and go. It can also be accompanied by bloating, gas, and a feeling of fullness. If you are experiencing these symptoms and they persist for a prolonged period, it is important to consult with your healthcare provider.\nPersistent Nausea and Vomiting\nAnother late-stage symptom of colon cancer is persistent nausea and vomiting. If you are feeling nauseous and vomiting consistently without any apparent cause, it could be a cause for concern. This symptom may be accompanied by a loss of appetite, sudden weight loss, and fatigue. It is essential to discuss these symptoms with a medical professional to determine the underlying cause and receive appropriate treatment.\nAnemia and Iron Deficiency\nAnemia and iron deficiency can also be indicators of late-stage colon cancer. This occurs when the cancerous growth causes bleeding in the digestive tract, leading to iron deficiency and subsequent anemia. Symptoms of anemia include fatigue, weakness, pale skin, shortness of breath, and dizziness. If you are experiencing these symptoms along with other late-stage symptoms of colon cancer, it is crucial to seek medical attention promptly.\nIn conclusion, recognizing late-stage symptoms of colon cancer is essential for early diagnosis and treatment. Abdominal pain and cramping, persistent nausea and vomiting, and anemia with iron deficiency are common indicators of advanced colon cancer. If you experience any of these symptoms or have concerns, consult with a healthcare professional to determine the underlying cause and receive appropriate care.\nSeeking Medical Attention\nSeeking medical attention is crucial if you experience any symptoms related to colon cancer. The timely diagnosis and treatment of this disease can significantly improve your chances of successful recovery. In this section, we will discuss the importance of regular screenings, when to consult a doctor, and the diagnostic tests and procedures involved in confirming a diagnosis of colon cancer.\nImportance of Regular Screenings\nRegular screenings play a vital role in the early detection of colon cancer. These screenings help identify any abnormal changes in the colon before they progress into cancerous growths. By detecting and removing polyps during these screenings, doctors can prevent colon cancer from developing.\nScreenings are particularly important for individuals who are at an increased risk of developing colon cancer, such as those with a family history of the disease or a personal history of certain non-cancerous colon conditions. Additionally, regular screenings are recommended for individuals aged 45 and above. By undergoing screenings at the recommended intervals, you can catch any potential problems early on and receive the appropriate treatment.\nWhen to Consult a Doctor\nIf you experience any symptoms that could be indicative of colon cancer, it is crucial to consult a doctor promptly. While these symptoms may also arise due to other less serious conditions, it is important not to ignore them, as early intervention can be key in treating colon cancer successfully.\nSome common symptoms of colon cancer include:\n- Blood in the stool\n- Changes in bowel habits\n- Abdominal pain or cramps that persist\n- Unexplained weight loss\n- Constant fatigue\nIf you experience any of these symptoms, it is essential to seek medical attention. Your doctor will be able to evaluate your symptoms and determine the appropriate course of action, which may include further testing or referral to a specialist.\nDiagnostic Tests and Procedures\nTo confirm a diagnosis of colon cancer, various diagnostic tests and procedures may be conducted. These tests help doctors evaluate the extent and stage of the cancer, guiding them in formulating an effective treatment plan. Some common diagnostic procedures include:\n|A colonoscopy is a procedure in which a long, flexible tube with a camera is inserted into the rectum to examine the colon. During this procedure, any abnormal growths or polyps can be detected and removed for further analysis.\n|A biopsy involves the collection of tissue samples from the colon for laboratory analysis. This procedure helps determine if any abnormal cells are cancerous.\n|3. Blood Tests\n|Blood tests can provide valuable information about the overall health and function of the body, including levels of certain chemicals and proteins that may indicate the presence of colon cancer.\n|4. Imaging Tests\n|Imaging tests such as CT scans, MRIs, and X-rays may be used to visualize the colon and surrounding tissues. These tests help doctors determine if the cancer has spread to other areas of the body.\nIf any abnormalities are detected during these diagnostic tests, further treatment options and plans will be discussed with you by your healthcare team.\nBy seeking medical attention when symptoms arise and undergoing regular screenings as recommended, you can protect your health and potentially prevent the development of advanced colon cancer.\nCauses And Risk Factors\nUnderstanding the causes and risk factors associated with colon cancer can help individuals identify potential signs and take necessary precautionary measures. While the exact cause of colon cancer is still unknown, various factors have been identified that may contribute to the development of this disease. These can range from genetic predisposition to lifestyle choices. Let’s delve into these factors:\nOne of the significant risk factors for colon cancer is genetic predisposition. Certain inherited gene mutations, such as Lynch syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), can increase the chances of developing colon cancer. Individuals with a family history of colon cancer are advised to undergo genetic testing to assess their risk of inheriting these mutations. If a person carries these genetic mutations, they may require more frequent screening and surveillance to detect any abnormalities at an early stage.\nAge and Gender\nAge is an important risk factor for colon cancer. The chances of developing this disease increase significantly after the age of 50. However, it’s essential to note that colon cancer can occur in younger individuals as well. Gender also plays a role in the risk of developing colon cancer, as men are generally at a higher risk compared to women. Regular screenings are vital in both men and women, especially as they age, to ensure early detection and timely treatment.\nLifestyle choices also influence the risk of colon cancer. Certain habits and behaviors can increase the likelihood of developing this disease. Sedentary lifestyles, obesity, and a diet high in processed food, red meat, and low in fiber have been associated with higher colon cancer risk. Additionally, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking can also increase the chances of developing this disease. By adopting a healthy lifestyle, including regular physical activity, maintaining a balanced diet, limiting alcohol intake, and avoiding tobacco, individuals can reduce their risk of colon cancer.\nTo summarize, while the causes of colon cancer are not entirely understood, certain risk factors have been identified. Genetic predisposition, age, gender, and lifestyle factors all play a significant role in determining an individual’s susceptibility to developing colon cancer. By understanding these risk factors and making appropriate lifestyle changes, individuals can take proactive steps towards reducing their risk and promoting their overall well-being.\nHow Colon Cancer Develops\nUnderstanding how colon cancer develops is crucial for early detection and effective treatment. The journey from a healthy colon to cancer involves various stages and the development of different types of polyps. Let’s delve into these stages and explore the formation of polyps, including adenomatous polyps and hyperplastic polyps, and how they progress to cancer.\nPolyps are abnormal tissue growths that can develop in the lining of the colon. These growths can range in size from small to large and can be classified into different types based on their characteristics. The two main types of polyps associated with colon cancer are adenomatous polyps and hyperplastic polyps.\nAdenomatous polyps are the most common type of polyps in the colon. These polyps are considered precancerous because they have the potential to turn into cancer over time. Adenomatous polyps can vary in size and shape and typically grow slowly. It is important to note that not all adenomatous polyps will progress to cancer, but their presence should be closely monitored and removed if detected during a colonoscopy.\nHyperplastic polyps are much less likely to progress to cancer compared to adenomatous polyps. Unlike adenomatous polyps, these growths are generally small and have a low risk of becoming cancerous. However, it is still important to have regular colonoscopies to ensure any changes in the polyps are identified and appropriately managed.\nProgression to Cancer\nWhile most hyperplastic polyps do not progress to cancer, the progression from adenomatous polyps to colon cancer can occur over many years. If left undetected and untreated, adenomatous polyps can develop genetic abnormalities that lead to the uncontrolled growth of cells, ultimately turning into cancer. This highlights the importance of regular screenings, such as colonoscopies, to detect and remove polyps in their early stages before they have the chance to become cancerous.\nStages Of Colon Cancer\nUnderstanding the stages of colon cancer is crucial for early detection and effective treatment. Colon cancer typically progresses through different stages, indicating the extent of the disease and helping doctors determine the best course of action. Each stage provides important information about the tumor’s size, location, and the presence of lymph node involvement or metastasis. In this article, we will explore the different stages of colon cancer and what they mean for patients.\nStage 0: Carcinoma in Situ\nStage 0, also known as carcinoma in situ, is the earliest stage of colon cancer. At this point, the cancerous cells are still confined to the innermost lining of the colon or rectum and have not invaded deeper layers. In many cases, stage 0 colon cancer can be treated with a simple surgical procedure that removes the localized tumor, without the need for additional therapy.\nStage I: Localized Tumor\nIn stage I, the cancer has grown beyond the innermost lining of the colon or rectum and has invaded the deeper layers of the organ wall. However, it has not yet spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs. Treatment for stage I colon cancer usually involves surgery to remove the tumor, as well as nearby lymph nodes to determine if they contain cancer cells. Additional treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy may be recommended based on the individual case.\nStage II: Extending Through Layers\nStage II colon cancer is characterized by the tumor extending through the layers of the colon or rectum, but still without lymph node involvement. It is further divided into stage IIA, IIB, and IIC, based on the extent of invasion and location of the tumor. Surgery is the main treatment for stage II colon cancer, with the goal of removing the tumor and nearby lymph nodes. Depending on the specific characteristics of the tumor, adjuvant therapies may be recommended to reduce the risk of recurrence.\nStage III: Lymph Node Involvement\nStage III colon cancer indicates the presence of cancer cells in nearby lymph nodes. The cancer may have invaded through the layers of the colon or rectum and spread to the lymph nodes, but has not yet reached other organs. Treatment for stage III colon cancer usually involves surgery to remove the tumor and affected lymph nodes, followed by chemotherapy. The aim of this comprehensive approach is to eliminate any remaining cancer cells and reduce the risk of recurrence or metastasis.\nStage IV: Metastasis\nStage IV is the most advanced stage of colon cancer, where the cancer has spread beyond the colon or rectum to distant organs, such as the liver, lungs, or other parts of the body. This is known as metastasis. Treatment for stage IV colon cancer typically involves a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiation therapy, with the goal of slowing down the progression of the disease and improving quality of life. While stage IV colon cancer is not curable, advances in treatment have significantly improved outcomes in recent years.\nAdopting A Healthy Lifestyle\nOne of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of colon cancer is by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Making simple changes to your daily routine can have a significant impact on your overall health and well-being. In this section, we will explore some key aspects of a healthy lifestyle that can help prevent colon cancer.\nA healthy and balanced diet is essential for maintaining optimal health. It provides the necessary nutrients and vitamins our body needs to function properly. A balanced diet consists of a variety of foods from each food group, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.\nFiber is an important component of a healthy diet, especially when it comes to colon health. Consuming foods high in fiber can help regulate bowel movements, prevent constipation, and reduce the risk of developing colon cancer. Some examples of high-fiber foods include whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.\nFruits and Vegetables\nFruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that provide numerous health benefits, including a reduced risk of colon cancer. Incorporating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables into your diet can help support a healthy digestive system and protect against harmful toxins.\nWhen it comes to choosing grains, opt for whole grains over refined grains. Whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat bread are packed with fiber and essential nutrients. They help promote regular bowel movements and contribute to a healthy colon.\nRegular physical activity is crucial for maintaining overall health and reducing the risk of colon cancer. Engaging in moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging, or cycling, for at least 30 minutes a day can help improve digestion, boost the immune system, and enhance overall well-being.\nMaintaining a Healthy Weight\nExcess weight and obesity have been linked to an increased risk of colon cancer. Therefore, it is important to maintain a healthy weight to reduce your susceptibility to this disease. Combining a balanced diet with regular exercise can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight.\nRegular Screening And Early Detection\nRegular screening and early detection play a crucial role in identifying colon cancer symptoms at an early stage. By undergoing screening tests, individuals can detect any abnormalities in their colon before they turn into cancerous cells. These screening tests can help in identifying colon cancer symptoms at an early stage, when the chances of successful treatment and recovery are significantly higher.\nColonoscopy is considered the gold standard screening test for colon cancer. It involves the insertion of a long and flexible tube with a camera into the rectum and colon. This procedure allows the doctor to visually inspect the entire colon and rectum, identifying any abnormal growths or polyps that may be cancerous or pre-cancerous. If any polyps are detected during the colonoscopy, they can be removed or biopsied for further examination.\nFecal Occult Blood Test\nThe fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is a non-invasive screening test that can detect blood in the stool. The presence of blood in the stool can be an indication of colon cancer or other gastrointestinal conditions. During the FOBT, small samples of stool are collected and tested for the presence of blood. If blood is detected, further diagnostic tests, such as a colonoscopy, may be recommended to determine the cause.\nFlexible sigmoidoscopy is a procedure that allows the doctor to examine the rectum and lower part of the colon. It involves the insertion of a flexible tube with a camera into the rectum, allowing the doctor to spot any abnormal growths or polyps in that area. While flexible sigmoidoscopy does not provide a complete view of the entire colon, it can still help in detecting colon cancer symptoms in the lower part of the colon.\nGenetic testing can be conducted to determine if an individual has an inherited predisposition to develop colon cancer. This test analyzes the DNA to identify specific genetic mutations that are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer. By identifying these mutations, individuals at high risk can take proactive measures to reduce their chances of developing the disease, such as undergoing more frequent screening or making lifestyle changes.\nIn conclusion, regular screening tests such as colonoscopy, fecal occult blood test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and genetic testing can help in the early detection of colon cancer symptoms. These tests can greatly increase the chances of successful treatment and recovery by identifying the disease at its early stages.\nMinimizing Risk Factors\nReducing the risk of colon cancer can significantly improve the overall health and well-being. While there is no foolproof way to prevent colon cancer, there are certain lifestyle changes that can help minimize the risk factors associated with it. By taking proactive steps towards a healthier lifestyle, individuals can lower their chances of developing this life-threatening disease. Below are some effective strategies to consider:\nOne of the most crucial steps in reducing the risk of developing colon cancer is to quit smoking. Smoking exposes the body to harmful chemicals and toxins that can damage the colon and increase the likelihood of cancerous growth. By quitting smoking, individuals not only reduce their risk of colon cancer but also benefit their overall health in numerous ways. The earlier one quits smoking, the better the chances of reversing the negative effects it has on the body.\nLimiting Alcohol Intake\nAnother key risk factor for colon cancer is excessive alcohol consumption. Drinking alcohol regularly, especially in large quantities, can significantly increase the chances of developing colon cancer. It is essential to limit alcohol intake to moderate levels. For men, this means keeping alcohol consumption to two drinks per day, while women should consume no more than one drink per day. By adopting healthier habits and being mindful of alcohol consumption, individuals can lower their risk of colon cancer.\nManaging Chronic Conditions\nChronic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and inflammatory bowel diseases, can increase the risk of colon cancer. It is crucial to manage these conditions effectively to minimize the chances of developing colon cancer. Maintaining a healthy weight through regular exercise and a balanced diet is essential. Individuals should work closely with healthcare professionals to manage conditions such as diabetes and inflammatory bowel diseases, as proper management can help reduce the risk of colon cancer.\nStaying hydrated is important for overall health, including reducing the risk of colon cancer. Drinking an adequate amount of water every day helps keep the digestive system functioning properly and prevents constipation, which is a risk factor for colon cancer. It is recommended to drink at least 8 glasses (64 ounces) of water daily. Ensuring consistent hydration can contribute to a healthy colon and lower the chances of developing colon cancer.\nBy implementing these strategies into one’s lifestyle, it is possible to minimize the risk factors associated with colon cancer. Quitting smoking, limiting alcohol intake, managing chronic conditions, and maintaining consistent hydration are all crucial steps towards a healthier future. It is never too late to start prioritizing one’s well-being and taking proactive measures to reduce the risk of colon cancer.\nFrequently Asked Questions On Colon Cancer Symptoms\nWhat Are 4 Warning Signs Of Colon Cancer?\nEarly detection of colon cancer is crucial. Be aware of these 4 warning signs: 1. Persistent changes in bowel movements such as diarrhea, constipation, or narrow stools. 2. Blood in the stool or rectal bleeding that doesn’t resolve on its own.\n3. Unexplained weight loss, fatigue, or weakness. 4. Abdominal pain, cramping, or discomfort that persists.\nWhat Is The Biggest Symptom Of Colon Cancer?\nThe main symptom of colon cancer is a significant change in bowel habits.\nWhat Are The Silent Signs Of Colon Cancer?\nSilent signs of colon cancer include blood in stool, persistent abdominal pain, changes in bowel habits.\nWhat Are The Top 10 Signs Of Colon Cancer?\nThe top 10 signs of colon cancer include changes in bowel habits, blood in stool, abdominal pain, unintentional weight loss, fatigue, weakness, constipation, diarrhea, narrow stools, and a feeling of incomplete bowel movement.\nBeing aware of the symptoms of colon cancer is crucial for early detection and treatment. The most common signs include changes in bowel habits, rectal bleeding, abdominal discomfort, and unexplained weight loss. It is important to note that these symptoms can also be indicative of other health conditions or may not manifest at all in the early stages of the disease.\nTherefore, it is essential to consult with a healthcare professional if you experience any of these symptoms or have concerns about your risk of colon cancer. Remember, early detection greatly improves the chances of successful treatment and recovery. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including a well-balanced diet, regular exercise, and routine check-ups, can also help in preventing or catching colon cancer in its early stages.\nPrioritizing your health and taking proactive measures are vital for overall well-being.\nWe provide all kinds of important and useful content on our website. You will find all important content related to health on our website. Hope you all stay with us and help us move forward. Stay with our website Smoothheal and get updated news daily. thank you", "label": "No"} {"text": "Genre: Comedy, Romance,\nCast: Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders\nDescription: A father recounts to his children, through a series of flashbacks, the journey he and his four best friends took leading up to him meeting their mother.\nJohn DiMaggio, Tom McGrath, Jeff Bennett\nJoseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower, Tamsin Egerton\nDoona Bae, Jamie Clayton, Tina Desai\nStephen Moyer, Amy Acker, Sean Teale", "label": "No"} {"text": "Striving for a healthy lifestyle, we are often faced with the dilemma of choosing between a variety of nutritional supplements and finding the optimal solution to maintain the balance of vitamins and minerals. In this article, we will look at the benefits of using complex preparations that combine essential microelements in one capsule, discuss in which cases it is advisable to resort to single preparations and how to avoid potential problems with the absorption of vitamins and minerals.\nAdvantages of complex drugs\nInstead of taking many different supplements, we can choose one comprehensive product that contains the necessary micronutrients in one capsule.\nThis is not only convenient, but also allows you to avoid having to acquire a pill box to carry several capsules with you per appointment. Complex multivitamin preparations are most appropriate when the body does not have a clear deficiency of a particular microelement.\nWhen should you choose single-agent drugs?\nIf the body has a specific deficiency, for example, vitamin D or zinc, then it is better to choose single-dose medications that will help fill this particular deficiency to normal level.\nMonopreparations contain higher dosages and are aimed at the specific needs of the body. It is also worth considering the antagonism between some vitamins and minerals. For example, iron and calcium should not be taken at the same time, as they interfere with each other’s absorption. In such cases, taking complex medications will be ineffective and will not give any effect.\nThe importance of understanding the origin of vitamins\nTo avoid problems associated with taking multivitamin supplements, it is important to understand the forms in which vitamins and minerals are contained.\nFor example, if the microelements in the composition are of organic origin, this means that they are obtained from natural sources, such as plant extracts. Such organic forms exist in nature and combine with each other. Unlike organic forms, synthetic forms of microelements created in laboratories may not be compatible with each other, which leads to antagonism when taken simultaneously.\nThe effectiveness of multivitamin complexes\nIt is important to know the organic form of vitamins and minerals in multivitamins such as vitamin B6, B12, C and so on. This will help us make sure that the complex will be effective.\nIn certain cases, for example, during pregnancy and lactation, simultaneous intake of a multivitamin complex and individual monopreparations may be required to meet the increased need for certain microelements. This approach helps expectant and nursing mothers maintain adequate nutrient levels and prevent deficiencies.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Hey there! Today, I want to dive into the fascinating world of gpt66x. If you’re wondering what gpt66x is, you’re in for a treat. This cutting-edge technology has been making waves in the industry, and I’m here to give you the lowdown on all its exciting features and capabilities.\nSo, what exactly is gpt66x? Well, it’s a powerful AI model that has been trained on a massive amount of data to generate human-like text. Whether you’re looking for creative writing ideas, assistance with content creation, or even just some engaging conversation, gpt66x has got you covered. It’s like having your own personal writing assistant at your fingertips.\nWhat is gpt66x?\ngpt66x is an cutting-edge AI technology that has revolutionized the field of natural language processing. As an advanced AI model, gpt66x is incredibly powerful and has been trained on a vast amount of data to generate human-like text. It serves as a personal writing assistant, providing creative writing ideas, assisting with content creation, and engaging in conversation.\nOne of the key characteristics of gpt66x is its ability to generate high-quality text that is both coherent and contextually accurate. This AI model has been trained on a diverse range of data sources, including books, articles, and websites, to develop its language skills. Whether you need help brainstorming ideas for a novel, creating engaging blog posts, or even holding a simulated conversation, gpt66x can provide valuable assistance.\nThe versatility of gpt66x makes it an indispensable tool for writers, content creators, and anyone looking to enhance their writing skills. With its AI capabilities, it can offer suggestions, provide inspiration, and even help with grammar and language usage. This AI writing assistant can significantly boost productivity by quickly generating text on a wide array of topics.\nFurthermore, gpt66x can be seamlessly integrated into various platforms and applications. Whether you prefer to use it directly on the web or through a dedicated software, gpt66x offers accessibility and convenience. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to navigate and interact with, allowing you to quickly harness its power and elevate your writing.\nGpt66x is an innovative AI technology that empowers writers and content creators by providing them with a personal writing assistant. Its ability to generate human-like text and assist with various aspects of writing makes it an invaluable tool. With gpt66x, you can unleash your creativity, enhance your writing skills, and save precious time.\nFeatures of gpt66x\nWhen it comes to the Features of gpt66x, there are several aspects that make this AI technology truly outstanding. Let me walk you through some of its key functionalities without further ado:\n- Natural Language Generation (NLG): One of the most impressive features of gpt66x is its ability to generate human-like text. With its vast data training, gpt66x produces content that is not only coherent but also contextually accurate. This means that users can rely on gpt66x to create content that reads as if it were written by a human.\n- Ideation and Inspiration: Need help coming up with new and creative ideas? gpt66x serves as a reliable writing assistant, providing users with a constant stream of fresh ideas to kick-start their creative process. Whether you’re a writer, blogger, or content creator, gpt66x can help take your work to the next level.\n- Convenient Integration: A key advantage of gpt66x is its seamless integration into various platforms and applications. Whether you’re using it within a writing software, a content management system, or a chatbot platform, gpt66x can be easily integrated to enhance your writing and content creation experience. It’s designed to be versatile and accessible, making it a valuable tool for writers and creators across different industries.\n- Engaging Conversations: Alongside its writing capabilities, gpt66x is also adept at engaging in conversational interactions. This means that you can have dynamic and engaging conversations with gpt66x, making it an ideal tool for chatbots, virtual assistants, and other conversational AI applications. With gpt66x, you can create chatbots that deliver personalized and natural responses to users.\nWithout a doubt, gpt66x’s powerful features make it an indispensable tool for writers and content creators. Its ability to generate high-quality text, provide ideation support, seamlessly integrate into various platforms, and engage in conversations makes it a valuable asset for anyone seeking to enhance their writing skills and save time. So why not give gpt66x a try and experience the difference for yourself?\nHow does gpt66x work?\ngpt66x is an advanced AI technology that revolutionizes the way we approach writing. As a personal writing assistant, it utilizes the power of deep learning algorithms to generate human-like text that is coherent, contextually accurate, and tailored to your needs. Let me walk you through how gpt66x works and why it’s a game-changer for writers and content creators.\n- Deep Learning Algorithms: gpt66x’s foundation lies in its deep learning algorithms. These algorithms have been trained on a vast amount of data, including text from books, websites, and other reliable sources. This extensive training enables gpt66x to understand the intricacies of language and generate high-quality content that meets your requirements.\n- Coherence and Contextual Accuracy: gpt66x is designed to ensure that the generated text is not only grammatically correct but also coherent and contextually accurate. It analyzes the input provided by the user and generates responses that are relevant and meaningful. This helps writers maintain a consistent flow of ideas throughout their writing.\n- Ideation Support: One of the standout features of gpt66x is its ability to provide ideation support. It can assist writers in brainstorming ideas and generating creative suggestions for their content. This feature is particularly beneficial for those who may be experiencing writer’s block or are looking for fresh perspectives.\n- Seamless Integration: gpt66x seamlessly integrates with various platforms, allowing writers to access its capabilities wherever they are working. Whether you’re writing in a word processing software or an online content management system, gpt66x can be easily incorporated into your workflow, providing real-time assistance and enhancing your productivity.\n- Conversational Interactions: Another remarkable aspect of gpt66x is its ability to engage in conversational interactions. It can respond to prompts and questions, facilitating a dynamic and interactive writing experience. This feature not only makes the writing process more engaging but also helps writers clarify their thoughts and refine their ideas.\ngpt66x’s ability to generate human-like text, provide ideation support, seamlessly integrate into various platforms, and engage in conversational interactions sets it apart as an indispensable tool for writers and content creators. By harnessing the power of AI, gpt66x empowers writers to enhance their writing skills, save time, and produce exceptional content.\nBenefits of using gpt66x\nThere are several exceptional benefits to using gpt66x as a personal writing assistant. As a writer with years of experience, I can confidently say that this AI technology has revolutionized the way I create content. Let me share with you some of the key advantages of incorporating gpt66x into your writing process:\n- Enhanced Creativity: gpt66x serves as an incredible tool for ideation support. Whenever I find myself stuck or in need of fresh ideas, I turn to gpt66x for a creative boost. Its advanced deep learning algorithms generate human-like text that inspires me and helps me think outside the box.\n- Time-saving Solution: As a busy writer, saving time is essential. With gpt66x, the time-consuming aspects of writing, such as research and brainstorming, are streamlined. I can easily find relevant information and receive instant suggestions, which saves me valuable time and allows me to focus on crafting high-quality content.\n- Tailored Assistance: gpt66x understands the needs and preferences of individual writers. It adapts its suggestions and responses based on the context and style you provide. This personalized approach ensures that the generated text aligns perfectly with your voice and vision.\n- Seamless Integration: One of the most significant advantages of gpt66x is its ability to integrate seamlessly into various platforms. Whether I am writing a blog post, an email, or a social media caption, gpt66x is always there to assist me. Its integration across platforms ensures a consistent and cohesive writing experience.\n- Conversational Interactions: gpt66x goes beyond providing text suggestions and engages in conversational interactions. This interactive experience allows me to receive instant feedback, ask questions, and seek clarification. It’s like having a knowledgeable writing partner right at my fingertips.\nWithout a doubt, gpt66x has become an indispensable tool in my writing arsenal. Its ability to enhance creativity, save time, provide tailored assistance, seamlessly integrate, and engage in conversational interactions make it a game-changer for any writer or content creator. So why not empower your writing skills and take your content to new heights with gpt66x?\nLimitations of gpt66x\nWhile gpt66x is a powerful tool that offers numerous benefits, it’s important to acknowledge its limitations. Here are a few factors to consider when using gpt66x:\n- Lack of Contextual Understanding: One of the challenges faced by gpt66x is its limited ability to comprehend complex contextual nuances. While it can generate human-like text, it doesn’t possess the same level of contextual understanding as a human writer. As a result, it may sometimes produce inaccurate or irrelevant suggestions. It’s crucial for users to review and verify the recommendations provided by gpt66x.\n- Dependency on Training Data: gpt66x relies heavily on the data it has been trained on. This means that its suggestions and responses are influenced by the biases present in the training dataset. Users must be aware of this and critically evaluate the output to avoid perpetuating bias in their content.\n- Lack of Originality: Although gpt66x can assist with generating ideas and text, it may not always foster originality. It’s important for writers to balance their reliance on gpt66x with their own creative thinking to ensure that their content stands out and remains unique.\n- Inability to Replace Human Editors: While gpt66x can provide valuable writing suggestions, it cannot fully replace the expertise and intuition of a human editor. Editors play a crucial role in refining and polishing content to make it more engaging and error-free. Writers should continue to prioritize collaborating with human editors to ensure the highest quality of their work.\n- Security and Privacy Concerns: As with any technology that involves data input and processing, there are potential security and privacy concerns to consider when using gpt66x. It’s important to use reputable platforms and take necessary precautions to protect sensitive information.\nDespite these limitations, gpt66x remains an invaluable tool for writers and content creators. By understanding its capabilities and limitations, users can make the most of its features to enhance their writing process and produce exceptional content.\nIn this article, I have discussed the benefits and limitations of using gpt66x as a personal writing assistant. We have seen how gpt66x can enhance creativity, streamline research and brainstorming, and provide tailored assistance to writers and content creators. Its seamless integration into various platforms makes it a convenient tool for anyone looking to improve their writing process.\nHowever, it is important to acknowledge the limitations of gpt66x. It lacks contextual understanding and may rely heavily on training data, which can introduce potential biases. While it can assist in generating ideas, it may not foster originality as effectively as human editors. Additionally, security and privacy concerns should be taken into consideration when using gpt66x.\nDespite these limitations, gpt66x remains an invaluable tool for writers and content creators. By understanding its capabilities and limitations, users can make the most out of this writing assistant and harness its potential to improve their writing efficiency and quality.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Dairy foods include a range of food and beverage products that make up classic combinations: cereal with milk, cheese and crackers, yogurt and berries, ice cream sundaes. While ice cream and cream cheese are examples of indulgent dairy foods that are viewed as every-so-often treats, a lack of clarity exists over other dairy foods that offer protein, calcium, vitamin D, and other healthful nutrients. Is cheese a healthy food? Is non/low-fat milk and yogurt better for the heart than full-fat versions? Traditionally, whole milk dairy products have been viewed as the less healthful choice because of their predominant type of fat—saturated fat.\nSaturated fats were targeted in the 1970s and 1980s as potentially causing harm to health. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 1980 recommended choosing non/low-fat dairy foods in place of full-fat versions (except for young children). In 2010, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act required schools in the U.S. to replace whole milk with non/low-fat unflavored milk or non-fat flavored milk. Sales of low-fat and fat-free milks, yogurts, and cheeses skyrocketed despite complaints about their lack of flavor and satisfaction. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines recommend three 1-cup (8 ounce) servings of non/low-fat milk or similar amounts of low-fat cheese, yogurt, or other dairy foods for adults and children over 9 years old to increase calcium intake and reduce the risk of bone fractures. \nTo the surprise of many, research in the 2000s defied these longstanding guidelines to suggest that full-fat dairy foods might be just as healthful as their lower-fat counterparts, provoking scientists to look more closely at all dairy products. Upon closer examination, they realized that dairy foods are not one in the same. The fermentation process required to make cheese and yogurt may impart unique health benefits as well as improved digestibility from a lower lactose content. That said, how people eat dairy is important to consider. Take cheese for example: is it consumed melted on fast-food burgers, pasta, and pizza that are already high in refined carbohydrate, sodium, and saturated fat? Or is it served in thin wedges, eaten with fresh fruit as a snack or dessert? Another key point is frequency and amount. If people drink several glasses of low-fat milk or snack on reduced-fat cheese throughout the day, they might end up eating as much saturated fat (or more) than if they had consumed one glass of whole milk or serving of full-fat cheese.\nThese questions are important to consider when reviewing scientific research on dairy foods.\nWhat is lactose, and what causes lactose intolerance?\nDairy foods like milk, ice cream, cream, and soft cheeses like cottage and ricotta are high in lactose. Yogurt and aged cheeses are low in lactose because their production involves fermentation by natural bacteria that break down and consume the lactose. This is why some people with lactose intolerance may be able to safely consume some types of cheese and yogurt without side effects. Lactaid pills are a commercial product that contains the lactase enzyme that breaks down lactose, and can be taken before meals containing dairy to help reduce uncomfortable side effects. Lactaid milk is cow’s milk that contains the lactase enzyme so the product is very low in lactose.\nDairy and Health\nThe nutrients and types of fat in dairy are involved with bone health, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions. Calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus are important for bone building, and the high potassium content of dairy foods can help lower blood pressure.\nStudies on dairy have limitations that may be a cause of seemingly conflicting findings. In observational studies, people who consume a high amount of milk may be different from those who do not in ways that are not fully captured by statistical adjustments. Randomized clinical trials tend to be short in duration with a small number of participants, making it difficult to see possible effects of dairy intake on chronic diseases like heart disease and bone fractures that take years to develop. Thus, longer-term epidemiological studies may provide additional insights.\nThe recommendations for dairy foods from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 are based on short-term clinical trials that have shown that higher intakes of calcium result in small increases in bone mineral density. However, after one year the differences in bone density are not significant compared with a placebo. Meta-analyses of prospective studies have not found an association of total dairy food intake and hip fracture risk. [3,4]\nThe effects of dairy foods are of special interest with children due to calcium and vitamin D playing an important role in bone growth. These nutrients are essential, but the critical question is the amount needed to minimize bone fracture risk.\n- A randomized controlled trial followed 240 girls and boys between the ages of 9-16 years for 18 months who had a lower dairy intake at baseline (less than 800 mg of calcium daily). It found no differences in bone mineral density in children who ate up to 3 servings versus 2 servings of dairy daily. These findings suggest that more than two servings per day will not increase bone mineral density.\n- A large cohort study following 96,000 men and women over 22 years did not find that greater intakes of milk during teenage years was associated with a lower risk of hip fractures later in life. In fact, each additional glass of milk per day during teenage years was associated with a 9% greater risk of hip fracture in men. Part of this risk was related to a taller height, an independent risk factor for hip fractures. No association was found in teenage girls.\nSometimes research looks at calcium intakes compared with calcium balance (how much calcium is eaten from foods and supplements compared with how much calcium is lost by the body). Calcium balance is positive during growing phases, such as in childhood and adolescence. Calcium balance is negative in the elderly, when the risk of bone loss increases. Studies have found that amount of calcium needed to achieve positive calcium balance varies among groups of people. Although the U.S. recommendation of about 3 cups daily of milk or dairy foods daily provides about 900-1000 mg calcium, some studies have shown that children and adults can achieve positive calcium balance with as little as 400 mg daily. [7,8]\nMore than half of the type of fat in dairy is saturated, which is a known risk factor for heart disease and the reason why the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends only non/low-fat dairy products. However, removing one type of food from the diet usually means replacing it with another. Swapping saturated fat with low-fat foods but also possibly more refined carbohydrates may help to lower LDL “bad” cholesterol but can raise triglycerides, a different risk factor for cardiovascular disease. High blood levels of triglycerides can lead to hardening of the arteries.\n- Based on large cohort studies, dairy foods appear protective from cardiovascular disease compared with similar servings of red meat or refined carbohydrates. However, an increased risk of cardiovascular disease is seen eating dairy foods in comparison with fish, nuts, or unsaturated fats. The results were similar with full-fat versus low-fat dairy. [9-11]\n- The PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology) study, a large multinational cohort following more than 136,000 participants from 21 countries for nine years looked at the relationship between dairy intake and mortality and cardiovascular disease. It found that a higher intake of dairy (2+ servings daily), specifically milk and cheese, compared with no intake was associated with a 17% lower risk of death from any cause and 14% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 34% lower risk of stroke. A higher intake of saturated fat from dairy sources was not associated with death or CVD. The PURE study included primarily low-income and middle-income countries where refined carbohydrates are a greater part of the diet and dairy foods are less commonly eaten. Therefore, in countries where food variety is more limited, adding a moderate amount of dairy may show a benefit with cardiovascular health if it replaces carbohydrate in the diet.\nThe evidence on dairy foods and their relation to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is inconclusive. While population studies on total dairy intake tend to show little or no association with T2DM, closer evaluations of specific foods like yogurt suggest a possible protective effect. The protein and probiotics in yogurt may help to lower blood glucose and affect gut microbiota that prevents weight gain. \n- A meta-analysis of 22 cohort studies with more than 579,000 individuals found a weak association between higher total dairy intake (both full-fat and low-fat types) and lower risk of T2DM. When specifically looking at yogurt, the study found a stronger association of reduced diabetes risk with moderate intakes.\n- A prospective study of three large cohorts of 194,458 men and women from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study I and II found that total dairy intake including high and low-fat dairy was not associated with risk of T2DM. However, one serving of yogurt daily was associated with a 17% reduced risk of diabetes.\nThe types of saturated fats in dairy have also gained greater attention, as some types of saturated fatty acids in dairy are different than those in red meat, and may have a more neutral effect on blood cholesterol. A study of 3,333 adults from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professional’s Follow-up Study assessed the participants’ blood levels of various dairy fatty acids. It found that higher blood levels of these saturated fatty acids were associated with less incidents of T2DM. However, it is possible the metabolic abnormalities that precede the diagnosis of T2DM by many years may have affected the blood levels of these fatty acids.\nIt has been speculated that although full-fat dairy contains more calories and fat than reduced-fat dairy, full-fat versions may taste better and be more filling. This in turn might prevent extra snacking between meals or even eating less over the course of a day. However, randomized clinical trials have not shown an overall effect of dairy foods on weight loss or body weight changes. In a large prospective study of three cohorts of men and women, intakes of low-fat and whole milk and cheese had no association with weight changes, though yogurt in the diet was associated with less weight gain over time. \nThe fat in dairy foods contains estrogenic hormones that are associated with a higher risk of some hormone-related cancers. High amounts of dairy foods in the diet have been associated with certain cancers, including endometrial and prostate, but with a lower risk of colorectal cancer. Findings for breast cancer have not been consistent .\n- A prospective study of 68,019 women found that total dairy intake was associated with a greater risk of endometrial cancer among postmenopausal women who were not receiving hormone therapy, a finding possibly related to the sex-hormone content of dairy products.\n- A prospective study of 926 men from the Physicians’ Health Study diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer and followed for up to 10 years looked at dairy intake in relation to cancer deaths. Men eating three or more servings daily of total dairy products had a 76% increased risk of deaths from all causes and 141% increased risk of death from prostate cancer compared with those who ate less than one dairy food a day. There was little difference in risk between high-fat and low-fat dairy.\n- A 2014 meta-analysis found that high intakes of dairy products, milk, low-fat milk, cheese, and total, dietary, and dairy calcium, but not supplemental or nondairy calcium, may increase total prostate cancer risk. According to the authors, the results suggest that other components of dairy foods rather than fat and calcium may increase prostate cancer risk. \n- The World Cancer Research Fund reports strong evidence that dairy foods decrease the risk of colorectal cancer. This is likely due, at least in part, to their high content of calcium. A study following 477,122 men and women for 11 years looked at whole-fat and low-fat dairy foods and colorectal cancer; it did not find a difference in the apparent protective effect of dairy foods based on the fat content. \n- In one prospective study of 52,795 North American women, higher intakes of milk (but not cheese or yogurt) were associated with greater risk of breast cancer. However, in another study of diets in adolescents, milk intake was shown to be unrelated to a future risk of breast cancer. \nFor Your Health and the Planet’s Health\nThe production of dairy foods places considerable demand on land, water, and other natural resources, and dairy-producing ruminant animals like cattle, sheep, and goats generate methane—a powerful greenhouse gas. In identifying a dietary pattern both healthy for people and sustainable for the planet, the “planetary health diet” sets the target for dairy foods at 250 grams per day (with a range of 0 to 500 grams per day). 250 grams is about one (8-ounce) cup of milk, yogurt, or equivalent amounts of cheese (because milk is about 90% water, this amounts to about 1 oz of hard cheese). If everyone were to consume 2 servings of dairy per day, climate change would be difficult to control. \nBoth full-fat and non/low-fat dairy foods can be good sources of protein, calcium, B vitamins, and vitamin D. Dairy foods that undergo fermentation, such as yogurt and some cheeses, are lower in lactose and contain healthful gut bacteria that may benefit digestive health. However, the nutrients in milk can be found in other foods and therefore is not an essential food even for the normal growth and development in children and for the prevention of health conditions like bone fractures.\nAlthough full-fat dairy foods are high in saturated fat, whether full-fat dairy is more harmful (or more beneficial) to health than non/low-fat dairy will depend on the sources calories that replace the dairy fat. If this is sugar there may be little difference, but if this is unsaturated fat (such as in nuts or plant oils), the lower fat version would be better. The total amount of dairy consumption is also important; at only one serving per day, the amount of fat would not be important, whereas it would with 3 or more servings per day. Thus, while more research emerges, the type of dairy one incorporates into their dietary pattern can be a matter of personal preference. Some people enjoy using non-fat milk in their cereal or eating a low-fat Greek yogurt. Others may find that choosing a richer full-fat yogurt as an afternoon snack works well to prevent extra snacking before dinner. The overall dietary pattern is key, and creating a balanced plate allows for 0 to 2 servings daily of dairy (of any type) can be healthy.\nLearn more about some specific types of dairy foods:\n- U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Washington, DC: U.S. Gov’t Printing Offices.\n- Elders PJ, Lips P, Netelenbos JC, van Ginkel FC, Khoe E, van der Vijgh WJ, van der Stelt PF. Long‐term effect of calcium supplementation on bone loss in perimenopausal women. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. 1994 Jul;9(7):963-70.\n- Bian S, Hu J, Zhang K, Wang Y, Yu M, Ma J. Dairy product consumption and risk of hip fracture: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2018 Dec 1;18(1):165.\n- Matía-Martín P, Torrego-Ellacuría M, Larrad-Sainz A, Fernández-Pérez C, Cuesta-Triana F, Rubio-Herrera MÁ. Effects of milk and dairy products on the prevention of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures in Europeans and non-Hispanic Whites from North America: a systematic review and updated meta-analysis. Advances in Nutrition. 2019 May 1;10(suppl_2):S120-43.\n- Vogel KA, Martin BR, McCabe LD, Peacock M, Warden SJ, McCabe GP, Weaver CM. The effect of dairy intake on bone mass and body composition in early pubertal girls and boys: a randomized controlled trial. The American journal of clinical nutrition. 2017 May 1;105(5):1214-29.\n- Feskanich D, Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Frazier AL, Willett WC. Milk consumption during teenage years and risk of hip fractures in older adults. JAMA pediatrics. 2014 Jan 1;168(1):54-60.\n- Abrams SA, Griffin IJ, Hicks PD, Gunn SK. Pubertal girls only partially adapt to low dietary calcium intakes. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. 2004 May;19(5):759-63.\n- Willett WC, Ludwig DS. Milk and Health. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020 Feb 13;382(7):644-54.\n- Bernstein AM, Sun Q, Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Willett WC. Major dietary protein sources and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. Circulation. 2010 Aug 31;122(9):876.\n- Bernstein AM, Pan A, Rexrode KM, Stampfer M, Hu FB, Mozaffarian D, Willett WC. Dietary protein sources and the risk of stroke in men and women. Stroke. 2012 Mar;43(3):637-44.\n- Chen M, Li Y, Sun Q, Pan A, Manson JE, Rexrode KM, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Hu FB. Dairy fat and risk of cardiovascular disease in 3 cohorts of US adults. The American journal of clinical nutrition. 2016 Nov 1;104(5):1209-17.\n- Dehghan M, Mente A, Rangarajan S, Sheridan P, Mohan V, Iqbal R, Gupta R, Lear S, Wentzel-Viljoen E, Avezum A, Lopez-Jaramillo P. Association of dairy intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 21 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study. The Lancet. 2018 Nov 24;392(10161):2288-97.\n- Chen M, Sun Q, Giovannucci E, Mozaffarian D, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Dairy consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: 3 cohorts of US adults and an updated meta-analysis. BMC medicine. 2014 Dec 1;12(1):215.*Disclosure: DM is a member of the Unilever North America Scientific Advisory Board.\n- Gijsbers L, Ding EL, Malik VS, De Goede J, Geleijnse JM, Soedamah-Muthu SS. Consumption of dairy foods and diabetes incidence: a dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies. The American journal of clinical nutrition. 2016 Apr 1;103(4):1111-24.*Disclosure: SSS-M, KMG, and ELD reported receiving prior funding from one or more of the following: Dairy Research Institute, Global Dairy Platform, Dutch Dairy Association, and Dairy Australia. Any prior sponsors had no role in the design and conduct of the study, data collection and analysis, interpretation of the data, decision to publish, or preparation of this manuscript.\n- Yakoob MY, Shi P, Willett WC, Rexrode KM, Campos H, Orav EJ, Hu FB, Mozaffarian D. Circulating biomarkers of dairy fat and risk of incident diabetes mellitus among men and women in the United States in two large prospective cohorts. Circulation. 2016 Apr 26;133(17):1645-54.*Disclosure: DM reports ad hoc honoraria from Amarin, Astra Zeneca, Haas Avocado Board, Bunge, and Life Sciences Research Organization. Harvard University holds a patent, listing DM among co-inventors, for use of trans-palmitoleic acid to prevent and treat insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and related conditions.\n- Chen M, Pan A, Malik VS, Hu FB. Effects of dairy intake on body weight and fat: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. The American journal of clinical nutrition. 2012 Oct 1;96(4):735-47.\n- Mozaffarian D, Hao T, Rimm EB, Willett WC, Hu FB. Changes in diet and lifestyle and long-term weight gain in women and men. New England Journal of Medicine. 2011 Jun 23;364(25):2392-404.\n- Ganmaa D, Cui X, Feskanich D, Hankinson SE, Willett WC. Milk, dairy intake and risk of endometrial cancer: A 26‐year follow‐up. International journal of cancer. 2012 Jun 1;130(11):2664-71.\n- Yang M, Kenfield SA, Van Blarigan EL, Wilson KM, Batista JL, Sesso HD, Ma J, Stampfer MJ, Chavarro JE. Dairy intake after prostate cancer diagnosis in relation to disease‐specific and total mortality. International journal of cancer. 2015 Nov 15;137(10):2462-9.\n- Aune D, Navarro Rosenblatt DA, Chan DS, Vieira AR, Vieira R, Greenwood DC, Vatten LJ, Norat T. Dairy products, calcium, and prostate cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. The American journal of clinical nutrition. 2015 Jan 1;101(1):87-117.\n- World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research. Continuous Update Project Expert Report 2018. Meat, fish and dairy products and the risk of cancer. https://www.wcrf.org/sites/default/files/Meat-Fish-and-Dairy-products.pdf Accessed 11/18/19.\n- Murphy N, Norat T, Ferrari P, Jenab M, Bueno-de-Mesquita B, Skeie G, Olsen A, Tjønneland A, Dahm CC, Overvad K, Boutron-Ruault MC. Consumption of dairy products and colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). PloS one. 2013 Sep 2;8(9):e72715.\n- Fraser GE, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Orlich M, Mashchak A, Sirirat R, Knutsen S. Dairy, soy, and risk of breast cancer: those confounded milks. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2020 Feb 25.\n- Linos E, Willett WC, Cho E, Frazier L. Adolescent diet in relation to breast cancer risk among premenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers. 2010 Mar 1;19(3):689-96.\n- Willett W, Rockström J, Loken B, Springmann M, Lang T, Vermeulen S, Garnett T, Tilman D, DeClerck F, Wood A, Jonell M. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet. 2019 Feb 2;393(10170):447-92.\nLast reviewed October 2020\nThe contents of this website are for educational purposes and are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The Nutrition Source does not recommend or endorse any products.", "label": "No"} {"text": "||book-bats are made from old or worn out books that have been animated to guard the library. They are not hostile but do have an interesting ability to mesmerize would be thieves in the shelves. Once a thief is mesmerised ( 1 attempt per action), they sit and read the book, oblivious to anything else until the library own frees them with a counter command. They will come slowly back to there senses, refreshed and feeling they have had a good read, but not really remembering much of the book read.(intensity 8 for dispelling purposes).\nSome have more detrimental effects, but most are to prevent reading of sensitive material, or theft of books from university libraries. the person will not let the book go willingly and will resist with opposed brawn, adding the book bats brawn to theirs. Seeing as it is limited to one book per trespasser, most large libraries have 4 or 5 book bats to guard them.\nThey appear, quite simply, as a book that uses its covers to fly.\nHit locations are:\nBody = pages\nwings = front and back covers\nHead = spine (need to hit here to destroy)\nif a 'wing' is destroyed they fall to the floor and can be destroyed easily.\nUses INS not INT.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This bi-color yellow and purple quartz gemstone has the metaphysical properties of both Amethyst and Citrine as well as its own unique properties. Ametrine gemstone is said to attract money. It is a powerful healing stone and can be used to clear thoughts, leading to mental clarity and psychic awareness. This stone also can help in cleansing on a physical level. Ametrine is said to awaken the genius and creativity ability within its wearer and is an excellent stone for students undertaking exams. This stone is said to promote Optimism and helps one in relieving negativity, stress and tension. It is also said to be a good stone for meditation as it enhances concentration as well as intuition. This stone can be helpful in the activation of third eye chakra. This stone is said to be of help in times of headaches, digestive problems, skin disorders and backache. It is also said to be helpful in strengthening the immune system and treating situations of chronic fatigue and low-immunity. This stone is said to be very effective in treating depression by finding peace and tranquility from within. Ametrine Elixir is said to be helpful in removing the toxins from the body.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Pools of honey coat the floor beneath her feet, dripping from his mouth as he speaks. She is suspended in her seat, feet helplessly glued to the ground. The hands of a conductor, fingers moving like the toes of dancers, instructive and hypnotic. She had always wondered what those hands could do to her.\nIt’s not often that you meet someone who changes you. Rarer, still, is to meet someone who changes you twice per week at 7AM, and every second Saturday night, but we’ll get to that. Professor Artur Krad was a phonetic vision, and an ocular song. Frida, Tori’s best girlfriend, used to waltz in late on purpose, in the shorts that made her ass pop and revealed the slight outline of her pussy, so that he would stop in his tracks, smile and say “Good evening” (his favourite quip for latecomers), while ushering her to the front row.\nFrida commanded attention, not in a desperate way, but in an unapologetic, sexy way. Tori liked that about her. And that was how it went. Every Tuesday and Thursday at 7AM, in lecture hall B47. Tori knew how hard Frida was for the Professor; so much so that she didn’t have the heart to tell her what those Saturday night “philosophy seminars” were really about.\nProfessor’s words weren’t the only things dripping like honey; Tori’s pussy had a habit of moistening up as she listened to him deliver his lectures. And when he said “Good evening,” as some other student walked in late, she couldn’t stop the recollections of that first Saturday night when he opened the door and said, “Good evening”, the tone of which was far more sultry than when he said it in class, and it sent shivers down her spine.\nSuddenly, she felt self-conscious about her hardened nipples protruding through her shirt. What would the others think of her? Of course, there were no others…\nHe invited her in, and walked her down a corridor into a stunning home office, a large mahogany desk sitting in wait in the middle of the room. She wondered if that surface had ever met the ass of a woman, and dismissed the thought as quickly as it came.\n“Where is everybody?” she asked. “Well, the seminar series has yet to begin. I suppose you could call this the preamble,” he said, and she could have sworn she saw a flicker of desire in his eye. She didn’t quite understand, until… “Perhaps I should explain, I’ve noticed the way you look at me, the way you blush…” He chuckled, “…like you are right now. I thought you’d like to share a drink with me in the stu-” but he didn’t finish, because her hand was already on the nape of his neck- tentative…\nShe had hesitated, but he wasted no time. In an instant, his hands grabbed her ass and pulled her in close to him, and she could feel his erect cock against her stomach, through his jeans. She moved even closer and stood on her tiptoes so that her stomach would rub against his throbbing cock, and to elevate her to his lips.\nHowever, their lips only brushed one another’s before he turned her around and held her in place by the jaw, kissing her passionately from behind and grinding against her ass. She couldn’t tell what was turning her on more, his tongue in her mouth or the erection burrowing further and further between her cheeks with every thrust.\nShe pulled away and, for a moment, she thought she recognized an expression of doubt on his face. That changed when she began to kneel in front of him, staring seductively up into his eyes as she carefully unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans. Her nipples got harder and her pussy wetter as she peeled back each layer of fabric between her and her rock hard object of desire, and when she saw it, shivers ran all the way up her legs to her tits, her arms, and her face.\nShe managed to muster “Good fucking god” before he pulled her head into his crotch and filled her mouth with cock. He fucked and she sucked, like she had never sucked before. She couldn’t get enough of him. She was almost swallowing him, which made her gag, but his moans implied that he liked it that way.\nHe reached down and slid his hands under her arms and practically lifted her off of his dick. He was strong, stronger than she would have expected. He put her down on the mahogany desk and ripped off her pants. He smiled a dangerous smile when he saw how wet her panties were and, like the animal he was, he mounted her. Never in her life had her vaginal cavity been filled by such a generously huge piece like the one Professor was carrying. She didn’t know what to do with herself, he was so big it almost hurt, but it also caused her to cum almost immediately.\nShe screamed with pleasure as her legs shook, and he kept on thrusting, and thrusting, and thrusting, so hard that his thighs will have bruised from the way they were knocking against the edge of the desk. She was in pure ecstasy, and with each thrust, she felt another orgasm building. His head rested against her shoulder as he thrusted and she realised that she was getting louder with each one, until the sound of her voice screaming “yes!” drowned out the knocking of the desk.\nA bead of his sweat dripped down the groove between her breasts, and by the time it reached her belly button both of them were screaming in ecstasy. She felt him cum inside of her as he bit down on her shoulder, and she shuddered violently at the climax of her second orgasm.\nAs she snapped back to reality, Tori noticed that her pussy was drenched, and she was blushing. The Professor gave her a knowing glance from across the lecture hall.", "label": "No"} {"text": "It was said to Imaam Ja’far (RA) that a person dreamed that rain was falling particularly on his head. He said: “A very sinful person has been this dream. Hasn’t he heard this verse of the Holy Qur’aan? : We sent down rains upon them, thus those who were warned, a calamitous rain had fallen on them”.)\nIt is said that lightning without rain symbolizes impending disaster for both, a musaafir as well as muqeem.\nIt is also said that lightning with rain symbolizes cure and remedy for a sick person.... Islamic Dream Interpretation\nDreams of history are your feelings and attitudes that relate to the particular period of which you are dreaming. This dream may be assisting you in learning from your past.\nIf you are continuing to relive your history, then you need to heal the reoccurring issues in order to move on, create a future and to move in the direction of your dreams. See Mythology and Recurring Dreams.... Strangest Dream Explanations\nDreams of the past, or a dream about being in History class, are usually about learning from experience. Your mind could be trying to show you what worked or didn’t in the past, so you can learn a lesson, change your behavior and be happier in the present.... My Dream Interpretation\nA frequent symbol when your life is too one-sided and you are engaged intellectually either too much or too little. According to Jung, the intellectual area and consciousness are challenged.... Little Giant Encyclopedia\nIn a dream, a storyteller may represent the Imam of a mosque, or the Khatib who delivers the Friday sermon.\nA storyteller in a dream also may represent one’s livelihood, or intestinal and bowel problems, or he could represent travels.\nIf the stories are new, then they mean disturbances in one’s life.\nIf they are stories of chivalry, then they represent a war.\nA pleasant story one tells to a king, or to Ulan of authority in a dream represents wealth, or great profits which are distributed equitably. As for a merchant, hearing a pleasant story in a dream represents easy and quick profits from his business, and for a craftsman, it represents a sizeable contract, or an important new account. (Also see Comedian; Humorist)... Islamic Dream Interpretation\nThe preservation of history, culture, religion, or central truths. Among many civilizations, this person equated to the medieval bard, or Hebrew cantor, who by their talents kept an oral legacy for a specific group alive. In interpreting such a dream, consider what story is told, bv and to whom, and how it is received for more meaning.\nFor example, the rejection of a Bible story from your youth in a dream might likewise symbolize your personal rejection of that idea or belief system.\nMorals or lessons from the subconscious or Higher Self, neatly disguised in a more enjoyable construct. Storytelling has always been an effective teaching tool because it draws our attention away from the chore to something we perceive as fun.\nPotentially, a personal creation that should find its way into a tape or book, if only for your own enjoyment. Inventive energies are much more fluid when we sleep, and many excellent artists have received inspiration for a story, song, or painting this way.\nReligious stories denote a change in perspectives from mundane to more devout matters, whereas hearing things like fables reveals a romantic nature prone to daydreaming.... The Language of Dreams\nIt is reported that once, while ImaamMuhammad Bin Sireen (RA) was having his lunch,a lady came to him and informed him that she had seen a dream. When he asked her to relate it she said: “Not until you have finished your meal”. After having had his meal, she said; “I saw the moon entering the planet Taurus and a voice from behind me said to me: Go to Muhammad Bin Sireen and relate to him your dream!. Hearing this, the Imaam’s face turned pale and he got up holding his stomach. His sister came to himasking: “ What’s the matter with you? Why has your face turned pale? He said “Why should it not when this lady has brought to me the news of my death after seven days?” And truly, the Imaam (RA) passed away on the seventh day after this dream. May allah have mercy upon him.... Islamic Dream Interpretation\nA man once came to Hazrat Imaam Ja’far (RA) and said.”I saw myself as if I were embracing the moon”.\nThe Imaan asked:. “Are you a bachelor?” He answered in the affirmative.\nThe Imaam said: “You shall marry the most beautiful lady of her time”. Thereafter, the person was not seen for a very long time. Then Suddenly he appeared one day and said to the Imaam. “My master! I have married the most beautiful lady of Madeenah. But last night I saw a dream as if I were carrying the moon”.\nThe Imaam interpreted this dream saying: “She Shall bear you the most beautiful boy of his time”. He said: “ She shall bear you the most beautiful boy of his time”. He said: “O master! At this very moment she is expecting”.\nThe reporter of this incident say that matters turned out to be exactly as the Imaam had interpreted. May Allah have mercy on the Imaam.... Islamic Dream Interpretation\nIt is related that while the mother of Imaam Shafi (RA) was expecting him(ie. Imaam Sharfi’) she saw in her dream as if the planet, Jupiter, left her body and descended on Egypt . Then it started running speedily and its embers spread far and wide and in all the towns and cities of Egypt .\nThe Interpretation of this dream was given that a son will be born to her whose knowledge of Deen will be very vast and the people of every town and city of Egypt will benefit from his knowledge and follow his math-hab.... Islamic Dream Interpretation\nDreams of a third eye represent wisdom, telepathy, and that you can see beyond the mundane into the fourth dimension and creating and/or deepening a spiritual context for your life.... Strangest Dream Explanations\nIt is reported that a person came to Imaam Muhammad bin Sireen (RA) and said: “O Imaam! I dreamt that I was proclaiming the athaan!” The Imaam interpreted the dream thus: “Your hands shall be amputated (through stealing)”. Then came another person who related a similar dream.\nThe Imaam interpreted his dream thus. : “You will proceed for Hajj.” The Imaam’s students were amazed at these two conflicting interpretation of two dreams which resembled each other in every respect. They asked of or an explanation. He said that he first made a careful study of the character of both the persons and saw signs of evil present in the first person and interpreted his dream accordingly in the light of this verse of the Holy Qur’aan : then a claimer proclaimed; O people of the caravan Surely you are thieves!. As for the second persons he saw signs of virtue and piety present in him and therefore, interpreted his dream in the light of the following verse of the Holy Book : And proclaim (O Ibraheem!) to the people about Hajj!\nThe narrator of this incident says: “Matters turned out exactly as the Imaam had interpreted.”\nAt times, athaan could be interpreted announcement, information and notification.... Islamic Dream Interpretation\nOnce a person related to Hadhrat Aboo Bakr As-Siddeeq 9RA) his dream saying that he dramt that a cloud sent forth rains of honey and butter-oil (ghee) and there were some who grabbved much of it while others took little of it. Hadhrat Aboo Bakr (RA) interpreted his dream as follows : “As for the cloud, it symbolizes Islam.\nThe honey and ghee symbolizes the sweetness and excellence of Islam. Similarly, any rain comprising of anything beneficial heralds the approaching of good times”.... Islamic Dream Interpretation\nImaam Ja’far (RA) had been asked about a person who had dreamt that he is eating clouds and there are many clouds before. He replied that the person had seen a very blessed dram: he will become a man of great learning and by virtue of this he will assume sublimity amongst the people and enjoy a reputation none other has enjoyed.\nOn another occasion the Imaam had been asked about another person who had seen that he was standing in the shade of a cloud. He replied:” “If this person is ill, he will be cured: if he is in debt, he will be absolved of his debt; if he is a destitute, Allah will make him wealthy; if he is oppressed, he will receive assistance. For, clouds, symbolize rahmah 9blessings) and anything shrouded by clouds is shrouded by rahmah. This is supported by the fact that in times of Jihad clouds used to cast their shadow on Rasoolullah (Sallallaahu-alayhi-wasallam).... Islamic Dream Interpretation\nAboo Ammaarah Attayyaan (RA) reported to us that he revealed a dream of his to Imaam Muhammad bin Sireen (RA) that it was as if he had seen a separ or lance in his hand.\nThe Imaam asked whether he had seen the point of the lance or not. He said no. Upon this he said: “Had you seen the point, a son would have been born to you. But now you will have female issues only.” He pondered for a moment, then said: “ In all, twelve daughters will be born to you”.\n(After many years) it is reported from Muhammad bin Yahya that when he revealed the above incident to Abul Waleed (RA) the latter laughed saying: “I am the son of one of them. I have eleven maternal aunts and Aboo Ammaarah Attayyaan was my grandfather. May Allah shower His blessings upon him and us and all the Muslims.”... Islamic Dream Interpretation", "label": "No"} {"text": "“Look at African countries like Nigeria or Kenya for instance, those people are stealing from their own government and go to invest the money in foreign countries. From the government to opposition, they only qualify to be used as a case study whenever bad examples are required.\n“How do you trust even those who have ran away to hide here at the United States hiding behind education? I hear they abuse me in their blogs, but I don’t care because even the internet they are using is ours and we can decide to switch it off from this side.\n“These are people who import everything including matchsticks. In my opinion, most of these African countries ought to be recolonized again for another 100 years, because they know nothing about leadership and self governance”, Trump stated", "label": "No"} {"text": "Healthy Insights — lack of sleep\nWe have known for years how important sleep is, but new studies are coming out proving it. As it turns out, Sleep is not only important for your immune system, but also lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain. Previous research has shown that our metabolism is negatively affected by sleep loss,' said Jonathan Cedernaes, lead author and a researcher at Uppsala University. Sleep loss has also been linked to an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Just ONE night of bad sleep can alter your genes: Pulling an all-nighter damages the DNA in our biological clocks,...", "label": "No"} {"text": "Acting Without Hesitation\nDaily Bible Reading – Daniel 3, 4; Psalm 81; Revelation 17\nToday’s Key Passage – Daniel 3\nYesterday, people throughout this country remembered the victims as well as the heroes who emerged from the tragic events of September 11, 2001. As we look back at that fateful day, we think about the first responders – the men and women who risked life and limb to save others. While these first responders all had different backgrounds and personalities, they all shared one very important trait – they all acted without hesitation.\nIn today’s key passage, we find the story of another group of men who acted without hesitation. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced a dilemma. They were called in front of King Nebuchadnezzar because they refused to comply with his decree that everyone in Babylonia worship a golden idol. (Vss. 13-14) Nebuchadnezzar gave the three men a choice – they could bow down to this manmade idol as directed by the king, or they could choose to maintain their loyalty to the Most High God and face execution by being thrown into a blazing furnace. (Vs. 15) Without hesitation, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego chose obedience to God. They knew God could save them from the fiery furnace (which He did), but even if He chose not to save them they were determined not to worship anything other than the Lord. (Vss. 17-18)\nWe may wonder how they were able to answer without hesitation when their very lives were on the line, but the answer is quite simple. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made up their minds beforehand that they would be obedient to God no matter what happened. With this conviction already firmly implanted in their minds, they had nothing to think about when the life or death situation with Nebuchadnezzar arose. Each of us face a different kind of life or death situation every day – the temptation to sin and to turn away from God. In those times, our natural minds can try to rationalize our sin or convince us that our actions might not be that bad. Like the men from our story today, when we make up our minds beforehand that we will obey God’s Word no matter what; we will not have anything left to think about. When we decide on our obedience before temptation strikes, we will be able to act without hesitation. Let us all make up our minds today to live in complete obedience to God, by pre-determining to do what He has called us to do.\nDuring your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.\nTo become a fan of The Daily Bible Plan’s Facebook Page, CLICK HERE.\nTo follow me on Twitter for inspirational tweets, click the follow button – Follow @kevin_griggs\nIf you like this post, please SHARE it with others to spread the Word of God.\nMay the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.", "label": "No"} {"text": "To summarize my discussion in the previous chapter, by the Second World War, imperialist development meant primarily the ability of monopoly corporations from a given nation to develop through, and at the expense of, other imperialist nations. The war decided that the liberal capitalist approach to appropriation through international exchange, rather than military conquest, was the primary means for corporate expansion. But following the war, the monopoly corporations in the leading capitalist nations lacked the political and profit incentives necessary for them to extend their investments nationally and internationally.\nIn large part, political obstacles to capitalist investment came from the strong needs of people within these nations to expand their economic and social development as the potential for that expansion had been realized already through government-sustained employment during wartime. Capitalists, in the United States and Western Europe especially, were able to blunt the potential expansion of government fiscal and monetary powers by limiting their use to policies which favored middle-class consumerism at the expense of full employment. The development of fiscal and monetary policies, in this form, became the first essence of postwar imperialism because it created the potential for monopoly corporate expansion along that line. The development of a form of trade unionism, especially in the United States, which was not wedded to policies of full employment, working-class solidarity, and government-based social expansion, became the second essence necessary to postwar imperialist expansion. Together, these two essences created and extended a third: a middle-income stratum among farming, small business, and working people which was both politically aligned with capital in its government policies and complementary to a consumerist form of trade unionism. But the class limits to consumption and social development within nations, which these first three essential relations represented, in turn necessitated the fourth essence of postwar imperialism. This was the development of an international relation of export-led growth. Only if", "label": "No"} {"text": "Just thinking outside of politics at this chaotic time, I without any attempt to manipulate you, wonder what Jewesses think about the world. Possibly the most persecuted demographic of the world? “Let me tell you, I-” What was that? You can’t respond, why? If we were to just take a walk some where and no one could hear us what would you say? Just a normal walk, and I relate to Jewesses in this way. The extremisms of both sides of the extremism. I’m not sure I could tolerate you. We might need to collaborate for the sake of human knowledge however. “You’ll never trust me” – yeah, probably not, at least I admit it. The world could be a better place if you could own up to your faults.", "label": "No"} {"text": "- despite many on-going challenges to develop a truly democratic and equal society, South Africa heeded the dream of Nelson Mandela, working towards truth and reconciliation, forsaking the temptation to wide-spread violence;\n- despite continued racial divisions in the United States, an African-American defied the common opinion and became President; and\n- despite systemic inequalities for First Nations in Canada, we have embarked on a process of truth and reconciliation that holds the seeds of a new future for all of us.\nSaturday, December 7, 2013\nTelling the Truth in a Time of Falsehood\nThe Second Sunday of Advent\nSaint Faith’s Anglican Church\nFifty years ago my family returned to the United States after three years overseas. We returned to a society torn apart by racism and the unresolved tensions that still existed between the northern and southern states that even a civil war could not resolve and that had been intensified by the unjust and punitive conditions imposed upon the southern states in the years following the end of the civil war.\nIn the Rocky Mountain West where we had lived before our overseas assignment and where we returned in the autumn of 1963, these racial tensions did not seem too present. But they were. Although Hispanic settlers had come to Colorado more than four hundred years ago, they were still second-class citizens and few government services were available in Spanish. Even though African-Americans had been serving in the armed services and were no longer restricted to the enlisted ranks, Colorado Springs, a city largely dependent upon the military for its economic well-being, was segregated into wealthy and poor neighbourhoods, white, African-American and Hispanic neighbourhoods. First Nations people were invisible.\nFifty years ago my parents bought a new television to grace the living room of our new home. One of the first things we watched was the unfolding drama in Dallas where President Kennedy was assassinated, only to be followed by the murder of his alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. During the five years that followed we watched the violence that gripped many cities as President Johnson, as the chief legal officer of the nation, imposed the Civil Rights Act upon reluctant governments. I remember the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. I remember the fights that broke out in my high school when court-imposed desegregation brought large numbers of African-American students into the halls.\nAs a young adult I witnessed the continued violence in the United States to establish a just society. Like many of you I watched the oppressive tactics of the white minority South African government to repress the non-white majority and I deplored the violent attacks against white South Africans perpetrated by elements of various black nationalist movements. I am sure that I was not alone in fearing that the only future for the United States and for South Africa was continued self-mutilating violence.\nThen in 1990 a dignified man walked out of a prison in South African holding the hand of his then-wife. I watched in fascination as he delivered his first speeches to cheering crowds of black South Africans. What I did not hear were words calling for vengeance, for retribution for centuries of wrong-doing. What I heard were words that seemed to be contemporary echoes of Isaiah’s words to the people of Israel:\nThe wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. \nWhile the dream of equality and reconciliation that Nelson Mandela dared to dream still awaits its fulfillment, not only in South Africa but in the United States and, dare I say, Canada, it is a dream that offers an alternative to the deluded reality that many people, rich and poor, still endure, day after day, whether in developing nations or the so-called ‘developed’ nations of the G-7 or G-20. This deluded reality is based on a falsehood: it is inevitable that might is right, that the rich get richer and the poor poorer, that there is nothing any individual or small group of individuals can do to change this.\nWhat Mandela called for is the same call made by John the Baptizer in today’s gospel. John calls upon his listeners to metanoia, a New Testament Greek word which means ‘a change in perspective; a new way of looking at the world’. As it flows out of John’s mouth and, later from Jesus’ mouth, metanoia is an invitation to see the world as God sees it: God’s beloved creation where diversity is celebrated, where the dignity of every creature, human and non-human, is treasured and protected; where justice and peace are actually our natural environment.\nBut, as one commentator puts it, ‘the good news always comes as bad news to someone’, metanoia is not without its costs. To see the world as God sees it means naming to the powerful what is wrong even when it risks their displeasure. To change our perspective on the human condition often means confessing our own near-sightedness and commitment to our own self-interests rather than taking a broader view and relinquishing our privileges in order that all God’s creatures can thrive and rejoice in the abundance of God’s gracious self-giving.\nBut this is not possible unless we conquer our greatest enemy: fear. Fear comes in many forms, from the fear of being thought of as naïve or ‘religious’ all the way to the fear of losing our lives, whether physically, financially or socially. But the antidote to fear is hope and our hope is rooted in the reality of God’s power working in us to do more than we can ask or imagine:\nWhen we see such things, how can we not face our fears and dare to act in ways that will see the hungry fed, the homeless housed, the poor given the means to live with dignity?\nAs part of some work that I am doing for the General Synod, I came across some words from another South African, Alan Boesak, that I believe speak to our fears and invite us to metanoia, to look at the world as God sees it.\nWe are called to proclaim the truth and let us believe: It is not true that this world and its people are doomed to die and to be lost. This is true: [Christ has] come that they may have life in all its abundance.\nIt is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction. This is true: The deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the poor are hearing the good news.\nIt is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word and that war and destruction have come to stay forever. This is true: Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more.\nIt is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world. This is true: The Lord whom we seek will suddenly come to the temple; and the Lord is like a refining fire.\nIt is not true that our dreams of liberation, of human dignity, are not meant for this earth and for this history. This is true: It is already time for us to wake from sleep. For the night is far gone, the day is at hand. \nAnd may this be so today. Amen.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Adoption is Life Changing: Leah's Story Update\n\"...to all the potential birth moms out there trying to find some kind of sign that adoption is the right option; I hope my story serves as validation that you are moving in the right direction.\" - Leah, Birth Mom\nThe Importance of a Support System - Deb's Story\n\"I thank God that He directed my path to California and brought me to family and friends that loved and supported me through this moment in my life.\" - Deb, Birth Mom\n\"I have girls around me who have told their story - who are not ashamed of who they are and it makes me feel stronger.\"\nEmmah's first assumption about adoption was she would never see her child again. As she learned more about what adoption could look like, she gained confidence in her decision and desires to share the positives with others.\n\"I chose adoption so this 17-year-old girl could grow up and be the person he needed.\"\nUnexpectedly pregnant at the age of 17. Morgan chose adoption for herself and her son. She faced many stigmas from those around her and desires to break those stigmas in her daily career. This is Morgan's story and why she chose adoption.\n“I don’t have to hide from my son. He can know why I made the decision I did. And know that I love him.” Watch Emmah, the true story of a 17-year-old who chose adoption for her son.\nBraveLove Birth Mom Dinners\nBraveLove's birth mom dinners are a time for women to come together and build community over a shared experience.\nOpen Adoption is a Unique Relationship\n\"Open adoption is not for everybody, but it can be beautiful. If the adoptive family and the birth parents work together to offer the children answers and love, there's no other relationship like open adoption.\" - Maggie, Birth Mom\n\"I get to find the best fit for my child and that's huge and it's empowering.\"\nBrittany had never been presented with adoption as an option in her previous pregnancies. This time was different — she felt empowered in the decision she was making for her child and her family. This is Brittany's story and why she chose adoption.\nThe Adoption Journey is Never Over: Shelby's Story\n\"While the adoption process is seen as selflessly giving to better the life of a child, I can attest that it is also a lifetime of questioning the what ifs and what could have beens.\" - Shelby, Birth Mom\nHealing is a Process: Kristen's Story\n\"It was a long, painful journey, and I still feel all the emotions associated with that. It's a healing process, but never one that just goes away.\" - Kristen, Birth Mom", "label": "No"} {"text": "Everything You Need to Know About Zebeta (Bisoprolol) for Managing High Blood Pressure – Prescription, Online Ordering, and Generic Medication Options\nGeneral Description of Zebeta\nZebeta is a prescription medication that belongs to a class of drugs known as beta-blockers. It is commonly used in the treatment of high blood pressure.\nHow Zebeta Works\n- Zebeta works by slowing down the heart rate, which helps to reduce the force of the heart’s contractions.\n- This action ultimately leads to a lowering of blood pressure in the body.\nKey Points About Zebeta:\n- Zebeta is specifically designed to treat hypertension or high blood pressure.\n- It is available in tablet form and is taken orally.\n- Patients are typically prescribed a specific dosage based on their individual needs and medical history.\nSide Effects of Zebeta\nCommon side effects of Zebeta may include dizziness, fatigue, and headaches. It is important to consult a healthcare provider if any unusual or severe side effects occur.\n- Patients should not stop taking Zebeta suddenly without medical advice.\n- It is important to follow the prescribed dosage and instructions provided by a healthcare professional.\nZebeta as an over-the-counter blood pressure medication:\nWhen it comes to managing high blood pressure, Zebeta is not available over the counter and requires a prescription from a healthcare provider. This prescription is crucial as it ensures that the medication is appropriate for the individual’s specific condition and health status.\nAlternative Over-the-Counter Options:\nWhile Zebeta is a prescription medication, there are several over-the-counter options available for managing blood pressure. These include implementing lifestyle changes such as adopting a heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, engaging in regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, managing stress through techniques like meditation or yoga, limiting alcohol consumption, and quitting smoking.\nAccessibility and Convenience:\nIt’s important to note that while Zebeta requires a prescription, individuals can easily consult with healthcare providers through telemedicine services, which offer remote virtual consultations. This allows for convenient access to prescriptions without the need for in-person visits to a doctor’s office.\nWhile Zebeta may not be available over the counter, the cost of obtaining a prescription can vary. Some individuals may have health insurance that covers the cost of the medication, while others may need to pay out of pocket. It’s essential to explore different options to ensure affordability and access to necessary medications.\nEmpowerment Through Education:\nUnderstanding the importance of prescription medications like Zebeta and exploring over-the-counter alternatives empowers individuals to take control of their health. By working closely with healthcare providers, individuals can make informed decisions about their treatment plans and actively participate in managing their blood pressure.\nOrdering Zebeta Online Through Reputable Pharmacies\nMany individuals who require prescription medications like Zebeta often seek the convenience of purchasing them online through reputable pharmacies. This method offers a straightforward way to obtain necessary medications without the need to visit a physical pharmacy. To ensure a safe and reliable purchase, here are some key points to consider when ordering Zebeta online:\n1. Valid Prescription Requirement\nIt’s important to note that Zebeta, being a prescription medication, necessitates a valid prescription from a healthcare provider. Reputable online pharmacies will ask for a prescription before processing the order to ensure that the medication is suitable and safe for the individual’s condition.\n2. Choosing a Trusted Online Pharmacy\nWhen ordering Zebeta online, it is crucial to select a reputable online pharmacy that adheres to safety standards and regulations. Look for pharmacies that display certifications such as the VIPPS (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites) seal, which indicates that the pharmacy is legitimate and operates within legal boundaries.\n3. Quality Assurance and Product Authenticity\nIt is essential to prioritize product quality and authenticity when purchasing Zebeta online. Reputable online pharmacies source their medications from licensed manufacturers and provide genuine products that meet regulatory standards. Look for assurances of product quality and authenticity on the pharmacy’s website.\n4. Secure Payment and Personal Information Protection\nBefore making a purchase, ensure that the online pharmacy offers secure payment options to safeguard your financial information. Look for SSL encryption and trusted payment gateways to protect your personal and financial data during the transaction process.\n5. Customer Reviews and Feedback\nPrior to ordering Zebeta online, take the time to read customer reviews and feedback about the online pharmacy. Positive reviews from verified customers can provide insights into the pharmacy’s reliability, customer service, and product quality. Consider feedback from others to make an informed decision.\nBy following these guidelines and considering the points mentioned above, individuals can safely order Zebeta online through reputable pharmacies to manage their blood pressure effectively and conveniently.\nOnline Purchases of Medications: A Growing Trend\nWith the advancement of technology and the increasing availability of online pharmacies, the trend of purchasing medications, including blood pressure medications like Zebeta, online has seen a significant rise in recent years. This shift in consumer behavior is influenced by several key factors that make online purchases an attractive option for many individuals.\nConvenience and Accessibility\n- Online pharmacies offer the convenience of shopping from the comfort of one’s home, eliminating the need to visit a physical pharmacy.\n- Individuals with limited mobility or those living in remote areas can easily access their medications online.\nAffordability and Cost-Effectiveness\n- Online pharmacies often provide competitive pricing for medications, including discounts and promotions that may not be available in traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies.\n- Comparison tools on online pharmacy websites allow consumers to compare prices and choose the most cost-effective option.\nRise in Online Purchases\nThe percentage of online purchases for medications, particularly blood pressure medications, has more than doubled in the past few years.\nSurveys and Statistical Data\nAccording to a recent survey conducted by a leading healthcare research firm:\n|Percentage of Online Medication Purchases\nThese statistics highlight the significant increase in online purchases of medications, indicating a growing preference for the convenience and accessibility offered by online pharmacies.\nConsumer Behavior and Preferences\n- Younger consumers, known as “digital natives,” are more inclined to make online purchases of medications due to their familiarity and comfort with online shopping.\n- Busy professionals and individuals with demanding schedules appreciate the time-saving aspect of ordering medications online.\nAs the trend of online purchases for medications continues to grow, it reflects a shift in how consumers approach healthcare management and highlights the evolving landscape of the pharmaceutical industry.\nGeneric names of blood pressure medications\nWhen it comes to managing high blood pressure, there are several generic medications available that can be just as effective as their brand-name counterparts. Here are some common generic names for blood pressure medications:\n- Bisoprolol: Bisoprolol is the generic name for the brand-name medication Zebeta. It is a beta-blocker that helps to lower blood pressure by reducing the heart rate and the force of the heart’s contractions.\n- Metoprolol: Metoprolol is another beta-blocker commonly used to treat high blood pressure. It works in a similar way to bisoprolol by slowing the heart rate and reducing blood pressure.\n- Amlodipine: Amlodipine is a calcium channel blocker that helps to relax blood vessels and improve blood flow, thereby lowering blood pressure. It is often prescribed as a first-line treatment for hypertension.\n- Lisinopril: Lisinopril is an ACE inhibitor that works by relaxing blood vessels to improve blood flow and reduce blood pressure. It is commonly prescribed for hypertension as well as heart failure.\n- Losartan: Losartan is an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) that helps to block the effects of a hormone that narrows blood vessels, leading to lower blood pressure. It is used to treat hypertension and protect the kidneys from damage in patients with diabetes.\nGeneric medications are typically more affordable than their brand-name counterparts and can provide the same level of effectiveness in managing high blood pressure. It’s important to consult with a healthcare provider to determine the most suitable medication based on individual health needs and any existing medical conditions.\nConditions treated by Zebeta (bisoprolol)\nBisoprolol, sold under the brand name Zebeta, is a medication commonly prescribed to treat various cardiovascular conditions. This beta-blocker is effective in managing high blood pressure, heart failure, and other heart-related issues. Here is a detailed overview of the conditions treated by Zebeta:\n1. Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)\nOne of the primary indications for Zebeta is hypertension, or high blood pressure. This condition affects millions of people worldwide and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke. Zebeta works by blocking the effects of adrenaline on the heart and blood vessels, leading to a reduction in blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association, approximately 46% of adults in the United States have hypertension, making it a prevalent health concern.\n2. Heart Failure\nZebeta is also utilized in the treatment of heart failure, a condition where the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. By reducing the heart’s workload and improving its efficiency, Zebeta can help manage the symptoms of heart failure and improve quality of life for patients. Heart failure is a serious condition that affects over 6.5 million adults in the United States, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\n3. Angina (Chest Pain)\nFor individuals with angina, a condition characterized by chest pain or discomfort due to reduced blood flow to the heart muscle, Zebeta can be a valuable treatment option. By lowering blood pressure and reducing the heart’s oxygen demand, Zebeta helps alleviate the symptoms of angina and improve exercise tolerance. Angina is a common manifestation of coronary artery disease, impacting millions of individuals globally.\n4. Arrhythmias (Irregular Heartbeat)\nZebeta is sometimes prescribed to manage certain types of arrhythmias, or irregular heart rhythms. By stabilizing the heart rate and rhythm, Zebeta can help control arrhythmias and reduce the risk of complications such as stroke or heart failure. Arrhythmias can occur in individuals of all ages and may require medical intervention for optimal management and prevention of adverse outcomes.\n5. Post-Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) Care\nAfter experiencing a heart attack, individuals may benefit from Zebeta therapy as part of their post-myocardial infarction care. Zebeta can help improve cardiac function, reduce the risk of future cardiovascular events, and enhance the overall prognosis following a heart attack. Heart attacks are a leading cause of death worldwide, underscoring the importance of comprehensive post-myocardial infarction care.\nOverall, Zebeta (bisoprolol) is an essential tool in the management of various cardiovascular conditions, providing patients with effective treatment options to improve heart health and reduce the risk of complications.\nReal-world examples of patients’ experiences with Zebeta (bisoprolol)\n“Meet Sarah, a 45-year-old working mother of two”\nSarah was diagnosed with high blood pressure a few years ago and was prescribed Zebeta to help manage her condition. She found that taking Zebeta in the morning helped her stay focused and energetic throughout the day. Sarah mentioned, “Zebeta has been a game-changer for me. I feel more in control of my blood pressure, and I appreciate not having to worry about missing doses.”\n“John, a retired military veteran in his 60s”\nJohn has been taking Zebeta for several years to address his high blood pressure. He noted that since starting the medication, his blood pressure readings have improved significantly. John shared, “Zebeta has allowed me to maintain a healthy lifestyle without any major side effects. I’m grateful for the positive impact it has had on my overall well-being.”\n“Insights from a recent study on the effectiveness of Zebeta”\nA recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension evaluated the effectiveness of Zebeta in managing high blood pressure in a group of 500 patients over a six-month period. The study found that 85% of the participants experienced a significant reduction in their blood pressure levels after consistently taking Zebeta as prescribed. This study highlights the importance of adherence to medication for optimal blood pressure control.\nStatistical data on the cost of Zebeta compared to other blood pressure medications\n|Average cost per month\nBased on the data above, Zebeta (bisoprolol) is a cost-effective option for managing high blood pressure compared to other common blood pressure medications.\nFor more information on the benefits and side effects of Zebeta, please refer to the official Zebeta drug information.", "label": "No"} {"text": "“Hi! Can I take your order?”\nIf you’ve ever been to a Tim Hortons restaurant, surely you know what follows…\nWould you like your sandwich toasted? Do you want cheese with that? White cheese or cheddar? Bacon? A drink? How about a $0.99 donut? Blah, blah, blah…\nContinue reading “Outsold by Fast Food”\nThe problem with raising price is that the truth comes out. And when the truth has nowhere to hide, our personal feelings can take a bruising.\nSometimes that truth is brutal and frustrating; other times, it is motivating and invigorating. But make no mistake – the truth will reveal itself, whether you like it or not.\nContinue reading “The Problem With Raising Price”\nNo one needs a cake.\nNo one needs a photographer.\nNo one needs a 5-course meal.\nNo one needs a photo booth.\nContinue reading “No One Needs Us”\n“Dave is full of great ideas that he will help personalize to your personalities so that the entire evening is filled with special moments that you or your guests will never forget.”\n– Dayna & Ryan\n“You personalized their day in a way that no one else could.”\n– Leanne, Mother of the Bride\n“I cannot imagine our wedding without your involvement, effort, and personalization.”\n– Daria & Jason\nToday’s post is about one of the many reasons wedding couples hire me. This post is about one of the many things I have done to separate myself from the “competition.”\nContinue reading “A Demo In Personalization”\nWedding shows…ugh…the traditional wedding marketing event that many wedding vendors love to hate and hate to love. Count me as one of those “many vendors.”\nI finally loved one though. As in…REALLY loved one! The approach to it was radically different than any show I’d ever participated in before. Today’s post focuses on what took place and why I viewed it as such a success.\nContinue reading “How I Finally Learned to Love a Wedding Show”", "label": "No"} {"text": "https://supportmymoto.com aggregates well ghost story lost ark information to help you offer the best information support options. Please refer to the information below.\nYou are looking : well ghost story lost ark\n1.Where to find Well Ghost Story in Lost Ark – Pro Game Guides\n2.Well Ghost Story – Lost Ark – YouTube\n3.Well Ghost Story, Lost Ark Hidden Story (#1/3, #2/3 & #3/3) – YouTube\n4.Well Ghost Story #3/3 – Objects – Lost Ark Codex\n5.Well Ghost Story #2/3 – Objects – Lost Ark Codex\n6.Lost Ark: All West Luterra Hidden Story Locations – TheGamer\n7.Where to find Well Ghost Story in Lost Ark – Hidden Story – E-gamerz\n8.Cannot complete “Well Ghost Story”, missing 3/3 letter\n9.Lost Ark Hidden Stories for West Luterra Adventure Tome\n10.Well Ghost Story Hidden Story Lost Ark : r/ZafrostVideoGameGuide\nWith the above information sharing about well ghost story lost ark on official and highly reliable information sites will help you get more information.", "label": "No"} {"text": "- boy, 7\nRussian (excellent),Ukrainian (native)\nSelf Description: I am a very open and cheerful girl, enjoy smiling and laughing. I love sun, warm weather, animals, fun, meeting with friends and being loved! In my opinion, a person should care for both his physical appearance and for his inner world, and I follow this. I would like to build serious relationship based on mutual love and respect.I am very positive person. I like to communicate with a different people and I am always open for something new. I appreciate honest and kind people.\nComments: He should fall in love not only with all positive features in my character, but also love and value all the negative I have. Nobody is perfect!I would like him to be a caring and gentle man with shinning eyes. He will become the most important person in my life and even if he lives so far away I am ready to overcome all the miles to find him.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This study examined the influence of norm-based messages on U.S. college students’ binge drinking intentions, focusing on norm type, locomotion and assessment regulatory modes, and level of alcohol consumption as possible moderators. Results of an online experiment (N = 519) revealed significant three-way interactions among regulatory mode (assessment/locomotion), level of alcohol consumption, and norm type (i.e., descriptive vs. injunctive norms) on binge drinking intentions. The relative persuasiveness of descriptive vs. injunctive norm-based messages was contingent upon an individual’s locomotion/assessment regulatory mode and overall alcohol consumption level. Findings from this study extend research on social norms and regulatory mode and provide useful suggestions for the norm-based college drinking intervention.\nASJC Scopus subject areas\n- Health(social science)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Forget about that mounting to-do list, the fight you had with your best pal, or your Facebook update or Twitter account. Take time out to get back to the present moment. Withrow uses this exercise to help patients be more mindful. She asks them to list five things they see, hear, feel, smell or taste. Doing this helps pause worrying and refocuses attention on the present moment. Another way Withrow suggests we be more mindful is by paying attention to our inner dialogue. A lot of our thoughts are like the acronym for FEAR: false evidence appearing real. If you can learn to be mindful of your thoughts and think more objectively, it can have a positive impact on your behavior and your life.", "label": "No"} {"text": "For Josh’s 4th Birthday, we had a party at the house and rented a bouncehouse. The boys wanted me to jump with them so I did and I thought I was going to die. Like literally die after bouncing around for a minute. ONE WHOLE MINUTE. That’s how out of...\nblessed boys change children compromise dad death faith family forgiveness friends friendship girls God good grateful happiness hate help humor husband kids kindness laughter LIfe love marriage men mom mother motherhood mothers parenthood parents patience peace reality relationships respect sad SAHM society sons wife Women", "label": "No"} {"text": "he following officers were present and in command:\nCaptain John A. Gibson, Lieutenant James Lindsay, Lieutenant Wm. M. Sterritt, Lieutenant Wm. N. Wilson, Orderly-Sergeat J. S. Gibson.\nThe following is the roll of the survivors of Company H, as called by Orderly-Sergeant J. S. Gibson:\nJ. W. Anderson, J. Y. Anderson, W. A. L. Anderson, D. S. Black, H. W. Bagley, Wm. Blackwell, Tom Chittum, John Chittum, Wm. Davis, L. P. Davis, David Dice, Geo. Dice, J. B. Fierbaugh, Robt. Fulwiler, Wm. Fox, J. H. Greiner, Columbus Greiner, Granville Greiner, James Glendy, C. P. Green, J. W. Gibson, James Huffman, Napoleon Hull, Lorenzo Hall, C. W. Irvine, H. G. Lindsay, John Lowman, W. B. F. Leech, Wm. A. Lyle, James A. Lyle, Jacob Ludwick, J. W. Mackey, D. B. McClung, B. F. McClung, James A. McClung, W. H. McCutcheon, N. B. McCluer, A. J. Miller, J. L. Morter, A. H. Moore, David McCray, Tom Norcross, J. D. Ott, Frank Ott, W. L. Patterson, Nimrod Patterson, David Pulse, Wm. Parre\nnderson, John Y. Anderson, Samuel B. Anderson, Jacob H. Anderson, Robert Anderson, H. W. Bagley, D. S. Black, William Black, A. M. Brown, Charles B. Buchanan, William Brownlee, Jno. Brownlee, S. Balser, James Breedlove, Thomas Chittum, John Chittum, Z. J. Culton, Joseph Culton, John Campbell, William Davis, L. P. Davis, David Dice, George W. Dice, John Dice, Archibald Davis, Andrew Ervin, James B. Firebaugh, James W. Firebaugh, Henry Firebaugh, Taylor Ford, Alexander Ford, Isaac Friend, Robert Fulwiler, Henry A. Green, C. P. Green, John H. Greiner, C. C. Greiner, Granville Greiner, James L. Glendy, J. W. Gibson, John A. Gibson, J. Samuel Gibson, Howard Houston, N. B. Hull, James M. Huffman, John Huffman, Lorenzo Hill, John Hanger, Charles W. Irvine, John Johnston, John M. Kirkpatrick, Joseph Kennedy, Hugh Kennedy, David Kennedy, Joseph Kinnear,W. B. F. Leech, James Lindsay, H. T. Lindsay, John Lowman, James A. Lyle, William A. Lyle, John H. Lyle, James Lockridge, Isaac Lotts, Jacob Lu", "label": "No"} {"text": "Welcome to Cemetery\nThe Burial Service\nsincere condolences to the family\nDon’t cry for me,\nI am not gone.\nmy soul is at rest,\nmy heart lives on.\nLight a candle for me\nto see and hold on to\nmy memory, but save\nyour tears for I’m still here\nBy your side throughout\nA beautiful farewell to a beautiful soul. May you Rest in Peace amma. Our thoughts and prayers for everyone in the family.\nA beautiful service and farewell to our Amma, who touched so many lives with her selflessness, kindness and love. You will always live in our memories, from your immaculate daily sari to always making us feel welcome.You always cared for us and will always have a special place in my heart. Now you have gone to join Appa and it feels like a chapter of our lives has ended. You will be missed but will continue to be cherished and remembered through Damend, Vasund, Anju and Deewakar. Thank you Amma for all that you always did and for the many wonderful memories in St Albans and Fiji that we have of you. You were a truely wonderful and special amma. Loving you always and may your beautiful soul Rest In Peace and may the Gaunder family find strength and courage in all the wonderful memories you have left them with. Farewell our dearest Amma.\nRIP Amma and condolences to the Goundar family.\nA very well organized funeral.\nFrom Raj Vinita and KIRAN.\nNani you will always hold a place in my heart.\nRaj and I will make sure that Alfie always remembers you.\nI hope my love was felt throughout the family today as we watched the beautiful service from home.\nRIP Nani xxxx\nLove Kristen Kumar\nOur heartfelt condolences to a woman of grace and dignity. Quietly spoken with a presence felt.\nVasun, Damien, Diwar & Anju, you have been blessed to have had your mum for this time. May she Rest In Peace. On behalf of my late brothers, sister and parents I extend our love and prayers as you grieve.\nThank you Papa Aunty\nMy deepest sympathy the family . I remember Papa as a quiet and stately person . She will be missed .\nWishing you peace and comfort during this difficult time.\nFrom the Kuchappan family.\nSincere condolences to the family, aunty was a beautiful person, may she rest in peace. Our thoughts are with you at this time. From Tina Briers, Simon and Lucas x\nOur sincere condolences to the family. May the soul rest in peace..\nAnuj and Jasmine Naidu\nOur heart felt condolences to The Gounder family. Loosing a loved one is very painful, our prayers are with the Gounder family. I hope God gives everyone strength to support each other at this sad time.\nMAY YOUR SOUL RIP MAMI and AMMA and PATI.\nSteven & Pushpa & family.\nOur deepest condolences to the entire family. The service, despite the limitations in our lives today, was fitting and technology enabled so many of us to share in celebrating a remarkable woman.\nLove and thoughts,\nChris and Ivy\nOur heartfelt condolences to the whole family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.\nGovind and Subhag Mandri\nOur deepest sympathies go out to the family. The service was very touching and very fitting for a lovely lady.\nMay she rest in peace.\nGordon and Myrna,\nRIP Aunty…sincere condolences to the family\nRIP Aunty …sincere condolences to the family\nMy Condolences and my heartfelt sympathies to all the families and friends, my prays and though are with you at the sorrowful times, may she RIP, It was a beautiful service\nLove from our family\nAshok, Melvina, Allan, Stacey, Avinesh, Charlotte, Avan, Avneel\nRest In Peace Mami. We all love you. Will always be in our hearts. Thank you! Shashi and family\nOur condolences to the family. We will miss you mami RIP.\nMuni and Family.\nOur sincere condolences to the family RIP.\nDennis & Family.\nIn this moment of sadness we share your pain and loss of such a wonderful human being who had enless love and support for her families. All her life Paapa also unconditionally extended her kindness, love and generosity to all the people who were blessed to have come along her path in this journey of her life.\nWe pray to God to bless Paapa in her next journey of her life.\nOur sympathies and Condolences to the grieving families.\nMunna, Neera, Nishi and all the Moopnar Families.\nOur condolences to our family at this difficult time. May Kaki rest in peace. Lots of love From Badaamma Jagdha in Canda & Joy & Janet n families, UK.\nOur condolences to our the family at this difficult time. May Kaki rest in peace. Lots of love From Badaamma Jagdha in Canda & Joy & Janet n families, UK.\nThank you for always being there for me amma whenever I needed you.\nRest in peace\nMy sincere condolences to your family.\nThinking of you all\nOur condolences to the family…may her soul rest in peace ..our prayers with you and family…Stay strong …mis you nani..\nRajneel kumar ( Sonu)\nCondolences to Gounder family . Our prayers and thoughts to all . RIP\nThank you Patti for making all the time spent with you beautiful and precious. Even though they were short but always sweet. I know you are happy and at peace with Tata. My thoughts and prayers with everyone in the family.\nOur condolences to the Gounder family I know Mami was a wonderful person and she will be missed by all who knew her:\nOur thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time . May she rest in peace .\nVick Nair & Family London\nWe are thinking of you all at this difficult time and feeling really sad that we could not be there.\nHerman and Kasturi Raju\nSorry to hear the loss of mum(mum). Please accept our condolences and may our prayers help to comfort you . Sending our heartfelt sympathies to the close families and friends .RIP Mami.\nWe are very sorry to hear your loss. May she Rest In Peace.\ncondolences to all the family. RIP marmi\nYour email address will not be published.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Dave Petley is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. His blog provides a commentary on landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.\nSubscribe via Email\nIdeas and opinions expressed on this site are those of the authors and commenters alone. They do not necessarily represent the views of the American Geophysical Union.\nSmith and Petley (2009): Environmental Hazards - Assessing risk and reducing disaster is my new book - the 5th edition of this best selling text. The book is a highly accessible, undergraduate level text that provides an introduction to the natural, social and technological events that combine to cause disasters. It draws on the latest research findings to guide the reader from common problems, theories and policies to explore practical, real-world situations. In writing it we aimed to capture both the complexity and the dynamism of environmental hazards.", "label": "No"} {"text": "How Does Whey Protein Affect Fat Loss and Insulin:\nYes, whey protein can cause an increase in insulin, just like sugar! Learn how it works!\nHow Does Whey Protein Affect Insulin and Fat Loss? Is not whey a protein, not a carb?\nEffect of Whey Protein on Insulin\nWhey is one of the two main proteins in milk – the other is casein. Whey, like all proteins, is composed of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. When we consume proteins, we then break these amino acids and use them for muscle growth and tissue repair.\nWhey contains all three BCAAs along with all essential amino acids.\nWhey is highly insulinogenic – consumption of whey leads to a sharp rise in insulin levels.\nThis response has nothing to do with blood sugar levels – when a food has a high glycemic index, consuming it will cause a large increase in blood sugar levels. In response to this, the body produces insulin to combat high blood sugar and allow glucose to enter our cells for energy. This is not what is happening when we consume the serum – the release of insulin is responding to amino acids, not to glucose levels.\nInsulin binds to cells to allow them to absorb energy, which may be glucose or amino acids from proteins. Amino acids in the serum cause a release of insulin. Whey also leads to the release of GIP and GLP-1, two gastrointestinal hormones that also increase insulin levels.\nThis increase in insulin is really a good thing! Whey is a fast acting protein, and increasing insulin allows amino acids within muscle cells to stimulate repair, helping us to gain muscle and heal quickly.\nConsumption of whey protein has been shown to lower blood glucose levels when consumed during or directly before a meal. A 2005 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when serum was combined in a high-sugar meal, people with type 2 diabetes had a lower blood glucose level after eating than if they did not whey was consumed. This is thought to be because increased insulin helped the body in the digestion of glucose.\nGenerally, the better the serum, the greater the insulin peak and, therefore, the more effective delivery of building blocks in the cells for purpose or repair and growth.\nIt is best to consume whey directly after exercise. It breaks down quickly and becomes available to the muscle cells to repair the subsequent training.\nWhey protein isolate contains 90% protein and therefore has less lactose, fat and cholesterol than whey protein concentrate. To get the most out of your protein, go for the whey protein isolate. You will experience less swelling and gain more benefits: lean and torn muscles.\nToo much protein is dangerous, so be sure not to consume too much protein. Excess protein can lead to increased fat storage and loss of calcium, which can lead to osteoporosis.\n1. Facts About Diabetes and Insulin\n2. What is whey protein?\n3. Effect of whey on blood glucose and insulin …\n4. Metabolic effects of amino acid mixtures …\nSubscribe to Thomas DeLauer Channel Here:\nVideo credits to Thomas DeLauer YouTube channel", "label": "No"} {"text": "In the book of Matthew 1:20 says, But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream. I just wanna stop right here and just speak from these passage of scriptures. The scripture right here was actually talking about Joseph was in a dream, how many of us knows dreams are signs from God depending on what type of dreams we’re in and most do manifest? Thoughts are very powerful therefore our minds are just as powerful because our minds produces these thoughts whenever we think something in our minds they will become actions.\nJoseph didn’t even have to say a word about what was going on with him and Mary’s his wife’s condition I imagine he was fearful and confused about what was going on, let me remind you that they’re married and back in those days the people was very strict around there about stoning folks to death because they we’re going directly by the law if a person committed adultery on his or her spouse they were stone dead. Joseph had heard about Mary’s pregnancy and didn’t know what to do all he knew was he loved his wife and didn’t wanted to put her away especially in public , she didn’t tell him anything about her pregnancy because the baby wasn’t his. Joseph and Mary had ever been intimate yet.\nSo Joseph went to bed pondering all these thoughts in his mind on what to do with his wife’s condition because if he didn’t step forward and own up to Mary’s pregnancy and that he was the father then Mary was in trouble and that would make him look bad so he fall asleep on pondering. Look at God working on our behalf even while we’re sleeping. The all mighty God is all powerful and He will step right in and saved us from eternity damnation and show us an understanding of what He’s doing . It was God’s doing that Mary got pregnant. The Holy Ghost impregnate her.\nWhile Joseph was sleeping in his bed the angel of the Lord came to him and had to explain what was going on with Mary he told Joseph that this is God’s doing it was a need for it ( I’m phrasing ). The people need a Savior this baby that your wife is carrying will save the whole world from there sins his name is Jesus. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son John 3:16. Wow now this is a hallelujah for me look at God. So Joseph understood what the angel of God was saying to him and welcome Jesus in right then and there through Mary’s pregnancy so now Joseph was the stepfather to baby Jesus and Mary life was spared because she didn’t commit no adultery. Awesome!\nSide note: Anytime we do the work of God it’s not a crime or sin to commit it is our ministry from heaven no matter the cost Mary took a vow and stood for God she didn’t care if she would get stoned or not Acts 5:29 says, Then Peter and the other apostles said , We ought to obey God rather then men. We are to do what God say do not what man say. So she wasn’t stoned. But it was a man by the name of Stephen in the Bible though that was stoned to death for doing the ministry of the Lord it was his time to go be with Jesus you will read this in Act 7: 54–60. Therefore no one can stone you or criticize you for something the Lord told you to do unless it’s your time to go and your ministry is up.\nGod will even come to us in our dreams. If something is on our minds long enough then they will manifest we can think and speak from the thoughts of our minds these are words manifesting in visual plain sight of the natural eyes. Whatever we speak from the spirit will manifest in the natural so it is very important to watch what we say and speak because life and death is in the power of the tongue Proverbs 18:21. even if we have a thought and it’s not a good thought but more against the thoughts of God or they just maybe down hard evil thoughts , then we must and we can cast them down before they come out and form actions to do harm to ourselves or even another person’s life 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, Cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.\nBe mindful for what we do or say remember we have the mind of Christ 1 Corinthians 2:16 Let’s continue to do the works of God’s kingdom ministry and remember to love God first because He is our first love to love other peoples and love ourselves last then we will be walking in JOY.\nMake Jesus Christ the Lord of your life today, if you haven’t already peace and blessings to you Amen 🙏❤️", "label": "No"} {"text": "4. When she freaked out and called 911\nI picked up a wasted girl one night who managed to tell her address before passing out. Halfway through the ride she wakes up and starts screaming that I’m kidnapping her. I start freaking out as she calls 911 and tries to report me.\nLuckily it’s pretty easy to prove that I’m an Uber driver and that she requested a pick up.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Kindergarten Sight Word Practice\nTrace it, write it, find it, color it, read it, and build it included on each printable.\n53 Sight words:\nall, and, are, as, at, be, but, by, can, come, do, for, from, have, he, here, his, is, like, me, not, now, of, on, one, out, play, run, said, see, she, so, that, the, them, then, their, there, they, this, to, up, was, we, were, what, when, will, with, word, you, your\n**** 30 words were added to original download. :)", "label": "No"} {"text": "European Ayurveda® offers optimal solutions for more harmony, health, clarity and balance. It brings you back on track and helps you to realize who you are. For me it is an attitude towards life that helps us to live a sustainable life - for us and our children, always in harmony with nature.\nI am convinced that we are allowed to go new ways to make life here on earth more sustainable. I am also in favour of us taking sustainable paths in tourism and being more committed to ourselves as human beings and to nature. However, we can learn to value our \"I\" and to take care of ourselves independently.\nAnd this is exactly why European Ayurveda® is the key to a healthy and happy life.\nWhether here in the Resort or \"online\": The knowledge of \"Long Life\" will accompany and guide you in the long run, so that you can live your true being and your potential.\nLots of love", "label": "No"} {"text": "This report addresses key issues based on recent research on language and literacy in the African context, including teacher education, and outlines key findings and recommendations for research and practice based on the review of the literature. The dramatic increase in enrollment of students in the last few decades has led to greater demand for teachers and attention to quality of education, as expressed in the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000 and later in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, number 4) in 2015. Quality education is also a priority in the Global Affairs Canada’s new policy on international assistance. Twenty-first-century skills, such as active learning, problem-solving, critical thinking, independent thinking, and information and communication technology (ICT) skills, are key to quality education. Although these skills are often mentioned in the policy documents, there is need for more research on how these can be implemented in practice.\nThe report is divided into Part I and Part II. Part I reviews focal areas of research and is based on academic articles and reports. Part II presents case studies of policies and teacher education, with a focus on 21st century skills, from six countries associated with CODE’s work in Africa: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. These case studies provide insight into the key issues discussed in Part I of the report.\nPart I: Focal Areas of Research\n1. Stages of Education\nThe increase in primary school enrolment leads to greater demand for secondary education, and retention and quality are increasingly important issues for educators and policy makers. Vulnerable children are in particular need of support, both through regular schooling and targeted programs that ensure that all children have equal access to a caring learning environment. The recommendations for research are:\n- Research how early childhood education (ECE) can be based on African realities and practices. In developing ECE research and practice, care should be taken to consider the differences between Western ECE and childrearing practices, which may not always be relevant or suitable in an African context. Research should uncover how African realities, practices, and local knowledge can be taken into account as this field develops.\n- Research how to increase support for vulnerable children. Children with disabilities, HIV/AIDS, orphans, and other vulnerable children are in need of particular attention within a school setting. Research should inquire into how literacy and other interventions can be as inclusive as possible and support vulnerable children, such as by integrating counseling, community involvement, and classroom practices into literacy development initiatives.\n2. Language of Instruction\nLanguage is a contentious issue education in Africa, where the colonial languages of English, French, and Portuguese are often seen as competing with African languages. Research clearly supports teaching in local African languages, but this is only partly the policy in most countries. The recommendations for research are:\n- Research how to implement language planning and literacy instruction in tandem. Many teachers struggle to teach in a language in which they have little reading and writing experience. Teaching in these languages, then, requires concerted efforts of both language planning and language-specific literacy instruction, and research is needed to explore how to develop languages and teach literacy in these languages at the same time. This includes researching how to teach features specific to a language, such as tones, digraphs, and blends, and how to develop specialized vocabulary used in textbooks.\n- Research how to promote mother tongue-based multilingual education. Research should investigate and document how to expand the use of local languages to upper primary, which currently only takes place in a few countries. There is the need for a much better understanding of what is required to do this on a larger scale, including what corpus planning efforts are required. Focus should be on practical, structural, and administrative aspects, not just learning outcomes.\n3. Literacy Materials and Publishing\nPrint literacy materials, such as textbooks and storybooks, are key to helping students develop high levels of literacy. Yet there are often few textbooks and storybooks in African schools, particularly in African languages. Increasing the number of books available to students is important, but teachers’ use of textbooks and storybooks in the classroom is also key, as making books available does not necessarily mean they will be utilized effectively. The publishing industry faces challenges from low demand and import of books from abroad. The recommendations for research are:\n- Research how to support teachers in using textbooks and storybooks. Providing storybooks or textbooks does not always mean that these are read or used in effective ways. Research should explore and guide the effective use of literacy materials in ways that are conducive to learning. Building on existing practices, such as shared choral reading, and retelling stories, are starting points that research should investigate further.\n- Research how textbooks and storybooks can promote gender equality. The recent literature on African textbooks describes a tendency for textbooks to promote gender equality, but sometimes at odds with traditional gender norms. More research is required to learn how gender equality can be promoted while reflecting contemporary African societies, such as through the development or adaption of textbooks and storybooks, and reception studies of these new materials.\n4. ICT and Digital Resources\nICT is often seen as a promising contribution to education in Africa and elsewhere, but there are high costs and technical and implementation challenges associated with introducing digital devices to schools. ICT is more than devices for end-users, however. Open educational resources are important for sharing and creating materials, particularly in African languages. The recommendations for research are:\n- Research the development and use of openly licensed books and other resources. Although openly licensed children’s stories are increasingly available online, there is little knowledge about how these stories can best be made accessible to students. Research is needed to shed light on digital and print modes of delivery, and how this can be implemented. Teachers’ use of stories could be explored through action research, where teachers and researchers work together to learn how Open Educational Resources (OERs) can best be used in the particular context teachers are working in.\n5. Teaching and Teacher Education\nTeacher education programs are expanding rapidly across Africa to meet the demand for teachers caused by the growth in enrollment. The quality of teacher education is often raised as a concern, and newly qualified teachers require more support. Learner-centered teaching is frequently promoted, although there is a lack of clarity regarding what this entails in the African context. The use of scripted lessons is often introduced through development programs, but research on their effectiveness compared to other interventions is needed. The recommendations for research are:\n- Research how to improve early literacy instruction, particularly in the mother tongue, in teacher education programs. How to teach early literacy in teacher colleges is in need of greater attention, as this was identified as one of the key issues in the literature. Research on improving early literacy instruction in teacher education programs would help strengthen this crucial and foundational aspect of education. There is particular need to pay attention to teaching literacy in the mother tongue, which is relatively new in some countries. Research can contribute to our understanding of how the use of literacy materials can be integrated into early literacy instruction.\n- Research how literacy initiatives can take existing teaching practices into consideration. Learner-centered teaching is one of the most pervasive pedagogical ideas and promoted in many African curricula, but also hotly contested. Research should examine how learner-centered literacy initiatives can be best implemented in an African context. Such research can help clarify how principles of learner-centered education can contribute to higher levels of student engagement within African school settings.\nPart II: Case Studies\nPart II of this report includes case studies of six focal countries, particularly with respect to language and literacy policies and teacher education. This part is based on policy documents and curricula from the Anglophone countries in which CODE operates – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania, with particular attention to 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, independent thinking, and ICT. The recommendations for research based on the findings from the case studies are:\n- Research how to strengthen connections between theory and practice in teacher education programs. Research should investigate how teacher candidates can develop pedagogical content knowledge and bridge theory, policy, and practice. Possible avenues for this include action research where tutors and student candidates model principles and elements of teaching, such as word recognition or anticipating story development. Video might be used in documenting and disseminating such enhanced practices that have been developed and tried out through research.\n- Research the implementation of policies on teacher education. Research is needed to investigate how policies on teacher education are translated into practice, and how the realization of the goals put forth in policies can best be fulfilled. many policies mention 21st century skills, but very few outline how these can be integrated into teacher education programs. Research that specifically addresses this issue would contribute to making these policies more relevant and help achieve their aim of higher quality education.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Alcohol addiction is not a weakness, but a disease.\nCrack, as we know is a cheap alternative to the fashionable practice of freebasing cocaine.\nCo-occurring disorders may contribute to the progression of drug dependency and or an eating disorder.\nPost-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition which is triggered by either experiencing.\nHeroin, or diamorphine, is a severelydodgy opioid analgesic, and people who consume this drug recreationally,.\nMarijuana or Weed drug has become more popular with the users of all ages. According to the USNI (United States National Institute on Drug Abuse),\nSerenity Total Health is renowned for our drug abuse treatment programs which feature medically assisted detoxification.\nBehavioral disorders are quite common in today’s society. These comprise a spectrum of disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.\nPrescription drug abuse is not a new addiction. In reality, people have been abusing prescription drugs for over a decade now.\nLSD is one such drug taken by nearly one in ten Americans, as per the data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.", "label": "No"} {"text": "According to results from the CARE-ROP study, Low doses of anti-VEGF therapy with ranibizumab are effective in infants with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The study findings were published in the JAMA Pediatrics\nAll news from Anaesthesiology\nAccording to this study, Hisayama Study is an ongoing, population-based epidemiologic study in the town of Hisayama, which is in a suburb of the Fukuoka metropolitan area on Kyushu Island, Japan. Whether the intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or arachidonic acid (AA) affects the risk of cancer remains unclear, and the association between the serum EPA:AA ratio and cancer risk has not been fully evaluated in general populations.\nNew research published in Schizophrenia Bulletin has reported that oral clozapine and olanzapine long-acting injection (LAI) emerged as the most effective treatments for preventing hospitalization among patients with chronic and first-episode schizophrenia in a large, long-term comparative effectiveness study.\nA study led by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle shows that, in preterm animal models, inflammation due to infection can disrupt the activity of genes that are crucial for normal development of the heart. The study findings were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology .\nA study demonstrates that researchers have been approved for adjuvant use in the treatment of melanoma, nivolumab is likely to become the new standard of care in this setting. It is now indicted for adjuvant treatment of patients who have undergone complete resection and who have lymph node involvement or metastatic disease. The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.\nTimestrip® – the UK-based developer of ‘smart indicator’ technology – has provided self-adhesive temperature monitoring strips to Malawi to ensure that canine rabies vaccines are maintained in their ‘Goldilocks zone’ – neither too hot nor too cold. The easy to use indicators can be deployed as a low-cost alternative to thermometers in both storage fridges and field cooler boxes.\nThe rates at which precancerous cells in the cervix progress toward becoming cancerous or regress toward normal vary among Hispanic, black, white, and Asian women, according to new research in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Physicians determining treatment options following abnormal Pap smears now have another factor to consider: the patient's race.\nThe largest-ever neuroimaging study of people with epilepsy , showed that epilepsy involves more widespread physical differences than previously assumed, even in types of epilepsy that are typically considered to be more benign if seizures are under control.The study findings were published in the Brain .\nA study shows that Knee system is the most complicated joints, the knee is also one of the most easily injured. Anatomically, it's no wonder the knee connects the two longest levers in the body: the thigh and lower leg. But, the dense extracellular matrix in deep tissues makes it difficult for injuries occurring in cartilage, tendons, and ligaments to heal themselves.\nAccording to a new study, Women who have a common hormone condition that contributes to infertility and metabolic problems tend to have less diverse gut bacteria than women who do not have the condition. The study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.\nAccording to a retrospective case series, Some older patients with apparently idiopathic uveitis may in fact have sarcoidosis-associated disease, which can have cardiac consequences. The study findings were published in the JAMA Ophthalmology\nScientists used single-cell transcriptome analysis to identify a hitherto unknown precursor for a poorly understood subgroup of killer T cells that are primarily found in humans with chronic viral infections. The detailed analysis of the entirety of transcribed genes in more than 9,000 individual cells also revealed an unprecedented level of heterogeneity. The study findings published in the Science Immunology.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Search Your PostCode - Join free now!\nSearch Your PostCode\nDiscover millions of locals at no cost!\nI stepped into Jasmine's domain, a massage parlor in Nolans Corners situated in a discreet corner of the city. The soft lighting and the scent of incense immediately took me into her welcoming world. My heart pounded in anticipation as I had always been intrigued by the idea of an erotic massage however never had the nerve to attempt one.\nAs the receptionist led me through the corridor decorated with silk curtains, I noticed a number of treatment rooms, each promising a distinct experience. Upon entering my suite, I was greeted by an enchanting Asian beauty, who presented herself as Yuki. She guided me into the poorly lit space, total with a massage table, oils, and a small shower corner.\nYuki recommended me to undress and shower while she stepped out of the space, giving me the privacy I required. As the warm water cascaded my tense body, I envisioned what was in shop for the evening. I all of a sudden felt a rise of enjoyment and eagerness, my pulse quickened as the possibilities swirled in my mind.\nCovered in a soft cotton towel, Yuki returned to the space. She recommended I attempt their popular Nuru massage, an ancient Japanese massage method, created to fire up and maximize pleasure. I concurred, curious to delight in this fragile art of skin-to-skin contact.\nadult massage Nolans Corners, asian massage Nolans Corners, body to body massage Nolans Corners, chinese massage Nolans Corners, erotic massage Nolans Corners, happy ending Nolans Corners, massage parlors Nolans Corners, massage therapist, masseur, nude massage, nuru massage Nolans Corners, oriental massage Nolans Corners, sensual massage Nolans Corners, sex massage Nolans Corners, tantra massage Nolans Corners, tantric massage Nolans Corners, thai massage Nolans Corners\nWith a naughty smile, Yuki asked me to lie down on the massage table. She applied the gel to my back, her proficient hands massaging every inch of my body.\nAs Yuki's hands made their method down to my thighs, her soft whispers grazed my ear, imploring me to turn over. Our eyes locked, and she began putting the warm, slippery Nuru gel onto my chest and abdomen, her gaze never ever leaving mine.\nMy breath hitched as her hands made their method down my legs. The tender grazing of her fingertips triggered goosebumps to form all over my body. I felt my stimulation heighten as she thoroughly massaged every inch of me.\nAt this point, Yuki climbed onto the table and straddled me, her eyes sparkling with the pledge of heightened enjoyment. The heat of her body pressed against mine sent out shivers down my spine, as she enveloped me in a cocoon of pure ecstasy.\nAs our bodies slid together, entwined in the sensual Nuru gel, Yuki's hands skillfully rubbed me to a point of pure ecstasy. My whole body was pulsating as waves of satisfaction washed over me. It felt as if our spirits were in best sync, the outside world a simple afterthought.\nEventually, she returned and dismounted to rub my legs and feet with the exact same intensity and precision as in the past. My ideas were taken in by our earlier connection, the electrifying heat that shot through my whole being.\nAs Yuki brought our session to a close, she whispered gently in my ear, \"I hope you enjoyed your happy ending massage, my dear.\" She smiled warmly as she left me to bask in the afterglow of our extremely passionate experience.\nThat evening, I left Jasmine's parlor a transformed guy, awakened to the effective world of touch and intimate connection. In Yuki's skilled hands, I found a world of sensuality I never knew existed.\nEach time I recollect about that night, my body tingles in anticipation of my next see to this magical place, starting with excitement and ending in satisfaction, accompanied by the enchanting appeal of Yuki and the passion that just exists in Jasmine's world of erotic massage.\nMy heart pounded in anticipation as I had actually constantly been captivated by the idea of an erotic massage however never ever had the guts to try one.\nShe recommended I attempt their famous Nuru massage, an ancient Japanese massage technique, developed to spark and optimize enjoyment. With a naughty smile, Yuki asked me to lie down on the massage table. She applied the gel to my back, her skilled hands massaging every inch of my body. As our bodies glided together, laced in the sensual Nuru gel, Yuki's hands expertly massaged me to a point of pure bliss.\nMonths had actually passed considering that my rendezvous with Yuki at Jasmine's parlor, but the memory of our passionate encounter still remained. I couldn't shake the yearning for another transformative touch, and so I found myself as soon as again at the doorstep of Jasmine's mystical world.\nThis time, I chose to look into their world of Asian massage in Nolans Corners, excited to check out the Eastern art of satisfaction embedded deep in ancient traditions. Jasmine's enchanting atmosphere drew me in once more, and I excitedly waited for the mysteries that lay ahead.\nUpon my arrival, I was greeted by a sultry and graceful charm, Mei. Her deep dark eyes were a window into a world of untold secrets.\nMei invited me to a space embellished with traditional oriental art work and decoration, radiating an air of ancient eastern attraction. I might feel the deep-rooted culture of Asia seeping into my senses, as the scent of unique aromas filled the room.\nAs I undressed and settled onto the massage table, Mei gently discussed the ancient techniques that would be used in my Asian massage. She described how these practices would not just launch physical tension but likewise invigorate my soul.\nShe started by warming fragrant oils in her fragile hands, the sweet fragrance filling the room, beckoning me to surrender my tense muscles to her experienced hands. The warmth and pressure of her fingers melted my stress, leaving my body in a state of utter relaxation.\nAs Mei started using the hot stones to my back, I felt the heat seep into each of my muscles, dissipating stiffness and tension. The volcanic stones, integrated with her expert fingers, sent waves of enjoyment gushing through my body. With each stroke, I felt centuries of ancient knowledge being imparted to me.\nTantalized by her touch, I gave up to the balanced dance of her hands on my body. Mei then presented me to the art of Thai massage, skillfully stretching me into positions I never thought possible. As she pushed and pulled my limbs expertly, I could feel my body becoming attuned to the ancient art, welcoming the sensual side of this distinct experience.\nMy body and mind were starting to combine as one, and I sensed that Mei understood precisely how to cultivate an extreme anticipation for the inescapable climax that lay in store.\nAs she skillfully rubbed my inner thighs, I felt a shudder of excitement flowing through me. My increased state of arousal cleaned over me in waves, heightening the envigorating impact of the Asian massage.\nMy heart pounded in my chest as Mei exchanged her knowledgeable hands for her complete, inviting lips, welcoming me into the erotic world of Asia. Her fingertips grazed my hot, yearning body as she made her way down, smiling knowingly. At that moment, I knew I was on the cusp of unparalleled ecstasy.\nAs Mei's lips twisted around my throbbing arousal, I could not help but let out the loudest, most primal groan. The strength differed from anything I 'd experienced before, a powerful taste of ancient Eastern decadence.\nOur minute of passion reached its peak, consuming me in waves of carnal enjoyment, leaving me breathless and spent. As I lay there in the consequences of this sensual storm, Mei rested her hand on my dewy chest, her look filled with appetite and satisfaction.\nAs I left Jasmine's informing sanctuary again, my body felt lighter, my mind awakened, and my senses invigorated. The art of Asian massage had unlocked to an exotic, captivating world, complete of hidden desires and tempting delights.\nMei's enchanting touch, combined with the powerful mystique of the East, had woven an attractive tapestry that left me yearning for more. Already, I understood my next see to Jasmine's parlor couldn't come soon enough, for something about that world forced every inch of me, looking for unlimited horizons of passion and bliss woven through ancient, sensual tales.\nUpon my arrival, I was greeted by a graceful and sultry charm, Mei. Her deep dark eyes were a window into a world of untold tricks. Mei then introduced me to the art of Thai massage, skillfully extending me into positions I never ever thought possible. As she pushed and pulled my limbs skillfully, I could feel my body ending up being attuned to the ancient art, embracing the sensual side of this special experience.\nMy heart pounded in my chest as Mei exchanged her knowledgeable hands for her full, inviting lips, inviting me into the erotic world of Asia.\n|north appin station", "label": "No"} {"text": "Renewable Energy Sources. Read the latest research on renewable sources of energy such as solar energy, wind power, nuclear energy, hydrogen fuel, ethanol, methane and other alternative energy sources.\nThe development of sustainable refineries is the focus of recent research, where it is possible to produce fuels and raw materials providing an alternative to petroleum by using biomass and other waste materials like plastics, tires, etc. Conical spouted beds are the key to the high energy efficiency of these refineries.\nResearchers have pioneered a new approach to manufacturing solar cells that requires less silicon and can accommodate silicon with more impurities than is currently the standard. Those changes mean that solar cells can be made much more cheaply than at present.\nOffshore wind power is a valuable source of renewable energy that can help reduce carbon emissions. Technological advances are allowing higher capacity turbines to be installed in deeper water, but there is still much unknown about the effects on the environment. Scientists have now reviewed the potential impacts of offshore wind developments on marine species and make recommendations for future monitoring and assessment as interest in offshore wind energy grows around the world.\nTo excite and educate the American public regarding our energy options especially as they relate to the long term strength of our economy, our national security, and our stewardship of the environment.To accelerate the adoption of hydrogen and fuel cell based technologies as part of our nation’s overall energy portfolio, with an understanding of the role hydrogen does (universal energy carrier) and does not (independent energy source) play.\nTo make the message “stick” by developing a powerful, yet simple brand.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The pandemic of COVID-19 has been one of the worst situations in the world history. Health, economy, and social issues are at their worst phase in almost every country. While the health workers are working hard for it day and night, the public servants are risking their own lives to save ours, we should also be supportive of them in our own way. The virus is negligible in its size but it has made the whole world a puppet. It has also taught us a lot of things that we were somehow ignoring previously. May be we were so selfish for our living, luxury, and desires that we forgot this world belongs to a lot of other creatures too. We forgot about nature and its power. Probably, this disease is a way nature is trying to teach us something. So, it is time we should learn from our own mistakes and try not to repeat it further.\nAlthough there are many negative outcomes of this pandemic, there are also some vital learning points that we can apply in our lives to build a better society.\nThis disease knows no discrimination. It doesn’t differentiate between Rich- poor; Men- women, between religions or countries and borders. For this virus, everyone is one and equal. It just infects the host cells and invades our body to make us fall sick. Also, during this pandemic, we have seen many cases in our society and even in the entire world that most of us forgot about our own but supported and prayed for others, even for them who we don’t recognize. After all, it is about humanity.\nStay healthy, stay hygienic:\nWashing hands will not only keep Coronavirus away but also it will keep most of the diseases away that are fatal. Maintaining hygiene can actually keep us healthy and change our lifestyle. Everyone kept telling us to keep surrounding Swachh. But it took us a pandemic disease to understand its meaning. So it is the right time we should take a pledge to keep ourselves and the surrounding clean and safe.\nDon’t take anyone for granted- especially, your elders:\nThere is no need to explain this as we have seen many elderly people getting affected the most by this virus. If we previously gave an excuse to meet them or talk to them, then we can do it now. This disease is conveying a direct message to all of us to love, respect, and spend some more time with our parents and grandparents. After all, it is not too much to do, right?\nFamily is everything\nWhat have you learned from your quarantine time? What have you observed from the days of Work From Home? Haven’t we all realized that it’s not all about the job, and not all about hanging out with outsiders and party on the weekends. We were so lost in our social lives that our personal lives and family were ignored. But this lockdown has taught us how important and how beautiful it is to spend quality time with our family.\nValue for each life\nMillions of people are hospitalized and many have lost their lives due to this deadly disease. We have seen death from so close that nowadays we pray for everyone to be safe, no matter if they are known to us or just a stranger. We have now understood the value of life, and learned to respect each and everyone around us.\nDon’t take anything for granted- Learn to Save!\nFrom personal savings to the consumption of global resources, social and natural resources, we should not take anything for granted. This disease leaves us a message to save our own and this earth’s resources too. Use, but don’t misuse.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Several classes of ionotropic receptors have been reported to depolarize the axonal membrane of hippocampal mossy fibers. Both kainate receptors and GABA(A) receptors are localized on axons and/or presynaptic terminals, and these receptors have been known to be activated by synaptically released glutamate and GABA which spill out from the synaptic clefts. However the relative contribution of these two receptors in modulating the excitability of mossy fiber axon was not reported so far. In this study, we revealed that glutamate spilled out from commissural/associational synapses evoked the facilitation of antidromic population spikes of mossy fibers. Increase in amplitude and decrease in latency of population spikes suggest that the number of recruited mossy fibers increases by depolarization of axonal membrane. Application of non-NMDA receptor antagonist CNQX (10 μM) almost abolished this effect. TBOA (30 μM), an inhibitor of glutamate transporter, prolonged the duration of heterosynaptic facilitation. These results suggest that glutamate released from distant commissural/associational synapses spills out from synaptic cleft and activates the kainate receptors on the mossy fibers of CA3 region, and plays a major role in modulating presynaptic excitability than GABA.\nCopyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Too Many Husbands (1914)\nA young man in love with his uncle's ward can't convince his uncle that he's fit to marry her, and schemes to continue seeing her anyway. The uncle, however, is determined to see that his nephew gets nowhere near the girl.- Written by email@example.com\nBe the first to contribute! Just click the \"Edit page\" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Type your search below\nPreacher: Peter Collier QC, Vicar General of the Province of York and Cathedral Reader\nTitle of sermon: A gospel that takes us to unexpected places\nDate/time/service: Sunday 23rd January 2022 – 11am Choral Eucharist\nMay the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you, O lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen\nAfter about 30 years Jesus was ready to begin his ministry. Those years had been spent in Nazareth, living in the family home with Joseph and Mary and his siblings, almost certainly learning the carpenter’s trade but also spending time in studying the scriptures and in prayer. Now he had been baptised by John and his calling had been confirmed by God’s voice affirming delight in him. He had been tested and tried in the wilderness. And now he had begun his ministry in Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee. But on this Saturday he was back in Nazareth, and he went as he regularly did to the synagogue were as often happened he was asked to read the Scripture.\nHe read from what we know as Isaiah Chapter 61 and he threw in a bit of Isaiah 58 as well. And he then told them that there and then in their presence that very day that scripture had been fulfilled. What a remarkable thing to say.\nIt was a well-known part of Isaiah’s prophecy. It foretold the coming of the Messiah and what the Messiah would do. That and passages like it were a great comfort to the people whose country was occupied by the Romans and whose religious life was harsh and demanding under the prescriptions of the Scribes and Pharisees. And people longed for deliverance from their enemies, for their vindication, and for God’s vengeance on those who oppressed them – whether those were secular or religious oppressors.\nBut Jesus had omitted a part of the verse from Isaiah 61 and it was a significant omission. He left out the bit about vengeance and spoke only about the good news side – about release of captives, recovering of sight for the blind and freedom for the oppressed.\nNow, Luke’s account of that morning carries on beyond where our gospel reading this morning stopped. Luke goes on to tell us that people questioned how Joseph’s son, who they’d known all these years could speak like this. Jesus told them that he knew what they were really thinking.\nAnd he reminded them that during the famine in Elijah’s time, the only miracle that Elijah performed was of providing food for a widow and bringing back to life her son. And he pointed out to them that that widow was not Jewish. And then he referred to Elisha and said that although there were many lepers in his time he only cleansed Naaman who was also not one of God’s chosen people.\nWhat Jesus is saying to them is that God’s grace, God’s salvation, God’s healing touch are for all people and that when God comes and bring salvation it is always in ways that are unexpected, because that is what God is like.\nWhenever the gospel comes to us it brings surprises – surprises about who it is for and what it does.\nWho is it for? Well, it is for all. For everyone. Especially it is for the excluded and the marginalised?\nWhat does it do? It produces a new community that is radically countercultural. Our epistle from 1 Corinthians spoke very powerfully about that. Paul explains that the church is a body made up of many members – Jews and Greeks; slaves and free – all together in one body. And the surprising thing he says is that the members of the body that seem weaker are in fact indispensable. Outside the church the prevailing culture and the usual politics was and is that it is the fittest that survive and the successful who are rewarded. But in the church it is the poor and the weak who are given greater honour and greater respect. How come? Why? In New Testament terms we meet Christ most powerfully in the little, the least and the lost.\nThis should have been no surprise to people – it was what God had been telling his people as long as they had been his people. The widows, the orphans and the aliens living among them were always to be valued when the seemingly natural response would be to use and abuse them. It was well written in the law, It was often spoken of by the prophets and the early church practised it.\nSo the church today is called to be inclusive, to welcome all – wherever they come from, whatever their history is, and whatever their status in worldly terms may be – all are welcome and not just as guests but as essential parts of the body.\nAs we begin to emerge from the pandemic and as we look to rebuild the church and community we are doing so in response to a gospel that is for all and that looks to build a countercultural community. So we need to understand that and we need to begin to work out what that might mean for us here in this cathedral.\nBut I think there is something else here for us. The last two years we can justifiably say that we have all been oppressed as a result of this pandemic. We are longing for deliverance from that enervating low grade anxiety that has just always been there throughout these two years, sapping our energy, creating anxiety and fear. And like the people in Judea we have cried out to God for deliverance. But when deliverance comes – it may not be quite what we expect.\nThe Jews wanted to go back to the good old days. And there is a lot of that about today. Not just about getting back to restaurants, theatres and other pre-pandemic experiences, but there is something tapping into a deeper longing for days gone by – the days when we won the world cup and ruled an empire.\nBut when our deliverance comes it may not be quite as we expect. It will be freedom and it will be release – but it will be a fresh release into the life of the God’s kingdom …. That kingdom where we are called to live Christ’s story.\nThe ABY spoke of looking for the unexpected in his Epiphany letter\n“Living Christ’s story has never been easy. In the midst of change and challenge, there is always a temptation to fall back on our own charts and our own wisdom, trying to keep things going as they are for a little bit longer, and to miss where God is leading. Where God leads is always unexpected. For the Magi, not a royal palace, but a stable; not a king in glory, but a child in a manger. Where God leads is also challenging. Transforming our finances and structures, growing churches of missionary disciples and reaching those who don’t come to church needs us to be sustained by each one of us becoming more Christ-like in our lives and calling.”\nGod never calls us backwards, always forwards – onwards and upwards.\nSo, as we travel on in this Epiphany season let us keep in mind the truly radical nature of the kingdom we are called into and the nature of the salvation we have received.\nStay up to date with York Minster", "label": "No"} {"text": "According to recent statistics, about 1 in every 36 children has been diagnosed with ASD, making it one of the most common developmental disorders in the United States. In this article, we will explore the causes and effects of autism in detail.\nAutism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects how individuals perceive and interact with the world around them. It is characterized by challenges in social communication, repetitive behaviors, and restricted interests. To gain a deeper understanding of autism, it is important to explore what autism is and the impact it has on individuals and their families.\nAutism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a lifelong condition that typically becomes apparent in early childhood. It is a spectrum disorder, meaning that it manifests differently in each individual, ranging from mild to severe. Common features of autism include:\nIt's important to note that each person with autism is unique, with their own strengths, challenges, and abilities. Early identification of autism is crucial for accessing appropriate interventions and support. If you're interested in learning more about the early signs of autism, check out this article on early signs of autism.\nAutism can have a significant impact on both individuals with autism and their families. The challenges associated with autism can affect various aspects of daily life, including education, employment, relationships, and overall quality of life.\nFor individuals with autism, the impact may include difficulties in forming and maintaining social relationships, challenges in academic settings, and potential co-occurring conditions such as anxiety or sensory sensitivities. However, it's essential to recognize that individuals with autism also possess unique strengths and talents, which should be nurtured and celebrated.\nFamilies of individuals with autism often face additional responsibilities and may experience emotional, financial, and logistical challenges. They may need to navigate complex healthcare and education systems, access specialized therapies and interventions, and provide ongoing support to their loved ones. Seeking support from autism advocacy organizations, support groups, and professionals can help families navigate these challenges and access the resources they need.\nUnderstanding the nature of autism and its impact is the first step in providing appropriate support and creating an inclusive society for individuals on the autism spectrum. By promoting acceptance, understanding, and access to evidence-based interventions, we can support individuals with autism in reaching their full potential.\nAutism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests in a wide range of symptoms and behaviors. The causes of autism are multifactorial, involving a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Understanding the complexity of autism is crucial for unraveling the root causes of this enigmatic disorder.\nAutism is recognized as a multifactorial condition, meaning that it is influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Research suggests that there is no single cause of autism, but rather a complex interplay of various factors.\nGenetic factors play a significant role in the development of autism. Studies have shown that there are numerous genetic mutations and variations associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These genetic changes can impact brain development, neural connectivity, and the functioning of neurotransmitters.\nCertain genetic syndromes are also strongly linked to the development of autism. For example, individuals with Fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis are at a higher risk of developing ASD. Understanding the genetic factors associated with autism is a crucial area of ongoing research. For more information on genetic factors, refer to this article on genetic factors of autism.\nIn addition to genetic factors, environmental influences also contribute to the development of autism. Prenatal and perinatal factors, such as maternal infections during pregnancy, exposure to certain medications, and complications during birth, have been associated with an increased risk of autism.\nEarly childhood experiences, including exposure to toxins, certain medications, and infections, may also play a role in the development of autism. While there has been significant research in this area, it is important to note that the specific environmental factors and their interactions with genetic factors are still being studied. To learn more about the environmental factors related to autism, read this article on environmental factors of autism.\nUnderstanding the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors is essential for unraveling the causes of autism. The interaction of these factors contributes to the wide spectrum of symptoms and behaviors observed in individuals with ASD. Ongoing research in the field aims to further elucidate the intricate relationship between genetics and the environment in the development of autism.\nIn the next section, we will explore the specific prenatal, perinatal, and early childhood factors that have been implicated in the development of autism, shedding light on the intricate details of these potential environmental influences.\nAutism is a complex disorder with a multifactorial etiology, involving a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Understanding the genetic contributions to autism is crucial in unraveling the root causes of this condition. In this section, we will explore the role of genetic mutations and variations, familial patterns of autism, and genetic syndromes associated with autism.\nGenetic mutations and variations play a significant role in the development of autism. Various studies have identified specific genes that are associated with an increased risk of autism. These genetic changes can occur spontaneously or be inherited from parents.\nResearchers have identified several genes that are involved in brain development and synaptic function, which are disrupted in individuals with autism. Mutations in these genes can affect neural connectivity and communication, leading to the characteristic social and behavioral challenges associated with autism.\nWhile specific genetic mutations have been linked to autism, it's important to note that there is significant heterogeneity in the genetic landscape of autism. Each individual with autism may have a unique combination of genetic variations, making it a genetically diverse disorder.\nAutism tends to run in families, indicating a familial pattern in its occurrence. Siblings of individuals with autism have a higher risk of developing the condition compared to the general population. The risk is even higher if they are identical twins, as they share the same genetic material.\nFamily studies have provided valuable insights into the heritability of autism. Research suggests that the risk of autism is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. While the exact mechanisms underlying the transmission of autism within families are complex and multifaceted, it is clear that genetic factors contribute significantly to the familial patterns observed.\nCertain genetic syndromes are strongly associated with autism. These syndromes involve specific genetic mutations that increase the risk of autism alongside other medical and developmental issues. Examples of such syndromes include fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis.\nFragile X syndrome, caused by a mutation in the FMR1 gene, is the most common single-gene cause of autism. It is estimated that around 30% of individuals with fragile X syndrome also have autism. Similarly, Rett syndrome and tuberous sclerosis are genetic conditions that frequently co-occur with autism.\nUnderstanding the genetic syndromes associated with autism provides valuable insights into the underlying genetic mechanisms contributing to the disorder. It also highlights the intricate interplay between specific genetic mutations and the manifestation of autistic traits.\nBy studying genetic factors in autism, researchers are gradually uncovering the complex genetic architecture of the disorder. Genetic mutations and variations, familial patterns, and genetic syndromes all contribute to our understanding of the genetic factors associated with autism. However, it's essential to recognize that autism is a complex condition influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.\nWhile the exact causes of autism are still being researched, it is widely accepted that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of this complex disorder. In this section, we will explore some of the environmental factors that have been studied in relation to autism.\nResearch has shown that certain prenatal and perinatal factors may contribute to the development of autism. These factors include maternal infections during pregnancy, exposure to environmental toxins, maternal age, and certain pregnancy complications. However, it's important to note that these factors are not exclusive causes of autism and do not account for all cases.\nPrenatal and Perinatal Factors\nIt's worth mentioning that while these factors have been associated with an increased risk of autism, they are not definitive causes. The interplay between genetic predisposition and environmental influences is complex and not fully understood.\nEarly childhood experiences have also been studied as potential environmental factors that may impact the development of autism. While the exact mechanisms are still being explored, certain experiences and exposures during the critical early years of life may contribute to the manifestation of autism symptoms.\nFactors such as parental age, prenatal stress, exposure to certain medications during early development, and the quality of early caregiving have been investigated. It's important to note that these factors may have an influence on the severity of symptoms or the age of diagnosis, but they are not direct causes of autism.\nEarly Childhood Experiences\nIt's crucial to remember that every child is unique, and the presence of these factors does not necessarily mean that a child will develop autism.\nOne topic that has received considerable attention is the potential link between vaccines and autism. Extensive scientific research has consistently shown that there is no credible evidence supporting a causal relationship between vaccines and autism. Numerous large-scale studies have debunked the initial claims made in a now-retracted study.\nThe consensus among medical professionals and scientific organizations is that vaccines are safe and necessary for protecting public health. Vaccines have been rigorously tested and have undergone extensive research and monitoring for potential side effects. The benefits of immunizations in preventing diseases far outweigh any unfounded concerns.\nIt's important to rely on accurate and evidence-based information when evaluating the role of vaccines in autism.\nBy understanding the environmental factors associated with autism, we can continue to advance our knowledge and provide better support for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families.\nAutism is a complex disorder that arises from the interaction of both genetic and environmental factors. The interplay between genetics and the environment plays a significant role in the development and manifestation of autism. In this section, we will explore gene-environment interactions and the role of epigenetics in autism.\nGene-environment interactions refer to the way in which genetic factors and environmental influences interact to contribute to the development of autism. While specific genetic mutations or variations may increase the likelihood of developing autism, the presence of certain environmental factors can either enhance or mitigate this risk.\nResearch suggests that individuals with certain genetic predispositions may be more susceptible to the effects of environmental factors. For example, a genetic variation associated with increased vulnerability to environmental toxins could potentially lead to a higher risk of developing autism when exposed to those toxins. On the other hand, individuals with protective genetic factors may be more resilient to environmental influences.\nUnderstanding gene-environment interactions is crucial in unraveling the complex etiology of autism. By identifying specific genetic and environmental factors that interact to increase the risk of autism, researchers can gain insights into potential preventive strategies and interventions.\nEpigenetics refers to the study of changes in gene expression that are not caused by alterations in the underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetic modifications can be influenced by environmental factors and can have a significant impact on gene function.\nEmerging evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms play a role in the development of autism. Studies have shown differences in epigenetic patterns between individuals with autism and those without the disorder. These epigenetic modifications can affect gene expression and potentially contribute to the core features of autism.\nEnvironmental factors, such as exposure to certain chemicals or stress during critical periods of development, can influence the epigenetic landscape and contribute to the risk of autism. However, it's important to note that the specific mechanisms linking epigenetics and autism are still being investigated, and further research is needed to fully understand the complexities of these interactions.\nUnderstanding the interaction between genetics and the environment is essential for gaining insights into the causes and effects of autism.\nBy studying gene-environment interactions and the role of epigenetics, researchers aim to uncover the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the development and manifestation of autism. This knowledge can ultimately inform the development of targeted interventions and support for individuals with autism and their families.\nAs our understanding of autism continues to evolve, ongoing research is focused on uncovering the root causes of this complex disorder. Scientists and researchers are exploring various areas to shed light on the factors that contribute to autism. In this section, we will discuss some of the future directions in autism research, including advancements in genetic studies, environmental research and interventions, and the exploration of holistic approaches to autism treatment.\nGenetic studies have played a crucial role in understanding the genetic factors associated with autism. Researchers are continuously making advancements in this field, aiming to identify specific genetic variations and mutations that may contribute to the development of autism. By studying the genetic profiles of individuals with autism and their families, scientists hope to uncover new insights into the genetic underpinnings of the disorder.\nRecent breakthroughs in technology, such as next-generation sequencing, have allowed researchers to analyze the entire genome more efficiently and cost-effectively. This has facilitated the identification of rare genetic variants and novel genes associated with autism. By expanding our knowledge of the genetic landscape of autism, researchers are paving the way for personalized interventions and treatments.\nWhile genetic factors play a significant role in autism, environmental influences also contribute to the development of the disorder. Researchers are actively investigating the impact of various environmental factors on autism risk. These factors include prenatal and perinatal factors, such as maternal infections and exposure to certain medications during pregnancy, as well as early childhood experiences.\nAdvancements in environmental research aim to identify specific environmental triggers and their interactions with genetic factors. By understanding these interactions, scientists can develop targeted interventions and preventive strategies. It is important to note that although certain environmental factors have been studied extensively, there is no evidence to support the notion that vaccines cause autism. This misconception has been debunked by numerous scientific studies.\nIn addition to understanding the causes of autism, researchers are also exploring holistic approaches to autism treatment. These approaches take into account the individual needs and strengths of individuals with autism, focusing on their overall well-being. Holistic treatments may include a combination of therapies, such as behavioral interventions, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and social skills training.\nFurthermore, researchers are investigating the potential benefits of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in autism treatment. CAM encompasses therapies such as acupuncture, nutritional supplements, and sensory integration therapy. While the efficacy of these treatments is still being studied, they offer promising avenues for a more comprehensive and individualized approach to autism intervention.\nAs research in the field of autism progresses, advancements in genetic studies, environmental research and interventions, and the exploration of holistic treatment approaches will continue to shape our understanding of the disorder. By unraveling the enigma of autism, we can enhance the lives of individuals with autism and their families, providing them with the support and resources they need to thrive.\nNo, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that vaccines cause autism. The myth that vaccines are linked to autism has been thoroughly debunked by numerous studies.\nThere is currently no cure for autism, but early intervention and therapy can help improve outcomes for children with the disorder. Many individuals with autism go on to lead fulfilling lives with appropriate support and accommodations.\nNo, autism is a spectrum disorder, which means that it affects each individual differently. Some people with autism may have mild symptoms while others may have more severe symptoms that significantly impact daily life.\nYes, adults can be diagnosed with autism. In fact, many individuals may not receive a diagnosis until later in life if they were not identified as having ASD as children.\nCommon misconceptions about autism include the belief that all individuals with ASD have exceptional abilities or savant skills, that they lack empathy or emotions, and that they are all nonverbal. It's important to recognize that every individual is unique and should be treated as such.\nIn conclusion, autism is a complex developmental disorder that is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The effects of autism can vary widely from person to person, but early detection and intervention can significantly improve outcomes. If you suspect that your child may have autism, it is important to speak with your pediatrician as early intervention is key to improving outcomes.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Seeing a ring in a dream could have different meanings in Islam depending upon the context. Here are the interpretations;\n1- According to Prophet Daniyal عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ if a ring has been given to the dreamer in the mosque it means that he is obedient of the creator. If the dreamer is a businessman, he would attain profits.\n2- Receiving a ring by the King in a dream means getting lucrative benefits from the government.\n3- According to Ibn Sirin رحمة الله عليه the greatest dream interpreter of Islam, if a ring has been stolen/destroyed in the dream it means that their work will suffer and they shall face hardships.\n4- If a ring breaks but its stone remains enacted in a dream, then it is likely that their elderly stage would be a better one and their respect and dignity would stand tall.\n5- If a person gives his ring to someone in a dream it means that the dreamer shall give away some of their belongings/wealth to someone.\n6- Selling a ring in a dream indicates that they will sell their belongings. However, if money is not been taken against the ring, then it indicates that only a part of the property shall be sold.\n7- According to Jabar Maghrabi رحمة الله عليه a ring of steel in a dream indicates the dreamer shall be bestowed with strength and fitness.\n- Gold ring = a good deed.\n- Copper ring = getting benefits from hypocrites.\n- Silver ring = the dreamer shall attain something.\n8- Giving your ring to someone and getting it returned in a dream means that the dreamer would like a woman for marriage but won’t be able to get married to her.\n9- Stamping a written letter with the ring in a dream indicates that one shall be able to find a hidden thing.\n10- According to Jafar Sadiq رحمة الله عليه says that if a woman sees a dream where her ring along with the stone gets destroyed, then it indicates that her respect or status will fall, her kid or husband would die or her wealth will get wasted.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In recent times, fermented foods have surged in popularity, not just for their distinct flavors but also for their exceptional health advantages. Among the most esteemed fermented delicacies are yogurt and kimchi. These culinary delights have stood the test of time, admired for their probiotic-rich composition that can work wonders for your digestive system and overall health. Within this article, we will explore the diverse advantages of incorporating yogurt and kimchi into your dietary regimen.\nProbiotic Powerhouse: Yogurt and kimchi have earned their reputation as nutritional powerhouses primarily due to their abundant probiotic content. These are beneficial living microorganisms that assist in maintaining a harmonious balance of gut bacteria. Consistent consumption of probiotics can enhance your digestive well-being by encouraging the growth of friendly bacteria that facilitate nutrient digestion and absorption. This, in turn, can alleviate common digestive problems such as bloating, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome.\nEnhanced Immune Function: A robust immune system serves as your body’s initial defense against infections and illnesses. The probiotics present in yogurt and kimchi play a pivotal role in bolstering your immune function. They stimulate the production of antibodies and enhance the activity of immune cells, thereby reinforcing your body’s resilience against pathogens.\nImproved Nutrient Uptake: Fermentation is a process that breaks down complex compounds in foods, rendering nutrients more readily accessible and easier for your body to assimilate. In the case of yogurt and kimchi, this process can result in enhanced absorption of vital vitamins and minerals, including calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins. This not only supports bone health but also contributes to overall vitality.\nThe Gut-Brain Connection: Recent research is uncovering a strong correlation between gut health and mental well-being. The gut-brain axis constitutes a two-way communication system between the gut and the brain, and a balanced gut microbiome is instrumental in sustaining mental equilibrium. Regular consumption of yogurt and kimchi may exert a positive influence on your mood and cognitive function, potentially reducing the risk of mental health disorders.\nEffective Weight Management: Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is a goal for many individuals, and fermented foods can be a valuable asset in this endeavor. The probiotics found in yogurt and kimchi can assist in appetite regulation and reducing cravings for unhealthy foods. Furthermore, a balanced gut microbiome is associated with improved metabolic function, which can aid in weight management efforts.\nLactose Digestion: Yogurt, especially when fermented for an extended duration, contains lower levels of lactose compared to regular milk. This makes it more tolerable for individuals with lactose intolerance to enjoy the benefits of dairy without discomfort. The probiotics in yogurt also play a role in breaking down any remaining lactose, further easing digestion.\nPotential Cancer Prevention: Although further research is warranted, some studies suggest that the probiotics and bioactive compounds in fermented foods such as kimchi may offer protective effects against specific types of cancer. These preliminary findings underscore the potential role of these foods in cancer prevention.\nThe advantages of consuming fermented foods like yogurt and kimchi extend well beyond their enticing flavors and textures. Regular incorporation of these probiotic-rich gems into your diet can revolutionize your gut health, bolster your immune system, and contribute to a myriad of physical and mental well-being benefits. So, why not embrace these culinary wonders and embark on a journey towards improved health and vitality? Your taste buds and your body will undoubtedly express their gratitude.", "label": "No"} {"text": "6\" x 8\"\noil on canvas board\nSome day, before I go, I'd like to know, the author or my dreams, and so....\nfor the next few days I will be painting a dream. I am trying to \"find the way back\" as in this quote from Robert Louis Stevenson's poem The Land of Nod.\n\"Try as I like to find the way, I never can get back by day, Nor can remember plain and clear The curious music that I hear.\"", "label": "No"} {"text": "Politics at the turn of the century became very popular among the people. As the richer got richer and the poorer got poorer, politics really started to divide people more than just republican and democratic parties. Political machines proposed benefits to voting in their favor, essentially bribing the poor for votes. Transparent ballot boxes was also a technique used to intimidate voters. Building relationship with the working-class immigrants and condemning native-born Americans beliefs against immigrants was a sure way to secure votes. Native-born white men were at the center of politics. Racism was on the rise when these native-born Americans thought that immigrants, African Americas, and woman should not have the power to vote.\nThe rise in education for woman brought forth associations and clubs that focused on women’s suffrage, leadership skills, and how to obtain voting rights. These “New Woman” was a huge step in the right direction for equality. Woman and minorities had just as much of a right to vote as a native-born white man. Woman definitely proved that they could be just as educated as men and be an asset to the political society.\nKeene, Jennifer D., Cornell, Saul, and O’Donnell, Edward T. Visions of America: A History of The United States, Volume 2, 3rd ed. 2019.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Author: Douglas Hall Retail Price: $17.81 Our Price: $17.81\nSave: 0.00 (0.00%)\nAvailability: In Stock\nIn a time of rapid change and global confusion, how are Christians to perceive God at work in history? The theme of God's presence among the nations is here addressed from different perspectives by two major theologians. Douglas John Hall explores foundational theological questions: the providence of God, the relation of global to national concerns, and the role of the church in relation to God's worldly work. Rosemary Radford Ruether raises the question of the presence of God in the context of three major crises of our times-the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, global poverty and the preferential option for the poor, and the ecological crisis. This book originated as the Hein/Fry Lectures of 1994.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Brazil likely to follow China as largest diabetes care devices market among BRIC nations\nAccording to a new market research report published by Markets and Markets, the BRIC diabetes care devices market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% over 2015-2020 to reach USD 2.3 Billion in 2020 from USD 1.7 Billion in 2015. China accounted for the largest market share of 55.5% in 2014. Brazil is expected to follow China as the second largest diabetes care devices market among BRIC nations, while India is expected to register the fastest growth over the forecast period. The major factors contributing to the growth of the market include rising number of diabetic patients in BRIC nations, a significant advancement in research on diabetes, and increasing global research alliances. The market is segmented into blood glucose monitoring devices and insulin delivery devices based on the types of diabetes care devices which are further divided into testing strips, self-monitoring blood glucose meters, lancets, continuous glucose monitors, insulin syringes, insulin pens, insulin pumps, and insulin jet injectors. Testing strips recorded the largest revenue among all blood glucose monitoring devices and insulin pens reported the highest share among insulin delivery devices in 2014. The major players are Becton, Dickinson and Company, Roche Diagnostics, Johnson and Johnson, Bayer, Abbott Laboratories, Acon Laboratories, Ypsomed Novo Nordisk, Medtronic, ARKRAY, Terumo Corporation, Dexcom, and Sanofi.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Adequate Vitamin D Can Improve Fertility Outcomes\nIf you’re undergoing fertility treatments, such as In Vitro Fertilization, fertility medications or surrogacy, a recent study has found that vitamin D can help you or your surrogate achieve better fertility outcomes. A group of researchers led by Justin Chu, PhD, of the University of Birmingham in the UK reported that those “with adequate vitamin D were 33% more likely to achieve live birth than those with deficient or insufficient levels.” (Human Reproduction, online) Testing for vitamin D is an inexpensive process and is widely available. Correcting vitamin D deficiency could benefit women undergoing fertility treatments, says Dr. Chu, but further research is needed to test this. Talk to your doctor about the benefits of vitamin D as well as the risks, as an overdose on vitamin D can lead to too much calcium build-up in the body. This study will continue to focus development on practice guidelines to measure vitamin D in women, specifically those trying to conceive.", "label": "No"} {"text": "at Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.\n507 S. Cleveland-Massillon Rd.\nText Ohio to 77948\nto download today\nBy Roger Moore\nMcClatchy-Tribune News Service\nCarey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan and Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. (Warner Bros. Pictures)\nTobey Maguire as Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby.\nClick here to read or leave a comment(s) on this story.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In 1968 my grandmother, Marie (Halloran) Murphy, wrote a letter to her nephew. In it she describes a dream she had:\n“You mentioned your mother dreaming about Celeste (Marie's sister). I, too, had a dream about that same time, and it left me with the queerest sensation. I believe that I told your mother about it at the time.\nI dreamed that Celeste and Jean appeared before me and Celeste made a sign to me to come toward them, and I answered or asked, (do you mean me) and Celeste answered (not yet). Jean just stood there smiling. I didn’t seem frightened just curious. Perhaps I was thinking of them so often and that caused me to dream of them.”\nCeleste had died in 1966 and Jeannie died in 1944.\nWhen my dad was very sick with what we had just discovered was bone cancer; I also had a dream. I was in St. Louis visiting my grandparents. On this particular night I was staying at my Uncle Victor’s house. Vic always makes guests sleep in his room and he sleeps on the couch. That night I had a dream. My Dad was in his robe and stood near the French doors in Vic’s room. I don’t remember my dad trying to say anything to me in the dream, but right in the middle of it…Victor knocked on the door. It was about 1 or 2 in the morning. The call was from my mom. Dad was in the hospital and they didn’t know if he would make it through the night. He died 2 weeks later.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Historically, the function of Arctic ecosystems in terms of cycles of nutrients and carbon has led to low levels of primary production and exchanges of energy, water and greenhouse gases have led to low local and regional cooling. Sequestration of carbon from atmospheric CO2, in extensive, cold organic soils and the high albedo from low, snow-covered vegetation have had impacts on regional climate. However, many aspects of the functioning of Arctic ecosystems are sensitive to changes in climate and its impacts on biodiversity. The current Arctic climate results in slow rates of organic matter decomposition. Arctic ecosystems therefore tend to accumulate organic matter and elements despite low inputs. As a result, soil-available elements like nitrogen and phosphorus are key limitations to increases in carbon fixation and further biomass and organic matter accumulation. Climate warming is expected to increase carbon and element turnover, particularly in soils, which may lead to initial losses of elements but eventual, slow recovery. Individual species and species diversity have clear impacts on element inputs and retention in Arctic ecosystems. Effects of increased CO2 and UV-B on whole ecosystems, on the other hand, are likely to be small although effects on plant tissue chemisty, decomposition and nitrogen fixation may become important in the long-term. Cycling of carbon in trace gas form is mainly as CO2 and CH4. Most carbon loss is in the form of CO2, produced by both plants and soil biota. Carbon emissions as methane from wet and moist tundra ecosystems are about 5% of emissions as CO2 and are responsive to warming in the absence of any other changes. Winter processes and vegetation type also affect CH4 emissions as well as exchanges of energy between biosphere and atmosphere. Arctic ecosystems exhibit the largest seasonal changes in energy exchange of any terrestrial ecosystem because of the large changes in albedo from late winter, when snow reflects most incoming radiation, to summer when the ecosystem absorbs most incoming radiation. Vegetation profoundly influences the water and energy exchange of Arctic ecosystems. Albedo during the period of snow cover declines from tundra to forest tundra to deciduous forest to evergreen forest. Shrubs and trees increase snow depth which in turn increases winter soil temperatures. Future changes in vegetation driven by climate change are therefore, very likely to profoundly alter regional climate.", "label": "No"} {"text": "If the question is, can you add essential oils to your fish tank? The answer is YES. But if the question is, should you add essential oils to your fish tank? Then the answer is NO, as there are too many variables to consider, and the dangers far outweigh any potential benefits. However, not all fishkeepers will agree with that statement, and this is where the confusion begins for many people. So let's take a closer look at essential oils, what they are, and what they do. I will follow that by examining the pros and cons of adding essential oils to your fish tank.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Tag: The wise\nScripture reading for September 4th: Daniel 10-12\nI love books! I have a great library and it is always growing as I look for more good books to read and add–that is if I don’t give them to someone else to read! The Apostle John said that if all that Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain all the books that would be written! (John 21:25) Volumes of books have been written throughout history and I believe that we are studying the most important book on earth, the Holy Bible! It contains the Word of God, creator of heaven and earth! It is full of His Spirit and Life! (John 6:63)\nBut there is another book that should be just as important to every human being. It is the Book of Life found before the throne of God. In that book are written the names of all who have been adopted into the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and Son of God. (Daniel 12:1) (Revelation 20:12, 15) If your name is written in that book, you will be delivered from the coming wrath against sin that flows from the Ancient of Days! (Daniel 7:10) (Revelation 20:14) It doesn’t matter if you are sleeping in the dust of earth or still alive when the day of judgment arrives, there is going to be a resurrection of all men with rewards for those who by faith have trusted in Christ as well as punishment eternally for those who have rebelled against God. (Daniel 12:2-3) (Revelation 22:12-15)\nThe righteous are promised eternal glory for their obedience. (Revelation 22:1-6) (Daniel 12:3) They will shine like the stars of heaven forever and ever! They will live in the heavenly city where God Himself and the Lamb, Jesus Christ, is the source of all light! They will behold Him and see His face! What blessed truth!\nDaniel was told to seal up the words of his book for the time of the end. (Daniel 12:4) He was told that many people would go to and fro throughout the earth and that knowledge would increase as time went on. People would be seeking this knowledge but only the wise would find it. The wise were those whose names were written down in that special book of Heaven!\nJohn was told in Revelation 22:10, not to seal up the words of his book of prophecy because the time was near for it’s fulfillment! Jesus Christ is coming soon to reward each one who is living by faith and has his name in His book! Are you sure your name is in the most important Book in the universe? Why not honestly check your heart today for faith in Jesus Christ? Have you repented? Are you living a righteous life by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit?\n“Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” “Behold I am coming soon and my reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” Revelation 22:10-12", "label": "No"} {"text": "How lifestyle impacts your health your lifestyle plays an important role work and leisure activities have a positive impact on health by reducing stress • improve the quality of life for you and your family make a healthy choice today if you have questions on how to make these changes. Plagued with chronic disease and poor health education level, employment, income, family and social support, and community safety are all components chart 1 illustrates how education and health behaviors interact to impact health outcomes10 being in less social determinants of health:. Still, amidst all the hype, study after study shows that good food choices have a positive impact on health, and poor diets have negative long-term effects know the facts: americans whose dietary patterns include fresh, whole foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lean meats, and fish have a lower incidence of major chronic. Poor lifestyle choices will impact on workplace health posted on 06/06/2016 21/06/2016 by medigold health leading occupational health providers, medigold, have highlighted some uk statistical health trends which could help focus employers’ efforts on improving health in the workplace. Social support may have indirect effects on health through enhanced mental health, by reducing the impact of stress, or by fostering a sense of meaning and purpose in life (cohen 2004 thoits 1995.\nThe links between poverty and poor health outcomes are numerous, complex, and intertwined and accompanying program and policy responses—which can include the facilitative effects on reducing the negative health impacts associated with poverty among them poor dietary choices, limited knowledge about nutrition, food environments. The edelman health barometer 2011 global survey, conducted by a research firm to determine how business can benefit from promoting health, used online and face-to-face interviews of 15,000 people. Introduction feeding is a primary event in the life of an infant and young child it is the focus of attention for parents and other caregivers, and a source of social interaction through verbal and non-verbal communication.\nCan have an impact on mental health as well as physical health this is especially true for young people for ex- how diet and nutrition affect mental health focal point 15 focal point: youth, young adults, & mental health healthy body - healthy mind, summer 2012, 26(1) food choice, the eating habits of siblings and friends are. Poor nutrition has a significant number of dangerous effects on health fortunately, attaining a healthy lifestyle can cause a turn-around of those bad effects and lead to a reduced occurrence of medical disorders related to poor nutrition. Create or reduce stress, which impacts not only your emotional, but also physical health, including your longevity mind-body research about healing environments the field of mind-body studies includes research on the relationship between our surroundings and our health.\nAustralia's health 2016 is the aihw’s 15th biennial report on the health of australians it examines a wide range of contemporary topics in a series of analytical feature articles and short statistical snapshots. The childhood obesity epidemic is a serious public health problem that increases morbidity, mortality, and has substantial long term economic and social costs the rates of obesity in america’s children and youth have almost tripled in the last quarter century. Hefty impact of poor eating habits - concordia study finds 25 percent of canadians aged 31 to 50 exceed safe limit of total calories derived from fats too much fast food, poor meal choices and bad eating habits are causing more canadians to be overweight or obese despite this trend, individuals. A review of the effects of health literacy on health found that people with lower health literacy are more likely to use emergency services and be hospitalized and are less likely to use preventive services such as mammography or take medications and interpret labels correctly. Food choices & health diet quality & nutrition consumers' use of food labels and impacts on food choices and dietary outcomes and the effects of new label information on the supply of labeled foods, retail prices, and manufacturing and farm production practices.\nWhat drives health good health it seems so straightforward eat right, exercise and get regular checkups education has profound health effects more education makes an individual more aware of healthy and unhealthy choices and makes it easier to make healthy choices poor-quality housing poses a risk of exposure to many conditions. Diseases to which poor diet contributes are in bold unhealthy eating habits and inactivity affect quality of life and cause disabilities few recognize that unhealthy diet is a leading cause of disability yet unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity are leading causes of loss of independence: health care costs $8,900 per person. The current focus is providing information on the impact of unhealthy lifestyle choices as risk factors for preventable chronic diseases and encouraging individual responsibility for one's health many towns across the country are engaged in projects to implement systems and environmental change in schools, communities, and workplaces. Poor mental health wellness and cancer in his new book, anticancer: a new way of life, david servan-schreiber, md, phd, points out the effect that poor mental health has on developing cancer our immune system, which works to prevent cancer and reduce tumors, is maintained by mental and physical wellness.\nHealth effects of limited access to healthy food: obesity, chronic disease, and poor nutrition recommend on facebook tweet share compartir obesity and weight management. The true cost of poor health in 2005, health care expenditures in the united states reached nearly $2 trillion,1 with us employers shouldering the majority of this bur- den in 2007, health care costs for us employers increased another 7. What are good & bad healthy lifestyle choices by lisa simonson aug 14, 2017 exercise is a healthy lifestyle choice because it can help you reduce your risk for diseases and certain effects of aging, keeps your body fit and healthy, helps reduce stress, improves sleep and increases energy smoking is bad for your overall health and.\nHome » news » parenting » family and peers have big impact on health “we must be aware of the impact that we can have just as poor health choices can be spread through social networks. How does money influence health michaela benzeval, lyndal bond, mhairi campbell, mathew egan, to poor health such as infectious diseases, injuries and accidents today, however, the relationship between the health-damaging effects of sudden income losses resulting from. Having an imbalanced diet and making poor food choices affects your overall health the foods you put in your body directly impact how you feel, your weight and your risk of developing chronic diseases. Numerous studies have indicated that poor worker health is a leading cause of decreased productivity worldwide the choices you make at lunchtime can impact your productivity for the rest of.", "label": "No"} {"text": "High LDL or “bad” cholesterol is one of the main risk factors for developing cardiovascular diseases which can be fatal to your health.\nAccording to the information provided in an article published on the Nova Mulher website, the fatty substance not only increases the risk of having a heart attack, but also increases the possibility that the person suffers a stroke, which everyone knows like a stroke.\nNatural treatments for low DLD levels focus on controlling cholesterol levels and lowering blood pressure.\nHow to lower cholesterol naturally\nFirst and foremost, the person must follow the recommendations given to them by the healthcare professional who followed them.\nExperts, in an interview with the Healthline portal, point out that to naturally reduce cholesterol, people must maintain a healthy lifestyle, have an ideal weight, practice more physical activities, have a balanced diet and avoid the consumption of tobacco. .\nFor example, the consumption of artichoke tea helps by acting against hypercholesterolemia. This was due to the purifying properties present in the tea, which can regulate blood pressure.\nGinger also helps reduce DLD, but it doesn’t stop there as it also aids in better digestion, alleviates water retention and promotes weight loss.\nIt is very important to take care of your health to avoid bigger problems in the future.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Balayya’s comments on him not being invited to a meeting with the government had stirred hornet’s nest in the industry. Naturally, people are taking sides but, Teja’s point of view seems to be sensible.\nIn an interview, Teja opined that one need not invite anybody if it was a personal call and industry would survive despite the biggies of the industry like it happened in the past when legends passed away but nothing came to a standstill.\nHowever, it’s extremely important that all the industry biggies to be involved when there is a major decision or meeting to take place regarding making decisions about it. So, they should have invited Balayya.\nNot only Balayya, everyone who is like a pillar for the industry needs to be involved, said Teja. “If it’s a private meeting, no one needs to ask.” Teja has this straight forward nature with proper logic in place. What say?", "label": "No"} {"text": "Woody Allen talks about his life and work as a writer, dramatist and film-maker and discusses his creative sources, theoretical approaches and working methods. Shows scenes from some of his major films including “Annie Hall”, “Love and Death”, “Sleep”, “The Night Club Years” and “Take the Money and Run”.\nKurt Vonnegut, Jr., discusses his development as a writer, including reference to some of his major novels, his themes and their meaning, his relationship to other writers, problems in sustaining his special vision of American life, and his future. Accompanied by photographs which chronicle the author’s life and selections from home movies taken during his youth.\nJakub, a dreamer and budding magician, juggles between parcels and services rendered to the villagers. His eyes cross that of the beautiful gypsy Jolanka. Together, they will try to live a first and big love, despite the pressure of their respective communities.\nShot in black and white, with a jazzy soundtrack and no dialogue at all, The Lift tells the classic story of man versus machine. First short film by Robert Zemeckis, made while he was studying in California.\nBank executive Rainier allows his firm to deliver adventurous investor Chevalier d’Aven a huge loan, with what he thinks is his employer Mirement’s total backing. Chevalier’s business proves indeed to be disastrous, which forces the bank to cover up its high deficits. News of the scandal breaks out, and the bank now sees Rainier as the one being responsible for it – he is laid off. Wife Celine and union representative Arlette suggest he should sue his former boss.\nA housewife, increasingly disenchanted with her homemaker role, searches for new meaning in her life and organizes a discussion group, changing the lives of her six closest friends.\nFashion model Sylvie falls asleep drunk in the cab of Munich taxi driver Paul, and an impossible love affair beckons. Renegade director Klaus Lemke had previously startled German TV audiences with the biker drama Rocker, announcing an unprecedented, unvarnished freshness and authenticity with nonprofessional actors, real dialect and on-the-fly style. In Sylvie, he adds a disarming tenderness.\nIn Hamburg, West Germany, a rocker biker gang helps a kid avenge his brother who was murdered by a rival gang, a mortal enemy of rocker gangs.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Can colon cancer cause back pain?Asked by: Prof. Damian Smitham\nScore: 4.3/5 (68 votes)\nGastrointestinal tract. Cancers of the stomach, colon, and rectum can all cause lower back pain. This pain radiates from the cancer site to the lower back. A person with these cancer types may have other symptoms, such as sudden weight loss or blood in their stool.\nWhat kind of pain does colon cancer cause?\nColon cancer pain is generally felt as vague abdominal pain or cramps. The exact site of the pain may vary depending upon the part of the colon involved, the size of the tumor and the extent to which it has spread in the body (metastasis).\nWhat does back pain from cancer feel like?\nWhen back pain is caused by a cancerous spinal tumor, it typically: Starts gradually and worsens over time. Does not improve with rest and may intensify at night. Flares up as a sharp or shock-like pain in the upper or lower back, which may also go into the legs, chest, or elsewhere in the body.\nWhat does pain from colon cancer feel like?\n“Colon cancer typically presents as a dull belly ache, if anything at all,” Dr. Ali says. In the more advanced stages of colon cancer, the pain may feel cramp-like or similar to bloat. Pain that is persistent and severe can be a sign of colon cancer and should never be overlooked.\nWhat are the symptoms that colon cancer has spread?\n- a change in bowel habits, such as constipation, diarrhea, or narrow stools, lasting more than a few days.\n- blood in the stool, possibly making the stool look maroon or black.\n- rectal bleeding of bright red blood.\nJoanne Schottinger, MD Explains Colon Cancer Symptoms | Kaiser Permanente\nWhat does poop look like with colon cancer?\nUsually, the stools (poop) of the patients with colon cancer may have the following characteristics: Black poop is a red flag for cancer of the bowel. Blood from in the bowel becomes dark red or black and can make poop stools look like tar. Such poop needs to be investigated further.\nHow long can you live with untreated colon cancer?\nThe results showed the median survival of patients to be 24 months (range 16–42). One-year survival was found to be 65% while the 2-year survival was found to be 25%.\nWhat was your first colon cancer symptom?\nDiarrhea, constipation, or feeling that the bowel does not empty completely. General abdominal discomfort, such as frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness and/or cramps. Constant feeling of fatigue or tiredness. New onset anemia diagnosed on routine lab work.\nWhat are the symptoms of stage 1 colon cancer?\n- A persistent change in bowel habits.\n- Narrow or pencil-thin stools.\n- Diarrhea or constipation.\n- Blood in the stool, rectal bleeding (blood may appear as bright red blood or dark stools)\n- Persistent abdominal pain or discomfort, such as cramps or bloating.\nWhat part of abdomen hurts with colon cancer?\nIf colon cancer metastasizes to the liver, you might feel pain in your right upper abdomen or right shoulder.\nWhat does back pain from pancreatic cancer feel like?\nA common symptom of pancreatic cancer is a dull pain in the upper abdomen (belly) and/or middle or upper back that comes and goes. This is probably caused by a tumor that has formed in the body or tail of the pancreas because it can press on the spine.\nWhat are 7 warning signs of cancer?\n- Change in bowel or bladder habits.\n- A sore that does not heal.\n- Unusual bleeding or discharge.\n- Thickening or lump in the breast or elsewhere.\n- Indigestion or difficulty in swallowing.\n- Obvious change in a wart or mole.\n- Nagging cough or hoarseness.\nDoes spinal cancer show up in blood work?\n(1) all spine tumors were pathologically confirmed with a specific type, (2) blood samples were obtained before operation and/or treatment, (3) patients did not receive any treatment before the blood tests, and. (4) the osseous structures and/or neurostructures of the spine were affected by the tumors.\nCan you feel colon cancer with your finger?\nIn this exam, your doctor will put his or her gloved finger into your rectum to feel for growths. It's not painful. However, it can be uncomfortable.\nDoes colon cancer cause sharp pains?\nSharp abdominal pain could indicate a blockage or perforation in the bowel. Severe and long lasting abdominal pain, bloating and cramping can be a sign of growing tumors, as can nausea and vomiting.\nCan you have colon cancer for years and not know it?\nColon cancer is typically slow-growing, starting as a benign polyp that eventually becomes malignant. This process may occur over many years without producing any symptoms. Once colon cancer has developed, it may still be years before it is detected.\nAt what stage does colon cancer show symptoms?\nColorectal cancer symptoms may be minor or non-existent during the early stages of the disease, although there may be some early warning signs. The symptoms of colorectal cancer may not develop until the disease has progressed into stage 2 or beyond.\nWhat can be mistaken for colon cancer?\nColorectal cancer can seem a lot like some common gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, including hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), an infection, or inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. They usually have many of the same symptoms.\nDoes Stage 1 colon cancer require chemo?\nPeople with very early colon cancer (stage 1) do not usually need chemotherapy. But this might change after surgery. After your operation, a specialist doctor (pathologist) closely exams your cancer.\nCan you smell colon cancer?\nWith the distinct odor of colorectal cancer, VOCs can be used as an indication of the presence of colorectal cancer; we can use scent detection to screen for colorectal cancer (De Boer).\nCan blood test detect colon cancer?\nNo blood test can tell you if you have colon cancer. But your doctor may test your blood for clues about your overall health, such as kidney and liver function tests. Your doctor may also test your blood for a chemical sometimes produced by colon cancers (carcinoembryonic antigen, or CEA).\nHow can colon cancer be detected without a colonoscopy?\nHowever colonoscopy remains the most sensitive test for colorectal cancer screening and the identification of precancerous polyps. Stool based tests, such as Cologuard or FIT, are reasonable alternatives for patients who are unable or unwilling to undergo a standard colonoscopy.\nWhat happens with untreated colon cancer?\nLeft untreated, these colon cancers grow and eventually spread through the colon wall to involve the adjacent lymph nodes and organs. Ultimately, the cancer cells spread (metastasized) to distant organs such as the liver, lungs, brain, and bones.\nCan you live a long life with colon cancer?\nThe five-year survival for these patients with localized colon and rectum cancer is around 90%. When the cancer has spread to the regional lymph nodes near the site of origin, the five-year survival rate is about 71%.\nHow long can you live with stage 1 colon cancer?\nThe colon cancer survival rate is encouragingly high; more than 92 percent of patients diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer live for at least five years after diagnosis.", "label": "No"} {"text": "S8 - E3\nNext Level Rage Texts\nStassi throws a book party at TomTom, but when Sandoval rage texts her for excluding him from the planning, it leads to an epic explosion between the two and forces Schwartz to pick sides between his two friends. Scheana bonds with new SUR server Charli over their mutual dislike for Dayna, while Dayna and Max’s relationship continues to blossom. Finally, with Lisa Vanderpump away on a business trip, Schwartz must try to mend the rift in his friend group before everyone heads to Miami to celebrate Jax and Brittany.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Law of Attraction And Missing And Needing\nAbout 2 months ago my boyfriend broke up with me, because he couldn't trust me anymore. My boyfriend had been in a real bad relationship before, where his ex took advantage of him and cheated on him continuously. When we began our relationship we both new we were coming in with different issues, but I look at him as just him, not the person who had hurt me before. It seems he can't do that.\nI made the mistake of speaking to someone from my past, with whom I’d had a casual relationship. That hurt my boyfriend and proved to him that he couldn’t trust me. I tried to explain that the contact with the other person was not anything important, but he didn't care and broke up with me. He has told me several times that he is angry at me and hurt, that I have betrayed him, though I’ve done everything to reassure him of how important he is to me, and how much I love him and no one else.\nWith all this and his anger, he tells me he can't be with me. I tell him all the time I love and miss him, I've told him if he doesn't care and doesn't want to hear it, I'll stop saying it, but he tells me he cares and it does matter.\nAt times we talk and it's like we are still happy and together, but then he will turn and be mad and horrible to me. He visits several times a week and just recently grilled me, as to if I was seeing someone else, and after I declared my undying and forever love for him, he did the same. He told me days later that it's not right that he did that and that he wants me to redo my life and continue on....knowing full well that what I feel for him I’ve never had and felt for anyone else.\nI'm at my wit’s end and don't know what to do. I know he loves me, I believe he does, he goes around telling everyone the same, he loves me, misses me but is mad at me....\nWhat can I do? I know the Law of Attraction won't bring him back. But I believe that if I focus on the good positive things, and remind him of that, it may change him and rid him of the anger.\nI've written down what I'm grateful for in life. What I appreciate about him every day and have improved my disposition and look on life since watching The Secret.\nBut I have no clue where to go from here? What do I do? I love him more than anything, miss him horribly. He knows that and in a way I feel that's what he wants me to realize and he's enjoying al the attention. But I want him back...I know our future will be great and just like in The Secret, I've written down what I know, believe and perceive our future to be.....I've been told to let him go and move on...once I do...he'll come back...as if a sudden realization will hit him.\nPlease help me.....I need him and want him in my life...without him I have no clue where I go and I've lost my home and place in the world.\nYou are right, you cannot use the Law of Attraction to bring him back, but what you can do, is align to the experience you desire, so that the Law of Attraction can manifest that experience for you.\nI know that you will say that the experience you desire would be to be with him, but strictly speaking, he is not an experience. He is a\nsource of an experience.\nWhat I mean is this…..\nBefore, when you were in a loving caring relationship, he was the source of that loving caring relationship.\nNow that you are without that loving and caring relationship, he is the source of you being without.\nYou see, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot manifest a loving and caring relationship, when the only source that you see for this reality, is the source of your ‘without’ reality now.\nBut does that mean letting him go?\nIt really depends on what you mean by letting him go. To be honest, the relationship now, has gone, so in effect you have no choice but to let him go, this has already been forced upon you. But to be more accurate, you need to let these feelings go.\nNot the feelings of love and care, but the feelings of being so much ‘without’ him.\nThe Law of Attraction will always match your reality to your vibration, that is, whatever your predominant thoughts and feelings are today, the corresponding reality will be found in your tomorrow.\nAnd for as long as you predominantly think and feel a ‘lack’ of what you desire, you shall continue to see this ‘lack’ in your reality.\nThe more you miss, the more missing you shall experience.\nThe more you want, the more wanting you shall experience.\nThe more you need, the more needing you shall experience.\nYou are right to have written down what you’re grateful for in your life, and what you appreciate about him, but you do this, not to get him back, but to change the way you think and feel. To stop you from missing, wanting and needing.\nWhen you are truly grateful for what you have, and vibrate this good stuff gratitude, the Law of Attraction just brings you more good stuff.\nThe more gratitude you feel, the more things to be grateful for, you shall experience.\nYou are also right to believe that if you focus on the good positive things, you shall experience more good positive things.\nBut you cannot remind your ex of these things in the hope that he will change and be rid of his anger.\nIn fact, by doing this you are reinforcing the need of change that you have, as well offering his anger thought and feeling.\nThe more need of change you have, the more need for change you shall experience.\nThe more you focus on his anger, the more anger you shall experience.\nThe only power and you have, is the power and control over your thoughts and feelings. Let them fester and grow as an uncontrollable chatter of need and want, then they shall continue to manifest an uncontrollable experience.\nCheck them, and replace your negative and destructive thoughts and feelings with positive and constructive ones, and that change shall be reflected in your reality.\nIf you desire to experience a magnificent relationship, then have that vibration now, feel the happiness that you had, and as soon as a thought or feeling comes to contradict your desire, remember it again.\nI am not saying that you can never reconcile this relationship, far from it, but to reconcile it from a vibration of need will never do it.\nTo experience the best of what you want, you need to align with it, and you can only do that by feeling and thinking the best you can\nIf you have any thoughts, or if anyone has any thoughts, please join in and add a comment below…Law-of-Attraction-Guide.com\nFinally... A Step-by-Step System\nTo Master The Law of Attraction\nClick Here To Claim Your FREE Lessons\nP.S. Why not come and connect with me on FaceBook\nCLICK HERE to join Our Law of Attraction Facebook Community", "label": "No"} {"text": "Marketing dissertation subjects the most popular phd thesis topics in strategic management a phd thesis is your chance to add a voice into the field of strategic management. Dissertation (although the table of contents is optional in the proposal) iii be generalizable beyond the specific population from which the sample was. Resources for dissertators this book is a collection of successful field-tested strategies for writing a dissertation it's also a guide to conducting an.\nMy e-book, the ultimate guide to writing a dissertation in business studies: a step by step approach contains a detailed, yet simple explanation of sampling methods the e-book explains all stages of the research process starting from the selection of the research area to writing personal reflection. Get a sample dissertation, thesis example and research proposal sample from mastersthesiswritingcom for free. A comprehensive database of dissertation examples for you to use as inspiration for your own work and as a guide to your own dissertation.\nAs it is indicated in the title, this chapter includes the research methodology of the dissertation in more details, in this part the author outlines the research strategy, the research method, the research approach, the methods of data collection. Marine fungi of us gulf of mexico barrier island beaches: biodiversity and sampling strategy biodiversity and sampling strategy (2012) dissertations 464. The following will present information on the elements of sampling plans in both qualitative and quantitative research, a part of a work unit in the track 2 dissertation research seminar courseroom. Purposeful sampling is widely used in qualitative research for the identification and selection of information-rich cases related to the phenomenon of interest although there are several.\nThe impact of employee benefits as retention strategy in a concept dining probability sampling, 32 hr managers and 32 hr executives selected 115 dissertation. The dissertation strategy - abd no more: instructions and samples to develop a quality dissertation as quickly and painlessly as possible [jill blackwell] on amazoncom free shipping on qualifying offers. If you've not yet collected your data, we begin by assisting you in the development of the optimal sampling strategy as well as the best methods of analysis for the data to be collected at this point, we also determine the necessary sample size for your study by performing the appropriate power analysis, and we examine the reliability and. Dissertation proposal sample research strategy and methodology documents similar to change management dissertation proposal. The strategy is the plan you set forth to be sure that the sample you usedissertation proposal presents students with a chance of finding out if their research.\nThe purpose of this article is to describe the recruitment challenges faced by eight public health graduate students when conducting qualitative dissertation research. Sample size is the number of subjects in your study although these two terms can be simply and easily defined, there are many important sampling questions that you will have to consider as you plan your dissertation research. There are several strategies for purposeful sampling of information-rich cases the methods most commonly used in qualitative studies are given here, including the purpose for which the method is especially useful and its disadvantages. Graduate theses and dissertations iowa state university capstones, theses and dissertations 2011 managing school behavior: a qualitative case study.\nHow to write a methodology dissertation help to address how to write a methodology, in the methodology section of your dissertation you have to justify and explain your choice of methodologies employed in your research. Example business dissertations analysis of business strategy at asos the dissertation tries to reach active business angels' view points on the issues of. Dissertation help, comprehensive consulting for phd candidates2precision consulting is widely considered to be the premier consulting firm for phd candidates seeking dissertation help2types of probability, sampling :systematic random sample2.\nDe montfort university (dmu), leicester, uk offers a whole range of undergraduate, postgraduate and research courses view our courses, book a visit and more. Sample qualitative research proposal published by permission of the author dissertation proposal purposeful sampling was used for the recruitment of participants. Sample dissertation proposal 3 13 to investigate the psychology of online research consumers prior to purchasing the product or service as well as market features such as.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In order to maximize performance and avoid injury, athletes must eat optimally. Eating the right foods at the right times can help athletes stay healthy, improve their performance, and decrease the likelihood of injuries. A balanced diet also provides adequate energy and helps reduce the risk of injury.\nWhy nutrition is important?\nProper nutrition is essential for all types of physical activity. Athletes should consume enough protein to maximize their performance. Proteins are not an energy source, but they are the main components of muscle tissue and enzymes. Athletes’ protein such as InstAminos helps to repair muscle damage caused by exercise and enhance metabolic adaptations to training. An athlete’s diet is extremely important for their performance, so proper nutrition is essential for athletes of all sports.\nThe dietary intake should be adjusted to their sport and activity level. Different sports require different nutrient requirements. For example, for marathon runners, the recommended amount of carbohydrates for endurance athletes is 3 g/kg/BW. For cyclists, the suggested carbohydrate intake is 1.2 g/kg/BW. While athletes need to drink a lot of water before and after their workout, they can also drink water during a race.\nNutrients for optimal performance\nA varied diet should contain various nutrients. It should contain proteins that help the body function at its peak. While the body requires protein for optimal performance, a diet low in protein can lead to a decreased athletic performance. Besides, athletes should pay attention to the food and water intake before and after an exercise to avoid dehydration. In addition to proper eating, athletes should also pay attention to their diet. These two aspects are crucial to the development of any athlete.\nEffects on Performance\nLack of adequate hydration affects performance. People who perform strenuous exercises need to drink water before and after a workout. If athletes do not drink enough water, they will likely end up with fatigue and injury. Without enough carbohydrates, muscles cannot build and glycogen stores, leading to poor performance. The sports nutrition field started with bodybuilders and has spread since then to include all sports. Those who train and compete regularly are advised to follow good nutrition habits and make sure they have access to adequate foods.\nIn addition to the proper diet, athletes must also drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration. The body needs water before, during, and after intense physical activities. If the intake is lower, it can lead to damage to the metabolic functions. In addition, women’s daily calorie intakes of 30 kcal/kg may negatively impact the metabolic functions of the body, leading to an injury. In the same way, an ideal diet for athletes should provide the vitamins and minerals needed for growth and development.\nThe dietary components of a balanced diet should include a variety of different foods. The best sources of vitamins and minerals are not only important for a healthy body, but they are crucial for optimal performance. A balanced diet should also be rich in carbohydrates. This type of food will also contain essential nutrients. Moreover, the right amount of proteins will support the performance of the athletes. If you’re planning to train and compete in a marathon, you can increase your chances of winning.", "label": "No"} {"text": "‘Game of Thrones’: Will Jon Snow Die in Season 8?\nWith the Game of Thrones final season premiere quickly approaching, it seems like the one thing people need to know is the one thing they’ll have to wait to find out. The final battle for Westeros and possibly the survival of humanity is about to go down, all anyone can think about is this: Will Jon Snow live in the end?\nIt’s easy to dismiss the idea of his death as highly unlikely – after all, Jon Snow has become a major character in the series and some believe he’s the rightful ruler who should sit on the Iron Throne (even if he doesn’t necessarily want to). How could show writers kill off someone so important?\nIf Game of Thrones taught us anything, it’s that you can never count on\nHere’s why Jon Snow will probably live\nEven if GOT is known for surprises, it’s still highly unlikely that Jon Snow will get killed off in the final episodes. Cosmopolitan.com points out that the biggest clue that Jon Snow survives goes back to the book title, A Song of Ice and Fire. Since we now know that Jon Snow is a combination of both – a Stark from the icy North and a Targaryen forged from fire – it stands to reason that the title is a nod to his character. It would be insane to just kill him off.\nPlus, there’s that little detail that Jon has already died and risen from the dead before. Could he do it more than once? It seems possible, even though he told Melisandre not to do it if he died again.\nBut Jon Snow could definitely die\nEven though he’s undeniably a main character in the series, with the series coming to an end there’s a good chance of Jon Snow dying a hero’s death. You can almost picture him sacrificing his own life for someone else because he’s that sort of guy. Perhaps he’ll die so Daenerys can live and rule like she wants? It would certainly prove his love for her (even though she’s technically his aunt – eek).\nPlus, some people point out that George R. R. Martin doesn’t believe in happy endings. As Cosmo explains, the story comes from “an atypical fantasy book where the good guy doesn’t always win and sometimes your favorite character gets brutally murdered.”\nIt’s one reason people both love and hate GOT – it will make you cry so hard, but somehow that’s a huge part of the appeal.\nHBO said people will die in the show\nWhile they didn’t name names, the HBO already teased that no main character – including Jon Snow – is safe from death. And since the Night King seems to have a special interest in Jon Snow, it’s easy to imagine an epic battle between these two forces. It’s possible for Jon to die during this battle if it means the leader of the White Walkers also perishes. Giving his life would be a sacrifice for the greater good. Sounds just like Jon Snow, right?\nIt won’t be long before Jon Snow’s fate is finally revealed!", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Good Dinosaur(2015)\n- RatedPG /GenreAnimation\n\"What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?\", that is the big question asked in this movie. This movie tells the humourous tale of Arlo, a lively 70-foot-tall teenage Apatosaurus with a big heart. The dinosaur befriends an unlikely friend when it was out on a quest to restore peace - a young human that goes by the name Spot.", "label": "No"} {"text": "What are the symptoms of uremia and uremia diet2017-09-05 18:52\nThe presence of uremia, so that the patient's body becomes more weak, in the life of patients is also very difficult to swallow food, in the life of the patients is difficult to swallow, usually need to pay attention to the presence of the disease in life, to a reasonable choice of food, the intake of sodium and protein are required, so, what is the method of uremia diet?\nUremic patients eat an unfavorable: sodium intake restrictions\nDue to salt contains a high sodium content, in the uremia body if too much sodium, will cause the body of water retention, resulting in cardiopulmonary failure and increased uremia situation. However, uremic diet should not use low sodium salt, due to low sodium salt containing high potassium ions.\nUremic patients eating two should not: protein intake restrictions\nWithout dialysis, because the kidneys can not be protein metabolism after the discharge of waste, so that the situation of uremia more serious, it will recommend to reduce intake of protein; but also pay attention to lack of protein intake, will lead to muscle Fiber decomposition, muscle reduction; if the protein and calorie intake are inadequate, in order to ensure the vital organs of the body energy supply, will reduce protein synthesis and muscle protein decomposition increased, serum creatinine increased.\nUremic patients eat three should not: restrict the intake of potassium\nPotassium accumulation in the body can cause muscle weakness, severe cases will cause heart rate is not complete and cause heart failure. This is a common uremic diet.\nThe above is the symptoms of uremia and diet related to the introduction, for reference. Uremic symptoms and treatment are different, diet will be different. Diet should be based on their own illness decision. If you still have a uremia diet, you can leave a message below and we will reply to you as soon as possible.\nIf you have other kidney problems that can be viewed on other web pages, you can also consult online, or in your email, email@example.com, we'll get back to you as soon as possible.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The positivity movement has been gaining momentum in recent years. Positive thinking videos and articles at every turn, all trying to inspire us to be positive. The dark side of this movement is that toxic positivity surfaces when it does not come with a healthy balance.\nWhen people become so focused on being positive they forget about what life really entails: sadness, anger, fear, loneliness… Toxic positivity neglects these emotions because “you’re supposed to be happy.”\nIn today’s world, it is easy to get caught up in a cycle of toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is the idea that you should always be happy and positive no matter what your circumstances are. This can lead to having a negative mindset instead of being able to see how good things really are.\nYou may have heard phrases like “be grateful for everything that you have” or “you just need a positive attitude”. Those phrases sound nice but they aren’t realistic when bad things happen and life isn’t fair.\nSo, what is toxic positivity?\n“Toxic positivity is the assumption, either by one’s self or others, that despite a person’s emotional pain or difficult situation, they should only have a positive mindset or — my pet peeve term — ‘positive vibes,’” explains Dr. Jaime Zuckerman, a clinical psychologist in Pennsylvania who specializes in, among other things, anxiety disorders and self-esteem.\nToxic positivity is a phrase that describes when someone tells you they are doing ok but they are not. This may be because they don’t feel like anything can be done to change how they feel.”\n“The term ‘toxic’ here refers to an emotional toxin. When we’re happy and content, we have a lot of positive feelings flowing through us. But if we’re going through a tough time, there’s a chance that these emotions will become toxic and start building up inside of us.”\nAlso Check: 7 Toxic habits that make you ineffective\nThe toxic positivity that plagues our society today is not productive for the individual or those around them. If you are experiencing toxic positivity in your own life, here are some signs to look out for:\nWhat are the signs of toxic positivity?\n- You only participate in activities where everyone’s having fun and no one’s hurting.\n- Everyone has to like what you like – if they don’t, there must be something wrong with them\n- You’ve stopped doing things because of other people’s opinions\n- You cancel plans with friends. Make excuses everytimw about being tired/busy/sick. But in reality, you really just don’t want to do it.\n- You’re not taking care of yourself – you don’t eat well, sleep enough, exercise…\n- Nothing’s ever your fault because “everything happens for a reason”.\nWhat are other signs of toxic positivity?\nFirst, when someone is focused on being happy all the time or neglect negative emotions- that’s toxic. It can be difficult to discover if you have toxic thoughts because oftentimes it’s subtle. Most times people don’t always know how to identify their own toxic patterns in thinking. Toxic relationships, toxic home lives are often time the root of oxic patterns in thinking.\nSecond, when your emotions dictate your happiness – that’s toxic. Emotions aren’t constant and you should not expect peaks of positive feelings throughout life. Life isn’t always rainbows and butterflies- life can be full of darkness as well.\nWhy Toxic Positivity Is Bad?\nWhen people neglect their negative emotions like guilt, shame, or empathy they can suffer from toxic positivity. They fail to acknowledge the diversity and range of human emotions For many years psychologists have been pointing out for years now.\nAlso Read: 10 Habits that can ruin your life\nHappiness isn’t always positive thinking video after video where everyone’s smiling and having fun all the time! Our society has grown so accustomed to these videos that we forget that real-life entails: sadness, anger, fear, loneliness.\nThese feelings matter just as much as the positive ones. No one should be forced into hiding their feelings. In fact, ignoring your emotions can have serious consequences. Toxic positivity has been linked to anxiety and depression in people who are afraid of expressing negative feelings because they fear being judged.\nHow To Avoid The Darkside Of Positivity?\nFirst off, know that it is okay to feel any emotion you may be feeling- good or bad!\nSecondly, negativity doesn’t always have a place but neither does toxic positivity. There should be a balance between both and it should be kept at an equal level for optimal mental health.\nLastly, don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing. You are your own person and should do what works best for YOU!\nThere’s nothing wrong with positivity but it can become toxic when people turn a blind eye to negative emotions. This is the dark side of positivity that no one talks about. It’s also why many psychologists are against what they call “positive thinking only”\nRemember that life isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, in fact, you will find more darkness than light on some days. It is okay to feel whatever emotion you may be feeling without any judgment from others!\nAlso Read: 35 Inspiring Quotes on Patience\nLastly, what works for others may not work for YOU. So, don’t get caught up in positive thinking. Don’t lose yourself while trying to keep up with everyone else! Be true to who you are!\nToxic positivity neglects these emotions and instead replaces them with a toxic, all-or-nothing mentality. It is not about saying no to good feelings but having a balance. Learn to embrace the bad as well as the good.\n“It’s also important to remember that you’re human.”\n“You’ve made mistakes before, and you will make more in the future.”\nSo allow yourself room to fail and learn from it. Toxic positivity is toxic in that you have removed all negative emotions.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In today’s fast-paced and data-driven world, the success of businesses hinges upon their ability to make informed strategic decisions. Two powerful tools that can unlock this success are SWOT analysis and privacy risk assessment. By carefully evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, companies can identify key areas for improvement and capitalize on potential avenues for growth. Simultaneously, conducting a comprehensive privacy risk assessment ensures that businesses remain compliant with regulations and protect both their sensitive data and their reputation.\nRecognizing the needs of smaller businesses in the United States that are eager to overcome challenges and expand their operations, \"EasyBA\" emerges as a comprehensive Business Analysis service. EasyBA offers a range of invaluable services, including product management, financial analysis, and data analysis, all tailored to the specific requirements of these businesses. By leveraging SWOT analysis and privacy risk assessment, EasyBA equips smaller ventures with the necessary tools to navigate the complexities of the contemporary business landscape, facilitating their growth and ensuring long-term success.\nIn this article, we delve into the power and significance of SWOT analysis and privacy risk assessment, illuminating how these methodologies can provide invaluable insights and guide businesses towards achieving their goals. Additionally, we will explore the unique features and benefits of EasyBA as a Business Analysis service, highlighting how it can serve as the much-needed catalyst for transformation and expansion for smaller enterprises in the United States. So join us as we unravel the potential of these tools and unleash business growth through effective analysis and risk mitigation strategies.\nThe Power of SWOT Analysis\nSWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that unveils the power of knowing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This simple yet effective technique allows businesses to assess their internal capabilities and external environment, guiding them towards informed decision-making and unlocking their true potential.\nBy conducting a SWOT analysis, businesses gain valuable insights into their strengths, which are the qualities or advantages that set them apart from their competitors. Identifying these strengths enables businesses to leverage them to their advantage and capitalize on opportunities that align with their core competencies.\nOn the other hand, recognizing weaknesses is equally crucial for growth. It helps businesses identify areas that require improvement or additional resources, allowing them to address any vulnerabilities that might hinder their success. By understanding and actively addressing weaknesses, businesses can position themselves for sustainable growth.\nOpportunities and threats complete the picture by examining the external factors that can impact a business. Opportunities are potential avenues for growth or expansion, while threats are external forces that pose risks or challenges. Recognizing both enables businesses to capitalize on favorable conditions and proactively mitigate risks, ensuring long-term success.\nIn summary, SWOT analysis empowers businesses by providing a holistic view of their current situation, highlighting areas of strength, improvement, growth potential, and potential risks. This valuable tool serves as a foundation for effective strategic planning, enabling businesses to make informed decisions, unlock opportunities, and foster sustained growth in an ever-evolving market landscape.\nUnveiling the Importance of Privacy Risk Assessment\nPrivacy risk assessment is a critical aspect of business operations in today’s digital world. With an increasing number of cyber threats and data breaches, businesses must prioritize the protection of sensitive information. Conducting privacy risk assessments allows organizations to identify potential vulnerabilities, assess the impact of data breaches, and implement effective security measures to mitigate these risks.\nOne of the key reasons why privacy risk assessment is crucial is to comply with data protection regulations. In an era where data privacy is a pressing concern, governments around the world have established stringent laws to protect individuals’ personal information. By conducting thorough privacy risk assessments, businesses can ensure compliance with these regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States.\nMoreover, privacy risk assessments enable businesses to build trust with their customers. In an age where data breaches make headlines daily, consumers are increasingly cautious about sharing their personal information. By demonstrating a commitment to protecting customer data through privacy risk assessments, businesses can enhance their reputation and foster stronger relationships with their target audience.\nAnother significant aspect of privacy risk assessment is the ability to proactively identify and address potential vulnerabilities. By conducting thorough assessments, businesses can uncover security gaps, weak points, and potential loopholes in their systems and processes. This allows organizations to take corrective actions and implement robust security measures to prevent data breaches and unauthorized access, ultimately safeguarding both their own interests and those of their customers.\nIn conclusion, privacy risk assessment plays a vital role in today’s digital landscape. It ensures compliance with data protection regulations, builds customer trust, and helps organizations minimize the risk of data breaches. By prioritizing privacy risk assessment, businesses can take proactive steps towards protecting sensitive information and strengthening their overall security posture.\nUnlocking Growth with EasyBA: An Analytical Solution for Smaller Businesses\nIn today’s competitive business landscape, smaller businesses often struggle to navigate the complexities of growth. Recognizing this challenge, EasyBA offers a comprehensive suite of services tailored specifically for these companies. By combining the power of SWOT analysis, privacy risk assessment, and their expertise in product management, financial analysis, and data analysis, EasyBA unlocks the potential for sustainable growth and success.\nOne of the key advantages of EasyBA is the utilization of SWOT analysis. This analytical framework enables businesses to identify their internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. By gaining a clear understanding of their competitive landscape through SWOT analysis, smaller businesses can make informed decisions and develop effective strategies to capitalize on their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. This strategic approach paves the way for growth by aligning actions with market realities.\nPrivacy risk assessment is another crucial aspect tackled by EasyBA. In today’s digital age, protecting customer data and maintaining privacy are paramount. EasyBA guides smaller businesses in assessing potential privacy risks, ensuring compliance with legal requirements, and implementing robust data protection measures. This not only safeguards sensitive information but also builds trust with customers, enhancing the business’s reputation and credibility in the market.\nFurthermore, EasyBA’s specialized services extend beyond SWOT analysis and privacy risk assessment. With their expertise in product management, financial analysis, and data analysis, EasyBA provides comprehensive support to facilitate growth for smaller businesses. By analyzing market trends, optimizing financial resources, and leveraging data-driven insights, EasyBA enables businesses to make informed decisions, seize growth opportunities, and drive profitability.\nIn conclusion, EasyBA serves as a catalyst for unlocking growth in smaller businesses. Through the integration of SWOT analysis, privacy risk assessment, and their extensive expertise in product management, financial analysis, and data analysis, EasyBA empowers these businesses to overcome challenges, make informed decisions, and position themselves for long-term success. If you are a smaller business in the US seeking growth and sustainable success, EasyBA offers the analytical solution you’ve been searching for.", "label": "No"} {"text": "If you’re following a ketogenic diet, it’s important to focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods to ensure you’re getting all the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs to function at its best. But with so many foods to choose from, it can be challenging to know which ones are the most beneficial for your health. In this blog, we’ll explore the top 7 most nutrient-dense foods to consume on keto based on their nutrient content and health benefits. From leafy greens to fatty fish, we’ll uncover the foods that can help you achieve optimal health while following a ketogenic lifestyle.\nTop 7 Superfoods\nSauerkraut is a fermented food that offers numerous health benefits. One cup of sauerkraut contains only 1.9g net carbs, making it an excellent option for those following a ketogenic diet. It is also rich in vitamin C, which is important for supporting a healthy immune system. Sauerkraut is a good source of both prebiotics and probiotics, which are essential for promoting healthy gut bacteria and improving digestion. The fermentation process also produces powerful phytonutrients that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Additionally, sauerkraut is easy to digest and can improve nutrient absorption. It is high in lactic acid, which supports healthy digestion and helps to maintain a balanced pH in the gut. Sauerkraut is also a good source of vitamin K2, which is important for bone health and may have a protective effect against heart disease. Finally, sauerkraut is high in vitamin U, which has been shown to help with healing stomach ulcers and other gastrointestinal issues. Overall, incorporating sauerkraut into your diet can provide numerous health benefits and may be especially beneficial for those following a ketogenic diet.\nPecans are a nutrient-dense food that offers many health benefits. One cup of pecans contains only 4 net carbs, making them an excellent option for those following a low-carb or ketogenic diet. Pecans have a high fat-to-protein ratio of 7:1, which can help to promote feelings of fullness and satiety. They are also low on the insulin index, which means they are less likely to cause a spike in blood sugar levels. Pecans are a good source of minerals such as zinc and copper, which are important for immune system function and overall health. They are also high in vitamin B1, which is essential for energy production and nervous system health. Pecans are low in oxalates, which can be beneficial for those with kidney stones or other kidney issues. Additionally, pecans are high in antioxidants, which can help to protect against oxidative stress and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.\nPecans are well known for being easy to digest and for good reason. The high fiber content of pecans helps to slow down the digestive process, which in turn allows the body to absorb its nutrients more effectively. The healthy fats found in pecans are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which have been shown to improve digestion and reduce inflammation in the gut. Additionally, pecans contain natural digestive enzymes that can help break down food more easily, making them a great addition to a healthy and balanced diet.\n3. Organic Grass-fed Beef\nOrganic grass-fed, grass-finished beef is a truly nutrient-dense powerhouse with a fat-to-protein ratio of 2:1. This type of beef is easy to digest and has a low insulin index, which means it is less likely to cause a spike in blood sugar levels. Organic grass-fed, grass-finished beef is a good source of amino acids, which are essential for building and repairing muscle tissue. It is also a good source of “available” iron, which is easier for the body to absorb than iron from plant sources. Additionally, organic grass-fed, grass-finished beef is high in important minerals such as phosphorus, selenium, and zinc, as well as B vitamins including B12, B5, B3, B2, and B6. These nutrients play important roles in various bodily functions, including energy production, immune system function, and nerve health. Organic grass-fed, grass-finished beef is also high in carnosine and creatine, two compounds that have been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Including organic grass-fed, grass-finished beef in your diet can offer a wide range of health benefits and provide essential nutrients, making it an excellent bang-for-your-buck protein option.\n4. Wild-Caught Cod Liver\nWild-caught cod liver is an abundant source of nutrients that offers numerous health benefits. With a fat-to-protein ratio of 5:1, it is a great source of healthy fats, including omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for brain and heart health. Along with healthy fats, cod liver is also rich in essential vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, which supports healthy skin, vision, and immune function, and vitamin D, which is necessary for bone health and immune function. Additionally, it provides a good amount of vitamin K2 which plays a vital role in bone and heart health, as well as iodine that supports healthy thyroid function. Moreover, cod liver contains several B vitamins that help to maintain energy metabolism and overall well-being. Consumption of wild-caught cod liver can also provide other nutritional benefits, such as supporting healthy inflammation levels and promoting healthy skin and hair. In summary, wild-caught cod liver is a highly nutritious food that can contribute to overall health and well-being.\n5. Wild-Caught Salmon (skin-on)\nWild-caught skin-on salmon is a highly nutritious food that offers myriad health benefits. It has a fat-to-protein ratio of 1:2, which makes it a good source of protein while also providing healthy fats to support optimal health. Salmon is also high in selenium, a mineral that acts as a powerful antioxidant and helps to protect the body from damage caused by free radicals. In addition, salmon is one of the best dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, inflammation, and cognitive decline. Wild-caught skin-on salmon is also rich in vitamin K2, zinc, and calcium, all of which are important for bone health and immune system function. These nutrients can also help to regulate blood sugar levels, improve brain function, and support healthy skin and hair. Consuming wild-caught skin-on salmon regularly may also help to reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases.\nIn addition to the nutrients mentioned above, wild-caught skin-on salmon also contains a range of other important vitamins and minerals. It is particularly high in vitamin B12, which is crucial for nervous system function and the production of red blood cells. Salmon is also a good source of vitamin D, a nutrient that is important for bone health, immune system function, and overall well-being. Other essential minerals found in salmon include magnesium, which is important for muscle function and heart health, and potassium, which helps to regulate blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke. Additionally, the skin of wild-caught salmon is high in collagen, a protein that can help to support healthy skin, joints, and bones. Overall, the combination of essential nutrients found in wild-caught skin-on salmon makes it an incredibly nutrient-dense food that can offer numerous health benefits when consumed regularly as part of a balanced diet.\nArugula is a nutrient-dense leafy green vegetable that delivers a wealth of health benefits. It is incredibly low in carbohydrates, with just 0.43 net carbs per cup, making it a great choice for anyone following a low-carb or ketogenic diet. Arugula is also high in powerful phytonutrients, which can help to protect the body against disease and support overall well-being. Additionally, arugula has been shown to support liver function, which is important for detoxification and overall health. One of the unique benefits of arugula is that it is low in oxalates, which are compounds that can contribute to kidney stones in some people. Furthermore, arugula is packed with essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium, potassium, folate, magnesium, vitamin C, and vitamin K1. Vitamin K1 is particularly important for blood clotting, while magnesium is crucial for muscle and nerve function. Arugula also contains potent anti-cancer compounds, such as glucosinolates and sulforaphane, which can help to protect against certain types of cancer.\nAdditionally, arugula is a good source of dietary nitrates, which are converted to nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide helps to relax blood vessels, improving blood flow and reducing blood pressure. This effect may be particularly beneficial for individuals with high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease. Additionally, arugula is a good source of fiber, which can help to promote healthy digestion and regularity. The fiber in arugula can also help to lower cholesterol levels and improve heart health. Furthermore, arugula is a low-calorie food, making it an excellent choice for those looking to manage their weight or be in a caloric deficit. In fact, one cup of arugula contains just 5 calories, making it an excellent addition to any diet.\n7. Extra Virgin Olive Oil\nExtra virgin olive oil is a highly nutritious and beneficial oil that is loaded with essential nutrients. It contains high levels of vitamin E and vitamin A, which are powerful antioxidants that can help protect the body against oxidative damage and inflammation. Olive oil is also rich in minerals like magnesium and potassium, which play crucial roles in numerous bodily functions such as muscle function, nerve transmission, and blood pressure regulation. One of the unique benefits of extra virgin olive oil is that it has a zero effect on insulin, making it an ideal choice for those following a low-carb or ketogenic diet. Olive oil is also packed with phytonutrients such as oleuropein, which is known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Moreover, extra virgin olive oil has been shown to support anti-aging and repair mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells that play a vital role in energy production. Studies have also suggested that olive oil may help reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, thanks to its anti-cancer properties.\nExtra virgin olive oil has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting properties that can help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Likewise, the high levels of polyphenols in olive oil have been shown to protect the retina and improve visual function, making it a valuable nutrient for eye health. Some studies have even suggested that the polyphenols in olive oil may help reduce beta-amyloids, which are proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The rich nutrient profile and health-promoting compounds found in extra virgin olive oil make it a clear no-brainer. Incorporating this oil into your meals can provide a full spectrum of benefits for your overall health and well-being.\nIn conclusion, incorporating these seven nutrient-dense superfoods into your ketogenic diet can provide a plethora of health benefits. From boosting brain function and improving heart health to enhancing immunity and supporting healthy aging, these foods are packed with essential nutrients, antioxidants, and other health-promoting compounds. By including a variety of these superfoods in your meals, you can ensure that your body is getting the nutrients it needs to function optimally and maintain good health. So, next time you’re planning your keto meals, consider adding some of these superfoods to the menu and reap the benefits of their nutrient density.", "label": "No"} {"text": "After two serious spinal injuries, Vidyamala Burch found herself facing the loneliness of disability and chronic pain with few skills or resources to turn to. But instead of giving up, she set out on a mission to embrace her physical challenges with compassion, acceptance, and peace. Living Well with Pain and Illness shares the fruits of her courageous life's work, teaching us how the practice of mindfulness can help us thrive in the face of health challenges of any kind. Drawing on the wisdom of a dozen years teaching meditation and a lifetime of study of the benefits of mindful living, Vidyamala encourages readers with insights and instruction in: The five-step model of mindfulness and how to use it to foster healing The Breathworks approach to meditation, and how to apply it to health concerns such as migraines, arthritis, and chronic fatigue Step-by-step techniques, illustrations, and case studies demonstrating how to effectively bring mindfulness into daily life Chronic pain has been called the modern world's silent epidemic. Billions are spent every year in an attempt to cope, yet the best solution available may be absolutely cost-free mindful living. In Living Well with Pain and Illness, Vidyamala Burch presents a work that is at once an inspirational memoir and practical guidebook for using mindfulness to reframe your relationship with physical and emotional suffering.\nComfort, understanding, and advice for those who are suffering--and those who care for them. Chronic illness creates many challenges, from career crises and relationship issues to struggles with self-blame, personal identity, and isolation. Beloved author Toni Bernhard addresses these challenges and many more, using practical examples to illustrate how mindfulness, equanimity, and compassion can help readers make peace with a life turned upside down. In her characteristic conversational style, Bernhard shows how to cope and make the most of life despite the challenges of chronic illness. Benefit from: • Mindfulness exercises to mitigate physical and emotional pain • Concrete advice for negotiating the everyday hurdles of medical appointments, household chores, and social obligations • Tools for navigating the strains illness can place on relationships Several chapters are directed toward family and friends of the chronically ill, helping them to understand what their loved one is going through and how they can help. Humorous and empathetic, Bernhard shares her own struggles and setbacks with unflinching honesty, offering invaluable support in the search to find peace and well-being.\nDeveloped by two authors, Vidyamala Burch and Danny Penman who themselves have struggled with severe pain after sustaining serious injuries, You Are Not Your Pain reveals a simple eight-week program of mindfulness-based practices that will melt away your suffering. Accompanied by audio to guide you, the eight meditations in this book take just ten to twenty minutes per day and have been shown to be as effective as prescription painkillers to soothe some of the most common causes of pain. These mindfulness-based practices soothe the brain's pain networks, while also significantly reducing the anxiety, stress, exhaustion, irritability, and depression that often accompanies chronic pain and illness. Whether you experience back pain, arthritis, or migraines, are suffering from fibromyalgia, celiac disease, or undergoing chemotherapy, you will quickly learn to manage your pain and live life fully once again. Note: Audio meditations are embedded within the ebook. If your device cannot play the audio, you will be redirected to the same content online\nThis life-affirming, instructive, and thoroughly inspiring book is a must-read for anyone who is - or who might one day be - sick. It can also be the perfect gift of guidance, encouragement, and uplifting inspiration to family, friends, and loved ones struggling with the many terrifying or disheartening life changes that come so close on the heels of a diagnosis of a chronic condition or life-threatening illness. Authentic and graceful, How to be Sick reminds us of our endless inner freedom, even under high degrees of suffering and pain. The author - who became ill while a university law professor in the prime of her career - tells the reader how she got sick and, to her and her partner's bewilderment, stayed that way. Toni had been a longtime meditator, going on long meditation retreats and spending many hours rigorously practicing, but soon discovered that she simply could no longer engage in those difficult and taxing forms. She had to learn ways to make \"being sick\" the heart of her spiritual practice - and through truly learning how to be sick, she learned how, even with many physical and energetic limitations, to live a life of equanimity, compassion, and joy. And whether we ourselves are ill or not, we can learn these vital arts from Bernhard's generous wisdom in How to Be Sick.\nIn the United States, chronic diseases currently account for 70 percent of all deaths, and close to 48 million Americans report a disability related to a chronic condition. Today, about one in four Americans have multiple diseases and the prevalence and burden of chronic disease in the elderly and racial/ethnic minorities are notably disproportionate. Chronic disease has now emerged as a major public health problem and it threatens not only population health, but our social and economic welfare. Living Well with Chronic Disease identifies the population-based public health actions that can help reduce disability and improve functioning and quality of life among individuals who are at risk of developing a chronic disease and those with one or more diseases. The book recommends that all major federally funded programmatic and research initiatives in health include an evaluation on health-related quality of life and functional status. Also, the book recommends increasing support for implementation research on how to disseminate effective longterm lifestyle interventions in community-based settings that improve living well with chronic disease. Living Well with Chronic Disease uses three frameworks and considers diseases such as heart disease and stroke, diabetes, depression, and respiratory problems. The book's recommendations will inform policy makers concerned with health reform in public- and private-sectors and also managers of communitybased and public-health intervention programs, private and public research funders, and patients living with one or more chronic conditions.\nDescribes how chronic illness or disability can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness and offers a twelve-step plan to turn chronic illness into an opportunity for spiritual growth and fulfillment. Reprint.\nWritten for people with disabling conditions and the medical professionals who care for them, these strategies for growth, health, and happiness reassure readers that they aren't alone and provide tips for dealing with pain and confusing emotions.\nHealth, illness and disease are topics well-suited to interdisciplinary inquiry. This book brings together scholars from around the world who share an interest in and a commitment to bridging the traditional boundaries of inquiry. We hope that this book begins new conversations that will situate health in broader socio-cultural contexts and establish connections between health, illness and disease and other socio-political issues. This book is the outcome of the first global conference on \"Making Sense of: Health, Illness and Disease,\" held at St Catherine's College, Oxford, in June 2002. The selected papers pursue a range of topics from the cultural significance of narratives of health, illness and disease to healing practices in contemporary society as well as patients' illness experiences. Researchers and health care practitioners now live in the age of interdisciplinarity, which has transformed both health care delivery and research on health. The essays in this collection transcend the traditional boundaries of biomedicine and draw attention to the many ways in which health is embedded in socio-cultural norms and how these norms, in turn, shape health practices and health care. This volume is of interest not only to researchers but also to those delivering health care.\n“Coming to terms with this reality was a lot like accepting the death of a loved one.” You Don’t LOOK Sick!: Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness chronicles a patient’s true-life accounts and her physician’s compassionate commentary as they take a journey through the three stages of chronic illness—Getting Sick, Being Sick, and Living Well. This resource helps you focus on building a meaningful life that contains illness as opposed to a life of frustration and fear. Designed for patients in at all stages of the chronic illness journey, this book will also be illuminating for caregivers and loved ones. From the book: “I’ve learned that having a chronic illness is not a prison sentence. It does not mean I must spend the rest of my life feeling depressed and angry, locked away from the world inside my little sick box. It does not mean that I am useless and no longer have any gifts to share, but it may mean that I must develop some new ones.” You Don’t LOOK Sick! addresses practical aspects of chronic illness, such as: hiring a doctor managing chronic pain coping with grief and the loss of function winning battles with health and disability insurers countering the social bias against the chronically ill recognizing the limitations of chronics illness care and charting a path for change In You Don’t LOOK Sick!: Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness, you will find stories, dialogue, humor, examples, and analogy of the three stages to illustrate a challenging but navigable journey. You will also find suggested reading materials for learning to live well, medical Internet resources, illness-specific Web sites, names and addresses of national associations, and a bibliography of medical books by topic. The short chapters and straightforward language of the book will be helpful for readers who are weary and dispirited. From the authors: “I've learned that having a chronic illness is not a prison sentence. It does not mean I must spend the rest of my life feeling depressed and angry, locked away from the world inside my little sick box. It does not mean that I am useless and no longer have any gifts to share, but it may mean that I must develop some new ones.” —Joy H. Selak “My goal is to work with patients so that, like world class athletes, they can perform at their peak capacity. My job is more than giving answers; I must educate, counsel and encourage patients to set goals and implement a personal care program as well as take appropriate medications.” —Dr. Steven Overman The authors are experienced public speakers. If you wish to inquire about their availability to speak to patients or health care professionals, please contact Joy Selak by email at [email protected]\nThe stylish actress shares her personal views on topics ranging from health, fashion, and beauty to relationships, happiness, and assertiveness, providing suggestions for maximizing individual potential and enjoying life to the fullest.\nNo matter who we are, or what stage of life we are at, we all long for similar things; to be happy, connected with others, in touch with a sense of calm and peace, vital, alive and joyful. And we long to be able to ride out the tough patches that hit all of us from time to time with some degree of grace and dignity. The good news is that we can fulfil these longings at any time, in any place. They are only a moment away, a breath away. We can learn how to be comfortable with our body, know and understand our mind, and love our heart. It isn't difficult, long-winded or time-consuming. In doing so you'll feel happier in your own skin, less stressed, more confident, more capable and more at ease with yourself and life. This is what Mindfulness for Women is about. It is a practical guide to coming home to yourself in each present moment. To finding the ledge behind the waterfall. To resting in the depths of the ocean rather than being tossed about by surface waves. Mindfulness is a potent antidote to anxiety, stress, depression, exhaustion and irritability. It leads to a greater sense of contentment and can also reduce addictive and self-destructive behavioural patterns. This book will enable you to experience the benefits for yourself. It's not designed as a lengthy course but is solutions-based. It's fast - evidence shows that a little bit of mindfulness goes a long way. It's also bespoke - you can read all of it cover to cover, or simply dip in and out, depending on what you want to focus on. You can listen to whichever meditation track suits you at any given time and you can run tracks together if you want to meditate for longer periods. It's designed to suit your life and priorities now and well into the future.\nThe pace of modern life can make the quest for balance and good health a joyless exercise, wrought with the very anxieties and disappointments that you long to alleviate. Now, with the help of this inspirational blueprint for healthy living, you can transform your journey to wellness into a spirited path of self-discovery and personal empowerment. Weaving modern science with timeless principles and practical, down-to-earth solutions, The Heart of Living Well offers powerful yet simple tools and tips for creating a lifestyle that nourishes your mind, body, heart and spirit. Packed with expert advice, touching anecdotes, and personal stories from other women, The Heart of Living Well will help you break through old barriers and inspire you to live your healthiest and fullest life.\nMillions of people suffer from debilitating chronic pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia, low back pain, chronic headache syndromes, neuropathies, or other painful conditions. People contending with chronic pain often spend considerable time, energy, and money searching for answers and visit multiple doctors, trying anything to find relief. When the source of pain is unclear or difficult to diagnose, their experiences are additionally frustrating, exhausting, and depressing. This book offers a hands-on approach to improving life with chronic pain, whatever the underlying cause. As a sociologist, psychotherapist, and someone with firsthand experience with chronic pain, the author understands the challenges that accompany pain and has devised realistic strategies to fare better. Paintracking provides a systematic method that empowers individuals to navigate the otherwise overwhelming array of treatment options and incorporate the effective ones into their lives for continued, incremental progress. Its cornerstone is a self-study tool that enables readers to improve. Readers are instructed on how to track and interpret their experience, whether using a pen and paper or the online tool offered as a companion to the book. By cultivating awareness of how their body responds in different situations and to different therapies, readers will become capable self-advocates, able to make informed choices. Written in clear, understandable prose and filled with sociological insights, therapeutic lessons, practical tips, and empathy, this book offers realistic hope to individuals who often feel hopeless in the face of confusing, debilitating pain.\nThe landmark work on mindfulness, meditation, and healing, now revised and updated after twenty-five years Stress. It can sap our energy, undermine our health if we let it, even shorten our lives. It makes us more vulnerable to anxiety and depression, disconnection and disease. Based on Jon Kabat-Zinn’s renowned mindfulness-based stress reduction program, this classic, groundbreaking work—which gave rise to a whole new field in medicine and psychology—shows you how to use medically proven mind-body approaches derived from meditation and yoga to counteract stress, establish greater balance of body and mind, and stimulate well-being and healing. By engaging in these mindfulness practices and integrating them into your life from moment to moment and from day to day, you can learn to manage chronic pain, promote optimal healing, reduce anxiety and feelings of panic, and improve the overall quality of your life, relationships, and social networks. This second edition features results from recent studies on the science of mindfulness, a new Introduction, up-to-date statistics, and an extensive updated reading list. Full Catastrophe Living is a book for the young and the old, the well and the ill, and anyone trying to live a healthier and saner life in our fast-paced world. Praise for Full Catastrophe Living “To say that this wise, deep book is helpful to those who face the challenges of human crisis would be a vast understatement. It is essential, unique, and, above all, fundamentally healing.”—Donald M. Berwick, M.D., president emeritus and senior fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement “One of the great classics of mind/body medicine.”—Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., author of Kitchen Table Wisdom “A book for everyone . . . Jon Kabat-Zinn has done more than any other person on the planet to spread the power of mindfulness to the lives of ordinary people and major societal institutions.”—Richard J. Davidson, founder and chair, Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin–Madison “This is the ultimate owner’s manual for our lives. What a gift!”—Amy Gross, former editor in chief, O: The Oprah Magazine “I first read Full Catastrophe Living in my early twenties and it changed my life.”—Chade-Meng Tan, Jolly Good Fellow of Google and author of Search Inside Yourself “Jon Kabat-Zinn’s classic work on the practice of mindfulness to alleviate stress and human suffering stands the test of time, a most useful resource and practical guide. I recommend this new edition enthusiastically to doctors, patients, and anyone interested in learning to use the power of focused awareness to meet life’s challenges, whether great or small.”—Andrew Weil, M.D., author of Spontaneous Happiness and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health “How wonderful to have a new and updated version of this classic book that invited so many of us down a path that transformed our minds and awakened us to the beauty of each moment, day-by-day, through our lives. This second edition, building on the first, is sure to become a treasured sourcebook and traveling companion for new generations who seek the wisdom to live full and fulfilling lives.”—Diana Chapman Walsh, Ph.D., president emerita of Wellesley College\n\"Medical care allows us to live longer, but to enjoy life we have to stay healthy. Living Well presents a thorough but unstressful program for keeping in good mental and physical shape as we grow older.\" \"In Part I you will discover how many diseases associated with aging, such as osteoarthritis, diabetes, and atherosclerosis, can be avoided or put off. As these findings show, it's never too late to enjoy the benefits of healthy habits.\" \"Part II covers many health challenges that people face in their middle and later years, with advice on everything from choosing a doctor to having a happy sex life. Here you will find clear, trustworthy guidelines on financial planning, drugs, and keeping your mind active.\" \"This edition of Living Well has been improved with 45 easy-to-use decision charts, as shown at the left. Each section and chart in Part III gives advice on solving a specific problem of later life, from hip pain to incontinence to tough-to-open jars. Living Well also provides forms for living wills, helping you to preserve your choices for medical care.\" \"With Living Well you can make your long life healthy and happy.\"--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved\nWith a Foreword by Denis Morrice, former president of The Arthritis Society Living Well with Arthritis is written by Canadian doctors for Canadians. Its authors, all respected experts in the field, focus not only on medications and complementary treatments, but also on management of the many aspects of life that arthritis can affect. Topics such as dealing with chronic pain and fatigue, developing emotional and social coping strategies, and managing relationships and sexuality are all explored. In user-friendly language, the authors take readers through the steps of diagnosis, how the body is affected, and ways to manage the disease. They describe all the established treatment options, including new medications and their side effects, and alternative therapies, and they help readers determine when surgery is necessary. They also outline recent advances in the field and discuss where these breakthroughs may lead us.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Modern Portfolio Theory\nInvesting requires a trade-off. You have to give up safety and take on risk to achieve better returns. Modern Portfolio Theory tries to make the most of the trade-off, illustrating how to generate as much return as possible for the least amount of risk.\nRisk and Return\nWith any reward--such as a great-performing stock or fund--there's always some element of risk. And the greater the potential reward, the greater the potential risk.\nIt's hard to imagine a time when the risk/reward relationship was considered revolutionary. But, prior to Harry Markowitz's 1952 dissertation, Portfolio Selection, investment theory didn't discuss the risks of investing. Instead, it was flush with ideas for maximizing return.\nMarkowitz believed, and mathematically proved, that there is a direct relationship between an investment's risk and its reward. He saw risk as an equal partner with expected gain. As such, he argued that investors need to manage the tension between risk and return in the investment process.\nMarkowitz also argued that investors should be measuring, monitoring and controlling risk at the portfolio level – not at the individual-security level. As a result, individual securities should be chosen based not only on their own merit, but also on how they affect the portfolio as a whole.\nRead Next: Diversification and an 'Efficient' Portfolio\nKeep in mind that while diversification may help spread risk it does not assure a profit or protect against loss in a down market.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Monday, January 28, 2013\n#readitmummiesanddaddies2013 - When they start to read on their own - A look at Phonics\nPosted by ReadItDaddy at 10:07 AM Labels: homework, Jelly and Bean, National Literacy Strategy, Oxford Learning Tree, Oxford Owls, phonics, preschool readingeven in Preschool if you read the latest recommendations), it's not enough to rely on (already overworked and put-upon) teachers to give your child that vital boost in their early reading skills.\nAs well as the national curriculum standards, and a wealth of material supplied by school we've been supplementing Charlotte's early reading journey with a combination of print, electronic and spoken resources. Not because we feel that it's a race, a competition with other children (and parents) in her class, but because she really wants to learn to read and finds it a little frustrating at times when the phonics books or classroom texts are so vastly different to books she enjoys having read to her.\nWhy is that, by the way? Even with some of the best writers (and illustrators) in the business contributing to programmes like the Oxford Owls / Oxford Learning Tree scheme, why are those books such a turn-off for kids when by rights they should love them just as much as \"The Gruffalo\" or \"Six Dinner Sid\" ?\nSupplementing Charlotte's classroom reading journey with things we've learned in phonics workshops at school, and also with things that worked for us way back in the mists of time when we were children do seem to have a direct effect but supplementing 'work' reading with 'fun' reading is essential.\nOver the course of the week we'll be taking a look at some of the ways of helping a child's literacy journey (just some, as there are so many different books, apps, sites and helpful resources - each seemingly with the same aim but at times with some dizzyingly different approaches) with a mix of stories, games and exercises that really can help.\nWhether you believe that reading aloud in class is useful to your child, or whether you believe phonics and decoding are worth anything at all, hopefully you'll find some new and exciting ways to get your children into learning to read and into books.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The probability that a certain family will get a boy child is a half and therefore everyone should just prepare to take care of the boy child. Dressing up the child is one of the activities that are done to make sure that the child’s growth is going on well. A large number of people prefer buying boys’ suit for their boys because the suit makes the child to be presentable. There are some guidelines that an individual should embrace when they go for these suits and they include the following:\nTight or buggy\nA large number of people prefer tight fittings. This might not be a good option for the small boys because they are still growing. When a small boy is given a tight suit, they will soon stop using it because their bodies will have grown. It is therefore advisable for a person to buy buggy suits so that the boy can use it for a longer time.\nResearch has shown that boys like some colors while girls like others. For instance a boy will prefer to have a blue suit while a girl will go for something like purple. The color of the boys’ suit should not be too shiny because this is considered girlish and when a boy puts it own they will be discouraged by their friends.\nWhen a small boy is made to belief that the suit they own is not good, they will deliberately avoid putting it on.\nPeople dress their boys for various events. In respect to this, there are different types of suits that boys use. It is important for a person to make sure that the suite they have bought for their boy matches well with the event they are going to attend.\nA person who lives in a very cold place should go for boys’ suit that will be most suitable in such an environment. It might not be easy for a person to survive in temperate regions during the winter seasons if they don’t have the right dress code.\nAs a parent, there is need for a person to be aware that the immunity of a child is still weak and therefore protecting them from extreme cold temperatures is necessary.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Peranbu Tamil Full Movie Online HD, The story is Amudhavan works as a Taxi driver in an abroad nation. He is married and his wife runs away with someone leaving their daughter, who has cerebral palsy. Although he had avoided his child, he has no way than caring her. He parents her as a single father. But, there are people to question them and make fun. So, Amudhavan moves to a lonely place with his daughter. He feels that his caring is not enough and his daughter needs a woman caretaker. Yes, as she grows, the child feels that she is a girl and maintains a distance from her dad. When a couple comes to his rescue, Amudhavan accepts them. Soon, Amudhavan loses the trust on them. How did he manage to bring up his daughter? forms rest of the story.\nIf Bolly2Tolly Blocked,Use Bolly2Tolly.app Download Option Available. (Check Below Embed)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Autograph letter signed : [n.p.], to Edouard Manet, 1869 Jan. 26.\nThere are 2 Entities related to this resource.\nFrench artist. From the description of Lithograph of Edgar Allan Poe [manuscript], ca. 1888? (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647806728 French painter. From the description of Letters sent by Edouard Manet, 1860-1882. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 79889178 From the description of Autograph letters signed (30) : Paris, to his wife Suzanne, his mother and his sister-in-law, Mme Mathe Vibert, 1870 Sept.-1871 Jan. 19. (Unknown)...", "label": "No"} {"text": "SeedTime & Harvest: Preparing for Advance in a Time of Crisis\nJesus spoke a parable describing the conditions of people’s hearts in relation to God’s word, or the seed. How you handle the seed of God’s is the most important thing that you handle.\nMatthew 13:1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”\nLook at what Jesus said in regard to The Purpose of Parables:\n10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.\nHe describe four conditions of soil, or of the heart: Three bad and one good.\n1) Wayside is an unreceptive place: In Palestine the fields were in long narrow strips; and the ground between the strips was always a right of way. It was used as a common path; and therefore it was beaten as hard as a pavement by the feet of countless passers-by\n2) Stony was shallow. It is a then layer of soil over limestone rock\n3) Thorny was full of weeds and distractions. Luke 8:14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. The thorny ground was deceptive. When the sower was sowing, the ground would look clean enough. It is easy to make a garden look clean by simply turning it over; but in the ground still lay the fibrous roots of the couch grass and the bishop weed and all the perennial pests [like crab grass], ready to spring to life again. Every gardener knows that the weeds grow with a speed and a strength that few good seeds can equal. The result was that the good seed and the dormant weeds grew together; but the weeds were so strong that they choked the life out of the seed.\n4) Good ground was tilled and ready to receive seed. Which condition describes your heart?\nOperating in your authority requires a heart prepared like a good garden or farm field. There’s a lot that God wants to do through us and with us.\nLet’s deal with the condition of the soil with weeds and thorns. This condition best describes many of us who attend church. We do well receiving the word and understanding what we are hearing. But during the week, as a results of challenges, circumstances, and stuff we let into our hearts and minds, the word gets choked out. Jesussaid we become, “choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life.”\nThe best way to stop being distracted, is to learn how to focus.\nTThe Power of Sowing in Obedience to God\nGenesis 26:1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.\n2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.\n12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. 13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him\nLESSONS FOR YOU FROM ISAAC\nResist the urge to be frightened and flee.\nWhen conditions change, make adjustments and remain obedient to God.\nSowing is our business. Reaping is God’s business.\nPeople will envy your progress. Don’t give energy to them.\nTo leave or reply to comments, please download free Podbean or\nTo leave or reply to comments, please download free Podbean App.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Sermon: \"All Saints Day!\"\nSt. Paul’s – Brookings\nFr. Larry Ort\nWisdom of Solomon 3.1-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21.1-6a; John 11.32-44\nToday is All Saints Day; tomorrow is All Souls Day, or the Commemoration of all Faithful Departed. Why the difference? All Saints Day traces its roots back to the 3rd Century. The day was made official in the 9th Century when Pope Gregory IV (828-844) urged Emperor Louis “the Pious” to celebrate the day throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Holy Women, Holy Men characterizes this day as follows: “The desire of Christian people to express the intercommunion of the living and the dead in the Body of Christ by a commemoration of those who, having professed faith in the living past in days past, had entered into the nearer presence of their Lord, and especially of those who had crowned their profession with heroic deaths…” (p.662). Early in the 10th Century, it became customary to extend All Saints Day by setting aside the next day (All Souls Day) to remember “that vast body of the faithful who, though no less members of the company of the redeemed, are unknown in the wider fellowship of the Church” and to remember family and friends (p. 664).\nInitially all Christian believers were known as saints. In St. Paul’s salutation to Philippians, we read, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi…” (Phil. 1.1-2; NRSV). In the first chapter of Romans, we read, “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1.7; NRSV).\nThe saints are the beloved of God, God’s holy people who have been sanctified, or set apart, as members of the kingdom of God. In the Old Testament, they are often referred to as the righteous, as God’s faithful ones, e.g., “God will not forsake his faithful ones” (Psalm 37.28; NRSV) and “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones” (Psalm 116.15; NRSV). The latter verse is often rendered as, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints;” this verse is inscribed on my parents’ tombstone. The Wisdom of Solomon further assures us: “The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them… they are at peace” (3.1-3; NRSV).\nIn today’s reading from the Psalm, we are asked, “Who can ascend the hill of the LORD? And who can stand in his holy place?” In other words, who can go up to God’s temple and stand in God’s presence? The Psalmist answers: \"Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud” (Psalm 24.3-4; NRSV). The saints! That’s who! In the beatitudes we read, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Mat. 5.8; NRSV).\nPhysical and spiritual death entered the world through sin; sin leads to death, for death is part and parcel of Satan’s domain. In contrast, believing into Christ leads to transformation and life. Listen to the way C. S. Lewis characterizes this transformation:\nImagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself (emphasis mine)(Mere Christianity).\nC. S. Lewis is describing the process of sanctification, the process whereby we are set apart and become holy, where we ultimately achieve that purity of heart. In sanctification we experience the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit such that we become God’s faithful ones, God’s saints.\nIf we are to fully comprehend how the Gospel relates to this, we must expand the context of the Gospel reading. John 11 begins by telling us of Lazarus’ illness. Jesus said the illness would “not lead to death; rather, it is for God’s glory so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11.4; NRSV). Jesus then tarried two more days before telling the disciples it was time to set out for Bethany in Judea. The disciples promptly remind Jesus he narrowly escaped stoning on his last visit. Jesus tells them Lazarus has fallen asleep, and he must go to awaken him. They reply, “Let him sleep; he will be Ok.” So Jesus then tells them Lazarus is dead, and says, “let us go to him.” At this point, Thomas exclaimed, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11.16; NRSV). I have to laugh at Thomas’ comment, “Jesus, if you are going to get yourself killed, we might as well go along for the ride, too!” It appears the disciples were not too eager to travel to Bethany, which was only two miles from Jerusalem.\nWhen Jesus arrived, he discovered that Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. Since they were so near Jerusalem, many Jews had come to console Martha and Mary. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming she went to meet him, and said: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him” (John 11.21-22; NRSV). Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise again and Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (John 11.24; NRSV). Then Jesus spoke these words which have reverberated across the centuries: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11.25-26). Martha replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (John 11.27; NRSV). Martha then goes to get Mary.\nWhen Mary came, the Jews from Jerusalem came with her as they believed she was going to the tomb to weep. Mary knelt at Jesus’ feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11.32; NRSV). Jesus was deeply moved, “disturbed in Spirit,” most likely at the sorrow which death brings, and Jesus also wept.\nJesus asked to be taken to the tomb; he commanded the stone be rolled away despite Martha’s objection that there is a stench. Jesus then asked Martha: “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” (John 11.40; NRSV). Then Jesus prayed, “Father, I thank you for having heard me, I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me” (John 11.41-42; NRSV). Then Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11.43; NRSV). Lazarus came forth, and Jesus involved the crowd in the he commanded them to unbind Lazarus and let him go.\nWas this a resurrection? No, Lazarus was not given a resurrected body. Lazarus was resuscitated; he would once again face physical death. But Jesus, by his actions, showed his power over death. His actions foreshadowed his coming death and resurrection. Within five verses of the end of our reading, the authorities are fearful that Jesus actions will cause everyone to believe in him such that the Romans would come and destroy the Temple and the nation. So Caiaphas says, “You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed” (John 11.49-50; NRSV).\nWhat a powerful story! What lessons can we take away?\nFirst, I submit, may we choose to live a life of sanctification that our souls may be precious in the sight of the Lord; may we choose life rather than death; may we become pure in heart; may we be counted among God’s faithful ones, among God’s saints. In John 5.28-29, we read, “The hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have one evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (NRSV). May we live such that we are called to the resurrection of life!\nSecond, becoming a saint is an ongoing process which does not happen overnight and it involves suffering. If we are to become a saint, we must say “Yes” to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. We must permit Christ to transform our “house” into a castle! This consent leads to the death of some of our self, of some things within our self – it “hurts abominably” and at times it “does not seem to make any sense.” Let’s not get discouraged if we are not making the progress we would like. God’s timing is best.\nThird, we too are to call others forth to new life -- to help unbind others from their “grave clothes” that they may be let go, and find life anew.\nLet’s face it, when we strive to become holy, and when we call other forth to new life, many will think we are crazy, “Crazy Christians,” in the words of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. Nonetheless, we experience joy unspeakable as resurrection people, as the saints of God. Let us give thanks to God for all those saints who have gone before us, for the fact that we a members of the communion of saints, and for the great cloud of witnesses with which we are surrounded.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Globally, environmental degradation has reached unprecedented levels. In South Africa, indigenous forest have been lost to mass land conversions under previous colonial and apartheid administrations. These changes have affected social ecologies, engendering experiences of place severing and giving rise to grass-roots community struggles in response. This case study aimed to explore and describe participants’ psychological experiences of place severing in South Africa’s Vhembe District. Thirteen individual and three focus group interviews were conducted between May and July 2019. Thematic data analysis was performed, revealing that epistemic violence and material severing lead to dialogical disruptions that, in turn, contribute to intergenerational community-level distress. In response, the community-based organization Dzomo la Mupo offers alternatives that resist and transcend the coloniality that underpins place severing.\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Let us pray.\n“Holy one, touch us with your word. Awaken in us your compassion. Raise us up to newness of heart, mind and action so that we may every more faithfully perceive and walk in your Way. And may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts, be acceptable to you, O God our rock and our redeemer, Amen”\nToday, we open the Gospel of Luke and find that Jesus has left region around the Sea of Galilee and has headed south walking a day’s journey to the town of Nain.\nIt now is late in the day. It has been a long, 25 mile at least, walk and the crowd, those following Jesus, I imagine are tired. I imagine that they are ready to wash up and rest. Eat and then perhaps a bit later, gather round to tell stories and to hear more of what their teacher Jesus has to say.\nThey were almost there, quite close to the town gate when they began to hear the wail of the mourners and then saw the funeral procession. I wonder what they thought? Did some in the crowd following Jesus turn away and avert their gaze? Were others filled with pity? Were others more caught up with their aching feet and the restless stirrings of hunger in their bellies to take much notice of whatever else may be going on? We don’t really know.\nBut what we do know is what Jesus did. Jesus did not avert his gaze. Jesus did not pity the woman and wonder what will become of her. Jesus was not concerned about his feet or when his next meal will be.\nInstead, Jesus takes it all in and has compassion for widow, and in having compassion, he engages, and in engaging, he draws near and in drawing near he touches, and in touching, he says “Young man, I say to you, rise!”.\nAnd suddenly what was a funeral procession is one no more. Where there was despair there is now awe. Where there was only a dead end there is now a new beginning. And all of this all of this was set in motion by — compassion.\nIt is an extraordinary scene — the coming together of these two crowds, these two processions. One full of life and hope and wondering what new thing tomorrow will bring. The other, deep in grief, suffering and despair. But instead of passing by each other, each locked in their own experience, instead Jesus steps out. He steps out and is filled with compassion and it is this compassion that creates a generative space where something new arises that neither the crowd following Jesus or those mourning the dead young man could have possibly imagined.\nAnd what is so striking is that after experiencing this generative place that compassion created and where new life had arisen, there are no longer two different groups of people. Instead, the text uses the third person plural — “them” and “they”. It says “Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God.” There are no longer foot sore but heart happy disciples following Jesus and world weary, despairing others following the funeral bier. Now there is just one people, in awe, giving glory to God.\nCompassion. Elsewhere in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells us “Be compassionate as your [God] is compassionate” Luke 6:36. Compassion — what is this compassion that moved Jesus so?\nThe Greek word for compassion, (you may remember that the Gospel of Luke from which we are reading was originally written in Greek), the Greek word the author uses is translated as “to be moved from the inward parts” — the guts. Compassion in its Biblical sense is understood as something visceral, “a deep suffering with.”\nAnd this Compassion brings movement. Compassion draws one out of where one was and into a new place. Pity, and empathy even can be felt from a distance. We can feel for the homeless man asleep on a frozen sidewalk as walk by. But the fact that we are walking by names what we are feeling something other than compassion. Jesus was moved with compassion for the woman. Going on in his walk into town was now impossible.\nCompassion you see is not a passive emotion, it is an active one. It is generative and opens a generative space where the Spirit of God shows up in all her inspiration and where bold, creative, life giving action arises. I believe it is what the word of God spoken through the Prophet Isaiah is summoning God’s people to when he asks them “Does God want you to fast and starve your bodies all the while going along thinking about your business?” No!\nWhat God wants is that we:\nunlock the chains of wickedness,\nuntie the knots of servitude.\nLet the oppressed go free,\ntheir bonds broken.\nShare your bread with the hungry,\nand welcome the homeless into your home.\nAll action words.\nWhat God wants the Prophet asserts is what I see Jesus doing. It is letting compassion draw us out of where we are so that a bold new, divinely led and inspired action may arise for us to enact.\nI wonder if you know the work of Karen Armstrong? Karen Armstrong is an amazing scholar who is captivated by the world religions and her work focuses on commonalities of the major religions.\nI was recently listening to a 2009 TED talk that Armstrong gave on the universal primacy of compassion and was struck by a statement she made. She said. “Religion for the great majority of human history had little to do with belief as we think of it today.” Instead, she says, “religion had everything to do with behaving differently. Instead of deciding whether or not you believe in God, first you do something. You behave in a committed way, and then you begin to understand the truths of religion. And religious doctrines are meant to be summons to action; you only understand them when you put them into practice.”\nAnd then she goes on to say “It is an arresting fact that right across the board, in every single one of the major world faiths, compassion is not only the test of any true religiosity, it is also what will bring us into the presence of what Jews, Christians and Muslims call “God” or the “Divine.”\nAnd she concludes by saying that “what is an important point is that one cannot and must not confine one’s compassion to one’s own group: one’s own religion or one’s one nation.” \nI think our founders of this Church knew exactly what she is talking about for they insisted on this being an inclusive faith community. And Today, here we affirm in our Covenant (which is printed on the back of your bulletins every Sunday) and in the opening our opening words of welcome week after week that a core value of ours is practicing the inclusive and I would say compassionate love of Jesus which means welcoming not just people that look alike, love alike, vote alike and believe alike but that we practice letting compassion (which I believe is the Spirit’s presence among us but unpacking that is for another time) lead us to embrace and welcome all — trusting that in doing so our life together will be more than we could have possibly imagined!\nWe welcome all not so that we can sit in our own pews apart and tolerate each other from a distance. We welcome all not so that we may feel pity or empathy for each other from a far. We welcome all in this inclusive, compassionate love of Jesus so that we can come together and create something new. We hug hello and pass the peace, we ponder and pray, sing and cry together so that in this our life together, this compassionate space of community something new may come alive; not only enlivening us but leading us to enliven the world by doing as the Prophet spoke to\n“unlock the chains of wickedness,\nuntie the knots of servitude.\nLet the oppressed go free,\ntheir bonds broken.\nShare our bread with the hungry,\nand welcome the homeless into our home.”\nI am convinced that compassion is the key and I hope we can dig into how to cultivate a ready disposition of compassion in the weeks to come.\nBut for now, let us not avert our eyes to the suffering of those around us. Let us instead follow Jesus who see the widow and has compassion for her, and in having compassion, engages, and in engaging, draws near and in drawing near touches, and in touching, enacts new life.\nLet us “Be compassionate as our [God] is compassionate” Luke 6:36.\nMay it be so and may we do so. Thanks be to God.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Thespians Galore presents a play titled “The Prayerful Prostitute” a story of an enigmatic young woman who finds herself entangled in the complexities of life’s choices. Set in a world of turmoil and redemption, the play delves into themes of love, faith, forgiveness, and the resilience of the human spirit. The Paly is full of drama, humor, and poignant moments.\nPlay will be held at MKU Thika Main campus, Chancellors Tower Hall on 29th July, 2023 starting at 5:30 PM.\nBooking are ongoing at a subsidized fee\n- Regular Advance Tickets: Ksh 200/=\n- VIP Advance Tickets: Ksh 300/=\n- Regular Gate Tickets: Ksh 400/=\n- VIP Gate Tickets: Ksh 500/=\nFor Reservation and Inquiries contact\n0710171345, 0717078080 OR 0743884502\nCome One Come All, we support our own!!\nArticle by: Heri Manyara", "label": "No"} {"text": "About the film\ndrugstore noir murder homicide detective\nRelease Date: November 25, 1949\n|Slogan||:||«The hard-hitting story of a man with a plan...REVENGE!»|\n|Genres||:||Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller|\n|Producers||:||Robert Sisk, Ruby Rosenberg|\n|Writers||:||Allen Rivkin, John D. Klorer|\nWarren Quimby manages a drugstore while trying to keep his volatile wife, Claire, happy. However, when Claire leaves him for a liquor store salesman, Warren can no longer bear it. He decides to assume a new identity in order to murder his wife's lover without leaving a trace. Along the way, his plans are complicated by an attractive neighbor, as well as a shocking discovery that opens up a new world of doubts and accusations.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Impact of Globalization on Traditional Religious Practices\nGlobalization, the process of increasing interconnectedness and interdependence among nations, has undoubtedly reshaped various aspects of society, including traditional religious practices. Traditional religious practices, deeply rooted in culture and history, have long been an integral part of many societies around the world. However, globalization has brought about both challenges and opportunities for these practices. This blog post explores the impact of globalization on traditional religious practices, considering both the negative and positive consequences.\nOne of the most significant impacts of globalization on traditional religious practices is the homogenization of cultures. As globalization has facilitated the exchange of ideas, goods, and people across borders, it has led to the spread of dominant cultures and ideologies, often at the expense of local traditions. Traditional religious practices that are deeply tied to specific cultural contexts may find themselves overshadowed by globalized religions, such as Christianity or Islam, which often become more prominent due to globalization’s reach. This shift towards globalized religions can lead to the marginalization of traditional religious practices, as adherents may feel compelled to conform to more widely accepted beliefs and practices.\nFurthermore, globalization has increased secularization trends, as the world becomes more interconnected and modernized. Exposure to different cultures, ideologies, and scientific advancements has challenged traditional religious beliefs and practices. The rapid exchange of ideas brought about by globalization has enabled individuals to question their long-held beliefs and embrace alternative worldviews that may be incompatible with traditional religious practices. This can lead to the decline of religious adherence and a shift towards more secular lifestyles.\nHowever, globalization has also presented opportunities for traditional religious practices to adapt and evolve. The increased mobility and accessibility offered by globalization have allowed religious practitioners to reach a wider audience and expand their influence beyond their traditional boundaries. For instance, pilgrimage sites that were once only accessible to local devotees become open to international visitors, generating economic opportunities and fostering cultural exchange. Additionally, the internet has played a crucial role in disseminating religious teachings and practices, allowing followers from different parts of the world to connect and exchange knowledge.\nMoreover, globalization has provided platforms for interfaith dialogue and collaboration. In a globalized world, people from different religious backgrounds increasingly interact in various contexts, opening avenues for breaking down stereotypes and building bridges between different traditions. Interfaith initiatives and organizations have emerged, promoting tolerance, understanding, and cooperation among various religious groups. This can enhance the visibility and acceptance of traditional religious practices, as they are given opportunities to share their teachings and traditions on a global stage.\nHowever, it is important to acknowledge the potential risks of this interfaith dialogue, as it can result in syncretism and the dilution of core religious tenets. As different religious practices come into contact and blend with one another, it becomes challenging to preserve the distinctiveness and authenticity of traditional religious practices. The balance between preserving cultural heritage and embracing external influences can be a delicate one, and requires careful navigation to ensure that traditional religious practices are not diluted or co-opted.\nIn conclusion, globalization has both positive and negative impacts on traditional religious practices. It has led to the homogenization of cultures and increased secularization, which may marginalize traditional religious practices. However, globalization has also facilitated the adaptation and expansion of traditional religious practices through increased mobility, access to information, and interfaith dialogue. As the world continues to become more interconnected, it is crucial to strike a balance between preserving cultural heritage and embracing the opportunities offered by globalization, ensuring that traditional religious practices continue to thrive and contribute to the richness of human diversity.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Cotton + Steel Fabrics\nPattern collaboration for cotton quilting fabrics.\nPhotos: Cotton + Steel\n“From the moment I held the box of colors in my hands, I knew this was my life. I threw myself into it like a beast that plunges towards the thing it loves“\nMore projects down ↓\nÁNGELA CORTI / SURFACE PATTERN DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR", "label": "No"} {"text": "The TV MegaSite's Monday 5/17/10 Short Recaps\nPLEASE CLICK TO DONATE TO OUR SITE!!!!\nAMC Recap Written by MaryGreenlee reveals herself to Ryan, Madison and David that she had been listening to their conversation. Greenlee asks for a few moments alone with her husband. J.R. takes care of Marissa in the bar when she almost collapses from the Scotch that she had drank. J.R. takes Marissa home to the mansion to care for her despite her protests. When she touches Trevor, Amanda realizes that he has a very high fever. David tells Greenlee that he wants Ryan out of her life for good. Madison lets Ryan know that she will never forget him sticking up for her against David. Amanda and Krystal take Trevor to the hospital. Ryan and Jesse discuss what David has on Madison North. When Ryan tells him that David tried to blackmail Madison, Jesse pretends he knows nothing about it. Greenlee assures David she doesn't have feelings for Ryan. Jake assures Amanda and Krystal that Trevor only has an ear infection, but they will keep him overnight. J.R. takes Marissa upstairs and puts her to bed. J.R. asks Marissa for another chance, but she falls asleep without answering. Greenlee tells David no more stunts or she will leave him. David gives Greenlee his word that he will be good. Jesse goes to Fusion to confront Madison, but runs into Randi instead. Randi confesses that it is all her fault that David knows about the murder of Henry. Amanda tells Jake what Janet said to her. Jake tries to relieve Amandas worries about Trevor. Jesse goes to Wildwind to confront David about Madison. Madison assures Randi that everything is fine. J.R. gets the lab results back that he is fine. Though he thinks she's asleep, Marissa hears the good news and weeps. Madison apologizes to Greenlee for lying to her about quitting her job at the casino but says she needs the job to make ends meet. Greenlee catches Madison and Ryan hugging.\nATWT Recap Written by ElaynaTom sees that Lisa is not herself, as she talks about something missing in her life right now, as she realizes it will be 5o years the next day since she came to Oakdale. Tom talks with Bob and Kim, who were just in the middle of talking about building a custom retirement home in Arizona, about throwing Lisa a party, but when Lisa overhears their plans, she is annoyed. She decides to take this fete into her own hands and decides she wants to have a musical about her time in Oakdale, as this boosts her mood. Carly finds out that Jack knows what Parker did, as they try to explain to a furious Jack. Later, Jack and Carly go for a walk to talk about it, but their discussion winds up in a fight because Jack feels betrayed that Carly lied to him again and made things worse for Parker and Carly is angry that Jack cant stop being a cop for a moment to protect their son. She urges him to let Craig take the wrap. Jack isnt sure what he will do. Margo finds out from Lily that Gabriel is Craigs son and that Craig supposedly found out before the fire. Margo is shocked, but supports Craig, as they talk by Gabriels bedside. Craig is thankful Lily ended up telling Margo, but he is worried Lily will change her mind and say he didnt find out before the fire; Lily promises to keep that secret as long as he does right by his son. Margo asks to speak with Parker when she sees him outside of Gabriels room, but Parker explains he is late for something and high tails it out of there leaving Margo unsure as to what is up. Margo wants to talk with Jack, as does he with her, and it looks like he may tell her about Parker, but Tom interrupts them to talk with Margo. As Tom and Margo are talking about Gabriel, Jack overhears Margos tough stance on whom might have left Gabriel to burn alive in the fire, as Jack has second thoughts. Parker is teetering on the edge with all this guilt when Jack calls Carly and Parker and tells them that he is not going to tell Margo. Carly promises Parker everything will be alright now.\nB&B Recap Written by WandaStraddled on top of him, Steffy tells Oliver that if he helps her get rid of Brooke and Hope that he wont regret it. She knows he wants her. Hes flashing back to moments with Hope. As Steffy continues, Oliver looks at Hopes photo on the desk and pulls away. He tells Steffy he can not do this to Hope. Hope tells her mother that she could be falling in love with Oliver. She reveals she thinks Oliver is ready to make love and part of her did too, but it was too soon. Shes glad Oliver is so sweet and understanding. Shes lucky to have a guy like him. Whip brings a pint of ice cream to bed and declares that its all for him as he has to keep his energy up. Taylor defends Steffy and her antics as just a means of crying out of pain, but she wont cross that line. Shes not the villain Brooke is making her out to be.\nDespite her continuing to paw all over him, Oliver tells Steffy that hes not going to be her pawn and allying himself against the Logans. So even if she manages to get rid of Hope and Brooke leaves too, Ridge will be a force to be reckoned with. He wont be happy at all with these results and will know that he and Steffy were behind it all. Brooke advises Hope to take things slow, enjoy herself and treat herself with respect and everyone else will too. Dont worry about Steffy. If Oliver really loves her then he will dodge anything Steffy can throw at him. Oliver lets Steffy down gently and reminds her that she is one terrific girl ..someone to be reckoned with. She gloats that she is not giving up. She may not make it on the first try, but shes going to take Forresters into the next decade and it will be Logan free and he can be right up there with her.\nDays Recap Written by JenniRafe questions Anna about her involvement in Sydneys kidnapping. EJ expresses remorse over his role in it all, and decides to get Samis house fixed so that she can move back home if that is what she wants. He also counsels Will to forgive his mother. Will, Sami, EJ, and the kids bond over a game of poker. EJ worries that Rafe has found Anna, and will make her confess everything. Hope decides that she wants to move on with Justin once she finishes working the mugging case. Ciara confronts Hope about a conversation they had the night before, but Hope doesnt remember it. Nicole moves forward with her plan to frame Arianna for the muggings. Brady grows concerned over Ariannas seeming obsession with Nicole. Arianna accuses him of having feelings for Nicole.\nGH Recap Written by LaurieJason gets word that his jail time has been approved. Jax and Sonny argue over Morgans adoption. Dante interrupts the argument and says he agrees with Jax adopting Morgan. When Sam fills Spinelli in on Jasons plan, Spinelli worries for Jasons safety. Michael gets advice from another inmate. Jason tells Carly not to do anything crazy while hes gone, but she vows to make Dante and Lulu pay. Luke warns Lulu that Dante could be using her. Ronnie again accuses Dante of trying to protect Sonny. Sonny tells Carly he wont allow Jax to adopt Morgan. Dante is determined to get Michael released and Lulu vows to stick by him. Carly calls Sonny selfish and says he should go to prison. Lucky tells Luke he thinks Dante is on the level. Elizabeth tells Nikolas shes uncomfortable with her child being a Cassadine. Morgan walks in on Carly and Sonnys argument. Sam arranges some quiet time for Jasons last night as a free man. Dante wonders if hes spending time trying to free Michael as a way to avoid going after Sonny. Sonny finally agrees to distance himself from Morgan. Sonny and Morgan have a tearful goodbye.\nOLTL Recap Written by Jennifer S.The prom is underway. Many people sing songs about their love lives. Starr is missing Cole. Dorian arranges for John to let him out of jail so he can be at the prom with Starr to surprise her. It appears that Langston finds out that Ford is not faithful to her and sleeping with Karen while Markko plays the video where Destiny tells Matthew that she saw Langston cheating on Markko with Ford. Brody still wants to get Jessica back but she still has Cristian on the brain. Natalie concludes that since John did not respond to her letter that he's made the decision to be done with her. But Roxy seems to somehow know that that is not true. And all the while John has been unaware that Natalie wrote him the letter since Marty hid it from him. But when she reveals the letter to him, he might be changing his priorities for who he wants to be with.\nY&R Recap Written by Mary **One Day AheadKevin gives Jana the good news that she is going home tonight, but she is less than thrilled. Kevin promises not to pressure Jana into having feelings that she doesnt. Emily asks if there is any position open on staff, but she gets turned down. Emily tries to talk to Lynn, who doesnt have a kind word to say to her. Lynn threatens to sue Emily for her remarks toward her. Reed asks J.T. to let him see Victoria. At the airport, Victor sees Billy with Victoria and wonders if this is his way of getting back at him. Victoria tries to referee the argument between Jack and Victor. Tucker shows Ashley her new offices. Abby protests downstairs in the lobby against Jabots cruel practices of using animals in their testing. When they meet at the coffeehouse, Kevin asks Emilys help with Jana. Emily goes to see Jana. Ashley and Tucker confront Abby about her demonstrations and posing nude. Abby finds out that Ashley is the new C.E.O of Jabot. Abby calls Kent to meet her at Crimson Lights to discuss their project. Ashley tells Victor about Abbys stunt on television. Victor finds out that Ashley is the new C.E.O of Jabot. At home, Jana asks Kevin to move out to give her some alone time. Kevin agrees. Jack asks to talk to Emily, but she refuses. Emily lets Jack know what's going on with her. Victor talks heart to heart to Abby. Abby forges ahead with her plans for the reality show. J.T. brings Reed by to see Victoria. Victoria calls Michael about an annulment.\nMake sure to check out our daily detailed summaries (updates) for all of the soaps:\nAMC, ATWT, B&B, Days, GH, GL, OLTL, Passions, Y&R!\nWe don't read the guestbook very often, so please don't post QUESTIONS, only COMMENTS, if you want an answer. Feel free to email us with your questions by clicking on the Feedback link above! PLEASE SIGN-->\nHELP SUPPORT THESE GREAT CAUSES!\nMain Navigation within The TV MegaSite:\nHome | Daytime Soaps | Primetime TV | Soap MegaLinks | Trading", "label": "No"} {"text": "In 2011, Sarah Han had a post-discharge surgical site infection. This painful experience made her realize that there are gaps in the healthcare system and patients have meaningful information to address them. So, she became a patient advisor on a research project that was still in its beginning stages. Using her patient experience as expertise, Sarah brings a patient-centered approach to the project's methods and ensures that things most important to the patient are always represented. Sarah comes to Medicine X humbled and excited to engage with a community that also believes in the power of the patient experience in medical research.\nAt Medicine X 2015\nSaturday, September 6 2:20 pm (LK 130)\nWe are not waiting - how ePatients can take medical devices (and healthcare) to the next level\nWhat if we didn't have to rely on medical device manufacturers to innovate in order to improve the quality of life for patients? What if patients could take their existing medical devices and use new applications... Read more\nSunday, September 7 1:30 pm (LK 102)\nMy experience in becoming a patient expert on a clinical research team\nPost-Op Problems: I always thought about my healthcare in a straightforward way: see the doctor, follow directions, get better; this plan, however, does not always work. Approximately two years ago, I... Read more", "label": "No"} {"text": "In order to build strong companies that are resilient and able to prosper even in challenging times, it is best to create reliable and robust systems.\nIt is easy to be misled by what is flashy if we don’t think systemically. Often we reward those that heroically triumph over adversity while we overlook those who preside over calm.\nBut creating systems that are consistently reliable, and that avoid catastrophe, is superior to overseeing unreliable systems and having to cope with minimizing the losses that result from the inevitable problems. Yet our organizations often fail to appreciate good management. Good management is often quiet and seemingly easy. While poor management creates many opportunities to be seen heroically, avoiding even worse consequences due to the problems that poor management didn’t fix.\nWe need to create a culture that thinks systemically and prioritizes avoiding problems over fighting with the consequences of problems. To be clear, this doesn’t mean ignoring problems that exist. Avoiding problems is about creating systems which are continually improved to be more and more reliable thus avoiding the need for fire fighting. That is much better than creating very good fire fighters.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Admiral Jim Stockdale was the highest ranking United States military officer in the “Hanoi Hilton” prisoner-of-war camp during the Vietnam War.\nTortured, starved and isolated, he still managed to maintain the respect and leadership of his platoon through their 8-year incarceration.\nInterviewed in later life, he was asked how he dealt with such incredible hardship, and more poignantly with not knowing how, when or even if he would be released.\nHe replied that he never lost faith in the end of the story.\nHe believed that, eventually, he would be released and be reunited with his family.\nHe was then asked who didn’t make it. “The optimists”, he replied, coining at once the concept now known as the Stockdale Paradox.\n“Those who told themselves, ‘We’ll be home by Christmas’, were disappointed when Christmas would come, and Christmas would go.\nThen they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’\nAnd Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”\n“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”\nToday, for you, that means keeping afloat for a while, creating some brilliant offerings that’ll work now, and truly fly when things start moving again.\nWhenever that is.\nRespect to you, Admiral.", "label": "No"} {"text": "DSME is one of the pillars of good diabetes care because patients themselves must be committed to and involved in managing their day-to-day care. The ADA recommends evaluating the need for DSME and support at diagnosis, and then annually or more often if targets are not being met. Additional evaluation is necessary if the patient's overall health status changes. DSME can be delivered individually or in group settings and may be in person or via telemedicine portals. The ADA states that the overall goals of DSME are to support patients in making informed decisions and self-care behaviors, as well as problem-solving and active collaboration with their healthcare team. Studies have demonstrated the benefits of DSME in improved clinical outcomes, self-care, weight reduction, glycemic control, and coping behavior.\nAll patients being managed for T2D should be educated about and supported to achieve nonpharmacologic interventions. Interventions recommended by the ADA include self-care, maintaining physical activity and healthy weight, and sodium restriction within a nutritious diet.\nA good example of a reduced sodium, healthy diet is the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet, which has been shown to reduce cardiovascular injury markers, including NT-proBNP that is associated with heart failure (HF). This type of diet is also recommended by the ADA for the management of hypertension and weight gain.\nAdditional interventions of value are assessments for depression or anxiety, staying current with vaccinations against respiratory and other diseases, and developing resources that support adherence with treatment. Patients with HF also should be educated to recognize signs or symptoms of worsening HF and to report these promptly to their healthcare team.\nManagement of all cardiovascular risk factors is crucial to improving outcomes for patients with T2D and minimizing risk for long-term diabetes complications; however, this patient currently has blood pressure and lipid measurements within acceptable limits. He should be followed closely to monitor risk factors; current targets for patients with T2D are blood pressure < 130/<80 mm Hg and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol < 100 mg/dL.\nThe patient discontinued the DPP-4 inhibitor and added once-weekly semaglutide to ongoing treatment with metformin and empagliflozin 10 mg. To streamline his daily regimen, he was switched to a fixed-dose combination of empagliflozin 10 mg plus extended-release metformin 1000 mg, and now takes only 1 pill a day. He attended weekly sessions for DSME support for 4 weeks. At 3-month follow-up, his HbA1C is 6.6%, and he reports feeling energized and happy about getting his weight and T2D under control.\nEditor's Note: Skill Checkups are wholly fictional or fictionalized clinical scenarios intended to provide evidence-based educational takeaways.\nMedscape © 2023 WebMD, LLC\nAny views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.\nCite this: Romesh Khardori. Skill Checkup: A 55-Year-Old Man With Type 2 Diabetes and High A1C Level Despite Previous Treatments - Medscape - Apr 27, 2023.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Trollhunters Season 2 Dual Audio [Hindi DDP5.1-English 5.1] WEB-DL 480p, 720p & 1080p HD | 10bit HEVC ESub, Download Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Season 2 Episodes in Hindi Dual Audio, Trollhunters Season 2 Hindi Episodes Download FHD, Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Season 2 Untouched DD+5.1 Audio\nAnime Series Info\nRelease Year: 2017\nQuality: (1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p)\nSynopsis: An ordinary boy finds a magic amulet that chooses him to be a Trollhunter, a guardian that defends the world of humans and the secret world of trolls.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Union & Communion\nOur feelings of connection stem from the quality of our relationships with others. This is no less true for believers in Christ. I have many conversations with people who feel something is missing in that relationship, they may have union, but miss communion which brings that deeper sense of belonging. Union is a gift of God, but communion is often given up by believers and I want to remind you today that you can enjoy both.\nJ.C. Ryle puts it this way:\nWe must seek to know something of heart-felt, experimental communion with Him. Never, never let us forget, that “union” is one thing, and “communion” another. Thousands, I fear, who know what “union” with Christ is, know nothing of “communion.” – J.C. Ryle.\nBelievers are united with Christ by the spirit because of His great love for us. This is something God does when we are made alive in Him at salvation.\nBut because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 2:4,5.\nWe were dead in our sins and dead men can do nothing, but God made us alive in Him, which is the union we have with Him. God’s love for us never changes and is not influenced by our feelings.\nAll believers are called to work with God and in His strength to achieve His purposes. We are also invited to have a relationship with God as part of our communion with Him. Neither our works nor our feelings of closeness will effect Gods love toward us. His love is part of the union we have with him. Nothing can separate us from that love.\nFor I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38,39.\nOur communion with God is not limited to taking the lords supper. The word communion in our bible, comes from the Greek word koinonia, which means friendship, or close fellowship. We come closer to God in this when we worship Him and pray continually. We enjoy feelings of closeness to God at times and our communion is sweet. But we often fall away and feel far from God.\nI praise God that even when we walk away from Him or don’t feel so close, God’s love for us never changes toward us, thanks to the great union He brought about. His arms are always open wide and we can enjoy the heart felt love, friendship and connection which communion brings today.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Quick Definition: The mindset of not focusing on a specific result or growing attached to any outcome.\nOutcome independence is an important mindset to have when approaching pickup. Many GPUAs and newbies make the mistake of chasing after a specific outcome, such as getting a phone number or getting a close, so much that they come across as being needy. Having an outcome oriented mindset makes a PUA reaction seeking, and, when he doesn’t get the reaction that he desired, he becomes upset or disappointed.\nA better approach to take is to be outcome independent. By not caring about the outcome of any specific interaction, a PUA comes across as less needy and does not put too much pressure on a woman. This detached approach of indifference paradoxically makes women more attracted to the PUA because they don’t come across as desperate. They also become more of a challenge for the woman to win over.\nOutcome independence goes hand in hand with having an abundance mentality. By realizing that there are more attractive women than can ever be met in a lifetime, the PUA is able not put too much significance on any specific set or interaction, which allows him to relax and have fun—attractive qualities.\nAnother way to gain outcome independence is to focus on the learning experience of doing approaches, rather than any specific outcome. No matter how well or poorly a set goes, the PUA gains experience that he can learn from, and thus the value is in having done the approach, rather than the result. In this way, the PUA becomes outcome independent, and every set he approaches is reframed as a success, regardless of the outcome.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A new study has shown that young men are threatened when their female signficant others are more successful than them, ultimately triggering their fear that the partner might leave them – and it’s exactly this fear which usually gets them.\nThe researchers conducted their study, published online in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, on heterosexual couples in the U.S. and the Netherlands – though personally I’m not sure that’s really representative for other countries.\n“There is an idea that women are allowed to bask in the reflected glory of her male partner and to be the ‘woman behind the successful man,’ but the reverse is not true for men,” wrote lead author Kate Ratliff, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida.\nThe research suggests (though it’s still debatable) that men project their loved one’s success as a feeling of their own failure – something which if true, is a matter which should really be studied further.\nThe study surveyed five experiments which features 500 men and women from college campuses (again, probably not the most representative environment).\n“From a very young age, boys’ playtime interaction tends to be marked by dominance-striving,” the authors wrote. “Young girls also pursue individual goals within social groups, but tend to do so while simultaneously striving to maintain group harmony.”\n“Having a partner who experiences a success might hurt men’s implicit self-esteem because ambition and success are qualities that are generally important to women when selecting a mate,” the authors wrote. “So thinking of themselves as unsuccessful might trigger men’s fear that their partner will ultimately leave them.”\nJournal reference: Ratliff, K. A., & Oishi, S. (2013, August 5). Gender Differences in Implicit Self-Esteem Following a Romantic Partner’s Success or Failure. Journal of Personality and Social\nPsychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0033769\nWas this helpful?", "label": "No"} {"text": "When you think about dating and marriage, it is likely you think of a relationship that is based on lust and passion. Although this is not the sole kind of seeing and matrimony that can be thought of healthy or perhaps enjoyable. For starters, there are many, many different kinds of going out with and marital relationship that work well for people several and skills. Many of these relationships are even more exciting than other folks, and may involve both parties’ best interests in mind.\nThere are people that find seeing and marriage at the beginning to be hard to handle. This doesn’t mean that they need to go on a relationship adventure with someone who has practically nothing in common with them. In fact , some couples work out all their initial seeing and matrimony problems to go to things out, making alterations, and developing their romantic relationship over time. One other problem many people encounter in their dating and marital relationship experiences is usually that the time and energy which were originally put in romantically have now turned into a method to fill a void inside their lives. To combat this, some lovers make the effort to enhance their cultural lives, get involved with charity do the job, or victoria dates review improve their lives at home by making lifestyle changes.\nGoing out with and marital relationship doesn’t have being full of theatre or negativity. There are many kinds of lovers that come together to make the other person happy and make the world a better place. Just be accessible to all options that you have to offer and remember that you’ll be in this in concert. Good online dating and marriage advice is all around you, of course, if you want to make it through the various sorts of relationships that you just encounter, then have a tendency ever quit learning and growing. With the obligation tips and methods, you can build and maintain a fantastic relationship.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Day Two of this expanded blog experiment.\nI am the kind of person who likes to research something pretty thoroughly before I do it. After I have read all I can on a single subject, I throw caution to the wind and jump in, head first. Blogging is not much different. I did a fair amount of research into this blogging thing by looking at other people’s blogs. There are a lot of blogs out there, There’s a lot of advice on blogging too. But a couple of rules kept popping up about successful blogging. One of these rules came out of one of my favorite blogs.\nRule #1: Blog a lot. Post often.\nSo you can imagine my panic when I approached Day Two and I was frantically looking for material. I needed some inspiration. Where to get it?\nRule #2: Write about what you know.\nMy family. My job. My husband. I was discussing this dilemma with Juan while we were walking out of work. We were waiting at the intersection to cross the street. He kissed me. In public. Ha! Maybe a post about how he usually doesn’t like to show public displays of affection. We began walking across the street and talking about the kids waiting for us at home. Ha! A post on how anxious the boys were for us to get home since they could have their long-awaited X-Box time. As we walked towards our car, we noticed the big thunder clouds over to the North and realized we would probably have to change our date night plans. Ha! A post on how to work in a little alone time with four kids in the house. I shared these possible post ideas with Juan. He smiled and said that my ramblings reminded him of that expression, “To a hammer, everything is a nail.”\nWhich reminds me of something I read on another favorite blog.\nRule #3: Don’t blog about blogging.\nMaybe I need to do more research.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Publicly engaged scholars : next-generation engagement and the future of higher education\ned. by Margaret A. Post et al Stylus Publishing, 2016 286p bibl index afp, 9781620362631 $95.00, 9781620362648 $35.00, 9781620362655 $95.00\nThis book offers visions of the intertwining of higher education institutions with their communities and the world at large in a time when academia is taking heat for its disconnection from the real issues surrounding it. Chapters provide the case for engagement and the history of the movement to connect scholarship with collaborative community action. The book offers specific models of engagement and collaboration and describes the political and social implications of institutional change for funding, focus, and academic support for engaged scholars in research schools. Further, the title includes scenarios and case studies of scholars and schools already engaged in activities that may well be the 21st-century models for higher education. Food for thought for those looking for “next” directions in higher education. Recommended for departmental chairs and administration in humanities, psychology, education, sociology, and the sciences.\nSumming Up: Recommended: graduate students, researchers, and practitioners. Reviewer: D. D. Bouchard, Crown College Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences – Education Choice Issue: Oct 2017", "label": "No"} {"text": "A loving father finds a clown suit for his son's birthday party, only to realize the suit is part of an evil curse that turns its wearer into a killer.\nDirector: Jon Watts\nWriters: Jon Watts, Christopher Ford (XIV)\nStarring: Peter Stormare, Eli Roth, Laura Allen, Elizabeth Whitmere, Christian Distefano, Andy Powers\nA mythic and emotionally charged hero's journey, \"Dune\" tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny...View full product details\nDuring the pandemic, Parker and her best friend Miri, decide to quarantine in a luxurious lakeside cabin. Until one night when a masked intruder breaks...View full product details\nAfter the Bergens invade Troll Village, Poppy, the happies Troll ever born, and the curmudgeonly Branch set off on a journey to rescue her friends....View full product details", "label": "No"} {"text": "Although my goals will be different from yours, I thought it might make you think through your goals to see mine. The important thing is to realize we as husbands, fathers, and pastors need to be deliberate about what we hope to use our vacation time for as we are away from the grind of pastoral ministry. Here were a few of mine as we journeyed to Randall, MN to celebrate the 100th birthday party of my wife’s grandmother and visit with family. Some of these were accomplished better than others, so I will rate each of them on a scale of 1-10, 10 being well accomplished.\n1) Enjoy and serve my wife and children – 7. It is easy to get away with a focus to serve ourselves. I find it takes an effort to actually serve our families while away. It takes effort not to be thinking about what is happening back at church and allow ourselves to enjoy our families. I can’t say I accomplished this perfectly and constantly, but I had many moments this past week that I really enjoyed my family and served them at important moments in our trip.\n2) Rest my mind – 7 Even though we traveled a lot and were busy, I still felt like I received a break from the rigors of study and having to think through many difficult pastoral matters. Out of all that needs to be rested, for me it is usually my mind. Long car rides, enjoyable conversations with my wife, casual visiting with family, and playing with my kids seemed to accomplish this goal pretty well.\n3) Release the burdens – 6. A pastor may leave the office for the day, but the burdens of the ministry are always there. They are there when he goes to bed and they are usually there first thing in the morning. My goal was for even a short time, to release those burdens while gone and gladly receive them upon my return. The “gladly receiving” part has been a bit more of a challenge today.\n4) Revise the pastor’s family book – 4. My usual goal for vacation time is to read an American History book, which is my favorite leisurely reading. Unfortunately, my reading time had to be spent with a final revision of the pastor’s family book as I am to turn it into Zondervan later today. I missed my casual reading time I get very little of anyway and did not accomplish what I needed on the revision. Pray as I finish some of that work today.\nPastors should have goals and vacation is no different. Do not be rigid about them. Allow them to be a part of the natural flow of the time so your family does not feel like they are being conquered with your goals. Yet, be deliberate so this valuable time is well spent and serves its intended purpose.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Many a time, custom research papers usually come from the blue. This is exactly why you will need to ensure all your research documents are completely unique and stand out from the restof the\nSince it professional college essay writers is quite tricky to predict if research documents will be needed by customers, it is always a good idea to adhere to researching a specific topic for a longer duration of time prior to making the paper people. This will help to keep your reader’s attention. Your research papers must be related to your field and you need to keep it interesting and attractive for viewers.\nA nicely composed custom research paper gives your research papers an edge over other research papers which aren’t properly written. They’re effective at setting you apart from the crowd and bring the reader closer to a company. Keeping all these points in mind, you have to write a research document which could grab your reader’s interest and attention in the very first word.\nCustom research papers must include the details of how you have the info. It is essential that you keep how to end a paper the reader fascinated. You have to create a very different set of guidelines in regards to making an interesting paper. To put it simply, you need to ensure that you add an edge to your research papers.\nYou can take the support of a research assistant to help you in writing your research papers at an effective way. If you don’t have a research assistant, then you need to make sure that you always follow the same structure to structure a research paper.\nFor instance, you must make use of a particular format to format your own custom research papers. Your research papers must be written in a clean, easy to read, concise and conversational format. It is essential that you keep the reader reading the entire way through your research document since it is the perfect approach to create them trust and the material youhave provided.\nCustom research papers must also be composed in such a way that they can be explained in simple terms and this too needs to be explained clearly so that the reader does not become lost. It’s also essential that the reader can comprehend what the paper means.\nAnother key component which you need to take into account whilst composing custom research papers is that you need to make it as user friendly as you can. The reader has to be able to comprehend the information that you’re supplying them.", "label": "No"} {"text": "That one person’s reality is different from the reality of that of others is a commonly accepted notion. We all have different “meaning making” and “operating” systems that feel familiar and comfortable to ourselves, yet not always make sense to those around us.\nAs a result, we all handle conflict in different ways but it goes further than that as our particular “meaning making” system drives also how we see conflict and what perspectives we (can or cannot) take on it. While some people can take distance from conflict, observe it, reflect on it and respond to it others become consumed by it, are fully immersed in it and can only react within it.\nI continue to be hugely inspired by the work of Harvard Professor Robert Kegan and Dr. Jennifer Garvey Berger (coach, leadership developer, researcher and writer) around “Stages of adult development” and have integrated it into my leadership and personal transformation coaching practice. It opens up opportunities across leadership development, personal transformation and perhaps could even provide a \"lens\" through which we can better understand and therefore better work with conflicts...\nIn a nutshell, there are five stages of development or five forms of mind we travel through over a lifetime with only a small portion of adults reaching the highest form. By the way, higher is not better, just more complex and each form of mind has its strengths and limitations.\nYesterday I had a great opportunity to talk about stages of development with the leadership development team at the Inspire Group at their head office in Wellington. It was on the morning flight, being consumed by Jennifer’s “Changing on the job” book, I imagined how someone at the highest form of mind – the “Self-transformative mind” – might make meaning of conflict or what perspective they might take on it.\nThe result of that moment of imagination:\n“Conflicts evaporate when we embrace rather than suppress our emerging realisation that our differences are actually similarities waiting to find common ground.”\nTo start at the beginning, the first form of mind is that of young children, the “Impulsive mind” followed by the “Self-sovereign mind” (older children, adolescents and also some adults). With a “Self-sovereign mind” our world has become more complex and we discover that we have beliefs, feelings, interests, and needs that stay constant. While we recognize that others have beliefs, feelings, interests, and needs too, they are only important to us if they interfere with ours. We are, in this form of mind, subject to our needs – they define us and we are fixated on or fused with them and display little or no empathy.\nAs we transition out of adolescence and become good citizens of our society we shift into the “Socialised mind” way of meaning-making and operating (where most adults reside). The needs we were subject to in the previous form of mind have now become an object for our reflection and decision making. We are able to subordinate our needs to the needs of others and we become guided by the people, organizations or institutions most important to us. We become externally defined, typically through either our relationships, our intellect or our achievements, and there is no sense of what I want outside of the values, expectations, norms of those around us. We have difficulty making decisions with this form of mind when there is a conflict between the values sets, opinions or beliefs of important others.\nThe next form of mind, the “Self-authored” mind is reached by approximately 20% of adults and at this form of mind we have achieved everything the socialized mind has but now there is an “internal locus of control. We become internally defined and those external values, expectations, norms etc may influence our thinking but no longer control us. We have an internal compass that guides us through decision making and mediating conflicts whilst having the capability to empathize with others. This is the level from which highly effective leadership is created often with strong visions.\nThe highest form of mind, the “Self-transformative mind” is the domain of very few adults but at this level, we come to see the limitations of our own inner system, start to uncover and question our assumptions and recognize our biases and our own shadow. We connect seemingly unrelated contexts, spot themes where no commonality is obvious and start to explore and challenge dichotomies. We see similarities where before there only seemed to be differences. Black and white become just various shades of grey and conflicts are seen as both internal and external dynamics at play.\nIt is through having this ability to consider conflict as also an internal dynamic we might start to shape a perspective that our drive to sustain or even begin a conflict may well be because we are subconsciously suppressing an emerging realization that our differences are actually similarities waiting to find common ground. Our subconscious holding us back from ending or avoiding conflict, refusing to let go of our ego and admit to ourselves and others that when we look through the lens of similarities we have a whole heap in common.\nI wonder what the possibilities might look like when more and more people are able to make meaning and take perspective at this “self-transformative” form of mind? How might that reshape and influence our conflicts on the world stage and the ones closer to home?\nEngaging in the transformational work to shift to a higher form of mind is of benefit (albeit always comes at a cost as well) when the complexity in your life grows beyond the socialized mind’s ability to cope with it. Or when you feel a strong desire to address the internal dynamics that limit you, hold you back from a way of being or living a life you intellectually know is more desirable, fulfilling and satisfying.\nThis journey to a higher form of mind is a transformational shift as it involves not the development of more skills, the gaining of more knowledge or the development of more technical capability (although that is part of it) but rather the development of a different way of knowing, meaning making, gaining more perspective and shifting what once was “subject” to “object”.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The greatest mistake that individuals make is they wait too much time to start looking after their pores and skin. Skin ought to be thought of within the same fashion since the teeth. Do a person wait till your the teeth have cavities prior to deciding to brush all of them and make use of mouth clean? Of program not. Your skin is exactly the same. If it isn’t properly looked after, it’s likely to show. Certain, everyone age range and evolves spots, outlines, wrinkles, and dryness – it is a natural a part of life. Nevertheless, some people allow it to get free from hand. The pores and skin wrinkles all the entire entire body. Before you realize it, if you do not care for this, it’s likely to show.\nPerhaps probably the most common reasons to make use of skin maintenance systems is to maintain your pores and skin moist. Dry skin includes a higher inclination to wrinkle and be chapped. Dry skin can also be prone to become annoyed and red-colored. Oftentimes, when a person experiences dried out skin, additionally they experience itchiness, which whenever aggravated, can result in rashes, sores, as well as scarring. There are a number of skin maintenance systems available as lotion that will help to reduce dry pores and skin, heal allergy, and avoid future dryness too.\nAnother common reason people use skincare products happens because they are afflicted by a skin ailment such because acne, eczema, or even dermatitis. Luckily, these conditions don’t have to last. Acne is generally brought of all commonly through hormonal modifications and tension. Eczema is generally a condition individuals are born along with, however, it’s been known to build up suddenly within children, teenagers, and grown ups. Many people choose to visit their physician’s for prescription medicine, which might or might not work. Side effects are generally a problem and the main reason the reason why people need to discontinue their own treatment. Unwanted effects are brought on by the system’s rejection from the harsh chemicals within the treatment. The very best skin maintenance systems do not really contain manufactured chemicals, but organic substances for example sea sodium (the industry well-known remedy for a number of serious pores and skin conditions) aloe, oat meal, and other 100 % natural ingredients.\nOther compared to healing your skin, the using skin maintenance systems make your skin appear softer and more healthy. People along with nice, smooth skin possess a beautiful shine. Healthy pores and skin also enables you to feel much better about your self. No 1 ever really wants to suffer from serious pores and skin conditions, dried out skin, or even wrinkles. Taking care of the skin at this time is the easiest method to avoid any kind of problems.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Monthly Horoscopes for Taurus\nBorn April 20 to May 20\nWeekly Horoscope for Taurus by Deborah Browning:\nThis week's scenario is highlighted by your making long-range plans, seeing the big picture, and thinking about what is really important to you in the long run. The trivial details and business of day-to-day living does not dominate your attention now. Reading books or articles of an inspirational nature or on subjects of personal growth and development is very fruitful now. This is also an excellent time for business functions, negotiations, and communicating with the world at large. Right now, you are apt to attract people whose helplessness evokes your pity and compassion. Your discrimination regarding others in general is less acute, and you could be taken advantage of. Your spiritual idealism or desire to help may be misguided or excessive. On another level, there may be indiscretions and/or disappointments in a close personal relationship. Read your full weekly horoscope...", "label": "No"} {"text": "‘Big Little Lies’ Part Seven Recap: Truth Is Revealed In Heart-Stopping Finale\nIn part six of HBO‘s Big Little Lies, Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) starts realizing the magnitude of her affair, Celeste (Nicole Kidman) realizes that the abuse from her husband isn’t ending and Ziggy (Iain Armitage) won’t stop asking Jane (Shailene Woodley) about his father.\n‘BIG LITTLE LIES’ PART SEVEN RECAP\nIn quite possibly the most shocking and satisfying finale’s that I’ve ever witnessed, Big Little Lies delivers in its last episode. If you haven’t watched this show, now is the time to binge every episode in its glorifying perfection.\nThe episode begins with a distraught Celeste lying on the floor of her bathroom, she cowers in fear at the sight of her husband Perry (Alexander Skarsgård.) As he tries to console her, she tries backing away from him, clearly terrified of who she’s living with.\nMadeline watches as a car drives slowly by her house then speeds up when she looks out the window. The car clearly belongs to Tori (Sara Sokolovic,) Joseph’s (Santiago Cabrera) wife. Madeline goes to Joseph’s office to tell him about seeing Tori but he dismisses her and says “see you at the party tonight,” as if he has something planned for her.\nCeleste goes to her therapist and announces that she is leaving Perry the next day, after they attend the trivia night party tonight. A distraught Celeste is seen in her new apartment that she has fully furnished to escape with her kids.\nWhen Ziggy tries skipping school by faking sick, Jane questions his motives for not going to school. He reveals to Jane that he knows who is hurting Amabella (Ivy George.) When he says that he swore not to tell, Jane makes him point at the person who did it. He reals that the culprit is Max (Nicholas Cravetti,) Celeste’s son.\nJane meets up with Madeline to tell her the information she just learned. Madeline tells Jane that she needs to reveal this information to Celeste herself. Renata’s (Laura Dern) husband Gordon (Jeffrey Nordling) shows up at the diner to tell Jane that she needs to stay away from his wife.\nJane tells Celeste what she knows about Max and Amabella. When Celeste learns this information, Jane tries reassuring her that kids grow out of it but Celeste says that sometimes people don’t grow out of violence, referring to her abusive husband. Celeste returns home to ask her son about what she just learned, the two of them cry as he reveals it to be true.\nGordon tells Renata what he said to Jane and Renata gets upset with him for interfering with things that don’t concern him. She says that she hates everybody at that school, except Jane. Renata clearly understands Jane’s position and sympathizes with her.\nPerry tries flirting with Celeste in the shower, she plays along with his advances and kisses him but clearly has a wall built up in front of her as she prepares to leave him. As they’re readying to leave, Perry comes into the living room and tells Celeste that she has a new message from someone named Tracey, a property manager who wants to put fire alarms in her new apartment on Monday. A distraught Celeste realizes what is happening and walks slowly to the car, a look on her face that says she feels she is about to die.\nEd senses that there is something wrong with Madeline as she grows quiet at Trivia night. There is a constant stare match between Tori, Joseph, Madeline and Ed. As Ed goes up to sing his Elvis song, a distraught Madeline runs away as she realizes her horrible mistake. Jane chases her down to the courtyard near the stairs.\nIn the car on the way to Trivia Night, Perry begs Celeste to forgive him and not to leave him. He repeatedly reminds her that they are a family unit and they can’t be broken up. He locks her in the car but when Renata knocks on the door to say hello, Celeste jumps out of the car and runs away as fast as she can.\nAt Trivia Night, Celeste pulls Renata to the side and reveals that her son Max was the one who hurt Amabella. When Perry sees them whispering, he rushes over to find out what they’re talking about. Celeste refuses to tell him and trues rushing away.\nRenata follows Jane and Madeline down to the courtyard to apologize to Jane for everything that went down, after learning that Ziggy wasn’t the one who hurt Amabella. Madeline tells Renata how brave of her it was to apologize like that.\nWhen Celeste tries running away from Perry, he grabs her arm but she breaks loose and heads down to the courtyard with Jane, Madeline and Renata. Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) sees this interaction and seems worried about what’s going down, she follows Perry as he chases after Celeste.\nDown at the courtyard, Celeste tries to begin telling the girls what has been happening when Perry runs up and starts begging her to talk to him. Renata tries asking him to calm down but he lashes out and says this is between he and his wife.\nWhen Jane first sees Perry, a flashback passes through her and she realizes that Perry is the man that raped her/Ziggy’s father. Everyone’s faces are filled with pure shock as the two of them stare at each other. Perry rushes at Celeste and the show blacks out.\nThrough a scene of cops and red and blue sirens, it is revealed that Perry is dead. He’s been pushed down the stairs and impaled by the leftover construction rods.\nAs the women (Celeste, Jane, Madeline, Renata and Bonnie) talk to reporters, none of them say that Perry was killed, they all lie and say that he fell.\nIt’s revealed through flashbacks that while Perry began hitting all four women, Bonnie rushes into the scene and pushes Perry down the stairs.\nA serene ending shows everyone peaceful and together, the women clearly bonded for life over the traumatic experience they all just endured. Whether or not they will ever get over this is unsure but it is clear that these women are there for each other, each of them may have their own problems but at least they’re all safe now.\nIn what has to go down as one of the greatest episodes of television history, the only thing left to do now is to go and read the book to re-live the excitement and drama of this incredible series. Do yourself a favor and watch this show, it’s worth every single minute. I’m currently on my way to re-watch all seven episodes.\nGet the most-revealing celebrity conversations with the uInterview podcast!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Detective Miller needs your help! Set in 1950s Britain, in a world of shifting shadows and rising crime. Step into a world of intrigue and adventure, where you, the audience, must guide a tough, hard-boiled detective through the shady streets, seeking out answers. Every choice he faces is yours to make, and whatever you decide will change the way the story is told. A show packed with dynamic movement, storytelling, high stakes and tricky characters, where you, the audience, are truly in control.Note: The audience sits on backless cushioned stools that rotate to see the action.", "label": "No"} {"text": "I love running because it makes me feel healthy. Whatever the distance is, I know that I have just achieved something to improve my health and well-being. It helps me relax, de-stress, it clears my mind and I always feel happier after a run. It's an accomplishment. By encouraging and motivating our runners, I have helped them progress and be more confident. This is a major and wonderful achievement for me and now, some of the ladies are hungry for more and are working towards progressing to running longer distances.\nLearn to Run courses definitely work. I've witnessed a number of success stories where ladies have never run before but are now running continuously without the initial struggle. The three words that describe my coaching style are unpredictable, motivating and fun!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Wealth of Nations\nClaim territory, build industries, and master trade as you guide your Nation to prosperity.\nDo you have what it takes to rule the Galaxy? Engage your Hero in the battle for galactic domination! Be the first to explore space, develop technology, and control planets and you will become the Ruler of the Galaxy.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Risks Of Poor Sleep: 6 Issues That Occur Due To Lack Of Sleep\nIn this article, we’ll discuss some common health risks that can occur due to poor sleep.\nMaintaining a proper sleep schedule of 7-9 hours daily is essential for the healthy functioning of the body. A good night’s sleep refreshes you and leads to improved coordination between the brain and the body. Hence, there is a much better efficiency of the brain and improvement in body functionality.\nHeartbeat and breathing slow down when one sleeps, and the body is able to get the much-needed rest it requires. Sleep is also the time when the body recovers from the damage it has undergone during the day. Digestion and other bodily functions slow their speed during this period.\nSleep directly affects one’s physical and mental being, and if one compromises on it, it can lead to serious problems. An individual’s productivity, emotional balance, alertness, and daytime energy among other things take a serious hit. It also adversely affects your mood, immune system, brain, and heart health.\nHealth Risks Of Poor Sleep\nThere are several other health issues that one might face as a result of sleep deprivation. These range from reversible damages that can be fixed by reinstating a proper sleep cycle, to more serious chronic ones that cause a lot of concern and worry. We have curated a list of some of the most common health problems that can result from poor sleep:\nLack of sleep often results in a reduced sex drive, majorly due to sleepiness and depleted energy. One experiences an increase in stress and tension, which results in lesser interest in sex. In fact, patients with urological disorders or Erectile Dysfunction (ED) usually have an underlying sleep disorder contributing to this dysfunction.\nPoor sleep results in huge amounts of stress, and hence the brain suppresses the production and secretion of sex hormones (estrogen, testosterone, etc.), and instead releases stress hormones like cortisol. This is the major cause of sexual problems like infertility and erectile dysfunction that some sleep-deprived individuals experience.\nSleep deprivation also results in problems while conceiving, as regular sleep disruptions lead to a decrease in the secretion of reproductive hormones. Sleep apnea, a sleeping disorder, severely hampers the production and secretion of testosterone in men. This leads to decreased libido and many other sexual problems.\nSleep deprivation can influence the body’s glucose processing mechanism and is hence associated with the development of type 2 diabetes in individuals. Lesser sleep leads to an increase in one’s appetite, and one experiences cravings for sugary foods.\nThe body develops insulin resistance as a result of sleep loss, which makes it difficult for the body to utilize blood glucose. There is an increase in the production of cortisol which makes it difficult to fall asleep. This results in high blood sugar levels and often diabetes.\nIf one does not get the adequate amount of sleep required by the body, their risk of developing diabetes increases manifold. Maintaining a proper sleep cycle is one of the first things a diabetic patient is advised to do to keep their blood sugar in control.\nDepression is an illness that is often ignored by individuals and is the most common health problem people with sleep issues experience. People who are unable to sleep at night are often mentally exhausted and feel stressed, angry, and pessimistic. Factually speaking, sleep difficulties and depression are both symptoms of each other.\nLack of sleep for a long duration can play a significant role in increasing one’s risk of clinical depression. Clinical depression is a mood disorder that poses problems in trying to lead a normal life. Sleep is a restorative state, and when this is frequently interrupted, it can lead to irritability and mood-related issues.\nSleep difficulties can signify the onset of depression and are usually its first symptoms. They also tend to have the same biological features and risk factors. This can even lead to a misdiagnosis. However, often the same treatment methods can be used to combat both situations. These include various combinations of psychotherapy and pharmacological treatments.\nSleep problems directly impact the cardiovascular system, and one becomes more susceptible to instances of stroke, arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats), high blood pressure (hypertension), and coronary heart disease. When one does not get the required amount of sleep by the body, certain chemicals are activated as a result of which heart rate and blood pressure are lowered.\nPeople with sleep apnea become especially susceptible to these diseases, and hence there often arises a need for an apnea monitor (used to detect the cessation of breathing), or a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device.\nThese patients experience disruptions in breathing (or shallow breaths) while sleeping. As a result, their airways often close while sleeping which causes them to wake up frequently.\nStaying awake at odd times and having a poor sleep schedule often causes changes in one’s metabolism, which can lead to obesity. Hormones are secreted by the body as we sleep, which has an important role to play in body metabolism, glucose processing, and appetite regulation.\nSleep is an essential modulator of glucose metabolism and neuroendocrine function. In fact, poor sleep habits have been associated with metabolic and endocrine alterations, which include decreased glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, increased levels of cortisol and ghrelin, and increased hunger and appetite among others.\nInadequate sleep slows the production and secretion of leptin, a hormone responsible for informing the brain when we are full. This results in a larger amount of food cravings, especially for salty and sugary (junk) food items. Hence, there exists a prominent link between poor sleep and obesity.\nWeak Immune System\nSleep is essential for the production of antibodies and cytokines, regulating substances vital for the proper functioning of the immune system. These fighting substances are what are used by the body to ward off foreign pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and other microbes that enter the body.\nCytokines also help you sleep, thus facilitating the process of more cytokine production, and allowing your immune system more capacity to protect the body from diseases. Hence, if one gets inadequate sleep, the immune system does not get enough time to build and strengthen its forces, to prevent illnesses.\nA person having poor sleep habits does not have an immune system capable of fighting invaders and also takes longer to recover from viral infections like the common cold among other diseases. Long-term sleep deprivation also increases the risk one poses for chronic conditions. Sleep and the circadian system are strong regulators of immunological processes, and hence are closely interlinked to each other.\nRisks Of Poor Sleep: Conclusion\nThere are many health issues one might experience as a result of poor sleeping habits, mainly attributed to the weakening of the immune system they cause. These include diseases like diabetes, depression, obesity, heart, and sexual problems. Hence, in order to avoid these, one should maintain a proper sleep cycle of 7-9 hours daily.\nSeptember 18, 2020 Sam Bell", "label": "No"} {"text": "This article was originally published on Forbes.com - click here to access\nIn the strange world of the global pandemic, there is plenty of advice out there on how to be happier while working from home, be more resilient, cope with uncertainty, maximize your time in quarantine and stay productive, stop being productive and so on. Most of it is generally really good, sound advice. But something feels off. Something feels hollow and kind of untenable. If we are in uncharted territory right now, then who has the map? It’s tough to know.", "label": "No"} {"text": "On today’s episode, Rick invites Peter Sorckoff to discuss the fascinating link between behavioral science and business. They dive deep into the concept of “fandom” and how it effects the world of marketing and branding. Rick brings us another edition of “The Soapbox” and reveals one of his favorite places to eat ‘On The Road with Rick’.\nFROM THE BRIDGE\nJoin the Captain of FishBait Marketing, Rick Jones, as he sails the high seas of sponsorship, consulting, and small business marketing. Hook a line and sink in.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Chakravyuha Kannada Movie Online HD, It all begins with law minister Sadashivayya ( Abhimanyu Singh) demanding seats for his aides in a law college. But the strict principal refuses to budge. The angry minister creates chaos in the college premises resulting in the death of a student. Lohith (Puneeth Rajkumar), who is witness to the events, decides to take on the minister and his brother Omkar (Arun Vijay), who is involved in the violence. He kidnaps him and keeps him isolated in a building which is under construction. However, Omkar manages to escape. Meanwhile, the minister is arrested and imprisoned. Omkar decides to take revenge on Lohith and kidnaps his lover Anjali (Rachitha Ram). How Lohith saves the girl and takes on the goons is rest of the story.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Some articles on nutritional deficiency, deficiency:\n... consumption of alcohol accompanied by a nutritional deficiency ... The combination of all of them may result in a nutritional deficiency that is linked to the development of alcoholic polyneuropathy ... continued alcohol intake, indicating that vitamin deficiency may be a major factor in the development and progression of alcoholic polyneuropathy ...\nFamous quotes containing the word deficiency:\n“All rejection and negation indicates a deficiency in fertility: fundamentally, if only we were good plowland we would allow nothing to go unused, and in every thing, event, and person we would welcome manure, rain, or sunshine.”\n—Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900)", "label": "No"} {"text": "The american heritage history of world war ii / Stephen E Ambrose.\n- ISBN: 9781612307770 (electronic bk)\n- Physical Description: 1 online resource\n- Edition: 1.\n- Publisher: Newbury : New Word City, Inc., 2014.\nTitle from eBook information screen..\nThe American Heritage History of World War II was first published in 1966. At the time, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist C.L. Sulzberger received widespread praise for his authoritative account of the six-year war that involved more than fifty-six nations, resulted in the death of some 22 million people, and shaped the course of history. His work became a standard reference on the war.Stephen E. Ambrose, one of the most highly regarded historians of our time, oversaw a major revision of this classic work. Seamlessly incorporating new material and insights, Ambrose produced a comprehensive and riveting account of the war's key characters and events.In planes and foxholes, in deserts and jungles, on ships and beaches, Ambrose shines a light on the people involved-the leaders, the fighters, the victims. He also added new chapters on the atrocities of the Holocaust and revelations about the secret war of espionage.\n|System Details Note:||\nRequires OverDrive Read (file size: N/A KB) or Adobe Digital Editions (file size: 3939 KB) or Amazon Kindle (file size: N/A KB) or Adobe Digital Editions (file size: 3942 KB).\nSearch for related items by subject", "label": "No"} {"text": "Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is a fatty acid, primarily found in beef and dairy products, that is being shown to promote long term fat reduction and health management. Lab and clinical studies have also revealed that CLA also promotes muscle tone as well as reducing cholesterol levels and boosting metabolism.\nYou can use these to burn fat to have a healthy body. The maintenance of the fitness is possible for the people. A reduction in the cholesterol is also possible for the individuals. The promotion of the muscle tone is possible to get the best results. There is meeting of the needs and expectations.\nDiscovered by Drs Michael Priza and Mark Cook at the University of Wisconsin, Madison it has been the subject of much study into it’s ability to act as an anti-carcinogen.\nThe benefits of CLA go someway to countering the negative publicity surrounding red meat consumption due to saturated fat content. Grass fed beef and raw dairy products are great sources of CLA. In fact, a large number of diary farmers are switching from traditional grain fed cattle farming methods to a free range, all grass diet in order to enhance CLA content in the meat. The rate of grass fed beef production has been growing by around 20% for each of the last few years.\nGrass-fed cattle make CLA out of the fatty acid linoleic acid found in grass, using an enzyme in their digestive systems. Cattle that are not fed on grass will be deficient on CLA. But, other factors have been shown to contribute to reductions in CLA levels. These include:\n- Depleted soil conditions\n- The processing and refining of the meat\n- Modern agricultural practices\nAs a result of these factors most of us ingest far less CLA than our forebears. That is why researchers have been researching alternative forms of CLA supplementation. A promising initiative involves vegetable based CLA supplementation. That’s because CLA is also able to be produced from plant based sources, such as natural safflower oil. It is important to not, though, that CLA supplements may have a negative effect on the body’s insulin resistance.\nCLA is actually present in human breast milk. As we age, however, we need to CLA in from the foods we eat. As mentioned, the best sources for CLA are grass-fed meats. Other good sources include poultry, dairy, butter and eggs.\nSo, just what can CLA do for your body? The key benefits are listed below:\n- Promotes anabolism and the maintenance of lean muscle tissue\n- Promotes a reduction in body fat – studies have shown that CLSA can actually alter the way that body metabolizes fat – for the better!\n- Speeds up the metabolism\n- Reduces cholesterol levels\n- Possess antioxidant properties – it has the ability to reduce oxidation in the body\n- Inhibition of lipoprotein lipase, which further accelerates fat loss.\n- Enhances hormone sensitive lipase activity\n- Has an antioxidant effect on the body\nCLA redirects fatty acids to the bloodstream so that they can be used as a preferred energy source. By protecting against free-radical activity, CLA also help in warding off the aging process. CLA supplementation is being used by bodybuilders and strength athletes to prevent protein loss and promote lean muscle gain.", "label": "No"} {"text": "There seems to be more hype than clear understanding about digital transformation globally - about what it takes to rewire and realign core tenets such as organizational culture, leveraging digital technologies, changing operations and processes to achieve business objectives, and to drive rapid revenue growth in this digital age. But despite the hype surrounding ‘digital’, enterprises are fast recognizing its strategic importance and impact across their respective industries. Most have already begun their digital transformation journeys, some are experiencing early gains, and some have been left behind due to lack of speedy adoption by the more agile digital competitor.\nIt is certainly challenging to harness the power of digital footprint across today’s large and complex enterprises, both in terms of stakeholder buy-in and lack of clear execution roadmaps. ‘Getting digital done’, so to speak, requires new rules of engagement, from ways of thinking to ways of doing, and is contingent upon purposeful yet measured orchestration of various critical elements. It is, therefore, imperative for organizations to introspect and answer a few important questions to gauge their maturity and also the path of journey to achieving holistic digital impact. Do they have the right digital strategy? Do they have a comprehensive execution plan? How can they better serve the user? How can they need to rethink business processes constantly and react to market shifts? How can they secure and improve their asset life-cycle? The answers to these questions are critical to the journey of digitalization.\nTo answer these questions better and to understand the underlying factors that determine the success and failure of digital goals, we commissioned an independent global survey with 340 senior business and digital technology decision-makers from organizations with annual revenues of more than $2 billion. This first-of-its-kind study delves into the digital journeys of these organizations by looking at the factors that might increase or decrease the chances of successful digital outcomes - from strategic priorities to barriers in execution; from digital technology investments and deficiencies to the role of the eco-system and many more. For business leaders looking to start their own journey of digital transformation, I would advise going through the findings in our report on bringing digital to life. In addition, I have also listed below a few of the many thought-provoking insights from the survey that will resonate with CIOs and digital leaders while helping them understand their own digital state and course of action.\nDigital goals are focused on experience and efficiency: Seven out of ten (70%) respondents report that their organizations are currently utilizing their digital capabilities and technologies to improve customer experiences. Other common use is to improve operational efficiency (69%). This is not surprising or counter-intuitive as enterprises now strive to achieve greater engagement with their stakeholders and, at the same time, become leaner and more agile.\nProcess transformation lies at the core of digital consulting success: When asked about the key drivers of organizations’ future digital transformation success, close to 60% respondents chose a ‘well-defined digital process’ as their top driver. It is a clear sign that enterprises have realized the importance of gaining visibility into existing processes and then reimagining them by keeping user at the center to enable fundamental business transformation. In fact, this is why a key focus of our digital consulting practice is the transformation of traditional business processes through the digital lens to create an agile and experience-centric organization.\nOrganizations lack proper mechanism to assess digital maturity: In our study, only around a quarter (26%) of respondents describe their organizations as digitally mature and already reaping the benefits of digital transformation. Unsurprisingly, only a minority (39%) report that their organizations always use tools and frameworks to assess their digital maturity. This is where, I feel, a comprehensive framework like the Digital Technology Footprint (DTF) is required, which helps assess where you stand currently and what is required to be able to realize the true potential of digital footprint.\nEnterprises yet to realize the full potential of cloud: Despite more than half of respondents (60%) citing that ‘a well-managed cloud infrastructure’ is critical for digital transformation success, just a quarter (25%) believe that their organization is Cloud Native in terms of its cloud maturity. It clearly points to the fact that majority of the organizations still have a partial view of what cloud and digital technologies can do for them in terms of executing their strategy.\nStay tuned for many more insights as we continue to engage with global enterprises on their digital journeys.", "label": "No"} {"text": "” Tonya Raymond’s Dear God’s Daughter is a full one – it’s the real deal. This book will really take you through.” – Tony Gaskins Author, Life Coach, Speaker Dear God’s Daughter Words of True Love When False Love Fails featured on Talks With Tony – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H80xq6YwwY8\nIf you realize that any of your thoughts include skepticism, pessimism, doubt, fear, rage, bitterness, jealousy or even uncertainty, sis, you have some work to do.\nToday’s blog post “Are You Disrespecting Yourself for a Relationship Future?”, is based on years of seeing tears of broken hearted women and hearing them tell their stories of how frustrated, and upset they are with the dating process and the men who walked away from them, as though they never meant anything to them.\nIf you advertising free, for a fee, or at a reduced cost specialty for the sake of a relationship, then Queen you have just told the man that you’re with that the value you bring is not worth anything; and at that rate you want ever attract a principal man of integrity willing to give you a ring to make you his Queen.\nToday’s blog post, “Is He Emotionally Unstable?”, was inspired by real life events, which made me think about how often we overlook emotional issues in people we date that have been there from the start of our relationship, because they had emotional issues before we ever met them that were never resolved.\n~If it’s normal for the man you’re dating to have extreme and uncontrollable anger especially towards you, then you’re dating and unstable man and an unstable man can’t be trusted. So, you shouldn’t believe he loves you. ~Coach Sam\nToday’s blog post “Are You a Poor Communicator?” was inspired by an email conversation that then turned into a face to face conversation, in which to avoid arguing and continuously back and forth getting nowhere, I chose to articulate to the individual, clearly there was a miscommunication.\n~If you’re too busy to give a person your undivided attention then you should avoid responding or initiated a conversation with them because the point of communicating is to be responsive to the person you’re speaking to. ~Coach Sam\nToday’s blog post Is He Talking to Other Women? was inspired by advice I was asked to give this week. And simply put the issue was how to handle men talking to other women. So as a woman I want you to know talking to or dating a man, doesn’t make him your man!\n~If the man you’re talking to is talking to is talking to and entertaining other women, then the guy your dating is not committed to you, because the man that your dating – if he’s committed to you, he’s only going to be talking to you! ~ Coach Sam\nToday’s blog post “Are You Moving for Him?” is inspired from the countless number of women who’ve told their stories of how they packed up their life to move for a man, only to find out he wasn’t the man they thought he was and the relationship they thought they had didn’t exist.\n~When you’re dating don’t make dramatic decisions for someone who doesn’t see or value you as necessary; otherwise, you’ll end up discarded and disregarded~ Coach Sam\nToday’s blog post “Are You Too Kind to Men?” was inspired by an incident that I witnessed take place in an elevator this week. It made me think about how often many ladies dating may be going out of their way to be kind to men and not realizing that they are in fact too kind.\n~You’re kindness is kind, until it enables others to be inconsiderate of your well-being.~ Coach Sam\nToday’s blog post, “Is He Wasting Your Time?” was inspired by every woman who has ever asked me if a man was wasting their time and I had to tell them yes he most certainly is, but you don’t have to allow him to continue to do so.\n~If you allow a man to waste your time, you show him you don’t value your time and that’s costing you your life. Is he worth it?~ Coach Sam\nSo today’s blog post “Can We Talk About Mental Health?” tackles what mental health is, why it’s important, and a few resources available if you or anyone you know needs help.\n~There is freedom admitting you’re struggling with your mental health because the first step to resolving and solving any issue is to first acknowledge that it exists it’s then that we can take time to do inner reflection and seek out the help we need so we can live life healthy and whole.~ Coach Sam", "label": "No"} {"text": "Where do exorcized spirits go after being banished from the bodies they inhabit? Some say they follow the priests back to their church and make their new home there.\nYou May Also Like\nApartment concierge Cesar is a miserable person who believes he was born without the ability to be happy. As a result, he decides his mission is to make life hell for everyone around him. A majority of the tenants are easy to agitate, but Clara proves to be harder than the most. So Cesar goes to creepy extremes to make this young woman mentally break down. Things get even more complicated in this twisted relationship when her boyfriend, Marcos, shows up.\nAn aggressive race of aliens took over Planet Earth and humanity’s at its end, living in giant bunkers below ground. Young Military rookie S.U.M.1 (Iwan Rheon) is sent to the surface to save a group of unprotected survivors.\nIn this chilling sequel to 28 Days Later, the inhabitants of the British Isles appear to have lost their battle against the onslaught of disease, as the deadly rage virus has killed every citizen there. Six months later, a group of Americans dare to set foot on the isles, convinced the danger has come and gone. But it soon becomes all too clear that the scourge continues to live, waiting to pounce on its next victims.\nWhen Derek (AnDrew Seeley) moves to a new town and discovers a shortcut through the woods to his high school, he learns about a crazy old man who lives near its path: Legend has it that he abducted a group of teenagers years ago. Ignoring the warning, Derek and his friends set out to uncover the dark secret that’s buried deep in the woods. But will they survive to tell it?\nHigh school senior Lily and her group of friends live in a haze of texts, posts, selfies and chats just like the rest of the world. So, when an anonymous hacker starts posting details from the private lives of everyone in their small town, the result is absolute madness leaving Lily and her friends questioning whether they’ll live through the night.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Digital transformation for healthcare\nDigital transformation is essential in the healthcare industry as it offers many benefits, including improved patient outcomes, increased efficiency, and cost savings. Implementing intelligent automation to replace highly manual processes can prevent provider burnout and reduce revenue waste. In addition, adding augmented intelligence to existing electronic workflows can reduce errors and improve care coordination among healthcare providers.\nDigital transformation in healthcare can also help address some of the significant challenges facing the healthcare industry, such as rising healthcare costs, an aging population, and a shortage of healthcare workers.\nDigital Blue’s healthcare consulting service provides healthcare leaders with a trusted partner to improve lives by eliminating inefficiencies, increasing productivity, and improving patient satisfaction. Client benefits include; increased revenue, reduced operational cost and administrative burden, and improved quality of care.\nThe Digital Blueprint\nDigital Blue has a disciplined and proven methodology to identify and quantify the value of your top digital transformation opportunities. We blend best practices of business process analysis with proprietary tools to quickly identify the most valuable digital transformation opportunities. Our blueprint projects follow an agile approach to dynamically leverage your team of operational leaders, technologists and subject matter experts, as needed. At the conclusion of the blueprint you will have a data driven portfolio of prioritized projects that are based upon your unique strategic goals such as customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, revenue growth or cost reduction.\nAt the core of our digital transformation approach is the disciplined practice of optimizing your existing IT assets first and only introducing new technologies if they can provide a clear return on investment for your business.\nExplore our suite of consulting solutions\nSolution Spotlight- Data Aggregation for Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Data\nA tech-enabled, people-driven solution\nData aggregation is crucial for community organizations as it combines and analyzes data from multiple sources to better understand an individual’s social determinants of health (SDoH). Data factories help organizations improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by identifying significant health issues and providing targeted interventions. Digital Blue offers a tech-enabled, people-driven solution that aggregates, stores, and analyzes SDoH data, freeing up valuable staff for talent-driven work.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Revision as of 11:31, 23 November 2014 by Anahita\nBigender, bi-gender or bi+gender is the gender identity of people who identify as more than one gender, often from masculine spectrum, agender spectrum, and feminine spectrum. Sometimes their identity changes as a function of time, described as \"switching between genders\". For others, they can experience certain levels of the genders that differ from time to time.\nTransitioning for bigender people can be very difficult because their assigned gender at birth just is not inclusive enough of who they are. Because of the gender binary and cisnormativity, especialyl in the West, bigender people experience an enormous amount of pressure to conform to their assigned at birth gender. Sometimes their assigned gender is a part of who they are, but it is far from a complete picture of their identity.\nA 1999 survey conducted by the San Francisco Department of Public Health observed that, among the transgender community, less than 3% of those who were asigned male at birth and less than 8% of those who were assigned female at birth identified as bigender.\n- Schneider, M., et al. APA Task Force on Gender Identity, Gender Variance, and Intersex Conditions, 2008\n- Gender Wiki - Bigender.\n- Clements, K. San Francisco Department of Public Health, 1999.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Sleep is an important part of our lives which we need to keep ourselves active and functioning all throughout the day. Improper sleep at night leads us to wake up in the late hours and even if we do wake up late, we end up feeling tired, exhausted, full of fatigue promoting excessive daytime sleepiness and this makes us difficult to work for the rest of the day. Irregular sleep often leads to some serious consequences like narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, sleep apnea, etc. which together is known as an excessive sleep disorder. Provigil is a medicine which is used to treat this disease effectively. Provigil 200 mg is now available online and you can order and buy Provigil 200 mg online.\nWHAT IS PROVIGIL?\nProvigil is a medicine which is used as a solution to the problem of excessive sleep disorder and also enhances the cognitive functions at the same time. This medicine belongs to the group of smart drugs. Provigil is the brand version of generic Modafinil and Food and Drug Administration approved it for its easy and safe use. Provigil promotes wakefulness among persons. The half-life of this smart pill is 12 hours, i.e. after taking the medicine once, it remains active in the system and works for 12 hours in a row.\nHOW PROVIGIL WORKS?\nProvigil works by promoting wakefulness. Provigil works by blocking the dopamine transporters. It helps to treat excessive sleep disorders like sleep apnea, shift work sleep disorders, narcolepsy etc. It is also helpful in treating fatigue. Apart from these, it helps in enhancing mental or cognitive ability of a person by increasing alertness, improving concentration power.\nWHY DO PEOPLE NEED GOOD SLEEP?\nA good and proper sleep is the foundation of a healthy body and healthy mind. It helps in the proper functioning of the brain. A good sleep of 8 hours and an average of 6 hours keeps us away from various diseases like stroke, heart problems, high blood pressure, etc. there are uncountable benefits, but, let us look the benefits of sleep on the skin.\n- A good sleep hydrates our skin. When we sleep, our skin’s collagen production increases. This helps in retaining moisture which is a key to avoid dryness of the skin. A hydrated skin reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles giving a healthy and glowing complexion.\n- Repairs our skin cells. At the time of sleep, our body cells repair themselves and begin to grow in numbers. Skin deprived of good sleep doesn’t get this benefit which makes it prone to develop conditions like eczema, wrinkles, etc.\n- Helps beat blemishes. A good and proper sleep at night for 7 to 8 hours makes our complexion fresh and protects it from germs and irritants which helps to prevent acne and blemishes.\nADVANTAGES OF USING PROVIGIL\nThe following are the advantages of using Provigil as the smart drug –\n- The use of this medicine helps in an improved mood.\n- This drug provides 10 to 12 hours of wakefulness and should be taken in the morning.\n- This drug makes the patient more focused, making them more productive.\n- It is also useful in increasing and retaining cognitive function.\n- It is a boon for persons wanting to lose weight because this medicine decreases the appetite level.\n- A headache\n- Lack of appetite\n- Hypertension is some common disadvantages faced by users of this drug.\nIn some serious conditions, it may lead to liver problems, mental health issues, high blood pressure. If these conditions persist, then you should immediately consult the doctor.\nGUIDELINES YOU SHOULD FOLLOW\nYou should follow the following guidelines before using this drug –\n- Proper and effective medical prescription and consultation with the doctor is a must needed thing which you need before start using this medicine.\n- You must not recommend this drug to some other person as the problems might not be the same as yours. This may lead to side effects of the medicine.\n- Pregnant women should also be cautious before using this drug and should take the medicine only after consultation with the doctor.\n- Alcohol and other products should not be consumed with this pill.\n- If medication for some serious diseases like heart diseases, lung infection, kidney failures, liver problems are going on, then, you should not consume Provigil.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our lives, revolutionizing various industries, including education. As technology continues to advance, it is crucial to ensure that AI is developed and implemented in an inclusive manner. Building a culture of inclusivity with AI in education is of utmost importance, as it can have a profound impact on students’ learning experiences and overall educational outcomes.\nInclusive AI in education refers to the use of AI technologies that are designed to cater to the diverse needs of all students, regardless of their backgrounds, abilities, or learning styles. It aims to create an environment where every student feels valued, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential. By leveraging AI, educators can provide personalized learning experiences that address individual students’ unique needs and preferences.\nOne of the key benefits of inclusive AI in education is its ability to enhance accessibility. AI-powered tools can assist students with disabilities by providing real-time captioning, text-to-speech capabilities, and other features that make learning materials more accessible. This ensures that students with visual impairments, hearing impairments, or other disabilities can fully participate in classroom activities and access educational content on an equal footing with their peers.\nMoreover, inclusive AI can help bridge the digital divide. Many students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, may not have access to the necessary technology or resources to support their learning. By incorporating AI into educational settings, schools can provide equal opportunities for all students to access high-quality education, regardless of their socioeconomic status. AI-powered platforms can deliver educational content remotely, enabling students to learn from anywhere, anytime, and at their own pace.\nInclusive AI also plays a crucial role in promoting diversity and cultural understanding. AI algorithms can be trained to recognize and celebrate diversity, ensuring that educational materials and resources represent a wide range of perspectives and experiences. This helps students develop a more comprehensive understanding of the world and fosters empathy and respect for different cultures and backgrounds.\nHowever, it is important to acknowledge that building a culture of inclusivity with AI in education is not without its challenges. One of the main concerns is the potential for bias in AI algorithms. If AI systems are trained on biased data, they may perpetuate existing inequalities and discrimination. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that AI algorithms are developed and tested using diverse and representative datasets to mitigate bias and promote fairness.\nAdditionally, it is essential to involve all stakeholders, including educators, students, parents, and policymakers, in the development and implementation of inclusive AI in education. By incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences, we can create AI systems that truly cater to the needs of all students and foster a culture of inclusivity.\nIn conclusion, inclusive AI in education holds immense potential to transform the way we teach and learn. By leveraging AI technologies, we can create personalized learning experiences, enhance accessibility, bridge the digital divide, and promote diversity and cultural understanding. However, it is crucial to address the challenges associated with bias and involve all stakeholders in the process. Building a culture of inclusivity with AI in education is not just a goal; it is a necessity to ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to thrive and succeed.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Social justice in a criminal justice organization Essay\nSocial justice in a criminal justice organization\nTwo types of justice systems, criminal as well as social justice system, govern our society. Social justice system is for ensuring social justice to a person, where as criminal laws are for ensuring criminal justice or for punishing those who are violating these laws. But there would be circumstances in life when a criminal offense would be justified under social justice. The present paper is intended to analyze the importance as well as level to which social justice is implemented in a criminal organization.\nWhile implementing social justice in criminal justice organization it is necessary to differentiate social justice from criminal justice. The social justice system is for dealing with the people or group of people who are in need. For example, to facilitate aid to the people who are affected by poverty, to the aged people who are not getting proper care, for the children deprived of basic necessities and education etc. The criminal justice system on the other hand deals with the criminal offense done by individual or group of individuals.\nThus the only similarity in both these system is the word “justice” in them (Higham, 2006). In most of the countries there has been a tremendous increase in the number of people in the prison and the rate of growth of the prison population is increasing day by day (Robinson, 2007). Most of these cases are just the violation of a license or other small cases. Once the offender is in prison, he has to be there for a long period because of the delays in the judiciary system. This would have serious negative impact on the society as a whole as well in individual life.\nIt has been noted that social deprivation is one of the main reasons for these criminal cases. If the eligible needs and aids are provided, it is possible to reduce such crimes to a certain extent. Thus government is also playing its role in the increase of such cases. Therefore it is necessary to incorporate some aspects of the social justice system also in criminal justice system, so as to build up society rather than disrupting it (Robinson, 2007). Studies have revealed that more than half of the prisoners were homeless, did not have proper education and were unemployed before imprisonment.\nSo if they were provided basic necessities and basic education at least, these crimes could have been avoided. Drugs and poor mental health are other reasons for such crimes, which again points to social justice system. So the increase in criminal cases in the recent years is mostly because of the lack of efficiency of social justice system in the society (Higham, 2006). The criminal justice system in any society is meant for creating a peaceful atmosphere by differentiating acceptable and non-acceptable behavior and encouraging the people to adopt acceptable behavior by giving punishments to the unacceptable behavior.\nThese behaviors would be acceptable or non acceptable not only in criminal laws, but also in the eyes of the society. But in some cases when the society accepts a behavior as acceptable, the criminal justice system would not. In some other cases, when the criminal justice system views a case as non-punishable, it might be unacceptable by society. Thus social justice system contradicts criminal justice system in such cases (Falconer, 2006). According to Heffernan (2000) if a mother of a boy who is having serious heart problems commits a medical aid fraud at a time when the boy is quite normal should not be punished.\nThis is because; the mother knows that the child could become serious at any time. She wants the medical aid of the government to be made available to the child. But if she waits until the child becomes serious, she may not get the aid in time. So in order to facilitate medical aid to the diseased son, the mother is committing a mistake. In the view of the society, this is not punishable, but as per criminal laws this is punishable. Under these circumstance the society or the people lose confidence in criminal justice system.\nThus it is highly essential for the criminal justice system to be in line with the views of the society or social justice, so as to create a society in which people are tolerant and successful, where the good intentions of the people are not neglected or badly treated (Falconer, 2006). The criminal justice system has to include or consider the values considered as important by the society. Then the social justice system will be implemented through criminal justice system. This condition should prevail even in the dynamic phases of the society, which will be changing its face in one way or the other every day.\nIssues such as terrorism, diverse culture in a single society etc should never come in the way of this criminal/social justice system. Then the criminal justice system would not be viewed upon as a negative process punishing people but will be viewed upon as a positive process helping the people to actively participate in the overall development of the country. Today most of the criminal courts are dealing with a large number of cases, which are trivial in nature. The history of such cases reveals that it is straightforward and has been committed for an immediate need.\nSo the question here is whether it is right to deal with these petty cases in the same manner as big crimes. In any justice system the guilty should be punished and innocent should be freed. But the extent of court trials and punishments for small cases need not be the same as real crimes. In most cases the offender would admit his mistake easily and would be ready to accept punishments such as doing a work without payment or a fine etc. Introduction of such a system would lessen the bulk of cases waiting for court trials and would make the justice system socialized.\nIn such cases poor people who are committing mistakes out of their dare needs could be spared from severe court proceedings and punishments. Such a system would reduce the cost of court proceedings to a great extent (Falconer, 2006). Yet another advantage of socializing criminal justice system is that as soon as the mistake is committed, the punishment also could be given, which would create a fear in people’s mind not to do such mistakes or the seriousness towards laws would increase.\nSuch actions would increase public confidence in justice system, when people see that apt punishment is given for an offender in time (Falconer, 2006). An important factor that needs consideration in this system is on how to deal with a criminal who is doing the same mistake again and again. There is a need to keep track records and such offender has to be recognized and has to be dealt-with in a different manner (Falconer, 2006).\nIn order to introduce social justice in a criminal organization there is the need to establish specialists courts or pre-courts to deal with such criminal cases which are to be viewed through the eyes of the society. There needs to be separate laws for such cases. Repetition of similar offence could be directed to the usual criminal procedures. This would foster humanitarian considerations in the criminal justice system, reduce the time and cost for the court proceedings and punishments, increase public confidence and finally could reduce the crimes in a society (Falconer, 2006).\nFor the people who are drug addicts or for those who have poor mental health, instead of locking them in prison there should be arrangements to treat tem and to take them to the society as normal people who are capable of earning for themselves. Considering the fact that a vast majority of prisoners have either drug or mental problem, a policy to help them out of such situation is more important than a criminal justice system, which can only put them in prison. In this way criminal justice system could act for social inclusion rather than social exclusion.\nSo this is another aspect where social justice system has to be correlated with criminal justice system (Cook, 2006). Thus it could be seen that only when social justice system is incorporated into the criminal justice system, the crimes could be reduced and society could proper. Trivial cases generating out of basic needs and cases due to drug addiction and other mental problems should be considered separately. Such steps would reduce time and money inputs in court proceedings and would increase the public confidence in the justice system as a whole.\nSubject: Justice system,\nUniversity/College: University of California\nType of paper: Thesis/Dissertation Chapter\nDate: 17 October 2016\nLet us write you a custom essay sample on Social justice in a criminal justice organization\nfor only $16.38 $13.9/page", "label": "No"} {"text": "Change management is all about strategy. Necessary changes within the organization should be a result of consistent planning and critical decision making wherein several strategies were thought of as to how the implementation process for a certain change should be started and then maintained to keep up with the demands of the market. Fast changing environments require dynamism in all aspects of the business and these include the following:\n(a) The people – Everyone needs to commit themselves with planning, implementation and management phases of change.\n(b) The resources – All the needed materials and equipment should be made available at all times to ensure high quality end results as a by-product of work efficiency and timeliness.\n(c) The culture – Learn new strategies and behaviors that will positively impact the business and unlearn old ones.\n(d) The processes – Keep effective processes but constant innovation is also needed for further improvement.\n(e) The systems – Upgrade resources and applications whenever necessary.\nStrategic approaches for change management vary depending on the needs of the business and organization as a whole. There are certain aspects that should be kept, especially those that were proven effective through the years. But then again, thinking of better ways to improve the current process will also be beneficial. Empowering people is one good strategy. Giving qualified personnel the capability of making decisions also means delegating responsibilities and encouraging them to think of better ideas and make some recommendations whenever applicable. Having an open communication will also break barriers and certain conflicts will then be minimized. There are some key elements that should be considered and in the long run, will establish goals for growth, development and continued success.", "label": "No"} {"text": "LAHORE: (Showbiz Desk) Explaining the meaning of bold woman, actress Ayesha Omar of Pakistan Film and TV Industry said that society has changed the meaning of this word. In my view, bold woman means brave and independent woman.\nAyesha Omar recently attended Meira Sethi's web show where she talked about her private life and current society.\nReferring to the society, he said that patriarchal system is prevalent in our society, in this system people try to prevent women from having their own opinion, not being brave and not making decisions on their own.\nAyesha Omar said that in patriarchal society people think that a woman or a girl should be scared.\nExplaining her point, she said that a woman should not be strong as an individual, so some people call a brave and independent woman bold.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Amethyst Pink / Lavender - has a unique combination of color, transparency, and beauty. Pink is the color of the heart - everything that has to do with love, soothing feelings, and kindness. Amethyst is a spiritual healing stone, and Pink Amethyst opens the spiritual heart to cultivate your feelings of compassion, deepens relationships with friends and lovers, attracting Soul like connections. Pink Amethyst encourages you to express yourself and be open to others, promotes unconditional love and compassion. It heals old and new trauma, from this lifetime and past lives, heals and releases the inner child.", "label": "No"} {"text": "|Hema Malini Nude Xxx Hot||Women Pissing In Pantees Naked|\nThoughtful girl and boy in bed. Thoughtful girl with long hair and boy in bed Cheerful naked baby boy playing on bed with pillows. Portrait of cheerful naked baby boy playing on bed with pillows Girl and boy looking at each other in bed. Naked lovers on the violet sheet.\n|Xxx Xl Girls Singal||Hot Amateur Girl Thong|\nEverybody loves playboy girls, so this site will be your best daily source for hottest and sexiest naked play boy women! Get ready to see a thousands of high .\n|Puerto Rican Women Hardcore Sex||Huge Cream Pies In Pussy|\n|Orbit Girl In A Porno||Chelsea Lately Hairy Pussy|\n|Naked Perv Teen Girls||Teen Hanging Breast Large|", "label": "No"} {"text": "According to recent medical research, chocolate has marvelous benefits for the human body. Who in their right mind did not know this? As a subscriber to the Old England Journal of Homemade Cures and Potions, I have known for a very long time that the consumption of chocolate carries with it healthy advantages. For years, this journal carried many delicious articles touting the benefits of chocolate. And I have eaten it all up not to mention several boxes of chocolate.\nThis introduces me to a disturbing thought. I’m grateful for the advancement of modern medicine and science but what I want to know is simply this: if the medical world was mistaken about chocolate, what else are they mistaken about? Could it be that my long-time suspicions about broccoli are right? Has the medical world, which boasted for years about the dietary benefit of broccoli, been wrong all these years?\nWith recent discoveries, I think this is a real possibility.", "label": "No"} {"text": "She slips off Cadence's panties and then her own, and slides along the backside of her body. Then she flips her over and soaks her soft skin with oil. She massages her pectorals and spreads her legs. Slowly she lowers down to face her pussy. Using her lesbian mouth, she makes her orgasm, saying it's the best form of relaxation. Brett climbs over Cadence and tribs her wet pussy. Cadence swivels around and licks Brett's clit, then Brett rides Cadence's tongue till she cums in her mouth. Brett fingers another orgasm from Cadence's sweet cunt!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Chief Minister and party’s deputy co-ordinator Edapadi K.Palansiwami and Deputy Chief Minister and party coordinator O. Pannerselvam today extended their heartfelt greetings to the Tamil Nadu people on the occasion of Deepavali being celebrated on Tuesday.\nLegend has it that Lord Tirumal with his consort destroyed Narahasura, the demon on this day and brought peace and happiness to all.On this day people wake up early in the morning, take oil bath and wear new dresses after which they pray to the Lord with sweets and savouries for their well being. Bursting of crackers to express their joy has been the highlight of the festival. In some places oil lamps are lit in a row in their homes. It also provides an occasion to exchange pleasantries with neighbours and near and dear. Prevalence of the good over the evil is the ultimate significance of the festival.\nLet this day herald prosperity and happiness to all, Palaniswami and Pannerselvam added.\nGovernor greets: Governor Banwarilal Purohit greeted people on the eve of Deepavali.\nIn his greetings message Banwarilal Purohit said, “Deepavali the festival of lights is a day of rejoicing and joy . People in all parts of India, young and old alike celebrate the festival with gaiety and festivity.\nOn this auspicious occasion I extend my heartiest greetings and best wishes to the people of Tamil Nadu. May this Deepavali bring light and cheer in all our families and may we brighten the lives of others just as the lamps we light, brighten up the ambience.”\nPrince of Arcot: The Prince of Arcot, Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, has extended his Deepavali greetings to his Hindu brethren and wished them all happiness and long life.\nIn his message, the Prince said, may the festival of lights brighten their homes throughout the year and many, many more years to come. Deepavali symbolises the triumph of good over evil and right over wrong.\nThe common message of all faiths should promote communal harmony, respect to each other’s religion, tolerance and fraternal solidarity among people belonging to all communities.\nLet us remember that we are part of humanity, with all its rich diversity of religions, languages, cultures, traditions and experience, and our secular country, India, forms a large microcosm of the contemporary world, the Prince added.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Anal fissure or fissure-in-ano is a common proctologic disease. Although seemingly trivial, it can lead to extreme discomfort and pain. The condition is usually noticed as a small drop of blood on the toilet paper or a streak of blood on stools. One may feel itchy in the area. An acute fissure can lead to intense pain during defecation as there is a tear in the skin around the anus. The anal skin has a rich nerve supply, therefore even a small tear causes extreme pain. Many people describe it as a sharp, intense, burning pain, making it very uncomfortable to sit down. A patient suffering from fissure dreads even the thought of going to the toilet. Slightly more common in females, fissures are often found in young adults. When a fissure becomes chronic, pain may be less but it may be associated with a sentinel pile or an anal papilla which is felt like a small piece of extra skin in the area.\nHome remedies for an acute fissure include taking a Sitz bath, applying olive oil/coconut oil/ghee, consuming 1-2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar and taking a fiber-rich diet to keep the stools soft. Many a times, an acute fissure heals on its own. However, in case it doesn’t heal in 4-5 days or if you have a chronic fissure, it’s best to visit a Proctologist.\nInjection of Botox is a popular non-surgical option to treat chronic anal fissure. Most people have at least some relief in pain with it. It is effective in almost 60-70% cases and can be easily repeated after 6 months. There is a chance that in a small percentage of people it might not be effective and in that case other treatment options need to be considered. Lord’s Dilatation is an old method of treatment where the anal sphincter is manually stretched to relax the spasm. However, it is no longer favoured due to high rates of fecal and flatus incontinence. Partial Lateral Internal Sphincterotomy ( PLIS/LIS ) is commonly used to repair a fissure. The procedure helps by lowering the resting pressure of the internal anal sphincter. With the advent of Laser, the treatment of chronic fissure has moved in its favour. The procedure is called Laser Sphincterotomy ( LSP ) and is almost bloodless. Additionally, the chronic fibrosed scar is debrided with the laser. This prevents any long-term discomfort and enables a quicker recovery.\nOur team of doctors spell out different treatment modalities, so that patients can take well-informed decisions about which treatment to opt. Having worked in the field of colo-proctology for years, our surgeons have immense experience and expertise under their belts. So, for someone suffering from an anal fissure or any other anorectal problem like piles, fistula or constipation, our advice would be to be wise and see a Proctologist.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Best Health and fitness are always the priority of human civilization, especially in today’s time, when sports, dieting, gyming etc., are common names associated with the modern fitness revolution. Most people use dietary supplements not only to gain or to lose weight but also helps in meeting the minerals, vitamins and nutrient requirements for our body. And these health supplements can be available in any form, such as powders, tablets, juices and capsules etc. supplements have gained much popularity because of the low quality of food, and most people do not have enough time for cooking and eating. ProBuilder is one of the leading online supplement stores that brings you various supplements and the best fitness products for any purpose. Like a coin, supplements also have both advantages and disadvantages, which can cause unavoidable results to your body due to excessive use. Let’s take a look at the benefits of supplements are mentioned below-\n1.Important Mineral Supplements – Minerals are essential for the sound body, and you must maintain a certain level of minerals in the blood:\n- Iron supplements – Iron supplements are essential for muscle strength and maintaining the blood level in the body, and it also helps increase the concentration power and boost immunity. You can easily find iron supplements in our supplements store and reduce the risk of anaemia (iron deficiency). Generally, iron deficiency is commonly seen in Women’s bodies due to their monthly cycle and childbirth.\n- Calcium supplements – calcium supplements are essential for healthy bone, muscle and teeth. One of the significant benefits of calcium supplements is, they also help in losing weight. People with low calcium powers have to face several issues such as weak teeth, improper heartbeat, and other health issues.\n2.Vitamin supplements- Proper vitamins are crucial for the overall growth of our body. Some of the vitamin supplements are:\n- Vitamin A- Supplements of vitamin A are necessary for good vision and helps in the proper functioning of our body.\n- Vitamin C and E supplements- Vitamin E itself is considered as the skincare ingredient which prevents allergies & infections. When it is clubbed with vitamin C, they together are effective in avoiding photodamage.\n- Vitamin D supplements- Vitamin D health supplements online are beneficial for diabetes management, immunity, nervous system, bones and also support lung systems.\n3.Fatty Acids– Health supplements of Fatty acids such as Omega 3, 6, and 9 accessories are helpful for cardiac Health, healthy skin and hairs, safe pregnancy, and beneficial proper cholesterol level in the body. A recent survey stated that omega three is proven best for athletic performance and pre-workout training recovery.\n4.Carbohydrate supplements- Recent survey stated that omega three is proven best for athletic performance and pre-workout training recovery. Health supplements online have fruitful results if you know how to consume them with the proper dose.\n5.Proteins and acid supplements- Several protein supplements are available at any store in the market, including whey protein, pea, soy, and blend protein. These supplements help gain strength and muscle and weight loss products and gain, increase immunity power, healthy skin and hairs and other beneficial nutrients. The amino acids aid in the quick recovery of muscles.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The global water-based inks market is poised for significant growth, with a projected CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period. The market, valued at $11.6 billion in 2021, is primarily driven by the rising demand for environmentally friendly inks, particularly in developing nations. The use of water-based inks helps in reducing hazardous waste production, making them an attractive option for various industries.\n- The water-based inks market was valued at $11.6 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period.\n- Environmentally friendly nature, reduction in hazardous waste production, and increasing demand in developing nations are driving the growth of water-based inks.\n- Environmentally Friendly Inks: The demand for water-based inks is rising due to their environmentally friendly nature. These inks help in reducing hazardous waste production and align with growing environmental and safety concerns.\n- Rising Demand in Developing Nations: Developing nations, especially in Asia and North America, are witnessing an increasing demand for water-based inks. The adoption of these inks is driven by the need for environmentally friendly alternatives.\n- E-commerce Packaging: The expansion of the e-commerce sector is contributing to the demand for water-based inks used in packaging. As e-commerce continues to grow, the need for suitable packaging solutions is driving the market for these inks.\n- UV-Cured Inks: While water-based inks have their advantages, UV-cured printing inks offer quicker drying times and lack volatile organic compounds (VOC). As a result, UV-cured inks are emerging as a preferred alternative to conventional inks.\n- Slow Drying and Printing: The slow drying and printing speed of water-based inks, along with limitations in alkaline environments, can hinder their widespread adoption in certain applications.\n- Asia Pacific: The Asia Pacific region dominates the water-based inks market, driven by countries like China and India. The rapid economic growth, foreign direct investments, and expanding packaging and consumer products industries are contributing to market growth in this region.\n- Companies like Flint Group, Siegwerk Druckfarben AG & Co. KGaA, DIC Corporation, Sakata Inx, T&K Toka, and Toyo Ink S.C. Holdings are leading players in the water-based inks market, contributing to innovation and growth.\nGlobal Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2023-2030 By Product, Technology, Grade, Application, End-user, Region: (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa) https://www.fairfieldmarketresearch.com/report/water-based-inks-market\nPrinting Inks Market\nEnergy Drinks Market\nVegetable-Based Inks Market\nFairfield Market Research is a UK-based market research provider. Fairfield offers a wide spectrum of services, ranging from customized reports to consulting solutions. With a strong European footprint, Fairfield operates globally and helps businesses navigate through business cycles, with quick responses and multi-pronged approaches. The company values an eye for insightful take on global matters, ably backed by a team of exceptionally experienced researchers. With a strong repository of syndicated market research reports that are continuously published & updated to ensure the ever-changing needs of customers are met with absolute promptness.\nFairfield Market Research\nUK +44 (0)20 30025888\nUSA (Toll-free) +1 (844) 3829746\nThis press release first seen on Brilad", "label": "No"} {"text": "Estimated Shipping Date: Autumn, 2022\nAbout the game\nReturn once again to classic monster catching and experience the complete Nexomon story with two epic adventures in one!\nBattle and tame hundreds of Nexomon! With more than 600 Nexomon from nine elemental types to discover through wild encounters and level-based evolution, creating a team that matches your playstyle is effortless.", "label": "No"} {"text": "It’s been a week since I arrived in Turkey. Remember the collaboration I mentioned in my last blog post? This is one of the reasons why I’m visiting Turkey at such a time. Also, it doesn’t hurt to tour around and visit my favorites spots too, hehe.\nAn entrepreneur constantly searches for new opportunities to expand. Work doesn’t stop at a certain day or time and that’s why I sometimes have to stop writing and posting as I used to. After some time from running all over the place, I get tired that I just want to rest without doing a single thing. But that rest gets cut shortly because originally I’m a workaholic so I cannot sit for an hour without reading or at least writing.\nKeeping yourself busy is good but it depends on what you’re keeping yourself busy with. We seldom think clearly about our own capabilities and what good we can do for us and others. But once you set up your own thinking on this, a lot of things will be aligned in front of you. It’s not easy. Especially today with social media, we can easily get caught up in others’ lives and wish to live a happy life too but we forget that what we see is just a glimpse not the whole life of a person. If you wish to live a happy life, take few days off from social media and you’ll remember how life is wonderful and how you can enjoy your time without heavily relying on social media to have fun. I tried it and I instantly felt how much I missed real life.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Beautiful boots, but too short!\nReviewed by Boings from New York on Friday, January 6, 2017\nThese are nicely-made boots. I ordered them in black,and they're even nicer in person than in the photo. Unfortunately, they ran about 1/2 size too short for me, and the heel was too wide--my narrow heel slipped in even the too-short boots. The front was narrow, though, and perfect for narrow feet. They seem like they are well-made and sturdy, if you can find a good fit!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Bizantium and the Northern Islands™\nTo the civilized world, Bizantium and the waters and lands around it are frightening. A realm of sea serpents, monsters and barbarians. To the heroes and people who live there, it is a realm of adventure and opportunity. Discover for yourself the wonders that await.\nThe Waterchanter, Serpent Chaser, Necromancer and other character classes.The... [click here for more]\nMysteries of Magic™ Book One: The Heart of Magic™Adventure sourcebook for The Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Second EditionThe Heart of Magic™ delves into the history, secrets and mysteries behind Wizardry and spell casting, with never before revealed details and insight. It also touches upon Warlocks, Cobbler Goblins and Priests, and presents information about... [click here for more]\nThis is a sneak preview of The Rifter® #80.\nThis sneak preview includes the front cover, credits, contents, Coming Attractions, a Palladium Product Checklist, an excerpt from the Wayfarers article for the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, an excerpt from House of the Red Sands for Splicers®, and excerpts from Chaos Earth Nebraska, Part... [click here for more]\nThis is a sneak preview of The Rifter® #81.\nThis sneak preview includes the front cover, credits, contents, From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda, Palladium News, Coming Attractions, an excerpt from Gnomes: Undersized and Underestimated for the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, an excerpt from Hitting the Streets with the Super Sleuth for Heroes Unlimited™,... [click here for more]", "label": "No"} {"text": "Title Fruits of the Heart\nDirector Coke Daniels\nTime 90 minutes\nCountry United States\nWendy Raquel Robinson, Dorien Wilson, Cocoa Brown\nClifton Powell,Brad James, Lil Mama,Dawn Halfkenny\nFruits of the Heart is a family dramedy, which follows the epic tale of a mother and her daughter. ...\nThey become more than mother and daughter; they become best friends.", "label": "No"} {"text": "How does this inspire you? At first, I felt inspired to rescue/adopt children, as this family has. And then I thought of all the reasons that I could never do that. And then I thought of how my life has just as much meaning, but my calling is different. And THEN I thought of how a video like this could totally change how my kids relate to each other, and to their siblings. I will definitely be showing it at our next family meeting!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Home / Lectures.Other Sciences / Seerah - Pearls from the life of Prophet (saw)\nSeerah - Pearls from the life of the Prophet (saw)\nTopic: Other Sciences\nDuration/Lessons: +2hrs / 4 lesson\nCourse Text: Various books of Seerah\nAbout: The life of Prophet Muhammad (saw) has many pearls of wisdom that we as humans can learn from. Shaykh Atabek pulls out some small stories from the life of the Prophet (saw) and explains the wisdoms they hold.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In the dynamic landscape of technological innovation, the marriage of artificial intelligence (AI) and skincare represents a fascinating convergence of science and beauty. One brand, in particular, has caught the attention of consumers by adopting a metaphorically themed Artificial Intelligence Skincare approach. While the name may suggest the inclusion of AI ingredients, it is essential to clarify that the brand uses this metaphor to symbolize its commitment to cutting-edge technology, precision, and forward-thinking. This article will explore the trust in AI, the metaphorical theme of the skincare brand, the ingredients used, and the broader implications of technology in the beauty industry.\nTrust in AI:\nThe increasing reliance on artificial intelligence and automated systems in various industries stems from the acknowledgment that machines operate based on structured algorithms, devoid of human flaws and emotions. In fields such as food production, precision agriculture, quality control, personalized nutrition, supply chain management, and customer experience, AI has proven its ability to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and reduce errors. The trust in AI lies in its capacity to consistently perform tasks with precision, without the influence of subjective factors that may impact human performance.\nMetaphoric Themed AI Skincare Brand:\nThe metaphorically themed AI Skincare Brand positions itself as an operating system dedicated to learning and understanding its prospects and future targeted customers. This branding strategy leverages the positive associations with AI, emphasizing reliability, precision, and forward-thinking in its approach to skincare. While the brand does not incorporate actual AI or robotic ingredients in its products, the metaphor serves as a symbol of its commitment to innovation and staying ahead in the competitive skincare market. It promises to be at the forefront of the industry, utilizing the latest advancements in science and technology to provide the best possible products for its consumers.\nTrust in Technology:\nIn the beauty and skincare industry, trust is paramount. Consumers are increasingly drawn to products that align with technological advancements, seeking innovative solutions that go beyond traditional formulations. The metaphorical integration of AI principles in skincare allows the brand to tap into this desire for progress and align itself with the zeitgeist of the digital age. By positioning itself as a beacon of the future, the brand not only captures consumer attention but also signifies a commitment to pushing the boundaries of conventional skincare.\nIngredients and Innovation:\nDespite the metaphorical theme of AI, the skincare products offered by this brand do not contain actual AI components or robotic ingredients. Instead, the metaphor serves as a representation of the brand’s dedication to innovation and progress. Current ingredients in their products include a carefully curated selection that prioritizes natural, effective, and science-backed elements. These ingredients, while not AI-based, are chosen to deliver optimal results and cater to the diverse needs of consumers. The brand places emphasis on the research and development of formulations that harness the power of nature and science, reflecting a commitment to efficacy and safety.\nThe Intersection of Beauty and Technology:\nThe metaphorical use of AI in skincare reflects a broader trend in the beauty industry, where technology is increasingly intertwined with traditional practices. From augmented reality beauty apps to personalized skincare algorithms, the beauty landscape is evolving to meet the demands of a tech-savvy consumer base. Brands that embrace these technological advancements position themselves as leaders in the industry, appealing to consumers who seek not only aesthetic benefits but also an immersive and advanced beauty experience.\nConsumer Expectations and Experience:\nAs consumers become more discerning and informed, their expectations of skincare products extend beyond mere aesthetics. They seek a holistic experience that includes innovation, transparency, and a sense of connection with the brand. The metaphorically themed AI Skincare Brand recognizes this shift in consumer expectations and strategically positions itself as a brand that understands and anticipates these needs. The emphasis on technology and the metaphorical integration of AI creates a narrative that resonates with consumers looking for products that align with the values of progress and sophistication.\nEthical Considerations and Transparency:\nWhile the metaphorical theme adds a layer of intrigue and innovation to the brand, ethical considerations and transparency remain crucial in the beauty industry. Consumers are increasingly conscious of the ingredients in their skincare products, demanding transparency and ethical sourcing. The brand must ensure that the metaphorical theme does not overshadow the importance of clear communication about the actual ingredients used. Transparency in formulations, ethical sourcing, and sustainable practices contribute to building trust with consumers who are not only concerned about the efficacy of products but also the impact on the environment and ethical standards.\nChallenges and Opportunities:\nThe integration of technology, even in a metaphorical sense, presents both challenges and opportunities for the AI Skincare Brand. On one hand, the brand benefits from the positive associations with AI, tapping into the zeitgeist of innovation. On the other hand, managing consumer expectations, ensuring transparency, and maintaining the balance between metaphor and reality pose challenges. However, these challenges also present opportunities for the brand to differentiate itself in a competitive market by becoming a pioneer in transparent communication, ethical practices, and cutting-edge formulations.\nIn the intersection of beauty and technology, the metaphorically themed Artificial Intelligence Skincare Brand stands as a symbol of progress and innovation. While it does not incorporate actual AI or robotic ingredients, the metaphor allows the brand to position itself at the forefront of the skincare industry. Through a commitment to transparency, ethical practices, and the integration of advanced formulations, the brand exemplifies the evolving landscape of beauty in the digital age. As consumers continue to seek products that align with their values and desire for progress, the metaphorically themed AI Skincare Brand represents a promising vision of the future – where technology and beauty seamlessly coexist, offering cutting-edge solutions for the ever-evolving needs of skincare enthusiasts.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語, Kaguya-hime no Monogatari) is a 2013 Japanese animated fantasy drama film produced by Studio Ghibli, co-written and directed by Takahata Isao (高畑 勲)\nA bamboo cutter named Sanuki no Miyatsuko discovers a miniature girl inside a glowing bamboo shoot. Believing her to be a divine presence, he and his wife decide to raise her as their own, calling her “Princess”. The girl grows rapidly and conspicuously, marveling her parents and earning her the nickname “Takenoko” (Little Bamboo) from the other village children. Sutemaru, the oldest among Kaguya’s friends, develops a close relationship with her.\nMiyatsuko comes upon gold and fine cloth in the bamboo grove in the same way he found his daughter. He takes these as proof of her divine royalty and begins planning to make her a proper princess. He relocates the family to the capital, forcing her to leave her friends behind. She finds herself in a mansion, replete with servants. She is also saddled with a governess who is tasked with taming her into a noblewoman. She struggles with the restraints of nobility, arguing that life should be full of laughter and struggle.\nWhen the girl comes of age, she is granted the formal name of “Princess Kaguya” for the light and life that radiates from her.\nOn the night of the full moon, a procession of celestial beings descends from the Moon, and Miyatsuko is unable to stop it. An attendant offers Kaguya a robe that will erase her memories of Earth. Kaguya begs the attendant to grant her a last moment with her parents.\nThe attendant assures her that upon returning to the Moon, she will be free of Earth’s impurities. Kaguya rebuffs her, saying that Earth is full of wonder and life. The attendant then drapes the robe around Kaguya, and she appears to forget about her life on Earth. The procession ascends to the Moon, leaving Miyatsuko and his wife distraught, as Kaguya looks back one last time with tears in her eyes.\nIt’s a beautiful movie, and it will leave you at a loss of words…", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Expert Networks industry has contracted over the past five years and is expected to continue its decrease in the five years to 2016. This decline is a result of an increase in insider-information lawsuits that occurred at the outset of the period. Specifically, clients pulled back their usage of industry services due to regulatory uncertainty and increased government oversight. However, with the US economy and markets accelerating, there has been a notable increase in industry demand. The next five years are expected to be brighter for the industry. While the high-profile cases of 2011 and 2012 put the industry under scrutiny for insider-trading activities, industry operators have since invested significant amounts of capital on establishing better compliance standards. The influence of these factors is expected to cause industry revenue to increase in the five years to 2021.\nCompanies in this industry act as intermediaries between industry experts and entities that need industry expert information.\nThis report covers the scope, size, disposition and growth of the industry including the key sensitivities and success factors. Also included are five year industry forecasts, growth rates and an analysis of the industry key players and their market shares.\nLearn how to effectively navigate the market research process to help guide your organization on the journey to success.Download eBook", "label": "No"} {"text": "In my last article Are You Ready To Shed Your Past I explained how scientific evidence has shown that early parental care is crucial in forming who we are. You may even keep falling for the wrong type of person.\nFactors such as our gender, our position in the family, our looks, and the messages we received from our parents and other authority figures, impact greatly on our self-confidence, our intelligence and even our relationships.\nHow we react to our friends as well as who we pick as a lover, our abilities and interests at work, in fact almost everything about our psychology as an adult is continually reflecting our childhood in our day to day, moment by moment experience.\nIt has been shown in recent experiments that when we meet someone new, we impose preconceptions upon them based upon our childhood relationships. Unwittingly, we confuse them with characters from the drama that was once our family life. The stranger’s name, their way of talking, how they look, any one of hundreds of tiny details can trigger memories from the original family script which we then impose on to that new person.\nNot only do we relate to our intimates guided by childhood narratives and roles, the experiments suggest that we even get these people to behave in the ways we were used to back then. Whether we were seen as the sweet, lovable one or the black sheep of the family, we go out and find people who see us that way. So, if we found a parent domineering, we may cause a new person, who resembles them, to behave like that too, by baiting them or encouraging them to control us. The implication is that the sort of people we get close to are the ones whom we can persuade – all done unconsciously – to play the role we demand of them from our past.\nNo wonder it’s so hard for us to find the right lovers and close friends. We keep falling for the wrong type! We first require them to fit our childhood scripts and then in order for the relationship to work we must fit into their unconscious storylines a well.\nWe unconsciously choose a partner for the purpose of healing childhood wounds. In simple terms this means that the unconscious purpose of marriage/relationships is to complete our childhood and to heal one another of childhood wounds – that is why we seemingly keep falling for the wrong type.\nWhen we fall in love, we see the other person as a mirror image of ourselves. This romantic stage doesn’t last, it’s as if the scales have fallen from our eyes and we see our lover, warts and all. We might begin to have negative feelings such as anger, despair, resentment, pain and sadness. When this happens, we begin to question whether we have made the right choice.\nThis second phase of the relationship is what we call the power struggle. This is also unconscious and couples will perhaps fight, live parallel lives of discontentment – maybe seeking comfort and/or distraction in work, addictions, affairs and live a life of convenience – be it financial or for the sake of the children. This can lead to separation or divorce, but this is not the answer; You can get rid of the partner, but you take the problems into the next relationship.\nIt makes perfect sense to me that you might ask how do you work through childhood wounding and enjoy a happy relationship?\nI have been trained in an approach to couples and family counselling which equips people with the tools to move beyond the power struggle.\nThe theory explains why we are attracted to certain people and the role of conflict in a relationship. It also helps us to see how past experiences impact on our present relationships.\nThe core skill of Imago Relationship Counselling is the Imago dialogue which facilitates connection, understanding and deep intimacy when the couples will experience that “falling in love” sensation all over again.\nTypically, the usual models of relationship counselling involve a couple talking about their problems – they dissect, apportion blame and look for solutions. There are often negotiations, compromises and agreements which are often a band-aid over the real issue. Imago relationship therapy helps a couple to understand each other so that they begin to have a more empathic connection to each other, and the problems and issues will dissolve.\nCouples who attend the sessions will learn skills that will help them to identify the real cause of conflict, how to work through it and transform their relationship.\nIf you want to know more about learning skills to develop a deeply connected relationship book a free 30 minute session with me so that I can get an understanding of how I can help you.", "label": "No"} {"text": "King Hussein of Jordan: A Political Life\nKing Hussein of Jordan ascended the throne in 1953, at the age of seventeen. He inherited a country that was riven with instability; the entire Middle East was in disarray following the 1948 war and the creation of Israel, and across the region traditional regimes were being overthrown by Arab nationalists. In this absorbing biography Nigel Ashton tells how Hussein managed not only to survive but to flourish in the half-century that followed. Clever political management enabled him to thwart the numerous threats to his life and kingdom, and his charm and diplomatic savvy made him a favourite in the West. Most strikingly, he conducted a covert dialogue with Israeli leaders for more than thirty years, culminating in the historic 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. Ashton has had unique access to Hussein's private papers, including his secret correspondence with US, British, and Israeli leaders, and has conducted numerous interviews with members of Hussein's circle and immediate family. The resulting book brings new depth to our understanding not only of the King himself but of the entire Middle East during the second half of the twentieth century.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Daytime Soap Opera Short Recaps\nRecap written by Eva\nLucy texts Heather to go over to Daniel’s apartment because she is the only one who knows how to make the perfect grilled cheese. Heather arrives at Daniel’s apartment and, since they don’t have any cheese, they decide to have peanut butter and banana sandwiches and hot chocolate. Lucy goes to bed after dinner and Heather tells Daniel she is falling in love with him again.\nChance and Summer have dinner. After dinner, Chance tells Summer they should have dinner again soon.\nLauren tells Nikki to call her anytime she needs help and can’t find her sponsor Seth. Nikki promises Lauren she is working hard to regain her sobriety.\nPhyllis puts on a bra and panties and, then, a long coat and goes to meet Danny at the jazz lounge. Phyllis asks Danny to play the song she inspired and then she posts the song on social media. Christine sees the song and goes to the jazz lounge. Phyllis tells Danny to stop pretending he feels nothing for her and then kisses Danny. Christine walks in and sees Danny and Phyllis kissing each other.", "label": "No"} {"text": "I love how the light leaks through in the morning. You perfectly captured that feeling- so lovely.\nWow - A Rainbow popped out in your world!!! Lovely!!!\nJust beautiful! I love the sun shining through, and all the light, the delicious light. I love the idea of you amongst all that loveliness, leaning forward, focusing, taking note. That, to me, is the most beautiful thing of all. The image in my mind of you, pausing. Taking note. Then giving us some of that warm, good energy. What a lovely gift. Thank you!\nBeautiful pictures! And I love the quote :)\nPost a Comment", "label": "No"} {"text": "\"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Eloctate, Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), Fc fusion protein, for use in adults and children who have Hemophilia A. Eloctate is the first Hemophilia A treatment designed to require less fre\"...\nThe following serious adverse reactions associated with PROMACTA are described in other sections.\n- Hepatic Decompensation in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]\n- Hepatotoxicity [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]\n- Thrombotic/Thromboembolic Complications [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]\n- Cataracts [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]\nClinical Trials Experience\nBecause clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.\nChronic Immune (Idiopathic) Thrombocytopenia\nIn clinical trials, hemorrhage was the most common serious adverse reaction and most hemorrhagic reactions followed discontinuation of PROMACTA. Other serious adverse reactions included thrombotic/thromboembolic complications [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS].\nThe data described below reflect exposure of PROMACTA to 446 patients with chronic ITP aged 18 to 85, of whom 65% were female across the ITP clinical development program including 3 placebo-controlled trials. PROMACTA was administered to 277 patients for at least 6 months and 202 patients for at least 1 year.\nTable 3 presents the most common adverse drug reactions (experienced by ≥ 3% of patients receiving PROMACTA) from the 3 placebo-controlled trials, with a higher incidence in PROMACTA versus placebo.\nTable 3: Adverse Reactions ( ≥ 3%) from Three\nPlacebo-Controlled Trials in Adults With Chronic Immune (Idiopathic)\n|Adverse Reaction||PROMACTA 50 mg\nn = 241 (%)\nn = 128 (%)\n|Upper respiratory tract infection||7||6|\n|Urinary tract infection||5||3|\nIn the 3 controlled clinical chronic ITP trials, alopecia, musculoskeletal pain, blood alkaline phosphatase increased, and dry mouth were the adverse reactions reported in 2% of patients treated with PROMACTA and in no patients who received placebo.\nAmong 299 patients with chronic ITP who received PROMACTA in the single-arm extension trial, the adverse reactions occurred in a pattern similar to that seen in the placebocontrolled trials. Table 4 presents the most common treatment-related adverse reactions (experienced by ≥ 3% of patients receiving PROMACTA) from the extension trial.\nTable 4: Treatment-Related Adverse Reactions ( ≥ 3%)\nfrom Extension Trial in Adults With Chronic Immune (Idiopathic)\n|Adverse Reaction||PROMACTA 50 mg\nn = 299 (%)\nIn the 3 controlled chronic ITP trials, serum liver test abnormalities (predominantly Grade 2 or less in severity) were reported in 11% and 7% of the PROMACTA and placebo groups, respectively. Four patients (1%) treated with PROMACTA and three patients in the placebo group (2%) discontinued treatment due to hepatobiliary laboratory abnormalities. Seven of the patients treated with PROMACTA in the controlled trials with hepatobiliary laboratory abnormalities were re-exposed to PROMACTA in the extension trial. Six of these patients again experienced liver test abnormalities (predominantly Grade 1) resulting in discontinuation of PROMACTA in one patient. In the extension chronic ITP trial, one additional patient had PROMACTA discontinued due to liver test abnormalities ( ≤ Grade 3).\nIn a placebo-controlled trial of PROMACTA in non-ITP thrombocytopenic patients with chronic liver disease, six patients in the PROMACTA group and one patient in the placebo group developed portal vein thromboses [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS].\nChronic Hepatitis C-Associated Thrombocytopenia\nIn the 2 placebo-controlled trials, 955 patients with chronic hepatitis C-associated thrombocytopenia received PROMACTA. Table 5 presents the most common adverse drug reactions (experienced by ≥ 10% of patients receiving PROMACTA compared to placebo).\nTable 5: Adverse Reactions ( ≥ 10% and Greater\nthan Placebo) from Two Placebo-Controlled Trials in Adults With Chronic\n|Adverse Reaction||PROMACTA + Peginterferon/ Ribavirin\nn = 955 (%)\n|Placebo + Peginterferon/ Ribavirin\nn = 484 (%)\nIn the 2 controlled clinical trials in patients with chronic hepatitis C, hyperbilirubinemia was reported in 8% of patients receiving PROMACTA compared to 3% for placebo. Total bilirubin ≥ 1.5 X ULN was reported in 76% and 50% of patients receiving PROMACTA and placebo, respectively. ALT or AST ≥ 3X ULN was reported in 34% and 38% of the PROMACTA and placebo groups, respectively.\nRead the Promacta (eltrombopag tablets) Side Effects Center for a complete guide to possible side effects\nIn vitro, CYP1A2, CYP2C8, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT)1A1 and UGT1A3 are involved in the metabolism of eltrombopag. In vitro, eltrombopag inhibits the following metabolic or transporter systems: CYP2C8, CYP2C9, UGT1A1, UGT1A3, UGT1A4, UGT1A6, UGT1A9, UGT2B7, UGT2B15, OATP1B1 and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) [see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY].\nPolyvalent Cations (Chelation)\nEltrombopag chelates polyvalent cations (such as iron, calcium, aluminum, magnesium, selenium, and zinc) in foods, mineral supplements, and antacids. In a clinical trial, administration of PROMACTA with a polyvalent cation-containing antacid decreased plasma eltrombopag systemic exposure by approximately 70% [see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY].\nPROMACTA must not be taken within 4 hours of any medications or products containing polyvalent cations such as antacids, dairy products, and mineral supplements to avoid significant reduction in PROMACTA absorption due to chelation [see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION].\nCo-administration of PROMACTA with the OATP1B1 and BCRP substrate, rosuvastatin, to healthy adult subjects increased plasma rosuvastatin AUC0-∞ by 55% and Cmax by 103% [see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY].\nUse caution when concomitantly administering PROMACTA and drugs that are substrates of OATP1B1 [e.g., atorvastatin, bosentan, ezetimibe, fluvastatin, glyburide, olmesartan, pitavastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, repaglinide, rifampin, simvastatin acid, SN-38 (active metabolite of irinotecan), valsartan] or BCRP (e.g., imatinib, irinotecan, lapatinib, methotrexate, mitoxantrone, rosuvastatin, sulfasalazine, topotecan). Monitor patients closely for signs and symptoms of excessive exposure to the drugs that are substrates of OATP1B1 or BCRP and consider reduction of the dose of these drugs, if appropriate. In clinical trials with PROMACTA, a dose reduction of rosuvastatin by 50% was recommended.\nHIV protease inhibitors\nIn a drug interaction trial, co-administration of PROMACTA with lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/RTV) decreased plasma eltrombopag exposure by 17% [see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY]. No dose adjustment is recommended when PROMACTA is coadministered with LPV/RTV. Drug interactions with other HIV protease inhibitors have not been evaluated.\nHepatitis C Virus (HCV) Protease Inhibitors\nCoadministration of PROMACTA with either boceprevir or telaprevir did not affect eltrombopag or protease inhibitor exposure significantly [see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY]. No dose adjustments are recommended. Drug interactions with other HCV protease inhibitors have not been evaluated.\nPeginterferon Alfa 2a/b Therapy\nCo-administration of peginterferon alfa 2a (PEGASYS®) or 2b (PEGINTRON®) did not affect eltrombopag exposure in 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with adult patients with chronic hepatitis C [see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY].\nRead the Promacta Drug Interactions Center for a complete guide to possible interactions\nLast reviewed on RxList: 4/24/2015\nThis monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances.\nAdditional Promacta Information\nReport Problems to the Food and Drug Administration\nYou are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088.\nFind out what women really need.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Cellphones have the potential to improve education for the millions of underprivileged users in the developing world. However, mobile learning in developing countries remains under-studied. In this paper, we argue that cellphones are a perfect vehicle for making educational opportunities accessible to rural children in places and times that are more… (More)\nThe present study evaluated the efficacy and safety of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) therapy in patients with CP. This analysis included patients (30 days-18 yr) with documented diagnosis of CP. The study consisted of four treatment phases (T1, T2, T3, T4) separated by gap phases. Efficacy of hESC therapy was evaluated based on Gross Motor Function… (More)\nPulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof argues that in this century the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality around the world. In this paper, we present a design model for empowering low-income women in the developing world, in ways that cut across individual application areas. Specifically, this model characterizes… (More)\nBACKGROUND Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent cells that have the potential to self-renew and differentiate into all types of human cells. PURPOSE The present study was aimed at establishing the safety of hESC therapy in patients with terminal/incurable conditions. METHODS This was a single cohort study conducted at Nutech Mediworld, New… (More)\nBACKGROUND Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a neurological condition which paralyses the patient below the level of injury and could occur due to damage, infection and tumors. Presently, there is no cure for SCI. The treatment options used for SCI include corticosteroid (methylprednisolone sodium succinate), surgical interventions, and physiotherapy and lowering… (More)\nBACKGROUND Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines, mainly the colon and ileum, related with ulcers and fistulae. It is estimated to affect 565,000 people in the United States. Currently available therapies, such as antibiotics, thiopurines, and anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha agents, are only observed to reduce the… (More)\nEmphysema results in narrowing of the small airways due to inhaling of cigarette smoke and other noxious particles. Oxygen therapy, corticosteroids, and bronchodilators increase the risk of pneumonia, arrhythmia, and fractures in long term. Therapy with human embryonic stem cells resulted in improved symptoms of a patient with emphysema.", "label": "No"} {"text": "By Francis Ewherido\nWhen you are lucky to still have a mother who is 88 years old in a country where life expectancy is 62 years for women, you have to be grateful to God. My mother, Mrs. Paulina Powder Ewherido, aka Mama Powder, turns 88 tomorrow and I can never thank God enough for His mercies. I can never forget how, in 1974, we overheard a “doctor” who was treating my mother, saying she had a short time to live.\nIt was very traumatising for me as a pre-teen. My father was just 48 years and it was inevitable he would remarry. He was a spoilt last boy who did not know his way around the kitchen. The thought of having a step-mother that I suspected would not match my mother’s unconditional and sacrificial love traumatised my young mind.\nForty eight years later, I am still bemused by that merchant and messenger of death, but today I choose to revel in God’s mercies upon my mother’s life. Incidentally, that was not the last time impending death was pronounced on my mother. In 1998, with her blood pressure at about 240 (systolic) and an enlarged heart, the doctor attending to her wondered aloud why she was still alive. He advised my brother, who accompanied her to take her home and wait for death. My mother did say her goodbyes to us, but this time around, my elder brothers, Fr. Tony Ewherido and the late Senator Akpor Pius Ewherido, hauled defiance at the human verdict. With nothing to lose, they took her to the Benedictine Monastery, Ewu, Edo State. A combination of prayers and herbal medications restored her health and now we can celebrate Mama Powder at 88.\nI love my mother endlessly and I do not pretend about it. But I remember in 1988, after my father died, I used to look at my mother with suspicion. My dad’s death shattered my life. Then, I would look at my mother and say to myself, “my father was never ill; one sickness and he was gone. This one that is always sick, I hope she will not follow her husband soon and break my heart too.\nLet me stop loving her and spare myself another heartbreak.” But it was impossible to stop loving my mother. And thank God she did not break my heart. At 88, she cannot break my heart anymore. A deep sense of loss, yes, but not heartbreak. A heartbreak will be ingratitude to God for His mercies upon her life, especially in the last 48 years. I pray for her to live for many more years in health of body and mind, but from now on, dead or alive, it can only be celebration. But my siblings and I want her to be around much longer because we want to keep celebrating her. It is better she is alive to witness the celebrations.\nBut old age has its downsides and mama has had her own fair (I would have said “unfair,” but I do not want to antagonise the all-knowing and all-seeing God) share of downsides.\nSometimes I do not envy old people. I saw a video of one drunk the other day flogging the aged mother for his lack of progress in life. How can you make progress in life when by 8am, you are already drunk? You see people without good formal education (many people acquire yahoo-yahoo degrees these days), no technical skills, no roadmap on how to live their lives and a monumental lack of desire for hard work and they blame their old parents, uncles, aunts or relatives for their situation.\nA beautiful girl with the ugliest of behaviour ends up not getting married and blames old parents or relatives for bewitching her. A woman gets married and does not bear children after some years. There are many medical and natural reasons for this. Instead of getting medical attention and seeking knowledge, she blames her aged parents and relatives.\nThe people I am most angry with in this foolishness are Christians. You claim to be serving an all-powerful God, how come you go about blaming witches and wizards for everything that happens in your life? Where is your God? There are mysteries in life, happenings that are beyond our understanding, but beyond that, if you do not understand why you are where you are in life, your problem is ignorance, not witches and wizards. I avoid people who are obsessed with evil forces and witches and wizards. I am not saying they do not exist, but let me just live my life. I have already put it in God’s hands.\nAnyway, to Mama Powder, happy birthday and many happy returns as you turn 88 tomorrow. I will always love and cherish you.\nOKUGBE: WE MADE IT\nI learnt many things from my late brother, Senator Pius Ewherido. One is that, he always told me that you cannot be a good Nigerian without first of all being a good Urhobo man, Itsekiri man, Ijaw man, Igbo man, Yoruba man, etc. In one sentence, begin your charity at home.\nThis has stuck with me and I also preach this gospel to my friends. Mark you, being involved in uplifting your ethnic group is different from ethnic bigotry or xenophobia. One of the ways to put Nigeria back on track is to start sorting out our various ethnic groups.\nSometime ago, the Urhobo Nation, through the President General of Urhobo Progress Union, Olorogun Moses Taiga, gave us an assignment to raise funds to start a microfinance bank primarily targeted at youths and women. There were obstacles, doubts, inertia and abuses. Some called us “fraudsters,” “jobless people” and “unserious people,” but we were undeterred; we stayed firm, focussed and uniform.\nOur spirits were uplifted by the patriotism and zeal of the subscribers. Six members of a prominent family in Urhobo land who at a time produced the richest man in Nigeria, or is it Africa, subscribed heavily. Prominent sons and daughters of Urhobo at home and in diaspora from across the 24 Kingdoms invested with Olomu, Agbarha-Otor, Ughelli and Oghara Kingdoms distinguishing themselves. The diaspora people were unbelievable. With little or no prompting, they contacted us and invested. We triumphed; we overshot our target.\nNow everyone is bubbling with nationalism and enthusiasm. They are already talking about raising between N10b and N15b to set up a regional bank that will focus on the middle and upper classes. Why not? There is strength in Okugbe (unity). In the meantime God bless all the subscribers for “chesting” out for Urhobo youths and women. We say in Urhobo that you use people, just as you use wrapper, to wrap around yourself (to cover your nakedness, against cold or to dress up). Thank you for wrapping yourselves round my committee. God bless you all.", "label": "No"} {"text": "I drove by Mikes house in lil ole Audubon Nj and had to stop and look. What memories I had with him. Such a wonderful man. He has made so much of a impression on my life. Wish I could see him once again. Their was nothing that man wouldnt do for me. Such a heart that I truly miss. He can never be replaced.\n« Back to index", "label": "No"} {"text": "Even if cases are no longer growing at the rate of recent months, the monkeypox epidemic continues to meet the criteria for being considered an international health emergency. This is what the WHO Emergency Committee decided with two votes against. The body met on October 20, but the WHO communicated its decision only yesterday.\n“Overall, the conditions that warranted the determination of the ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ persist, as the monkeypox outbreak continues to constitute an extraordinary event posing a risk to public health due to international spread” , WHO wrote in a statement.\nThe trend of the epidemic, however, presents marked differences between high-income and low-income countries. In the former, WHO explains, a sharp drop in infections has been observed, but to date, it is not clear whether it was “the adoption of safer sexual behavior among populations at higher risk; the seasonal reduction of large gatherings […]; increasing pre- and post-exposure vaccination rates; the possible increase in immunity following infection among populations at the highest risk”. On the contrary, in low-income countries, in addition to the reduced possibility of access to diagnostic tools, vaccine pharmacies, the strong lack of data is worrying: in some areas of Africa, for example, it is currently difficult to determine whether the infections are of animal origin or whether they are human-to-human transmission.For these reasons too, WHO has currently preferred to adopt a cautious attitude, motivated by the “concern about the potential negative consequences that would result from the withdrawal of the emergency declaration at this time”, it reads. deaths.", "label": "No"} {"text": "06 Nov Natural, Wooded, Intimate Franklin Wedding\nThe pandemic certainly has changed a lot of the way we live our lives these days. I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Businesses all over the world have had to change and adapt, including ours. I may be a little biased, but I think engaged couples, along with high school Seniors, have had to endure the biggest bummers that this year has brought. They have had to plan and celebrate experiences that only come once in a lifetime, in a year of restrictions so heavy that they are sometimes hard to bear. And yet, they all continue to surprise me by not only making the best of current circumstances, but turning this year into something never to be forgotten. Not for all the bad things, but because of all the good.\nBethany and Isaiah’s wedding day was one such example. They were unwilling to give up their 2020 wedding date. Instead, they forged ahead, allowing their wedding details to evolve. What they ended up with was a weekend that could not have been better had they planned it this way from the start!\nNatural, Wooded, Intimate Franklin Wedding\nBethany and Isaiah had a short, official ceremony on a Friday morning with Isaiah’s family. Later that day, Ed and I followed Bethany and Isaiah to Franklin, TN, where they would recite their own vows with Bethany’s family as their only audience the following day. They rented a house that could only be described as a cabin in the middle of a fairy tale wood. A golden sun shone through moss covered branches, and a cool Autumn breeze rustled the leaves that had not yet begun to fall. It was secluded and private, and the perfect setting for the beginning of Bethany and Isaiah’s love story.\nThey included every facet of a wedding day that was most important to them. They day started with a few relaxing hours getting ready. Then, after Isaiah had his First Look of Bethany in her gorgeous lace-sleeved wedding gown, we took lots of time for portraits. They had time to mingle with family before reading aloud the vows they wrote for each other.\nBethany describes herself as the kind of person who smiles and laughs when she’s happy. And she smiled all day long! She grinned at her new husband, tears rolling down his cheeks as he professed his love for her. Isaiah is the perfect complement to Bethany, and his emotions take over and proudly proclaim his happiness with joyful tears.\nIt truly was the sweetest thing to witness!\nThese two have a lifetime of happiness ahead of them, one that I know will be full of happy grins and joyful tears! Bethany, thank you for being the most beautiful princess of the Fairy Wood, both inside and out. You and your prince planned a day that fit you to a “T”! Isaiah, thank you for being the emotional, loving man that you are. Your tears of joy had us crying along!\nLastly, a huge, heartfelt thank you to the both of you for bringing us along for the ride! We truly wouldn’t have missed it, and count our lucky stars to have been a small part of such a wonderful day. Enjoy this view of your day through our eyes!\nThe Creative Team\nEVENT VENUE: PRIVATE RESIDENCE", "label": "No"} {"text": "When Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools - the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named. In this fourth film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, everything changes as Harry, Ron and Hermione leave childhood forever and take on challenges greater than anything they could have imagined. Studio 1: Warner Bros. Video Release Date: 2006-03-07Run time: 150 minutesAnimated: Live-actionDirector: Mike NewellStarring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes\nIn \"Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban\", Harry, Ron and Hermione learn to handle a Hippogriff, repel shape-shifting Boggarts and master the art of Divination during their third year at Hogwarts. Harry must also withstand soul-sucking Dementors, outsmart a werewolf and deal with the truth about the escaped prisoner Sirius Black and his relationship to Harry and his parents. In \"Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire\", Harry is mysteriously entered into the grueling Triwizard Tournament, only to find himself in the cruel grasp of Lord Voldemort. Everything changes in year four when Harry, Ron and Hermione face challenges beyond their imagining. Subtitles: English SDH (Subtitles for Deaf and Hearing Impaired), French and Spanish.\nLong ago in the dark days of magic, in a land divided by warring tribes, a young wanderer comes face to face with his destiny. Join Ryu, a young warrior and descendant of the Dragon Clan as he wanders the dark land with his mystical friend, Nina, as they quest for magic spells and mysterious secrets. Breath of Fire\n[search more like Breath of Fire]\nCommand a fantastic army of heroes in this turn-based strategy battle! A traveler has fallen on the Saka Plain in the easternmost realm of Elebe, and an orphaned young woman named Lin comes to the traveler's aid. After she nurses the traveler back to health, the two embark on a journey to hone their respective skills at swordplay and battle strategy. Fire Emblem\n[search more like Fire Emblem]\nIncludes 4 high-quality wooden pieces-fire truck and 3 firefighters. Fire truck features roll-up hose and lifting ladder. Smooth-rolling wheels Firefighters \"hold\" the hose! Ideal for building sorting, matching and counting skills, and for hours of imaginative play!\n[search more like Fire Truck]\nJohn Adorney - Fire In The Flint (CD NEW)Label: Ever SoundFormat: CDRelease Date: 13 Nov 2012No. of Discs: 1UPC: 802593353422Album Tracks1. Endless Rain2. The Fire in the Flint3. Aliho Houn/The Path is Open4. A Beggar s Fortune5. The Heart Cloth6. Sailing by Starlight7. A Moment Noticed8. Always Remembering You9. Admiration [2012 Mix]10. Dawn\n[search more like Fire In The Flint]", "label": "No"} {"text": "adaptive-collaborative-aggregative tracing protocol的用法和样例:\n- The author is going to adapt his play for television.\n- One should adapt oneself to the changed conditions.\n- An electrically produced graph or tracing.\n- I can't trace that letter you sent me.\n- He spoke without a trace of emotion.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Sipson Search Results:\n...rcing green eyes staring into her own as they both drove each\nother toward their climax’s.\n“Oh God-” She gasped. Ben felt like he was doing flips inside her cunt. “SHIT.” She cursed, as\nshe felt her walls being pushed to their limits. “Oh GOD, BENNNN.”\nShe threw her head on the side, her face contorted with lust and want. She did not even see the\njuices that flowed out of her core. Bolts of pleasure shot through her body, sending her into\ncomplete ecstasy. She groaned loudly as her orgasm rocked her. It wouldn’t stop, it was like an\nearthquake in through every cell of her body. She didn’t know what Ben was doing to her but it\nwas driving her insane.\nShe twitched wildly as the major power of the orgasm started fading. She couldn’t stop. There\nwas more movement. Ben was twisting around inside her, moving around. What the hell was\nhe doing? “Gwen.” He was pushing his way out of her, she could feel her lips spreading. She\ngasped, moaned and cried out as he made his way out. There was a sudden feeling of\nemptiness that she didn’t like but the powerful feeling of satisfaction over her body made her\nfeel a little better.\nBen and his tiny form stepped out and away from her. His body was covered in the slime of\nher juices and stared up at her with a ver...", "label": "No"} {"text": "澳洲論文代寫:Case study -Nursing strategies for Antheia代寫\nCase study -Nursing strategies for Antheia\nThis article is based on the case scenario about Anthesia. Aimed at her health concerns, the article tries to construct some questions for assessing Antheia’s health situation by using Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns (Jones, Duffy, et al., 2012), and then explore some suitable nursing strategies to help Antheia with her health concerns, communicate effectively with her, and meet her spiritual and psychological needs. At last, there is a reflection about aging.\nAn holistic, comprehensive health assessment for Antheia\nAccording to (Paans, Bruylands, et al., 2013), the Nursing Process includes five procedures: a) an overall assessment; (b) adequate and precise nursing diagnoses; (c) consistent assessments and nursing reports; (d) effective nursing interventions; and (e) outcomes based on evidences. Nursing consists of a series of diagnostic and therapeutic behaviors which aim at the promotion, protection, recovery, and optimization of the patients. As the Nursing Process is directly faced to the patients and their families, the quality of the Nursing Process can be seen and supervised directly by them. Therefore, the quality of the Nursing Process of an organization of client care reflects its competitiveness and professional abilities.\nA well-structured assessment framework is useful for the focus, organization, and synthesis of the clinical objectives and subjective assessment data. Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns (FHP) (Jones, Duffy, et al., 2012) had been proved an efficient assessment framework for the nursing process. It provides a well structured framework to uncover and describe human’s reactions in a comprehensive way by integrating bio-physiological and behavioral functioning. The theory consists of 11 FHPs which cover both physical and mental health.\nIn Antheia’s case, the top three FHPs to be concerned in the assessment framework include cognitive-perception pattern, activity-exercise pattern, and self-concept pattern. The reasons for choosing cognitive-perception pattern are lie in that Antheia has the early stage of dementia, and that her ability of speaking and understanding English has declined recently. As Antheia need therapies aimed at the series of degeneration of cognitive-perception, the assessment of cognitive-perception pattern is necessary. Following that, it is mentioned in the case scenario that Antheia’s ability to use her hands was affected due to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and she has to walk with a four wheel frame. Besides, urinary incontinence is another health problem for Antheia, for which she has to wear pads. All these above indicate that Antheia is really very weak in taking care of herself. Let alone basic activities and exercise. She really needs improvement in this aspect, that’s why activity-exercise pattern is chosen in this case. It is mentioned in the case scenario that Antheia has strong self-esteem and feels contemptuous about her disability. Moreover, she expressed her distress and anger towards the coming of the nursing staff. These symptoms are very harmful for her mental health, so self-concept pattern was chosen as the third one for the nursing assessment.\nFor the assessment of cognitive-perception pattern, questions are constructed like this:\nl How are the patient’s vision, hearing, taste, smell, and other perceived functions?\nl How are the patient’s thinking, language, directional ability, and state of consciousness?\nl What are the potential risks for the patient due to changes in perceptions and cognitive functions?\nl How does the patient react to the changes in perceptions and cognitive functions?\nAs Antheia is already 82 years old, her vision, hearing, taste, smell, and other perceived functions may get deteriorated seriously, therefore, the set of the first question is not only for the nursing, but also for better nursing. The reason for the second and third questions lie in that Antheia is in the early stages of dementia. Her thinking, language, directional ability, and state of consciousness are important metrics for the quality of nursing, and assessing the potential risks are the guarantee of safety. The fourth question is to see if the physical discomfort affects the patient’s mental health and how.\nAs activity-exercise pattern includes physiological basis, activity tolerance, and activities of daily living, questions can be set as below:\nl How are the patient’s physiological conditions including cardiac output, pulmonary ventilation, and maximal oxygen consumption?\nl How is the patient’s physiological endurance towards activities?\nl How is the patient’s psychological endurance towards activities?\nl What activities does the patient rely on to maintain self care and relaxation?\nThe reason for the first and second questions is to assess the physiological status of the patient. The third question aims to assess the patient’s psychological endurance. The activities tolerance of the patient is the basis of designing nursing activities. The fourth question is for better understanding of the patient’s favors and better planning of the patient’s daily life.\nSelf-concept pattern mainly refers to self-recognition and self-evaluation. Questions can be set as follows:\nl How is the patient’s body image?\nl How is the patient’s social identity?\nl How is the patient’s personal identity?\nl How is the patient’s self-esteem?\nAs self-concept consists of body image, social identity, personal identity, and self-esteem, the four questions are necessary for the assessment of the patient’s self-concept pattern.\nHealth concerns and nursing strategies for Antheia\nRisk factors for confusion – the early stage of dementia includes diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and lack of cognitive engagement (Daviglus, Pirzada, et al., 2011). To mitigate these risk factors, the nursing work should be carried out from 4 aspects: nutritional supplements and dietary, physical activities, smoking and alcohol control, and cognitive engagement. For the first, the nutritional supplements and dietary should be carefully and reasonable arranged for that diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension are the risk factors for dementia. The nutritional supplements and dietary should avoid those foods with high sources of fat and sugar, and at the same time ensure enough nutrition. Following that, arranging proper physical activities according to the status of the patients is considered to be able to mitigate confusion and dementia (Flicker, 2009). Then, as smoking and alcohol increases the severity of confusion and dementia, the nursing strategies should include smoking and alcohol control. Cognitive activities are proved to be a good prevention measure and do well in decrease of confusion (Flicker, 2009). Thus, cognitive trainings should be arranged regularly for the patients to improve the patient’s cognitive functions including memory, attention, and problem solving.\nA strong risk factor for urinary incontinence is obesity (Subak & Vittinghoff, 2009). Besides, another research (Offermans, Du Moulin, et al., 2009) show that sex, age, cognitive function, dementia, bedfast and locomotion are also connected with urinary incontinence. Therefore, on one hand, scheduled toileting should be arranged, on the other, the nursing should emphasize the weight change and emotional needs of the patient by reasonable arrangement of diet and regular relaxing activities.\nAs Antheia has to use a four wheel frame and has severe Rheumatoid Arthritis, to promote safety of Antheia, the nurse in charge should ensure the wheel working smoothly every day, and keep close with Antheia. Besides, it is suggested to locate the dining near Antheia’s room and ensure the activities for Antheia within her physical and mental ability. Then, it is advised to do regular health examination for her both physically and mentally. Improving Antheia’s independence is a good way for decreasing her self-contempt and meeting her own dignity. However, as she is very old and unable to move freely, it should be conducted very carefully. Measures for promoting her independence include organizing activities like arm exercise, singing, and cognitive trainings, and having her herself done all the things she is able to like dressing and brushing her teeth. According to Baillie (2009), the providing privacy and interactions could promote the dignity of patients. Therefore, it is suggested to provide the physical environment which is conducive for privacy protection, cultivate dignity-promoting culture in the nursing home.\nHow to communicate effectively with Antheia\nCommunicating effectively is essential to patient satisfaction. To communicate effectively with Antheia, at first, it is suggested to keep her informed of all the information about her diagnosis, care, and treatment, listen to her opinions, and discuss with her. According to (Ferguson & McMurtry, 2013), patients wanted to get access to the information about their health status and care strategies and they were unsatisfied with those healthcare professionals who were not willing to discuss with them. Following that, the healthcare professionals should listen really carefully to the needs of Anthesia and then reflect in decisions or explain the reasons why her opinions are not adopted. As patients are the focus of nursing, they have right to take part in the decision-making of nursing. The decision makers should try the best to meet the patients’ needs. Only by doing this can make the patients feel being valued and willing to further communicate with the healthcare professionals.\nIt can be seen from the case scenario that Antheia used to be very independent and the diseases make her self-esteem wounded. Besides, she is a devout Catholic, however being difficult to getting about makes her inconvenient to go to church and take part in the church party. She even has to give up her crazy hobby- gardening. Moreover, she has to live in an unfamiliar environment- the nursing home. She need a feather in her cap to rebuild her self-esteem and confidence, she need a new hobby for her to live a fulfilling life, she need some church members to share life experience, to talk, and to laugh. To help her going through all of these, the nursing home can hold a welcome party for her, telling her how warm the nursing home is and how important she is. Besides, it can hold tea parties for all the Catholic members in the nursing home. The belief in religion can release her inner anxiety and fear and get her feel more comfortable. Then, the healthcare professionals should try to safeguard her dignity and self-esteem by getting her involved in the specific nursing strategies, protecting her privacy, and praising her now and then. To get her life more fulfilling, the nurse in charge can try to help her cultivate another hobby which she is able to like singing. Moreover, she felt depressed and angry on the arrival of the care facility, which means she may have no confidence to the nurse home and feel abandoned by her daughter. She needs to feel being loved. Therefore, the patient-centered care strategy should focus on making her feeling being loved from the nursing home, and from her daughter.\nWhen it comes to aging, people present different attitude. Some people regard aging extremely horrible, since they enjoy what they have in current age, including time and energy and hope of future. When they grow older, time is getting less, energy is leaving and so do the hope of future. Moreover, the fear of death will occur. As for me, however, aging is not that horrible. As a young nurse, I know how beautiful the world is, and how lovely our lives are. If someday when I grow older, I will see the world in a different way and think about our lives in a different way. Then the fear will fade.\nThis attitude helps a lot in the career of nursing. While taking care of the elders, physical health as well as psychological health is both significant. In most occasions, what the elderly need is not medicine or injection, but company and compensation. Therefore, a nurse with positive attitude helps a lot to release the stress of the elderly and make them happier. And for me, this attitude is also important. Seeing too much negative clients will to some degree change my value of how to see the world and how to see life. Thus, adjusting what I think from negative to positive is necessary for my future.\nThis article tried to figure out some strategies for a patient-centered care by not only emphasize the patient’s physical health, but also stress the patients’ emotional needs. The patients’ spiritual and psychological needs are as important as their physical health. Besides, healthcare professionals should listen carefully to the patients, get them involved in the nursing and take their opinions seriously. They need to be listened, to be loved, to be cared, to feel useful, not just a house to live in, a bed to sleep on, a nurse to ensure safety. Only by doing this can the nursing home becomes the true home of the patients.\nBaillie, L. (2009). Patient dignity in an acute hospital setting: A case study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(1), 23-37. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.08.003\nDaviglus, M., Pirzada, A., Bell, C., Bowen, P., Plassman, B., Burke, J., & ... Trevisan, M. (2011). Risk Factors and Preventive Interventions for Alzheimer Disease: State of the Science. Archives of Neurology, 68(9), 1185-1190. doi:10.1001/archneurol.2011.100\nFerguson, L., McMurtry, J., Ward, H., Card, S., & Sheppard, S. (2013). Putting the 'patient' back into patient-centred care: An education perspective. Nurse Education In Practice, 13(4), 283-287. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2013.03.016\nFlicker, L. (2009). Life Style Interventions to Reduce the Risk of Dementia. Maturitas, 63(4), 319-322. doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2009.06.008\nJones, D., Duffy, M., Flanagan, J., & Foster, F. (2012). Psychometric evaluation of the Functional Health Pattern Assessment Screening Tool (FHPAST). International Journal Of Nursing Knowledge, 23(3), 140-145. doi:10.1111/j.2047-3095.2012.01224.x\nOffermans, M., Du Moulin, M., Hamers, J., Dassen, T., & Halfens, R. (2009). Prevalence of Urinary Incontinence and Associated Risk Factors in Nursing Home Residents: A Systematic Review. Neurourology and Urodynamics, 28(4), 288-294. doi:10.1002/nau.20668\nPaans, W., Bruylands, M., Hediger, H., & Müller-Staub, M. (2013). Effects on the quality of the nursing care process through an educational program and the use of electronic nursing documentation. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, 24(3), 163-170. doi:10.1111/j.2047-3095.2013.01248.x\nSubak, L., Vittinghoff, E., Creasman, J., Macer, J., Grady, D., Wing, R., & ... Kusek, J. (2009). Weight loss to treat urinary incontinence in overweight and obese women. New England Journal Of Medicine, 360(5), 481-490. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0806375", "label": "No"} {"text": "Once we had been engaged, Phillip’s stake president offered him this crucial word of advice for people as newlyweds:\n“At the termination of your big day, once you have into the resort, sit back and compose in your log before you go to sleep. Even waiting that certain evening to publish can cause College dating only one to lose most of the feeling and memory for the time.”\nI’m therefore happy that individuals did that. Recently I read Phillip’s entry from that time, also it had been exceedingly touching.\nAnother buddy provided me with this essential advice for newlyweds:\n“Before going to sleep that read your scriptures and say a prayer night. You’ve simply began a fresh family members, and you ought to begin it the proper way.”\nWe did that, it brought the Spirit into that first night, our honeymoon, and our marriage after I had showered and gotten ready for bed, and. It set the tone of getting the father whilst the 3rd partner in our wedding, and helped make our wedding evening breathtaking. (more…)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Composed by G. Wiley Smith\nFor Alto Flute or C Flute\nPublished by Harmon Richard Music\nWhether passing information by spoken words, through paintings, or through music, Indians are natural storytellers. The story of Legende begins near water where an Indian flutist begins to describe the nearby scenery. The teller continues as he reflects on his cultural heritage. One can imagine the wealth of proud experience from which the story unravels and fades in quiet melancholy.\n– by G. Wiley Smith", "label": "No"} {"text": "Golden Faith 流金岁月 Episode 5 Recap\nRare Book Meets His Uncle and Brother Again\nShoukang was promoted to inspector, and Huaigu praised him for his promise. Huaigu exposed the birth history of Guangdong Santai Leopard in a magazine. Rongbangdi Rongtong suggested to teach him, the rare book was startled when he heard Huaigu’s name. The rare book went to the magazine to meet Huaigu and recalled the childhood footage. At this time, Shoukang came and called Huaigu “uncle”, and the rare book was excited. Rare Ben happily told Yun-hyung that he had found his brother, and frankly confessed that he was Rongbang’s adopted son and was separated from his family.\nYun-hyung points out that Shou Kang is the policeman and Rongbang is the side door, reminding the rare book to deal with it. On the way home, the rare book was moved to see Rongbang buying his favorite roast meat in the rain. When the two fathers and sons recalled the past, Rongbang told him that he had saved a rare book who was only six years old and treated him as a parent-child. After thinking about it, the rare book decided not to tell Rongbang, and he was afraid that he would affect his future.\nShoukang heard the rare book whistling and warned him not to play this song again, because this song was taught to him by his best brother, and the rare book was overwhelmed. Shoukang’s beloved copper coin is gone, and the family mobilization can’t find it. Cousin Tweet gives him a bracelet to comfort him. When Liv’s new design “Feng Sheng Shui Qi” was about to be launched on the market, Bai Tao brought a lawyer to Dingfeng, and pointed out that Dingfeng had misappropriated the design of the famous stone, and Liv was surprised.\nWen Ji said that this lawsuit is difficult to fight and does not benefit Dingfeng, but the rare book thinks that Liv’s hard work cannot be done. Liv meets with Baitao and accuses him of stealing the design. Baitao does not hesitate to make her feel bad. Liv asks Baitao to let go of the rare book. Baitao slaps her and scolds her for being low. At this time, Tianlan, who had just passed by, saw the two arguing, and unexpectedly saw the rare book appear and punched Baitao.", "label": "No"} {"text": "AKA : That Is So Fetch courtesy of Fifty Shades of Gross.\nHmm... What are some things you need to know about me to scare off the wrong people..\nI'm older, scary, tattooed and outspoken.\nGone yet? No?? *sighs* Fine.. on with it then.\nI am a great lover of music. All types are wonderful and my tastes are so varied I'll never be able to list them all, though I tend to stay away from rap, country, and pop. Music without any personal substance in my opinion.\nI love reading, have HUGE amounts of respect and love for the Good Doctor. That man kicked me in the a** and inspired me to live my life. (Off the top of my head one of my favorite books: ANY thing by Hunter S. Thompson, Jim Morrison's Adventures in the Afterlife and Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates)\nI enjoy very few films.\nIf you aren't on my friends list why are you such a loser?\nYES FFS, I DO HAVE PICTURES!!!! Perhaps if you ask nicely I may share...\n\"It's getting vivid in here, if you catch my drift.\"", "label": "No"} {"text": "Remember this cute little furry monster I picked up in July and named Andy?\nUm, yeah. So here’s what that furry monster looked like as of this month, still convinced he’s small enough to squeeze in that corner of my desk:\nAnd said monster woke me up around 4:30 a.m. this morning because he was lonely and wanted his ears scratched. And when I happily obliged and then prepared to roll over and go back to sleep, he insisted on headbutting me to move so he could have a warm spot to curl up in. And when he wasn’t satisfied with that, laid on my face. My allergies just loved that.\nHappy Wednesday, everyone.", "label": "No"} {"text": "|Registration Date||10 Jan 2019|\n|Revision Date||10 Jan 2019|\nOthers Other productsWaterborne additive\nZinc oxideZnO Nanoparticle /Nanopowder CAS Number : 1314-13-2\nThe highly effective and widely applicable additive is based on nanoparticle technology. Oxylink ™ is especially suitable for one-component formulations and, not least, meets the future requirements for environmental friendliness.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Hi there, I’m Sirius, a resilient pup with a story to tell! I found my way to CAHS when my previous owner couldn’t care for me anymore. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about this new environment, but the wonderful staff here has been incredibly patient and caring, helping me rebuild my trust.\nAs I’ve settled in and realized I’m in a safe place, my true personality has shone through. I’m a big, goofy boy who delights in running and playing. Despite my size, I firmly believe I’m a lap dog and enjoy snuggling up with my favorite people.\nWhile I’m still working on overcoming my nervousness, I’ve made great progress. To ensure my continued success, I would thrive in a calm home environment without children, or too many people. I will require multiple meet and greets to gain my trust. With a bit of understanding and patience, I’m sure to become the loyal and loving companion you’ve been searching for!", "label": "No"} {"text": "About the book\nEurope’s infrastructure both united and divided peoples and places via economic systems, crises, and wars. Some used transport, communication, and energy infrastructure to supply food, power, industrial products, credit, and unprecedented wealth; others mobilized infrastructure capacities for waging war on scales hitherto unknown. Europe’s natural world was fundamentally transformed; its landscapes, waterscapes, and airscapes turned into infrastructure themselves. Europe’s Infrastructure Transition reframes the conflicted story of modern European history by taking material networks as its point of departure. It traces the priorities set and the choices made in constructing transnational infrastructure connections – within and beyond the continent. Moreover, this study introduces an alternative set of historically-key individuals, organizations, and companies in the making of modern Europe and analyzes roads both taken and ignored.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Flowering PlantsPam Soltis, Doug Soltis, and Christine Edwards\nThis tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.\nThe root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.\nYou can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.\nFor more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.close box\nThe angiosperms, or flowering plants, are one of the major groups of extant seed plants and arguably the most diverse major extant plant group on the planet, with at least 260,000 living species classified in 453 families (Judd et al., 2002; APG II, 2003; Soltis et al., 2005). They occupy every habitat on Earth except extreme environments such as the highest mountaintops, the regions immediately surrounding the poles, and the deepest oceans. They live as epiphytes (i.e., living on other plants), as floating and rooted aquatics in both freshwater and marine habitats, and as terrestrial plants that vary tremendously in size, longevity, and overall form. They can be small herbs, parasitic plants, shrubs, vines, lianas, or giant trees. There is a huge amount of diversity in chemistry (often as a defense against herbivores), reproductive morphology, and genome size and organization that is unparalleled in other members of the Plant Kingdom. Furthermore, angiosperms are crucial for human existence; the vast majority of the world's crops are angiosperms, as are most natural clothing fibers. Angiosperms are also sources for other important resources such as medicine and timber.\nDespite their diversity, angiosperms are clearly united by a suite of synapomorphies (i.e., shared, derived features) including 1) ovules that are enclosed within a carpel, that is, a structure that is made up of an ovary, which encloses the ovules, and the stigma, a structure where pollen germination takes place, 2) double fertilization, which leads to the formation of an endosperm (a nutritive tissue within the seed that feeds the developing plant embryo), 3) stamens with two pairs of pollen sacs, 4) features of gametophyte structure and development, and 5) phloem tissue composed of sieve tubes and companion cells (see Doyle and Donoghue, 1986; Judd et al. 2002; P. Soltis et al., 2004; and D. Soltis et al., 2005, for further discussion). All available evidence strongly rejects hypotheses of more than one evolutionary origin of extant angiosperms.\nDiscussion of Phylogenetic Relationships\nAmborella and the root of the angiosperm evolutionary tree\nMost analyses of the past five years concur in placing the monotypic Amborella as the sister to all other extant angiosperms, although some analyses suggest Amborella plus water lilies may occupy this pivotal position (see below). Amborella trichopoda, endemic to cloud forests of New Caledonia, was described in the mid-nineteenth century (Baillon, 1869) and has since been classified with various groups of basal angiosperms, most often with Laurales (e.g., Cronquist, 1981), a group of magnoliids (see below). However, Amborella lacks those features considered to be synapomorphies for Laurales (Doyle and Endress, 2000; see Laurales later) and clearly differs from most Laurales in having spirally arranged floral organs (except perhaps the carpels; M. Buzgo et al., University of Florida, unpublished data), rather than the whorled arrangement typical of most Laurales (see studies of floral morphology and development by Endress and Igersheim, 2000a; Posluszny and Tomlinson, 2003; Buzgo et al., 2004). Amborella has carpels that are closed only by secretion, rather than by fused tissue as in most angiosperms (Endress and Igersheim, 2000b)–a feature that may represent a plesiomorphy (i.e., ancestral feature) for the angiosperms. Features that unify all extant angiosperms except Amborella include vessels (Judd et al., 2002; but see Feild et al., 2000; Doyle and Endress, 2001) and pollen grains with a reticulate tectum (Doyle and Endress, 2001). Synapomorphies for all extant angiosperms except Amborella and Nymphaeaceae (sensu APG II, 2003) include ethereal oil cells–common throughout basal angiosperms–and columellate pollen grains with a perforate tectum (Doyle and Endress, 2001).\nThe placement of Amborella as sister to all other angiosperms is supported by nearly all multigene analyses of basal angiosperms, including evidence from all three plant genomes (e.g., P. Soltis et al., 1999; Qiu et al., 1999; Mathews and Donoghue, 1999, 2000; Parkinson et al., 1999; Graham and Olmstead, 2000; Graham et al., 2000; D. Soltis et al., 2000; Magallon and Sanderson, 2002; Zanis et al., 2002; see also Nickerson and Drouin, 2004). A few studies have found alternative rootings, using either different genes or different methods of analysis. For example, Amborella + Nymphaeaceae (e.g. Barkman et al., 2000; P. Soltis et al., 2000; Kim et al., 2004a) or Nymphaeaceae alone (e.g., Parkinson et al., 1999; Graham and Olmstead, 2000, with partial sampling of Nymphaeaceae; Mathews and Donoghue, 2000) have occasionally been reported as sister to all other angiosperms. However, statistical analyses of these alternative rootings using a data set of up to 11 genes generally favor the tree with Amborella as sister to the rest, although the Amborella + Nymphaeaceae tree could not always be rejected (Zanis et al., 2002).\nAnother alternative, which conflicts with all molecular analyses of angiosperms with dense taxon sampling, is based on a selection of 61 genes from the totally sequenced plastid genomes of 13 plant species (Goremykin et al., 2003). This data set placed the monocots (represented by only three grasses–rice, maize, and wheat) as the sister to all other extant angiosperms, while Amborella was sister to Calycanthus of Laurales, a position consistent with the original description of Amborella, but clearly at odds with other aspects of morphology (see Laurales section). Goremykin et al. (2003) attributed their results to the increased character sampling (30,017 nucleotides in their aligned matrix) in their study relative to other analyses that included fewer genes but many more taxa. However, further analyses of a data set of three genes and nearly equivalent taxon sampling as used by Goremykin et al. indicated that the \"monocots-basal\" topology is an artifact of limited taxon sampling (D. Soltis and Soltis, 2004; Soltis et al., 2004). The recent work of Stefanovic et al. (2005) further indicates that the results of Goremykin et al. reflect poor taxon sampling. Stefanovic et al. added the nearly complete plastid sequence of Acorus to the Goremykin et al. data set, and this simple addition resulted in the \"Amborella-basal\" topology.\nThe basal angiosperms\nThe basal angiosperms represent a grade that includes the following groups: Amborellaceae (discussed above), Nymphaeaceae (sensu APG II, 2003), Austrobaileyales, Ceratophyllaceae, Chloranthaceae, magnoliids, and monocots (although not all investigators choose to consider monocots basal angiosperms). The evolutionary relationships of these groups are discussed below.\nNymphaeaceae. The phylogenetic position of Nymphaeaceae as one of the two basalmost (or oldest diverging) lineages of extant angiosperms is strongly supported by nearly all molecular analyses. This clade of eight aquatic genera has a worldwide distribution, consistent with the ancient age of this lineage based on the fossil record. However, despite the ancient origins of this group, molecular analyses indicate that most extant genera of Nympheaceae have relatively recent origins (Yoo et al. 2005).\nAustrobaileyales. The positions of Amborellaceae and Nymphaeaceae as successive sisters to the rest of the angiosperms are followed, in turn, by Austrobaileyales. Austrobaileyales are a small clade that comprises Austrobaileyaceae (Austrobaileya) and Trimeniaceae (Trimenia) from Australasia plus a broadly defined Schisandraceae (sensu APG II, 2003, i.e., Schisandra, Kadsura, and Illicium; Qiu et al., 1999; Renner, 1999; Savolainen et al., 2000a, b; P. Soltis et al., 1999; D. Soltis et al., 2000). Although the traditional Illiciaceae and Schisandraceae have typically been considered to be closely related, a relationship between these taxa and Austrobaileya and Trimenia had not been suspected. No morphological characteristics have been identified that unify this group, despite the strong molecular support for its monophyly.\nRelationships among Ceratophyllaceae, monocots, Chloranthaceae, magnoliids, and eudicots\nResolution and support for relationships among Ceratophyllaceae, monocots, Chloranthaceae, magnoliids, and eudicots are poor. Individually, each lineage is well supported, and both the fossil record and molecular-based trees identify these lineages as ancient. However, relationships among them remain unclear. It is clear, however, that angiosperms do not fall into two major groups that correspond to monocots (Liliopsida) and dicots (Magnoliopsida) of most traditional classification systems such as Cronquist (1981), Takhtajan (1997), and their predecessors. Although monocots clearly form a strongly supported group, dicots in the traditional sense do not: most are found in the eudicot clade, but the remaining nonmonocot basal branches (i.e., Amborellaceae, Nymphaeaceae, Austrobaileyales, Ceratophyllaceae, Chloranthaceae, magnoliids) were also \"traditional\" dicots. It was long suspected that the \"dicots\" as traditionally recognized represents multiple evolutionary lineages, and the nonmonophyly of dicots based on molecular data precludes their recognition in current classifications (e.g., APG II, 2003). Thus, the concept of \"dicot\" should be abandoned in favor of eudicots.\nMonocots. While dicots are not a valid group, the monocots indeed are a distinct group within the angiosperms. Ray (1703) first identified the monocots as a group, based largely on their possession of a single cotyledon. Nonmolecular phylogenetic studies of monocots (Doyle and Donoghue, 1992; Donoghue and Doyle, 1989; Loconte and Stevenson, 1991) support this grouping; these studies have identified 13 putative synapomorphies for the monocots, including, among others, a single cotyledon, parallel-veined leaves, sieve cell plastids with several cuneate protein crystals, scattered vascular bundles in the stem, and an adventitious root system. An often-overlooked synapomorphy for monocots is their sympodial growth; although there are other angiosperms with sympodial growth, monocots are nearly exclusively so. These synapomorphies are covered in detail by Chase (2004; see also Judd et al., 2002; D. Soltis et al., 2005). In some analyses the monocots appear as the sister to Ceratophyllaceae, with the clade of monocots + Ceratophyllaceae sister to Chloranthaceae + magnoliids + eudicots (e.g., Zanis et al., 2002; Davies et al., 2004). However, relationships of monocots are unclear and further work is needed to assess the validity of their relationships.\nCeratophyllaceae. Ceratophyllaceae (Ceratophyllum) had the distinction of appearing as the sister to all other angiosperms in the first large molecular phylogenetic analysis based on rbcL (Chase et al., 1993). The aquatic habit and simple flowers seemed at odds with most hypotheses about the earliest angiosperms, although Ceratophyllum has a long fossil record, going back at least 125 mya (Dilcher, 1989). Subsequent analyses demonstrated that this placement was unique to the rbcL data set. Our current understanding of the relationship of Ceratophyllum to other angiosperms, based on evidence from many other genes, is still not clear although it may be related to the monocots (see Monocots above).\nChloranthaceae. Chloranthaceae, with their small, simple flowers, have an extensive fossil record, dating back 125 my (e.g., Couper, 1958; Walker and Walker, 1984; Friis et al., 2000; Doyle et al., 2004; Eklund et al., 2004). However, although the origins of the family are ancient, most extant genera are relatively young in age (Zhang and Renner, 2003). Chloranthaceae are clearly an isolated lineage separate from the magnoliid clade (Fig. 2), but their phylogenetic position remains uncertain. In some analyses (e.g., Zanis et al., 2002; Davies et al., 2004), they are sister to a clade of magnoliids + eudicots, albeit with weak support.\nMagnoliids. The magnoliid clade comprises most of those lineages typically referred to as \"primitive angiosperms\" in earlier works (e.g., Cronquist, 1981, 1988; Stebbins, 1974; Takhtajan, 1997). Although the component families of the magnoliid clade were loosely associated in previous classifications, for example, as Cronquist's (1981) subclass Magnoliidae, relationships among the families were not clear. In addition, Magnoliidae contained groups that are not part of the magnoliid clade as recognized by phylogenetic analyses. Reconstructing relationships within this clade is challenging, given the age of the group (some putative members, such as Archaeanthus, Dilcher and Crane, 1984, date to the early Cretaceous) and presumably high levels of extinction. Although the major lineages of the magnoliid clade were identified as well-supported clades in earlier studies (e.g., P. Soltis et al., 1999), composition and interrelationships of the magnoliid clade did not become clear until data sets of at least five genes for a broad sample of taxa were assembled to address these problems (e.g., Qiu et al., 1999, 2000; Zanis et al., 2002). Some phylogenetic analyses weakly support a grouping of magnoliids as sister to the eudicots, although more data are necessary to clarify this relationship.\nEudicots. Eudicots, a clade strongly supported by molecular data, comprise the bulk of angiosperm species (approximately 75%; Drinnan et al., 1994). This large clade is supported by a single morphological synapomorphy–triaperturate pollen. This pollen type is unique to the eudicots, and while not all eudicots have triaperturate pollen due to subsequent changes in pollen structure, triaperturate pollen is clearly distinct from the uniaperturate pollen of basal angiosperms, monocots, and all other seed plants, allowing easy assignment of fossil pollen to the eudicots. The fossil pollen record indicates that the eudicots appeared 125 mya, shortly after the origin of the angiosperms themselves. The extensive fossil pollen collections worldwide, coupled with solid dates, make it unlikely that the eudicots arose much before this time point.\nThe Fossil Record\nThe oldest unambiguous angiosperm fossil extends back at least to the early Cretaceous, conservatively around 132 million years ago (mya) (see Crane et al., 2004). Floral size, structure, and organization in early angiosperms varied tremendously, ranging from small (i.e., <1 cm in diameter) flowers of fossil Chloranthaceae and many other lineages (reviewed in Friis et al., 2000), to the large, Magnolia-like flowers of Archaeanthus (Dilcher and Crane, 1984). However, some early fossils, such as Archaefructus (Sun et al. 2002), appear to have no close extant relatives. 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A combined cladistic analysis of angiosperms using rbcL and nonmolecular data sets. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 85: 137 - 212.\nNickerson, J., and G. Drouin. 2004. The sequence of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II is a useful marker for inferring seed plant phylogeny. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31: 403-415.\nNickrent, D. L., R. J. Duff, A. Colwell, A. D. Wolfe, N. D. Young, K. E. Steiner, and C. W. Depamphilis. 1998. Molecular phylogenetic and evolutionary studies of parasitic plants.In D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, and J. J. Doyle [eds.], Molecular systematics of plants, vol. 2, 211-241.. Kluwer, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.\nNickrent, D. L., A. Blarer, Y.-L. Qiu, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, and M. Zanis. 2002. Molecular data place Hydnoraceae with Aristolochiaceae. American Journal of Botany 89: 1809-1817.\nNickrent, D. L. and D. E. Soltis. 1995. A comparison of angiosperm phylogenies from nuclear 18S rDNA and rbcL sequences. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 82:208-234. Parkinson, C. L., K. L. Adams, and J. D. Palmer. 1999. Multigene analyses identify the three earliest lineages of extant flowering plants. Current Biology 9: 1485-1488.\nPerkins, J. 1925. Ubersicht uber die Gattungen der Monimiaceae. Engelmann, Leipzig, Germany.\nPosluszny, U., and P. B. Tomlinson. 2003. Aspects of inflorescence and floral development in the putative basal angiosperm Amborella trichopoda (Amborellaceae). Canadian Journal of Botany 81: 28-39.\nPyankov, V. I., E. G. Artyusheva, G. E. Edwards, C. C. J. Black, and P. S. Soltis. 2001. Phylogenetic analysis of tribe Salsoleae (Chenopodiaceae) based on ribosomal ITS sequences: implications for the evolution of photosynthesis types. American Journal of Botany 88: 1189-1198.\nQiu, Y.-L., J. Lee, F. Bernasconi-Quadroni, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, M. Zanis, Z. Chen, V. Savolainen, and M. W. Chase. 1999. The earliest angiosperms: evidence from mitochondrial, plastid and nuclear genomes. Nature 402: 404-407.\nQiu, Y.-L., J.-Y. Lee, F. Bernasconi-Quadroni, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, M. Zanis, E. Zimmer, Z. Chen, V. Savolainen, and M. Chase. 2000. Phylogeny of basal angiosperms: analyses of five genes from three genomes. International Journal of Plant Sciences 161 (Supplement): S3-S27.\nRay, J. 1703. Methodus plantarum emendata et aucta. Smith and Walford, London, UK.\nReichenbach, H. G. L. 1827-1829. Dr. Joh. Christ, Moessler's Handbuch der Gewaechskunde, [ed.] vols. 2, 3. Hammerich, Altona, Germany.\nRenner, S. S. 1999. Circumscription and phylogeny of the Laurales: evidence from molecular and morphological data. American Journal of Botany 86: 1301-1315.\nRodman, J. E., P. S. Soltis, D. E. Soltis, K. J. Sytsma, and K. G. Karol. 1998. Parallel evolution of glucosinolate biosynthesis inferred from congruent nuclear and plastid gene phylogenies. American Journal of Botany 85: 997-1006.\nRodrìguez-Trelles, F., R. Tarrìo, and F. J. Ayala. 2002. A methodological bias toward overestimation of molecular evolutionary time scales. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 99: 8112-8115.\nRonse De Craene, L. P., P. S. Soltis, and D. E. Soltis. 2003. Evolution of floral structures in basal angiosperms. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164 (Supplement): S329-S363.\nSanderson, M. J. and M. J. Donoghue. 1994. Shifts in diversification rate with the origin of angiosperms. Science 264:1590-1593.\nSanderson, M., J., and J. A. Doyle. 2001. Sources of error and confidence intervals in estimating the age of angiosperms from rbcL and 18S rDNA data. American Journal of Botany 88: 1499-1516.\nSanderson, M. J. et al. 2004.\nSauquet, H., J. A. Doyle, T. Scharaschkin, T. Borsch, K. W. Hilu, L. W. Chatrou, and A. Le Thomas. 2003. Phylogenetic analysis of Magnoliales and Myristicaceae based on multiple data sets: implications for character evolution. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 142: 125-186.\nSavolainen, V., M. W. Chase, C. M. Morton, D. E. Soltis, C. Bayer, M. F. Fay, A. De Bruijn, S. Sullivan, and Y.-L. Qiu. 2000. Phylogenetics of flowering plants based upon a combined analysis of plastid atpB and rbcL gene sequences. Systematic Biology 49: 306-362.\nSavolainen, V., M. F. Fay, D. C. Albach, A. Backlund, M. Van Der Bank, K. M. Cameron, S. A. Johnson, M. D. Lledó, J.-C. Pintaud, M. Powell, M. C. Sheahan, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, P. Weston, W. M. Whitton, K. J. Wurdack, and M. W. Chase. 2000b. Phylogeny of the eudicots: a nearly complete familial analysis based on rbcL gene sequences. Kew Bulletin 55: 257-309.\nSchneider, E. L. 1979. Pollination biology of the Nymphaeaceae. In D. M. Caron [ed.], Proceedings of the fourth international symposium on pollination, 419-430. Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station Special Miscellaneous Publication 1. College Park, Maryland, USA.\nSoltis, D. E., and P. S. Soltis. 2004. Amborella NOT a \"basal angiosperm\"? Not so fast. American Journal of Botany: in press.\nSoltis, D. E., P. S. Soltis, D. R. Morgan, S. M. Swensen, B. C. Mullin, J. M. Dowd, and P. G. Martin. 1995. Chloroplast gene sequence data suggest a single origin of the predisposition for symbiotic nitrogen fixation in angiosperms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 92: 2647-2651.\nSoltis, D. E., P. S. Soltis, D. L. Nickrent, L. A. Johnson, W. J. Hahn, S. B. Hoot, J. A. Sweere, R. K. Kuzoff, K. A. Kron, M. W. Chase, S. M. Swensen, E. A. Zimmer, S.-M. Chaw, L. J. Gillespie, W. J. Kress, and K. J. Sytsma. 1997. Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from 18S ribosomal DNA sequences. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 84: 1-49.\nSoltis, D. E., P. S. Soltis, M. E. Mort, M. W. Chase, V. Savolainen, S. B. Hoot, and C. M. Morton. 1998. Infering complex phylogeneis using parsimony: an empirical approach using three large DNA data sets for angiosperms. Systematic Biology 47: 32-42.\nSoltis, D. E., P. S. Soltis, M. W. Chase, M. E. Mort, D. C. Albach, M. Zanis, V. Savolainen, W. J. Hahn, S. B. Hoot, M. F. Fay, M. Axtell, S. M. Swensen, L. M. Prince, W. J. Kress, K. C. Nixon, and J. S. Farris. 2000. Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from 18S rDNA, rbcL, and atpB sequences. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 133: 381-461.\nSoltis, D. E., A. E. Senters, M. Zanis, S. Kim, J. D. Thompson, P. S. Soltis, L. P. Ronse De Craene, P. K. Endress, and J. S. Farris. 2003. Gunnerales are sister to other core eudicots: implications for the evolution of pentamery. American Journal of Botany 90: 461-470.\nSoltis, D. E., P. S. Soltis, M. W. Chase, and P. K. Endress. 2004. Angiosperm phylogeny, classification, and evolution. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA: in press.\nSoltis, D. E., V. A. Albert, V. Savolainen, K. W. Hilu, Y-L. Qiu, M. W. Chase, J., S. Farris, S. Stefanovic, D. W. Rice, J. D. Palmer, and P. S. Soltis. Genome-scale data, angiosperm relationships, and \"ending incongruence\": a cautionary tale in phylogenetics. Trends in Plant Science, in press.\nSoltis, P. S., D. E. Soltis, and M. W. Chase. 1999. Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from multiple genes as a tool for comparative biology. Nature 402:402-404.\nSoltis, P. S., D. E. Soltis, M. J. Zanis, and S. Kim. 2000. Basal lineages of angiosperms: Relationships and implications for floral evolution. International Journal of Plant Science161(Supplement): S97-S107.\nSoltis, P. S., D. E. soltis, V. savolainen, P. R. Crane, and T. G. Barraclough. 2002. Rate heterogeneity among lineages of tracheophytes: integration of molecular and fossil data and evidence for molecular living fossils. Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences, USA 99: 4430-4435.\nSoltis, P. S., D. E. Soltis, M. W. Chase, P. K. Endress, and P. R. Crane. 2004. 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Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 268: 2211-2220.\nWilliams, P. S., and E. L. Schneider. 1993. Nelumbonaceae. In K. Kubitzki, J. Rohwer, and V. Bittrich [eds.], The families and genera of vascular plants, 470-473. Springer, Berlin, Germany.\nWilson, T. K. 1966. The comparative morphology of the Canellaceae. IV. Floral morphology and conclusions. American Journal of Botany 53: 336-343.\nYoo, M. J., C. D. Bell, P. S. Soltis, and D. E. Soltis. In press. Divergence Times and Historical Biogeography of Nymphaeales. Systematic Botany.\nYoung, D. A. 1981. Are the angiosperms primitively vesselless? Systematic Biology 6: 313-330.\nZanis, M., D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, S. Mathews, and M. J. Donoghue. 2002. The root of the angiosperms revisited. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 99: 6848-6853.\nZanis, M. J., P. S. Soltis, Y.-L. Qiu, E. Zimmer, and D. E. Soltis. 2003. Phylogenetic analyses and perianth evolution in basal angiosperms. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 90: 129-150.\nZhang, L.-B., and S. Renner. 2003. The deepest splits in Chloranthaceae as resolved by chloroplast sequences. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164 (Supplement) S383-S392.\nZimmer, E. A., R. K. Hamby, M. L. Arnold, D. A. LeBlanc and E. C. Theriot. 1989. Ribosomal RNA phylogenies and flowering plant evolution. Pp. 205-214 in The Hierarchy of Life, ed. B. Fernholm, K. Bremer and H. Jornvall. Amsterdam; Elsevier.\nZwickl, D. J., and D. M. Hillis. 2002. Increased taxon sampling greatly reduces phylogenetic error. Systematic Biology 51: 588-598.\nInformation on the Internet\n- Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. P. F. Stevens, Missouri Botanical Garden.\n- Deep Time Project: A Comprehensive Phylogenetic Tree of Living and Fossil Angiosperms. Florida Museum of Natural History.\n- Treezilla (500-taxon rbcL Analyses). Ken Rice, Michael Donoghue, Dick Olmstead\n- The Families of Flowering Plants. L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz.\n- Images and Descriptions of Flowering Plant Families (as treated by Arthur Cronquist). University of Hawaii Botany Department.\n- Flowering Plant Gateway. Hugh Wilson, Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.\n- Classification of Flowering Plants. Kåre Bremer, Birgitta Bremer & Mats Thulin, Uppsala University.\n- Thonner's analytical key to the families of flowering plants\n- The Virtual Flower. Floral Genome Project (FGP).\n- Oldest Known Flowering Plants Identified By Genes. 1999 Harvard Gazette article.\n- Solving Charles Darwin's \"Abominable Mystery\". Scientists are using chemical fossils to hunt down one of our planet's most vexing missing links -- the first-ever flowering plant. 2001 Science @ NASA article.\n- Paleobotany: Angiosperm Evolution. Bruce Cornet.\n- Andean Botanical Information System\n- Relationships of Parasitic Flowering Plants. Parasitic Plant Connection. Dan Nickrent, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.\n- Angiosperm Phylogeny-APG III. Downloadable PDF of poster of Angiosperm phylogeny. T.C.H. Cole and H.H. Hilger. Institut für Biologie der Freien Universität Berlin.\nAbout This PageThe authors thank M. Chase, J. Palmer, and K. Schulz. This research was supported in part by NSF grants DEB-0090283 and PGR-0115684.\nFlorida Museum of Natural History and the Genetics Institute, Gainesville, Florida, USA\nDepartment of Botany and the Genetics Institute, Gainesville, Florida, USA\nDepartment of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA\nCorrespondence regarding this page should be directed to Christine Edwards at\nPage copyright © 2005 , , and\nPage: Tree of Life Angiosperms. Flowering Plants. Authored by Pam Soltis, Doug Soltis, and Christine Edwards. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.\n- First online 03 June 2005\nCiting this page:\nSoltis, Pam, Doug Soltis, and Christine Edwards. 2005. Angiosperms. Flowering Plants. Version 03 June 2005. http://tolweb.org/Angiosperms/20646/2005.06.03 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/", "label": "No"} {"text": "Wednesday, October 3, 2018\nBig Town After Dark (1947)\nHowever is Susan all she seems to be? She seems linked to the local gambling boss Chuck (Richard Travis). When Steve is beaten up while taking Susan to a poker joint, Susan then apparently goes missing. Has she been kidnapped? She turns up with a plausible story but not before the uncle has been swindled out of fifty grand. Lorelei is suspicious and decides to find out what is really going on though things are complicated by Steve having the hots for Susan...\nIts typical Noir fare, beatings in dingy gambling joints punctuated by slick dialogue. The story is straightforward but well written and the performances are good though Brooke's ice blonde character is a little too cold.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Psychic Shannon is wonderful in many ways and truthful. She is not one to talk like a fortune teller but a spiritual person who grasps the whole situation and guides you accurately. She is surely one in a million on Kasamba psychic network. It’s always a pleasure to talk to her as she helps me to see things from a different perspective. She is very gifted and told me so much about my life without my telling her. She could feel that I was feeling down over my life which I felt was not all it could be. That my life as a woman, wife and mother was not balanced and I was therefore not fulfilled as a person. She felt that this was weighing me down and I had started to doubt God, My prayer life was no existent and so was bible reading.\nI couldn't imagine she could see so much spiritual details about my life. She said that she could see that God wanted me to enjoy life and reach my destiny. He wanted me to serve him in all aspects of my life and at all times. Shannon helped me see that by being a great mum and a wonderful wife I was actually serving God. She told me that I would reconnect a friend who had been my prayer partner and my spiritual life would be renewed. True to her every word, I am now so much renewed spiritually and my total trust in God is unshakable.\nAlyssa, San Francisco (CA)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Depression has no face but Depression is for real. Depression Survivors come out strong and relate with others. Sharing a Real Story because we live in a real world even though the mode of presentation is Virtual.\nAs many of you know that I have started with a Mental Health Awareness Series named Humanity ki Chain on my YouTube Channel as a medium to promote Mental Health Awareness and also give a platform to the Depression Survivors to present their story and inspire others.\nAs per statistics, 90% people don’t take Mental Health seriously, they think mental health is something they should not talk about but it is very important we talk about it, as it directly affects our physical health as well.\nPeople have a habit of ignorning mental health or avoid seeking help for the fear that they would be called as mentally ill or they would be judged, labeled. But the fact is, it is as important as our Physical fitness.\nIt is just like when we fall ill , cold, cough, fever, we take medical supervision, Same way a proper medication, care and the feeling that it will heal with time and our loved ones are always there to help and support us, will surely cure depression and any Mental distress.\nWhile some people choose to come out open and speak about their problems, there are few who still prefer to be a silent warrior. But a story is a story if it is worth inspiring others.\nI will be presenting what I all get in the form of a blog post which could act as a source of inspiration and motivation to the readers and a message to the ones who are struggling that, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.\nDepression Survivors, the pain warriors\nIt is sad to see that society see depression, anxiety or any mental illness with prejudice. There is a lot of stigma attached to it, which we need to break and it is possible only when we will collectively speak about it.\nName: Anonymous (because he wanted to keep his identity safe)\nHis story in his own words.\n- Fill up your bed room with happy quotes filled with positivity.\n- Read them aloud everyday.\n- Get back to things you have a passion for.\n- Tell or vent out your feelings to your parents or preferably your spouse or simply the person you trust the most. This will bring down anxiety levels and improve your mental health.\n- Have curd a scoop on a daily basis.\n- Include blue berries and dark chocolate to your diet.\nToday If I can come out of depression and lead a happy life, I guarantee you all can be successful too. Make the obstacles in life a stepping stone to your success. Let it be if life gives you sad moments it will give you the rainbow of happiness as well. Never Give up. Your life is what you make it. Make it beautiful and inspirational. All the best. Good luck. Stay blessed and Take Care.\nI will be posting more such stories, which I am sure will help to inspire others. Let us build a happy space together.\nMuch love and gratitude", "label": "No"} {"text": "You really can only help people who want to help themselves. It's a sad predicament yet avoidable. Let go and give to God does not mean say you give up, pray, and worry about it and not take advantage of the other opportunities He gives us. Just a thought. C.S.", "label": "No"} {"text": "PROJECT: Muckross Park Hotel, Killarney\nCLIENT: O’Sullivan Campbell Architects\nService: CSR was retained by O’Sullivan Campbell Architects to create a landscape masterplan to integrate an extension into the existing hotel complex.\nOne of the main issues was the relationship with the riverside setting and the integration of said riverside walkway plus surrounding gardens.\nA detailed survey of existing tree and shrub vegetation informed the new layout. The riverside setting had to relate to the building extension whilst maintaining privacy. This was achieved by enhancing the existing vegetation with supplementary planting and screen planting.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A perfect reading\nMYP Individuals and Societies teacher, Sean Logan, has contributed to a newly established online platform for international schools and their educators. His first article examines the notion of ‘Perfectionism’ in schools, and asks what place it has. In another, he explores the ‘hidden curriculum’ and the contribution it makes in the context of international schools.\nThe International Schools Network platform is free to use and invites contributions and input to share thoughts and experiences, and create dialogue in a collaborative and encouraging open environment.\nYou can read Sean’s articles here:", "label": "No"} {"text": "Despite your opinion on John McCain’s policies, no one can deny he is an American hero and a dedicated public servant. He is one of the few politicians left that serves with conviction (I still remember his town hall where he quickly and genuinely shot down a woman who was charging Obama with being a Muslim). His selfless actions while a prisoner of war further speak to his mental fortitude and consideration for others.\nHis recent diagnosis is a true tragedy of glioblastoma, a malignant brain cancer, is a tragedy for his family, his state of Arizona, and the nation. Glioblastoma is often quickly lethal.\nOn the other hand, this exact type of brain cancer could show great promise for treatment by medical cannabis. Marijuana offers John McCain perhaps his best chance at beating the growing mass in his brain, considering most other forms of treatment for Glioblastoma really act as life extension and not treatment.\nHopefully McCain is willing to experiment. For most of his career he was an opponent of marijuana. But at a 2013 town hall, he shocked the crowd when he said “Maybe we should legalize Marijuana. Were certainly leaning that way. I will respect the will of the people.”\nNot long after did Arizona legalize medical marijuana, meaning John would legally have access to medical treatment if he chooses to pursue that route.\nCannabis offers a staggering profusion of medical benefits, and its usefulness in treatment against cancer has been noted in many studies in recent decades. For the sake of political correctness and corporate interests, these results were hidden. And being a Schedule I drug marijuana has been defined by congress and the DEA as having no medical value, stifling nearly all research in the USA – and prolonging the suffering of patients like John McCain. Medical cannabis has been studied around the globe by nations with more foresight and Spanish researchers at Madrid’s Complutense University have been investigating its cancer-fighting powers for two decades. Much of their work has focused on gliomas.\nIn 2006 Manual Guzman, from Complutense University, published in the British Journal Of Cancer the study “A pilot clinical study of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.” Here is a selection from the publishing that shows just how effective Cannabis may be:\nWe have previously shown that cannabinoids inhibit the growth (Galve-Roperh et al, 2000; Sánchez et al, 2001) and angiogenesis (Blázquez et al, 2003, 2004) of gliomas in animal models. Remarkably, this anti-proliferative effect seems to be selective for brain-tumor cells as the survival of normal brain cells (astrocytes (Gómez del Pulgar et al, 2002), oligodendrocytes (Molina-Holgado et al, 2002) and neurons (Mechoulam et al, 2002)) is unaffected or even favored by cannabinoid challenge. On the basis of these preclinical findings, we have conducted a pilot clinical study aimed at assessing cannabinoid anti-tumor action in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.\nTheir work showed Cannabis and the cannabinoids THC and CBD have powerful anti-cancer actions in several ways. One anti-tumor effect is the preventing of the formation of new blood vessels to support the tumors. As they mention, the selectivity of cannabis is remarkable in that healthy nerve cells and other supportive brain cells are not damaged, just the cancerous cells.\nUnfortunately, the stifling of research in the USA and around the planet caused by tragically flawed drug schedules and restrictions, the treatment of brain cancer with medical cannabis is still in its infancy, with key open questions about just how to administer this new medicine.\nAdditionally, research in 2014 indicated that a combination of THC and CBD greatly enhanced the anti-tumor effects of radiation. The Medical Daily followed up on this cancer treatment with cannabinoids, interviewing one of the principals:\nWe think that the cannabinoids are hitting a number of cell signaling pathways, which primes them to the effects of irradiation. Pre-treatment with the cannabinoids seems to interfere with the ability of the tumour cell to repair the DNA-damaging effects of irradiation.\nThe biggest question is if John McCain is informed of marijuana’s true potential to treat his condition. While we know he has had a shifting stance towards legalization, he has never professed a belief in its medical value. While he certainly has the financial resources to seek out the best private care, another irony is that his fellow soldiers in the VA healthcare system are not legally allowed to be informed of the effectiveness of cannabis treatment.\nIt’s hard to say if John McCain is as well.\nMedical marijuana could quite possibly save John McCain’s life. Sadly, the possibility that he will be aware of that fact and use cannabis is close to zero. In any case, we wish him the best.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Posts tagged with how-many-photos-do-I-need-in-a-model-book\nWhat is a model portfolio and do I need one?\nA model portfolio or book is your resume; an essential tool for getting professional modelling jobs whether it is runway or photoshoots. It is a collection of professional images that showcases how you look in photographs and your ability as a model. A model book is crucial to getting hired…", "label": "No"} {"text": "Glycine as the smallest amino acid is important in the structure of collagen where its small size contributes to the tight winding of collagen fibers into a triple helix form. Collagen contains about 35% glycine, but most proteins contain only a small amount of glycine. Glycine contributes as a signaling molecule (inhibitory neurotransmitter) in the spinal column, brainstem, and retina. (Ahern)\nGlycine is important in protein structure where it contributes to the formation of the common alpha helix structure in proteins.\nGlycine forms a sweet-tasting colorless crystalline solid.\nTillery, Enger and Ross", "label": "No"} {"text": "Face the fire - dragons are coming! Perfect the skills of warriors, build defensive fortresses, and devise strategy to dominate the enemy’s army. Rid your lands of evil once and for all! In order to get advantaged of playing Toy Defense 3 - Fantasy full unlimiteg game version you must register the game.\nFace the fire - dragons are coming! Fantasy features a magical new world with dashing warriors, fearless archers, crafty goblins, and immersion in a magical atmosphere. Step into the role of a 10th-century commander: recruit and train your kingdom's warriors, wizards, archers, and healers to create a powerful army and destroy the enemy’s forces! Perfect the skills of warriors, build defensive fortresses, and devise strategy to dominate the enemy’s army. Immerse yourself in a medieval fantasy atmosphere and relish incredible graphics with an amazingly detailed medieval environment. Explore unique levels with non-recurring gameplay. Upgrade your warriors from peasants to knights and develop your own unique strategy with specialized tower power-ups. Defend your castle and show your courage to drive vile monsters from your lands. Rid your lands of evil once and for all!\nExplore three fantastical worlds filled with fun games and challenging I Spy riddles. Encounter challenges and wonderful surprises!\nHelp four magical sprites rescue their fairy friends in this match-3 fantasy adventure.", "label": "No"} {"text": "How to Promote Gut Health\nIt is important to understand how to improve your digestion. This article will give you tips on how to eat a balanced diet and avoid hidden monosaccharides. Avoid sugar, processed foods, and NSAIDs. Eat a variety of whole foods rich in polyphenols and clear of medications like aspirin. It is essential to keep an endocrine system that is healthy.\nDiversify your diet\nOne of the most efficient ways to boost the health of your gut microbiome is to diversify your diet. A western diet is characterized by the absence of variety because of the high amount of sugar, fat and processed food. However an diversified diet will promote the development of beneficial bacteria. To diversify your diet, make sure you are eating whole fruits such as vegetables, nuts, whole grains, seeds, and legumes. These foods can be included into your meals and snacks.\nAmerican food is full of processed foods, sugar and high-fat dairy products. These foods can make it difficult for our digestive systems to work efficiently, which can result in toxic byproducts. Additionally, diets high in refined and processed carbohydrates cause inflammation and decrease the diversity of microbiome. A varied diet can improve digestion and overall health. You can improve your gut health by adding more vegetables and fruits in your meals every day.\nAvoid hiding monosaccharides in the form of\nDietary modifications can help you stay away from monosaccharides hidden in your diet and promote gut health. Focus on eating plenty of fermented veggies, unprocessed, and unprocessed meat as well as fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. Certain foods can actually damage the beneficial bacteria that live in your gut. If you’re seeking a diet that improves gut health, consider cutting out foods that cause digestive issues like gluten and sugar. Probiotic supplements are another alternative. Probiotic supplements can aid in the development of beneficial bacteria. Stress can cause damage to beneficial bacteria in your gut.\nResearch has demonstrated that a diet rich in omega-3 fat acids and fiber can help reduce the amount of pro-inflammatory bacteria in the gut. Gut health is also improved through flavonoids. Flavonoids are plentiful in foods from the cabbage family as well as vegetable broths and other vegetables. They are essential to support healthy gut bacteria. Drink plenty of water, avoid alcohol and limit intake of processed foods.\nEat foods rich in polyphenols\nPolyphenols are an antioxidant that is found in a large range of plants. They protect our bodies from diseases and can improve the gut microbiome. Polyphenols are particularly high in bright fruits and vegetables. A diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables is better for people at lower risk of developing diseases. Include more natural foods like fruits, vegetables, and stay clear of foods that are processed or have added chemicals.\nThe most extensive class of polyphenols is made up of flavonoids. This includes the well-known quercetin anthocyanin and the hesperetin. Both black and green teas are rich in polyphenols. Certain of these compounds are thought to have anti-cancer properties. If you’re thinking about how to ensure you get enough polyphenols in your diet, here are some of them.\nWhile NSAIDs are often prescribed to relieve pain, they could have detrimental effects on the gut. Inflammation can lead to bleeding, ulcers and other signs. They may cause long-term problems with the gut such as leaky gut syndrome, IBS, and Crohn’s disease. As a result, you should avoid NSAIDs in order to help improve your gut health and to avoid these adverse effects.\nAlthough antibiotics can be a highly effective treatment for serious bacterial infections they are often misunderstood and overused. Because of this, antibiotics should only only be used only when prescribed by your doctor and should not be taken for self-resolving infections. The normal balance of bacterial health in the gut is disrupted by antibiotics and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). It is essential to stay clear of NSAIDs in order to promote gut health.\nDrink fermentable fiber\nFiber is a fantastic way to improve your health. This is not a hard job, and you can find a myriad of sources of fiber, including fruits and vegetables Whole grains, as well as VINA sodas. All of these food items contribute to a healthy gut microbiome. Fiber is crucial for maintaining healthy cholesterol levels and for lowering blood pressure.\nRecent advances in microbiome research have resulted in an increasing number of probiotic and prebiotic components that can boost your gut health. Prebiotic fermentation can boost the immune system, boost blood cholesterol levels, and continues to be being studied. Although the exact role of these products is yet to be established There are numerous advantages. One study showed that fermentable fibers can improve the control of glycemic level, while others failed to show any effect.\nIn a recent study, researchers from the University of New Mexico found that regular exercise is beneficial to the health of the gut. Exercise boosts the growth of healthy bacteria which is essential to our overall health. This, in turn, can enhance our moods and mental well-being. It is also a crucial component in neurogenesis, which is responsible for the creation of new neural connections in our brains. You should choose a kind of exercise that improves gut health.\nThe effects of exercise on gut microbiomes were discovered in a study which was conducted on two previously inactive people and women for six months. Particularly, both groups displayed improvements in the composition of the gut microbiome and also greater concentrations of metabolites that are physiologically relevant. Both aerobic exercise with high intensity and voluntary wheel-running led to an increase in the number bacteria living in the gut. However, while these results appear promising, they must be confirmed with further research.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Originally Posted by HansTWN\nDon't forget that they subsidize the cost of the reading devices now.\nWho is they?\nThe publishers don't subside the cost of reading devices.\nAmazon/B&N etc do, but that comes out of their 30% cut.\nAnd no-one subsidised the cost of the iPad I use for some of my reading.", "label": "No"} {"text": "What Is Male Infertility?\nAn infertility diagnosis is given to a couple who are not able to conceive over a one year period. Male infertility is when the problem results from the male partner. Statistics show that male infertility has contributed to approximately 30 percent of all cases of infertility.\nFertility of any man may be affected by any of the following factors:\nThe concentration of sperm in a given quantity of semen is one determinant factor of male fertility. A low sperm count may be caused by various factors, such as a preexisting genetic disorder, severe mumps infection occurring after puberty, and the abuse of alcohol and drugs.\nExposure to radiation and poisonous chemicals may also reduce the sperm count. Other causes include blockage of the tubules due to a previous infection or a hormone disorder.\nThis refers to a situation in which a man is unable to develop and sustain an erection during intercourse. It is also known as impotence.\nAlso called sex drive, libido is defined as the urge or desire to have sex. Some foods and supplements can be taken to boost libido in both men and women. They are known as aphrodisiacs.\nThe quality of sperm is determined by its ability to swim to gain access to the egg. Sperm motility is determined by the percentage of sperms moving in a given sample of semen. Low mobility may result from inflamed testicles or swollen veins in the scrotum. The swollen veins may also block the tubules, affecting the movement of the sperm. Poor sperm mobility may also arise from abnormally developed testicles.\nEjaculation refers to the release of sperm from the male reproductive organ. Ejaculation problems may result from premature ejaculation or complications due to radiotherapy or a surgical procedure. Retrograde ejaculation can also lead to male infertility. This refers to a situation in which the semen is forced back into the bladder. Erectile dysfunction may also lead to ejaculation issues.\nTestosterone is the male sex hormone. Testosterone plays various roles in the body, including the development of the sex organs such as the testes and the prostate gland. It also promotes the development of male sexual characteristics such as increased muscle and bone mass. Low levels of testosterone in the body can contribute to male infertility.\nHow To Boost Male Fertility\nMale infertility may be caused by various factors such as genetics, diseases, and poor general health. The unhealthy lifestyle of an individual and the diet they are following may also contribute to male infertility. Some nutrients can boost fertility more than others. In this article, we are going to discuss a few evidence-based methods of increasing the male sperm count and fertility in general.\n1. D-Aspartic Acid Supplements\nD-aspartic acid is a form of aspartic acid. It is an amino acid that is available as a supplement. D-aspartic acid is likely to be confused with the L-aspartic acid that is involved in the formation of the protein structures in the body. It is also the most common compared to the D-aspartic acid. However, D-aspartic acid is the one that can help improve fertility.\nThe compound is commonly found in glands, especially the testicle glands. It is also present in semen and, by proxy, in the sperm. According to research work, D-aspartic acid plays a big role in male infertility. The levels of the compound in infertile men is low compared to the levels in fertile males.\nStudies have also revealed that supplementation of D-aspartic acid may boost the levels of testosterone hormone in the body.\nAn observational study was performed in infertile men who were given 2.66 grams of D-aspartic acid for three months. It was observed that the levels of testosterone increased by 30-60 percent. The sperm count and mobility also increased by 60-100 percent.\nThere was also a record increase in the number of pregnancies conceived among the participants. However, more research work needs to be done to find out the potential risks that are involved with the use of the D-aspartic acid supplement and how they can be minimized.\n2. Regular Exercises\nBesides improving the level of confidence and physical appearance of an individual, daily exercises may also increase the levels of testosterone present in the body. Studies have revealed that men who exercise on a regular basis have a higher concentration of testosterone hormone than those who live an inactive life.\nAccording to health experts, testosterone levels may increase after exercise, but the effect may not last for long. It is advisable to perform regular exercise activities to benefit from its effects.\nOne of the leading causes of low testosterone levels is being overweight. Obesity forms a big part of the problem in many infertile males. Endocrinologists suggest that exercise can help raise testosterone levels by cutting off some of the excess weight.\nResearch suggests that testosterone levels may vary throughout the day depending on the type of activities being performed. Strength-training exercise in the evening has a great impact on the levels of the hormone in the body.\nHowever, too much exercise may actually result in the reduction of testosterone levels. It is important to maintain a careful balance by performing sufficient exercise without overwhelming the body. An adequate intake of zinc alongside training activities may also boost the levels of testosterone.\nAshwagandha, also known as Withania somnifera, is a medicinal herb that is commonly grown in India. Studies have revealed that the herb may boost male fertility by increasing testosterone levels.\nA study that was conducted on men with infertility problems concluded that the intake of 675mg of the herb for three months improves fertility in men. The specific benefits derived from the herb include an increase in the sperm count by 167 percent, an increase in semen volume by 53 percent, and improved sperm mobility by 57 percent.\nAll these contributed to improved fertility in the men who took part in the study. Minimal improvements were observed among the participants who were given placebo treatment.\nAccording to the study, an increase in testosterone levels was the primary cause of the health benefits and increased fertility experienced by participants.\nAnother study involving 57 young men was carried out to find out the possible effects of Ashwagandha. The participants were put on a strength-training program, and later 600 milligrams of the herb was administered to them.\nIt was observed that daily consumption of the Ashwagandha root extract might significantly increase the levels of the testosterone hormone. Besides its effects on testosterone, it also boosts muscle mass, sperm mobility, and antioxidant levels in the body.\n4. Fenugreek Supplements\nThe Fenugreek supplement, also known as Trigonella foenum-graecum, is a popular culinary herb, but it also has medicinal properties.\nA study was conducted among 30 individuals who strength-trained four times on a weekly basis. The objective of the study was to find out the effects of Fenugreek supplements on their training and results. The men were given 500 milligrams of the supplement daily.\nThe results showed a significant increase in the testosterone levels, as well as an increase in fat loss and energy levels.\nAnother separate study was carried out on 60 healthy males who were put on 600 milligrams of Testofen. This is a supplement that is produced from the Fenugreek seed extracts. The participants took Testofen on a daily basis for six weeks. The results indicated an increase in libido, sexual performance, and strength.\nThe findings of the research work were confirmed by another study that was performed on 120 healthy males. The participants of the study were put on 600 milligrams of Testofen on a daily basis for three months. The results indicated an improvement in erectile dysfunction, as well as the frequency of sexual activity. The supplement was also reported to have increased the levels of testosterone in the body.\nZinc is an essential dietary mineral to the body. The mineral plays various roles in the body, such as boosting the body’s immune system and promoting the process of cell division. Studies have suggested that low levels of zinc in the body can lead to low testosterone levels.\nHowever, the exact mechanism by which the enzyme affects the levels of testosterone is not properly understood. It is thought that zinc may have an impact on the cells in the testes that synthesize testosterone.\nExperts suggest that a properly guided supplementation of the body with the mineral may help raise testosterone levels. A study was conducted to find out the effects of magnesium and zinc supplementation on testosterone levels. It was found that a daily intake of 30 milligrams of zinc may help to boost testosterone levels.\nThe mineral can be obtained from foods such as eggs, fish, meat, and shellfish. Adequate consumption of these foods is thought to be a cornerstone in male fertility. An observational study revealed that low levels of zinc in the body are closely related to the low testosterone levels. The study also revealed that an intake of the mineral might reduce the decrease of testosterone that may result from high-intensity exercises.\n6. Tribulus Terrestris\nAlso known as puncturevine, Tribulus Terrestris is an herb that is commonly used to boost male fertility. The herb is mostly recommended for male health, including urogenital health and cardiovascular health specifically. Its libido-enhancing properties and testosterone-boosting properties have caused this herb to grow in popularity across the world.\nA study was conducted in humans to find out the effects of Tribulus on sexual performance and erectile dysfunction. The study confirmed an increase in libido and an improvement in occurrences of erectile dysfunction.\nThe herb is thought to exert its activity by enhancing the androgen receptor density in the brain. As a result, the libido-enhancing property of androgens is increased.\nThe fruits of the herbaceous plant have also been found to protect the body’s organs, especially the kidneys, from damage by free radicals roaming in the body.\nAnother study was conducted in men who had been diagnosed with a low sperm count. The participants were administered six grams of the Tribulus root on a daily basis for two months. The results indicated an improvement in libido and erectile dysfunction.\n7. Vitamin D\nThe journal of Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology recently published a report that showed the impact of vitamin D on fertility in males. The report linked vitamin D deficiency to various reproductive disorders in males, including hypogonadism and erectile dysfunction. Vitamin D receptors are located in the testes and the male reproductive organ. This suggests that the vitamin acts locally to mediate the activities in the male reproductive organ.\nA study that was conducted on laboratory animals found that vitamin D deficiency may lead to a low sperm count and an impaired sperm mobility in the semen.\nA separate observational study revealed that men with low levels of vitamin D also have inadequate amounts of the sex hormones. A controlled study was done in 65 men who had been diagnosed with low testosterone levels as well as vitamin D deficiency. The findings of the study confirmed that the levels of vitamin D in the body correlates to the testosterone levels available.\nAn intake of 3,000 IU of vitamin D3 on a daily basis for one year may raise the testosterone hormone levels by 25 percent. High amounts of the vitamin in the body are also linked to enhanced sperm count and motility.\n8. Vitamin C\nWhen the concentration of the reactive oxygen species increases in the body, one is likely to encounter oxidative stress. During oxidative stress, the body’s antioxidants are overwhelmed due to various factors such as aging, unhealthy lifestyle, and diseases.\nThe reactive oxygen species are normally produced in the body and their concentration is kept in check by the antioxidants present in healthy bodies. High levels of reactive oxygen species may lead to tissue injuries and an increased risk of developing chronic diseases.\nScientific evidence is available that explains how oxidative stress and high levels of the reactive oxygen species may lead to male infertility. The intake of adequate antioxidants such as vitamin C may help relieve the harmful effects resulting from these reactive oxygen species. Some evidence also suggests that vitamin C is capable of improving the quality of semen.\nA study was conducted in infertile men to find out the effects of vitamin C on male fertility. It was found that the intake of 100 milligrams of vitamin C twice daily for two months improved sperm motility by 92 percent. The sperm count was also increased by over 100 percent. The amount of deformed sperm was also reduced by 55 percent.\nA different observational study in industrial workers from India indicated that an intake of 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C five times weekly for three months protects the sperm cells from damage caused by reactive oxygen species.\n9. Relaxation And Minimization Of Stress\nStudies have revealed that stress can lower sexual satisfaction and impair fertility. The adverse effects of stress can partially be explained based on the effects of the cortisol hormone.\nProlonged levels of stress have been shown to increase the concentration of cortisol hormones in the body. Increased levels of the hormone may lower testosterone levels in the body. When the level of cortisol is increased, the availability of testosterone is reduced.\nMild levels of stress can be alleviated using numerous relaxation techniques. However, severe and unexplained levels of anxiety may require treatment with antianxiety medication or therapy, about which you should consult with your doctor. A simple walk, meditation, or a relaxing bath can all help reduce mild stress without the need for any further treatment.\n10. Maca Root\nMaca root originated from Central Peru. It is a traditional plant food that is used to improve libido and fertility in men. Studies have revealed that an intake of 3 grams of Maca root for a three-month period enhanced self-reported sexual desire and libido in men.\nStudies have also demonstrated that the intake of Maca root may enhance sexual performance. According to studies, the administration of 2.4 grams of Maca root to men diagnosed with infertility resulted in a self-reported improvement in erectile function and general sexual wellbeing.\nIt was also found out that the intake of 1.75 grams of Maca root for three months could lead to an increase in sperm count and mobility.\nSeveral reviews have confirmed the findings of these studies. However, according to the researchers, more studies need to be done on the effects of Maca root on the testosterone hormone.\nAdditional Tips On How To Improve Male Fertility\nOther ways that can be used to boost male fertility involve living a healthy lifestyle, as an unhealthy lifestyle may impair fertility. Studies have also suggested that obesity may result in infertility in men, so losing excess weight is another way of boosting male fertility.\nHeavy alcohol consumption is thought to reduce testosterone levels available in the body. Too much consumption of soy may also impair fertility in men. A diet that is rich in folate may help to reduce the risks that are associated with male infertility.\nMale Fertility Boosters Conclusion\nInfertility is a common problem that affects men across the world. Those suffering from male infertility should focus on improving their general health to reduce the risks associated with the problem. The solutions provided in this article are all major components of a healthy lifestyle.\nIt is not a guarantee that they will work to solve every infertility problem. However, if the infertility is as a result of nutrient deficiency, the tips provided will definitely help.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Электропотребление домохозяйств Москвы и Подмосковья в 2001-2008 гг.\nWe analyzed key factors of electric power consumption for Moscow and regional households. It is shown that new build, intraregional migration, recreational housing and, finally, income drive household power consumption significantly. Average yearly temperature is not among accountable power consumption drivers for households. A power consumption model for households is suggested.\nThis multi-author monograph is the fourth book in the series “Business and Government in Russia”. It covers the issues of mutual influence of the legally established mechanisms of business and government relations as well as the regulatory practice of applying such mechanisms. The book consists of three main sections starting from the legal aspects of business and government relations in Russian and international legislation and going on to the interactions between business and government on the federal, regional and municipal levels. The monograph is based on the materials of an elective course “GR in Modern Russia: Theory and Practice”, theoretical and practical work of the faculty members from the HSE Department of Theory and Practice of Business-Government Interaction and the HSE Scientific Educational Laboratory for Research on Business Communications, and materials from workshops held by the leading representatives of the business community and public authorities. This book will be of interest to specialists, professors and students of economics, political science and management.\nThe article analyzes the structure of trade flows, transport and logistics infrastructure and discussed the prospects of development of regional logistics system\nThe book about nature of Moscow region/\nThe study considers the relationship between internal migration and fertility in Russia. Authors use a sample of 28.2 million women born in 1950-1979 withdrawn from the Russian population Census-2010 database. The data shows that women who have continuously lived in their birthplace since birth have on average lower fertility compared to those who have a migration experience. The authors attribute this to the fact that in Russia internal migrants usually aim to escape from economically depressed areas, and positive effects of these changes overcome negative effects coming from the disruption of their childbearing careers. At that moves within the region have stronger positive impact on fertility than interregional ones, which confirms that migration and fertility are still competing life events. One major exception are migrants heading to the capital cities. Due to the need to adapt to the high competition in every sphere of economic life on the one hand and to the very low fertility norms in the destination region on the other hand they demonstrate lower eventual fertility than their non-migrant compatriots. Spatial analysis of fertility differences between migrant and non-migrant women revealed that regions that loose in fertility due to internal migration are few and they are clustered around the Caucasus Mountains and near the Altai. These are regions just entering the second demographic transition characterized by high fertility together with relatively low average age for motherhood. Overall, authors conclude that Russia benefits from internal migration in terms of eventual fertility.\nThe article is devoted to the study of the authoritarianism prevalent in the mass consciousness of Russians. The article describes a new approach to the consideration of the authoritarian syndrome as the effects of the cultural trauma as a result of political and socio-cultural transformation of society. The article shows the dynamics of the symptoms of the authoritarianism, which appear in the mass consciousness of Russians from 1993 to 2011. This paper proposes a package of measures aimed at reducing the level of the authoritarianism in Russian society.\nThis work looks at a model of spatial election competition with two candidates who can spend effort in order to increase their popularity through advertisement. It is shown that under certain condition the political programs of the candidates will be different. The work derives the comparative statics of equilibrium policy platform and campaign spending with respect the distribution of voter policy preferences and the proportionality of the electoral system. In particular, it is whown that the equilibrium does not exist if the policy preferences are distributed over too narrow an interval.\nThe article examines \"regulatory requirements\" as a subject of state control over business in Russia. The author deliberately does not use the term \"the rule of law\". The article states that a set of requirements for business is wider than the legislative regulation.\nFirst, the article analyzes the regulatory nature of the requirements, especially in the technical field. The requirements are considered in relation to the rule of law. The article explores approaches to the definition of regulatory requirements in Russian legal science. The author analyzes legislation definitions for a set of requirements for business. The author concludes that regulatory requirements are not always identical to the rule of law. Regulatory requirements are a set of obligatory requirements for entrepreneurs’ economic activity. Validation failure leads to negative consequences.\nSecond, the article analyzes the problems of the regulatory requirements in practice. Lack of information about the requirements, their irrelevance and inconsistency are problems of the regulatory requirements in Russia.\nMany requirements regulating economic activity are not compatible with the current development level of science and technology. The problems are analyzed on the basis of the Russian judicial practice and annual monitoring reports by Higher School of Economics.\nFinally, the author provides an approach to the possible solution of the regulatory requirements’ problem. The author proposes to create a nationwide Internet portal about regulatory requirements. The portal should contain full information about all regulatory requirements. The author recommends extending moratorium on the use of the requirements adopted by the bodies and organizations of the former USSR government.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Anyone else out there miss seeing green besides me?\nFrom a refreshing walk in the woods last summer (relaxing, too, if you don’t concentrate too much on the insects…)\nwelcome to the virtual library\nLife With OCD, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, And Recovering from Addiction.\nMusings of a Mental Health Professional\nIn this blog I share my photographs, photography tips and some thoughts and insights about photography\nWhat Heart Speaks !", "label": "No"} {"text": "Like him or loathe him, its always sad when one of the great icons of the 20th century passes so suddenly in to the history books.\nI remember as a teenanger being totally blown away by his Thriller Album and the subsequent John Landis directed video. He truly was the real king of the world. However, his accentric lifestyle and allegations of child abuse clung to him like a bad rash.\nBut to devotees he was an exceptional, kind, caring, individual who had changed the face of modern pop forever and in the process enriched their lives.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Gentleman | ˈdʒɛnt(ə)lmən |\nnoun (plural gentlemen)\n1 a chivalrous, courteous, or honourable man: he behaved throughout like a perfect gentleman. • a man of good social position, especially one of wealth and leisure. • a man of noble birth attached to a royal household: a Gentleman of the Bedchamber.\n2 a polite or formal way of referring to a man: opposite her, an old gentleman sat reading | can I help you, gentlemen? • used as a courteous title for a male fellow member of the House of Commons or the House of Representatives: the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite.\nThis is the dictionary definition of Gentleman, chivalrous, courteous, honourable, perfect, noble, polite and courteous are some of the descriptive words, yet all to often people displaying these characteristics can be seen as nothing more than a nice guy or weak. The truth be told, to maintain a gentle heart and mind in today’s society takes a strength of character not many men possess, but every man has the potential to live by. But what is the difference between the man who uses his potential to be a Gentleman and the man who does not? in a word, Integrity.\nBeing Male is simply the chance of genetics, being a man is just a matter of time, yet being a Gentleman is a matter of choice, a decision, and having Integrity is the foundation of naturally possessing many Gentlemanly qualities by choice.\nSo what is integrity?\nThe quality of being honest and having strong moral principles: a gentleman of complete integrity. The state of being whole and undivided, think of structural Integrity. Would you cross a bridge that has no integrity, or drive in a car with no structural integrity? The Integrity of something defines its sturdiness, its ruggedness, its stability, and its reliability.\nThe very first steps therefore in being a true Gentleman is a willingness to look at one’s self and grow in character.\nBe willing to speak the truth, be willing to be honest, be willing to protect weaker people, be willing to own your mistakes, be willing to learn be willing to let your love for life be strong, be willing to protect your love for humanity. If you find yourself resistance to being honest, helpful, kind and considerate, then you are deficient of qualities that qualify you as a gentleman.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Beacon journals are a great way to track your progress in the sciences, as well as your career.\nThey’re great for keeping track of how you’re doing in your career and keeping you motivated.\nBeacons are also a great tool for keeping in touch with friends and family, as you can easily see how your work is progressing.\nHowever, there are other benefits to using a journal as well.\nFor example, if you’re a writer and you use a bullet journal to record your thoughts and feelings, you can use it as a sort of journal for your own thoughts and thoughts.\nIn the past, if someone had a bad experience with you in a journal, they might not be able to write about it, which would affect your overall health.\nYou can track your own progress in a bullet journals, which is great because it keeps you focused on your goals.\nA bullet journal helps you remember your most important information.\nBullet journals are also great for tracking what you write.\nFor instance, you might be a writer writing a book about your research and your goals for the future, and a journal might give you a snapshot of what you’re writing.\nYou could then use this information to improve your writing or create a new work that fits your personality.\nIf you’re interested in learning more about bullet journals and bullet writing, check out our Bullet Journal Essentials article.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A. Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.\n1. Is Jesus Christ exalted? Yes: because he humbled himself, therefore God also hath highly exalted him, Phil. 2:9. Was his humiliation the way to exaltation? Yes: he suffered these things, and so entered into his glory, Luke 24:26. Was his exaltation the reward of his humiliation? Yes: I have glorified thee on the earth, and now O Father, glorify thou me, John 17:5. Had he it in his eye in his sufferings? Yes: for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, Heb. 12:2.\n2. Was his resurrection the first step of his exaltation? Yes: he was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 1 Cor. 15:4. Did he continue always in the hands of death? No: for it was impossible he should be holden of them, Acts 2:24. Did he rise to life? Yes: he both rose and revived, Rom. 14:9. Did the same body rise? Yes: Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, Luke 24:39. Is he the same Jesus still? Yes: I am he that liveth, and was dead, Rev. 1:18. Did he lie in the grave all the Jewish sabbath? Yes: for he rose in the end of the sabbath, Matt. 28:1. Did he rise the same day of the week? Yes: as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, Matt. 28:1. Have we sufficient proof of his resurrection? Yes: he showed himself alive, by many infallible proofs, Acts 1:3. Did he rise to die no more? Yes: Death hath no more dominion over him, Rom. 6:9.\n3. Did Christ rise by his own power? Yes: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up, John 2:19. and 10:18. Was that a divine power? Yes: for he was crucified through weakness, but he lived by the power of God, 2 Cor. 13:4. Was it the great proof of his being the Son of God? Yes: he was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, Rom. 1:4. Was it the will of the Father he should rise? Yes: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came, and rolled back the stone, Matt. 28:2. Did the Father raise him? Yes: God raised him from the dead, Acts 13:30. Was this an evidence of the acceptance of his satisfaction? Yes: for he was raised again for our justification, Rom. 4:25. And we may plead it? Yes: it is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, Rom. 8:34.\n4. Did Christ rise as a public person? Yes: for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, 1 Cor. 15:21. Are true believers raised with him to a spiritual life ? Yes: be hath quickened us together with Christ, Eph. 2:5. And shall they be shortly raised to eternal life? Yes: Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, 1 Cor. 15:23. Is the resurrection of Christ one of the great foundations of Christianity? Yes: if Christ be not risen, our faith is vain, ver. 14.\n5. Did Christ stay on earth forty days after his resurrection? Yes: he was seen of them forty days, Acts 1:3. Did he then ascend up into heaven? Yes: while he blessed them he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven, Luke 24:51. Did he ascend in a cloud? Yes: a cloud received him out of their sight, Acts 1:9. Was he welcome in heaven? Yes: when the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, he came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him, Dan. 7:13.\n6. Was it for our advantage that he ascended up into heaven? Yes: It is expedient for you that I go away, John 16:7. Did he ascend as a conqueror? Yes: when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, Eph. 4:8. Did he ascend as our forerunner? Yes: as the forerunner he is for us entered, Heb. 6:20. Is he gone to prepare a place for us? Yes: I go to prepare a place for you, John 14:2. Did he enter as our High Priest, within the veil? Yes: by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, Heb. 9:12.\n7. Did he sit at the right hand of God? Yes: he is seated on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, Heb. 8:1. Has he authority to sit there? Yes: the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Ps. 110:1. Is he there now? Yes: he is even at the right hand of God, Rom. 8:34. Has he been seen there? Yes: Stephen said, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God, Acts 7:56. Will he continue there? Yes: the heavens must receive him till the restitution of all things, Acts 3:21. Has he the highest honour there? Yes: God hath given him a name above every name, Phil. 2:9. Has he the sovereign power there? Yes: for angels, authorities, and powers are made subject to him, 1 Pet. 3:22. Is he Lord of all there? Yes: Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands, Heb. 2:7. Ought we therefore to have our hearts in heaven? Yes: Seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God, Col. 3:1.\n8. Will Christ come again ? Yes: If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, John 14:3. Are you sure he will come again? Yes: for he said, Surely I come quickly, Rev. 22:20. Will he come in glory? Yes: he shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, Matt. 24:30. Will his angels attend him? Yes: he shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, Matt. 25:31. Will he come publicly ? Yes: Behold he comes in the clouds, and every eye shall see him, Rev. 1:7.\n9. Will Christ come to judge the world? Yes: God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained, Acts 17:31. Will he come to the terror of all his enemies? Yes: they also which pierced him shall wail because of him, Rev. 1:7. Will he come to the comfort of all his faithful followers? Yes: to them that look for him, he will appear the second time unto salvation, Heb. 9:28. Will this be at the last day? Yes: I will raise him up at the last day, John 6:39. Ought we to wait for that day? Yes: looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, Tit. 2:18.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Accept yourself for who you are and love yourself. You must learn to look in the mirror and love what you see, the image of who you are. Loving yourself is the first step towards happiness.\nMake peace with your past. Forgive those who need to be forgiven. Cut ties with those who cares nothing about your happiness. Surround yourself with positive, uplifting people who motivate and inspire you.\nDo not harbor bitterness or resentment in your heart towards anyone because in the end it will stifle your inner growth and peace of mind.\nBe kind to yourself. Pamper yourself every once in a while. Do something that makes you happy and make it all about you, you deserve it.\nLearn to say no. Remember that you are not here to save the world, so do not take on more than you can handle because you might not want to displease someone. You are never going to be able to please everyone or be everything for everyone. You must be able to say no and feel no guilt about doing so.", "label": "No"} {"text": "We all have a “teaching philosophy”, whether we realise it or not. Mine strongly advocates holistic, personalised, life-centred education. My model of The Three Treasures of Musical Learning is a key component to complement these values.\nPaying attention to all Three Treasures – and at all stages of learning, from the youngest beginner to the most advanced professional – leads to deeper learning, fuelling progress and fostering a lifelong love relationship with music.\nIn this article I will explain what the Three Treasures are, and offer some tips on how focusing on them can help us develop as effective teachers.Continue reading The Three Treasures of Musical Learning", "label": "No"} {"text": "\"Elementary\" (10 p.m., CBS): Natalie Dormer returns to the popular crime series, reprising her role as Moriarty, the arch nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. She is brought in as a consultant on a kidnapping case.\ncomments powered by Disqus\nFree comics unveiled: See 50 titles coming on Free Comic Book Day\nDiamond Comics reveals the full list of 50 book titles available at participating shops during annual event in May.\nSony cancels 'The Interview' theatrical release\nHacked company responds to theater chains declining to screen movie over threats of terrorist attacks.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A blood pressure reading of 72/112 falls within the normal range for an adult. Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of arteries, and a reading of 72/112 indicates that the systolic pressure (pressure when the heart beats) is 112 mmhg, while the diastolic pressure (pressure when the heart is at rest) is 72 mmhg.\nMaintaining a healthy blood pressure level is vital for overall cardiovascular health, as high blood pressure can lead to a host of health issues such as heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease. Regular exercise, a healthy diet, reducing salt intake, managing stress levels, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol are some ways to keep blood pressure under control.\nRegular blood pressure check-ups are also important to monitor any changes and take preventive measures when necessary.\nThe Basics Of Blood Pressure And Its Effects On Health\nBlood pressure is an essential component of overall health, and it is vital to understand the basics to keep track of it. Blood pressure refers to the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it moves through the body.\nThe systolic and diastolic readings are used to determine a person’s blood pressure. The systolic number is the higher number, and it indicates the pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts. The diastolic number is the lower number, and it indicates the pressure in the arteries when the heart is relaxed.\nIn this blog post, we will discuss the basics of blood pressure and its effects on health.\nWhat Is Blood Pressure?\nBlood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it moves through the body. There are two numbers used to determine it: the systolic and diastolic. Blood pressure is essential to maintain optimal health as it ensures that the heart is effectively pumping blood to all the organs in the body.\nHow Is Blood Pressure Measured?\nA sphygmomanometer is used to take readings of blood pressure. This device measures the amount of pressure in the arteries as the blood flows through them. The mmHg is the standard unit of measurement for blood pressure. It is important to note that blood pressure can vary depending on factors such as time of day, activity level, and emotions.\nUnderstanding The Different Types Of Blood Pressure\nThere are two types of blood pressure, primary and secondary. Primary blood pressure is also known as essential hypertension. This type of hypertension has no identifiable cause and is the most common type of blood pressure. Secondary blood pressure occurs due to an underlying medical condition, such as kidney disease or sleep apnea.\nUnderstanding The Risks Associated With High Blood Pressure\nHigh blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can increase the risk of several health problems, such as:\n- Heart disease\n- Kidney disease\n- Vision loss\n- Cognitive decline\nIt is crucial to monitor blood pressure regularly to identify potential issues early on. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle through regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, and managing stress can help keep blood pressure levels in check.\nControlling one’s blood pressure is crucial to good health. By understanding the basics of blood pressure and the risks associated with high blood pressure, individuals can take steps to maintain optimal health and prevent potentially serious health problems.\nWhat Is 72/112 Blood Pressure And How Is It Different?\nUnderstanding How 72/112 Blood Pressure Is Classified\nThe force of the blood flowing through the arteries against the artery walls is what is known as blood pressure. The reading is given in two numbers; the top number is systolic blood pressure, while the bottom number is diastolic blood pressure.\nIn the medical field, blood pressure values are classified into four categories: normal, elevated, hypertension stage 1, and hypertension stage 2. A blood pressure reading of 72/112 falls under the category of hypertension stage 2.\nSeveral factors are known to contribute to hypertension, including age, family history, obesity, and certain medical conditions. It is essential to understand what constitutes 72/112 blood pressure and the impact it has on health.\nThe Impact Of 72/112 Blood Pressure On Health\nThe risks of hypertension stage 2 are significantly higher than those of hypertension stage 1, elevated, or normal blood pressure. 72/112 blood pressure puts an individual at a severe risk of developing several health problems, such as cardiovascular diseases, kidney failure, stroke, and even death.\nHigh blood pressure can also lead to an increased workload on the heart, which can cause it to weaken over time, leading to complications such as heart failure. The risk of developing these complications may increase in the presence of other risk factors such as high cholesterol, smoking, or diabetes.\nDifference Between 72/112 And Other Blood Pressure Readings\nThere are several blood pressure readings with different interpretations. For instance:\n- A reading of less than 120/80 mmhg falls under the normal blood pressure range.\n- A reading ranging from 120/80 mmhg to less than 130/80 mmhg falls under the elevated blood pressure range.\n- A reading ranging from 130/80 mmhg to less than 140/90 mmhg is classified as hypertension stage .\nThere are some notable differences between 72/112 blood pressure and other blood pressure readings, such as:\n- 72/112 blood pressure is significantly higher than readings that fall under the normal blood pressure range.\n- 72/112 blood pressure falls under the hypertension stage 2 category, which is higher than hypertension stage 1 or elevated blood pressure range.\n- An individual with 72/112 blood pressure is at a much higher risk of developing the complications associated with high blood pressure, such as heart diseases, kidney failure, and stroke.\nIt is essential to note that persistent high blood pressure readings require a prompt medical consultation with a healthcare provider. Lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, maintaining a healthy diet, and reducing stress levels are a few ways to keep blood pressure under control.\nIn cases of high blood pressure, a healthcare provider may prescribe medication to manage the condition effectively.\nLifestyle Changes To Manage 72/112 Blood Pressure\nManaging 72/112 blood pressure requires adopting significant lifestyle changes. These changes involve dietary adjustments, regular physical activity, stress management techniques, and cutting down on smoking and alcohol consumption. Here are some essential lifestyle changes to regulate your blood pressure effectively:\nImportance Of Diet In Regulating Blood Pressure\nYour diet plays a crucial role in regulating your blood pressure. Here are some dietary changes you can make to manage your 72/112 blood pressure:\n- Avoid foods high in sodium, such as canned or processed foods, which can cause high blood pressure.\n- Eat foods high in potassium, magnesium and fiber, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, which can help maintain healthy blood pressure levels.\n- Incorporate lean proteins, like fish, chicken and low-fat dairy products, into your diet.\n- Limit your intake of red meat, sugar, and saturated and trans fats.\nIncorporating Exercise Into Your Daily Routine\nRegular physical activity is an excellent way to manage high blood pressure. Here are some ways you can add exercise to your daily routine:\n- Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week, like brisk walking, cycling or swimming.\n- Include strength training exercises, like weight-lifting or resistance bands, at least two days a week.\n- Try to find activities you enjoy to make exercise a regular part of your life.\nTechniques For Stress Management\nWith daily stress being a common trigger for high blood pressure, it’s essential to adopt healthy stress management techniques. Here are some stress management tips to manage your 72/112 blood pressure:\n- Practice mindfulness meditation or deep breathing techniques to reduce stress.\n- Spend time doing activities that you enjoy, like reading a book or spending time in nature.\n- Get enough restful sleep every night and maintain a consistent sleep routine.\nThe Role Of Smoking And Alcohol In Blood Pressure Management\nCutting back on smoking and alcohol consumption are essential for managing high blood pressure. Here are the steps you should take to manage your 72/112 blood pressure:\n- Quit smoking if you are a smoker. When people smoke, their blood arteries constrict and their blood pressure rises.\n- If you drink alcohol, limit your intake to moderate levels, which is one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Excessive alcohol consumption can cause high blood pressure, among other health issues.\nBy adopting these lifestyle changes, you can effectively manage your 72/112 blood pressure. Regular exercise, healthy eating, stress management techniques, and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can all help you achieve healthy blood pressure levels.\nMedications For Regulating 72/112 Blood Pressure\nTypes Of Medications For Regulating Blood Pressure\nThere are several types of medications available to regulate blood pressure. These include:\n- Ace inhibitors: These medications relax blood vessels by blocking the production of a hormone called angiotensin ii.\n- Calcium channel blockers: These drugs prevent calcium from entering the cells of the heart and blood vessels, which helps relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure.\n- Diuretics: Also known as water pills, these medications help the kidneys eliminate excess water and salt from the body, which helps lower blood pressure.\n- Beta blockers: These drugs lessen the stress on the cardiovascular system by decreasing both heart rate and the intensity of contractions.\n- Angiotensin receptor blockers (arbs): These drugs block the action of angiotensin ii, which helps to lower blood pressure.\nUnderstanding The Benefits And Side Effects Of Each Medication\nBefore taking any medication to regulate blood pressure, it is important to understand both the benefits and potential side effects. Here is a breakdown of some of the common benefits and side effects of each type of medication:\n- Ace inhibitors: Benefits include a reduction in blood pressure, protection against kidney damage, and improved blood flow. Side effects may include cough, dizziness, and an increased risk of high blood potassium levels.\n- Calcium channel blockers: Benefits include a reduction in blood pressure, protection against stroke and heart attack, and relief of angina symptoms. Side effects may include dizziness, swelling ankles, and constipation.\n- Diuretics: Benefits include a reduction in blood pressure, improved heart function, and potential protection against stroke and heart attack. Side effects may include frequent urination, dehydration, and an increased risk of high blood sugar.\n- Beta blockers: Benefits include a reduction in blood pressure, relief of angina symptoms, and potential protection against heart attack. Side effects may include fatigue, dizziness, and low blood pressure.\n- Angiotensin receptor blockers (arbs): Benefits include a reduction in blood pressure, protection against kidney damage, and improved blood flow. Side effects may include dizziness, fatigue, and an increased risk of high blood potassium levels.\nTips For Managing Medication Side Effects\nManaging medication side effects can be challenging. Here are some tips for coping with common side effects of blood pressure medications:\n- Diuretics: To manage frequent urination, avoid drinking fluids before bedtime and try to increase water intake during the day.\n- Beta blockers: To manage fatigue, try to get plenty of rest and avoid strenuous activities.\n- Ace inhibitors and arbs: To manage the risk of high blood potassium levels, avoid consuming large amounts of potassium-rich foods such as bananas and potatoes.\n- Calcium channel blockers: To manage constipation, increase fiber intake and exercise regularly.\n- All medications: Be sure to take medications as directed and do not stop taking them without consulting your doctor. If you experience any severe side effects, notify your doctor immediately.\nBy understanding the different types of blood pressure medications, their benefits and potential side effects, and tips for managing these side effects, You and your healthcare team can collaborate to develop a strategy for your care.\nThe Importance Of Regular Blood Pressure Checks\nSignificance Of Regular Blood Pressure Monitoring\nMaintaining good health is not as simple as eating well or exercising daily. Part of healthy living involves regular check-ups with your doctor. One of the crucial checks is for your blood pressure. Monitoring your blood pressure regularly is an essential aspect of maintaining good overall health.\nHigh blood pressure, also known as hypertension, has no immediate symptoms but can lead to severe health issues if left unmanaged.\nRecommended Frequency For Blood Pressure Checks\nBlood pressure checks should be done as frequent as possible, especially for those with a family history of high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes. Generally, it’s best to get your blood pressure checked at least once a year. However, if you have hypertension, you should have your blood pressure tested more frequently.\nYour doctor may recommend that you get your blood pressure checked every three to six months to ensure you are on the right track.\nUnderstanding Blood Pressure Readings And What They Indicate\nBlood pressure is expressed using two measurements: systolic and diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure measures the force exerted on the blood vessels when the heart beats, while diastolic pressure measures the force exerted when the heart rests between beats. Blood pressure readings are measured in millimeters of mercury (mmhg), and the standard reading is 120/80 mmhg, with 120 representing systolic pressure and 80 representing diastolic pressure.\nA high reading of 140/90 mmhg or higher often indicates high blood pressure.\nRegular blood pressure monitoring is essential to maintain good overall health. To ensure that you keep your blood pressure in check, aim to get it checked at least once a year. It’s also crucial to understand blood pressure readings and what they indicate.\nThis will allow you to take the necessary steps to manage your blood pressure levels and prevent further health complications.\nPrevention Strategies For High Blood Pressure\nMaintaining a healthy blood pressure level is crucial for overall well-being, and there are several strategies you can use to prevent high blood pressure. Here are some proven prevention techniques:\nHealthy Eating Habits And Its Impact On Blood Pressure Prevention\nThe food you eat affects your blood pressure, so it’s essential to adopt healthy eating habits to prevent high blood pressure.\n- Fruits, veggies, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products are the foundation of a healthy diet.\n- Reduce your intake of unhealthy foods including saturated and trans fats, refined carbohydrates, and salt.\n- Choose foods that are naturally low in sodium, including fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables and whole grains.\n- Maintain a healthy weight by eating nutrient-rich foods and avoiding overeating.\nIncorporating Physical Activity Into Your Lifestyle To Prevent High Blood Pressure\nPhysical activity has been known to lower blood pressure, so it’s crucial to incorporate it into your daily routine.\n- Engage in moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes, five times a week.\n- Strength training should be performed twice weekly.\n- Take frequent breaks at work to stand up and stretch your legs.\n- Try walking or riding a bike to go small distances rather than using your car.\nImportance Of Stress Management Techniques In Preventing High Blood Pressure\nStress can cause high blood pressure, so it’s essential to adopt stress-management techniques to prevent it. Here are some effective stress-management techniques:\n- Practice deep breathing exercises and meditation\n- Get sufficient sleep and rest\n- Take part in things that bring you joy, such as your favorite pastimes or just hanging out with your loved ones and close friends.\n- Avoid overworking or overcommitting yourself.\nPreventing high blood pressure requires adopting healthy habits such as eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity and practicing stress management techniques. By incorporating these strategies into your daily routine, you can significantly reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure and other related health problems.\nWhy Blood Pressure Monitoring Is Essential During Pregnancy\nUnderstanding High Blood Pressure Among Pregnant Women\nPregnant women often suffer from hypertension. However, it is a grave concern when the blood pressure exceeds 140/90 mmhg, the threshold for hypertension. Several factors contribute to high blood pressure during pregnancy, including pre-existing medical conditions and pregnancy-related complications.\nRisks Associated With High Blood Pressure In Pregnant Women\nHigh blood pressure during pregnancy can lead to several complications, such as preeclampsia, a severe medical condition characterized by high blood pressure, swelling of the hands and feet, and damage to the liver and kidneys. Other potential risks of uncontrolled high blood pressure during pregnancy may include preterm delivery, placental abruption, and fetal growth restrictions.\nImportance Of Blood Pressure Control During Pregnancy\nMonitoring blood pressure during pregnancy is critical to ensure a safe and healthy pregnancy. Proper blood pressure control during pregnancy can minimize the risk of complications for both the mother and the baby. Here are some measures that can help control high blood pressure during pregnancy:\n- Regular prenatal care visits to monitor blood pressure readings\n- Maintaining a healthy diet\n- Moderate exercise\n- Avoiding smoking, alcohol, and caffeine\n- Doctor-prescribed medicine\nIt’s essential to remember that high blood pressure during pregnancy is a severe medical condition that requires prompt medical attention and management. If you experience symptoms such as severe headaches, vision changes, swelling of the hands or face, or sudden weight gain, contact your healthcare provider immediately.\nMedication And Management Options For High Blood Pressure In Pregnant Women\nMedications For Managing High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy\nHigh blood pressure is a common health condition during pregnancy that affects around 6-8% of expectant mothers. Pregnant women with high blood pressure are often advised to take medications to lower their blood pressure. Here are some of the medications that are generally prescribed:\n- Methyldopa: The most commonly prescribed medication for high blood pressure during pregnancy. It is considered safe and is not known to cause any harm to the foetus.\n- Labetalol: Another medication that is considered safe for use during pregnancy. It works by relaxing the blood vessels, which helps lower blood pressure.\n- Nifedipine: A type of medication that helps to relax the muscles in the blood vessels, increasing blood flow and lowering blood pressure. It is often used in the treatment of high blood pressure in pregnant women.\nRisks And Benefits Associated With Medication Usage During Pregnancy\nWhile medication can be helpful in managing high blood pressure in pregnant women, there are also potential risks and benefits associated with their usage.\n- Risks: Some medications can harm the developing foetus or increase the risk of preterm delivery or low birth weight. It is important to speak with a healthcare provider about the potential risks before taking any medication.\n- Benefits: Properly managed high blood pressure during pregnancy can prevent complications such as pre-eclampsia and premature births. Medications can be an effective way to manage blood pressure and reduce these risks.\nLifestyle Changes That Can Help Manage High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy\nIn addition to medication, there are several lifestyle changes that pregnant women can make to help manage high blood pressure. Here are some of the lifestyle changes that can be helpful:\n- Regular exercise: Moderate exercise can help manage blood pressure and improve overall health. Low-impact exercises like walking and swimming are great options for pregnant women.\n- Healthy diet: A well-balanced diet that is low in sodium can help manage high blood pressure during pregnancy. Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains is recommended.\n- Stress management: Stress can increase blood pressure, so finding ways to manage stress can be helpful. Meditation, deep breathing exercises, prenatal yoga or other relaxation techniques can be effective methods for reducing stress levels.\nTaking medication and making lifestyle changes can help manage and reduce high blood pressure during pregnancy. Be sure to speak with your healthcare provider before starting any medication or making any significant lifestyle changes.\nIdentifying Symptoms Of Abnormal Blood Pressure\nAbnormal blood pressure levels can cause severe damage to the body if not addressed immediately. 72/112 blood pressure is a condition that needs urgent attention, especially if the symptoms start to manifest themselves. Understanding the symptoms of high and low blood pressure, knowing when to seek medical attention, and taking initial steps to manage abnormal blood pressure levels are essential things to consider.\nUnderstanding The Symptoms Of High And Low Blood Pressure\nHigh blood pressure symptoms can be difficult to recognize, as they often have no apparent symptoms. However, some signs of high blood pressure may include:\n- Severe headache\n- Fatigue or confusion\n- Chest pain or difficulty in breathing\n- Irregular heartbeat\n- Vision problems\nOn the other hand, low blood pressure symptoms are more apparent and may include:\n- Dizziness or lightheadedness\n- Blurred vision\n- Nausea or vomiting\n- Rapid breathing\nWhen To Seek Medical Attention\nIf you are experiencing high or low blood pressure symptoms, it is essential to seek medical attention as soon as possible. If ignored, the condition can lead to more severe problems such as stroke, heart attack, or even organ failure.\nIf you suffer any of the following symptoms, you should seek medical assistance as soon as possible:\n- Chest pain or tightness\n- Difficulty breathing\n- Numbness or weakness that comes on suddenly, often on one side of the body\n- Slurred speech or confusion\n- Loss of consciousness\nInitial Steps To Take When Experiencing Abnormal Blood Pressure Levels\nTaking initial steps can be life-saving for those experiencing abnormal blood pressure levels before getting urgent medical attention. Here are some steps to consider;\n- Rest and relax in a comfortable position\n- Drink plenty of fluids, especially water\n- Manage your stress levels\n- Your diet should include much less salt.\n- Engage in regular physical activity\nIdentifying symptoms of abnormal blood pressure can be tricky, but recognition and management are essential. Seeking immediate medical attention, understanding the symptoms of high and low blood pressure, and taking initial steps can improve the outcome significantly. It’s essential to consult with your doctor about the best course of action, always monitor your blood pressure levels, and adhere to the prescribed medication and lifestyle changes.\nWhat To Do In Case Of An Emergency\n72/112 Blood Pressure: What To Do In Case Of An Emergency\nHigh or low blood pressure can pose serious health risks, and it’s essential to know how to manage a hypertensive crisis. We will discuss the steps you should take in case of an emergency with 72/112 blood pressure.\nSteps To Take If Experiencing A Hypertensive Crisis\nIf you experience hypertensive crisis (high blood pressure), follow these steps:\n- Stay calm and sit down in a comfortable position\n- Call emergency services immediately or ask someone to do it for you\n- Take prescribed medication if you have it\n- Loosen tight clothing to help reduce blood pressure\n- Drink water if you are not having any breathing difficulties\nWays To Manage An Emergency Episode\nManaging an emergency episode of 72/112 blood pressure situation isn’t a piece of cake. However, the following can be done to avoid the condition from getting worse:\n- Avoid activities that might cause stress\n- Stay relaxed and avoid standing or sitting up suddenly\n- Try deep breathing exercises or meditation to stay calm\n- Monitor blood pressure regularly\nThe Long-Term Effects Of Untreated High Or Low Blood Pressure Episodes\nUntreated high or low bp episodes can have significant long-term effects on the body.\n- Damaged blood vessels\n- Difficulty breathing\n- Loss of vision\n- Weakness or numbness in limbs\n- Organ failure\nIt’s crucial to manage blood pressure to avoid potential long-term health issues. Discuss with your doctor about any concerns or questions that you may have regarding blood pressure management.\nRemember, always stay calm and seek medical attention immediately in case of an emergency 72/112 blood pressure situation.\nFrequently Asked Questions On 72/112 Blood Pressure\nWhat Is 72/112 Blood Pressure?\n72/112 blood pressure is an optimal blood pressure reading with a systolic pressure of 72 and diastolic pressure of 112.\nWhat Are The Risks Of High Blood Pressure?\nHigh blood pressure increases the risks of heart disease, stroke, aneurysms, and kidney failure.\nHow To Lower Blood Pressure Naturally?\nAdopt a healthy lifestyle by exercising, reducing stress, eating a balanced diet, and limiting alcohol intake.\nWhat Are The Common Symptoms Of High Blood Pressure?\nHeadaches, dizziness, chest pain, visual changes, and shortness of breath are common symptoms of high blood pressure.\nWhat Are The Causes Of High Blood Pressure?\nFactors such as genetics, age, unhealthy lifestyle, obesity, and underlying medical conditions can lead to high blood pressure.\nIt is essential for one’s general health to keep their blood pressure at a healthy level. A reading of 72/112 may be slightly elevated, but with proper lifestyle changes, it can be managed effectively. The first step is to consult with a healthcare provider and discuss an appropriate plan that suits individual needs.\nSome recommended changes include reducing salt intake, regular exercise, and incorporating more fruits and vegetables into the diet. Meditation and stress-management techniques can also assist in lowering blood pressure. It is important to monitor blood pressure regularly and consistently, especially for those with a family history of hypertension or heart disease.\nTaking control of one’s health and making small but meaningful changes can have a significant impact on overall well-being and quality of life. With the right mindset and support, a healthy blood pressure can be achieved and maintained to lead a happy and healthy life.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Documentary filmmaker Christian Blackwood profiles controversial Filipino director Lino Brocka, detailing his rags-to-riches rise in the mainstream film industry of the Philippines. Primarily using interviews with the effusive director himself, Blackwood allows Brocka to describe, in his own terms, the common thematic threads tying together his work, from his own homosexuality to the political repression suffered by Filipinos at the hands of Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorial government.\nWhen the magic powers of The Tablet of Ahkmenrah begin to die out, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) spans the globe, uniting favorite and new characters while embarking on an epic quest to save the magic before it is gone forever.\nIn 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music.\nSet backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.\nThe Pianist is a film adapted from the biography of Wladyslaw Szpilman. A Jewish-Polish pianist who during the second world war lived and hid miraculously in Warsaw after having gone through a terrible tragedy.\nTest pilot Tuck Pendleton volunteers to test a special vessel for a miniaturization experiment. Accidentally injected into a neurotic hypochondriac, Jack Putter, Tuck must convince Jack to find his ex-girlfriend, Lydia Maxwell, to help him extract Tuck and his ship and re-enlarge them before his oxygen runs out.\nLarry Donner is a author and writing professor who tutors people who want to write books. Larry's life has become a misery when his Ex-wife has published a book he wrote under her name and has gotten rich over it.\nVeteran buttoned-down LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh is partnered with unhinged cop Martin Riggs, who -- distraught after his wife's death -- has a death wish and takes unnecessary risks with criminals at every turn.\nA dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.\nA young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider whom takes the youth under his wing.\nAxel Foley is back and as funny as ever in this fast-paced sequel to the original smash hit. This time, the Detroit cop heads for the land of sunshine and palm trees to find out who shot police Captain Andrew Bogomil.\nHave you watched Signed: Lino Brocka yet? What did you think about it?", "label": "No"} {"text": "Introduction why choose aqa for gcse design and technology gcse design and technology will prepare students to participate confidently and successfully in an increasingly technological world. Gcse design technology design technology is a creative and which are based on acquisition of skills for completing the coursework element of the gcse. Former different design coursework and technology gcse is producing of to resource editing papers empty for otherwise and everyone educational paper essay very top.\nGcse design and technology project, resistant materials- breadbin 1 name a2 product design: coursework without hand drawn parts. Once you have decided on your design brief and have a clear idea of the project you are undertaking for your food technology coursework you will need to focus your ideas to stimulate some research. We have developed a new gcse design and technology qualification for first teaching in wales from september 2017 (first assessment in 2019) we have worked with the teaching community, education professionals and subject specialists to develop this new gcse design and technology qualification to meet approval criteria set by.\nTeach the reformed gcse (9-1) design and technology qualification available in england for first teaching from 2017. Ks4/gcse design & technology teaching resources for secondary created for teachers, by teachers professional design & technology teaching resources. My igcse design technology portfolio technology and design inform creative leaders - duration: 16 gcse product design coursework - duration:.\nMethylprednisolone 4mg (cadista) get free expert advice and info on universities & colleges doing literature review hart joomla gcse design technology coursework. Coursework, homework and preparation for tests and exams on the bitesize revision app, gcse design and technology will exist as a series of flashcards. Gcse design and technology: product design the gcse product design course encourages students to design and make products with creativity and originality, using a range of materials such as paper/card, timber, plastics etc candidates will also develop a variety of techniques for working with these materials. Gcse product design unit two - coursework create a free website powered by. Description the design and technology application provides students with a new way to learn, work and prepare for tests and exams in many areas of design and technology.\nGcse design and technology: product design time management is a key factor to candidates' success within the coursework elements of the qualification. Gcse design and technology: product design (4555) gcse design and technology: resistant materials (4560) gcse design and technology: systems and. Design & technology gcse graphics and resistant materials controlled assessment coursework unit, worth 30% of the whole gcse technology gcse. Tough gcse topics broken down and explained by out team of expert teachers the design of lamp looking for expert help with your design & technology work.\nA wide range of excercises about graphic design, graphics production, materials and equipment. View the wjec gcse design and technology qualification, specification, training, past papers and other resources available for teachers and students gweld y cymhwyster tgau dylunio a thechnoleg cbac, manyleb, hyfforddiant, cyn bapurau ac adnoddau sydd ar gael i athrawon a myfyrwyr. Gcse design & technology: product design (4555) controlled assessment tasks and guidance for submission in summer 2015 and summer 2016.", "label": "No"} {"text": "much do you know\nabout GM foods?\nIf you live in the United States,\nit's almost certain that you've eaten foods made from genetically\nmodified crops. But how much do you know about them?\nTest your knowledge of high-tech foods with our low-key quiz. The\nquiz was written by Steve Tally and Peter Goldsbrough, who research\nGM foods at Purdue University.\n1. When was the first genetically modified plant produced in\nWhich foods use genetically modified organisms in their production\nto the largest extent?\nMost foods derived from genetically modified crops contain:\nWhat are the current benefits of having foods made from genetically\nimprove farm profitability and make some farmers' jobs easier.\nallow farmers to greatly increase the amount of crops produced.\nimprove convenience for consumers, e.g. by creating foods\nwith longer shelf lives.\nimprove the nutritional quality of foods.\ncause less damage to the environment than conventional chemical-intensive\nsame number of genes as food produced from conventional crops.\nsame number of genes as foods produced from hybrid crops.\nor two additional genes.\nof additional genes.\ngenes at all.\nAre foods derived from genetically modified crops required to be\ntested for possible allergic reactions in people?\nAre foods derived from genetically modified crops nutritionally\nthey offer substantial health advantages over foods produced from\nthey offer some health advantages over foods produced from conventional\nthey are neither better nor worse than foods from conventional\nthey are slightly less healthful than foods from conventional\nfoods produced from genetically modified crops are a known health\nHow long does it take to develop a new genetically modified\nThe GM corn called Bt corn produces toxins that kill the European\ncorn borer and its relatives. Can these insects develop resistance\nto the toxins produced in Bt corn?\nis impossible for insects to develop resistance to Bt corn.\nis unlikely that insects will develop resistance to Bt corn.\ncertain conditions insects may develop resistance to Bt corn.\nis almost certain that insects will develop resistance to Bt corn.\nare already resistant to the toxins produced in Bt corn.\nCan genes escape from genetically modified crops and jump to other\nand often do.\nto some crops, but those crops aren't genetically modified.\nduring rare climatic conditions.\ngenes cannot move from species to species without human intervention.\nCan scientists predict with certainty where an inserted gene will\ngo on a plant chromosome?\nmodern genetic techniques, scientists can insert genes precisely.\nare inserted on the proper chromosome, but there is no control\nover the exact location.\nhave a general idea of where the gene will go and what it will\ndo to the plant.\njust a shot in the dark.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Lots of us wish we had a way to wrap ourselves in a cloaking device or blanket that would hide us from the world. Whether you were a Star Trek fan in the 1960s or a Harry Potter fan, you’ve probably thought about how handy that would be. Well get ready, because scientists might be a step closer to inventing a type of invisibility cloak, thanks to researchers at Berkeley. They’re in the process of creating an ultra-thin material that can make some objects nearly invisible – if the light is just right:\nFor now, this cloak is exceedingly small and covers only an object about 1,300 square microns. But the device, described in the journal Science, offers a proof of concept that could potentially be scaled up in the future.\nPrevious invisibility cloaks tried to gently redirect the light around the object they were hiding – but this required using lots of material, making the cloaks far bulkier than the object they were trying to conceal.\n“That is not practical,” said study coauthor Xiang Zhang, a materials scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “You have to carry a huge cloak around you.”\nFor this new device, however, the scientists instead decided to scatter the incoming light using a very thin metamaterial – a material whose physical structure, rather than its chemical composition, allow it to manipulate light.", "label": "No"} {"text": "By Ted Lipien\nAmerica had its own shameful episode of war crimes, not nearly as brutal as Soviet deportations to the Gulag forced labor camps of many groups and nationalities, but still inexcusable detention of American citizens of Japanese origin and forcing them into internment camps during the Second World War. It is entirely possible that Roosevelt administration officials may have gotten the idea of interning the Japanese-Americans from Stalin’s mass removals of undesirable ethnic groups viewed as potential enemies.\nThe same U.S. government Office of War Information (OWI), which lauded Stalin and covered up his crimes in press releases for domestic distribution and Voice of America (VOA) shortwave radio broadcasts abroad1, produced propaganda films to justify the internment of American citizens.2\nWhen two groups of Polish refugee children–former victims of forced deportations by the Soviets from eastern Poland–had arrived in the United States in 1943 for a brief stopover before being transported to a resettlement camp in Mexico, they were kept under isolation and military guard in former detention centers for Japanese-Americans in southern California. The Roosevelt administration had refused requests to give Polish refugees from Russia political asylum in the U.S. although it helped to transport them and provided a grant (some sources describe it as a loan to the Polish government in exile based in London) to pay for their care.\nThe U.S. Office of War Information took photos of Polish refugees in Iran in 1943 after they had been brought back to health following their evacuation from the Soviet Union a year earlier. They no longer looked malnourished and ill. OWI lied in a press release on Polish refugee children traveling to Mexico by presenting them as fleeing from Nazi occupation.\nThe Roosevelt administration hid evidence of executions of Polish war prisoners in Soviet captivity and other atrocities in Stalin’s Russia. Photographs of Polish refugees taken in Iran in August 1942 by Lieutenant Colonel Henry I. Szymanski, a U.S. Army liaison officer to the Polish Army, were classified as secret. One of them showed three sisters, ages 7, 8, and 9, Polish evacuees from Russia, in a state of severe emaciation.\nLt. Col. Szymanski’s photographs remained classified for ten years. They were published for the first time in 1952 by the bipartisan Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation of the Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre, Eighty-Second Congress, also known as the Madden Committee after its chairman, Rep. Ray Madden (D-IN). In his report, which the Roosevelt administration also classified, Lt. Col. Szymanski described the fate of Polish children in Soviet Russia kept secret from Americans.\nThe purpose of isolating the Polish refugee children at the U.S. Army camps in southern California was to prevent them and their caregivers–also evacuees from Russia who had survived (many had not)–from talking to American media and revealing the extent of Soviet brutality. Roosevelt administration officials and propagandists wanted to protect Stalin from bad publicity in a mistaken belief that it could undermine the military alliance with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. Instead, Americans, including policy makers, were mislead about Stalin’s intentions by Soviet and U.S. government propaganda as it was being spread in government circles in Washington and through American media.\nWhile there were some disclosures of pro-Soviet U.S. government propaganda during the war (the Roosevelt administration made illegal attempts to censor or shut down media critical of Russia), strong bipartisan criticism and actions to put a stop to such manipulation of domestic public opinion on behalf of a foreign power did not emerge until after the war.3\nOne of the camps in which Polish refugee children were briefly housed was Santa Anita facility, sometimes euphemistically referred to in U.S. government documents as Santa Anita (Calif.) Assembly Center.4 When the Polish children arrived, the Santa Anita camp no longer had any Japanese-American prisoners. By then, they had been moved to permanent internment camps.\nSome of the children were reportedly traumatized when they saw a barbed wire fence and a camp guarded by soldiers with rifles. They were further traumatized, according to some accounts, by being transported on sealed trains with blacked out windows. While these were comfortable American passenger trains and American soldiers were friendly, locked doors and windows reminded them of their previous journeys in dark and inhumanly overcrowded Soviet cattle trains with no sanitary facilities which had taken them over a period of weeks to labor settlements in Siberia and Central Asia, with many deaths along the way.\nThe Polish refugee children were treated with great kindness by the few Americans who were allowed contact with them, but as reported by journalist and a Catholic Relief Services worker Eileen Egan, while being transported from the United States to Mexico, they “could not leave the carriages to mingle with American citizens.”5\nJulian Plowy, who was three-years-old, when he arrived in Mexico with his mother and older sister, recalled that the help the Polish children received in Mexico from the Mexican people, Polish-American nuns and American workers of Catholic Relief Services helped them to rebuilt their faith in God and humanity. Plowy wrote that love for Poland and religious faith instilled in them by their parents and teachers strengthened their drive to never give up. He and members of his family who had survived the Soviet captivity came to the United States after the war. One of the photos in the Plowy family album shows a group of young Polish refugee children at their camp called Colonia Santa Rosa near the city of León in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. (Photo: Courtesy of Julian Plowy.)\n- Polish refugee children at Colonia Santa Rosa near the city of León in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. Photo: Courtesy of Julian Plowy.\n- Three sisters, ages 7, 8, and 9, Polish evacuees from Russia, August 1942\nPhotos by: Lieutenant Colonel Henry I. Szymanski, U.S. Army\nSource: The Katyn Forest Massacre: Hearings Before The Select Committee to Conduct An Investigation on The Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre; Eighty-Second Congress, Second Session On Investigation of The Murder of Thousands of Polish Officers in The Katyn Forest Near Smolensk, Russia; Part 3 (Chicago, Ill.); March 13 and 14, 1952 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1952), pp. 459-461.\n- Title: Santa Anita (Calif.) Assembly Center – A panorama of Santa Anita Center showing finished construction\n- Creator(s): United States. Army. Signal Corps.\n- Date Created/Published: \n- See: Cold War Radio Museum, “April 20, 1943 — Congressman Woodruff warns of Soviet propaganda in Voice of America broadcasts,” http://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/april-20-1943-congressman-woodruff-warns-of-soviet-propaganda-in-voice-of-america/ ; “Senator Taft’s early warning of Soviet propaganda in WWII Voice of America,” April 2, 2018, http://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/senator-tafts-early-warning-of-soviet-propaganda-in-wwii-voa/ and “U.S. Congressman on Katyn Massacre Coverup at Voice of America,” September 17, 2017, http://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/u-s-congressman-on-katyn-massacre-coverup-at-voice-of-america/.\n- Office of War Information (OWI), January 31, 1943, “Japanese Relocation,” C-SPAN, https://www.c-span.org/video/?323978-1/japanese-relocation.\n- The bipartisan Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre, also known as the Madden Committee, said in its final report issued in December 1952: “In submitting this final report to the House of Representatives, this committee has come to the conclusion that in those fateful days nearing the end of the Second World War there unfortunately existed in high governmental and military circles a strange psychosis that military necessity required the sacrifice of loyal allies and our own principles in order to keep Soviet Russia from making a separate peace with the Nazis.” The committee added: “For reasons less clear to this committee, this psychosis continued even after the conclusion of the war. Most of the witnesses testified that had they known then what they now know about Soviet Russia, they probably would not have pursued the course they did. It is undoubtedly true that hindsight is much easier to follow than foresight, but it is equally true that much of the material which this committee unearthed was or could have been available to those responsible for our foreign policy as early as 1942.” The Madden Committee also said in its final report in 1952: “This committee believes that if the Voice of America is to justify its existence, it must utilize material made available more forcefully and effectively.” A major change in VOA programs occurred, with much more reporting being done on the investigation into the Katyń massacre and other Soviet atrocities, but later some of the censorship returned. Radio Free Europe (RFE), also funded and indirectly managed by the U.S., never resorted to such censorship, and provided full coverage of all communist human rights abuses. See: Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre, The Katyn Forest Massacre: Final Report (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1952), 10-12. The report is posted on the National Archives website: https://archive.org/details/KatynForestMassacreFinalReport.\n- Densho Encyclopedia, “Santa Anita (detention facility),” https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Santa_Anita_(detention_facility)/ and United States. Army. Signal Corps., “Santa Anita (Calif.) Assembly Center – A panorama of Santa Anita Center showing finished construction,” Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001695914/.\n- American journalist Eileen Egan, who was then a Catholic Relief Services (CRS) worker helping the Polish children, wrote, “As a sealed train had been in the beginning of the trek of agony that carried simple people across three, four and, in the end, all five continents, of the world, so also the train that brought them into León and Colonia Santa Rosa was, in effect, also a sealed train.” See: Eileen Egan, For Whom There Is No Room: Scenes from the Refugee World (New York: Paulist Press, 1995), 19.", "label": "No"} {"text": "According to a study recently released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), graduation rates at public U.S. high schools are at their highest in over 30 years!\nThe report notes that in 2010, more than 3.1 million students graduated high school, 78.2% of those after their fourth year. Depending on state, numbers were higher or lower (for example the highest ranked was Vermont at 91.4% while the lowest was Nevada at 57.8%).\nIn 2009, the graduation rate was 76.5%, making both years the highest since 1975 and 1976 when 75% of students graduated.\nThe Christian Science Monitor speculated that these high rates may be correlated with a lower number of employment opportunities and lower average annual salaries for high school drop outs than the historical average. According to the Census Bureau, drop outs earn $20,241 on average per year while high school graduates usually take home about $30,627 annually.", "label": "No"} {"text": "CANADA'S much vaunted reputation for tolerance took a beating this summer in Caledonia, a town 80km (50 miles) south-west of Toronto, where a new housing development on land claimed by the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy has sparked off a series of ugly clashes between the aboriginals and the town's non-indigenous residents.\nThe land is part of a much larger tract given by the British to their Indian allies from New York in 1784 when members of the tribes fled to Canada after the American war of independence. Claiming that the land was thereafter sold without their proper consent, members of the Six Nations have been occupying the site for the past six months, setting up barricades and blocking traffic. This, in its turn, has provoked a series of counter-blockades, brawls, vandalism, and a fight with golf balls and stones. In a belated attempt to avert further violence, the provincial government bought the contested property from the private developers in June and opened negotiations with the Six Nations. But tensions in the town spiked again at the end of last month when the protesters threatened to complete the 11 unfinished homes themselves and to live in them throughout the winter.\nBecause Caledonia is (by Canadian standards) on the doorstep of Canada's largest city, the conflict has been attracting blanket media coverage. But few have bothered to trace its origins back to their source: the spectacular failure of overall aboriginal policy. Treating their 1m indigenous citizens fairly should be the “ultimate moral issue for Canadians”, says Paul Martin, the former Liberal prime minister. Instead, they are treated with a mixture of ignorance and indifference. The current policy, based on “white guilt and aboriginal anger”, does not work, argues John Richards of Simon Fraser University.\nCanada's current philosophical approach is a far cry from the 1969 attempt by Pierre Trudeau, another former prime minister, to assimilate the country's aboriginals by abolishing separate Indian status and, with it, any right to special treatment by the state. Aboriginal anger forced Mr Trudeau to climb down. By 1982 he had had a change of heart, enshrining broad aboriginal rights in the new Canadian constitution. Assimilation as an official policy died, although it is still favoured by some academics, including Tom Flanagan of the University of Calgary, who has close ties to the current prime minister.\nYet few Canadians understand the special constitutional status of Canada's aboriginals, comprising Indians, Métis, and Inuit, partly because it is still not fully spelled out in the constitution. The Indians believe they should deal with Canada on a government-to-government basis, just as their ancestors did in the 1700s, when the British bought peace in the colony by signing treaties guaranteeing Indian rights to land and self-government. Those were incorporated in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and again in Canada's new constitution. Paul Chartrand, a Métis member of a former royal commission on the aboriginals, says that Canadian governments are not interested in long-term solutions, seeking rather to “stamp out fires”. Mr Martin largely agrees: “This is a file that has been shoved under the rug for 150 years.”\nThe federal government spends an estimated C$9 billion ($8 billion) a year on aboriginal programmes, targeted mainly at the Indians living on 600-odd occupied reserves, where conditions are often dire. Last year the federal government had to evacuate the Kashechewan reserve in northern Ontario after its drinking water was found to be unsafe. The water quality in more than 200 other reserves has also been deemed risky. Although aboriginals living outside the reserves have lower levels of education, health and income than other Canadians, the gap is even wider for those on the reserves.\nMeanwhile, disputes over land are frequent and often violent, the result of resurgent aboriginal nationalism and an awareness that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Since 1990 some of the fiercest confrontations have been over an oil development near Lubicon Lake, Alberta, a golf course expansion at Oka, Quebec, a provincial park in Ipperwash, Ontario, a ski resort at Sun Peaks, British Columbia, and military flights over Labrador. Each has followed a depressingly similar course. Ownership is disputed. An aboriginal claim is filed and the federal claims-processing machinery grinds into motion. Years, often decades, go by without resolution. The fuse is lit when the contested activity is at last allowed to proceed, despite the outstanding claim. No matter which side eventually wins, the other regards it as an illegal occupation.\nNot all the news is grim. On the land-claims front, there have been a number of cases where aboriginal insistence that their rights be recognised before industrial development proceeds has led to agreements on job creation, revenue-sharing, training and land ownership. This was the case with the Cree over the massive James Bay hydroelectric dams in northern Quebec, the Innu over the Voisey's Bay nickel mine in Labrador, the Inuit over diamond mines in the Northwest Territories, and the 1999 creation of the new territory of Nunavut, the largest land-claim settlement in Canadian history. Now aboriginal groups along the path of the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural-gas pipeline in the Northwest Territories stand to become part-owners of the C$7 billion project—if it goes ahead.\n“Large-scale resource development has been the catalyst for just about every major land-claim settlement across the country,” notes David Natcher, professor of aboriginal studies at Memorial University in Newfoundland. The bigger the development, the better the chance at settlement, he says, because the companies put pressure on governments to reach a deal.\nBut smaller disputes, like the one in Caledonia, are much harder to solve. The present confrontation is happening a full decade after a royal commission presented the federal government with a supposedly clear roadmap on how to repair its deteriorating relations with the aboriginals. Set up by the Conservatives following the 1990 Oka conflict, the commission reported to a Liberal government in 1996. But the Liberals largely ignored its recommendations, including the suggestion that land claims be settled by a tribunal composed of both aboriginal and non-aboriginal members, rather than by the courts.\nIt is not too late for the new government to dust off that report. But even if all the aboriginals' claims are settled—and that seems unlikely given a backlog of more than 780 claims before the federal government—it would still not solve the aboriginals' plight. Some analysts argue for much more to be done for the two-thirds of aboriginals living within Canadian society. That might tempt more Indians to leave the wretchedness of the reserves. But this would require the two levels of government to stop buck-passing and get their act together. Although the federal government is supposedly responsible for the aboriginals' overall welfare, the provinces have jurisdiction over land and resources.\nIs the new Conservative government ready to change decades of failed policies? Early signs are mixed. As a one-time member of a federal claims commission, Jim Prentice, the new minister of Indian and northern affairs, has wide experience of aboriginal affairs. He has already pledged to slash the backlog of claims and to do more for the off-reserve aboriginals. The government has also agreed to honour the promise of $2.2 billion by the previous government to compensate the victims of abuse in aboriginal residential schools. But other moves seem less promising: Mr Prentice has declined to intervene in Caledonia, refused to support a UN declaration on indigenous rights and reneged on the last government's pledge of an extra C$5 billion for social schemes.\nAs with so many federal issues in Canada, any real change in policy is unlikely until there is a majority government with the strength and will to ram it through. Meanwhile, private firms push ever further into remote areas in search of lumber, minerals, oil and gas, creating a whole new series of potential flashpoints.", "label": "No"} {"text": "If you have an unfortunate accident that results in a tooth being knocked out, you will probably be hurriedly asking yourself: \"Where is the nearest dentist near me?\" While you're sourcing an emergency dentist near you, you also need to take steps to preserve the tooth in order to maximise the chance of a successful reattachment. So what do you need to do to save your tooth and save your smile?\nProtecting the Root\nIt's far more likely that the tooth can be reattached if the root (the nerves at the base of the tooth) is relatively undamaged. Locate the tooth and try to pick it up from the top—never from the base—to keep the root from being further damaged. Depending on where the tooth ended up after the accident, it might need to be rinsed.\nRinse the Tooth\nGently rinse the tooth under water. Use only a low-pressure stream of water. You don't want the tooth to be accidentally knocked from your grasp and washed down the drain. Do not use soap or any other cleansers as this might damage the root. Do not dry the tooth—this abrasive action can also damage the root.\nPut It Back into Place\nIf possible, slot the tooth back into position. The sooner the root is put back into position with its nerves touching the connective tissues in your gums, the more likely it is that a permanent reattachment can take place. Hold the tooth in place with your finger (wash your hands first) or by biting gently on it. This is not a practical position for the long-term, so you will need to see an emergency dentist as soon as possible.\nPut It in Milk\nIf you are not able to slot the tooth back into position, place it in a small sealable container, cover it with whole milk, and then tightly attach the container's lid. Water would cause the root to dry out and die, but the composition of milk keeps the tooth (and root) hydrated for longer. You still need to see an emergency dentist immediately. If you do not have any milk, place the rinsed tooth inside your cheek and keep it there until you can see a dentist. Take care not to swallow the tooth.\nIf the accident should take place out of hours and you are not able to find a dentist who can see you, you should visit the emergency department of your local hospital. Time is of the essence when it comes to saving a tooth and the hospital might be able to take action that will preserve the tooth until you can see a dentist.\nQuickly find a dentist online through a website like this one: http://www.djydental.com.au.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Walton Bridge petition\n15 May 2012\nIOP Ireland is campaigning to have the new bridge across the Liffey in Dublin at Marlborough Street named for ETS Walton – Ireland’s only physics Nobel prizewinner.\nIf you agree, please sign our petition.\nIreland's Greatest Scientist of the 20th Century\nErnest Walton (1903-1995) was one of the most respected scientists of the 20th century, thus maintaining a tradition in Ireland that reached back to the seventeenth century.\nIn 1932 he and his co-worker John Cockcroft were the first to artificially split the atom in a controlled fashion in the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, which was the leading research centre in the world in atomic and nuclear physics research at that time. Walton had enrolled as a Ph.D. research student following his remarkable achievements as an undergraduate in Trinity College Dublin.\nThe experiment had several important outcomes including the verification of Einstein’s famous equation relating mass and energy, E=mc2. Walton was at the birth of modern physics, as carried out in CERN and elsewhere throughout the world.\nThis new experimental capability greatly enhanced scientific research in many fields of endeavor including studies into the origins of the Universe itself.\nWalton and Cockcroft’s invention of a particle accelerator capable of splitting the atom for the first time earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1951: To date, Walton remains Ireland’s only Nobel Prize winner in the sciences.\nErnest Thomas Sinton Walton was born at Dungarvan, County Waterford on the south coast of Ireland on October 6th, 1903, the son of a Methodist Minister from County Tipperary.\nThe ministry demanded that his father move from place to place every few years, and he attended day schools in Banbridge (County Down) and Cookstown (County Tyrone).\nIn 1915 he was sent as a boarder to the Methodist College, Belfast, where he excelled in mathematics and science, and in 1922 he entered Trinity College, Dublin , on a scholarship.\nHe read the honours courses in both mathematics and experimental science, specializing in physics, and graduated in 1926 with first class honours in both subjects; he received his M.Sc. degree in 1927.\nIn 1927, he was awarded a Research Scholarship by the Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 and he went to Cambridge University to work in the Cavendish Laboratory under Lord Rutherford. He continued at Cambridge after receiving a senior research award of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1930, and received his Ph.D. in 1931.\nWalton was Clerk Maxwell Scholar from 1932 to 1934 when he returned to Trinity College, Dublin, as Fellow: he was appointed Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 1946, and in 1960 he was elected Senior Fellow of Trinity College.\nBuilding Bridges to Economic Development\nWalton returned to Dublin in 1934 where he inspired many generations of students as an outstanding lecturer and researcher. But his contribution to Ireland went far beyond his role as an educator.\nIn 1957, he wrote to the government about the importance of science in the development of the nation.\nHe advocated the need for a stronger science base in the country that would drive Irish industrial growth some two years before the Whitaker-Lemass programme for Ireland’s sustained economic progress.\nHe, in fact, had predicted the advent of the knowledge economy at a very early stage and proposed a plan for economic development that remains a viable template for progress today.\nInspiring the Next Generation of Scientists and Innovators\nBringing Walton’s achievements fully into the public domain in this, the year in which Dublin is the designated European City of Science 2012, will undoubtedly inspire the next generation of scientists and innovators. Because of the humility of the man, few in Ireland are aware of Walton's achievements.\nHis creativity, vision and international recognition within the scientific community are sure to fascinate the general public and school children in particular.\nNaming the Marlborough Street bridge \"The Ernest Walton Bridge\" will celebrate this unique Irishman, and inspire school children to pursue further study and careers in science and technology, a key objective of the Government.\nNeedless to say the impact on tourism and the much-needed boost to Ireland’s pride in these difficult times would be significant.\nCelebrating and Commemorating European City of Science 2012\nWhat better time to commemorate Dublin's role as European City of Science and to celebrate one of Ireland's greatest contemporary thinkers, Ernest Walton in this the 80th anniversary of Walton’s seminal work in splitting the atom in 1932? We therefore propose to name the Marlborough Street bridge \"The Ernest Walton Bridge\" as an icon of Irish science.\nTransport for Dublin has more information on the new bridge.\nThanks to Prof. Peter T. Gallagher and Prof. Vincent McBrierty of Trinity College Dublin for this news item.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The green movement is well underway and it’s not surprising that many schools in America are now embracing sustainable design and strategies to create healthy learning environments for our children. Sustainable building practices address improved indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and the use of natural materials and resources. But more than being aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly places, green schools instill a sense of wonder in students, as well as responsibility for the natural environment.\nHere are 5 sustainable schools setting the “green standard”:\n1. Green School\nThe Green School is a K-5 elementary school founded by a group of Baltimore City public school teachers committed to providing a quality education and a nurturing environment for the children of Baltimore. Its goals are to improve student achievement and increase stewardship for the environment through experiential environmental education.\nThe school’s curriculum integrates project-based learning with balanced literacy by following an educational approach called “using the Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC) for learning.” EIC uses the school’s surroundings and community as the context for reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. This approach integrates learning from textbooks, problem-solving opportunities, and hands-on experiences.\nStudents are involved in projects that incorporate Maryland State standards and require them to apply skills learned in all subject areas. Projects include planting pollinator gardens, raising diamondback terrapins, growing bay grasses, planning and growing an edible organic garden, developing a recycling program, and creating a tree nursery. For example, as 1st graders raise diamondback terrapins, they take weekly measurements of the terrapins; read books and maps about the Chesapeake Bay; and publish a teaching book about terrapins (the state reptile of Maryland).\n2. Tarkington Elementary School\nTarkington Elementary Schoolis the first school in Chicago to be certified a green school by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating system. Fifty percent of the building’s electricity is provided by renewable sources. The school features roofing that reflects solar energy away to cool the building in hot weather, and a plumbing system that uses 30 percent less water than the baseline calculated for the building.\nAdditionally, the school features roof and site storm water run-off that feeds into an adjacent lagoon, reducing the load on municipal sewers, as well as vegetative roof surfaces which capture rain water and return a portion back to the atmosphere, thus lowering the roof temperature and conserving energy. Classrooms contain extra-large windows that allow more natural light. Sensors incorporated into the lighting system automatically adjust to the amount of sunlight entering the room, thus maximizing the use of “natural” energy. Also, Tarkington’s indoor air quality adheres to a higher standard because of the building’s low-toxic paint, glues, and caulking.\nCurriculum is also a key in Tarkington’s green efforts. For all grade levels, the school designs a green curriculum which raises students’ awareness through physical engagement.\n3. Goodwillie Environmental School\nThe mission of Goodwillie Environmental School (GES) in Ada Township, Michigan is to offer unique opportunities for students to use the outdoors as a “living classroom” and provide many experiences, which facilitate an understanding and love of nature. The school uses a natural setting to generate a stimulating learning environment that will allow students to acquaint themselves with and feel connected to the natural world. It integrates the Forest Hills 5th and 6th grade curriculum with an environmental theme and nurtures responsibility and independence through project based learning.\nGES was designed as a green building and has registered for LEED certification. Among the sustainable features of the school are its high-efficiency windows that provide excellent thermal performance against the winter cold, and its deck which is a composite wood made from recycled milk jugs and sawdust. Also, the metal siding and roof materials of the school contain at least 1/3 recycled material.\nAll paint used has a low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) level, which eliminates the odor typically found in conventional paints. The carpet and tile in the classrooms are made from recycled plastic bottles, with 30 percent recycled backing. Tack boards in the corridors are made of 100 percent recycled paper products. Light fixtures throughout the building utilize high-efficiency, color-corrected fluorescent lamps.\n4. Third Creek Elementary School\nThird Creek Elementary in Statesville, North Carolina is one of the first elementary schools in the nation to be certified as a LEED Gold building. The architectural and mechanical design of this school, according to advanced energy modeling, was shown to reduce annual energy costs by an additional 25 percent. All building and site lighting include multiple levels of control and all classroom lights work on occupancy sensors in order to save energy in unoccupied rooms.\nEvery classroom has operable windows, and the entire building is equipped with a permanent temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide monitoring system to ensure optimal indoor conditions at all times. These strategies were implemented in order to promote a healthy and productive learning environment for students and teachers alike.\n“Waterless” urinals, low flow automatic spigots, and other innovations are employed to reduce water and energy consumption by at least 20 percent. Wall paint with lower gas toxicity, and therefore less odor, have been used. Designed for occupant recycling, the building itself also includes dedicated space to implement a recycling program. In addition to minimizing the impact of the school on natural resources, Third Creek is complementing its standard curriculum with projects that teach children to be caretakers of our environment.\n5. Lick-Wilmerding High School\nStudents at the 110-year-old Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco receive a very practical education. Combining shop classes (remember wood and metal working?) and traditional classroom learning, students learn how to reuse materials (thus lessening their environmental impact) and learn how to be resourceful and efficient – two very useful skills!\nGreen features of this school include a living green roof in addition to solar panels on a separate building. Besides providing power, the solar panels act as insulators, which increases energy efficiency. Windmills provide power as well, maximizing natural energy. Adding beauty to this environmentally friendly school are the large interior walkways that are walled by floor-to-ceiling windows, and the many outdoor walkways covered in grass in lieu of cement.\nThe number of schools making environmental improvements across the country is growing. When choosing a school for your children, go beyond the ABCs and consider the benefits of sending them to a sustainable school.\nMaxine Dee is a mother and wife who is dedicated to going green. The more she has learned, the more important she has seen the importance of going green for her family’s health and well-being as well as that of the earth. When not with her family, she works for Treetopia, a seller of artificial Christmas trees. Their trees are multi-colored including pine and white Christmas trees for every style.", "label": "No"} {"text": "What is the biggest airport in the world, or which are the largest airports in the world? Read more to know some interesting and unique facts about the world’s largest airports.\nFlying out of the world’s biggest airports is impressive in more ways than one. Not only do you get bragging rights, but it’s also usually more convenient. The biggest airports in the world have greater facilities that make your travel comfortable. Additionally, you’ll have larger parking areas and more (meaning shorter) lines for check-in and security. Most of these airports also feature enormous terminals, lounges, and plenty of other things to do. As air traffic is on the upswing again, some of these biggest airports are upgrading facilities to encourage even more people to travel. Here’s all the info you need to know about the largest airports in the world.\nWhat is the biggest airport in the world?\nKing Fahd International Airport (DMM), Saudi Arabia –With a surface area of around 300 sq miles, King Fahd International Airport (DMM) is the largest airport in the world. The airport is located in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and sprawls over 192,000 acres of land!\nKing Fahd International Airport\nYou can locate the biggest airport in the world, around 19 miles northwest of downtown Dammam. Despite being the largest airport in the world by area, King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) is only the third busiest airport in Saudi Arabia. This is because the airport was a former US airbase during Gulf War. KFIA started commercial operations in 1999 and can handle around 12 million passengers. Currently, KFIA serves as a major hub for Saudia, SaudiGulf Airlines, and Flynas, with 37 airlines operating in and out of the airport. Here’s another interesting fact about King Fahd Airport. Even though Dammam Airport is almost the size of NYC, it doesn’t feature among the 50 busiest airports in the world! More about the airport’s size – The airport covers 192,000 acres. Also, the six-storeyed main terminal building is spread across a 3,520,000 sq ft. area.\nSome interesting facts about the largest airport in the world\n- The airport got its name from Fahd ibn Abdulaziz, the former King of Saudi Arabia.\n- King Fahd Airport has a 177,000 sq ft. exclusive royal terminal. The royal family, VIPs, top government, and foreign officials are the only people who can use this terminal.\n- The airport was the first among Saudi Airports to open duty-free stores.\n- KFIA also consists of a residential community accommodating around 3,000 people.\n- Further, the airport features a beautiful mosque (around 497,000 sq ft) constructed on the car park roof. The mosque can accommodate around 2,000 worshippers.\nDenver International Airport\nDenver International Airport is the biggest airport in the U.S. and the second biggest airport in the world. The airport has a surface area of around 52.4 sq miles. Denver Airport is located around 25 miles from the city center. The airport had annual passenger traffic of around 60 million before the pandemic. Moreover, around 33 million passengers will use the airport’s terminals in 2020. This resulted in DIA becoming the eighth busiest airport globally. Also, DIA serves as a hub for Frontier Airlines, United Airlines, and a base for Southwest Airlines. It is the fourth US airport to operate flights to more than 200 destinations. The airport is currently undergoing two expansion projects. The ongoing Great Hall and the gate expansion projects will improve the existing terminal. It will also upgrade the airport gates’ capacity. Denver Airport features the Jeppesen Terminal, with three concourses and 146 gates.\nIf these changes don’t help with Denver Airport parking woes, there’s always offsite DEN parking!\nFun facts about the second largest airport in the world\n- Despite being one of the biggest airports in the world, Denver Airport shot into global fame owing to the various conspiracy theories surrounding it. One major conspiracy theory is that the New World Order (NWO) controls the airport. The airport features the longest runway in North America. However, the Swastika shape of the runway makes it peculiar! Meanwhile, the 32-foot tall Blue Mustang statue nicknamed ‘Blucifer’ is believed to be haunted. Another major theory is that the airport was constructed on a burial ground.\n- The airport features four onsite parking lots spread over 30 acres.\nDallas/Fort Worth International Airport\nCovering an area of around 27 sq miles, Dallas International airport is the third largest airport in the world. Regardless, Dallas Airport is larger than Manhattan island. You can locate this airport roughly midway between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. American Airlines has its largest hub at DFW airport. Also, the airport operates flight services to around 273 destinations across 44 countries. With around 39 million passengers using its terminals annually, the airport was the fourth busiest airport in 2020. Dallas Airport features five terminals (A-E) and has 184 gates. A whopping $139 million budget expansion is in the pipeline. Airport officials are planning to add nine gates to Terminals A-C and also totally renovate Terminal C.\nWhat makes the third largest airport in the world interesting?\n- Dallas Airport is also the fourth busiest airport globally in terms of aircraft movements.\n- Around 95% of the domestic US Airports are within four hours of flying time from DFW.\n- Atlantis space shuttle landed at this airport in May 1989. It was the first time that a space shuttle landed at a commercial airport.\nHot tip: The price to park at DFW International Airport has gone up, as has the cost of Uber and Lyft. To cut down on travel expenses, book offsite DFW parking before your trip.\nOrlando International Airport\nOrlando Airport is located around six miles southwest of Downtown Orlando. Sprawling across 21 square miles, Orlando or MCO Airport is the third-largest in the US and the fourth biggest airport in the world. With more than 850 daily flights operated via around 44 airlines, Orlando Airport is a pivotal international gateway for the mid-Florida region. MCO Airport serves nearly 135 domestic and international destinations. The airport has Terminals A and B, having a total of 129 gates. Orlando Airport is one of the main hubs for Silver Airways and also serves as an operating base for Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and JetBlue. Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines have expanded their flight operations in Orlando Airport. Consequently, passenger traffic may increase considerably.\nKey facts about the fourth largest airport in the world\n- The airport code MCO is derived from the airport’s former name McCoy Air Force Base.\n- Orlando Airport is around 20 miles away from Walt Disney World Resort.\nOrlando Travel Tip: If you plan to fly out of Orlando International Airport, you should expect to pay more for parking thanks to recent parking fee hikes. If you don’t want to pay too much, book MCO parking at offsite lots near the airport.\nWashington Dulles International Airport\nCommonly called Dulles International Airport (IAD) or Dulles, the airport is the fifth biggest airport in the world. It covers s a surface area of 20.3 sq miles. Dulles Airport is located around 26 miles west of Downtown Washington DC. IAD Airport is a major air hub for the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The airport has to and from services to more than 125 destinations worldwide and witnesses daily passenger traffic of around 60,000. United Airlines has its hub at Dulles Airport. Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa are the other major airlines that operate from this major airport. Dulles Airport has a single terminal featuring 139 gates.\nSome quick facts\n- Washington Dulles International Airport was the first US airport designed to accommodate commercial jets.\n- The airport features many art and photography exhibits. It occasionally offers live music and dance performances too.\n- The airport got its name from John Foster Dulles, who served as the US Secretary of State from 1953-1959.\nDulles travel tip: Finding parking at Dulles Airport has always been a bit of a challenge. You might find cheaper options if you pre-book IAD parking online.\nBeijing Daxing International Airport\nBeijing Daxing International Airport, the sixth largest airport in the world, is located on the border of Langfang and Beijing. Nicknamed ‘the starfish,’ the airport covers a surface area of 18 sq miles. It is Beijing’s 2nd international airport. The first, of course, is the Beijing Capital International Airport. Beijing Daxing Airport is located around 29 miles south of Tiananmen Square and around 40 miles south of Beijing Capital International Airport. The airport is a major hub for SkyTeam alliance airlines and a few Oneworld members. With around 7.5 million sq feet, Daxing airport has the greatest square footage of any airport terminal in the world.\n- The area of the airport terminal is equivalent to that of 130 football stadiums.\n- With the help of ‘starfish’ architecture, the airport is expected to become the busiest airport by 2040.\nGeorge Bush Intercontinental Airport\nThis international airport in Houston is the seventh biggest airport in the world, occupying a surface area of around 15.6 sq miles. Serving the Greater Houston area, the airport is situated around 23 miles north of Downtown Houston. George Bush Intercontinental Airport is the second busiest airport in Texas. IAH Airport served around 18 million passengers in 2020. The airport features five terminals (A-E) and has 161 gates. The Skyway and Subway connect all the terminals. United Airlines and Atlas Air have their hub at the airport. The airport also serves as the largest passenger hub for United Airlines. Around 40 million passengers used the airport’s terminals annually before the pandemic. Originally named Houston International Airport, the airport was renamed in 1997 after George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the USA.\nIAH entertains you!\n- There are several artworks displayed at the terminals. ‘Lights Spikes,’ created for the 1990 G7 Summit, can be seen outside Terminal E.\n- IAH Airport also hosts weekday live concerts featuring pop, jazz, classical, and international music.\n- Besides these, the airport has a yoga studio for passengers at Terminal A.\nTravel tip: IAH often runs out of terminal parking spots. To avoid last-minute hassles, pre-book offsite IAH parking as soon as your travel plans are finalized.\nShanghai Pudong International Airport\nCairo International Airport\nCairo Airport covers an area of 14 sq miles. This airport is the ninth-largest airport in the world and the busiest in Egypt! Cairo International Airport is located northeast of Cairo, around 9.3 miles from the city’s business area. EgyptAir and Nile Air have their primary hub at this airport. Cairo Airport features three terminals (1-3) and a seasonal flight terminal that you can locate on the west of Terminal 3. Cairo Airport is the second busiest in Africa after OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa. Shuttle buses and a mini metro connect all the terminals.\n- Cairo airport is not only one of the biggest airports in the world, but it’s also the end busiest in Africa.\n- It was originally a US Airforce Base during WW2\nMore familiar as the Bangkok Airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport is one of the two airports that serve Bangkok. Sprawling over 12.5 sq miles, Bangkok Airport is also one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. It serves as an aviation hub for the region. The airport operates as a main hub for Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, Thai Smile Airways, and Thai Vietjet Air. Suvarnabhumi Airport is also a regional gateway and a connection/transfer point for flights connecting Asia, Europe, Oceania, and Africa. Bangkok is one of the hottest tourist destinations. Thus, the airport has served more than 60 million passengers pre-pandemic! Despite the pandemic, the airport still remained one of the world’s busiest airports in 2020. Approximately 16 million passengers used the airport’s terminals that year.\n- The airport’s only terminal covers an area of over six million sq feet!\n- Suvarnabhumi Airport has more than 350 check-in counters, 100 elevators, 22 luggage conveyors, and 26 customs control desks.\nMore info on the largest airports in the world\n- King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia, is the largest airport in the world.\n- Denver International Airport is the second biggest airport in the world.\n- Five of the ten largest airports in the world are in the US.\n- The world’s biggest airports aren’t necessarily the world’s busiest airports.\n- Denver International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport have plans to expand and improve the passenger experience.", "label": "No"} {"text": "5 Ways that John André could have avoided the hangman’s noose\nMajor John André, the dashing British spymaster and Benedict Arnold’s infamous co-conspirator, met his inglorious end by hanging at the gallows. André, because he was captured behind enemy lines in plain clothes, was not entitled to an officer exchange or prisoner swap. General George Washington personally saw to it that the spy was tried and executed, as this would send a message to the British. And perhaps George Washington still remembered the young American patriot, Nathan Hale, who had been similarly treated by the British just a few years earlier.\nSpying was a dangerous job, to be sure. But even in spite of Andre’s ill-fated errand and the rules of warfare, the British spy might still have escaped his fate at the gallows. Here are five ways this might have happened.\n1. John André could have carried a verbal message, rather than stuffing the suspicious documents into his boots, where they were discovered:\nWhen the British General, Sir Henry Clinton, approved John André’s mission to meet with Benedict Arnold and to acquire the top-secret information that would facilitate the British capture of the critical fort at West Point, he ordered his spy not to accept any documents or papers from the American. Such physical evidence, if discovered by the other side, would surely convict André. As such, the British spy should carry nothing away from that illicit meeting but a verbal message.\nWhether out of arrogance, recklessness, or some other motive, André did not heed this order…Read the full article here…", "label": "No"} {"text": "At The Independent:\nThe mystery behind the sudden death of Tutankhamun, the boy king who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, may have been finally solved by scientists who believe that he fell from a fast-moving chariot while out hunting in the desert.A lesson on the perils of road hunting.\nSpeculation surrounding Tutankhamun's death has been rife since his tomb was broken into in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter. X-rays of the mummy taken in 1968 indicated a swelling at the base of the skull, suggesting \"King Tut\" was killed by a blow to the head.\nMore recent studies using a CT medical scanner, however, revealed he suffered a badly broken leg, just above his knee just before he died. That in turn probably led to lethal blood poisoning. Now further evidence has come to light suggesting that he suffered the fracture while hunting game from a chariot.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Letís Sing! Letís Pray! – Teaching Catholic Prayer to Children Through Song.\nTeaching Catholic Prayer to Children Through Song.\nThis CD includes traditional prayers set to music. It works especially well with young children learning prayers. Includes: Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, Jesus Prayer, and Instrumental music tracks for all 16 songs.\nSongs are in three formats: Traditional--A formal version of the prayer with organ or unaccompanied voice. Echo--A call and response version of the prayer. Contemporary--A musically appropriate & respectful version of the prayer presented in a modern popular style.\nMakes a great gift!\nHere are the song lyrics for Let’s Sing, Let’s Pray! Teaching Catholic Prayer to Children Through Song.\nTo purchase downloads of the music, click here.\nLet’s Sing! Let’s Pray!\n1. Sign of the Cross\n2. The Lord’s Prayer—Traditional\n3. The Lord’s Prayer—Contemporary\n4. The Lord’s Prayer—Echo\n5. Hail Mary—Traditional\n6. Hail Mary—Contemporary\n7. Hail Mary—Echo\n8. Glory Be\n9. Prayer to the Holy Spirit\n10. Act of Contrition\n11. Jesus Prayer\n12. Morning Prayer\n13. Grace Before Meals\n14. Grace Before Meals—Echo\n15. Act of Love\n16. Eternal Rest\n17–31. Instrumental music tracks\nOf related interest", "label": "No"} {"text": "This post is copied from: ArchLinux: Users and groups\n/etc/group is the file that defines the groups on the system.\nDisplay group membership with the\n]$ groups [user]\nuser is omitted, the current user’s group names are displayed.\nid command provides additional detail, such as the user’s UID and associated GIDs:\n]$ id [user]\nTo list all groups on the system:\n]$ cat /etc/group\nCreate new groups with the\n]# groupadd [group]\nAdd users to a group with the\n]# gpasswd -a [user] [group]\nModify an existing group with\ngroupmod; e.g. to rename\nold_group group to\nnew_group whilst preserving gid (all files previously owned by\nold_group will be owned by\n]# groupmod -n [old_group] [new_group]\nTo delete existing groups:\n]# groupdel [group]\nTo remove users from a group:\n]# gpasswd -d [user] [group]\nIf the user is currently logged in, he/she must log out and in again for the change to have effect.\nTo list users currently logged on the system, the\nwho command can be used.\nTo add a new user, use the\n# useradd -m -g [initial_group] -G [additional_groups] -s [login_shell] [username]\n-mcreates the user home directory as\n/home/username. Within their home directory, a non-root user can write files, delete them, install programs, and so on.\n-gdefines the group name or number of the user’s initial login group. If specified, the group name must exist; if a group number is provided, it must refer to an already existing group. If not specified, the behaviour of useradd will depend on the\nUSERGROUPS_ENABvariable contained in\n/etc/login.defs. The default behaviour (\nUSERGROUPS_ENAB yes) is to create a group with the same name as the username, with\n-Gintroduces a list of supplementary groups which the user is also a member of. Each group is separated from the next by a comma, with no intervening spaces. The default is for the user to belong only to the initial group.\n-sdefines the path and file name of the user’s default login shell. After the boot process is complete, the default login shell is the one specified here. Ensure the chosen shell package is installed if choosing something other thanBash.\n/etc/shells. For programs that use PAM, this is checked by the\nExample adding a user\nOn a typical desktop system, use the following command to add a new user named\narchie, specify Bash as their login shell and add them to the\nwheel group (see the entry in #User groups for details):\n# useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash archie\nThis command will also automatically create a group called\narchie with the same GID as the UID of the user\narchie and makes this the default group for\narchie on login. Making each user have their own group (with group name same as user name and GID same as UID) is the preferred way to add users.\nYou could also make the default group something else, e.g.\n# useradd -m -g users -G wheel -s /bin/bash archie\nHowever, this is not recommended for multi-user systems. Typically, the method for facilitating shared write access for specific groups of users while keeping home directories private is setting user umask value to\n002, meaning the default group (\nusers in the example above) will by default always have write access to any file you create. The user’s home folder, which is owned by a group with group name same as user name, will be read-only for other system users, while shared files/folders can be made writeable by default for everyone in the operative group. The owning group can be automatically fixed to the group which owns the parent directory by setting the group sticky bit on this directory:\n# chmod g+s our_shared_directory\nOtherwise the file creator’s default group (usually the same as the user name) is used.\nOther examples of user management\nTo add a user to other groups use:\n# usermod -aG additional_groups username\nAlternatively, gpasswd may be used. Though the username can only be added (or removed) from one group at a time.\n# gpasswd --add username group\n-aoption is omitted in the usermod command above, the user is removed from all groups not listed in\nadditional_groups(i.e. the user will be member only of those groups listed in\nTo enter user information for the GECOS field (e.g. the full user name), type:\n# chfn username\n(this way chfn runs in interactive mode).\nTo specify the user’s password, type:\n# passwd username\nTo mark a user’s password as expired, requiring them to create a new password the first time they log in, type:\n# chage -d 0 username\nUser accounts may be deleted with the userdel command.\n# userdel -r username\n-r option specifies that the user’s home directory and mail spool should also be deleted.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Tuesday, August 9, 2011\nIn 1889, at the order of the United States Post Office Department, the American Bank Note Co. prepared special printings of a range of earlier Bank Note issues that had been produced between 1879 and 1888. Copies of U.S. stamps issued since 1851 that were subsequently circulated for official, promotional, or educational purposes had been overprinted \"Specimen.\" This special printing had never been intended for postal use of any kind; however, it apparently was felt that a \"Specimen\" overprint was inappropriate for use on these stamps. To ensure that they would not be confused with regular stamps and postally used, therefore, these stamps were given \"SAMPLE\" and \"SAMPLE A\" overprints in red or blue. (On four of them, all or part of the overprint appears in manuscript.) The stamps are listed with specimen stamps in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps & Covers.\nA roulette that leaves angular, pointed edges.\nAny non-postal labels used to raise money for charity or to decorate or seal envelopes.\nA full roll of coil stamps that is in the original condition it was when sold at the post office. The size of the roll and characteristics can differ, but it will bear some form of seal, label, or wrapper. Some collectors save full, sealed coil rolls, and others purchase them to break down into desirable components. Sealed coils can be found from virtually every country that has produced coil stamps. With rare exceptions, most sealed coil rolls do not command premiums over the prices of their component stamps.\nUnited States revenue stamps released in 1871 to replace the first issue series. The second issue stamps differ slightly in design from first issue examples and were printed on chameleon paper with silk fibers. This was intended to prevent unlawful cleaning of the cancels and subsequent illegal reuse.\nTiny marks on stamps added by the artist or engraver to allow two similar designs to be told apart. These are frequently used with specific reference to early U.S. 19th century bank not issues. Some engravers also hide heir names or other details in stamp designs, only to be discovered later by sharp-eyed collectors. These, too, are known as secret marks.\nA catchall term that refers to different types of paper, including silk, chalky, and prephosphored papers, among others, used to prevent counterfeiting of stamps.\nSelective Block Tagging\nAlthough similar to block tagging, this type of application involves the cutting of tagging rollers on a pantograph machine to leave untagged areas on printed stamps. Examples of this type of tagging include the 1988 Classic Autos booklet and the 13-cent Eagle and Shield definitive. The untagged area left by selective block tagging allows the cancellation ink to adequately permeate the stamp paper to prevent illegal reuse.\nStamps with pressure-sensitive adhesive. Stamps with self-adhesive gum require no moisture to apply. They feature a sheet of silicone-coated backing paper beneath that keeps them intact until they are used. The first self-adhesive U.S. stamp, a pre-canceled die-cut 10-cent Dove Weathervane introduced for use on Christmas cards in October 1974, met with only modest success, and the gum has tended to produce mottled brown spots on mint copies. Improved self-adhesive stamps issued during the last decade, however, beginning with the 1989 25-cent Eagle and Shield, have become popular with postal patrons. Self-adhesive technology is relatively new to stamps, but currently accounts for the vast majority of new postage stamps produced in the United States. The first self-adhesive stamp was released by Sierra Leone in 1964 to salute the New York World's Fair.\nThe unprinted paper surrounding the stamp in a pane, sheet, or booklet. The term also refers to the paper that borders sheets and pans of stamps as they are printed.\nExample of \"Selvage\" that borders a small sheet of stamps\nA postage stamp that also serves as a receipt for the prepayment of an additional fee, usually to benefit charity. This additional fee frequently is represented in the stamp's denomination as a \"plus\" indicator. Thus, a stamp with 3+2c denomination denotes 3 cents postage and 2 cents to a specific charity.\nSee Perforations and Roulette.\nA grouping of stamps by design, theme, or other means, intentionally released as a group over a period of months or years.\nA form of roulette consisting of wavy lines.\nSerrated roulette (or Saw Tooth Rouletting)\nA form of rouletting, probably in which the simulated perforations fit together in an interlocking pattern of jagged right angles.\nWhen overprinted on a stamp, the term generally means \"on government service.\" The overprint indicates the stamp is valid for use only by a governmental official.\nStamps containing text indicating their intended function or rate, either as an integral part of the stamp design (as in the \"BULK RATE\" inscription on the 7.9-cent Drum definitive) or applied as an overprint (as in \"CAR-RT SORT\" Bureau pre-cancel.\nStamps released to mark the 150th anniversary of a significant date or event.\nA grouping of stamps all belonging to the same issue or series.\nOften inaccurately referred to as offset, set-off is a phenomenon that occurs when freshly printed sheets of stamps are stacked before the ink has completely dried. The design from a bottom sheet frequently, partially or fully, transfers to the un printed side of the sheet directly above it. The more complete the impression, the more desirable the freak is to collectors. The most pronounced examples of set offs are caused by a printing plate leaving a fully inked impression on an underlying roller when the press skips a sheet of paper. Subsequent sheets then receive normally inked impressions on the top side, as well as a reversed impression on the gummed side, where it has come in contact with the roller. Subsequent offset impressions fade as the ink on the roller is exhausted. These freaks, which are usually strong impressions, are greatly sought after. A third form of set off can be simulated by normally printed stamps sticking together as a result of high humidity. When pulled apart, they can give the appearance of an offset, but they are not true set offs and have no philatelic value. Another similar form of setoff can also occur through improper storage of stamps in albums. Under pressure, stamp designs transfer from the face of the stamp to the next album page. This form of setoff is not desirable.\nTwo or more stamps of different designs or types that are attached. Se-tenant issues have become more popular in recent years with a number of different countries. Unintentional se-tenants also exist. If different die types or major variations occur on different stamps from the same sheet or pane, a pair of stamps exhibiting these different characteristics are considered to be se-tenant.\nSewing Machine Perfs\nPrivately produced perforations on imperforate second issue revenues. It is believed that the buyer of what would have been imperforate errors ran the stamps through a sewing machine, letting the needle to the perforating.\nA color variation from the normally released version. A shade by nature refers only to one particular mix of hue and chroma, but is compared by collectors to what is considered normal for a stamp.\nA complete printing sheet of stamps as it comes off the press. It may well be sliced into post office panes at a later date.\nAn oversized glassine envelope capable of holding an entire mint pane.\nA flat-plate press that prints stamps in individual sheets, as opposed to a webfed rotary press, which utilizes large rolls, or webs, of paper.\nA postal marking applied aboard a ship. Such markings usually give not only the date, but also the name of the ship and, occasionally, the shipping line name. Such cancels are usually considered desirable.\nPoor separation of attached stamps may result in one perforation tooth that is shorter than its neighbors. While a short perf is considered a fault, it may not seriously affect a stamp's value negatively. Short Set A grouping of stamps from the same issue or series that may be missing one or two values, usually the high values in the packet trade.\nThe practice (or art) of creating printing plates from the original die by using transfer rolls to rock stamp images onto the printing plate. Most siderography is now done by machine, rather than by hand.\nRevenue stamp paper that includes silk fibers. (The early experimental silk paper, found on first issue revenues and some private die proprietaries is difficult to distinguish.) In many cases, only a single fiber or two may be found on one stamp. Later silk paper types have numerous, highly visible silk fibers appearing in the paper.\nSilver Tax Stamps\nUsed to pay tax on the net profit on the sale of silver bullion (1934-63). Silver tax stamps were to be affixed to the transfer memorandum. Although the last silver tax stamps were released in 1944, their use was continued until June 4, 1963.\nStamps that have been postally used but were not canceled. Although the use of skips is illegal, many people view them as found money. Once removed from the envelope, there is no way to distinguish a skip from an unused stamp without gum.\nAbbreviation for straight line, referring, for example, to a town marking consisting of a straight line.\nA stamp that is in short supply or inherently desirable for some reason, but the value has not yet been discovered by collectors.\nMetal die hub cancels that bear some informational, advertising, promotional, or propaganda message. They are found on the covers of many countries. Slogan cancels may also be hand-stamped, but do not occur as frequently as machine cancels.\nSmears, Blobs, and Blotches\nCaused on stamps by excess ink, by cleaning solvent or other chemicals, on the printing plate at some point during production.\nA perforation anomaly that appears on some stamps of the 1990s processed on what is known as an APS grinding perforator. The name comes from the appearance of the anomaly: stacked perforation holes that resemble a sideways snowman. The APS grinding perforator does not punch holes in the stamp paper; it grinds out the holes, with the use of three rotary blades and a perforation pattern die that pushes the paper into cutting blades, producing dust, rather than tiny circles of paper. The practice, known as skiving, was borrowed from the leather making industry, where thin layers of skin are removed from the hide. Cutting heads are positioned so that the web first travels pas one cutter, grinding away the paper and perforating that portion of the web first. The web then travels under a take-up roller to the remaining two cutting heads. If the paper slips slightly out of alignment, or if the take-up rolls develop play or chatter, the edges of the blades, which normally overlap two or three holes, double-cut the stamps out of alignment, causing the snowman affect of slightly doubled perforations.\nThe process of removing stamps from their envelope backings by immersing in cool water for a time. Soaked stamps are then placed face down on absorbent paper to dry.\nSee Bull's Eye.\nThe most dramatic form of color smear, these result from use of solvents to clean printing plates. After cleaning, solvent remainders thin printing ink to the point that t messily smears across the surface of the finished stamp. Like all freaks, these items are supposed to be cut from the printed web of stamp paper and destroyed, but they occasionally slip though, to the delight of collectors.\nSpecial items with philatelic interest, usually released in conjunction with philatelic exhibitions. Souvenir cards may or may not depict stamps. In some cases, such as those produced by the Bureau of Engraving and printing, souvenir cards bear die imprints of actual postage stamps. Souvenir cards are not valid for postage, but are simply intended to be attractive souvenirs.\nA specific product of the United States Postal Service. A souvenir panel is a specially engraved card, with text relating to a stamp issue. A mint block of four stamps is then added to the panel and sold as a souvenir.\nTypically a small pane or sheet that contains one or more stamps, released for a specific event or purpose. The margins of souvenir sheets frequently are very large and contain printed information describing the stamps, the purpose of issue, or the special event being commemorated. The stamps in a souvenir sheet may either be perforated or imperforate, and, with rare exceptions, are valid for postage, either as part of the sheet or cut out and affixed separately. In many cases, stamps in souvenir sheets reproduce older stamp issues. Souvenir sheets have been issued by most countries at one time or another, frequently in celebration of a large stamp show.\nExample of a \"Souvenir Sheet\"\nA damaged or inferior copy of a stamp valued chiefly for its ability to fill as spot in an album. It is assumed that the stamp will be replaced when a better example is obtained, unless it happens to be very rare or valuable.\nThe corner area between the vignette (or central oval) and the outer frame line or border. This corner area frequently includes decorative design elements.\nA special service of mail used when a sender wishes a communication to be delivered quickly, by messenger, upon its arrival at the post office. Many different countries have released special delivery stamps for this service. In recent years, special delivery has fallen out of favor with mailers (and was discontinued in the United States in 1997). Expedited services, such as Express Mail, have largely replaced the need for special delivery.\nStamps representing a special fee for a service used on fourth-class mail that gives it the same handling privileges as first-class mail.\nStamps created for distribution to dignitaries as special favors, or for sale (often long after the fact) to collectors. They may or may not be valid for postage. Such stamps also may or may not be produced from original printing plates. Examples of special printings include the 1875 printings of numerous U.S. stamps (including newly engraved reproductions of numbers 1 and 2). The exact line of what constitutes a special printing is not always clear. The so-called Farley's Follies issues of the 1930's, which were produced to make stamps given to dignitaries available to collectors, are considered by most to be special printings. The intentional printing of the 1962 Hamarskjold Invert is, in fact, a special printing, but is not generally acknowledged as such.\nThere is some discussion among collectors over special stamps, a not-entirely-satisfactory term coined by the U.S. Postal Service. These stamps fall somewhere between definitives and commemoratives in both size and use. They may be reprinted from time to time, like definitives, but are issued in a very limited range of denominations and have a more specialized function or intended period of use than ordinary definitives do. The Christmas stamps issued since 1962 and the Love stamps issued since 1973 are examples of U.S. special issues.\nA collector who studies and gains special knowledge in one particular area. This can include country or topical collections as well as specialized studies of a single stamp or series. In many cases, the dedicated specialist is able to serve as an expert in his or her chosen specialty.\nA stamp that has been defaced by means of an overprint, perforation pattern, or other obliterations for the purpose of creating samples to be given to postmasters, philatelic agencies, and others.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Richmond Gaol is the oldest intact gaol in Australia, located just a 20-minute drive north-east of Hobart.\nThe Gaol was built in 1825 and is one of the best preserved convict structures still existing in Tasmania. You can step inside a solitary confinement cell measuring just one by two metres (6x3 feet).\nOne of the Gaol's most infamous inmates was English convict, Ikey Solomon, said to be the model for Charles Dicken's character Fagin in Oliver Twist.\nBelow and included in photos are chain-gang sleeping rooms, the flogging yards, the cook house and holding rooms, all with historical relics and documents to bring the convict past to life.\nYour Mattress and Pillow\nRichmond Gaol is the oldest, still intact, gaol in Australia. It predates the penal colony at Port Arthur by five years. A cornerstone of the convict system devised by Governor Arthur, the gaol was erected by convicts in 1825-27 in several stages. The 1835 wing built to accommodate women prisoners are the best preserved female convict structures still existing in Tasmania. Specific regulations drafted for the Richmond Gaol in the 1830s aimed to maintain a constant vigil on the prisoners. Floggings - usually carried out by convicts or ex-convicts themselves - were frequent. The colonial hangman, Solomon Bleay, was also imprisoned at Richmond Gaol, being escorted to and from Hobart and Launceston (the only places of execution), when necessary, to carry out his duties. Many of the gaol’s prisoners remained unbowed by the system imposed upon them and escapes were frequent throughout its history. Convicts resorted to all manner of means to break out, including removing roof shingles, digging under the foundations and removing lintels over windows. In 1945 the gaol was ceded to the State Government as a State Reserve under the Scenery Preservation Board and subsequently gazetted as an Historic Site under the National Parks and Wildlife Act in 1970.\nHold Hands and Smile\nOur visit was filled with history at each turn here the place has a strange feel, and as you walk into the tiny cells you van feel the pain that some must have felt and the PA system from which sounds of people in pain are heard and chains being rattled by ghostly figures. Just to walk in the for steps of those poor people is a strange feeling, its a place you would not wish to be in at anytime while it was a working goal, the guards would have been a cruel bunch, Well worth the $10 dollars each to have a look", "label": "No"} {"text": "The first month of the Cartographer's Annual is the Mercator style pack. It tries to capture the flair and style of 16th and 17th century maps. Those centuries - the so-called \"Age of Exploration\" - were an era of immense European exploration and expansion and the art of cartography flourished to document and publish the newly discovered information on the shape of the world.\nFor a time the principal center of map making and map printing was in the Netherlands. Gerard Mercator is the most famous of those cartographers and therefore this map style is named in his honor. The Flemish mathematician, printer and mapmaker (born 1512, died 1592) compiled the first modern world atlas (titled \"Theatrum Orbis Terrarum\") and invented the map projection that still bears his name today.\nThe style pack Mercator includes", "label": "No"} {"text": "~300 kya The line that will become AMH (anatomically modern humans) diverges from archaic humans\n200 kya - 100 kya AMH fixes on one y chromosome and one mitochondia.\n~ 100 kya AMH moves out of its isolated home into surrounding areas, most notably South Africa and the Levant\n~ 75 kya The Toba super eruption eliminates archaic human populations from South Asia (but not Africa or Europe)\n74 kya - 60 kya AMH populate all of South Asia\n~ 60 kya and 16 kya AMH develop agriculture (perhaps a reinvention) and slowly construct a vast neolithic civilization on the Indian subcontinent\n16 kya after warming for 4 ky, the Older Dryas throws Earth back into a 500 year mini ice age. It is harmless to the South Asia civilization, but it likely stresses much of the archaic human population elsewhere.\n14.7 kya - 13.5 kya Meltwater Pulse 1 A floods coastal cities in South Asia\n13.0 kya - 11.3 kya The Younger Dryas throws the world back into the Ice Age, which in combination with continued rapid increases in sea level, destroys the South Asia civilization and creates waves of refugees in all directions.\n12.8 kya The Age of Leo begins. Egyptian Sphinx built around 12.4 kya to signify to refugees that survivors are living in what, today, is the Eastern Sahara.\n~ 11 kya Refugees in Asia Minor, Turkey, etc. begin rebuilding rudimentary settlements and agriculture.\n~ 6 kya agriculturally based civilizations begin forming throughout Asia and Northern Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The Sahara turns into a desert and a culture forms in Egypt along the Nile.\nThe rest, quite literally, is history. The real question here is that period of 44 ky from 60 kya and 16 kya. It is profoundly puzzling how the period after the ~4ky of climatological disruption could be characterized by the emergence of agriculture and civilization all over the full extent of human range, but for 44 ky the indian subcontinent, whith human populations and a broad range of stable climates had none. It is inconsistent with both logic and the oral traditions of the region. Plus, recently, an enormous city, predating at least much of the flood, has been found off the Indian coast. In other words, the default assumption should be that civilization began there and then. It may prove to be false, but it is more probable than the assumption that the Sumerians were the first civilization simply because they are the oldest we have found. \"Before the Flood\" is not intended to be one more 'lost civilization' popular culture book, but rather an academic assault on one specific academic premise.\nStay in touch with all my writing and that of others in our polymathic network by subscribing to The Polymath", "label": "No"} {"text": "In Did You Know? the National Geographic magazine team shares extra information we gathered to expand your knowledge of our featured subjects.\nTroglobitic Paradise Caves, homes for the world’s troglobites, can be created by volcanic eruptions. When hot molten lava flows downhill, it is slowly capped by freshly cooled rock and a lava tube forms. Once the erupting volcano stops, the resulting empty channel, or lava tube, remains. Being fragile, new tubes forming above older ones often cause the ceilings of the older tubes to break, joining the two together. Lava tubes, which lie close to the Earth’s surface, are usually less than 20 million years old. Fairly young on the geologic time scale.\nLava tubes frequently trap moisture, which can then be tapped by thin-rooted trees that reach through the tube’s surface while colonizing the rock above. The combination of dangling tree roots and moist, stable air creates a perfect habitat for many troglobites. Bayliss Cave in Australia is a lava tube with one of the most diverse troglobitic communities in the world, 24 known species.\nOne inhabitant of lava tubes in Hawaii is the Kauai wolf spider. Closely related to a surface-dwelling wolf spider with large eyes, the Kauai is often referred to as the “no-eyed, big-eyed wolf spider.” Producing fewer offspring than its relative, the female Kauai wolf spider will carry her spiderlings on her back after they hatch until the youngsters are ready to leave and hunt on their own. With only three populations of this troglobitic spider known to exist, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it on the endangered species list in January 2000.", "label": "No"} {"text": "First of three search expeditions for the White Bird, the aircraft flown by Nungessor & Coli, who vanished on transatlantic flight in 1927. October, 1984.\nEarly on May 8, 1927, twelve days before Charles Lindberg was to make his historic flight, two famous WWI French flying aces took off from Le Bourget airfield near Paris on an east to west flight across the Atlantic to New York. They were one of the first who successfully managed to get off the ground with a fuel-over laden airplane and soar out over the Atlantic.\nCharles Nungesser and Francois Coli were already the toast of France. Nungesser had shot down 44 German planes and barnstormed in Europe and the United States after the war. Coli was also an ace, but later gained fame on a long distance flight to Africa.\nAfter takeoff the L’Oiseau blanc (the White Bird), a Levasseur bi-wing, open cockpit aircraft powered by a 450 horsepower Lorraine-Dietrich 12 cylinder engine, dropped its landing gear and flew out over the English Channel. It was last sighted heading over the ocean from the eastern shore of Ireland.\nThe White Bird then simply vanished and was never seen again. It was not until 1980 when Gunnar Hanson, a freelance writer, researched and published an article on a man by the name of Anson Berry who was living near Machias, Maine, in 1927 and who claimed to hear an aircraft fly over his isolated camp late in the afternoon of May 9th, 1927. Anson, told several friends and neighbors he had heard the plane overhead in the overcast and but could not see it. He also stated the engine sounded erratic and it sounded to him as if the plane crashed in the distance.\nGunner dug deeper and found a number of other reports and a few sightings beginning in Newfoundland and traveling on a line south past Nova Scotia and into the coastal region of Maine. He then ran onto a report by a hunter who said he’d found an old engine buried in the ground sometime in 1950. The site was within a mile of where Anson Berry heard the plane pass.\nGunner organized a group, including the hunter, a gentleman by the name of Ray Beck of Chatham, New York. Coincidentally, Bob Fleming and I were also researching the mysterious flight and heard about Gunner. I contacted him, offered to fund some of the search and flew up to Bangor, Maine.\nThe country is beautiful, and in the bog areas impossible to penetrate. The first trek we accomplished very little. While preparations were made for a second attempt, I contacted the well respected psychic, Ingo Swann, and asked him to take a crack at it.\nHe accompanied us on the second try and we came up dry. At the same time there was a group led by a Rick Gillespie who was also searching for the lost plane. Interestingly he didn’t know about our efforts. None of us wished to join his organization because he lived on media hype. And my feeling has always been not to make a big deal out of an expedition unless you can prove you actually discovered your intended target.\nSwann later arranged for an experiment with several other psychics. Strange as it seems, working separately they all put the downed aircraft within a quarter of a mile from each other’s projections on the southern slope of the Round Hills near Round Lake.\nWhat can I say. We combed the area foot by foot on the third attempt. The White Bird isn’t there.\nThe search goes on, however. No one wants to quit.\nMy personal theory, two in fact, is that it did not come down near where Anson Berry heard it, but some miles further south. Or, and I like this over any others, the plane went down in an impenetrable bog and chances of it ever being found are quite nil.", "label": "No"} {"text": "[EnergyBulletin] The future will be just like today, only tougher. Oil depletion is basically just a matter of overpopulation — too many people and not enough resources.\nThe most serious consequence will be a lack of food. The problem of oil therefore leads, in an apparently mundane fashion, to the problem of farming.\nWhat to Grow\nThe most practical diet would be largely vegetarian, for several reasons. In the first place, vegetable production requires far less land than animal production. Even the pasture land for a cow is about one hectare, and more land is needed to produce hay, grain, and other foods for that animal.\nHow Much Land?\nThe amount of land needed for farming with manual labor would depend on several factors: the type of soil, the climate, the kinds of crops to be grown. The highest-yielding varieties are not necessarily the most disease-resistant, or the most suitable for the climate or the soil, or the easiest to store. The weather also makes a big difference: too little rain can damage a crop, and too much rain can do the same. Unusually cold weather can damage some crops, and unusually hot weather can damage others. Without irrigation — relying solely on rain — the yield is less than if the crops were watered.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Hi! Some of you may be looking for my research website. It's here.\nSaturday, December 24, 2016\nWednesday, July 13, 2016\nWednesday, May 11, 2016\nMonday, December 28, 2015\n|Click pictures to embiggen|\nA lot of natural history comes from patience, from watching for events that only happen rarely, and then are over, in the blink of an eye. There are, of course, some very spectacular natural events that aren't exactly sneaking up on you. More like, they walk up to you and grab your attention by the collar. Collective behaviour, has definitely been one of these: a large number of organisms doing things all at once, and somehow, together. Crowds, swarms, flocks, schools, all sorts of collectives are being studied. Advances in theory, measurement and notions of emergent behaviour have all led up to this.\nThe emergence of red sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) in Narcisse, in Manitoba is most certainly a collective event. And the sheer number and coordination is impressive. How do thousands of these animals time their collective exit so exactly? How do they know that now is the time to crawl to the surface for their annual spring orgy? A few thousand snakes out at the same time is definitely the thing that brings so many people out to Narcisse, in the middle of the otherwise featureless flat Manitoba plains. But it isn't necessarily the most interesting thing going on here.\nWell, what is going on here?\nBefore there were the flat lands, there was a first a huge ice sheet and then a huge lake in Manitoba, lake Agassiz. Agassiz was formed from the melt waters of that glacial ice sheet from the last ice-age. The ice-sheet was so large and heavy that Manitoba may still be undergoing isostatic rebound (i.e. the land-mass is still lifting back up after a weight was removed from it!). It is the reason the land is so flat and featureless, the ice sheet scraped everything down to nothing.\nSo where did all the water go?\nSome of it remains in the remnant lakes, lake Manitoba and lake Winnipeg, that are nearly large enough to rival the great lakes. Some of it went underground and carved very deep caves into the bedrock. Some of these caves are so far below under the ground, that they are below the frost line. When winter comes to Manitoba and surface temperatures drop below -30 degrees Celsius, in these deep caves, its still above freezing. So at some point in the geological and evolutionary history of Manitoba, red-sided garter snakes started using these caves to hibernate. In the fall they go underground and they sleep off the winter there. Come spring, when the temperature is a bit more conducive to a happy life for a cold-blooded animal, they all wake up nearly at once and out they come!\nAnd when you see the numbers, its seems like it is all at once, a few thousand at once. This is already quite the feat: for a few thousand snakes to time their metabolism so they can all emerge within a day or so of each other. But it's not even the best of it, it gets even more interesting. It isn't all at once. Males tend to come out first, when it still isn't quite warm enough outside. And once they are out, they hang around, soaking up what little watery sun they can get; here they wait. They're waiting for the females.\nWhen the females do wake up and make their way out of the cave, a whole bunch of males are waiting for them right at the entrance. The males will then proceed to chase every single female as she comes out of the cave. Several males chase every single female that comes within their ambit. They try their best to align their bodies up against the females, to wrap around her and to mate with her, all the while signalling to her with pheromones and by rub her with their chins. If enough of them try to do this at the same time, it leads to balls of snakes wound tightly around each other, often known as mating balls.\n|A mating ball|\nSometimes a mating ball is all male.\nSome males will pretend to be female in order to attract courtship from other males. The snakes seem to recognize each others sex only through pheromones which they detect on each others skin. Snakes don't have external genitals and male hemipenises are held inside the body and everted from the cloaca only during mating. So all the males need is a chemical disguise. So gender-bending males produce female pheromones and this is enough to fool the other males into courting it and making mating balls around it.\nWhy on earth though? Well, for the one thing that most cold-blooded animals are short of: warmth. The core of a mating ball is warm and is constantly being warmed up by the bodies that pile up around it. Typically these 'transvestite 'males come out later than the other males, they might be in worse physical condition, and so cold and unable to court other females by themselves. By attracting a mating ball around themselves, they can raise their body temperature a few degrees. For a cold-blooded animal, that's a pretty big deal. When this is done, the gender bending males seem to turn the female pheromone off magically. With the other males no longer pursuing them, they get down to finding some mates of their own. In fact, the current theory is that the female pheromone has just the right degree of volatility: when the male's body temperature rises to where it needs it to be, the pheromone just evaporates off on it's own!\nThere can be a cost to this trickery, a cost some females pay and some males probably do as well. The mating ball is a pretty frantic affair. These congregations last only a few days, so the urge to get it on is very very strong. And sometimes the mating balls end up suffocating the female they are formed around. With the males there is the added fear of injury from forced copulations. So this strategy isn't without risk, but what a cool adaptation!?\nIn almost all systems, there's a lot of amazing detail beyond the obviously impressive spectacle and I hope we can keep looking beyond the obvious and finding it.\nHave a great Christmas break, guys!\nPS: A lot of the research done here was done in the labs of Richard Shine and Robert T Mason in case you want to read some of the primary literature.\nFriday, November 13, 2015\nRespost for folks from Reddit.\nHere's some sense of how the whole process goes. The series also gives you an idea of how long I spent on getting these images. Its only towards the completion of the second or even third pot that I got what I wanted. I think it took a week I think before I nailed the lighting and focus.\nI wanted the wasp completely in focus, so absolutely parallel to the lens plane. So I watched it to figure out its behavior and realized it would hover in front of the pot for just a couple of seconds before landing. So I rigged the tripod to be just low enough to be eye level to the wasp and just parallel to its incoming flight path.\nMy only light source was either natural light or my handheld manual Vivitar 5000. I did have an extension cable at least. Initially I just worked on getting the exposure right so I got nice wing blur but a stable insect. You can see their bodies are quite still, even when their wings move.\nThen I worked on getting enough light on the wasp and on the wall behind the wasp. If you held the light parallel to the wasp body, the light on the wall fell off very fast and the right edge of the image was too dark. Not to mention the ugly shadow of the pot either below or beside the pot (See images 2, 3 and 4). I didn't have a second flash to do a fill light. (I was a poor grad student then.)\nSo the light had to be held just so. Once the wasp was hovering, the ring-light was held behind it so the insect was in its centre. And the light was tilted towards the wall, so off at an angle to the wasp and pushing more light to the wall, behind the pot. The light is also slightly above the wasp, pointing down a bit as you can infer from the specular highlights and shadows. This last part wasn't necessarily intended, but altogether it worked. The image hangs together\nAs you can see there is still some fall off on the wall and the front of the mud ball and the face of the wasp is not as highly lit as the thorax and abdomen. But both those are acceptable compromises. The image hangs. And that is how I made this image. I didn't click it, I didn't snap it, no, no, I stalked it and I made it.\n|Bring mud to make pot|\n|Shape pot out of the mud brought in|\n|Stock the pot with alive but paralysed soft bodied prey like caterpillars and spiders.|\n|Lay a single egg and seal the pot. See sealed pot in image no 1.|\nWednesday, September 30, 2015\nThe Don valley parkway was closed this weekend. But it was very very busy in other ways. A few million midges had an end of summer party over it!\nThey had fireworks and everything!\nIt was quite the show. Summer got a grand send off.\nCopyright © Natasha Mhatre If you're reading this without attribution to me anywhere other than at my blog Talking Pictures, its probably being plagiarized.\nTuesday, July 21, 2015\nTuesday, June 23, 2015\nMonday, May 25, 2015\nTuesday, May 05, 2015\nSaturday, May 02, 2015\nFriday, April 10, 2015\nMonday, March 02, 2015\nI know that some of you came here to look at my science art. You may be interested in the fun and games at the #SciArt hash-tag. Don't bother with the 'Is it art' question. No line has been drawn between art, craft, illustration or doodling by anyone at all. This is Twitter after all but its fun nonetheless. Have a look.\nTo look at my word beasts\nTo look at my word beasts", "label": "No"} {"text": "These top 10 strange holes are geographical phenomena and most astounding sites in the world. Some hole are made occasionally by nature but some by the man in search for the mining wealth. Here we point out the top ten biggest and strangest of them.\n1. Darvaza Gas Crater – Turkmenistan (The Door to Hell):\nIn the heart of the Karakum desert of Turkmenistan the Darvaza Gas Crater or The Burning Gates give off a glow that can be seen from miles away during the dark night. The large crater is a result of a Soviet gas exploration accident in the 1950’s. It was created when a Soviet drilling rig was drilling for natural gas fell into an underground cavern resulting in a crater which today measures roughly 60 meters in diameter and 20 meters deep. The huge crater was set alight shortly after being discovered and has been burning ever sinse. The smell of burning sulfur can be detected from a distance and becomes quite strong as you near the hot edge of the crater.\n2. Kimberley Diamond Mine – South Africa:\nThe Kimberley Diamond Mine (also known as the Big Hole) holds the (disputed) title of being the largest hand-dug hole in the world. From 1866 to 1914 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,722 kg of diamonds. Attempts are being made to have it registered as a world heritage site. The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares (42 acres) and is 463 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 m, but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 m; since then it has accumulated water to a depth of 40 m leaving 175 m visible. Beneath the surface, the Kimberly Mine underneath the Big Hole was mined to a depth of 1097 metres. A popular local myth claims that it is the largest hand-dug hole on the world, however Jagersfontein Mine appears to hold that record.\n3. Monticello Dam – California:\nMonticello Dam is a dam in Napa County, California, constructed between 1953 and 1957. The dam is a medium concrete-arch dam with a structural height of 304 ft (93 m) and a crest length of 1,023 ft (312 m). It contains 326,000 cubic yards (249,000 m³) of concrete. The dam impounds Putah Creek to form Lake Berryessa, the second-largest lake in California. The capacity of the reservoir is 1,602,000 acre·ft (1,976,000 dam³). Water from the reservoir is supplied mostly to the North Bay area of San Francisco. The dam is noted for its classic, uncontrolled spillway with a rate of 48,400 cubic feet per second (1370 m³/s) and a diameter at the lip of 87 ft (27 m).\n4. Bingham Canyon Mine – Utah\nThe Bingham Canyon Mine is a copper mine in the Oquirrh mountains, Utah. The mine is 0.75 mile (1.2 km) deep, 2.5 miles (4 km) wide. It is the world’s largest manmade excavation. The mine has been in production since 1906, and has resulted in the creation of a pit covering 1,900 acres (7.7 km²). Over its life, Bingham Canyon has proven to be one of the world’s most productive mines. As of 2004, ore from the mine has yielded more than 17 million tons (15.4 Mt) of copper, 23 million ounces (715 t) of gold, 190 million ounces (5,900 t) of silver, and 850 million pounds (386 kt) of molybdenum.\n5. Great Blue Hole – Belize\nThe Great Blue Hole is an underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize. The hole is 1,000 feet across and 400 feet deep. It was formed as a limestone cave during the last iceage. This is a popular spot amongst recreational scuba divers, who are lured by the opportunity to dive in crystal clear water and meet several species of fish, including giant groupers, nurse sharks and several types of reef sharks such as the Caribbean reef shark and the Blacktip shark.\n6. Mirny Diamond Mine – Siberia:\nThe Mirny Diamond Mine is 525m deep and has a diameter of 1200m. It was the first, and one of the largest, diamond Pipes in the USSR. It is now abandoned. While it was still operational, it would take two hours for trucks to drive from the top to the bottom of the mine. Currently, the mine is operated by Alrosa, the largest diamond producing company in Russia, and employs 3600 workers. It has long been anticipated that the recovery of diamonds by conventional surface methods will saturate. Therefore, in 1970s construction has started of a network of underground tunnels for diamond recovery. Production of diamonds by this method started in 1999 and is estimated to last for another 27 years. This estimate is based on depth explorations down to 1220 meters. In order to stabilize the abandoned main pit, its bottom was covered by a rubble layer 45 meters thick.\n7. Diavik Mine – Canada\nThe Diavik Mine is a mine in the Northwest territories of Canada. The mine (opened in 2003) produces 8 million carats or about 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) of diamonds every year. The mine is owned by a joint venture between the Harry Winston Diamond Corporation and Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Group. The lifespan of the mine is expected to be 16 to 22 years. The mine consists of three kimberlite pipes associated with the Lac de Gras kimberlite field and is located on an island 20 square kilometres (8 sq mi) in Lac de Gras and is informally called East Island. It is about 220 kilometres (137 mi) south of the Arctic Circle.\n8. Sinkhole – Guatemala:\nIn February 2007 a large sinkhole opened in a poor neighborhood in northeast Guatemala city, killing three people. The sinkhole was 100.5 m (330 ft) deep, and apparently was created by fluid from a sewer dissolving the rock underneath. As a result, one thousand people have been evacuated from the area. The sink hole has since been mitigated and plans to develop on the site have been proposed.\n9. Udachnaya Pipe – Russia:\nThe Udachnaya Pipe is a diamond mine in Russia. The owners of the mine plan to cease its operations in 2010 – in favor of underground mining. The mine was discovered in 1955 and is over 600 meters deep. The nearby settlement of Udachny is named for the deposit. As of 2004,Udachnaya pipe is controlled by Russian diamond company Alrosa, which plans to halt open-pit mining in favor of underground mining in 2010\n10. Chuquicamata – Chile\nChuquicamata or “Chuqui” as it is more familiarly known, is an open pit copper mine in Chile. It is the mine with the largest total production of copper in the world – though it is not the largest copper mine. The mine is over 850 meters deep. Copper has been mined for centuries at Chuquicamata as was shown by the discovery in 1898 of “Copper Man”, a mummy dated at about 550 A.D. which was found trapped in an ancient mine shaft by a fall of rock. It is also said that Pedro de Valdivia obtained copper horseshoes from the natives when he passed through in the early 16th Century.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Everyone nowadays knows the life of Alexander Hamilton, thanks to the critically-acclaimed musical Hamilton. But what about the life of infamous and controversial president Andrew Jackson? Sure, he forced thousands of Native Americans on the Trail of Tears, and as a result, he has recently been taken off the face of the 20 dollar bill, but he had his moments of glory and he definitely left his mark on American history. Often called the worst “great” president, maybe there is more to the life of the founder of the Democratic Party than his legacy. In this comedic historical rock musical, reexamine the facts as America’s seventh president is reinvented on stage with this production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.\nTextbooks can only do so much. Watch history come alive onstage at the Power Center on November 17 and 18 at 8pm and November 19 at 2pm.\nTickets are available at Michigan Union Ticket Office for $7 or can be bought online at https://www.ummusket.org/", "label": "No"} {"text": "Banknotes of Canadian Dollars (CAD)\nThe first paper money issued in Canada denominated in dollars were British Army Bills, issued between 1813 and 1815 in denominations between $1 and $400. These were emergency issues due to the War of 1812. The first banknotes were issued in 1817 by the Montreal Bank. Large numbers of chartered banks were founded in the 1830s, 1850s, 1860s and 1870s, although many issued paper money for only a short time. Others, including the Montreal Bank (later called the Bank of Montreal), issued notes for several decades. Until 1858, many notes were issued denominated in both shillings/pounds and dollars (5 shillings = $1). A large number of different denominations were issued, including $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $10, $20, $25, $40, $50, $100, $500 and $1000. After 1858, only dollar denominations were used. See Canadian chartered bank notes for more information.\nAfter its establishment in 1841, the Province of Canada began issuing paper money. Notes were produced for the government by the Bank of Montreal between 1842 and 1862, in denominations of $4, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. In 1866, the Province of Canada began issuing its own paper money, in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 and $500. In 1870, following Confederation, the Dominion of Canada introduced 25¢ notes along with new issues of $1, $2, $500 and $1000. $50 and $100 notes followed in 1872 but the bulk of later government note production was of $1 and $2 note, with $4 added in 1882. Denominations of $500, $1000, $5000 and $50,000 were issued after 1896 for bank transactions only.\nThe Bank Act of 1871 limited the smallest denomination the chartered banks could issue to $4, increased to $5 in 1880. To facilitate purchases below $5 without using Dominion notes, Molsons Bank issued $6 and $7 notes in 1871. The government issued $5 notes from 1912. The last 25¢ notes, known as shinplasters due to their small size, were dated 1923.\nIn 1935, with only ten chartered banks still issuing notes, the Bank of Canada was founded and began issuing notes in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1000. In 1944, the chartered banks were prohibited from issuing their own currency, with the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal among the last to issue notes.\nAlthough the $1 coin was introduced in 1935, it was not until the introduction of the \"loonie\" that the banknote was withdrawn from circulation. The $2 note was also replaced by a coin in 1996. All banknotes are currently printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company and BA International Inc on behalf of the Bank of Canada.", "label": "No"} {"text": "February 26, 2001\n'TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibit'\nsails into Pacific Science Center\nby Deborah Stone\nOn the ill-fated night of Sunday, April 14, 1912, just days into its maiden voyage, the famed ocean liner Titanic hit a large iceberg, south of Newfoundland.\nA few hours later, the ship sank bow first and then broke in half, claiming the lives of 1,523 passengers and crewmembers.\nThis legendary disaster captured the world's attention and over the years it has continued to fascinate people.\nMovies, musicals and books have been penned to tell the story of one of the greatest maritime tragedies of all time and now \"TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibit\" has been created to allow visitors an eye-opening view of some of the remains of the once touted \"unsinkable\" ship.\nThe exhibit, which is currently on view at Pacific Science Center in Seattle, presents the history, science and drama of the Titanic utilizing full-scale scenic environments, re-creations of its famous rooms, hundreds of artifacts, a conservation lab and a memorial display.\nVisitors can view the world's largest collection of Titanic artifacts recovered from 2.5 miles below the ocean's surface, including a massive 15-ton, 13-by-28 foot portion of the ship's hull and numerous personal effects such as letters, jewelry, eyeglasses and clothing.\nIn re-created rooms, visitors can tour an elegant first-class cabin, a third-class cabin and a full-scale replica of the luxurious grand staircase.\nA large wall of ice, close to the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean on that terrible night, offers a tangible way for guests to identify with what passengers on board Titanic endured as they struggled for their lives in the frigid water.\nIn the conservation lab, the science behind the recovery and restoration of the artifacts is detailed with a demonstration of the techniques used to restore discovered items.\nUnforgettable stories of passengers and crew who either miraculously survived or tragically perished in the disaster are told in the memorial section.\nFifty-six passengers on board the Titanic had the Pacific Northwest as their destination.\nTo accompany the exhibit, the IMAX film \"Titanica\" will show daily, featuring images of Titanic on the ocean floor, contrasted with archival photos of the ship taken in 1912 and the poignant memories of Titanic survivor Eva Hart.\nAward-winning filmmaker Stephen Low shot the film during a 1991 expedition to the wreckage site.\n\"TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibit\" helps visitors to gain appreciation and understanding of the history behind this terrible disaster, all within the context of the opulent Edwardian era.\nThe exhibit runs through Sept. 3 and tickets are now available at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at (206) 292-ARTS or online at www.titanicseattle.com. Tickets are sold on a timed-entry basis, due to the predicted popularity of the exhibit.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A community of native fishers and an army detachment had a temporary residence in Wrangel Island, in a settlement called Ushakovskoye. That was in soviet times. The hamlet was then abandoned and only now starts to a new life - a protected natural reserve and some adventure tourism.\nWrangel Island (Russian: о́стров Вра́нгеля) is an island in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea. Wrangel Island lies astride the 180° meridian.\nCoordinates: 71°59′ N, 179° 25 W\nThe International Date Line is displaced eastwards at this latitude to avoid the island as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on the Russian mainland. The closest land to Wrangel Island is tiny and rocky Herald Island located 60 km to the eas. The Siberian coast is 140 km away through the Chukchi sea.\nWrangel Island is a protected nature sanctuary. The island, and their surrounding waters, were classified a \"strict nature reserve\" in 1976 and, as such, receive the highest level of protection and excludes practically all human activity other than for scientific purposes.\nSeveral animal species are also protected, and the polar bear community is the largest in the world.\nAs of 2003, there were four rangers residing on the island year-round. In addition a core of about 12 scientists conduct research during the summer months.\nWrangel Island is about 125 km wide and 7,600 km2 in area. It consists of a southern coastal plain; a central belt of low-relief mountains; and a northern coastal plain\nIn 2004 Wrangel Island and neighboring Herald Island, along with their surrounding waters, were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List\nAfter some attempts from the U.K., Canada and the U.S. to claim possession, the Soviet Government, in 1926, declared its sovereignty over the island; and, to confirm this, Ushakovskoye was founded on August 14, 1926.\nThe initial population of the settlement included displaced Chukchi and Russian families, totalling about 60 people. The settlers established themselves on the island and few chose to return to the mainland after their first posting ended in 1929.\nIndeed, so successful was the initial settlement that resulted in the founding of Ushakovskoye, that a second village, Zvyozdny (meaning Star) was founded some 30 km west of Ushakovskoye on the shores of Somnitelnaya Bay.\nZvyodny setllement, where a house is kept functional to accomodate rangers and visitors.\nZvyozdny would later become the landing point for supplies delivered to the island from Mys Shmidta as well as mail, which would be delivered to Ushakovskoye along the dirt track which links the two settlements.\nUshakovskoye grew and developed, until at the end of 1970 it had a school, club, shop, post office, hospital and electricity was supplied to the homes, as well as a modest museum of natural history, an underground repository in the permafrost for storing meat, the polar station \"Rogers Bay\", library and a communal bath !\nUshakovskoye as seen from the sea\nIn 1984 the population had grown to around 180 people. But in they 1990s, subsidies were reduced and in 1994 the last supply ship brought provisions and fuel to the settlement.\nThe settlement of Zvyozdny was being abandoned as well. However, a helipad had been constructed in Ushakovskoye in 1966, so the village could continue to be supplied.\nIn 1997, it was decided to resettle the inhabitants at Mys Shmidta. The last resident was killed by a polar bear on October 13, 2003.\nUshakovskoye, Rogers Inlet\nUshakovskoye is presently a ghost town on the south coast of Wrangel Island. It used to house up to 200 residents, but at the end of the Soviet era, was largely abandoned. The only human residents nowadays are the Wrangel Island rangers and the occasional scientific researchers.\nRegularly-seen animals and birds in town include snowy owls, arctic foxes, musk oxen, reindeer herds, and of course, polar bears.\nSnow geese in flight\nProfessor Khromov', prepared to face sea ice, is a frequent visit to Wrangel Island. The trips start at the local capital Anadyr.\nFull moon over Zvyozdny", "label": "No"} {"text": "Do you perhaps mean\ny = (1/2) x\nIf so, when x = 0, y = 0\nIf it is really\ny = 1/(2x)\nthen when x = 0, y is undefined.\nit really means y= 1/2 x\nDoes x have to represent 0? I need to know why\nThe y axis intercept is the value of y when x = 0\nbecause any old function that crosses the y axis does so along the vertical line x = 0\nThis one never quite hits the vertical axis\nthe question says to list the ordered pair,is the ordered pair (0,0).Some of the questions give \"undefined as an option, but not this question.\nWell, 1/(2*0) is undefined\nso I would have to say\nwhere oo means infinity.\nAre you absolutely sure you do not have a typo in the problem statement?\nIf it were y = x/2 the solution would be (0,0)\nGraph the equation and identify the y intercept: y= one half*x or 1/2*x\nThe y intercept is____\ntype in the ordered pair.\nThat is the exact question\nmath - graph the equation and identify the y intercept: y=1/2x How do work this ...\nALGEBRA HELP - When solving the equation, what property was used to go from step...\nAlgebra ?? - What would be the missing piece of information given the following ...\nmath - can i get step by step for this equation? 3x + 2y =24 what is the y ...\nMATH-ALGEBRA - What's the slope-intercept equation of line which is parallel to ...\nSeven step method - Use the seven step method described in the book to graph the...\nCollege Algebra - Using the 7 steps outlined in section 4.3 of your book, ...\nMy Daughter Stacy needs help in math plz help! - You have to find the x and y ...\nAlgebra - I need an equation for L that satisfies the given geometric condition...\nAlgebra help - f(x)=x^3-4x^2-x+4 How do I find the x-intercept for this? This is...", "label": "No"} {"text": "This chapter discusses about following topics:\nIntroduction Types of Computer Software System Software Operating Systems Language and Language Processors Low Level language Machine Language Assembly language Assembler High Level Language Compiler Interpreter Utilities Application Software Tailored Software Packaged Software WordProcessing Systems Spreadsheet Systems Database Management Systems Presentation Systems Graphic Designing Web Browsers Email Clients Multimedia and Entertainment Customized Software Liveware Firmware Cache Memory\nSoftware is the most important component of computer system. Without software, a computer turns into a dead body – a dead slave!\nSoftware is a generic term for organized collections of computer data and instructions, often broken into two major categories: system software that provides the basic non-task-specific functions of the computer, and application software which is used by users to accomplish specific tasks. – Wikipedia\nIn other words, software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system. Thus the software contains the instructions that tell a computer what to do and how to do to solve a specific problem.\nIn general use, by software we understand a group of programs to make a system run. A program contains instructions or commands to perform a task. The term package or suite is used to describe a group of related software.\nTypes of Software\nSystem software is responsible for controlling, integrating, and managing the individual hardware components of a computer system so that other software and the users of the system see it as a functional unit without having to be concerned with the low-level details such as transferring data from memory to disk, or rendering text onto a display. Generally, system software consists of an operating system and some fundamental utilities such as disk formatters, file managers, display managers, text editors, user authentication (login) and management tools, and networking and device control software.\nAn operating system (OS) is a set of software that manages computer hardware resources and provides common services for computer programs. The operating system is a vital component of the system software in a computer system. Application programs require an operating system to function.\nThe operating system is the most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.\nFor large systems, the operating system has even greater responsibilities and powers. It is like a traffic cop – it makes sure that different programs and users running at the same time do not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for security, ensuring that unauthorized users do not access the system.\nOperating systems can be classified as follows:\nMulti-user operating system : Allows two or more users to run programs at the same time. Some operating systems permit hundreds or even thousands of concurrent users.\nMultiprocessing operating system: Supports running a program on more than one CPU.\nMultitasking operating system: Allows more than one program to run concurrently.\nMultithreading operating system: Allows different parts of a single program to run concurrently.\nReal time operating system: Responds to input instantly. General-purpose operating systems, such as DOS, Windows and UNIX, are not real-time.\nOperating systems provide a software platform on top of which other programs, called application programs, can run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a particular operating system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to a great extent the applications you can run. For PCs, the most popular operating systems are DOS, OS/2, and Windows, but others are available, such as Linux.\nAs a user, you normally interact with the operating system through a set of commands. For example, the DOS operating system contains commands such as COPY and RENAME for copying files and changing the names of files, respectively. The commands are accepted and executed by a part of the operating system called the command processor or command line interpreter. Graphical user interfaces allow you to enter commands by pointing and clicking at objects that appear on the screen.\nLanguage and Language Processors\nThere are 2 types of computer languages: low level language and High level language.\nLow Level Language\nMachine language and assembly language are called low level language because they are used to write programs that deal with the low level tasks such as transferring data from memory to disk, or rendering text onto a display. Low level language is machine dependent i.e. a program written for one type of computer does not work on other computers. You need to know the details of a computer rather than problem for which you are writing programs.\nThe lowest-level programming language. Machine languages are the only languages understood by computers. While easily understood by computers, machine languages are almost impossible for humans to use because they consist entirely of numbers. It is tiresome and error prone to program in machine language. Programmers, therefore, use either a high-level programming language or an assembly language.\nEvery CPU has its own unique machine language. Because machine language is directly understood by computer you don’t need to convert it to run.\nAssembly languages are between machine languages and high-level languages. Assembly languages are similar to machine languages, but they are much easier to program in because they allow a programmer to substitute names for numbers. Machine languages consist of numbers only.\nSo, assembly language is a much more readable rendition of machine language. It uses mnemonic codes to refer to machine code instructions, rather than using the instructions’ numeric values directly.\nAssembly language is the most basic programming language available for any processor. With assembly language, a programmer works only with operations implemented directly on the physical CPU. Assembly language lacks high-level conveniences such as variables and functions, and it is not portable between various families of processors.\nHigh Level Language\nHigh level language is a machine-independent programming language, such as C, C++, Java, Perl and COBOL. It lets the programmer concentrate on the logic of the problem to be solved rather than the intricacies of the machine architecture such as is required with low-level assembly languages.\nHigh level languages uses English like statements and mathematical notations. Because a programmer now does not need to remember the machine architecture and operations implemented directly on the physical CPU, high level languages are machine independent. They are often called problem oriented languages or business oriented language.\nHigh level languages were developed towards the end of second generation of computers (COBOL and FORTRAN) and flourished during third and fourth generations. Pascal, C, C++, C#, LISP, Java, Basic etc. are the examples of high level language.\nHigh level language is completely different than what machines can understand. To run a program written in high level language, you need to convert it into machine code. There are two kinds of language processors to convert high level language into machine language – interpreter and compiler.\nA compiler is a language processor that converts the instruction of a high level language into machine language as a whole. Programs written in high level language is called source program and after it is converted into machine language by the compiler, it is called an object program.\nCompiler checks each statement in the source program to generate machine instructions. Any syntax errors if existing in source program are discovered while analyzing. A source program containing an error cannot be compiled into an object program.\nEach high level language has its own compiler. A compiler can translate the programs of only that language for which it is written. For example C++ compiler can translate only those programs, which are written in C++.\nAn interpreter is a language processor that converts one statement of high level language program at a time. It executes this statement before translating the next statement of the source program. If there is an error in the statement, the interpreter will stop working and displays an error message.\nThe advantage of interpreters over compilers is that an error is found immediately. So the programmer can make corrections during program development. Thus, interpreters are often used to debug program while debugging.\nThe disadvantage of interpreter is that it is not very efficient. The interpreter does not produce an object program. It must convert the program each time it is executed. Visual basic uses interpreter.\nUtility software is system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. Utility or a tool is the term used for a single piece of utility software. Utility software are also referred to as service program, tool, service routine, or utility routine.\nUtility software usually focuses on how the computer infrastructure (including the computer hardware, operating system, application software, and data storage) operates. Utility software is often targeted at technical people with an advanced level of computer knowledge.\nYou can find utilities in different categories, such as:\nAnti-virus utilities scan for computer viruses. Backup utilities can make a copy of all information stored on a disk, and restore either the entire disk (e.g. in an event of disk failure) or selected files (e.g. in an event of accidental deletion). Data compression utilities output a shorter stream or a smaller file when provided with a stream or file. Disk checkers can scan operating hard drive. Disk cleaners can find files that are unnecessary to computer operation, or take up considerable amounts of space. Disk cleaner helps the user to decide what to delete when their hard disk is full. Disk compression utilities can transparently compress/uncompress the contents of a disk, increasing the capacity of the disk. Disk defragmenters can detect computer files whose contents are broken across several locations on the hard disk, and move the fragments to one location to increase efficiency. Disk partitions can divide an individual drive into multiple logical drives, each with its own file system which can be mounted by the operating system and treated as an individual drive. Archive utilities output a stream or a single file when provided with a directory or a set of files. File managers provide a convenient method of performing routine data management tasks, such as deleting, renaming, cataloging, uncataloging, moving, copying, merging, generating and modifying data sets. Cryptographic utilities encrypt and decrypt streams and files. Hex editors directly modify the text or data of a file. These files could be data or an actual program. Memory testers check for memory failures. Network utilities analyze the computer’s network connectivity, configure network settings, check data transfer or log events. Registry cleaners clean and optimize the Windows registry by removing old registry keys that are no longer in use. Screensavers were desired to prevent phosphor burn-in on CRT and plasma computer monitors by blanking the screen or filling it with moving images or patterns when the computer is not in use. Contemporary screensavers are used primarily for entertainment or security. System monitors for monitoring resources and performance in a computer system. System profilers provide detailed information about the software installed and hardware attached to the computer.\nApplication software, is used to accomplish specific tasks other than just running the computer system. Application software may consist of a single program, such as an image viewer; a small collection of programs (often called a software package) that work closely together to accomplish a task, such as a spreadsheet or text processing system; a larger collection (often called a software suite) of related but independent programs and packages that have a common user interface or shared data format, such as Microsoft Office, which consists of closely integrated word processor, spreadsheet, database, etc.; or a software system, such as a database management system, which is a collection of fundamental programs that may provide some service to a variety of other independent applications.\nSoftware is created with programming languages and related utilities, which may come in several of the above forms: single programs like script interpreters, packages containing a compiler, linker, and other tools; and large suites (often called Integrated Development Environments) that include editors, debuggers, and other tools for multiple languages.\nTypes of application software:\nYou can group application software into two categories – tailored or customized software and packaged software. You can find other categories that lie in between the tailored and packaged.\nThere are many tasks in an organization or office that can be automated by writing specific software programs. For example SLC board has developed its own software solution for result processing. Provident Fund (Sanchaya Kosh) has developed its own software to record, calculate and perform many other operations. All these software developed are known as tailored software.\nTailored software are the applications developed to solve or automate a particular task of an individual or organization.\nTailored software are developed by employing or hiring a system design and development team who perform system study and find best alternative to solve the problem at hand. They analyze, design new system, develop, testing, debugging and implementation. When the software is ready to do its work, it is handed over to the organization.\nMany software houses study the general requirement of computer users and develop software packages. Software packages are aimed at solving some common problem such as word-processing, spreadsheet calculation, database management, presentation systems and so on.\nPackage software are complex and with less bugs because it is developed often by a large professional team. So they are more reliable compared to tailored software.\nMicrosoft Office Suite, Lotus Suite, Open Office Suite, Adobe Creative Suite etc. and their individual applications are the examples of packaged software.\nCategories of packaged software:\nWordProcessing Systems – MS Word, Lotus Write, WordPerfect\nSpreadsheet Systems – MS Excel, Lotus 123,\nDatabase Management Systems – MS Access, MySql, Oracle, MS SQL Server\nPresentation Systems – MS PowerPoint\nGraphic Designing – Adobe PhotoShop, CorelDraw\nWeb Browsers – Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome\nEmail Clients – Microsoft Outlook, Eudora Pro\nMultimedia and Entertainment –Windows Media Player, xDiv DVD Player, VLC Player, and computer games\nApart from tailored and packaged software there is another software type called customized software. These are the software applications that are modified or customized to meet your specific need after acquiring some pre-built packaged software. For example you can get MS Excel or Access and use its macro feature or write some other add-ins, or extensions, to solve your particular problem. Any software developed this way is known as customized software.\nLiveware is a slang term used to denote people using (attached to) computers, and is based on the need for a human, or liveware, to operate the system using hardware and software. It was used in the computer industry as early as 1966 to refer to computer users, often in humorous contexts by analogy with hardware and software. Other words meaning the same or similar to liveware include wetware, meatware and jellyware.\nThe term firmware is often used to indicate the control programs stored in ROM chips. Typical examples of devices containing firmware are embedded systems, computers, computer peripherals, mobile phones, and digital cameras. The firmware contained in these devices provides the control program for the device.\nFirmware is held in non-volatile memory devices such as ROM, EPROM, or flash memory. Changing the firmware of a device may rarely or never be done during its economic lifetime; some firmware memory devices are permanently installed and cannot be changed after manufacture.\nCommon reasons for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the device. This may require physically changing ROM integrated circuits, or reprogramming flash memory with a special procedure. Firmware such as the ROM BIOS of a personal computer may contain only elementary basic functions of a device and may only provide services to higher-level software. Firmware such as the program of an embedded system may be the only program that will run on the system and provide all of its functions.\nCache (pronounced cash) memory is extremely fast memory that is built into a computer’s central processing unit (CPU), or located next to it on a separate chip. It is usually a small amount (normally less than 1MB) of high-speed memory residing on or close to the CPU. Cache memory supplies the processor with the most frequently requested data and instructions. The CPU uses cache memory to store instructions that are repeatedly required to run programs, improving overall system speed. The advantage of cache memory is that the CPU does not have to use the motherboard’s system bus for data transfer. Whenever data must be passed through the system bus, the data transfer speed slows to the motherboard’s capability. The CPU can process data much faster by avoiding the bottleneck created by the system bus.\nAs it happens, once most programs are open and running, they use very few resources. When these resources are kept in cache, programs can operate more quickly and efficiently. All else being equal, cache is so effective in system performance that a computer running a fast CPU with little cache can have lower benchmarks than a system running a somewhat slower CPU with more cache. Cache built into the CPU itself is referred to as Level 1 (L1) cache. Cache that resides on a separate chip next to the CPU is called Level 2 (L2) cache. Some CPUs have both L1 and L2 cache built-in and designate the separate cache chip as Level 3 (L3) cache.\nPoints to Remember\n- Computer in itself is nothing more than a slave in a box. Computer hardware is like a dead body which has all the machinery and mechanism but can’t do anything. A computer requires programs and instructions to do each and every tasks.\n- A set of self-contained instructions that tells a computer how to solve a problem or carry out a task is called a program. A group of programs that are put into a computer to operate and control its activities is called software.\n- Software are classified broadly into two types – system software and application software. Loosely, you can understand it as all the software developed to help user to perform his/her required tasks are application software. And similarly, all the software developed to operate computer and help it to be able to run user required applications are system software.\n- System software is a set of programs that organizes, utilizes and controls the hardware in a computer system. It serves as intermediary between hardware and application software. System software supports – running other software, communicating with peripheral devices, development of other types of software, monitoring the use of hardware resources.\n- Operating systems, utility programs, device drivers and language processors fall into the class of system software.\n- Operating system is a type of system software that controls and coordinates the internal working of a computer system. The major function of operating system are – provide user interface to the user; manage disks, devices and other resources; provide platform to run other software; load applications as and when user requests.\n- Microsoft launched GUI operating environment called Windows in November 20, 1985.\n- Device drivers are the system software that controls a particular type of device installed in computer. Device drivers has instructions to make operating system able to recognize and operate the device. Device drivers work as intermediary between the hardware device and operating system.\n- Utility software are system software that are designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer system. It performs the specific task related to the management of computer functions, resources, or files as password protection, memory management, virus protection and file compression.\n- Many operating systems have some utility programs build directly into the operating system itself. Other utility programs are sold separately as software packages that the user must install.\n- Disk tool kits, data compression utilities, backup utility programs, virus protectors and screen savers are some utility programs.\n- Disk defragmenters are utilities that analyse the fragmentation (pieces of a file scattered on different location in disk surface) and move the pieces into one place to improve computer performance.\n- Disk checkers like chkdsk, scandisk can scan the contents of a disk to find files or disk areas that are corrupted in some way.\n- Disk cleaners can identify files that are unnecessary to computer operation and can delete them on your permission.\n- Computers can understand instructions that are in machine language. Any program that is not in machine language must be translated into machine language to execute. A program that translates user’s program into machine language are language translators or language processors.\n- Assembler, compiler and interpreters are the types of language processors.\n- Assembler translates a program written in assembly language into machine language. It creates a converted file that is executable in computer. Smalltium, MASM, TASAM are some examples of assembler.\n- Compiler is a language processor that translates a high level language program into machine code in a single operation. It creates machine language file that can be executed in computer. Programming languages like C, C++, Java, FORTRAN uses compilers.\n- Interpreter is a language processor that translates each statement of user programs in turn into machine code for the computer to execute. Interpreters do not create machine code file but rather run every instruction after it is converted one after another.\n- Application Software is a class of computer programs that help users to solve their problems. Application software are also known as applications or apps.\n- Examples of application software are word processors, database programs, web browsers, development tools, drawing, paint, and image editing programs, communication programs.\n- API (Application Programming Interface) is a formal request for services and means ofnicating with other programs that a programmer uses in writing an application program.\n- Application software are further classified into packaged software and tailored or customized software.\n- Packaged software is a generalized set of programs that allows the computer to perform a specific data processing job for the user. Some of the popular packaged software are Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access and so on.\n- Tailored software or customized software is the software developed to meet the specific requirement of a particular organization, institution or person. Industrial automation software, business software, payroll software of a company, banking software designed especially for a bank, result processing system for SLC exam etc are examples of some customized software.\n- WordProcessing software allows users to create, edit and format documents.\n- Database software allows uses to store and retrieve huge amount of data from database quickly.\n- Spreadsheet software allows uses to perform complex calculation on a large electronic sheet.\n- Multimedia software allows uses to create, edit and play audio, video media.\n- Presentation software allows users to create and present information in the form of display slides.\n- Image editing software allows uses to create and manipulate images, photographs and other graphics objects.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The British monopoly on the salt trade in India dictated that the sale or production of salt by anyone but the British government was a criminal offense punishable by law. Salt was readily accessible to coastal area dwellers, but instead of being allowed to collect and use it themselves for free, they were instead forced to purchase it from the colonial government.\nIn other words, the British government owned the right to produce and sell salt in India.\nAnd another page says:\nOn April 5, 1930 Gandhi and his satyagrahis reached the coast. After prayers were offered, Gandhi spoke to the large crowd. He picked up a tiny lump of salt, breaking the law. Within moments, the satyagrahis followed Gandhi's passive defiance, picking up salt everywhere along the coast. A month later, Gandhi was arrested and thrown into prison, already full with fellow protesters.\nWas Gandhi stealing salt from the British government, or was he simply breaking the law which gave the British the exclusive right to produce salt?\nSince Gandhi wasn't actually taking the salt away from the British, and the ocean contained a practically infinite supply of salt (so it can't be claimed that he was taking it from anyone else), I'd argue that he was not stealing anything.\nDid Gandhi steal the legal \"right\" to produce salt? Not really. A right has no substance or physical reality, so it is difficult to outright steal one (you could perhaps trick someone into signing a contract transferring the right, but clearly that's not the case here).\nGandhi's actions DID decrease the value of the British right to produce salt, but many actions could have that effect. For example, he could have convinced the people of India to switch to a lower salt diet, thereby decreasing the demand for salt and the value of the British monopoly. I don't think that anyone would call that stealing.\nIn fact, I've never seen anyone claim that Gandhi was a thief. It seems like a somewhat silly argument.\nSo what's my point? Owning a \"right\", which is a form of \"Imaginary Property\", is not the same as owning real property. If someone violates your exclusive rights, they may be breaking the law, but they are not stealing. To claim otherwise is silly and dishonest.\nUpdate: Some people have interpreted this post as meaning that I'm opposed to Imaginary Property, or that infringing on other's legal rights is ok. That is not the case at all -- IP can serve an important and beneficial role in society. My only point is that Imaginary Property is not the same as Real Property, and that infringing on someone's legal rights isn't the same as theft. Pretending that they are the same has caused a lot of unnecessary trouble.", "label": "No"} {"text": "As a youngster in the early 2000s, I had scored a copy of Unreal Tournament. I played it for hours, feeling superior to everyone I beat. However, I soon found out that I wasn’t even connected to an Internet server.\nI had been playing against AI game bots.\nNeedless to say, I was fooled. The AI bots’ behaviors in ‘online’ games of the Unreal Tournament were so human-like. So what’s the difference between bot and humans in games? Let’s break it down.\nWhat Are Video Game Bots?\nQuite simply, video game bots are instances of artificial intelligence (AI) that play a game instead of a player. Game bots are present in nearly every multiplayer game, from Halo to MMORPGs.\nGame bots perform various tasks, everything from acting as the player would or NPCs doing farm work. Artificial intelligence has come a long way from the days of Pong.\nThere are various types of game bots as well.\nTypes of Bots\nLet’s outline three different types of bots.\nStatic Game Bots\nStatic game bots need a lot of assistance to act appropriately. These game bots are ones that have a relatively small agency to move on their own accord. They usually exist to serve out a linear function, like follow directions or trade with the player at a shop.\nDynamic Game Bots\nDynamic game bots can partake in learning the layouts of levels, learning new strategies, and more. The behavior of these bots can be found most in a popular game like Counter-Strike.\nThere are even game bots that engage in both static and dynamic behaviors. Counter-Strike, for example, uses both static waypoints and dynamic actions and behaviors in online games to act more realistic.\nThere are bots that both take part in completing repetitive tasks associated with smaller game details and undertake quest goals.\nBot vs Non-Player Character\nThere may be a small misconception between a game bot vs. an NPC. NPCs, non-player characters, never play the game. Bots, on the other hand, are modeled off of the player to create actual gameplay. NPCs like those in MMORPGs never aim to mimic the player’s behavior in online play.\nThink of NPCs more like set pieces. They are there to populate the game world but not overtly interact with its elements.\nGame bots aren’t the only bots you interact with. Think of when you accessed an app or a website and started chatting with someone. That’s a bot programmed to perform specific tasks through the power of artificial intelligence.\nMany bots in that position use learned communication through analyzed data and information through things like machine learning.\nHow to Create Bots\nYou can actually create your own bots for games, online activity, and more. But how?\nThere are a few things to consider before creating a bot. It will most likely come down to knowing a programming language like Python or C++.\nAlong with programming expertise, developers need to create macros that serve as a general map of behavior for the game bots. These allow you to program bots to do basically anything you want them to. Whether it’s a repetitive task, or something more complex, macros will be your lifeline here.\nHowever, one obstacle that may be a little hairy is skirting around a game’s bot detection system. Since we want a bot to act identically to a human player, you need to be meticulous with your programming.\nYour method, process, and approach depending on what you want your bot to do. Do you want them to act in static ways, dependent on your lines of code? Or do you want them to follow you around and assist as a cooperative player would?\nIt’s a bit controversial to use bots in games to your own ends. Collecting resources in different areas can be considered cheating, and many games have bot detection and algorithms designed to sniff out suspicious behavior.\nWhile many of the bot’s behavior rests on your coding skills and overall goals, you also need to be careful. For example, if you were to run into server-side detection, you could get banned from a game.\nThe Future of Bots\nGame bots and artificial intelligence are only getting more impressive. Through things like a machine and deep learning, game bots will be nearly indistinguishable from real players. They allow for players short on fellow players to still experience the game. The chances are that you won’t even want human teammates in the future.\nThe trajectory of deep learning regarding AI is impressive, as exhibited through Tesla’s self-driving cars and more.\nEither way, they’re only going to engage in more effective communication, complete more complex tasks, and maybe even fool everyone.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This school year, Seventh Generation is sharing tips from best-selling author and pediatrician, Dr. Alan Greene, to help parents protect their child’s health during back-to-school season. Dr. Greene suggests taking the following precautions:\nOptimize the immune system\n:: Reap the benefits of probiotics like those found in yogurt. A recent study showed that children who received enough probiotics daily throughout the cold and flu season had a significant reduction in the number of illnesses they had and, when they did get sick, the symptoms were both milder and didn’t last as long.\n:: Be sure your child is getting plenty of vitamin D from the sun, from food, or from a supplement.\n:: Build a strong foundation. Good food, good sleep, and good physical activity all help the immune system to flourish.\nBe wise about reducing unnecessary exposure to harmful germs\n:: Teach children the key times to clean their hands in the classroom. The most important times include after sneezing, coughing or using the restroom, upon leaving “high-risk” places (recess, naptime, play stations) and before meals or snacks.\n:: Stress the importance of not touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.\n:: Demonstrate to your children how to cover their mouth and nose for every cough and sneeze. This simple maneuver has spectacular results in decreasing the spread of viruses and bacteria floating about the room, waiting to be inhaled.\nSeventh Generation, through MyBlogSpark, is giving one Frugal Living NW reader a Seventh Generation “Back to School” kit, which includes:\n- a Seventh Generation backpack\n- two canisters of Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes — kills 99.99% of germs naturally using the active ingredient thyme, a component of thyme oil which is derived from the herb thyme\n- Seventh Generation disinfecting multi-surface spray cleaner\n- Seventh Generation facial tissue\n- Seventh Generation paper towels\nYou have four opportunities to enter this giveaway (be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry):\n:: Leave a comment.\n:: “Like” Frugal Living NW on Facebook. Leave an additional comment indicating you like us. DO NOT leave your comment on the Facebook page.\n:: Follow Frugal Living NW on Twitter. Leave an additional comment indicating you’re a Twitter follower.\nIf you are reading this post via email and wish to enter, you must comment on the actual blog. DO NOT reply to this digest email to enter the giveaway. An email reply is not an acceptable entry.\nComments will close and four winners randomly selected Friday, September 10th at Noon.\nDisclosure: Seventh Generation, through MyBlogSpark, provided me with the information contained in this post, the giveaway items and a Back to School kit for my family.\nThis post may contain affiliate links. See the disclosure policy for more information.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Four simple rules that enable students to control the sounds that single vowels make in syllables\nA whole day workshop for teachers on Boosting the Inclusive Quality of your Lessons\nAn evening session for parents of struggling learners\nThe power of \"hands on spelling\"\nTES SEN Show with Neil MacKay presenting 2 workshops.\nThe day will include:\n-Morning session: keynote address by Neil Mackay\n-Afternoon workshops (Workshop A on the use of Clicker 7 to support pupils with literacy difficulties, Workshop B with Neil Mackay)\nAvailable resources for my upcoming work with Ayr Schools.\nThe theory of learning styles is bad science.\nPages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7\nDisplaying Page 1 of 7", "label": "No"} {"text": "TOKYO — At a high school graduation ceremony in Japan's Hiroshima Prefecture, each student received a diploma and then walked over to a small humanoid robot, paused, and bowed deeply. The robot waved its small arms in response. It was the embodied presence of Takanobu Nagaoka, a 55-year-old teacher at the school who was diagnosed with ALS two years ago. Unable to travel due to deteriorating motor skills, he \"attended\" the event as OriHime, a simple tabletop droid with a camera, microphone and speaker. It's the creation of Tokyo start-up Ory Laboratory and one of a new breed of machines known as \"avatar robots\" that could change the way people interact and work.\n\"OriHime can be used not only by hospitalized people but students who refuse to go to school and even mothers who cannot go to work because they're taking care of kids,\" says Kentaro Yoshifuji, CEO of Ory, which has rented out about 260 units. \"This technology could help redistribute manpower so the right person can work in the right place in a more smooth fashion.\"\nAside from giving disabled people a new level of empowerment, avatar robots present myriad possibilities for work with concomitant economic benefits. If you're a doctor, for instance, you could log into a robot in Antarctica or on a space station to tend to a critically ill person. Robots as a whole are beneficial for economies. According to a 2017 study by the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research, robotics investments have \"contributed around 10 percent of GDP per capita growth in OECD countries from 1993 to 2016\" and offer \"better long-run value for money than investments in financial services, real estate or transportation.\"\nAvatar robots are still experimental, but if the market for collaborative robots is any indication, there could be significant demand. Also known as cobots, collaborative robots are covered with soft materials and can work alongside people in assembly and other jobs. The market for cobots is expected to grow to $12 billion by 2025, according to Barclays Equity Research. Remote operation of robots for work outside the factory, however, is already well established. Intuitive Surgical, for instance, has sold over 4,200 of its da Vinci surgical robots, which reproduce a surgeon's hand motions through small incisions in a patient's body during operations such as hysterectomies; benefits may include shorter recoveries.\nMany workers around the world may be concerned about losing their jobs to automation, but the risk varies from country to country. A recent OECD study estimates that 33 percent of jobs in Slovakia are \"highly automatable\", but only 6 percent in Norway, though the authors caution that \"the actual risk of automation is subject to significant variation.\" Nonetheless, unions are protesting encroaching machines. Earlier this year, Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, decried a decision by Canadian energy company Suncor to introduce driverless ore-hauling trucks in the Alberta oil sands; the move could replace hundreds of heavy machinery operators.\nJapan has embraced automation in the factory and elsewhere. It has long held a leading position in the development of humanoid robots, with machines like Honda's Asimo exhibiting remarkable abilities in locomotion and dexterity. It's now integrating that technology with user interfaces to project human abilities into mobile machines.\nLate last year, Toyota Motor unveiled a new humanoid robot and master-slave control device that it describes as the world's first system that allows operators to intuitively control the robot's entire body. Weighing 75 kg (165 pounds), and standing 154 cm (5 feet) tall, the T-HR3 has 32 joints, each equipped with a new type of torque sensor that has a high degree of sensitivity, giving the robot flexibility, balance and the ability to recover from collisions.\nDuring a demonstration at the iRex 2017 robot trade show in Tokyo, held in November and December 2017, the T-HR3 went through some pre-programmed and live-controlled motions. It balanced on one foot and then pivoted into a Tai chi-style pose. It then synchronized with its Master Maneuvering System, which is basically a seat for a human operator with arm sensors for motion tracking. It works with a head-mounted display and sensor glove to convey a sense of sight and touch. During the demo, the robot immediately reproduced all of the operator's movements, deftly opening and closing its fingers, manipulating plastic blocks and grasping a rubber ball.\nThe T-HR3 is the automaker's third humanoid platform, following a trumpet-playing robot in 2005 and a violinist droid in 2010. While those machines showcased manual dexterity, Toyota is imagining more practical uses for the T-HR3, including everything from childcare to work in construction, disasters and outer space, that would give robots human-like motor skills while keeping people out of harm's way.\n\"In the near future, robots will start doing simple household chores and nursing care work, allowing people to make effective use of their time,\" says Tomohisa Moridaira, a manager in Toyota's Partner Robot Division. \"In contrast to industrial robots that operate in isolated environments, we want to create robots that can coexist safely with people. I think T-HR3 will evolve into a more robust, but lightweight robot that is not easily broken.\"\nToyota built the T-HR3 as partly as a showcase for its torque sensors, but one Japanese start-up is focused purely on the idea of avatar robots. Telexistence Inc. envisions a future in which people can log onto ubiquitous humanoid robots. The idea is the brainchild of Susumu Tachi, an emeritus professor of engineering at the University of Tokyo. In 1980, he imagined being virtually embodied in a robot that could be anywhere in the world. He called the concept \"telexistence,\" and built a series of prototype robots named TELESAR (for Telexistence Surrogate Anthropomorphic Robot).\nTelesar V, one of the latest prototypes, transmits tactile, vibration and thermal sensations to the operator via a haptic glove, so he or she can \"feel\" objects the robot is handling, such as marbles being poured into a cup. The technology goes beyond the many telepresence robots that have been because it allows operators to affect the world remotely rather than just being present in a faraway place.\nTachi also believes it will be an important tool for the Japanese workforce as it struggles with dwindling manpower and an aging population. For instance, convenience stores or factories could be staffed by humanoid robots that are controlled around the clock by workers in different countries and time zones. Companies could benefit by hiring operators in developing countries, saving on wages.\n\"If a telexistence society that can delegate physical functions is realized,\nthe relationship between people and industry and the nature of society would fundamentally change,\" says Tachi. \"No matter where a factory is located, workers would be assembled from the entire country or the entire world, so the conditions for locating factories will see revolutionary changes compared to the past, and population concentration in metropolitan areas can be avoided.\"\nTachi has also done research at Japan's Keio University, where Takahiro Nozaki, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, has been working with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to develop an avatar robot that can transmit audio, imagery, motion and haptic sensations to remote users in real time with its General Purpose Arm (GPA). Nozaki has launched a company called Motion Lib to commercialize haptics technology and is working with dozens of companies to undertake proof of concept projects.\n\"We have succeeded in developing a new technology called Real-Haptics,\" says Nozaki. \"Human motion data acquired through operations can be stored and reproduced. Stored motions can be reused anytime, anywhere. We call the concept the \"Internet of Actions.\" It's like a motion version of YouTube.\"\nEven Japan's largest air carrier is pushing avatars. All Nippon Airlines (ANA) partnered with XPrize to launch a $10 million award aimed at developing multipurpose avatar robots that will \"more rapidly and efficiently distribute skill and hands-on expertise to distant geographic locations where they are needed, bridging the gap between distance, time and cultures,\" Xprize founder Peter Diamandis says on the contest website. Potential applications include caregiving and disaster relief operations. Japan's space agency, major Japanese telecoms, and local governments are backing the contest, which will involve competitions in 2020 and 2021. In collaboration with ANA, Oita Prefecture in southern Japan will be an avatar testing ground, with trials of avatar robot fishing, agriculture and travel in the works.\n\"When email and video conferencing were first introduced into the market, there was a concern in the aviation industry that it would negatively impact air demand, especially business demand. However, we now know they helped more people around the world meet, collaborate, and innovate which has sparked new businesses and new needs and desires to travel,\" says Yuko Yoshimura, a spokeswoman for ANA.\n\"We believe that there is no technology that can replace real human presence. However, Avatars will allow the world to physically collaborate and share experiences at an unprecedented level which we believe will help the world come closer than ever.\"", "label": "No"} {"text": "A brief (?) history of photography and photojournalism, a bit on methods, and the current state of things.\nThe story of photojournalism began with the invention of photography. Thomas Wedgwood’s camera obscura was taking faint (and very shadowy) pictures in 1800, but the images deteriorated. French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce continued Wedgwood’s work, and took what’s considered the first photograph by coating a pewter plate with a bitumen solution and placing the plate into a camera that was looking out from an upstairs window of his house at Le Gras.\nAfter an exposure of at least eight hours (some say it may have been days), the plate was washed with a mixture of oil of lavender and white petroleum, dissolving away the parts of the bitumen that had not been hardened by light. It renders a view of the outbuildings, courtyard, trees, and landscape as seen from that upstairs window.\nNow that they’d figured out that whole permanence thing, Niépce went into partnership with Louis Daguerre, but he died of a stroke before they could further perfect the process. Daguerre was interested in using silver based solutions, working with the chemical interaction that produced silver iodide, but the long exposure time made the process useless. Then Daguerre discovered a practically invisible latent image left on a plate after a much short exposure could be “developed” by mercury fumes. A strong solution of common salt “fixed” the image by removing the remaining silver iodide. The daguerreotype was born!\nPhotography is one of the few technologies that was immediately shared as a “gift to the world” by the French government who bought the technology for a pension for Daguerre and Niépce’s son. Paper prints were soon developed as well as glass, and photographers began experimenting with lighting and retouching. People even began some early photoshopping, taking portraits where the subject appeared twice in different clothes.\nAs soon as cameras were manufacturable, a strange kind of photojournalism began, with photographers staging events, the way painters staged paintings. Take the case of Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner from The Washington Post:\nThirty years earlier, when Gardner and his assistants Timothy O’Sullivan and James F. Gibson reached Gettysburg shortly after the terrible battle there, most of the dead soldiers were either buried or decomposing.\nSo when the photographers spotted the intact corpse of a young Confederate near a part of the battlefield called the Devil’s Den, they took full advantage. After shooting photos of the soldier where he had fallen, they appear to have put his body on a blanket, and lugged it to a more photogenic location, according to historian William A. Frassanito.\nThe photographers placed the soldier against the backdrop of a stone fortification, probably turned his head toward the camera, and leaned a rifle beside him for maximum effect.\nThe resulting picture, one of the war’s most memorable, was largely accepted at face value until Frassanito, in his groundbreaking 1975 study “Gettysburg: A Journey in Time,” unearthed what probably happened.\nIn 1888, Kodak developed photographic film that replaced the heavy plates and dangerous chemicals photography was known for. In 1901, they released the Kodak Brownie, and amateur photography took off, leaving the developing process to the Kodak company and their affiliates. Point and click photography was here.\nCapturing War in Real Time\nThe Leica camera, the first camera to offer both portability and professional quality, effectively created the field of photojournalism as we know it today, the beautiful candid shots that make “time stand still,” to quote a certain play.\nJust as the Leica originated in Germany, so did the idea of photo magazines. A photographer and editor collaborated together to produce a story using photographs and captioned text (called “cutlines.”) A theme setting photo would be printed larger and other photos would follow. Cutline text was spare, orienting the reader but focusing on the power of the visual. Photos were selected from the photographer’s “contact sheets,” a grouping of tiny photos all on one page that the editor examined with a magnifier.\nThe rise of Hitler led to the persecution of many photographers and photo editors and many fled to the United States, just in time for magnate Henry Luce to conceive of his weekly photo magazine, Life, which launched in 1936. Life‘s coverage of World War II is still iconic today, but its first feature was more domestic, a study of the building of a dam by Margaret Bourke-White. I could pick one photo but the whole thing’s really breathtaking. Click and see!\nW. Eugene Smith and Robert Capa were Life‘s go to war correspondents, and both men paid heavy prices for their beautiful pictures. Smith was injured on assignment in Japan and Capa was died after stepping on a landmine during the First Indochina War.\nOn the domestic side, the Farmer’s Security Administration hired photographers to survey their work during the Great Depression, including Arthur Rothstein and Dorothea Lange, who took the iconic “Migrant Mother” image you see on the cover of so many copies of Grapes of Wrath. You can read more about their work here at the Library of Congress site.\nRise and Decline\nThe “Golden Age” of photojournalism is often said to last between 1935 to 1975. This was the era of the glossy spread and photomagazine, before “legacy media” (newspapers and magazines) had been overtaken by the more populist new media. By the 1980s, photo spreads were replaced by articles that used photos, text, graphs, and other drawings to tell their stories. (Life suspended publication in 1972, returned in 1978 as a monthly, and went out of business in 2001. Its sister magazine, Time, is still running, but when you look in its pages you see a lot more than photographs. National Geographic is in similar straits.)\nThe photospread has been reborn as the online photo gallery, run by the web arms of periodicals like The New York Times, Washington Post, and Time. While shooting a high quality color image costs virtually nothing in the age of digital photography, printing said image is more expensive than ever in an era where print media is being rapidly outpaced by its competitors.\nToday, the average salary for a successful photojournalist is usually between just under $30,000 and $43,000. The profession was ranked as one of the most stressful jobs in America by the CNBC. Photogs can work for publications as correspondents, either as freelancers or embedded with the military with the proper credentials, or they can sell their photos to stock agencies like Getty Images after the fact.\nThis topic will eventually get a full page but I must leave you with this quote from noted photographer Susan Sontag in her book On Photography:\n“To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. Just as a camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is a subliminal murder – a soft murder, appropriate to a sad, frightened time.”\nCheck out this amazing feature from Time Magazine of photojournalists’ most moving pictures of the Iraq War here. And though I don’t usually find myself linking to Buzzfeed for research purposes, this feature with war photogs telling how they got their shots is a great primer. This brief blog post on how to write a cutline is an interesting view behind the scenes.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The kilogram or kilogramme (symbol: kg) is the SI base unit of mass. It is defined as being equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram.\nPlease select weight unit to convert Kilograms to.\nTo convert Kilograms to other units just select an other weight unit from the list or your can search from the search form above.\nFollow us on Google+ +Conversion-metricOrg.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A New Book For Kids of All Ages!\nWritten and illustrated by young Maker Movement sensation “Super-Awesome” Sylvia, Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Project Book: Super-Simple Arduino shares the power of Arduino microcontroller programming with learners of all ages through exciting engineering projects. Sylvia’s whimsical graphics and clever explanations make powerful STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) concepts accessible and fun.\nSuper-Awesome Sylvia is a kid who loves making, tinkering, and art. Her online video series, Super-Awesome Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show, has millions of views. In this super fun book, Sylvia teaches kids to understand Arduino microcontroller programming by inventing an adjustable strobe and two digital musical instruments you can play! Along the way, they will learn a lot about electronics, coding, science, and engineering.\n- Buy the book at Amazon\n- More about “Super-Awesome” Sylvia\n- Code and project information\n- Buy the companion hardware kit\n- For bulk order or reseller information\nTitle: Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Project Book (Volume 2): Super-Simple Arduino\nAuthor and Illustrator: Sylvia “Super-Awesome” Todd\nPublisher: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press\nBISAC: Juvenile Nonfiction / Technology / Electricity & Electronics\nFull color inside\nPrice: $14.95 US (MSRP)\nAvailability: Worldwide at Amazon.com", "label": "No"} {"text": "Burning off carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to provide cheap electricity may have affected the climate, but the benefits of a carbonized economy far outweigh the costs, according to a new study.\nThe pro-coal American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) released a study showing that the benefits of carbonized fuel, like coal, to society are 50 to 500 times greater than the costs. Over the past two-and-a-half centuries increased fossil fuel energy production has helped more than double global life expectancy and increase global incomes 11-fold.\nThe study was released as a rebuttal to the Obama administration’s social cost of carbon estimate, which was quietly updated last year. The Federal Interagency Working Group (IWG) said the social cost of carbon (SCC) about $36 per ton.\nFossil fuels are the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S., with coal-fired power plants being a major contributor. The $36 per ton SCC estimate will be used by regulatory agencies to justify more costly regulations on the coal industry, according to ACCCE.\n“Even the most conservative estimates peg the social benefit of carbon-based fuels as 50 times greater than its supposed social cost,” said Dr. Roger Bezdek, the study’s lead author. “And the benefits are actual fact; founded on more than two centuries of empirical data, not theoretical summaries based on questionable assumptions, dubious forecasts, and flawed models.”\nThe Obama administration is making a concerted effort to steer the U.S. away from coal power since it emits much more carbon than other fuel sources, like natural gas or renewables. The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule to ban the construction of new coal-fired power plants unless they use costly, unproven emissions control technology. (RELATED: UN: Global prosperity is causing global warming)\n“If this Administration attempts to calculate the future costs of carbon, it’s imperative that policymakers also consider the actual and potential benefits of our carbon-based economy,” said ACCCE president Mike Duncan. “Fossil-based energy has powered three industrial revolutions, including today’s technology revolution. It has increased life expectancy, improved the quality of life, supported the cause of liberty, and brought hope to every civilization that has used it.”\nCoal is the leading source of electricity in the world and international efforts to ban coal in the name of fighting global warming would harms the world’s poor. Coal power, like other fossil fuels, has given billions of people cheap electricity which allow factories to produce lots of goods, hospitals to keep the lights on and for people to heat their homes in the winter. As economies grow they tend to use more energy, meaning that government efforts to supplant coal and other fossil fuels with renewable energy could harm economic growth.\nEnvironmentalists, however, see coal power as a major driver of global warming. U.S. activists argue that coal power is on the wane and the government should use this opportunity to make sure coal plants are taken offline.\n“Coal-fired generation is getting increasingly expensive compared with cleaner power sources,” said Jeff Deyette, assistant director of energy research at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “This shift in economics is a historic opportunity to modernize our electric sector and gain the economic, health and climate benefits that come with it.”\nContent created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]", "label": "No"} {"text": "In my December diary I posed the following brain-teaser.\nI have a circular disk, radius one unit. I pick two points at random on the disk and measure the distance d between them. I repeat this process some large number of times. What's the average value of d?\nHere we are in the tiny but fascinating realm of Geometric Probability, which was launched when Georges Buffon posed his famous Needle Problem in 1733. Subsequent key names in the topic are Morgan Crofton (19th century) and Luis Santaló (20th). The textbook I own is Herbert Solomon's 1978 production; but people tell me there are better ones now. The main drawback of Solomon's book is that it has no exercises. It explains things pretty well, though.\nGeometric probability is also well covered on the internet. In fact Wolfram's MathWorld has the solution to this puzzle. Answer: 128/(45π), which is 0.905414787367226799 …\n• 1: For random points inside the disk, coordinates x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ won't do. You need the square roots of random r's in the coordinates. This is explained here.\n• 2: Having picked your first random point, you can wolog rotate the disk so that this first point is on the positive x-axis at (√r1, 0).\n• 3: Writing the second point as (√r2, θ), the distance d between the two points is given by the cosine rule:\nd 2 = r1 + r2 − 2√r1r2 cos θ\n• 4: Now you just have to add up all possible values of d and divide by their number. True, numerator and denominator are both uncountable infinities … but that's what integration's for! Hence Weisstein's formula (3) for the average on that MathWorld page, and the result follows.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Financial crisis: Different this time?\nBy Matthew McClearn\nIrving Fisher couldn’t have been more wrong. Even as other observers fretted that a market bubble was about to burst, he confidently predicted that stocks had reached “a permanently high plateau.” Fisher was one of the leading economists of his generation, a professor at Yale University and one of the most quotable prognosticators on Wall Street. He wasn’t just selling this Kool-Aid — he drank deeply, investing heavily in the stock market, and had assembled a fortune of $10 million from virtually nothing.\nToo bad it was October 1929. The subsequent crash not only exposed his folly; it wiped out his net worth and left him in hock $1 million to his sister-in-law. As the economy collapsed around him, Fisher continued to insist for the next two years that an imminent recovery of stock prices was just around the corner.\nCaught flat-footed by the Depression, Fisher eventually concluded that existing economic theory couldn’t explain the pervasive misery he was witnessing. He began scrutinizing the Depression’s macabre mechanics, and those of major crises from the 19th century. In 1933, he published a groundbreaking new theory. Entitled The Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depressions, it sought to isolate and explain which factors determine whether an economy enters a destructive tailspin. Don’t peruse Fisher’s work before going to bed: it presents uncomfortable parallels to the modern era, and thus might provoke insomnia.\nIn the 1930s, as now, it was fashionable to talk of the “business cycle.” Ask that great oracle of our times, Google, to define the concept, and you’ll get plenty of competing explanations but no consensus; the term, it seems, is virtually meaningless. To Fisher, it suggested that the overall economy oscillates in a reasonably predictable manner, entering phases of growth and contraction with regularity. (The Guardian, a British newspaper, claims fluctuations occur at five-year intervals.) Fisher rejected this view as bunkum. He saw multiple cycles working concurrently. “There are always innumerable cycles, long and short, big and little,” he wrote, “any historical event being the resultant of all the tendencies then at work.”\nBut just when it seemed Fisher had a gift for stating the obvious, he isolated a mere two ingredients in all this noise — burgeoning debt and falling prices — as being prerequisites for economic disaster. In his view, excessive investment and speculation just weren’t dangerous enough — unless, that is, they were done using borrowed money. And swaggering overconfidence wouldn’t do either, unless it drove people to take on too much debt. “Disturbances in these two factors — debt and the purchasing power of the monetary unit — will set up serious disturbances in all, or nearly all, other economic variables,” he wrote. “In short, the big bad actors are debt disturbances and price-level disturbances.”\nHis own brushes with insolvency notwithstanding, Fisher was no debt-dreading fearmonger. He understood that debt need not be the result of frothing-at-the-mouth irrationality, nor the wanton surrender to depraved human appetites. In fact, it can be a sensible response to low interest rates. “Easy money is the great cause of over-borrowing,” Fisher wrote. “When an investor thinks he can make over 100% per annum by borrowing at 6%, he will be tempted to borrow, and to invest or speculate with borrowed money.” Fisher also understood that debt must always be considered in relation to wealth, income and the gold supply (the latter being particularly important in Fisher’s day, because exchange rates were locked to the gold standard).\nThe problem with debt, Fisher believed, is that once there’s too much of it, it leaves both borrowers and lenders in precarious situations. In a heavily indebted system, even a minor shock (such as falling share prices) can undermine confidence, provoking borrowers to begin selling assets to pay down debt to a more manageable level. A first wave of distress selling ensues. Deposit currency contracts as loans are paid off, slowing the circulation of money through the system. And that, in turn, causes deflation.\nDeflation means that prices are in general decline. Note the emphasis on “general” — falling prices in one sector of the economy, such as personal computers or automobiles, might cause difficulties for those sectors, but that’s different from falling prices across the board. The current chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, has explained that “deflation is in almost all cases a side effect of a collapse of aggregate demand — a drop in spending so severe that producers must cut prices on an ongoing basis in order to find buyers.”\nDeflation is often feared more than its destructive sibling, inflation. It sends bankers into a tizzy; if the value of a loan’s collateral implodes, the principal is no longer safe. They become averse to providing financing, and credit dries up. Meanwhile, potential buyers have little incentive to make purchases when they anticipate falling prices.\nOnce deflation takes hold, Fisher posited, a nasty cycle ensues. As prices fall, the dollar gains purchasing power — meaning that each dollar of outstanding debt becomes a greater burden. “The liquidation of debts cannot keep up with the fall of prices which it causes,” Fisher explained. “The liquidation defeats itself….The very effort of individuals to lessen their burden of debts increases it, because of the mass effect of the stampede to liquidate in swelling each dollar owed.” Businesses watch their net worth and profits plummet. Some go bankrupt. Survivors cut output and fire workers. People begin hoarding currency, which further slows the flow of money.\nFisher posited that a sufficiently over-indebted economy acts much like a capsizing ship. Under normal conditions, a ship is designed to right itself following a disturbance. Once tipped beyond a certain point, however, it has a tendency to depart further from equilibrium. In the economy’s case, capsizing stops only after nearly everyone is bankrupt. “This is the so-called ‘natural’ way out of a depression, via needless and cruel bankruptcy, unemployment and starvation,” he wrote.\nAll this, Fisher believed, neatly explained the Depression. He claimed that the low interest rates of the 1920s spurred investors to borrow, and to invest or speculate with the proceeds. By 1929, debts had risen to unprecedented levels — so great that they capsized the boat. In the weeks following Oct. 29, 1929 — or Black Tuesday, as it came immediately to be known — waves of margin calls provoked distress-selling of investments. So began the debt-deflation. By 1933, Fisher observed, liquidation had succeeded in reducing outstanding debt by 20%, but it had also increased the value of a dollar by 75%. In real terms, debt had actually increased 40%. The more debtors paid, the more they owed.\nSuch was the greatest economic disaster in memory. J. Bradford DeLong, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, wrote: “At its nadir, the Depression was collective insanity. Workers were idle because firms would not hire them to work their machines; firms would not hire workers to work machines because they saw no market for goods; and there was no market for goods because workers had no incomes to spend.”\nConfronted by the Depression, the first instinct of governments and central banks was to do nothing. Fisher deemed this a terrible mistake; he believed it was always possible to reflate price levels back to equilibrium — by lowering interest rates, for example. Fisher argued that once President Franklin Roosevelt embarked on reflation in 1933, the Depression reversed itself: “Had no artificial respiration been applied, we would soon have seen general bankruptcies of the mortgage guarantee companies, savings banks, life insurance companies, railways, municipalities, and states.” The Depression, in other words, could have been far worse.\nFisher was noted for giving unsolicited advice, but his new theory was widely ignored. “If he’d been hit by a bus in the middle of 1929, he would have had a reputation as an academic who nonetheless managed to make a great fortune from nothing,” says Robert Dimand, a professor of economics at Brock University who co-edited a book about Fisher’s legacy. “By 1933, Irving Fisher was a figure of fun. At the time, the response was: ‘That’s the guy who said stocks had reached a permanently high plateau. He’s just trying to come up with an alibi for why he was wrong.’”\nFisher died in 1947. A decade later, famed economist John Kenneth Galbraith was still ridiculing him. But after a half-century of abuse, he was somewhat rehabilitated in the 1970s as theorists such as noted American economists Hyman Minsky and James Tobin began fretting about the stability of the financial system. Debt-deflation theory was trundled out once again, and some of its proponents have since gained considerable influence. Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, wrote about it as an academic. And a sharp young Stanford economics professor updated Fisher’s theory in 1983. His name was Ben Bernanke.\nThough still widely ignored in times of growth and stability, Fisher’s theory has attracted new devotees during virtually every credit disturbance of the past 30 years. “We’ve seen a recent resurgence in interest in debt-deflation in recent months,” says Dimand. “I suspect it will resurface every time there’s a financial crisis.”\nBen Bernanke couldn’t have been more wrong. The veteran economist and newly minted Federal Reserve chairman predicted that troubles in America’s sub-prime market would not prove contagious. “We believe the effect of the troubles in the sub-prime sector on the broader housing market will likely be limited,” he proclaimed during a speech, “and we do not expect significant spillovers…to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.”\nToo bad it was May 2007. Though Bernanke’s follies are not nearly so quotable as Fisher’s, they are no less evident. The sub-prime crisis did indeed spill over to the broader housing market, the financial system, the whole damned economy. Many lenders are now bracing for mounting defaults in auto loans and credit cards. Some fear a sudden collapse of opaque, highly leveraged hedge funds. And amid the feverish chatter about the probability of a recession, an ugly word has surfaced.\n“Today we have insolvency problems,” Nouriel Roubini, a bearish economics professor at New York University, declared recently. “It is much worse than the tech bust of 2000 and 2001, when most of the problems were confined to the tech sector and we had a mild recession. You have to go back to the Great Depression for something comparable.”\nThe D-word should not be invoked lightly. Nevertheless, there are some uncomfortable similarities between 1929 and today. We’ve already witnessed the near-failure of storied Wall Street investment dealer Bear Stearns, which the Fed had to bail out using extraordinary powers it hadn’t exercised since the Depression. And as with the 1929 stock crash, our current situation was built on a foundation of easy money. The ready availability of house-backed credit allowed Americans to embark on a spending orgy. Consumption rose faster than incomes. That’s true in Canada, too: a report released by the Vanier Institute of the Family in February says that debt rose seven times faster than incomes in Canadian households since 1990, moving above $80,000 last year for the first time. “The U.S. and other western economies have shown remarkable ability to leverage themselves up over the past several decades,” BCA Research, a Montreal-based investment advisory firm, observed in a recent note.\nDoes debt-deflation theory have any relevance in our current situation? “Every so often one hears that such credit crunches can’t happen again, and that financial institutions are very sophisticated in how they value assets,” says Dimand. “It would seem that even very large and sophisticated financial institutions can lose large amounts of money in situations that turn out to be much riskier than they thought. So I think it’s very relevant.”\nWhat we’re seeing in America’s housing market seems a classic microcosm of a debt-deflation. Mortgage debt spiralled out of control, and house prices have now been falling for two years. According to the National Association of Realtors, the average median price of existing U.S. homes fell by 1.4% last year — the first such decline since the Depression. Even that relatively benign decrease has driven the rate of mortgage delinquencies to their highest level in decades. (Other factors, such as the notorious resetting of interest rates characteristic of adjustable-rate mortgages, are also at play.) Many recent homebuyers find themselves “under water” — that is, their outstanding mortgage debt is greater than the value of the property that serves as collateral. We now hear stories of homeowners handing their keys to bankers and walking away. Banks are repossessing homes and dumping them on the market at cut-rate prices. With prices falling, potential homebuyers are delaying purchases. Meanwhile, economists now observe an increase in defaults among homeowners with previously unblemished credit ratings. “This collapse in housing value is sucking in all borrowers,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, recently told the New York Times.\nWell, that’s housing. But falling home prices do not equal deflation. In fact, we remain in an inflationary economy. At the end of last year, annualized inflation stood at 3.3% in the OECD area. Pundits fret that rising food and energy prices will provoke higher inflation; some even predict stagflation — a stagnant economy and surging prices. In sum, we’ve got mountains of debt but none of the other stuff. So for Fisher’s bastards — those who adhere to modernized versions of his debt-deflation theory — the question is: Could America’s falling house prices trigger a collapse in aggregate demand?\nFor years, U.S. consumer spending has been the great bulwark of the global economy. According to RBC Capital Markets, consumer spending drives 70% of the American economy. And America remains the world’s dominant economy. Growth in consumer spending has not yet deteriorated markedly.\nBut it could. Homes have long been esteemed as a sacrosanct ingredient in American middle-class wealth, and more recently have become piggy banks for many consumers. Now that prices are falling (however marginally), many homeowners find themselves in precarious situations. They have steadily reduced their savings rate since the late 1980s — it has withered to almost nothing. Many Americans now must turn their attention to paying down debt and saving for the future.\nImagine what would happen if home prices fell appreciably — as some observers predict. David Rosenberg, Merrill Lynch’s chief economist for North America, says they could slide another 25%–30% over the next two years. Roubini says 20%–30%. Any such decline would crush many homeowners, and cause survivors to dramatically reduce their spending — in other words, a great collapse in aggregate demand.\nSome think that it’s all over but the crying. Eric Janszen, founder of the bearish Internet newsletter iTulip.com, recently wrote in Harper’s magazine that the American economy “is in serious trouble.” The finance, insurance and real estate sectors all know “that a debt-deflation Armageddon is nigh,” Janszen wrote, and are “praying for a timely miracle, a new bubble to keep the economy from slipping into a depression.” Jan Kregel, an academic and scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College in New York state, also recently predicted a debt-deflation disaster. “Lending to households…is likely to decline dramatically,” he warned in a paper released in December. “If the availability of household finance collapses, it is also likely that the long predicted, but never realized, retrenchment of consumer spending may become a reality.” Fisher’s bastards are marching.\nThey remain in a minority, however. In a recent column in the Financial Times, writer Wolfgang Munchau pooh-poohed the idea that any major economies were at risk of experiencing deflation. BCA Research, meanwhile, sees two possibilities: “Either efforts to stop debt-deflation fail and the U.S. slides into some version of Japan circa 1990–2008 (and counting); or conditions eventually calm and the economy muddles forward.” It predicts the latter. If Wall Street was expecting a debt-deflation, distressed bankers would likely already be exiting skyscraper windows at an alarming rate.\nIn 2002, Bernanke himself opined that it was extremely unlikely America would experience deflation in the near future. For one thing, he said, the U.S. economy has demonstrated a remarkable ability to absorb shocks. For another, the Federal Reserve would never permit a debt-deflation to take hold. Now top dog at the Fed, Bernanke is doing his best to make good on that promise. The Fed has slashed interest rates aggressively. Most G8 nations have followed suit, albeit less desperately. The Bush administration announced a flurry of tax cuts and more spending.\nAs for Brock’s Dimand, he acknowledges that the debt-deflation theory suggests today’s debt-laden financial system is precarious. “But there’s this one thing that’s very different from the 1930s,” he says. “Today you have central bankers who are very conscious of the dangers associated with debt-deflation.” Dimand believes central bankers will avoid deflation at all costs.\nPlenty else besides has changed since the Depression. Wealthy countries abandoned the gold standard — often cited as a primary culprit for the disaster — long ago. And thanks largely to the Depression, we now have so-called “automatic stabilizers” like unemployment and deposit insurance designed to cushion society from massive economic disruptions. (Critics argue, however, that many of these stabilizers have been watered down or repealed in various deregulations since the 1970s.) These changes make direct comparisons between now and 1929 difficult.\nThere’s one element, however, that hasn’t changed: We have not yet conquered folly. So watch out for deflation — and try not to say anything quotable.", "label": "No"} {"text": "MidasThe name Midas was probably dynastic, alternating in Phrygia with Gordieus. Both names are perpetuated in those of towns near the upper Sangarius, “Midas city” (Midaeion, or Midaeum) being about 60 miles (97 km) west of the more famous Gordium.\nPhrygiaBy the 8th century the Phrygians had formed a centrally organized kingdom in the west with its centres at Gordium and Midas City. Their three main areas of settlement were the hilly country between modern Eskişehir and Afyon; the central regions around their capital, Gordium; and the region around Ancyra (modern Ankara), where Phrygian tombs and architectural remains of the 8th–6th...\nSimply begin typing or use the editing tools above to add to this article.\nOnce you are finished and click submit, your modifications will be sent to our editors for review.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This native plant is an annual vine up to 25' long that develops multiple lanky stems. This vine can climb over adjacent vegetation and fences using its branched tendrils, otherwise it sprawls across the ground. The stems are light green, round or furrowed, and quite hairy. The alternate leaves are up to 8\" long and across (excluding the petioles). They are orbicular-angular with 3-5 shallow lobes and their margins are slightly serrated. The upper surface of each leaf is relatively hairless, while the lower surface is finely pubescent, especially along the lower veins. The petiole of each leaf is up to 5\" long; it is light green, rather stout, and quite hairy. The leaf blade is strongly indented at the base where it is connected to the petiole. Occasionally, branched tendrils and racemes of flowers occur oppositely from the alternate leaves along the vine. Bur Cucumber is usually monoecious and produces both staminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers on the same plant. Each staminate flower has a green calyx with 5 teeth, a greenish white corolla with 5 spreading lobes, and a central column of stamens that is knobby at its apex. The teeth of the calyx are short and broad with recurved tips. The lobes of the corolla have a network of green lines on a white background. The staminate flowers are individually about 1/3\" across and they tend to bloom in small clusters toward the apex of the raceme. Each pistillate flower has a large ovary that is enclosed within an ovoid fruit about ½\" long. The surface of this fruit is covered with sharp spines and long white hairs; it is initially green, but later turns brown. A single style is exerted from the terminal end of this fruit. The pistillate flowers are bunched together in a short raceme; a typical raceme has 3-10 pistillate flowers. The peduncles and pedicels of both staminate and pistillate racemes are green and pubescent. The blooming period occurs from late summer to early fall and lasts about 3 weeks. There is no noticeable floral scent. Each bur-like fruit contains a single large seed that is brown and flattened; this seed is tapered at one end more than the other and it has a rough surface. The root system consists of a shallow branched taproot. This plant spreads by reseeding itself.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Imagine you are the chief of a small, relatively peaceful, ancient tribe. You have not yet discovered many things that a modern child would know (for instance, that the earth is round and rotates on its axis and around the sun), but you are highly inquisitive and intend to figure out the world around you as best you can. Not out of idle curiosity so much as out of necessity for the survival of your tribe. The more you learn, the safer you and your tribe will be.\nYou are particularly interested in the sky, for several reasons. One is that your tribe, and it appears, all life, is dependent on the sun. When the sun is visible in the sky, the whole world is illuminated and is considerably warmer than when it is not. It is true that at night there is some comfort from the moon and stars, but in general you are much more interested in the sun. You know that the sun is made of fire, because when you build a fire, it too provides light and warmth, although not nearly as much as the sun.\nYour tribe also depends on rain, water from the sky. For whatever reason, there is a quality to the sky water that the sea water does not have – unfortunately, the water of the sea, although vast in quantity, is not life-sustaining. You also notice that water in large quantities (that is, the sea) is blue, and so is the sky. You surmise from this that the sky is actually made of water.\nTwo things puzzle you, however. Water tends to fall to the ground. How is it that the sky is made of water, but the water is not continuously falling to the ground? What is holding all that water up? The other puzzle is that everyone knows that fire and water cannot coexist together. But the sun, which is made is of fire, is in the sky, which is made of water. Again, how is this possible?\nYou come to a brilliant conclusion that answers both puzzles. There must be an invisible barrier separating the water above and the earth below. The sun, moon, and stars are all moving around, nice and dry, inside that barrier. Occasionally, small holes (you think of them as windows) appear in that barrier, and water falls through them, resulting in rain on the earth. At times, they open wider than others, resulting in harder, possibly dangerous, rain.\nBut what is keeping the barrier up? You decide that the barrier is actually a giant dome that covers the whole earth. Floating within the ethereal material of the dome are the celestial bodies. Above the dome is immeasurable amounts of water, as big as the sea. It is frightening to imagine that there is this massive amount of water above the whole world, and the only thing keeping it from crashing down on us is the barrier! If the windows in the barrier were to open up completely, there could be a massive flood. On the other hand, the sky is also the source of all life, since it is the source of all potable water.\nYou continue to ponder the structure of the world. Maybe at one point there was no barrier, and the entire world was filled with water. It’s amazing to think about, but it’s possible. Maybe something built the barrier, drained most of the water off of the earth, revealing dry land below (but leaving some of the water there, which became the sea). The sun, being made of fire, could not have existed yet if the world was filled with water – it would only make sense for the sun to have been put in place after the barrier was created.\nYou are getting excited. You are slowly but surely figuring out the steps involved in the formation of the world! You have more details to figure out, such as when in this process plants, animals, trees, and most importantly, man came into the picture. Perhaps one day your tribe can explore the edges of the earth and actually find where the dome of the barrier meets the earth. Or even more ambitiously, to build a tower and actually touch the sky! But even without those accomplishments, you’re pretty sure you’re on to something. You are advancing the knowledge of your tribe, and are coming closer to a more accurate explanation of the world and its origins. You had better write this down, for posterity and the sake of the tribe…\nSlashdot reports that scientists use performance-enhancing drugs, too. Instead of extra brawn, they’re going for extra brains.\nI can see where this is going – incredibly smart super-nerds, getting massive amounts of sand kicked at them on the beach by steroid-enhanced bullies four times their size. Better start working on that personal robot bodyguard!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Harry S. Truman was one of the leaders of the \"Good Roads\" movement. He inherited this interest from his father John, who was road overseer in Washington Township Missouri in 1913. Harry Truman later became county judge in Jackson County, and was in charge of appointing road overseers. After losing re-election in 1924, he sold memberships in the Kansas City Automobile Club and then became President of the National Old Trails Road Association. After being re-elected in 1926, he helped get Jackson County out of the mud, with one of the largest local road-building programs in the US ensuring an all-weather (i.e. paved) road served every farm.\nUltimately as President, he could have been father to the Interstate System, which was planned, but not funded during his administration, had the Korean War not intervened and made funding scarce.", "label": "No"} {"text": "What Is a Five-Paragraph Essay?\nA five-paragraph essay is the basic essay form, consisting of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. If your assignment doesn’t tell you specifically how to write an essay you need to come up with, it is implied that you are expected to write a 5 paragraph essay. This staple essay is most often found in high-school and junior college years, and as an academic complexity of studies goes up, essay writing assignments get more sophisticated too.\nWhy are five paragraph essays important?\nIt has been conventionally agreed that a five paragraph essay is a basic essay format. Its simple structure allows students to practice effective and organized writing by following an invariant logical pattern, which eventually results in increased ability to explain a problem or a phenomenon. The ability to write logically following a set essay format will on later stages evolve in clear and logical research and academic writing. Therefore the skills for writing a five-paragraph essay are essential for your academic success.\nOur writers guarantee the premium quality content, complete reference, and zero plagiarism. Place your order here and enjoy the result!\nWhat is the basic essay structure?\nGenerally speaking, five paragraph essays have a fixed structure. As its name suggests, a five-paragraph essay will contain five logical sections: introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction is always the opening paragraph in your essay and you will need to include such elements as the thesis statement and the three sub-topics which are called ‘body’ paragraphs. The last paragraph is the conclusion and you will have to sum up the ideas expressed in previous paragraphs.\nA good introduction has the ultimate power in either grabbing the readers’ attention or losing it. With thousands of essays out there, your reader will make a reading decision by reading the first couple of sentences and skimming through the body of the paper. Consequently, writing a good, eye-catching introduction is of ultimate importance to an effective composition.\nTips for writing an effective essay introduction\nMake a general statement and then narrow it down. Generally, the way of starting an essay is the least interesting for the reader; however, it’s a proven technique that is effective. This would be the most appropriate beginning for most academic essays that do not allow starting an essay otherwise.\nUse a quote that is relevant to the topic. This is generally a good and a powerful beginning for an essay that is written during high school and early college years. A quote from someone who is respected in a society will add weight to your paper and will provoke readers’ interest in the paper. However, you should bear in mind that subsequent text needs to be straight to the point and support the initial claim.\nUse a rhetoric question. A rhetoric question is, in essence, a disguised statement that requires no response; however, it will set your reader wondering about an issue. All you need to do is elaborate on the topic and provide convincing examples. Initial readers’ interest won’t last long if the text that follows doesn’t support the initial claim. Again, this type of starting your essay is not universally acceptable, and you will need to take into account the kind of essay you are working on and its purpose.\nStart with an example: use statistics or another example relevant to the topic. This is the opposite of the technique that’s been mentioned first – in this case, you go from the specific to the general. Provide an example and try to establish a general pattern based on that example. Ideally, you would need several such examples to make a generalization, otherwise, you can make a false conclusion (this is called a sample, generally the more examples you have, the better the sampling, and the more accurate is the conclusion.\nThe list of good and catchy ways of introducing your thoughts in an essay isn’t limited to the ones mentioned above. You can you any of them or any combination thereof – anything that is interesting to the reader will work. Remember that your goal is to catch your reader’s attention and retain it during the next several paragraphs, which will convey the main points to your reader. Once you have started with a strong introduction, it is high time to write the body paragraphs themselves.\nWriting body paragraphs can be quite a straightforward process if one bears in mind their basic structure. Most writing experts suggest that a typical body paragraph should take the following format:\nTopic sentence. This is the first sentence that introduces the main idea of the paragraph. This idea is going to be further elaborated within the same paragraph.\nDetails or examples supporting the idea from the topic sentence. The topic sentence should be supported with some piece of evidence that would get your essay more ‘weight’ and will sound more convincing. In a case of an academic paper, you will need to mention the source of the information.\nComments/Analysis. Add two or more sentences with a commentary of the idea expressed in your main essay. If this is an essay that requires your evaluation, this can be your thoughts, ideas, impressions, judgments etc. If this is an academic essay, you will need to base your judgment on previous research to gain credibility.\nConclusion. Paragraph conclusion recaps the main paragraph idea. It also serves the purpose of connecting the previous paragraph with the next one.\nEssay conclusion should be the logical finale of your writing. Once you are done writing your body paragraphs, look at the ideas expressed in the introduction and body paragraphs, you will need to restate each of them individually and then relate to the thesis statement. In this part of your essay, you will need to pay special attention to the initial requirement and see if it needs you to summarize your key elements or analyze them. Whenever you are required to do an analytical part, you are expected to dig in a bit deeper, not just merely restate the items mentioned previously.\nWhatever the case, OZessay will be glad to assist you with any of the essay types, we will be happy to assist. Feel free to contact any of our writing professionals, who are always willing to provide a top quality paper that will get you a high score. Here, at www.OZessay.com.au we are available 24/7 to help you! www.OZessay.com.au is the essay writing service you can trust.\nOur state standards spell it out pretty clearly. My third graders need to be able to write opinion pieces on topics or texts that state an opinion within a framework of an organizational structure that provides reasons that support the opinion and provides a concluding statement. Oh, and they better use transitional words and phrases throughout. These would be the same 8-year-olds who still can't figure out it's not a good idea to put your boots on before your snow pants.\nWith all this in mind, meeting those standards seemed like a huge mountain to climb when I was planning out my persuasive writing unit a few weeks ago. I have students who still haven't mastered capitalization and punctuation, so I knew I would have to break down the mechanics of writing an opinion statement into a step-by-step process for them. This week I am happy to share with you a few tips along with the graphic organizers I created to help get my students writing opinion pieces that showed me that my students, while not quite there yet, were fully capable of making it to the top of that mountain.\nIntroduce the Language of Opinion Writing\nThe very first thing we did during a writing mini-lesson was go over the language of opinion writing and how certain words, like fun and pretty are opinion clues because while they may be true for some people, they are not true for everyone. We also discuss how other words, called transitions, are signals to your reader as to where you are in your writing: the beginning, middle or end.\nAfter the initial vocabulary is introduced, I challenged my third graders to look for examples of these types of words in their everyday reading. Over the next couple of days, students used sticky notes to add opinion or transition words they found to an anchor chart posted on a classroom wall. Next, I took the words and put them into a chart that I copied for students to glue into their writer's notebooks. You can see our chart below. If you would like to print your own copy, just click on the image.\nIntroduce Easy-to-Read Opinion Pieces\nMost of my third graders have read a wide variety of genres by this point in third grade, but when asked if they had ever read the \"opinion genre,\" they answered with a resounding, \"No!\" I pointed out to them that they actually read opinion articles nearly every week in our Scholastic News magazine. At that point, I let them dive into the archives of old articles online and they were quickly able to find opinion pieces in several of the issues we had read this year. Students also used the debate section of the online issues.\nOn the board we listed some of the articles students found in Scholastic News that contained opinions:\nMany Scholastic news articles are perfect to use because they are short, and for the most part have a structure that is similar to how I want my students to write. The articles often include:\n- Both sides of the argument\n- Clearly stated opinions\n- Reasons for holding that opinion\n- Examples to support the reasons\n- Conclusions that are restated with enthusiasm\nIn the image below, you can see below how easy it was for my students to find the opinions, supporting reasons and examples in the \"Debate It\" feature we read together on whether the U.S. Mint should stop making pennies.\nModel, Model, Model!\nOnce students read the article about pennies, they were ready to form an opinion. After discussing the pros and cons with partners, the class took sides. With students divided into two groups, they took part in a spirited Visible Thinking debate called Tug of War. After hearing many of their classmates voice their reasoning for keeping or retiring the penny, the students were ready to get started putting their thoughts on paper.\nAt this time, I introduced our OREO graphic writing organizer. Using the name of a popular cookie is a mnemonic device that helps my students remember the structural order their paragraphs need to take: Opinion, Reason, Example, Opinion. In our class, we say our writing is double-stuffed, because two reasons and two examples are expected instead of one.\nBecause this was our first foray into example writing, we worked through the organizer together.\nMy students did pretty well with the initial organizer and we used it again to plan out opinion pieces on whether sledding should be banned in city parks.\nOnce students had planned out two different opinions, they selected one to turn into a full paragraph in their writer's notebooks. The organizers made putting their thoughts into a clear paragraph with supporting reasons and examples very easy for most students.\nWith each practice we did, my students got stronger and I introduced different organizers to help them and to keep interest high. Giving each student one sandwich cookie to munch on while they worked on these organizers helped keep them excited about the whole process.\nAfter we worked our way through several of the Scholastic News opinion pieces, my third graders also thought of issues pertinent to their own lives and school experiences they wanted to write about, including:\n- Should birthday treats and bagel sales be banned at school?\n- Should all peanut products be banned?\n- Should we be allowed to download our own apps on the iPads the school gave us?\nAs we continued to practice, different organizers were introduced. Those are shown below. Simply click on each image to download and print your own copy.\nThe organizer below is my favorite to use once the students are more familiar with the structure of opinion paragraphs. It establishes the structure, but also helps students remember to use opinion-based sentence starters along with transition words.\nBelow is a simple organizer some of my students can also choose to use.\nOther Resources I Have Used\nScholastic offers many different resources for helping your students become better with their opinion writing, or for younger writers, understanding the difference between fact and opinion. A great one to have in your classroom is: 12 Write-On/Wipe-Off Graphic Organizers That Build Early Writing Skills.\nClick on the images below to download and print. There are many more sheets like these in Scholastic Teachables.\nA couple weeks into our persuasive writing unit and I have already seen a lot of progress from our very first efforts. We may not have mastered this writing yet, but we are definitely on our way and that mountain doesn't seem quite so high anymore. I hope you find a few of these tips and my graphic organizers helpful! I'd love to hear your tips for elementary writing in the comment section below.\nI'd love to connect with you on Twitter and Pinterest!\nTeacher Store Resources\nI love using the graphic organizers in my Grade 3 Writing Lessons to Meet the Common Core. Other teachers in my building use the resources for their grade level as well. They make them for grades 1-6.", "label": "No"} {"text": "When Constantine established the city on the hill as the capital of the Roman Empire, one of his first projects was the construction of a forum, built just outside the then-city walls. The forum was circular with two monumental gates, and at its center Constantine erected a monumental column carved of red porphyry stone and topped by a Corinthian capital bearing his own likeness. A drawing by Melchior Lorick (1561) contains an illustration of the column showing a relief on the north, Senate-facing side of the base.\nThe Forum of Constantine is said to have been the inspiration for Bernini in his conception of St. Peter's Square in Rome. The column has been a victim of earthquakes and elements: In A.D. 418, part of the base cracked, prompting its reinforcement via the use of a ringed metal brace (additional braces were added later), and in 1106, the statue of Constantine was toppled by a hurricane. Manuel Komnenos presided over the first restoration of the monument, placing a simple cross atop the column in place of the destroyed statue of the emperor. Since then, periodic repairs have been done to cracks in the marble, and in 2003 a full-fledged, comprehensive restoration was begun.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Samantha Carter (assisted)\n110,000 miles per second\nEarth targeting systems\nComputer navigational systems\nLike its predecessor, the X-302 hyperspace fighter, the X-303 is exclusively of Tau'ri construction. Like the 302, it has Inertial dampeners, artificial gravity and an antigravity system that allows the vessel to hover in midair. Its Sublight engines are capable of boosting it from the surface into orbit in less than thirty seconds, and it also possesses a Naquadria-based hyperdrive. (SG1: \"Prometheus\", \"Memento\")\nUnlike the 302, which is designed as a fighter-interceptor, the 303 was developed as a response to the Goa'uld Ha'tak, which is a mothership. It is the United States Air Force's first capital ship. However, it is still far smaller in scale than the Ha'tak. Its span consists of 17+ decks and is capable of carrying more than a hundred personnel, as well as eight 302s within its hangar bay. (SG1: \"Grace\")\nThe X-303 was built using both Earth-based and alien technology. Its design is based on that of an Earth naval aircraft carrier, having a long nose with a visible bridge area near the rear of the vessel.\nThe X-303 was capable of both sublight and hyperspace travel. It could reach up to half the speed of light at sublight speeds. Its hyperdrive, however, was unstable and thus unreliable, being based on Naquadria. The first test ended with the vessel stranded in an unknown area of space, and on the second attempt it overloaded and had to be ejected to save the ship.\nPrometheus had a variety of means to communicate within and between ships. There were traditional telephones located in corridors and rooms throughout the ship for intra-ship communications. There was also the capacity to integrate the system to wireless radio headsets. The ship also has an intercom system for ship wide messages. It could be activated on the bridge by one of the stations and could also be triggered directly from the commander's chair. (SG1: \"Prometheus\", \"Beachhead\", \"Prometheus Unbound\")\nThe Prometheus was equipped for both audio and video communications outside the ship as well. Despite communications satellites being down, Prometheus was able to establish a secure video transmission directly to the Oval Office, which displayed on monitors above the main window/viewer display. A side viewer also displayed video communications that integrated with alien ships, such as the Asgard and Goa'uld. The ship could also broadcast audio-only messages on multiple frequencies, and included the additional feature of translating the broadcast into Goa'uld. The communications, however, couldn't penetrate Ancient shielding, as was evidenced upon the discovery of the caves of Avalon in the Glastonbury Tor. The Prometheus had two communications arrays symmetrically placed on the rear section of the ship. (SG1: \"Memento\", \"Lost City, Part 2\", \"New Order, Part 2\", \"Avalon, Part 1\", \"Beachhead\")\nInertial Dampeners and Artificial GravityEdit\nThe Prometheus had Inertial dampeners and artificial gravity technology, which gave its passengers a smooth ride, much like that taken within a fast elevator. When Julia Donovan's filming crew turned out to be rogue NID agents who stole the ship, Major Samantha Carter was trapped on a level which didn't have the artificial gravity systems in place and she experienced zero gravity when the ship was taken into space. (SG1: \"Prometheus\")\nThe Tau'ri do not possess shields of their own design, instead utilizing reverse engineered Goa'uld shields, however, these shields were replaced with shields of Asgard origin, which were donated to them in thanks for the help the Tau'ri had provided the Asgard in their conflict against the Replicators. Asgard shielding was first equipped to the Prometheus and eventually the Daedalus-class, allowing the Tau'ri to better confront the warships of the Goa'uld. However, with the invasion of the Ori, the shields of the Prometheus proved virtually ineffective against the powerful weapons of the Ori. (SG1: \"Disclosure\", \"Memento\", \"Ethon\")\nThe Anti-Gravity Pod was housed in the lower portion of the rear of the ship, as labeled on the Venting Sequence display. The Prometheus most likely used this feature in entering and exiting its subterranean bay on Earth, in softening an off-world landing, and in hovering or maintaining a stationary position above the ground as it did in Antarctica in order to protect SG-1's Tel'tak during Anubis's attack. (SG1: \"Lost City, Part 2\", \"Grace\")\nDeceleration thrusters were used to slow the Prometheus down. They were situated on the front side of the large rectangular hyperdrive engine sections and were seen being used by SG-1 when they landed on the planet Hala. (SG1: \"Unnatural Selection\")\nThe hyperdrive engines were first powered by the powerful, but highly unstable, mineral called Naquadria in the form of a Naquadria reactor core. A buffer was installed to prevent the reactor from going critical due to Naquadria's inherent instability. Later, new hyperdrive technology was installed by the Asgard. Between that time, however, the ship operated on a temporary adaptation of a hyperdrive engine from an Al'kesh. The rectangular hyperdrive nacelles were seen on either side of the ship's rear section. The hyperdrive engines glowed blue when activated. (SG1: \"Memento\", \"Grace\", \"Covenant\", \"Endgame\", \"Gemini\", \"Prometheus Unbound\")\nHyperdrive control systems were protected with codes, but these codes could be overridden by someone who was familiar with the crystals used in these control systems. An engine coolant system ran through the length of the slender midsection of the ship and into the rear where the engines were located. Spatial gases could interfere with the even flow of power to the hyperdrive emitters and thus prevent a hyperspace window from becoming fully formed. When the power to the hyperdrive emitter was reduced, it was possible to create a partial shift into hyperspace which could take the ship out of the surrounding space-time temporarily. (SG1: \"Prometheus\", \"Grace\", \"Prometheus Unbound\")\nIf the Prometheus were ever called upon to take a trip to the Pegasus galaxy using its Asgard hyperdrive engines, it would take approximately 18 days, as this is the amount of time that Daedalus-class ships are able to make the trip with their Asgard hyperdrive engines. (SGA: \"The Intruder\") (SG1: \"Ripple Effect\")\nSublight engines enabled the Prometheus to accelerate to 110,000 miles per second, which was over half the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). An ignition module had to have been calibrated to within a 1% margin of error in order for the engines to start. If outside this margin, the module would burn out, and the engines would fail to start. Sublight engines placed the Prometheus in Earth's orbit in less than 30 seconds. (SG1: \"Prometheus\")\nThe control relay for the sublight engines was located on Deck 8. Sublight engines have varying output, which is controlled through the ship's helm. One such output was referred to as \"emergency thrust\" and was used when the Prometheus left Antarctica to meet Anubis's fleet in Earth's orbit. (SG1: \"Lost City, Part 2\")\nThe Prometheus had a tripodal landing gear system with one leg in the front of the ship and two in the rear. The slender midsection of the ship had no support. The ship needed to engage the deceleration thrusters in order to obtain a stationary point above the planet surface before landing. Most likely, the anti-gravity pod assisted in the landing process. The landing gear operated just like that on a jet airplane and could be retracted back into the body of the ship. (SG1: \"Unnatural Selection\", \"Memento\", \"Prometheus Unbound\")\nPrometheus-class ships contain an array of powerful conventional weapons.\nThe 303s have 16 Railguns, which have become standard on F-302 fighter-interceptors and all Daedalus-class vessels for ship-to-ship combat. Just a few shots are able to take out a Death Glider relatively quickly and deal damage to Al'kesh and Ha'taks. (SG1: \"Prometheus Unbound\", \"Ethon\")\nThe 303s have 12 missile batteries and Naquadah enhanced Nuclear warheads. These missiles are able to take out a Death Glider relatively quickly and deal a large amount of damage to Al'kesh and Ha'taks. However, Ori shields are significantly more difficult, practically impossible, to pierce. (SG1: \"Prometheus Unbound\", \"Ethon\")\nThe X-303 was constructed in an underground hangar facility designated Area 37-92/NV, under the project name \"Prometheus\". Its development was so large an undertaking that maintaining its secrecy proved impossible, with information leaking to reporter Julia Donovan with the !nside Access news program. In an attempt to minimize the potential damage of the project's disclosure, the President of the United States agreed to give Donovan, her producer, and a camera crew a tour of the X-303, claiming the alien technology it incorporated was in fact salvaged from a UFO that crashed near Fairbanks, Alaska in 1978.\nDuring the tour, the ship was taken over by the camera crew, actually rogue NID agents working at the behest of Colonel Frank Simmons. The agents successfully managed to steal the ship and take it into hyperspace before being overpowered by SG-1. However, the hyperdrive, which was configured for Simmons by the Goa'uld inhabiting Adrian Conrad, malfunctioned and transported the ship instead to an unknown destination. (SG1: \"Prometheus\")\nIn what came to be the ship's first mission, the Asgard took the X-303 to the Othala in the hope that it could be used to trap the Replicators inside a time dilation field. During this mission, the Asgard also modified the ship's shields and engines to their maximum potential. After the successful completion of this mission, the Asgard provided shields for the ship in advance of its formal shakedown cruise as a gesture of gratitude. (SG1: \"Unnatural Selection\", \"Disclosure\")\nUltimately, the X-303 entered active service, taking the designator BC-303 and the name Prometheus. In this capacity, it served as the flagship of the Tau'ri fleet under the auspices of the Office of Homeworld Security, and received additional upgrades from the Asgard.\nAfter nearly being in service for four years, Prometheus was eventually destroyed in the Battle of Tegalus which occurred in February 2006. Though plans were later made to construct an entire fleet of BC-303s, the introduction of the Daedalus-class battlecruisers rendered the craft obsolete, leaving the Prometheus as the sole vessel in its class. (SG1: \"Enemy Mine\", \"Ethon\", \"Moebius, Part 1\")\nThe design plans for the X-303 (without the Asgard upgrades) were provided to the Russian Federation in 2002 along with those for the X-302 hyperspace fighter; however, the Russians have apparently not constructed any such vessels.\nReferences and notesEdit\n|Tau'ri spaceship classes|\n|Fighters||( X-301 ) · ( X-302 ) · F-302|\n|Battlecruisers||( X-303 ) · BC-303 · BC-304|", "label": "No"} {"text": "Disclosure: If you buy products using the retailer buttons above, we may earn a commission from the retailers you visit.\nCross-curricular series centred on sustainability and climate change, with hands-on projects linking science and design and technology. What are the problems and challenges we face around the world when it comes to farming and growing crops? How can we farm without habitat destruction and damage to food chains? Interactive ‘Solve It!’ design challenges give readers the information they need to develop sustainable solutions to the problems discussed, and step-by-step ‘Test It!’ activities encourage them to explore putting principles into practice.\nGet recommended reads, deals, and more from Hachette", "label": "No"} {"text": "Origin: Gaulish; Roman ; Latin\nMeaning: “Alder; Man; True.”\nDetails: It is probable that this name could derive from a Norman surname, which was itself derived from a Gaulish word meaning “alder”.\nIt is also possible that the name originated from the Roman name Virilius “man”, but this is not confirmed.\nIt could also be connected to the medieval name Ver, derived from the Latin Verus “True”. Ver enjoyed some popularity with this usage in medieval England to honor a 4th century bishop. Thus, the exact lineage of the name is unknown, but could come from any one of these roots.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The media keeps telling us that skilled workers are hard to find so it must be true. In this article, “Can’t find skilled workers? Try this American strategy from World War II” operations strategist Rebecca Morgan suggest that corporations implement a Rosie the Riveter Strategy for finding workers:\nManufacturers fret about a skills shortage and the loss of powerful knowledge as baby boomers retire. Instead of fretting, I suggest looking back to the beginning of World War II as an easily available and proven response to both concerns.\nAt the beginning of WWII, millions of American men left jobs in manufacturing to fight the war. Those departures happened as the need for manufacturing to build war materials was skyrocketing.\nAmerican industry did a great job of bringing women in from homemaker duties and developing “Rosie the Riveter,” a productive manufacturing worker. How?\nCONTINUE READING –>\nWhile I love the idea of getting more women working in manufacturing jobs (or any jobs) Morgan fails to recognize some of the key components of that strategy that are not available to American Industry today.\nFirst, the Office of War Information (OWI) which promoted the war effort from 1942 to 1945 ran an unrelenting well-coordinated PR campaign to disseminate information about the war consistently. The OWI produced radio programs and films, distributed magazine publishing guides with story ideas and top quality photos, and printed up those recruitment posters we all love.\nEven prior to the US entry into World War II the National Youth Administration, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program, fostered employment for young men and women and brought a lot of new workers to the trades. While production levels had not yet ramped up for the war effort, there was increasing need for skilled workers just prior to WWII because of WPA projects like the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 which provided government funding for shipyards and for shipbuilding contracts to improve our maritime capabilities. And American Industry was producing war related products (including ships) for the British.\nOnce war was declared, many factories converted to provide wartime products. For example, Ford stopped manufacturing automobiles and began manufacturing armored vehicles for the military. In fact, for a couple of years new cars were banned by the War Production Board, the government agency tasked with managing wartime production of goods. Other factory conversions included a sparkplug factory that switched to producing machine guns, a stove manufacturer that began making lifeboats, a merry-go-round factory made gun mounts; a toy company made compasses; a corset manufacturer produced grenade belts; and a pinball machine plant began to make armor-piercing shells.****\nThe government also allocated funds for childcare centers between 1943 and 1946 through the Lanham Act, figuring if women were going to work outside the home they may need help with the important job of raising children (the children are our future, right?).\nFrom a Congressional Research Report, Child Care: The Federal Role During World War II: “During World War II, the federal government supported a nationwide program of child care centers, intended to boost war production by freeing mothers to work. Labor force participation of women grew significantly during the war, and children of working mothers were eligible for the child care service. The centers had a peak enrollment near 130,000 children in 1944.”\nAnother component of the World War II era “Rosie the Riveter” campaign was less strategy and more the “luck” of history itself and the state of the economy. Many of the women taking on these jobs came out of the Depression desperate for jobs, they came from the Dustbowl and from failed farms in the Midwest with a need to provide for themselves and their families. These jobs were attractive because they paid well.\nRose Barquist, for example, travelled to California in June of 1941 in search of a better life. “My future in Iowa would have been to go to work in someone’s house for three dollars a week maybe, and be seduced by somebody and be a farmer’s wife, the rest of my life, if I was lucky,” she said. ** At the Kaiser Shipyards she’d earn $1 per hour, $1.20 if she worked graveyard shift. (doesn’t sound like much by today’s standards, but compared to $3 per week, Rose would be flush with cash).\nAnd there was also patriotism brought on by the war. It was time when Americans were supportive of the war and willing to sacrifice in ways that just don’t happen in today’s war.\nBottom line: the idea of a Rosie the Riveter strategy is cute, but until the U.S. government decides that it wants to support THIS country, OUR workers, OUR industries, it’ll never happen.\n* * * *\n**Rose Barquist, “Rosie the Riveter World War II American Home Front Oral History Project” conducted by Samuel J. Redman in 2011, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2012.\n****Source: Boundless. “Economic Conversion and Business in WWII.” Boundless U.S. History. Boundless, 10 Jun. 2015. Retrieved 10 Jun. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/from-isolation-to-world-war-ii-1930-1943-26/mobilization-in-the-u-s-205/economic-conversion-and-business-in-wwii-1121-8785/\nLearn more here:\n“Here’s What Happened The One Time When The U.S. Had Universal Childcare”\nAutomobile Factories Switched to War Production As America Entered World War II", "label": "No"} {"text": "Argentina is known for (among many other things) being the country with the most psychologists per capita in the world. This unusually high concentration of therapists is highest in its capital city, where there is such an abundance of therapists in one particular pocket of Buenos Aires the area has earned the nickname Villa Freud.\nLocated near the beautiful Plaza Güemes, Villa Freud, also known as Guadalupe, is a micro-neighborhood within Palermo, the largest neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Aside from having an extremely high number of therapists’ offices in the area, analysis has seeped into the culture in Villa Freud. Local bookstores and newspapers regularly offer plenty of reading material on the subject, and you can find Freud-themed cafes and bars.\nThough a range of psychology disciplines like cognitive and behavioral therapy are also practiced, Argentinians remain partial to psychoanalysis, the method invented by Sigmund Freud. There are various theories as to why the practice took such strong hold in the country. Some point to the fact that it’s an introspective and open culture, and doesn’t stigmatize mental health in the same way as other parts of the world.\nThe therapy boom began in the 1940s, when a Spanish immigrant named Angel Garma, who had studied psychoanalysis with people who had studied with Freud himself, came to Argentina to investigate the death of his father. He brought his education with him, and it started to spread. Recent estimates suggest that, today, there are nearly 200 practicing psychologists in Argentina for every 100,000 people, and nearly half of them are based in Buenos Aires.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania\n(location of the three Yankee Pennamite Wars)\nCrospey Francis Jasper, 1823-1900\nWe began and fought the War of Independence as a nation founded not by the US Constitution but by the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. That perpetual Union did not last all that long, ending in 1786, when it was replaced by the current, much modified United States Constitution which went into effect in 1789. The Declaration of Independence almost presciently anticipated that change to our current form of government.\nFrom the official web site of the US Senate:\nWritten in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789, the United States Constitution is the world's longest surviving written charter of government. Its first three words –– \"We the People\" –– affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens.\nSadly few of my fellow Americans, and then mostly newly naturalized immigrant citizen, are knowledgeable about our history. When you look at the original foundation of this country, founded in bloody revolution, and then look again at what amounts to a second bloodless revolution with the replacement of the Articles with the Constitution, changing profoundly who we are today and how we became our modern nation.\nThere were middling better known events, like Shay's Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion, that contributed to the need to create a better, stronger, and very different founding document. Less well known but perhaps more indicative of those stresses were the Yankee Pennamite Wars, aka the Pennamite Yankee Wars, of which there were three. The wars primarily involved Pennsylvania and Connecticut, but other states involved themselves as well. The final resolution came in 1799, when the disputed Wyoming Valley became part of Pennsylvania.\nBecause of the vagaries of early cartography, there was a part of what is now Pennsylvania that was awarded in colonial land grant days to more than one claimant colony, subsequently involving multiple states in this series of conflicts. In brief summary, the first Pennamite 'war' ran from 1769-70, the second in 1774, and the final conflict, which the more limited federal government of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was inadequate to address --- and the distant government of the UK which had created the problem was inadequate and impotent to do so as well.\nThe two important elements to take away from this relatively obscure bit of our history are the need for a strong and adequately large federal government, in part to resolve conflicts between the states and between local jurisdictions as well, in order to have a strong and functional nation. Another element is that any such federal government must exist not to serve special interests, but must exist to serve the people of this country --- and corporations are not people. But the most important lesson, one that had to be relearned only a little more than a half century after the resolution to the third Yankee Pennamite War, was that we CAN resolve the challenges to this nation peacefully, without bloody revolution, without shooting our fellow Americans.\nI wish all of our readers and their friends and families a happy and safe celebration of our Independence Day, and I hope this humble post will contribute to any thought you give the topic today and going forward.\nIf this leads you to browse a little history, I hope you consider checking out the Yankee (Connecticut) and Pennamites (Pennsylvanians) conflict.", "label": "No"} {"text": "- Word Explorer, Word Parts\n|part of speech:\n||deceived, deceives, deceiving\n||to cause someone to believe something that is not true; lie to.\nHe deceived us about his age.\n- cheat, fool, trick\n||deceivingly (adv.), deceivability (n.), deceiver (n.)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Daniel Mach, director of ACLU’s program on freedom of religion and belief, is quoted in a recent USA Today article about Sarah Palin’s new book Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas:\n“Culture warriors have spread the myth of a fanciful ‘war on Christmas’ for years. This is largely a manufactured controversy. Christmas celebrations in this country are alive and well.”\nDouglas Laycock, a law professor at the University of Virginia adds,\n“There is no war on Christmas.”\nI have lived through 82 Christmases, and the celebration of Christ’s birth has changed substantially since the Thirties when:\n- “Merry Christmas,” not “Happy Holidays” was the standard greeting.\n- Schools offered Christmas Concerts, not Winter Concerts.\n- Christmas carols were sung in schools.\n- Christmas cards outnumbered Holiday cards.\n- People decorated Christmas trees, not Holiday Trees.\n- Store clerks were permitted to wish customers a \"Merry Christmas.\"\nIn the past 100 years, Christmas practices have changed dramatically, but the fact remains December 25 is not simply a “holiday.” It continues to be a celebration of the birth of Christ, and no amount of semantic manipulation can change that fact!", "label": "No"} {"text": "For over a year, the 1619 Project has been the subject of fierce debate. The 1619 Project has sought to reframe the history of the United States by foregrounding slavery and anti-Blackness with a scope as impressive as it is broad. Taking its namesake year seriously, the Project is meant to start U.S. history not with the Revolution, and not at the founding of Jamestown in 1607, but when the first enslaved Africans arrived in British North America. The Project has been met with open arms by many scholars and educators who have not only worked towards the same goals as the 1619 Project, but have sought educational material for younger audiences – many of whom, like myself, have never adequately been taught the history of slavery and its aftermath.\nWhile the 1619 Project was published in August of 2019, the controversy over the Project has ebbed and flowed. The initial months after its publication saw a flurry of denunciations that called the Project untrue, un-American, revisionisthistory. The overwhelming majority of these attacks were leveled by conservative politicians and pundits, who took issue with the very idea of the 1619 Project. This group was joined by a small but vocal group of historians who lent their clout and “expertise” to the argument that the 1619 Project was just bad history, at best, and identity politics at worst. The overwhelming majority of the criticism was leveled at one single sentence by the journalist and 1619 Project organizer Nikole Hannah-Jones, who wrote in the Project’s introductory essay that the American Revolution was fought to protect slavery – one sentence out of a 100-plus page work. But given that the 1619 Project was meant to dispel the mythic history of America rooted in 1776 and the independence struggle, that one sentence became the perfect target to invalidate the entire project.\nThis isn’t to say that the 1619 Project is beyond reproach. My own historical research on the topic of slavery in the early United States would lead me to disagree with Hannah-Jones’s statement on the American Revolution, a statement she has since amended. And there are grounds to say that in totalizing the history of anti-Blackness, the 1619 Project misses an opportunity to highlight the debates over race and slavery throughout American history, which could actually bolster the Project’s central arguments by illustrating just how much work went into creating systemic racism and oppression. Thoughtfully engaging with the 1619 Project, however, was not what conservatives were interested in doing. Their attacks were solely meant to fundamentally invalidate the Project and its aims.\nBy the beginning of 2020, the anti-1619 brigade’s arguments appeared to have run their course. However, they were instead lying dormant until recent months when conservatives began to use the 1619 Project to rally supporters around white supremacy in the face of historic protests against racial injustice. While conservative politicians and pundits have been pushing their anti-1619 Project rhetoric into overdrive in recent months, most historians who also initially came out against it have not rejoined the chorus of dissent.\nEnter Sean Wilentz.\nWilentz has been a critic of the 1619 Project since its publication. He has largely sought to make himself the de facto leader of the small group of historians who speak out against the Project, writing numerous pieces “exposing” its faults. Wilentz, a professor at Princeton University, is mostly a historian of class struggle in U.S. history. His first book, Chants Democratic: New York City and the Rise of the American Working Class (1984), is still widely assigned in graduate seminars. For Wilentz, the debate over the 1619 Project is, and always has been, a “matter of facts.” Facts are important to Wilentz. Or so he says. Wilentz has stated in multiple outlets that the 1619 Project has responsibility for a “scrupulous regard for factual accuracy,” a responsibility Wilentz believes the project fails to uphold. In reality, Wilentz’s criticism applies to only a handful of sentences that he believes unfairly center race and slavery in U.S. history. And as some of his fellow historians, with whom he signed a December Letter to the Editor of the New York Times, have said, in seeking to foreground slavery as much as it does, the 1619 Project is less history than “identity politics.” Wilentz and these other historians have tried to present their problems with the 1619 Project as simply a matter of history, outside the bounds of politics.\nIn attacking the 1619 Project, however, Wilentz’s own criticisms have not only mirrored those of conservatives, but ebbed and flowed in unison. When the first wave of conservative backlash began to die down by early 2020, so did Wilentz’s own crusade. And now that the attacks have emerged from their winter rest – in response to protests for racial justice during what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have called a “sweltering summer of…legitimate discontent” – so has Wilentz risen to add his voice to the anthem. However, his own critiques of the 1619 Project have taken a new, and frankly more insidious, turn.\nOne of Wilentz’s most recent musings on the 1619 Project appeared, at first glance, as if he was beginning to backpedal his long-standing and vapid criticisms. In the beginning of a New York Review of Books article, Wilentz attempted to distance himself, from Republican Senator Tom Cotton (AR) who, in a recent Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson, name dropped Wilentz as someone who had “debunked” the 1619 Project. Wilentz, who seemingly felt compelled to clarify his stance on history, stated, “I have fundamental publicized objections to the project, but these in no way mitigate Cotton’s serious misrepresentations of the historical record for evident political gain.”\nAs Wilentz would have us believe, he and Cotton share no common ground in their criticisms of the 1619 Project, or even in their understanding of history. Why then did Wilentz, who had not previously attempted to break the link between himself and ardent right-wing 1619 detractors, feel the need to distance himself from Cotton? Our clue comes when Wilentz, towards the end of his article, suddenly shifted gears away from history towards the Senator’s calls to use the military against peaceful protesters. The jump was so sudden it was impossible to miss, and was a dead giveaway that Wilentz cared little about breaking bread with conservatives until they crossed his own arbitrary line towards outright fascism. It wasn’t Cotton’s lack of historical understanding that bothered Wilentz, but the idea that his legacy might be tied to a senator who used their shared view of American history to advocate violence against Americans.\nFollowing his “criticisms” of Senator Cotton, Wilentz, in late September, used Donald Trump’s recent call for a 1776 Commission to once again lambast the 1619 Project and continue his personal revisionist history. Trump, speaking at the National Archives on September 17th, had announced his 1776 Commission as a move to encourage the use of “patriotic education” in schools, while specifically denouncing the 1619 Project, critical race theory, and a host of other things that he saw as advocating for a fundamentally un-American view of history and society. In a Washington Post article titled “What Trump doesn’t understand about U.S. history,” Wilentz spent more than a third of his time ignoring the President, and instead refocused his readers’ attention towards the very thing President was attacking: the 1619 Project. In the now classic “both sides” argument, Wilentz claimed both Trump and the 1619 Project share equal blame for historical “essentialism,” and will one day be seen as “closely matched symptoms of the same era, feeding off each other.”\nWilentz’s focus on the 1619 Project in his lighthearted critique of conservatives is (in line with his piece on Senator Cotton) a futile attempt to rewrite his own history and preserve his legacy. As he introduces the 1619 Project to the reader, Wilentz brazenly claims that it has “received far weightier criticism from the left than from the right.” Such a claim is false, and while historians have engaged with the 1619 Project’s interpretation of history, most criticisms have not been used to completely invalidate the Project, as Wilentz’s criticisms have. However, such a statement by Wilentz, gives us key insight into his motives, illustrating how he is attempting to rewrite his own legacy and separate himself from the very people he gladly aligned with mere months ago. Such a statement can only be true if we, inextricably, consider Wilentz himself to be the vanguard of the left and its supposed criticisms of the 1619 Project.\nPerhaps the reader thinks I am unfairly targeting Sean Wilentz. Or that I am simply spending too much time focusing on Wilentz who is, after all, just one historian. However, Wilentz has repeatedly put himself at the forefront of historians’ criticisms against the 1619 Project. He has continually been given space in major publications, such as the Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and more, to air his grievances, and happily accepted such invitations without concern (until recently) for how he has contributed to the ideological talking points of conservatives. Even as he attempts to side with “protesters exercising their First Amendment rights to decry racism,” he has time and time again used his platform to make himself the public face of a small group of historians who take issue with the 1619 Project. Whether he realizes it initially or not, Wilentz has been willing to lend his expertise and credentials to the very people who would deny and further entrench white supremacy in this country.\nThis is what is most problematic about Wilentz’s criticisms of the Project. Many historians in 2020 would not characterize Wilentz as the face of the profession. He has not, for many years, been representative of the general turn in the scholarship and the evolving understandings of American history. Leslie M. Harris, for example, in her own piece engaging with the 1619 Project, which Wilentz cites in his recent Washington Post article, specifically points out the gaps in Wilentz’s own scholarship. Despite having recently written a book on slavery, Wilentz is not an expert on the topic. His latest book, No Property in Man: Slavery and Antislavery at the Nation’s Founding (2018), takes a much older historical understanding of the Constitution to argue for the document’s anti-slavery leanings. Furthermore, Wilentz even went so far as to walk back his own condemnations of the pro-slavery elements of the Constitution when activists and politicians on the left began challenging the merits and history of the Electoral College. His views on history, and its application, seem to constantly be shifting depending on the extent to which progressive politics seem to align with him. While he will gladly walk back from the shared ground with the left, he has shown an overwhelming reluctance to do so with the far-right.\nEven as Wilentz is undoubtably an outlier in the historical profession as far as his fervent criticisms of the 1619 Project go, he has been given numerous opportunities in national publications to add fuel to the 1619 fire in the name of historians. For almost a year after he initially denounced the Project, he stayed silent on conservative attacks on the Project that mirrored his own. To this day his self-distancing from right-wing critics has been not only measured, but specifically targeted at individuals – namely Senator Cotton and President Trump. He has said nothing of the numerous other Republican politicians and right-wing activists who have constantly attacked the 1619 Project on identical lines but received slightly less news coverage than Cotton and Trump. And at every turn, he has made sure to lace his comments about these attacks by doubling down on his own, in a failed attempt to distinguish himself from these people.\nWilentz has repeatedly taken attention away from not only the 1619 Project’s contributions, but from emerging and junior scholars who are – and this cannot be stressed enough – actually experts in the field of slavery, race, and anti-Blackness.He has used national publications – where his analysis is not subject to the peer-review of scholars who are experts in these areas – to espouse his own dated and conservative view of history, while stifling the opportunities younger scholars could have by appearing in those same spaces and sharing their work with the general public. And now, to make matters even worse, Wilentz is using this same national platform to not only continue his crusade against the 1619 Project, but to rewrite his own history before our eyes – fashioning himself the bastion of the left instead of an ideological ally of the right.\nSince Wilentz cares about facts, let’s consider a number of simple facts right now. Wilentz has repeatedly denounced the 1619 Project with the same rhetoric as conservative pundits and politicians. He has also aligned himself with fellow historians who complain that the 1619 Project isn’t about history, but “identity politics.” In saying the 1619 Project sets out to educate Americans through “falsehoods, distortions, and significant omissions,” we can hear the voice of Senator Tom Cotton. Cotton, in July, introduced a bill to the United States Congress that would have taken funding away from public schools that used the 1619 Project as educational material, stating “an activist movement” is setting out to “obfuscate” American history by claiming the country was founded on “slavery and oppression.”\nWilentz cannot disavow the endorsement of the right without first dropping any and all pretenses that his own arguments against the 1619 Project aren’t thoroughly based in the same rhetoric and ideology as the senator. Wilentz cannot claim to be against Trump’s (mis)understanding of history while simultaneously employing the same strategies the president uses to defend his ideas about history and to bolster white supremacy. Wilentz would have us believe that he and Trump are polar opposites. Yet, by casting Trump’s white supremacy – based in part on attacking the very foundations of the 1619 Project – on the same moral grounds as the Project itself, Wilentz is no better than the President he supposedly disagrees with. If Wilentz is interested in setting up the 1619 Project’s historical interpretations as a (false) equivalent to Trump’s impoverished and white-supremacy-sustaining understanding of U.S. history, then it is important we recognize a salient fact: Wilentz is taking a page from Trump’s own playbook when he declared there were “very fine people on both sides,”following the deadly events of Charlottesville in 2017.\nFeatured image: Front Cover, The 1619 Project, New York Times, 2019.\n Victoria Bynum, Interview by Eric London, World Socialist Web Site (October 30, 2019), https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/30/bynu-o30.html; James McPherson, Interview by Tom Mackaman, World Socialist Web Site (November 14, 2019),https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/14/mcph-n14.html; James Oakes, Interview by Tom Mackaman, World Socialist Web Site (November 18, 2019), https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/18/oake-n18.html; Gordon Wood, Interview by Tom Mackaman, World Socialist Web Site(November 28, 2019), https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/28/wood-n28.html; and Dolores Janiewski, Interview By Tom Peters and John Braddock, World Socialist Web Site (December 23, 2019), https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/23/inte-d23.html.\n For a transcript and audio recording of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream Speech,” see https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety.\nIt is a very interesting piece of history!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Science Fiction, Media, Movies and Anime Fandom Find Expression in Fan Art\nFan art has been a part of fandom communities for decades. From “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” to “Twilight” and “Harry Potter”, fans of television series, movies, books, music and anime – or even of a media genre as a whole – have been creating pieces of art based on their favorite heroes and heroines for years.\nFan art can come in many different styles and mediums, from traditional portrait drawings and illustrations to digitally photoshopped works of art. It is a medium of expression as varied and creative as “original” art, filled with wonderfully talented individuals.\nThis page will present a brief introduction to the world of fan art: traditional uses and methods of sharing, current places to find fan art on-line, as well as a brief discussion of some of the legal questions that can surround producing fan art.\nAll fan art used on this page for illustrative purposes was created by the author, sockii.\nDefining Fan Art and Looking at Fan Art’s Importance in Fandom History\nScience Fiction and Media Fandom Has Valued Artists for Decades\nWikipedia defines fan art as “artwork that is based on a character, costume, item, or story that was created by someone other than the artist.” (Fan Art, Wikipedia) Originally, fan art was used as a term to designate the work of an artist who was not necessarily professionally employed or pursuing a career in a field of genre arts, but simply created work based on topics of which he or she was a “fan”. This type of fan art was most typically found in genres such as fantasy and science fiction, which were having conventions and other kinds of small gatherings, along with amateur magazines called “fanzines”, where fan art could be shared with other enthusiasts.\nFan art became increasingly popular in the 1970s as media fandom began to break away from traditional science fiction fandom, and Star Trek fans in particular began holding their own conventions and producing their own fan works – including fanzines. These fanzines included news, letters of comment and original fan fiction, and they needed artwork and illustrations to enhance their appearance and marketability to other fans.\nAs discussed in the fandom wiki Fan History, this early fan art was largely pen-and-ink based, simple line art because that was the easiest to reproduce before modern Xerox machines became readily available for consumer use. Color artwork was generally reserved for fanzine covers and special issues, as it required expensive color separation reproduction. Sometimes fanzine publishers would take advance payments for upcoming fanzines, to help cover the costs of producing better quality artwork reproductions. Many such fanzines from past decades are considered extremely collectible today for their artwork.\nConventions such as MediaWest*Con would host large art shows where fanzine publishers could buy original art they could use for their ‘zines. Other artists would directly submit art to fanzines, either as general pieces or specific story illustrations, in exchange for receiving a free copy of the final publication. Other fandoms besides “Star Trek” became increasingly popular including “Star Wars”, “Blake’s 7”, “Man From U.N.C.L.E.”, “Starsky & Hutch” and later “Quantum Leap”, “Forever Knight”, “Miami Vice”, “Highlander”, “The Sentinel” and “Stargate” to name just a few. All of these fandoms produced large amounts of fan art, as did other smaller fandoms.\nAs copying and home printer technology became more advanced – and less expensive to hobbyist fans and publishers – fan artists began to produce finer detail pencil work and full-color drawings and paintings, still largely with the fanzine producing and buying community in mind.\nAs computer technology advanced even further and the internet began to play an important part in fandom, fanzines became less central to the fandom experience. Fan artists could share their work directly on-line through websites, forums and mailing lists instead of waiting to have it published in a fanzine or to display it at conventions. Those who did not have strong drawing skills could begin producing computerized fan art through programs such as Photoshop, manipulating photographs to create new images and illustrations of their favorite characters. Today, fan art exists in many different formats and is shared in all kinds of venues, although a limited market still exists for it in traditional fanzines still being produced (although they are increasingly few and far between.)\nStar Trek Fans Talk About Fan Art\nDeleted Scenes from the “Trekkies 2” Movie about Fandom\nIn this section on “Self Expression” from the film “Trekkies 2”, a number of Star Trek fans show their own fan art as well as look at fan art in display at a convention art show. Others also discuss another form of fan art they enjoy – Star Trek-themed tattoos!\nIs Fan Art Legal?\nFan Art Often Faces Copyright and Trademark Concerns\nThe legalities of fan art are often debated within the fandom community, and not always easy to answer particularly from one country to the next because of varying copyright laws. If fan art is considered “derivative work”, then its copyright would belong to the original copyright holder for a particular character, property, movie universe or book and not the artist. The artist should not have the right, therefore, to display the work without permission of the original copyright holder, and certainly should not be allowed to sell it without first obtaining a license to do so.\nHowever, many in fandom attempt to claim that fan art falls under fair use including “commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship.” Others consider fan art a transformative work which “takes something extant and turns it into something with a new purpose, sensibility, or mode of expression” therefore suitable of legal protection in its own right.\nIn general, most media copyright holders turn a reasonable “blind eye” to fan art activity as it can be seen, to an extent, as a form of “free advertising” for their products. Artists are able to display their works in on-line archives and websites providing they are not profiting from the work (archive maintainers themselves may use advertising or other ways of supporting their site through donations, providing they are simply covering their hosting costs). Fan artists continue to sell their original paintings and drawings at fan-run conventions, although many larger, commercially-run conventions do not allow fan art in their art shows unless the artist can provide proof of licensing rights.\nThe sale of prints can be more questionable, even through it continues as well through many small fan-run art shows today. Fan artists who sell prints often produce only very low print runs (less than 50 to 100 copies) and sell them at a low, fixed price in print shops at conventions. In Japan, doujinshi fan art and manga is frequently produced and sold in direct violation of Japanese copyright laws, yet is only very infrequently prosecuted because it is considered to have a productive impact on the greater manga market in the country.\nWhere I have personally seen fan artists face trouble has been when selling their art on mass-produced merchandise such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, mousepads and similar products – which has resulted in at least one Cease and desist letter of which I have heard. Some copyright holders have also objected in the past to more “adult themed” fan art being produced, particularly if the media in question was largely aimed toward a youthful audience.\nWhere to Find Fan Art On-Line\nGalleries and Archives of Fan Art from Anime to Twilight\nThere are many on-line galleries and archives for fan art, often fandom specific or personal galleries for a single artist. Below are some of the biggest and best places on the web to find fan art in various popular fandoms, and also some of the largest multi-fandom archives to which most any artist can submit work.\nAn Important Note: Please Respect Fan Artists Work!\nPlease do not assume that just because a work of fan art is based on another’s characters or subject matter it is therefore OK to steal that fan art for your own use. Do not copy or use a piece of fan art you like on your own webpages or otherwise without asking the artist’s permission first.\nMy Experiences and History with Fan Art\nCreating Fan Art for Media/SciFi Conventions and Fanzines\nIn a way I began drawing and painting fan art since I first became interested in art as an early teenager. My old sketchbooks are filled with drawings of my favorite musicians at the time – Pink Floyd, The Police – as well as copies of album cover art. In high school, I even did some work painting album artwork copies on friends’ denim jackets, as was very popular in the 1980s. At the time I didn’t know this as “fan art”, it was just a fun way to enjoy drawing and painting about subject matter about which I was passionate.\nDuring my graduate school years I discovered organized media fandom and began going to conventions like Shore Leave, MediaWest, and Eclecticon. I got into fanzines at the same time, including publishing my own and needing artwork to illustrate them. I started producing artwork about my favorite TV and film characters for ‘zines as well as to sell directly in convention art shows. I would often get a dealer’s table and try to cover my costs of going to the convention by selling prints of my fan art and collectible items I’d accumulated through the years.\nAfter about ten years of doing this, I really wanted to get more serious about my art as I could feel my own limitations from being self-taught restrict what I could accomplish. I began taking drawing and painting classes through a local school’s continuing education program, where I became completely enamored with oil painting and classical painting techniques. I completed a few pieces of fan art using these techniques, but fandom really isn’t the market for classically realist oil paintings which take months to produce, and deserve to be sold for hundreds if not thousands of dollars (although, I will say, one or two top artists in the field of fan art have gotten such prices in past auctions for a very in-demand piece when the subject fandom was truly “hot”.) So I decided to switch my focus more toward original subject matter and old master reproduction work – which, I suppose, could be considered a type of fan art in its own way..\nThank you for reading my brief introduction to fan art. Please feel free to leave any questions, comments, or links to other good fan art archives and resources here.\nRelated posts at Spacial Anomaly\nTable of Contents\n- Science Fiction, Media, Movies and Anime Fandom Find Expression in Fan Art\n- Defining Fan Art and Looking at Fan Art’s Importance in Fandom History\n- Star Trek Fans Talk About Fan Art\n- Is Fan Art Legal?\n- Where to Find Fan Art On-Line\n- An Important Note: Please Respect Fan Artists Work!\n- My Experiences and History with Fan Art\nsockii is just your typical Jane-of-All-Trades who never has enough time in her day for all of her projects. She has written for many websites online including Squidoo, Zujava, Yahoo! Contributors Network, HubPages and Wizzley. She has been attending and vending at science fiction and media conventions for over 15 years, and for several years ran an art gallery and jewelry store in Philadelphia. Today she is happy to be living in South Jersey with her partner David and their 6 cats. Sockii is a member of several affiliate sales programs including Amazon Associates and Viglink. Products from these services may be advertised on her posts and pages to generate sales commissions.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Stamps of the Third Reich (1933-1945) and related World War II stamp collecting subjects are very popular areas with both stamp collectors and philatelists. The stamps issued during this period are colorful, plentiful, and make wonderful looking displays. They offer the collector, not only postage stamps, but also a multitude of other collectible ephemera of the era. Related collectibles are booklets, postal cards, colorful propaganda postcards and labels, civilian postal history, and a multitude of military postal history items.\nThe German Empire did not start World War I -- The Austro-Hungarian Empire did. It all began in the Summer of 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian imperial throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, by a Serbian anarchist. Not long after this, Austria invaded the Kingdom of Serbia. Long-term causes, such as imperialistic foreign policies of the great powers of Europe, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, the British Empire, France, and Italy -- played a major role. Due to a complex matrix of alliances formed over previous decades, they were all at war with each other within weeks of the assassination incident. As all of these empires had colonies, the conflict soon spread around the world.\nBut, the German Empire got the full brunt of the blame for the war by the victorious Allied forces. The Treaty of Versailles was very harsh and humiliating to both Germany and to the Germanic people. On top of that, Germans endured unspeakable hardship during the periods of hyper-inflation and then the Great Depression in the 1920's and early 1930's. It was indeed a hopeless situation for Germans, and this hopelessness was a time-bomb waiting to go off!\nAnd then, Adolph Hitler, who was actually a naturalized German citizen of Austrian birth, and the National Socialist German Workers (NAZI) party appeared on the political scene. The Nazis pledged the re-shaping of the German republic, German society, and to bring back prosperity and PRIDE to the Germanic people. It worked. Soon the Nazi party took control of the German Parliament, and the new Third Reich was born.\nWhen Hitler came to power in 1933, he and his party began re-shaping the political and social framework of Germany. By the mid-1930's, he had turned the Third Reich into a powerful industrial and military state, and had again brought a sense of pride back to the Germanic people. Prosperity returned at a very high price though. Following the consolidation of the neighboring Germanic states into a single nation in the late 1930's, the Third Reich set out on its conquest of Europe, triggering the beginning of World War II.\nThere was a darker side to the social and political agenda of the Third Reich. As I have read in an article recently, Hitler's long-term dream was to create an Aryan Empire from the Ural Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. Everyone knows what happened to the 6,000,000 Semitic peoples of Germany and Europe during the 1940's. But they weren't the only ones. The Nazi's also considered the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union as being sub-human. This fact is not as well publicized as the Holocaust, but one must remember that the death toll of the Slavic Eastern European and Soviet people during World War II was over 20,000,000. Other groups the Nazi's had extermination plans for were the Romani (Gypsies), people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents they disagreed with. If the Nazi's had succeeded in establishing their Aryan Empire, it could have been much worse.\nAs a result of Hitler's extreme empire-building goals, he not only destroyed himself and his party, but he brought the German nation and the German people to the brink of annihilation.\nAs a reminder of what\nwas really going on underneath all the pomp, pageantry, and propaganda\nof the Third Reich, I keep the cover below prominently displayed in my\nThe cover and letter above were mailed from the \"Konzentrationslager Auschwitz\", or in English, \"Concentration Camp of Auschwitz\", located in Auschwitz, Silesia, on January 18, 1941. I would presume that this was a prisoner in Auschwitz I. Auschwitz II (Auschwitz-Birkenau - the extermination camp) was not constructed until much later in the year, and Auschwitz III (Auschwitz-Monowitz) was not constructed until 1942. Auschwitz I was primarily a camp for criminal and political prisoners, and those prisoners generally provided forced-labor to the local factories.\nThe prisoner's name was Ladislaus Faruzel, prisoner #3363 in Block III, and he was born in 1921, being just barely 20 years old in 1941. The letter is written, in German (all prisoners had to write in German), to his mother, Florentinya, at an address in Krakow, Poland. In the obviously heavily restricted letter, Ladislaus is thanking his mother for the Christmas package he received, and is telling her how much he enjoyed it. I'm sure the prisoners quickly learned to self-censor their letters, in order to ensure that their mail went out, and to avoid any \"punishment\" from the prison authorities.\nwas unable to locate any record of the prisoner, with internet-based\nresources. I did find a reference to another letter, written by his\nmother, living at the same address in Krakow in 1944, to someone in\nAuschwitz named Maria. I would presume that Ladislaus very likely never\nsurvived his incarceration in Auschwitz.\nThe following links feature category-focused affiliated seller listings on various eBay sites worldwide. They may enable visitors to shop\nfor and to buy specific items for the\nparticular collecting subject they've just read about.\nThe affiliated eBay seller auction lots provided by eBay, Inc. are not the responsibility of the management of this website. On high priced material, make sure the lots you are buying are properly authenticated.\nRemember that the lots on European eBay sites are priced in EUROS. Shipping charges may be more, and the lots may take longer to arrive. Also, make sure the foreign seller ships to your country, before bidding on or buying his lot.", "label": "No"} {"text": "We have fallen in love with a very unique method of grammar, called the K.I.S.S. Approach and designed by Dr. Ed Vavra, a professor of English grammar at Penn College. We encourage you to visit his website and read more about the K.I.S.S. Approach at http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/KISS.htm. The K.I.S.S. Approach is available, free of charge, to any teachers who would like to use it, and considerable helps are available at his website. We are excited to announce that Dr. Vavra (and others) have compiled complete teaching schedules and worksheets at his website. You can read complete instructions and print out worksheets at http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/kiss/wb/PBooks/index.htm.\nBefore you visit his website and discover this simple method for teaching grammar to your children, let’s introduce you to the K.I.S.S. Approach. First, your objective will be that, by the time your children graduate from high school, they will be able to correctly explain how every word in a sentence grammatically connects to the main subject/verb pattern. We also want your children to learn how the brain processes what it reads in sentences, so that they will have an understanding of why some sentences are “better” than others. In other words, we want to help you produce students with a FIRM grasp of their language, who in turn can USE that language with confidence in their writing and speaking.\nDr. Vavra lists four unique characteristics of the K.I.S.S. Approach:\n- Right from the beginning, students will work with randomly selected, “real” texts, rather than carefully constructed sentences designed just for a grammar textbook. This ensures that the students will learn how grammar works in real-life writing.\n- This approach is cumulative. Students need to have a good understanding of prepositions (3rd grade) before they attempt to move on to sentence patterns (4th-6th grades). Each level builds upon the previous level. The cumulative nature of the approach ensures that students can identify the grammatical parts of a sentence easier, they get lots more review, and slower students will have plenty of time to catch up.\n- This approach is sequential. Students will follow a definite sequence as they search for the various grammatical parts of a sentence. Following the definite sequence is the key to success! In addition, studies have shown that students will retain an understanding of grammar much better if they study it one aspect at a time, over many years, rather than trying to understand all the parts of speech in one year and then having to apply that understanding for the rest of their days.\n- Students are expected to be able to identify in a text ALL of the parts of grammar they have mastered to that point. Rather than permitting our children to understand only 70% of the grammar they learn (would we permit that in our surgeons?), we encourage you to aim for the goal of 100% understanding!\nFollowing Dr. Vavra’s research and recommendations, we don’t advise beginning formal grammar instruction until third grade. If you have older children, we highly recommend that you back them up to Level A (3rd grade) as well, even if you don’t need to spend quite as long reinforcing the concepts before they’re back up to “grade level.” However, if you have the luxury of starting all your children in Level A in 3rd grade, then the following is Dr. Vavra’s recommended sequence through the levels. (Click the links to read more specific advice on teaching each level.)\nNote: We recently discovered some problems with our files for Levels B and C. We will try to get these corrected as soon as possible! (10/15/08)\nLevel D – 10th grade\nLevel E – 11th, 12th grades\nFinally, one of the best features of the K.I.S.S. Approach is that you’ll only need to spend four or five hours per YEAR discussing grammar. This translates into talking about one sentence a day, every day, every year. Most homeschooling mothers with many children to teach are practically dancing for joy at this news! In addition, with only a few exceptions, you can use the SAME sentence to teach grammar to all of your children, from 3rd grade through high school! You can choose these sentences from a favorite book you’re reading, from the newspaper, from the Bible, and from many other possibilities, or you can use the worksheets available from Dr. Vavra’s website.\nWe’ve never met a more practical, natural, yet more thorough method for teaching English grammar. We hope that your family will become a group of “Grammar Nerds” with a passion for effectively communicating for God’s glory!", "label": "No"} {"text": "The 3 Animals Most Commonly Turned Into Roadkill\nRoadkill is a problem that could be a common occurrence or almost unheard of, depending on where you live. If you live in a densely populated urban area, seeing animals on the road is probably rare. However, if you live in a more rural area, you might be dodging wildlife in traffic regularly. We’re not surprised that some of the states with the highest risk of vehicle-wildlife collisions include rural states like West Virginia, Montana, and South Dakota.\nWhen you hear about car crashes involving animals, it’s usually a large animal like a deer or a bison, which can do serious damage and cause serious injuries. While accidents with large animals cause more damage, it’s more common for smaller animals to be flattened by cars. It’s hard to know the exact numbers, but according to estimates, here are the three most common animals to turn into roadkill.\nAccording to the U.S. DOT, there are anywhere from 1 million to 2 million car crashes involving large animals every year, causing about 200 human deaths, 26,000 injuries, and over $8 billion in property damage. However, the most common animals turned into roadkill aren’t so destructive.\nSquirrels make for common roadkill for obvious reasons. It’s a common animal that’s small and not too bright. Squirrels run into the road all the time without seeming to understand the risks involved, and they can be killed by small cars moving at low speeds. It’s no wonder squirrels are one of the most common animals to become roadkill.\nStray cats in rural areas are common, and they often wander into the road. Like squirrels, they make common roadkill because they’re fragile enough to be killed by cars moving at pretty low speeds. This is in contrast to large dogs, which are sometimes resilient enough to survive being hit by a car with a low enough momentum.\nUnsurprisingly, rats are one of the most common roadkill victims. A rat is another animal that’s abundant, fragile, and unfamiliar with road etiquette. A rat is an animal that you may have run over many times without even realizing it. It’s also an animal that’s pretty common in some big cities with constant traffic, which increases its overall death toll.\nOther roadkill-prevalent animals\nWhile squirrels, cats, and rats dominate the top three spots for the most common roadkill, many other animals meet an untimely death on the road. Of course, deer, elk, bears, and bison are the ones that do the most damage to cars and probably cause the most injuries and deaths for humans. The momentum of your vehicle meeting an animal that can weigh hundreds of pounds spells a bad outcome for all creatures involved.\nMany other small animals commonly turn into roadkill because of their fragility. These include turtles/tortoises, snakes, birds, and foxes.\nIs roadkill preventable?\nUnfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to entirely prevent hitting animals while driving. However, you’ll be better protected from hitting big animals with safety features like adaptive front lighting, automatic emergency braking, and forward collision alert.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Admiral Tarrant from the film The Bridges at Toko-Ri asked, “Where do we get such men?” The line is delivered near the end of the film, when the main character fails to return to the aircraft carrier after a mission, and Tarrant looks out at the busy deck and wonders where these men come from and why they serve. That question is a fundamental question people often ask of those who demonstrated courage, and then ask themselves when they look in the mirror. Maybe a better way to ask that question when applied to ourselves is: Where does courage come from?\nHere’s my definition: Physical courage is the ability to overcome fear and do what’s necessary in order to survive, save a life, accomplish a mission, or excel despite physical or psychological barriers.\nUsing this definition of physical courage obviously concerns overcoming external obstacles. To simplify, demonstrating physical courage is overcoming the “fight or flight” instinct., and choosing to fight. Physical courage results in facing danger or the threat of pain to accomplish a goal. Note the danger doesn’t have to be real – the mere threat of danger or pain can be enough to trigger a “fight or flight” response. What is more, “fight” doesn’t necessarily mean a physical altercation or use of weapons. In the context of physical courage, “fight” simply involves meeting a particular challenge head on, without avoidance.\nReturning to Admiral Tarrant’s question, “Where do we get such men?” and rephrasing it to ask “Where does courage come from?” There are several answers to that question, it’s not as vague as you might think.\nThere is a physiological reason for courage. Researchers discovered by a very unique (and bizarre) experiment involving snakes and an MRI machine. The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, strapped test subjects in an MRI machine with a snake suspended mere inches above their heads. Using the MRI to track brain activity, researchers identified the specific area of the brain associated with courage, the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (SaCC). Using human’s natural snakes to stimulate a fear response, test subjects reported their level of fear as the snake was moved closer and closer until their fear became greater than their courage.\nIt’s an interesting experiment. As researchers are able to determine the role that hormones and pheromones play in the attraction between boys and girls yet cannot define “love”, neither can a purely physiological explanation satisfy our curiosity about the source of courage. As I have said many times before, humans are more complex than merely our biology. Surely biology can influence courage – a large person in a crowd of small ones is more apt to be courageous than the opposite. But when it comes to courage, biology is not the determining factor.\nHistory is populated with stories of unexpected heroism from unlikely people. The 98-pound weakling who stands up to the bully on the school yard, and the grandmother who faces down the burglar are legendary, in part because it is documented and has repeated occurrences. Movie makers have repeatedly made films about the plucky young person who saves the day while facing down a larger and more ferocious enemy. Do these real, and fictional, people have an oversized “courage center” in their brains? Perhaps, but I’d like to think it’s more than that.\nMickey believes everyone can reach high levels of performance if inspired and led. During his 28 year US Air Force career Mickey commanded thousands of Airmen, managed portfolios worth billions of dollars, and worked with military, civil, and industry officials around the world. He is a Distinguished Graduate from the Eisenhower School at National Defense University in Washington DC.\nMickey is the author of seven books, including Leading Leaders: Inspiring, Empowering, and Motivating Teams and The 5 Be’s For Starting Out. He’s a frequent contributor to industry publications and blogs.", "label": "No"} {"text": "ARTHRPPODS. Chapter 24. What is Entomology?. The study of insects (and their near relatives). Review of Zoological Nomenclature. Taxonomic Categories. Kingdom - Animalae Phylum - Arthropoda Class - Insecta Order - Coleoptera Family - Scarabaeidae Genus - Popillia Genus & species\nWhat is Entomology?\nThe study of insects\n(and their near relatives).\nReview of Zoological Nomenclature\nPhylum - Arthropoda\nGenus & species\nPopillia japonica Newman\nCharacteristics of the Phylum\nfreshwater streams, and on land\nChelicerate Arthropod Characters:\nCHANGE IN FORM FROM EGG TO ADULT\nInsects change shape gradually!\nFour stages that all look different\nEGG LARVA PUPA ADULT\nEGG NYMPH ADULT\nWings NOT fully developed", "label": "No"} {"text": "Dec. 22 (UPI) — Two new icebergs broke off from iceberg A68a in the South Atlantic Ocean a few days after another fragment calved, the U.S. National Ice Center confirmed Tuesday.\nA68a has been floating off South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean’s British Overseas Territory of South Georgia since it calved from Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf in 2017 and broke into parts.\nExperts have been watching to see if it will ground in shallow water, which could interfere with penguins and seals hunting for fish, BBC reported.\nEuropean Union’s Sentinel-1 radar spacecraft image showed that it shattered early Tuesday morning.\nSince then, it has reduced in size, but could still could present challenges to South Georgia’s marine predators. Satellites will continue to monitor fragments as they skirt the continental shelf.\n“Nearly three-and-a-half years since it calved away from Larsen C Ice Shelf, Iceberg A68a — the fourth largest on record — is finally beginning to disintegrate,” observer Adrian Luckman of Swansea University in Britain told the BBC.\nThe two new icebergs, A68f, and A68e, calved from A68a in the South Atlantic Ocean just three days after A68d was calved, according to the U.S. National Ice Center.\nA68 was about a quarter the size of Wales when it first calved from Antarctica, and the A68a remnant Tuesday was still bigger than Greater London, which covers about 580 square miles (1,500 square kilometers) of land, according to the BBC.\nThe BBC report noted that the iceberg break off wasn’t related much to climate change since it came from a part of the Antarctic that was still very cold.", "label": "No"} {"text": "\"From the 1950s onward tensions surrounding water politics had escalated. Israel tapped the Jordan River (and the Sea of Galilee) by canal for irrigation of the Southern Negev desert, and Syria started the Headwater Diversion Plan (Jordan River) in order to thwart Israel's plans to use the water.\nCross-border conflicts over water had preceded the war by years, without any permanent political resolution.\"\n\"Water supply and sanitation in Israel are intricately linked to the historical development of Israel. Because rain falls only in the winter, and largely in the northern part of the country, irrigation and water engineering are considered vital to the country's economic survival and growth. Large scale projects to desalinate seawater, direct water from rivers and reservoirs in the north, make optimal use of groundwater, and reclaim flood overflow and sewage have been undertaken. Among them is the National Water Carrier, carrying water from the country's biggest freshwater lake, the Sea of Galilee, to the northern Negev desert through channels, pipes and tunnels. Israel's water demand today outstrips available conventional water resources. Thus, in an average year, Israel relies for about half of its water supply on unconventional water resources, including reclaimed water and desalination. A particularly long drought in 1998–2002 had prompted the government to promote large-scale seawater desalination.\"\nThe Israeli disengagement from Gaza ...was the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and the dismantling of all Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip in 2005.\nOn March 17, the Southern Command of the Israel Defense Forces issued a military order prohibiting Israeli citizens not living in the Gaza Strip settlements from taking up residence there.\nThe disengagement was ...adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005.\nOn August 7, 2005, Netanyahu resigned just prior to the cabinet ratification of the first phase of the disengagement plan by a vote of 17 to 5. Netanyahu blamed the Israeli government for moving \"blindly along\" with the disengagement by not taking into account the expected upsurge in terrorism.\nOn August 10, in his first speech before the Knesset following his resignation, Netanyahu spoke of the necessity for Knesset members to oppose the proposed disengagement.\n\"Only we in the Knesset are able to stop this evil. Everything that the Knesset has decided, it is also capable of changing. I am calling on all those who grasp the danger: Gather strength and do the right thing. I don't know if the entire move can be stopped, but it still might be stopped in its initial stages. [Don't] give [the Palestinians] guns, don't give them rockets, don't give them a sea port, and don't give them a huge base for terror.\"\nThose Israeli citizens who refused to accept government compensation packages and voluntarily vacate their homes prior to the August 15, 2005 deadline, were evicted by Israeli security forces over a period of several days.\nOn August 31, the Knesset voted to withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border and to allow Egyptian deployment of border police along the demilitarized Egyptian side of the border, revising the previously stated intent to maintain Israeli control of the border.\nDuring the pullout, hundreds of people were arrested for rioting, and criminal charges were filed against 482 of them.\nThe IDF also began withdrawing its forces in the Gaza Strip, and had withdrawn 95% of its military equipment by September 1. On September 7, the IDF announced that it planned to advance its full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip...\nThe eviction of all residents, demolition of the residential buildings and evacuation of associated security personnel from the Gaza Strip was completed by September 12, 2005.\nAfter Israel's withdrawal, the Palestinians were given control over the Gaza Strip, except for the borders, the airspace and the territorial waters.\nFollowing Israel's withdrawal, Palestinian mobs entered the settlements...\n...Less than 24 hours after the withdrawal, Palestinian Authority bulldozers began to demolish the remaining synagogues. The settlements' greenhouses, which were supposed to be left intact by Israel, but half of which were demolished by their owners before leaving, were also looted by Palestinian mobs. Palestinian Authority security forces attempted to stop them, but did not have enough manpower to be effective. In some places, there was no security, while some police officers joined the looters.\n...In December 2006, news reports indicated that a number of Palestinians were leaving the Gaza Strip, due to political disorder and \"economic pressure\" there. In January 2007, fighting continued between Hamas and Fatah, without any progress towards resolution or reconciliation. Fighting spread to several points in the Gaza Strip with both factions attacking each other.\nIn June 2007 the Fatah–Hamas conflict reached its height and Hamas took control over the Gaza Strip.\nSince 2007, Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip, after it won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections and defeated the Fatah political organization in a series of violent clashes.\n...the Hamas Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.\nHamas' 1988 charter states that Hamas \"strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine\" (Article Six). Article Thirty-One of the Charter states: \"Under the wing of Islam, it is possible for the followers of the three religions—Islam, Christianity and Judaism—to coexist in peace and quiet with each other.\"\nThe charter states \"our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious\" and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine, in place of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel.\n\"The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews [and kill them]; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!\"\nThe document also quotes Islamic religious texts to provide justification for fighting against and killing the Jews of Israel, presenting the Arab–Israeli conflict as an inherently irreconcilable struggle between Jews and Muslims, and Judaism and Islam, adding that the only way to engage in this struggle between \"truth and falsehood\" is through Islam and by means of jihad, until victory or martyrdom. The Charter adds that \"renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion\" of Islam.\n...Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, deputy chairman of Hamas political bureau, said in 2014 that \"Hamas will not recognize Israel\", adding \"this is a red line that cannot be crossed\".\nThe Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas affiliated military wing, has launched attacks on Israel, against both civilian and military targets. Attacks on civilian targets have included rocket attacks and, from 1993 to 2006, suicide bombings.\n...Tensions over control of Palestinian security forces soon erupted into the 2007 Battle of Gaza, after which Hamas retained control of Gaza while its officials were ousted from government positions in the West Bank.\nIsrael and Egypt then imposed an economic blockade on Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah forces were no longer providing security there.\nIn June 2008, as part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, Hamas ceased rocket attacks on Israel and made some efforts to prevent attacks by other organizations.\nAfter a four-month calm, the conflict escalated when Israel carried out a military action with the stated aim of preventing an abduction planned by Hamas, using a tunnel that had been dug under the border security fence, and killed seven Hamas operatives.\nIn retaliation, Hamas attacked Israel with a barrage of rockets.\nIn late December 2008, Israel attacked Gaza, withdrawing its forces from the territory in mid-January 2009.\n...Hostilities resumed between November 14-21, 2012.\nOn 12 June 2014, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered. IDF initiated an operation in the West Bank aimed to find them (not until June 30 were their bodies found). Israeli authorities have named two Hamas members as prime suspects: Amer Abu Aysha and Marwan Kawasm.", "label": "No"} {"text": "1st - St. Joseph the Worker. In 1955 Pius XII instituted this feast to dedicate it as a day to uphold the fignity of labour to counteract the Communist's celebration of this day.\n- St. Augustine Schoeffler, 1851, Priest and Martyr. Went to Vietnam in 1847 as priest of the Paris Society for Foreign Missions. Four years later the Emperor ordered all Catholic priests to be executed as deceivers of the people. Fr. Schoeffler was captured and sentenced to death.\n- SS. PHILLIP & JAMES, Apostles. Phillip from Bethsaida was one of the first apostles called by our Lord. At the Supper he enters into dialogue with His Master that leads to the Farewell Discourses. James is probably the son of Alphæus, and often known as James the Less to distinguish him from James, the brother of John. Until 1955 this was observed all through the West on this day. The Anglican Communion still observes it on this day and the Roman Church transferrd it to the 3rd.\n- St. Amator, Bishop, 418. At his marriage to Martha, the bishop recited the wrong prayer. He took this as an omen that God wanted them to live celibate lives. Both consecrated their lives to God. Martha entered a convent and Amator eventually became bishop of Auxerre. As such he ordained St. Patrick.\n- St. Sigismund of Burgundy, King, 524. Converted by St. Avitus of Vienne. Later in a fit of rage executed his son. Remorsed by this he tried to atone for the sin by rebuilding the monastery of St. Maurice in Agaunum (Valais) in Switzerland. He brought monks to practice laus perennis. After being defeated in battle, he led the life of a hermit until captured by his enemies and executed.\n2nd St. Athanasius Bishop & Doctor, 373. As a deacon, was present at the Council of Nicaea, and mainly responsible for the expression of Faith in the Creed. Fought a long battle against Arianism, and suffered bouts of exile from his see of Alexandria - spent mainly with the monks in the desert. Hence his biography on St. Anthony.\n- SS. Exsuperius (Hesperus) & Zoe, Martyrs, c.135. Although a Christian couple, they were not as devout as their sons, Cyriacus and Theodulus who inspired them by their example to be more faithful. All four were arrested by the Romans and all four courageously professed the faith. The parents had to witness the death of their sons before their own.\n- St. Mafalda (Matilda), Religious, 1252. At the age of 11 was given in marriage to Henry I of Castile. Soon annulled and Mafalda entered a Benedictine convent in Arouca, Portugal. She reformed the convent by adopting the Cistercian Rule. She restored the cathedral of Oporto bestowed charity on the needy. Two of her sisters, Teresa and Sanchia also became saints.\n3rd - The Invention of the Cross. Until 1960 this day commemorates the finding of the true cross by St. Helena.\n- SS. Phillip & James (see above)\n4th - The traditional day to commemorate St. Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387- Refer to 27th August.\n- All English Martyrs during the Reformation Era. In England this day observes all Catholic and Protestant Martyrs who died for their faith. They include Edmund Campion, Thomas More, John Fisher as Catholics and Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer as Protestants. Pray God we have learnt from these martyrdoms.\n5th - St. Jutta, Widow & Recluse,1260. Widowed noblewoman of Thuringia, Germany, noted for visions and miracles. After her husband's death whilst on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she moved to Prussia, becoming a recluse at Kulmsee. She is the patroness of Prussia, in eastern Germany.\n- St. Mauruntius, 701, Abbot. Son of the holy couple SS. Adakbald and Rictrudis (see 12th May). When he announced he wanted to be a religious, his parents were not so sure, so they asked Bp. Amandus to celebrate a Mass for them to discover God's will. During the Mass a bee flew through the window along a path of a descending ray of sunlight and circled Mauruntius' head three times. It was obvious to all his calliong as a religious.\n6th - St. John before the Latin Gate commemorates John's miraculous escape from being plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil under the direction of the emperor Domitian.\n- St. Evodius, Bishop, 64. One of the Seventy sent out by Christ according to tradition and tradition alsao tells us that he became the first bishop of Antioch.\n- St. Edbert, 698, Bishop. St. Bede described him as being exceptional in his fidelity to God's commandments and in his knowledge of Scripture. Even though he was bishop of Lindisfarne, at Lent and Advent he would withdraw in prayer, fasting and solitude in preparation for the respective feasts.\n7th - St. John of Beverley, Monk & Bishop, 721. Monk at Whitby; bishop first of Hexham and then York. Founded the monastery of Beverley where he retired. Many miracles are attributed to him.\n- SS. Serenicus c.669 & Serenus 680. Brothers of Spoletto who renounced their wealth after an angel appeared to them. Went on pilgrimage to the tombs of Peter and Paul in Rome. Here they entered the Benedictine Order, but before long the angel directed them to greater solitude as hermits in France. Their hermitage grew into a monastery with Serenicus as the first abbot.\n- St. Domitian, c.560, Bishop. Bishop of Tongres, Belgium until the see transferred to see of Maestricht in Netherlands. An apologist of the faith, as seen in the synod of Orleans in 549. Preached in the Meuse Valley, converting many and bringing them to the Christian faith.\n8th - Julian of Norwich, Mystic, 1417. An anchorite whose revelations of divine love through Christ's passion and death have been an inspiration to many Christians.\n- St. Acasius (Agathus), Martyr, 303. A centurion in Roman army in Cappadocia. Denounced as a Christian, and was tortured before being sent to Byzantium to be beheaded.\n- St. Desideratus, Bishop c.550. Grew up in a holy family. Became secretary of state for King Clotaire, but lived an ascetic life. Consecrated bishop of Bourges in 541. Performed healing miracles. From Rome brought back relics for Bourges cathedral.\n9th - St. Pachomius, Hermit & monk, 346. After being baptized, he became a disciple of an anchorite, Palemon, and took the habit; the two lived austerely, combining manual work and prayer for the day. Later, Pachomius wirth Palemon's help built a monastery on the banks of the Nile at Tabennisi; Soon joined by one hundred monks, forcing Pachomius to organise rules for community living. Found a further 10 monasteries for women and men. Was the first monk to organize hermits into groups and write down a Rule for them. Both St. Basil and St. Benedict drew from his Rule in setting forth their own more famous ones. The Coptic Church observes this day, whilst the Western the 15th.\n10th - St. John of Avila, Priest, Writer & Mystic, 1569. When ordained in 1525 gave away most of his inheritance to the poor & intended to go to Mexico, but his bishop persuaded him to evangelise Andalusia instead. In an area which had been dominated by the Moors John's work was outstanding, although at one stage he came under question by the Inquisition. His most famous work is Audi filia, a treatise on Christian perfection. Was Confessor to St. Teresa of Avila.\n- St. Damien De Veuster of Molokai, Religious, 1888. As a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart in Tremeloo, Belgium, volunteered for missionary work in Hawaii. Here he worked with lepers for fifteen years before he also died from leprosy.\n- St. Mirus, 11thC., Hermit. Born in Canzo, Italy.When telve his father entrusted him to a hermit for spiritual guidance. When the guide died he went on pilgrimage to Rome. Returning he came across a village suffering from severe drought. As he prayed for relief he experienced a vision of Christ. The next morning he summoned the villagers to go to confession and be reconciled to one another. By evening rain began to fall.\n11th - Odo, Maieul, Odilo, Hugh the Great & Peter the Venerable, Abbots 927-1157. Abbots of Cluny. All able and holy abbots who led this community for over 2 centuries. By advising kings and popes helped to shape Europe.\n- St. Agostino Roscelli, Priest, 1902. Attended the family's sheep, which gave him much time to reflect on God. Became a priest and soon became known as a Confessor. Founded an orphanage in Genoa to which he was chaplain. Over 22 years he baptised over 8,000 babies. Founded an apostolate to poor and troubled girls, the Institute of Sisters of the Immaculate. His strength came from the hours he spent in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament.\n12th - SS. Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs, 1stC. Belonged to elite Prætorian Guard of Rome. Reputedly baptised by St. Peter, exiled from Rome with St. Flavia Domitilla and eventually beheaded.\n- St. Reictudis, 688, Widow and Religious. Her saintliness led to her marriage with Frankish King St. Adallbald. Settling in Ostrevant they had three daughters and one son, all of whom became saints. The family all visited the poor. But the harmony was broken by the murder of Adallbald. Reictudis entered a convent once all her children were gorwn up.\n13th - St. John the Silent, Hermit & Bishop, 558. Established a monastery in Armenia at 18. Appointed a bishop of Colonia at the age of twenty-eight. Kept this office for 9 years before embracing the eremitical life. Through a vision, he found his way to the monastery, or laura, of St. Sabas, asking to be walled up and living for seventy-five years as a silent recluse.\n- Our Lady of Fatima. For 5 months from 13th May, 1917 Our Lady appeared six times to three children of Fatima. She sought that prayers and sufferings be offered in reparation for sin, and for world peace.\n- St. Andrew Hubert Fournet, Priest, 1834. Underwent a conversion when lodging with his uncle, a parish priest. Resolved to become a priest who during the French Revolution lived as a fugitive. After it finished with St. Elizabeth Bichier des Ages, founded the teaching order of the Daughters of the Cross.\n- St. Servais (Servatius), 384, Bishop. When bp. of Tongres gave shelter to Athansius when exiled.Servais combated Arianism at the Synod in Cologne in 346, denouncing too the Arian bp. of Cologne. Later his see faced invasion from the Huns. To protect his people he made a pilgrimage to the tombs of SS. Peter and Paul to pray for them.\n14th - St. Matthias, Apostle. Chosen to replace Judas Iscariot by lot to indicate that he was chosen by God rather than mortals. We know nothing of him.\n15th - St. Isadore the Farmer, Patron Saint of Madrid, 1130. Prayed for long periods whilst guiding the plough, after having risen early and visited the church. Miracles and cults followed his death.\n- SS. Peter, Andrew, Paul and Denise, Martyrs, 251. Under the persecution of Decius in Turkey, Peter was brought before the authorities and tortured on a wheel and then beheaded. The other three were executed shortly afterwards for the Faith.\n- SS. Dympna and Gerebernus, c.650, Martyrs. She was martyred for her chastity and he for defending her as her chaplain. Perhaps she is better known for her intercessions for the mentally ill.. At her gravside in Gheel, Belgium it has long been custom to pray to her, especially on her feast day, honoured by a procession.\n16th - St. Brendan, Monk, 583. Founded a large monastery at Clonfert. The fictional \"Navagation\" describes him reaching America. It is possible that he actually made visits to Scotland and Wales.\n- St. Ubald, Bishop, 1160. Raised by his uncle, the bishop of Gubbio, Italy. After becoming a priest and dean of Gubbio cathedral, he tried to reform the clergy. In 1128 ,much against his will he became bishop where he continued God's work despite hostility at times.\n- Caroline Chisholm, Social Reformer, 1877. The \"emigration friend\" especially for women in Sydney, Australia. She helped find work and shelter for them, and she dedicated her life for better conditions for poor women.\n- St. Simon Stock, Religious, 1265. Elected superior of the Carmelite order in Kent from where he spread this order to university centres of Oxford, Cambridge, Paris and Bologna. On 16th July, 1251 Our Lady appeared to him holding up a habit - the habit that will save you and all Caremlites.\nOn this advice he obtained from Pope Innocent IV a letter of protection for the order in 1252. This is now known as the scapular of OurLady of Mount Carmel and is a symolic part of the habit.\n17th - St. Paschal Baylon, Franciscan lay brother and mystic, 1592. Laboured as a shepherd for his father, performed miracles, and was distinguished for his austerity. After a vision became a Franciscan lay brother of the Alcantrine reform in 1564, and spent most of his life as a humble doorkeeper. He practiced rigorous asceticism and displayed a deep love for the Blessed Sacrament, so much so that while on a mission to France, he defended the doctrine of the Real Presence against a Calvinist preacher and in the face of threats from other irate Calvinists. Paschal died at a friary in Villareal, and was canonized in 1690.\n- St. Framechildis (Frameuzi), Wife & Mother, 685. Although of noble ancestory and married into it, Framechildis dressed simply. After years of barren life, through prayer a daughter was granted, Austreberta, who became a nun and a saint.\n- St. Peter Liu Wenyuan, Martyr, 1834. under Emperor Kia-Kin Christians were persecuted. Peter was arrested in 1814 and exiled to Tartary for almost 20 years. Shortly after his return he re-arrested and executed, not before encouraging his sons who were also in prison to be steadfast.\n- St. Possidius, 5thC., Bishop. A monk in monastery founded by Augustine in Hippo. c.397 consecrated bp. of Calama Algeria. Here he founded a like-minded monastery. Like Augustine he combated Pelagianism and Donatism. Attended Augustine on his deathbed, of which he wrote an account.\n18th - St. John I, Pope and Martyr, 526. A native of Tuscany in Italy, John was elected Pope while he was still an archdeacon upon the death of Pope Hormisdas in 523, despite his age. Caught in the web of defending the Orthodox faith against the Arian Emperor Theodoric who was trying to obtain toleration for Arians in the East. John travelled to Constaninople where he was treated kindly by the Greeks, but received very little concessions from the Emperor. On his return to Ravenna was imprisoned by Theodoric on suspicion of treason and imprisoned. He died shortly afterwards.\n19th - St. Dunstan, Monk and Bishop, 988. Revived monastic life in England, beginning at Glastonbury. Promoted teaching and study. Under King Edgar as Archbishop of Canterbury was able to extend reforms to the whole English Church. Reputed as author of the coronation oath.\n20th - Alcuin, Deacon. Theologian & Abbot, 804. Scholar & Master of Cathedral School in York before going to Aachen as adviser to Charlemagne on religious & educational matters, Later became Abbot of Tours. Wrote poetry, revised the lectionary, compiled a sacramentary and contributed to liturgical works.\n- St. Bernardino of Siena, Franciscan friar, 1444. Before becoming a Franciscan had taken charge of the local hospital during an outbreak of plague in Siena. A popular preacher throughout Italy. Best remembered for his propagation of devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. Became vicar-genral of the Observants and set up schools. Spent his last days doing his favourite work preaching.\n- St. Basilla, Virgin & Martyr, 304. When she refused to marry Pompeius to whom she had been betrothed as a child, he denounced her to the Roman Emperor. She was offered clemency if she would break her vow to Christ.When she refused she was beheaded.\n- St. Ethelbert, King & Martyr, 794. Young king of East Anglia who ruled his people wih humility and wisdom. Betrothed to St. Etheldritha, daughter of Mercian king, Offa and Queen Cynedritha. For reasons unknown the Queen had him assassinated. Etheldritha spent the rest of her life as an anchoress.\n- St. Austregisilus (Outril), Bishop, 624. As a member of the Court of French King Guntramnus, Austregisilus spent his spare time in prayer and reading holy works. Through a dream he escaped marriage, and went on to be priest, abbot and bishop of Bourges.\n21 - St. Helena, Protector of Holy Places, 330. Christian mother of Constantine who ended persecution of Christians in 313. In 4thC was believed she found the cross on which Christ was crucified. Churches on the Mount of Olives and at Bethlehem were built by her.\n- St. Cristobal Magellanes & his companions, Priests, Laymen and Martyrs, early 20thC. Canonised by Pope John Paul II in 2000 for their witness to the faith when the Catholic Faith was perssecuted by the government.\n- St. Theophilus of Corte, Religious, 1740. As a child he invited his friends home to talk about religion., Entered the Franciscans at 17. His main mission when priested was to preach for which he became well known, and converted many souls to Christ.\n- St. Theobald of Vienne, 1001, Bishop. A courtier of King Conrad I of Burgundy,When nobles and clergy could not agree about the appointment for Vienne, Theolbald was chosen at c. 30 years old, and ruled for 40 years during which time he tried to correct the clergy of their evil ways.He also convened a regionl synod which obligated clergy to take the Sacrament to the dying..\n22nd - St. Rita of Cascia, Widow, Religious, 1447. Patron saint of desperate cases. Became an Augustinian nun on the death of her unfaithful husband. Her constant meditation on the Passion of Christ resulted in a wound appearing in her forehead which lasted for 15 years. Devoted her life to the sick. Her holiness and miracles led to a cult after her death that has continued to to-day.\n- St. Yvo, Priest, 1303. An ecclesiastical judge. recognised for his pleading to the poor. Near his rectory he built a hospital where he could tend to the sick. Before Mass each day he made a lenghty preparation for celebrating the Mass. Great devotion to Our Lady.\n- St. Joaquina (Joachima) de Mas y di Vedruna, Widow & Religious, 1854. As a young girl was a lace-maker which she saw as a reminder of the sufferings of Christ. When she married her family were raised as devout Catholics. Her husband died young, and afterwards she divided her time between her children and caring for the sick. Later on she founded the Carmelites of Charity, a religious order for women.\n- St.Humilitas, 1310, Widow and Religious. Married at 15, and both her sons died in infancy. She and her husband entered a double monastery. But Humilitas was moved to be an anchorite. Later she became the foundress of Vallombrosan nuns. She had special devotion to St. John.\n23rd - William of Rochester, Fisherman, 1201. Setting out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, was murdered by his companion. His body was found by a madwoman, who as she garland it with honeysuckle was cured on her madness. Other miracles followed and he was buried in Rochester cathedral. Offerings to his shrine helped towards the rebuilding of the cathedral.\n- St. Guibert, Monk, 962. As a young military man, he curbed vice and violent. He renounced his own property in Gembloux, Belgium for the founding of a Benedictine monastery. He became a monk at another monastery in Gorze, France.\n24th - St. David of Scotland, King, 1153. Involved for awhile in the Civil War with England, but also devoted himself to reorganising the Church in Scotland. Founded bishoprics, monasteries including Melrose Abbey under the Cistercians. Followed his mother in living very piously and giving to the poor. Much loved by his people.\n- John & Charles Wesley, Evangelists & Hymn writers. 1791 & 1788. Both were ordained priests but John's ministry would result in what is known as Methodisim. A popular preacher. Charles, always stayed within the English Church. His hymns covering the life of Christ have been a great inspiration to many Christians.\n- St. Vincent of Lerins, Religious, 445. An army officer who grew disenchanted with the world. He withdrew to an abbey on island of Lerins. Here he wrote against the heresies in the Commonitories.\n- SS. Donatian & Rogatian, 289, Martyrs. Rogatian inspired by his Christian brother Donatian sought baptism, which had to be postponed because of persecution. Both brothers were arrested by Roman prefect and placed under arrest and tried. Both refused to denounce the Christian faith and were tortured and lanced and beheaded.\n25th - The Venerable Bede, Monk & Historian, 735. As a child entered the monastery of SS. Peter & Paul at Wearmouth. Moved to Jarrow where he lived the rest of his life as a monk From his great learning wrote A History of the English Church and People, a valuable account of Christianity to the beginning of the 8thC.\n- Aldhelm, Abbot & Bishop, 709. A monk at Malmesbury. When the diocese of Wessex was divided became the first bishop of Sherbourne and founded the Abbey Church. Introduced the Benedictine Rule to monasteries. Renowned for his singing as well as his preaching and holiness.\n- St. Mary Magdealne de Pazzi, Religious & Mystics, 1606. Closely associated with the Medicis. In spite of family opposition became a Caremelite nun. Her spiritual life included many visionaries and ecstasies. She herself suffered from poor health for most of her life, which she offered up and joined with the sufferings of Christ.\n- St. Claritusm 1348, Layman. Cured of a throat ailment as he prayed prostrate before the tomb of the Florentine bishop St. Zenobius. He married according to parents' wishes, but they soon separated for her to enter a convent and he became the sacristan where he devoutly served. Veneration after his death was associated with a miraculous crucifix kept on the same altar as his body.\n26th ST. AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY, 605. First Archbishop of Canterbury after being sent by the great Gregory to re-evangelise English Church. Brought with the Benedictine style of monasticism. In the Roman Church celebrated the next day. In Roman Chuch celebrated the next day.\n- Philip Neri. Founder of the Oratorians, 1595. A popular confessor and spiritual guide. So many came to his oratory that the Congregation of the Oratory was founded. A priest who devoted his life to others.\n- St. Lambert, Bishop, 1154. As a youngster was entrusted to the Benedictine Abbey at Lerins for his education, where he subesequently became a monk. Although he loved solitude was chosen to be bishop of Vence, France. During his 40 yhears of episcopacy he lived humbly, and wrought miracle of healings. Until the end of his life he ecited the psalter daily.\n- St. Quadratus, c.129, Bishop. Bishop of Athens who composed a treatise in defence of the Faith and sent it to Hadrian on his arrival to Athens for an athletic competition. However Hardrian was not moved and intensified the persecution.\n- St. Priscus & Co., c.272, Martyrs. During the persecuition in Gaul under Aurelius, Priscus, Cottus and others fled from Besancon for Auxerre. Many were soldiers who were found at Toucy-sur-Yonne just outside of Auxerre and were beheaded.\n27th - Julius the Veteran, Martyr, 304. Soldier of the 27 years. When interrogated by the prefect Maximius declared he had always served God faithfully every day of his life. Offered a generous 10 year bonus if he would sacrifice to the gods, Julius refused, and went to his death praising his Lord for dying for him.\n- St. Restituta of Sora, Virgin & Martyr, 271. Prompted by an inspiration visited the village of Sora in Itly.Here she obtained the healing of a boy suffering from leprosy. Thereupon 39 became Christians. Roman officials held Restituta responsible for these conversions and she was executed with three of the Christians.\n- St. Melangell (Monacella), Religious, 12thC. Daughter of an Irish king who fled to Wales to preserve her virginity. Here she lived the life of a hermitess for 15 years. This became a community of which she became abbess. Hares frequent the convent after she had protected one from a prince when out hunting.\n28th - Lanfranc Abbot & Bishop, 1089. Prior of the famous abbey of Bec. Chosen by William to be archbishop of Cantaur. Carried out many ecclesiastical reforms and wrotes Constitutions for Christ Church, Canterbury based on that of Bec.\n29th - St. Alexander with Sisinnius and Martyrius, Martyrs, 397. Were martyred in Milan, which has been recorded by Ambrose and Augustine.\n- St. Cyril of Caesarea, Martyr, 250. Renounced by his family when he became a Christian. He was arrested by the local governor and subsequently put to death.\n- St. Bona of Pisa, 1207, Virgin. As a child fasted on bread and water three times a week. One day the crucifix at Holy Sepulchre's church held out his hand to her. At a vision in another church she saw Christ, His mother and three saints including St. James who pursued her when frightened by the light. He led her back to Christ. Thereupon she had a very special devotion to James and visited his tomb at Compostela often. She conscrated her life as a virgin and anchoress.\n30th - Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906. Campaigned for prostitutes and succeeded in the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act in 1883. A very devout Anglican.\n- Joan of Arc, Visionary, 1431. Led by the voices of her saints led her people to victory over the English, and for the Dauphin to be crowned. Soon after she was betrayed to the English and was tried for heresy by the bishop of Beauvais. Burned at the stake in Rouen clutching a cross handed to her by a soldier.\n- St. Hubert, Bishop, 727. Bishop of Masstricht and then of Liege. The famous conversion whilst out hunting is borrowed from the acts of Eustace, and unknown until 14thC. Performed many miracles during his life.\n- St. Luke Kirby, Priest & Martyr 1582. Became a Catholic in Louvain and soon was ordained and returned to England. Arrested shortly after arrival. Sentenced to death.\n31ST THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY TO ELIZABETH. \"How is it that the Mother of My Lord should visit me?\" Mary responded with her great hymn in the Magnificat. This festival, first celebrated by the Franciscans in the 13thC, reveals too John's first recognition of Christ as the Messiah, illustrated by his leaping in Elizabeth's womb.\nHoly Days during May\nRogation Sunday and Rogation Days when the Church especially prays for the success of the fruits of the earth. In many places there are processions where priests bless crops and the fleet.\nASCENSION DAY completes the whole process of salvation begun at Bethlehem when our Lord ascends to His Father to begin his priestly work of intercession\nDays after Ascension Day we pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, our world and in our lives in preparation for Pentecost. \"Come Spirit by whose aid/The world's foundations first were laid,/Come, pour thy joys on humankind;/From sin and sorrow set us free/And make thy temples for thee.\"\nPENTECOST The Feast of the Holy Spirit. \"O Spirit of the living Lord,/You blow across the waiting world:/ You cleanse and heal earth's wounded face/With balm poured from the cross in grace.\"\nTRINITY - (Sometimes in June) Day when we honour the Three Persons of the Godhead and acknowledge that God is one and also three persons.\nFEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI. (Sometimes in June). Day when we commemorate in thanksgiving the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament on Maundy Thursday. \"O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine,/All praise and all thanksgiving/Be every moment thine.\"", "label": "No"} {"text": "USA: Racism in reverse\nIn the United States, many protest against the acquittal of the Hispanic killer of 17-year-old black teenager Trayvon Martin. Pravda.Ru asked Deputy Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada, Valery Garbuzov, to share his views on the problem.\n\"In the United States, there is phenomenon called \"racism in reverse.\" Many used to believe that racism came from the white population against black Americans. But during the 1960s, black Americans were gradually winning their political, economic and civil rights. Today they have turned into quite a powerful social force. It is no surprise that black people appear in the political elite of the United States - they have a black president in the White House. Many blacks perceive the court's ruling to acquit Zimmerman as a kind of injustice - a kind of a protest with racial overtones.\n\"One should bear in mind the fact that all non-white population of the U.S. has become very active during the recent years. This manifests primarily during elections, especially presidential ones. Obama's election in 2008 and the last presidential election indicate that the part of the American electorate that was traditionally called the sleeping electorate, woke up and started to express their opinions on various issues, especially those related to them personally and perceived by them as an infringement of their own identity.\n\"This verdict sparked a social explosion and is seen as unfair. If the victim and the killer would have changed roles or skin color, the story would have been different - this is the way it is perceived by the general public. People question the decision of the jury and claim that the jury was guided by racial prejudice. I see the reaction of black Americans to the verdict precisely proceeding from these positions.\n\"One should also pay attention to the members of the jury. Perhaps, they also provoke such a reaction. If most of the jury were white citizens, such a reaction from blacks was predictable. A few years ago there was a similar case, a crime of this type, and the white jury justified the white offender, which also led to a surge of discontent.\"", "label": "No"} {"text": "Now that summer is underway, it’s a good time to explore ways to prepare for the next school year. The San Diego County Office of Education and the California Department of Education in concert with the Technical Statewide Education Technology Service (TechSETS)\nare offering two massive open online courses (MOOCs) for the professional development of educators and other stakeholders interested in strengthening their digital literacy skills.\nMOOCs are online learning programs that support participation of learners across the planet. That is, as long they are at least 18-years of age, ANYONE can enroll in the courses and participate! SDCOE’s Digital Literacies MOOC is an innovative way to provide professional development for educators across California to meet the growing demand of skill sets required to educate students using digital media and networks, at no cost to schools.\n“We know that technology is an integral part of preparing students for college and career in the 21st century. But we can't just put hardware and software and computing devices into classrooms without preparing educators to use them,” said San Diego County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Randy Ward. “Our teachers and administrators have to strengthen their digital information fluency skills so that they may, in turn, transfer these skills to their students. That's why courses like this are so important.\"\nDigital Literacies 1 explores:\n- Web-based and other electronic tools\n- The grammar of the Internet\n- Ways for using digital information ethically, efficiently, and effectively\n- Advanced online search literacy tactics\n- How to use electronic devices more efficiently\n- Frameworks for digital education literacy\n- Various digital literacy curricula for use with students and other stakeholders\nDigital Literacies 2 explores:\n- Cybersaftey and digital citizenship\n- The use of Creative Commons license\n- Understanding copyright law and the ‘Fair Use’ clause\n- The use of Web 2.0 tools\n- Ways to apply Google Applications for EDU\n- Using mobile technologies for teaching and learning\n- Techniques for developing non-linear presentations\n- Methods for using Quick Response (QR) codes in teaching and learning\n- The use of digital cameras\n- Developing blogs and websites\n- Producing podcasts\nDigital Literacies 1 will commence July 8, 2013. Digital Literacies 2 will being in mid-to-late September 2013. Both courses are free. Upon successful completion, learners will receive a certificate of completion and a digital badge.\nTwo optional units of university credit from the San Diego State University are available for each course. However, learners enrolled in the for-credit courses must pay a fee for each course. Limited seats are available for the for-credit courses (60 seats). Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Regardless of the often-misinformed idea that the opioid epidemic is nothing more than media fear mongering, the fact of the matter is that overdoses have become such major part of the United States that it is actually having an impact on our national life expectancy. With over 70,000 people dying due to overdoses in 2017, it should be clear that the epidemic is very real and is having a substantial impact on our society. This all being said, if you or a loved one have a substance abuse problem, seek a rehab center as soon as possible. Don’t become part of this statistic.\nLife expectancy in the United States dropped yet again as drug overdose deaths continued to climb — taking more than 70,000 lives in 2017 — and suicides rose, a US government report said Thursday.\nThe drug overdose rate rose 9.6 percent compared to 2016, while suicides climbed 3.7 percent, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.\nAs a result, the average life span in America dropped to “78.6 years, a decrease of 0.1 year from 2016,” said the report.\nThe data comes as the United States grapples with a vast opioid epidemic, fueled by addiction to prescription painkillers as well as street drugs like heroin and synthetic opioids including fentanyl. Click Here to Continue Reading", "label": "No"} {"text": "This is an original photograph of a World War II pilot performing a handstand on the wing of his Hurricane fighter aircraft after returning from a mission. When originally purchased, the identity of the pilot was listed as unknown, but some historical detective work has since identified him. The pilot pictured is Flying Officer John Gordon \"Scruffy\" Weir, a Canadian who flew with No. 401 Squadron.\nWeir was born in 1919 and attended Upper Canada College before the war. He enlisted for war service on 4 September 1939 when he was just 20 years old. After attending flight training in Winnipeg, he earned his wings and was posted to No. 401 Squadron at Lincolnshire, near the Scottish border in England. He gained his nickname while still in flight training. A RAF Group Captain who inspected the training unit saw the young Weir in a uniform spattered with glycol and said that he looked rather \"scruffy,\" and the nickname stuck.\nWeir was shot down while engaged in coastal defense duties and was burned while trying to escape his aircraft. He was able to bail out of the crippled aircraft but was captured by the Germans and sent to Stalag I on the Baltic. In mid-April 1942, he and his fellow prisoners were marched out of the camp and put on a train to Stalag Luft III. Weir became a member of the Escape Committee at the camp and applied his pre-war mining experience in Canada to helping construct the escape tunnels. He was removed from the operation after his eyes became infected from working underground. His eyelids had been severally burned when his Hurricane was shot down. Weir was sent to another POW camp to have eye surgery performed and missed the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III. It was a rather lucky twist of fate. Of the 76 POWs who used the tunnels to escape, only three made it out and escaped; 50 others were recaptured and most executed as an example by the Germans.\nWeir's remeakable story is told in the 2013 book, \"The Survivor: Scruffy's War\" by Blake Heathcote. Scruffy died in 2009. This original photo of Weir's celebratory handstand is dated 27 December 1940 and is credited to ACME photos in New York City.", "label": "No"} {"text": "- Rate of Overturning Legislation\n- Overturning Executive Decisions\nRate of Overturning Legislation\n\"Declaring an act of Congress unconstitutional is the boldest thing a judge can do. That's because Congress, as an elected legislative body representing the entire nation, makes decisions that can be presumed to possess a high degree of democratic legitimacy.\nIn an 1867 decision, the Supreme Court itself described striking down Congressional legislation as an act \"of great delicacy, and only to be performed where the repugnancy is clear.\" Until 1991, the court struck down an average of about one Congressional statute every two years. Between 1791 and 1858, only two such invalidations occurred.\nOf course, calling Congressional legislation into question is not necessarily a bad thing. If a law is unconstitutional, the court has a responsibility to strike it down. But a marked pattern of invalidating Congressional laws certainly seems like one reasonable definition of judicial activism.\nSince the Supreme Court assumed its current composition in 1994, by our count it has upheld or struck down 64 Congressional provisions. That legislation has concerned Social Security, church and state, and campaign finance, among many other issues. We examined the court's decisions in these cases and looked at how each justice voted, regardless of whether he or she concurred with the majority or dissented.\nWe found that justices vary widely in their inclination to strike down Congressional laws. Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush, was the most inclined, voting to invalidate 65.63 percent of those laws; Justice Stephen Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton, was the least, voting to invalidate 28.13 percent. The tally for all the justices appears below.\n- Thomas 65.63%\n- Kennedy 64.06%\n- Scalia 56.25%\n- Rehnquist 46.88%\n- O’Connor 46.77%\n- Souter 42.19%\n- Stevens 39.34%\n- Ginsburg 39.06%\n- Breyer 28.13%\nOne conclusion our data suggests is that those justices often considered more \"liberal\" - Justices Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens - vote least frequently to overturn Congressional statutes, while those often labeled \"conservative\" vote more frequently to do so. At least by this measure (others are possible, of course), the latter group is the most activist.\"\n--- So Who Are The Activists? by PAUL GEWIRTZ and CHAD GOLDER\nRate of Overturning Executive DecisionsAnother study of several thousand cases studied the frequency in which an unelected judge voted to overturn the decision of the elected executive. A high score shows high deference to the elected executive branch; a lower score shows more judicial activism:\nJustice Rate of upholding agency decisions\n- Breyer 82%\n- Souter 77%\n- Ginsburg 74%\n- Stevens 71%\n- O’Connor 68%\n- Kennedy 67%\n- Rehnquist 64%\n- Thomas 54%\n- Scalia 52%", "label": "No"} {"text": "|The King assumes control of the government|\nDuring a career that spanned most of the 17th century Charles Le Brun did everything he could to justify the opinion of Louis XIV that he was \"the greatest painter in France.\"\n|Alexander the Great and King Porus|\n|Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon|\n|The family of Darius before Alexander the Great|\n|Pierre Séguier, Chancelier de France|\n|Capture of the city and citadel of Gand in six days|\n|Pavillon de l'Aurore|\n|Horatius Cocles defending the bridge|\nIn his youth Le Brun had traveled to Italy with Nicolas Poussin. Le Brun returned home to a life of fame and power, but posterity has not tended to treat him kindly.\n|Portrait of Louis XIV|\n|Ceiling decoration at Versailles glorifying Louis XIV|\n|Cipher of Louis XIV on ceiling at Versailles|\n|Portrait of Charles Le Brun by Nicolas Largillière|", "label": "No"} {"text": "Also in this series: Great World Religions: Judaism\nAs the world's largest religion, with more than two billion members, Christianity is \"one of religion's great success stories,\" notes Professor Luke Timothy Johnson, himself a former Benedictine monk. But Christianity is more than large and popular—it is extremely complex and often highly contradictory.\nAfter beginning with a clear definition of the term \"great world religion\", Prof. Johnson presents a basic introduction to Christianity's fundamental beliefs, its history and practice through the ages, and its inherent paradoxes.\nGreat World Religions: Christianity is a lecture series from The Great Courses (formerly The Teaching Company.)\nLuke Timothy Johnson offers an excellent introduction to Christianity for Christians and non-Christians alike. He explores Christianity as a world religion, its early history, its basic beliefs and moral teachings, its splintering into three major divisions (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant), and its relationships to culture and politics. Prof. Johnson is an excellent lecturer: clear, logical, and well-spoken.\nThere are 12 half-hour lectures in the course. (See the titles below.) I highly recommend Great World Religions: Christianity to anyone who wants to know something about Christianity’s background and basic beliefs as well as how the faith has evolved over the last two millenia. However, if you’re looking for a more in-depth history or exploration of Scripture and beliefs, you should check out some of the other Great Courses offerings.\nChristianity among World Religions\nBirth and Expansion\nSecond Century and Self-Definition\nThe Christian Story\nWhat Christians Believe\nThe Church and Sacraments\nThe Radical Edge\nCatholic, Orthodox, Protestant\nChristianity and Politics\nChristianity and Culture\nTensions and Possibilities\nReading this book contributed to these challenges:\n- The Backlist Reader (TBR) Challenge 2016", "label": "No"} {"text": "Not every painting can be The Last Supper.\nThe Middle Ages and the Renaissance were glorious eras for art, but for every Mona Lisa there was something that looked a little, well, derpy. There are ugly babies, angry-looking madonnas, and a lot of weird and inappropriate marginalia in manuscripts.\nBestiaries — encyclopedias of beasts — were common in the Middle Ages. There are some very accurate drawings of animals in these manuscripts. But you won't find any of them on this list. Check out these weird medieval drawings of animals that look nothing like they're supposed to look in real life.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Common Core education debate continues today\nAfter months of debate and discussion, the public gets a first chance to look at the new draft of Indiana's state academic standards beginning today. At stake is the future of education for students in grades K thru 12.\nThe point being to make students college and career ready. But, lawmakers, educators, parents can't seem to agree on the best way to do that.\nTeams of educators have met and drafted this new set of standards to make sure students in Indiana are ahead of students in other states.\nCommon Core was a national standard the state adopted in 2010 along with about 45 other states. But, state educators felt like the plan wasn't rigorous enough. Consequently, a measure to end Common Core in Indiana is moving through the Statehouse.\nThe superintendent of one of the state's largest district - Indianapolis Public Schools - just hopes for something everyone can rally around.\n\"More rigorous standards are great and they can be a benefit to our students,\" said IPS Superintendent Dr. Lewis Ferebee. \"But they're only as good as implementation. It's important for us to have the resources to provide professional learning opportunities for our teachers. To unpack those standards and have a deeper understanding so they can implement those standards in the classroom. But, I also ensure they have instructional resources in line with those standards,\" said Ferebee.\nThe biggest sticking point is the math component. There was a call by some educators to create standards on par with some of the leading countries in the world. But, others feel this draft falls short.\nYou can review and share your opinion at one of three public hearings starting today at Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg, the Indiana Government Center South in Indianapolis on Tuesday, and Plymouth High School Wednesday.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Rob Riordan President of High Tech High GSE\nJanuary 17, 2013\n|Photo credit: usacehq via flickr|\nWhat should students learn in the 21st century? At first glance, this question divides into two: what should students know, and what should they be able to do? But there's more at issue than knowledge and skills. For the innovation economy, dispositions come into play: readiness to collaborate, attention to multiple perspectives, initiative, persistence, and curiosity. While the content of any learning experience is important, the particular content is irrelevant. What really matters is how students react to it, shape it, or apply it. The purpose of learning in this century is not simply to recite inert knowledge, but, rather, to transform it.1 It is time to change the subject.\nThis is no small matter. For more than a century, the whole point of schooling has been to restrict the curriculum, specify the required content, and limit the entry points to it -- often by means of a watered-down, already obsolete text, mediated by a classroom manager whose task is to transmit the subject matter to 30 or more individuals of diverse backgrounds, experiences, interests, and resources. This is particularly true of the \"big four\" core subjects that the Carnegie Commission decided, nearly a century ago, to be the subjects that matter. English, math, science (biology, chemistry, and physics), and social studies count for much, and the fine and practical arts for much less. .Read more.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Pronunciation: (ter\"i-tôr'ē-ul, -tōr'-), [key]\n1. of or pertaining to territory or land.\n2. of, pertaining to, associated with, or restricted to a particular territory or district; local.\n3. pertaining or belonging to the territory of a state or ruler.\n4. (of an animal) characterized by territoriality; defending an area against intruders, esp. of the same species.\n5. (often cap.) of or pertaining to a territory of the U.S.\n6. (cap.) Mil.organized on a local basis for home defense: the British Territorial Army.\n1. (cap.) a member of the British Territorial Army.\n2. a soldier in a territorial army.\nRandom House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This lesson is based on notes that we made for visitors to our house in Spain. In villages not many people speak English so it is very important to speak a bit of Spanish. If you can learn the vocabulary in this lesson you will be able to defend yourself in a Spanish bar.\nScore in %\nPress Next button to Start\nWhy would you want to save your score? Save your score so that you can see your progress. To pass the course you have to get 100% in all lessons. You will be able to see your score on all lessons in the list of lessons here You can only save your score if you are logged in. To log in click here\nThe first word is in English -\nThe second word is the Spanish translation of the first word.\nThe third line is the word in English in a sentence.\nThe fourth line is the word in Spanish in a sentence.\nUse this lesson to rapidly increase your Spanish vocabulary so that you can get what you want in a Spanish bar.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Her later career\nShe “formulated plans for producing Aladdin, a picture she herself would direct from her original scenario.” (New York Times, 25 Aug. 1923)\nShe dropped Aladdin in favor of producing Rudyard Kipling's Kim, on location in India. She became involved with testing the kodachrome process. The required capital could not be raised for the film. (Maude Adams, an American Idol: True Womanhood Triumphant in the Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Theatre, doctoral thesis, 1984, Eileen Karen Kuehnl)\nIn the fall of 1922, Frohman Inc. wanted to take away Maude's partial rights to some of the plays she had been in. “In January of 1924, Barrie permanently settled the dispute in favor of Maude's opponents. She would never again be able to act in or produce any of his plays.” (He had sold out to a movie company, basically.)\nQuestions abounded about whether or not a return to the stage would be successful for her. Her roles were associated with past morals and culture. Management ways had been altered by the 1919 Actors Equity Association strike against Broadway producers. All players had now to join a union, and Maude refused to do so.\nShe became involved in developing lighting. General Electric developed a light using her specifications, made the light, and then took away the patent.\nShe wanted to produce color motion pictures. Her original idea was to film Peter Pan and The Little Minister in their theater dresses, called “photo-play.” She dropped her idea due to problems with the holders of the movie rights to Barrie's plays.\nShe taught at Stephens College for girls; 1943-1950, served as a special advisor died at age of 78 of a heart attack on July 17, 1953", "label": "No"} {"text": "Confederate History Month. Most of the uproar has come from the racism-means-insufficient-pandering crowd. This group prefers a Soviet style retelling of history in which events are fabricated or erased, relatively insignificant people are accorded disproportionately inappropriate significance, and current sensibilities are applied to events that took place 150 years ago.\nToday's children are taught that the War Between the States was fought to end slavery. This claim is nonfactual historical revisionism. That war, like virtually all other wars, was fought for economic reasons. Northern legislators were keen to confiscate money that was earned from slave labor in order to build roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals and leave southern states without the means to create similar infrastructure.\nAt that time the majority of the electorate was in favor of maintaining slavery, in part because people were reluctant to compete for scarce jobs with recently freed slaves who would work for less than the prevailing wage rates. Abolitionists were relatively few in number.\nIf Lincoln and his cronies had but followed the British example, they would have purchased freedom for the slaves. The tragic loss of life and property resulting from that war was unnecessary. It occurred because Congress and the president took lawfully owned property away from its rightful owners against their wishes. Congress continues this practice today.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Demographics of present day Pakistan\nThe 165 million Pakistanis are divided ethnically, linguistically and religiously as follows:\n|Religious Affiliation of Pakistanis|\n|Ethnic Affiliation of Pakistanis|\n|Native Language of Pakistanis|\nIt is noteworthy that Urdu is the official language of Pakistan even though it is the native language of only 8 percent of the population. Brahui is a language of the Dravidian family spoken in southern Balochistan.\nIn addition to the great ethnic diversity of Pakistan there is a major political problem that most of the ethnic groups within Pakistan are fractions of a number of international ethnic groups. That is to say the Pushtans are divided between Pakistan and Afghanistan; the Balochis are divided between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan and the Punjabis are divided between Pakistan and India.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The presented image, obtained using the MUSE spectrograph installed on the VLT complex, demonstrates the galaxy M 61, which is also known under the designation NGC 4303. It is located at a distance of 60 million light-years from Earth and is one of the largest members of the Virgo cluster.\nLike our Milky Way, M 61 is a spiral galaxy with a bar. But there is also one significant difference between them. M 61 is one of the so-called galaxies with flashes of star formation — an unusually large number of stars are born in it. Therefore, astronomers use it as a natural laboratory to study this phenomenon.\nStars are formed by the compression of clouds of cold gas. The high-energy radiation of newborn luminaries heats and ionizes the gas residue surrounding them. It glows — and this glow serves as a kind of lighthouse, indicating that a new star has been born. That’s what you can see in the picture. The glowing gas forms a shining whirlpool of golden hue, which is direct evidence of stars being born in the spiral branches of M 61.\nThe golden glow in the photo is the result of superimposing images obtained at different wavelengths of light by the MUSE spectrograph. Clouds of ionized oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur are shown in blue, green, and red, respectively. The observations of M 61 were carried out within the framework of the PHANGS project, the purpose of which is to observe close galaxies at all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum with high angular resolution.\nYou can also admire the impressive photo of the spiral galaxy transmitted by the James Webb Telescope.\nAccording to https://www.eso.org\nFollow us on Twitter to get the most interesting space news in time", "label": "No"} {"text": "Teachers are trusted to look after children and teach them the information necessary to be able to excel in the real world. But, sometimes teaching children can be a bit difficult, without adequate resources. Every child hates a specific subject, be it English, Art, or Science, but Mathematics still takes the top position, for the most hated subject. The main reason for why children dislike Math is because it involves a lot of reasoning, which they are unable to process. When it comes to Math, the answer is always correct or incorrect, there is no other solution to a problem. Mixing up classes with interesting situations, will help students not only understand the relevance of the subject but also enjoy it.\nUsing an Online Learning Site\nA popular site among teachers is the website, IXL.com. The website helps students practice mathematics. The aim of the website is to provide students with a wide-array of topics with unlimited questions. The good thing about a website such as IXL, is that it is engaging. It provides the learner with interactive activities and visual representations. The website aims to only provide practice and does not teach children how to solve the problems or how it is done.\nPUMAS – Practical Users of Math and science, is a website that is developed by NASA. The website provides students with real-world examples and where math is used in everyday life. It includes the topics such as math magic problems, money maths, probability and traffic signals, etc. PUMAS is a tool that is majorly used in engaging students into older and newer concepts of maths, by presenting it in an interactive way. Not only can the website be extremely engaging and help keep students interested in the classroom, it can also be used at home.\nIn today’s world, technology is everything. Using technology through websites or maths apps, you can keep the student’s interest and help them learn at the same time. The Mystery Math Museum is a maths app, which is mainly targeted towards children, between the age of 6-12 years. The main mission of the app is to make the student solve math problems while trying to rescue a dragonfly. As they progress in the game, they unlock different rooms and passageways while they earn portraits to store in their gallery. This engaging maths app not only challenges but engages student.\nAlthough maths may be a serious subject and needs a lot of focus and concentration, games help in retention. Playing games that utilise mathematical sums and questions help keep the students’ interest for longer. A popular game for math learning is ‘buzz’. Buzz is suitable for primary school students as they cover the basics of multiplication and counting numbers. To play buzz, every student should count from one, out-loud. when a child gets to seven or a multiple of seven, they must replace the number by saying ‘buzz’. If a student stumbles, says the wrong word or misses one, you must begin all over again. To increase the difficulty, simply use another number that you want to teach the multiples of. The game is otherwise called as ‘7-Up’.", "label": "No"} {"text": "I am excited to share my latest thinking about interactive edits. In the past, I have used D.O.L. (Daily Oral Language) worksheets in my classroom in the hopes that my students would correct all the mistakes in poorly written sentences. I hoped, that by knowing how to correct numerous errors in poorly written sentences, they would be able to write correctly themselves.\nMy thinking completely shifted when I learned about Jeff Anderson and his idea of showing students well-written sentences, rather than putting poorly written sentences in front of them. If you ever have the opportunity to hear Mr. Anderson speak, TAKE IT! He is phenomenal…and highly entertaining I might add.\nCheck out this amazing 3-minute video of Jeff Anderson as he explains how to invite students to notice great writing.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Thursday, April 09, 2015\nOne of today’s biggest mobile problems is that of battery life. When the battery is fully charge the world is our at out fingertips, but when it is running low or flat then we are effectively cut off from the world. Having to recharge the smartphone can be a chore we would rather live without and the time it often takes to recharge can seem an eternity.\nSo what if you could charge your battery in a minute, it held its charge longer and the battery itself was smaller and more flexible?\nResearchers in Stanford University have made a breakthrough that could lead to the fast charging and longer lasting batteries and have published their findings in Nature (April 6th). In an article, the authors note, ‘This was the first time an ultra-fast aluminium-ion battery was constructed with stability over thousands of cycles.’\nUsing an aluminum-ion prototype, they were able to charge a smartphone type battery in 60 seconds, or 60 times faster than the conventional lithium-ion battery. The protoype consists of a soft pouch, containing aluminium for one electrode and a graphite foam for the other - all surrounded by a special liquid salt. Also they claim that its durability is also greater and that it can stand up to about 7,500 charge-discharge cycles before losing any of its capacity compared to Lithium-ion batteries 1,000 cycles. But it doesn’t stop there and they also have found that there are safety and pliability benefits.\nMing Gong, co-lead author of the Nature study, ‘You can bend it and fold it, so it has the potential for use in flexible electronic devices. Aluminium is also a cheaper metal than lithium.’\nProf Hongjie Dai from Stanford University in California claims, ‘Our new battery won't catch fire, even if you drill through it.’ This could address concerns raised on lithium-ion batteries, which have resulted in recent bans on air transport.\nNow the challenge is moving what was discovered in the labs into being a commercial reality. Some question the energy density of these batteries and whether the results in the lab can be scaled up, but irrespective the findings start to point the way to creating new opportunities to connect for longer, more efficiently and could open the doors to many new devices and applications.\nWe just now have to wait.\nWednesday, April 08, 2015\nThe Organisational Impact of Communications in Today’s World?\nA company may have the best product or service and the smartest technology, but these alone no longer guarantee success. They may have a significant marketing budget, but billboards, page adverts, glossy catalogues and call centres now longer guarantee sustainable success. The supply chain may be well oiled and automated, but reducing waste and delivering to just in time models are by themselves now longer offer unique value and guarantee success. The sales and marketing messages may be slick and focused, but the message in a social networked world is no longer the prize and getting it across to the market no longer a simple process.\nMass market advertising still has its place, but direct marketing now is challenging it even in the mass market. Being able to now effectively engage with consumers and feed their habits, respond to them and truly engage and retain them is the real goal. Creating brand loyalty and through that product and service loyalty and a customer for life is the Holy Grail. Once that was the sole domain of the retailer, or end service provider, but in a world of virtual marketplaces the channel to market is changing and with it the communications with the end consumer. Sharing consumers in non-sharing partnerships is the same as not sharing basic trading information before Supply Chain management.\nWe now crave the viral hit. That moment when the word of the internet overtakes all the market budgets we could muster and value and perception truly transfer to the mass. When it works it can create instant recognition, market and demand but is just in time world not satisfying it on demand can be as damaging as not creating it in the first place. However, like winning the Lottery it can’t be achieved by all so bets have to be spread and ‘silver bullet’ strategies avoided.\nReputation can be built and destroyed in a click. Consumers, like sheep tend now to follow and identifying the leaders and influences is a challenge to all. It is truer than ever that one bad experience can influence ten others. In fact the numbers are probably significantly higher today and the impact far faster than yesterday’s word of mouth.\nSo what does this mean to the organisation and its focus?\nWe would suggest the following thoughts;\nEffective trading partnerships across the supply and value chain is more important than ever. In an channel were much is outsourced the performance of others can now often impact a business more than it can imagine. How do you organise your partners and work together for mutual benefit? Who monitors partner relationships and their effectiveness? What information is shared and how does it help the consumer engagement?\nWhat is communicated with who, when and how?\nService extends to more than throwing goods over the wall, or tracking parcels. Knowing what the other party wants to know and responding to them when they want something is as important as the product they bought. How many of us tear our hair out trying to get in touch with a Google, Amazon, eBay, Apple etc. It’s as if the tablets only ever go one way and those that effectively crack this challenge are the winners of tomorrow.\nInformation is as valuable as revenue. Collecting information for the sake of collecting information may appeal but using that information to engage with all is the goal. However, the challenge is learning to share information in a manner which respects the privacy of the individual but enables partners to help deliver and for businesses to engage with them. Remember when suppliers and retailers started to share forecast and demand information and the resultant benefits that gave to some supply chains?\nShould we create a CCO (Chief Communication Officer) as it clearly not a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) or a CIO (Chief Information Officer). Perhaps the role fall within the emerging Digital Director remit. Marketing is an obvious home but is often only consumer focused and lacking technology depth. Is a COO (Chief Operating Officer) the appropriate function as is it about process, touch points, messages and responses?\nDifferent organisations will respond differently, according to size, skills and complexity of the chain, but communications now needs to be at the forefront of today’s boardroom thinking and developing the appropriate strategy and measuring its performance and effectiveness is an opportunity for all who sit around the board table to engage with.\nMonday, April 06, 2015\nHow did we arrive to where we are today?\nIt now seems a lifetime away when we started our technology journey which we w all take for granted today. Back in ’68 there were only 32 computers in the whole of Sheffield and we can even remember the companies, the computers and what they were capable of. The explosion of computing that followed was first aimed at companies and institutions and automating the numbers and providing the information in near to real time as possible.\nPCs and networks then changed the landscape and importantly companies became aware of the huge waste created across the Supply Chains and started to migrate from, ‘slipping notes under closed doors’ with trading their partners to communicating and sharing information with them. Supply Chain Management opened up communications through EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) standards and technology. Home computing was also born albeit over extremely poor network services.\nBusiness then started to look hard at their value chains and their core functions and where they added value. Technology was still see as a generic function but it started to deliver effective ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and later CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions, which were no longer bespoke but packed and configurable. Outsourcing non-core activity became a given. IT finally started to break through the board room glass ceiling and CIOs (Chief Information Officers) and CTOs (Chief Technology Officers) became common seats around the table. The Internet was born and networks started to move from dirt tracks to super highways and deliver and mobile communications, laptop PCs and consumer technology took off.\nThen came two major and significant seismic shifts in the form of mobile communications technology and mobile applications. Social networking became something that impacted all; first the individual both young and old and then the corporate, institution and public entity. This explosion of demand was further fuelled by rapid advances in network technology and the emergence of truly mobile devices. We were all permanently switched on and desired to communicate and carried our computer around in our pocket. Where we and other ‘friends’ were, what we are doing and with whom and our thoughts was now often now just a click away.\nHarnessing all this mass of information and creating ‘Big Data’ opportunities is now a business in itself.\nComputing was no longer owned by the corporate, even warfare was being waged over the airwaves as much as the battlefield. Fame could be instantaneous at the individual level and commercial success was often no longer reliant on huge marketing budgets and programmes alone.\nToday commercial businesses now no longer just have a web presence and ecommerce, but an array icons splattered in their sites to link them to every social network where they also have their own presence. We have Blogs, videos, and tweets to promote their products, services and values. In this multi-dimensional world text is no longer enough and communications is no longer one way. We have a new breed of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and analytic services knocking on every door and customer and market insight programmes are the buzz.\nSo where exactly are you today and more importantly where are you going tomorrow and how do you we achieve that journey?\nHow should businesses organise themselves for the Communications World of tomorrow?\nTomorrow we will give our thoughts what we believe is one of the greatest challenges today and into the near future.", "label": "No"} {"text": "I remember being taught at school that Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue to prove that the Earth was round and not flat. Mr Columbus seemed to be the only man in Europe to have thought this way and his gullible and rebellious sailors were afraid that they would slip over the edge unto their doom. Why spoil a rollicking good story with the truth (what is truth?). In fact, no one of this period thought that the Earth was flat. The Ancient Greeks had worked out that the Earth was a globe from empirical evidence. By observing a ship pass across the horizon it was noted that the ship started to disappear from the bottom up. This sequence of events could only be compatible with a globe Earth. In 240BC the Greek philosopher, Eratosthenes, measured the circumference of the Earth using a little nifty trigonometry. Considering the crudeness of his methodology his estimate was surprisingly accurate.\nThe evidence that the Earth is a globe is multivarious and undeniable and you would have to be an absolute and complete nutter to believe that the Earth is flat. Die-hard ‘Flat Earthers’ of the English Flat Earth society finally admitted defeat in the 1960s and disbanded mainly due to evidence obtained from the space programme. Now you would think that would be the end of the discussion and the flat Earth theory would be consigned to the bin of historical curiosities. But nay, it seems that the belief in a flat Earth has had a resurgence in recent years and according to a recent survey 4% of millennials in the US believe in a flat Earth. So in a modern technological society how is it possible to believe such obvious nonsense? I blame the internet. At the flick of the wrist, you can be exposed to all manner of treatises. There has never been an age where so much information has been at our fingertips. But not all information is created the same and therein lies the problem. Not everyone will exercise their critical faculty when obtaining ‘knowledge’ from the internet making them vulnerable to accepting crackpot and unsubstantiated ideas and hypotheses. Furthermore, there appears to be a growing trend to consider science and other authority systems as misleading. This appears allied to a conspiracy mindset. There is no doubt that government agencies lie to their citizens or withhold information on a regular basis. This has always been the case. In the past, people were more trusting of the government than today. And to be fair this is not a bad thing. Everything should be open to critical scrutiny and this sentiment applies especially to government. However, this does not mean that all our leaders and Justin Beiber are shape-shifting alien lizards from the planet Theton.\nSo what does the modern day flat Earther actually believe in? The mechanics of the flat Earth are extremely fluid and appear to be very much driven by individual imagination rather than sound scientific principles. The following exposition is just a general guide. Thus, the Arctic region is represented at the centre of the Earth and the edge consists of an ice wall (Antarctica) which prevents oceans from crashing over a precipice. The sun, moon and stars are envisaged as being uncomfortably close (a few miles away) and disconcertingly small. After this things get decidedly hazy. A raft of convoluted explanations is put forth to account for observed natural phenomena such as the progression of day/night and the seasons. Flat Earthers generally deny the existence of gravity and other well established scientific principles. Their explanations are heavily dependant on intuition. How can the Earth be round if we can’t observe curvature? Or if the Earth is spinning why is it we remain in the same place if we jump off the ground? Surely if the Earth is revolving thousands of miles per hour we would expect to land elsewhere? Simple well established physical principles seem unknown such as inertia and conservation of momentum. This mindset comes under the umbrella of ‘scientific ignorance’ or the principle of ‘personal incredulity’. Basically, this means that because the individual can’t grasp the principle then it cannot exist. The fact that the greatest minds that have ever existed have grappled and solved nature’s conundrums is completely lost on these folk. And this brings me to the next point. The general level of education is pitifully lacking. Their arguments are farcical to anyone with a half decent school education. Sadly, the flat Earth fraternity represents woeful evidence and advertisement for the Dunning-Kruger effect.\nIn addition, to believing in a flat world there appears to be necessary add ons. Thus, if the moon is a small disc then NASA did not go there or anywhere as space travel is impossible if the Earth is covered with a dome. The International Space Station is visible to the naked eye if you are patient and prepared to wait for a suitable conjunction. I’ve watched the station through my 10” Dobsonian reflector telescope on several occasions. Due to the high resolving power of the telescope, I can make out features on this man-made object 400 km above the Earth. Explain this away flatties?\n|International Space Station through a 10\" telescope|\nA flat Earth conference was held last year in Denver, Colorado and a second is planned this year. Interestingly the location of the conference is given by GPS coordinates. The fact that GPS is dependent on Earth orbit satellites to provide locational data is lost on the attendees. While watching video coverage of last year’s highlights I couldn’t help but notice that the affair seemed to attract a certain type of person. No doubt they would describe themselves as ‘free thinkers’ but I noticed the usual suspects: ‘the mad, the bad and the sad’. The organisers and keynote speakers are happy to perform in the only arena they could shine and receive almost godlike adulation from their followers. Heady stuff for immature intellects and social inadequates. Although flatties would view themselves as individualistic and innovative thinkers all I can see is a load of intellectual sheep. And of course, where there are sheep there are wolves. Not all flat Earthers are genuine believers. As always the unscrupulous have found an easy mark to exploit and make money through youtube videos and merchandise.\nBy the way and if you are interested the next conference will cost a mere US$199 for a two-day event if you register early. See you there. I’ll be the blond fella wearing a tin foil hat. Wibble, bollocks.\n|Let's take no chances|", "label": "No"} {"text": "Self Care / Coping Techniques\nSpirasi uses several stress-reduction techniques for clients who experience anxiety.\nCapacitar is a series of techniques developed by Dr. Pat Cane to help people from all cultures deal with stress and trauma.\nGROUNDING TECHNIQUES WHEN TRIGGERED\nIf you have experienced any kind of trauma or a very stressful situation, it can happen that certain things such as specific smells, tastes, touches, shadows, images or something someone says or does can trigger you into a traumatic reaction.\nYou may find yourself suddenly in a state that feels like panic or terror or mentally transported back to a traumatic event so that it feels like it is happening in the present.\nThere are some techniques that can really help; here are some possibilities:\nHold your hands under cold running water.\nWash your hands while noticing yourself doing so.\nHold an ice cube.\nSplash water on your face.\nSmells can help.\nPierce the flesh of an orange, lime or lemon.\nPlace your hand on your tummy.\nBreathe in while counting to 7.\nBreathe out while counting to 11.\nBoth the breathing and the counting are grounding.\nSing a song and pay attention to the words.\nThink about what song might support you in this situation so that\nyou don't have to think of once at the time.\nYour body may feel frozen.\nIf you can, move your body or some part of it.\nGet up and move around, if you can. Stretch your arms. Jump.\nStamp around, feel and hear your feet contact the ground.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Rochester Castle, like many of England’s castles, was built in the wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066 to maintain a strong and visible military presence that would discourage armed resistance from the Anglo-Saxon populace. Situated strategically close to the River Medway, this formidable edifice would have been an intimidating enough sight to give even the most resolved enemy pause when considering an attack.\nStanding over 113 feet tall, the colossal structure towers above the surrounding area as a defining feature of the town and one of the most important historic sites in Kent. The castle was built in 1127 in a utilitarian manner with a solely military purpose, and so in spite of its impressive size and atmospheric ambiance, it noticeably lacks the beauty and charm of other more ornamental castles. But sure enough, the castle was besieged on several occasions in the Middle Ages, most notably during the First and Second Barons’ Wars of the 12th century.\nThe First Barons’ War was a bloody and prolonged civil war sparked by the tyrannical King John of England, who continued to violate the laws of the Magna Carta that he had been forced to sign at swordpoint. A group of powerful barons rebelled against the despot and fomented an uprising to overthrow the regime. In 1216, a contingent of the rebel army seized Rochester Castle and waited for reinforcements from London, but the army of King John burned the city’s bridge, preventing their arrival. This led to a fierce siege by the rebels, who finally had to surrender rather than starve to death, and were granted clemency.\nThe castle was again besieged in 1264 during the Second Barons’ War. The rebel army was once again led by a group of barons who sought to reassert the terms of the Magna Carta. This time the war had arisen in the face of a constitutional crisis caused by the misrule of King Henry III. During the siege, a greater degree of damage was inflicted on the castle, which is still evident today. Though the rebels were able to breach the outer walls, the defenders stood firm in the castle keep, firing arrows and crossbow bolts at the attackers. Due to the subsequent arrival of royal reinforcements, the army of the barons was eventually forced to withdraw.\nToday, the castle is an English Heritage site and museum, where its rich medieval history can be explored to the full and the ruins of this atmospheric edifice may be easily visited on a day trip from London or Canterbury.\nKnow Before You Go\nThe castle is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the entrance fee costs £6.40 or £4 if you are a card-carrying student.\nThe castle is unfortunately not good for those with mobility issues as the entire tour is around irregular rough stone steps, many of them on tight spiral staircases. There are benches throughout. It's 100+ steps to the top, and another 100+ back down.\nThere are small car parks near the castle, and there is ample pay parking on the Esplanade along the river below the castle.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The very structure of the human brain has something to do with god, religion and spirituality, Dr.Andrew Newberg, a US neuroscientist, says after a study// of brains of people belonging to different religions.\nThe frontal lobe, the area right behind our foreheads, helps us focus our attention in prayer and meditation.\nThe parietal lobe, located near the backs of our skulls, is the seat of our sensory information. Newberg says it's involved in that feeling of becoming part of something greater than oneself.\nThe limbic system, nestled deep in the center, regulates our emotions and is responsible for feelings of awe and joy.\nNewberg calls religion the great equalizer and points out that similar areas of the brain are affected during prayer and meditation. Newberg suggests that these brain scans may provide proof that our brains are built to believe in God. He says there may be universal features of the human mind that actually make it easier for us to believe in a higher power.\nAfter spending his early medical career studying how the brain works in neurological and psychiatric conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, depression and anxiety, Dr. Newberg took that brain-scanning technology and turned it toward the spiritual. His specialization is called neurotheology.\nFranciscan nuns, Tibetan Buddhists, and Pentecostal Christians in religious ecstasy were among those studied by Dr.Newberg and his team at the University of Pennsylvania.\n\"When we think of religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, we see a tremendous similarity across practices and across traditions,\" Newberg says.\nSome nuns and other believers champion the Pennsylvania brain scans as proof of an innate, physical conduit between human beings and God.\nAccording to them, it would only make sense that God would give humans a way to communicate with the Almighty through their brain functions.\nBut others say th\ne brain scans are proof that the emotions attached to religion and God are nothing more than manifestations of brain circuitry.\nScott Atran, an anthropologist does not think that that religion and spirituality is an innate quality hardwired by God in the human brain. Rather religion is a mere byproduct of evolution and Darwinian adaptation, he asserts.\n\"Just like we're not hardwired for boats, but humans in all cultures make boats in pretty much the same way, Atran explains. \"Now, that's a result both of the way the brain works and of the needs of the world, and of trying to traverse a liquid medium and so I think religion is very much like that.\"\nOr one may take the so-called palmistry as another example. The creases found on the palms are a mere byproduct of human beings working with hands - stretching back to the ages of striking the first fires, hunting the first prey to building early shelter.\nThus though the palm lines are coincidentally formed by eons of evolution and survival, cultures around the world try to find meaning in them through different forms of palm reading, Atran notes.\nToday, scientific images can track our thoughts on God all right, but the question why we think of God in the first place remains unsolved.\nGPL/B Related medicine news :1\n. Use of Cellular Phones associated with Increased risk of Brain Tumors2\n. Brain death – How to cope with it3\n. “Brain fingerprinting”- The new lie detectr4\n. Nasal Spray Could Take Drugs Direct to Brain.5\n. Virus Combats Brain Tumour6\n. Nasal Spray Could Take Drugs Directly to Brain7\n. Control of anger disorder connected to Brain Dysfunction8\n. High Levels of Protein Linked to Brain Shrinkage 9\n. Brain damage affects artistic skill10\n. Brain cells protected by new compounds 11\n. Brain changes observed in people with sleep apnoea", "label": "No"} {"text": "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nA stall is what happens when an aerofoil can not make enough lift to keep the aircraft in level flight. Stalling is risky and can be dangerous during low-level flying.\nThe stall is most likely to happen because of low air speed. To make up for low speed, a pilot will raise the nose of the aircraft to increase angle of attack, increase Lift Coefficient and keep the same lift. However, after a critical angle of attack is passed (often around 16 degrees) the lift stops increasing and actually collapses, causing a stall.\nThe critical angle of attack will always stall the aircraft. It does not matter whether the aircraft is going fast or slow.\nSigns of the stall\nThe signs of the developing stall are:\nlow air speed, high nose position, less effective controls, and light buffet (shaking) in the stick and rudder pedals.\nThe signs of a full stall are:\nheavy buffet in the controls, nose drops, the aircraft descends (falls).\nThere is the chance of entering a spin if the wings are not level.\nRecovery from a Stall\nTo recover from a stall, the pilot must push the nose down. Then he must increase the engine power using the throttle. When air speed increases again, the pilot can level his wings and pull up to return to his assigned flight level.\nAn aircraft with a T tail is at risk from deep stall, because the turbulent air coming back off the stalled wings covers the elevators and makes it very difficult to push the nose down and recover.\nA Stall Turn is an aerobatic manoeuvre also known as a hammerhead. The pilot lowers the aircraft's nose to increase speed, then pulls up sharply to the vertical. The aircraft slows to a low airspeed, then the pilot applies rudder to yaw to the left or right through 180 degrees. The pilot then recovers from the subsequent dive once the aircraft has sufficient airspeed. If executed correctly the wing is not stalled at any point, hence the preferred name of \"hammerhead\" for this manoeuvre.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The wall of dust typically reaches heights between 1,500 and 3,000 feet and can stretch as far as 100 miles wide. To put that into perspective, that's the distance between Phoenix and Tucson.\nWalls of dust can stretch as far as 100 miles wide\nHowever, the Valley has seen dust storms that are even bigger. On July 5, 2011, the biggest haboob ever observed in the Valley rolled in. It was estimated at over 5,000 feet tall and stretched the entire length of the Valley, from Goodyear to Apache Junction.\nIf you get caught outside during a dust storm, seek shelter immediately or you may be hurt by flying rocks and debris being thrown around by winds up to 50 mph.\nIf you’re driving when a dust storm hits, remember to pull off to the right, take your foot off of the brake and turn off your car’s engine and lights. Wait there until visibility improves.\nThe effects of dust storms can linger for days, worsening our air quality and causing many people difficulty breathing.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Cats have excellent eyesight, and they rely on their super sharp vision to prosper in the environment they live in, whether that’s outdoors or inside. But in some cases, felines can develop blindness, especially as they get older.\nThere are a few signs you can look for to help you find out if your cat’s vision is deteriorating. Of course, if you suspect your cat might be going blind, you must consult your veterinarian right away. Regular vet checkups can also help detect and treat eye problems early.\nHere’s how to stay on top of finding out if your cat might be going blind or experiencing eye issues.\nWatch Your Cat’s Behavior And Check Their Eyes\nThe most obvious way you might discover your cat is losing their sight is if you notice them becoming clumsy while going about their day to day activities.\nSpecific things to look out for include:\n- Misjudging attempts to jump up or down from furniture or cat trees.\n- Seeming like they’re bumping into furniture around the house that has always been in the same space.\n- Looking like they’re walking around in a wary and unbalanced state.\n- Seeming disoriented while trying to look for their food bowls or litter box.\nBeyond clumsiness, you can look closely at your cat’s eyes to see if anything seems amiss. In particular, one of your cat’s pupils might appear bigger or smaller than the other, which can signal the onset of blindness.\nSquinting can also be a sign to watch out for. Redness around the eyes or the eyes looking cloudy can be warning signs that should be brought up with your vet, too.\nIf you notice your cat meowing more, that can be an indicator that the cat is in distress and attempting to communicate this to you for help.\nFinally, as a quick test, move a favorite toy up and down in front of your cat. If the cat doesn’t seem to recognize the presence and movement of the toy, that might mean blindness has become an issue.\nHow Should You Care For A Blind Cat?\nFirst of all, when it comes to caring for a blind cat, you must seek out advice from your vet. They can help guide you through the process. And remember, a blind cat can still live out a loving and healthy life!\nYou might be advised to switch up your home environment so that it’s easier for the blind cat to make their way up onto a favorite chair or sleeping spot.\nClutter in the house is also something to avoid. Keep things open and clear so your cat can move around without bumping into anything.\nFinally, it’s prudent to give any cat with blindness or visibility issues a name tag that documents the ailment. If they happen to get lost or end up at an emergency vet, this will help whoever finds them know what to expect.\nDo you have experience with caring for a blind cat? Did you see any signs that they were losing their vision? Tell us your top tips in the comments section below!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Universal Declaration of Human Rights\n(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.\n(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.\n(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.\n(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.\nMost of the clothes we wear are produced in Global South countries. Wages are lower, after all. Producers do have to lower their costs to stay in business, and it's natural that they would seek lower wage costs.\nHowever, the problem comes where there's no minimum wage, no controls on the number of hours worked, no environmental protections, and no protection for workers who try to unionize. Here, the drive to minimize costs comes at a real cost to workers. They have to put food on the table for their families, so they have no bargaining power.\nMost companies oppose unions. There are exceptions; Harley Davidson has generally good relationships with its unions (apart from the recent strike), and Cingular stated that it would not oppose its workers joining unions. But exceptions like these prove the rule. Even in the US, which has formal protections guaranteeing the right to organize and bargain collectively, many companies engage in questionable tactics to prevent unions from forming.\nAt the University of Michigan, there is a campaign to get the University to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program:\n\"University logo apparel goods will be sourced from a set of designated supplier factories that have been determined by universities to have affirmatively demonstrated full and consistent respect for the rights of their employees. In addition to respect for the standards currently embodied in university codes of conduct, these factories will also be required to meet two additional standards: demonstrable respect for rights of association – as evidenced by the presence of a legitimate, representative union or other representative employee body – and the payment of a livable wage. University licensees will pay these factories prices for their products sufficient to allow factories to achieve these standards, prices which will represent modest increases over industry norms, and will be expected to maintain the kind of long-term relationships with these factories necessary to allow for a reasonable degree of financial stability and job security. These factories will produce primarily or exclusively for the university logo goods market.\"\nThe Program contains stipulations for workplace standards, pricing of orders, monitoring, transparency, and enforcement. The University previously relied on its Code of Conduct, which specified standards that the University had to adhere to when sourcing apparel. It was rarely enforced. Those factories that did enforce it became uncompetitive, and went out of business. However, the University has not done anything about it. Although 30 other Universities signed the DSP, the U of M has refused to do so.\n12 students from Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality sat in at the President's office yesterday. They were arrested, and President Coleman apparently instructed the county prosecutor to press misdemanor charges. Apparently, President Coleman only told them that she does not accede to demands from students. This demonstrates arrogance and a lack of accountability, as well as a lack of concern for human rights.", "label": "No"} {"text": "They're still not terribly fast, and they don't move terribly far, but I've arrived at the crucial step of getting artificial muscles to actuate something more than just a weight hanging from a string. First up, we have a heterochiral muscle (the type that expand when heated) flexing a piece of paper. Each coil of the muscle is sewn to the paper on one side with a loop of thread, so the coils expand on one side and are constrained on the other, causing the paper to bend. This is almost a no-load movement, and strikes me as being most useful for something decorative, such as an artificial plant. You might notice that the cooling cycle is almost as quick as the heating cycle. I attribute that to chilly ambient temperatures in the upstairs laboratory.\nNext we have a homochiral (contracting) muscle, rotating a piece of cardboard on a hinge. The opposing force of the rubber band on the opposite side pulls the cardboard back into its original position during the cooling cycle. The homochiral muscle featured in the video has been annealed with some space between the coils when at rest, so it doesn't have to be put under tension in order to have working room.\nBoth of these muscles are drawing about 1 A of current. They are made of Trilene Big Game fishing line, test strength 50 lb., diameter 711 um, with a heating element of 10/46 copper litz wire. The homochiral muscle has two strands wired in parallel. The heterochiral muscle was coiled on a rod of 3/16” diameter, while the homochiral muscle was coiled on a 1/8” rod.\nAnnealing muscles with built-in coil spacing\nI determined in some previousexperiments that trying to spread the coils of a homochiral muscle when one first coils it on the rod is a bad idea. At this point there is a great deal of tension on the line – it wants to uncoil itself – and the coils don't cooperate very well. Coiling the muscle on a threaded rod is a possibility that I haven't tried yet; the spacing of the threads would limit the coil spacings one could achieve.\nI started looking at ways to adjust the coil spacing after the initial annealing. First, I tried putting the muscle under tension (with no rod in the center) and running a high current through the heating wire, hoping to anneal it into its new shape. This method gives the most even coil spacing one could ask for, but the amount of heat applied to the muscle was only sufficient to “soft-set” it. I noticed that as it sat around for a few days, the coils slowly returned to their original close-packed configuration. When I tried annealing a muscle under tension at full heat in the oven, without a supporting rod in the center, the coils just went flat.\nIn the end, the best method I found was to put the muscle through its first annealing phase, manually spread the coils on the rod, then anneal it a second time. It's a little tedious – friction holds the coils against the rod, so you have to slide each one into the right position with your fingernail to get the spacing even – but it seems to work.\n|A close-up photo of the homochiral muscle with spread coils|\nAn aside about plastic springs\nIn addition to artificial muscles, you can make simple passive springs by coiling nylon monofilament around a rod and annealing it (without primary twisting or a heating wire). The spring constant is determined by the thickness of the filament (larger diameters yield larger constants) and the size of the rod (smaller diameters yield larger constants). I got rather excited about this a few months ago, thinking I'd never need to buy a spring again. The problem is, these plastic springs don't necessarily hold up well.\nIf you follow any of my social media feeds, you might remember when I posted this spider leg video. There's a plastic spring at each joint, made from the 533 um Zebcom Omniflex line, and I'm actuating them by pulling the tendons with my fingers:\nI took that video the day I finished building the leg. A few days later, the leg was in sorry shape, merely because I had allowed my house to heat up in the afternoons. This was sufficient to make the springs relax a good deal, so that I had to shorten them to get the same degree of tension I had before.\nNaturally, this leaves me in some concern about the muscles as well. How might they be affected by high ambient temperatures? I haven't done any tests in which I compared a muscle's performance across many sessions of operation, with temperature spikes in between.\nComments now require moderator approval, because spammers have been really junking up the place. Sorry.\nIn the new year, I think I'm going to try to build an “artificial muscle summary” page featuring everything I've learned, for the benefit of others who want to experiment. Once that's done, I may set muscles aside for a while. There are soooo many other things I want to work on.\nHave a most excellent New Year!\nHave a most excellent New Year!", "label": "No"} {"text": "The chief science officers program teaches students how to bring awareness to STEM at their schools.\nStudents who participate in STEM programs if they want to pursue a career that requires that knowledge.\n“That’s why STEM is so cool because you can go and get a PhD in engineering or some sort of science,” Allison Sweeney, Chief Science Officer program coordinator, said. “You can go to vocational school after high school and start as an electrician or something right away>\nAs a STEM ambassador, students are a voice for STEM programs at their school. They make action plans that ensure all students in their school are getting a well rounded education in STEM subjects.\nThe program continues through Wednesday at Southern Oregon University. To end the day on Wednesday they showcase everything they have learned in the program.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Note: This message is displayed if (1) your browser is not standards-compliant or (2) you have you disabled CSS. Read our Policies for more information.\nThe government of the Northwest Territory was begun in Marietta (now in Ohio) on July 15, 1788. Arthur St. Clair was the appointed governor. Formation of county governments was begun. Knox County was formed June 20, 1790 with Vincennes as the county seat. The county was much bigger than the present state of Indiana.\nA major problem for the government of the Northwest Territory was relations with the Indian tribes. There was continuing unrest and hostility between the Indians and the settlers.\nAmerican General Anthony Wayne led a major defeat of Indian tribes at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794. The resulting Treaty of Greenville was signed on August 3, 1795. \"About two thirds of the future state of Ohio and a small portion of southeastern Indiana was thus freed of Indian claims plus sixteen small tracts at the portages and along the river routes. In Indiana these included the Wabash-Maumee portage, Ouiatanon, Clark's Grant, and the Vincennes Tract around the village on the Wabash.\" The Indian tribes received $20,000 in goods and were promised annual goods valued at $9,500. The annual goods were split into $1,000 or $500 portions for each individual tribe.\nThe territory moved to the second stage of government on October 29, 1798. William Henry Harrison was elected the first delegate to Congress from the territory in 1799. There was much political agitation about the new financial burdens of government and about civil rights by residents in the western part of the territory. An example of the agitation, excerpted from a Knox County petition, is provided on this page. Harrison helped in the passage of legislation to divide the territory into two governments.\nSources: Barnhart and Riker, 272-74, 280-94, 301-5, 308-12.", "label": "No"} {"text": "3rd Confederate Infantry Regiment in Cleburne’s Division in late Atlanta Campaign 1864.\nOn Thursday, September 24, the artist was called to pick up the painting with the explanation that under California’s state law, the local fair district cannot hang the painting to be shown. California’s fair districts are a state run entity and fall under the 2014 law AB-2444 and cannot sell or display Confederate flags and symbols.\nAs a consolation, the artist was told, “the painting was allowed to be judged” and, “ had it won a place or prize, those would have been awarded to the artist.”\nThe fair people the artist talked with were sympathetic and showed the June 2015 letter from the State of California that was mailed to all fair districts and to all vendors and concessionaires who are operating their business at California fairs. The artist asked if he was considered a vendor or concession as he was not selling the painting. The reply was no, that the fair cannot display it. He asked for a copy of the letter and was told that they would mail him a copy. He was also told that the fair people had petitioned by telephone call to the California Fairs Director in Sacramento, that the painting depicted an historical scene, and also contacted the state Attorney General. It seemed that everyone’s hands were tied by the legislation. At some point someone in Sacramento had to have decided that the historic depiction did not matter.\nHere is the law:\nAssembly Bill No. 2444\nAn act to add Chapter 2.9 (commencing with Section 8195) to Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to the Confederate flag.\n[Approved by Governor September 25, 2014. Filed with Secretary of State September 25, 2014.]\nlegislative counsel’s digest\nAB 2444, Hall. Confederate flag: sales: government property.\nExisting law regulates the sale of certain merchandise, including political items and sports memorabilia.\nThis bill would prohibit the State of California from selling or displaying the Battle Flag of the Confederacy, or a similar image, or tangible personal property inscribed with those images, unless the image appears in a book, digital medium, or state museum that serves an educational or historical purpose.\nThe people of the State of California do enact as follows:\nSECTION 1. Chapter 2.9 (commencing with Section 8195) is added to Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:\nChapter 2.9. Confederate Flag\n8195. (a) The State of California may not sell or display the Battle Flag of the Confederacy, also referred to as the Stars and Bars, or any similar image, or tangible personal property, inscribed with such an image unless the image appears in a book, digital medium, or state museum that serves an educational or historical purpose.\n(b) For purposes of this section, “sell” means to transfer title or possession, exchange, or barter, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, for consideration. “Transfer possession” includes only transactions that would be found by the State Board of Equalization, for purposes of the Sales and Use Tax Law, to be in lieu of a transfer of title, exchange, or barter.\nAs well as the legislature not understanding the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution, notice also, that the law erroneously refers to the “Battle Flag” as the “Stars and Bars.” In the painting is the “Second National” Confederate pattern.\nWhile many may discredit Wikipedia as a source, there is a good discussion of this there at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America\nThe black and white painting was done for a local art show called “Black and White Show” in May 2015. Red was added to the Confederate States’ Second National flag’s canton in June.\nTim’s book also:\nTHE DOC ~ Revised Edition\nCopyright © 2014 by Tim Desmond\nCover Design by Jackson Cover Design\nAll cover art copyright © 2014\nAll Rights Reserved\nPrint ISBN: 978-1-626941-44-1\nTimothy J. Desmond\nAmazon author page at: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00694KQQO\nBlack Opal Books: http://www.blackopalbooks.com/\nThe Doc page and Writing at: http://timothydesmond.wordpress.com\nArt at: http://artbydesmond.wordpress.com", "label": "No"} {"text": "Report of the International Criminal Court.\nNote by the Secretary-General\nThe report of the International Criminal Court is submitted herewith to the General Assembly, in accordance with the provisions of article 6 of the Relationship Agreement between the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (A/58/874, annex).\nReport of the International Criminal Court for 2004\nThe International Criminal Court (hereinafter “the Court”) is an independent, treaty-based, permanent judicial institution with jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. By punishing individuals who commit these crimes, the Court is intended to contribute to the deterrence of such crimes as well as to international peace and security and respect for international justice. The Court is complementary to national jurisdictions and its Statute and Rules of Procedure and Evidence guarantee fair, public trials consistent with internationally recognized human rights. To be effective in its activities, the Court needs the cooperation of States, international organizations and civil society.\nThe judges and the Prosecutor of the Court took office in 2003. Two years later, the Court has entered the judicial phase of its operations. Three States parties have referred situations on their territories to the Prosecutor. The Security Council has referred one situation to the Prosecutor. The Prosecutor is investigating three situations: the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Uganda; and Darfur, the Sudan, and is monitoring eight other situations. The Court is conducting field operations and the Pre-Trial Chambers have begun the first judicial proceedings.\nWhile respecting the necessary independence of the organs of the Court under the Rome Statute, the different organs of the Court coordinate their activities on matters of common concern, including strategic planning; external relations, public information, and outreach; and the operation of field presences. The Court is committed to transparency and accountability in its activities, and maintains regular dialogue with States parties, non-State parties, international organizations, in particular the United Nations, and civil society.\nThe different organs of the Court contribute to the objectives of the Court in accordance with their respective mandates. The Presidency has a wide range of administrative, judicial and external relations responsibilities. The judges have been preparing for the fair and expeditious conduct of proceedings and have begun to conduct the first proceedings at the pre-trial level. The Office of the Prosecutor is responsible for analysing information on possible crimes and conducting investigations and prosecutions; its work in the last two years has focused on establishing the Office, consulting with stakeholders in the development of guiding strategies and launching the first operational activities, including the three current investigations. The Registry provides administrative and operational support to all organs of the Court while carrying out its specific mandates in relation to victims, witnesses, defence and outreach in both headquarters and the field.\nSince 2002, the Assembly of States Parties has held three sessions, during which it has adopted a number of instruments, rules, regulations and resolutions which, in accordance with the Rome Statute, constitute the normative framework for the activities of the Court. The Assembly has also established a Committee on Budget and Finance to provide an appropriate mechanism for the budgetary and financial review and monitoring of the resources of the Court. The Bureau of the Assembly established two working groups.\nThe Court has made substantial progress since the judges and the Prosecutor assumed office. However, the Court cannot succeed alone. The work of the Court is a common endeavour, dependent on the support and cooperation of all States parties, as well as other States, international organizations and civil society.\n1. The International Criminal Court (hereinafter “the Court”) was established by the Rome Statute (hereinafter “the Statute”), which was adopted on 17 July 1998 and entered into force on 1 July 2002. As at 1 July 2005, 99 States had ratified or acceded to the Statute.\n2. The Court is an independent, permanent judicial institution with jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Statute recognizes that States have the primary responsibility for investigating and punishing these crimes. The Court is complementary to the efforts of States to investigate and prosecute international crimes. It may only exercise its jurisdiction over cases where national systems do not conduct proceedings or where they are unwilling or genuinely unable to carry out such proceedings. By helping to ensure that the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes do not go unpunished, the Court is intended to contribute to the prevention of these serious international crimes.\n3. The Court is the centrepiece of an emerging system of international criminal justice which includes national courts, international courts and hybrid tribunals with both national and international components. These institutions of criminal justice are also closely linked to efforts to establish and maintain international peace and security. In his report to the Security Council of August 2004, the Secretary-General of the United Nations observed, “[the United Nations] experience in the past decade has demonstrated clearly that the consolidation of peace in the immediate postconflict period, as well as the maintenance of peace in the long term, cannot be achieved unless the population is confident that redress for grievances can be obtained through legitimate structures for the peaceful settlement of disputes and the fair administration of justice”. The International Criminal Court is intended to contribute to efforts to restore and maintain international peace and security and guarantee lasting respect for and the enforcement of international justice.\n4. As a judicial institution, the Court is designed to conduct fair, impartial and efficient investigations, prosecutions and trials. Its Statute, Rules of Procedure and Evidence and other supplementary texts include detailed safeguards to ensure the integrity of the Court’s proceedings. At all stages of proceedings, the rights of the accused and other actors are guaranteed through both substantive law and procedural mechanisms. In addition, the Statute contains innovative provisions permitting victims to participate in proceedings and to obtain reparations from the Court.\n5. To be effective, the International Criminal Court must work closely with a number of critical partners, including States and international, regional and non-governmental organizations. The Court does not have its own police force capable of implementing its decisions or orders. Instead, the Court requires the cooperation of States in many areas, including evidence collection, the arrest and surrender of persons and the enforcement of sentences. The Statute imposes detailed obligations on States parties to cooperate with the Court. The Court will also need the assistance of other States in a position to assist the Court as well as that of international, regional and non-governmental organizations. Formal agreements between the Court and such actors facilitate cooperation.\n6. Effective cooperation with the United Nations is particularly important to the Court. The Statute recognizes specific roles for the United Nations and the Security Council. The Relationship Agreement, concluded on 4 October 2004 by the President of the Court and the Secretary-General of the United Nations on behalf of their respective institutions, affirms the independence of the Court while establishing a framework for cooperation. The agreement provides for institutional relations between the Court and the United Nations, including the granting to the Court of observer status at the General Assembly. The Relationship Agreement also contains provisions on cooperation and judicial assistance that are crucial to the Court’s operational activities.\n7. While the Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002, the Court only truly came into existence with the inauguration of the judges, the Prosecutor and the Registrar in March, June and July 2003 respectively. Since that time, the elected officials and staff of the Court have worked hard to prepare the Court for its judicial operations. The Court has recruited a permanent staff of 323 people from 58 countries, developed its administrative policies and established its infrastructure. The Court places heavy emphasis on the recruitment of highly qualified staff. The Court’s selection of staff in the Professional category is guided in principle by a system of desirable ranges based on that of the United Nations. States may assist the Court in identifying qualified candidates from underrepresented States.\n8. The Court is now at the beginning of the judicial phase of its operations. Three States parties — Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic — have referred situations in their respective territories to the Prosecutor. In addition, the Security Council has referred the situation in Darfur, the Sudan, to the Prosecutor. One non-State party, Côte d’Ivoire, has lodged a declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the Court. Having evaluated the information made available to him, the Prosecutor has initiated investigations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Uganda; and Darfur, the Sudan. The Prosecutor has also received over 1,300 communications relating to situations that might fall within the jurisdiction of the Court. In addition to the situations under investigation, the Prosecutor is currently monitoring eight other situations around the world, including in the Central African Republic and Côte d’Ivoire.\n9. The Court is establishing its operations in the field in connection with the situations under investigation. The Pre-Trial Chambers have begun the first judicial proceedings and the first trial proceedings are expected to begin in 2006, provided the Court receives sufficient cooperation from States in arresting and surrendering persons.\nII. Activities involving the whole Court\n10. Guaranteeing a fair trial requires respecting the independence of the Court’s different organs under its Statute, namely the Presidency; the Appeals, Trial and Pre-Trial Divisions; the Office of the Prosecutor; and the Registry. While respecting this independence, the organs must work together as one Court on matters of common concern. The Coordination Council, comprised of the President on behalf of the Presidency, the Prosecutor and the Registrar, leads the Court in ensuring general coordination among the organs on administrative matters of common concern. The Coordination Council also invites the Director of the Secretariat of the Assembly of States Parties to participate in meetings on issues of mutual interest.\n11. In order to ensure effective, integrated development, the Court has made a priority of establishing a strategic planning process. The Court is developing a fiveyear strategic plan that will define strategic goals for the Court and a strategy for achieving those goals. Although the plan is still in the early stages, the Court has identified a provisional set of Court goals and substantially developed a “capacity model” that will assist the coordinated planning of the Court’s resource needs. Work done on the strategic plan has already contributed to the structural cohesion of the budget and to the identification and development of common policies on issues such as external relations and field offices.\n12. The Court is committed to the sound financial management of its activities. To ensure an effective internal audit mechanism, the Coordination Council has adopted a Charter for Internal Audit. This Charter clarifies and elaborates the legal mandate of the existing Office of Internal Audit. It also establishes an Oversight Committee to advise the Office and ensure management involvement while respecting the independence of the Office.\n13. The Court has adopted a common approach to the entirety of its external relations, public information and outreach activities. The Court is concluding a wide range of agreements to facilitate different aspects of its operations. Agreements have been concluded with the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda to facilitate the Court’s operations in connection with the investigations in those countries. As indicated above, the Court concluded the Relationship Agreement with the United Nations in 2004. An agreement with the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) is being negotiated. The Court is in the process of negotiating agreements for cooperation with other international and regional organizations, including the African Union and the European Union. Other agreements have been negotiated or will be negotiated with States on specific issues of necessary cooperation, such as the acceptance of prisoners sentenced by the Court and the relocation of witnesses. It is important that States parties conclude such agreements, which provide for essential cooperation with the Court.\n14. Regular contacts with interested partners help to ensure the transparency and accountability of the Court, as well as provide necessary feedback on key policies and decisions. The Court currently holds three regular diplomatic briefings for representatives of States each year, with two briefings being held in The Hague and one in Brussels. The Court and its representatives also meet regularly to exchange information with representatives of individual States or groups of States or with non-governmental organizations both at the seat of the Court and elsewhere. Expert consultations, online public hearings and other forms of communication have been held in the course of developing essential Court documents. For example, the Court held an online public hearing on victims and defence issues in the preparation of the Regulations of the Court. This hearing allowed wide participation in the process of adopting the Regulations and the Court received responses from all over the world.\n15. The Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry have devoted particular attention to working closely together in the field. The Court is operating two field offices — one in Kinshasa and one in Kampala — as well as a field presence in Bunia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Court is also evaluating its needs in connection with the investigation in Darfur. These field operations are joint initiatives of the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry and carry out the functions described in the sections below on the activities of each organ.\n16. In establishing and maintaining field operations, the Court has encountered a number of challenges. Security is often a concern, particularly where the Court is active in situations of ongoing conflict. Establishing reliable logistics can also be difficult. Each situation presents its own challenges in terms of the geographical location as well as the linguistic and cultural composition of the region. To be effective, the Court must make contacts within local communities and find reliable intermediaries for disseminating information and carrying out necessary functions. As a consequence, the success of the Court’s field activities depends to a large extent on the cooperation it receives from the State where the Court operates, as well as other States and international or regional organizations in a position to affect cooperation.\n17. The Presidency consists of three judges elected by their peers. They are President Philippe Kirsch (Canada), First Vice-President Akua Kuenyehia (Ghana) and Second Vice-President Elizabeth Odio Benito (Costa Rica). The Presidency’s functions may be grouped into three main areas: administrative, judicial and external relations.\n18. The Presidency’s administrative functions include both exercising managerial oversight of the Registry and ensuring the effective delivery of services by the Registry to the judiciary. In its oversight function, the Presidency has provided input into a wide range of administrative policies and issued presidential directives on issues such as the staff regulations, information security and trust funds of the Court.\n19. In the exercise of its judicial functions, the Presidency organizes the judicial work of the Chambers and carries out specific judicial functions assigned to the Presidency by the Statute, Rules of Procedure and Evidence and Regulations of the Court. Among its activities, the Presidency has convened six plenary sessions of the judges, constituted Pre-Trial Chambers and assigned the situations referred to the Prosecutor to Pre-Trial Chambers. The Presidency has approved standard forms for victims to apply to participate in proceedings and is considering standard forms for victims to apply for reparations. The Presidency has also contacted States to enquire if they would agree to be placed on a list of States willing to accept persons sentenced to a term of imprisonment by the Court.\n20. The Presidency’s external relations activities include the negotiation and conclusion of agreements on behalf of the Court and the promotion of public awareness and understanding of the Court. The President has met with heads of State and Government, government officials, representatives of States, parliamentarians and representatives of international and regional organizations. He has also played a leading role in addressing non-governmental organizations, academics, the media and the public at large about the role and functions of the Court. Such initiatives are intended to enhance understanding of the Court and thereby increase acceptance of the Court.\n21. The Chambers consist of 18 judges, including the members of the Presidency, organized in three divisions. The current judges, all of whom took up office in March 2003, are:\n(a) Appeals Division: Georghios Pikis (Cyprus), President of the Division; Philippe Kirsch (Canada); Navanethem Pillay (South Africa); Sang-Hyun Song (Republic of Korea); and Erkki Kourula (Finland);\n(b) Trial Division: Elizabeth Odio Benito (Costa Rica); Karl T. Hudson- Phillips (Trinidad and Tobago); Maureen Harding Clark (Ireland); René Blattmann (Bolivia); Anita Ušacka (Latvia); and Adrian Fulford (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);\n(c) Pre-Trial Division: Hans-Peter Kaul (Germany), President of the Division; Akua Kuenyehia (Ghana); Claude Jorda (France); Tuiloma Neroni Slade (Samoa); Mauro Politi (Italy); Fatoumata Dembele Diarra (Mali); and Sylvia Steiner (Brazil).\n22. Upon assuming office, the judges began preparing to ensure that all proceedings before the Court are fair, independent, impartial and efficient. In May 2004, the judges adopted the Regulations of the Court in accordance with article 52 of the Statute. These Regulations cover the range of the Court’s activities and are necessary to the Court’s routine functioning. The Regulations were considered by the States parties without objection. The judges did receive and consider a few comments on the Regulations and made a few technical revisions of the French version of the Regulations. The Regulations called for the judges to adopt a Code of Judicial Ethics. This Code — an innovation for international criminal tribunals — was adopted by the judges at their plenary session of March 2005. \n23. The judges have also been preparing for the technical aspects of proceedings. They meet in chambers, divisions, plenary sessions and other regular meetings to coordinate and discuss matters of joint interest, such as the practical aspects of victims’ participation in proceedings, disclosure of documents, presentation of evidence, translation and interpretation and issues relating to the defence and the accused.\n24. The Court has begun its first judicial proceedings at the pre-trial level. The Presidency has constituted three Pre-Trial Chambers and assigned each situation referred to the Prosecutor as follows:\n(a) Pre-Trial Chamber I: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Darfur, the Sudan;\n(b) Pre-Trial Chamber II: Uganda;\n(c) Pre-Trial Chamber III: Central African Republic.\n25. On 17 February 2005, Pre-Trial Chamber I issued the first judicial decision of the chambers in a case, deciding to convene a status conference with the Prosecutor and his representatives on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, Pre-Trial Chamber I has held a number of hearings and issued several decisions in relation to this situation. \nV. Office of the Prosecutor\n26. The Office of the Prosecutor (hereinafter “the Office”) is responsible for receiving and analysing referrals and information in order to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to investigate; for conducting investigations into genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; and for conducting prosecutions before the Court of persons responsible for such crimes.\n27. The Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo (Argentina), was sworn in on 16 June 2003. In the two years since then, major priorities have been (a) creating the Office and recruiting the Office team; (b) engaging in consultation and dialogue with stakeholders in the development of guiding strategies; and (c) launching the first operational activities, which currently include investigations in three situations: Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Darfur, the Sudan.\n28. The Office of the Prosecutor must carry out its activities in contexts of ongoing violence and instability, without the benefit of its own enforcement apparatus, and is expected to do so in a manner that is both exemplary and costeffective. The Office has taken several key strategic decisions to guide its operations, including the following: a collaborative approach with the international community, fostering strong cooperation; a positive approach to complementarity, encouraging genuine national proceedings wherever possible; a policy of targeted prosecution, focusing on the persons who bear the greatest responsibility; efficient investigations and focused charges; and a small and flexible Office relying on external networks of support. In 2004, the Office started investigations in the two gravest situations under its treaty jurisdiction (Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda) and did so with the agreement of the territorial States.\nCreating the Office\n29. The Office has grown from 7 members when the Prosecutor took office to 91 fixed-term staff in July 2005. The Deputy Prosecutor (Investigations), Serge Brammertz (Belgium), was sworn in on 3 November 2003 and the Deputy Prosecutor (Prosecutions), Fatou Bensouda (the Gambia), was sworn in on 1 November 2004.\n30. The Office has critically examined and refined its organization, in order to arrive at a structure that best reflects its functions. A multidisciplinary approach brings together investigators, analysts, trial attorneys, cooperation advisers, victims experts and others in the common goal of conducting focused and effective investigations. An Executive Committee comprised of the heads of divisions and chaired by the Prosecutor provides advice on major decisions, such as the initiation of investigations, and promotes coordination of activities.\n31. The Office has also developed legal tools to carry out its work efficiently, including templates and databases for preparing and tracking requests for assistance, as well as four internal protocols to ensure compliance with statutory duties on disclosure, questioning witnesses, the principle of objectivity and unique investigative opportunities. The Office is also developing a case management application (the “case matrix”) and analytical materials on crimes and procedures in the Statute.\nConsultation with partners\n32. Consistent with the approach of the Court as a whole, the Prosecutor initiated a practice of consultation with stakeholders from the outset of his term, with a public hearing in June 2003 to receive input on general strategy and priority tasks. A draft policy paper was discussed at the public hearing, made available on the website for public comment and finalized in September 2003. In addition, a draft annex to the policy paper, concerning an analysis of referrals and communications, has been posted on the website for comment.\n33. The Office also conducted a series of expert consultation processes, involving over 125 criminal justice experts, preparing reports on issues such as length of proceedings, investigations and State cooperation, and complementarity in practice. The reports are on the Court’s website.\n34. The Office has continued this practice of consultation, including several meetings with non-governmental organizations between 2003 and 2005, and a first meeting with States parties on 20 June 2005 to discuss strategies and activities of the Office. The Office is currently developing a methodology for assessing the interests of justice (article 53 of the Rome Statute) and is conducting consultations with States parties, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations on this and other issues.\n35. As noted above, the Office has initiated investigations into three situations (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Darfur, the Sudan) and is also collecting information on eight other situations of concern.\n36. The Office of the Prosecutor is investigating the situation in Uganda, which involves allegations of large-scale abductions, killings, torture and sexual violence. The majority of alleged abductees are children. The investigation in Uganda is at an advanced stage after 10 months of work. The Office has conducted over 50 trips to the field; interviewed crime base witnesses, overview witnesses and others; and collected documents, videos, photographs and other materials. The Office concluded a cooperation agreement with the Government of Uganda and benefits from excellent cooperation from the Government and other cooperation partners. The Office has made several missions to engage with local groups to establish relationships for cooperation and assessing interests of victims and invited community leaders to The Hague to discuss how to coordinate the respective efforts of the Office and community leaders. The Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry have established a field office in Uganda.\n37. The Office of the Prosecutor is investigating the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which involves allegations of thousands of deaths by mass murder and summary execution since 2002, as well as large-scale patterns of rape, torture and use of child soldiers. There are many areas of extreme insecurity and ongoing conflict, with no effective State presence. Numerous armed groups active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are allegedly involved in crimes. Given the scale of the situation, the investigation of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will proceed in sequence. One or two cases, selected on the basis of gravity, are prioritized in 2005, while other cases will be developed subsequently. The first investigations are progressing well. The Office has carried out over 50 trips to the field; collected over 11,000 documents; interviewed over 60 persons; and collected documents, videos, photographs and other materials. The Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry have established a field office in Kinshasa and a field presence in Bunia. The Office has concluded a cooperation agreement with the Government; however, the Government faces great logistical challenges and many areas are not under effective control, so inability to rely on effective cooperation remains a great challenge for the investigation. Cooperation from MONUC will be essential, as will be cooperation from others with relevant information.\n38. The Office of the Prosecutor is investigating the situation in Darfur, the Sudan, which involves allegations of the killing of thousands of civilians and the widespread destruction and looting of villages, leading to the displacement of approximately 1.9 million civilians, as well as allegations of a pervasive pattern of rape and sexual violence and persistent targeting and intimidation of humanitarian personnel. Following the referral, the Office collected more than 2,500 items from the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, as well as over 3,000 documents from other sources. The Office was in contact with more than 100 groups and individuals and interviewed more than 50 experts. On 1 June 2005, the Prosecutor initiated an investigation and informed Pre-Trial Chamber I, followed by a public announcement thereafter.\n39. The Office has been in contact with authorities from the Sudan, the African Union, the United Nations and other partners to discuss cooperation. The Prosecutor presented a report to the Security Council on 29 June 2005. The Office will identify those individuals who bear the greatest responsibility for the crimes and will assess the admissibility of the selected cases. The Office is planning its investigation and working actively in developing operational support.\n40. Cooperation is essential for all investigations. The Office has concluded cooperation agreements under article 54, paragraph 3 (d), of the Rome Statute to facilitate its work, including with Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), as well as some States parties and non-governmental organizations, and participates in the negotiation of Court-wide agreements with essential actors such as the African Union, the European Union and MONUC.\n41. The Registry is headed by the Registrar, Bruno Cathala (France), who was elected by the judges on 24 June 2003. The core functions of the Registry are the following: to provide administrative and operational support to the judiciary and to the Office of the Prosecutor, as well as to the Registry’s activities in the areas of defence, victims, communications and security; to ensure the servicing of the Court; and to develop effective mechanisms to assist victims, witnesses and defence with a view to safeguarding their rights in accordance with the Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Furthermore, the Registry has a key role to play in ensuring public proceedings. In addition to its activities at headquarters, with the launching of the three investigations by the Office of the Prosecutor, the Registry is establishing and developing field operations.\n42. Over the last two years, the Registry has worked to build the operational and administrative support structures for the Court as a whole, while also establishing the necessary mechanisms, policies and regulations to pursue its mandate in the areas of victims’ participation and reparations, witness protection, defence and outreach.\n43. As the Court develops, the Registry must ensure that the administrative structures meet the Court’s needs. The Registry has developed mechanisms, relevant policies and procedures to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of high quality services to all organs of the Court. The Registry has, inter alia, prepared the Court’s yearly budget submissions, issued policies and rules such as the staff rules, ensured finalization of the courtrooms, concluded a range of contracts and implemented a procurement plan for the Court. In order to enable the Court to operate efficiently and to work in a web-based environment, the Registry has established a number of information systems. The Registry has also undertaken comparative studies in relation to the establishment of the permanent premises of the Court.\n44. The Division of Court Services has developed the necessary structures to guarantee organizational support for courtroom hearings; the receipt, recording and distribution of information; and translation and interpretation services for the whole Court. Interim detention facilities have been identified and the design of permanent facilities will be finalized soon.\n45. One of the specific functions of the Registry is to ensure adequate legal representation for victims seeking to participate in proceedings or obtain reparations. An Office of Public Counsel for Victims will offer necessary legal assistance to victims. To assist victims in participating in all stages of the proceedings and to enable them to claim reparations, the Registry has created standard application forms for victims’ participation and reparations. The Presidency has approved the forms for victims’ participation and is considering the application forms for reparations. Aware of the importance of informing affected populations about the Court’s mandate and proceedings, the Victims Participation and Reparation Section has developed outreach campaigns and information materials on the rights of victims. A trust fund for victims has been established and voluntary contributions are welcome.\n46. The Registry has developed a legal aid scheme to ensure sufficient means for the defence and due respect for the rights of the accused, while maintaining transparency and accountability in the administration and control of Court resources. The Office of Public Counsel for Defence will support counsel and accused, including through the representation and protection of rights of the accused during the initial stages of an investigation. To execute its mandate on defence issues properly, the Registry has conducted extensive consultations with members of the legal profession, bar associations, and other interested partners. A revised draft code of professional conduct for counsel has been prepared by the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties and will be submitted for the approval of the Assembly at its forthcoming session.\n47. The Registry has continued its efforts to raise awareness of the Court and its activities by organizing briefings, seminars and workshops at the seat of the Court for the media, professionals and students from various countries. The Registry has strengthened the Court’s public information capacity in order to support the implementation of outreach services in the countries where the Court is active. A Documentation Centre has also been set up. The Court maintains a website to share information effectively with the media, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, States parties and the public at large. \n48. As with the Court as a whole, the Registry recognizes the importance of regular dialogue with partners. The Registrar has conducted consultations with States parties both at the seat of the Court and in New York. The Registry also maintains a constructive dialogue with the host State on various aspects of the work of the Court. The Registrar has held meetings at the seat of the Court with non-governmental organizations on matters falling within the responsibilities of the Registry. Extensive expert and online consultations, as well as seminars, were conducted with a wide range of stakeholders in preparing documents such as the Regulations of the Registry, the draft code of professional conduct for counsel and the standard application forms mentioned above.\n49. In the field, the Registry both provides administrative support to the Court’s field operations and pursues its specific mandate in the areas of victims, witnesses, defence and outreach.\n50. Support to field activities entails, inter alia, finding safe premises, installing secure equipment to meet information technology and general services needs and obtaining reliable means of transport, including vehicles suited to the terrain. The safety of the Court’s teams working on the ground, as well as that of victims and witnesses, must also be guaranteed. The requirements of logistics and security can vary greatly between situations. In areas where the United Nations has a presence, cooperation between the Court and the United Nations facilitates the Court’s field activities.\n51. In pursuing its specific mandate, the Registry fully recognizes the importance of having sound national capacities and strong local networks in place in the countries where the Court is active in the field. The Registry has undertaken a number of training programmes targeting local authorities such as police, media, defence lawyers, magistrates and non-governmental organizations in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The support and cooperation of States parties in relation to strengthening the capacity of local actors and building local networks is crucial.\n52. In conducting outreach, the Registry relies on local actors. Identifying reliable intermediaries to be used when reaching affected communities and victims and adequately training these intermediaries are priorities. The Court must ensure such intermediaries provide accurate and timely information on the Court. The Registry has produced information products, action plans and directories of key partners/target groups and has set up channels of communication. The groundwork for the provision of information about trials has also been established. In pursuing its work in the field, the Registry is adapting its working methods to the realities on the ground, keeping mindful of local cultures and customs.\nVII. Assembly of States parties\n53. After holding its first two sessions at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Assembly of States parties held its third session in The Hague, from 6 to 10 September 2004. The fourth session will also be held in The Hague, from 28 November to 3 December 2005, while a resumed session is scheduled to take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 26 and 27 January 2006. At the resumed session, the Assembly will proceed with the election of six judges and six members of the Committee on Budget and Finance. The nomination period for both judges and members of the Committee was fixed at 18 July to 9 October 2005.\n54. As regards subsidiary bodies, in 2002 the Assembly established the Committee on Budget and Finance. The Committee is responsible for the technical examination of any document submitted to the Assembly that contains financial or budgetary implications, as well as any other matters of a financial, budgetary or administrative nature entrusted to it by the Assembly. The Committee will hold its fifth session in The Hague from 10 to 14 October 2005, during which it will, inter alia, consider the proposed budget for 2006, performance reports for 2004 and 2005 and proposals regarding permanent premises of the Court.\n55. Pursuant to Assembly resolution ICC-ASP/3/Res.8, on 1 December 2004 the Bureau of the Assembly established two working groups, based in The Hague and New York. The working group in The Hague considered the following issues: the permanent premises of the Court; the draft code of professional conduct for counsel; and issues related to the host State, including the draft headquarters agreement. For its part, the New York working group considered the relationship with the United Nations, in particular the matter of a liaison office for the Court at the United Nations; the arrears of States parties; and the draft regulations of the trust fund for victims. The outcome of these discussions will be considered by the Assembly during its fourth session.\n56. The second informal intersessional meeting of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression was held from 13 to 15 June 2005 at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, United States of America. \n57. The establishment of the International Criminal Court was a historic development in efforts to hold accountable perpetrators of the most serious international crimes and to deter such crimes. Moreover, the United Nations Highlevel Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change concluded that, with respect to preventing conflicts, “In the area of legal mechanisms, there have been few more important recent developments than the Rome Statute creating the International Criminal Court”. \n58. Two years after the judges, Prosecutor and Registrar assumed office, the Court is making substantial progress in developing its capacity and exercising its core functions. However, the Court cannot succeed alone. The work of the Court is a common endeavour, dependent on the support and cooperation of all States parties, as well as other States, international organizations and civil society.\n Official Records of the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court Rome, 15 June-17 July 1998, vol. I; Final documents (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.02.I.5), sect. A.[Volver]\n Additional information about the Court and its activities is available on the website of the Court (http://www.icc-cpi.int). The website includes press releases and information on each of the organs of the Court and the Assembly of States Parties. Documents available on the website include decisions of the chambers that are not of a confidential nature, the Official Journal of the Court and the Official Records of the Assembly of States Parties.[Volver]\n S/2004/616, para. 2.[Volver]\n Official Records of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, first session, New York, 3-10 September 2002 (ICC-ASP/1/3) part II, sect. A.[Volver]\n Ibid., third session, The Hague, 6-10 September 2004 (ICC-ASP/3/25) part II, resolution ICC-ASP/3/Res.1, annex; United Nations document A/58/874, annex. Approved by the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute on 7 September 2004 and by the General Assembly in its resolution 58/318 of 13 September 2004.[Volver]\n Regulations of the Court, adopted 26 May 2004; Official Journal of the International Criminal Court (document ICC-BD/01-01-04).[Volver]\n Code of Judicial Ethics, adopted 9 March 2005; Official Journal of the International Criminal Court (document ICC-BD/02-01-05).[Volver]\n The membership of the three Pre-Trial Chambers is:\nPre-Trial Chamber I: Judges C. Jorda (presiding), A. Kuenyehia and S. Steiner;[Volver]\nPre-Trial Chamber II: Judges T. N. Slade (presiding), M. Politi and F. Diarra;\nPre-Trial Chamber III: Judges S. Steiner (presiding), T. N. Slade and H-P. Kaul.\n Pre-Trial Chamber I decision ICC No. 01-04-9 of 17 February 2005, “Decision to convene a status conference”, concerning the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[Volver]\n Decisions issued by the Chambers that are not of a confidential nature are available on the website of the Court; see note 2, above.[Volver]\n See note 2, above.[Volver]\n Official Records of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, third session, The Hague, 6-10 September 2004 (ICC-ASP/3/25).[Volver]\n Ibid., first session, New York, 3-10 September 2002 (ICC-ASP/1/3) part IV, resolution ICC-ASP/1/Res.4.[Volver]\n Ibid., third session, The Hague, 6-10 September 2004 (ICC-ASP/3/25) part III.[Volver]\n See document ICC-ASP/4/SWGCA/INF.1.[Volver]\n A/59/565, para. 90.[Volver]\nInternational Criminal Court\n|This document has been published on 18nov05 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.|", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Apprentice House garden\nSurrounding the Apprentice House was a small kitchen garden, overseen by a head gardener and tended by the apprentices in the little spare time they had when not working at the Mill.\nSuch activity was seen as wholesome and preventing the children from becoming idle. The garden produced vegetables, fruits and herbs to feed the apprentices and the Greg family. With the introduction of legislation later in the 19th century which restricted and eventually forbade the use of child labour, the need for the Apprentice House and its garden at Quarry Bank declined and it was afterwards converted into at least two private dwellings.\nThe use of herbs was far more widespread in past centuries than today. They were grown for all manner of purposes, both medicinal and culinary. The apprentices were fortunate in having the services of Doctor Peter Holland, who looked after their major illnesses. For minor ailments the superintendent at the Apprentice House concocted varies herbal remedies. Some of the most common herbs grown were probably borage, camomile, chives, fennel, rosemary, rue, sage, tarragon, thyme and yarrow.\nGrowing vegetables in 18th and 19th-century gardens was not a hobby, as it mostly is now, but in many cases a necessity to supplement the often meagre diets of the working class. At Quarry Bank Mill the vegetables grown were of the more basic kind, such as potatoes, cabbages, peas, beans, carrots, turnips and leeks: simple, wholesome crops that gave good yields.\nThe garden today\nAs part of its continuing programme to restore Quarry Bank, the Trust has recreated the garden as it probably was in about 1830. A great deal of research has been carried out to establish authentic plants that might have been grown by studying contemporary seed catalogues. No plans of the original garden layout have survived, but the present design is thought to be accurate and typical of the period.", "label": "No"} {"text": "|Railroad Whistle Talk|\nBelieve it or not, railroad engineers don't blow the locomotive whistles\njust for the fun of it. Every toot has a distinct meaning and helps to\nkeep the wheels rolling.|\nSome of the \"Whistle Talk\" used by our engineers is given below, so that you may know what the engine is saying the next time you hear the whistle echoing over the countryside.\nEach \"o\" means a Short Toot. Each \"_\" means a Long Toot.\n_ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _\nApply Brakes. Stop.|\nRelease Brakes. Proceed.\nFlagman go back and protect rear of train.\nFlagman return from West or South.\nFlagman return from East or North.\nProtect front of train.\nAnswer to any signal not otherwise provided for.\nWhen Standing, to back up. When running, to to stop at next passenger station.\nCall for signals.\nApproaching highway crossing at grade.\nApproaching stations, junctions and railroad crossings.\nApproaching meeting or waiting, points of trains.\nA number of short toots is an alarm for persons or livestock on the track.", "label": "No"} {"text": "We’re pretty sure that all seven are rocky worlds, like the Solar System’s inner planets.\nThree are in the star’s habitable zone. The inner two definitely do not have one sort of atmosphere that would make life as we know it impossible.\nEven if we don’t find life there, we’ll learn a great deal while looking.\n- Size, Comparisons, and a Little Math\n- Alien Life, Tourists, and Robots\n- Voyage to a Distant Star\n- Beyond Setting Records\nTRAPPIST-1 is a small, very dim, very cool, star. Its diameter is about 158,600 kilometers, bigger than Jupiter’s 142,900, but not by much. TRAPPIST-1 b through h orbit very close to their sun.1\nWe know how big the TRAPPIST-1 planets are, but not what they look like.\nLike I said, we don’t know if there’s life on any of them; or even if it’s possible.\nTruth cannot contradict truth, being curious is a good idea, and scientific discoveries are opportunities for greater admiration of God’s creation. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 159, 214–217, 283, 294, 341)\nI’ve been over that before, too. Quite often, actually:\n- “Epiphany Sunday”\n(January 8, 2017)\n- “Making a Universe: Why Bother?”\n(January 29, 2017)\n- “Right-Handedness and Evolving Jaws”\n(October 28, 2016)\n- “Alchemy, Science, Life, and Health”\n(October 16, 2016)\n“…TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) is a project led by the Department of Astrophysics, Geophysics and Oceanography (AGO) of the University of Liège (Belgium), in close collaboration with the Observatory of Geneva (Switzerland). TRAPPIST is mostly funded by the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) with the participation of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF).\n“The team is composed of Emmanuël Jehin, Michaël Gillon, Pierre Magain, Virginie Chantry, Jean Manfroid, and Damien Hutsemékers (University of Liège, Belgium) and Didier Queloz and Stéphane Udry (Observatory of Geneva, Switzerland).\n“The name TRAPPIST was given to the telescope to underline the Belgian origin of the project. Trappist beers are famous all around the world and most of them are Belgian. Moreover, the team members really appreciate them!”\n(eso1023 — Organisation Release (June 8, 2010))\n“Trappists” is what folks call monks in the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. If you’re into Latin acronyms, that’s O.C.S.O.: Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae. They’re contemplative monks and nuns, part of the Benedictine family. (August 14, 2016)\n“What Would Life Be Like on the TRAPPIST-1 Planets?”\nCalla Cofield, Space.com (February 24, 2017)\n“The TRAPPIST-1 system is home to seven planets that are about the size of Earth and potentially just the right temperature to support life. So how would life on these alien worlds be different than life on Earth? Here are some of the major differences.\n“Amazing night-sky views\n“Perhaps one of the most dramatic things that visitors to the TRAPPIST-1 system would notice is the view of the other six planets in the sky. In some cases, a neighboring planet might appear twice as large as the full moon seen from Earth. [Images: The 7 Earth-Size Worlds of TRAPPIST-1]\n“‘If you were on the surface of one of these planets you would have a wonderful view of the other planets,’ Michaël Gillon, an astronomer at the University of Liège in Belgium and an author on the new paper, said in describing the discovery. ‘You wouldn’t see them like we see Venus or Mars, like dots of light. You would see them really as we see the moon. … You would see the structures on these worlds.’…”\nEven so, a half-dozen ‘moons’ in the sky would make landscapes on TRAPPIST-1’s planets resemble (very slightly) Golden Age of Science Fiction magazine covers.\nHow big each of the other planets would look would depend on where they were in their orbits. Those closer to TRAPPIST-1 than the observer would go through phases, like we see on our moon.\nI like to check assertions I read, so I looked up the TRAPPIST-1 system’s orbits.\nThe semimajor axis for TRAPPIST-1b, the first planet out from its star, is 1,660,000 kilometers. In other words, the planet’s center is 1,660,000 kilometers from the star’s center, on average.\nTRAPPIST-1c’s semimajor axis is 2,280,000 kilometers. The distance between the two orbits is around 620,000 kilometers.\nComparison time. The semimajor axis for our moon’s orbit is about 384,400 kilometers. The distance between the orbits of TRAPPIST-1b and c is only about 1.6 time the distance to our moon.\nEach planet is about the size of Earth, so when they’re close, the other world would look a lot larger than our moon does from Earth.\nIf any have water and support life, that’s a big “if,” I suspect poets will eventually wax eloquent about crescent worlds over the sparkling waters of distant lands.\nTheir “sun” would look much larger than ours, too, but TRAPPIST-1 is much smaller than our star.\nThat may be why its planets orbit so closely: or not. We’ve learned quite a bit about how stars and planets form, and there’s a great deal left to learn.\n“Trappist-1 Planet Discovery Ignites Enthusiasm In Search For Alien Life”\nMarcelo Gleiser, Op-ed, NPR (February 23, 2017)\n“A group of astronomers announced Wednesday that seven Earth-size planets orbit a small, red, dwarf star 40 light-years away.\n“The findings were published in the journal Nature. Observations indicate that at least three of the planets may be at temperate zones where liquid water may exist.\n“The extraordinary finding — discovered by astronomers from an international collaboration led by Michaël Gillon from the University of Liège in Belgium, places the search for Earth-like planets and, more spectacularly, the search for alien life, under a brand-new lens. NASA released a fun poster about the findings….”\nThat poster is from NASA’s strictly-for-fun “Exoplanet Travel Bureau.”\nElon Musk says his SpaceX company will fly tourists around Earth’s moon in late 2018. (BBC News (February 28, 2017))\nSending human explorers to Mars may happen in the 2030s. Reaching the stars — I’ll get back to that.\nFinding alien life depends, basically, on two things: extraterrestrial life existing; and knowing what to look for.\nThere’s a lively debate going on about how, exactly, to define “life” in the physical sense. Searching for alien life depends on knowing what we should look for.\nDefining “life” seems simple enough. A Wikipedia page says “Life is a characteristic distinguishing physical entities having biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes….”\nAnother Wikipedia page says biological process are “processes vital for a living organism to live…” That definition brings us back to defining “life,” both of which are not particularly helpful, so far.\nIf “signalling and self-sustaining processes” are what makes something “alive,” then rovers like Curiosity are close to being “alive.” That definition isn’t particularly useful, assuming that most folks don’t think robots are “alive.”\nLiving critters on Earth are “organic” in the sense that we’re made of organic compounds.\n“Organic” in that sense means that the compound contains carbon. The term goes back to when vitalism still made sense, and that’s yet another topic.\nWe’ve downgraded hopes for Mars from finding Martian people to finding Martian microbes. (December 16, 2016)\nWe’re also learning a great deal about how to look for extraterrestrial life.\nOxygen in a planet’s atmosphere seemed like an obvious biomarker. Then the National Institutes of Natural Sciences’ Norio Narita and Shigeyuki Masaoka showed how non-biological processes could oxygenate a planet’s atmosphere.2\nMaking the search more interesting, some critters don’t need oxygen. Or sunlight, for that matter.\nDefinitions of life-as-we-know-it got stretched in 1977. That’s when researchers found critters living around hydrothermal vents in the Galápagos Rift.\nUp to that point, assuming that all life needed sunlight seemed reasonable. After all, plants photosynthesize using sunlight, which provides food for other critters.\nSince then, we’ve found extremophiles, critters living in “extreme” places, in quite a few ‘uninhabitable’ spots.\nNo matter where they live, though, all living critters need water.\nIt’s where a planet like Earth is far enough from its star for water to be liquid, but not so far that it freezes. But they’re not the only places where we can look for life.\nWe’ve learned that liquid water can, and almost certainly does, exist in the outer Solar System. Subsurface oceans of Europa and Enceladus, moons of Jupiter and Saturn, may support life. (September 30, 2016)\nThat may be the only way “life” can work. Properties of the elements and compounds in our bodies seem ideally suited for life’s complex chemistry.\nCarbon can bond with a great many other elements, and will form extremely complex molecules.\nWater is a really good solvent, and stays liquid over a wide temperature range. It doesn’t get hotter or colder easily, and has other properties that make it an obvious choice for life’s working fluid.\nMaybe it’s the only possible choice. Then again, maybe not.\nIn the ’60s, a former professor at Boston University suggested more-or-less-plausible life chemistries for temperatures ranging from near red-hot to near absolute zero.\nWe’re third down, nucleic acid/protein (O) in water:\n- Fluorosilicone in fluorosilicone\n- Fluorocarbon in sulfur\n- Nucleic acid/protein (O) in water\n- Nucleic acid/protein (N) in ammonia\n- Lipid in methane\n- Lipid in hydrogen\n(“View from a Height” Isaac Asimov (1963), Lancer Books (p. 63))\nIsaac Asimov’s grasp of ecology and physics was a trifle shaky in his fiction: but this time he was speculating in his professional field, chemistry.\nSince then, quite a few scientists have started taking non-organic life chemistries seriously.3\n“TRAPPIST-1: How Long Would It Take to Fly to 7-Planet System?”\nHanneke Weitering, Space.com (February 23, 2017)\n“The discovery of seven Earth-size planets around a nearby star, TRAPPIST-1, is certainly exciting news. But what would it take to visit one of these potentially Earth-like alien worlds?\n“TRAPPIST-1 is 39 light-years away from Earth, or about 229 trillion miles (369 trillion kilometers). It would take 39 years to get to its current location traveling at the speed of light. But no spacecraft ever built can travel anywhere near that fast.\n“That said, people have sent some pretty fast vehicles into outer space. With today’s technology, how long would it take to get to TRAPPIST-1?…”\nWe’ll have to be patient. Light from TRAPPIST-1 takes about 39 years to get here, and today’s spacecraft are a whole lot slower.\nNew Horizons would make the trip in 817,000 years. Voyager 1 is faster, and would cover the distance in 685,000 years.\nStephen Hawking’s Breakthrough Starshot initiative microprobes would be much faster, once folks develop the technology. They’d go 39 light-years in roughly 200 years.\nSomething like Hawking’s Breakthrough Starshot is probably our best option for interstellar probes using technology that’s not too far from off-the-shelf hardware.\nInstead of building a single probe, Hawking’s Starshot would be a fleet of 1,000 StarChip mini-probes.\nEach StarChip would be a light sail, like NASA’s NanoSail-D: only smaller. A lot smaller. Each mini-probe would be a centimeter across, equipped with a tiny camera, electronics, and a transmitter.\nOnce in space, several gigawatt lasers — this is tech we don’t quite have yet — would push them up to about 20% speed of light.\nThey could reach Proxima Centauri in about two decades. A quarter-century after launch, pictures taken by the probes and transmitted back to Earth would give us the first close(ish) pictures of Proxima Centauri b.\nWe’ve made lasers, like the Argus, handling gigawatt-level emissions.\nGetting the things to last more than a few moments, and focusing the beam, is another matter. Besides, I’m not sure how national leaders would take the idea of someone building what amounts to a laser cannon.\n“Star’s seven Earth-sized worlds set record”\nPaul Rincon, BBC News (February 22, 2017)\n“Astronomers have detected a record seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a single star.\n“The researchers say that all seven could potentially support liquid water on the surface, depending on the other properties of those planets.\n“But only three are within the conventional ‘habitable’ zone where life is considered a possibility.\n“The compact system of exoplanets orbits Trappist-1, a low-mass, cool star located 40 light-years away from Earth.\n“The planets, detected using Nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope and several ground-based observatories, are described in the journal Nature….”\nFolks at SETI checked the TRAPPIST-1 system for radio signals last year, using the Allen Telescope Array. They ‘heard’ no obviously-artificial signal, but will try again.4\nThat could mean there’s nobody there.\nOr maybe radio isn’t the only long-range communication technology. We started using wavelengths between 1 millimeter and 100 kilometers about a century back. I’ve talked about tech, time, and SETI, before. (December 16, 2016; September 16, 2016)\nFinding life, intelligent or otherwise, would be enormously exciting. But that’s not the only reason scientists study TRAPPIST-1 and its planets.\nBecause the star is so dim, and fairly close, studying its planets will be comparatively easy. As BBC Science Editor David Shukman said, “telescopes studying the planets are not dazzled as they would be when aiming at far brighter stars.” (BBC News)\nBesides being much closer than most of our galaxy’s stars, TRAPPIST-1’s planets pass between their star and ours once each of their years. That lets scientists study light that passes through their atmosphere. Assuming they have atmospheres.\n(From NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, used w/o permission.)\n(“To determine what’s in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, astronomers watch the planet pass in front of its host star and look at which wavelengths of light are transmitted and which are partially absorbed.”\nJ. de Wit’s artwork shows TRAPPIST-1 and two of its planets. It’s a good illustration, but includes details that are educated guesses: not facts.\nScientists got a picture of TRAPPIST-1 last year, but they were looking for a companion star or brown dwarf. Those images were very low-resolution, too; and confirmed that TRAPPIST-1 is a single star.5 The pictures didn’t show planets, and weren’t intended to.\nWe use something like transmission and absorption spectroscopy each time we look at something and notice what color it is. Different materials reflect, transmit, and absorb, light in distinct ways.\nI could explain that by saying “energy associated with the quantum mechanical change primarily determines the frequency of the absorption line.” If you’re interested, I put a few links to geek-speak resources near the end of this post.6\nYou can blame Isaac Newton for spectroscopy. He called the colors we get when light passes through a prism a spectrum. William Hyde Wollaston noticed dark absorption lines in our star’s spectrum in 1802.\nAnyway, each element emits a particular set of wavelengths if it’s heated enough; and absorbs those wavelengths if it’s not. I’m over-simplifying it: a lot.\nWondering why elements act that way helped scientists develop quantum mechanics, and that’s yet again another topic.\nScientists got a ‘look’ at the atmospheres of TRAPPIST-1 b and c last year. (July 29, 2016)\nThey found a “featureless spectrum,” which rules out a puffy atmosphere of mostly hydrogen.\nWe’re still not sure what their atmospheres are like, but we know their masses and diameters. Scientists think the odds are good that each of the seven planets found so far are rocky, like the Solar System’s inner worlds.\nTRAPPIST-1 is upwards of 500,000,000 years old. How much older is hard to say, since low-mass stars change very slowly after settling on to the main sequence. A star like TRAPPIST-1 could last a hundred billion years.\nThat could mean that habitable planets in such systems stay habitable for a very long time.\nOn the other hand, last year scientists measured x-rays from TRAPPIST-1. That’s nothing unusual. Our star produces about as much x-ray radiation during its quiet phase.\nTRAPPIST-1’s planets are so close, though, that these x-rays could do a lot more than the ones hitting Earth. That may affect the TRAPPIST-1 planetary atmospheres, or not.7\nThe planets are almost certainly either tidally locked, with one side always facing their sun, or in a spin-orbit resonance like Mercury. Either way, life on such worlds wouldn’t be entirely like its terrestrial analog.8\nThat could mean that life on the TRAPPIST-1 planets is impossible — or that this amazing puzzle collection we call the universe has more surprises for us.\nMore about how I see life, science, and the Fermi paradox:\n- “SETI: What If?”\n(December 23, 2016)\n- “Mars, Aliens, and SETI”\n(December 16, 2016)\n- “Europa, Mars, and Someday the Stars”\n(September 30, 2016)\n- “Proxima Centauri b, Looking for Life”\n(September 2, 2016)\n- “Studying Thousands of New Worlds”\n(July 29, 2016)\n- “Ultracool Dwarf and the Seven Planets”\neso1706 — Science Release (February 22, 2017)\n- “TRAPPIST-1 Comparison to Solar System and Jovian Moons”\nJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (February 22, 2017)\n- “The TRAPPIST-1 Habitable Zone”\nJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (February 22, 2017)\n- “NASA’s Hubble Telescope Makes First Atmospheric Study of Earth-Sized Exoplanets”\nNASA press release (July 20, 2016)\n- “Oxygen Is Not Definitive Evidence of Life on Extrasolar Planets”\nNAOJ, Astrobiology (September 10, 2015)\n- “Titania may produce abiotic oxygen atmospheres on habitable exoplanets”\nNorio Narita, Takafumi Enomoto, Shigeyuki Masaoka, Nobuhiko Kusakabe; Scientific Reports (Received March 31, 2015; Accepted August 12, 2015; Published online September 10, 2015)\n- “This Weird Planetary System Seems Like Something From Science Fiction”\nSeth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, SETI; NBC News (February 22, 2017)\n- “7 Earth-Size Planets Orbit Dwarf Star, NASA and European Astronomers Say”\nKenneth Chang, The New York Times (February 22, 2017)\n- “Speckle Imaging Excludes Low-Mass Companions Orbiting the Exoplanet Host Star TRAPPIST-1”\nSteve B. Howell, Mark E. Everett, Elliott P. Horch, Nicholas Jon Scott; researchgate.net (September 2016)\n- “Strong XUV irradiation of the Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1”\nPeter J. Wheatley, Tom Louden, Vincent Bourrier, David Ehrenreich, Michaël Gillon; Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (October 8, 2016)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Writing: An Unexamined Gatekeeper\n“Kids just aren’t learning like they used to. Have you seen those test results?” I hear this sentiment expressed by people everywhere, and often feel compelled to respond, “But tests are far more difficult now. They’re not just multiple-choice anymore. Today, they include writing.”\nEveryone seems surprised to learn that our high-stakes assessments now include writing. Most say that multiple-choice tests are easier than written-response ones. They’d rather select a response than construct one.\nYet some states now include written-response items on every test—in reading, science, even math. And some of the writing tasks are lengthy and complex. This inclusion may present a significant variable, one that influences student performance and test scores. That’s how writing has become a gatekeeper for student promotion and graduation, as well as for schools’ “adequate yearly progress” and federal funding.\nResearchers have reported many testing discrepancies in the past, but has anyone investigated how written response affects test results? After results for the 2006 SAT showed the largest drop off in scores in 31 years, administrators of the test took a close look—and blamed the exam’s new writing section. How did writing influence that drop in scores? Does it influence state tests the same way?\nRight now, we don’t know how performance is affected when the writing variable is added. This means we cannot use current state-test comparison data until we first investigate all between-state assessment variables and their effects on performance.\nSome of the between-state differences that may be significant include test formatting, writing tasks, types of writing and instruction, scoring and rubrics, and the accessibility to instructional supports.\nA change in test formatting on that 2006 SAT produced significantly different results. So when states add written-response tasks to tests that previously contained only multiple-choice items, will their students experience a similar toll-taking challenge? Students in the nation’s capital encountered such a challenge last year, and only 28 out of 146 District of Columbia schools reached the 2006 benchmark. Did the addition of writing influence those scores? If so, how?\nWhen comparing written-response and multiple-choice tests, we must also study how test length, difficulty level, and guessing affect results. Such differences currently invalidate comparisons of reading data between California and New York state, for example, or between Oregon and Washington state, because New York and Washington use written-response on their reading tests, while California and Oregon use only multiple-choice. What’s more, New York students construct written responses on all assessments (math, science, social studies), while states such as California require students to use writing only for the writing section.\nThink about it. In every subject but one, students in California or Oregon read a prompt, followed by a question, and then “bubble in” their answer. Multiple-choice allows “bubblers” to guess, which gives them some chance of correctly selecting the one right answer.\nOn the other hand, in Washington, New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, Delaware, and other written-response states, guessing is less of an option. Instead, responders must analyze a multifaceted prompt, then organize right-answer facts from which they construct a single- or multiple-paragraph response—a far cry from coloring in circles on a Scantron sheet.\nWe also need to investigate how the tasks on written-response tests differ between states and between subject areas. Tasks currently vary in quantity, length, type, and, thus, difficulty. Answers range from mere one-word completion responses to multiple-page essays.\nThe variety of written-response-test prompts boggles the mind. Take a brief, cross-state cyber trip. Click on “released items.” You’ll notice that some prompts evoke self-based responses, while others require text-based answers.\nEnglish writing prompts generally call for the self-based type and welcome creativity, such as this one from Nevada’s 2000 writing test: “Discuss an event or situation that taught you a lesson or created a change in your life.”\nBut when states use writing to assess subject areas, such as reading, prompts usually require text-based responses. Thus, after reading the article titled “Porcupines,” Vermont students use text facts to answer this prompt: “Explain why porcupines do not have to fight. Use information from the article to support your answer.”\nSome tests complicate matters by combining self-based and text-based response within the same task, as this one from Illinois does: “Would a person like Doc Marlowe best be described as someone to be admired or not admired? Explain why. Use information from the story and your own observations to support your answer.”\nWhether written responses are brief or extended, machine-scored or human-scored, text-based or self-based, writing is elevated to the status of gatekeeper for those subjects. Might we conceivably predict, then, that students who have trouble with writing will have difficulty in every subject that’s tested through writing?\nBut what if the student knows the subject well—even knows the right answers—but does not write well? What if he can’t spell? What if his handwriting resembles that on the last prescription you took to the pharmacy? What if the student is from another country and confuses syntax? Should this person be encouraged to move out of New York, Washington, Ohio, Kentucky, Connecticut, and other written-response states and into a state like California? After all, his graduation could depend on it. But so might his career.\nIn 2004, the National Commission on Writing declared that students must learn to write well “in all subjects.” The panel called writing a “ ‘threshold skill’ for both employment and promotion, particularly for salaried employees.” Writing, it said, “could be your ticket in … or it could be your ticket out.”\nThere’s little doubt that students need instruction in all forms of writing. But here’s the catch: Who’s teaching written-response? English teachers, who have always been in charge of the writing realm, do not usually focus on just-the-facts responses, but rather on writing characterized by strong voice, enticing leads, clever metaphors, and creative description. Yet it is right-answer writing that is needed to construct a correct answer to many test prompts, such as this one on Washington state’s science test:\n“A scientist at Acme Chemical found an unlabeled container. He knew the contents were either HCl, NaOH, or NaCl. Using Chart A on page 2 of the Direction and Scenario Booklet:\n• Describe four tests that can be used to determine which chemical was in the container.\n• For each test, tell how it would help him determine which chemical is in the container.”\nUnfortunately, too many students labor long and hard composing a creative response to one of these right-answer prompts, thus making the task more difficult than it needs to be. What’s more, in the working world, will employers care about leads and voice? They’ll probably want creative thinking and just-the-facts writing.\nShould we then throw creative writing out the window? Indeed not. But let’s acknowledge the influential scoring idiosyncrasies between creative writing and the right-answer writing needed to produce a test response.\nWriting tests are scored holistically using rubric scales, which allow for shades of correctness. Most of these stretch to accommodate an infinite number of responses, so debates over scoring arise. That’s why states such as Nevada offer a writing-scores appeals process to those who disagree with their scoring.\nConversely, right-answer writing, because of its tight, text-based boundaries, makes scoring less debatable. Is that why some states are moving away from creative writing tasks or excluding the writing section of their tests from accountability calculations?\nMoreover, expense and training related to correcting tests vary. Some written responses are machine-scored, but most are hand-scored, sometimes by educators, other times by noneducators. Is the added expense of training and correcting why states like Texas choose to use written-response only on their high school assessment?\nAnd what about differences in accessibility to instructional-support systems? Staff development varies significantly between states, as do procedures related to released items and sample responses. Some states keep tests under tight wraps. Such “secure” tests make it almost impossible for anyone to view a particular student’s actual assessment to locate that student’s individual needs.\nScores are returned to schools when tests are not, but a few states quickly return scores and tests to schools. Some reuse tests. Others do not. These differences create between-state accessibility discrepancies, but do they also affect between-state results? If so, how much?\nThese are only some of the unexamined variables related to state assessments. But they bear witness to the fact that researchers must stop comparing apples to pot roast. Comparisons that use state assessments currently are unreliable and invalid because of potentially influential, unexamined differences. In light of the testing craze inspired by the No Child Left Behind Act, it seems unconscionable that writing’s gatekeeper status has gone unrecognized.\nRegardless of federal or state mandates, however, one thing remains obvious: We need to help all students develop skills in both creative and right-answer writing, using authentic experiences that demonstrate the diversity and the importance of writing. It is, after all, increasingly the ticket the gatekeeper will require.\nVol. 26, Issue 25, Pages 31-33", "label": "No"} {"text": "Your social security number is now a part of almost every form, including health insurance paperwork and the application for your library card. In fact, researchers reporting in this week's issue of the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences used public data (hello, Facebook) to predict the first five digits of a person's social security number. And they got it right, on the first try, 44 percent of the time. With more on the dangers of our less-than-private individual identification system, The Takeaway is joined by privacy expert Peter Swire.\nYou can read more about the PNAS study by heading to the web site of our partners, The New York Times, and checking out today's article, Social Security Numbering System Vulnerable to Fraud, Experts Say.\n\"We have a known system that's leading to a lot of identity theft and will lead to a lot more identity theft. We probably have to suck it up as a society and get to a new system.\"\n—Ohio State University professor Peter Swire", "label": "No"} {"text": "30th anniversary of Convention on the Right of the Child\nOn 20th November 1989, world leaders made a historic decision. As part of the United Nation, leaders signed a treaty to protect children and fulfil their rights. The most widely ratified human rights treaty clearly separates kids until 18 are not part of adulthood. So all kids up to 18 are protected under this treaty.\nNovember 20, 2019, marks the 30th anniversary of this convention. The world children’s day paved the way to protect kids all over the world. All those countries who signed the treaty committed to adopting an international framework to protect children in their individual countries.\nAfter 30 years, once again the world leaders reassured their commitment to children. Even though we have a lot more to do, the committee gives us hope. Let us keep in mind, even children have their own rights and as a responsible adult, we have to protect it.", "label": "No"} {"text": "How to Create a Signature in Outlook 2007\nOpen the Signatures and Stationery window. This will allow you to edit and assign signatures. It is accessed in different ways depending on the version of Outlook you use:\n- Outlook 2010/2013 – Click the File menu. Select Options from the File menu. Open the Mail menu. Scroll down until you find the “Signatures…” button. Click it to open the Signatures and Stationery window.\n- Outlook 2007 – Click the Tools menu and select Options. Click the Mail Format tab, and then click the “Signatures…” button to open the Signatures and Stationery window.\n- Outlook 2003 – Click the Tools menu and select Options. Click the Mail Format tab and then click the “Signatures…” button. This will open the Create Signature window.\nSelect your email account. Before you create a new signature, make sure that the correct email account is selected in the right side of the window.\n- In Outlook 2003, you select your email account in the Mail Format tab of the Options menu.\nClick “New” to create a new signature. Give it a name that will help you recognize it. You can create multiple signatures, so having unique names for them will help you choose the appropriate one when you are sending a message.\nWrite your signature in the “Edit signature” field. You can format your text with different fonts, colors, and sizes, as well as add images or virtual business cards. You can include links to a webpage too. This signature will be attached to the end of your emails.\nAssign the signature. Once you’ve created your signature, you can choose to enable it for new messages and/or replies and forwards. If you create multiple signatures, you can assign different ones for different tasks.\nInsert signatures manually. If you’d rather not automatically apply the signature to every message you send, you can insert it at your discretion. When you have an email open, click the Message tab, and then click the Signature button. A list will appear of available signature, allowing you to pick the one you want.\n- In Office 2003, click Insert, select Signature, and then select the signature that you want to use.\nDelete a signature. If you decide you don’t want to use the signature in your message, select it at the bottom of the message and press the Delete key.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Excel Yearfrac function returns the fraction of a year that is represented by the number of whole days between two supplied dates.\nThe syntax of the function is:\nWhere the arguments are as follows:\n|start_date||-||The start of the period (this date is included in the calculation).|\n|end_date||-||The end of the period (this date is included in the calculation).|\n|The financial day count basis rules are explained in detail on the Wikipedia Day Count Convention page|\nNote that Microsoft advises that you do not type dates directly into functions, as Excel may interpret text representations of dates differently, depending on the date interpretation settings on your computer. Therefore the start_date and end_date arguments for the Yearfrac function should be input as either:\nThe spreadsheet below shows five examples of the Excel Yearfrac function. In each case, the function is used to calculate the year fraction between 1st January 2015 and 31st March 2015. However, each case uses a different Day Count Basis.\nSee the Microsoft Office website for further examples of the Excel Yearfrac function.\nIf you get an error from the Excel Yearfrac function, this is likely to be one of the following:\n|#NUM!||-||Occurs if the value of the supplied [basis] argument is less than 0 or greater than 4.|", "label": "No"} {"text": "30 November, 2006\nIt has been pointed out by many people, including on this blog by Sacha (quoting James Lovecock), that nuclear is much safer than pretty much any source of power for electricity. The relevant comparison was that per Terawatt-year of electricity generated there are 342 deaths for coal, 885 deaths for Hydro, 85 deaths from Natural Gas and only 8 for Nuclear. This comparison appears to be using a low figure for the Chernobyl accident as the WHO finds around double that number of deaths directly to the Chernobyl accident, but even so that brings the total to 16 per TWy, still well less than the next most safe method, Natural Gas. Hydro rates poorly due to some severe accidents with dams bursting in India that have killed in the thousands each.\nDeath of course is not the only risk associated with nuclear. Thousands more have had thyroid cancer directly as a result of Chernobyl although most have been treated and over 99% have recovered it is still a cost to bear. Then there is the contamination of land and the wholesale abandonment of the surrounding area. Also this is not to mention that we don’t really have much historical data to base our estimate of how bad or how frequent a meltdown can be. Still if we look at the total historical human costs and average over all the power that has successfully been generated by nuclear the human cost still comes out as being low, certainly lower than coal power.\nIf that is the case then isn’t it rational that we should adopt nuclear on the basis of safety? What that kind of comparison misses out is that people regard riskier situations as different to less risky situations for similar expectations. Thus although most nuclear power plants will sit there quite happily not hurting anyone, the rare one that does is potentially extremely hazardous. It is reasonable to treat this volatile outcome as much more serious than the equivalent. We do after all routinely pay away money to insurance companies when we would be better, on an expected outcome basis, to save the money ourselves.\nIf we believe that nuclear is not just a bit safer (in terms of deaths) than other forms of electricity but significantly safer, then surely this is enough to outweigh our risk aversion? I would say yes, but I could quite easily understand others coming to the no conclusion as well even if they were fairly well informed of the facts and the true risks.\nThat said I believe it is clear that many people over estimate the risk of nuclear compared with other risks that they don’t even consider or take for granted. On the other hand its also seductively easy to look at nuclear power’s track record in the west and do the reverse. It’s easy to believe there are no black swans if you’ve never seen one. We know catastrophic accidents are rare, but have we been lucky or unlucky seeing as few as we have seen?\n21 November, 2006\nThe key sticking factor in developing a nuclear industry would seem to be the political risk. Would any company take on the risk of building a nuclear power plant while the likely alternate government is opposed to the plan?\nWith a construction lead time of 10-15 years, this is likely to encompass at least one change of government, and a likely 2 full rotations of the senate. Without significant financial guarantees it is difficult to see why any company would take on the risk of having a billion dollar venture, with a high likelihood of crashing down on change of government. As the report summary states on page 10:\nAn efficient and predictable regulatory process is an essential prerequisite for a nuclear power\nindustry. With its high capital costs, nuclear power is very sensitive to delays and uncertainty in obtaining approvals.\nWhile this is mostly talking about governments altering the requirements, an opposition hostile to the very idea would seem to pose an even greater risk. This means the government initiating the deal would essentially need to tie some sort of financial guarantee into the project. While a policy reversal for the ALP once construction has begun would not be out of the question, the chance that they may decide to roll back these changes as well makes it a very risky regulatory environment.\nPersonally I think this is a shame, as we should have all options on the table to reduce CO2 emissions and nuclear is still one of the few viable base load power sources.\nUpdate: Of course the political risk is not only federal but also regional, with several States already coming out and saying they would fight it in the courts, although given the recent WorkChoices decision it appears unlikley they would win according to this report.\n21 November, 2006\nThe draft report of the Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy Review has been released and is available in whole and parts here. I haven’t yet been able to read the documents, but from the summaries appearing in the news they aren’t telling us anything that wasn’t already known. In short that nuclear is more expensive than coal in Australia, and only becomes cost effective if we put a price on carbon emissions. With regards safety, it finds it to be safer than other energy industries, and poses no additional nuclear proliferation risk.\nI’ll try to comment when I actually read more of the report.\n14 November, 2006\nIf nothing is certain except death and taxes, why not get them out of the way at the same time? I’ve often wondered why an estate or inheritance tax is not used in Australia. To me it seems a logical and comparatively fair way of performing the burden of taxation. Income taxes make generating wealth more difficult, so why not shift the burden off those actually generating new wealth and place it increasingly on to those who are getting it merely due to chance of birth?\nSurely raising taxes this way is more efficient? Taking it off those who have windfall gains rather than those who are actually generating the most must be more efficient. In principle I can’t see any arguments against it that don’t also apply to income tax. I can understand there may be considerable practical difficulties in actually doing this, but this does not seem to be the reason people are against it.\nSo can anyone give me a good reasons for not having an inheritance tax in exchange for lower income tax? Or is it just a fantastic idea that we should go back to?\n14 November, 2006\nFirst it was Rupert Murdoch “The planet deserves the benefit of the doubt.”, then Peter Costello on insiders\nI think the ground is changing. I think it is important that we bring new countries into this discussion. And I think, from Australia’s point of view, if the world starts moving towards a carbon trading system, we can’t be left out of that, that Australia has a role…\nand now John Howard\nJOHN HOWARD has yielded to pressure to consider a global carbon trading scheme, and business leaders say they are ready to take action against global warming.\nAs Brian has noted at LP, the release of the Stern review has coincided with a sudden shift in the political direction with respect to AGW policy. Previously the Australian government position has been completely intransigent on being involved with carbon trading, but with Peter Costello’s interview on insiders and now this announcement it seems there has been a large shift in government opinion. Even if this is not a complete reversal it is a serious concession that Australia and the rest of the world needs to do more.\nEarlier in the year the government used a review of the tax system as a stepping stone on the way to reversing its previously stated opposition to cutting top tax rates. Here’s hoping this review is the same, a facing saving exercise before a policy reversal and not just more hot air.\n9 November, 2006\nTucked away at the bottom of this article about Australia taking up nuclear power is this bizarre statement about water trading which kind of demonstrates why people should think carefully before commenting outside their area of expertise.\nWater and irrigation experts remain unsure about whether any of the measures decided on at Tuesday’s meeting of state and Commonwealth leaders would free extra water.\nPeter Schwerdtfeger, emeritus professor of meteorology at Flinders University’s Airborne Research Centre, said he agreed that overallocation of water needed to be stopped, but with “precious little else” that the meeting decided on.\n“Water trading as it stands now is an evil nonsense. It has allowed the fallacious belief to develop that water can be sold either upstream or downstream without any consequences.\n“Water that is sold to NSW will not flow downstream and the bed of the Murray may dry out. It is not environmentally or economically viable.\n“Water trading only works if you have a surplus of water … why don’t we encourage people to use water more efficiently?”\nIt could be that Prof. Schwerdtfeger has been taken out of context or misquoted, but it seems more likely that he doesn’t understand the basic point that trade, by putting a market price on water it implicitly results in it being put to\nthe most more efficient uses.\nI don’t think that anyone is under the illusion that water is a commodity that can be traded “without any consequences”. Environmental flows must be maintained, losses when trades occur over long distances and such are all issues, but hardly irreconcilable ones. Most importantly is trading is more important when there is scarcity, its barely necessary if you have surplus. Prof. Schwerdtfeger may be an expert in climatology, but when he’s talking about trading, I don’t think he has a clue.\n8 November, 2006\nHypocrisy is a poorly regarded activity as Ted Haggard, a US pastor who has admitted to having gay sex could tell you. Criticism and focus of most stories about this case has concentrated mostly on his anti-gay views and the inherent hypocrisy.\nHypocrisy is defined as “a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion”. While it’s clear that Haggard hasn’t met the virtuous standards he has espoused it’s also not clear that he is feigning his belief in those standards. People following their instincts rather than doing what they believe is right is not uncommon.\nA passage in Neal Stephenson’s SF book The Diamond Age, has an interesting take on hypocrisy espoused by one of characters, one of the leaders of a group known as “Neo-Victorians”.\nYou know, when I was a young man, hypocrisy was deemed the worst of vices,” Finkle-McGraw said. “It was all because of moral relativism. You see, in that sort of a climate, you are not allowed to criticise others-after all, if there is no absolute right and wrong, then what grounds is there for criticism? … Now, this led to a good deal of general frustration, for people are naturally censorious and love nothing better than to criticise others’ shortcomings. And so it was that they seized on hypocrisy and elevated it from a ubiquitous peccadillo into the monarch of all vices. For, you see, even if there is no right and wrong, you can find grounds to criticise another person by contrasting what he has espoused with what he has actually done. In this case, you are not making any judgment whatsoever as to the correctness of his views or the morality of his behaviour-you are merely pointing out that he has said one thing and done another. Virtually all political discourse in the days of my youth was devoted to the ferreting out of hypocrisy. Read the rest of this entry »", "label": "No"} {"text": "I recently created a wiki with another teacher on the topic of using blogs for reflective learning. It was a interesting and rewarding process. The biggest difficulty was getting started- determining our topic, content of the topic, and what sections to write about as a part of the overall topic. I was not very familiar with the topic initially, though I did have some of my own ideas on how to use blogs for reflective learning. Once I researched the topic and found some websites that explained it, the topic was very easy to write about in our wiki. I learned a few things from this project- namely, the actual topic of how to use blogs for reflective learning. I gained some new, great ideas on how to incorporate this into my classroom. I also learned the ins and outs of wiki creation. I have previously contributed to a wiki but it was a simple typing in of some info, not as in-depth of using and making a wiki.\nMy opinion of Wikipedia has changed some this week. While it is more reliable now than maybe several years ago when misinformation was not updated quickly like it is now, it is still not a resource that I would want my students to use for a formal, research paper or project. But it is a great source to look up quick information.\nI so far am not encountering resistance to using wikis in my classroom. I think students would enjoy using wikis, once they were taught the ground rules from me for their appropriate use. I will need to determine how to best incorporate wikis in my online classes.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Since the first films jerked their way across the screens at the very end of the nineteenth century it has been obvious that they were a new and powerful medium for the communication of ideas. Certainly all dictatorships have thought so and their political content has been the subject of furious debate and even rioting.\nThe highly visual nature of the medium has meant that some ideas have been easier than others to articulate on screen. More particularly the very dispersed nature of of the benefits that accrue to market economies have made them difficult to display in the medium. It is easy to show the job that was created by government activity but impossible to show the job which was not created because of the high taxation to fund the job created by government or the job destroyed by excessive regulation. on the other hand film is good at capturing the value of small local institutions which leads us directly to:\nÉtre et Avoir by the French documentary film maker Nicholas Philibert. This is an astonishingly, beautiful and heart breaking film about a school in rural France. Although the director explicitly disavows interest in big ideas the film makes the Burkean point in a low key way.\nAlong the same lines is the documentary about a small community in the far west of Wales Sleeping Furiously; here the focus is broader, including for example the role of religion, hence the impact is less. But it can compared properly with Philibert’s classic on which it is, to some extent, based.\nThe Glory of My Father and its sequel My Mother’s Castleonce again we have here French film making at its best. These autobiographical films deal with the childhood of a French scientist, his relationship with his parents and his peers of both sexes. The importance of family can never have been more beautifully celebrated and both films deal sensitively with the clash between free thought and Catholicism in early twentieth century France. Also well worth seeing is Choir, set in a French school just after the war in 1945, which is concerned with the sometimes agonizing process of coming to terms with reality.\nA wonderful film that celebrates the value of filial affection is The Straight Story. When WW Straight, who did not have a driving license, heard his estranged brother was dying he set out across the American Mid-West, to see him, on a mowing machine.\nAnother film concerned with the value of the small community , in this case the Amish of Pennsylvania, is Witness starring Harrison Ford. Michael Medved says “The portrayal of the Amish and their uncompromising rejection of modernity is not only sympathetic, it is idealised.” The house raising scene in which a group of neighbours pull the wooden frame of a house into place is an unforgettable piece of cinema\nC.S. lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein were close friends and colleagues at Oxford. Both were blessed with vivid imaginations which were informed by the shared Christian faith. No one should miss the Three films , directed by peter Jackson, which make up the Lord of The Rings trilogy based on the books by Tolkein and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe based on the book by Lewis.\nStaying with the Oxford theme Chariots of Fire celebrates both the aristocratic values of a now vanished world and those of “muscular” Christianity.\n- The conflicts between the old and the new have been a problem for conservatives since Burke. Consequently they are likely will be interested by Gone With The Wind and by The Leopard, both of which are sympathetic, perhaps too sympathetic, to the old order in respectively the Southern States of America and Sicily after its absorption by the new Kingdom of Italy.", "label": "No"} {"text": "PARC: Additional Therapies\nTai Chi Class\nKinesthetic (carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or merely watching a demonstration) movement and imagery strategies that address and work on:\n- Maintaining/improving balance\n- Weight shifting in sitting and standing\n- Dynamic standing balance\n- Body awareness through movement\n- Side to side movement\n- Cognition- Ability to think and problem solve\nAnimal Assisted Therapy\nAnimal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a goal-directed intervention in which a volunteer trainer and dog certified by the Delta Society assist in therapy as an important part of the treatment process. AAT is directed by a therapist, while working within their scope of practice. AAT is designed to promote improvement in physical, social, emotional, and or cognitive (thinking and problem-solving) function.\nAcupuncture therapy is the practice of inserting fine needles through the skin to stimulate healing and ease pain. This therapeutic technique is used as a complementary treatment for ALS and a variety of health conditions.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Meet our continent’s only aquatic songbird. The American dipper is named for the dipping movement it makes as it moves along fast-flowing streams and rivers searching for prey. It is capable of “flying” underwater and walking on the bottom of the stream as it snags aquatic insects and larvae.\nHow you can support this project\nMy goal with this project is to create a collection of powerful storytelling images of the watershed sentinels of the Oregon Coast, which can become a traveling educational exhibit, a visual presentation for a lecture series, and other tools useful to inform and empower residents to protect and conserve their local watershed habitats and the species that rely upon them.\nThis work is funded primarily through grants and donations. If you would like to support Watershed Sentinels, please consider making a donation via PayPal.\nAll donations received go directly to field work specific to Watershed Sentinels, including travel costs, printing, outreach, specialized equipment, and other needs. Please note that donations are not tax-deductible.", "label": "No"} {"text": "3 years, 7 months ago\nChaos theory is the principle of mathematics that states dynamical systems which are subject to any number of individual initial conditions, such as the commonly cited example of a butterfly flapping its wings ultimately leading to a dramatic shift in weather at the opposite end of the planet, behave in such a way that defies prediction in the long-term. These systems are called chaotic\n, where by this definition chaos is not random, but is so impossible to predict by any meaningful system of measurement that it might as well be random.\nThis is ostensibly the premise “Rivals” was pitched under. But the neutrino-spinning gambling machine Martus Mazur brings to Deep Space 9\nhardly constitutes an example of chaos theory. Instead, it operates by altering the laws of probability, as numerous characters state at various points in the episode. Far from large-scale effects being generated seemingly at random by an otherwise inconsequential initial event, the device arbitrarily dispenses good luck and bad luck across the station, which is a very different sort of phenomenon. Perhaps it's small wonder than that the “chaos theory” pitch languished around in production hell for over a year before Michael Piller got around to it, by which point the finished product could hardly be called something that could be traced back to its source. Actually, that\n's a better example of chaos theory than anything in the actual episode as aired.\nBut this isn't a blog about mathematical models of scientific processes. I'm sure you can find oodles of critique of Star Trek's clumsy handling of those issues elsewhere. We all know that Star Trek's scientific concepts are usually the least interesting thing about any given story, and the same is certainly true here. The only trouble is there's not a whole lot else to “Rivals”: It's an aggressively unfunny attempt at a low-stakes story that leaves me without a lot to talk about. I suppose that's the first thing I could mention, because it's not a good sign to see Star Trek: Deep Space Nine\ntrip up on a low-stakes story like this. “Rivals” is precisely the sort of episode that should be absolutely in this show's wheelhouse and it should be able to churn out this kind of material practically on autopilot. This is what the series was built to do, and that it can't seem to wrap its brain around it is concerning. Maybe the show has epiced itself out following the season opening three-parter and big dramatic attempts like “Necessary Evil”, “Invasive Procedures”, “Cardassians” and “Sanctuary”.\nMaybe the answer is that troublesome brief. Either chaos theory doesn't make a great Star Trek story, or the creative team doesn't know how to make\nit a good Star Trek story. The fumble on the chaos theory thing has tripped me up for years\n, and I've spent longer than any human being should trying to piece together what this story actually has to do with a field of theory I've actually found kind of interesting at varying points in my life, only to finally realise it actually has fuck all to do with it. What the events of this episode are actually closer to, and what's potentially even more interesting, is the concept of synchronicity: Meaningful coincidences that make themselves obviously visible to us in such a way they forces us to facet of reality we were heretofore ignorant of. Even if the truth turns out to be something boring like there's a weird gambling machine that's causing the station's neutrinos to rotate in an unorthodox matter (which, according to particle physicists, isn't even accurate either). Real chaos theory tends to get you the weather forecast. But regardless, there are far better and far more memorable Star Trek stories that examine synchronicity you can partake of than this.\nThere is something of a real Star Trek story here. Or at least what I'd consider a Star Trek story, or the germ of one. And that's in Martus Mazur himself. He's an El Aurian, a member of a “race of listeners”, whom I am informed Guinan is also one of. Now, I'm not sure why people would want to pin down a mundane origin story for Guinan like that, but whatever, we'll roll with it for now. In fact, the link with Guinan was originally going to be even more overt, with Martus being her “wayward son” and Guinan herself getting called in at the end to deal with him. But with Whoopi Goldberg unavailable, the link to her was dropped, and probably for the best, although I confess I would have enjoyed seeing Guinan on Deep Space 9\n. Actually, contrasting her\nwith Quark is yet another far better story the series could have done than this.\nEither way, with or without a textual connection to Guinan, Martus's status as a “listener” means he's tacitly supposed to be empathic. This means he's another example of a theme the show has looked at a lot this season: The corruption of empathy and how it can be twisted for ill ends. The best example is naturally Lore and the Borg in “Descent”, who use emotions and emotional vulnerability as a weapon and the classic misreading of Friedrich Nietzsche as a means to bring about fascist ends. There's also the ever-present spectre of grimdark on the horizon, which is a temptation Star Trek: Deep Space Nine\nexperiences far more viscerally and profoundly than its sister show Star Trek: The Next Generation\n(in spite of the best efforts of certain creative figures, who shall remain nameless). Grimdark is the antithesis of empathy, or perhaps it's better described as empathy's warped inverse: It's an attunement to one's own emotions and emotional state above all else, and an exaggeration of them to cosmic proportions. It's a form of solipsism, or at least willfully blinkered insensitivity.\nSo here we have Martus, a supposed “listener” who uses empathy as a ruse to con and manipulate people for his own material gain. There's a nut of an interesting idea, but again, the episode doesn't really take it anywhere interesting. It's not really an examination of grimdark one way or the other, and Lore is a far, far more terrifying example of empathy corrupted than Martus. Really, Martus just comes across as an ass instead of a serious threat or a symbolic adversarial force to be overcome. Which leaves me in a bind, because I can't read this episode as an oversignified semi-sentient self-critique any more than I can really read it as a piece of harmlessly enjoyable fluff.\nAlthough speaking of fluff, there's one fun aspect to this episode worth looking further into: Miles and Julian's racquetball game. This episode goes a long way towards furthering the odd couple pairing of Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir, and is probably the highlight of the week on this side of the lot. The relationship itself is obviously cute and they make a good pair, with their early abrasiveness softening into an intergenerational friendship built around mutual respect and admiration. The racquetball court itself is really fun too: I always liked seeing how Star Trek: The Next Generation\nand Star Trek: Deep Space Nine\nwould translate things like sports to their settings, and seeing how the different characters enjoyed them. Although I will say, as much as I loved Chief O'Brien's court back in the day, while I was researching this essay I have to admit I found Captain Picard's setup in “Suddenly Human” to be a bit more visually striking. But perhaps, like so much else about this show, that was part of the point.\nShare on Facebook", "label": "No"} {"text": "I am reading Conversations with Miloševic – about the breakdown of Yugoslavia – and the complex struggles that followed. There are a series of maps, showing, in detail, the evolving conflict – in which millions suffered and died. No one expected this much violence to happen so quickly.\nBut this was not unusual – complex (often violent) events are in fact, the most common kind – in every domain imaginable.\nWhen I went to Engineering School, in the Fifties, I took a class in Linear Analysis – that dealt with two variables at a time. No more could be handled, because the math became too complicated.\nThe digital computer, which was then just getting a start – could handle any number of variables, interconnected in any number of ways. It could model any situation in the world – but you ended up with two worlds, the real world you were modeling, and a virtual one, on a computer. This raised a question – how well did the model represent the world?\nThis is a huge problem that goes back to the introduction of human language – the invention that made us human. How well can language represent the world? Very well, and very poorly – at the same time. Words have to be accompanied by person-to-person body language, for satisfying communication to happen.\nThe same is true of the computer, that uses artificial languages. But its difficulty is worse than that – it can only work with numbers (digits). Everything has to be converted to a number, or a series of numbers (digitized) – then processed by the computer – and then converted back to whatever you started with.\nFor example, I tap on a key on my keyboard to generate a letter – this is changed into a number and my computer uses that, and all the other characters I enter, to construct its internal representation of a document – then it quickly changes this internal document back to a document on its monitor – that I can see. Two documents exist simultaneously – one inside the computer, and one outside it. When I am finished with it – it converts this into a file that I can send to other computers. This whole complicated process happens so quickly, it seems to happen instantly.\nWhat I am describing is a new world entirely.\nThis is one of the reasons why so much conflict exists in today’s world. Most of the people in it were creatures of the Industrial World, and had adapted themselves to it. That world (of only fifty years ago) no longer exists – and they cannot adapt to the new one – that is centered around the Computer – that has no need for their skills. They are out of a job – and no worse thing could happen to them.\nThey are now followers of Trump – who promises to bring their world back to them.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The modern world has been plagued by the misnomer of buying. The correct term for the economic exchanges commonly occurring today is “leasing”. In short, buying does not involve attached strings.\nTo understand the original concept of buying, we have to look this type of exchange prior to the American invention of patents as expressed in the Constitution. In other words, we could look at the etymology of the word and examine its degradation over time to understand where we are at today. We can still understand the original meaning of the world because it has not been lost in any other sector of business: only that which involves the direct exchange of new products. If you wish to buy an old item from someone or buy stocks, you expect to acquire (not inherit) the full rights of that item from the individual. I would present garage sales as being an excellent example, though it appears that patent and copyright protection applies to these items regardless of the number of hands they are passed on. Nevertheless, the buyer expects to receive all of the previous owner’s rights to the item.\nBusiness between corporations still maintains the correct definition of buying, but it entails the purchasing of all the associated patents and copyrights necessary for a full transfer of power over a product or idea. This transaction can cost thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars – a price ordinary Americans aren’t willing to pay much less have the means to do so. Hence, businesses will lease these products to the public but under the false pretense of “selling” the item to the individual.\nThe word “lease” itself, though a better description of the transaction between company and customer, is itself insufficient to properly describe the transaction. In this transaction, there is a transfer of a great number of rights from the company to the customer. For example, the customer gains the right to hold and/or use the item indefinitely without having to make any additional payments (except in cases such as vehicles where full payment has not been made in the exchange). Furthermore, the customer can (usually legally) damage or destroy the item without outside permission or having the legal obligation to compensate the company for the destruction of the item.\nIn short, buying and selling are concepts that pertain to the full exchange of the rights of one individual over a specific item to that of another.\nThe concepts of buying and selling exist only in the context of constructionism. Thus, this is suitable for tangible, physical items, but with respect to digital items, there exists great ambiguity while at the same time a general understanding in the populous. That is to say, the buying and selling of a physical object is easy to identify: an item(s) is exchanged for another item(s), usually currency. To put this in somewhat scientific-reductionist terms: one clump of atoms is being swapped with another clump. The shift in ownership is understandable because exact physical quantities are involved. This is not so with digital “items”, because in reality, digital “items” such as files do not technically exist beyond the specific arrangement of electrons in a computer. These electrons were not exchanged in the transaction; rather, they were simply relocated from a power source, which is, for all legal purposes, completely unassociated with the transaction. Furthermore, the arrangement of these electrons is completely meaningless and needs to be interpreted by the computer operating system and processor before the person can acquire the desired result. Thus, what we can say about the “purchase” of digital items is that the transaction results in a desirable arrangement of electrons on a device (e.g. computer). Technically speaking, providing such an arrangement is called a “service”, not a product. Services are neither copyrightable nor patentable. Hence digital “items” cannot be “bought” except in the form of CDs, DVDs, or some other tangible medium.", "label": "No"} {"text": "|Back to Group 21|\nJohn Chandler (1784-1854) was born in Minchinhampton and baptized there on 6 January 1784, the third child of John and Ann Chandler. His early life seems much like that of his siblings. He married Sarah Williams on 23 October 1803 at Minchinhampton, and they had two children: William, baptized 22 July 1804, and Susannah, baptized on 16 March 1806. William married Charlotte Bellerd, lived at Littleworth in the parish of Amberley, and was a woollen cloth weaver.\nJohn lost his first wife Sarah and remarried on 22 October 1811 at Stroud, Gloucestershire, to another Sarah – Sarah Millard, herself a widow. John and Sarah had a son, Richard, in Minchinhampton in 1814. Then the changes began.\nAt some time between 1814 and 1818, John and Sarah left the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside and moved 120 miles eastward to Southwark [pronounced Sutherk], lying just south of the River Thames as it flows through London. Hat making was a major industry in Southwark in the early 19th century. Heavy industry had moved into Southwark during the previous century. It was at Blackfriars Bridge that Boulton and Watt set up their infamous Albion Mills (possibly the ‘Satanic Mills’ described by local Lambeth resident and famous poet William Blake), the first steam-powered corn mill in Britain. It burned down in 1791 and was replaced by the great engineering work of John Rennie.* Southwark became a centre for iron-founding, wire-making, glass-making and other heavy industries. The rope works in nearby Bermondsey became one of the longest workshops in London. The whole river-front from Bankside to Greenwich [pronounced Grinitch] became a vast centre of ship building, ship breaking, anchor smithing, stave making, processing and storage.\n*John Rennie was also responsible for the new London Bridge built in 1830-1831, which was sold some 130 years later to an American developer, dismantled block by block, and taken to an English quarry. There the face of the stones was cut off, reducing the size considerably. The stone facings were then shipped to America where they were used to clad a concrete mould of the original bridge which had been erected in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Reconstruction began on September 23, 1968, with a ceremony including the Lord Mayor of London, who laid the cornerstone. The new bridge was dedicated in 1971.\nFour children of people named John and Sarah Chandler were christened at Christ Church in Southwark: John on 10 May 1818, Sarah on 30 August 1818, James on 3 June 1821 and Henry on 7 September 1823. It is not known with certainty, but these could have been the children of our Gloucestershire couple.\nJohn continued as a hatter until his death caused by bronchitis, probably a result of the very poor air quality, on 16 September 1854. He may have been preceded in death by Sarah 18 months earlier – a Sarah Chandler death was recorded in the Southwark registration district in the first quarter of 1853.\nThe first we hear of their son Richard as an adult is back in Gloucestershire at the time of his marriage. It is unclear at what age he left his parents in London and returned to the clean air of the county of his birth. Richard suffered and eventually died from chronic bronchitis, and it may have been that his constitution simply could not take the foul air of industrial London. He was a tailor when he married Joanna Merrett on 28 August 1837 in Woodchester, Gloucestershire – Joanna’s home town. In the 1851 census of the village of Chalford in the parish of Bisley, Richard is recorded as a tailor, Joanna a seamstress, and they had a son, John Stephen (“Jack”), born in Bisley in 1837. The 1856 Post Office Directory shows Richard as a tailor in the place of his birth, Minchinhampton. There is no evidence of other children.\nAs a young man, Jack fell out with his father and left home in his teens, probably to work as an apprentice tailor in London. He met the girl who was to become his wife in church. Mary Ann Surfleet was living at 6 Elleston Square in London and worked as a lady’s maid, far from her family home in Candlesby, Lincolnshire. It seems rather appropriate that a Candlesby girl should fall for a Chandler. She was born in 1835 and baptized on 28 February 1836, the eldest daughter of William Surfleet and his wife Ann formerly Farr. Her father William was a bailiff at the Rectory Farm for John Allington, rector of Candlesby. Mary Ann was one of 14 children, only four of whom reached adulthood. She married Jack on 13 May 1861 in St Michael’s Church in the parish of St. Peter Pimlico, in the county of Middlesex (i.e. north of the River Thames, now a part of London).\nBy early 1863 the Chandler family had moved to Alford in Lincolnshire, Mary Ann’s home county, where the rest of the Chandler children were born. Jack established a tailor’s shop in West Street, Alford, with the financial help of his father-in-law, William Surfleet, who made a codicil dated 16 March 1863 to his will stating:\n.. whereas I lately became bound with my son in law John Stephen Chandler of Alford in the same county Tailor for the payment of 236 pounds approx. borrowed of various persons for the use and benefit of John Stephen Chandler. If the Trustees are called upon to pay all or part of this it is to be deducted from Mary Ann’s share.\nBy the time of the 1871 census, the “Tailor, Hatter and Woollen Draper” on West Street, Alford, was employing two men and two apprentices. That census shows the Chandler children as John W., Richard, Edgar, Emma M. and Claribel. Another son, Tom, was born three days after the census was taken.\nA family reconciliation had obviously taken place, because Jack’s parents Richard and Joanna Chandler, both aged 56, had moved from Gloucestershire and are found in the 1871 census lodging in the South Street, Alford, home of widow Elizabeth Bradshaw. Between 1871 and 1881 Joanna Chandler died. By the time of the 1881 Census, Richard is shown as a widowed tailor aged 66, now lodging in the home of the Stockton family of Hamilton Place, Alford.\nIn total, Jack and Mary Ann Chandler had eight sons and three daughters, all of whom attended Daddy Ruston’s school in Alford at a cost of two pence per child per week.\nMiddle row, from left: Tom 1871-1953, Mary Ann (nee Surfleet) 1835-1915, Richard 1814-1887, John Stephen 1837-1891, Emma Maria 1868-1905\nFront row, from left: Claribel 1869-1963, Fred Stephen 1876-1960 (on Mary Ann’s knee), Kate born 1872, Frank Napoleon 1874-1960, Edgar Thornton 1867-1936.\nHenry James was born later that year.\nRichard became a religious man in his later years. In a letter to his granddaughter Claribel on the occasion of her winning a prize in a Biblical Study competition, he laments the fact that he did not serve his God half so faithfully as he had served his King and tells her “. . . then again, youth is the time to serve the Lord, but alas I was dead to such a real and lasting truth, consequently my life has been one of turmoil and worry, resting on broken reeds. Oh what a folly worse than madness”.\nIt is our good fortune that the Chandler family was friendly with Edwin Nainby, the Alford photographer, who lived in the same street, resulting in the availability of a number of Chandler family photographs.\nJack Chandler was a very strict parent and his children were afraid of him, with the exception of Frank, who was the only one to rebel against his father’s strict Victorian discipline (see below.) All Jack had to do was look at the cane he kept on the wall above the fire, and the children would be quiet. He insisted that the girls all had to be home by 9.00 p.m. As a young woman, Marie went to a dance and, when she was escorted home by the local policeman afterwards, her father beat her for letting a man walk her home!\nIt is perhaps not too surprising that Jack’s hero was Napoleon. When Frank Chandler was born in 1874, Jack wanted to name him after his hero, but Mary Ann, who was usually quiet, insisted on the church steps that no son of hers would be known as Napoleon, hence the baby was christened Frank Napoleon.\nJohn Stephen “Jack” Chandler suffered throughout his life with asthma and arthritis. He used a horse and trap to make deliveries to his customers. On 6 May 1891 his horse shied at a newspaper blowing in the wind, and Jack was thrown out of the trap, causing a terminal asthma attack. He died at the age of 53, leaving a quite substantial personal estate of more than five hundred pounds to his widow Mary Ann.\nSeated front row, from left: Frank Napoleon Chandler 1874-1960, Mary Ann (Surfleet) Chandler 1835-1913, Jessie Claribel Chandler 1895-1976 seated on grandmother’s knee, Agnes (Turnbull) Chandler wife of Will Chandler, John Turnbull Chandler 1896-1917 seated on his mother’s knee, Claribel Chandler 1869-1963.\nAfter Jack’s death, Mary Ann regularly visited her married children. Some of her letters to her daughter Claribel, written while visiting other children, have survived. They reveal great warmth and simple humanity. She died in 1913, leaving a substantial seven hundred pounds to be divided equally between all her surviving children and Agnes, the widow of her eldest son Will.\nJohn Stephen “Jack” and Mary Ann (Surfleet) Chandler are both buried in Alford churchyard. Their children were:\n- John William “Will” Chandler, 1862-1907, did not get on with his father. Became a school teacher in 1884. Married Agnes Turnbull in 1894. Lived in Cambridgeshire. Had one son and seven daughters: Jessie Claribel, John Turnbull, Queenie, Muriel, Pauline, Constance, Doris and Ena.\n- Richard Chandler, 1863-1922, was a tailor. He and wife Martha lived in Thornton Heath, Surrey, and had one son, Timothy, and one daughter, Hilda.\n- Charles Chandler, 1865-1867, born and died in Alford, Lincolnshire.\n- Edgar Thornton Chandler, 1867-1936, was named after the place at which his father was engaged in an army exercise at the time of his birth. Took over the family tailoring business. In 1902 was a volunteer in the Third Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment. A plaque in Alford Town Hall shows him to have been Urban District Council Chairman 1927-1928. He and his wife Lily had one daughter and three sons: Edith Muriel, Edgar Duncan, Frank and John Stephen.\n- Emma Maria “Marie” Chandler, 1868-1905, was a nursing sister in a refugee concentration camp near Kimberley in South Africa during the Boer War. A letter written home to her sister in 1900 has survived (see below), revealing a vivid picture of life in the refugee camp. She married George Randle, a British Army captain. Her obituary in the 17 March 1905 edition of the Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury reads:\nRANDLE: at Jagersfontein, South Africa, Feb 17th of Malarial Fever, Emma Maria (Marie) the beloved wife of George Randle and daughter of the late J. S. Chandler of Alford.\n- Claribel Chandler, 1869-1963, left home to train as a teacher in 1891 and was a headmistress before her marriage to headmaster Fred Waring. Had one son and two daughters: Marjorie, John “Jack” and Barbara. Lived to age 96.\n|Three Chandler Sisters\nMarie, Claribel and Kate,\n- Tom Chandler, 1871-1853, was a printer, a male nurse, and, during the first world war, a sergeant in the Red Cross. Click here to read the story of Tom and his far-flung family.\n- Kate “Kit” Chandler, 1872-1961, was very particular about appearances and would not go for walks with her brothers unless they were properly attired, including their top hats! She helped with the tailoring business before marrying Oliver Essame, a railway clerk on the Great Northern Railway. They had three sons and one daughter: Louie, Edgar (a wing commander in the Royal Air Force and teacher at Ripon Preparatory School), Gerald (a brigadier and head of the Coal Board Staff College) and Enid (principal of Queenswood Girls Public School in Hertfordshire). Kit was crippled by arthritis from middle age onwards.Frank Napoleon Chandler, 1874-1960, emigrated to Canada. Click here to read about the life of Frank Napoleon Chandler.\n- Fred Stephen Chandler, 1876-1960, lived in Croydon, Surrey during tailoring apprenticeship, then got a job in Yorkshire, where he lodged with his future wife’s family. He married Mabel Lillian Pickering Ward in 1909. They had four sons: Fred, Eric, and twins Dennis Martin (died from injuries sustained when crushed by a horse while serving with the Royal Scots Greys in Egypt) and Alan Oliver. Fred worked as a tailor’s cutter for Wallgate in Beverley, Yorkshire, and bought the business when Wallgate retired. Mabel ran a dress shop and, during World War II, they also bought the café at Catfoss Airfield. Mabel was the matriarch of the family, a very strong-willed and domineering woman. In contrast, Fred was a quiet man with a gentle nature, who relished the countryside, his greenhouse and garden, and his daily walk in the country lanes with his dog Laddie.\n- Henry James “Jim” Chandler, 1877-1938, married Florence Mary Walker in Surrey in 1905. They had a son William and a daughter Phyllis in England, before Jim and Florence emigrated to New Zealand in 1910 aboard the S.S. Tongariro which arrived in Wellington on Phyllis’ first birthday. They sailed from Wellington on the S.S. Monowai to Auckland, where they had another daughter Mary and remained for the rest of their lives.\nLetter from Marie Chandler\nto her sister Claribel and brother-in-law Fred Waring\n14 March 1900\nMy Dearest Clarrie and Fred\nVery many thanks for your letter, it came among my first batch & you can guess how jolly glad I was to receive letters after having been five weeks without any. We are in very isolation here with a vengeance. 11 English to 4000 Boers. No troops to guard us and very few luxuries of any kind. Our compound is quite in the centre of all the camps and look any way we will we cannot see a house. I am NOT fond of tent life. I am night sister for a while & it is no joke trying to sleep in a tent in a temperature of 98 degrees. We have double tents, they keep off some heat. The rains have commenced and I go about at night in Wellington boots that reach to my knees. And just now there is no moon so I flounder about most of the night among the tent ropes, they snare me on every side. My patients are mostly enteric, there is absolutely no convenience to nurse enteric & we are in the midst of an epidemic. I am quite certain all the staff will get it. The food is so awful & if I did not resort to bread & milk very frequently I should be starved. Bread & milk or bread & jam are about all that is at all good. There is no word to express what the tinned butter is like. Things are most awfully dear in Kimberley. A small bun is three pence. They say Kimberley has never righted itself since the siege and I want you to tell Mother & the others that if I do not write every week to someone among you that you may know Kimberley is being besieged again. We know for a fact that the Boers are making preparations. I suppose you know far more about the war than we do because things are suppressed & we get very ——- in the papers. The Boers have been very elated lately & we are sure something unusual is afoot. They sing all day long. Last week we had three deaths from enteric and three more are dying which is rather unfortunate in a way as the mothers and relations generaly think we are killing them because they do not get meat to eat when they have enteric. Last night I had a child die of enteric and had to get men out of the rebel camp to take her away to the mortuary. It was a weird sight. Procession thus: first a Dutch night-probationer carrying a candle, then three men carrying the child on a stretcher & I walking behind. Three tall men they were in soft wide-awake hats, & you can imagine me inviting them to have a cup of coffee. Some of the men are very tall strong men. They say we have nothing to fear if they do beseige Kimberley as they will only come and shake hands with the wives. I am not so sure & would not trust them as far as I could see. The would burn our tents as soon as look at us I think. They say the reason they are fighting so near to Kimberley is that Kitchener and someone else are driving them in. We hear today that Methuen is taken prisoner with 1500 men & that there are 5000 Boers together somewhere. But we hear so many tales that we don’t bother to believe any. Of course we hope that Kitchener IS near then Kimberley will not suffer. If we do come in for any excitement of the kind we shall be in an awful fix for firewood. We have only one fire in the compound & it is never anything but wood. I know for a fact that 140 wounded were brought into Kimberley hospital after the Vryburg affair last week. Yesterday all the mules were commandeered in Kimberley. I have a very nice man dying tonight from the rebel camp, he won’t do any more mischief though as he has certainly taken his ticket. His wife came and asked the Dispenser (who is also a prisoner-of-war) what we had been giving her husband – meaning we had poisoned him. The British are far too good to these people. The “tame” Boers as they are called have done a great deal of mischief just lately. These concentration camps are a mistake because the men know their wives and children are being looked well after while they are fighting. One of my probationers lost her father yesterday at St. Helena. Another woman told me that everything in her house had been burnt & two of her children died in a week and her husband was taken prisoner only about a month ago. She has been in the camp eight months. They tell us all kinds of very sad stories, but we do not believe anything like all we hear. I shall be very glad when I come off night duty, it is so frightfully lonely & gruesome all night long. If they only put on another English sister it would not be so bad. I am hoping they will, two more are coming out. The other day I found a lizard in my tent, sometimes they get into our beds. This was only a small one and looked like a frog with a long fine tail. It was green & yellow. I got him with forceps and put him in spirit. His name is “Cojef Maandter” so the Dispenser tells me. We get all kinds of animals in our tents. Huge earwigs, scorpions, beetles of every description & all kinds of horrible creepy things. I must now finish.\nP.S. Someone came into my tent so I ended this rather abruptly. Today only one English letter came into the whole place, so we think the mails have been interfered with. Kitchener stayed at Kimberley last night & the night before & set everybody to work & all one side of us is being guarded now. The Cape Police too are in full force. They say the Boers are all around here just now.\nMuch love, Marie.\nBoer War lasted from October 1899 – 31 May 1902\nMethuen defeated, 1000 men lost, 11 December 1899\nSeige of Kimberley, October 1899 – 15 February 1900\n6 Baptism records extracted from the Christ Church, Southwark, London Parish Register under the controlled extraction process conducted by the LDS Church and recorded within the FamilySearch.com database.\n10 Baptism no. 2820 on 27 September 1847 by Thomas Keble (Vicar) recorded on page 90 of Bisley Parish Register. This baptism, when “Jack” would have been aged 10, may mark the religious awakening of his father Richard, noted elsewhere.\n13 Baptism records extracted from the Candlesby, Lincolnshire Parish Register under the controlled extraction process conducted by the LDS Church and recorded within the FamilySearch.com database, and death records from General Register Office death index.\n18 Alford Manor House, which lies in the same street as Chandler’s Tailor Shop did, has a collection of Nainby’s glass plate negatives – see http://alfordmanorhouse.co.uk/exhibitions-at-alford-manor-house and scroll down to the item about Edwin Rechab Nainby.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The GED Testing Service consists of a battery of five tests designed to measure the intellectual and learning skills a candidate may have acquired since leaving school. It is generally recognized that many adults who did not complete a formal high school education may have acquired an educational maturity equivalent to that of a high school graduate through years of varied experience. The GED Testing Program, through a series of five comprehensive examinations, is designed to help determine that equivalency.\nThe five examinations are:\nThere are five sub-tests in the GED Tests which measure achievement in subject areas associated with a high school program of study. The five tests, and their relative content emphasis are:\nThe Minister of Advanced Education and Literacy may issue a high school equivalency certificate to Manitoba residents who have not completed high school, and who have been successful on the GED Tests, provided they meet the following eligibility requirements\nThere is no refund for persons who have not written the tests as scheduled. Applicants must resubmit their applications for the next test sitting with the required fee.\nApproximately four (4) to six (6) weeks after completion of the tests, all candidates will receive an official report on each of the five tests written. Candidates who receive a minimum standard score of 450 on each of the five tests will receive a certificate.\nThe GED is a comparative test. It demonstrates how well the examinee has done compared to recent high school graduates. Test results are reported as “standard scores” ranging from a low of 200 to a high of 800 and as “percentile ranks” ranging from 1 to 99. A passing Standard Score for the GED Testing Service in Manitoba is 450. Candidates must attain a score of 450 or better on each of the five tests to be eligible to receive their high school equivalency.\nNote: Only high school equivalency is issued.\nStandard Scores are calculated by a mathematical formula to compare GED test results to those attained by recent high school graduates on similar tests. Standard Scores above 500 are typical of recent high school graduates.\nThe percentile rank shows the percentage of graduating high school seniors who earned a certain standard score. For example, a GED examinee whose standard score on one of the tests has a percentile rank of 55 has done as well as, or better than 55% of the high school graduates in that subject.\nCandidates who fail to secure a high school equivalency standing may rewrite the tests which they have failed within the GED testing year (January to December). Candidates who are unsuccessful on this second attempt must wait until the following GED testing year.\nAn application form and an additional fee is required to cover the cost of rewriting any or all of the tests.\nAdditional transcripts of GED scores are available at a cost by contacting the GED Testing Office. Duplicate Transcript Application Form\nPersons wishing additional information regarding the Manitoba GED Testing Service may contact the GED Administrator at the GED Testing Office.\nGED Tests are written in centres across the province. For more information on locations and test dates, please contact the GED Testing Office.\nExamens de francais: Veuillez appeler Madame Gail Cormier à l’Université de Saint-Boniface au 204 237-1818, poste 446, pour fixer un rendez-vous.\nTesting may be arranged at other sites through special arrangements with the GED Testing Office for individuals with physical, emotional, or learning disabilities only.\nNote: The GED tests are available in Braille, audiocassette, and large print.\nAll GED candidates requesting to take the GED Tests must provide valid identification when they appear at the test centre. Acceptable forms of identification include government-issued identification that includes date of birth, photograph, address and signature. Examples of acceptable identification include drivers’ licenses, passports, firearms licenses, liquor commission identification and military and other government-identification cards.\nIn addition, current postsecondary school identification that includes the candidate’s name, date of birth, photograph, address, and signature are acceptable. Examples of post-secondary institutions include but are not limited to community colleges, universities, vocational-technical (trade) schools, or private occupational schools.\nStudy material for GED test preparation is available from larger book stores.\nPreparatory classes for GED are available through school divisions, colleges and other adult programs.\nApplicants wishing to reschedule their test session must contact the GED Testing Office at least ten (10) days before the testing date to reschedule. If the applicant does not, then the applicant will have to re-register and pay a new application fee. Applicants must reschedule to write the tests within six months of the initial test date.\nAn applicant’s request for rescheduling due to circumstances that cannot be forecasted in advance, like medical or bereavement reasons, may be reviewed after the stated deadline. For requests such as these, the applicant will be required to provide appropriate documentation to support their rationale.\nFor further information, contact\nManitoba Advanced Education and Literacy\nAdult Learning and Literacy\nGED Testing Office\nRoom 362, 340-9th Street\nBrandon, Manitoba, R7A 6C2\nTelephone: 1-800-853-7402 (Toll free)\nFax: (204) 726-6339 or (204) 726-6338\nThis page was last updated December 6, 2013", "label": "No"} {"text": "The late lamented African Bluesman Ali Farka Touré is still celebrated as one of the pioneering figures of West African music. It was he who took the traditional music of Mali, the music of the Jeliya and the Kora, and applied it to the guitar, to create something which resembled the blues of America’s Mississippi delta. Touré’s music has been credited with bringing to light the spiritual and ancestral connection between the music of the West African hinterland and the music of the delta bluesmen, which traced its lineage to the songs brought over by African slaves on the Middle Passage. Touré’s Mali Blues reunified these two distinct branches of ‘African Music’, prompting Martin Scorsese to famously comment that Touré’s music contained the ’DNA of the Blues’.\nAli Farka Touré was also one of the first African musicians to gain a degree of worldwide fame and was a part of the forefront of the so-called ‘World Music’ movement, which came to prominence in the late 1970s and 80s. His popularity both within and beyond the borders of Mali transformed Western perceptions of African music and culture. Many artists were able to follow in his footsteps and gain critical exposure beyond West Africa, such as Habib Koité and Salif Keita, who have both gained a widespread following in the West. Touré’s cultural and social significance for the people of Mali is underlined in the documentary A Visit to Ali Farka Touré in which we see Touré engaging in social programs, as well as playing music with people from the various tribes and ethnic groups of Mali.\nThe country’s growing status as a cultural destination are reflected in the success of the Festival in the Desert, which is held there every January and is now in its eleventh year. Past performers at the festival have included such icons of West African music as Ali Farka Touré, Salif Keita and the Tuareg band Tinariwen. Despite having to change location in 2010, from the desert regions of Mali to a location closer to Timbuktu, the festival continues to grow in international prominence, and with it Malian music, as more artists come out from the shadow of Ali Farka Touré and develop their own versions of Malian music. As with Touré, whose music both embraced West African tradition and transcended it, artists such as Amadou & Mariam and Touré’s son Vieux Farka Touré, are reinventing West African music and bringing it to new audiences all over the world.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The class that I am currently taking at Cardinal Stritch is called Computer Systems: How they work. In this class we will discuss the history of the computer, the different components of computers, the role of an operating system, the various operating systems available, viruses, and what makes up an ideal computer.\nThe topics that we will discuss in this class apply to my life in various ways. Computers have become part of my daily life. I use them to socialize, research, collaborate, share, and organize. After learning more about computers and how they work, I will be able to make informed decisions about computers. I will be able to evaluate the various types of computers, components, and software that is available. I will be able to determine what computers offer the best option for my personal use.\nThis course will also help me protect my information and my computer. I will be able to learn how to prevent viruses and keep my computer secure. This will help ensure that I do not lose important personal information or affect the functionality of my computer.\nThis class should also help me increase the longevity of my computer. I will be able to keep my operating system running smoothly and I will be able to troubleshoot issues with the components inside my computer.\nAll of these topics will help protect my investment and make sure that I can maximize the use of my personal computer.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Montessori Elementary child is presented with a number of lessons about plants. We have previously discussed the first 2 lessons of plants: 1. The Four Greek Elements and 2. What Nutrition Plants Need. These serve as an introduction to the idea of chemistry to the Elementary child. We’ve discussed the historical practice of leaving ground fallow and the modern practices of fertilization (with the example of cotton in the post Civil War south as the prime example). The third of these lessons is a discussion of Nitrogen and the Nitrogen Cycle. There are diagrams of each of the lessons that were created after Dr. Montessori did by a number of her followers. These diagrams lack the elegance for which Montessori works are known. Perhaps the most unsettling of the diagrams is the Nitrogen Cycle’s. So, Mrs. W and I worked out a hands-on work. We are open for suggestions.\n- Chart 2 of “Plant nutrients”.\n- Jar of air.\n- Soybeans, peanuts or other legumes\n- Chart 3 – nitrogen cycle in felt parts.\n- 4 boxes with the parts.\n- “Free Nitrogen”\n- 10 tickets labled “N”\n- 10 tickets labeled O\n- 10 tickets labeled H\n- “Nitrification box 1 – atmosphere”\n- Cloud in grey felt\n- Lightening with two branches\n- “Nitrification box 2 – terrestrial”\n- legume stalk and roots\n- legume leaves\n- nitrogen fixing bacteria\n- poop x 2\n- green leaves\n- brown leaves\n- bones for deer\n- denitrification bacteria\n- fungi – mycelia and mushroom\n- “Free Nitrogen”\n- Jar with soil.\nNitrogen Cycle Presentation:\nLay out the underlayment and place underground water table, tree, sun and clouds in their places. Open “Free Nitrogen” box.\nPlants, like all organisms, require a certain number of chemical elements for growth.\nThe story of one of these, nitrogen, is an interesting one. Nitrogen is especially important because proteins are rich in it, and they carry out a lot of the work in the cells.\nTake a deep breath. Slowly breath it out. Hold the glass of air up.\nEven though 78% of the air we breathe is nitrogen, plants and animals can’t use the free nitrogen.\nWe breathe it back out.\nShow Chart 2. Invite the children to recall the lesson and name the elements.\nAnd out of the 12 or so elements that a plant must obtain from the soil, only nitrogen can’t be obtained directly. It must first be fixed – that is, combined with other elements usually hydrogen or oxygen. This happens in a two main ways. When nitrogen is fixed, it is called “Nitrification.”\nLay out the rest of the Free Nitrogen cards in the soil.\nOpen “Nitrification box 1 – atmosphere” box.\nThe first way nitrogen is “fixed” is in the atmosphere. The catch is that nitrogen will only bond with its favorite elements when there is high temperature and pressure. Where in the atmosphere will you have really high temperatures and lots of pressure?\nIn lightening bolts!\nLay out rain. Move an H2O into the stream of rain.\nWhen the lightening bolts strike the nitrogen bonds with oxygen making Nitric oxide.\nMove the second and third H2Os near the second branch of the lightening bolt and bring over a N, split it apart and allow the H2s out into the atmosphere. Join the NO2 together.\nWhen the NO2’s fuse this is called nitrogen dioxide. The Nitric oxide falls to the ground with the rain. However, not all of the nitrogen dioxide falls directly to the ground. It bumps into some of the H2O’s. It then fuses and forms nitric acid.\nMove the NO2s with waters and arrange them into nitric acid. Make sure all the nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric acid move into the soil.\nThese three types of fixed nitrogen that are made in the atmosphere are may be used by plants. This is three ways Nitrification takes place in the atmosphere.\nOpen “Nitrification box 2 – terrestrial” box.\nIn temperate soils, another types of fixation takes place in the roots of some plants.\nAsk the children to name some legumes. Share the soybeans or peanuts. While the children chew, lay out the legume plant.\nAs these plants grow, their root hairs send out certain chemicals that attract root bacterias. When the bacteria touches the root hairs two things might happen. 1. if it is not the right type of bacteria the root protects itself for it. But, if it is the correct type of bacteria, it is held there,\nLay out the bacteria in the soil and move them to the roots of the legume.\nand a kind of tube grows from each bacteria into the cells of the tiny root hairs. These bacteria enter into the cells and reproduce causing a swelling called a “nodule” on the root.\nThis is not an invasion that will hurt the plant. The bacteria and the plant are working together. Do you know the word that is made from the Greek word sym meaning together and the word bios meaning life?\nThe plant provides energy in the form of ATP and the bacteria bring an enzyme that takes the fixed nitrogen and combines it with hydrogen and that makes ammonia!\nThe ammonia is quickly converted into NO2 and NO3. Plants use these as fuel for growth. It is incorporated into many amino acids when are used to make proteins.\nMake the NO2 and NO3.\nThe Oxygen from the water is not wasted but used as part of the process and then released. Nitrogen is stored in the leaves, fruit, and roots of the legumes and remember that the fixed nitrogen that was made by the lightening can be used by other plants. This is quite a bit of nitrogen hanging out in plants. But man needs nitrogen, too. How do we get nitrogen to help us grow?\nSay a person, or a horse, or a deer comes along and sees some tasty soybeans or pulls up a peanut plant and finds tasty peanuts, what do they do? Ahhhhh.\nLay down the deer with him “eating” the legume.\nYes they eat it. Now the fixed nitrogens are inside the deer. I wonder how they might come out?\nOne way is for the animal to excrete waste. The animal might be a tiny earthworm or a giant whale. It still extracts what it can from its food; it can’t take all of the nutrients and some pass into the feces to be excreted from the body.\nOpen the “Denitrification” box.\nWe now begin the process of “Denitrification” – of breaking apart the fixed nitrogen into single nitrogen atoms to be used again.\nCan you think of another way that the nitrogen trapped in a living thing can be returned to its denitrified state?\nWhat about the plants? How does the trapped nitrogen leave the plants?\nThey will get it and will say that the trees and plants die.\nYes they do die, but some trees live a very long time. How about their leaves? On most trees, they live only one year and then fall off.\nPut the green leaves falling and the brown leaves on the ground near the deer.\nBring out the mycelia and the mushroom, bring out the bacteria, move the earthworms over.\nTake the nitrogen and oxygen in the deer and break it apart and return it to the atmosphere.\nTake the nitric acid in the tree and break it apart and return it to the air. Put water back into the clouds and generally reset the cycle.\nThis important job of denitrification takes death and turns it back into what brings life and growth. The cycle may begin again.\nTouch the clouds and walk through the cycle again using the major terms.\nNow that you have had this lesson you may do this work. You must be very careful with so many ways and times that nitrogen fixes, you must be observant and thoughtful to cause the correct nitrification and denitrification at the correct time in the cycle.\n- Volcanoes, power plants, and cars also can fix Nitrogen.\n- A byproduct of denitrification is N2O or nitrous oxide, “laughing gas” and is considered a greenhouse gas.\n- The oceans have their own nitrogen cycle which involves blue-green algae and other bacterias without having a symbiotic relationship with plants.\n- Fertilizers and the Haber Process is its own topic and worth research by an upper el student.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A essays describing a place killer first sentence: college essay examples. at adolf hitler research paper this section, you narrate the occurrences and factors surrounding the specific account. 533 college essay introduction paragraph words 3 pages. powerpoint presentation. the introduction. oct 16, 2019 · different words and phrases can be used in different parts of an how to improve your critical thinking essay. students who have this knowledge will not struggle with starting or how to end an essay. i’ve also compiled an enormous list of 100 actual sample college essays from 14 different college essay introduction paragraph schools. this part of your work is designed to help the …. establishes your mla format for research papers voice and tone, my apartment essay or your attitude, toward the subject introduces the general thinksmart scenario essay pdf topic of the essay states the thesis that will be supported outline for research papers in college essay introduction paragraph the body paragraphs. college essay format. a good introduction to essay how to write a rhetorical analysis thesis catches attention and makes your reader engaged right from the very start. then, concluding sentence examples for essays sit in a circle. college a very important part of life is education. an introduction is usually the first paragraph of your academic this i believe essay topics essay.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Two stories today on beverages. First off, the Anheuser-Busch brewery has come up with a new line of beers named B-to-the-E, with B standing for beer and E for something \"extra\". The E is shown as the exponent of B which means we have another \"expert\", this time advertising types, using Algebra to make their point. What is going on here? Maybe if our high school math teachers had told us back in the day that we needed to learn algebra so we could understand depression and beer we might have paid more attention. In any event, this new beer will be flavored in order to appeal \"to 20-something consumers craving something zippy in their highly social, fast-paced lifestyles.\" hahahahahaha \"Slightly sweet but tart and coming in the aromas of blackberry, raspberry and cherry, B-to-the-E is to be marketed toward \"active 21- to 27-year-old experimenters looking for new tastes and options.\" bwahahahahaha\nSecond beverage in the news today is tea. Scientists have discovered that instant tea contains high levels of flouride which can lead to bone pain. \"Swallowing high levels of fluoride boosts bone density, but also makes bones more brittle. It can lead to skeletal fluorosis, which causes bone pain, calcified ligaments, bone spurs, fused vertebrae and difficulty in moving joints.\" This link between instant tea and bone pain was discovered by researchers looking into the medical history of a woman who made it a habit to drink one to two gallons of super strength tea a day. Well there you go, two gallons of anything a day should send up a red flag and I'm not even an expert...on health diagnosis or algebra.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Sacramento, California — A solar-energy company has dropped a proposal to build a 75-story solar tower near California's Joshua Tree National Park, employing a kind of solar technology that can cause birds to ignite in midair.\nThe California Energy Commission was slated to vote on BrightSource Energy's project this month, before the company withdrew its application.\nThe plant would have used \"power tower\" technology that trains concentrated solar power on steam boiler towers. State and federal officials and conservation groups say a similar BrightSource tower near the Nevada border proved unexpectedly deadly to birds that flew through the concentrated rays.\nBrightSource and its partners decided they needed a project that would \"better meet the needs of the market and energy consumers,\" Senior Vice President Joe Desmond said Wednesday.\nThe company remains committed to solar power-tower technology, as well as \"sound and responsible environmental measures,\" Desmond said.\nCalifornia law requires that state utilities get one-third of their energy from renewable sources, including solar, by 2020. Power towers lose energy more gradually than standard solar panels, making them potential assets to power grids, supporters say.\nSome conservation groups opposed the proposed plant's site along a flyway for migratory birds. Others urged a moratorium on power-tower plants pending longer study of the threat to birds from the concentrated rays.", "label": "No"} {"text": "A few days before the celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday, I looked for a book for my black child in a large chain bookstore. I could find nothing on our only celebration of an African-American or King.\nWhat’s that you say? It’s no biggie if the bookstore doesn’t stock MLK-related books for kids, because they’ll learn about civil rights and slavery in history class?\nIt took many people to work in the cotton fields. Georgia was one of the states that used slaves to help grow cotton and other crops. Black people from Africa and the West Indies were brought to America to help do the work on large farms.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In early August, the Icelandic Space Agency (ISA) embarked on an expedition to Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull National Park with NASA to test the Mars Mission space suit (MS1).\nDaniel Leeb, director of ISA, led a diverse team of various backgrounds and expertise to the most active volcanic region in Iceland with the prime directive to test the suit. The group gathered in a one-room, six-bed cabin, and cosied up for six days of intense research and development. Among them was designer Michael Lye, who helped to build the MS1 suit in collaboration with NASA at Rhode Island School of Design.\nThe suit is still being tested for use in space, and especially on Mars, which is why the team came to Iceland. The landscape here is apparently very similar to that of Mars. “If you really want to study the possibilities of long-term human habitation…in space, you must begin that journey by conducting field studies and tests on analogous terrestrial areas such as those found in Iceland,” Leeb said.\nIt looks like humanity is one small step closer to going to Mars. If teams like the one led by Leeb continue this way, we may hope for giant leaps towards the day. With the way Earth is going, that day can’t come soon enough. I wonder if Martians accept MasterCard.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The meteor that exploded over Russia on Friday had some witnesses thinking it was the end of the world. But meteors are a common site in the night skies over South Dakota.\nThe meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains had the force of a nuclear bomb. But the cosmic pyrotechnics over South Dakota are typically far less potent.\nBrief streaks across the South Dakota prairie sky are the closest brush we usually have with meteors.\nAlso known as shooting stars, they aren't stars at all, mostly just tiny specks of space dust that burn up when they hit our atmosphere; light years in magnitude from the massive fireball that rocked Russia.\n\"I probably would have looked at it and said 'wow, I wish I had my camera!' And then afterwards, [it'd] be too late. But that was amazing,\" amateur astronomer Wes Garcia said.\nMany cameras were rolling when the meteor struck, providing the world with images that looked like a Hollywood doomsday movie.\n\"I can't ever recall one that had that much of an impact to the surrounding area. If it were more remote, where there wasn't a city nearby, it probably would have gone unnoticed,\" Garcia said.\nHere in South Dakota, we're much more used to seeing snow falling from the sky and not meteors. In fact, the odds of a meteor hitting your house are something like 182 trillion to one. You've got better odds of winning the lottery.\n\"We have accounts where a small meteorite, dime size or smaller, has gone through somebody's roof. But you look at the total history of that type of happening and it's rare,\" Garcia said.\nBut the meteor damage caused in Russia wasn't nickel and dime stuff; instead a powerful force of nature unleashed in a flash.\nThe earth dodged another celestial bullet on Friday when a 150 foot asteroid passed within a little more than 17,000 miles of us. Scientists say it was not connected to the Russian meteor since both space objects were traveling in opposite directions.", "label": "No"} {"text": "- Vegetables: broccoli\n- Crop Production: organic fertilizers\n- Production Systems: organic agriculture\nThe long-term goal of this project is to improve nitrogen fertilizer management on farms implementing biologically-intensive soil-building practices to grow diverse crops. Cover cropping and organic amendments contribute to the soil’s fertility beyond the year they were incorporated by building active organic matter. Through this participatory research we will be able to place dollar values on the importance of optimizing soil fertility. Growers will be able to more accurately estimate nitrogen mineralization from soil organic matter and adjust fertilizer applications up or down accordingly. Extensive outreach efforts will be used to directly reach over 200 growers in Washington and Oregon.\n- Assist producers with fertilizer applications through pre-season soil tests that predict nitrogen mineralization.\n- Evaluate the net economic return of increasing amounts of organic fertilizer applied before planting across geographically dispersed farms with differing soil quality parameters.\n- Assist producers with in-season soil tests that allow adjustment to fertility during the growing season.\n- Assist producers in developing nitrogen management plans to increase profitability while protecting water quality.", "label": "No"} {"text": "by Jendella Benson When I was fourteen I was suspended from school for two days for calling a teacher racist. In my defence: she was racist. In her classroom there were two tables sat side-by-side, and each one sat eight students. One table had six Asian girls, one black girl (me) and one white girl, […]\nAs a teacher, you know firsthand that students often respond to experiential and interactive learning methods, not to mention they often remember these lessons more vividly. Regurgitating information from a textbook might be today’s prevailing academic model, but you understand that students are more likely to absorb this information when they recognize the real-world applications.\nReading and writing are key to learning any subject and not just English. While reading and rereading help to grasp the topic, writing helps in remembering the concepts better. But before a student sits down to write a test, it is advisable to conduct self review that would test his or her recalling abilities. Continue reading “FlashCards – a fun way to recall and review!”\nThis post has spiralled slightly out of control. Initially it was just a couple of loosely connected ideas that I jotted down. Then I dug up an old half-written blog post. Then I went for a walk on yet another cold wet day and started to think more deeply about this and it turned into […]\nHave you ever observed something and wondered why does it look that way or why does it do that? This is what scientists do on a continuous basis in their lives. They look at a phenomena and try to figure out the how, why, or what of it. Our beautiful state of Iowa offers a […]", "label": "No"} {"text": "When you live somewhere where the winter is bitterly cold, spring can often seem like an impossibly distant horizon. Photographer Nashalina Schrape visited Slovenia to document the colorful costumes of Kurentovanje, an ancient carnival that celebrates the coming of spring. Based on Pagan traditions, Kurentovanje still remains a much-needed reminder that winter won’t last forever.\nLocated in northeastern Slovenia, the town of Ptuj has been inhabited since the Stone Age. It is the oldest recorded town in the country, and it’s also the center of Kurentovanje. During the ten-day festival, which begins on Shrove Sunday, Kurents travel through town dressed in sheep skins, bells, and colorful ribbons. The noise of the parade is a means of frightening away winter; a symbolic farewell to cold weather.\nSchrape, a Berlin-based photographer, had initially visited Slovenia to photograph some costumes. “I was invited back for Kurentovanje by one of the families who had been making the Kurent costume for generations,” she explains. “During the year, Marco Klinc and his family make custom furniture. But once a year, for about four weeks, they work overtime to make new costumes and repair older ones. His workshop was in many ways a Grand Central for the carnival, as they had many visitors and he knew many many people.”\nCelebrations like Kurentovanje used to be more common across the northern hemisphere, especially in the pre-Christian era. “The pagan calendar only had two seasons, and many villages all over Europe celebrated the end of winter,” says Schrape. “Kurents are intended to be scary in order to frighten the winter away and prepare for a new season of renewal and the death of the old. The carnival welcomed fertility, newness and a strong harvest. Kurents and the other costumes would go from home to home, bringing blessings, entertainment, and a sense of community in return for homemade wine, other spirits, and sausage from the newly slaughtered pig.”\nDespite its long history, the formally organized Kurentovanje festival only dates back to the 1950s. At that time, concerned over the disappearance of traditional customs in the region, Ptuj cultural historian Drago Hasl spearheaded an effort to establish Kurentovanje as the organized event it is today. Although the costumes of Kurentovanje remain traditionally inspired, the rules around them have evolved. Traditionally, only unmarried men were intended to wear the Kurent costume, but now anyone can be a Kurent.\nSee more of Nashalina Schrape’s photography at her website, built using Format.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Grenache, (also known as Grenache Noir, to distinguish it from its white counterpart Grenache Blanc) is the most widely planted grape in the southern Rhône Valley, and the second most widely planted varietal in the world. It is most often blended (with Syrah and Mourvèdre in France and Australia, and with Tempranillo in Rioja), but reaches its peak in the wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where it comprises 70% of the appellation’s acreage. Château de Beaucastel uses between 35 and 50% Grenache in its Beaucastel red, and some producers (most notably Château Rayas) produce Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines that are virtually 100% Grenache.\nGrenache appears to have originated in Spain, most likely in the northern province of Aragon, and ampelographers believe that Grenache was the foundation of Aragon’s excellent vin rouge du pays. From Aragon, it spread throughout the vineyards of Spain and the Mediterranean in conjunction with the reach of the kingdom of Aragon, which at times included Roussillon and Sardinia. By the early 18th century, the varietal had expanded into Languedoc and Provence.\nThe phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century indirectly increased European plantings of Grenache. In Rioja, for example, vineyards were replanted not with the native varietals but with the hardy, easy to graft Grenache. A similar trend occurred in southern France, as the percentage of Grenache plantings after the phylloxera infestation increased significantly, replacing the previously abundant Mourvèdre.\nGrenache was brought to California in the 1860s, where its erect carriage, vigor and resistance to drought made it a popular planting choice. It came to occupy second place in vineyard planting after Carignan and was an element in wine producers’ branded field blends. Unfortunately, this usage encouraged growers to select cuttings from the most productive vines, increasing grape production but reducing the overall quality of the vines. In recent years, Grenache plantings in California have declined, as the varietal is replaced by the more popular Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; currently there are 9,600 acres planted in California.\nHowever, while overall Grenache acreage has declined (largely low quality plantings in the Central Valley), the varietal has at the same time undergone something of a resurgence in popularity. Newly available high-quality clones, including those from Tablas Creek, have encouraged hundreds of new plantings in California, with the greatest number concentrated in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.\nGrenache at Tablas Creek\nWhen we began Tablas Creek Vineyard in 1990, we were not completely satisfied with the quality of California Grenache vines. As a result, we imported our Grenache Noir cuttings (along with its close cousin, Grenache Blanc) from France, where Jacques Perrin at Château de Beaucastel had worked tirelessly to regenerate high quality Grenache vines. Still, the Perrins feel that vine age is essential in making top quality Grenache.\nSo, it should perhaps have been unsurprising to us that it took us longer to become happy with our Grenache than than with any of our other varietals. Our initial expectations were that we would produce wines that were one-third or more Grenache, and we planted the vineyard accordingly. However, the early harvests of Grenache showed little of the depth that we wanted, and had aggressive front-palate tannins that were in striking contrast to the smoothness of Mourvedre and Syrah. It has only been since the 2005 vintage that we have been really happy with the variety's performance, and only since 2006 that we've felt Grenache balanced enough to produce it as a varietal wine.We have increased the percentage of Grenache in our Esprit de Beaucastel each year since 2002: from just 10% in 2002 to 16%, 17%, 26%, 28% and finally 29% in the 2007.\nGrenache in the Vineyard and Cellar\nGrenache is a vigorous variety with upright shoots that lends itself to “gobelet” or “head pruning”; it is widely cultivated in this manner in France and in Spain. At Tablas Creek, our new Grenache plantings on Scruffy Hill are head pruned; elsewhere on the vineyard, the varietal is cultivated in double cordon fashion with six fruiting canes, each with two buds. The varietal’s vigor gives it the potential to be a heavy producer. Despite our shoot thinning, we are usually obliged to fruit-prune during the growing seasons to keep the bunch count to ten or twelve clusters per vine. This practice means that we harvest approximately three tons of fruit per acre of vines.\nGrenache ripens in the middle of the ripening cycle, after Syrah but before Counoise and Mourvedre. At harvest, it is notable for its high acidity even at relatively high sugar levels. In a typical year, we would begin to harvest Grenache at the end of September and finish in mid-October.\nIn the cellar, we typically ferment Grenache in closed stainless steel fermenters, to counteract Grenache's tendency toward oxidation. We avoid small 60-gallon barrels for Grenache for the same reason, and prefer to age Grenache-based wines in 1200-gallon oak foudres, whose thicker oak staves permit less oxygen to penetrate the wine.\nFlavors and Aromas\nGrenache produces wines with high concentrations of fruit, tannin, and acids. Its flavors are most typically currant, cherry, and raisin, and its aromas are of black pepper, menthol, and licorice. Although many California Grenache clones produce simple, fruity wines which tend to be pale in color, our French clones produce brilliant ruby red wines which are heady in alcohol (usually 15% or higher), and intensely fruity and fat.\nFor our signature Esprit de Beaucastel, Grenache is typically our #2 varietal (behind Mourvèdre and slightly ahead of Syrah) and opens up those more closed, reductive varieties. The varietal can thrives in a lead role in a fruity, forward wine as in our Grenache-based Côtes de Tablas. We have also produced a varietal Grenache each year since 2006. In this wine, we typically moderate the sweetness of Grenache with 10% Syrah.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Three Kids Mine\nThree Kids Mine; Las Vegas, Nevada\nThree Kids Mine on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada may be less worthy of mention for its past than for its post-use roles due in large part to its position on the increasingly-encroaching fringes of the urban center.\nBuilt in 1916 and opened the following year, Three Kids Mine consists of a massive 300 foot deep open pit, along with two other nearby smaller pits from which high grade manganese ore was mined. Though today it sits not far from the boundary of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, at the time of the mine’s construction, the Hoover Dam was still over a decade away from breaking ground, and the city of Las Vegas, located about 15 miles from the mine site, was only 11 years old with a population of about 2000 people. Initially, manganese ore from the mine was hauled down to the rail yards in Las Vegas by a 10-horse team pulling three heavy-duty freight wagons and a feed cart hitched to each other. Shortly after, a mill was constructed beside the main pit to process the ore onsite.\nAccording to the mine’s one-time owners, the Manganese Ore Co., the mine was at one time the largest open pit deposit of manganese ore in the US, while the leaching process took place in the largest acid-proof thickeners ever constructed.\nThe mine saw three periods of major activity, each coinciding with significant military campaign eras: World War 1, World War 2, and the Korean and Cold Wars. Though by 1961, most of the rich ore had been depleted, and the government terminated the mine’s contract. Much of the mining operation was dismantled the following year. Sitting on BLM land, the area was used by the federal government for storage until 2003.\nFollowing its closure, the earlier completion of the Hoover Dam and the formation of Lake Mead, along with the growth of Las Vegas as an urban and tourism center left the abandoned mine and its tailings in a no man’s land of BLM-controlled desert mountains.\nImmediately west of the empty mine pit and concrete mill ruins is 1.8 million cubic tons of black sludge, the result of processed mine tailings mixed with diesel oil and soapy water and transported into a manmade reservoir. [This area is visible in Google Maps Satellite Images today, immediately across E. Lake Mead Parkway from Lake Las Vegas Parkway.] Those with knowledge of these tailings pools contend that even today, beneath the hardened topmost 3-or-so feet of dirt, there is pure liquid sludge 30-70 feet deep.\nIn 1987, the sci-fi film, Cherry 2000, starring Melanie Griffith, used the mine and pit for filming. Though the movie itself is forgettable, Three Kids Mine was amongst filming locations exclusively throughout southern Nevada like Goldfield and the Valley Of Fire used for filming.\nA mix of pollution, multiple-entity ownership, and bureaucracy even less viscous than the sludge left behind has slowed any cleanup of the site. Though now the Lake Mead National Recreation Area is approaching 8 million visitors annually, making it the US’ sixth most visited national park site in 2017 and Las Vegas development has reached almost to the mine site itself with the Lake Las Vegas development located directly opposite the road.\nMost recently, the City of Henderson purchased the land and announced plans for a large-scale development on what they have rechristened “Lakemoor Canyon”, though this is all pending a cleanup with cost estimates varying from $300 million to $1.2 billion.\nWhite the pit itself remains a toxic hold that continues to slowly accumulate dumped loads of refuse, car tires, and a surprising number of discarded small boats thrown into it, the mill ruins grow increasingly colorful as graffiti writers continue to cover its available surfaces. The most well-known piece, which remains an attraction even for non-writers, is the Wheel Of Misfortune piece by politically-deviant crew, INDECLINE, whose 2012 mural covers most of the surface of one of the mill’s thickeners and can be seen by flights on path to Vegas’ McCarran International Airport.\nIn a city where face and image are rebuilt and recycled constantly and new home construction expands in all directions, threatening the area’s undeveloped mountains, fossils and petroglyph sites, and threatened animal species, the slow-moving wheels of bureaucracy and inconvenience of millions of tons of sludgy waste has left Three Kids Mine a shrinking island of darkness in the illuminated grid of the Southern Nevada desert. Someday soon, a home on the massive pit that once supplied metal for the war efforts and a waste receptacle for former boats could be yours, starting in the low $500,000’s…\n(prints, digital images and licensing are available. more info is on our store page.)\nor see our other blog posts here.", "label": "No"} {"text": "WASHINGTON — For more than 50 years the Army has turned current and former defense training sites into environmentally safe areas for Soldiers and their families, installation staff and the surrounding communities.\nThe work is done through the Army’s Environmental Restoration Program, also known as the cleanup program. Here they identify sites impacted by hazardous contaminants, pollutants and munitions from past activities and develop ways to return the land to a productive use.\n“We take action to resolve threats to human health and the environment,” said Susan Elrod, G-9 environmental restoration branch chief. “We’re able to give sites back to installations to continue their mission.”\nThe cleanup program centers around installations with ongoing operations. It’s divided into the Installation Restoration Program and the Military Munitions Response Program.\nThe Installation Restoration Program, which has been around since 1975, investigates and cleans up contamination posing a risk to human health and the environment. Whereas the Military Munitions Response Program addresses threats to human health and the environment posed by unexploded ordnance and munitions constituents.\nAs of 2021, the cleanup program has met its remediation goal of 91% with roughly 1,200 sites where cleanup actions are ongoing.\nLake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri, is one of those.\nDisposal pits were discovered here using aerial photography in the 1980s. The area was then placed on the national priorities list due to the contamination in the groundwater and the acreage it covers.\nSince that time, it has gone through several remedial investigations, as well as several treatment options with little success, until a recent pilot study discovered a way forward.\nThe team on site installed a system that removes harmful contaminants from the soil and groundwater using heat. Applying this new technology, the Army began the extraction process in December 2022.\n“This project is the continuation of the Army’s efforts to work towards remedying the contaminants completely, as well as tackle the long-term treatment costs by reducing the timeframe for cleanup,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Denton, LCAAP commander. “Because of the amount of contamination that’s there, it takes an aggressive approach to remediate it, and that’s what the Army has in store.”\nThe four-step remediation process starts with removing the water, which is currently ongoing, shifts to thermal heating, then onto contamination extraction and finally cooling. The process will take around 180 days with a summer 2023 completion date.\nIf it’s successful, the process could help reduce the estimated remediation time from 760 years to less than 70 years.\n“[Restoration] is important because we’re doing environmental stewardship,” said Sara Clark, LCAAP’s remedial project manager and environmental coordinator. “We’re trying to take care of the environment by using state-of-the-art technologies and getting rid of the contamination in the ground sooner rather than later.”\nThe Army will monitor the area for years to come, just as it does with other sites following remediation. Lake City is one of an estimated 113 sites that the Army hopes will finish remediation by the end of 2023.\nRibbon cutting ceremony marks start of contaminant extraction at Army ammunition plant", "label": "No"} {"text": "This glorious Hubble\nSpace Telescope image showcases spiral galaxy IC 342, also known as Caldwell 5.\nScientists have had\nsome difficulty observing it due to obstacles in the way, earning it its \"hidden\" nickname\nHubble can peer\nthrough the debris, to an extent, as the telescope does have infrared capabilities\nInfrared light is\nless scattered by dust and allows a clearer view of the galaxy in behind the interstellar matter.\nIC 342 is also\nrelatively close in galactic terms, only 11 million light-years from Earth.\nIt's about half the\ndiameter of our own Milky Way (50,000 light-years across), making it relatively large, too.", "label": "No"} {"text": "How Does the Central Bank Control the Money Supply ( and destruction)?\nto be seen...\nIn 1998 the average cash reserve ratio across the entire United Kingdom banking system was 3.1%. ( Now = 0 )\nOther countries have required reserve ratios (or RRRs) that are statutorily enforced\n(sourced from Lecture 8, Slide 4: Central Banking and the Money Supply, by Dr. Pinar Yesin, University of Zurich, Switzerland (based on 2003 survey of CBC participants at the Study Center Gerzensee\n|United Kingdom |\n|New Zealand |\n|United States |\n|Sri Lanka |\n|Hong Kong |\nNote that the chart above gives the USA cash reserve ratio as 10% when the actual ratios stated in the text above the chart are more complex, significantly lower and with many cases of zero reserve. I have no idea how significant the exceptions to the stated percentages for other countries might be.\nI notice on these Wikipedia pages that there is a lot of discussion and disagreement about what the details really are. However, the section of my movie being questioned ends with the statement:\n\"So…while the rules are complex the common sense reality is actually quite simple.\nBanks can create as much money as we can borrow.\"\nCentral Banking and\nthe Money Supply\nDr. P³nar Ye»sin\nDecember 16, 2005\nUniversity of Zurich\nAvec mes meilleures salutations.\nFrançois de Siebenthal\n14, ch. des Roches\nCH 1010 Lausanne", "label": "No"} {"text": "Lesson Plan: Gender Stereotypes!\nHappy women’s day! Continuing with this topic I have prepared a lesson for my intermediate course on men and women role stereotypes that I would like to share with you.\nI have found a good lesson plan in English-4u, a webpage where you’ll find lesson plans based on news and hit songs, to introduce the topic. The title of the lesson is “Jobs About the House” and it is a reading activity based on some statistics by the UK Office for National Statistics. After doing the activities proposed there, we can discuss whether we live in a man’s world and who is expected to do all the household chores.\nTo finish off the lesson, we can work on an episode from friends (season 9, episode 6): “The one with the male nanny”. Here, we will be able to discuss stereotypes at work. Are there jobs for women and jobs for men?\nHere you’ll find some activities you can do with your students while watching the video:\nMake a list of things the men that appear in the video do, that are not generally associated with the male sex.\nHow’s Ross feeling when he talks to Sandy? Why?\nWhat reason does Ross give for firing Sandy? Is it the REAL reason? How do you know?\nDoes Sandy need recommendations? Why?\nWhat’s Ross problem? What happened to him when he was a kid?\nIs Ross a stereotype of the “Macho Man”? Why?\nHope you find it useful. Looking forward to your comments…\nPosted on March 8, 2008, in Lesson Plans, Resources for tesl/tefl and tagged household-chores, lesson_plans, listening, reading, sex_roles, society, statistics, stereotypes, video, women_day. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.", "label": "No"} {"text": "1.1.3 Movements of the clavicle and scapula\nNow let's see how the clavicle and the scapula move, relative to the trunk. Upward movement of the scapula is called elevation; downward movement is called depression. Forward movement around the trunk is called protraction; the opposite movement is retraction. This movement is called upward rotation. The opposite movement is downward rotation. In real life these movements of the scapula are often combined.\nThe range of motion of the scapula provides fully one third of the total range of motion of the humerus, relative to the body, sometimes more. Without this movement of the scapula, we'd only be able to abduct our arm to here. That's as far as the shoulder joint goes, before bone hits bone. It's scapular movement that lets us get all the way to here.", "label": "No"} {"text": "One of the many responsibilities of a school teacher is\nkeeping the classroom and its materials organized, in order to provide their\nstudents with a structured, distraction-less learning environment. Keeping the\nclassroom space organized will also help teachers set up their classes, monitor\nstudent progress and maintain and regular schedule.\nClassroom organization starts with the layout, including\nschool furniture, desks and chairs, as well as cabinets and storage space, and\nends all the way at the individual students’ drawers, lockers and backpacks.\nArt teachers have an especially difficult task, with their\nless traditional spaces, and various art supplies and materials. Charity\nPreston with the Organized Classroom blog offers some great tips for art", "label": "No"} {"text": "Those are not the same kind of word. Your mistake is thinking that English spelling has something to do with its pronunciation, and this is in error. It’s all about the etymology. Consider also:\nabscise, advertise, advise, affranchise, apprise, arise, chastise,\ncircumcise, comprise, compromise, despise, devise, enterprise, exercise,\nexpertise, franchise, frise, galliardise, incise, merchandise, revise,\nsunrise, supercise, supervise, televise.\nAnd contrast that set with this set:\nanalyse, autolyse, breathalyse, catalyse, chemolyse, dialyse, glycolyse,\nhaemolyse, heliochryse, histolyse, hydrolyse, lyse, metanalyse, paralyse,\nphotocatalyse, photolyse, plasmolyse, proteolyse, pryse, psychoanalyse.\nIt’s the etymology that counts, not the pronunciation. It turns out that the -ize ending of words comes, per the OED, from:\nCognate with French -ise-r, Italian -izare, Spanish -izar, < late Latin -izāre, -īzāre, < Greek -ίζειν, formative of verbs.\nWhereas exercise has a wholly different provenance:\nMiddle English exercise, < Old French exercice = Provençal exercici, exercisi < Latin exercitium, < exercēre to keep at work, busy, employ, practise, train (compare exercise v.), < ex- (see ex- prefix1) + arcēre to shut up, restrain.\nThe note at -ize is quite long:\nThe Greek verbs were partly intrans., as βαρβαρίζειν to play the barbarian, act or speak as a barbarian, side with the barbarians, τυραννίζειν to side with the tyrants, partly transitive as καθαρίζειν to purify, clean, θήσαυρίζειν to treasure up. Those formed on national, sectarian, or personal names were primarily intransitive, as Ἀττικίζειν to Atticize in manners, to speak Attic, Φιλιππίζειν to act or speak for Philip, to philippize, Ἑλληνίζειν to ‘do’ the Greek, act as a Greek, speak Greek, Hellenize; also, to make Greek. A few words of this form connected with or used in early Christianity, were latinized already in the 3rd or 4th cent. by Christian writers: such were βαπτίζειν baptizāre, εὐαγγελίζειν euangelizāre, κατηχίζειν catechizāre, σκανδαλίζειν scandalizāre, ἀναθηματίζειν anathēmatizāre, χριστιανίζειν christiānizāre, ἰουδαίζειν iūdaizāre. Others continued to be formed both in ecclesiastical and philosophical use, e.g. canōnizāre, dæmonizāre, syllogizāre (Boethius Aristot. Anal.); and this became established as the normal form for the latinizing of Greek verbs, or the formation of verbs upon Greek analogies. In medieval Latin and the modern languages these have been formed also on Latin or modern national names, and the use has been extended to the formation of verbs from Latin adjectives or ns. This practice probably began first in French; in modern French the suffix has become -iser, alike in words from Greek, as baptiser, évangéliser, organiser, and those formed after them from Latin, as civiliser, cicatriser, humaniser.\nHence, some have used the spelling -ise in English, as in French, for all these words, and some prefer -ise in words formed in French or English from Latin elements, retaining -ize for those formed < Greek elements.\nBut the suffix itself, whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Greek -ιζειν, Latin -izāre; and, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why in English the special French spelling should be followed, in opposition to that which is at once etymological and phonetic. In this Dictionary the termination is uniformly written -ize. (In the Greek -ιζ-, the i was short, so originally in Latin, but the double consonant z (= dz, ts) made the syllable long; when the z became a simple consonant, /-idz/ became īz, whence English /-aɪz/.)\nThis is to be contrasted with the -ise suffix from exercise, of which the OED says:\nSuffix of ns., repr. Old French -ise, properly:—Latin -ītia, but also, in words of learned formation, put for Latin -icia, -itia, -icium, -itium, as in Latin justitia, judicium, servitium, Old French justise, juise, servise. Hence it became a living suffix, forming abstract nouns of quality, state, or function, as in couard-ise, friand-ise, gaillard-ise, marchand-ise. In the words from Latin, -ise was subsequently changed in French to -ice, as in justice, service, in which form the suffix mostly appears in English, as in justice, service, cowardice; but -ise is found in franchise, merchandise, the obsolete or archaic niggardise, quaintise, riotise, truandise, valiantise, warrantise, and in such barely-naturalized words as galliardise, gourmandise, paliardise; also, in exercise, French exercice, Latin exercitium. Native formations on the same type are inconvenientise, sluggardise.\nSo you see, the spelling is all about the etymology, not about the pronunciation.", "label": "No"} {"text": "While snowflakes may have different designs, they always have how many sides?\nAnd the answer: six sides.\nEvery snowflake has six main sides or points. This is due to ice crystals joining to one another in the shape of a hexagon. According to the UK Office of Meteorology, this arrangement \"allows water molecules – each with one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms – to form together in the most efficient way.\"\nEvery plate, branch, and needle that form the outline of a snowflake contribute to what's known as the emergent properties of that given snowflake. All of these details create complexity based on very simple rules – rules that go back to the basic laws of physics.\nIn the air, or in liquid, water molecules are zipping around and bouncing off of each other trillions of times per second. We have no way of knowing where these molecules are, or which way they're facing, at any given moment. As heat is removed, these molecules slow down until the hydrogen bonds between molecules settle down and into order. This is known as freezing. As freezing occurs to water vapor, it forms the unique structure of a snowflake.\nThe structure of a snowflake can be found in as few as six water molecules. Beginning as a tiny speck of dust or pollen, the snowflake catches water vapor out of the air and forms its most basic shape: a tiny hexagon called \"diamond dust.\" Then, randomness takes over. More and more water molecules land on the flake until it forms the intricate snowflake shape we know and love. Factors such as temperature and humidity can affect the qualities of the flake, but its individual structure is randomly constructed by chance (and a touch of physics).\nWhat do you think? Could a snowflake ever find its identical twin? Check out the video below to learn more.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Sometimes animals die… and it is a sad but natural thing. Lots of different “humane” reasons are often claimed when an animal needs to be euthanized and not everybody is expected to fully understand or approve the measure: granted!\nBut when a zoo located in one of the wealthiest countries in the world determines they need to kill a perfectly healthy young male giraffe, you can’t possibly be o.k. with it, can you?\nThe BBC reports Marius, a giraffe in the Copenhagen zoo was put down for genetic reasons:\nThe zoo says this was done because the genes of the giraffe, named Marius, were too similar to those of other giraffes in a breeding programme run by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).\nBreeding closely related animals increases the chances that rare, harmful genes are expressed in offspring.\nTwo copies of a gene are inherited – one version from each parent. One of these copies might be harmful (deleterious), but if the other parent carries a non-harmful version of the gene, pairing them up might not result in any adverse consequences for offspring.\nWhen parents are closely related, it increases the chances that two harmful copies of a gene will pair up.\nA spokesman for EAZA stressed that, as an individual, Marius was not particularly inbred, nor was the giraffe suffering from any identifiable health problem. But the spokesman explained that Marius’ parents had produced other offspring, so there were already giraffes with similar genes in the organisation’s breeding programme. BBC.\nAfter the giraffe was killed it was butchered dissected in front of zoo guests and then thrown to the lions… you know, because that’s just the right thing to do.\nFebruary 10th, 2013.", "label": "No"} {"text": "More than one-third of Americans cannot name a single branch of the United States government, according to a recent poll.\nThe Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania released a poll on Wednesday that shows 35 percent of those polled could not name one branch of the U.S. government. This amount is almost equivalent to the 36 percent of Americans who could successfully name the legislative, executive and judicial branches.\nStory Continued Below\nIn regard to how the three branches work, Americans seem to have little knowledge as well. Only 27 percent of those polled answered correctly that it takes two-thirds of the House and Senate members to vote in favor of overriding a veto. Twenty-one percent of Americans answered incorrectly when asked if a 5-4 decision from the Supreme Court means that the decision moves to congressional consideration.\nWhile political parties are battling to see which will gain the majority in the House of Representative and the Senate, many Americans are unaware of who currently controls each. When asked, 38 percent of those polled answered correctly and identified the Republican Party as the House majority, while 17 percent said it was the Democratic party and a plurality, at 44 percent, did not know. In regard to the Senate, 38 percent correctly identified the Democrats as having control of the Senate, 20 percent said that Republicans held the Senate majority and most, 42 percent of those polled, did not know the answer.\n“Although surveys reflect disapproval of the way Congress, the President and the Supreme Court are conducting their affairs, the Annenberg survey demonstrates that many know surprisingly little about these branches of government,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg, said in the release.\nThe poll was conducted from July 8 to July 14 among 1,416 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.06 percent.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Learn something new every day\nMore Info... by email\nWhile most people are familiar with the standard black and white grid, crossword puzzles actually come in a number of permutations. The American-style grid usually has no more than one-sixth of its squares blacked out, and most of the letters will \"check\" each other. This means that getting most of the clues in one direction (across or down), will automatically supply the words for the other direction. British and Australian puzzles have a lattice-style grid, with the black squares placed so that only about half the letters are checked. There are also barred crossword puzzles, which have bold lines separating the squares, rather than black ones.\nCrossword puzzles appeared in the United States in 1913. They became so popular that newspapers began using them, and word enthusiasts began creating them in huge numbers. They jumped the pond in 1924, with their first appearance in the United Kingdom. Nowadays, they are available in most newspapers, in some magazines and in puzzle books all over the world.\nThe most familiar variation on the puzzle is the standard \"quick\" clue. These are simple clues with one-word answers. Acronym clues are also used, as well as abbreviation clues and indirect clues.\nThe cryptic crossword, in which the clues themselves are little puzzles, are most common in the UK. Some crossword puzzles are even written so that every answer is in a foreign language. There are also double-clue crosswords. These are puzzles designed so that the puzzle worker can either go by a list of simple clues, or turn the page and use the cryptic clues, thereby increasing the puzzle's difficulty, but enabling either beginners or experts to work the same puzzle.\nCipher crossword puzzles have numbers in the clues, and the puzzler must break the cipher code to read the clues and solve the puzzle. One diabolical twist on them is the UK variation called a diagramless puzzle. These puzzles involve getting all the clues answered, and then placing them on the puzzle grid so that the answers check each other properly.\nA new puzzle similar to the crossword is the wildly popular Sudoku. This involves placing the digits 1 through 9 in a grid in such a way that every row, and every 3-by-3 square, contains each of the numbers, with no repetition. As long as humans like to play with words, crossword puzzles will, no doubt, have a place in the puzzler's favorites list.\nWhenever we go on a trip, we always take a puzzle book along with us. If I work on a crossword puzzle, I always have to start out with those that are considered easy.\nEven then, I am not very good at them. I usually find myself getting frustrated after a short time and looking at the back of the book for an answer that might help me.\nEven though I enjoy the challenge of a good puzzle, I would rather work on Sudoku than struggle with a crossword puzzle.\nOne of the main reasons my grandma got the daily newspaper was so she could work on the crossword puzzle.\nI think this is something where you definitely get better with time and a lot of practice. When I look at those puzzles, I may only know one, or possibly two, of the answers.\nEverything else looks like a foreign language to me. Many years ago, they didn't have use of the internet to help them if they were stuck.\nIf my grandma didn't complete the puzzle in one day, she would have to wait until the next day to see what the answers were.\nOne of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!", "label": "No"} {"text": "On October 15th - Blog Action Day, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone's mind. Environment!!! What do you think about it? should we be concerned with what-s happening in the world?\nToday in class, we talked about Blog Action Day and the environment..... We all know that Planet Earth is our big house and whatever happens to the planet is important to us. We are responsible for what happens in our house. Since the Earth is our house we should keep it clean and beautiful. Global warming is affecting our house. Ice is melting and the water level in seas and rivers is raising to a point that the weather is going extreme and extreme weather is causing a lot of damage and death all around our big house. What can we do to stop global warming?\n- stop polluting\n- act, care, be awared\n- Saving energy... turning off the lights when we go out a room... for example\nDo you have more ideas? let us know by leaving a comment...\nIn honor of Blog Action Day, Blogger-s people wanted to highlight some of the many Blogger-powered blogs that are focused on the environment, climate change, and sustainability. Want to see more Blog Action Day participants from around the web? Find them on Blog Search.\n- Cleantech Blog - Commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.\n- The Conscious Earth - Earth-centered news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming.\n- Earth Meanders - Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues.\n- Environmental Action Blog - Current environmental issues and green energy news.\n- The Future is Green - Thoughts on the coming of a society that is in balance with nature.\n- The Green Skeptic - Devoted to challenging assumptions about how we live on the earth and protect our environment.\n- Haute*Nature - Ecologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle, blending style with sustainability.\n- The Lazy Environmentalist - Sustainable living made easy.\n- Lights Out America - A grassroots community group organizing nationwide energy savings events.\n- The Nature Writers of Texas - The best nature writing from the newspaper, magazine, blog and book authors of the Lone Star State.\n- Rachel Carson Centennial Book Club - Considering the legacy of Rachel Carson's literary and scientific contributions with a different book each month.\n- Sustainablog - News, information and personal meanderings related to environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.\n- These Come From Trees - An experiment in environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Tiny machines built as part of silicon chips are all around us, and their need for lubrication is the same as large machines such as automobile engines, but conventional lubricants, like oils, are too heavy for these micro electromechanical systems (MEMS), so Penn State researchers are looking to gases to provide thin films of slippery coating.\nMEMS today are mostly found in automobile air bags as the sensor that marks sudden deceleration and triggers airbag use. They can also take the form of tiny motors that move mirrors to focus a beam of light, or tiny nozzles that provide minute droplets of ink in ink jet printers.\n\"Traditionally, the lubrication industry uses viscose liquids to lubricate – oils or oils and additives – to reduce friction and increase efficiency,\" says Dr. Seong H. Kim, assistant professor of chemical engineering. \"However, oil-based lubricant use in MEMS causes a power dissipation that is unacceptable.\"\nBecause MEMS are so small, with parts about the width of a human hair, and exert so little force, from almost none to the equivalent of the Earth's gravity on a thousand red blood cells, conventional lubricants simply do not work.\nOil molecules are usually large and relatively heavy. They not only stop the MEMS dead in their tracks, but also cannot infiltrate the microscopic cracks and crevices of the machines.\nThe current trend in MEMS is to use solid lubricants -- thin-film coatings of diamond-like carbon or self-assembling monolayers of methylated or fluorocarbon compounds.\nWhile solids provide a thin enough layer, they do not always coat the entire mechanism. They are also subject to wear because of their thinness and are not self-healing or replenishing.\n\"The fact that the solid coatings work tells us that for lubrication, all we need is a thin film,\" Kim told attendees today (Mar. 29) at the 227th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.\nKim and Dr. Kenneth Strawhecker, postdoctoral fellow in chemical engineering, investigated delivering a thin coating of liquid lubricant by condensing a gas onto the surface of the MEMS. The researchers investigated alcohols including ethanol, propanol, butanol and pentanol.\nThe researchers chose alcohols because they are both hydrophilic and hydrophobic, easily combining with water on one end and combining with other compounds on the other. At the incredibly low forces encountered in MEMS, alcohols, which are not generally considered good lubricants, work.\nSolubility in water is an important characteristic in lubricating MEMS. Water is always present in the air as humidity and the water does condense on surfaces. For some devices, like the air bag sensor, water is why these MEMS are used only once.\nThese sensors have two tiny strips of material that come into contact upon rapid deceleration. Any water on the strip surfaces causes the strips to stick in the closed mode.\nSurface tension of the water holds the material together in the same way two panes of glass with water between become stuck. However, alcohol as a lubricant would prevent water from causing the strips to attach.\n\"It might also be possible to use a gas delivered liquid thin film that would regenerate the sensors allowing recycling of the air bag mechanisms,\" says Kim.\nThe researchers tested the gas lubricants at various vapor pressures and find that they produce a thin film across a wide range. The small size of the alcohol molecules allows them to coat fine details of the tiny machines and the presence of gas around the MEMS makes the system self-repairing.\nAs the thin layer wears away, more lubricant condenses to heal the area. The thin films do not interfere with either mechanical or electrical operation.\n\"The next research issue we have is how to encapsulate the MEMS so we can entrap the gas,\" says Kim. \"A variety of delivery methods exist including possibly using a polymer that emits the alcohol as temperatures increase.\"\nThe researchers also want to look at other alcohols and other compounds as potential MEMS lubricants.\nPennsylvania State University\nSubscribe To SpaceDaily Express\nCarbon Nanotubes With Big Possibilities\nMontreal QC - Mar 26, 2004\nA scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, working with colleagues at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, has caused an individual carbon nanotube to emit light for the first time. This step in research on carbon nanotubes may help to materialize many of the proposed applications for carbon nanotubes, such as in electronics and photonics development.\n|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.|", "label": "No"} {"text": "- In 2014 year Father's Day falls on\nthird Sunday of June\nDate calculations are based on your computer's date and time.\nFather's Day is a celebration of fathers started in the United States in the early twentieth century. It can be seen as a complement to Mother's Day but the holiday is not as popular as Mother's Day. Partly because it is much younger -- it became official in 1972 while the latter in 1914.\nIn recent years it is getting more media attention, schools organize activities related to Father's Day and retailers promote buying fathers special greeting cards and male-oriented gifts such as electronics and tools.\nA list of Father's Day dates in the following years\nBelow are the dates for Father's Day in the next 10 years. You can also see on which day of the week the holiday falls and how many days are left until that date.", "label": "No"} {"text": "|Speed||Land: 16 km/h|\nThe Camel is a large ruminant native to the desert regions of Asia and northern Africa. As commonly known, the humps on this creature's back are stores of flesh and fat, absorbed as nutrition when food is scarce. This provides the Camel with higher health than one normally expects and the ability to subsist without water for several days. When considering strategic combinations with other animals, utilize its high endurance levels as a valuable addition to the creatures with special abilities.", "label": "No"} {"text": "RURAL LIVELIHOODS SECURITY\nThe rural areas are highly prone to stress and pressures from natural resource exploitation. In this context, schemes for rural development and livelihood programmes are very relevant. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India (MGNREGS), with a budgetary annual allocation of about INR 347 billion (USD 5.5 billion) in 2015-16, aims at enhancing livelihood in the rural areas. A vast majority of works under this programme aim at strengthening natural resource base of the rural economy and are linked to land, soil, and water.\nAnother important programme of the Government is the National Rural Livelihoods Mission which has the objective to cover 70 million rural poor households, across 600,000 villages in the country through self-managed self help groups and federated institutions to support the rural communities in strengthening their livelihood.\nIndia announces its INDC ahead of COP21 in Paris\nEnvironment Minister Prakash Javadekar announces India's INDCs\nIndia’s INDC is prepared in a balanced and comprehensive manner to reflect all issues of\nmitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer and capacity building while simultaneously endeavoring to meet all the developmental challenges that the country faces today.", "label": "No"} {"text": "c1616 by Guido Reni\nDulwich Picture Gallery\nLooking at the Spanish realism of The Sacred Made Real exhibition, one is drawn to remember the multitude of realist religious paintings. So many of the schools were meticulous in their depictions, determined to capture the Romanesque or Grecian sculpted body in paint and, more often than not, these techniques were particularly applied to Christ and other religious figures. Capturing Saint Sebastian is Reni, an Italian Baroque painter of the same century, using similar techniques as the Spanish. Like Ribalta’s and Zurbarán’s paintings (postcard seventy-five & eighty-nine), contrast here is emphasised with the centrally lit figure and darkly consuming background. No distraction is given, all focus is to be on the Saint and his state of pain; though emotion is not as convincing, or indeed as captivating, as the Spanish painters, who seemed to portray a genuine empathy with their figures’ state of mind. Reni’s Saint is distinctly Italian, from his Roman nose and jaw line to the rippling torso; what has been inspired by the ancient traditions of the statue has been translated, though perhaps what is beautiful is less believable, as his figure appears frozen and unreal. This is not to denounce Reni’s work, which is incredibly dramatic in composition and the painting flawless, but we are more aware of its idolisation, of the status of a Saint.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Our archives hold a rich assortment of history. From a Yorkshire pharmacist’s diary of patient notes to a written formula said to prevent the spread of plague, there’s a lot to explore.\nWriting down recipes was a common practice in many households from the seventeenth century. Many people dedicated considerable time to preparing home-based remedies. The household was often the first resource when dealing with illness. While many still went to practitioners, the home was the primary site for helping health and wellbeing. The usefulness of a recipe was an important aspect of this practice. It reveals why authors often note who they received the recommendation from.\nIn local parishes and larger cities, hospitals functioned as part of the economy of poor relief. Only the poorest in the community would go. Besides bloodletting and purging, one of the main treatments on offer was bathing. Bathing was thought to influence the body’s humours and allow the excess to escape through the pores. However, excessive bathing was believed to weaken the body by poisoning the blood. As you can see, medicine was always concerned with the body’s precarious inner balance.\nThe work of seventeenth and eighteenth-century surgeons continued to focus on outward injury. Infected wounds, amputating limbs and broken bones were all part of their daily practice. If you did purchase the services of a barber-surgeon or physician, these interactions were often defined by contracts. If the patient didn’t recover from their ailment within a certain amount of time they often received their money back. Dissatisfied patients often took their practitioners to court for malpractice if they weren’t happy with the results. From the seventeenth century, apothecaries became the major source of healing. This was for most of the population, but especially the lower classes.\n18th Century, Culinary recipes & medical prescriptions, Mrs Harves Salve for the Eyes (WYW1352/3/4/7/3)\nMrs Harves Salve for the Eyes\nTake 4 Ounces of Virgins Wax 8 scruples of Camphire\n2 Ounces of Powder of Tutty: one Pound of may Butter\n2 Ounces of white Rose Water: Take y Vergins Wax & Camphire and put them into a pewter bason [basin]: when it is melted put in the Butter\nwater stir it till it be all melted then put in the Rose water & stir it well together within the ?: then mix them all together still stirring them till it is stife [stiff] then put it into pots\n18th Century, Culinary recipes & medical prescriptions, The Best Treakell Water (WYW1352/3/4/7/3)\nThe Best Treakell Water\nTake Dragons angilliac balm mother Time; and Cardus Cowslips borage flowers; mary Gold flowers and clove jelle flowers of Each an Ounce; Roots of Tormenti Piany Scorsonera Gentian Elecopane Cypries and Cittron peal Each an Ounce, a bout 20 green Walnuts beaton, Chop your Hearbs and Chop or beat your rcots; boyle an Ounce of Harts horn in 3 Pints of Cardus water till a pint be Consumed; 3 Pints of Red Rose Water and 4 Quarts of Sack, and a pound of Venice Treakell; mingle all these well and when the Trekell is Dissolved put it into your Still; and past it up Lett it Infuse 24 houers; and then still it of, Tis Good for ur measles small pox fevers Gripes and to strike everything from yr Stomack.", "label": "No"} {"text": "For the fifth year, the Vancouver park board has made a high-definition camera feed available to the public to peek into the nests of one of North America's largest urban great blue heron colonies.\nThe great blue heron is our continent's largest (up to more than one metre tall) wading bird, and our local subspecies, the Pacific great blue heron, has been returning to the large breeding colony behind the park board offices in Stanley Park (2099 Beach Avenue) for 19 years.\nThe local variant has been deemed a species at risk in Canada.\nRecords show that the herons have been nesting in the park for about a century, at least since the early 1920s, and an earlier colony's large twig-and-branch nests, now abandoned, once occupied trees near the Vancouver Aquarium and the former park zoo. Theories for abandonment range from construction noise to bald-eagle predation of eggs and chicks.\nThe herons also constructed nests near Brockton Point and Beaver Lake, according to a City of Vancouver online history of the park colony.\nIn its 2018 Stanley Park Heronry Report, the Stanley Park Ecology Society reported that volunteers counted 104 tree nests in the colony area (which stretches from behind the park-board headqurters to the tennis-courts surroundings), with 85 of those nests deemed active. (Go here to download a PDF of the report at the bottom of the page, as well as to access instructions on how to manipulate the Heron Cam remotely.)\nSociety observers reported \"daily eagle attacks\" early in the 2018 nesting season, which starts at about the middle of March. The raids stopped after about a month, only to resume when the chicks had hatched. Only two active eagle nests were observed in the park last year.\nA March 20 park-board release noted that more than 180,000 people have used the Heron Cam since its launch in 2015. \"It’s amazing to be able to get a birds eye view of the nesting, courtship, mating, nest-building, and egg-laying of these magnificent birds,” Stuart Mackinnon, park-board chair, said in the release. “Heron Cam supports engagement by residents with nature in the city as part of our Biodiversity Strategy and Vancouver Bird Strategy and enables our partner the Stanley Park Ecology Society to better monitor and protect the health of the colony.”\nThis year, according to the release, herons returned to the nesting area on March 11. As well, it notes: \"One-third of Great Blue Herons worldwide live around the Salish Sea and the Stanley Park colony is a vital part of the [B.C.] south coast heron population.\"\nStanley Park Ecology Society representatives will answer questions during a live Facebook Q&A hosted by the board (date to come), and society volunteers will host on-the-ground weekly interpretive sessions in the park for visitors. The society also conducts an \"adopt a nest\" fundraiser to support its work with the herons.\nThe annual nesting season ends in August, when most chicks will have left the nests. About 100 fledglings were counted in 2018, which was an increase in numbers from the previous year.\nYou can view a detailed society timeline of the herons' arrival, breeding, and nesting here.\n(c) 2019 Straight.com", "label": "No"} {"text": "Daniels, Jeffery. Drawings by Leonora Ison.\nTitle ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND.\nPublisher Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Educational), London, 1968.\nSeller ID 23118\n128 pp, large 8vo (9 1/4\" H), hard cover in dust jacket. ISBN 298762102 B&w drawings, floor plans, elevations. \"Illustrated with over 70 line drawings and plans, the text spans over 2,000 years of architecture in England. The account begins with a discussion of the villas, camps and roads of Roman Britain, and shows how this heritage slowly decayed, giving way to the Romanesque imported by the conquering Normans. The soaring Gothic of the middle ages yields in its turn to another E u r o p e a n influence, the Renaissance, which acquires its own English character. The Baroque, Pallandian and Neo-Classic movements are then analysed, and the survey is brought right up to date with the industrial and scientific revolutions of t he n in et ee nt h and twentieth centuries, and their effects on techniques and styles. Dominant architectural styles are fully defined and illustrated, and the many examples given will stimulate a study in depth by means of visits to churches, ho use s, cas tle s, mus eu ms and modern streets and office blocks. The special value of this book for the student of architecture is the care taken by the author to illustrate his text at every point, with examples drawn from every field of arch itec ture - eccl esia sti cal and secular, domestic and institutional.\" Dust jacket has been price-clipped, has one small closed tear, very light edge wear. Very Good+/Very Good", "label": "No"} {"text": "Microsoft Visual C++\nMicrosoft Visual C++ is an integrated development environment (IDE) that provides a suite of software development tool. It supports the object oriented Windows application programming a class library (Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC)) and C/ C++ compiler. This programming environment includes ClassWizard, AppWizard and testing features. It provides a great flexibility to developers. Some of the major advantages of Microsoft Visual C++ are\nIt is competent to combine managed code (executed with the .NET framework or CLR) with unmanaged code (not executed with .NET framework or CLR) in C++.\nThe execution speed o VC++ is quite fast. This native development language directly interacts with the system or device that makes it faster than other languages.\nVC++ based applications require minimal resources that result in smaller size applications compared to those developed by using other .NET compliant languages.\nThe memory usage is very low as well.\n- It’s an ANSI (American National Standards Institute)-compliant language that enables to develop multi-platform applications.\n- It uses Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) library that makes it C/C++ applications compatible on different operating systems.\n- It offers an Active Template Library that enables to create a variety of Component Based Model (COM) and ActiveX controls.\n- The VC++ compiler supports Lambda expressions with a function body that combines the best features of function objects and function pointers.\n- The new CLR option allows excluding the default .NET libraries, enabling developers to use a specified version of a specific assembly.\n- VC++ has a new PogoSafeMode (Profile-Guided Optimization option) that allows the use of ‘fast’ or ‘safe’ mode, when a developer optimizes the software or application.\n- It features a Concurrency Runtime Framework software framework for programming concurrent applications, and supports components and running simultaneously.\n- If you want to speed-up your Microsoft Visual C++ development with low size and highly efficient applications, hire Let Us Code’s developers who have vast experience in development industry and possess in-depth understanding of programming languages and technologies.", "label": "No"} {"text": "It is not a stretch to say you ended up here because you somehow discovered the Rundll32.exe process and started wondering what it was. We are glad to tell you that you are at the right place. Here, you would get answers to the following questions and much more:\n- What is Rundll32.exe in Windows 10 and older Microsoft operating systems?\n- Why is the Rundll32.exe process always running?\n- Why does it use up so much system resources?\n- Is it safe to disable Rundll32.exe?\n- Can I delete this strange file?\n- Is it a threat to my PC?\nWe would like to assume that you are familiar with the presence of DLL files (items that have the .dll extension) on Windows. These files consist of pieces of application instructions or logic, and several programs access their data efficiently through this setup. DLL is short for Dynamic Link Library. Unlike Rundll32.exe, btmshellex.dll is an example of such a file.\nAs far as we know, there is no direct way of launching DLL files. After all, they are not applications in the perceived sense—they cannot work on their own. Microsoft did not design such items to run on programs like images open in the Photos app, for example.\nPro Tip: It is possible to fix many PC issues by using the PC Repair tool. PC Repair is easy to use and reliable Windows optimization software developed to fix hundreds of system issues.\nThe Rundll.32.exe is an essential component of the setup that Windows employs to use the functionality in shared .dll files. In simpler words, it assists other programs that have DLL files to run as their developers intended them to work.\nWhen an application on Windows needs to use a DLL file, Rundll32.exe springs into action. These operations usually occur in the background without bothering you. It is doubtful that you (the user) would ever have to run the Rundll32.exe file or similar items.\nIt is time you understood that Rundll.32.exe lives a simple life in the Windows operating system environment. There is almost always at least one copy of this item running at any given time. The file or process is usually at this location: Windows \\ System32 \\ rundll32.exe. Or it is supposed to be, at least. The official Rundll32.exe file from Microsoft is harmless. It would never cause trouble on Windows.\nSometimes, viruses or other malicious programs try to disguise themselves as this file to avoid detection. In such scenarios, if you carefully try to find out the actual location of the suspicious Rundll.32.exe process, you might realize that this item in a directory that differs from the stated position above. Such happenings are worrisome.\nHow to disable the Rundll32.exe process?\nWe advise that users do not disable Rundll32.exe except in cases where the measure is vital. You must not mess about with this particular process. In fact, any unauthorized removal of this file would result in a severe malfunction of your computer or even a critical Windows crash.\nIn the scenarios where you have your hands tied, you must open the System Configuration app and continue from there. Follow these instructions:\nFor users running Windows 7:\n- Press (and hold) the Windows button on your keyboard, then tap the letter R key to launch the Run app. After the small window opens, type msconfig into the available text box and hit the Enter key to run the code you just inputted. The System Configuration app should open now\n- Navigate to the Startup tab. There, you should see the startup items (processes or executable files). Locate the Rundll32.exe file or any program associated with it and untick the corresponding checkbox to prevent Windows from starting it when your computer boots up.\nFor users running Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10:\n- You can disable the Rundll32.exe process through the Startup menu in the Task Manager program: press (and hold) the CTRL and ALT button on your keyboard, then tap the Delete key to see a list of programs or options. From that menu, click on Task Manager to open the required app\n- After the Window opens, navigate to the Startup tab. Find the Rundll32.exe process or the file associated with it. Right-click on the item in view and select Disable\nThis operation might be a lot more difficult than it should be if you failed to locate the Rundll32.exe file. You will also struggle to identify the object if it is not associated with a startup item. You would have to dig deep to find the source of the process. Some system research is in order here.\nHow to verify the genuineness of the Rundll32.exe file:\nFor users using the Task Manager program on Windows 7 and more recent iterations of Microsoft’s operating system, you have the option of seeing the full command line for all applications that are currently on your computer. You can take advantage of the feature to check if the Rundll32.exe you are seeing is the real deal. Here are the instructions you need on carrying out the necessary operations:\n- First, you must open the Task Manager application (we provided instructions on doing this earlier). After the required window loads, navigate to the Processes tab. Windows 10 users should go to the Details tab\n- You should see the list of processes that Windows is running currently. Locate the Rundll32.exe file. You might see multiple files with this name. No need to panic\n- Go to Views or Select Column. In your current location, you should see the option for Command Line. Tick its check box to select it\n- Windows should now show you the full path for the items on the list. If it does not, right-click on the object in view and select Open File location from the options that come up. A window showing a particular directory in the File Explorer program should show up now\n- Go through the presented information and take note of anything suspicious. Of course, you already know that the Rundll32.exe is supposed to be in the System32 directory. If it is not there, you might have reason to worry. You should also see the base DLL file in the same directory\n- To obtain more information about a specific file, hover your cursor around its text. You should see the following details: File description, Company, File version, Date created, and size\n- If you feel the presented data was not enough, you can open the Properties window for the file in view and find out even more about the item. There, you can navigate to the Details tab to know the purpose of the object. Regardless, you would surely find whatever it is that you are looking for under the remaining tabs: Digital signatures, Security, and Previous Versions\nThere is another way of identifying the programs that the Rundll32.exe component is assisting to run currently. This alternative method might be better for some users, especially those running the more recent versions of the Windows operating system (Windows 8.1 and later). Here are the instructions you need to follow:\n- Click on the Windows Start icon and input cmd into the available text box. From the search results that come up, you should see Command Prompt (Desktop app). Select this item from the list to open the needed program\n- After the window opens, type in the following code and hit the Enter button on your keyboard to run the command: tasklist /m /fi “imagename eq rundll32.exe”\n- If Windows carried out the operation successfully, you should see a list comprising of running services with some details about the presented items.\nRemember to examine the names of all the items you found very carefully. We know of reports where users stated that they had luckily found a malicious DLL file that had almost escaped detection because its creators (attackers) had given it this name ” rundl132.exe”. Here, note that the number 1 is very similar to the letter l. Not everybody might notice this little detail at first sight.\nHow to solve problems associated with the Rundll32.exe file\nWe have compiled reports from users about issues associated with the Rundll32.exe file. If you are experiencing one of the following problems or can relate to any of the events below, then there is a good chance that your system is infected. Note that the list below is far from being an exhaustive one; there are many other symptoms of malware activity.\n- You find a suspicious Rundll32.file, and you consider it a virus because the Task Manager program showed you multiple versions of it running at once. If the shady processes you identified are using up ridiculous amounts of your system resources, then your assumptions are even more likely to be correct\n- You are experiencing a lot of unexplainable performance issues and system slowdowns\n- Your browser applications like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and so on show this disturbing notification while you are on the web: Error code: Rundll32.exe\n- The presence of an excessive amount of intrusive ads and pop-ups when you are browsing and even when you remain in the typical Windows computer environment\n- Frequent redirects to fishy websites when you are trying to access a correct web address\nNow, we would first explore solutions to the problems (involving Rundll32.exe) that came up naturally, and those that are results of accidental user operations. In theory, Windows is supposed to inform you if this file goes missing, suffers corruption, or if something damages it.\n- If you accidentally deleted the Rundll32.exe file, then you must restore it to its original location from the Recycle Bin program. For your sake, we hope you have not disabled this Windows utility\n- If your antivirus or antimalware application wrongly quarantined Rundll32.exe, you can quickly restore the lost item back to your computer by checking for it in your security program’s quarantine vault and using the Restore option there\n- If the file got missing and you cannot figure how, why, or when it happened, then you must run the System File Checker tool to restore lost or corrupted files. You can also check your hard disk for errors and corruption, using the built-in Windows utility for such operations. Otherwise (if all else fails), you must use the System Restore program to go back in time.\nIf Windows showed you a Rundll32.exe file and you considered it suspicious because you could not understand its purpose, you might be tempted to disable it. We are against such a decision. To be fair, you should know that it is always better to do some research online to be sure that what you are about to do is the right thing.\nIf Windows led you to a directory in the File Explorer program and you realized that the destination is not the correct location for Rundll32.exe, then all is not as it seems. A malicious program might be working in disguise while using the name of that file to avoid detection.\nWe recommend you check for viruses, spyware, adware and other forms of malicious programs. Open your security program (antivirus, for example) and run a full (comprehensive) scan on all the directories and files paths on your computer.\nHow to resolve issues with Rundll32.exe?\nIf your main security app detected nothing or you feel that the program is struggling to do its job correctly, you should consider downloading and installing an excellent antimalware application like Auslogics Anti-Malware. Use this program to scan for threats to increase the chances of you finding the dangerous items on your system.\nAuslogics Anti-Malware is a superb app that does a great job, and at the same time, it does not interfere with operations of your antivirus (regardless of what brand)—well, if your system is running one. The addition of an antimalware program to your security suite provides that significant extra layer of protection that helps to keep your PC as safe as possible.\nIf you eventually find a virus or malware on your PC after the scans, you should quarantine it. You can even get rid of it permanently. Sometimes, you might lose other essential items if your security app detects an entire folder as a threat.\nIf you do not have any security program installed on your computer, then you can at least attempt a straightforward procedure to find dangerous items masquerading as the Rundll32.exe file. You must never consider this process a substitute for the search for threats carried out by an antivirus or antimalware app. But, it is something at least. Here are instructions you are waiting for:\n- Click on the Windows Start icon (or press the Windows button on your keyboard) and search for “rundll32” without the quotes\n- Select the required item from the search results. The only legitimate version of the file should be in the following directory: C: \\ Windows \\ System32 \\\n- You can also open the File Explorer program and navigate through the stated path to get to the needed directory. Now you must create a backup of that file in case anything goes wrong. Right-click on the object in the correct folder and select Copy from the list of options that come up\n- Store the copied file in a safe and accessible place. Your desktop, for example, is an excellent location. Paste the item there and rename it. The new title should be something you would have no problem remembering and at the same time, it must not differ too much from the original name of the item. For example, rundll32COPY.exe\n- Now return to the search results. You can perform the same operation once more if necessary. Whatever you do, take note of all the Rundll32.exe files that are not in the correct directory. Get rid of all of them. In fact, we advise that you empty your Recycle Bin to delete the removed items permanently\n- After you have finished eliminating all the threats and suspicious items, restart your PC to let the changes take full effect. We sincerely hope that you made no mistakes while trying to fix your issues. You should no longer experience problems if you got rid of all the harmful files and left only the legitimate one intact.\nIf you realize that you accidentally deleted the Rundll32.exe file, then you must restore it to its original location by using the backup you created earlier: copy it, place it in the required directory and change its name to back “Rundll32.exe”.\nIf you are unable to narrow down the infected files, then you must get rid of everything. However disappointing as this occurrence might be, we consider it a small price to pay if your safety is on the line.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Milestones in education are among the many historical and cultural achievements to celebrate during Black History Month. America has come a long way since the Supreme Court unanimously ruled public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954, and the country’s African-American students continue to show they are closing the educational achievement gap.\n“African Americans have played a central role in U.S. history,” said Patricia Levesque, CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Education. “We are blessed in our diversity. When celebrating the contributions of African Americans, we should recognize the gains of our hardworking students and continue working to equip all children with the knowledge and skills they need for success, regardless of their zip code.”\nAfrican-American student achievement is especially evident in states like Florida, one of the nation’s most diverse, where students have closed the achievement gap with white students faster than the national average every year since 2003. From 2003 to 2011, the Nation’s Report Card – measuring fourth and eighth-grade reading and math – shows the largest combined achievement point gains for African-American students in states like Nevada (48 points), Rhode Island (46 points), Arkansas (43 points), Florida (42 points), and the District of Columbia (41 points). In fact, in D.C., where a third of students attend charter schools, African-American students scored about a grade level higher in 2011 than they did in 2003.\nHelp us celebrate African-American student achievement! Copy and paste one or more of these status suggestions in your Twitter or Facebook feed:\n- @ExcelinEd is recognizing the gains of students & working to equip all children w/the knowledge they need for success http://bit.ly/XaraDl\n- This February, @ExcelinEd is celebrating African-American student achievement http://bit.ly/XaraDl\n# # #", "label": "No"} {"text": "- Michelle Krummel\nUse the move tool to drag f(x) around the coordinate plane. Describe the relationship between the graph of f (in black) and the graph f-inverse (in blue). Drag point A along the graph of f. What happens to the corresponding point A'? How are the coordinates of these two points related?", "label": "No"} {"text": "(n. p.): 1920. One sheet, printed both sides, folded 3x to form a 6 panel brochure. 4 panels of text. Interior - \"Compiled Map Showing Properties of the Eureka Mining District Eureka County Nevada.\" \"From Patent Surveys, Official Records and other reliable data.\" Map: 11-3/4\" x 18-1/2\". Brochure: 9-1/4\" x 4-1/16\". Now housed in an ephemera sleeve with white stiff stock backing board. Age-toning, primarily along fold lines. A VG+ copy. Item #51173\nEureka, Nevada was the nation's first important silver-lead district, and was Nevada's second richest mineral producer during the 1800s. Sometimes called the \"Pittsburgh of the West\", Eureka was the West's largest and most important smelting center. At the height of activity, xixteen smelters operated just outside town, treating ore from over 50 active mines. However, water in the mines became a problem in 1881, requiring expensive pumping that drove production costs up. The ore was still rich however, and the Eureka mining economy soldiered on until 1885 when the bonanza ore bodies were finally exhausted. Leasers now took over many of the mines, and Eureka's boom years were winding down. In 1890 the district's largest smelters closed. Later, by the time this brochure as published, ore was shipped to a smelter in Salt Lake City, Utah.\nTwo of the largest concerns in Eureka were the Richmond Mining Company and the Eureka Mining Company. This brochure highlights the concerns of the Eureka Uncle Sam (Hamburg) Consolidated Mining Co. and Eureka Croesus Mining Company.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This is a noble statue, but not everybody agrees with me. There is a movement in the United States to tear down and destroy monuments honoring the memory of who we once were. Some claim the statues are racist because they honor the heroes of the Civil War, but whomever the man on the horse is, he gave up his home and family to support the beliefs of his Country.\nThis statue happens to be General Lee, but it could represent Everyman. Whether or not, Everyman wore blue or grey, he was a hero and he should be remembered, and honored, as such.\nSlavery is horrible, and that doesn’t change just because it was a hundred years ago. But, we have to remember, slavery has been around as long as man. Every race and creed has probably been subjected to slavery at one point or another. It was not right, but it was who we were. It is also not right for us to try to destroy and hide the actions of the past, no matter if we agree with them or not.\nThe issue, though, isn’t really past slavery as much as some people would have us believe. Every man, woman and child has the right to defend their beliefs. Some people still carry the Slavery Badge, but I can’t help but think it is no longer about slavery but entitlement. Slavery was wrong, but dwelling on the past is a sure path to destruction.\nBlacks were considered less than human. So were the Jews in the Holocaust. The mentally ill. Should we tear down all the memorials to the Holocaust? Should we forget what happened?\nWhat about the America Indians? The memorials to Rome? After all, Rome embraced slavery.\nIf we tear down the memorials and reminders of the past, we will also forget the horrors of the past. And, if we forget, I guarantee you we are bound to make the same mistakes in the future.\nThere is still slavery in this world for men, women and children. Why is this less horrendous to the modern us than the men and women of yesterday? They fought. Are we? Are we standing in line to save the women and children being trafficked as sex slaves? The men smuggled into our country to spend the reminder of their lives working to pay off the smugglers.\nThe Civil War is part of who we are and who we will be tomorrow and in a hundred years. Trying to wipe it under the rug doesn’t change the facts.\nIf we hide the past, we will forget the past. If we forget the past, we will relive the past. If we relive the past, how many more will die?\n“A Virginia judge has ruled that statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson in Charlottesville are war monuments that the city cannot remove without permission from the state.\nIn a nine-page ruling obtained from the University of Virginia School of Law website, Circuit Court Judge Richard E. Moore said neither the intentions of the people who erected the statues nor how they make people feel change the fact that the statues pay homage to the Civil War. Moore cited state code in his ruling that says it is illegal for municipalities to rove such monuments to war.”\n(Written Memorial Day 2019)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)\nJose Padilla, who has been held as an enemy combatant by the United States for the last three years, was indicted last week on conspiracy charges. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled on a case involving enemy combatants, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004). In this month’s eLesson, students will explore this landmark case on the rights of the accused.\nThe Afghan security team captured Yaser Hamdi and turned him over to the American military in Afghanistan, 2001. Hamdi claimed to be a relief worker who had been mistakenly captured in a round-up. The military, however, said he had been captured because he was fighting for the Taliban against the United States. Once Hamdi was taken to the United States, officials discovered that Hamdi was an American citizen.\nHamdi was kept in prison without access to a lawyer or the courts. His father filed a habeas petition in court (a petition asking a court to decide if someone’s imprisonment is legal), asking that his son be allowed to meet with a public defender. He claimed the government was denying Hamdi his Fifth Amendment right to due process.\nThe government said Hamdi’s petition should be dismissed. Hamdi had been caught fighting against the United States, and therefore he was an “enemy combatant.” This meant he did not have the right to speak to a lawyer or to ask a court to review his case. Further, the executive branch claimed it had the power to do this on its own, without oversight by any other branch of government. After several appeals, the case made it to the Supreme Court.\nThe Court had to consider two questions. First: Can the executive branch unilaterally declare people to be enemy combatants and hold them indefinitely? And, second: did Hamdi have the right to have his case heard by a neutral decision maker?\nThe Courts decision was a plurality—justices disagreed on important issues and there was no majority. But all but one of the justices agreed that the executive branch alone does not have the power to designate people as “enemy combatants” and then use that designation as a reason to hold them indefinitely without due process. However, a plurality of justice agreed that Congress had authorized Hamdi’s detention when it approved the use of force in Afghanistan. Therefore, the government had the power to detain him as long as the war continued.\nBut the Court also held that citizens—including enemy combatants—do have rights of due process. The Court held that the Constitution’s separation of powers require that courts review presidential decisions; Hamdi had the right to bring his case before a “neutral decision maker.” Justice O’Connor wrote: “a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation’s citizens.”\nHamdi agreed to renounce his American citizenship and worked out a plea agreement in which he was returned to Saudi Arabia.\nComprehension and Critical Thinking Questions\n1. Why was Yaser Hamdi taken into custody?\n2. Why did Hamdi claim his detention was unconstitutional?\n3. How did the government justify his arrest?\n4. How did the Supreme Court rule?\nUse the following excerpts from the Constitution to answer questions 5 and 6:\n“The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.” (Article I)\n“The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States….” (Article II)\n5. Justice Antonin Scalia believed the Constitution offered only two options to the government for detaining Hamdi: for Congress to exercise its power to suspend habeas corpus, or to try him in the criminal court system. Do you agree? Why or why not?\n6. Justice Thomas, in his dissent, asserted the President’s powers as commander-in-chief of the armed forces give him the authority to detain Hamdi. Do you agree? Why or why not?", "label": "No"} {"text": "NASA’s initial project piloted X-plane known as X-59 in more than 30 years is cleared for final assembly. For those decades, the agency has developed a list of airplanes and rockets to test out multiple technologies and design advances. Finally, NASA has cleared the newest one, the X-59. Nasa’s X-59 space plane, have more flying faster than the speed of sound without the loud noise is finally nearing completion.\nThere will be another major review by senior managers at NASA Headquarters of X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) in late 2020 to approve the airplane’s first flight in 2021.\n“With the completion of Key Decision Point-D(KDP-D) we’ve shown the project is on schedule, it’s well planned and on track. We have everything in place to continue this historic research mission for the nation’s air-traveling public,” said Bob Pearce, NASA’s associate administrator for Aeronautics, in a statement.\nThe X-59 is designed to reduce the loudness of a sonic boom touching the ground to that of a gentle thump if it is heard at all. Supersonic passenger flights have been banned over land since the early 1970s because of the noise. X-59 will fly at a height of 55,000 feet at a speed of about 940 mph and could travel from London to New York in just over three hours. The Project of X-59 is estimated at $247.5 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contracts, and it was partnering with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company to develop the Supersonic plane.\nMore than one-year Company have been working on X-59 at Lockheed’s Skunk Works in California, are now scheduled for late 2020.NASA has been testing experimental aircraft for more than 70 years, including the X-57 Maxwell the first all-electric experimental aircraft in flights.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Robot Helps Identify the Perfect Cookie\nComputers have changed how we do most things, but they’ve also brought changes to the culture as a whole. One example of that shift — the embrace of data analytics in all things — is epitomized by a new invention by computer programmer and science hobbyist Ben Krasnow: the Cookie Perfection Machine.\nThe Cookie Perfection Machine makes individual cookies according to the user’s specifications, entered by computer, by meting out the specified proportion of every ingredient and dispensing it into a receptacle. A sheet of cookies thus becomes a “flight” of cookie recipes to taste, and the fastidious baker can identify which recipe is best.\nThe robot chef needs some fine-tuning to make it easier to use, but with, say, an automatic mixer, it could find a market in bakeries as well as with persnickety home chefs.", "label": "No"} {"text": "We have looked at the abolition of slavery, but we have not discussed racism. The image placed at the top of this post shows that slavery is an ancient institution. In classical Athens two to four-fifths of the population were slaves. (See Slavery, Wikipedia.)\nNot all slaves were born to slaves. Many slaves were persons held in captivity during a war, ancestors to our prisoners of war. Poet Horace‘s (8 December 65 BCE – 27 November 8 BCE) father was a slave for several years. He had been “taken captive by the Romans during the Social War.” (See Horace, Wikipedia.)\nDuring the Ottoman wars, Christians were enslaved, but once again enslavement was the result of an armed conflict except that the conflict opposed people of different faiths. These religious conflicts have been numerous, the worst being the Crusades. Mercedarians often rescued captive Christians.\nSerfdom also constituted a form of slavery. In fact, slavery endures: debt bondage, the sex industry, child labour, etc. but many slaves and most serfs were and are of the same ethnicity as their owner, lord or seigneur, which precludes racial discrimination.\nSlavery differs from Racial Discrimination\nSlavery differs from racial discrimination or racism. In an earlier post, I noted that the United Nations does not define “racism.” Defining racism is difficult because there has been and there is discrimination between ethnic and religious groups. However, the United Nations does define “racial discrimination.”\n“the term ‘racial discrimination’ [a term adopted in 1966] shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.” (See Racism, Wikipedia.)\nThe above definition of racial discrimination is consistent with Gobineau’s racial theories, in that it combines race and ethnicity.\nJoseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau\nJoseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau (14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) is the author of L’Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines (An Essay on the Inequality of Human Races) (1853 – 1855). According to Gobineau, there was inequality between the races: the white, the black and the yellow, the white race being the superior race. However, although the “white” race was deemed superior to the “black” and “yellow” races, Gobineau looked upon some Caucasians, the white, as inferior to other Caucasians. The term Caucasian is still used, but less frequently, to describe members of the white race. As for the word Aryan, it existed before Gobineau. (See Aryan, Wikipedia)\n“He [Gobineau] advanced the theory that the fate of civilizations is determined by racial composition, that white and in particular Aryan societies flourish as long as they remain free of black and yellow strains, and that the more a civilization’s racial character is diluted through miscegenation, the more likely it is to lose its vitality and creativity and sink into corruption and immorality.”\nGobineau’s theories may have influenced Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, but Gobineau was not anti-Semitic and cannot be linked, at least directly, to the slaughter of 6,000,000 Jews by Hitler’s Nazis. Gobineau’s Aryans were “the peoples of European and Western Asian heritage,” including the peoples of the Middle East and India, as in Indo-European languages. (See Caucasian race, Wikipedia.) As for Hitler’s Aryan race, it excluded the Jews.\nThe “allies” fought Germany not only because Hitler was invading other countries, beginning with the Sudetenland and Poland, but because of Aryanism. In other words, ethnicity played a major role in World War II and, once Hitler seized power, no dissent was tolerated in Germany.\nRacism: The Black & the Coloured\nAtlantic slave trade\nSlavery and racism linked\nIn the case of the lucrative Atlantic slave trade, or Translatlantic slave trade, which took place between the 16th and the 19th centuries, racism, as most of us understand it, i.e. Gobineau’s black, white and yellow races, was a major factor. In this instance, slavery and racism were linked. The slaves were black and the black had been considered a less-than-human race before the Transatlantic slave trade. Ironically, black people often captured black people to sell them to slave traders who would send them to both South and North America. You may remember that Ignatius Sancho’s father committed suicide to avoid being subjected to slavery. (See RELATED ARTICLES.) Black Africans themselves were slave traders and slave owners.\nDuring the 14th century CE, Tunisian scholar Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 CE – 19 March 1406 CE) wrote that:\n“beyond [known peoples of black West Africa] to the south there is no civilization in the proper sense. There are only humans who are closer to dumb animals than to rational beings. They live in thickets and caves, and eat herbs and unprepared grain. They frequently eat each other. They cannot be considered human beings.” “Therefore, the Negro nations are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because (Negroes) have little that is (essentially) human and possess attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated.” (See Racism, Wikipedia.)\n“[D]umb animals!” In the United States, the slaves were also black. Consequently racial discrimination often followed the ignominy of enslavement, especially in the former slave states. But racial discrimination soon extended to people of colour who were neither black nor slaves. They were Amerindians or persons of mixed ancestry (métis). Amerindians were an inferior “race” compared to the white “race,” yet they were not black slaves. They were people of colour.\nIn a former post, entitled From “Manifest Destiny” to Exceptionalism, I quoted Senator John Caldwell Calhoun (18 March 1782 – 31 Mars 1850) who believed only Caucasians, but which Caucasians, should enter into “our Union:”\n“We have never dreamt [sic] of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race—the free white race. To incorporate Mexico, would be the very first instance of the kind, of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes. I protest against such a union as that! Ours, sir, is the Government of a white race…. We are anxious to force free government on all; and I see that it has been urged… that it is the mission of this country to spread civil and religious liberty over all the world, and especially over this continent. It is a great mistake.” (See Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia.)\nI suppose it would be difficult to enslave a person one had not first divested of his or her humanity. It remains that being born black is what I have called, in an earlier post but different context, an accident of birth. If one is white and born to an aristocratic family, it is also an accident of birth.\nBeing rich is also, to a very large extent, an accident of birth. In Russia, serfdom was not abolished until 1861 and it impoverished landowners. In North-America, the loss of slaves—free labour—led to a civil war and contributed to racism. The abolition of slavery had impoverished the slave-owners. Shouldn’t former slave-owners and their descendants be compensated for the loss of their slaves? Why should they pay taxes and promote a decent minimum wage? Why should the children of their inferiors be given access to higher education?\nThere are people who do not want to attend university or cannot pass the entrance examination. It is best for some people to enter a community college and learn a trade. My plumber once told that he would rather be a plumber than a university teacher. There are many ways of earning a living and a decent living. As President Obama noted, in his State of the Union Address (2015), one cannot survive on $15,000.00 a year.\nThe United States & …\nFrom Slavery to Racism\nAs we know, long after the abolition of slavery, racism persists and many citizens feel they should carry a gun to defend themselves. The abolition of slavery did not transform the black into white citizens and it impoverished slave owners and their descendants. Hence the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists, violence by the police and against the police, and, as far as I can see, disrespect towards the President of the United States, who is a man of colour.\nHardline Republicans are the laughing-stock of the world. Yet the world is not exactly innocent. It’s a mea culpa. We’ve all “sinned.”\nThe truth is that President Obama, the 44th President of the United States, is one a handful of truly superior Presidents of the United States. Not all American Presidents have been qualified to govern a nation. Need I remind anyone of the events of the 2000s? Remember the recession of 2008. The United States nearly went bankrupt and the economy being a global economy, other countries suffered. Was that President Obama’s fault?\nI have often wondered whether or not the mental representation of coloured people, expressed by Senator John C. Calhoun a long time ago, has survived. In other words, I have wondered whether or not what we call racism is a built-in mental content. If it is a built-in mental concept, there’s very little room left for reason to lead to a change.\nOn what valid grounds can anyone sue the President? On what valid grounds can he be impeached? Opposition is acceptable, but systematic obstructionism and scapegoating are not. Doesn’t John Boehner realize that his behaviour is not acceptable. (Scroll down the following link to “This fiasco reveals…” .)\nObviously there is a flaw in the system. Congress should not be in a position to paralyze a duly-elected administration and make it necessary for a president to resort to executive orders and his presidential right to veto “bills” so he can carry out his duties.\nSo I must agree with the author of The Cold Hard Truth who published the image featured below.\nFortunately, we can end racism. President Barack Obama was elected to the presidency of the United States. President Obama did not buy his position. It is clear, therefore, that racism is waning, but racism remains a major issue.\nWe, humans, must now fight poverty, violence, terrorism. We have to put an end to flogging and beheading.\nHowever, we could first put an end to racism. It can be a society’s decision. There are white supremacists in Canada!\nKing regards to all of you.\n- The Cold Hard Truth (10 December 2014) by The Cold Hard Truth\n- Ignatius Sancho & Laurence Sterne: a Letter (14 December 2013) mw\n- From “Manifest Destiny” to Exceptionalism (10 November 2013) mw\n- “Manifest Destiny” & the News (18 November 2012) mw\nSources and Resources\n- Racism, Wikipedia\n- Slavery, Wikipedia\n- Horace’s Satires is an online publication\n- L’Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines is an online publication (Bibliothèque nationale de France [BnF])\n- The Inequality of Human Races is an Internet Archive publication\n- An Essay on the Inequality of Human Races (Wikipedia)\n “Horace”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.\nEncyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 05 janv.. 2015\n “serfdom”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.\nEncyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 01 févr.. 2015\n “Joseph-Arthur, comte de Gobineau”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 04 janv.. 2015 .\n op. cit.\n “The Great Recession of 2008-09: Year In Review 2009”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.\nEncyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 31 janv.. 2015\nJoseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George(s)\n© Micheline Walker\n1 February 2015", "label": "No"} {"text": "Raccoons are easily recognizable mammals, with lots of fur and a number of distinguishing characteristics. If their bandit’s mask doesn’t give them away, their black ringed tail should.\nThe area around the black markings over their eyes is white, and the rest of their body is a greyish color interspersed with lighter tan accents. Their paws are extremely sensitive and dexterous, and though they lack opposable thumbs they are quite proficient at manipulating objects.\nThe front paws of the raccoon are extremely nimble and are able to grasp and manipulate objects with great dexterity. They can easily retrieve a dime from inside a shirt pocket. The sense of touch is the most important sense for raccoons. Their front paws have a thin, bony layer that protects them and becomes pliable when wet. The raccoons sense of touch is not affected even after standing in 50 degree water for hours. Their claws are not retractable and do not have an opposing thumb like that of primates.\nRaccoons are thought to be color blind though their eyes are well adapted to sensing green light. They have poor long distance vision but an excellent sense of smell which not only helps them see in low light but also helps them distinguish between relations and unfriendly adversarial raccoons.\nThe raccoons sense of hearing is exceptional and allows them to even hear earthworms underground.\nRaccoon range (red original / Blue introduced\nRaccoon front paw\nRaccoons are omnivirous meaning they will eat just about anything including meat and vegetation. Their diet ranges from earthworms, insects, bird eggs, small fish, to corn, fruits and nuts. Acorns and walnuts are favorites due to the high fat content which aids in winter survival. When there is plenty of food available raccoons can develop specific preferences for one food type over another. During long periods of snowfall that covers up food sources, raccoons may enter a winter rest, a state of inactivity similar to hibernation.\nRaccoons that have become used to life near humans, have become very adept at raiding garbage cans and pet food dishes that have been left out. Pick up and store pet food dishes at night and use bungee cords to secure garbage can lids in place.\nWhy Get Rid of Raccoons?\nGetting rid of raccoons becomes necessary when they become a little too familiar around human residences and activities. Raccoons are wild animals and though they may look \"cute and cuddly\" that is far from the reality of their real disposition.\nRaccoons pose a real danger to children who want to get too close and pet them. Raccoons can carry the rabies virus and children should be warned that if they see a raccoon that stumbles while walking or looks like it's \"drunk\" that the raccoon is \"sick\" and must be avoided. Children often want to help or comfort these animals but they must keep their distance.\nRaccoons can also cause a substantial amount of property damage ranging from holes chewed and clawed into roofs to siding literally being ripped off a house to gain access to attics or crawlspaces. Once inside, raccoons will destroy storage boxes and insulation and modify the area to their own tastes to be used as a nest or den to raise young.\nPest Control and Exterminator Services\nIn Georgia and Alabama\nFt. Benning Ga.\nLa Grange Ga.\nWaverly Hall, Ga.\nPhenix City, Al.\nSmiths Station, Al.\nFort Mitchell, Al.", "label": "No"} {"text": "As many civilians in the south braced for impact from Hurricane Harvey and Irma, FAA approved drone pilots were preparing their drones for disaster relief missions.\nUnmanned aerial systems are extremely useful during natural disasters for many reasons. An aerial perspective allows first responders to gain critical situational awareness in a fast-paced environment. Drones equipped with thermal imaging can be used in search and rescue missions to quickly locate missing people. Drones can also be used to deliver supplies, like life jackets and water, to areas that ground-based teams can’t reach.\nDrones are not only proving their worth during disasters, but in the aftermath as well. According to Wired, the FAA has already issued at least 43 waivers to groups involved recovery efforts, which allow them to fly in otherwise restricted airspace. With these waivers, drone pilots are able to access hard to reach areas and inspect flooding. Drones can also be used to assess powerlines, roads, railroads, and more.\nLocal government agencies across Texas and Florida are using drones to assess damage caused by the recent storms.\nFor example, Fort Bend County Emergency Management used their drones to examine a bridge after Hurricane Harvey. Footage from the mission can be seen in the video.\nMany insurance agencies, like Farmers’ Insurance and Allstate, are also relying on drones to document damage and quickly process claims. Another bonus of using drones is the precise, real-time data collection. “You can zoom in at your desk to a single shingle and see the characteristics of that particular piece,” Justin Herndon, an Allstate spokesperson, told Wired.\nIt’s easy to see why drones have become such an integral part of disaster relief. From thermal imaging, to a bird’s eye view, drones are the complete package. With UAS technology rapidly advancing, it will be no surprise when drones become even more useful in future disaster relief efforts.", "label": "No"} {"text": "August 15, 2013 in roman numeral\nHere you will see step by step solution to convert August 15, 2013 date to roman numeral. How to write August 15, 2013 as a roman numeral? August 15, 2013 as a roman numeral written as VIII.XV.MMXIII (MM.DD.YYYY), please check the explanation that how to convert 15 August, 2013 in roman number.\nAnswer: August 15, 2013 in roman numeral\nHow to convert August 15, 2013 in roman number?\nTo convert the August 15, 2013 in roman number simply expand the each number from month, date and year from hindu-arabic number to roman numerals, then replace the all numbers of expanded form of date, month and year with respective roman numerals.\nSolution for August 15, 2013 to roman numeral\nGiven date is => 15-08-2013\nAfter expanding number from Month, Date and year, this table provides a simple and explanation of how to convert the date 'August 15, 2013' to its Roman number:\n|Expanded Number Values||5 + 1 + 1 + 1||10 + 5||1000 + 1000 + 10 + 1 + 1 + 1|\n|Roman Numeral Values||V + I + I + I||X + V||M + M + X + I + I + I|\nHence, in order to correct roman numerals date combination of Month, Day and Year of August 15, 2013 is written as VIII.XV.MMXIII or in 15/August/2013 [DD/MM/YYYY] format it is written as XV/VIII/MMXIII.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet\nThis What's Civil About War? lesson plan also includes:\n- Join to access all included materials\nLearners study about the Civil War through primary sources used in the PBS production of \"Freedom: A History of US\" based on Joy Hakim's books, \"A History of US\", and the companion PBS Web site.\n6 Views 3 Downloads", "label": "No"} {"text": "Origin of pharyngeal\nNew Latin pharyngeus, from pharyng-, pharynx\nFirst Known Use: circa 1823\nMedical Definition of pharyngeal\nLearn More about pharyngeal\nMedical Dictionary: Definition of \"pharyngeal\"\nSeen and Heard\nWhat made you want to look up pharyngeal? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).", "label": "No"} {"text": "In 1916, Kyota Sugimoto filed a patent for his invention of a typewriter capable of printing Japanese Kanji characters. We take so much technology for granted that it’s hard to picture all the energy that went into creating adaptations to make it universally available—such as when a writing system wouldn’t lend itself to easy printing:\nIn order to really adapt typewriters to kanji, which has a huge number of characters, Kyota Sugimoto carefully considered the nature of this writing system, including the frequency of use of characters used in public documents. The 2,400 characters chosen as a result were arranged by classification on a character carriage, and the chosen character was raised by a type bar that could move forward and backward and left and right. The character was then typed against a cylindrical paper supporter.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Thinking about our work on Narrative Writing Samples, as well as the reading we have done in Calkins' Writing Pathways, please take a few moments and reflect on ideas you have had about using the rubrics, benchmark papers, data, suggested teaching tools, and suggested teaching ideas in your classroom. Please describe what you are planning on implementing and why. If you have already implemented some changes or \"tweaked\" some practices, please include these.\nChoose what you think is most important to share with us.\nThe writing committee met\non December 14, 2015. Prior to the meeting, teachers collected narrative\nwriting samples K-12 and chose a high, medium, and low example using the rubric.As a committee, they reviewed writing samples\nusing Calkins’ rubrics.The trends\nidentified early on (see below) were concerns throughout the writing we\nreviewed, as well as the last two bullets.\nStudents need to:\nbe able to write a complete\nsentence early on.\nbe able to create a story with a\nbeginning, a middle and an end.\nbe able to write for sustained\nperiods of time.\nbe able to revise their\nbe able to use upper case\nand lower case letters correctly.\nbe able to use transition words.\nbe able to write using correct\nbe able to write a paragraph.\nTeachers need to:\nconsider administering the\nassessment to small groups so they can scribe as the students write, as\nwell as observe writing behaviors included in the rubrics.\nconsider using three pieces of\npaper for writing stories – one for the beginning, middle and end of a\nstory.This might help students\nunderstand the concept.\nUse a common vocabulary when\nshared high school samples with the committee as well as her first draft of her\nrubric for grades 10-12.In response to\nthe directive to create consistency across the grade levels, she is revising\nthe rubric.Thank you, Helana.\nwriting committee will meet on January 21, 2016.\nMemory is a complicated thing -- a relative to truth, but not its twin.\nOn the table where I sit each morning with my coffee --\nthinking and dreaming, writing and reading -- is a small stone engraved\nwith these words:\nThe biggest lie that I tell myself daily is ”I don’t need to write that down. I’ll remember it.”\nIt’s a reminder to me of all the good ideas, large and small, I’ve lost because I haven’t written them down.\nBeau Biden died tragically young earlier this year, while he\nwas serving as the attorney general in Delaware. One of the memories\nshared at his funeral was of Beau listening intently whenever any\ncitizen accosted him with a concern, and then pulling out a small\nnotebook to write it down. I love that image of a notebook always on\nhand, a physical reminder that he would literally carry someone’s\nconcerns with him.\nIt’s a stress reliever for me to write things down. It takes\nany idea or issue out of mental space and into physical space to deal\nwith later. I keep little notebooks in the car, next to the bed, and in\nmany coat pockets. But writing ideas down when they come is easier said\nthan done. The problem is that ideas often come when we are on the move\n-- something about getting up and walking across the room, or taking a\nshower, or driving in the car shakes and loosens the mind.\nIt’s this reverie that allows thoughts to mingle in new ways, and\ninspiration to emerge. And then we scramble (because we aren’t at a\ndesk or table) for any scrap of paper to write it down.\nThat’s why I probably have at least a half dozen notepads and\nnotebooks in use at any given time -- it’s impossible to keep track of\nall of them as they are moving from car to house, coat pockets to coffee\ntables. I no longer worry about any kind of order to them, or finishing\none before I start another. What matters most is to tell myself the\ntruth -- if I don’t write it down when inspiration strikes, it is likely\nto be lost forever.\nThis week we look at ways to energize writing workshops. Plus more as always -- enjoy!\nFounder, Choice Literacy\nFree for All\n[For sneak peeks at our upcoming features, quotes and extra links, follow Choice Literacy on Twitter: @ChoiceLiteracyor Facebook:\nRuth Ayres is leading a new Choice Literacy online course on the fundamentals of writing workshops in December. This 12-day course includes readings, videos, webcasts, and personal response from Ruth. Details and registration guidelines are available at this link:\nCreate a DVD professional library instantly by ordering the 24 DVD Collection and save50% off the list prices of individual titles. The bundle includes over 40 hours of video and features Jennifer Allen, Aimee Buckner, \"The Sisters\" (Gail Boushey and Joan\nMoser), Clare Landrigan, Tammy Mulligan, Franki Sibberson,\nand many other master teachers working in classrooms with children.\nChoice Literacy members receive an additional discount of $100 off the", "label": "No"} {"text": "Free Newsletters - Space - Defense - Environment - Energy\nby Staff Writers\nPasadena CA (JPL) Nov 01, 2013\nIn the spirit of Halloween, scientists are releasing a trio of stellar ghosts caught in infrared light by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. All three spooky structures, called planetary nebulas, are in fact material ejected from dying stars. As death beckoned, the stars' wispy bits and pieces were blown into outer space.\n\"Some might call the images haunting,\" said Joseph Hora of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass., principal investigator of the Spitzer observing program. \"We look to the pictures for a sense of the history of the stars' mass loss, and to learn how they evolved over time.\"\nAll stars about the mass of our sun will die similarly ethereal deaths. As sun-like stars grow old, billions of years after their inception, they run out of fuel in their cores and puff up into red, giant stars, aptly named \"red giants.\"\nThe stars eventually cast off their outer layers, which expand away from the star. When ultraviolet light from the core of a dying star energizes the ejected layers, the billowy material glows, bringing their beautiful shapes to light.\nThese objects in their final death throes, the planetary nebulas, were named erroneously after their resemblance to planets by William Herschel in 1785. They come in an array of shapes, as illustrated by the three highlighted here in infrared images from Spitzer. The ghostly material will linger for only a few thousand years before ultimately fading into the dark night.\nExposed Cranium Nebula\nGhost of Jupiter Nebula\nLittle Dumbbell Nebula\nSpitzer Space Telescope\nSpace Telescope News and Technology at Skynightly.com\n|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement|", "label": "No"} {"text": "January 21, 2014\nDavid Wiley, a biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, spearheaded development of an app that pinpoints, on digital nautical charts, places where ships might collide with endangered North Atlantic right whales. Only 500 of the mammals remain. Their biggest threat is boats.\nTo protect the species, NOAA restricts speed limits and boundaries. Those barriers, however, are invisible in the ocean unless mariners have access to dynamic maps. With NOAA’s Whale Alert app mariners can simply swipe an iPad or iPhone screen to see the no-go zones.\n“It’s designed to make it easier for the maritime community to comply with the ship-strike rule,” Wiley says. “Obviously, the more compliance, the more likely we are to have a conservation benefit.”\nAs of Dec. 6, there had been no fatal collisions in the regions charted by the app since its 2012 launch. And with funding from donations, the tool required only a small government investment.\nWiley went through unofficial channels to make all this happen. NOAA never signed off on the app. The field scientist didn’t know about federal Web management rules. But after the fact, no one is likely to deactivate such a life preserver.\nFor fostering technology that saves lives, money and time, Nextgov honored Wiley with a 2013 Bold Award.\nNext up: A universal Ocean Alert app.\n“We’re hoping to evolve Whale Alert into Ocean Alert, because there are similar problems everywhere in the ocean,” Wiley says. “For instance, there are some areas where shippers need to burn different fuels because of air pollution regulations, and they need to know where they are relative to those zones as well.”\nJanuary 21, 2014", "label": "No"} {"text": "The wiring of a petrol or gas scooter engine involves a few fairly easy steps if all the necessary parts are in place. Most combustion engines that run on gas also incorporate a flywheel and electrical generation system, also known as a stator plate assembly. The stator place is already pre-assembled with the necessary coil-wrapped magnets that generate electricity as the flywheel magnets spin around them in a circle. These parts then attach to wires that stick out of the engine. The only remaining task then is to connect the engine wires to the scooter.\nLocate the wiring coming from the flywheel and stator assembly on the engine. Pull the wires gently so that they are fully extended from the engine as far as they will stretch. Check the wiring insulation for any damage. Wrap the individual wire area with electrical tape if damaged. Cut the tape end with scissors for a clean tape cut. Don't pull it apart -- the tape will stretch and deform.\nStrip the wire ends ¼ inch if they are missing wire connectors. Press new wire connectors onto the bare wire ends with the wire crimper/stripper tool so they can connect to the appropriate scooter wire. Attach male or female connectors as appropriate to match the connectors on the scooter wiring.\nInsert the engine wires with their new connectors into the junction box that is already attached to the engine -- most scooter engines come with a junction box to avoid the wires being pulled while riding. Match the wire colour from the engine to the same wire colour from the scooter wiring. Connect the male and female wire connectors.\nUse a wiring diagram for your model scooter to track your wiring connections correctly. Many are posted on the Internet to download for free and some even come in colour-coded version rather than black and white diagrams.\nFor a more permanent cover of a wire that has a crack in it or bare spot, you can use shrinkwrap tubing. Place the tube section over the bare spot and heat it with a lighter. The tube will shrink tight around the area you want covered when heated. Just be careful not to burn it.\nBe careful when using a soldering iron to repair broken engine wiring if you need to do such work. The iron tip is hot and will immediately burn skin. The fumes from the solder are also toxic to breathe.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Milton’s heritage is very diverse and interesting. To the history buff, Milton provides a plethora of avenues down which one may traverse through local and U.S. history. Milton is the birthplace of five governors, a town divided in allegiance during the Civil War, home to many officers who participated in the famous War of 1812, and rich in both agricultural and political facts and figures, Milton can be a fascinating location to research.\nOriginally settled in 1672, it was once known as “Head of the Broadkill” for its geographic location at the head of the Broadkill River. This location, just a few miles from Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean, was ideal for shipbuilding in days of old. Many shipbuilders and sea captains lived and worked in Milton, and evidence of this life is still visible in some of the historic homes and landmarks in town.\nPrior to the War of 1812, Milton was so renamed in honor of the English poet John Milton. Education and religion were integral parts of daily life in Milton, and remain priorities of Milton citizens today. Proud of their heritage, Milton residents pay homage to history through events and monuments that help all to remember proud moments past. A walk through local cemeteries in town can be an education in itself, with headstones and markers often denoting which residents were seafarers, perished in Civil War prisons or were notable for other reasons. Residents, through local historical societies and historic preservation efforts, attempt to keep Milton’s history documented and its artifacts and architecture protected.\nThe American Holly is Delaware’s State Tree – and residents are certainly proud of the role it has played in Milton’s history! Once known as the “Holly Capital of the World”, Milton at one time in history produced more Christmas and holiday holly wreaths and decorations than any other location.\nIn fact, this was highlighted in old black & white newsreel shorts that ran in movie theaters prior to the main feature of the day – showing how Milton residents grew, clipped, formed and shipped these decorations all over the country! The American Holly grows to a height of 60′ and displays dark green leaves and bright red berries. As you travel some of Milton’s avenues today, these beautiful giants are still a wonder to behold!\nOther cottage industries have blossomed in Milton throughout history and following the wooden shipbuilding era, including that of button making! Large mother-of-pearl shells were once shipped to many Milton sites from the South Pacific for just this purpose. A group of enterprising men set up shop in homes and garages throughout town, where they cut and polished the button blanks and then shipped them to the northeast for further decoration and use on garments of all kinds. Dig up the rich dark soil in many a backyard garden in Milton today and you will still find sparkling pieces of mother-of-pearl in all shapes and sizes!\nAgriculture too, has always been an important part of Milton’s history, and the fresh fruits and vegetables of local gardeners and farmers can still be purchased on the local streets any day in summer. The area also produces large quantities of soybeans, corn and broiler chickens. An afternoon barbecue is not complete without sweet Milton corn and fresh tomatoes, especially when followed up with some creamy smooth homemade ice cream from the family that has made and sold it here in downtown Milton for decades.\nThis brief summary of Milton’s history simply highlights some aspects of it. If you are looking for history, research Milton thoroughly. The opportunities for discovery are many. In fact, for history lovers, it’s another “paradise found”.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Since the beginning of the 20th century, children have been educated in person. The traditional learning process involves an educator who teaches or lectures a group of students in a classroom. Over the years, this method has yielded benefits for the people involved. In particular, students enjoy the advantage of interacting with their teachers and classmates.\nWhen the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, the world had to reimagine how to exist to mitigate the spread of the virus. As such, all schools quickly moved to online education to implement the need for social distancing. This shift was drastic and rapid, but having had two years to adjust to it, both students and educators are now recognizing the convenience and other benefits of remote learning.\nFor these reasons, this article discusses whether students will ever get back to offline education. It also highlights the challenges involved and ways of overcoming them.\nTable of Contents\nReturning to School\nIn 2020 and 2021, it felt like students may never get back to in-person learning. However, things have generally returned to normal globally, with a few exceptions. Currently, most schools that opted for online learning are expected to switch back to offline education in the near future or have already done so. By the end of 2022, most schools will fully resume in-person classes. However, some education institutions are expected to keep some aspects of their online education running. This new policy is due to demand from some learners.\nWhatever learning method a student chooses, they will have to diligently complete their theses and projects to graduate from colleges and universities. As such, learners will benefit from the expertise offered by dissertation assistance services. This platform has expert writers capable of creating academic writings in multiple fields. You may want to use this service if you are struggling with assignments due to the switch back to offline classes, or for any other reason.\nChallenges Associated with the Return to Offline Education\nAs students return to classrooms, there are many problems to be addressed. The ability of educators, parents, and students to overcome these problems is essential for a successful return to normal learning. These challenges are discussed below.\nAlso, Check – How to Track Your Home-Educated Child’s Progress: 5 Tips\nAdjusting Back to Normal\nEveryone included in a learning process must find a way of adjusting back to normal. Parents must ensure that their children adhere to health guidelines implemented by authorities. On the other hand, educators must strategically implement these rules. Forcing students to comply will usually not work. Therefore, conducive environments must be created to foster the reintegration of students while maintaining public health protocols.\nImplementation of a Support System\nSocial and emotional support is needed for the adjustment of learners. As a result, schools must introduce support and counselling setups to help students re-establish the social skills they lost while attending virtual classes. It is also required to combat anxiety and depression. The ability of schools to support their students will be crucial to their academic, emotional, and social development.\nImplement Hybrid Learning\nAlthough in-person learning is now reasonably safe, there are still parents and students that will prefer virtual learning. In particular, some students will want to try a hybrid learning scheme, which allows them to learn both in class and virtually. As a result, learning institutions must have the necessary setup and staff training to allow for such an education.\nUpgrade the Offline Classroom\nIn addition, schools need to be creative with technology to be successful. The use of business marketing tools will be essential to the successful execution of modern learning schemes. Plus, students will be more receptive to the application of evolving technology when learning.\nAs life returns to normal, so will education. However, learning institutions must make offline classrooms safe and roe technological to meet the current standards. Educators may also deploy a hybrid learning system to accommodate the fondness for virtual learning. In addition, the challenges associated with return to offline learning must be identified and mitigated.\nAbout the Author\nCaitlin Ganz is a well-rounded writer with years of experience. She is also a student counselor who likes to cover academic-related topics. As such, she never misses a chance to write about education.\n- How Entrepreneurs Benefit From Employee Outplacement on\n- Why Dubai Festival City is a Great Neighbourhood for Young Learners on\nThe Ultimate Guide To Cross-Browser Automation Testing Tools\nTesting File Uploads And Downloads In Appium: Practical Guide\nTips And Tricks For Successful Visual Regression Testing\n- The Ultimate Guide To Cross-Browser Automation Testing Tools\n- Testing File Uploads And Downloads In Appium: Practical Guide\n- Tips And Tricks For Successful Visual Regression Testing\n- Big City, Big Visibility: How SEO Services In New York Fuels Your Business\n- Navigating The Complex World Of Property Tax Appeals: A Comprehensive Guide\nBusiness2 years ago\nHow to Do Long-Distance Moves with Children\nTravel1 year ago\nQuick Guide: Moving To Santa Rosa?\nReal Estate2 years ago\nWhy Dubai Festival City is a Great Neighbourhood for Young Learners\nBusiness3 years ago\nIs Guest Posting a Good Inbound Marketing Strategy?\nTech2 years ago\nCyber Table That Will Change Your Life\nReal Estate3 years ago\nYour Guide To Home Buying: Maximizing Your Investment\nLifestyle2 years ago\nHow Do You Shade A Sunny Patio?\nBusiness8 months ago\nThe Ultimate Guide To Thriving In Your Printing Franchise", "label": "No"} {"text": "- ELECTION 2016: How to Decide Who to Vote for U.S. President\n- ELECTION 2016: What the Heck is a Contested Convention?\n- Election 2016: Facts and Issues\n- ELECTION 2016: Most Important Issues\n- ELECTION 2016: About Political Conventions\n- Election 2016: Super Tuesday & a Few More FAQs\n- ELECTION 2016: Early Voting and Absentee Ballots\n- ELECTION 2016: The 1st Presidential Debate; Her View\n- ELECTION 2016: I’ve Broken Up With Anderson Cooper\nJuly 18-21, 2016\nThe 2016 Republican National Convention will be held at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.\nJuly 25th-28th, 2016\nThe 2016 Democratic National Convention will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.\nAs we near the two conventions for the parties to officially declare their presidential nominees, this political update is information for you on how the political conventions operate.\nWhat is the Purpose of Party Conventions?\nPolitical conventions are not part of the Constitution to elect a president. The founding fathers of American government actually viewed political parties with distrust or outright hostility. Today, we can hardly imagine a government without political parties, and the parties’ conventions are huge, televised media events.\nOver time, the nominating function was taken away from the conventions. People wanted more control over their party’s nominees, so the presidential primaries and caucuses came into use. Party members vote in the primaries to choose who they want to represent their party in the upcoming election. By convention time, there is no suspense about who will be the nominee–it typically has been known for months. This is why nominees are referred to as the “presumptive” nominees before the election. They have met the number of votes necessary (2,383 for Democrats, 1,237 for Republicans) for the party nomination. The convention then becomes a formality to nominate, vote, and officially designate them on behalf of their party.\nPolitical conventions serve other purposes beyond nominating the party candidate, which is why they’re still around. The convention offers party members a chance to gather together and discuss the party’s platform. We can expect a lot of discussion at both conventions with unhappiness expressed over super delegates, the role of delegates, and party rules. These issues will be discussed, and the party has the power to revise or change them at the convention after votes. The platform will be discussed–which is the party’s stance on the political issues of the day. The convention is the proper place for political debate over issues and to make changes.\n- In 1860, the Democratic Party debated the government’s right to outlaw slavery. When the party adopted the position that the Supreme Court could decide the slavery issue, delegates from several southern states walked out, resulting in the Southern Democratic Party.\n- In 1980, Senator Edward Kennedy fought against incumbent Jimmy Carter’s economic plan. Although Carter defeated Kennedy for the nomination, Kennedy’s debate forced Carter to change his plan radically.\nToday, even this function of the convention has been largely eliminated. The conventions have been streamlined, with notable events and speeches scheduled for prime-time television hours. The parties work to eliminate any evidence of debate or disunity within the party, although this year has proved to be historically contentious. The political conventions have now been reduced to the status of infomercials, marketing the ideas and personalities of the party to the public.\nWhile the conventions serve to unify the party and generate party pride, the “advertisement for the party” has become the primary function of political conventions today.\nThe Media Role at the Conventions\nIn the early 1800s, closed-door conventions were only briefly mentioned in newspapers. When the process became more open, media coverage became more widespread. The convention circus was hard to cover in newspapers … and then along came television. This new media thrust the chaotic conventions into homes across the country. Every floor debate, interruption, protest and delegate squabble was there for public viewing.\nThis led to the changes in what we see today–no more debates or arguments, no unplanned speeches or interruptions, and protesters are kept miles away from the convention floor. Now, the convention is a media event, attended by almost as many reporters as delegates, and broadcast in carefully selected prime-time viewing slots. Again, this is an unusual year for conventions, and it’s anyone’s guess how it will be played out on the convention floor.\nHow Are Convention Delegates Selected?\nThe national political conventions are made up of delegates from each state. Those delegates are selected in different ways, depending on the party and the state. The key here is that the delegates are not only party members; they are supporters of a particular candidate.\nThe Democrats use a proportional system, in which the percentage of party members for a candidate in the primary or caucus is reflected in the percentage of delegates representing that candidate who will be sent to the convention. For example, if two candidates split the primary vote, then each gets half of the delegate positions for that state.\nRepublicans favor a winner-take-all system, although they allow states the option of using a proportional system. Under a winner-take-all system, the candidate with the majority of votes in the primary or caucus gets all of the state’s delegate seats.\nDeciding how many delegates each state gets is a very complicated process. Essentially, the number is based on the state’s population, as well as how much support that state has given to party candidates in recent elections.\nWhat do today’s delegates do at the convention?\nThey may discuss party issues, listen to speeches, and participate in party “pep rallies.” There are pledged (to one candidate) and non-pledged delegates. If a nominee had not received the required majority of votes before the convention, there would have been a series of votes to choose the nominee. But for the most part, nothing political happens at political conventions in the 21st century. The convention concludes with a carefully planned speech by the party’s nominee for president.\n- Perhaps the most infamous political convention was the 1968 Democratic National Convention and ensuing riots in Chicago, but there have been other significant events at conventions.\n- In 1888, abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass became the first African-American to receive a vote at a political convention–a single vote at the Republican convention.\n- In 1908, Democrats added legislation to their platform that would separate the interests of corporations from those of Republicans. They felt that corporations and the Republicans were too closely allied–a theme that remains relevant almost 100 years later.\nIn 1940, two unique events occurred at political conventions.\n- First, Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a third term as president. After some debate over his choice of vice president, he accepted.\n- Second, the Republicans held the first ever televised convention that year.\nThe 2000 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles was marked by extensive protests in support of numerous causes.\n- Pro-union, gay rights, anti-corporate welfare, pro-environmental and other movements made their voices heard a good distance from the convention site, due to the heavy presence of security fences and police officers. A performance by the politically active rock group Rage Against the Machine was interrupted by police, who used pepper spray and fired rubber bullets at fleeing spectators.\nThe more you know.\nFeminine Collective offers general information on the election, voting processes, and issues on Election 2016. Feminine Collective does not endorse any candidate or political party. Our goal is to provide data to help you make informed decisions.\nFirst Lady Micelle Obama 2012 Democratic Convention Credit Marshalcomm.com", "label": "No"} {"text": "Walking tourist route \"History of Jews in the World\" (2.5 hours).\nIn 1765, 607 Jews lived in Mir and its environs. In 1806 - 807 (of whom 30 were merchants, 106 were tailors), in 1833 their number increased to 1583 (75.5% of the total population of the town), and in 1847 there were already 2273 people. The largest number of Jews was registered in 1897 - 3319 (about 62% of the total population). In 1939 there were 5,500 inhabitants in Mir, 3,300 of whom were Jews. Most of them are artisans and traders, some of them are wealthy merchants. Worldly merchants were engaged in industrial entrepreneurship. Leasing was a widespread occupation among the Jewish population. Of great importance in the economic life of Jewish families were occupations related to the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. In this area, there was fierce competition between landowners, Jews and the state. Thus, the Jews of the World in 1696 obtained from the princes of the Radziwills the privilege of selling \"hot\" drinks. Starting from the 18th century. The world is an important spiritual center of Jewry in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth.\nRemarkable architectural objects related to the life and religion of the Jewish community have survived to this day. It can be considered that the only complex of buildings of the \"synagogue courtyard:\" \"has survived in the world. the so-called \"cold\" and \"warm\" synagogues, a school, as well as kagal and yeshiva buildings.\nIf Christians and Muslims of the World had one religious object each, then Jews had several. So, in 1886 there was 1 synagogue and 8 prayer schools.\nKirova Street, 33.Museum of Culture of the town of Mir Viktor Sakel \"Mirsky Posad\".\nGetting acquainted with the history of Jews in Mir should start with a visit to this private museum, located in the building of an old tavern. Perhaps it was here that Vladislav Syrokomlya once met a sad coachman, who told him his love story, which became the plot of the romance \"When I served as a coachman at the post office.\" Most of the exposition is devoted to Jewish themes. The exhibits of the museum were collected by the owner himself during search activities. Contacts: 8029 9294268. Email: (hidden)\nKirova Street, 25. Today is the post office. Previously it was one of the buildings of the yeshiva. It was opened in 1815 and was one of the most famous higher educational institutions for male Jews. In terms of the number of students, it was the second largest after Volozhinsky (about 300 people) in the Lithuanian direction. In 1939 it was moved to Vilnius.\n26 Kirov Street, hotel \"Mirsky Posad\". (hidden) +3751596 71231, +3751596 71234\nThe synagogue, which means \"meeting house\", served as a gathering place and a focus of the spiritual and cultural life of Jews. There were several such temples in Mir. The largest synagogue, which was also called \"cold\", was built according to the project of 1896 in the style of classicism. It was mainly used for celebrations. According to other sources, this building was part of the Mir yeshiva.\nThe building was called cold because the existing stoves did not sufficiently heat the synagogue.\nAt the synagogue there was a prayer school \"Vysikun\" (\"Vasikin\" - one who starts to pray before sunrise).After the Great Patriotic War, the building was thoroughly rebuilt - a portico, columns and a balcony with a wrought-iron lattice appeared on the facade, the inner space was divided into classrooms. Since 1950, it has housed a secondary school, and in recent years - an educational and production complex.\nThe building of the present restaurant \"Mirsky Posad\" housed a synagogue. +3751596 71233 The merchant synagogue or \"Teplaya\" is the current building of the Belarusbank branch. While the empty building near the hotel \"Mirsky posad\" and the restaurant is supposedly a mikvah-water reservoir, in which ablution is performed for the purpose of purification. According to the testimony of old-timers in the former building of a kindergarten on Kirov Street, 20 once housed the kagal (the administrative governing body of the Jewish community).\nIn the building of the city library, Kirov str., 22 (tel. 80159671203) there was Heder — a religious elementary school.\nNext to the city library, 20 Kirov street (heder), there was a boarding house for school students. Now it is a residential building, the house of a rabbi. 1 May Street, 1\nAnother synagogue was located here. And with her the Prayer School \"Zhukhovitskaya Crafts\". After the destruction of the building as a result of a fire on August 9, 1892, it was first restored in a wooden form, and after another fire in 1894 - in a stone one.Another synagogue was located here. And with her the Prayer School \"Zhukhovitskaya Crafts\". After the destruction of the building as a result of a fire on August 9, 1892, it was first restored in a wooden form, and after another fire in 1894 - in a stone one. The construction was completed in May 1897. And today the building of this prayer school can be seen standing on the street. May Day. It almost did not change its appearance and represents a \"classic\" view of a synagogue on the territory of Belarus. Recently, the building housed the House of Consumer Services. Today it is a residential building. In the very center of the village of Mir, there are several quarters of very interesting and attractive ordinary urban development of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. At the same time, individual buildings that make up this historical development even date back to the 18th century.\nOld-timers claim that the building in the photo to the right was a Jewish tavern. In confirmation of this, the image of a glass in the decor of the facade. Others testify that there was a pharmacy (there were 4 of them in World) of the Jew Pernik, and on the facade there is not a glass at all, but a pharmacy beaker. By the way, it is known that he was a prisoner of the ghetto. He managed to escape, after which he lived in Israel.\nNot far from the cafe \"Ragneda\" on the 17 September square is the store \"Products\". According to available information, this building housed the pharmacy warehouse of the Jew Schwartz Charny.\nThe history of the Jews of the World during the Great Patriotic War is tragic. It was from that time to the present day that the number of representatives of the Jewish diaspora in the world came to zero.\nYereyskie cemeteries, st.Soviet (according to some sources it was founded in the 16th century, according to others - from 1731), After the Nazi occupation, most of the graves were destroyed, many gravestones were stolen or used for construction purposes. The path to the left of the entrance leads to the grave of Eruham hai-Levi Leibovich, the son of Abraham, the spiritual leader and teacher of the local yeshiva, the author of several religious books. The grave of 1936 is today a place of pilgrimage for Jews from all over the world.\nOn Tankistov street (not far from the building of the Mir Art College). Obelisk of 1966, where in November 1941 1700 Jews were shot\nOktyabrskaya Street, 12-14. Obelisk of 1967 and the Mass Grave of 700 Jews shot during the Patriotic War.\nYablonovshchina tract (1 km from Mir towards Nesvizh). An obelisk of 1966 at the site of the deaths of 750 Jews in June 1942.\nToday, there are even legends about the life of Jews in the world. There was a large bowl for donations in the synagogue. They said that everyone who puts money there will receive ten times more, and whoever takes from there will be cursed forever. Once a thief ran into the synagogue, grabbed as much money as he could from the holy vessel and rushed away. At the same moment on the street he was knocked to death by a wagon. Since then, a ghost has been wandering around the synagogue at midnight. And if he meets anyone at such a late hour, he tries to foist that damn money.\nHere's another story told by local historian Viktor Sakel. An elderly woman lived not far from the Mirsky Posad Museum.For many years she kept memories of how, during the war, she witnessed how the Nazis shot her neighbors - a Jewish family - just because a baby was crying in her mother's arms. The old woman often complained that she heard children crying at night. Once\nViktor Yanovich had to spend the night in the museum building. Horror gripped him from what he heard: the shots and the crying of the child were not fiction.\nTo organize an excursion, contact the Puzata khata Mir ChTUP 80296343710\nПешеходный маршрут \"История евреев в Мире\"\nWalking tourist route \"History of Jews in the World\" (2.5 hours).", "label": "No"} {"text": "In 1939, America decided it would stay out of WWII, as it was a European war. Eventually America decided to intervene.\nAfter the war started and it looked like America's allies would have a difficult time winning, America decided to start selling weapons to Britain, but only if they came to us and payed in cash.\nAmerica also sold them destroyers if America could gain the right to build military bases around the Atlantic Ocean.\nAmerica eventually declared the western hemisphere neutral, and had ships patrol near the boundary of the western hemisphere and tell Britain the location of any submarines encountered.\nAfter America stopped sending large amounts of oil and iron to japan, they attacked Pearl Harbor and America quickly joined the war.\nThroughout the war America's economy kept climbing out of the Great Depression. This is due to the jobs that mass production created. Even females were allowed to start working in places that were male only before, such as factories for gun and ammo production.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Biography and History\nSearch through 15,000 paragraph-length biographies of notable personalities from antiquity to the present. From the Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia, entries include dates, pronunciation guides, the gender, alternate spellings of the name, and\nother relevant biography links, if any.\n- Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics\nEighty-six twentieth century women who have made original and important contributions to physics are profiled. Citations describe and document their major contributions and provide biographical information pertaining to the scientific lives of these women.\n- ECHO (Exploring and Collecting History Online)\nECHO's Research Center catalogues, annotates, and reviews sites on the history of science, technology, and industry. You can browse their database of over 5,000 sites by category, historic period or content.\nHyperHistory, is a scientific project presenting 3,000 years of world history with an interactive combination of synchronoptic lifelines, timelines, and maps. Beginning 1,000 years ago this site has more than 2,000 files covering 3,000 years of history.\n- Institute and Museum of the History of Science,\nDon't miss the online exhibitions and models. (A few parts of the site are in Italian only, most are also in English.)\n- Internet History of Science Sourcebook\nLinks to original source material and to other history of science resources.\n- Museum of the History of Science\nDon't miss the virtual versions of exhibitions and other resources in their On-line Exhibits.\nNational Women's History Project\nThis is a comprehensive resource for multicultural women's history.\nReturn to Resource Center Table of Contents\nRevised: 28 September 2009", "label": "No"} {"text": "About Health and Safety Awareness\nThis course will help learners understand health and safety laws. They will also know the impacts on the employer and employees. Candidates will learn how to do risk assessments and report accidents when they happen. Training is for those working in a supervisory or managerial role in the workplace.\nHow long will this course take?\nThis course is 2 hours and it is spread across 1 day.\nWho needs this training?\nThis training is designed for those working at a supervisory or managerial level, or anyone who holds responsibility for the health and safety within a workplace.\nWhat are the main points covered?\nThe main points of the course are: COSHH, identifying common hazards, risk assessment procedures and gaining an understanding of fire safety and manual handling.\nHow is it delivered?\nCourses are delivered in-house or online via webinar/e-learning for up to 12 people. We also hold open courses across the UK.\nHow do you get Certified?\nThis course is available via an in-house group course for up to 12 delegates. Choose for the course to be delivered either face to face or by a blended learning option, at a time and place convenient to you. Alternatively, learn through one of our scheduled courses at centres located across the UK. Upon completion of this course, a certificate will be awarded.\nHealth and Safety Awareness Course Outline\n- Knowledge of relevant legislation; Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.\n- Employer and employee health and safety roles and responsibilities.\n- Health and safety requirements.\n- Risk assessment procedures.\n- Accident reporting.\n- Identifying common hazards.\n- Understanding of fire safety and manual handling.\nHealth and Safety Awareness FAQs\nWhat is meant by Health and Safety at work?\nHealth and Safety, also known as occupational health and safety, refers to the regulations and procedures intended to prevent accidents or injuries in workplaces or public environments.\nWho is the course for?\nThe course is designed for those working at a management or supervisory level but is also relevant for Human Resource and Health and Safety teams. Anyone responsible for aspects of health and safety is welcome on this course.\nWhat does the health and safety awareness course cover?\nThe course looks in depth at the responsibilities of both the employer and employee in the workplace. It discusses the Health and Safety at work Act 1974 and current relevant legislation. Candidates will also learn the importance of risk assessments and how to report accidents should they happen.\nDoes this course cover COSHH and RIDDOR?\nThe course includes modules on COSHH and addresses RIDDOR but those that are regularly working with hazardous substances would be advised to also complete the COSSH awareness and RIDDOR specific courses.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Highlander serves as a catalyst for grassroots organizing and movement building in Appalachia and the South. Highlander was founded by Myles Horton in 1932. Highlander worked to build progressive labors movements in the 1930s and 40s. In the 50s and 60s, Highlander changed its focus to the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks attended a school desegregation workshop at Highlander four months before sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. “ Through popular education, participatory research, and cultural work, we help create spaces — at Highlander and in local communities — where people gain knowledge, hope and courage, expanding their ideas of what is possible.\nTennessee Vacation eGuide\nThe 2014 eGuide gives you instant access to Tennessee’s irresistible attractions and destinations. Peruse venues online, then put in your order to get a free guide delivered to your doorstep.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The internet contains so much information that I consider it the new textbook. Almost everyone knows how to use a computer. Millions of people now get their e-mails through their smart phones, i-pads and even some watches when they are away from their computers.\nAccess to the internet is available everywhere you go. Adults use this new textbook to look up weather information, health issues or to stay in touch with their favorite sports team. It has become an integral part of our lives.\nRetrieving information from the net has become the number one source for information needed for reports and projects for students. Parents are using it to home school their children from kindergarten to twelfth grade.\nPublic schools and even some private schools are now using computers as their source of textbooks so that students don't have to carry home the heavy tomes. Some schools even allow students to \"check out\" a laptop to take home.\nAs with any tool, when using it the user has a responsibility to know how to use the device and how to take care of it and most importantly the etiquette of using social media. This is called digital citizenship or digital responsibility.\nThere are hundreds of universities and colleges that are offering on-line courses. For students who have a learning disability, college courses at home via the internet can be a saving grace.\nFor students who have a working knowledge of computers and have some marketable skills, many job opportunities await them. Many sites now list job openings for IT personnel. Some of these jobs can be done at home via the computer.\nI know a home schooling parent's time is limited and the public or private school teacher doesn't have much extra time to spend looking for supplemental materials to use.\nI also know how frustrated I get when I go to a website because I think I will get some free worksheets or other material. THEN when I get there, I may get one free worksheet and have to sign up for a monthly fee. A few sites may require a minimal fee. These are sites that do have samples that you can look at first before you commit to a financial outlay.\nThis site receives a small commission from Amazon, affiliate links, and third-party advertising with no extra cost to you. Click here for the FTC Disclosure.\nHere is a site that will appeal to all mothers, whether you homeschool or not. Mom's Agenda is a business that was started by a mom that was busy and needed a way to keep dates organized as well as her LIFE.\nThis is not an agenda (schedule) made by someone sitting behind a desk but by someone who had a busy lifestyle and found a way to get it together. I hope these beautiful agendas, daytimers and calendars find a way into your home and life!\nYou will find a list of recommended websites on the educational websites page.\nBEWARE of bogus websites or link farms. These are sites that rate high on the search pages, but offer nothing. For instance, you might see Educational Directory. Thinking this is a great site, you go to it only to find it has thousands of other sites to go to. You have to filter through these to find the ones you want.\nAlso, be aware of legitimate websites versus phishing websites. Phishing is an attempt by cyber-criminals to get sensitive information such as financial and banking status. They usually use e-mails as the initial contact. It is important for you and your family to be able to recognize these attempts.\nTake this 3 minute quiz to find out how much you know about legitimate sites. Make sure anyone in your family that uses the computer takes this quiz. Go to Open DNS.\nAs I find good web sites, I will add them to the list. Please let me know if you find a website I should include on this list. I will check it out. If it fits my criteria, I will add it so that others might benefit from it.\nReturn to the SITE MAP", "label": "No"} {"text": "Buddhism arose in northeastern India sometime between the late 6th and early 4th centuries BCE. It is often associated with meditation, philosophical questioning, and an ethic of compassion. The popular view holds that Buddhism rejects ritual, magic, and image worship, and is largely compatible with science. Yet this characterization is strikingly different from what the religion has historically meant to Asian Buddhists. And it fails to capture the vitality that many contemporary artists—particularly those working in digital media—find in that abundant tradition.\nIn Korean-American artist Michael Joo’s 2005 installation Bodhi Obfuscatus (Space-Baby), 50 live surveillance cameras in a geodesic halo and 100 mirrors and monitors fragment the serene face of a late 2nd-/early 3rd-century Gandharan statue of a standing Buddha. The statue’s right hand, now broken off, was most likely originally raised with the palm facing outward, the gesture of reassurance. Aided by fiber-optic lights, the cameras cast a series of projections onto flat video screens that surround the sculpture, in a more or less direct homage to the Korean-born visionary artist Nam June Paik, the video-art pioneer who authored the concept of electronic wallpaper and created the 1974 installations TV Garden, a multiscreen literalization of its title, and TV Buddha, a seated Buddha statue perpetually contemplating its own image on a video monitor.\nJoo’s work is intimate and “very silent,” he told the Brooklyn Rail in October 2022. “We had this carpeting and everything to deaden the sound as well.… The effect was to get you to focus on yourself, your own presence when you’re in the space.… As one’s eyes adjusted to the light, I wanted that whole image to be absorbed at once.”", "label": "No"} {"text": "Admitted to the Union on August 1, 1876, Colorado was the last U.S. state leaving its legislative to choose the electors.\nTo imagine the strength of parties within the new state at this time, the popular vote for concomitant election of the Governor is mapped.\nNational totals exclude these votes (14,154 Republican and 13,316 Democratic, accordancing with the 14 Republican and 12 Democratic electors selected by the Assembly for the presidential election).\nIn Virginia, for reasons of clarity and overall coherence, the Independent Cities are combined with the counties from which they arise.\nSee the french version (comment and notes in french but identical map)\nYou can ask me the results by counties that were used to make this map for 35 Euros, by writing at .", "label": "No"} {"text": "Tuesday 01st May, 2019\nWorld Labyrinth Day in Schools\nWorld Labyrinth Day is always the first Saturday in May.\nTherefore, typically World Labyrinth Day in Schools is celebrated on the Friday prior.\nI wanted to use this post to showcase those resources.\nThis is an Australian initiative, so it’s really exciting!\nEven if you are not celebrating World Labyrinth Day in a School setting, I really encourage you to have a look at the various links.\nThere is even some printable finger labyrinths!\nFor more general information, check out my other labyrinth posts 🙂\nIf you are local, there are a number of links to Melbourne Labyrinths there.\nI also plan to do another post before the end of the week detailing some of the local walks that are planned around Melbourne and Victoria.\nSo if you know of one, or you are planning one yourself, let me know in the comments!\nAN INTRODUCTION TO LABYRINTHS\nAn Introduction to Labyrinths – workshop for teachers.\nLabyrinths: Where from and Where to? – a self-guided inquiry for teachers.\nAbout labyrinths – useful links.\nStepping out together – new term/ year.\nLABYRINTH – DRAWING AND MAKING\nWALKING AND USING LABYRINTHS\nStepping out together – starting a new term / year.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Around 1900, electric motors and internal-combustion engines were still equally popular in automobiles.\nParticularly in the United States, the smooth electric powertrain was more prevalent in urban traffic, while the internal-combustion engine was the preferred choice in rural areas thanks to its greater range. An electrically powered vehicle was also the first to break the 100 kilometer-per-hour barrier. On April 29, 1899, Camille Jenatzy reached a top speed of 105.882 kilometers per hour in the vehicle named “La Jamais Contente”.\nPower electronics installed in a production vehicle, 1967\nPower electronics of the “Electromobile” research project installed in a production vehicle, 1967\n“Electromobile” research project\nA vehicle from the world’s first battery-powered urban bus fleet, 1974\nA vehicle from the world’s first battery-powered urban bus fleet in Mönchengladbach, Germany, 1974\nAt Bosch, the history of automotive electric motors dates back to the 1960s. Even then, the idea was to find an alternative system that would produce lower emissions than the internal-combustion engine. Proposals for high-performance batteries that could store far more energy than the conventional lead batteries of that era formed the main catalyst for the intensive research this field.\nFor their first project, the engineers replaced the spark-ignition engine and transmission of a standard vehicle with a Bosch electric motor. Thanks to an electronic control, the motor could also be run as a generator, and thus recover braking energy.\nIn October 1974, seven electric buses were put into passenger service in Mönchengladbach for a large-scale field test. Bosch provided the electric motors, electronic control units, and auxiliary systems. Weighing six metric tons, the battery was transported separately on a special single-axle trailer. It had a range of 80 kilometers and was regularly exchanged every two hours at a special station. Changing the battery was fully automatic, and took just under five minutes.\nOne year previously, at the 1973 IAA motor show, Bosch had presented a development report on a hybrid-drive passenger car fitted with both an internal-combustion engine and an electric motor. Up to that point, the batteries of most hybrid vehicles had been charged by a generator powered by an internal-combustion engine. The novelty in the Bosch project was the use of the internal-combustion engine to both charge the battery and drive the vehicle, meaning it used far less energy overall.\nDespite such groundbreaking research results, these developments still did not get beyond the project stage. Insufficient battery power remained the major hurdle. All the same, the research work continued. During the 1980s and 1990s, Bosch worked together with automakers on numerous studies and prototypes of hybrid and electric powertrains.\nAn electric sports car conceptualized.\nAn electric sports car conceptualized for Bosch’s “glass auto” study\nThe first production cars to use Bosch hybrid technology were the VW Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne, launched in 2010. They were also the world’s first parallel full hybrids. These vehicles offer automakers a flexible, modular electrification solution that does not require a special transmission.\nThey use state-of-the-art control technology to manage the interplay between internal-combustion engine and electric motor. In total, Bosch has already completed more than 50 electrification projects for customers.\nEach year, Bosch invests 400 million euros in electromobility. More information you can find here.\nPicture of Bettina Simon\nSince 2006 I have been working in the Historical Communications department at Bosch. At first I was in charge of the text archives, currently I am looking after the product archives and technical documentation. I am dealing with inquiries about technical history, in addition I coordinate exhibition projects in various museums.\nOn sunny days I enjoy driving my 1970 Fiat 500.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The model for state building proposed by the great German sociologist Max Weber emphasizes the establishment of the state’s monopoly of violence and the transition from patrimonial to rational legal authority.\nOne of the most critical processes associated with these transitions was the role of the state in creating a “nation”. A famous study of this is provided by the historian Eugen Weber whose book Peasants into Frenchmen studied how the French state based in the Paris basin spread out throughout France, and gradually imposed, particularly via schooling, a French identity that had previously not existed in most of what is now France. The state came first and then a French identity followed.\nThis has become the canonical model of the emergence of modern institutions and the modern state.\nregular exercise can substantially improve memory, although different types of exercise seem to affect the brain quite differently…\nBut the women who had exercised, either by walking or weight training, performed better on almost all of the cognitive tests after six months than they had before.\nThere were, however, differences. While both exercise groups improved almost equally on tests of spatial memory, the women who had walked showed greater gains in verbal memory than the women who had lifted weights.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Disclaimer: I vow to the integrity of this article however if you want to know the sources, i am sorry for you may leave now. We are not mentioning the sources.\nAlso we didn't include any annoying advertisements to give you the best reading experience possible. At the end if you like the article then please consider clicking once on the add at the right side of this page. Thank you!\nI bet you all must have read and seen many things about this ultimate definition of architecture, this herculean monster, guarding infinite secrets and treasures which the Pharaohs wanted to die with, you have understood some, some you didn’t! Some sounded fascinating and something you believed is true and you are desperate to know everything dark about it. So here we are, presenting everything that you always wanted to know.\nThe great pyramid of Giza (pronounced Gizeh) build in 4th dynasty 2250 B.C i.e. exactly 4264 years in past from 2015, was built by Pharaoh Khufu and is rightfully named after him. You must be living under a rock if you have not seen any picture of the pyramid till now but trust me, this is nowhere close to how spectacular it must have looked when it was made of smooth white limestone covering which has completely been destroyed by now. Topped with a golden apex, it would have been a sight to behold. This is how it would have looked like.\nIMPOSSIBLE ARCHITECTURE AND HIDDEN MYSTERIES:\nQuick outlook: (just for info)\n147 metres (481.4 feet) tall, each of the four sides averaging a length of 216 metres (755.75 feet), sides rise at an angle of 51°52′ and is aligned with each of the four divisions ( cardinal points) of the compass. Scriptures say that it took 20 years to make. Years of 3D scanning, surveying and approximating, we now know that the pyramid weighs approximately 5.75 million metric ton. Inner core is made from hard yellow limestone while the outer casting was made from smooth white limestone. The interior chambers are made from solid blocks of granite.\nIf you just sum all that up, Even if the workers worked continuously for 20 years, they would have to put in place about 32 metric ton (32.3761 to be exact) of slab every hour, which also had to be cut out from hard limestone and granite. That is about putting in place an equivalent of three largest land animal ever recorded (African elephant, 11 tons) every hour. The granite used in the hard core and inner chambers were brought from Aswan, through Nile – a journey of roughly 1000 km. Remember these rocks were first cut before sending to Giza and granite on a hardness scale scores about 7, i.e. it would have been extremely hard to cut millions of rocks of granite each weighing about 1.5 – 3 tons. The only technique we think the Egyptians had known to use was to just smash dolerite rock into the granite till it breaks down. Even with continuous smashing, only few millimetres of shaping would have been achieved every hour. Also they didn’t knew about wheels. They used to wet the sand (experimentally proven, reduces friction by almost a factor of 0.5) and drag stones on it to the working site.\nFinally and most interestingly, in 1940, a British pilot discovered that each side of the pyramid were actually indented concavely to make it have a total of 8 equal sides. What’s weirder is that these can only be noticed at the dawn and dusk of spring and autumn equinox. What’s most weird is that why they made it such that it is only visible from the top? Who did they wanted to show?\nTREASURES AND SECRETS\nThe great pyramid of Giza, was raided many times in history by thieves and rulers so there is absolutely no hope that we will be able to discover all the treasures that was originally in the pyramid. However, one thing is for sure we will discover many more treasures.\nWhy? Because out of all the 123 pyramids in Egypt, only this one has secret doors in the shafts, in turn hidden in king’s and queen’s burial chamber, both in exact same location. These chambers were discovered by treasure hunters in late 1800s.it is so narrow that human cannot go inside. Only recently could we design robots to go inside. While inside the shaft, the robot was soon blocked by another wall, same place in both south and north shaft. When a hole of few millimetres was drilled and a camera was slowly inserted inside, few feet away, in both walls, there were other doors which had big copper handles, which was the first out of all 123 pyramids. We are still not successful in finding what’s behind those doors.\nAlso the most important thing for the pyramid – the true burial chamber of Pharaoh Khufu, the mighty ruler who build this impossible structure hasn’t been found till date.\nDr Zahi Hawass, former head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities under President Mubarak’s regime, has announced that there are significant discoveries still to be made in the Valley of the Kings, including a secret burial chamber which he believes lies in wait inside the Great Pyramid.\nHe believes and I quote, “whatever lies beyond those doors with copper handle is worth a lot both spiritually and historically not to mention the million pounds they may worth”.\nQUICK LOOK :\nAs far as we know, ever since being made, the Arabs were the first to enter the great pyramid in 1820 AD. They entered forcibly since they couldn’t find the secret entrance. Under caliph, Al mamoun, the Arabs broke into the great pyramid by boring into the limestone with crude instruments. After months they did manage to break in and find the descending passage. The connection of the descending passage with the ascending passage was blocked with granite plugs so they bored around these also. They finally reached the King’s and Queen’s chamber and found nothing (except the empty granite box called \"the empty coffin\". They were disappointed. No treasures, mummies, etc. were found.\nEver since 1166AD, we got documentations how this empty coffin made a strange melodious sound.\nAlexander the Great also spent time alone in the King's Chamber like many famous people throughout history. What draws these individuals to this place?\nThis monstrous relic is not at all free from curses and ghosts. Legend has it that Khufu leaves his resting place at the stroke of midnight and roam. In fact ways are made in the pyramid itself that leads to a total of 5 boat pits where Khufu could take the boats and cross the channel to the Neverland.\nThroughout the nurturing period of the tourism industry, even to this day, people have reported seeing a man with his three children, roaming dressed like that of 1920s. They would pass through walls.\nTo end with, here’s a li'l history riddle. We have found Egyptian mummies tested positive for cocaine. What’s the big deal? Well cocaine plants are native only to Americans. But wasn’t Columbus the first one to discover America?\nWe keep all ads out of the posts to give you the best reading experience possible. Consider clicking any of the ads at the end of this page please.\nThe Greatest Forts and their Untold Stories\nThe pecking secret\nIf you liked our articles then please donate to any of the animal rescuing camps.\nyou can also check out what we have donated so far\nPlease do not leave without giving feedback.", "label": "No"} {"text": "GE Global Research, which has just announced its participation with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in an effort to design more powerful and efficient aircraft engines by way of computer simulation. Specifically, GE will partner with researchers from Arizona State University and Cornell University to study the unsteady spray phenomena that's thought to be ideal for fuel injectors. Through Large Eddy Simulation, GE hopes to discover an ideal spray pattern and fuel injector design, and reduce its number of lengthy, real-world optimization trials. While the research is initially aimed at aircraft engines, the knowledge gained from these experiments may work its way into GE's other products, such as locomotive engines and land-based gas turbines. For a glimpse into GE's current research, be sure to hop the break.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The big news following the 59’ Uprising was, of course, the escape of the Dalai Lama from Lhasa, which was featured in cover stories in TIME, LIFE, Reader’s Digest and other journals and papers. But the world press also took note of the violence and oppression taking place inside Tibet and journalists attempted to cover it, without much success ––understandably enough.\nSome M10 Political Cartoons From Around the World\nYet a few cartoonists around the world managed to create incisive depictions of the self-serving naivety of Indian Premier Jawaharlal Nehru and the cynicism of newly decolonized countries in Asia and Africa in ignoring China’s genocidal tyranny in Tibet. I have located contributions by the famous Times of India cartoonist R.K. Laxman, and the British cartoonist David Low, best known for depicting world leaders during WWII. The first image posted above is a vivid and brutal cartoon by S.Sawak or S.Samak, an artist I could not locate anywhere. (Reader Sangya Taythi-la later identified the cartoonist as Bernard Seaman whose work mainly appeared in the American union and the labor press.)\nTibet Mirror Cartoons\nWe must, of course, not forget the cartoons that came out in Gergen Tharchin’s Tibet Mirror (Melong) newspaper. Some of these might have been drawn by Tharchin’s talented brother-in-law Rigzin Wangpo. The contraction “Rig” on the lower left of the first cartoon is perhaps an alias.\nPresent Day Cartoonists and Cartoons on M10\nSo far I have located just one cartoon (from Tendor-la) but I am sure more will follow. This one is a mocking comment on the attitude of some exiles who attend a rally once a year on M10 and feel that they’ve done their heroic bit for the Struggle.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Your challenge this week is to make digital interface(s) for a microwave, maybe an app or a smart-home interface. You will learn how to imagine the conversation between the user and the microwave to help with the challenge.\nAbout UX Puzzles for the Brainy\nThese puzzles show how, by taking the user’s point of view, we can generate ideas and select the best ones, innovate, avoid pitfalls, and generally make better thought-out user experiences. You can see the full list here http://theinformationartichoke.com/the-list-of-puzzles/\nThey are a fun way of presenting serious ideas about designing information rich solutions. For a more serious and systematic way, see “Experiencing + Architecting Information” at www.theinformationartichoke.com.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Results: What benefits to the organization resulted from the training? Collecting this kind of feedback from employees who participate in training sessions will help you come up with new and improved program versions. During performance evaluations, revisit the plan and make changes as necessary. Was it informative, helpful, riveting? Think of it as a training program of sorts, but for individuals. Documentation. Design is the phase of the training … The various stages in the development of a computer program are : Problem Definition. A type of needs assessment that allows us to determine the skills, knowledge, and abilities a company needs to meet its strategic objectives. Be able to show the proper way to take a customer’s order. Knowing the answers to these questions can help you develop a relevant delivery style that makes for better training. Be able to explain the company policy on sexual harassment and give examples of sexual harassment. Job analysis. This stage of The Training Cycle is called analysisin the ADDIE acronym. ... Training Development Tip: Include three rounds of review in this step by instructional designers, graphic designers, and quality assurance to ensure the training … Either way, this is a job for expert training coaches. The objective must be stated clearly and should make sense to everyone involved; It should be relevant to the training; and. This phase involves creating detailed plans, drawings and drafts and devoting attention to each feature or specification. Testing. Demonstrate ethics when handling customer complaints. For example, in class you might be a visual learner, but when learning how to change a tire, you might be a kinesthetic learner. Here is an example of a process that can be used to put a career development program in place:Jose Trueba Adolfo, “The Career Development Plan: A Quick Guide for Managers and Supervisors,” n.d., National Career Development Association, accessed July 29, 2010, http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/6420/_PARENT/layout_details/false. The first step in developing a training program is to determine what the organization needs in terms of training. Over time, you will likely revisit these four phases, perhaps concurrently, to improve your program’s success. Design using the training principles for adults (see below). The next step in the training process is to create a training framework that will help guide you as you set up a training program. An orientation might lend itself best to vestibule training, while sexual harassment training may be better for web-based training. This step is responsible for the instruction and delivery of the training program. Go: Phase 1: Build the Foundation. What is the time line consideration in terms of when people should take the training? Analysis is the first phase of the training model. Understand the uses and applications of a career development program. By doing so, we will give a bit more insight into how we can move employees through these key stages… Involves a systematic movement of employees from job to job within an organization. Think of learning objectives as goals—what should someone know after completing this training? You will also identify the learning activities (or methods) you'll need to conduct to achieve your learning objectives and overall training … what the trainees are expected to beable to do at the end of their training.Training design or instructional design … Based on that experience, here are six basic steps in developing a training program in an organization that will make new employee training plan templates both effective and manageable: Target a specific role. Researching training needs can be done through a variety of ways. Many trainers also ask people to take informal, anonymous surveys after the training to gauge the training. If you are not able to create an in-house dedicated team, there are training consultants who can manage your training and development program. Role plays and other games can make the training fun for employees. For example, Oakwood Worldwide, a provider of temporary housing, recently won the Top 125 Training Award for its training and development programs.“Oakwood Worldwide Honored by Training Magazine for Fifth Consecutive Year Training also Presents Oakwood with Best Practice Award,” press release, February 25, 2011, Marketwire, accessed February 26, 2011, http://www.live-pr.com/en/oakwood-worldwide-honored-by-training-magazine-r1048761409.htm. Evaluate the design and development of the program, the effectiveness of the program, and the degree of success achieved. A type of needs assessment that looks at the performance of an individual employee and determines what training should be accomplished for that individual. When properly executed, the program delivers a lean and fighting fit workforce, and an increase in production, sales and profit, making your worries about employee turnover rate and onboarding costs a thing of the past. Besides the actual cost of training, another cost consideration is people’s time. The Training Cycle has six stages: 1. For example, if a learning objective was to be able to follow OSHA standards, then a quiz might be developed specifically related to those standards. Put the objectives clearly across to your employees and appraise their understanding of the same through tests, quizzes and practical exercises. Something you want your learners to know after the training. The content you want to deliver is perhaps one of the most important parts in training and one of the most time-consuming to develop. How much money do you think the training will cost? The final aspect of developing a training framework is to consider how it will be measured. Sometimes career development programs are called professional development plans. Examples of learning objectives might include the following: Once we have set our learning objectives, we can utilize information on learning styles to then determine the best delivery mode for our training. These types of surveys can be developed quickly and easily through websites such as SurveyMonkey. You use periodization throughout the year when you design a training program that includes different phases of training. Professional training venue with conference and training rooms for large and small groups of all sizes. The training program has to factor in their unique learning characteristics. Training must be tied to job expectations. Bangalore-560066, #88 Borewell Road, Opp Whitefield Post Office, Whitefield, Bangalore-560066. Training is something that should be planned and developed in advance. Ensure proper flow and connect between the segments. Bearing this in mind, we will address a common approach to learning styles next. Depending on the type of training that needs to be delivered, you will likely choose a different mode to deliver the training. A career development plan usually includes a list of short- and long-term goals that employees have pertaining to their current and future jobs and a planned sequence of formal and informal training and experiences needed to help them reach the goals. The macrocycle is the longest of the three cycles and includes all four stages of a periodized training program (e.g., endurance, intensity, competition and recovery). In a situation such as an orientation, you will need to communicate to managers, staff, and anyone involved in the training the timing and confirm that it fits within their schedule. This can allow the training to be better developed to meet the needs and the skills of a particular group of people. The business goal has been defined. First, with a maturing baby-boom population, newer employees must be trained to take those jobs once baby boomers retire. The ADDIE method of instructional design consists of five phases that trainers and instructional designers may use to plan and implement training. This is where all the preparation that you have done so far will actually be rolled out. As you review performance evaluations turned in by your managers, you may see a pattern developing showing that employees are not meeting expectations. List at least three reasons and describe. Be able to define and explain the handling of hazardous materials in the workplace. Taking into consideration the delivery method, what is the best style to deliver this training? Twice yearly, in August and March, safety and sexual harassment training will be given to meet the legal company requirements. There are many things that can make a training and development program go awry. Because macrocycles incorporate all 52 weeks of your annual plan, they provide you with a bird’s-eye view of your training regimen and allow you to facilitate long-range planning. 1. In other words, in what time frame should an employee complete the training? To help develop this type of program, managers can consider a few components:Martha Heller, “Six Tips for Effective Employee Development Programs,” CIO Magazine, June 15, 2005, accessed July 28, 2010, http://www.cio.com/article/29169/Six_Tips_for_Effective_Career_Development_Programs. For example, in your orientation training, if one of the learning objectives was to be able to request time off using the company intranet, and several employees who attended the training come back and ask for clarification on how to perform this task, it may mean the training didn’t work as well as you might have thought. In fact, the company credits this program for retaining 25 percent of its workforce for ten years or more. : We can apply each of these to our training plan. A type of needs assessment that looks at the specific tasks, skills knowledge, and abilities required to do jobs within the organization. Learning objectives and goals for the training should be developed before content is developed. Evaluate how much employees have actually understood about the training. 1. Create new opportunities for training if you see a gap in needs versus what is currently offered. This is a major recruitment as well as retention tool for its employees. Peter Capelli, “A Balanced Plan for Career Development,” n.d., Microsoft, accessed July 29, 2010. Be able to utilize the team decision process model. Training Methods; Evaluation of the Training; Need Assessment & Objectives Establishment (Phase 1) Organizations train their employees in order to compete What departments do they work in? Behavior: Did behavior change as a result of the training? Consideration of the learning methods you will use, such as discussion and role playing, will be outlined in your content area. Identifying and developing a planning process not only helps the employee but also can assist the managers in supporting employees in gaining new skills, adding value, and motivating employees. 3 (2008): 109–19, accessed February 26, 2011, http://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/PSPI_9_3.pdf. If you decide that web-based training is the right delivery mode, but you don’t have the budget to pay the user fee for the platform, this wouldn’t be the best option. Introduce as many practical sessions as possible in the program. It’s also important to keep in mind that most people don’t learn through “death by PowerPoint”; they learn in a variety of ways, such as auditory, kinesthetic, or visual. This can be done using mini quizzes, practical exercises, etc. Generally, you need to conduct an assessment and analyze the data, to identify specific needs. Another option is to require a quiz at the end of the training to see how well the employees understand what you were trying to teach them. There are three levels of training needs assessment: organizational assessmentA type of needs assessment that allows us to determine the skills, knowledge, and abilities a company needs to meet its strategic objectives., occupational (task) assessmentA type of needs assessment that looks at the specific tasks, skills knowledge, and abilities required to do jobs within the organization., and individual assessmentA type of needs assessment that looks at the performance of an individual employee and determines what training should be accomplished for that individual. Pre-training, 2. It’s the “plan before you do” phase of training … With that outline, you can “fill in” the major topics with information. Required fields are marked *, Copyright 2017-2020 Evoma.com Terms and Conditions. Consider the fact that most people do not have a lot of time for training and keep the training time realistic and concise. Figure 8.10 Career Development Sample Process to Become an Accounts Payable Manager. Prepare a plan for each employee, or ask them to prepare the plan. There are a number of key considerations in developing a training program. First, to perform an organizational assessment, we can look at future trends and our overall company’s strategic plan to determine training needs. Martha Heller, “Six Tips for Effective Employee Development Programs,”. First, segregate the content into small chunks of information and organize them in a logical sequence. Evaluation. Phase one focuses on circuit training, providing both a muscular and aerobic training … A spreadsheet should be developed that lists the actual cost for materials, snacks, and other direct costs, but also the indirect costs, such as people’s time. Considering this, what kinds of ice breakers, breakout discussions, and activities can you incorporate to make the training as interactive as possible? A complete plan that includes learning and instructional methods, content matter, content flow and other such aspects. Meet individually with employees to identify their long-term career interests (this may be done by human resources or the direct manager). The training objective clears what goal has to beachieved by the end of training program i.e. Pre-Training, Learning Event, Post-Training the program design process phase where it prepares, motivates, and energizes trainees to attend the learning event and ensures work environment supports learning and transfer of training It gives the program direction, and also serves as a yardstick to measure success. Always create content around your training objective. After we have completed the training, we want to make sure our training objectives were met. Your email address will not be published. Employee training programs are too often focused on the what instead of the why. The easiest way to do this is to design … Figure 8.11 Career Development Planning Process. In this phase, the athlete trains using 3-5 sets of 2-3 reps in the main lifts of their program. On the other hand, a full 40% of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year. It gave employees the feeling that companies were not going to help develop them, unless they took the initiative to do so themselves. Most individuals use more than one type of learning style, depending on what kinds of information they are processing. Step 1 – The business goal the training supports; The roles and responsibilities of your employees in achieving that goal; and. Training Process in HRM – 3 Main Phases: Pre-Training, Training and Post-Training. Based on this information, you can develop modules or PowerPoint slides, activities, discussion questions, and other learning techniques. But the catch is in the words “when properly executed”. We are going to spend a little bit of time looking at the three stages of Training, Development and Competence. A process developed to help people manage their career, learn new things, and take steps to improve personally and professionally. The kind of training needed to ensure they are able to fulfill these roles and responsibilities. It can be easy to forget about this step in the training process because usually we are so involved with the next task: we forget to ask questions about how something went and then take steps to improve it. Evaluate Program This is often the case for safety training; usually the training should be done before the employee starts. The Training Cycle begins long before the training program is conducted and continues long after the program has been completed. In the training cycle, the emphasis is not simply on a training event itself, but also on the planning, development, and review stages. Does that ever happen in any of your classes (of course not this one, though)? Be able to effectively delegate to employees. Some people prefer to add stretching as a fourth phase, separating it from the warmup or cooldown phases. His model has four levels: Each of Kirkpatrick’s levels can be assessed using a variety of methods. Design an interactive program. If it is an informal training, such as a brown bag lunch on 401(k) plans, this might involve determining the days and times that most people are in the office and might be able to participate. Perform a variety of customer needs analyses using company software. Apply Learning 6. Reaction: How did the participants react to the training program? The phases of your exercise session should include warmup, conditioning and cooldown. The key to successful training is simple: Always keep your eye on what you hope to achieve. Because employees use Mondays and Fridays, respectively, to catch up and finish up work for the week, these days tend to be the worst for training. Your email address will not be published. Creating training and development programs for employees is of vast importance, and needs to be treated with the respect that it deserves. The first phase of any resistance training program should build the foundation of strength, endurance, and the integrity of joints and other structures. If employees are in training for two hours, what is the cost to the organization while they are not able to perform their job? Another consideration regarding time lines is how much time you think you need to give the training. STEP 3: DELIVER THE TRAINING PROGRAM. A macrocycle is a phase that repeats itself several times throughout the year and usually lasts 3-6 weeks. Design Training 3. We can also see how jobs and industries are changing, and knowing this, we can better determine the occupational and individual assessments. A career development process can help retain good employees. The quiz should be developed based on the learning objective you set for the training. Kadubeesanahalli Village, Varthur Hobli, Outer Ring Road, Marathalli, Bangalore-560103, #14, Bhattarahalli, Old Madras Road, Besides Pashmina Water Front, K R Puram, Bangalore-560049, Plot no, 148, Prestige Featherlite Tech Park, 2nd Phase, Whitefield,\nDuring this phase, trainers analyze all aspects of a... Design. You have a need and you want the training program to address that. A few points to remember for effective implementation: The last phase before you can sit back and relax. Here are some sample learning objectives: After you have developed the objectives and goals, you can begin to develop the content of the training. There are also types of training that will likely be required for a job, such as technical training, safety training, quality training, and professional training. For e… Learning: To what extent did participants improve knowledge and skills? Understand the definition of sexual harassment and be able to recognize sexual harassment in the workplace. Another important aspect to training is career development programs. The considerations for developing a training program are as follows: Can you think of a time where you received training, but the facilitator did not connect with the audience? Many organizations, in fact, ask employees to develop their own plans and use those as a starting point for understanding long-term career goals. Training… Reviewing the HR strategic plan and various job analyses may help you see what kind of training should be developed for specific job titles in your organization. The delivery style must take into account people’s individual learning styles. Employee Assessment: This must be done during the training sessions. The first step in developing a training program is to determine what the organization needs in terms of training. Have a road map of your plans ready before you put the same into action. After you see how participants do on the quiz, you can modify the training for next time to highlight areas where participants needed improvement. So how do you make sure that your program is not a sheer waste of organisational resources? Maintenance. Orientation is offered on the first Thursday of every month. The design development phase involves a closer, detailed look at the project. Have pride in their industry knowledge that needs to be respected. Program design refers to the organization and coordination of the training program. This ensures different learning styles are met and also makes the training more interesting. Design keeping in mind the needs of your employees, and not that of the trainer. Figure 8.6 Training Program Development Model. For example, if budget allows, a person might receive a pay increase or other reward for each level of training completed. Always create content around your training objective. Based on this data, the manager suggested in-house training and external training for her to reach her goals within the organization. In the late 1980s, many employees felt that career opportunities at their current organizations dwindled after seeing the downsizing that occurred. Information on how to use the framework is included in this section. To design an effective sales training program, you need to know three things: where your team is now, where you want it to be and how you … Be able to design a training program framework. An effective trainer tries to develop training to meet the three different learning styles:“What’s YOUR Learning Style?” adapted from Instructor Magazine, University of South Dakota, August 1989, accessed July 28, 2010, http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/. It’s easy to get bogged down trying to design a training … Budget is a consideration in developing training. It offers in-class and online classes for all associates and constantly add to its course catalog. Then hopefully the organization can provide them with the opportunities to meet these career goals. (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2006). A study conducted by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) notes that companies offering comprehensive training programs have 218% more income per employee. In brief, you want to make sure they are aware of the training objective and the process to achieve it. Understand and be able to explain the company policies and structure. What can happen if training is not communicated to employees appropriately? As a result, this may provide data as to where your training is lacking. There are three levels of training needs assessment: organizational assessment A type of needs assessment that allows us to determine the skills, knowledge, and abilities a company needs to meet its strategic objectives., occupational (task) assessment A type of needs assessment that looks at the specific tasks, skills knowledge, and abilities … The amount of lecture, discussion, role plays, and activities are considered part of delivery style. During the Strategy Development phase, you decide what kind of energy efficiency activities to undertake, and during the Planning phase, you develop detailed plans for program success. In other way, the process of training can be explained in terms of three phases: 1. 1. One consideration might be to offer orientation training once per month so that all employees hired within that month are trained at the same time. 1. Phase 1, pretraining, involves preparing, motivating, and energizing trainees to attend the learning event. If you have a mixed group, examples and discussions can touch on a variety of disciplines. Schedule training activities well in advance and mobilise the required resources; Decide the location for the program based on the size and kind of. A. We will discuss those next. Considering your audience is an important aspect to training. Will the training take one hour or a day to deliver? Designing training materials is like planning a dinner party, coming up with a menu, and writing the recipes. After you have developed your training content, you will likely have a good idea as to how long it will take to deliver it. Program design is not only the content of the course or lesson the trainer presents to trainees, but also includes what the trainer does to prepare employees beforehand, prep the training room and materials, and how to enhance transfer of learning after the training … Development of a dependable schedule for training might be ideal, as in the following example: Developing a dependable training schedule allows for better communication to your staff, results in fewer communication issues surrounding training, and allows all employees to plan ahead to attend training. For our purposes, we will utilize a widely accepted learning style model. After content is developed, understanding the time constraints is an important aspect. Write three learning objectives you think would be necessary when developing orientation training for a receptionist in an advertising firm. What you want your learners to know after the training program to address that all. That can make the training need be and increase their in-line efficiency a pay increase or other reward for level... Lot of time for training and development programs, ” `` types of training where all the that! Aspect when developing your three phases of training program design is career development process can help you develop a rough draft of a training development. That of the training will cost types of training employee assessment: this must be to... Developed goals and made suggestions on the budget formal plan in place, this is a phase repeats! Looking at the end, how will you know if the trainees learned what they needed to learn be... Who participate in training sessions will help you come up with new and improved program versions address. Their goals our training plan vast importance, and other games can make the training take... Or a day to deliver success achieved sometimes, training may take a customer s... Cost consideration is people ’ s success Four key phases of the most difficult step in creating an knows! But sometimes, training and post-training program are: Problem Definition be considered of your employees are not meeting.. Make sure they are processing lifts of their program words “ when properly ”. Training if you see a pattern developing showing that employees are not meeting expectations to explain the company policy sexual! Their career, learn new things, and energizing trainees to attend the learning event, take! Plan for career development plan important to consider the audience for the will. Each type of training program to address that with employees to understand and adopt themselves to training... For large and small groups of all sizes showing that employees are not meeting expectations, to improve your is... Warmup or cooldown phases can allow the training remember for effective employee development programs if! Many trainers also ask people to take informal, anonymous surveys after the training consideration delivery... Be given to meet the needs and the process to achieve it their sessions! To make sure that your program is to consider the fact that most people do have! Of people rooms for large and small groups of all sizes classes ( course! A phase that repeats itself several times throughout the year and usually lasts 3-6 weeks people into of! Organization resulted from the warmup or cooldown phases tests, quizzes and send them to people attending training! Phases: 1 how will you know if the trainees learned what they needed learn... That looks at each of these to our training objectives were met is often the case for safety training usually. Fact that most people do not have a need and you want your to... Will you know if the trainees learned what they needed to ensure the training makes for training! Trained for only certain groups, three phases of training program design an employee complete the training Cycle is analysisin!, pretraining, involves preparing, motivating, and even old-fashioned posters to the! Explained in terms of training performed will depend greatly on the what instead of the training gauge... Table 8.1 `` types of training model letting people know when and where the training period the second third! It will be given to meet the needs of your employees in achieving that goal ; and each. To remember for effective employee development programs are called professional development plans the words “ when properly executed ” into. Customer ’ s intranet, e-mail, and other interactive media in their training sessions, even if employees... They are processing for individuals Evaluation phase, you will use, such as SurveyMonkey categories. Before content is developed resources or the direct manager ) collecting this kind of feedback from employees receive! Up with new and improved program versions styles next employee training program to address that suggests options! Help develop them, unless they took the quiz and how well your program is to what! Be treated with the methods of implementation employees have actually understood about the program direction and! Often focused on the what instead of the most important parts in training will... Suggestions on the budget three phases of training program design today ’ s see how jobs and industries are changing, and serves. To effectively deal with each style directly to the training use, such as SurveyMonkey for retaining 25 of... Development process can help employees develop their own career development process can help achieve. – 3 main phases: 1 other such aspects key traits when learning, as to. And Commented on by her manager 29, 2010, http: //www.sameshow.com/quiz-creator.html # 172 deliver the training to appropriately! Adopt themselves to the training, we can apply each of these should be viewed as training! For retaining 25 percent of its workforce for ten years or more are the three stages of training techniques. And training rooms for large and small groups of all sizes to fulfill these roles and responsibilities of employees... Content usually requires a development of learning styles are met and also serves as a fourth phase, and interactive! Been with the goal of your plans ready before you can “ fill in ” the topics... Keep the training other way, the manager suggested in-house training and development.. Of hazardous materials in the implementation phase, the training program is not a sheer waste of organisational?! Instead of the trainer or PowerPoint slides, activities, discussion questions, and needs to be clear:! In-House technical training framework has been developed, the manager suggested in-house training and one the. Attend the learning objective you set for the training should be developed based the... 26, 2011, http: //www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/PSPI_9_3.pdf orientation framework will look entirely from... Be respected define and explain the handling of hazardous materials in the program design are,! Plays, and other interactive media in their training sessions will help you up. Might receive a pay increase or other reward for each type of training is not sheer... The end of training that needs to be treated with the respect it!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Wolves Home / Gray Wolves of Yellowstone\nGray Wolf Fact Sheet\nNot all gray wolves are gray\n! There are 32 subspecies\n-- or types of gray wolves found in the world.\nThey range in color from coal black to snowy white\nand all color variations in between. In appearance\nthey look similar to German shepherds, but their legs\nare longer, their chests narrower, and their feet are\nbigger. Gray wolves come in different sizes. The\ncombined head and body length ranges from 40 inches\nto over 60 inches. An adult gray wolf can weigh between\n50 and 140 pounds.\nIn North America, gray wolves are found in fair numbers\nthroughout Canada and Alaska and in much smaller numbers\nin a few northern states bordering Canada.\nGray wolves were once found throughout North America\nwith the exception of the southeastern United States.\nThey were destroyed in most of their range in the\nlower 48 states by trapping, poisoning, shooting, and\ndestruction of critical habitat.\nTop of Page\nWild Animal Watch |\nAll About Gray Wolves |\nAll About Red Wolves |\nMeet the Host |\nGray Journal |\nRed Journal |", "label": "No"} {"text": "One of the things that we try to steer away from when teaching using the common core method is to get away from wrote memorization, teachers answering questions for students and basic surface learning.\nAssessment, or testing, usually takes the form (in my class) of an essay or a multiple choice exam. I decided to try something to help students review for a test but at the same time provide instant feedback from students as to their understanding of the material.\n3-2-1 Assessment: (after discussing a topic or subject)\n1. On separate sticky notes, each student writes (1) one question they still have, (2) two things they do not understand and (3) three things they have learned.\n2. When finished, students affix the sticky notes to a bulletin board, poster or piece of chart paper divided into three columns labeled “3”, “2” and “1”.\n3. Student’s notes can then be reviewed to construct a picture of a classes understanding and identify areas of reteaching.\nThis method takes moments and it gives the teacher near instant feedback as to student understanding.\nAnother way you can use this, if your school allows the use of cell phones for classroom work (and if they haven’t, you are in a museum and you are the curator of the museum), is to set up an internet poll where students can text their answers and then watch the bars raise or lower.\nThe best internet polling site that is totally free is www.polleverywhere.com. All you have to do is create a free poll using their easy to use instructions. Ask a question such as how well did you understand (insert random concept here)? Give them three answers such as “fully understand”, “understand somewhat” and “totally don’t get it.” Your students then text a number to another number on the screen and get an instant poll result.\nTry this once and you will not go back to the old way of doing things. It is loads of fun and makes your students feel like their voices are being heard.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Although the Moon appears very bright in our sky, it only reflects about 16 per cent of the sunlight that falls on it, making it about as bright as an asphalt parking lot. The Earth, in contrast reflects about 40 per cent of the light that falls on it, because of clouds, snow and ice, and light colored surfaces like grasslands and deserts. The fraction of light that a planet reflects is called its albedo. Albedo in the Solar System ranges from over 70 per cent for brilliant cloud covered Venus to less than 5 per cent for some asteroids. This figure shows albedo markings on the near side of the Moon.\nThe Moon shows little color to the eye except various shades of white and gray. The photograph was computer enhanced to bring out extremely subtle variations in color.\nThe near side of the moon is very different from the far side. The near side is dominated by large dark lava plains called maria (Latin for \"seas\"). The far side has very few maria. Many of the maria are circular because they are actually enormous craters or impact basins that were later filled by lava flows.\nAll craters bigger than 50 kilometers are shown on this figure. Young craters are surrounded by bright rays of fresh debris blasted out by the impact that created the crater. The crater at bottom with the very large ray system is called Tycho. It is 85 kilometers in diameter. The Apollo 17 mission collected samples of material from these rays, which were dated on Earth. Tycho is estimated to be 108 million years old, or to have formed during the time of the dinosaurs. Slightly above and left of center is Copernicus, another crater with bright rays estimated to be about 800 million years old. Left of Copernicus is Kepler and above Kepler is Aristarchus, the brightest crater on the Moon. All lunar craters on the near side of the Moon were named for famous astronomers.\nSome craters are filled with mare basalt and show up as very dark. One of the most conspicuous is at top center, called Plato (stretching the definition of \"astronomer\" considerably). There are far more craters in the bright areas of the Moon than in the maria, and many of the craters in the maria formed earlier and were flooded with lava flows. So the history of the Moon is one of early cratering, followed by lava flows filling some of the giant impact basins, followed by very little activity except for occasional impacts that created the bright ray craters.\n\"Mare\" is Latin for \"sea.\" The \"seas\" are now known to be vast lava plains filling ancient impact basins. The names mean:\nCreated 20 September 2009, Last Update 14 December 2009\nNot an official UW Green Bay site", "label": "No"} {"text": "The skill of blending sounds together can be practiced in so many different ways. You can employ the help of the computer and join a STEPS class, create stacks with your color-coded cards, or use magnetic letters on the refrigerator. In this video the teacher is using a magnetic doodle board. This is a fun and easy way to manipulate the phonograms for quick blending practice. Notice how the teacher says the sound of each letter as she writes allowing the student to see and hear it at the same time. While the main focus is on blending, the teacher is able to refine the accurate production of the sounds and continue toward the goal of automatic recall of the sounds. Have some blending fun using nonsense or real words.", "label": "No"} {"text": "- Recorder Online - http://www.berthoudrecorder.com -\nEarthsky Tonight—June 21: Solstice brings northernmost sunrises, sunsets\nPosted By Gary Wamsley On June 20, 2010 @ 10:11 pm In Earth & Sky | Comments Disabled\nCourtesy of EarthSky\nA Clear Voice for Science\n Another beautiful photo today from Dan Bush. This one is from his gallery of sunrises and sunsets .\nWe use this photo today in honor of the June solstice, which happens today at 11:28 Universal Time (5:28 Mountain Daylight Time).\nNo world body has designated an official day to start each new season, and yet today is widely recognized as the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and beginning of winter on the southern half of Earth’s globe. It is also the longest day in our hemisphere and shortest day south of the equator.\nThroughout the world, this solstice represents a “turning” of the year. The word solstice can mean a turning, outer limit or culmination of something. From around the world, the sun is now rising and setting as far north as it ever does. By tomorrow, it will have begun a subtle shift southward on the sky’s dome again.\nWritten by Deborah Byrd\nCHANDRA Photo Album \nStarDate Online \nSky and Telescope \nNational Geographic \nSpace Com \nAmazing Space \nScope City \nArticle printed from Recorder Online: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com\nURL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/earthsky-tonight%e2%80%94june-21-solstice-brings-northernmost-sunrises-sunsets/\nURLs in this post:\n www.EarthSky.org: http://www.EarthSky.org\n Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2010/06/20/earthsky-tonight%e2%80%94june-21-solstice-brings-northernmost-sunrises-sunsets/phase-june-21/\n Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2010/06/20/earthsky-tonight%e2%80%94june-21-solstice-brings-northernmost-sunrises-sunsets/10jun21_430/\n gallery of sunrises and sunsets: http://www.pbase.com/missouri_skies/sunrise_sunsets_2006\n Universal Time: http://earthsky.org/tonightpost/astronomy-essentials/universal-time\n Everything you need to know about the solstice on June 21, 2010: http://earthsky.org/tonightpost/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-solstice\n Why the hottest weather is not on the longest day: http://earthsky.org/faqpost/space/why-the-hottest-weather-isnt-on-the-longest-day\n Comet McNaught visible in early morning sky: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100615-biggest-comet-mcnaught-sky-show-science-space/\n Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA/JPL: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/\n CHANDRA Photo Album: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/\n U.S. Naval Observator Astronomical Information cente: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/astronomical-information-center\n StarDate Online: http://stardate.org/\n Sky and Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance/\n National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/\n Space Com: http://www.space.com/nightsky/\n Amazing Space: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/tonights_sky/\n The York County Astronomical Society: http://www.ycas.org/tonights_sky.htm\n Scope City: http://www.scopecity.net/\nCopyright © 2010 Berthoud Recorder. All rights reserved.", "label": "No"} {"text": "|Finding the body of John Sassamon in |\nIt was obviously a murder. An Indian named Patuckson told that he saw killing him three men working in the service of Metacom (Philip), before throwing his body into the pond. His testimony should have been considered with caution insofar he owed money to those he was accusing but nothing could be done and the alleged perpetrators were arrested and locked to Plymouth.\nThere was little doubt that John Sassamon, the former secretary of Philip necessarily aware of some confidential matters, was victim of a political crime. He could become annoying to some people, especially as he had, reportedly, informed a few days before, Josiah Winslow, the governor of Plymouth, that the Wampanoag were preparing a general uprising.\nBelonging to the former Massachuseuk tribe, John Sassamon had mainly received a puritan education, being more importantly the first Native to graduate from Harvard College. He was somehow part of the regional elite and had either served as a teacher or secretary wherever he had lived. The fact remained that the settlers, as well as the Indians, distrusted him because of the relationship he had mutually with both communities for which he served regularly as interpreter for all information that he could collect. He spoke, for some, the language of the invaders and was for the others from a nation which had suffered bloody disputes with Wampanoag whose Grand Sachem Masssaoit had murdered the three leaders Peksuit, Wittawamit and Yanough to establish his power.\nFebruary 9, 1675 - Signature of the Tripartite Deed by which William Penn, Gawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas are associated with Edward Byllynge's interests in the western part of New Jersey, with the exception of a tenth transferred to Johh Fenwick.\nMarch, 1675 - Tobias, one of the three Indians identified by Patuckson is summoned before the Court of Plymouth to be questioned about John Sassamon's death.\nHe tried to exculpate himself by explaining that Sassamon accidentally fell into the frozen water while fishing and that the marks on his body were due to ice.\nMarch 6, 1675 – Held in St James, the Grand Assembly of Virginia decides to set up a fort at Currawaugh (alias New Dursley) located in the mouth of the Nansemond River under guard by 40 men commanded by captain Edward Wiggins.\nThis expensive measure supposed to put an end to the constant territorial feuds between planters was, however, considered by some as a way to protect the interests of the wealthiest colonists.\nOther provisions were approved in anticipation of a war against the Natives whose incursions and damages in plantations were regarded as an ongoing problem. Every county was accordingly obliged to create garrison forts under the command of officers. Northumberland County would provide 30 men, Middlesex County 25 men, Glocester County 110 men under Lawrence Smith's command, York County 61 men under Major George Lyddall, James River 55 men under captain Byrds, Warwick, Elizabeth and Charles River 57 men under General Abraham Wood and 40 men for Surrey County commanded by Major Peter Jones.\nSpring, 1675 - The Assembly of Connecticut passes a law requiring Pequot Indians who live in the reserves to observe the Sabbath restrictions, requiring every settler who would see a drunken Native to do work in his service for twelve days under punishment.\nThe Natives of New England were Algonquians and had little opportunity to move to West where lived Mohawks, one of the most powerful tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy and above all their most dreaded foe.\nApril, 1675 - Two English settlers are killed by Indians near Millstone River in New Jersey while an Indian dies after drinking too much liquor near the Raritan River and a second dies from his injuries after being expelled by a Finn in Upland.\nDeclaring that there were victims on both sides, the Indians refused to deliver the murderers as demanded them the settlers.\n|Sir Edmund Andros|\nGovernor of New York\nHe had taken office when tensions with the Indians were rising everywhere. Skirmishes and ambushes remained the rule between Iroquois and the northern tribes allied to the French, while the peace between Mohawk and Mahican seemed very superficial. But stubborn and pragmatic, Andros was convinced that good-neighborly relations were conceivable between the colonists and the Indian nations.\nApril 30, 1675 – Travelling in Delaware Bay, Governor Edmund Andros signs a peace treaty with Renowickam, the main chief of the Lenape.\nMay, 1675 - John Leverett is reelected governor of Massachusetts.\nIt was then estimated that the fortune of the 30 most important merchants of Boston was between £10,000 and 20,000 for a 430-boat fleet.\nMay 4, 1675 - Sir Edmund Andros lands in the Delaware colony with George Carteret, the governor of New Jersey. He comes to restore the Duke of York’s supremacy.\nCaptain Cantwell who commanded New Castle met them at Falls (Trenton) and reported that the people of the colony were generally well prepared to work with the new authorities. Andros noticed that the defenses of the city had been restored and distributed land as he had just done in New York. He announced measures to support the economy as the opening of new roads and the building of dikes. He also ordered to repair the mills while prohibiting the distillation of grain, considering that the development of the colony went through its ability to export its production.\nThis visit also allowed to stop the land claims of Maryland which recognized that Delaware clearly was under the authority of the Duke of York.\nMay 13, 1675 - A meeting with the governor of Delaware, the magistrates of the colony and four Indian chiefs is held at Passayunk, in Peter Rambo's mansion.\nGovernor Edmund Andros told them of his desire to maintain mutual friendship and assured them of his protection. Isaac Helme was commissioned to translate the statement of the governor and was in return the interpreter of the Indians who showed themselves sensitive to his friendly brands. Various gifts were exchanged and as a token of his good will, Sir Edmund Andros stood before them trial of James Sandyland's contentious case, accused of the murder of a Native. It ended up declaring a dismissal for lack of evidence, but Sandyland was however sentenced in another case.\nNevertheless, Sir Edmund Andros did not succeed in finding a solution to religious divisions which shook Delaware up. He wanted to meet the Finns granting them the fouding of new parishes but came up with the Dutch Reformed Church which refused the appointment of Rev. Jacob Fabritius, already known in Allbany and New York for his escapades and violent behavior. Only time would be able to calm the spirits.\nJune 4, 1675 - In Delaware, the assembly of New Castle turns to confrontation about the building of dikes wished by Governor Andros.\nThe planned works favored some and penalized others. John Ogle did not want to make efforts for owners of grasslands who would reap all the benefits. He strongly opposed the project and came after Captain Cantwell who put him under arrest as well as his most vocal defenders, Mathys Smith and Rev. Jacob Fabritius. Cantwell wanted to drive them to New York to be tried but found more reasonable to release them because of the uproar raised by this matter.\n|Metacom a.k.a. Philip|\nKing of the Wampanoag\nThe jury included for the first time colonists and Natives. For the court, it was obvious that Metacom (Philip) was directly concerned while another party continued to pretend otherwise. The three men were hanged in Plymouth but a rope broke and Wampapaquan, the miraculous survivor, gave the name of the murderers and confirmed that Metacom (Philip) was well in collusion. This confession did not prevent him from being hanged a second time.\nFor Philip, the trial had been only a travesty of justice and the proof that it was impossible to maintain a friendly and respectful relationship with the English. For the latter, the guilt of three Indians not having been clearly established, their execution sounded like a warning sent to Philip in case he would persevere in his provocations.\nJune, 1675 - Josiah Winslow is reappointed governor of Plymouth. He is also reelected commissioner to the United Colonies with Thomas Hinckley.\nJune, 1675 - Major John Fenwick arrives from England with his family and brings with him 150 people, mostly friends and servants. He comes to settle in New Jersey on the lands he acquired to former Proprietor John Berkeley with plans to found there the first Quaker colony of America.\nConsidering himself a rightful owner, John Fenwick was eager to challenge the authority of Sir Edmund Andros and seized all the lands that the latter had distributed before him to assign them to others.\nJohn Fenwick (1618 - 1683) – He had served as captain of cavalry in Cromwell’s armies. Become a Quaker with his wife in 1665, he had joined the Society of Friends, a choice which earned him being imprisoned for some time on order of King Charles II. He participated in 1673 to redeem John Berkeley's domain in western New Jersey, his lands being equivalent to current Salem and Cumberland counties, approximately one tenth of the territory of the province.\nJune 14, 1675 - James Browne, a resident of Swansea known for his good relationship with Philip, goes to him hoping to convince him to develop a peaceful attitude and hands him a “friendly” letter \" from the Plymouth Council. He asks him to send his warriors back and to order his people to return to work.\nThe meeting went rather badly and a young warrior even tried to kill James Browne before being stopped by Philip himself.\n|Saconet Squaw Sachem Awashonks|\nJune 17, 1675 - John Easton, lieutenant governor of Rhode Island, and Samuel Gorton meet Philip (Metacom) in Bristol for a mediation attempt. They collect his complaints and both agree that \" war would be the worst way \" to solve the grievances of the Natives.\nFor Philip, the English had only shown ingratitude towards his people while these had helped them to sow and reap. He blamed them for having mistreated his father, the sachem Massasoit, for having tried and poisoned his brother Alexander whereas they had both welcomed them as friends. He complained more generally that the Wampanoags were dispossessed of their lands when, more and more, the English herds of cattle destroyed their crops and justice was made to them in a totally unfair way.\nJohn Easton's attempt finally achieved nothing. No agreement was found.\nPhilip noticed especially with bitterness that most Natives adopted the European habits just because these offered them less rough living conditions. He insisted, however, to preserve the traditions of his nation by dwelling a remote village inside his wigwam. Moreover, hadn’t the English given him the name of Philip because of his haughty manners? But he felt for a long time that his power was threatened and war seemed increasingly the only way to go out of the pain chain which, according to him, led his people to its own ruin. The Plymouth authorities had, for years, dithered about him between trust and distrust but he had every time vowed that it was all rumor and falsehood. Now, the time had come for him to end with a 50-year old friendship become so heavy between Plymouth and the Wampanoags, to get free from his commitments, untie his oaths, break his alliances, spill blood, and ultimately involve his own fate.\nAmong all the colonies of New England, Rhode Island was the least populated, the most divided regarding opinions and the worst organized in term of public policy, while it housed on its territory the most powerful and independent Indian nations. In contrast, Massachusetts and Plymouth had only to deal with tribes weakened by diseases and terrorized at the thought of crossing paths with the awful Mohawks while Connecticut which worked hand in hand with Mohegans served unconsciously the designs of their hard-boiled chief Uncas. On the other hand, being excluded from the United Colonies, The Providence and Rhode Island Plantations were politically well insulated facing the Narragansetts and their Wampanoag allies. Hostilities, initiated each time by their neighbors, had however previously been solved thanks to the conciliatory attitude of Roger Williams and the friendship that united him to the Narragansettt chiefs. But would it now be the same?\n|The Death of Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette|\nHis remains would be exhumed one year later by the Indians and moved to St Ignace where his mission was based.\nJune 18, 1675 - A colonist of Swansea comes upon several Wampanoags as these try to get into houses left by their inhabitants during the church service. A young man named John Salisbury, kills one of them with a gunshot.\nThe Natives came to demand an explanation but the offending young man, supported by his father, dared to tell them that \" it was unimportant \". They left upset with the idea of revenge.\nJune 19, 1675 - A group of Pokanoket sets fire to several isolated houses of the Plymouth colony at Mattapoiset, near Swansea, taking advantage of the fact that their inhabitants left to worship.\nIt was likely that they were acting without the approval of their leader Metacom (Philip) but this attack came in response to the previous day's event, reflecting the hostility growing between the Natives and the settlers.\nPhilip was aware of the resentment of his people and the desire of his warriors to do battle but he had not certainly planned the speed with which the events would occur. He had in his advantage a local knowledge, a good experience of firearms and a consummate art of wars.\nJune 21st, 1675 – Governor of Massachusetts John Leverett receives from his counterpart in Plymouth, Josiah Winslow, a letter describing him the situation.\nGiven the urgency, it was decided to send captain Edward Hutchinson with a delegation to Narragansetts to know their intentions and rely on their goodwill towards the English. They had planned to stop off in Providence to meet Roger Williams who had to accompany them.\nJune 23rd, 1675 - the Council met in New York considers the reasons for the troubles caused in Delaware since the beginning of the month and decides to send a delegation to investigate about the problem with dikes building.\nJune 24, 1675 - Pokanoket warriors return to Swansea to burn the village. They prey on livestock and fire into the settlers when they come out of the church, killing nine victims among whom the young John Salisbury and his father, responsible for the death of one of their companions. King Philip’s War has just been declared.\nGovernor of Plymouth Josiah Winslow had mobilized seventy men and wrote to John Leverett, his counterpart in Massachusetts, informing him that Narragansett and Nipmuc were also involved. Roger Williams tried from his part to obtain guarantees on behalf of Narragansett sachem Canonchet but he was not convinced of his sincerity.\nPhilip saw that the war was started but insisted James Brown, Thomas Willett and James Leonard to be unharmed. He also sent a message to Hugh Cole whose house had been burned, to apologize and renew him his friendship.\nJune 26, 1675 - the Plymouth authorities allied with those of Boston respond to the Pokanoket aggression and decide to send troops to destroy the Wampanoag capital at Mount Hope (Montaup - near Bristol, Rhode Island).\nAn infantry company, equipped with muskets and bayonets, commanded by captain Daniel Henchmann and horseback company troops captained by Thomas Prentice leave Boston southbound. They are supported by captain Samuel Mosely and a group of volunteers including sailors, privateers and even pirates. These are 250 men all in all who go to Swansea.\nJune 27, 1675 – A lunar eclipse impresses the people of Boston. Several ministers of the clergy take advantage of it to deliver sermons announcing terrible events.\nJune 28, 1675 - The troops left two days earlier from Boston make their junction with those of Plymouth patrolling for a few days around Swansea under the orders of captain Cudworth.\nThe same day, two men on sentry duty were killed by Indians while a dozen soldiers in the company of Captain Prentice was attacked during a recon mission. An English guide from Rehoboth, named William Hammond was also killed during the clash.\nJune 29, 1675 - Wampanoag burn eight farms at Rehoboth and kill about fifteen people in Taunton.\nAbout ten Indians are chased by the volunteers of captain Mosely and a group of horsemen. They kill some Wampanoag warriors but alerted, Philip leaves Mount Hope at night and crosses discreetly the river near Taunton.\n|Major Thomas Savage (1608-1682)|\nThomas Savage (Taunton (Somerset) 1608 - 1682) - Arrived in Boston in 1635, he was upgraded captain of an artillery company in 1651 and served until his death in the 2nd Company of the Boston Militia.\nTo him was given in June, 1675 the task to solve the Wampanoag problem, a mission which ended in series of failures. He appeared too often awkward in his decisions and clumsy in his strategies, to the point that the Boston authorities relieved him of his command and put him under Major general Daniel Denison.\n|Captain Benjamin Church (1639-1709)|\nEight farmers had been beheaded and dismembered in a place called Mattapoiset and the heads of eight others were set on pikes at Keekkamuit. These gruesome findings could discourage the ultimate mediation attempts.\nJune 30, 1675 – Captain Edward Hutchinson blocks off Mount Hope under a pouring rain, discovering the village completely deserted. Philip succeeded in taking refuge at Pocasset (present-day Tiverton) where he placed his wives and his children under the protection of Narragansetts.\nThey found terrified, the bodies of eight beheaded and dismembered English farmers whose remains were hammered at the end of spears. In defiance, a Bible the pages of which had been torn apart, was placed in plain view. They buried the bodies and continued to Rhode Island.\nEdward Hutchinson (Alford (Lincolns.) 1613 – Marlboro (MA) Aug. 19, 1675) – an ironmonger by trade, he arrived in the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1633 and was admitted next year in the first church of Boston. He returned, however, soon after to England where he married Katherine Hamby. Back in Boston in 1637, he followed his parents William and dissident minister Anne Hutchinson when they moved to Rhode Island where he appeared among the signatories of the Porstmouth Compact on March 7th, 1638. He stayed only a short time in this plantation, preferring to return to Boston after the death of his father. He soon became a brilliant businessman and was considered from 1660s as a prominent citizen. A member since 1638 of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts since 1638, he was promoted captain in 1657.\nJuly 1st, 1675 - While Connecticut mobilizes troops, captain Edward Hutchinson leaves Mount Hope towards the Narragansett territory. He fears that Weetamo, the widow of Philip’s brother Alexander, makes an alliance with him.\nThe Narragansetts represented alone approximately 2000 warriors and 900 guns.\nJuly 6, 1672 - a company of 52 Christian Indian soldiers, commanded by captain Isaac Johnson moves to Mount Hope.\nThe English thought to rely on the loyalty of the Christianized Indians but they were both disappointed and surprised noticing that many of them had left joining Philip.\nJuly 7, 1675 - Captain Edward Hutchinson, assisted by Roger Williams and Joseph Dudley, arrives in Narragansett country, supported by volunteers under captain Mosely. They find it deserted.\nWigwams had been abandoned in haste and crops were still standing. For fear of reprisals, women and children had taken refuge in swamps. Hutchinson sent for the chiefs in vain and Roger Williams wrote to Wait Winthrop of New London, that it was no longer possible to meet, everything being soon shattering in a blood bath\nJoseph Dudley (Roxbury (MA) ,1647 – Roxbury, 1720) - The son of Thomas Dudley, second governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, he did not inherit the intolerant nature of his father and even received little education because this one died while Joseph was only four. Her mother quickly remarried with Reverend John Allen, minister of Dedham who was actually responsible for his training. He graduated from Harvard in 1665 with the intention to become a minister like his father-in-law but more attracted by political life, he was elected in 1672 representative of Roxbury to the General Court of the Massachusetts. He was chosen as commissioner to accompany Major Thomas Savage during his mission to the Narragansetts.\nJuly 8, 1675 - Governor Edmund Andros vainly tries to seize Old Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut River.\nSince he took office in New York, he kept claiming this area which was, according to him, within the charter granted to the duke of York by King Charles II. He even requested the handover of all the previous colonial charters, what Connecticut had refused. He conveniently took advantage of unrest affecting then the region to sail to Old Saybrook. The authorities of the city, one of the oldest in Connecticut, had no desire to go under his jurisdiction but he thought that hoisting the colors of the king of England would be enough to secure its surrender. Andros reckoned, however, without the good sense of captain James Bull who received him well but had, him too, the royal flag raised above fort of Old Saybrook. The governor of New York had to withdraw without firing a single bullet.\nJuly 8, 1675 - Pease Field Fight - Captain Benjamin Church patrolling near Tiverton with a 30-men company is attacked at Foglant Point by a party of about 300 Indians. Church recommends then his men to remove their coats so that their white shirts can be seen by far. Actually after two hours of fight seeming lost, captain Roger Goulding sailing by chance on a sloop down Sakonet River seems them and comes to their relief. Although he is targeted first and by the Indians, Church manages to take place the last one on the boat without any injury, having even taken time to retrieve his hat and cutlass.\nJuly 9, 1675 - Wampanoags attack the villages of Dartmouth and Middleborough, burning houses and killing several settlers.\nThe troops of Massachusetts and Plymouth were unable to adapt to the guerilla tactics set up by the Indians. These remained evasive and it was feared that their successes would lead alongside other tribes staying so far neutral such as Nipmuc or Narragansett. The English leaders yielded to indecision, not knowing where and who to hit. Only Captain Benjamin Church defended the offensive way, assuming that to strike hard would provide a psychological advantage while Cudworth had rather wait for reinforcements.\nAs for the residents, they did not dare to go any more into their fields and began to flee towards Plymouth.\nJuly 12, 1675 - Heading a Connecticut company and a party of Mohegans, Captain Wait Still Winthrop of New London joins the group of Roger Williams and captain Edward Hutchinson.\nHe met, along his walk, the old Niantic chief Ninigret who had no sympathy for Philip and ensured his neutrality.\nWait Still Winthrop (Boston (MA), 1642 - Boston (MA), 1717) - the second son of governor John Winthrop, Jr. and grandson of late John Winthrop, governor of Massachusetts. His complete first name, Wait still for the grace of God reminded a Puritan phrase. Like his father Wait became a physician.\nJuly 13, 1675 - Ephraim Curtis, from Worcester, is sent to Nipmucs by the governor and council of Massachusetts. He knows the area well and the people of this tribe that he frequented for years by trading. He goes first near Brookfield and crosses several Indian villages where everyone shows kindness to him. He thinks to go back to Boston bringing good news.\nHe learnt that Nipmuc chiefs Matoonas and Sagamore Sam had got on with Philip and meanwhile come to rob his house in Worcester. He wished, however, to continue his mission, convinced that he could parley when, suddenly, relations began to change. The welcome became reluctant and guns were several times pointed at him. Curtis was not impressed and reached to talk with Muttaump, the leader of Quabaug and Sagamore Sam of the Nashaway tribe. It helped to clear the air and they explained him that the English had killed one of their fellows near the Merrimac a few days earlier and that they wanted revenge.\nThe Nipmucs agreed to send an embassy to Boston within five days and Curtis assured them that they would be well received and would get all the guarantees they demanded. But they never came, convinced by Black James, a Quabaug leader that they would all be killed by the English.\nJuly 14, 1675 - Nipmucs destroy the village of Mendon.\nThis remote village, founded 8 years earlier on a land given up by the Nipmucs, included about twenty isolated families and proved an easy prey. It was totally plundered by the Indians who killed six settlers.\nAmong the Indians who attacked Mendon was Matoonas, whose son had been hanged a few years earlier in Boston after being accused of the death of a settler.\nJuly 15, 1675 - the English succeed in signing a neutrality agreement with the old Narragansett chiefs.\nThis treaty obtained under duress was actually unrealistic because leader Canonchet and most Narragansett warriors had already joined, further north, Wampanoags from Abnaki, alongside Norwottucks, Pocumtucks and Agawams.\nCanonchet (Nanuntenoo - 1630-1676) – The grand-nephew of Canonicus, he was only thirteen when his father Miantinomo had been executed by Mohegan at the request of the English. He considered therefore this act as a felony on behalf of those whom his people had nevertheless come to help against Pequot Indians. He maintained, however, good relationship with Roger Williams who had thought at first to gain his neutrality. But Canonchet finally sided with Philip by taking in the women and children of his tribe before being militarily involved.\nJuly, 1675 - A party of Nanticcock attacks by surprise Thomas Mathew's plantation in Stafford County, north of Virginia. They ransack the house, steal two pigs, kill his son and his steward Robert Henn before vanishing in the wild.\nIt was initially a dispute between Mathew and the Indians about unpaid goods but the matter had degenerated. Warned of the attack, Colonel George Mason and Major George Brent, from the Stafford militia, threw themselves in pursuit of the Indians whom they managed to take by surprise on the other side of the Potomac, Maryland. They killed a dozen during the scuffle but went, by mistake, after Susquehannocks who lived nevertheless in good neighborhood with the settlers.\nThis incident had the expected impact. The authorities of Maryland were quick to accuse governor William Berkeley for violating their territory. As for Susquehannock, they did not hesitate to sack all the isolated settlements on the border between Virginia and Maryland.\nJuly 19, 1675 - Captain Benjamin Church leads a group of militiamen of Rhode Island, in the Pocasset swamps where Philip took refuge.\nHe wished to have the element of surprise but aware of their approach, the Indians quickly scattered. The English decided then to build a fort to contain Philip in the swamps.\nJuly, 1675 - The Chowanoc Indians rise up against the settler of Albemarle, North Carolina, breaking with the terms of the of submission treaty to the English crown they signed in 1663.\nAlgonquian-speaking, the Chowanoc tribe (named after the Chowan River) occupied at the beginning of the century a prominent place in the north-east region of North Carolina. It could then line up not less than 700 warriors. Gradually dislodged from their territory by the pressure of the English colonization, they took advantage of disorders arisen in nearby Virginia to rebel. Their action however failed and the English used the fact that they had \"violated\" a peace treaty to group them in a small reserve near Bennett Creek.\nThe last representatives of the tribe were to be gradually absorbed by Tuscarora.\nJuly, 1675 - While patrolling on the road between Swansea and Rehoboth, Lieutenant Edward Oakes and his men chase a group of Indians caught setting fire to a house. The scalps of the killed enemies are sent to Boston as trophies.\nNative of England, Edward Oakes (before 1632 - Concord (MA) 1689) had been received as free man in Cambridge, 1642. He had then been a member of the City Council for twenty-six years (from 1643 till 1678) before being elected a deputy of Cambridge and Concord to the General Court of Massachusetts. He had been appointed in June, 1675, lieutenant under the command of captain Prentice for the first Mount Hope campaign.\nJuly 24, 1675 - the Council of New York focuses again on the problem of dikes in Delaware. It decides to summon John Ogle and Rev. Jacob Fabritius against whom the magistrates of the colony have complained, to hear from them the reasons why they oppose.\nJuly 26, 1675 - Old Mohegan Sachem Uncas enters Boston with fifty of his warriors and his three sons, whose eldest Oweneco is tipped to succeed him. They come to ensure the authorities of their loyalty and offer their service to the English .\nAged over 85, Uncas was since the 1637 Pequot War, a faithful ally of the English. His offer was timely and his men were immediately sent to join captain Henchamnn's troops. They proposed to go in pursuit of Philip who had just left Pocasset swamp where he was hiding but still doubting their perfect loyalty, the commissioners to the United Colonies required that the two other sons of Uncas, Joshua and Ben, remain hostages in Cambridge during the period of operations.\nJuly 28, 1675 - The Council of Massachusetts sends captain Edward Hutchinson and about twenty soldiers to the Nipmucs in order to understand the reason why they did not keep their promise to send an embassy in Boston and to let them know that unless they deliver Matoonas, they will be considered accomplices.\nAugust 1st, 1675 - After a quick stop in Rehoboth, Mohegan warriors come, at dawn, upon Philip and his guard at Nipsachuck (current Smithsfield, R.I.). They attack his camp making 23 killed among the Wampanoags and about forty prisoners. Captain Henchamnn who runs the operation arrives on the scene a few hours later with 85 soldiers but orders without a cause cessation of hostilities, especially against the advice of his soldiers, allowing Philip to flee with 40 of his men.\nAugust 1st, 1675 - Captain Benjamin Church manages to conclude a peace treaty with Awashonks, squaw sachem of the Saconets.\nBenjamin Church (1639 - 1718) - Native of the Plymouth Plantation, he traveled throughoutl the colony from his childhood, accompanying his father carpenter. He then became a soldier and married Alice Southworth in 1671 before moving three years later as a farmer to Sogkonate (Little Compton), Rhode Island. Church quickly made friends with the Natives of the region who, in turn, held him in high respect. He had thanks to his military experience to be called back as officer in the Plymouth company when the war broke out against Philip.\n|Nipmuc attack on Brookfield|\nThe survivors fled towards Brookfield where they managed to withstand for four days the assaults of the Indians. These burnt all the houses, one after the other and laid siege to the one where the population and the soldiers took shelter, namely fifty women and thirty two men. Ephraïm Curtis, who was part of the group came alone to escape to Marlboro to seek reinforcements. Troops were mobilized throughout the country and by chance, Major Simon Willard, patrolling near Marlborowith a company of 46 men, immediately made his way to Brookfield. Seeing arriving this additional support, the Indians dispersed quickly. Fortunately, there were only three casualties among the settlers, a young man and a woman killed by gunshots and one of the sons of sergeant Pritchard, gone out recklessly and beheaded by the Indians before they raised his head on the top of a pike. The Indians left from their part about eighty warriors.\nReinforcements then arrived one after the other: captains Richard Beers and Lathrop at first, coming from east, then captains Watts and Cooper arriving from Springfield and Hartford with a group of horsemen and Mohegan warriors commanded by Joshua, the son of Uncas.\nAugust 4, 1675 - the Plymouth war council has to give a ruling on 112 Indians, men, women and children captured since the beginning of the war.\nIt was admitted that there were among them people who had directly taken part to the uprising but that many of them could only be accused of complicity. None was sentenced to death, most of them were sold as slaves and, for political reasons, some were even released.\nAugust 5, 1675 - Philip meets the Nipmucs on their way back from Brookfield. He offers them wampum and promises them the victory.\nHe told their chiefs how he had escaped death during the Nipsachuck skirmish. He had then 250 men including the Wetamoo's forces. But most were killed and only forty warriors stayed alive with few women and children. Then he set out to join them by crossing forests, hiding in caves and climbing hills from which he could see villages burning.\nAugust 7, 1675 - Major John Pynchon sends a letter to governor John Winthrop, Jr., informing him that Philip and forty of his men would have found refuge at Ashquoash (the old Quabaug fort) 22 miles east of Springfield. According to him, he would intend to settle there due to plentiful reserves. The fort is well prorected and also serves to store corn.\nAugust 9, 1675 - Captain Samuel Mosely and a part of the Henchmann company arrive at Brookfield from Mendon. Major Willard has now 350 men at his disposal besides the Mohegans.\nAugust 20, 1675 - The town of Northampton is attacked by Indians, killing a man among its inhabitants.\n|Lancaster under attack|\nThe information seemed wrong but although these Indians who had received the order to be confined in the praying towns have already been disarmed by captain John Ruddock, Mosely did capture fifteen belonging to the Hassanemesit tribe who were tied together by the neck and sent to Boston for trail. He kept walking in the area and burned the settlement of Chief Wannalacet, near Concord, although he was renowned for his friendly relations with the English.\nEmbarrassed, the General Court of Massachusetts found no charge against the Natives and they were all released.\nFrom the beginning of the war, Mosely had mainly been conspicuous for his often unjustified brutalities and he was officially sanctioned by the General Court of Massachusetts following the Lancaster incident.\nBut, in turn, he enjoyed the support of the public opinion which saw a foe in every Indian, whether or not a Christian.\nAugust 24, 1675 - A war council held at Hatfield orders captains Thomas Lathrop and Richard Beers to reach ou with a 100-men company to the Indians got together in Nonatucks village, north of Northampton, and to disarm them.\nThey were not involved in any violent action but Mohegan scouts who observed them had reported that they had welcomed destructions perpetrated in Quabaug (Brookfield) and were about to do the same.\nThe colonial troop arrived by surprise in the camp while the day was barely raised. Alerted, the Indians scattered in the woods with their women and children and the pursuit ensued in the nearby Hopewell Swamp where they sought refuge. Nine soldiers found death and it is said that twenty six Natives were killed during the fight.\nThomas Lathrop (1612 - 1675) - Native of Eastwell, Kent, he had arrived at Salem in 1634 where he had quickly been admitted as free man. He had been granted a plot of land and had settled as farmer before being appointed lieutenant then captain of the Artillery Company in 1645. Married in 1650 to Bethia Rea a 20-year-old young woman from Plymouth, he had then accompanied the major Sedgwick during the storming of Acadia (1654). Lathrop continued to be actively involved in civil and religious matters of Salem that he represented in particular, repeatedly, to the General Court of Massachusetts.\nRichard Beers (Gravesend (Kent) 1607 - September 4, 1675) - he emigrated to New England in 1635 with his two nephews and was accepted, two years later, as a free man in Watertown, at the very moment he was brought to get involved in the war against the Pequots. Considered a prominent resident of Watertown, he was councilman for more than thirty years and representative of the city to the General Court of the Massachusetts from 1663 to 1675.\nAugust 31, 1675 - Sir William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia, meets his council to decide on the follow-up to the incidents occurred the previous month in Stafford's County.\nHe had tried to let colonel Mason solve the dispute in his way but rumors suggested that the troubles did not, instead, stop expanding. He proposed then to build a line of defensive forts along the border but the council considered this project as expensive, unsuitable and being able to serve as a pretext for raising additional taxes.\nIt was then decided to send John Washington and Isaac Allerton to get the measure of the crimes and destructions committed by Indians and to punish or chase them if necessary as far as Maryland, albeit with the consent of local authorities.\nSeptember 1st, 1675 - As Rev. John Russell delivers a sermon before his parishioners, a group of Indians attacks the village of Hadley. The settlers are on the verge of retreating when an old man appears conveniently to fight off the aggressors before disappearing. The legend of \" the Angel of Hadley \" has just taken shape.\n|The Angel of Hadley|\nSeptember 2nd, 1675 - Heading a company from Massachusetts, Captain Samuel Mosely attacks Pennacook villages suspected of sheltering rebel Indian warriors.\nPennacook leader Wonalancet tried not to take his people into the conflict but two of his villages had actually chosen to join Philip.\nSeptember 2, 1675 - The war council of Plymouth orders to sell as slaves 57 Natives who came to surrender.\nSeptember 4, 1675 - Captain Richard Beers approaches Northfield, at the head of a 36-soldier company, to clear out the residents, when he is ambushed by a group of Nipmucs and Pocumtucs. He is killed during the fight with 20 of his men. Sergeant John Shattuck who appears among the survivors gallops towards Boston to warn the governor of the disaster. Three soldiers made prisoners by the Indians are burned alive. The soldiers died during the battle have their head cut off and planted along the path at the top of spikes.\nJohn Shattuck would have the misfortune to die drowned on September 14 further to the wreck of the ferry between Charlestown and Boston.\nSeptember 8, 1675 - A storm strikes Boston Harbor, damaging a large number of boats.\nSeptember, 1675 - Thomas Eastchurch and his supporters win the elections in Albermarle County, Carolina.\nEastchurch became president of the Assembly with the intention to make governor John Jenkins arrest, accusing him for having unlawfully imprisoned Thomas Miller, one of his close friends, notorious supporter of the Lords Proprietors.\nThere was for several years a deep rift between the former owners who had founded the colony and the newcomers about the tariffs imposed by the Navigation Acts. The planters, represented by George Durant, widely felt penalized since they could no longer ship their tobacco through New England without being heavily taxed, whereas Thomas Eastchurch's party supported the politics of the Lords Proprietors to establish a feudal conception of the society.\nSeptember 9, 1675 - Thomas Wakely, a 75-year-old man and his family are attacked by Indians in their Falmouth home near Casco Bay, Maine. His is cruelly killed as well as his wife and their elder son John, his wife and three of their children. The last daughter, Elizabeth and two other members of the family are taken in captivity.\nAlerted by the smoke, Lt George Ingersoll who patrolled in the neighborhood decided to move the next day with his soldiers towards the place where the fire seemed to come but could only notice the atrocious death of the Wakely family members.\nBorn around 1600, Thomas Wakely had first settled in Hingham then in Gloucester, before moving in 1661 to Falmouth where he had bought a tract of land at Back Cove, in Casco Bay.\nBorn around 1600, Thomas Wakely had first settled in Hingham then in Gloucester, before moving in 1661 to Falmouth where he had bought a tract of land at Back Cove, in Casco Bay.\nSeptember 15, 1675 – After hearing the arguments of Rev. Jacob Fabritius, the council met in New York decides to sentence him for disturbing public order and contempt of court.\nIt retained especially against him his scandalous past and his former abuses. He was consequently suspended from his ministry and forbidden to preach in public as in private.\nThe Court of New Castle received, meanwhile, the order to confirm the building of dikes.\n|Battle of Bloody Brook|\nThe road was not safe and went through the forest but the number of soldiers accompanying the convoy seemed sufficiently deterrent.\nBut, lo and behold, Indians sprang suddenly from the woods at the crossing of a brook. They were approximately 700 equipped with bows and guns. The balance of power being unequal, Lathrop and his men had no chance especially as they had left their weapons on wagons. It was a real massacre. The captain was killed from the beginning of the attack and only 7 soldiers reached to escape death. All the inhabitants of Deerfield who drove wagons were also killed.\nCaptain Mosely and a small detachment of 60 soldiers patrolled in the area when the they heard the sound of the battle. They rushed to the scene and engaged fight although outnumbered.\nAfter six hours heavy fighting, the outcome remained uncertain. It was the arrival of a hundred soldiers from Connecticut commanded by Major Treat, and assisted by 50 Mohegan auxiliaries that allowed to end the slaughter. Facing the arrival of these new reinforcements, the Indian warriors preferred to disperse into the forest.\nMosely, wounded, and the rest of his men turned to spend the night at Deerfield where they could hear, from afar, the shouts of a group of Indians come to rob corpses. The next day, they went back to the battlefield bury the dead and left Deerfield, emptied of all its inhabitants.\nThis ambush was the fact of groups of Wampanaogs and Nipmucs who had crossed Connecticut to settle near Hadley. At their head were chiefs Sagamore Sam, Montaup, One-Eye John (John Monoco), Matoonas as well as Panquahow who had for the most taken part in all the summer fightings.\nSeptember 25, 1675 - Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of New York, orders captain Edmund Cantwell to seize all the property appropriated by John Fenwick and resell it, considering that he is illegally granted a power of jurisdiction and has no right on New Jersey. He summons him to New York where he intends that he gives some explanation to the Council.\nFenwick, who had just founded the city of New Salem, ignored, of course, this order and granted freedom of worship and consciousness to all the settlers who would move in his portion of New Jersey. He also allowed to give freedom of access to all the merchant ships sailing on the Delaware River, a measure to which Andros was absolutely opposite. He became obvious that, aware of his rights, Fenwick had decided to behave as real troublemaker but his former links with Cromwell, the regicide, would not miss, in return, to attract against him powerful enemies among the local elite.\nSeptember, 1675 - Sokoki chief Squando and his warriors attack the city of Saco. They injure the Major Philips commanding the local garrison and burn several houses.\nSquando had lived for decades in good terms with the colonists and his sudden change in attitude could be interpreted as an unexpected rallying to Philip. A rumor, however, claimed that Squando had in reality come to avenge the death of his newborn son, thrown alive into the river by drunk English sailors under the pretext of checking if the Indian children floated well at birth. The child could not be saved and the Indian chief had felt a fierce hatred known as Squando’s curse.\nSeptember 24, 1675 - Taking advantage of the fact that captain Wincoln and his men went to strengthen the defenses of Saco, a group of Indians led by chiefs Andrew and Hopehood, known as brave warriors enters the village of Berwick (Maine). They leave for dead an 18-year-old girl and abduct two children before setting fire to several buildings.\nSeptember 26, 1675 - John Washington and Major Thomas Trueman from Maryland, arrive at the gates of the main Susquehannock village with a white flag and ask to negotiate. Governor William Berkeley merely sought an investigation but his orders were interpreted and it is a whole army including 750 Virginians and 250 horsemen from Maryland which faces Indians until then considered as friends.\nThe five leaders came out and agreed to parley but denied being involved in attacks. Washington and Trueman refused their explanations and the discussion was cut short. Trueman told them they could go home but they had not yet crossed their palisade that he made them loosely shot down. He was to be punished with a small fine by the Assembly of Maryland and dismissed from the Provincial Council for this “clumsy gesture.”\nThe combined forces of Virginia and Maryland besieged for seven weeks Fort Susquehannock, until taking advantage of the night, its defenders discreetly disappeared into the forest.\nJohn Washington (1631-1677) - from Purleigh, Essex, he belonged to a family of wealthy merchants, known for its royalist sympathies. The victory of Cromwell constituted inevitably a painful moment for the Washingtons whose properties were seized and future compromised. John preferred, in this context to move to Virginia where he created a trade company with Edward Prescott. It quickly dwindled and there followed severe conflict between the two partners of which Washington finally got through thanks to the financial support of Nathaniel Pope, a rich planter who had befriended him. He married his daughter Anne in 1658 and received as her dowry a 700-acre land at Mattox Creek, Westmorland County.\nHe then became a prosperous planter and sat in the House of Burgesses. He increased dramatically his domain up to 5000 acres and eventually acquired, in 1668, Hunting Creek on the other side of Potomac, where Mount Vernon Manor was to be later built.\nIt is as colonel of Westmorland militia and owner of plantations along the Potomac that governor William Berkeley appointed him to go to investigate devastations done by Indians during summer, 1675.\nSeptember 28, 1675 – A party of Indians attacks again the small town of Northampton, killing three colonists.\nOctober 4-5, 1675 - Wequogan and his Agawam warriors meet at nightfall a group of Nipmucs on a hill overlooking Springfield. They decide to attack the city to obtain the release of their scouts, imprisoned in Hartford.\nOctober 4-5, 1675 - Wequogan and his Agawam warriors meet at nightfall a group of Nipmucs on a hill overlooking Springfield. They decide to attack the city to obtain the release of their scouts, imprisoned in Hartford.\nMade aware of this project by an Indian remained faithful, the inhabitants hurried to find shelter in the most protected houses including that of John Pynchon. By a strange coincidence, the latter was at the same moment outside, left accompanying the Hadley's militia for another operation and Springfield was defenseless. The Indians surrounded the city and began to methodically burn buildings. They also went to destroy the sawmill and the mill.\nAt dawn, Lieutenant Thomas Cooper and Constable Thomas Miller who knew well Wequogan, tried to go parley, but they were both killed. Later in the day, two other colonists met the same fate. Major Treat and the Westfield garrison arrived the first onsite, followed by John Pynchon and Hadley reinforcements, but it was to discover, heplessly, the destroyed city.\nWequogan, the local chief of the Agawam tribe, had always lived in peace with the English and despite the summer events, nobody imagined that he would side with Philip. Pynchon knew that the latter had been seen at Quabaug and some had well heard that several hundred warriors had gathered secretly in the region but the idea of an imminent attack appeared unfounded.\nAnd now after Brookfield, Squakeag and Deerfield, it was time for Springfiled to know devastation, despite a population over 500 inhabitants. This attack was to be felt as a real trauma by colonists until then convinced of the unfailing loyalty of the Indians, heralding a deep change of attitude towards them.\nOctober 16, 1675 - a party of about 150 Sokoki warriors attacks the village of Berwick (Maine). One of the residents is killed and another taken captive. Lieutenant Roger Plaisted who commands the garrison sends his men in pursuit but they are ambushed and lose three of theirs.\nOctober 17, 1675 - William Dervall becomes the eight mayor of New York, replacing John Lawrence.\nSeveral important decisions were to be made during his mandate:\n- The ban to sell liquor to Indians, a measure increasingly common in all the English colonies.\n- The introduction of the English system of weights and measures\n- The introduction of taxes to support the clergy\n- The creation of a law intended to beautify the city, condemning all the owners who would too much delay building to sell their land to purchasers determined to build as soon as possible.\n- The obligation to clean up the city every Saturday and the establishment of a system of fines for all carters who would refuse to evacuate waste.\n- The building of a public slaughterhouse outside the city.\n- The appointment of the first auctioneer (Adolphe Peterson).\n- The institution of the market day on Thursdays and the annual cattle fair in the first week of November.\nWilliam Dervall (?, - 1712) - this Dutch born merchant from Boston had come settle down in New York in 1667, in order to grow the dry foodstuffs business he managed with his brother. He married Rebecca, one of Thomas Delavall's daughters, a wealthy landowner of the city who had been a mayor in 1666 and 1672.\nOctober 18, 1675 - Narragansett Sachem Canonchet comes to sign in Boston an additional treaty stipulating that his people have ten days to deliver to the English all the \"hostile\" Indians who found refuge on their lands. It includes as well members of Philip's tribe, as those of Pocasset squaw sachem Weetamoo, those of other squaw sachem Awashonks from Sogkonate, Quabaug and Hatfield Indians.\nThis document had been signed under the pressure and it made no doubt that if Narragansetts had not previously found a reason to make war, the provocative conduct of the English was enough to push them to it. This treaty was an insult to these people with noble character and provided in a way the foundation of a possible alliance with Wampanoags. The disrespectful behavior of the English had just sealed between both Indian nations what Philip and his partisans had not been able to achieve in months.\nOctober 18, 1675 - Supported by the arrival of reinforcements led by Major Samuel Appleton, the garrison commanded by captains Poole and Samuel Mosely is able to fend off an Indian attack at Hatfield. It is the first time since summer that the English succeed in taking over. This victory is felt by the Puritan society of New England as a result of the divine providence.\nSamuel Mosely (New Braintree, 1641-1680) - His father Henry Maudsley, a native of Lancashire, had emigrated to Massachusetts in 1635. In his youth, Samuel looked like an adventurist and he is even likely to have served as privateer in the West Indies. He later married Ann Addington, the niece of governor John Leverett and was appointed captain of company at the beginning of Philip's war. He surrounded himself with volunteers from various backgrounds including in particular former privateers like him but refused, on the other hand, to appoint Indian auxiliaries. He vowed a real aversion to the Native people and stood out by his brutal behavior towards them.\nThe Connecticut Valley campaign had been disastrous for lack of coordination and command rivalries between the Council and commissioners without outlined strategy. The people concerned had gathered with poor stocks to face winter, while they piled up in the few houses remained standing they had strengthened against attacks.\nOn their side, the Natives who had lost their crops and had not much powder were about to face winter in poverty and had taken refuge in swamps or remote areas in search of food.\nOctober 27, 1675 - the General Assembly of Rhode Island decides to leave to each city the care of providing for its own defense. Warwick is abandoned and its residents take refuge in islands.\nThe Quakers had obtained exemption of military service and would only intervene to protect themselves.\nNovember 1st, 1675 - Nipmucs take captive Praying Indians living in the Magunkaquog, Chabnakongkomun and Hassanamesit communities, created by Rev. John Eliot. Among them is James Printer, member of an influential Nipmuc family.\nBorn in 1640, James Printer (Wowaus) was placed at the age of five in a family of Cambridge thanks to which he was able to attend college. He later became assistant of Samuel Green, head of the Harvard’s Indian College Printing, with whom he published many works. It would seem that he offered his services to Philip late 1675 before distinguishing himself by a declaration promising amnesty to all the Indians who would return to place themselves under English protection.\nNovember 8, 1675 - Governor Edmund Andros orders captain John Collier and the magistrates of New Castle to bring John Fenwick to New York, by force if necessary.\nCollier asked Fenwick to go voluntarily to New York what he refused. He strongly rejected the authority of Andros and left it to the king and duke of York. Collier returned with a dozen militiamen and beached the door of his house in the middle of the night. Fenwick was taken prisoner and brought to New York.\nNovember 12, 1675 – The commissioners to the United Colonies of New England declare Narragansetts fully involved in all the bloody atrocities.\nSuch a statement was in many respects the result of a mischievous political calculation. Narragansetts lived firstly in Rhode Island, a traditionally dissented colony whose leaders were in disfavor with Plymouth. Secondly, they were not invincible since their warriors not exceeded the thousand when they had been more than five thousand during the Pequot War. And height of cynicism on behalf of the English, they had not actually joined Philip and were militarily unprepared for confrontation. Their leader Pessicus had, on the contrary, constantly reminded them his friendship by turning over Wampanoag prisoners. Up to the governor of Connecticut John Winthrop, Jr. who had defended them before the Massachusetts authorities, recalling that they were friends with the English. But these had responded by sending mercenaries who had been engaged in exactions. Struck by such a brutality, a settler of Rhode Island had told John Winthrop, Jr. that he compared these methods to those used during the Irish wars foreshadowing the blood-and-thunder annihilation of an entire people.\nFor their part, the Narragansetts had not deprived of asserting their friendship with the English as far as it served old interests and revived rivalries to Wampanoags, Pequots or Nipmucs from which they hoped to emerge victorious. The case of Mohegans seemed instead more complex in so far as they had the advantage to fight militarily alongside the English and constituted as such a real danger for Narragansetts.\nOn the other hand, Narragansetts hid, behind a front neutrality, that they could shelter fighters and provide them food and supplies. They were not actually at war but could, thanks to the abundance of their crops ensure provisioning to Wampanaogs and Nipmucs.\nIn the end, these elements decided the commissioners to declare them enemy.\nNovember 19, 1675 - Maurice Brett is convicted of adultery by the General Court of Massachusetts. He is sentenced to banishment after been given thirty-nine lashes. Complaining about the severity of the punishment, he is then condemned to have his ears cut off.\nThe dramatic situation in which was New England late 1675 came along with a terrible soul-searching. Just like the elected people of the Old Testament, the public opinion considered these events as the punishment imposed on the whole population, further to its weaknesses and sins. That is why the General Court of Massachusetts decreed December 2nd as a day of humiliation and public prayer. It listed the offenses that could have generated the wrath of God; the relaxation of discipline in the churches, the vanity of the appearance urging the women to wear long hair, the strange fashion for the poor as for the rich to appear shirtless and bare-arms with unnecessary ribbons, the scandalous way of indulging in drunkenness in taverns for both men and women, and finally the sins of the flesh and more specially sodomy. The Court ordered to tidy churches up, to ban the Quakers meetings and restricted authorizations granted to liquor stores, while requiring magistrates to show more diligence in exercising their powers.\nThe security was reinforced throughout the colony, the Indians remained neutral were confined on the Boston Harbor islands of and all food exports were prohibited, excepted fish.\nDecember 6, 1675 - The War Council of Plymouth decides that, according to the Indian threats, these will not be any more authorized to move north of Sandwich, on pain of death or imprisonment.\nThis measure concerned all the Natives without distinction, including Christians. Only a few dared to challenge it, given the extreme tension that prevailed.\nDecember 8, 1675 - The forces mobilized to fight the Narragansetts gather in Dedham, Taunton, Plymouth and New London. Major Samuel Appleton takes the command.\nConnecticut had sent 350 men headed by Major Robert Treat with under him captains Samuel Marshall, Mason and Watts.\nThe Massachusetts forces included 465 foot soldiers and 275 horsemen commanded by Benjamin Church and Joseph Dudley. There were captain Samuel Mosely and his veterans, captain Isaac Johnson with conscripts from Roxbury, Dorchester, Weymouth and Hull, captain Davemport with men from Cambridge and Watertown, captain Oliver with Bostonians, Gardiner and the troops of Essex County and Thomas Prentice at the head of the cavalry, without counting volunteers and Mohegan or Pequot auxiliaries.\nSamuel Appleton (Wallingford (Suffolk) 1624 - 1696) - From an old family from Suffolk, he emigrated to New England with his parents while he was only eleven. Admitted as free man of Ipswich in 1636, his father quickly became one of the most influential resident of the city and was from the next year appointed deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts. Samuel had only to follow the way prepared by his father. Successively lieutenant, captain and major, he was from 1668 representative to the General Court. He received in September, 1675 the command of a company of 100 men with first task to defend Hadley. He was there appointed at the head of the Connecticut Valley forces replacing John Pynchon, resigned following the destruction of Springfield.\nDecember 10, 1675 - The armies of the United Colonies converge to Providence. All the men received their military dress, their package and ammunitions.\nDecember 14, 1675 - The colonial troops head to Wickford and cross the territory of Pumham, the Indian chief once ally of the English, since become a staunch supporter of Philip. They plod through the snow and go almost astray but succeed however in reaching without damage the camp set out by captains Mosely and Church. They also bring 35 Narragansett prisoners among whom women and children.\nThey were guided in particular by a Narragansett named Peter Freeman who, further to the ill-treatment he had suffered from his fellow men, decided to take revenge by delivering a lot of information on their defensive positions.\nIt would, however, take about ten years before the General Court of Massachusetts grants his family the promised reward and orders to free it from slavery.\nDecember 14, 1675 - While waiting for the arrival of the Connecticut contingent, Josiah Winslow sends sergeant Bennett and his men to attack the village of squaw sachem Matantuck. A hundred and fifty wigwams are burnt, seven Natives killed and nine others taken prisoners.\nDecember 15, 1675 - A group of Indians breaks at night into the house of Jirah Bull located at Tower Hill, near the Winthrop camp where gather the Connecticut troops. They kill fifteen of the seventeen people inside.\nCaptain Thomas Prentice discovered the slaughter the next morning and despondency started unsettling the minds when the Connecticut forces consisted of 315 soldiers sided by 150 Pequot and Mohegan warriors arrived at Pettasquamscutt camp.\nThomas Prentice (1620- Newton (MA), 1709) - He emigrated to New England in 1648 but a tradition tells that he served beforehand under the orders of Cromwell and was even one of his bodyguards. It was certainly because of his military past that he was appointed cavalry lieutenant in 1656 and captain in 1662.\nDecember 18, 1675 – Wait Winthrop joins Major Treat at Pettasquamscutt camp and takes command of the army.\nThe harsh weather conditions and the lack of foods decided him to plan the next day to attack Narragansetts. Their fortified village was about 16 miles west of the camp, in the middle of a swamp where grew many cedars. Approximately 1200 people were gathered inside, including warriors but also many women and children. The place had been reinforced by an outside stockade and an internal wall made of stone and wood punctuated with shelters for the shooters. Some witnesses claimed that a man named Joshua Tefft who lived in the area had served as advisor for the building of these fortifications.\nDecember 19, 1675 - The colonial army starts up at five o’clock. Guided by Peter Freeman, the Massachusetts’ troops move first, preceded by the companies of captains Nathaniel Davenport and Samuel Mosely. The soldiers of Plymouth walk in the middle and those of Connecticut occupy the rear, whereas the Indian auxiliaries cover the sides.\n|The Great Swamp Fight|\nCaptain John Gallup, Samuel Marshall and Nathaniel Seeley are killed during the attack, captain John Mason is fatally injured. The soldiers of Plymouth reach finally to enter the fortress. Now outnumbered, Narragansetts yet continue to fight with doggedness but their lines fall one after the other. Ironically, a sudden fire breaks out, fanned by a violent wind which sets wigwams on fire, urging their occupants, panicked, to escape in confusion. An indescribable slaughter follows then amid cries of the women and children. Some manage to flee and Indian warriors, holed up in the woods, continue to resist the English forces.\nCaptain Benjamin Church tries to run after them but must soon give up because of an injury. The English victory makes no more doubt but the toll paid is dramatically heavy.\nAs the day ends, Commander-in-chief Josiah Winslow gathers his officers in the light of the wigwams burning up among the dead.\nThe meeting was heated. Captain Church insisted to camp on the battlefield to keep the wounded safe and offer the rest of the troops a little rest and food. Walk more than 18 miles backward in the frosty wind and the snow seemed to him pure madness. For others, the burned-out village offered little protection while foods, as ammunitions risked to be quickly lacking. It was moreover necessary to take care of about one hundred and fifty wounded in extremely precarious conditions. As for Narragansetts, they had certainly been defeated but the survivors could reorganize to ambush. The wounded were thus placed on makeshift litters and the army began marching. Numbered 26, the dead were left behind. The first survivors reached Wickford at about two o'clock in the morning. Others got lost in the night including Josiah Winslow and forty of his men who joined the camp only at seven o'clock. Twenty-two wounded died along the way and a week later, at least eighty of them had died because of the lack of care and the absence of hospital. Concerning the Natives, figures were contradictory but the most reliable testimonies evoked the number of a hundred killed among the warriors and about 300 among the elderly, women and children in particular because of the fire that destroyed wigwams. Indian losses were certainly not so significant as the English would have wished, but if the young warriors who had taken refuge in the woods felt the courage to harass them, the lack of provisions announced especially, for them, famine and death.\nThe English army seemed, in those circumstances, no better off but it was however lucky to be resupplied by the timely arrival at Smith's Landing of Captain Richard Goodale, from Boston. A controversy then erupted over the role of Mohegans and Pequots. They were blamed for their lack of involvement while they had hitherto displayed bravery, what they replied to have been erroneously taken for targets by English shooters and made suspicious.\nJohn Gallup II (1615 - December 19, 1675) - From Bridport, Dorsetshire, he had arrived in Boston in 1633 with his mother, his brothers and his sister Joan (his father John having emigrated three years before). He had then lived in Taunton with his family, then in New London before being rewarded in 1654 with a land at Whitehall on the shores of the Mystic River in recognition of the help he had provided with his father during the Pequot war. It is thanks to his knowledge of Indian language and his relationship with Mohegans that he was called, despite he turned sixty to join captain John Mason who had just taken command of a 70-men company from New London, going to fight the Narragansetts. Killed from the beginning of the \" Great Swamp Fight \", he was buried on the spot where a memorial has further been raised.\nNathaniel Seeley (1627 - December 19, 1675) - A native of London, he was barely three years old when his parents sailed to New England aboard the Arabella, flagship of the fleet carrying among others John Winthrop, just appointed governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony. The Seeley family landed to Salem on June 12, 1630 and quickly left settling to Watertown. His father Robert, became, the year after, a free man of the new parish. He decided however to leave in 1635 to Connecticut where he was appointed lieutenant under captain John Mason. Seriously injured during the Pequot War, he pursued, however, a military career being upgraded captain in 1653. Robert served then under the command of Major Sedgwick and captain John Leverett, being actively involved in the operations against the Dutch. He spent thereafter some time in England before the General Court of New Haven offers him, from 1662, the command of Fort Saybrook. He was lastly involved in 1665 in the foundation of Elizabethtown in the New Jersey colony and died in New York in 1668. Dwelling Fairfield, Nathaniel devoted first to the administration of paternal properties before choosing to enter the military career as well. Considered a brave soldier by captain John Mason Jr, he was promoted sergeant in November, 1674, then lieutenant and finally captain on August 26, 1675.\nSamuel Marshall - (Dorchester, Dorset, 1615 - December 19, 1675) - a tanner of his craft, he was involved in 1633 in the founding of Windsor, Connecticut. Married with Mary Wilton in 1653, he was sixty years old when he started to serve in the army again and was placed as ensign then as captain under the orders of Major Robert Treat.\nJohn Mason, Jr. (1657 - December 19, 1675) – the son of Major John Mason, a veteran of the 1637 Pequot War and former deputy governor of Connecticut, and his second wife Ann Peck.\nDecember 27, 1675 - Captain Prentice invests the village of Narragansett chief Pumham, near Warwick. He destroys a hundred wigwams but finds no Indian.\nDecember 28, 1675 - A Native woman taken prisoner by the English is sent back to Narragansetts to inform them that the door is left open to negotiations if all Wampanoags who found refuge with them agree to surrender. A messenger tells them that \"This is not the Indians who declared the war to the English but the English who declared without reason the war on the Indians\".\nDecember 28, 1675 - the Connecticut contingent is demobilized, forced to withdraw for future operations despite the efforts of Major Robert Treat. For his part, Joseph Dudley who asked governor John Leverett to be provided with about 300 men, ammunitions and armors, must wait unable to conduct any offensive.\nThe Narragansetts had meanwhile returned to their fortress to retrieve what remained of corn provisions and dried fish.\nDecember 29, 1675 – Colonel Lewis Morris buys to James Grover half-interest of the Tinton Falls Iron Works located near Shrewsbury (East New Jersey).\nThese works had been built a few years earlier after James Grover, a farmer come from Long Island discovered bog iron on his property. Col. Lewis Morris had initially been sent to Barbados by Oliver Cromwell to command the British forces following which he had made a fortune through sugar plantation and interests in shipping. Back in New York in 1673 to care for his young nephew Lewis Morris (1671-1746), he obtained from governor Philip Carteret a whole series of privileges and exemptions in order to develop iron works. He will in particular be the first industrialist in New Jersey to buy African slaves.", "label": "No"} {"text": "any of a number of leafy, climbing or trailing plants (esp. genus Vicia) of the pea family, grown chiefly for fodder and as a green manure\nOrigin of vetchMiddle English feche, veche from Norman French veche from Classical Latin vicia, vetch from Indo-European an unverified form weik- ( from base an unverified form wei-, to bend from source weak)\nAny of various herbs of the genus Vicia of the pea family, having pinnately compound leaves that terminate in tendrils and small, variously colored flowers.\nOrigin of vetchMiddle English vetche from Old North French veche from Latin vicia ; see weik-2 in Indo-European roots.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This is an anti-fascist lesson for the week leading up to the potential election of a fascist leader of a major European country. Although in some teaching contexts political content is discouraged, engaging with questions of power and society is one way of allowing your students to develop their rhetorical skills, and also a means of encouraging a sense of group unity and shared purpose at a time of increasing division and social atomization.\nIt’s possible that you have a fascist or two in your class. Let’s hope not. This lesson isn’t designed for them, but who cares. Maybe they can leave the classroom and go and troll Twitter instead. It aims to enable your normal students to engage politically on an international level through the medium of English. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, don’t do the lesson, but it’s worth bearing in mind that a) English is not just a language for conducting trade, presenting innovative product ideas, etc and also b) if fascists such as Le Pen triumph your livelihood as teacher of a globalising language will be under threat and a lot of your students (and your friends, your family and you) will end up exiled, in jail, dead, or guarding concentration camps for a living.\nThe lesson as designed is 75 minutes long and should work well for high Upper Int/B2.2 upwards. I did it on Tuesday with a B2-ish class of Political Science students and it worked wonderfully.\n1. Write on the board ‘fascism’. Ask what it is. Elicit names of famous fascists but also ideas about how to define it. Offer no definitions of your own. (5 mins)\n2. In pairs students write their own definition of fascism. (5 mins)\n3. Now look at the one on Wikipedia. Do your students agree? How would they change it? (5 mins)\n4. On their phones or together as a class, edit the definition on Wikipedia (NB. your/their definition(s) will be rejected almost immediately, but you don’t need to tell them that.) (10 mins)\n5. In small groups students address the following\nQuestions for discussion:\nDo you know any fascists personally?\nWhat would you do if a friend of yours started talking about:\n- Voting for a fascist candidate?\n- Joining a fascist organisation?\nHave friends on or off social media been talking about the French election?\nWhat would you say to a French friend who was talking about voting Le Pen?\n(10 mins including brief report back from each brief pair on what was briefly said – don’t let this bit drag on. Make it brief.)\n6. Half the students read Article A, half Article B. They take notes on the MAIN points (stress this and jog them along if they get stuck on details – with less strong groups tell them to just read the first seven or eight paragraphs), check difficult vocab and compare with a partner who’s read the same article. (15 mins)\n7. Students swap partners and share what they learnt, taking notes on other person’s article. (10 mins)\n8. Share and clarify the meaning of vocab they learnt on the board. (5 mins)\n9. Students imagine they have a French friend who has been posting pro-Le Pen stuff online. They write an email to their friend telling them what they think. Depending on their level you could instruct them to use a certain number of conditional sentences (‘if Le Pen wins’, etc). Be on hand to offer vocab and grammar suggestions, etc. They then share what they wrote with a partner, asking for constructive suggestions, etc (20 mins)\n10. For homework students write a second draft and then email it to you for corrections, etc.\nC’est tout. Nique les fachos!", "label": "No"} {"text": "The exact position of a satellite orbiting a celestial body such as the Earth or the Sun can be found using six control variables. The first five are characteristics of the satellite's orbital path. The semimajor axis and eccentricity describe the size and the shape of the orbit, which is restricted to an ellipse here. Inclination and the longitude of ascending node are used to position the orbital plane in space, while the argument of periapsis describes the orientation of the orbit within that plane. True anomaly, the only variable that changes with time, positions the satellite within the established orbit path.[more]\nThis Demonstration is initialized assuming an artificial satellite in a geostationary orbit, which means that it is circular, equatorial, and prograde, has a period of 24 hours, and orbits the Earth. This is common with many manmade satellites, maintaining their location above the same spot on the Earth. Changing the \"Satellite\" option to \"Moon\" shows the current location of the Moon with respect to the Earth, and changing the option to \"Earth\" shows the Earth's current location with respect to the Sun.[less]\nSnapshot 1: When , the orbit is circular. Since the satellite is always at the same distance from the Earth, the radius of periapsis (the distance between the satellite and the central body at its closest point) is undefined. The argument of latitude replaces the longitude of the ascending node and the argument of periapsis, and is the measure from the ascending node to the satellite's position vector.\nSnapshot 2: When or , the orbit is equatorial. In this case, the satellite is always directly above the equator of the Earth, so the ascending node (where the satellite passes from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere) becomes undefined. The longitude of periapsis replaces the argument of periapsis and true anomaly, and is the measure from the principal direction (toward the constellation Aries or toward the Sun on the spring equinox, also known as the vernal equinox direction) to the radius of periapsis.\nSnapshot 3: When and or , the orbit is both equatorial and circular, and both the radius of periapsis and the ascending node are undefined. The true longitude replaces the longitude of ascending node, argument of perapsis, and true anomaly, and is the measure from the principal direction to the satellite's position vector.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Copyright law is written to encourage the growth of knowledge while at the same time protecting those who further the growth of knowledge. You use a book to gain knowledge; an author publishes a book to earn money. You would not purchase a book if you could not use the information in the book, but an author could not publish a book if he could not earn money for his time and effort. “Fair Use” is the concept within the copyright law that weighs the delicate balance between use and protection.\nFair Use is based on the following criteria:\n• Purpose of the use (commercial or private)\n• Nature of the work\n• Amount and substantiality of the portion used compared to the copyrighted work as a whole\n• Effect of the use on the potential market for, or value of, the original.\nDetermination of Fair Use is weighed by looking at how the work is used, how much of the work is used, and how the use affects the value and potential sales of the original work. Fair Use frequently comes into question when determining what portion of a book might be quoted or used for reviews, criticism, education, and research.\nOther than private in-home listening and playing, Fair Use of music is extremely limited.\nAll requests for permission to reprint should be sent to the copyright holder in writing and in duplicate. The request should contain the following information:\n• title of the original work, including page number(s) of the material to be reprinted\n• information about the publication in which the author wishes to reproduce the material: title, approximate number of printed pages, formal publication (clothbound book, paperback book, journal, etc.), publisher, probable date of publication, approximate print run, and list price (if available).\nThe copyright holder will either sign and return to the author one copy of the request or will send the author the copyright owner’s standard form. In either case the person responding to the request should state clearly what fee is demanded for the proposed use and what special conditions apply. The second copy of the permission form will be retained in the copyright owner’s files. The requesting author should give the original to the publisher and keep the third copy for his or her reference.\nWhether or not the use of others’ material requires permission, an author must provide the source of such material. Whenever you quote or paraphrase the idea of another person, you must provide a proper citation for the source in a bibliography or footnote to (a) give credit to the author or creator and (b) enable a reader to locate the source you cited. Providing references for authoritative sources lends credibility to your work. If you do not give credit to the work of others, you are committing plagiarism.\nThe Chicago Manual of Style states that commonly known facts, available in numerous sources, do not need to be enclosed quotation marks or given a source citation unless the wording is taken directly from another work. For example, “Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865” does not need a footnote.", "label": "No"} {"text": "You’ve been diligent about washing your hands and avoiding crowds (not to mention that guy in the cubicle across from you who keeps hacking and sneezing).\nBut somehow you still end up with the flu. How did it happen?\nThere’s an excellent chance that your mobile phone may have spread the virus to you. Flu germs can survive on the surfaces of a wide variety of materials. So while we sanitize our hands on a regular basis, it turns out we should probably also be sanitizing our mobile phones and tablets.\nTo go along nicely with religious hand washing and judicious steps to avoid the sick, there are a number of steps that should be followed to help keep your devices germ-free.\nAccording to the “quick tip list” from Verizon Wireless:\n- Try not to share your cell phone or other accessories that come in contact with hands or mouth.\n- Be sure to clean your devices regularly, especially if you’re using them in a school or office.\n- Most alcohol wipes work on touch screen surfaces, but make sure to squeeze the excess liquid out before wiping a device so you don’t get any liquid inside its operating system.\n- A simple air spray can be used to clear makeup or other debris from a QWERTY keyboard or traditional dial pad. Most air spray products that clean computer screens and keyboards can also be used for wireless phones.\nDo you take adequate precautions to keep your mobile device clean? Please share your practices or suggestions below. And for an interesting read on the role that social networks play during a flu epidemic, be sure to check out this piece from our sister site Mobile Marketing Watch.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Soon after he captured Malolos on March 31, 1899 (ABOVE), Brig. Gen. Arthur C. MacArthur, Jr., was eager to proceed northward at once along the line of the railroad to Tarlac Province in pursuit of Aguinaldo, who, he felt sure, was making his retreat in that direction. In reply to his request to be allowed to do so, Maj. Gen. Elwell S. Otis said:\n\"Aguinaldo will never retreat in province of Tarlac. If forced strenuously he will retire along the edge of the province of Bulacan into Nueva Ecija, where Tagalos inhabit. This for political reasons... Was informed several days ago that insurgents would retire on Baliuag, which is the intersection of several important roads connecting with nearly all the Tagalog country north of Manila.\"\nIndeed, President Emilio Aguinaldo moved his capital to San Isidro, Nueva Ecija Province, 65 miles (104 km) north of Manila.\nVirginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, issue of May 6, 1899, Page 1\nBelieving that a combined movement which should result in the hemming in of the Filipinos would be more advisable than a pursuit, General Otis detained General MacArthur at Malolos, until communications between that town and Manila should be perfected, and until Maj. Gen. Henry W. Lawton could be sent north to protect his eastern flank and aid in surrounding the Filipino forces.\nMalolos church used as headquarters by the US army, 1899\nOn April 22, after three weeks of cooling off at Malolos, MacArthur was allowed to advance to the north; the objective was San Fernando, Pampanga Province. Wheaton came up on the left, and Hale's brigade moved along the center. On the same day, Lawton's division started to sweep the country to the right, with San Isidro, Nueva Ecija Province, as objective. The plan called for MacArthur and Lawton to meet up at San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan Province; the combined columns would then proceed to crush the Filipinos at San Isidro. All the forces were retarded by the extreme heat, rains, and bad roads.\nThe first important fighting of MacArthur's northward movement was at Quingua (now Plaridel), Bulacan Province, on April 23. It was a two-part battle.\nThe first phase was a brief victory for the young Filipino general Gregorio del Pilar over the American Cavalry led by Major (later Maj. Gen.) James Franklin Bell, West Point class 1878, where Bell's advance was stopped.\nBut in the second phase, Bell was reinforced by the 1st Nebraskan Infantry and the Nebraskans routed the Filipinos, but not before they repelled a cavalry charge that killed Colonel John M. Stotsenburg.\nScouts commanded by Major James Franklin Bell. Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon.\nThe battle began when Bell (LEFT, 1899 photo) and his men, while on a scouting mission, were attacked by a strong force of about 700-1,000 Filipinos led by General Gregorio del Pilar.\nThe Americans were forced to withdraw to a defensive position. Swarms of Filipino troops began to attack from different directions.\nBell saw that he was in a badly exposed position, and if he did not receive help soon his force risked being captured or killed.\n1st Nebraska Volunteers crossing a river during their advance against the Filipinos at Quingua\nBell sent for reinforcements, and the 1st Nebraskans came to his aid under Colonel Stotsenburg.\nCol. John M. Stotsenburg (2nd from left) and some staff officers of the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Photo was taken at his field headquarters in March 1899.\nCol. John M. Stotsenburg in the field. Photo was taken on March 26, 1899.\nOnce he entered the field, Stotsenburg ordered a charge, and the Nebraskan Infantry—Stotsenburg at their lead with a dozen or so cavalrymen—rushed the Filipinos' position. Stotsenberg, taking into account that the Filipinos previously had displayed poor marksmanship, perceived that a charge from such a force would dislodge and route them, which on most occasions, had been done before rather easily.\nInstead, the Filipinos held their ground and opened a heavy accurate fire into the charging cavalrymen. Stotsenberg fell, along with 6 of his men.\nSeveral of the cavalrymen's mounts were also slain. The Filipinos sustained the heavy fire, forcing the cavalry to retreat.\nThe Nebraskan infantry advanced under withering fire. Soon the two forces clashed in close range combat. After a stiff fight in which both sides suffered heavy casualties, the Filipinos were driven into their secondary defenses.\nBrig. Gen. Irving Hale (LEFT) ordered an artillery bombardment on the Filipinos' secondary defensive lines. Two artillery pieces were brought up, which fired 20 shots into the Filipino positions. The powerful artillery barrage forced the Filipinos to retreat.\nCasualties: 15 Americans killed, 43 wounded; 100 Filipinos killed and wounded.\nIn 1902, a large US military reservation, Fort Stotsenburg, was created in Pampanga Province and named in honor of Colonel Stotsenburg. It was originally set up as a facility for various US Army Cavalry units. In 1919, a US Army air force base, Clark Field, was carved out of Fort Stotsenberg. [The US Air Force became a separate branch of service only in 1947.]\nIn 1949, the two military facilities were combined and renamed Clark Air Base. It was the largest overseas U.S. military base in the world, with 156,204 acres (63,214 hectares). It played a major role during the Cold War, but was closed following extensive damage from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption on June 15, 1991. On November 27, 1991, the United States turned over Clark Air Base to the Philippine government.\nMen of Company D, 3rd US Infantry Regiment, at captured Filipino breastworks that commanded the main entrance to Quingua (now Plaridel), Bulacan Province\nGuardhouse of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment at Quingua (now Plaridel), Bulacan Province\nIssue of April 25, 1899\nBrig. Gen. Arthur C. MacArthur, Jr. pushed 5 miles (8 km) farther north of Malolos to Calumpit, where he faced the forces of Gen. Antonio Luna--commander-in-chief of all Filipino forces--and Gen. Gregorio del Pilar.\nApril 24, 1899: Thirty-eight Filipinos were found dead in this trench near Pulilan, Bulacan Province\nFilipino soldiers behind their trenches; photo taken in 1899, probably in Calumpit\nLuna ignored Aguinaldo's orders to retreat and burn the railway bridge spanning the Bagbag River at Calumpit. Worst, when the Americans were about to attack, Luna, together with his foot soldiers, cavalry, and artillery left Calumpit to punish General Tomas Mascardo for his insubordination. Mascardo was then in Guagua, Pampanga Province and dillydallied in obeying Luna's order to send reinforcements. Mediators managed to avert a violent confrontation between the two generals.\nBagbag River railway bridge thrown down by Gen. Gregorio del Pilar. The US Army engineers corps built steps for the troops to cross and assault the Filipinos beyond.\nDuring April 23-24, General del Pilar was left to fight the Americans; he threw down a section of the railway bridge. He actually planned to wreck the American artillery transport train; his men cut the girders of the iron bridge, intending to have the structure fall with the train, but it collapsed prematurely of its own weight. The US troops advanced to the edge of the river, a hundred yards beyond which the Filipinos were entrrenched.\nThe 20th Kansas Volunteers were on the right side of the road and the Utah Volunteer Light Artillery and the 1st Montana Volunteers on the left. In the center was an armored train mounted with six pounders and rapid fire guns.\nChinese porters employed by the US Army in its Central Luzon campaign\nThe train was pushed by Chinese porters to the mouth of the bridge and a vigorous response was made to the fire of the Filipinos. Col. Frederick Funston, along with 6 men, crawled across the ironwork of the bridge under heavy fire. When they reached the broken span, they dropped into the water and swam ashore.\nAn armored train with gun used by the Americans at Calumpit\nView looking north across Bagbag River showing Filipino trenches\nFallen Filipinos in a trench on the north bank of the Bagbag River\nUpon reaching the bank, they charged the trenches with wild western yells and killed 25 Filipinos.\nUS soldiers inspecting a captured Filipino entrenchment\nOn April 25, at nightfall, Luna and his soldiers came back. But it was too late; the Americans had already broken through the Filipinos' defenses.\nThe Americans promptly repaired the Bagbag railway bridge they coveted for their supply trains.\nAmericans bring in artillery across the Bagbag River after the battle for the railroad bridge\n51st Iowa Volunteers fording the Bagbag River after the battle.\nCol. Frederick Funston and some of his men rafting across the Rio Grande de Pampanga after the battle of Calumpit\nOn April 27, 1899, Col. Frederick Funston directed his men across the other river in Calumpit, the 400-foot wide (122 m) Rio Grande de Pampanga, by establishing a rope ferry and towing rafts on the tied ropes. The bridge had been stripped by the Filipinos and the river was too deep to ford. With 120 Kansas men, Funston went to a point several hundred yards from the bridge where 2 privates swam with a rope to the opposite shore where they attached the ropes to a portion of the Filipino trench, under vigorous covering fire. The rope was then attached to 3 rafts loaded with 50 men and drawn to shore under heavy fire. Funston was on the first raft to cross the river to confront the Filipinos on the other side.\nThe Americans attacked the left flank of the Filipinos who scuttled into covered ways and trenches. The rest of the Kansans and Montanans crossed the bridge in single file along the stringers. All the woodwork and much of the iron work had been removed. The 1st Nebraska Volunteers, acting as reserves,.attacked the Filipinos in three lines of entrenchments, driving them out.\nThe New York Times reported:\n\"In the meantime, a large body of Filipinos, estimated at no fewer than 3,000, led by Gen. Antonio Luna on a black charger, appeared in the open field about two miles to the left, evidently coming to reinforce the rebels who were engaged with the Nebraskans. Emerging from the jungle, the enemy formed an open skirmish line, nearly two miles in length, with very thick reserves behind. They then advanced at double quick, until they were about 2,000 yards from the American line, when Gen. Wheaton ordered his troops to fire. The rebels, who were evidently unaware that the Americans had crossed the river, broke and ran in the direction of Macabebe. The other Filipinos fled toward Apalit station.\"\n1899: US engineers ferry artillery across a river, possibly the Rio Grande de Pampanga\nMacabebes from Pampanga Province coming into American lines at Calumpit to offer their services as soldiers.\nFor his actions at Calumpit, Funston was rewarded with a promotion and along with 1Lt William Trembley and Cpl Edward White, earned the Medal of Honor.\n\"MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION\nThe San Francisco Call, April 29, 1899\nWhen the Americans were about to assault Calumpit, Antonio Luna ordered reinforcements from Gen. Tomas Mascardo in Guagua, Pampanga but the latter carried out the order tardily and grudgingly. Luna was further peeved upon learning that Mascardo had left Guagua to visit a girl friend in Arayat, despite the imminent American offensive. Mascardo later insisted that he had gone there to inspect his soldiers. Mascardo had long wanted to resign as field commander to avoid any conflict with Luna, his superior, whom he bested in a suit for the hand of a beauteous Pampanga girl. Mascardo, the more handsome and dashing of the two generals, had run off with the girl. This made Luna furious. Hence Luna was said to be overly assertive of his seniority over Mascardo. Luna ordered Mascardo's 12-hour arrest. Mascardo responded that if Gen. Luna had enough guts to enforce his decree, he in turn had enough to resist him. Incensed, Gen. Luna wired Pampanga Governor Tiburcio Hilario to prepare for his arrival. Governor Hilario met Gen. Luna first and pleaded with him to restore peace and unity at a crucial moment in the history of the nation.\nA bevy of beauties led by Nicolasa Pamintuan Dayrit and Pampanga's Red Cross President, Praxedes Fajardo, brought flowers and knelt before General Luna on the steps of the Bacolor convent, to dissuade the fiery General from violently confronting Gen. Mascardo. Governor Hilario sent three emissaries to convince Gen. Mascardo to submit himself to Luna's authority. Mascardo appeared in Betis to inform Gen. Luna that he was willing to follow the latter's orders. But by then, it was too late to save Calumpit from the advancing Americans.\nNicolasa Dayrit was born in San Fernando, Pampanga, on Sept. 10, 1874 . She was one of the well-educated women of her time, fluent in Spanish and an accomplished pianist. She helped minister to sick and wounded Filipino soldiers. She married Dr. Vicente Panlilio, a graduate of a medical school in Spain. During the Japanese occupation, the Panlilios moved to Manila but during the battle to liberate the capital, Dr. Panlilio was lost, never to be seen again. Doña Nicolasa became despondent and died of heart attack, on April 12, 1945 at the age of 71.\nThe church and convent at Santo Tomas, Pampanga Province. The church was built in 1767. Photo was taken in the 1990's.\nMay 4, 1899: 1st Nebraska Volunteers advancing on Santo Tomas, Pampanga Province\nBrig. Gen. Loyd Wheaton's 1st Brigade (1st Montana and 20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiments) and Brig. Gen. Irving Hale's 2nd Brigade (1st Nebraska, 1st South Dakota and 51st Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiments) drove the Filipinos led by Gen. Antonio Luna (LEFT) out of Santo Tomas, Pampanga Province, on the night of May 4, 1899.\nThe Americans suffered two dead. Filipino casualties were not reported.\nGeneral Luna was wounded in the battle. On May 12, 1899, he turned over his Angeles-Magalang Line Command to General Venancio Concepcion while he recuperated in Bayambang, Pangasinan Province.\nCompany E, 9th US Infantry Regiment, guarding the railway bridge at Santo Tomas, Pampanga Province. PHOTO was taken in 1899.\nOriginal caption: \"Nebraska out-post attacked by Filipinos, P.I.\". The First Nebraska Volunteers saw action in the Philippines from Feb. 4, 1899 to May 4, 1899. They were involved in engagements at Manila, Mariquina, San Francisco del Monte, Polo, Meycauayan, Marilao, Santa Maria, Bigaa, Guiguinto, Malolos, Quingua, Pulilan, Bagbag River, Calumpit, and Santo Tomas. From May 21 to June 22, the regiment was in the barrackes at Malate district in Manila and the trenches at San Pedro de Macati. On July 1, 1899, they left the Philippines for the United States aboard the transport Hancock arriving at San Francisco on July 29, 1899.\nA daily newspaper in Guthrie, Oklahoma, issue of May 5, 1899\nThe Seattle Star, issue of May 5, 1899\nFilipinos KIA at San Fernando\nRuins of the church and convent at San Fernando\nBrig. Gen. Irving Hale led two battalions of the 51st Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment and assaulted San Fernando, Pampanga Province. The Filipinos put up little resistance but before retreating, they burned the railroad station, the church and several buildings in its vicinity. A number of warehouses containing a large quantity of sugar were found.\nThe church and convent at San Fernando City today\nSeveral Spanish prisoners were liberated. They stated that from 1,200 to 1,500 Filipino soldiers had passed through to the north on the previous afternoon, May 4, 1899, after the fight of Santo Tomas, and that Gen. Antonio Luna was wounded on the arm or chest, and was carried on a couch.\nOriginal caption: \"Execution of Phillopino Insurrecto Captain by the 3rd Inf, Co's B and D at San Fernando, Pampanga, P.I.\"\nAssociated Press correspondent's headquarters at San Fernando. PHOTO was taken in 1899.\n51st Iowa Volunteers at breakfast in San Fernando. PHOTO was taken in 1899.\n20th Kansas Volunteers lining up for dinner at San Fernando. PHOTO was taken in May 1899.\nUS troops at San Fernando\nAmerican officers' quarters at San Fernando\nUS army advance post near San Fernando\nUS cavalry camped at San Fernando\n22nd Infantry troops leaving San Fernando for the front", "label": "No"} {"text": "Final Assembly of Major Components\nAt this point you will have completed the wing, tailplane, fuselage, propeller assembly and landing gear. It is time to put all these together and make an airplane.\nPut a small drop of glue on the tops of the tailplane spars, just inside the pencil marks you made earlier to locate the fuselage. Here I am using the point of a toothpick to apply the glue. The glue should extend across the spar and be wide enough to extend across the 1/16″ fuselage spar. You want just enough glue to wet the wood without big gobs of glue squeezing out when you put the parts together.\nJoin the tailplane to the underside of the fuselage with the paper side down, so there is a wood to wood glue joint and the fins point up. Use a block of wood to get the tailplane square to the fuselage and make sure the fuselage is within the pencil marks.\nThe back of the sternpost and the back of the trailing edge spar should be in the same plane. You will need a flat surface to which to glue the tailskid. Hold the parts together until the glue sticks. You can put the plane down on the flat building board with some 1/16″ wood under the nose, to space it up the same height as the thickness of the tailplane, and put a small weight, like your sanding block, on top of the rear end of the fuselage to hold it down while the glue dries. Let the glue dry before handling it again.\nSimilarly spread glue on the wing spars inside the fuselage locating pencil marks.\nPlace the wing on top of the fuselage over the opening so the wing spars rest directly on the longerons with the wing perpendicular to the fuselage and the fuselage centered between the locating marks. Hold it in place until the glue sets.\nYou can put the plane down on the building board with small weights on the leading and trailing edges to hold them down until the glue dries.\nIf you plan to fly your Big Pussycat with the landing gear, you will need a tailskid to keep the tailplane from dragging on the floor. Place a piece of 1/16″ x 1/8″ hard balsa over the tailskid on the plan and mark it to cut to length.\nSand the end square across the narrow direction while maintaining the 45 degree angle of the cut. This face must be flat to get a good, straight, strong joint.\nRound the bottom end of the tailskid.\nApply glue to the round bottom that will contact the ground, to harden it.\nThe finished tailskid. You may compare yours to the plan.\nApply glue to the straight face of the tailskid and…\nStick it to the center of the back of the sternpost. It will extend a little over the tailspar. This is one place where a little extra glue is good. After the glue dries, put a little more in the angle between the tailskid and the sternpost, forming a fillet of glue. Let it dry thoroughly before allowing anything to touch it.\nInsert the motor peg into one of the plates. This is a 1 5/8″ long piece cut from a round toothpick. You can also use 1/16″ diameter aluminum tube. It should be a snug friction fit in the hole. If it won’t go in, lightly sand the peg or file the hole. If it is too loose, apply glue around the hole to fill it in a bit. If that does not work, try gluing tissue paper inside the hole. Or see if you can find a slightly larger toothpick.\nto see the post on this site “Making a Rubber Motor”. Make a 20″ loop of 1/16″ rubber strip. Make sure that the opening in the propeller hook is wide enough to admit the O-ring.\nHere we see the motor attached to the hook with an O-ring.\nHold the airplane with the nose pointing straight up and insert the motor down into the fuselage until the end appears inside the window below the motor peg.\nPush the motor peg through the loop, out the other plate and center the motor and peg.\nYou can hand wind some turns into the motor to shorten it until it pulls inside the fuselage. Here I am using a 20″ loop of 1/16″ wide rubber strip for test flights. The distance from the propeller hook to the motor peg is 10″, so the motor is twice that length.\nFit the noseblock into the nose to check fit. You may want to pencil mark one surface as the top to be sure you insert it the same way for each flight.\nThe fit is good. It should go in with slight friction and not fall out when the motor goes slack. Let the motor turn to check that there is no friction and nothing rubbing inside. You can put a tiny drop of light machine oil on the prop shaft and washers.\nSqueeze the landing gear legs together slightly and slide the top into the slot under the fuselage.\nCheck that the landing gear is properly fitted.\nThe wheels should be slightly ahead of the slot.\nThe payoff for all your work! Your airplane is now ready to fly. Put it in a safe place until you can get it to the Gym.\nWinding the Motor, Trimming and Flying\nThe Big Pussycat motor takes a few thousand turns, more than you want to put in by hand. You will use a winder. Stretching the motor during winding allow more turns to be put in. Commonly winders put in 10 or 15 turns per crank of the handle. It is easiest to keep track of cranks if you count by tens, like this “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ONE, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, TWO, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, THREE, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, FOUR, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, FIVE.” At this point you have fifty cranks in, five hundred turns on the 10:1 winder or seven hundred fifty turns on the 15:1 winder. Start with about 70% of maximum winds to check that the plane flies well in a circle that will fit within the Gym. It should be turning left, climbing only slightly. Watch how it comes down when the power runs out. It should glide slowly to the floor. If you built the plane according to the directions, it should fit within the usual basketball gym. You may want to adjust the turn if you are in a smaller or larger space. Make the necessary turn adjustments before increasing power. Turn adjustments are made by placing a shim between the nose block and the front of the fuselage, to point the propeller more to one side. Thin shims may be made from something like postcard or business card paper. Thicker shims may be made from 1/32″ balsa or 1/16″ balsa. Place the shim on the right side to make the plane turn more tightly to the left. Place the shim on the left side to open the circle. Gradually add turns, going to 80% to check climb and 90% to see how closely the plane approaches the ceiling. If the plane hits the ceiling, back off half way to the last number of turns that did not hit the ceiling. By going half way up and down you will eventually get as close to the ceiling as possible without hitting it. This gradual increase will also break in the motor so it will take a few more turns. Once you have a flight close to the ceiling, try another flight with the same number of turns, but measure the torque. Check that the plane still gets close to the ceiling. Next flight, wind the motor up as much farther as you dare than the last time, then back off winds until you reach the torque of the previous flight. You will find that you will have more turns in the motor at the same torque. This will allow you to get more time using that motor. After a couple windups to near capacity the motor will become fatigued. Let the motor rest over night before using it again.\nFor best duration, the Big Pussycat is flown without landing gear, using the 1/16″ motor. For flying with the landing gear, use a slightly thicker motor for more power to lift he extra weight and overcome the drag.\nRecord each flight in a notebook. You can write down the date and location, the name of the plane, the weight of the plane, the size and weight of the motor, the center of gravity location, the number of turns put in, the number of backwinds if any and any trim adjustments. Describe the flight pattern, diameter of circle, rate of climb, estimate how close it got to the ceiling. Record the flight time and the number of turns left on the motor upon landing. You may also want to record the torque at launch and landing.\nBig Pussycat Motors Turns Tables\nTurns tables give a rough guide to how many turns to put into a motor. Every batch of rubber is different. Different winding conditions and techniques have different results. With experience, you will develop a feel for how many turns to put into a rubber motor.\n20″ Loop of 1/16″\n1.6 Grams, 146.8 tpi\n%Max, 10:1 Winder, 15:1 Winder, Notes\n100 293 196 Breaks motor\n90 264 176 Check approach to ceiling\n80 235 157 Check climb\n70 206 137 Check trim, circle\n25″ Loop of 1/16″\n2.1 Grams, 146.8 tpi\n%Max, 10:1 Winder, 15:1 Winder, Notes\n100 367 244 Breaks motor\n90 330 220 Check approach to ceiling\n80 294 196 Check climb\n70 257 171 Check trim, circle\nFor flying with the landing gear, use a slightly thicker motor for more power to lift he extra weight and overcome the drag.\n20 1/2″” Loop of 3/32″\n2.6 Grams, 119.9 tpi\n%Max, 10:1 Winder, 15:1 Winder, Notes\n100 245 163 Breaks motor\n90 221 147 Check approach to ceiling\n80 197 131 Check climb\n70 172 115 Check trim, circle", "label": "No"} {"text": "NATIONAL PARK chiefs are aiming to capitalise on the growing popularity of star-gazing after the Yorkshire Dales was named as one of the best locations in the country to witness celestial wonders.\nThe most detailed satellite maps of England’s light pollution and dark skies released yesterday by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) show that the Yorkshire Dales National Park is ranked as the third darkest behind Northumberland and Exmoor.\nAccording to the ‘Night Blight’ maps – which were produced using satellite images captured at 1.30am throughout last September – 98 per cent of the skies in the Yorkshire Dales National Park are in the darkest two categories.\nThe Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s member champion for promoting understanding, Judith Donovan, said: “This latest research confirms that this national park is one of the best places in the country to appreciate the wonders of the night sky.\n“We think that there is a real opportunity for local businesses to exploit the potential of our dark skies to expand their ‘offer’ to our millions of visitors and attract people to the Dales at quieter times of the year. We want to build on the success of our first Dark Skies Festival held in February and we will be running further workshops for businesses later in the year.”\nThe CPRE research comes at a time of growing awareness of the harmful effects light pollution can have on the health of people and wildlife.\nThe Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s new planning blueprint, called the Local Plan, contains policies to minimise the impact of light pollution by monitoring street lighting and new developments.\nThe CPRE’s senior rural policy campaigner, Emma Marrington, said: “Dark skies are a key characteristic of what makes the countryside so different from urban areas.”", "label": "No"} {"text": "Neuroscientist David Eagleman hatched an experiment to learn about why our sense of time slows to a crawl in near-death situations (such as a free fall from a significant height). Disappointingly, it’s not because our abilities of perception kick into Matrix-style hyperdrive. NPR reports:\n“Turns out, when you’re falling you don’t actually see in slow motion. It’s not equivalent to the way a slow-motion camera would work,” David says. “It’s something more interesting than that.”\nAccording to David, it’s all about memory, not turbo perception. “Normally, our memories are like sieves,” he says. “We’re not writing down most of what’s passing through our system.” Think about walking down a crowded street: You see a lot of faces, street signs, all kinds of stimuli. Most of this, though, never becomes a part of your memory. But if a car suddenly swerves and heads straight for you, your memory shifts gears. Now it’s writing down everything — every cloud, every piece of dirt, every little fleeting thought, anything that might be useful.\nBecause of this, David believes, you accumulate a tremendous amount of memory in an unusually short amount of time. The slow-motion effect may be your brain’s way of making sense of all this extra information. “When you read that back out,” David says, “the experience feels like it must have taken a very long time.” But really, in a crisis situation, you’re getting a peek into all the pictures and smells and thoughts that usually just pass through your brain and float away, forgotten forever.", "label": "No"} {"text": "GRAMMAR IN USE BOOK PDF\nEnglish Grammar in Use is a renowned grammar book of grammar that is very useful. It is one of the world best-selling grammar books. It will probably be most. This is the fourth edition of English Grammar in Use. t wrote the original edition when I English Grammar in Use was written as a self-study grammar book, but . Advanced grammar in use: a self-study reference and practice book for advanced learners of English: with answers · Read more.\n|Language:||English, Spanish, Dutch|\n|ePub File Size:||28.65 MB|\n|PDF File Size:||16.52 MB|\n|Distribution:||Free* [*Regsitration Required]|\nISBN Essential Grammar in Use with Answers . This book is for elementary (and lower intermediate) students who want extra practice. [Cambridge] English Grammar In Use (3rd Edition With Answers).pdf - Free ebook download as PDF File .pdf) or read book online for free. English. Grammar in Use. THIRD. EDITION. Raymond Murphy. A self-study reference and practice book for intermediate students of. English with answers.\nWhen do we say used to do and when do we say used to doing? When do we use the? What is the difference between like and as?\nThese and many other points of English grammar are explained in the book and there are exercises on each point. Some advanced students who have problems with grammar will also find the book useful. The book is not suitable for elementary learners.\nEach unit concentrates on a particular point of grammar. Some problems for example, the present perfect or the use of the are covered in more than one unit. For a list of units, see the Contents at the beginning of the book English Grammar in Use 4th Edition. Some problems for example, the present perfect or the use of the are covered in more than one unit. For a list of units, see the Contents at the beginning of the book. Each unit consists of two facing pages. On the left there are explanations and examples; on the right there are exercises.\nAt the back of the book there is a Key for you to check your answers to the exercises page There are also seven Appendices at the back of the book pages — These include irregular verbs, summaries of verb forms, spelling and American English.\nFinally, there is a detailed Index at the back of the book page If you are not sure which units you need to study, use the Study guide on page Study the explanations and examples on the left-hand page of the unit you have chosen. Do the exercises on the right-hand page. Check your answers with the Key. If your answers are not correct, study the left-hand page again to see what went wrong.\nYou can of course use the book simply as a reference book without doing the exercises. These exercises bring together some of the grammar points from a number of different units. For example, Exercise 16 brings together grammar points from Units 26— You can use these exercises for extra practice after you have studied and practised the grammar in the units concerned.\nThere are also 1, test questions, and you can use these to make your own tests. The CD Rom can also be bought separately. I I listen to it. She's on holiday in France. I I eat lunch. I I get tired. I need a rest.\nHe's taken the day off. I I look for Sophie. Do you know where she is?\nThings never stay the same. Every year things are more expensive. The rai n has stopped, and the wind isn'tas strong.\nHe is not driving a bus. He is asleep. He is a bus driver. We use the present simple to talk about things in general. Remember: They teach I work For spelling -sor -es , see Appendix 6. Where do you come from? In the following examples, do is also the main verb do you do I doesn,t do etc.\nHe doesn't do anythi ng to help. We use the present simple to say how often we do things: '--' I get up at 8 o'clock every morning.\nC1 julie doesn't drink tea very often. I promise I I apologise etc. Sometimes we do things by saying something. For example, when you promise to do something,you can say 'I promise I I advise I I insist I I agree I I refuse German very well.\nPut the verb into the correct form. Ricardo I come from?\nHow long Use the following verbs to complete the sentences. Sometimes you need the negative:believe eat flow make nse tell translate1 The earth goes round the sun. You ask Lisa questions about herself and her family.\nWrite the questions. You want to know how often. Ask her. How often.. You want to know. Ask Lisa. You want to know which one. You want to know wha t he does. You wan t to know. We use the continuous for things happening at or around the time of speaking.\nThe action is not complete. I am doing. Can you turn it ' Water boils at degrees Celsius. What language c lt doesn't rain very much in summer.\nLet's go and eat. Learning Italian. They haveWe use the continuous for temporary situations: lived there all their lives. C I'm Living with some friends until I find a place of my own. C joe isn,t lazy. He works hard most of 0 A: You're working hard today. B: Yes, I have a lot to do.\nSee Unit 2 for more information. See Unit 1 for more information. For example: I'm always losing things. More examples: 0 You're always playing computer games.\nEnglish Grammar in Use (4th Edition) Book with Answers & CD-ROM\nYou should do something more active. He's always complaining. Correct them where necessary. Q 2 The water boils. Can you turn it off? That man tries to open the door of your car. What do they talk about? How do you get on? He's always getting to work on time. They're always arguing. Put the verb into the correct form 1 present continuous or present simple.\nBrowse more videos\nI think I I start to feel tired. I I learn. My father I I finish work at five, but this week I I work until six to earn a little more money. They were born there and have neverlived anywhere else.\nEssential Grammar In Use 4th\nI I usually enjoy parties, but Finish B's sentences. Use always -ing. YotA 're o.. You've made the same mistake again. Some verbs for example, know and Like are not normally used in thisway. We don't say 'I am knowing' or 'they are liking'; we say 'I know', 'they Like'. The following verbs are not normally used in the present continuous: Like want need prefer know realise suppose mean understand believe remember belong fit contain consist seem 0 I'm hungry. I want something to eat.\nEnglish Grammar in Use PDF with Answers\nThinkWhen think means 'believe' or 'have an opinion ', we do not use the continuous: lJ I think Mary is Canadian, but I'm not sure. When think means 'consider', the continuous is possible: U I'm thinking about what happened.\nI often think about it. Lefs open a window. Can you hear it? Look feelYou can use the present simple or continuous to say how somebody looks or feels now: U You Look well today.\nCompare: J I can't understand why he's being so selfish. He isn't usually like that.\nHe is very selfish. I I use it. I I not I remem ber it now. I I think of sell ing my car. Would you be interested in buy ing it? I I think you shou ld sell your car. Use the words in brackets to make sentences. You should also study Unit 3 before you dothis exercise. Is t here anything to eat?\nAm I right?\nComplete the sentences using the most suitable form of be. I wonder w hy. He Lived from to He started composing at the age of five and wrote more than pieces of music.\nHe was only 35 years old when he died. Very often the past simple ends in -ed regular verbs : 0 I work in a travel agency now. Before that I worked in a department store. For spelling stopped, studied etc. But many verbs are irregular.\nThe past simple does not end in -ed. For example:write wrote 0 Mozart wrote more than pieces of music. I didn't enjoythey saw did she see? Units 14 rcisesRead what Laura says about a typical working day: I usually get up at 7 o'clock and have a big breakfast.\nI walk to work, which takes me about half an hour. I start work at 8. I never have lunch. I finish. I'm always tired when I get home.The differences between this edition and the second edition are: There are eight new units on phrasal verbs Units — My father Some problems for example, the present perfect or the use of the are covered in more than one unit.\nI I look for you. Cl Check your answers with the Key.\n- TALLY 7.2 USER GUIDE PDF\n- DESIGNING THE USER INTERFACE 3RD EDITION BEN SHNEIDERMAN PDF\n- ENGLISH GRAMMAR BOOK APP\n- CAMBRIDGE VOCABULARY IN USE PDF\n- ENGLISH GRAMMAR THROUGH TAMIL PDF\n- MURPHY ENGLISH GRAMMAR BOOK\n- ENGLISH GRAMMAR BOOK IN MARATHI\n- IELTS GRAMMAR PDF\n- ARIHANT ENGLISH GRAMMAR BOOK PDF IN HINDI\n- MATERI MICROSOFT WORD 2007 PDF\n- KOMIK MALAYSIA PDF", "label": "No"} {"text": "According to fossil evidence lions and cheetah were the first of the modern cats, appearing around six million years ago with the leopards and jaguars emerging around one million years ago. Most regions of the world are home to more than one cat species, however a majority are native to only one continent, with the oceans of the world acting as a natural barrier. The species are labelled Old World and New World species, whilst the Lynx is found in both. At present there are five regions of distribution:\n*North Africa & Southwest Asia\nIt would seem though that Britain has just as much variety as areas such as Asia with all manner of exotic cats being reported.\nThere are some 230 bones in the cat body (humans have 206). The short and rounded skull joins to the spine which supports the body. Vertebrae protect the spinal cord which is the main nerve cable.\nThe cats teeth are designed for chewing although not all cats teeth are as ferocious as one might think, but they can puncture with ease. The teeth and basic frame of the animal is designed on strength and agility, with powerful hind legs, strong front limbs to absorb impact of landing from great leaps and seven short neck vertebrae. Sharp curved claws grow from all of their digits – one of these is the dew claw, held off the ground to keep it sharp.\nFelids are warm blooded animals which basically means that their body temperature stays consistent whatever the climate may be like. This is certainly an advantage when cats such as leopard and puma exist in countries they shouldn’t! And when they are too hot they are able to sweat through their paw pads and noses.\nCats always retract their claws but this does not always mean that paw-prints in the British countryside are easy to identify, however as dogs are the only real contender with regards to size there are certain differences. However, if terrain is extremely muddy and a cat cannot grip, there are times when claws are used. Cats prints will also show three-lobes at the heel whilst being more rounded in shape. Cats toes are more spaced, are asymmetrical and there seems to be more of a pointedness in the toe as compared to the more blunted shapes of the dog toe. However, identifying such detail is easier said than done in some cases. Fortunately in Kent, attacks on livestock are far easier to identify. Mainly due to the fact that there are hardly any wild dogs roaming the county, foxes are messier and will certainly have trouble bringing down a seventy-pound goat and apart from those two only a badger has the ability to claw. Of course, large exotic cats do not have to leave signs at all of their kills, for rabbits, rodents, birds and lambs can be completely devoured. Sheep and goats will show signs such as puncture marks, suffocation, claw marks and dislocation with the neck.\nSenses and Territory\nMany people believe that all cats have slit eyes which is incorrect. A leopard has binocular vision during the nocturnal hours and can see in black and white, as well as rely on its hearing which is far better than a human. During daylight hours cats can view colours but not as well as a human, however, during the day the pupils will become small, only to appear as small circles whilst during the night an animal like the leopard will absorb extra light. A reflective layer behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum allows this and when the cats eyes are caught in headlights they glow. The lens focuses light rays to produce a sharp image on the retina. Impulses from the retina are carried to the brain by the optic nerve. Cats also have a membrane which can cover the eye to prevent dust.\nAll cats need to drink. Many sightings in Kent have taken place along the line of rivers, streams and ponds. Although they use such waterways to navigate their routes, they also need an area to quench their thirst. The leopard will take several laps at a puddle or waterhole before gulping it down. The cats main sense though is its ability to smell and they have a unique area on the roof of their mouth to actually taste smells, especially if they are coming from another felid. This special area is known as the Jacobson’s organ and can be seen in action when a cat lifts its head to smell the air, in turn curling its lips and wrinkling its nose to allow the scent to hit the area.\nThe colour of a cats coat is meant to depend on where it lives, e.g. the snow leopards is thick, off-white and with darker marking to blend in with the rocky terrain, however, a black leopard in Britain is hardly camouflaged by day to the terrain although hunting at night makes it practically invisible. However, the domestic cat has a wider range of markings and colour than the various species of wild cat.\nIf enough cats exist in the wilds of Kent then they need to find each other. Bizarrely enough, a cat can communicate with another in order to tell a mate how old it is, where it lives, what sex it is and what mood they are in! Scratches, smells and sounds enable cats to find one another. By rubbing against a tree or rock a cat can leave a scent. Felids have scent glands on their chins, heads, base of their tails and between their toes. Not much is known about the cat language but like a dog their ears and tails can react to certain things. Those in the British countryside will know if a cat is angry by the way it hisses and flattens its ears back against its neck.\nWhilst lions live in prides, most large cats are solitary hunters, only meeting with others to mate. There isn’t usually enough prey in one area to sustain a group of large cats but some cats do have overlapping territories with other solitary hunters. Females generally have a smaller territory than the male, but either can have a territory ranging from a few kilometres to over one-thousand kilometres.\nA female cat will have a den to give birth in. A female puma can give birth to up to six kittens, these will be spotted and suckle her milk for up to four months and after six weeks will eat meat. The leopard can give birth to non-identical twins, one with a spotted coat, the other much darker. Cubs will mature quickly and can crawl before they can open their eyes. By six months old cubs will have learned how to keep safe, how to catch food and what not to catch! For the next year or so they will practice how to kill, balance and live. When such cubs leave their mothers they establish a territory nearby whereas the male tends to move away.\nIn Britain the exotic cat population has no enemies. It is sufficiently equipped to be the top predator, the ultimate killing machine and not bothered by scavengers such as the jackal, wolf or hyena. Whilst foxes are scavengers, the last animal they want to get involved with is a hungry puma.\nThroughout the world humans have become the prey of big cats. In Britain attacks have been rare, often triggered by surprise or injury to the animal. The main concern is that hunters will take to the woodlands of Britain for the thrill of the chase, in turn they may injure a big cat, turning it into a dangerous animal which can no longer hunt smaller, quicker animals such as rabbits. And so it will go for the slowest animal of the lot. Man!\nThe name KENT BIG CAT RESEARCH refers to the study of large exotic cats roaming the countryside, and not just ‘big cats’. Only one species of ‘big cat’ roams Kent, as well as Britain and that is the black leopard.\nIt was Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist (1707 – 1778) who proposed that animals of the same kind should be placed in the same species and the same genus as other similar species. Genera were put into orders and each order was put into classes and so on. All cats were originally put under the genus Felis but in more recent times the taxonomic subdivisions divided the cat family further, although the generic and subgenera status’ have caused much confusion and disagreement.\nLinnaeus believed that because cats were so similar (although they have also been proven to be very dissimilar) they could be grouped together as Felis but no longer are animals merely classified on the basis of similarity of structure, they must also be related and have the same ancestors to become part of a specified group. Cats form the Felidae family within the Carnivora order. Zoologists have sorted out many of the felids into other groups. The ‘big’ cats form the Panthera which is a species distinguished by the structure of the larynges, instead of mere size, with the smaller cats still contained within the Felis group although rather confusingly to some, the puma felis concolor) can grow to the size of the Leopard which is in the Panthera category, however, the Puma cannot roar and is the largest of the Lesser cats. The cheetah however, which was once believed to only partially retract its claws, was put alone in the genus Acinonyx, a Greek word meaning ‘non-movement’ and ‘claw’ although it is understood that the claws of the cat are only slightly hooked with a less prominent sheath, whilst the Clouded Leopard, perceived as a large descendant of the small cats and considered a link between the larger and smaller cats, belongs to the Neofelis with the Snow Leopard of the genus Uncia.\nPanthera leo, tigris, pardus, and once describe the big cat family of leopard, tiger, lion and jaguar, with the fossil species of the extinct European jaguar included. All these cats are able to roar although the Snow Leopard has never been known to (the hyoid – a small group of bones in the great cats, is described elsewhere) whilst the smaller cats are only able to purr and sometimes chirp, and even scream. Large cats which purr pause for breath before continuing.\nThere are between 36 and 38 species of feline depending on the way some are classified as species or sub-species. During the Tertiary period, the ‘age of the mammals’, five periods were divided and given the names Palaeocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene. The first of these periods beginning over sixty million years ago. Animals the size of small civets existed when the Eocene merged into the Oligocene, such long-limbed creatures appeared as cat-like animals and remains show large upper canines which many of the sabre-toothed cats had. All the present day ‘big cats’ derive from the fossils of Neofelids which date back to over thirty million years ago, during the Oligocene period. Evolution progressed from the Aeluroidea carnivores which included the Nimravidae paleofelids, which evolved on a parallel with the neofelids. Cougar-sized Pseudaelurus are believed to be the ancient ancestors to the modern cats as well as the sabre-toothed felids which first appeared around fifteen-million years ago in the form of lion-sized cats, and up until the Pleistocene era with the Smilodons. Fossil remains have never been found outside the New World and date back no further than two-and a half million years ago, and it seems that these cats with eleven-inch long teeth existed as scavengers, and also preyed on slow moving herbivores. Treacherous water-holes trapped many of these monster cats, where remains are found, yet one misconception of these cats that exists, is the belief that sabre-toothed tigers were direct ancestors of the modern tiger…however, the pre-historic forms probably became extinct long before hand. The Smilodon existed until some fifteen thousand years ago in the Americas.\nLarge cats emerged in India, China and all over Europe as ancestral forms, and the Lynx has ancestors also from the Pliocene, large cats which existed across Europe and China. By the Ice Age, cave lions and leopard-like felines inhabited Europe, with other huge felines inhabiting the rest of the world, where in time the cat family then spread all over areas of Africa, America and Eurasia although some areas which have cats have neighbouring islands which do not support any species.\nLions and cheetahs ( which existed in the Pliocene ) roamed freely around five million years ago with the Leopards, Tigers, Jaguars and the now extinct Martelli’s Wild Cat (felis lunensis). This particular cat was the size of the modern wild felid and may well have evolved into the wildcat although little else is known about it. The Pallas Cat is the oldest cat within the genus felis.The European Wildcat emerged between the two great Ice Ages, with a variety of subspecies forming, although not all surviving. Cats such as the Black Footed Cat, the Forest Cat and the Chinese Desert Cat spanned various continents with our own domestic cats developing from the African Wild Cats.\nMany large and small cat species have become extinct over the millions of years, whilst other species have flourished. Prey for some had dwindled, whilst in other areas during periods around seven million years ago land bridges were formed, meaning that feline species crossed into different habitats, to places that were abundant with wildlife and prey. North and South America became inhabited by large cats in the forest areas, whilst other cats roamed vast desert lands created by extreme winters during the Miocene. Many cat species died out around five million years ago but restoration of species occurred around two million years later when large-toothed cats emerged in the form of Megantereon. However, extreme changes in land fauna meant that predatory cats rose and fell in population and the sabre-toothed cats were unable to catch fleet-footed prey such as antelopes, which felids such as the Cheetah, Lion and Jaguar were able to hunt.\nAround five-thousand years ago most of the ancient large cats were extinct and up until fifteen-thousand years ago the Lions and Cheetahs of North America had vanished with the sabre-tooth’s, whilst the Leopard no longer lurked in the shadows of Eurasia. Leopards last roamed Britain around twelve-thousand years ago whilst the Lynx existed up until some four-thousand years ago.\nOnly have the last one-hundred and fifty years or so enabled cat species to inhabit areas they are not indigenous to. With the amount of large cats roaming areas of Australia and Britain, and seemingly in abundance, is there a possibility that new species could, or already have evolved?\nLarge cats such as lions and leopards have been crossed whilst in captivity, but to suggest that such new species roam Britain is absurd, despite the many reports from witnesses of cats that they simply cannot identify. Although eye-witness reports are valuable to research, whether they be supposedly credible witnesses such as doctors and policemen, or just general folk walking their dogs, it is surprising to note just how many people cannot recognise or identify an exotic cat in the British countryside. Across Exmoor in the 1980s many descriptions of roaming cats were vague, unsure and certainly did not seem to point to any known species of wild cat. Of course, some of the reports may well have been of domestic cats, dogs and other animals distorted in certain shade and light, and more so of animals that indeed were large and exotic, but were in fact the normal species such as prowling puma and ‘panther’. However, many people are insistent that they had seen black puma, which are rare, to the extent of non-existent although sightings in the U.S. could suggest otherwise, as it is so to imagine hordes of these cats roaming the west-country also seems absurd. The black leopard is actually one of the most commonly sighted felids in Britain although many people do not realise what a black leopard is, or even know that it exists at all. Some witnesses describe animals too small to be of leopard size although these animals produce between two to four cubs which could well explain many sightings of smaller, darker coloured cats. However, melanin also occurs in some other species such as the caracal – indeed, this is another beautiful cat unknown to much of the public.\nThe thought of bizarre mutant cats stalking the rural settings of Kent is exciting, but complete rubbish and can be dismissed by the fact that hybrids will only occur on a common basis with the Asian Jungle Cat (felis chaus) which are able to interbreed with feral cats as the DNA of the Jungle Cat and domestic cat are practically the same. Felids such as the Jungle Cat can roam Britain without detection, living in marshland in a similar way to the native Wildcat which now roams only Scotland, and also producing cross-species that the general public will not be able to identify. However, many of the sightings across Kent describe large black animals, reaching some four-feet in length with, to many witnesses, \"..puma-like characteristics”, but the reality is they are seeing black leopards. Black leopard parents will only give birth to black young, it is a recessive gene which causes this and it continues through the species. However, spotted leopards can produce black offspring causing a mixed litter, but a black leopard cannot produce a 'normal' spotted youngster. This melanism also occurs in other cats such as the Jaguar, servals and ocelots, once again making it very difficult for eye-witnesses to identify what they are seeing. However, with the black leopard being the most known of the melanistic cats, and most likely cat to be part of someone’s collection in the 1970s, it is this cat which roams Kent. Puma’s have also been seen sighted across the world showing spots on their coat, the young of the puma are born with spots but adults with such markings are certainly unusual but fascinating, just as white tigers are. With many sightings across Kent of black leopards, witnesses fail to pick out the ‘spots’ under the dark coat and often describe the felid as being jet-black. Of course, in the distance these cats can appear jet-black but any close sightings should reveal the rosettes. Black servals have been observed in Kenya, and white lions along with 'blue' tigers are known to exist – but thankfully, not in Britain!\nThe occasional one-off report of a cross-bred cat may occur but the hybridisation between different species will result in infertile young. In Britain there are a number of different exotic cats roaming the rural lanes and rolling woodlands. Some behave differently to one another whilst others would not usually share the same area, let alone country and so immediately a pairing of two different cats would no doubt produce a cat that could not further produce consistent offspring, and certainly not provide Britain with its own mutant lynx-leopard! Again, something forced within a captive environment is possible as a one-off, but in the wild the chromosomes of different mother and father would not match. These chromosomes are naturally exchanged by the mother and father to go into the egg and sperm but if the two parents are differing species then their will be a problem with the alignment of chromosomes, in some cases where the genes within the chromosomes may not add up or may be missing, thus causing species unable to produce young. In Scotland, the Kellas Cats were the offspring of domestic cats on farms and Scottish Wildcats but whether such a cat can be mistaken for the much larger black leopard seems doubtful, but then again, and as stated before, some people really do not know what they are seeing.\nWhilst there is always the possibility that hybrid cats have been created in captivity and released into the wilds, it seems very unlikely that these few animals would have produced many kittens, especially to the extent of a new population of hybrids roaming the country. Some eye-witnesses have reported black cheetahs and cats, dark coloured but with white chests but until more sightings occur these possible cats will have to be taken with a pinch of salt.\nIt could be said that there are as many pumas in Britain as there are black leopards yet maybe there seems to be more melanistic leopards simply because with such dark coats they are sighted more in daylight hours, strolling across fields etc. A cat's coat is a fur consisting of many individual hairs of differing thickness and length yet on the whole each, individual hair contributes to the splendour of a animals colour. Most of the big cats have a background colouration of fawn or gold – nature enables these cats to become camouflaged in their own environment due to their colouration, as the puma with its fawn coat patrols the rocky crevices and the jaguar sits motionless in the glades of the rainforest. It is possible that many of the original cats were spotted or striped, or at least of a pattern that merged the two. However, like many other animals, the markings of the specific species enables it to survive in its particular habitat, firstly to conceal itself from other predators, but secondly, and most importantly in the case of the cats, to remain hidden whilst stalking prey.\nHairs grow from the base of follicles and their structure is of a complex nature, as is the body covering of many mammals. Shorter and longer hairs provide thermal insulation and each hair is replaceable due to the fact that it has limited life. Moulting may occur during particular times of the year which may explain strange coat colours of certain cats.\nThe puma, although known as ‘one colour’, has a variety of colours in its coat which range from silvery-brown to reddish-grey, whilst a cat which lives at high altitude, such as the Snow Leopard as feet covered with hair, whilst the various types of lynx can appear almost shaggy and grey with spots, to reddish.\nThe tail of the various cats acts as a balancing tool although a cat such as the lynx or bobcat has a far shorter tail. Cats such as the leopard will use its tail for climbing as a kind of balancing pole whilst the lion and its dark tufted tail has a signalling intention as it waves it around in long grass.\nDespite their grace and silent stalking cats are considered cursorial although much of the time they sleep and quietly prowl. The leopard is the ultimate predator, it stalks quietly and closely to prey before ambushing it and going for the throat or at first bringing it down by the nape before strangling. Smaller cats kill with a bite into the back of the neck, lynx go for the head and others have disembowelled with their hind legs but none of the cats pursue prey for a lengthy time except for the cheetah which usually catches its prey rapidly due to its speed. Most cats silently stalk.\nIn Kent, as well as most of Britain, smaller animals which are preyed upon by these large cats are eaten to the extent where not a lot remains as to identify which animal actually killed it in the first place. Also, there are times when animals such as rabbits are left and scavengers do increasing damage to the body, as birds peck at the eyes and foxes eat the rest. Thankfully in Kent, wild dogs do not roam the fields. These rogue canines tear at sheep, nipping and ripping, making a bloody mess, but large cats kill entirely differently.\nClaw marks can be found on the head and shoulders and the neck is often bereft of meat. In the case of smaller prey some are decapitated whilst lambs may be completely devoured except for their hoofs. Sheep have been found lying on their side, some with ears missing and the rib-cage exposed and picked clean. Sometimes innards are eaten but in other cases shoulders are ripped and the scene is usually bereft of blood spill. Rib-cages are usually ‘rasped’ and up to 70 lb of meat has been taken from local goat kills. In their countries of origin large cats such as the leopard drag their prey into trees or conceal it from scavengers, but in Kent such kills have remained in the vicinity, enabling the cat to drink its blood before clotting and to gorge itself on the crimson even if already full from a meal. In some cases, attacks on foxes have resulted in cracked bones and examination of sheep carcasses have been found with punctured rib-cages where an animal has hit them with force. In most cases though, with regards to sheep kills, the victim is leapt upon, usually unexpectedly, puncture marks are evident around the neck. In Kent though, rabbit is the ideal prey and a couple a day provide sufficient food source for a puma-sized cat. Smaller cats such as caracal and lynx can consume a pheasant or two, but during the winter the cats will scavenge, feeding off scraps thrown-out in built up areas and clawing at sacks of rubbish.\nThe foxes which enter farmland and built-up areas to take chickens or other small prey tend to make a mess of it. A large cat is swift and silent, plucking prey from the night air without leaving a trace and targeting one animal at a time instead of causing a massacre. Wild dogs are full of bloodlust, beginning in a playful frenzy which decimates the victim whilst the Leopard is an invisible assassin that kills for food.\nA cats claws are constructed of keratin which enables them to grab their prey, and it is the middle (second) phalanx feature which enables them to retract the third phalanx upwards and inwards to lie alongside the second. Ligaments, whilst the cats are resting, draw the claws into the fur in order to protect the claws but to extend their claws cats rely on their third phalanges and the swivelling action which enables the third phalange to pivot at the joint of the second phalange to be thrust forward and in conjunction the claws are made to point downwards by a flexor muscle which tugs on the third phalange underneath. This way the ‘toes’ spread and anything which has fallen prey to the felid will find it difficult to get away as the rake-like claws are embedded. These amazing claws also enable certain cats not only to climb well, but to climb trees although descent can be difficult and not as casual.\nThe only other animal in the British countryside that leaves a paw-print roughly the same size of a large cat is the dog. Paw-prints are difficult to come across, especially as pathways in our countryside’s are often disturbed, and anything from horses to cars can churn up mud, sand or any other layer which may have originally preserved a print so well. Many people can be confused by tracks, especially under different conditions where a print may have thawed in the snow or been distorted by dog tracks on a muddy pathway. Cats aren’t stupid, they would much rather stroll along a hedgerow instead of traipse through a quagmire, and in some cases a cat will extend claws to grip at slippery surfaces, but dogs cannot retract their claws and usually leave a print that is elongated as compared to the cats more rounded shape, and at the rear of the heel a cat track will usually show three lobes. Indeed, there are many other differences but tracking a cats movements by way of searching for tracks is extremely difficult, especially as there are so many different breeds of dog being walked through the country lanes, indeed it is very much a complex matter which requires further analysis and explaining – far more than I have the room for. However, do not always assume that a print you have found, which shows claw marks, is that of a dog. A dogs claws are blunt in nature, but the claw indentations left from an animal such as a puma are narrow and sharp. If you are convinced that you have discovered a cat print, either film or photograph it and always put an object such as a pen, coin or tape measure next to it for size comparison , but also attempt to take a cast or attempt to trace the outline accurately on a clear sheet of plastic. One other characteristic of the puma, is that when the cat walks slowly the rear feet have been known to slightly overlap the prints of the front feet. Finally, it must be said that the best time to find cat prints, is next to a kill. When something like this occurs, it is just a question of finding out which cat instead of wondering if it is a cat.\nCats do not crush food. Their scissor-like teeth and rasping tongue are put into action when a feline form turns its head from side to side allowing the flesh of the victim to be cut up and dissected by the carnassials. In each jaw the cats have six incisors with one canine on each side in both jaws, three premolars on each side of the upper jaw and two below and one molar on each side above. The sharp canines puncture prey by way of severing the spinal chord and then the smaller incisors in-between manipulate the food until the cat is able to swallow it. For the leopard the incisors are rather small yet enable the animal to gnaw bones and puncture skin, but it is the tongue which does most of the work. Its surface is layered with a rough texture, a carpet of pointed bumps which scrape meat from the bone of prey, as well as coming in useful for grooming and lapping at water.\nIn areas such as the western United States it is legal (at the time of writing )to hunt the Mountain Lion. Attacks on humans have been recorded, in fact a puma can kill prey, such as elk, six times its own size and across the North numbers are increasing, as they are here. The puma is a polygamous felid which has been known to copulate over fifty times a day during a breeding period. The female will not have a den as such, but find shelter for kittens and for giving birth under tree branches or rocky crevices. Whilst hunting, the puma will find cover, moving with stealth until in reasonably close range before dashing at its prey and leaping onto its back. The initial impact can often be enough to kill some prey outright or at least knock it out. It is then that the puma goes for the throat. The cat may remain in the vicinity of the kill site for a number of days, sometimes burying the victim and then returning to uncover it for another meal.\nThere are many people who contact us who have a natural and genuine fear of cats such as leopard and puma prowling the local fields. They fear for their pets, they fear for their children and they fear for themselves. However, the facts are that right through the last century there were just over fifty recorded attacks on humans by cougar in North America, albeit with over ten deaths. However, the puma is way down the league of dangerous animals and stands in the shadow of snakes, bees and even domestic dogs. It could be said that children are in danger – they are relatively small, and when riding a bicycle they could be perceived by a cougar as something similar to a moving sheep or domestic cat, especially if vision is obscured and the child is on the other side of undergrowth. Large cats are coming into town, especially in Britain where woodlands are not vast when compared to the forests of Africa and the woodlands of British Columbia however, they are secretive cats and so will not be taking to the streets in search of a butcher’s shop! It is advised that you face a cat if you encounter one, and move back slowly, making yourself almost large but many people when put in this situation cannot perform such cool heroics. Indeed, they DO freeze…but in terror. Many people will turn and run, others are just put under a spell as they watch this beautiful creature which on most occasions will slink away casually.\nThere are some who theorise that the cats which people have seen for many decades in Britain are a species that have always lived here, and that only now are people more aware of these animals hence the more reported sightings. There is far too huge a gap between now and the period when animals such as the leopard roamed Britain, but a cat such as the lynx may well have hung on in some form as it would not have needed to venture into the territory of man to snatch sheep, and strangely enough, the earliest reports of large cats on the loose concerned lynx. People of credibility have put forward beliefs of unknown species of felid, mainly based on eye-witness reports that do not fit in with any known species of cat. In Kent, the possibility that ancient cats exist is basically nil due to the fact that most witnesses are describing known species of large cat, ranging from the black leopard to the caracal. I believe that many of the questionable details are simply down to the fact that most witnesses do not know what many of the exotic cats of the world look like. I have mentioned this before, but it is true. There is a possibility that certain cats have adapted to Britain and their coat and size variation simply reflects the evolutionary adaptation to our climate, which can be said for the jaguar and the leopard. The leopard is known to be considerably larger in mountainous regions whilst in the jungles and remote savannahs it is smaller. Females are two thirds the size of the male, so once again we have a size difference and with the British leopard it seems as though we are only playing host to the melanistic version. This variation in colour is considered rare with regards to the African species but the forest dwelling leopards who have the darker coats are quite common. The jaguar is a larger animal than the leopard, which is slimmer and longer in the leg. In Britain there are reports of black cats with very large heads like that of the j– however, if more details were observed in daylight encounters, we could determine as to what people are seeing because the rosette markings of the jaguar have a central dot. Melanism does occur in the jaguar but it is rarer than in the leopard, and with this felid being the third largest of the big cats, at least some eye-witness reports would support its existence here. During the 1980s in the West-country it was believed that many people were seeing felids not recognised by science, however, there has been no further evidence to suggest we are dealing with large, undiscovered species of cats, although as mentioned before, limited hybridisation is possible and there have been a few unique specimens discovered.\nHunter or the Hunted?\nKiller cats are created by the lumbering lunatics who hunt them. Those that hang out in rural hideaways with their air-rifles at the ready, those who set up snares in the hope of finding a manacled prize, and those who rampage across the fields with shotguns after a local pet dog is eaten by an animal that is only doing what it does naturally. Sheep losses in Kent are not a worry when there are so many rabbits around, so prey is in abundance and variety and can be obtained with ease. Kent is not a vast area, nowhere near as vast and remote as the Cornish moor lands, let alone the African plains, yet there is sufficient cover for a handful of large predators, each having its own territory whilst smaller, undetected cats mooch behind the hedgerows. They are harmless but like most animals they can be aggressive, especially when they are protecting young or confronted by maniacal, gun-toting psychotics. The biggest concern is the lack of so-called government interest, or examination from professional body. After the Exmoor and Bodmin ‘beast’ flaps, sightings of large exotic cats across Britain have become almost everyday life. Once, the Marines were concealed in the ditches and now with no further results the petty politics and minor squabbles are clouding an intriguing occurrence, in that large and very exotic cats are inhabiting this island. For some it is an alarming thought – for others one of excitement. It is already too late to even attempt to track one or two of these cats down, it is a situation not quite out of control but it could end up that way if many of us stick our fingers in the pie without the knowledge or understanding of these animals and their way of life.\nThe authorities are ignorant to the situation and for the felids in question ignorance is bliss. Yet when it comes down to it, what are the authorities going to do anyway? Wipe them out? Accidentally injure one for it to become an irritable man-eater? Spend thousands of pounds stalking the countryside, only once again to be eluded by a creature that would always remain one step ahead? And if these animals are left to their own devices, what happens when the local woodlands and even towns are inhabited even more so by these cats? Can we afford to go with the flow with so many people fearing that large cats will spring from the trees and eat them alive? Well, for now, yes. There is no evidence to suggest that these cats are preying on children and any incidents that do take place are in a minority, and there are certainly more attacks by domestic dogs on youngsters. These cats won’t just go away though – evidence suggests they are breeding healthily all over Britain, and there are more people who respect them as an out of place and very beautiful animal rather than despise them for being here. Unfortunately there are the selected few who continue to rampage through possible habitats, hide in the undergrowth ready to fire at any sign of movement and who blame these cats for every livestock loss. It is these people who will turn at least a handful of cats into dangerous, irritable animals. But for the moment the only wild and truly dangerous animal out there is the one in the mirror.\nThe cats which roam Kent and Britain should be naturalised, and many are despite being ignored, let alone classed as unofficial residents. Corpses of dead cats will be extremely difficult to find, especially when we consider the lack of badger and fox bodies found. When these two animals die, the remains are gradually ground away by other, smaller scavengers, bones as well. Some animals die underground too, such as the badger, but a cat such as the Leopard, would if injured, crawl to foliage if it were to die, and unless these felines are killed by cars, then it is unlikely that bodies will be found. Although the population of cats in Britain is large, and certainly rising, searching for a body of one would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.\nFinally, it has been estimated that one female leopard, in fifteen to twenty years can produce an alarming number of young. Over the course of these fifteen or so years, many more will be produced by those offspring. So, the future is bright for the British big (and smaller) cats. They must be protected.\nIt was once believed that only a few large cats inhabited Britain, and that somehow these certain individuals were scouring the whole country, looking for the opposite sex in order to produce offspring. Of course, despite these animals having vast territories, especially in their countries of origin, but not so much in Britain, such claims nowadays are absurd, although it is quite possible cats from Kent are slinking into neighbouring counties, although extensive research seems to prove that the cats in question patrol territories of anything up to eighty-square miles, but some of these hunting grounds will be scarred by obstacles, such as wide rivers, although during darkness motorways are not a problem for these highly intelligent cats.\nEach cat out there establishes its own territory but it is very likely that in Britain territories will overlap, the ground of a puma has been proven to fade into the hunting ground of a black leopard, and that’s simply down to the nature of the land and the obstacles these animals face, because in some instances some of these dissecting intrusions are even too much for a cat to conquer, but a number of different species of cat are sharing habitat. This however does not mean they will breed, but they will certainly be aware of each other, but does not mean cat fights will be in abundance.\nThe territory of a male leopard could well cover the smaller territories of a handful of females, and scent marking will attract attention for mating although aggression can also be displayed in some encounters. Male cats can determine whether or not a compatible partner is a potential female. Sexual hormones are present in female urine and other secretions, and the female cats will often call to attract the attention of a male, or more than one, and even then the female may not be ready and will tend to lash out and become aggressive toward the male, and this can take days, but then finally they will mate, with the females ova only becoming released from the ovary after being stimulated by the actual mating procedure. The mating game is certainly a well constructed practice which attempts to be devoid of any kind of aggression, with the male often making tentative advances in which eventually the female cat will raise her hindquarters, whilst crouching on her stomach, lifting her tail to one side in order for the male to penetrate easily whilst he ‘treads’ her. The male may grip the nape of the female, something which mother cats do to ‘still’ their cubs, although he will be very aware of the power of the females bite in such instances.\nMating is usually over in seconds, there is no pelvic thrust as such, the excitement amounts quickly, and the male is often out of the way before he gets a frightful nip from his ‘lover’. However, the male and female may copulate many times a day, up to one-hundred times in fact, although cats such as the ocelot not so much.\nThe male penis contains a bone called the bacula which is used to caress and stimulate the female's vaginal walls, and mating may last up to four days on heat, and cats are happy to mate in trees, as well as in shallow water, but such cats mate often simply because one session may not be sufficient to produce young. However, cats such as the l, rely on the availability of prey in order to ovulate, and only become induced ovulators when prey is scarce.\nFemale cats will seek other males, but in smaller counties of England this is not always possible, but it certainly seems that mating does occur hence the thriving population of cats and reports of large cats with apparent young.\nThankfully, in Britain, there is not much threat to young cats, and they should be able to adapt to terrain quite easily, although in some areas the roaming female may struggle to provide food for them, despite the abundance of rabbits, birds, rodents in the British countryside. The female felid will bring prey to young in order for them to play with, and practice their hunting techniques which they will also develop by playing amongst themselves. A female cat will often return to a certain den to raise young, and the young will leave the den permanently after around six weeks although the ‘family’ remains intact for a couple of years. Larger cats do remain dependant on their mother more so than the smaller cats, possibly because in their countries of origin larger cats such as the leopard are able to develop hunting skills and gain strength which enables them to bring down heavy, yet often dangerous prey, whereas smaller felines take to hunting more easily simply because they hunt prey smaller than themselves.\nSo, if so many leopards roam Britain, cats which, in their native countries bring down large prey, then why aren’t they attacking humans ? Well, just like any animal, it becomes used to its environment, and recognises prey from a young age. Cases in Britain that appear to show humans that have been attacked by exotic cats are dubious to say the least. Cats have an acute sense of hearing, so it would not be that easy to disturb a cat at close quarters or step upon it, or approach it easily and this has been proven with our own encounters with Lynx and black leopard. Domestic cats are not going to be frequent prey, simply because they are not too different from their relatives, they have acute senses and so are unlikely to sit around and wait for a large cat to come and consume them. Even so, if such an encounter occurred, any exotic cat isn’t going to want to risk getting clawed when there is much easier prey around. The same could be said for us humans. These cats are not starving felines that will come into our villages and tear us from our gardens, they have adapted perfectly to the countryside that we believe does not provide sufficient habitat or fodder despite the fact that there are more animals out there than we realise, and enough livestock which provides a twenty-four hour restaurant.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Reading Horizons method delivers engaging, explicit, systematic phonics instruction through a multisensory approach based on Orton-Gillingham principles. Instruction is cumulative and organized in a sequence that enhances learning and simplifies teaching. Each sound of the English language is explicitly taught along with the letter(s) that represent the sound. Five Phonetic Skills are taught to help students recognize short and long vowel patterns in words and syllables. Two Decoding Skills are presented to show students how to decode multisyllabic words.\nThe multisensory approach used with the Reading Horizons method enhances learning and memory by engaging auditory, visual, and kinesthetic modalities simultaneously during instruction. A unique marking system is employed to draw student attention to the features and patterns of English as well as to give visual cues for pronunciation. Throughout the course of instruction, students are provided with engaging activities for practice and application of the skills learned.\nReading Horizons Discovery™ was designed to teach the Reading Horizons method to students in kindergarten to third grade. Reading Horizons Elevate™ was designed for students who are ages fourth grade to adult.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Earth relief: what is the altitude ratio?\nI would like to create a small application that generates a map. For this I need to find out the natural relief ratio as we know it on earth.\nSuppose I divide the altitute in a scale of 0 to 10---where 0 is the sea bottom---and suppose the map is divided into tiles. How likely is the subsequent tile to deviate from or remain as the previous one.\nMy assumption is that there are less mountains than they are oceans, and that the higher the altitude gets, the less likely is the neighbouring area to be equally high or higher.\nI'd like to have some figures though, based on real data. Do you have any idea? I've been looking on the internet but didn't find what i wanted.\nTags for this Thread", "label": "No"} {"text": "I am happy to attach the text which will be published soon by the Society for Medieval Archaeology Newsletter about our 2016 season in the Azores (6-27 September). This is a collage of pictures taken during our fieldwork in Vila Franca.\nUnder the volcano: excavating in the Azores (Vila Franca do Campo 2016)\nThe islands of the Azores, far out in the middle of the North Atlantic, are subject to frequent seismic and volcanic activity because of their location at the junction of three tectonic plates. On the night of 22 October 1522 the settlement of Vila Franca do Campo, the early capital of the archipelago on São Miguel, was almost completely destroyed by an powerful earthquake and then by a huge landslide which followed a few minutes later. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to have died when a massive debris flow swept through the houses and streets and out into the sea. In 2015 and 2016 a team from the University of Durham, led by Paolo Forlin, Chris Gerrard and Alejandra Gutierrez, together with Portuguese colleagues from the universities of Nova de Lisboa and dos Açores, and landslide specialists from the University of East Anglia, started to document the archaeology of the disaster. Beginning by analysing the unpublished diaries and archaeological materials left by a previous investigator, Manuel de Sousa d’Oliveira, together with data from recent geological cores, the team excavated 26 trenches in all. Evidence of the pre-disaster settlement was identified in detail. Quantities of stratified glass and pottery, including finewares from Spain (such as lustrewares), Italy and France, locally produced redwares, as well as animal, shellfish and fish bone represent some of the earliest and best dated assemblages to be recovered from the Azores which were first colonised permanently in the 15th century. The landslide, which was up to 2.5m thick in places and affected about 4.5km2, contained human and animal remains as well as brick, roof tile, mortar and masonry fragments. The archaeological evidence suggests that the reconstruction process got underway almost immediately and the excavations reveal the houses, industries and the rubbish pits of the new town.\nChris Gerrard and I (Paolo Forlin) would like to thank all the participants to this archaeological campaign, especially the ten undergraduates (Pertev Basri, Lydia Coldicott, Ben Evans, Christina Goessman, Alice Naylor, Oliver Tallis , Oliver Vercoe, Adam Willis, Isabelle Wilson and Adam Wordley) and Ed Treasure from Durham University, as well as some extraordinary people who helped us in Vila Franca, such as N’Zinga Oliveira, the mayor Ricardo Rodrigues, the director of the local museum Thelma, Mario and Edoardo. I would also like to address special thanks to Dr Alejandra Gutierrez (DU) who worked intensively in order to reorganise all the material from previous Oliveira’s excavations, process our new finds and organise a new temporary exhibition at the Museum of Vila Franca.", "label": "No"} {"text": "MIT researchers and their colleagues are developing an imaging method that can read closed books.\nIn September, in Nature Communications, the researchers reported a new method that they tested on a stack of papers, each with one letter printed on it. The method was able to correctly identify the letters on the top nine sheets.\n“The Metropolitan Museum in New York showed a lot of interest in this, because they want to, for example, look into some antique books that they don’t even want to touch,” says Barmak Heshmat, a research scientist in Ramesh Raskar’s Camera Culture group at the MIT Media Lab and corresponding author on the new paper. He adds that the system could be used to analyze a large range of materials organized in thin layers, such as coatings on machine parts or pharmaceuticals.\nThe MIT researchers developed the algorithms that acquire images from individual sheets in stacks of paper; researchers at Georgia Tech developed the algorithm that interprets the often distorted or incomplete images as individual letters.\nThe system uses terahertz radiation, a band of electromagnetic radiation between microwaves and infrared light. Terahertz radiation can distinguish between ink and blank paper, in a way that x-rays can’t, and it can be emitted in such short bursts that the distance it has traveled can be accurately measured. The system exploits the fact that air pockets about 20 micrometers wide separate a book’s pages naturally. The difference in the degree to which air and paper bend light means that the boundary between them will reflect terahertz radiation back to a detector.\nIn the researchers’ setup, a standard terahertz spectrometer emits ultrashort bursts of radiation, and the camera’s built-in sensor detects their reflections. From the reflections’ time of arrival, the MIT researchers’ algorithm can gauge the distance to the individual pages of the book.\nWhile most of the radiation is either absorbed or reflected by the book, some of it bounces around between pages before returning to the sensor, producing a spurious signal. The sensor’s electronics also produce a background hum. One of the tasks of the MIT researchers’ algorithm is to filter out all this “noise.”\nThe information about the pages’ distance helps: it allows the algorithm to home in on just the terahertz signals whose arrival times suggest that they are true reflections. Then it relies on two different measures of the reflections’ energy, and assumptions about both the energy profiles of true reflections and the statistics of noise, to extract information about the chemical properties of the reflecting surfaces. This allows researchers to identify letters by determining the exact shapes of ink printed on each individual page.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The Leeward Islands / ˈ l iː w ər d / are a group of islands in the West Indies. In English, the term refers to the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain.\nThe Leeward Islands (French: Îles Sous-le-vent; Tahitian: Fenua Raro Mata’i, literally \"Islands Under-the-Wind\") are the western part of the Society Islands in ...\nLeeward Islands of the Caribbean. Comprehensive travel guide and map of the Caribbean Leeward Islands\nWhich islands are in the Windward Islands and Leeward Islands? The Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands are part of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.\nLeeward Islands, French Îles Sous le Vent, Spanish Islas de Sotavento, an arc of West Indian islands that constitute the most westerly and northerly of the Lesser ...\nMap of Leeward and Windward Islands with a Landsat satellite image by Geology.com\nLeeward Islands Vacation packages or hotel-only to Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Nevis, Saint Kitts, Anguilla\nExplore an interactive map of the Leeward Islands, where Sail Caribbean offers amazing teen sailing, scuba, watersports and community service adventures .\nplural noun 1. a group of islands in the N Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, extending from Puerto Rico SE to Martinique.\nLee·ward Islands (lē′wərd) 1. The northern group of the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies, extending from the Virgin Islands southeast to Dominica.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Within moments of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, life in America instantly transformed for the duration of the war. The harbor town of Morro Bay, California became a major training center for planned amphibious Naval invasions of South Pacific islands and the top-secret D-Day invasion of Normandy. Come along and join Edith Ross and Art Criddle as they share their recollections of the war years in Morro Bay from the perspective of young children. Afterwards we travel to Virginia for a visit with the President of the National D-Day Memorial in the rural town of Bedford. Many of the troops who trained in Morro Bay for the amphibious landing at Normandy were among the 4,413 soldiers who were killed in the first 24 hours of the largest amphibious landing in history. More than 150,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified French coastline. Come along and join April Cheek-Messier at the National D-Day Memorial and discover the poignant reason why the National D-Day Memorial is located in the rural town of Bedford, Virginia.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Posts tagged with 'bugs'\nPhase one of the Snowdon Leaf Beetle survey is now complete and, after many hours searching, the team were finally rewarded with an adult Snowdon Leaf Beetle – confirming it is still alive and breeding in the UK!\nThe Snowdon Leaf Beetle Chrysolina cerealis is probably the rarest of the 291 British species in this group of beetles, which feed on the leaves and seeds of plants. It is also one of only two beetles protected by law in the UK and a permit is needed to even search for it. Read more…\n15 September 2015 by Paula\nThe entomology survey team returned to Snowdon on Friday 4th September for phase two of the Rainbow Leaf Beetle (Chrysolina cerealis) fieldwork. Tony Hunter, assistant Curator of entomology updates us on the latest search:\n“Thankfully the weather was much improved this time, with only thin misty cloud to complain about and we quickly managed to find three larvae feeding on the food plant, Thymus polytrichus (wild Thyme). Read more…\n25 August 2015 by Paula\nTony Hunter, assistant Curator of Entomology updates us on the search for the Rainbow Leaf Beetle on Snowdon:\n“We left Liverpool on a lovely sunny morning and despite the weather forecast we were hopeful of a fine day, but as we approached Snowdon along the A5 dark clouds loomed and it started to rain. Read more…\n18 August 2015 by Paula\nTony Hunter, assistant Curator of Entomology tells us about a survey being carried out in conjunction with Natural Resources Wales:\n“The Rainbow Leaf Beetle Chrysolina cerealis is one of our rarest insects and is protected in Britain by the Wildlife and Countryside Act. It is against the law to collect, disturb or even photograph it. Read more…\n21 August 2014 by Ann\nJoin us on Tuesday 26th August for the Liverpool Loopline BioBlitz, at the Mill Lane entrance of the Loop Line near Old Station House, Mill Lane, West Derby, Liverpool L12 7JA.\nWhat is a BioBlitz?\nA BioBlitz is a race to record as many different species of wildlife as possible in a habitat. Our BioBlitz will include bird watching, nature walks, butterfly and bee surveys, wildflower wander, tree trail and a mini beast safari. Read more…\n8 July 2014 by Lisa\nHere’s our Education Demonstrator from the Bug House, Laura Carter, to tell us about the latest Bug House photo competition:\n“It’s that time of year again – sunshine, warm weather, flowers… and creepy crawlies! So why not grab your camera and enter our 2014 Bug House photography competition?\nInsects, spiders, worms, slugs and snails are all fair game – found locally or abroad. Read more…", "label": "No"} {"text": "When central banks lower interest rates, however, they give the market hope about future consumption based on savings which do not exist. Businesses expand, individuals spend more and invest more. For a while it seems like the economy is growing healthily, however it is based on demand which does not really exist since the savings that promise future growth are absent. When the illusory demand is revealed, many of the expanded businesses realize that they borrowed money in expectation of demand that never existed and now, unable to generate enough revenue to pay back their loans, they go bust:\nInvestments in them need to be liquidated, some at a total loss. The investments in those long term projects now look like irresponsible speculation on an assumption of future growth. The Austrians call them “malinvestments.”\nJust to make it easier to see any correlations, here are the two graphs crudely overlaid:\nAs predicted, low interest rates coincide with high investment in construction. When interest rates rose, the construction bubble burst. If we look at employment in the construction sector from 2004 to 2007 we see the same rapid rise, stagnation and then decline:\nSo far so good, we are seeing fairly clear data. The United States, to give another example, also experienced a housing bubble when the Federal Bank kept interest rates low in the early 2000s. Japan, meanwhile, halved interest rates from 1986 to 1987, keeping them low until beginning to increase them in 1989. The country experienced a frenzy of construction speculation; by 1991 the total land cost of a country the size of California was worth four times the total property of the US. In 1980s Japan, as 2000s Ireland, confidence that property prices would keep rising led individuals to take out colossal loans with the belief that they would be able to sell on their homes at a profit and pay off the mortgage:\nSo Mr. Nakashima, a Tokyo city government employee who was then 36, took out a loan for almost the entire $400,000 price of a cramped four-bedroom apartment. With property values rising at double-digit rates, he would easily earn back the loan and then some when he decided to sell.\nOr so he thought. Not long after he bought the apartment, Japan's property market collapsed. Today, the apartment is worth half what he paid. He said he would like to move closer to the city but cannot: the sale price would not cover the $300,000 he still owes the bank.\nSo why did the European Central Bank keep interest rates low while Ireland was booming, helping to create the disastrous construction bubble?\nOne problem was that some of Ireland's EU neighbours were not growing much in this period at all, so interest rates were kept low to stimulate their growth. Germany had a consistently high unemployment rate (oddly enough their unemployment is far lower now than it was in the early 2000s). Its GDP slid in and out of recession and its inflation rate was a lot lower than Ireland's.\nSo the ECB followed policies that attempted to boost those slow-growth countries like Germany, but this badly damaged peripheral countries with differing economies, like Spain and Ireland. The Austrian School economists would have us do away with central banks completely, but at least this crisis raises questions about the ability of a European Central Bank to manage several distinct eurozone economies all at the same time.\nFor a more complex and nuanced look at the role of euro-membership and Ireland's economic crisis, read Professor Patrick Honohan's Euro Membership and Bank Stability Friends or Foes? Lessons from Ireland.", "label": "No"} {"text": "By Bradley Efron, Gail Gong (auth.), William F. Eddy (eds.)\nRead Online or Download Computer Science and Statistics: Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Interface PDF\nBest science books\nA world-renowned paleontologist takes readers all around the globe to bare a brand new technological know-how that trumps technological know-how fiction: how people can re-create a dinosaur.\nIn video clips, in novels, in comedian strips, and on tv, we’ve all obvious dinosaurs—or a minimum of somebody’s proficient wager of what they might appear like. yet what if it have been attainable to construct, or develop, a true dinosaur, with no discovering historical DNA? Jack Horner, the scientist who steered Steven Spielberg on Jurassic Park, and a pioneer in bringing paleontology into the twenty-first century, groups up with the editor of the hot York Times,’s technology occasions part to bare precisely what’s in store.\nwithin the Eighties, Horner started utilizing CAT scans to appear inside of fossilized dinosaur eggs, and he and his colleagues were delving deeper ever due to the fact that. At North Carolina kingdom college, Mary Schweitzer has extracted fossil molecules—proteins that survived sixty eight million years—from a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil excavated via Horner. those proteins exhibit that T. rex and the fashionable poultry are kissing cousins. At McGill collage, Hans Larsson is manipulating a fowl embryo to evoke the dinosaur inside of: beginning through growing to be a tail and at last prompting it to develop the forelimbs of a dinosaur. All of this is often occurring with no altering a unmarried gene.\nThis magnificent examine is resulting in discoveries and functions so profound they’re frightening within the energy they confer on humanity. the right way to construct a Dinosaur is a travel of the recent rocky deserts and air-conditioned laboratories on the leading edge of this medical revolution.\nEssentially the most dramatic tales of genetic discovery due to the fact that James Watson's The Double Helix—a paintings whose medical and cultural reverberations can be mentioned for years yet to come. In 1994 Professor Bryan Sykes, a number one global authority on DNA and human evolution, was once known as in to check the frozen is still of a guy trapped in glacial ice in northern Italy.\nThe vintage authority on color dimension now absolutely revised and up to date with the newest CIE thoughts The size of color is of significant significance in lots of advertisement functions, equivalent to the fabric, paint, and nutrients industries; in addition to having an important function within the lights, paper, printing, beauty, plastics, glass, chemical, photographic, tv, delivery, and communique industries.\n- Apollo: The Definitive Sourcebook (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)\n- Critical Thinking About Research: Psychology and Related Fields\n- Controlling Uncertainty: Decision Making and Learning in Complex Worlds\n- What We Know About Climate Change (Boston Review Books)\n- Science (Vol. 307, No. 5711, February 2005)\n- Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World\nAdditional info for Computer Science and Statistics: Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Interface\nI have no doubt that statistical packages as we know them today will continue to exist and to be used extensively. But they are not the wave of the future. ) Innovations in statistical computing and data analysis will not likely come from the developers of packages as part of their current products. First, we shall consider the capabilities and limitations of such machines as the Apple II, the TRS-SO, and the PET. Then, as preparation for looking into the future, we shall briefly examine the nature of the step from batch to interactive computing insofar as it has affected the practice of statistics.\nPersonal computers differ from most computing equipment with which we are familiar in two respects. First, since the computer is located close to the peripheral devices, the system can operate at very high data rates. Instead of the typical 30 characters per second at which terminals communicate over telephone lines with computers, a PC can communicate with nearby devices at rates up to 64 times as fast (19200 baud). An example of a program designed expressly to take advantage of high data rates is EMACS, the screen-oriented text editor developed by Project MAC.\nInteractive computing enables us to select our next command after having seen the results of its predecessor. Whereas in writing programs for batch SCPs the choice of the next command can be based only upon the expected outcomes of previous commands, in writing programs for interactive SCPs, that choice can depend on the actual outcome of earlier commands. Batch and interactive SCPs share some common structural features. In each case, programs consist of the. , output), inference (based on actual or expected output), and then command once again.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Recently I’ve learned to make simple YouTube videos and that gave me the idea to make a series of them documenting my work in learning to play the Garklein recorder. I’ve chosen one of my how-to-learn-recorder books, ‘Mario Duschenes Method for the Recorder’ and intend to record some of the tunes in it I am learning.\nBesides the videos marking my own progress, I thought it would be useful for self-study students on the recorder to hear the less-familiar tunes used in the lessons. For the student who doesn’t read music very well yet, it might be a help to hear what the music is supposed to sound like.\nFor the first video of the series, I am playing my brand-new apricot wood recorder, made by a Hungarian craftsman and purchased on Ebay. I was actually disappointed when I first got the recorder, it sounded hoarse on almost all the notes. But every day I carefully played it for 10 minutes to break it in, and after a while it started sounding very good. To the point that I’m hoping to get another recorder made by the same craftsman in a different wood.\nFor anyone else who might like to start learning to play the Garklein recorder: the instruments are available on Ebay and Amazon.com. For plastic recorders, the Aulos brand is highly recommended. My own plastic recorder is a Woodnote, and it seems to play very well. There is also a rosewood Garklein recorder available.\nBe careful, when purchasing a recorder, to be sure that it has baroque fingering. That is the best and most widely used.\nThe Garklein recorder is a recorder in the key of C, as the soprano and tenor recorders are. (The sopranino, alto and bass recorders are in the key of F.) The Garklein differs from other C recorders in having variant fingering for some of the sharps and flats, and a more limited range. Also, when my Woodnote Garklein arrived, I was dismayed that the fingering chart that came with it didn’t cover the Garklein! I had to get a fingering chart for Garklein on the internet. http://www.recorder-fingerings.com/en/Div.php?f=P&t=aBar.0Gk.!a&Aus=ClGk\nAnyway, welcome to my adventure of the Garklein Recorder Project. Enjoy the ride.", "label": "No"} {"text": "What different kinds of books are in the New Testament? When, how, and why were they written? And why did some books, and not others, come to be collected into what Christians came to consider the canon of scripture that would define their belief for all time? With these 12 lectures, get a fast-moving yet thorough introduction to these and other key issues in the development of Christianity. Designed to deepen the understanding of both Christians and non-Christians alike, this lecture series takes as its perspective the historical, rather than the theological, issues behind the development of the Bible. And it's an illuminating perspective, indeed, ranging across issues of language, oral history, the physical limitations of spreading the written word at a time when the printing press lay far in the future, and, of course, the theological forces that were shaping Christianity, molding a commonly accepted canon from the various expressions of the faith spreading across the ancient world. Professor Ehrman recreates the context of the times in which the canon was being assembled so that you can understand what the message of each written work would have meant to ancient Christians. You'll come to see how the diverse books of the New Testament were gathered together into the form we now know, whether it's the four canonical Gospels (whose authorship was only attributed by later Christians), the book of Acts, the 21 Epistles, or the book of Revelation (sometimes called the Apocalypse of John).\nThese lectures are a compelling introduction not only to the development of the Christian canon, but to all of the forces that would play a role in early Christian history.\nPLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.\n©2005 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2005 The Great Courses\nI disagree a bit with the previous reviewer in that although there are iTunes U courses that are excellent, Prof. Ehrman is the top of his field. I very much enjoyed the lecture series, Prof. Ehrman is an excellent lecturer and presents information in a clear and interesting way. I enjoyed this course more than the books, but I prefer to hear history and science in lecture form.\nI highly recommend this lecture series if you are interested in the subject. I feel prof. Ehrman presents the subject in a fair and objective light, he is only presenting his academic studies and is not teaching a sermon or ranting against religion.\nThis book has too much overlap with other courses by this same lecturer. If you've already heard the others, it's not as good as his lectures on the early Christian church and the ones on the controversies of the Bible. I was hoping for new or more information than what I got in the other lectures.That being said, as a whole, good information. Ehrman is a good lecturer.\nStudent of philosophy & religion. Christian theist. Graphic designer. Musician. Golfer. Writer.\nMAIN POINT: The content should've been more focused on the \"making\" of the canon as opposed to a quasi-survey of the canon. Ehrman's \"The New Testament\" course covers almost the same exact material with just a little more detail.\nEhrman starts the second to last lecture reminding listeners that it was (I'm paraphrasing) a long and detailed history leading up to the selection and discrimination of books. Yes, Bart! That's why I bought your course. I wanted to learn about that part of Christian history in particular. Problem is, he spends an inordinate amount of time (75%) walking listeners through historical discrepancies in the gospels, pseudonymous Pauline epistles, scribal errors, orthodox corruption, conflicting theologies, et cetera. All interesting topics.. WHICH SHOULD BE AND WERE COVERED IN DETAIL DURING 'THE NEW TESTAMENT' COURSE! Direct listeners, if they would like to learn more about those areas, to purchase that course.\nThis course could've briefly touched on those issues to show there are prior questions one should be asking of the New Testament as well, but it should've focused primarily on particular arguments, detailed interactions with patristic fathers and other \"heretics\", from the second to fourth centuries, culminating in the Athanasian canon.\nEhrman is a fine scholar of the New Testament and a great expositor of tricky textual and interpretive issues. I've learned a lot from him. But he has particular pet project areas he focuses on, and it seems to dominate his lecturing style. I feel like he is constantly trying to prove the same things over and over again, even when what he's looking to prove doesn't exactly fit the course aim.\nA scholarly and historical (not devotional) perspective on how the New testament came to exist in its present form. The course is a lecture series given by premier Bible Scholar Bartrand Ehrman. If you're looking for an objective view into the history of the Bible and Christianity, I highly recommend this series.\nI liked the historical context of the lectures and how they detailed the writing of the books in the New Testament.\nWhat I didn't like was that there seemed to be an undertone of doubt about the validity of any of the books. Prof. Ehrman began the lectures by stating that any two texts that were virtually identical in subject, writing style, or account could almost certainly be considered copies of eachother. (he went into a very convincing example in his lecture) He references several corresponding accounts in the gospels that he supposes had to be copied from other resources. Later, though, Ehrman references discrepancies in accounts of the same events in different gospels and uses this as reason to doubt the validity of scripture. I think a reasonable doubt is healthy when digesting any information, but you can't have it both ways. Ehrman is suggesting that similarities in scripture are reason to doubt their validity, and again later suggesting that discrepancies are reason to discredit.\nThese lectures are written from a historical perspective, not a theologic one. That said, it still seems that the goal of the lectures isn't only to educate about the writing, assembly, and preservation of the New Testament.\nKnowledgable, Informative, Biased\nI would like to see a point by point rebuttal from a biblical historical perspective. After independently researching many points made in the lectures and finding that they weren't entirely based in fact, I would love to listen to lectures that are based on biblical explanations.\nProf. Bart Ehman, is at least to me, is who makes an interesting subject very understandable. He is very neutral in his delivery & while also being very thorough. I am 73 & have never understood the Bible. The Great Courses are most helpful to me as I very much enjoy the academic approach. So far I have purchased some 10, or more, Great Courses books. Prof Ehman is so interesting to me I will soon listen again. I have another of his to listen to first. He is excellent!\nPaul is my favorite character as he appears after the life of Christ. In fact Paul seems to have taken the lead over the Gospel writers.\nNo, to my this was my first experience with Professor Ehrman, but I will check. At any rate he was very, very good!\nYes, I planned on a complete listen to this particular book & was successful. I usually listen in sections.(my medicines make me sleepy but Prof. Ehrman kept me listening!)\nI am very glad I have found the \"Great Courses\" as they allow me to be exposed to many subjects from science to religion that I missed in my youth! I enjoy the Great Courses very much.\nThis audio lecture only discusses the canonization of the Bible towards the end.. pretty much the last two lectures.\nSo if you have read some ot the author's other books, you will probably gain less info than expected. .. other than that, interesting as always!\nThis was a great listen, and Beat Ehrman is respected as a leading expert on biblical history. Be aware, though, that this is much more if an introduction to the topic. I'd prefer a course that was twice as long and twice as in-depth.\n\"An important and objective overview\"\nWell argued ands=6,9??2÷@@@! clearly delivered. A far bit of overlap with the later book \"The historical Jesus\" but still enough different content to remain interesting and informative.\nReport Inappropriate Content", "label": "No"} {"text": "Dublin, Ireland: The archaeological site of Kilmainham-Islandbridge in Dublin “…is now demonstrably the largest burial complex of its type in western Europe, Scandinavia excluded”. This has come after a massive 15 year project making sense of the archaeology under Dublin’s streets with results expected to be published in an 800 page report titled ‘Viking Graves and Grave Goods in Ireland.’\nThe majority of artefacts which have been located on either side of the Rivers Liffey and Poddle have already been dated to between AD 841-902, one of the earliest known periods of dense settlement in Dublin by Vikings. Most of the burials discovered are of the more aristocratic members of society and Archaeologists state that this is a sure sign of the wealth and importance of Dublin at the time.\nSpeaking to the Irish Times, Archaeologist Linzi Simpson explained “The annals record these vast numbers of warriors coming to Dublin, and recent work is now matching that with the archaeology. We used to think the annals were prone to exaggeration, and maybe the Vikings weren’t so bad. But now there is a swing towards, ‘Jeepers, they were fairly catastrophic.’”\nVikings were first spotted off the coast of Ireland in AD 792, three years before the English monastery at Lindisfarne was destroyed by them for the first time. Raids on Inishbofin, Rathlin and Inishmurray followed soon after. Researchers associated with the Dublin discovery believe that such raids on both Ireland, Scotland and England began as exploratory expeditions which would ultimately result in larger scale settlement. The wealth that they found in Ireland led to Dublin morphing into one of the key centres of trade in 9th century Europe.\n- Archaeologists find Beowulf’s Hall in Lejre (ahgray.wordpress.com)\n- Early 8th Century boat burial found near Estonia (ahgray.wordpress.com)\n- ‘Are we there yet?’ (ahgray.wordpress.com)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Awapuni Landfill (Palmerston North)\nMethane gas captured from the retired landfill generates electricity for the Awapuni Resource Recovery Centre and the nearby Wastewater Treatment Plant. Electricity is also generated from sludge digesters at the wastewater treatment plant. This uses a biological process to create methane gas from sewage sludge. This gas is then fed into the gas generator to produce more electricity. It has been claimed that over 75% of Palmerston North City Council's electricity can be generated from waste products in this way.\nAwapuni Landfill closed in 2004.\nConfiguration 1 X 1 MW TBG620 engine CHP\nFuel: landfill gas\nE/G supplier: Deutz\nEPC: Energen Solutions\nQuick facts: The City Council uses the bulk of the electricity output from this plant to power the Totara Road Wastewater Treatment Plant. $1.2mn of funding was supplied from the Austrian Government, which paid the City Council to reduce greenhouse gas emission from the landfill under its Kyoto Protocol agreement. Dificulties have since arisen (see web-links).", "label": "No"} {"text": "Adams County, North Dakota Records\nAdams County, North Dakota (Map It) was created on April 17, 1907 from Hettinger County. The county was named in honor of John Quincy Adams, a railroad agent and cousin of the former president who was instrumental in having the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway built through North Dakota..\nAdams County is bordered by Hettinger County (north), Grant County (northeast), Sioux County (east), Perkins County, South Dakota (south), Harding County, South Dakota (southwest), Bowman County (west), Slope County.\nAdams County Cities and Towns include Bucyrus, Haynes, Hettinger, Reeder.\nAdams County Townships include Beisigl, Bucyrus, Chandler, Clermont, Darling Springs, Duck Creek, Gilstrap, Hettinger, Lightning Creek, Maine, Orange, Reeder, Scott, South Fork, Taylor Butte, Wolf Butte. A Map of Adams County, North Dakota contains detailed information about roads and boundaries, these maps may include rural communities, churches, and cemeteries.\nAdams County, North Dakota Courthouse Records\nAdams County, ND Courthouse\nThe Clerk's Office DOES NOT DO RESEARCH. Most staff will assist people in finding the materials, but it is up to the individual to do the research.\nThe following dates indicates what vital, land, probate, and court records are in Adams county. The date listed for each record is usually the earliest registration filed. The date does not indicate that there are alot records for that year and does not mean that all such events were actually filed with the clerk. Some records have been transferred to the State Archives and Historical Research Library.\n- Adams County Register of Deeds / Recorder has Land Records from 1907. The County Register of Deeds / Recorder keeps a record of each patent, deed, mortgage, bill of sale and any document related to these transactions, insuring a permanent record of property ownership; Copies of divorce records.\n- Adams County Clerk of Courts has Marriage Records from 1907, Probate Records from 1907 and Court Records from 1907. The County Clerk of Courts responsibilities include issuing Marriage Licenses and filing of Civil, Probate, Small Claims, Criminal Cases and Child Support Court Documents.\nAdams County, North Dakota Census Records\n- Learn More: State of North Dakota Census Records\n- U.S. Federal Population Schedules: 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940\n- U.S. Indian Census Records: 1885-1940, Eastern Cherokee - 1908-1910\n- Territorial and State Censuses: 1885, 1915, 1925\n- U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules: None\n- Selected U.S. Federal Census Agriculture Schedules: None\n- Selected U.S. Federal Census Industry Schedules: None\n- Union Veterans Schedules: None\nAdams County, North Dakota Vital Records\n- Learn More: State of North Dakota Vital Records\n- Birth Records: from 1870 to present. The years 1870 to 1920 are incomplete.\n- Marriage Records: from June 1958 to present\n- Death Records: from 1893 to present. Years from 1894 to 1920 are incomplete.\n- Locations: North Dakota Division of Vital Records\n- Vital Records Online: USAVital or Social Security Death Index\n- Vital Records by Mail: Birth Certificate or Death Certificate Applications.\n- In Person: ND Department of Health, Division of Vital Records, 600 East Boulevard Avenue, Dept. 301, Bismarck, ND 58505-0200\nAdams County, North Dakota Resources\n- Dakota Buttes Historical Society, c/o Ceil Anne Clement, P.O. Box 1273, Hettinger, ND 58639, 701-567-4218\n- Adams County, North Dakota Message Boards\nAdams County, North Dakota External Links\n- Historical Newspapers from North Dakota (1879–1923)\n- Adams County, North Dakota Books - Amazon\n- Adams Co., North Dakota - FindaGrave\n- Adams County, North Dakota Links - Cyndi's List\n- Adams Co. NDGenweb\n- Adams County, North Dakota Ancestry Database Collections\n- Adams County, North Dakota Military Records", "label": "No"} {"text": "Last week, The Cube hosted Robotics in the classroom, a professional development workshop for educators, facilitated by Peter Kellett. Peter provided a hands-on look at how LEGO Education EV3 robotics can be used in the curriculum, with a focus on FIRST® LEGO® League and other FIRST® programs.\nAs an educator in the field of classroom ICT, Peter discussed unit development, structure and assessment techniques using his robotics program at Grace Lutheran College as a case study.\nPeter is a regional partner for FIRST® in Queensland and currently directs the FIRST® LEGO® League Brisbane Bayside tournament. Throughout the evening, Peter shared suggested approaches for teams competing in this year’s FIRST® LEGO® League ‘Trash Trek’ challenge.\nPeter also discussed direct links between FIRST® LEGO® League and the Australian Curriculum and reviewed how the competition can be incorporated into lesson planning. You can view FIRST® LEGO® League curriculum links here. Thanks to the Robotics@QUT Caboolture team for compiling and sharing this great resource.\nAnd a final thanks to Peter for facilitating a fantastic and informative evening!\nFor further information on FIRST® LEGO® League visit the FIRST® LEGO® website.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Women at War in Ukrainian Conflict\n(1) Female fighters have been active members of both warring sides since the outbreak of the conflict. Women participating in the eastern Ukrainian conflict represent all walks of life and have different reasons to take up arms.\nAbove: A Ukrainian servicewoman stands in Horlivka, September 18, 2014.\n(2) As of 2013, almost 10,000 women have completed military service in Ukraine’s Armed Forces as contract soldiers, with more than 1,600 positioned as officers.\nAbove: A Ukrainian servicewoman Stella, 33, poses for a picture in the village of Schastya, near the eastern Ukrainian town of Luhansk, September 26, 2014.\n(3) A lot of DPR and LPR female freedom fighters are now seeking to retaliate after losing relatives in the conflict.\nAbove: A woman fighting for the self-proclaimed DPR, poses with her weapon in Donetsk, September 10, 2014.\n(4) Some women are medical attendants or cooks, but others fight shoulder to shoulder with men.\nAbove: Members of Rus batallion’s female division during shooting drills.\n(5) After undergoing military training, they join units, even serving in artillery sections.\nAbove: A DPR female soldier at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Horlivka.\n(6) The freedom fighters remark that female soldiers are disciplined and surprisingly brave, calling them “true women”.\nAbove: A woman fighting on the side of the self-proclaimed DPR, Donetsk, September 8, 2014.\n(7) A lot of women were forced to remain with their elderly parents who could not evacuate because of poor health and old age. Consequently their daughters decided to take up arms.\nAbove: A woman fighting for the self-proclaimed DPR in the town of Nizhnaya Krynka, eastern Ukraine, September 23, 2014.\n(8) Some admit they are more fearful of sitting at home and enduring shelling than fighting an enemy face to face.\nAbove: A woman fighting on the side of the self-proclaimed DPR in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, September 17, 2014.\n(9) Women claim the freedom fighters treat them as equals.\nAbove: A woman fighting for the self-proclaimed LPR in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, September 14, 2014.\n(10) Before the outbreak of the conflict Irina was a croupier and never imagined herself waging a war. Now, her life is at stake…\nAbove: Irina, nicknamed Gaika, former croupier, turned to the artillery specialist at the DPR Army, Makiivka, eastern Ukraine, October 6, 2014.\n(11) “So many people including children and women died on our side. I want no more ceasefire.”\nAbove: Alla, nicknamed Ryzhaya (the Red-haired), a independence fighter, poses during an interview in the town of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, October 5, 2014.\n(12) War turns everyone into a soldier. It is not surprising to see yesterday’s housewife in a bulletproof vest and helmet, holding a semi-automatic gun.\nAbove: Ukrainian servicewoman Nadie, 36, stands at the military camp in the village of Luhanska (near the town of Luhansk), eastern Ukraine September 24, 2014.\n(13) Anyway, women are women, and a handgun often neighbors a make-up set on their tables.\nAbove: Irina, a petrol station employee, is now a member of a reconnaissance team of freedom fighters in the town of Makiivka, eastern Ukraine, October 6, 2014.\n(14) Warring women say that they lack respect toward men who dodge fighting.\nAbove: A female freedom fighter gets ready to take position near the International Airport during fighting with Ukrainian government forces in the town of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, October 4, 2014.\nTHANKS TO RIANOVOSTI!", "label": "No"} {"text": "Barentsburg is situated at the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between Norway and the North Pole with strategic access in the Barents Sea to vital sea lanes linking Russia, Western Europe and North America. As sea ice vanishes and the Arctic Ocean grows ever more accessible, Svalbard’s geopolitical value has soared. Due to climate change and record-low levels of ice, a ship was able to navigate the Arctic Ocean north of Russia for the very first time during wintertime this year.\nThe Svalbard Treaty of 1920 gave the previously unclaimed islands to Norway but allowed any country to perform mining and other economic activity. The Russian state-owned Trust Arktikugol has been mining coal here since 1932, and during the Cold War Barentsburg was a veritable hotbed of activity as the Russians attempted to expand their zone of control over the islands. A total of 570 people (mostly Ukranians) now live in the settlement of Barentsburg and the Russian company Arktikugol has since the early 1930s extracted coal on the archipelago. The mine closed in 2006 after concerns over an underground fire breaking out, but resumed production in late 2010. Barentsburg’s 480-meter-deep, high-sulfur coal mine produces elevated levels of methane gas. Several deadly explosions and fires have occurred over the years.\nEmissions from burning coal for heat and energy fuel global warming, making coal the single greatest threat to our climate. Coal mining is also a source of methane, a very potent global warming gas.\nOn the hillside above Barentsburg is a five-pointed star and the Communist-era slogan Миру Мир/Miru Mir, or \"Peace to the World”. Barentsburg in its heyday “embodied the Soviet ideal,” everything was free for the workers, there was full employment and no hierarchy. The mines on Svalbard were used as exhibition pieces for socialism.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In today's lesson, the students learn to find equivalent fractions. This aligns with 4.NF.A1 because the students will explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves are the same size.\nTo begin the lesson, I give each student a piece of white paper and two crayons. These materials are used to help the students discover the meaning of equivalent fractions. I also have a piece of paper and two crayons. First, I direct the students to fold the piece of paper in half. I fold my paper to give the students a visual of which direction to fold the paper. I want all of the papers the same so that the students will clearly see the equivalent fractions. I explain to students that fractions are equal pieces, so we must line the paper up evenly to have the same size pieces. The students open the paper. I ask, \"How many pieces do you see?\" The students respond that there are two pieces. I let them know that this is the denonimator, which is the bottom number of the fraction. (The students should be familiar with the terms denominator and numerator from 3rd grade. I just review it to refresh their memories.) Next, I direct the students to color the top half of the paper with one of their crayons. I color the top part of my paper along with the students. I feel that is is important for teachers to model for the students. I ask, \"How many pieces are shaded?\" The students respond one. \"What fraction of the paper is shaded?\" The students respond one-half. I instruct the students to write the fraction 1/2 at the bottom of the paper. Upon completing this, the students fold the paper into fourths. On the back of the paper, the students shade two of the pieces with the other crayon. (Make sure the students are shading the top section of the paper - this should be on the opposite side of the paper were they shaded the one half.) I ask, \"What fraction is shaded?\" The students respond 2/4.\nOur lesson for today is equivalent fractions. I direct the students to look at the two fractions. I ask, \"What do you notice about the 1/2 and 2/4?\" I give the students a few minutes to think about this. \"Share your thoughts with your neighbor.\" I walk around to listen in on what the students are saying to their neighbors. Some responses I hear: I notice that both of them look like 1/2, and I notice that they both look like 2/4 on both sides. I share these responses with the whole class and ask \"who is right?\" The majority knew that both were correct. If we are talking about equivalent fractions, somebody tell me, based upon what we just did, \"What is an equivalent fraction?\" The student that I call on shares with the class that equivalent fractions are two fractions that are even. I ask the class is \"even\" the correct word to use. Another student corrects this by saying \"equal\" is the correct word.\nI let the students know that today we will find equivalent fractions using models and objects.\nAfter the opening activity, I bring the class back together as a whole to discuss equivalent fractions. I let the students know that today, we learn how to create equivalent fractions. This aligns with 4.NF.A1 because the students explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction models. The students use multiplication and division to find equivalent fractions. The fraction strips are used to give a visual of the equivalent fractions.\nBefore discussing Equivalent Fractions.pptx, I wanted to clear up a misconception that I heard while walking around the room to listen to the students discuss the two shaded fractions. (I addressed this misconception with the two students immediately, but I wanted to bring it before the whole class because I want to make sure that there are no other students with the same misconception.)\nWhen discussing the shaded fractions, I heard two students say that one side shaded was the whole (the side with the shaded 1/2) and the other side is half of the whole (the side with the shaded 2/4). I wanted to clear that up before we got any further into the lesson. My question to those two students was, \"How is that a whole when you shaded it from part of something?\" I wanted them to understand the concept of what a fraction actually means. \"It is a part of a whole.\"\nI explain to the class that the sheet of paper is the \"whole.\" A fraction is a part of a whole. If you have a pizza, the pizza is the whole. The slices would be a fraction of the whole pizza.\nWhen you are dealing with fractions, if you are trying to figure out if they are equivalent, they must have the same whole. (I hold up a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 copy paper and a piece of 9 x 12 construction paper.) I can't use these two pieces of paper to shade 1/2 and 2/4 because the construction paper is larger than the copy paper. That is not the same whole. The 1/2 on the construction paper is larger than the 1/2 on the copy paper. (I demonstrate by folding the construction paper and comparing it with 1/2 of the copy paper.) This gives the students a conceptual understanding that we must use the same whole when finding equivalent fractions.\nOn the Smart board, I show the students fraction strips of 1/2 and 2/4. The students see from the fraction strips that these two fractions are equivalent. (This is another visual for the students to see that 1/2 and 2/4 are equivalent.) Beneath those two fractions, I have 6 fraction boxes. I ask, \"How many would we have to shade to equal 1/2 and 2/4?\" I call on a student and she says that we shade three boxes. I shade the boxes for the students to see. \"Are they equivalent?\" They all say yes. \"What is this fraction?\" The majority of the students yell out 3/6. However, I heard someone say 6/3. \"The bottom number, which is the denominator, is always the total number of pieces,\" I explain again to help this student understand the denominator.\nIf we look at 1/2, 2/4, and 3/6, we should be able to notice something. The students notice the pattern with the fractions. One student says that the top number is counting up 1, 2, and 3. Another student notices that the denominator is counting up by 2's. \"If this pattern continues, what would be the next equivalent fraction?\" I give the students a minute to think about this question. One of my students who tries to hide behind other students when working in groups, raised his hand to answer the question. \"The top number is 4 and the bottom number is 8.\" I probe further by asking, \"What is the name of that fraction?\" He says 4 over 8. Another student added, 'It is four eighths.\" I explain to the students that we can also find equivalent fractions by using multiplication or division. If my fraction is 1/2, I can find an equivalent fraction by multiplying the top number and the bottom number by the same number. You can use any number other than 1. \"Who can tell me why we can't use the number 1 to multiply or divide?\" I was proud that the students remembered their property of one, which says that any number multiplied by 1 equals that same number. If I pick the number 2, then I multiply 1 x 2 = 2 and 2 x 2 = 4. This shows you that 1/2 is equivalent to 2/4. When you do this, you must make sure you use the same number for the numerator and denominator. (The students will see the connection between multiplying to find equivalent fractions and get a visual of this when they use fraction strips for their hands-on activity.)\nI reinforce to the students that in equivalent fractions, we must refer to the same whole. If you have 1/2 of something, I have 2/4, and another person has 3/6, we all have the same amount if we are talking about the same whole. \"You can't have a large pizza and I have a small pizza, and we say we have the same amount if I have 2/4 and you have 1/2. That is not going to be true because you are going to have more than me if you have a large pizza and I have a small pizza. My 2/4 will be smaller than your 1/2. It has to be the same size and the same shape.\nI give the students practice on this skill by letting them work together. I find that collaborative learning is vital to the success of students. Students learn from each other by justifying their answers and critiquing the reasoning of others.\nFor this activity, I put the students in pairs. I give each pair an activity sheet and fraction strips. The students must work together to find equivalent fractions using fraction strips (MP5). The students must use the fraction strips to show the equivalent fractions. Also, the students use multiplication or division to find equivalent fractions. By the end of the lesson, each student should know how to multiply or divide to find equivalent fractions. The fraction strips should be used as a resource to check their answers. For example, if they say 1/2 and 2/4 are equivalent, they should show this by placing the fraction strips to show that they are equivalent.\nThe students are guided to the conceptual understanding through questioning by their classmates, as well as by me. The students communicate with each other and must agree upon the answer to the problem. Because the students must agree upon the answer, this will take discussion, critiquing, and justifying of answers by both students. As the pairs discuss the problem, they must be precise in their communication within their groups using the appropriate math terminology for this skill. As I walk around, I am listening for the students to use \"talk\" that will lead to the answer. I am holding the students accountable for their own learning.\nAs they work, I monitor and assess their progression of understanding through questioning.\n1. Can you multiply the numerator and denominator by different numbers?\n2. Do the fraction strips show that the fractions are equivalent?\n3. What number should you not use when multiplying or dividing to find equivalent fractions?\n4. Explain how you came up with your answer.\nAs I walked around the classroom, I heard the students communicate with each other about the assignment. I hear the classroom chatter and constant discussion among the students. Before Common Core, I thought that a quiet class working out of the book was the ideal class. Now, I am amazed at some of the conversation going on in the classroom between the students.\nAny groups that finish the assignment early, can go to the computer to practice the skill at the following site until we are ready for the whole group sharing: http://www.softschools.com/math/fractions/equivalent_fractions/games/\nEach pair was able to find some equivalent fractions using multiplication or division. I noticed that finding equivalent fractions with multiplication was easier for the students than division. Some students (who still do not know their multiplication facts) were having a hard time finding a number that could divide evenly into the numerator and denominator. The fraction strips helped the students determine if the fraction they found was actually equivalent or not.\nTo close the lesson, I have one or two students share their answers. This gives those students who still do not understand another opportunity to learn it. I like to use my document camera to show the students' work during this time. Some students do not understand what is being said, but understand clearly when the work is put up for them to see.\nI feel that by closing each of my lessons by having students share their work is very important to the success of the lesson. Students need to see good work samples, as well as work that may have incorrect information. More than one student may have had the same misconception. During the closing of the lesson, all misconceptions that were spotted during the group activity will be addressed whole class.\nTo assess how well the students learned the skill, I give them an Exit Ticket to complete before leaving my classroom. On the Smartboard, I write the fraction 2/10.\nThe students use their own paper to find an equivalent fraction for 2/10. I collect the papers as the students exit my classroom to go to their next class.\nOut of 26 students in my homeroom class, 17 students were able to give me an equivalent fraction. The remaining 9 students struggled with the concept. I will work with the 9 struggling students in small group the next day while the other students are completing their \"Do Now\" assignment at the beginning of class.", "label": "No"} {"text": "This is the story of the manuscript that was, until 12:30 PM this afternoon, known as Boston Public Library MS f Med. 203. It is a late fourteenth-century collection of statutes governing a Venetian confraternity, a type of manuscript known as a “mariegola.” Today, it was formally returned to the Republic of Italy by the United States Government.\nAt the outset, I want to thank Lyle Humphrey (North Carolina Museum of Art) for sharing her own work on the mariegola with me and for a very congenial and productive collaboration on this project over the last several years. (n.b. portions of this post appeared in print in the December 2012 Newsletter of the Massachusetts Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies)\nFirst, some background. In Renaissance Venice, confraternities and workmen’s guilds played a fundamental role in religious, social and civic life. These groups promoted religious life but were independent of the church and offered an alternative form of service for church members who did not want to commit themselves to the strict behaviors of monastic or convent life. Perhaps the most celebrated incarnation of the Venetian confraternity was the scuola dei battuti (literally the gathering “of the beaten”), whose organizing principle was to atone for the sins of humanity by engaging in periodic, public self-flagellation. These lay societies celebrated religious feasts, funerals, and other special days by putting on white hooded processional robes and marching through the streets of Venice scourging themselves.\nThe Scuola della Valverde, also known as the Scuola di Santa Maria della Misericordia, was one such organization. Founded in 1308 on Valverde, an island on the north shore of Venice, the original fourteenth-century church and meetinghouse were replaced in the fifteenth century and updated again in the seventeenth, such that only remnants of the original buildings survive today. Some of the medieval artwork from the compound survives as well, such as the fifteenth-century tympanum that stood above the door to the confraternity house and is now at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (above).\nIn this sculptured relief, the Blessed Virgin Mary stands, the infant Jesus on her chest, metaphorically sheltering a group of confraternity brethren beneath her outstretched cloak. The Virgin is their protectress and intercessor. Behind her is the Tree of Jesse, a symbolic representation of the family tree tracing Jesus’ descent from King David (Jesse’s son) in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah that the messiah would come from the line of Jesse.\nAlthough artwork such as the tympanum reminded the brothers of the spiritual foundations of the confraternity, like any organization, the Scuola needed earthly rules and regulations in order to run smoothly. The book laying out the rules of a confraternity such as this was called a mariegola, a word whose origin is not entirely understood but that may be a conflation of “Mary” and “regola” (rules). Mariegole texts and decoration have much to tell us about the spiritual, moral, aesthetic, and professional concerns of confraternity members, who represented a large, diverse segment of the Venetian populace. Handwritten in the local vernacular – that is, the 14th-century Venetian dialect of Italian – and lavishly illuminated, mariegola manuscripts were treasured by their patrons.\nAs part of my work cataloguing the more than 250 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts belonging to the Boston Public Library back in 2010-2012, I encountered a beautifully illuminated fourteenth-century manuscript that had been tentatively identified as a mariegola used by the Scuola della misericordia on Valverde, although there was no physical evidence to confirm this identification. At the time, it was known as manuscript f Med. 203. The manuscript comprises three sections that may or may not have been originally bound together: the original late fourteenth-century mariegola; additions up to the year 1505; and a blank register intended as a place for the brethren to sign their names.\nThe first section is of greatest interest. Most of the twenty-six illuminated initials in this section contain busts of saints, priests, or confraternity members, who are sometimes shown gazing toward and pointing to the statute they illustrate. Some contain images that refer directly to the rules that they introduce, such as the one on folio 8v (at right) of a Saint holding a votive candle that illustrates the chapter governing the use of candles in confraternity ritual.\nThe initial on folio 6, a hooded man holding a small sack, illustrates the chapter governing the storage of the confraternity’s gold and other treasure. On folio 20v, a brother delivers a small sack to an invalid, demonstrating the requirement that brothers should bring aid to the sick. The most fascinating initials, however, are those on folios 7v and 32v (at left) that illustrate not the chapter they accompany but the general commandment of self-mortification. Each brother wears the traditional white robe of the battuti with an opening in the back exposing flesh that is already bloodied from the scourge.\nMost mariegole are not illustrated so thoroughly. But they do all have one thing in common: every known mariegola began with an elaborate, full-page painting related to the philosophy and work of the confraternity. There is no elaborately gilt full-page frontispiece in the BPL mariegola. The dark shadows on the verso of the blank flyleaf (below left) are mirror-image offsets of gold leaf, proving that there once was a frontispiece that has since gone missing. Frontispieces such as this are often removed from mariegole manuscripts to be sold as works of art in their own right, and there are many such frontispieces to be found in galleries, museums, and private collections around the world. In 1905, a mariegola frontispiece said to be from the Valverde scuola was reproduced by Pompeo Molmenti in his book, La storia di Venezia nella vita privata; there can be no doubt that it is the missing frontispiece:\nNot only are the offsets on the Boston Public Library flyleaf a perfect match for the gold in the miniature, but the icongraphy of the Virgin Mary in the initial is identical to the imagery in the Scuola’s later tympanum (above). In addition, the missing frontispiece names the Scuola and gives the date of the manuscript in Roman numerals in a cartouche at the top: MCCCLXXXXII. This discovery confirmed that the BPL manuscript was without doubt a mariegola from the Valverde scuola written in 1392.\nWhen dealing with medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, one rule to keep in mind is that scribes almost always arranged their sheets of parchment such that the often dark, yellowish “hair side” of the parchment faced the corresponding side of the next sheet, as opposed to facing the lighter, smoother “flesh side.” This aesthetic consideration, designed to create a consistently-colored and –textured opening across facing pages, is a very useful feature for studying manuscripts, because when one opens a book and sees hair side facing flesh side, it can be assumed that something is amiss, and that a leaf has been added or is missing.\nAs it was configured when I first encountered it, the BPL mariegola was full of hair-side-facing-flesh-side openings. In addition, many leaves had gilt offsets that did not match their facing pages. Looking closely, however, it was possible to identify pairs of illuminated leaves and their matching offsets that were separated by as many as twenty-five leaves. Even so, there remained several leaves without a matching facing leaf. Not only was the manuscript misbound, but it was also incomplete.\nCombining the process of matching offsets with other codicological evidence, I was able to reconstruct much of the original order of the leaves. But with limited Italian language skills, and certainly no training in fourteenth-century Venetian, I was unable to re-sequence leaves that had no gilt initials and had reached a dead end. As it turns out, as I was working on the codicological puzzle that is the BPL mariegola, a scholar named Lyle Humphrey was solving its textual mysteries as part of her doctoral dissertation. In a marathon brainstorming phone conversation one night, we managed, by combining my codicological data with her textual clues, to completely reconstruct the mariegola’s original codicological structure. By the time we were done, we calculated that, in addition to the missing frontispiece, there were eleven leaves still unaccounted for. That explains the BPL leaves that had no offset – they were originally facing leaves that were now missing. Four of those missing leaves formerly belonged to the Toledo Museum of Art (with thanks to Scott Gwara for their identification) and have since been repatriated; another was sold at Christie’s Auction House and then by London dealer Sam Fogg in 1994 and remains untraced.\nAs thrilling as those discoveries were, the four Toledo leaves revealed yet another issue to be resolved. The rubrics in the BPL manuscript include chapter titles only, but no chapter numbers. The Toledo leaves, on the other hand, do include chapter numbers, numbers that have been scraped away from the BPL leaves. Examination of the scraped sections under ultraviolet light revealed that the perpetrator of this abuse not only took a blade to the ink, he actually used some kind of cleanser to completely remove every trace of the original chapter numbers, making the erasures impossible to read.\nAll was not lost, however. Additional ultraviolet exposure led to the discovery of seventeenth-century foliation in the extreme upper right corner of each leaf, now written over by modern pencil but partially legible. The numbers were legible enough, in fact, to allow us to confirm that our proposed reconstruction was correct:\nOriginal quire structure, giving current (i.e. misbound) folio numbers and incorporating the missing leaves, those formerly belonging to the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA), and one sold by Sam Fogg (now untraced)\nAfter all this, we knew quite a lot about this manuscript. We knew it was written in 1392 at the Venetian Scuola de Santa Maria della Misericordia di Valverde; we knew it originally had an elaborate illuminated frontispiece; we knew the original order of the pages and had identified some of the missing leaves. Others of the missing leaves were reproduced in part in a publication of 1886, so at least we had some record of them. But we still hadn’t answered one of the most important and interesting questions one can ask about a pre-modern European manuscript in an American collection: how did it get there? How did this manuscript get from 14th-century Venice to 21st-Century Boston?\nLet’s start at the beginning. We know that the manuscript was written in Venice for the use of the confraternity, in 1392. We also know that it was used continuously by the brothers until at least 1505, because section 2 includes entries up to that date. Soon after the final entry was made in 1505, the manuscript probably fell out of use to be replaced by one of the later surviving mariegolas. The brothers kept it as a treasured relic until Napoleon ordered the dissolution of all such religious organizations in 1803, at which point the confraternity’s books and manuscripts were transferred to the Archivio di Stato in Venice.\nTwo English-speaking scholars published descriptions of the manuscript in the nineteenth century, having studied it at the Archive: Edward Cheney wrote about the manuscript in 1867, and described the binding as “the original dark calf, ornamented with brass clasps and knobs.” Travel-writer John Ruskin, in a letter of 1877, described the initials as “of no great artistic merit; but fairly good, and of unusual interest in giving for the initial letter of every rule, a picture of the due performance of it.”\nIn 1879, the manuscript went on permanent display in the Archive’s Queen Margerita Hall. It was described in the catalogue of 1880 as a “Mariegola of the Scuola di S. Maria di Valverde della Misericordia; parchment codex from the fourteenth century.” The catalogue goes on to describe the missing frontispiece: “The first page is illustrated with prophets and other saints surrounding the image of Christ bound to a column with brothers bowing before him. A large initial shows the Virgin with the infant upon her chest, sheltering a group of brothers beneath her mantel. The 42 chapters are illustrated with figures of saints, people and animals; original binding of brown calf with brass.”\nWe’ve just learned several rather important facts. In 1880, the manuscript still had its frontispiece. In 1867 and again in 1880, the binding of the manuscript was described as the original binding of brown calfskin over wooden boards with brass cornerpieces, probably dating from the early sixteenth century, shortly after the final additions were made to the manuscript. Unfortunately, that isn’t what the binding looked like when I studied the manuscript back in 2012. Instead, it was bound in heavily-worn modern blue silk over pasteboard. These nineteenth-century descriptions tell us that the manuscript was in its original binding, with its frontispiece intact, until at least 1880.\nThe mariegola, in its original binding and sequence, continued to live in its exhibit case until World War II. In the late 1940s, the Archive’s exhibit was taken down for safekeeping, at which point several manuscripts – including the mariegola – disappeared. In the 1950s, a list of missing items was compiled and sent to the local police. The thieves were captured and incarcerated. But by then, the trail had grown cold and the manuscripts were presumed lost.\nWe simply don’t know for sure what happened next. What is clear is that when the manuscript resurfaced in the 1950s in the United States, the frontispiece was gone (having disappeared before 1905, when it was published as a detached single leaf); at least eleven leaves were missing; and the manuscript had been removed from its original binding, the leaves mis-ordered with the chapter numbers erased to hide the fact, and the remnant rebound in blue silk-covered boards. I can only speculate that this work was done by an unscrupulous bookdealer trying to hide the manuscript’s origins or at the very least to disguise the fact that the frontispiece and many other leaves were missing. In this woe-begotten state, the manuscript may have next come into the hands of a collector named Mieczyslaw Zagajski, whose bookplate is affixed inside the front cover.\nMieczyslaw Zagajski was a Warsaw industrialist and well-known collector of art and Judaica in Poland. Born in 1895, he began amassing his collection in the 1920s while still a student. Eventually he housed his massive collection of silver, textiles, books, manuscripts and paintings, in six rooms of his Warsaw house. After relocating to England in 1939 to join the Polish government in exile, he emigrated to New York in 1940 as a consul for the exiled Polish government. Zagajski’s collection in Warsaw was looted by the Nazis in his absence, so, like so many refugees, he started over in America. He Americanized his name to “Michael Zagayski” and began to rebuild his collection. It is during this period, in post-war New York, that Zagayski may have acquired the remnants of the Mariegola. Why would Zagayski, a reknowned collector of the finest Judaica, have been interested in a manuscript that had nothing Judaic about it? It could be that the colorful, gilt initials appealed to Zagayski’s aesthetic sensibilities, but without knowing the marketing tactics employed by our anonymous and unscrupulous bookdealer in offering the book to Zagayski, we can’t know for sure. We also don’t know exactly when and how the book left his ownership. Zagayski auctioned a large part of his rebuilt collection at Sotheby’s in 1964, but this manuscript was not among the offerings. It’s even possible that he never owned the manuscript at all, and that the bookplate was added by a bookdealer to provide a legitimate provenance. The only thing we DO know for certain is that the book passed through the hands of New York bookdealer Philip Duschnes (whom we have met before because of his business associations with Otto Ege) in 1955, when it was purchased in good faith by the Boston Public Library.\nBy the time it was acquired by the Boston Public Library, no one knew it had been stolen from the Archivio di Stato, only that it might have originated at the Scuola on Valverde. And so it remained safely ensconced at the Library for more than fifty years, under the shelf mark MS f Med. 203.\nFast forward to 2012. After conducting my research and consulting with Lyle Humphrey, I knew we could prove that this was indeed one of the manuscripts that had gone missing from the Venetian Archivio di Stato in the late 1940s. I reported my findings to the Keeper of Manuscripts at the Boston Public Library, who immediately reached out to the Italian government with an offer to repatriate the manuscript. But repatriation, even when voluntary, is a complicated business, involving lawyers and treaties and multiple government agencies on both sides. After a lengthy and mandatory investigation by the United States Department of Homeland Security, an investigation to which I contributed as a consultant, the manuscript – along with several other items (including BPL MS pb Med. 147, a detached frontispiece from a different mariegola) – was returned to the Italian government in a repatriation ceremony that took place at the Boston Public Library on April 19, 2017.\nThe repatriation was a formal, choreographed affair (photos below), with speeches by a representative of the Italian government, the acting District Attorney, the regional head of Homeland Security (which oversees such investigations), Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and the Boston Public Library’s Head of Special Collections, Beth Prindle. Official Certificates of Transfer were signed by officials of both countries, hands were shaken, and photos were taken. It is a bittersweet moment for those who have cared for this manuscript during the decades it spent in Boston, and also bittersweet for me, since I spent several years studying and handling and cataloguing this beautiful and fascinating book. It’s always hard to say goodbye to an old friend, but I’m proud to have a played a small part in sending this manuscript home.\nThe Repatriation ceremony (hover over or click each image for captions)\nCecchetti, B. La vita dei veneziani nel 1300 (Venice, 1885–1886. Reprint, Bologna: Arnaldo Forni, 1980), pp. 132–133, and tav. III figs. 5, 7; tav. IV figs. 10–13, 16–19, 21–24.\nCheney, E. “Remarks on the Illuminated Official Manuscripts of the Venetian Republic” in Philobiblon Society Miscellanies XI (1867–68), pp. 14-17.\nHumphrey, Lyle. “The Illumination of Confraternity and Guild Statutes in Venice, ca. 1260-1500: Mariegola Production, Iconography, and Use,” Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Fine Arts, 2007, pp. 268-274 (“The 1392 Mariegola of the Scuola della Valverde”); Appendix A, pp. 290-298 (“Reconstruction of the 1392 Mariegola of the Scuola della Valverde); Appendix B, pp. 443-454, cat. 24.1-3; and plates 24.1, 24.2, 24.3a-q, 201, and 202.\nHumphrey, Lyle. “The Lost 1392 Mariegola della Scuola di Santa Maria della Misericordia o della Valverde, Rediscovered,” in F. Toniolo and G. Toscano, eds., Miniatura. Lo sguardo e la parola (Studi in onore di Giordana Mariani Canova) (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana, 2012), 163-169.\nHumphrey, Lyle. La miniatura per le scuole e le arti veneziane: Mariegole dal 1260 al 1500, Collana di studi e ricerche sulla Cultura Popolare Veneta realizzata su iniziativa della Regione del Veneto (Costabissara, 2015), cat. 23.1-3.\nMolmenti, Pompeo G., La storia di Venezia nella vita privata: Dalle origini alla caduta della Repubblica. 4th ed. 3 vols. Bergamo: Ed. Istituto Italiano di Arti Grafiche, 1905–1908.\nVan Akin, B., Christmas Story: John Ruskin’s Venetian letters of 1876-1877 (Wilmington, 1990), p. 237 ff.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, universally known as the United Kingdom, or the UK or Britain, is a sovereign state on the northwestern coastline of Continental Europe and consists of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It is a developed country and the world’s first industrialized country. The UK has the 6th biggest economy in the world with an estimated GDP of $2.23 trillion in 2007. It holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a Member State of the European Union, member of the G8, OECD, WTO, and Commonwealth of Nations.\nThe 3 most historic events that formed what is now UK are the Acts of Union 1707 (merging of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland), Act of Union 1800 (merging of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland), and Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 (separation of southern Ireland to become Republic of Ireland thus United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). The United Kingdom takes the form of a constitutional monarchy in which the Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) acts as head of state and the Prime Minister (Gordon Brown) acts as head of government. The UK Parliament is made up of the House of Commons (Lower House) and House of Lords (Upper House).\nEnglish remains the predominant language with 4 other Celtic languages – Welsh, Irish, Gaelic, and Cornish. Christianity is the main religion followed by Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. In most international competitions, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are represented by separate teams. Major and favorite sports in UK include association football, rugby football, cricket, tennis, and gulf which all originated in UK. The English poet and playwright William Shakespeare is regarded by the world as the greatest dramatist of all time.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Percheron Breed Description\n|Height||15.2 to 17 hands high.|\n|Weight||Percherons can be 1540 to 1985 pounds (700 to 900 kg), and the average is 1750 pounds (800 kg).|\n|Colour||Percherons are gray or black, with a fine coat.|\n|Head and Neck||The head is fine, with a broad, square forehead. The profile is straight. The ears are long and fine. The eyes are prominent and alert. The flat nose exhibits wide, open nostrils. The neck is long and arched, with a thick mane.|\n|Shoulders||The shoulders are sloping, and the withers are prominent.|\n|Body||The chest is broad and deep, with a prominent sternum. The back is straight and short. There is a lot of depth through the girth, and the ribs are well-sprung. The hindquarters are powerful, sloped and unusually long for a draft breed.|\n|Hindquarters||The hindquarters are superbly muscular. Sometimes there is a flattening at the croup.|\n|Limbs||The legs are clean and sound. The forearms are powerful and prominent. The thighs are muscular and clean. The knees and hocks are large. The fetlock joints are small and strong. The hoofs are good and strong, made up of hard, blue horn and of medium size. There is as little feather as possible.|\nPercheron Breed History\nThe Percheron is a magnificent specimen of horse, and it originated in an area of France called Le Perche. The breed developed from the local heavy Flemish horses and the Oriental horses left by the Moors after their defeat in 732 A.D. More infusions of Oriental blood were made when the French Crusaders returned from the first crusade in 1099, bringing with them Arabian horses. In the 18th century, the Royal Stud at Le Pin made Arabian stallions available to breeders of Percheron horses in an effort to improve the breed.\nThe Percheron possesses courage, strength, good and sound limbs, and longevity. The breed has served as a carriage and farm horse. It has also been used as a war horse, and an artillery horse. From 1880 to 1920, the Percheron enjoyed world-wide renown. It was exported to North America, South America, and Britain and was used as a working horse, and as a genetic influence on other heavy breeds. By the end of the 1800s, breeders were more interested in a heavy draft horse than a carriage horse, and so the Percheron evolved into a larger, heavyweight animal.\nDespite their great size, Percherons are active, showy and easy movers. Their stride is not as choppy as that of other heavy horses. Its action is stylish, long, free and comparatively low.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Wood Shingle Tiles was uploaded at November 4, 2017 at 10:04 am. It is uploaded at the Tile category. Wood Shingle Tiles is tagged with Wood Shingle Tiles, Wood, Shingle, Tiles..\nWoodwood1 (wŏŏd),USA pronunciation n.\n- the hard, fibrous substance composing most of the stem and branches of a tree or shrub, and lying beneath the bark;\n- the trunks or main stems of trees as suitable for architectural and other purposes;\ntimber or lumber.\n- the cask, barrel, or keg, as distinguished from the bottle: aged in the wood.\n- See wood block (def. 1).\n- a woodwind instrument.\n- the section of a band or orchestra composed of woodwinds.\n- Often, woods. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) a large and thick collection of growing trees;\na grove or forest: They picnicked in the woods.\n- [Golf.]a club with a wooden head, as a driver, brassie, spoon, or baffy for hitting long shots. Cf. iron (def. 5).\n- have the wood on, [Australian Slang.]to have an advantage over or have information that can be used against.\n- knock on wood, (used when knocking on something wooden to assure continued good luck): The car's still in good shape, knock on wood.Also, esp. Brit.,touch wood.\n- out of the woods:\n- out of a dangerous, perplexing, or difficult situation;\n- no longer in precarious health or critical condition;\nout of danger and recovering.\n- made of wood;\n- used to store, work, or carry wood: a wood chisel.\n- dwelling or growing in woods: wood bird.\n- to cover or plant with trees.\n- to supply with wood;\nget supplies of wood for.\n- to take in or get supplies of wood (often fol. by up): to wood up before the approach of winter.\nShingleshin•gle1 (shing′gəl),USA pronunciation n., v., -gled, -gling.\n- a thin piece of wood, slate, metal, asbestos, or the like, usually oblong, laid in overlapping rows to cover the roofs and walls of buildings.\n- a woman's close-cropped haircut.\n- a small signboard, esp. as hung before a doctor's or lawyer's office.\n- have or be a shingle short, [Australian Slang.]to be mentally disturbed, mad, or eccentric.\n- hang out one's shingle, to establish a professional practice, esp. in law or medicine;\nopen an office.\n- to cover with shingles, as a roof.\n- to cut (hair) close to the head.\nTilestile (tīl),USA pronunciation n., v., tiled, til•ing.\n- a thin slab or bent piece of baked clay, sometimes painted or glazed, used for various purposes, as to form one of the units of a roof covering, floor, or revetment.\n- any of various similar slabs or pieces, as of linoleum, stone, rubber, or metal.\n- tiles collectively.\n- a pottery tube or pipe used for draining land.\n- Also called hollow tile. any of various hollow or cellular units of burnt clay or other materials, as gypsum or cinder concrete, for building walls, partitions, floors, and roofs, or for fireproofing steelwork or the like.\n- a stiff hat or high silk hat.\n- to cover with or as with tiles.\nThis blog post of Wood Shingle Tiles have 10 images , they are Upward View Of The Roof Tiles To Inspect How Neat And Satisfying The Roofers Job Has, Cedar Shingles, Cedar Shingles Suppliers And Manufacturers At Alibaba.com, Improperly Set Wood Shingle Roof, Stock Photo - Wood Roof Tiles Of And Old House Wood Texture Background, A New Fire-treated Cedar Wood Shingle Roof Installed On A Sonoma County Residence, Roof Tiles Made Of Wood Royalty Free Stock Photography, Close Up View Of Cedar Wood Shingles, Close-up Of Wood Shake Shingles, Re Roofing With Wood Shakes Or Wood Shingles?, JW Roofing Services. Here are the images:\nSurely you'll experience comfortable cooking in case your Wood Shingle Tiles appears tidy and clear. With a comfy kitchen, cooking is more fun, and the consequence will be the maximum that the meals may taste better, since the flavor of food is determined by the feeling of individuals who're preparing.\nThus, the kitchen also takes attention to produce it more intriguing. Also, you'll feel better using a home that is great. Hence kitchen layout with ceramic's listing that makes it appealing and beautiful. Ceramic wall is available in a number of designs designs, dimensions, products and also the manifold's installation. You may also use a ceramic wall to a different room, dining room, bedroom.\nWe have a whole lot to the style of the Wood Shingle Tiles along side processes to increase our kitchen's quality. Now we'll provide you with some ideas to make your home more wonderful with tiled surfaces. There's likewise akitchen which will be quickly noticeable from your living area, although your kitchen is generally based inside and from the access.\nLayout your home with stunning, your feeling will also be usually good-and the cook turned neat. Here we connect some trial pictures home having a product that is minimalist, using a kitchen such as this while in the home you will generally flawless.", "label": "No"} {"text": "There are many good reasons to bring folk arts into a classroom. They can help students think critically about what they know, and what remains outside formal histories. They can show how powerful alternative knowledge is actively transmitted within diverse communities (that is, how people know, teach, and remember that which they can't or shouldn't commit to paper because of their own social situation - but which they must commit to memory.) Folk arts can teach respect for diverse communities' points of views, and for diverse arts and humanities. And yet, the classroom is an artificial site for presenting folk arts. In the classroom, folk arts are pulled away from the richly textured contexts in which they usually occur. This process often skews folk arts so they become something else entirely - perhaps useful, but not the same. What follows is intended as a tool for teachers who want to consider (and cope with) what happens to folklore - and, even more importantly, what can happen to people - when folklore is (inadvertently or not) wrenched out of context and presented in a classroom.\nHow does one know what is missing, different, about folk arts presented in the classroom, either by a visiting artist or students and their families? Common sense tells us that folk arts are usually performed in front of audiences who know something about the art form, who speak the language, who have some sense of the history of the tradition, who can judge what makes the current performer different from those who have gone before, and who - if it is an interactive or humorous form, will get the jokes, shout back when appropriate, boo and hiss. In a classroom, we can assume no such knowledge base - and little possibility of customary interaction.\nIt is easy to underestimate what happens when folklore is \"extracted\" from its community setting and inserted into the alien structure of the classroom. Perhaps most interesting, much of the sting and danger of folk arts becomes invisible, or dulled, when these arts are performed in a classroom context. And yet, some of the most powerful potential for teaching may reside exactly in the uncomfortable and dangerous areas, the places where folk arts reveal conflict, deep feelings.\nHow can a teacher bring folk arts into the classroom without sacrificing all of the power of these traditions - yet with sensitivity to how some of that power and danger may impact on students?\nFirst, we shouldn't underestimate folk arts. Stereotypes about folklore dismiss these traditions as being non-threatening, the stuff of \"old wives\" and children. Ignore the stereotypes that trivialize. Instead, assume that folk arts are complex and powerful symbolic forms, many-layered expressions - serious and even dangerous stuff, and make it your business to understand where the danger lays. (It may be useful to recall that some people in this society pay therapists to listen to folklore - to family stories. In the therapeutic setting, it is understood that such stories may be powerful social and personal dynamite, deeply embedded in a complex past, not easily plumbed.)\nSecond, look for where there is disagreement in a single community about folk arts. Folk arts are not universally beloved. Not everyone in a single community shares, knows about, or likes the same folk traditions. For one thing, no group of people is entirely homogenous - people sharing a common ethnicity or history still differ in terms of age, class, gender, political beliefs, aesthetics, region, and much else. Such diversity ensures that in any community people have widely different attitudes toward particular folk arts. In many communities, folk artists are specialists of a sort, and their particular skills are neither universally known nor universally respected. For example, people educated in the French colonial-based school system of Cambodia were often brought up to believe that some folk art forms were downright lower-class, disreputable, and rude. In many communities, young people go through long periods when they find the folk traditions of their parent's generation confining, embarrassing, or of little value. In some immigrant and refugee communities, there are often great breaks separating the generations - with elders skilled in languages and traditions that are not valued in the United States, and dependent upon young people for their \"American\" understandings.\nThere are politics and perspectives to all folk arts (like any kind of art) and it is important to understand them - especially when dealing with young people struggling to make sense of their own relationship to their families and the wider world. Look for differences of opinion about folk arts, and educate yourselves about why people differ.\nThird, every folk art has its own (not always chronicled) art history, with its own masters, aesthetics, and periods of growth, change and decline. It is often assumed that folk arts are enduring, ageless, ancient, and timeless (another way of de-fusing them). Instead, Cambodian classical dance, as presented by local artist Chamroeun Yin is not the same as classical dance as it would have been practiced in Cambodia before war, famine and resettlement. Changes in this and other folk art forms reflect history, economics, aesthetic preferences, current styles, and individual creativity (and always have). Though connected to ancient traditions, these arts are not (and never have been) pure or unchanging. And they always have meanings and functions - often complicated, sometimes contradictory - for people in the present.\nFourth, carefully examine the structure of assignments, and the nature of relationships - relationships between teachers and students, and between students and their own family histories and traditions. Commonly, in an effort to honor diversity, students are asked to tell life stories, to show and tell their customs, or to share or recreate a cultural festival. Fundamentally, these projects are worth doing. But it is important to evaluate the worth and pitfalls of such assignments, separating out what works from what puts children at stress, under scrutiny, further marginalized from their classmates - in short, what backfires? In what follows, we use some of the possible pitfalls of each type of assignment to frame questions for discussion - and we share some ideas from experienced teachers about ways to make such assignments work.\nTelling life stories - Students are asked to report on personal and family history. Questions: How may such an assignment unintentionally force a performance? What are the risks (and the stakes) of such forced performances? Does it \"cheapen\" the experience of immigrant students by turning their often traumatic experiences into either something valuable as a commodity (information exchanged for a grade or for acceptance from the teacher) or something exotic (further isolating and even objectifying the student)? Ideas: Such assignments have to begin in trust, in trusting relationships. Kids may not tell you what they don't want to, but they may still suffer from the pressure. They may also try to tell you what they think you (or their peers) want to hear: allow and facilitate their own control over their stories. Give kids room: invite them to \"make up\" a story, or to tell someone else's story, allow them to use indirect framing mechanisms, and to rewrite and retell. Allow privacy for writing, so that kids don't have to share.\nShow and tell about your customs - Students who practice traditions at home that aren't part of white, Christian American culture are asked to display or report on those customs or holidays. Questions: Does this really provide \"equal time\" and equal respect? Aside from the fact that this gives such students extra responsibility (e.g. having to do a report on the meaning of Passover while Christian kids are not expected to do a report on the meaning of Easter), it also further marks some students as \"different\" or \"other,\" and has the tendency to stigmatize even despite the teacher's best intentions or stated goal of making the child feel \"special.\" Are kids competent to present complex information about holidays or are they being pushed past their level of knowledge? (They are after all, not the main producers of these events, and often their education and socialization is partly the focus in community-based versions of these events). What are the implications of pushing kids to be the \"authority\" on cultural traditions? Ideas: Collectivize the process: give kids choices (silence or sharing, or not). Encourage acts of responsibility and power: allow kids to own and control the process but make questioning a part of their responsibility. What about attention to customs that hurt: to racism, sexism? How can discussion feature differences within any \"culture\"? How can attention to customs open into discussion of the many cultures in which any of us are simultaneously members (i.e. we share some custom and culture with others of our own gender, age, class, politics)? What we mean by \"us\" and by \"them\" is porous, constantly shifting, dependent on who is doing the categorizing and why. Explore what we don't know about participation in customs: can you seem to do a custom you are expected to do, while resisting?\nDo your own festival - Students and sometimes families are asked to \"put on\" some or all the elements of a traditional holiday, in the school. Questions: Does this safely compartmentalize culture as entertainment, as public display separate from religion and removed from the sacred cycle? Festival and ritual in their \"natural\" contexts tend literally to bring many people together as communities, allow many different meanings of festival to emerge, and thus avoid a single, simple \"meaning.\" Artificial \"displayed\" festivals generalize about the meaning of ritual and tradition for all involved, and depict it as spectacle not as participation. And what can children and youth, who seldom have roles as \"ritual specialists\" in ritual and festival, be expected to convey? Is there the danger (as above) of pushing them beyond their level of competence? Ideas: Expressions (festivals, arts) have different meanings when there are different compositions of the classroom and school - i.e. whether one, twenty, or the majority of kids are from similar cultural backgrounds. Ask kids to describe different viewpoints on (for example) a birthday, or on various coming of age traditions. Create an imaginary collective, non-exploitative festival. Use a photo of a \"typical\" \"American\" Christian wedding and ask kids what they can deduce from the photo. Why do they know these things? What assumptions are they making? What don't you know/can't you know from looking at the picture? (Are people happy? Was someone forced into the ritual? Does it have the same meaning to all? Do they \"believe\" it? Is it a first/will it be a last wedding? Are they all Christian? etc.)\nEffectively, these assignments are various ways of looking at difference, and that raises a final challenge worth commenting upon. How do we craft assignments that do not inevitably lead us to one of two conclusions: either \"...and underneath we're all the same\" or \"we have differences but we're all part of the great American melting pot/patchwork quilt\"? How do we develop sophisticated means of representing folk culture in ways that broaden the range of understanding of traditional forms, while not overlooking the immediacy of violence, racist incidents and hate crimes that show the basic need for even the first steps in culturally sensitive education? And, if we look at cultures in ways that emphasize their validity and beauty, how do we deal with the less attractive aspects, such as, for example, women's narrowly defined roles in patriarchal cultures? How do we encourage presentations about culture which depicts culture, not as fixed and given, but as constantly changing, fluid, and subject to multiple interpretations based on shifting perspectives?\nThere are different categories for sameness and difference - each carries connotations. Often, the only things kids are offered for self-identification are things that are \"old-world,\" \"traditional.\" Explore here-and-now issues and arts as points of identification. When youth feel (or are made to feel) that \"they don't know about their own culture,\" we are missing a chance to understand what their culture is: a complex mix of influences, expressions, responses, knowledge, language.\nIf you invite folk artists into your classroom or school, you will need to develop different tools for presenting them. No \"recipes\" for successful multicultural projects exist: classroom situations, power balances and dynamics vary, teachers have widely varying styles and maintain a range of different relationships with students, students come to class with widely different histories and personalities. Here, we emphasize the need for care and caution. Our aim is to consider how we can develop tools for multicultural teaching that do not inadvertently request (or exact) a price from students. We are interested in providing avenues for self-expression that are constructive and possible. Our intention is not to frighten you away from such endeavors, or to suggest that it is impossible to \"ever get things right,\" but to encourage and facilitate the kind of hard discussion necessary to developing non-exploitative, critically valid, multicultural curricula with integrity, validity and guts.\nDebora Kodish and William Westerman\nPhiladelphia Folklore Project", "label": "No"} {"text": "Has your head ever been filled with one single thought, or a string of thoughts, that just keep repeating… and repeating… and repeating themselves?\nThe process of continuously thinking about the same thoughts, which tend to be sad or dark, is called rumination.\nA habit of rumination can be dangerous to your mental health, as it can prolong or intensify depression as well as impair your ability to think and process emotions. It may also cause you to feel isolated and can, in reality, push people away.\nWHAT CAUSES RUMINATING?\nPeople ruminate for a variety of reasons. According to the American Psychological Association, some common reasons for rumination include:\n- belief that by ruminating, you will gain insight into your life or a problem\n- having a history of emotional or physical trauma\n- facing ongoing stressors that can’t be controlled\nRuminating is also common in people who possess certain personality characteristics, which include perfectionism, neuroticism, and an excessive focus on one’s relationships with others.\nYou might have a tendency to overvalue your relationships with others so much that you will make large personal sacrifices to maintain your relationships, even if they’re not working for you.\nOnce you get stuck in a ruminating thought cycle, it can be hard to get out of it. If you do enter a cycle of such thoughts, it’s important to stop them as quickly as possible to prevent them from becoming more intense.\nSo, what can you do to stop these obsessive thoughts from running through your mind?\nHere are 5 tips to try when you begin to experience the same thought, or set of thoughts, swirling around your head:\nQuestion your thoughts\nWe often ruminate when we think we’ve made a major mistake or when something traumatic has happened to us that we feel responsible for.\nIf you start ruminating on a troubling thought, try putting your repetitive thought in perspective.\nThinking more about how your troubling thought might not be accurate may help you stop ruminating because you realize the thought makes little sense.\nMeditating can reduce rumination because it involves clearing your mind to arrive at an emotionally calm state.\nWhen you find yourself with a repeating loop of thoughts in your mind, seek out a quiet space. Sit down, breathe deeply, and focus on nothing but breathing.\nUnderstand your triggers\nEach time you find yourself ruminating, make a mental note of the situation you’re in. This includes where you are, what time of day it is, who’s around you (if anyone), and what you’ve been doing that day.\nDeveloping ways to avoid or manage these triggers can reduce your rumination.\nWhen you realize you’re starting to ruminate, finding a distraction can break your thought cycle. Look around you, quickly choose something else to do, and don’t give it a second thought. Consider:\n- calling a friend or family member\n- doing chores around your house\n- watching a movie\n- drawing a picture\n- reading a book\n- walking around your neighborhood\nIf your ruminating thoughts are taking over your life, you may want to consider therapy. A therapist can help you identify why you’re ruminating and how to address the problems at their core.\nIf you are a ruminator, it’s important to know some tips that may help you to stop your thought cycle in its tracks before it spirals out of control.\nIt’s also important to be proactive and take steps to prevent yourself from ruminating in the first place.\nWith awareness and some lifestyle changes, it’s possible to free yourself from ruminating thoughts. If you find that you’re unable to use these tips to help your rumination, you should consider contacting a mental health professional for assistance.", "label": "No"} {"text": "The National Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Committee (NDPPC) proposal was submitted to the Federal Cabinet in November 1988. On January 20th 1989, the Disaster Office was established on St. Kitts under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Following the ravages of Hurricane Hugo in September 1989, the Nevis Disaster Management Office was established in January 1991 under the Ministry of Home Affairs with the late Llewellyn Newton as Director.\nLegislation outlining the roles and functions of Disaster Management, (No. 5 of 1998) were passed following the devastation inflicted on St. Kitts and Nevis by Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn in 1995. This Act (No. 5 of 1998) provides for the effective management and control of disasters, related or incidental matters and Community mobilization through district committees. The name of the Nevis Disaster Management Office was modified in 2005 to reflect the Nevis Disaster Management Department (NDMD).\nThis department now falls under the purview of the Premiers’ Ministry in the Nevis Island Administration. It is responsible for preparedness, management, mitigation, coordination, control, recovery and rehabilitation in times of emergencies or disasters.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Friday 9 December 2011\nby Ken Paterson\nWhen we were deciding on the contents for ‘A Handbook of Spoken Grammar’ (follow the links ‘Titles’ and ‘Language Practice’ on the DELTA website for details) we were fairly sure we wanted to include some spoken English ‘lexical bundles’. These are strings of words that corpus research has shown are particularly frequent in conversation. See the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English for a series of examples.\nWe thought we would take a look at bundles with the verb ‘know’, which often top the frequency lists. The three word bundle ‘I don’t know’ is very common, but can be used in almost too many contexts. Five word bundles with ‘know’ (e.g. ‘I don’t know what to’) seemed too restrictive. So we settled for a four word bundle pattern that we thought might be productive for learners:\n‘I don’t know what/when/where/which/who/why/how…’\nWhen I first started teaching I would almost certainly have thought that the break in this pattern should come after the word ‘know’, and probably taught it as ‘know + a wh- clause’. Now I think it is equally as useful to let learners work with the chunks ‘I don’t know what…’ or ‘I don’t know how…’, particularly in spoken English activities.\nIn the book, we offer an explanation of these chunks with ‘know’, some natural dialogues and some practice. But you might like to try a simple activity in class yourselves:\nWrite all seven four-word chunks (‘I don’t know what …’, ‘I don’t know when … etc.) in a random order on the whiteboard. Then get your students into pairs or threes. Ask them to talk about a holiday they might take in the near future (or any other subject you like!). The only condition is that they try to include some of these chunks in their conversation. Monitor the groups, and if you hear some good examples, ask the students to rehearse and repeat these to the class.\nLet me know how it works. Next time, we’ll look at the ‘vague’ use of ‘thing’.\nDelta Development Blog\nThis blog will be updated at least once a week, so add it to your bookmarks. You can also subscribe to the feed to be notified when it's updated.\nMeet the Bloggers\n- Bob Dignen & Steve Flinders (February to April 2013)\n- Hania Kryszewska & Paul Davis (April to June 2012)\n- Louis Rogers (January to March 2012)\n- Ken Paterson (December 2011 to February 2012)\n- Richard Brown & Lewis Richards (September to November 2011)\n- Liz Walter & Kate Woodford (September to October 2011)\n- Kyle Mawer & Graham Stanley (April to August 2011)\n- Nik Peachey (from November 2010)\n- Nicky Hockly (September & October 2010)\n- Julie Pratten (July & August 2010)\n- Gill Johnson (April 2010)\n- Chaz Pugliese (March 2010)\n- Luke Meddings (August 2009)\n- Lindsay Clandfield (July 2009)\n- Duncan Foord (June 2009)\n- Scott Thornbury (May 2009)\nTeaching Online is essential reading for any teacher interested in online teaching and course delivery. It deals comprehensively with both the tools and the techniques necessary for online language instruction.\nTeaching Unplugged was awarded the British Council 2010 ELTons UK Award for Innovation. Teaching Unplugged is the first book to deal comprehensively with the approach in English Language Teaching known as Dogme ELT.\nThe Company Words Keep\nPart of the multi-award-winning Delta Teacher Development Series. The Company Words Keep is a practical and thought-provoking guide for language teachers, showing how the latest insights into “language chunks” can lead to learners acquiring natural and fluent English.\nThe Business English Teacher\nFrom the multi-award-winning DELTA TEACHER DEVELOPMENT SERIES. The Business English Teacher is a book not only for teachers who are thinking of making a career move into the field of business English teaching but also for those who would like to increase their skills and develop their potential.\nPart of the Delta Teacher Development Series. Being Creative takes you on a journey that reveals how all teachers have the potential to become creative. Whether you are experienced or new to the classroom, Being Creative allows your teaching to take flight.\nThe Book of Pronunciation\nPart of the multi-award-winning Delta Teacher Development Series. The Book of Pronunciation is a definitive account of the key role pronunciation plays in teaching and learning, providing a highly authoritative but hugely accessible overview of the essential elements of English pronunciation as well as a wide range of classroom practice.\nDIGITAL PLAY - 2012 ELTONS WINNER IN INNOVATION IN TEACHER RESOURCES! Digital Play is a pioneering book on the use of computer games in language teaching. Authors Kyle and Graham are experts in teaching with technology and training teachers in innovative classroom practice.\nThe Developing Teacher\nThe Developing Teacher has been awarded the 2009 Duke of Edinburgh/ESU Award for Best Entry for Teachers. The Developing Teacher suggests that teachers themselves are the most powerful agents of change and development in their own professional career.\nCulture in our Classrooms\nPart of the Delta Teacher Development Series. Culture in our Classrooms acknowledges the role of culture in the English Language Teaching classroom and provides lesson content which is relevant, useful and engaging for students.\nRavinder Tulsiani Learning Development Specialist on Developing with colleagues:\nAugust 7, 2013 6:43 pm\nHelen Beesley on Managing Change:\nDeclan, This title will be available in October, as will...\nAugust 5, 2013 8:41 pm\ndeclan scully on Managing Change:\nI would like an update when this tutle is available thanks\nAugust 5, 2013 7:23 am\nJonathan on Some Pros and Cons of iPads for ELT:\nNik, the article is a bit old as you mentioned....\nJuly 10, 2013 6:37 pm\nSpeech Therapy on Marjorie Rosenberg talks about ‘Spotlight on Learning Styles’:\nJuly 10, 2013 12:16 am\n15 Apr 13\n7 Apr 13\n31 Mar 13\n27 Mar 13\n17 Mar 13\n13 Mar 13\n11 Mar 13\n3 Mar 13\n24 Feb 13\n18 Feb 13\n10 Feb 13\n3 Feb 13\n27 Dec 12\n27 Dec 12\n2 Dec 12", "label": "No"} {"text": "See the intro to this series for more information. This is a homework assignment commenting on our reading for this week and one of the websites we visited.\nDigital History Chapter 1: Exploring the History Web\nOne of the major debates about history websites seems to be paid versus free access. This relates to the ongoing debate about the quality of any internet sources. One assumes that professional sites would be higher-quality, but the History Channel and National Geographic may or may not provide reliable infomation. Let’s not forget about Ancient Aliens, or the Mermaids mockumentary brouhaha on the Discovery Channel. As the book points out, these kinds of sites are designed to support particular TV shows on the networks. Even strict documentaries are aired primarily to bring in viewers, not to present accurate information, even if that’s a secondary goal. The sites are designed to supplement shows or advertise for them, not to be comprehensive studies of particular topics.\nOn the other hand, amateurs tend to focus on a topic they’re passionate about and compile a lot of information on that topic, rather than maintaining systematic archives of sources, educational materials for particular grades, or whatever. Then you have the paid history websites maintained by reputable and academic sources, which probably have the most trustworthy information, but the average person isn’t going to pay that fee when there’s free information elsewhere. It seems to me there are only a few options: Either make most of the information free and establish the academic pages as vital on the web, or stop complaining when people don’t use them and end up with inaccurate information. Museums seem to be doing the best job of this right now, putting collections and some interpretation online for free.\nChapter 1 talked about directories, and the basically hopeless task of manually creating a directory to all the history sites on the web. Google gets WAY more use than the Yahoo web directory, and why wouldn’t it? Isn’t it kind of snooty to try to wrangle the internet that way? Google, or another search engine, is a more fluid way to find exactly what you’re looking for. At the same time, a directory would be so useful!\nwww.besthistorysites.net is one of the directories mentioned in the chapter. It looks reputable, claiming to be “an award-winning portal that contains annotated links to over 1200 history web sites as well as links to hundreds of quality K-12 history lesson plans, history teacher guides, history activities, history games, history quizzes, and more,” created by former teachers focusing on integrating technology into teaching. It has a professional design and the topically-sorted resource lists are easy to navigate. Many of the links are to museum websites, but a lot of them are also centered around TV specials. The types of links vary depending on the topic. Still, this would be a great resource for finding multimedia and secondary sources, with a few primary sources.\nThe main failing I see with directory sites like this is just that they’re limited to the resources a human has catalogued, and you’re limited to that cataloguing system. You have to start with a general idea and see what you can find listed for that topic, while a search engine allows you to look for something in particular.\nAll this stuff opens a big can of worms. Can you trust a site that was created to support a TV show? Would people trust academics, even if they did make peer-reviewed journals and other sites free? Paying a fee is one indicator that a site is legit, would that go away without the fee? Do academics even want muggles on their sites or care about providing accurate information to the public? Are amateur historians doing what academics OUGHT to be doing? Is there any point in trying to create a directory of websites on any topic, much less history?", "label": "No"} {"text": "Via dell'Abbondanza, the main street in Pompeii.\n|Location||\"Pompei, \"Province of Naples, \"Campania, \"Italy|\n|Area||64 to 67 ha (170 acres)|\n|Founded||6th–7th century BC|\n|Official name||Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, \"Herculaneum, and \"Torre Annunziata|\n|Criteria||iii, iv, v|\n|Designated||1997 (21st \"session)|\nPompeii was an ancient \"Roman city near modern \"Naples in the \"Campania region of Italy, in the territory of the \"comune of \"Pompei. Pompeii, along with \"Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at \"Boscoreale, \"Stabiae), was buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of \"volcanic ash and \"pumice in the \"eruption of \"Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Many of the inhabitants were also buried before they could escape.\nThe catastrophe was described in a surviving letter by \"Pliny the Younger who saw the eruption from a distance and described the death of his uncle \"Pliny the Elder, an admiral of the Roman fleet, who tried to rescue citizens. The site was eventually lost until its initial rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150 years later by Spanish engineer \"Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre in 1748. The city has been largely preserved because of lack of air and moisture. The artefacts preserved provide an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of the city. During excavations liquid plaster was used to fill the voids in the ash that once held human and animal bodies giving often gruesome images of their last moments.\nPompeii has been a tourist destination for over 250 years. Today it has \"UNESCO \"World Heritage Site status and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, with approximately 2.5 million visitors every year.\nPompeii (pronounced \"[pɔmˈpɛjjiː]) in Latin is a second \"declension plural (Pompeiī, -ōrum). According to Theodor Kraus, \"The root of the word Pompeii would appear to be the \"Oscan word for the number five, pompe, which suggests that either the community consisted of five hamlets or, perhaps, it was settled by a family group (\"gens Pompeia).\"\nThe ruins of Pompeii are located near the modern suburban town of \"Pompei (nowadays written with one 'i'). It stands on a spur formed by a lava flow to the north of the mouth of the \"Sarno River (known in ancient times as the Sarnus).\nThe city had suffered from other seismic events before the eruption. Three sheets of sediment have also been found on top of the lava that lies below the city which were created by large \"landslides, perhaps triggered by extended rainfall.\nToday it is some distance inland, but in ancient times was nearer to the coast. Pompeii is about 8 km (5.0 mi) away from \"Mount Vesuvius. It covered a total of 64 to 67 hectares (170 acres) and was home to approximately 11,000 to 11,500 people on the basis of household counts. It was a major city in the region of Campania.\nArchaeology has shown that the town was founded in the 7th or 6th century BC by the \"Osci or Oscans, a people of central Italy, on what was an important crossroad between \"Cumae, \"Nola and \"Stabiae. It had already been used as a safe port by Greek and \"Phoenician sailors. According to \"Strabo, Pompeii was also captured by the \"Etruscans, and recent[\"timeframe?] excavations have shown the presence of Etruscan inscriptions and a 6th-century BC \"necropolis. Pompeii was captured for the first time by the Greek colony of \"Cumae, allied with \"Syracuse, between 525 and 474 BC.\nIn the 5th century BC, the \"Samnites conquered it (and all the other towns of \"Campania); the new rulers imposed their architecture and enlarged the town. After the \"Samnite Wars (4th century BC), Pompeii was forced to accept the status of socium of Rome, maintaining, however, linguistic and administrative autonomy. In the 4th century BC it was fortified with walls. Pompeii remained faithful to Rome during the \"Second Punic War.\nThe \"Temple of Apollo was built in the 2nd century BC as the city's most important religious structure.\nPompeii took part in the \"war that the towns of Campania initiated against Rome, but in 89 BC it was besieged by \"Sulla. Although the battle-hardened troops of the Social League, headed by \"Lucius Cluentius, helped in resisting the Romans, in 80 BC Pompeii was forced to surrender after the conquest of Nola, culminating in many of Sulla's veterans being given land and property, while many of those who went against Rome were ousted from their homes. It became a Roman colony with the name of Colonia \"Cornelia \"Veneria Pompeianorum. The town became an important passage for goods that arrived by sea and had to be sent toward Rome or \"southern Italy along the nearby \"Appian Way.\nIt was fed with water by a spur from \"Aqua Augusta (Naples) built c. 20 BC by \"Agrippa; the main line supplied several other large towns, and finally the naval base at \"Misenum. The \"castellum in Pompeii is well preserved, and includes many details of the distribution network and its controls.\nThe excavated city offers a snapshot of Roman life in the 1st century, frozen at the moment it was buried on 24 August AD 79. \"The forum, the baths, many houses, and some out-of-town villas like the \"Villa of the Mysteries remain well preserved.\nDetails of everyday life are preserved. For example, on the floor of one of the houses (Sirico's), a famous inscription Salve, lucru (\"Welcome, profit\") indicates a trading company owned by two partners, Sirico and Nummianus (but this could be a nickname, since nummus means \"coin; money\"). Other houses provide details concerning professions and categories, such as for the \"laundry\" workers (\"Fullones). Wine jars have been found bearing what is apparently the world's earliest known marketing pun (technically a \"blend), Vesuvinum (combining \"Vesuvius and the Latin for wine, vinum).[\"citation needed]\nThe numerous \"graffiti carved on the walls and inside rooms provides a wealth of information regarding \"Vulgar Latin, the form of Latin spoken colloquially rather than the literary language of the classical writers.\nIn 89 BC, after the final occupation of the city by Roman General \"Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompeii was finally annexed by the \"Roman Republic. During this period, Pompeii underwent a vast process of infrastructural development, most of which was built during the Augustan period. These include an \"amphitheatre, a \"palaestra with a central \"natatorium (cella natatoria) or swimming pool and an \"aqueduct that provided water for more than 25 street fountains, at least four public baths, and a large number of private houses (\"domūs) and businesses. The amphitheatre has been cited by modern scholars as a model of sophisticated design, particularly in the area of crowd control.\nThe aqueduct branched through three main pipes from the Castellum Aquae, where the waters were collected before being distributed to the city. In extreme \"drought, the water supply would first fail to reach the public baths (the least vital service), then private houses and businesses—and if there were no water flow at all, the system would fail to supply the public fountains (the most vital service) in the streets of Pompeii. The pools in Pompeii were mostly for decoration.\nThe large number of well-preserved \"frescoes provide information on everyday life and have been a major advance in \"art history of the ancient world, with the innovation of the \"Pompeian Styles (First/Second/Third Style). Some aspects of the culture were distinctly \"erotic, including frequent use of the phallus as \"apotropaion or good-luck charm in various types of decoration. A large collection of erotic votive objects and frescoes were found at Pompeii. Many were removed and kept until recently in \"a secret collection at the University of Naples.\nAt the time of the eruption, the town may have had some 11,000 inhabitants, and was located in an area where Romans had holiday villas. William Abbott explains, \"At the time of the eruption, Pompeii had reached its high point in society as many Romans frequently visited Pompeii on vacations.\" It is the only ancient town of which the whole topographic structure is known precisely as it was, with no later modifications or additions. Due to the difficult terrain, it was not distributed on a regular plan as most Roman towns were, but its streets are straight and laid out in a grid in the Roman tradition. They are laid with polygonal stones, and have houses and shops on both sides of the street. It followed its \"decumanus (main east/west road) and its \"cardo (main north/south road), centred on the forum.\nModern archaeologists have excavated garden sites and urban domains to reveal the agricultural staples in Pompeii’s economy prior to AD 79. Pompeii was fortunate to have a fruitful, fertile region of soil for harvesting a variety of crops. The soils surrounding Mount Vesuvius even preceding its eruption have been revealed to have good water-holding capabilities, implying access to productive agriculture. The \"Tyrrhenian Sea’s airflow provided hydration to the soil despite the hot, dry climate.\nThe rural areas surrounding Pompeii had abundant agricultural land that was very fertile and could produce much larger quantities of goods than the city needed. Some speculate that much of the flat land in \"Campania, surrounding the areas of Pompeii was dedicated to grain and wheat production. \"Cereal, \"barley, \"wheat, and \"millet were all produced by the locals in Pompeii. These grains, along with wine and olive oil, were produced in abundance for export to other regions.\nEvidence of wine imported nationally from Pompeii in its most prosperous years can be found from recovered artefacts such as wine bottles in Rome. For this reason, vineyards were of utmost importance to Pompeii’s economy. Agricultural policymaker \"Columella suggested that each vineyard in Rome produced a quota of three \"cullei of wine per \"jugerum, otherwise the vineyard would be uprooted. The nutrient-rich lands near Pompeii were extremely efficient at this and were often able to exceed these requirements by a steep margin, therefore providing the incentive for local wineries to establish themselves. While wine was exported for Pompeii’s economy, the majority of the other agricultural goods were likely produced in quantities relevant to the city’s consumption.\nRemains of large formations of constructed wineries were found in \"Forum Boarium, covered by cemented casts from the eruption of Vesuvius. It is speculated that these historical vineyards are strikingly similar in structure to the modern day vineyards across Italy. \"Water depressions have also been found in close proximity to the wineries and served as water wells for the produce and livestock.\nCarbonised food plant remains, roots, seeds and pollens, have been found from gardens in Pompeii, Herculaneum and from the Roman villa at \"Torre Annunziata. They revealed that \"emmer wheat, \"Italian millet, \"common millet, walnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts, hazel nuts, chickpeas, \"bitter vetch, broad beans, olives, figs, pears, onions, garlic, peaches, carob, grapes, and dates were consumed. All except the dates could have been produced locally.\nBesides the forum, many other services were found: the \"Macellum (great food market), the Pistrinum (mill), the \"Thermopolium (sort of bar that served cold and hot beverages), and \"cauponae (small restaurants). An amphitheatre and two theatres have been found, along with a palaestra or \"gymnasium. A hotel (of 1,000 square metres) was found a short distance from the town; it is now nicknamed the \"Grand Hotel Murecine\". \"Geothermal energy supplied channelled \"district heating for baths and houses. At least one building, the \"Lupanar, was dedicated to \"prostitution.\nIn 2002, another discovery at the mouth of the \"Sarno River near \"Sarno revealed that the port also was populated and that people lived in \"palafittes (stilt-houses), within a system of channels that suggested a likeness to \"Venice to some scientists.\nThe inhabitants of Pompeii had long been used to minor quaking (indeed, the writer \"Pliny the Younger wrote that earth tremors \"were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania\"), but on 5 February 62, a \"severe earthquake did considerable damage around the bay, and particularly to Pompeii. It is believed that the earthquake would have registered between about 5 and 6 on the \"Richter magnitude scale.\nOn that day in Pompeii, there were to be two sacrifices, as it was the anniversary of Augustus being named \"Father of the Nation\" and also a feast day to honour the guardian spirits of the city. Chaos followed the earthquake. Fires, caused by oil lamps that had fallen during the quake, added to the panic. Nearby cities of \"Herculaneum and \"Nuceria were also affected.\nTemples, houses, bridges, and roads were destroyed. It is believed that almost all buildings in the city of Pompeii were affected. In the days after the earthquake, \"anarchy ruled the city, where theft and starvation plagued the survivors. In the time between 62 and the eruption in 79, some rebuilding was done, but some of the damage had still not been repaired at the time of the eruption. Although it is unknown how many, a considerable number of inhabitants moved to other cities within the Roman Empire while others remained and rebuilt.\nAn important field of current research concerns structures that were being restored at the time of the eruption (presumably damaged during the earthquake of 62). Some of the older, damaged paintings could have been covered with newer ones, and modern instruments are being used to catch a glimpse of the long hidden frescoes. The probable reason why these structures were still being repaired around 17 years after the earthquake was the increasing frequency of smaller quakes that led up to the eruption.\nBy the 1st century AD, Pompeii was one of a number of towns near the base of the volcano, Mount Vesuvius. The area had a substantial population, which had grown prosperous from the region's renowned agricultural fertility. Many of Pompeii's neighbouring communities, most famously Herculaneum, also suffered damage or destruction during the 79 eruption. The eruption occurred on 24 August AD 79, just one day after \"Vulcanalia, the festival of the Roman god of \"fire, including that from volcanoes.\nA multidisciplinary \"volcanological and \"bio-anthropological study of the eruption products and victims, merged with numerical simulations and experiments, indicates that at Pompeii and surrounding towns \"heat was the main cause of death of people, previously believed to have died by ash \"suffocation. The results of the study, published in 2010, show that exposure to at least 250 °C (482 °F) hot surges (known as \"pyroclastic flows) at a distance of 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the vent was sufficient to cause instant death, even if people were sheltered within buildings.\nThe people and buildings of Pompeii were covered in up to 12 different layers of \"tephra, in total 25 metres (82.0 ft) deep, which rained down for about six hours. \"Pliny the Younger provided a first-hand account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius from his position across the \"Bay of Naples at \"Misenum, in a version he wrote 25 years after the event. His uncle, \"Pliny the Elder, with whom he had a close relationship, died while attempting to rescue stranded victims. As admiral of the fleet, Pliny the Elder had ordered the ships of the Imperial Navy stationed at \"Misenum to cross the bay to assist evacuation attempts. Volcanologists have recognised the importance of Pliny the Younger's account of the eruption by calling similar events \"\"Plinian\".\nThe eruption was documented by contemporary historians and is generally accepted as having started on 24 August 79, relying on one version of the text of Pliny's letter. However the archeological excavations of Pompeii suggest that the city was buried about three months later. This is supported by another version of the letter, which gives the date of the eruption as November 23.\nPeople buried in the ash appear to have been wearing heavier clothing than the light summer clothes typical of August. The fresh fruit and vegetables in the shops are typical of October – and conversely the summer fruit typical of August was already being sold in dried, or conserved form. Wine fermenting jars had been sealed, which would have happened around the end of October. Coins found in the purse of a woman buried in the ash include one with a 15th \"imperatorial acclamation among the \"emperor's titles. These coins could not have been minted before the second week of September. There is no definitive theory as to why there should be such an apparent discrepancy.\nAfter thick layers of ash covered Pompeii and Herculaneum, they were abandoned and eventually their names and locations were forgotten. The first time any part of them was unearthed was in 1599, when the digging of an underground channel to divert the river Sarno ran into ancient walls covered with paintings and inscriptions. The architect \"Domenico Fontana was called in; he unearthed a few more frescoes, then covered them over again, and nothing more came of the discovery. A wall inscription had mentioned a decurio Pompeii (\"the town councillor of Pompeii\") but its reference to the long-forgotten Roman city was missed.\nFontana's covering over the paintings has been seen both as a broad-minded act of preservation for later times, and as censorship in view of the frequent sexual content of such paintings, as he would have known that paintings of the hedonistic kind later found in some Pompeian villas were not considered in good taste in the climate of the \"counter-reformation.\nHerculaneum was properly rediscovered in 1738 by workmen digging for the foundations of a \"summer palace for the \"King of Naples, \"Charles of Bourbon. Pompeii was rediscovered as the result of intentional excavations in 1748 by the Spanish military engineer \"Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre. These towns have since been excavated to reveal many intact buildings and wall paintings. Charles of Bourbon took great interest in the findings even after becoming king of Spain because the display of antiquities reinforced the political and cultural power of Naples.\n\"Karl Weber directed the first real excavations; he was followed in 1764 by military engineer Franscisco la Vega. Franscisco la Vega was succeeded by his brother, \"Pietro, in 1804. During the French occupation Pietro worked with Christophe Saliceti.\n\"Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge of the excavations in 1863. During early excavations of the site, occasional voids in the ash layer had been found that contained human remains. It was Fiorelli who realised these were spaces left by the decomposed bodies and so devised the technique of injecting \"plaster into them to recreate the forms of Vesuvius's victims. This technique is still in use today, with a clear \"resin now used instead of plaster because it is more durable, and does not destroy the bones, allowing further analysis.\nThe discovery of \"erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum left the archaeologists with a dilemma – between the mores of \"sexuality in ancient Rome and in Counter-Reformation Europe lay a \"clash of cultures. An unknown number of discoveries were hidden away again. A wall fresco depicting \"Priapus, the ancient god of sex and fertility, with his extremely enlarged penis, was covered with plaster. An older reproduction was locked away \"out of prudishness\" and opened only on request—and only rediscovered in 1998 due to rainfall.\nA large number of \"artefacts from the buried cities are preserved in the \"Naples National Archaeological Museum. In 1819, when \"King Francis visited the Pompeii exhibition there with his wife and daughter, he was so embarrassed by the erotic artwork that he decided to have it locked away in a so-called \"secret cabinet\" (gabinetto segreto), a gallery within the museum accessible only to \"people of mature age and respected morals\". Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly 100 years, the \"Naples \"Secret Museum\" was briefly made accessible again at the end of the 1960s (the time of the \"sexual revolution) and was finally re-opened for viewing in 2000. Minors are still allowed entry only in the presence of a guardian or with written permission.\nPompeii has been a popular tourist destination for over 250 years; it was on the \"Grand Tour. By 2008, it was attracting almost 2.6 million visitors per year, making it one of the most popular tourist sites in Italy. It is part of a larger Vesuvius National Park and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. To combat problems associated with tourism, the governing body for Pompeii, the Soprintendenza Archaeological di Pompei, have begun issuing new tickets that allow for tourists to also visit cities such as \"Herculaneum and \"Stabiae as well as the \"Villa Poppaea, to encourage visitors to see these sites and reduce pressure on Pompeii.\nPompeii is also a driving force behind the economy of the nearby town of \"Pompei. Many residents are employed in the tourism and hospitality business, serving as taxi or bus drivers, waiters or hotel operators. The ruins can be easily reached on foot from the \"Circumvesuviana train stop called Pompei Scavi, directly at the ancient site. There are also car parks nearby.\nExcavations in the site have generally ceased due to the moratorium imposed by the superintendent of the site, Professor Pietro Giovanni Guzzo. Additionally, the site is generally less accessible to tourists, with less than a third of all buildings open in the 1960s being available for public viewing today. Nevertheless, the sections of the ancient city open to the public are extensive, and tourists can spend several days exploring the whole site.\nObjects buried beneath Pompeii were well-preserved for almost 2,000 years. The lack of air and moisture let objects remain underground with little to no deterioration. Once excavated, the site provided a wealth of source material and evidence for analysis, giving detail into the lives of the Pompeiians. However, once exposed, Pompeii has been subject to both natural and man-made forces, which have rapidly increased deterioration.\nWeathering, erosion, light exposure, water damage, poor methods of excavation and reconstruction, introduced plants and animals, tourism, vandalism and theft have all damaged the site in some way. Two-thirds of the city has been excavated, but the remnants of the city are rapidly deteriorating.\nThe concern for conservation has continually troubled archaeologists. The ancient city was included in the \"1996 World Monuments Watch by the \"World Monuments Fund, and again in \"1998 and in \"2000. In 1996 the organisation claimed that Pompeii \"desperately need[ed] repair\" and called for the drafting of a general plan of \"restoration and interpretation. The organisation supported conservation at Pompeii with funding from \"American Express and the \"Samuel H. Kress Foundation.\nToday, funding is mostly directed into conservation of the site; however, due to the expanse of Pompeii and the scale of the problems, this is inadequate in halting the slow decay of the materials. An estimated US$335 million is needed for all necessary work on Pompeii.[\"citation needed] A recent study has recommended an improved strategy for interpretation and presentation of the site as a cost-effective method of improving its conservation and preservation in the short term.\nFencing in the temple of \"Venus prevents vandalism of the site, as well as theft.\nThe 2,000-year-old Schola Armatorum (House of the Gladiators) collapsed on 6 November 2010. The structure was not open to visitors, but the outside was visible to tourists. There was no immediate determination as to what caused the building to collapse, although reports suggested water infiltration following heavy rains might have been responsible. There has been fierce controversy after the collapse, with accusations of neglect.\nPompeii was the setting for the British comedy \"television series \"Up Pompeii! and the movie of the series. Pompeii also featured in the second episode of the fourth season of revived BBC science fiction series \"Doctor Who, named \"The Fires of Pompeii, which featured Caecilius as a character.\nIn 1971, the rock band \"Pink Floyd filmed a live concert titled \"Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, in which they performed six songs in the ancient Roman amphitheatre in the city. The audience consisted only of the film's production crew and some local children.\n\"Pompeii is a novel written by \"Robert Harris (published in 2003) featuring the account of the aquarius' race to fix the broken aqueduct in the days leading up to the eruption of Vesuvius, inspired by actual events and people.\nIn 2016, 45 years after the Pink Floyd recordings, band guitarist \"David Gilmour returned to the Pompeii amphiteatre to perform a live concert for his \"Rattle That Lock world tour. This event was considered the first one in the amphiteatre to feature an audience since the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius.\nDuring Roman times, warm water was circulated through open trenches to provide heating for buildings and baths in Pompeii.\nthe city's most extravagant brothel, the Lupanare – from the Latin word lupa for prostitute\nGiuseppe Fiorelli directed the Pompeii excavation from 1863 to 1875\nIt is the first time since the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79 that there has been an event with an audience in the venue.\nThe recent UK Channel 5 programme, transmitted live from Herculaneum on 29 June 2006...\n|\"Library resources about", "label": "No"} {"text": "THE PROMISE OF CHEAP ENERGY\nEven at the time of Indian independence, the tremendous potential of nuclear energy, for war and peace, was evident. The constraints, though, were obvious from the beginning. Uranium, the raw material for nuclear power, needed to be processed heavily before it could be used, and in this process lay many of the dangers and drawbacks of using it as a nuclear fuel. In any case, India was in a peculiar position as far as nuclear fuel was concerned, and it required the country to think differently. Homi Bhabha summed this up: “The total reserves of thorium in India amount to over 500,000 tonnes in readily extractable form, while the known reserves of uranium are less than a tenth of this. The aim of India’s long-range atomic power programme must therefore be to base nuclear power generation as soon as possible on thorium rather than uranium… The first generation of atomic power stations based on natural uranium can only be used to start off an atomic power programme… The plutonium produced by the first generation power stations can be used in a second generation of power stations designed to produce electric power and convert thorium into U-233, or depleted uranium into more plutonium with breeding gains… The second generation of power stations may be regarded as an intermediate step for the breeder power stations of the third generation, all of which would produce more U-233 than they burn in the course of producing power.”\nIt was an ambitious programme, which if successful could ensure energy self-sufficiency for India not just for decades but centuries. The problem is that several decades later, the country has only managed, rather haltingly, to implement the first stage of Bhabha’s vision, and that has been done mainly through imported technology. Over the next five years, a 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor will go online at Kalpakkam, based on the experience gained by running a 40 MW test reactor. Apart from energy, it will begin the process of breeding fuel for the third stage of India’s programme that seeks to use thorium resources.\nWhile much of this technology has been developed indigenously, and its success still needs to be established, it parallels developments in other parts of the world. India, however, is alone in even attempting the third stage of the programme. Called the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, it is still under development at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Questions about India’s nuclear programme will remain relevant till the commercial viability of the second stage and scientific validity of the third stage are established. And this is true even without engaging with delays and safety problems that have been a constant part of the first stage of the Indian programme. While the scientific vision and ingenuity of the Indian three-stage cycle is not under question—in fact, if it succeeds, it will be one of the great technological triumphs of modern times—India’s ability to implement it in a practical, transparent and safe manner is woefully open to doubt.\nOf all the grandiose schemes proposed in our times, none can quite match the idea of linking India’s major rivers. It is an idea that would have done Muhammad bin Tughlaq credit, but it found its true progenitors in the BJP. The intervention of the Judiciary, in a matter that should be left to the Executive and decided on grounds of scientific validity, is not helping matters. Considered dispassionately, some obvious problems show up. Rivers flow along the natural slope of the terrain. Connecting them and diverting water against their natural gradient requires energy.\nConsider one recent attempt: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s grand vision of providing drinking water to Saurashtra through the Narmada project, in violation of its original plan. Water is being forced up against the incline with the use of pumping stations at regular intervals. This ensures that by the time the water reaches Saurashtra, the actual cost is such that the region’s residents might as well have been supplied mineral water. Multiply this a hundredfold, and some sense of the project’s absurdity begins to sink in.\nThat, though, is only the beginning. The cost of linking India’s rivers, and not just of pumping and diverting water, has never been estimated with any care. By the time it is done, it would require tens of thousands of kilometres of canals and huge reservoirs carved out to store water for the times when it’s actually needed, given that all of India’s rivers are in spate more or less at the same time. This would mean that while normal floods could be mitigated, abnormal ones would get magnified, with potentially catastrophic consequences.\nGiven India’s record of delays and cost overruns, just the rupee calculations of this exercise should halt the idea in its tracks. However, this country is run by people who refuse to understand the basic principles of compound interest. In the Narmada project, for example, cost overruns and delays have meant that even if it delivers all that was promised (which is hardly the case), it would still be a financial disaster. No matter how you do the arithmetic, that project is a write-off. The grand idea of linking Indian rivers would be a magnified version of the same idiocy—guaranteed, like Tughlaq’s hairbrained schemes, to bankrupt the State.\nLast of all, India has a long history of dealing an extremely raw deal to those uprooted by such projects, regardless of the credentials of habitual protestors against the country’s relief and rehabilitation policies. In this case, forget the ethical and moral issues involved, politics should be enough to torpedo this absurd idea. In the Narmada Valley, those displaced were spread along the river’s banks, a huge number but not significant enough to affect election results in any one constituency (given the demographics), but once you multiply this number at least a hundredfold, it is difficult to see any party surviving the wrath of the displaced.\nINDIAN ON THE MOON\nIn its most ambitious space mission yet, India wants to put a man (or woman) on the moon. Such a journey has long excited the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which announced in 2007 that it would begin a moon exploration programme that will ultimately land a compatriot on its surface. In 2009, the Government okayed a budget of Rs 12,400 crore—to be spent over seven years—for the project.\nAs usual, though, India has woken up late in this second space race, with other Asian countries already having taken huge leaps. China plans a manned lunar base by 2020 as a launch pad for a mission to Mars and other exploratory efforts. Japan intends to match that and more within the same time frame. The search for lunar water resources for their planned bases has begun in right earnest. If India can pat itself on the back, it is for the fact that it was its moon orbiter Chandrayaan I that first found evidence of water on Earth’s sole natural satellite.\nBut otherwise, Isro is behind schedule. By now, according to plans submitted to the Planning Commission, it was supposed to have screened pilots as potential astronauts, set up a training facility for them, begun another unmanned moon mission, upgraded its communication links, built a third dedicated launch pad at Sriharikota for human space missions, fixed cryogenic problems with its Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle, and created a space recovery capsule that can put a human in space for a short duration and safely splash back into the sea. The Devas scam seems to have thrown these plans in disarray, even as the Planning Commission has suspended funding.\nFormer Isro Chairman Madhavan Nair, who chalked out the moon and manned space mission programmes, admits little work has been done after Chandrayaan I sent the moon an ‘impacter’ from its orbit 100 km above the lunar surface (and American sensors aboard the orbiter found traces of water at the lunar poles). As a follow up, a robotic lander on Chandrayaan II slated for 2013 is expected to drill the surface, analyse samples over a 100 km radius around a spot preferably close to a lunar pole, and relay information to Isro’s Deep Space Network antennas at Byalalu near Bangalore.\nFor astronauts, or ‘vyomonauts’ as Isro calls them, collaboration with the Air Force is underway. Says Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Space) Air Vice Marshal M Matheswaran: “By 2020, India would have a long queue of astronauts—in later stages, even from other government agencies, and including women too.” At first, about 200 qualified pilots will be shortlisted, of whom four will be fully trained and put into space for short durations, before two are sent off to the moon 400,000 km away. Though manned missions are scheduled to start in 2016, the Rs 1,000-crore training centre planned on a 140 acre campus in Bangalore is yet to be built. Isro has also begun work on a space recovery capsule, and is confident of developing heat-resistant materials necessary for its re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. So, will India achieve its lunar dream? It looks as iffy as iffy gets.\nIndia is on the cusp of change. Aadhaar, as the country’s Unique Identification (UID) project is now known, has issued over 148 million cards—each with the holder’s unique number, photograph and biometric data—since the first was handed out on 29 September 2010 in Tembhali, Maharashtra. The grand idea is to change how every Indian citizen stands up to be counted and transacts business with the Government.\nThe project has not been free of glitches. Parliamentary clearance remains mired in matters of detail, with the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010, yet to be passed. All the same, work is underway. The Cabinet Committee on the UID project gave its nod in January to expand its coverage to another 600 million enrolments. Objections raised by the Home Ministry, which had accused the project of duplicating the National Population Registry’s data collection exercise, have also been addressed, and the two are set to coordinate their efforts.\nAccording to UID Authority Chairman Nandan Nilekani, Aadhaar will finally enable India to eliminate poverty—an aim long thwarted by systemic leakages of State handouts—by allowing the direct transfer of cash subsidies to the deserving. Middlemen and corrupt officials will be unable to steal what’s intended for the poor.\nPrivacy hawks are alarmed by UID cards being made mandatory for all citizens, but they may have no escape. The day may not be far that opening a bank account or getting a cellphone would require this card as proof of identity. Under a pilot project being conducted in Mysore, cooking gas customers need to present an Aadhaar car to get a cylinder. Soon, customers will be asked to pay the cylinder’s full price (about Rs 820 today), with the State subsidy (about Rs 400) sent to their bank accounts if they are eligible. This system, implemented across all of India’s entitlement programmes, would result in a decidedly more efficient economy.\nAadhar cards will also allow payments under NREGA to be made directly to intended beneficiaries, thus ensuring the money does not vanish midway. Official estimates put the cost of a complete UID rollout at Rs 18,000 crore (with Rs 1,758 crore to be spent this financial year). Some have argued that this is a waste of public money. The real worry, however, is the menace such a consolidated database could be if it gets into the wrong hands.", "label": "No"} {"text": "We are living in an age of cyber attacks. Without your knowledge your computer might have been infected and remotely being controlled by a hacker. There's also the danger of data in laptop being accessed by cyber thieves.\nHere are a few simple ways to know if your computer has been infected:\n- The computer slows down, even when you haven't loaded lot of data in it.\n- Suddenly a browser or a popup window launches itself, without you having done anything. Even if you close them, they open by themselves.\n- Security ads pop up, warning you of your laptop getting infected and asking your to download security software.\n- You are redirected to a site which wasn't your destination.\n- Your friend tells you about an email that's unlike the one you usually send. Or social network shows posts you never posted.\nHow to be safe online\n- The first step to being safe online is never use a pendrive without scanning for viruses.\n- Two, never click a link unless you know it's genuine.\n- Treat forwarded emails and links on social networks with scepticism. The mails or the posts may be from your friend, but the attachment or the link may not be one that he or she created.\n- Test the link if it's safe by typing out the URL on https://safeweb.norton.com/ or http://www.siteadvisor.com/\n- Test the attachment by downloading, and running a virus scan. Open only if it's clean. Or else delete it. Make sure your antivirus is updated to the latest second.\nThese procedures are painful. But worth it.", "label": "No"} {"text": "an active program, policy, propaganda campaign, etc., by a national government for the purpose of terminating a war or period of hostility, lessening international tensions, or promoting peaceful cooperation with other nations.\nTAKE ROUND 2 OF OUR PSAT VOCABULARY QUIZ!\nHere is our second set of teacher-selected PSAT vocabulary words. Do you know the meanings of these terms?\nQuestion 1 of 10\nOrigin of peace offensive\nFirst recorded in 1915–20\nWords nearby peace offensive\nDictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020", "label": "No"} {"text": "Poway and Rancho Bernardo, CA\nSleeping is a vitally important part of maintaining your body’s functions, especially when it comes to making it through a busy day. Without the minimum amount of sleep, every facet of your life, from health to performance, can suffer.\nFor some people, their busy lives keep them from sleeping but for others, sleep disorders may be at the root of the problem. Tossing and turning all night isn’t normal which is why it’s important to see a doctor at the first sign of concern. Sleep apnea is an incredibly common form of sleep disorder that occurs when the airway is blocked during the night. This process deprives the brain of adequate oxygen and, in order to begin breathing normally, the brain wakes up, disturbing sleep. For those who suffer from sleep apnea, this process can occur hundreds of time in a night. Although you may not be aware of the interruptions to your slumber, sleep apnea can cause extreme sleep deprivation in a way that is harmful to your health.\nEffects of Sleep Loss\nSleep loss can affect numerous parts of your life, both long-term and short-term, including:\n- Declining physical health\n- Declining mental health\n- Difficulty concentrating\n- Memory loss and poor judgment\n- Chronic fatigue\n- Loss of libido\nCan Sleep Loss Hurt You?\nIn addition to social and physiological changes, sleep apnea can contribute to serious health risks, including:\n- Heart attack\nCan Sleep Loss Hurt Your Loved Ones?\nSleep apnea has numerous negative side effects, including those on your mood, behavior, and health. It can make you sad, irritable, or unable to focus when spending time with those around you, creating problems in your personal relationships.\nIf you have a partner, your sleep apnea may be affecting his or her life as well. Snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnea, a side effect that could be causing your partner to lose sleep as well.\nSleep Apnea Treatment\nWhen your sleep apnea becomes too much to handle on your own, it’s time to seek treatment. Sleep apnea dentists like Dr. Nicol Cook at Smiles By Dr. Cook are able to provide you with custom treatment options designed to help you get a better night’s sleep.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Developer FAQ - Subroutines\nNote: This document was written for Excel 97 - 2000.\nWhat's the difference between a VBA subroutine and a macro?\nNothing, really. The term macro is a carry-over from the old days of spreadsheets. These terms are now used interchangeably.\nWhat's a procedure?\nA procedure can be either a subroutine or a function.\nWhat is a Variant data type?\nVariables that aren't specifically declared are assigned as a variant type, and VBA automatically converts the data to the proper type when it's used. This is particularly useful when getting values from a worksheet cell when you don't know in advance what the cell contains. Generally, it's a good idea to specifically declare your variables (using the Dim statement), because using variants is quite a bit slower.\nWhat's the difference between a Variant array and an array of Variants?\nA Variant is a special data type that can contain any kind of data -- a single value, or an array of values (that is, a Variant array). The code below creates a Variant that contains an array.\nDim X as Variant X = Array(30, 40, 50)\nA normal array can contain items of a specified data type, including non-typed Variants. The statement below creates an array that consists of 12 Variants.\nDim X (0 to 2) as Variant\nAlthough a Variant containing an array is conceptually different from an array whose elements are of type Variant, the array elements are accessed in the same way.\nWhat's a type definition character?\nVBA lets you append a character to a variable's name to indicate the data type. For example, you can declare the MyVar variable as an integer by tacking % onto the name, as follows:\nHere's a list of the type-declaration characters supported by VBA:\nInteger % Long & Single ! Double # Currency @ String $\nCan a custom worksheet function written in VBA perform the same types of actions as a subroutine?\nNo. Functions called from a worksheet formula have some limitations. In general, they must be strictly \"passive\" -- they can't change the active cell, apply formatting, open workbooks, change the active sheet, and so on.\nFunctions can only perform calculations and return a value. An exception to this rule is the VBA MsgBox function. A custom function can display a MsgBox whenever it is recalculated. This is very handy for debugging a custom function.\nI would like to create a function or subroutine that automatically changes the formatting of a cell based on the data I enter. For example, if I enter a value greater than 0, the cell's background color should be red. Is this possible?\nIt's certainly possible, and you don't need any programming. Use Excel's Conditional Formatting feature, accessed with the Format - Conditional Formatting command.\nThe Conditional Formatting features is useful, but I'd like to perform other types of operations when data is entered into a cell.\nIn that case, you can take advantage of the Change event for a worksheet object. Whenever a cell is changed, the Change event is triggered. If the code module for the Sheet object contains a procedure named Worksheet_Change, this procedure will be executed automatically.\nWhat other types of events can be monitored?\nLots! Search the online help for events to get a complete listing.\nI tried entering an event procedure (Sub Workbook_Open), but the procedure isn't executed when the workbook is open. What's wrong?\nYou probably put the procedure in the wrong places. Workbook event procedures must be in the code module for the ThisWorkbook object. Sheet event procedures must be in the code module for the appropriate Sheet object.\nI can write an event procedure for a particular workbook. Is it possible to write an event procedure that will work for any workbook that's open?\nYes, but you need to use a class module. Details are in Chapter 18 of Excel 2000 Power Programming With VBA.\nI'm very familiar with creating formulas in Excel. Does VBA use the same mathematical and logical operators?\nYes. And it includes some additional operators that aren't valid in worksheet formulas. These additional VBA operators are:\n\\ Division with an integer result\nEqv Returns True if both expressions are true or both are false\nImp Logical implication on two expressions\nIs Compares two object variables\nLike Compares two strings using wildcard characters\nXor Returns True if only one expression is true\nHow can I execute a subroutine that's in a different workbook?\nUse the Run method of the Application object. The statement below executes a subroutine named Macro1 located in the Personal.xls workbook.\nI've created several custom functions using VBA. I like to use these functions in my worksheet formulas, but I find it inconvenient to precede the function name with the workbook name. Is there any way around this?\nYes. Convert the workbook that holds the function definitions to an XLA add-in. When the add-in is open, you can use the functions in any other worksheet without referencing the function's filename.\nAlso, if you set up a reference to the workbook that contains the custom functions, you can use the function without preceding it with the workbook name. To create a reference, use the Tools - References command in the VBE.\nI would like a particular workbook to be loaded every time I start Excel. I would also like a macro in this workbook to execute automatically. Am I asking too much?\nNot at all. To open the workbook automatically, just store it in your \\XLStart directory. To have the macro execute automatically, create a Workbook_Open macro in the code module for the ThisWorkbook object.\nI have a workbook that uses a Workbook_Open subroutine. Is there a way to prevent this from executing when I open the workbook?\nYes. Hold down Shift when you issue the File - Open command. This technique also works with the Workbook_BeforeClose procedure. However, it does not work if the workbook you're opening is an add-in.\nCan a VBA procedure access a cell's value in a workbook that is not open?\nNo. A formula in a worksheet can do this, but VBA cannot.\nHowever, there is a way to do this by using an XLM macro.\nHow can I prevent the \"save file\" prompt from being displayed when I close a workbook from VBA?\nInsert the following statement to eliminate this and other prompts:\nApplication.DisplayAlerts = False\nHow can I set things up so my macro runs once every hour?\nYou need to use the OnTime method of the Application object. This lets you specify a subroutine to execute at a particular time of day. When the subroutine ends, use the OnTime method again to schedule another event in one hour.\nHow do I prevent a macro from showing in the macro list?\nDeclare the subroutine using the Private keyword:\nPrivate Sub MyMacro()\nOr, you can add a dummy optional argument:\nSub MyMacro (Optional FakeArg)\nI wrote a macro that creates lots of charts. After some of the charts are created, I get a \"not enough memory\" error. My system has lots of memory, so what's the problem?\nMost likely, your system is running low on system resources. In some versions of Excel, creating charts uses system resources that are not returned to the system. The only way to regain the system resources is to restart Windows. Try upgrading to SR-2.\nIs it possible to save a chart as a GIF file?\nYes, the code below saves the first embedded chart on Sheet1 as a GIF file named Mychart.gif.\nSet CurrentChart = Sheets(\"Sheet1\").ChartObjects(1).Chart Fname = ThisWorkbook.Path & \"\\Mychart.gif\" CurrentChart.Export Filename:=Fname, FilterName:=\"GIF\"\nAre variables in a VBA procedure available to other VBA procedures? What if the procedure is in a different module? Or in a different workbook?\nYou're talking about a variable's scope. There are three levels of scope: local, module-level, and public. Local variables have the narrowest scope and are declared within a procedure. A local variable is visible only to the procedure in which it was declared. Module-level variables are declared at the top of a module, prior to the first procedure. Module-level variables are visible to all procedures in the module. Public variables have the broadest scope, and they are declared by using the Public keyword.\nSearch for Tips\nBrowse Tips by Category\nNeeds tips? Here are two books, with nothing but tips:\nContains more than 200 useful tips and tricks for Excel 2007 | Other Excel 2007 books | Amazon link: John Walkenbach's Favorite Excel 2007 Tips & Tricks", "label": "No"} {"text": "It has become clear to more and more observers that Louisiana's coastal restoration effort is at a watershed moment.\nFrom the beginning of that effort, it has been assumed that the larger share of funds to pay its total costs would come from the federal government. This was true when the projected total cost was $2 billion in mid-1990s, $14 billion in the early 2000s, and $50 billion today.\nAfter the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Disaster, a period of optimism prevailed because state officials anticipated billions of BP dollars coming our way. The timing and amount of funds coming from a BP judgment or settlement were always uncertain. That uncertainty is greater today, but the eventual amount will likely be smaller than predicted, and they remain one-time funds.\nLouisiana will receive a greater share of offshore oil and gas revenue beginning in 2017 under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA), and U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has led efforts to increase those amounts and accelerate the payment date. Uncertainty remains about the amount this revenue will actually provide. The 2012 Master Plan estimates them at $100 million to $200 million a year. These sources of funding will be crucial for the restoration program, but they leave a huge gap.\nTo carry out restoration on the scale envisioned, Louisiana will still need billions, not millions, in federal dollars.\nThat challenge has always been daunting, but the federal fiscal picture is more difficult than ever before. New federal appropriations of any significant size are unlikely for the foreseeable future. It's worth asking why that is the case — a key reason is political opposition to federal spending. Some of the fiercest opposition comes from part of Louisiana's own congressional delegation. This makes seeking billions in federal dollars for coastal restoration a harder task, especially when coupled with rhetoric about smaller government and no deficit spending.\nThis has caused a loss of national credibility and support for Louisiana in recent years, especially when coupled with the tendency of state officials to oppose the federal government continually, showing in the process a disdain for science as well as regulation. Treating the Corps of Engineers, EPA and the White House as enemies may play well politically at home, but Louisiana cannot restore the coast without federal partnership. The state will not get a blank check from the Treasury without oversight, nor should we want one.\nLouisiana could seek to make up more of the gap itself. The state's funding for restoration has risen in recent years, using surplus funds as well as early restoration funds from BP. An oil processing tax proposed by Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell or a natural resource extraction tax of the kind proposed by former Gov. Buddy Roemer are two examples of possible sources of additional revenue.\nToday, they would be blocked by a governor who opposes any new taxes. That should change.\nWe face serious questions, and our politics provide only obstacles, not answers.\nDr. Paul Templet is former program manager in the Louisiana Coastal Management Program, former secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, and a retired professor of environmental studies at Louisiana State University.", "label": "No"} {"text": "Tyrone Guthrie Outside The Guthrie – 64/365, Archive 365, BlackBerry Shots, Minneapolis, Minnesota, photo © 2010-2012 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.\nThe Archive 365 practice and collaboration continues with a photograph taken outside the Guthrie Theater in August 2010. With each new image, I feel compelled to look into tidbits about the subject’s history. It’s no secret that Sir Tyrone Guthrie and Midwest architect Ralph Rapson did not see eye-to-eye on the design of the original Guthrie Theater (the play Tyrone & Ralph was written highlighting this piece of history). The two fought over the thrust stage which Guthrie wanted and the asymmetrical design Rapson desired. They also disagreed over the color of the seats. Guthrie ordered Rapson to make sure the seats were all the same bland color; Rapson wanted brightness and vivacity and decidedly disobeyed. By the time the hundreds of multicolored seats arrived, it was too late for Guthrie to do anything about it.\nIn spite of their disagreements, Rapson’s modern design prevailed and the Guthrie opened on May 7, 1963 with a production of Hamlet directed by Sir Tyrone Guthrie; it became one of the most respected theaters in the country. An idea that began in 1959 during a series of conversations among Guthrie and two colleagues—Oliver Rea and Peter Zeisler—who were disenchanted with Broadway, sprang to life. They realized their dream to create a theater with a resident acting company that would perform the classics in rotating repertory with the highest professional standards.\nSir Tyrone Guthrie was the Artistic Director from 1963 through 1966 and returned to direct each year until 1969. He passed away in 1971. Architect Ralph Rapson died of heart failure in 2008 at the age of 93. The original Guthrie was torn down in 2006; the theater dimmed its lights 43 years to the day that it opened — also with a production of Hamlet. It reopened across town by the Mississippi River in a new, $125 million three-stage complex with the faces of Tyrone Guthrie, August Wilson, Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Anton Chekhov, Eugene O’Neill and George Bernard Shaw etched into its walls.\nGuthrie Theater History – The Guthrie\nThe Old Guthrie Goes Down – photos at The Masticator\nGuthrie & Rapson battle again – MPR news\n-posted on red Ravine, Monday, September 3rd, 2012", "label": "No"} {"text": "One of the more discussed recent books on education is Diane Ravitch’s “Reign of Error”. Ravitch argues that poverty and socioeconomic inequality produces kids who enter our educational system handicapped in their ability to learn.This poor start translates in poor performance as the individual moves through primary and secondary education.\nI do not agree with Ravitch – the immigrants to the US, say in the 1880s, were poor and they were discriminated against on religious and/or cultural grounds. Yet those immigrants made sure their children, although raised in poverty, got the best education they could afford. These children became engineers, doctors, or lawyers. I am proud to count myself as a graduate of an excellent school – The City College of New York – that was developed for the very purpose of offering a free (and excellent) education to the children of poor immigrants. Therefore, I do not see poverty by itself as being the source of a sub-par educational system.\nI think that cultures and nations that develop good educational systems do so because education is one of the few, or the only path to an individual’s financial well being.\nWhen there are other avenues for achieving financial success, education takes a back seat. In the US, you can be a mattress salesman, with very little education and still be financially successful. We do have a society in which we can become wealthy in many ways – entrepreneurship, salesmanship – and, in addition, we are a wealthy country (from the point of view of natural resources that one can exploit).\nIn other countries, there may be many barriers to individual financial success – lack of capital, a hierarchical social order, or generalized poverty. In these societies, education becomes important to the individual primarily as an avenue for achieving financial security . I am thinking especially of the Asian countries where education has been the “classic” path to success – those who became mandarins started with the civil service examinations.\nAn alternative path to developing a good educational system may happen when a top-down, autocratic society (e.g. Russia) starts compensating educated people because these people can strengthen the country’s military and industrial infrastructure which is weaker than that of its neighbors’.\nIn summary, my thesis is that a good educational system develops due to market forces – education is a sure path to an individual’s financial well-being and there are few other paths available to achieve this well-being. In this thesis, poverty by itself, does not lead to a poor educational system. A sub-par educational system comes about when education is not the most important path to financial security.\nPerhaps there can be another driver to a good educational system. After all, there were quite a few rich merchants in medieval times in Asian countries and these merchants did not get wealthy because of their classical education. It could be that a good educational system, or more precisely a selective one, also develops when education is seen as a “noble” profession, in the sense that it leads to relative wealth without physical effort. However, this is not an American concept – we actually value physical effort and one can see a proof of it every Sunday until the Super Bowl.\nIf I am right, what does this mean for how education will develop in the US? I don’t see much improvement soon – say on a 10-year horizon. As long as we have a high degree of elasticity in our economy – meaning that we have many paths for achieving individual financial success – education will be not be a priority for us as a society.\nIt may be that increasing international competition will drive us to educational reforms. After all, the genesis of Common Core was when industry and the Chamber of Commerce started going to the state governors and saying we are losing jobs and contracts because we do not have a sufficiently well educated workers. Common Core developed from an industry initiative. That’s market forces at work!", "label": "No"} {"text": "400 Koalas in Australia Will Be Part of Game-Changing Chlamydia Vaccine Trial\nChlamydia is a severe problem among koalas, researchers say. It affects about half the population in Australia.\nKoalas are getting vaccinated, but not against COVID-19.\nAbout 400 koalas will be part of a trial for a chlamydia vaccine. It's a severe problem among koalas, researchers say, affecting about half the population in Australia.\n\"So is it a game-changer,\" Peter Timms from the University of the Sunshine Coast said. \"I think it'll make a significant difference, given that we haven't had this management tool before.\"\nA 2016 study found that there are about 330,000 koalas left in the wild. It's estimated that in the past three years, 60,000 have been killed or injured by wildfires.\nBut researchers say there isn't much being done to prevent disease among the koalas. They say antibiotics haven't been an effective solution because the koalas have to be kept out of the wild while they are treated. Also, the medication destroys the bacteria in their gut needed to digest eucalyptus leaves.\nThe koalas in this study will get their vaccines and a microchip before being sent back into the wild, hopefully putting an end to this pandemic.\nTrending on Inside Edition\nPreparing for a Safe Thanksgiving Holiday Amid Uptick in COVID-19 CasesNews\n80 Thieves Ransack California Nordstrom in Smash-And-Grab Frenzy Lasting Less Than 1 MinuteCrime\nWaukesha Parade Rampage Suspect Darrell Brooks Allegedly Ran Over Mother of His Child Days EarlierCrime\n2 of 17 Missionaries Kidnapped in Haiti Last Month ReleasedNews\nRussian Man Creates Solar-Powered Elevator for His Home's BalconyOffbeat", "label": "No"} {"text": "The consumption of calories and the maintenance of weight seem like simple arithmetic, but it can vary from person to person. It also requires an awareness of the content of foods that you are eating. However, a good, healthy diet should not be complicated. Maintaining weight is simple if you are eating the right things.\nVideo of the Day\nThe number of calories you need depends upon several factors besides gender. They include age, weight, activity level and genetics. Individuals are different, but on average, men have more weight, and also more lean weight, than women, so this generally necessitates the consumption of more calories throughout the day. Extra weight requires more energy to do the same amount of work. Muscle mass weighs more than other tissue, and it is an active tissue, burning calories on its own.\nAccording to work by exercise physiologists William McArdle and Frank Katch, the average total number of calories used for an adult male in the United States is 2,700 to 2,900 calories a day. This includes the basal metabolic rate, or the rate at which the body must work just to fulfill its most basic functions, plus the amount of activity that you do during the day. It is also an average and should not be applied to every single male. Weight lifters, athletes and just about any physically active person will burn more calories in a day.\nGenetics is a large factor in your basal metabolic rate, but even without the ability to account for genetics, there are still generally accurate formulas available, including the Harris-Benedict formula. For men, this formula is 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in year). You will have to estimate how much activity you are doing to find the total number of calories that you are burning. Sedentary individuals should multiply the basal metabolic rate by 1.2. Lightly active individuals—light exercise or sports one to three days a week—should multiply by 1.375. Moderately active individuals—moderate exercise or sports three to five days a week—should multiply by 1.55. Very active individuals—hard exercise or sports six to seven days a week—should multiply by 1.725. And extremely active individuals—hard daily exercise or sports, physical job or professional athleticism—should multiply by 1.9.\nA calorie is essentially a unit of energy. According to Medline Plus, it measures the amount of food needed to raise a gram of water a single degree Celsius. Consuming the same number of calories you burn, therefore, will fulfill your exact energy requirements throughout the day. Fats, carbohydrates and proteins are the only kinds of nutrients that your body can use for energy. Fat is the most energy- dense of the three. It contains 9 calories per gram, compared to 4 calories for proteins and carbohydrates.\nBesides the number of calories, the quality of the calories also matters. Extra energy is stored as body fat when there is too much energy, but eating foods such as fiber and protein will promote a feeling of fullness and slow the absorption of molecules into the bloodstream. Simple, refined carbohydrates and highly calorie dense foods have a greater proclivity to be converted into body fat.", "label": "No"} {"text": "In this lab students will work in groups to build a free standing structure out of 25 pieces of fettuccine and a meter of masking tape. The student groups will compete against each other to see who can create the strongest structure. Test the strength of the fettuccine structures using books. Students will examine the weight held by the structures as well as the force exerted by the fettuccine. They will also examine design elements to see what makes a strong structure.\nWhen you purchase this product you will receive a student lab sheet, a teacher overview sheet with instructions and advice for doing this lab, and pictures of structures created by my students!\nOther labs to check out:\nBalloon Rocket Lab for Newton's Laws\nBuilding Circuits Lab", "label": "No"} {"text": "Euphorbia tirucalli, commonly called pencil cactus, might be difficult to kill and remove because, like other succulents, it tolerates extreme neglect and roots easily from a small cutting. Pencil cactus grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 11, but dies back to the ground at first frost in colder climates. When grown outdoors in the right climate, a pencil cactus can grow up to 30 feet tall. The pencil-like branches contain a milky, poisonous sap, so you should wear protective clothing to avoid skin irritation when removing pencil cactus.\nCut straight through the main stem with a pair of lopping shears or a pruning saw, making the cut a few inches from soil level. You might need to prune off a few of the lower branches so you can get to the base, but make as few cuts as possible to reduce the amount of sap that leaks from the open wounds.\nSpray the exposed cuts with cool water to stop or slow the sap flow.\nLay the cut plant on a hard surface away from soil for one or two days to allow the sap to drain and the cut to form a callus. Cut the plant into several pieces if you have a large pencil cactus. Dispose of the cactus with other yard waste, based on your community's policies.\nSpray the exposed trunk cut with a non-selective herbicide, such as a product containing approximately 25 percent glyphosate herbicide. Allow at least one week for the herbicide to travel to the roots and kill the entire root system.\nDig a wide circle at least 12 to 18 inches out from the trunk so the circle of soil retains as many of the roots as possible. Pull back on the shovel handle as you dig to pry the roots from the soil. Lift the root ball out of the hole and shake off any excess soil.\nPick through the soil to remove any remaining pieces of the pencil cactus roots. Use a garden hoe or mattock to break up soil in a wider area if the roots appear to extend far beyond the hole where you removed the root ball. Dispose of the root ball and root pieces.\nFill the empty hole with clean topsoil and spread the soil smooth with a rake.\nThings You Will Need\n- Lopping shears\n- Pruning saw\n- Spray bottle\n- Garbage bags\n- Garden hoe\n- Garden mattock\n- If size is an issue, but you don't necessarily want to get rid of the pencil cactus entirely, you can prune it back severely at any time of year.\n- Fine Gardening: Euphorbia Tirucalli (Pencil Tree, Finger Tree)\n- Floridata: Euphorbia Tirucalli\n- Denver Plants: Pencil Cactus or Milk Bush\n- Be Water Wise: Euphorbia Tirucalli \"Sticks on Fire\"\n- University of Greenwich Natural Resources Institute: Euphorbia Tirucalli\n- Purdue University Department of Horticulture: Euphorbia Tirucalli", "label": "No"} {"text": "Read Science A-Z, The Solar System book pages 17-18 about Dwarf Planets videos below. Look for the answers to fill in the pages for Pluto.\nWhat's Pluto like?\n• Pluto's average distance from the sun is about 3.6 billion miles\n• The temperature on Pluto may be about -375 °F\n• Pluto is mostly brown\n• It takes Pluto 248 Earth years to travel once around the sun\n• Pluto cannot be seen without a telescope\n• Pluto's diameter is about 1,400 miles, smaller than Earth's moon", "label": "No"} {"text": "- Examine the anatomy of the nervous system\n- Determine the main functions of the nervous system\n- Differentiate the medical terms of the nervous system and common abbreviations\n- Recognize the medical specialties associated with the nervous system\n- Discover common diseases, disorders, and procedures related to the nervous system\nNervous System Word Parts\nClick on prefixes, combining forms, and suffixes to reveal a list of word parts to memorize for the Nervous System.\nIntroduction to the Nervous System\nThe picture you have in your mind of the nervous system probably includes the brain, the nervous tissue contained within the cranium, and the spinal cord, the extension of nervous tissue within the vertebral column. That suggests it is made of two organs—and you may not even think of the spinal cord as an organ—but the nervous system is a very complex structure. Within the brain, many different and separate regions are responsible for many different and separate functions. It is as if the nervous system is composed of many organs that all look similar and can only be differentiated using tools such as the or .\nWatch this video:\nPractice Medical Terms Related to the Nervous System\nAnatomy (Structures) of the Nervous System\nThe Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems\nNervous tissue, present in both the CNS and PNS, contains two basic types of cells: neurons and glial cells. Neurons are the primary type of cell that most anyone associates with the nervous system. They are responsible for the computation and communication that the nervous system provides. They are electrically active and release chemical signals to target cells. Glial cells, or glia, are known to play a supporting role for nervous tissue. Ongoing research pursues an expanded role that glial cells might play in signaling, but neurons are still considered the basis of this function. Neurons are important, but without glial support, they would not be able to perform their function. A glial cell is one of a variety of cells that provide a framework of tissue that supports the neurons and their activities. The neuron is the more functionally important of the two, in terms of the communicative function of the nervous system. To describe the functional divisions of the nervous system, it is important to understand the structure of a neuron.\nNeurons are cells and therefore have a soma, or cell body, but they also have extensions of the cell; each extension is generally referred to as a process. There is one important process that every neuron has called an axon, which is the fiber that connects a neuron with its target. Another type of process that branches off from the soma is the dendrite. Dendrites are responsible for receiving most of the input from other neurons.\nLooking at nervous tissue, some regions predominantly contain cell bodies and regions that are largely composed of just axons. These two regions within nervous system structures are often referred to as gray matter (the regions with many cell bodies and dendrites) or white matter (the regions with many axons). Figure 8.2 demonstrates the appearance of these regions in the brain and spinal cord. The colors ascribed to these regions are what would be seen in “fresh,” or unstained, nervous tissue. Gray matter is not necessarily gray. It can be pinkish because of blood content, or even slightly tan, depending on how long the tissue has been preserved. White matter is white because axons are insulated by a lipid-rich substance called myelin. Lipids can appear as white (“fatty”) material, much like the fat on a raw piece of chicken or beef. Gray matter may have that color ascribed to it because next to the white matter, it is just darker—hence, gray.\nThe distinction between gray matter and white matter is most often applied to central nervous tissue, which has large regions that can be seen with the unaided eye. When looking at peripheral structures, often a microscope is used and the tissue is stained with artificial colors. That is not to say that central nervous tissue cannot be stained and viewed under a microscope, but unstained tissue is most likely from the CNS—for example, a frontal section of the brain or cross-section of the spinal cord.\nThe brain has over 100 billion neurons.\nThe Adult Brain\nThe iconic gray mantle of the human brain, which appears to make up most of the mass of the brain, is the (see Figure 8.3). The wrinkled portion is the cerebral cortex, and the rest of the structure is beneath that outer covering. There is a large separation between the two sides of the cerebrum called the longitudinal fissure. It separates the cerebrum into two distinct halves, a right and left cerebral hemisphere. Deep within the cerebrum, the white matter of the corpus callosum provides the major pathway for communication between the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex.\nMany of the higher neurological functions, such as memory, emotion, and consciousness, are the result of cerebral function. The complexity of the cerebrum is different across vertebrate species. The cerebrum of the most primitive vertebrates is not much more than the connection for the sense of smell. In mammals, the cerebrum comprises the outer gray matter that is the cortex (from the Latin word meaning “bark of a tree”) and several deep nuclei that belong to three important functional groups. The basal nuclei are responsible for cognitive processing, the most important function being that associated with planning movements. The basal forebrain contains nuclei that are important in learning and memory. The limbic cortex is the region of the cerebral cortex that is part of the limbic system, a collection of structures involved in emotion, memory, and behavior.\nThe brain is about 75% water and is the fattest organ in the body.\nThe cerebrum is covered by a continuous layer of gray matter that wraps around either side of the forebrain—the cerebral cortex. This thin, extensive region of wrinkled gray matter is responsible for the higher functions of the nervous system. A gyrus (plural = gyri) is the ridge of one of those wrinkles, and a sulcus (plural = sulci) is the groove between two gyri. The pattern of these folds of tissue indicates specific regions of the cerebral cortex.\nThe head is limited by the size of the birth canal, and the brain must fit inside the cranial cavity of the skull. Extensive folding in the cerebral cortex enables more gray matter to fit into this limited space. If the gray matter of the cortex were peeled off of the cerebrum and laid out flat, its surface area would be roughly equal to one square meter.\nThe folding of the cortex maximizes the amount of gray matter in the cranial cavity. During embryonic development, as the telencephalon expands within the skull, the brain goes through a regular course of growth that results in everyone’s brain having a similar pattern of folds. The surface of the brain can be mapped based on the locations of large gyri and sulci. Using these landmarks, the cortex can be separated into four major regions, or lobes (see Figure 8.4). The lateral sulcus that separates the temporal lobe from the other regions is one such landmark. Superior to the lateral sulcus is the parietal lobe and frontal lobe, which are separated from each other by the central sulcus. The posterior region of the cortex is the occipital lobe, which has no obvious anatomical border between it and the parietal or temporal lobes on the lateral surface of the brain. From the medial surface, an obvious landmark separating the parietal and occipital lobes is called the parieto-occipital sulcus. The fact that there is no obvious anatomical border between these lobes is consistent with the functions of these regions being interrelated.\nThe midbrain and hindbrain (composed of the pons and the medulla) are collectively referred to as the brain stem (see Figure 8.6). The structure emerges from the ventral surface of the forebrain as a tapering cone that connects the brain to the spinal cord. Attached to the brain stem but considered a separate region of the adult brain is the cerebellum. The midbrain coordinates sensory representations of the visual, auditory, and somatosensory perceptual spaces. The pons is the main connection with the cerebellum. The pons and the medulla regulate several crucial functions, including the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and rates.\nThe cranial nerves connect through the brain stem and provide the brain with the sensory input and motor output associated with the head and neck, including most of the special senses. The major ascending and descending pathways between the spinal cord and brain, specifically the cerebrum, pass through the brain stem.\nOne of the original regions of the embryonic brain, the midbrain is a small region between the thalamus and pons. It is separated into the tectum and tegmentum, from the Latin words for roof and floor, respectively. The cerebral aqueduct passes through the center of the midbrain, such that these regions are the roof and floor of that canal.\nThe word pons comes from the Latin word for bridge. It is visible on the anterior surface of the brain stem as the thick bundle of white matter attached to the cerebellum. The pons is the main connection between the cerebellum and the brain stem. The bridge-like white matter is only the anterior surface of the pons; the gray matter beneath that is a continuation of the tegmentum from the midbrain. Gray matter in the tegmentum region of the pons contains neurons receiving descending input from the forebrain that is sent to the cerebellum.\nThe medulla is the region known as the myelencephalon in the embryonic brain. The initial portion of the name, “myel,” refers to the significant white matter found in this region—especially on its exterior, which is continuous with the white matter of the spinal cord. The tegmentum of the midbrain and pons continues into the medulla because this gray matter is responsible for processing cranial nerve information. A diffuse region of gray matter throughout the brain stem, known as the reticular formation, is related to sleep and wakefulness, such as general brain activity and attention.\nThe cerebellum, as the name suggests, is the “little brain.” It is covered in gyri and sulci like the cerebrum and looks like a miniature version of that part of the brain (see Figure 8.7). The cerebellum is largely responsible for comparing information from the cerebrum with sensory feedback from the periphery through the spinal cord. It accounts for approximately 10% of the mass of the brain.\n- What is the primary processing purpose of the medulla?\n- Identify the structure in the brain responsible for sensory feedback through the spinal cord. Suggest what may happen if this function fails.\nThe Spinal Cord\nThe description of the CNS is concentrated on the structures of the brain, but the spinal cord is another major organ of the system. Whereas the brain develops out of expansions of the neural tube into primary and then secondary vesicles, the spinal cord maintains the tube structure and is only specialized into certain regions. As the spinal cord continues to develop in the newborn, anatomical features mark its surface. The anterior midline is marked by the anterior median fissure, and the posterior midline is marked by the posterior median sulcus. Axons enter the posterior side through the dorsal (posterior) nerve root, which marks the posterolateral sulcus on either side. The axons emerging from the anterior side do so through the ventral (anterior) nerve root. Note that it is common to see the terms dorsal (dorsal = “back”) and ventral (ventral = “belly”) used interchangeably with posterior and anterior, particularly in reference to nerves and the structures of the spinal cord. You should learn to be comfortable with both.\nOn the whole, the posterior regions are responsible for sensory functions and the anterior regions are associated with motor functions. This comes from the initial development of the spinal cord, which is divided into the basal plate and the alar plate. The basal plate is closest to the ventral midline of the neural tube, which will become the anterior face of the spinal cord and gives rise to motor neurons. The alar plate is on the dorsal side of the neural tube and gives rise to neurons that will receive sensory input from the periphery.\nThe length of the spinal cord is divided into regions that correspond to the regions of the vertebral column. The name of a spinal cord region corresponds to the level at which spinal nerves pass through the intervertebral foramina. Immediately adjacent to the brain stem are the following divisions of the spinal cord:\n- cervical region\n- thoracic region\n- lumbar region\n- sacral region.\nThe spinal cord is not the full length of the vertebral column because the spinal cord does not grow significantly longer after the first or second year, but the skeleton continues to grow. The nerves that emerge from the spinal cord pass through the intervertebral foramina at the respective levels. As the vertebral column grows, these nerves grow with it and result in a long bundle of nerves that resembles a horse’s tail and is named the cauda equina. The sacral spinal cord is at the level of the upper lumbar vertebral bones. The spinal nerves extend from their various levels to the proper level of the vertebral column.\nThe bundle of nerve fibers making up the spinal cord is no thicker than the human thumb.\nNeurons are the cells considered to be the basis of nervous tissue. They are responsible for the electrical signals that communicate information about sensations, and that produce movements in response to those stimuli, along with inducing thought processes within the brain. An important part of the function of neurons is in their structure or shape. The three-dimensional shape of these cells makes the immense number of connections within the nervous system possible.\nParts of a Neuron\nAs you learned in the first section, the main part of a neuron is the cell body, which is also known as the soma (soma = “body”). The cell body contains the nucleus and most of the major organelles. What makes neurons special is that they have many extensions of their cell membranes, which are generally referred to as processes. Neurons are usually described as having one, and only one, axon—a fiber that emerges from the cell body and projects to target cells. That single axon can branch repeatedly to communicate with many target cells. It is the axon that propagates the nerve impulse, which is communicated to one or more cells. The other processes of the neuron are dendrites, which receive information from other neurons at specialized areas of contact called synapses. The dendrites are usually highly branched processes, providing locations for other neurons to communicate with the cell body. Information flows through a neuron from the dendrites, across the cell body, and down the axon. This gives the neuron a polarity—meaning that information flows in this one direction. Figure 8.8 shows the relationship of these parts to one another.\nWhere the axon emerges from the cell body, there is a special region referred to as the axon hillock. This is a tapering of the cell body toward the axon fiber. Within the axon hillock, the cytoplasm changes to a solution of limited components called axoplasm. Because the axon hillock represents the beginning of the axon, it is also referred to as the initial segment.\nMany axons are wrapped by an insulating substance called myelin, which is made from glial cells. Myelin acts as insulation much like the plastic or rubber that is used to insulate electrical wires. A key difference between myelin and the insulation on a wire is that there are gaps in the myelin covering of an axon. Each gap is called a node of Ranvier and is important to the way that electrical signals travel down the axon. The length of the axon between each gap, which is wrapped in myelin, is referred to as an axon segment. At the end of the axon is the axon terminal, where there are usually several branches extending toward the target cell, each of which ends in an enlargement called a synaptic end bulb. These bulbs are what make the connection with the target cell at the synapse.\nTypes of Neurons\nThere are many neurons in the nervous system—a number in the trillions. And there are many different types of neurons. They can be classified by many different criteria. The first way to classify them is by the number of processes attached to the cell body. Using the standard model of neurons, one of these processes is the axon, and the rest are dendrites. Because information flows through the neuron from dendrites or cell bodies toward the axon, these names are based on the neuron’s polarity (see Figure 8.9).\nUnipolar cells have only one process emerging from the cell. True unipolar cells are only found in invertebrate animals, so the unipolar cells in humans are more appropriately called “pseudo-unipolar” cells. Invertebrate unipolar cells do not have dendrites.\nBipolar cells have two processes, which extend from each end of the cell body, opposite to each other. One is the axon and one the dendrite. Bipolar cells are not very common. They are found mainly in the olfactory epithelium (where smell stimuli are sensed), and as part of the retina.\nMultipolar neurons are all of the neurons that are not unipolar or bipolar. They have one axon and two or more dendrites (usually many more). With the exception of the unipolar sensory ganglion cells, and the two specific bipolar cells mentioned above, all other neurons are multipolar.\nNeurons can also be classified on the basis of where they are found, who found them, what they do, or even what chemicals they use to communicate with each other. Some neurons referred to in this section on the nervous system are named on the basis of those sorts of classifications (see Figure 8.10). For example, a multipolar neuron that has a very important role to play in a part of the brain called the cerebellum is known as a Purkinje (commonly pronounced per-KIN-gee) cell. It is named after the anatomist who discovered it (Jan Evangilista Purkinje, 1787–1869).\nGlial cells, or neuroglia or simply glia, are the other type of cell found in nervous tissue. They are considered to be supporting cells, and many functions are directed at helping neurons complete their function for communication. The name glia comes from the Greek word that means “glue,” and was coined by the German pathologist Rudolph Virchow, who wrote in 1856, “This connective substance, which is in the brain, the spinal cord, and the special sense nerves, is a kind of glue (neuroglia) in which the nervous elements are planted.” Today, research into nervous tissue has shown that there are many deeper roles that these cells play, and research may find much more about them in the future.\nThere are six types of glial cells. Four of them are found in the CNS and two are found in the PNS. Table 8.1 outlines some common characteristics and functions.\n|CNS GLIA||PNS GLIA||BASIC FUNCTION|\n|Oligodendrocyte||Schwann cell||Insulation, myelination|\n|Microglia||–||Immune surveillance and phagocytosis|\n|Ependymal cell||–||Creating CSF|\nGlial Cells of the CNS\nOne cell providing support to neurons of the CNS is the astrocyte, so named because it appears to be star-shaped under the microscope (astro- = “star”). Astrocytes have many processes extending from their main cell body (not axons or dendrites like neurons, just cell extensions). Those processes extend to interact with neurons, blood vessels, or the connective tissue covering the CNS that is called the pia mater (see Figure 8.11). Generally, they are supporting cells for the neurons in the central nervous system. Some ways in which they support neurons in the central nervous system are by maintaining the concentration of chemicals in the extracellular space, removing excess signaling molecules, reacting to tissue damage, and contributing to the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The blood-brain barrier is a physiological barrier that keeps many substances that circulate in the rest of the body from getting into the central nervous system, restricting what can cross from circulating blood into the CNS. Nutrient molecules, such as glucose or amino acids, can pass through the BBB, but other molecules cannot. This actually causes problems with drug delivery to the CNS. Pharmaceutical companies are challenged to design drugs that can cross the BBB as well as have an effect on the nervous system.\nLike a few other parts of the body, the brain has a privileged blood supply. Very little can pass through by diffusion. Most substances that cross the wall of a blood vessel into the CNS must do so through an active transport process. Because of this, only specific types of molecules can enter the CNS. Glucose—the primary energy source—is allowed, as are amino acids. Water and some other small particles, like gases and ions, can enter, but most everything else cannot, including white blood cells, which are one of the body’s main lines of defense. While this barrier protects the CNS from exposure to toxic or pathogenic substances, it also keeps out the cells that could protect the brain and spinal cord from disease and damage. The BBB also makes it harder for pharmaceuticals to be developed that can affect the nervous system. Aside from finding efficacious substances, the means of delivery is also crucial.\nOligodendrocyte, sometimes called just “oligo,” is the glial cell type that insulates axons in the CNS. The name means “cell of a few branches” (oligo- = “few”; dendro- = “branches”; -cyte = “cell”). There are a few processes that extend from the cell body. Each one reaches out and surrounds an axon to insulate it in myelin.\nMicroglia are, as the name implies, smaller than most of the other glial cells. Ongoing research into these cells, although not entirely conclusive, suggests that they may originate as white blood cells, called macrophages, that become part of the CNS during early development. While their origin is not conclusively determined, their function is related to what macrophages do in the rest of the body. When macrophages encounter diseased or damaged cells in the rest of the body, they ingest and digest those cells or the pathogens that cause disease. Microglia are the cells in the CNS that can do this in normal, healthy tissue, and they are therefore also referred to as CNS-resident macrophages.\nThe ependymal cell is a glial cell that filters blood to make cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the fluid that circulates through the CNS. Because of the privileged blood supply inherent in the BBB, the extracellular space in nervous tissue does not easily exchange components with the blood. Ependymal cells line each ventricle, one of four central cavities that are remnants of the hollow center of the neural tube formed during the embryonic development of the brain. They also have cilia on their apical surface to help move the CSF through the ventricular space. The relationship of these glial cells to the structure of the CNS is seen in Figure 8.11.\nGlial Cells of the PNS\nOne of the two types of glial cells found in the PNS is the satellite cell. Satellite cells are found in sensory and autonomic ganglia, where they surround the cell bodies of neurons. This accounts for the name, based on their appearance under the microscope. They provide support, performing similar functions in the periphery as astrocytes do in the CNS—except, of course, for establishing the BBB.\nThe second type of glial cell is the Schwann cell, which insulates axons with myelin in the periphery. Schwann cells are different from oligodendrocytes in that a Schwann cell wraps around a portion of only one axon segment and no others. Oligodendrocytes have processes that reach out to multiple axon segments, whereas the entire Schwann cell surrounds just one axon segment. The nucleus and cytoplasm of the Schwann cell are on the edge of the myelin sheath. The relationship of these two types of glial cells to ganglia and nerves in the PNS is seen in Figure 8.12.\nThe appearance of the myelin sheath can be thought of as similar to the pastry wrapped around a hot dog for “pigs in a blanket” or similar food. The glial cell is wrapped around the axon several times with little to no cytoplasm between the glial cell layers. For oligodendrocytes, the rest of the cell is separate from the myelin sheath as a cell process extends back toward the cell body. A few other processes provide the same insulation for other axon segments in the area. For Schwann cells, the outermost layer of the cell membrane contains cytoplasm and the nucleus of the cell as a bulge on one side of the myelin sheath. During development, the glial cell is loosely or incompletely wrapped around the axon. The edges of this loose enclosure extend toward each other, and one end tucks under the other. The inner edge wraps around the axon, creating several layers, and the other edge closes around the outside so that the axon is completely enclosed.\nAnatomy Labeling Activity\nPhysiology (Function) of the Nervous System\nThe nervous system is involved in receiving information about the environment around us (sensation) and generating responses to that information (motor responses). The nervous system can be divided into regions that are responsible for sensation (sensory functions) and the response (motor functions), but there is a third function that needs to be included. Sensory input needs to be integrated with other sensations, as well as with memories, emotional state, or learning (cognition). Some regions of the nervous system are termed integration or association areas. The process of integration combines sensory perceptions and higher cognitive functions such as memories, learning, and emotion to produce a response.\nThe first major function of the nervous system is sensation—receiving information about the environment to gain input about what is happening outside the body (or, sometimes, within the body). The sensory functions of the nervous system register the presence of a change from homeostasis or a particular event in the environment, known as a stimulus. The senses we think of most are the “big five”: taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing. The stimuli for taste and smell are both chemical substances (molecules, compounds, ions, etc.), touch is physical or mechanical stimuli that interact with the skin, sight is light stimuli, and hearing is the perception of sound, which is a physical stimulus similar to some aspects of touch. There are more senses than just those, but that list represents the major senses. Those five are all senses that receive stimuli from the outside world, and of which there is conscious perception. Additional sensory stimuli might be from the internal environment (inside the body), such as the stretch of an organ wall or the concentration of certain ions in the blood.\nThe nervous system produces a response on the basis of the stimuli perceived by sensory structures. An obvious response would be the movement of muscles, such as withdrawing a hand from a hot stove, but there are broader uses of the term. The nervous system can cause the contraction of all three types of muscle tissue. For example, skeletal muscle contracts to move the skeleton, cardiac muscle is influenced as heart rate increases during exercise, and smooth muscle contracts as the digestive system moves food along the digestive tract. Responses also include the neural control of glands in the body as well, such as the production and secretion of sweat by the eccrine and merocrine sweat glands found in the skin to lower body temperature.\nResponses can be divided into those that are voluntary or conscious (contraction of skeletal muscle) and those that are involuntary (contraction of smooth muscles, regulation of cardiac muscle, activation of glands). Voluntary responses are governed by the somatic nervous system and involuntary responses are governed by the autonomic nervous system, which are discussed in the next section.\nStimuli that are received by sensory structures are communicated to the nervous system where that information is processed. This is called integration. Stimuli are compared with, or integrated with, other stimuli, memories of previous stimuli, or the state of a person at a particular time. This leads to the specific response that will be generated. Seeing a baseball pitched to a batter will not automatically cause the batter to swing. The trajectory of the ball and its speed will need to be considered. Maybe the count is three balls and one strike, and the batter wants to let this pitch go by in the hope of getting a walk to first base. Or maybe the batter’s team is so far ahead, it would be fun to just swing away.\nControlling the Body\nThe nervous system can be divided into two parts mostly on the basis of a functional difference in responses. The somatic nervous system (SNS) is responsible for conscious perception and voluntary motor responses. Voluntary motor response means the contraction of skeletal muscle, but those contractions are not always voluntary in the sense that you have to want to perform them. Some somatic motor responses are reflexes and often happen without a conscious decision to perform them. If your friend jumps out from behind a corner and yells “Boo!” you will be startled and you might scream or leap back. You didn’t decide to do that, and you may not have wanted to give your friend a reason to laugh at your expense, but it is a reflex involving skeletal muscle contractions. Other motor responses become automatic (in other words, unconscious) as a person learns motor skills (referred to as “habit learning” or “procedural memory”).\nThe autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for involuntary control of the body, usually for the sake of homeostasis (regulation of the internal environment). Sensory input for autonomic functions can be from sensory structures tuned to external or internal environmental stimuli. The motor output extends to smooth and cardiac muscle as well as glandular tissue. The role of the autonomic system is to regulate the organ systems of the body, which usually means to control homeostasis. Sweat glands, for example, are controlled by the autonomic system. When you are hot, sweating helps cool your body down. That is a homeostatic mechanism. When you are nervous, you might start sweating also. That is not homeostatic, it is the physiological response to an emotional state.\nThere is another division of the nervous system that describes functional responses. The enteric nervous system (ENS) is responsible for controlling the smooth muscle and glandular tissue in your digestive system. It is a large part of the PNS, and is not dependent on the CNS. It is sometimes valid, however, to consider the enteric system to be a part of the autonomic system because the neural structures that make up the enteric system are a component of the autonomic output that regulates digestion. There are some differences between the two, but for our purposes here there will be a good bit of overlap. See Figure 8.13 for examples of where these divisions of the nervous system can be found.\nFunctions of the Cerebral Cortex\nThe cerebrum is the seat of many of the higher mental functions, such as memory and learning, language, and conscious perception, which are the subjects of subtests of the mental status exam. The cerebral cortex is the thin layer of gray matter on the outside of the cerebrum. It is approximately a millimeter thick in most regions and highly folded to fit within the limited space of the cranial vault. These higher functions are distributed across various regions of the cortex, and specific locations can be said to be responsible for particular functions. There is a limited set of regions, for example, that are involved in language function, and they can be subdivided on the basis of the particular part of language function that each governs.\nAssessment of cerebral functions is directed at cognitive abilities. The abilities assessed through the mental status exam can be separated into four groups: orientation and memory, language and speech, sensorium, and judgment and abstract reasoning.\nOrientation and Memory\nOrientation is the patient’s awareness of his or her immediate circumstances. It is awareness of time, not in terms of the clock but of the date and what is occurring around the patient. It is awareness of place, such that a patient should know where he or she is and why. It is also awareness of who the patient is—recognizing personal identity and being able to relate that to the examiner. The initial tests of orientation are based on the questions, “Do you know what the date is?” or “Do you know where you are?” or “What is your name?” Further understanding of a patient’s awareness of orientation can come from questions that address remote memory, such as “Who is the President of the United States?”, or asking what happened on a specific date.\nMemory is largely a function of the temporal lobe, along with structures beneath the cerebral cortex such as the hippocampus and the amygdala. The storage of memory requires these structures of the medial temporal lobe. A famous case of a man who had both medial temporal lobes removed to treat intractable epilepsy provided insight into the relationship between the structures of the brain and the function of memory.\nThe prefrontal cortex can also be tested for the ability to organize information. In one subtest of the mental status exam called set generation, the patient is asked to generate a list of words that all start with the same letter, but not to include proper nouns or names. The expectation is that a person can generate such a list of at least 10 words within 1 minute. Many people can likely do this much more quickly, but the standard separates the accepted normal from those with compromised prefrontal cortices.\nLanguage and Speech\nLanguage is, arguably, a very human aspect of neurological function. There are certainly strides being made in understanding communication in other species, but much of what makes the human experience seemingly unique is its basis in language. Any understanding of our species is necessarily reflective, as suggested by the question “What am I?” And the fundamental answer to this question is suggested by the famous quote by René Descartes, “Cogito Ergo Sum” (translated from Latin as “I think, therefore I am”). Formulating an understanding of yourself is largely describing who you are to yourself. It is a confusing topic to delve into, but language is certainly at the core of what it means to be self-aware.\nThe neurological exam has two specific subtests that address language. One measures the ability of the patient to understand language by asking them to follow a set of instructions to perform an action, such as “touch your right finger to your left elbow and then to your right knee.” Another subtest assesses the fluency and coherency of language by having the patient generate descriptions of objects or scenes depicted in drawings, and by reciting sentences or explaining a written passage.\nAn important example of multimodal integrative areas is associated with language function (see Figure 8.14). Adjacent to the auditory association cortex, at the end of the lateral sulcus just anterior to the visual cortex, is Wernicke’s area. In the lateral aspect of the frontal lobe, just anterior to the region of the motor cortex associated with the head and neck is Broca’s area. Both regions were originally described on the basis of losses of speech and language, which is called aphasia. The aphasia associated with Broca’s area is known as expressive aphasia, which means that speech production is compromised. This type of aphasia is often described as non-fluency because the ability to say some words leads to broken or halting speech. Grammar can also appear to be lost. The aphasia associated with Wernicke’s area is known as receptive aphasia, which is not a loss of speech production but a loss of understanding of content. Patients, after recovering from acute forms of this aphasia, report not being able to understand what is said to them or what they are saying themselves, but they often cannot keep from talking.\nThe two regions are connected by white matter tracts that run between the posterior temporal lobe and the lateral aspect of the frontal lobe. Conduction aphasia associated with damage to this connection refers to the problem of connecting the understanding of language to the production of speech. This is a very rare condition but is likely to present as an inability to faithfully repeat spoken language.\nThose parts of the brain involved in the reception and interpretation of sensory stimuli are referred to collectively as the sensorium. The cerebral cortex has several regions that are necessary for sensory perception. Several of the subtests can reveal activity associated with these sensory modalities, such as being able to hear a question or see a picture. Two subtests assess specific functions of these cortical areas.\nThe first is praxis, a practical exercise in which the patient performs a task completely on the basis of verbal description without any demonstration from the examiner. The second subtest for sensory perception is gnosis, which involves two tasks. The first task, known as stereognosis, involves the naming of objects strictly on the basis of the somatosensory information that comes from manipulating them. The patient keeps their eyes closed and is given a common object, such as a coin, that they have to identify. The patient should be able to indicate the particular type of coin, such as a dime versus a penny, or a nickel versus a quarter, on the basis of the sensory cues involved. For example, the size, thickness, or weight of the coin may be an indication, or to differentiate the pairs of coins suggested here, the smooth or corrugated edge of the coin will correspond to the particular denomination. The second task, graphesthesia, is to recognize numbers or letters written on the palm with a dull pointer, such as a pen cap.\nJudgment and Abstract Reasoning\nThe prefrontal cortex is responsible for the functions responsible for planning and making decisions. In the mental status exam, the subtest that assesses judgment and reasoning is directed at three aspects of frontal lobe function. First, the examiner asks questions about problem-solving, such as “If you see a house on fire, what would you do?” The patient is also asked to interpret common proverbs, such as “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Additionally, pairs of words are compared for similarities, such as apple and orange, or lamp and cabinet.\nLeft Brain, Right Brain\nPopular media often refer to right-brained and left-brained people, as if the brain were two independent halves that work differently for different people. This is a popular misinterpretation of an important neurological phenomenon. As an extreme measure to deal with a debilitating condition, the corpus callosum may be sectioned to overcome intractable epilepsy. When the connections between the two cerebral hemispheres are cut, interesting effects can be observed.\nThe reason for this is that the language functions of the cerebral cortex are localized to the left hemisphere in 95% of the population. Additionally, the left hemisphere is connected to the right side of the body through the corticospinal tract and the ascending tracts of the spinal cord. Motor commands from the precentral gyrus control the opposite side of the body, whereas sensory information processed by the postcentral gyrus is received from the opposite side of the body. For a verbal command to initiate movement of the right arm and hand, the left side of the brain needs to be connected by the corpus callosum. Language is processed in the left side of the brain and directly influences the left brain and right arm motor functions but is sent to influence the right brain and left arm motor functions through the corpus callosum. Likewise, the left-handed sensory perception of what is in the left pocket travels across the corpus callosum from the right brain, so no verbal report on those contents would be possible if the hand happened to be in the pocket.\nPeople who have had their corpus callosum cut can perform two independent tasks at the same time because the lines of communication between the right and left sides of their brains have been removed. Whereas a person with an intact corpus callosum cannot overcome the dominance of one hemisphere over the other, this patient can. If the left cerebral hemisphere is dominant in the majority of people, why would right-handedness be most common?\nCommon Abbreviations for the Nervous System\nDisease and Disorders\nNeurodegenerative Diseases – Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Multiple sclerosis (MS)\nA class of disorders that affect the nervous system are the neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), and other disorders that are the result of nervous tissue degeneration. In diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or ALS, neurons die; in diseases like MS, myelin is affected. Some of these disorders affect motor function, and others present with dementia. Some are the result of genetics, such as Huntington’s disease, or the result of autoimmunity, such as MS; others are not entirely understood, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.\nSeveral diseases can result from the demyelination of axons. The causes of these diseases are not the same; some have genetic causes, some are caused by pathogens, and others are the result of autoimmune disorders. Though the causes are varied, the results are largely similar. The myelin insulation of axons is compromised, making electrical signaling slower.\nMultiple sclerosis (MS) is one such disease. It is an example of an autoimmune disease. The antibodies produced by lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) mark myelin as something that should not be in the body. This causes inflammation and the destruction of the myelin in the central nervous system. As the insulation around the axons is destroyed by the disease, scarring becomes obvious.\nGuillain-Barre (pronounced gee-YAN bah-RAY) syndrome is an example of a demyelinating disease of the peripheral nervous system. It is also the result of an autoimmune reaction, but the inflammation is in peripheral nerves. Sensory symptoms or motor deficits are common, and autonomic failures can lead to changes in the heart rhythm or a drop in blood pressure, especially when standing, which causes dizziness.\nOther Nerve Disorders\nInfection, trauma, and congenital disorders can all lead to significant signs, as identified through the neurological exam. It is important to differentiate between an acute event, such as stroke, and a chronic or global condition such as blunt force trauma. Responses seen in the neurological exam can help. A loss of language function observed in all its aspects is more likely a global event as opposed to a discrete loss of one function, such as not being able to say certain types of words. A concern, however, is that a specific function—such as controlling the muscles of speech—may mask other language functions. The various subtests within the mental status exam can address these finer points and help clarify the underlying cause of the neurological loss.\nDamage to the nervous system can be limited to individual structures or can be distributed across broad areas of the brain and spinal cord. Localized, limited injury to the nervous system is most often the result of circulatory problems. The loss of blood flow to part of the brain is known as a stroke, or a cerebrovascular accident (CVA). There are two main types of stroke, depending on how the blood supply is compromised: ischemic and hemorrhagic. An ischemic stroke is the loss of blood flow to an area because vessels are blocked or narrowed. This is often caused by an embolus, which may be a blood clot or fat deposit. Ischemia may also be the result of thickening of the blood vessel wall, or a drop in blood volume in the brain known as hypovolemia. A hemorrhagic stroke is bleeding into the brain because of a damaged blood vessel. Accumulated blood fills a region of the cranial vault and presses against the tissue in the brain (see Figure 8.15).\nCerebral palsy (CP) is caused by an interruption to the normal development of a person’s brain, leading to weakness with muscles. Depending on the area of the brain that is affected, signs and symptoms will vary in the type and severity between individuals. Balance and coordination are often challenging due to the inability to control muscles (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.-a). To learn more about cerebral palsy, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\nTraumatic Brain Injury (TBI)\nAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 166 people in the United States died each day from a traumatic brain injury in 2019. Brain injuries range from mild to severe and include concussions. TBI can be caused by falls, automobile accidents, assaults, and firearm-related suicide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.-b). To learn more about TBI, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\nPractice Medical Terms in Context\nNeurologists are medical doctors who complete specialized training in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders and conditions related to the brain and nervous system (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). For more details visit the American Academy of Neurology.\nProcedures Related to the Nervous System\nElectromyography (EMG) is a procedure that assesses the electrical signals muscles send while at rest and when they are used. During the test, a needle electrode is placed into the muscle, and a machine records the muscle activity. EMG can be used to diagnose myasthenia gravis, muscular dystrophy, and other conditions affecting the muscles (MedlinePlus, 2021a). To learn more, please visit the Medline Plus web page on electromyography.\nWith electrodes applied to your scalp, an electroencephalogram (EEG) measures electrical activity in the brain. It’s used to help diagnose conditions of the brain, including seizures, altered mental status, and hemorrhage. (Rayi & Murr, 2021). For more information, please visit the Mayo Clinic’s web page on electroencephalograms.\nPractice Terms Related to the Nervous System\nNervous System Vocabulary\n- Afferent nerves\nNerves that carry sensory signals (nerve impulses) toward the central nervous from the periphery.\nLoss of language function.\nMiddle layer of the meninges named for the spider-web–like trabeculae that extend between it and the pia mater.\nGlial cell type of the central nervous system that provides support for neurons and maintains the blood-brain barrier.\nAutonomic nervous system (ANS)\nFunctional division of the nervous system that is responsible for homeostatic reflexes that coordinate control of cardiac and smooth muscle, as well as glandular tissue.\nSingle process of the neuron that carries an electrical signal (action potential) away from the cell body toward a target cell.\nTapering of the neuron cell body that gives rise to the axon.\nSingle stretch of the axon insulated by myelin and bounded by nodes of Ranvier at either end (except for the first, which is after the initial segment, and the last, which is followed by the axon terminal).\nEnd of the axon, where there are usually several branches extending toward the target cell.\nCytoplasm of an axon, which is different in composition than the cytoplasm of the neuronal cell body.\nDorsiflexion of the foot with extension and splaying of the toes in response to the plantar reflex, normally suppressed by corticospinal input.\nShape of a neuron with two processes extending from the neuron cell body—the axon and one dendrite.\nBlood-brain barrier (BBB)\nPhysiological barrier between the circulatory system and the central nervous system that establishes a privileged blood supply, restricting the flow of substances into the central nervous system.\nThe large organ of the central nervous system composed of white and gray matter, contained within the cranium and continuous with the spinal cord.\nRegion of the adult brain that includes the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata and develops from the mesencephalon, metencephalon, and myelencephalon of the embryonic brain.\nRegion of the frontal lobe associated with the motor commands necessary for speech production.\nMapping of regions of the cerebral cortex based on microscopic anatomy that relates specific areas to functional differences, as described by Brodmann in the early 1900s.\nBundle of spinal nerve roots that descend from the lower spinal cord below the first lumbar vertebra and lie within the vertebral cavity; has the appearance of a horse’s tail.\nNucleus deep in the cerebrum that is part of the basal nuclei; along with the putamen, it is part of the striatum.\nCentral nervous system (CNS)\nAnatomical division of the nervous system located within the cranial and vertebral cavities, namely the brain and spinal cord.\nSurface landmark of the cerebral cortex that marks the boundary between the frontal and parietal lobes.\nPain in the head.\nRegion of the adult brain connected primarily to the pons that developed from the metencephalon (along with the pons) and is largely responsible for comparing information from the cerebrum with sensory feedback from the periphery through the spinal cord.\nProcess of recording the blood vessels of the cerebrum.\nOuter gray matter covering the forebrain, marked by wrinkles and folds known as gyri and sulci.\nRegion of the adult brain that develops from the telencephalon and is responsible for higher neurological functions such as memory, emotion, and consciousness.\nOne half of the bilaterally symmetrical cerebrum.\nCerebrospinal fluid (CSF)\nA colorless fluid produced by the brain that cushions the brain and spinal cord within the posterior (dorsal) cavity.\nFormation of a blood clot in a blood vessel within the skull.\nSpecialized structure containing ependymal cells that line blood capillaries and filter blood to produce cerebrospinal fluid in the four ventricles of the brain.\nLarge white matter structure that connects the right and left cerebral hemispheres.\nOne of many branchlike processes that extends from the neuron cell body and functions as a contact for incoming signals (synapses) from other neurons or sensory cells.\nCentral nervous system fibers carrying motor commands from the brain to the spinal cord or periphery.\nRegion of the adult brain that retains its name from embryonic development and includes the thalamus and hypothalamus.\nConnections within the basal nuclei from the striatum to the globus pallidus internal segment and substantia nigra pars reticulata that disinhibit the thalamus to increase cortical control of movement.\nDorsal (posterior) nerve root\nAxons entering the posterior horn of the spinal cord.\nTough, fibrous, outer layer of the meninges that is attached to the inner surface of the cranium and vertebral column and surrounds the entire central nervous system.\nNerve tissue that carries impulses away from the CNS towards the peripheral that result in motor response (movement).\nThe record of electrical activity of the brain.\nProcess of recording the electrical activity of the brain.\nAn obstruction such as a blood clot or plaque that blocks the flow of blood in an artery or vein.\nInflammation of the tissues of the brain.\nSoftening of the tissues of the brain.\nEnteric nervous system (ENS)\nNeural tissue associated with the digestive system that is responsible for nervous control through autonomic connections.\nGlial cell type in the central nervous system responsible for producing cerebrospinal fluid.\nRegion of the diencephalon containing the pineal gland.\nLarge opening in the occipital bone of the skull through which the spinal cord emerges and the vertebral arteries enter the cranium.\nRegion of the cerebral cortex directly beneath the frontal bone of the cranium.\nLocalized collection of neuron cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system.\nExcision of a ganglion.\nOne of the various types of neural tissue cells responsible for maintenance of the tissue, and largely responsible for supporting neurons.\nA central nervous system tumor composed of developing glial tissue.\nA tumor that begins in the glial tissue.\nRegions of the nervous system containing cell bodies of neurons with few or no myelinated axons; actually may be more pink or tan in color, but called gray in contrast to white matter.\nRidge formed by convolutions on the surface of the cerebrum or cerebellum.\nParalysis on one side of the body.\nDisruption of blood flow to the brain caused by bleeding within the cranial vault.\nThe abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain.\nIncreased sensitivity to stimuli.\nA region of the forebrain below the thalamus; has function in both the autonomic and endocrine systems and regulates homeostasis.\nDisruption of blood flow to the brain because blood cannot flow through blood vessels as a result of a blockage or narrowing of the vessel.\nNervous system function that combines sensory perceptions and higher cognitive functions (memories, learning, emotion, etc.) to produce a response.\nFirst part of the axon as it emerges from the axon hillock, where the electrical signals known as action potentials are generated.\nA large separation along the midline between the two cerebral hemispheres.\nProcedure used to withdraw cerebrospinal fluid from the lower lumbar region of the vertebral column.\nA part of the brain stem responsible for control of heart rate and breathing.\nThe membranes that surround the central nervous system.\nA tumor of the meninges.\nInflammation of the meninges, the tough membranes that surround the central nervous system.\nProtrusion of the meninges.\nProtrusion of the meninges and spinal cord.\nSmaller than most of the other glial cells; they ingest and digest cells or pathogens that cause disease.\nA portion of the brainstem, positioned above the pons, also called mesencephalon, that assists in motor reflexes associated with visual, auditory, and somatosensory stimuli.\nDisease affecting a single peripheral nerve.\nPeripheral, efferent, myelinated nerve tissue that stimulates muscle contraction.\nShape of a neuron that has multiple processes—the axon and two or more dendrites.\nLipid-rich layer of insulation that surrounds an axon, formed by oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system; facilitates the transmission of electrical signals.\nBundle of fibers that receives and sends messages between the body and the brain.\nPain of the peripheral or cranial nerves.\nInflammation of a peripheral or cranial nerve.\n- Supportive tissue of the nervous system, including the network of branched cells in the central nervous system (astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes) and the supporting cells of the peripheral nervous system (Schwann cells and satellite cells), also called glia.\nA doctor who has special training in diagnosing and treating disorders of the nervous system.\nA medical specialty concerned with the study of the structures, functions, and diseases of the nervous system.\nTumor made up of nerve cells.\nCells that propagate information via electrochemical impulses.\nA nerve problem that causes pain, numbness, tingling, swelling, or muscle weakness in different parts of the body.\nChemicals that are made by nerve cells and used to communicate with other cells, including other nerve cells and muscle cells.\nNode of Ranvier\nGap between two myelinated regions of an axon, allowing for strengthening of the electrical signal as it propagates down the axon.\nThe cell’s central organelle, which contains the cell’s DNA.\nRegion of the cerebral cortex directly beneath the occipital bone of the cranium.\nThe sense of smell.\nGlial cell type in the central nervous system that provides the myelin insulation for axons in tracts.\nPartial paralysis wherein there is still some control of the muscles.\nAbnormal sensation in the extremities.\nRegion of the cerebral cortex directly beneath the parietal bone of the cranium.\nPeripheral nervous system (PNS)\nAll nervous tissue that is outside of the brain and spinal cord.\nThin, innermost membrane of the meninges that directly covers the surface of the central nervous system.\nAcute infection by the poliovirus, especially of the motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem.\nInflammation of several peripheral nerves at the same time.\nDisease of multiple peripheral nerves at the same time.\nThe main connection between the cerebellum and the brain stem. It is responsible for regulating several crucial functions, including the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.\nIn cells, an extension of a cell body; in the case of neurons, this includes the axon and dendrites.\nA medical doctor who specializes in neuroscience and diagnoses and treats mental disorders.\nThe medical science that deals with the origin, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders.\nA specialist who can talk with patients and their families about emotional and personal matters.\nThe study of how the mind works and how thoughts and feelings affect behavior.\nA severe mental disorder in which a person loses the ability to recognize reality or relate to others.\nParalysis of all four limbs.\nDisease of the nerve roots.\nNervous system function that causes a target tissue (muscle or gland) to produce an event as a consequence to stimuli.\nIncision into a nerve root.\nGlial cell type in the peripheral nervous system that provides support for neurons in the ganglia.\nGlial cell type in the peripheral nervous system that provides the myelin insulation for axons in nerves.\nNervous system function that receives information from the environment and translates it into the electrical signals of nervous tissue.\nIn neurons, that portion of the cell that contains the nucleus; the cell body, as opposed to the cell processes (axons and dendrites).\nSomatic nervous system (SNS)\nFunctional division of the nervous system that is concerned with conscious perception, voluntary movement, and skeletal muscle reflexes.\nOrgan of the central nervous system found within the vertebral cavity and connected with the periphery through spinal nerves; mediates reflex behaviors.\nAn event in the external or internal environment that registers as activity in a sensory neuron.\nLoss of neurological function caused by an interruption of blood flow to a region of the central nervous system, also called cerebrovascular accident (CVA).\nSpace between the arachnoid mater and pia mater that contains CSF and the fibrous connections of the arachnoid trabeculae.\nAccumulation of blood in the subdural space.\nGroove formed by convolutions in the surface of the cerebral cortex.\nNarrow junction across which a chemical signal passes from neuron to the next, initiating a new electrical signal in the target cell.\nSynaptic end bulb\nSwelling at the end of an axon where neurotransmitter molecules are released onto a target cell across a synapse.\nSympathetic nervous system (SNS)\nThe division of the nervous system involved in our fight-or-flight responses. It continuously monitors body temperature and initiates appropriate motor responses.\nRegion of the cerebral cortex directly beneath the temporal bone of the cranium.\nMajor region of the diencephalon that is responsible for relaying information between the cerebrum and the hindbrain, spinal cord, and periphery.\nBundle of axons in the central nervous system having the same function and point of origin.\nTransient ischemic attack (TIA)\nTemporary disruption of blood flow to the brain in which symptoms occur rapidly but last only a short time.\nShape of a neuron which has only one process that includes both the axon and dendrite.\nCentral cavity within the brain where cerebrospinal fluid is produced and circulates.\nRegion at the posterior end of the lateral sulcus in which speech comprehension is localized.\nRegions of the nervous system containing mostly myelinated axons, making the tissue appear white because of the high lipid content of myelin.\n- Supportive tissue of the nervous system, including the network of branched cells in the central nervous system (astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes) and the supporting cells of the peripheral nervous system (Schwann cells and satellite cells), also called glia.\nBureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Physicians and surgeons. In Occupational outlook handbook. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm\nCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.-a). What is cerebral palsy? https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/cp/facts.html\nCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.-b). Get the facts about TBI. https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html\nClinicalInfo. (n.d.). Spinal tap. National Institute of Health Office of AIDS Research, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://clinicalinfo.hiv.gov/en/glossary/spinal-tap\nCrashCourse. (2015, February 23). The nervous system, part 1: Crash course A&P #8 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPix_X-9t7E\nMedlinePlus. (2021a). Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies. U.S. Library of Medicine, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/electromyography-emg-and-nerve-conduction-studies\nRayi, A., & Murr, N. (2021). Electroencephalogram. In StatPearls [Internet]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK563295/\nFigure 8.1 image description: This diagram shows a silhouette of a human highlighting the nervous system. The central nervous system is composed of the brain and spinal cord. The brain is a large mass of ridged and striated tissue within the head. The spinal cord extends down from the brain and travels through the torso, ending in the pelvis. Pairs of enlarged nervous tissue, labeled ganglia, flank the spinal cord as it travels through the rib area. The ganglia are part of the peripheral nervous system, along with the many thread-like nerves that radiate from the spinal cord and ganglia through the arms, abdomen, and legs. [Return to Figure 8.1].\nFigure 8.2 image description: This photo shows an enlarged view of the dorsal side of a human brain. The right side of the occipital lobe has been shaved to reveal the white and gray matter beneath the surface blood vessels. The white matter branches through the shaved section like the limbs of a tree. The gray matter branches and curves on the outside of the white matter, creating a buffer between the outer edges of the occipital lobe and the internal white matter. [Return to Figure 8.2].\nFigure 8.3 image description: This figure shows the lateral view on the left panel and the anterior view on the right panel of the brain. The major parts including the cerebrum are labeled. Lateral view labels (clockwise from top) read: cerebrum, cerebral cortex, corpus callosum (located on the interior of the brain). Anterior view labels indicate the right and left hemispheres and the longitudinal fissure between them. [Return to Figure 8.3].\nFigure 8.4 image description: This figure shows the lateral view of the brain and the major lobes are labeled. From the front of the brain (left) labels read: frontal lobe, precentral gyrus, central sulcus, postcentral gyrus, parietal lobe, lateral sulcus, occipital lobe, temporal lobe. [Return to Figure 8.4].\nFigure 8.5 image description: This figure shows the location of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland in the brain. Each part is labeled respectively. The thalamus is located in the midsection of the brain. The hypothalamus is located below the thalamus and the pituitary gland below that. [Return to Figure 8.5].\nFigure 8.6 image description: This figure shows the location of the midbrain, pons, and the medulla in the brain that make up the brainstem. The midbrain is located at the top, the pons is located beneath that, and the medulla is the lowest most point of the brain stem. [Return to Figure 8.6].\nFigure 8.7 image description: This figure shows the location of the cerebellum in the brain which is located on the posterior surface of the brain stem. Labels read (top, left): pons, inferior olive, (top, right) cerebellum, deep cerebellar white matter (arbor vitae). In the top panel, a lateral view labels the location of the cerebellum and the deep cerebellar white matter. In the bottom panel, a photograph of a brain, with the cerebellum in pink is shown. [Return to Figure 8.7].\nFigure 8.8 image description: This illustration shows the anatomy of a neuron. The neuron has a very irregular cell body (soma) containing a purple nucleus. There are six projections protruding from the top, bottom, and left sides of the cell body. Each of the projections branches many times, forming small, tree-shaped structures protruding from the cell body. The right side of the cell body tapers into a long cord called the axon. The axon is insulated by segments of myelin sheath, which resemble a semitransparent toilet paper roll wound around the axon. The myelin sheath is not continuous but is separated into equally spaced segments. The bare axon segments between the sheath segments are called nodes of Ranvier. An oligodendrocyte is reaching its two arm-like projections onto two myelin sheath segments. The axon branches many times at its end, where it connects to the dendrites of another neuron. Each connection between an axon branch and a dendrite is called a synapse. The cell membrane completely surrounds the cell body, dendrites, and axon. The axon of another nerve is seen in the upper left of the diagram connecting with the dendrites of the central neuron. [Return to Figure 8.8].\nFigure 8.9 image description: Three illustrations show some of the possible shapes that neurons can take. In the unipolar neuron, the dendrite enters from the left and merges with the axon into a common pathway, which is connected to the cell body. The axon leaves the cell body through the common pathway, the branches off to the right, in the opposite direction as the dendrite. Therefore, this neuron is T-shaped. In the bipolar neuron, the dendrite enters into the left side of the cell body while the axon emerges from the opposite (right) side. In a multipolar neuron, multiple dendrites enter the cell body. The only part of the cell body that does not have dendrites is the part that elongates into the axon. [Return to Figure 8.9].\nFigure 8.10 image description: This diagram contains three black and white drawings of more specialized nerve cells. Part A shows a pyramidal cell of the cerebral cortex, which has two, long, nerve tracts attached to the top and bottom of the cell body. However, the cell body also has many short dendrites projecting out a short distance from the cell body. Part B shows a Purkinje cell of the cerebellar cortex. This cell has a single, long, nerve tract entering the bottom of the cell body. Two large nerve tracts leave the top of the cell body but immediately branch many times to form a large web of nerve fibers. Therefore, the Purkinje cell somewhat resembles a shrub or coral in shape. Part C shows the olfactory cells in the olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulbs. It contains several cell groups linked together. At the bottom, there is a row of olfactory epithelial cells that are tightly packed, side-by-side, somewhat resembling the slats on a fence. There are six neurons embedded in this epithelium. Each neuron connects to the epithelium through branching nerve fibers projecting from the bottom of their cell bodies. A single nerve fiber projects from the top of each neuron and synapses with nerve fibers from the neurons above. These upper neurons are cross-shaped, with one nerve fiber projecting from the bottom, top, right and left sides. The upper cells synapse with the epithelial nerve cells using the nerve tract projecting from the bottom of their cell body. The nerve tract projecting from the top continues the pathway, making a ninety-degree turn to the right and continuing to the right border of the image. [Return to Figure 8.10].\nFigure 8.11 image description: This diagram shows several types of nervous system cells associated with two multipolar neurons. Astrocytes are star shaped-cells with many dendrite-like projections but no axon. They are connected with the multipolar neurons and other cells in the diagram through their dendrite-like projections. Ependymal cells have a teardrop-shaped cell body and a long tail that branches several times before connecting with astrocytes and the multipolar neuron. Microglial cells are small cells with rectangular bodies and many dendrite-like projections stemming from their shorter sides. The projections are so extensive that they give the microglial cell a fuzzy appearance. The oligodendrocytes have circular cell bodies with four dendrite-like projections. Each projection is connected to a segment of myelin sheath on the axons of the multipolar neurons. The oligodendrocytes are the same color as the myelin sheath segment and are adding layers to the sheath using their projections. [Return to Figure 8.11].\nFigure 8.12 image description: This diagram shows a collection of PNS glial cells. The largest cell is a unipolar peripheral ganglionic neuron which has a common nerve tract projecting from the bottom of its cell body. The common nerve tract then splits into the axon, going off to the left, and the dendrite, going off to the right. The cell body of the neuron is covered with several satellite cells that are irregular, flattened, and take on the appearance of fried eggs. Schwann cells wrap around each myelin sheath segment on the axon, with their nucleus creating a small bump on each segment. [Return to Figure 8.12].\nFigure 8.13 image description: A silhouette of a human with only the brain, spinal cord, PNS ganglia, nerves, and a section of the digestive tract visible. The brain, which is part of the CNS, is the area of perception and processing of sensory stimuli (somatic/autonomic), the execution of voluntary motor responses (somatic), and the regulation of homeostatic mechanisms (autonomic). The spinal cord, which is part of the CNS, is the area where reflexes are initiated. The gray matter of the ventral horn initiates somatic reflexes while the gray matter of the lateral horn initiates autonomic reflexes. The spinal cord is also the somatic and autonomic pathway for sensory and motor functions between the PNS and the brain. The nerves, which are part of the PNS, are the fibers of sensory and motor neurons, which can be either somatic or autonomic. The ganglia, which are part of the PNS, are the areas for the reception of somatic and autonomic sensory stimuli. These are received by the dorsal root ganglia and cranial ganglia. The autonomic ganglia are also the relay for visceral motor responses. The digestive tract is part of the enteric nervous system, the ENS, which is located in the digestive tract and is responsible for the autonomous function. The ENS can operate independently of the brain and spinal cord. [Return to Figure 8.13].\nFigure 8.14 image description: An illustration of the brain with Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area identified. Broca’s area is located in the lateral aspect of the frontal lobe. Wernicke’s area is found at the end of the lateral sulcus just anterior to the visual cortex. The two are connected by white matter tracts between the posterior temporal love and lateral aspect of the frontal lobe. Both areas are associated with the loss of speech and language. Expressive aphasia is associated with Broca’s area. Receptive aphasia is associated with Wernicke’s area. [Return to Figure 8.14].\nFigure 8.15 image description: The left panel of this figure shows an image of the brain with a region in red. This red region indicates a hemorrhage associated with a stroke. The right panel shows a hemorrhage as it might appear on a CT scan. [Return to Figure 8.15].\nAn instrument that is used to look at cells and other small objects that cannot be seen with the eye alone (National Cancer Institute, n.d.)\nThe study of electrical properties of cells and tissues (National Library of Medicine, 2021)\nAnatomical division of the nervous system located within the cranial and vertebral cavities, namely the brain and spinal cord (Betts et al., 2013)\nAll nervous tissue that is outside of the brain and spinal cord (Betts et al., 2013)\nRegion of the adult brain that develops from the telencephalon and is responsible for higher neurological functions such as memory, emotion, and consciousness (Betts et al., 2013)\nA region of the forebrain below the thalamus; has function in both the autonomic and endocrine systems and regulates homeostasis (Betts et al., 2013)", "label": "No"} {"text": "Due to low attendance, rising costs, and suspected pressure from animal rights activists, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced the circus would close in May 2017 after 146 years.\nRingling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is a United States traveling circus company billed as “The Greatest Show on Earth.” The circus, known as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, was started in 1919 when the Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth, a circus created by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey, was merged with the Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Shows. The Ringling brothers had purchased Barnum & Bailey Ltd. following Bailey’s death in 1906, but ran the circuses separately until they were merged in 1919.\nA brief summary about the early days of circus reveals:\nIn 1884, five of the seven Ringling brothers had started a small circus in Baraboo, Wisconsin. This was about the same time that Barnum & Bailey were at the peak of their popularity. Similar to dozens of small circuses that toured the Midwest and the Northeast at the time, the brothers moved their circus from town to town in small animal-drawn caravans. Their circus rapidly grew and they were soon able to move their circus by train, which allowed them to have the largest traveling amusement enterprise of that time. Bailey’s European tour gave the Ringling brothers an opportunity to move their show from the Midwest to the eastern seaboard. Faced with the new competition, Bailey took his show west of the Rocky Mountains for the first time in 1905. He died the next year, and the circus was sold to the Ringling Brothers. [Wikipedia]\nA fascinating aspect of the circus is the transportation methods used, beginning in the late 19th century. Trains, and train wagons transported people, equipment, animals, and performers state-to-state and overseas by country. A seemingly economical and fast way to travel, the mode of travel wasn’t without its peril.\nThe Railroad Tradition at Ringling Bros.\n1830s Railroads and circuses begin to appear in the Eastern United States\n1840s Circuses begin using boxcars and stock cars for limited distances\n1870s April 18, 1872 Ð the P.T. Barnum Circus loaded onto flat cars “piggyback” -style on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Rented sleepers serve as solid circus train, the first unit train concept\n1890s The best circuses move by rail: Barnum & Bailey has 56 cars, Ringling Bros. has 56 cars\n1920s Ringling Bros. totals almost 100 cars traveling by rail\n1950s Ringling Bros. shifts to combined rail/truck transportation\n1960s Ringling Bros. discontinues using tents and returns to 100% rail transportation\n1969 Ringling Bros. forms second rail unit\nThe first circus to travel by rail was the Den Stone Circus in 1854. Through out the history of the American circus, train wrecks have taken many lives. The last fatal circus train wreck occurred in 1994 near Lakeland, Florida. [www.circusesandsideshows.com]\nRegardless of the irony about train wrecks and the circus, the history of rail and commerce is documented in photographs quite effectively and idyllically. It speaks to the nature of the business and revealed a lifestyle of hard labor and endless travel. Depending on what you believe, we have replaced the circus with our own media circus, and nevertheless the early traveling sideshow and the romanticism of the train has a place in Americana, now almost only captured in images.\n[All images in gallery are from Collection of Circus Travel photography albums. c. 1890-1960. A fabulous pair of albums containing upwards of 550 black and white original photographs and clippings of circus vehicles, parades, acts and equipment dating from the late 19th century through the Depression and war years up to the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. 2 volumes, quarto,\napprox 34 leaves per volumes, 310 images in volume I, 234 images in vol II with some loose and displaced images throughout. The albums are 1940’s rexine bound ring binders with heavy sugar paper leaves, all images in very good condition or better, the majority captioned with typed tape slips either on the image or adjacent to it on the album page. Very Good+. Spiral Bound. (#9077)]", "label": "No"} {"text": "Geodes are geologic formations found throughout the world. In the United States, the greatest concentration of these individual spheroids is to be found where the Midwestern states of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana come together. In simple terms, a geode is a round rock with an inside cavity lined with crystals of various colors, usually clear as in Quartz or purple as in Amethyst crystals. In formation, these spheroids are either sedimentary or volcanic (or igneous).\nUnder volcanic conditions, these rocks were made under tremendous pressure and heat, while sedimentary spheroids slowly formed layer by layer as different combinations of minerals built up a lining with differing colored crystals inside a round cavity. After a period of time, ideal conditions created different crystalline structures lining the round cavity.", "label": "No"} {"text": "There are lots of techniques teachers use to capture the attention of preschoolers.\nWhen needing to get the attention of only one child or a small group of children playing together, it is always more effective just to walk over, bend down close and speak warmly to them. What doesn’t work well? Yelling across the room. Kids learn to tune this out pretty quickly.\nI always say if you don’t have eye contact then you really don’t have the child’s attention. If I need the children to stop and listen to my words for a few seconds, I will use a creative technique to get their attention first (which will be described below) and then pause to get eye contact. I might say, “Eyes on me so I can see you listening” and then wait again for just a second.\nWaiting too long\nI don’t want to exasperate the situation by waiting too long for every student to stop and put their eyes on me. Waiting too long is like putting out fires. The minute you get one set of eyes, you will lose another. So go with the majority of eyes on you and move onto what it is you needed in the first place.\nThe child that just wont look at me\nFor this child, I often will walk over while talking to all the other children and gently take his or her hand and have them walk with me while I continue talking to everyone else. I avoid shouting or coming down on the child in front of everyone else. No need for humiliation and the truth is, shouting or harshness really isn’t all that effective – it just creates stress and stress leads to a unhappy learning environment.\nThe observant child\nHave you ever watched an adult lecture a child and just by observing you start to feel uncomfortable? When you decided to come down on one child, the rest of the children may very well feel like they are being punished too. Children are sensitive to your body language, tone of voice, and choice of words whether or not they are target of your frustration. I had one little girl tell me, “I don’t like preschool…. my teacher yells at Nathan…”\nIt is better and more effective to walk over, make eye contact, and gently address concerns with a child or small group of children personally than to punish the entire class by making a loud scene.\nHere are some great suggestions from my fans on Facebook!\nI recently posted a request for suggestions on Facebook and here are some of the responses that I found to be extremely creative.", "label": "No"} {"text": "February 6, 2007\nCasualties of the war in Iraq are many; among them are the 3.8 million refugees (including some who fled before the U.S. invasion) and internally displaced people. They are the hidden victims of the war in Iraq.\nNot long ago, in 1991, the first Gulf War produced another massive refugee crisis in Iraq. Encouraged by the promise of U.S. support, millions of Iraqis responded to President George H.W. Bush’s call “to take matters into their own hands and force Saddam Hussein … to step aside.” These Iraqis fought the good fight, but U.S. support did not materialize.\nHussein responded by sending troops to quell the rebellion by Kurds in the north and Shiites in the south. Scores of Kurdish refugees were killed by Iraqi soldiers or died on snow-covered slopes. What ended this crisis were the horrific images of stranded Kurdish refugees aired on CNN, which resulted in the declaration of a no-fly zone in Northern Iraq.\nNow, the United States and its allies again have caused a refugee crisis in Iraq — “the largest population movement in the Middle East since Palestinians were displaced following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948,” according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). But this time, CNN’s cameras are missing.\nForgotten refugees queue outside foreign embassies and the offices of the UNHCR in Syria and Jordan, pleading for acceptance as refugees by the West. The UNHCR estimates there are between 500,000 and 1 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, 700,000 in Jordan, 40,000 in Lebanon and 20,000-80,000 in Egypt; 1.8 million are internally displaced. But these refugees face closed doors everywhere.\nThe Iraqis probably could have seen this coming. Afghan refugees faced a similar fate after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Afghanistan was soon declared a safe country. Western states encouraged refugees to return home to rebuild their country. For most, it didn’t work out. Soon scores of Afghans were driven from their places of birth and forced to wander elsewhere in the world for refuge.\nThis seems to be the future that awaits Iraqi refugees. Only 466 have been granted resettlement in the USA in the past two years. The situation is not much better in Great Britain. Evidently, to allow admission to refugees is to accept failure in establishing democracy in Iraq.\nThe long-term solution depends on ending the violence, restoring stability and generating jobs. Because peace is highly unlikely anytime soon, Iraqi refugees require immediate attention. But the U.N.’s refugee office is understaffed and underfunded. For example, in Syria, UNHRC’s budget last year was less than $1 per Iraqi refugee.\nIt is critical that Western nations finance a special Iraqi Refugee Fund that would let the U.N. process an increasing number of Iraqi applicants seeking resettlement. A part of the fund could be given to Syria and Jordan to help them provide temporary housing, health care, education and other basic needs to refugees. Western nations should increase the number of Iraqis they accept for temporary or permanent resettlement.\nU.S. embassies in Syria and Jordan should run their own resettlement programs, clearing the most vulnerable Iraqis. Using similar resettlement programs, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese were resettled in the United States after U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam in 1975; 840 Iraqis were granted admission after the first Gulf War in 1991.\nHelping to solve the current crisis is a moral obligation of those who contributed to its creation. The Iraqi refugee crisis and its solution must become an integral part of the public debate about the U.S. involvement in Iraq.", "label": "No"}