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wordpress
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April 22, 2015 in Entertainment, Games.
April 6, 2015 in Entertainment, Games.
February 16, 2015 in Entertainment, Games.
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2019-04-25T04:55:44Z
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https://tsupp.wordpress.com/author/amrillim/
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Porn
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Games
| 0.987952 |
google
|
The present disclosure relates in general to automated workflows, and, in particular, to methods and apparatus for dynamically modifying a business object definition.
The example computing device 102, 106, 110, 114 includes a main unit 202 which preferably includes one or more processors 204 electrically coupled by an address/data bus 206 to one or more memory devices 208, other computer circuitry 210, and one or more interface circuits 212. The processor 204 may be any suitable processor, such as a microprocessor from the INTEL PENTIUM® family of microprocessors. The memory 208 preferably includes volatile memory and non-volatile memory. Preferably, the memory 208 stores a software program that interacts with the other devices in the system 100 as described below. This program may be executed by the processor 204 in any suitable manner. The memory 208 may also store digital data indicative of documents, files, programs, web pages, etc. retrieved from another computing device and/or loaded via an input device 214.
generating a reduced object definition based on the full object definition and the data indicative of the plurality of authorized properties and authorized methods.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the reduced object definition includes generating the reduced object definition in a declarative format.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the declarative format includes an Extensible Markup Language (XML).
receiving data from the broker service.
generate a reduced object definition based on the full object definition and the data indicative of the plurality of authorized properties and authorized methods.
11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions to cause the computing device to generate the reduced object definition include instructions to cause the computing device to generate the reduced object definition in a declarative format.
12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the declarative format includes an Extensible Markup Language (XML).
17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein generating the reduced object definition includes generating the reduced object definition in a declarative format.
18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the declarative format includes an Extensible Markup Language (XML).
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2019-04-21T11:47:04Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US20070136367A1/en
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Porn
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Computers
| 0.532053 |
google
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Thank you for your consistent support as a sustaining member.
Your monthly donation funds quality news and information throughout the year. You make a difference-- before, during, and after the Spring Memberfest on-air fundraiser. Tell us about why you became a sustaining member.
What do you value most about WRKF?
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2019-04-18T15:23:44Z
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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfAs-uJ7icHAZPHkpCnhw5hsx9MzWiPrnhjH6u6F9i5soApdg/viewform
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Porn
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News
| 0.984748 |
tripod
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i) that in the early 1500s man continually bred from dogs with short legs so a short legged strain was established and bred to type but the short legged dog must have been used and valued centuries before.
ii)Nicholas Cox in "The Gentleman's recreation" in 1667 told of two varieties of small dog, who can go to ground after game.
iii) Probably the first record of painting a Fox Terrier of the modern type...was painted in Holland about 1700 by a Dutch Artist called Hamilton.
iv) Fox Terriers probably date as a type from the seventeenth or early eighteenth century when Fox Hunting became popular.
The Fox went to earth and had to be bolted if the hunt were to continue. Black & Tan Terriers were too often mistaken by the Hounds for the Fox when emerging from the earth so a White strain of this terrier was consequently bred.
v) The Terrier had to be small enough to penetrate the fox earth while still have the running power and endurance to enable it to follow the hounds. It is possible selected terriers were crossed with Foxhounds or Beagles to give a great length of leg. Authorities contend that the white strain of the Bull Terrier was introduced to give the desirable white predominance.
vi) The Fox terriers were not smooth coated but retained traces in varying strengths, the rough, wiry coat of the original terrier-like dogs from which they sprang.
By the begining of the nineteenth century the Fox Terrier had become established as a specil type or breed. In 1876 at the suggestion of Major Harding Cox a number of breeders met together to form The Fox Terrier Club for the purpose of improving and maintaining the strain or breed. The smooth and wire coats were recognised as the same family.
Z for your Zeal for me, British and Best.
The Fox Terrier Club Of NSWThe Fox Terrier Terrier Club of N.S.W.
Return to Home PageHome page of The F.T.C. of N.s.w.
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2019-04-26T16:14:23Z
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http://foxterriersnsw.tripod.com/originhistory.html
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.609528 |
google
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1984-11-30 Assigned to BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN BIRMINGHAM reassignment BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN BIRMINGHAM ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST. Assignors: URRY, DAN W.
An elastomeric material comprising an elastomeric polypeptide, where the polypeptide comprises pentapeptide repeating units formed of amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic amino acid and glycine residues where the third amino acid residue of at least one repeating unit of the polypeptide has the D configuration if the remaining hydrophobic amino acids have the L configuration or the L configuration if the remaining hydrophobic amino acid residues have the D configuration and where the repeating units exist in a conformation having a β-turn. Also disclosed are elastomeric fabrics formed from the elastomeric material and composites containing it and the use of such fabrics in vascular prosthesis, as well as a method of forming such elastomeric materials.
This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health under Grants No. HL-11310 and HL-29578.
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 308,091, filed Oct. 2, 1981 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,851.
This invention relates to elastomeric fibers, to fabrics made from such fibers that are useful in cardiovascular prosthesis, and more particularly to an elastomeric polypentapeptide comprising a D-amino acid.
Replacement of a blood vessel by a prosthetic device is an important and common practice in modern vascular surgery. Although some use is made of veins or arteries taken from other portions of a patient's body, most of such prosthetic devices are prepared from artificial materials that can be prepared in a variety of sizes and stored in a sterile state ready for use.
4. High compliance with the physical and chemical properties of natural blood vessel such as similar elastic modulus and tensile strength.
Another useful property would be a chemotaxis that induced rapid endothelialization and invasion of connective tissue cells for vascular wall reconstruction in a manner such that the prosthesis would be slowly replaced by and/or integrated into newly synthesized internal elastic lamina. None of the materials presently being used can fulfill all of these requirements.
The most commonly used fabric for blood vessel prosthesis is made from Dacron (Trademark, DuPont), a synthetic polyester fiber made from polyethylene terephthalate. Dacron has been used in several weaves and in combination with other materials. An example of a frequently used material is the DeBakey Elastic Dacron fabric manufactured by USCI, a division of C. R. Bard, Inc. (Cat. No. 007830). Other commonly used materials are felted polyurethane and polytetrafluorethylene (Berkowitz et al, Surgery, 72, 221 (1972); Wagner et al, J. Surg. Res., 1, 53 (1956); Goldfarb et al, Trans. Am. Soc. Art. Int. Org., XXIII, 268 (1977)).
However, none of these materials, even when specially woven or crimped, mimics the elastic nature of natural blood vessel walls (Takabayashi et al, J. Sur. Res., 19, 209 (1975)). Because of this, blood pressure response and blood flow occur differently in natural and artificial blood vessels, and the desirable normal flow characteristics and pressure response are not attained. Changes in blood flow are undesirable and often lead to clotting. A high compliance material that more closely mimics the natural elastic behavior of blood vessels is still needed.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an artificial material having elastic character such that a blood vessel prosthesis produced from such a material would mimic the pressure response characteristics of natural blood vessels.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an artificial material suitable for blood prosthesis having chemical properties that closely resemble the chemical properties of natural blood vessel elastic lamina.
These and other objects of this invention as will hereinafter become more readily apparent have been attained by providing an elastomeric material, comprising an elastomeric polypeptide, wherein said polypeptide comprises pentapeptide repeating units, wherein said repeating units comprise amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic amino acid and glycine residues wherein the third amino acid residue of at least one repeating unit of said polypeptide has the D configuration, if the remaining hydrophobic amino acid residues have the L configuration, or the L configuration, if the remaining hydrophobic amino acid residues have the D configuration, and wherein said repeating units exist in a conformation having a β-turn.
FIG. 6 shows stress-stain curves of the D.Ala3 polypentapeptide compounded to Dacron with 30 Mrads of gamma irradiation along with corresponding curves for the Gly3 polypentapeptide compounded to Dacron and for Dacron alone.
The present invention arose as the result of investigations into the structure of elastic fibers present in blood vessel walls and other elastic materials, such as ligaments, present in humans and animals. The connective tissue of vascular walls is formed from two principal types of protein. Collagen, the principal proteinaceous component of connective tissue, forms the strength-giving structure. In the vascular wall, and particularly in its internal elastic lamina, collagen is associated with natural elastic fibers formed from a different protein. In the relaxed wall of the collagen fibers tend to be folded or crimped, and the elastic fibers are in their retracted state. On distension or stretching, the elastic fibers stretch out, and, as their extension limit is approached, the collagen fibers come into tension to bear the load. As the load diminishes, the elastic fibers draw the wall back to its original dimensions and the collagen fibers back into their folded state. In a synthetic vascular material of the types currently available, such as Dacron, the weave can be viewed as providing the structural analogue of folded collagen, but there is no true elastomeric component.
The central portion of the elastic fibers of vascular wall, skin, lung and ligament is derived from a single protein called tropoelastin. Polypeptide sequences of tropoelastin from vascular wall have been shown by Sandberg and colleagues to contain a repeat hexapeptide (Ala-Pro-Gly-Val-Gly-Val)n, a repeat pentapeptide (Val-Pro-Gly-Val-Gly)n, and a repeat tetrapeptide (Val-Pro-Gly-Gly)n, where Ala, Pro, Val and Gly respectively represent alanine, proline, valine and glycine amino acid residues. (Peptide representations in this application conform to the standard practice of writing the NH2 -terminal amino acid residue at the left of the formula and the CO2 H-terminal amino acid residue at the right). A high polymer of the hexapeptide has been synthesized, whereby it forms cellophane-like sheets. The hexapeptide is therefore thought to fill a structural role in the natural material. Synthetic high polymers of the pentapeptide and of the tetrapeptide, on the other hand, are elastomeric when cross-linked and appear to contribute to the functional role of the elastic fiber. For example, the chemically cross-linked polypentapeptide can, depending on its water content, exhibit the same elastic modulus as native aortic elastin.
Investigations into the structure of the natural polypentapeptide (PPP) and polytetrapeptide (PTP) have disclosed several features in common and have led to the present invention by uncovering the essential features responsible for the elasticity of these molecules. Now that these features have been discovered, it is possible to predict which other polypeptides will exhibit elasticity, thereby making possible the synthesis of a new class of elastomeric materials. Of course, it is likely that not all elastic polypeptides function in the way described herein or have the same structural features. Other modes of action responsible for elasticity are likely to exist in molecules of different structure and, if so, may have no resemblance to the elastomeric molecules described herein.
In this formula, R1 -R5 represent the side groups of the respective amino acid residues.
Stereoscopic views of a PPP of the earlier invention are shown in FIG. 1, which shows a series of β-turns repeating in a regular sequence, one β-turn for each pentapeptide repeating unit. In these views the overall conformation of the peptide chain is a β-spiral, i.e., a series of regular repeating β-turns. The form of the β-spiral is best seen in FIG. 1B, in which the position of each amino acid is represented by a dot or circle. FIG. 1A shows the structure and conformation of each amino acid in the β-spiral by showing the position of each atom in the PPP. It can be seen from these stereoscopic views that the spiral structures are more open than the more common α-helix. As a result, the atoms between the atoms that participate in hydrogen bonding have a relatively great freedom of movement, more so than in an α-helix. This is particularly true of librational motions involving peptide moieties. A libration is a torsional oscillation involving simultaneous rotational motions of the two single bonds on each side of a librating moiety. The moiety involved in a libration may be a single peptide bond or several peptide residues. For adequate freedom of motion to exist, it is important, however, that the carbonyl oxygen and the amino hydrogen of the peptide bond not be involved in hydrogen bonding to other parts of the molecule or to other peptide molecules. Otherwise a greater energy barrier to the libration exists and motion will be restricted. Since non-hydrogen-bonded segments having freedom of motion exist in the β-spiral between the points of hydrogen bonding for the β-turns, these segments may be said to be librationally suspended. Librationally suspended segments therefore are a structural feature that exists in the PPP because of the repeating β-turns with relatively infrequent hydrogen bonding. Librationally suspended segments resulting from the β-spiral structure and other features still to be discussed are important features that are thought to give rise to elasticity, as will be further discussed.
Another factor leading to the high librational freedom of such molecules is the absence of polar interactions between the amino acid residues, either intrachain or interchain, other than the previously mentioned hydrogen bond. The amino acid residues present are generally all hydrophobic or glycine and accordingly do not exert significant forces on one another through space. If charged or polar groups were present, electrostatic interactions would limit librational freedom and restrict the number of available states in the relaxed (non-extended) form of the molecules. Polar and charged amino acid residues are not strictly prohibited, however, if their presence does not destroy the elasticity of the polypeptide molecule as a whole. For example, an occasional serine residue is present in the polypentapeptide sequence of naturally occurring porcine tropoelastin without destroying elasticity. Accordingly, hydrophobic amino acid residues and glycine are preferred in forming elastomeric polypeptides of the present type although other amino acids may be present to a small extent.
The size of the repeating unit is important in determining the stability and dynamic properties of the β-spiral. Repeating units having fewer than four or more than five amino acid residues do not easily form β-spirals having the required librational motions. Three amino acid residues are too few for an efficient β-turn and six residues can result in intervening segments so long that other conformations become energetically more stable. Thus, elastomers of the present type appear to be limited to polypeptides having tetrapeptide or pentapeptide repeating units. Specifically, elastomers containing an amino acid residue of opposite chirality at position three are now believed to be limited to polypentapeptides or polytetrapeptides, with polypentapeptides being particularly important.
When a peptide sequence has been identified in connection with a particular biological function such as elasticity, it is reasonable to assume that this elastomer has properties which are near optimal for its specific function. It can generally be assumed that the long period of evolution has optimized the structure of the natural biological material for its function. However, this can of course be true only to the extent that the building blocks are accessible to the evolving organisms. Proteins derived by means of the genetic code, for example, can only contain L-amino acid or glycine residues. This means that replacement of a glycine residue by a D-amino acid, even if it were to result in a functionally improved material, would not be possible for the evolving organism. The present invention has arisen as a result of selective replacement of glycine residues in the repeating units of the pentapeptide with hydrophobic D-residues. Studies of the dominant conformational feature of the polypentapeptide of elastin, the II Pro2 -Gly3 β-turn previously discussed, indicates that a D-residue at position three will stabilize the β-turn. It has now been discovered that substituting a D-amino acid residue for the Gly3 residue produces an elastomeric molecule (after cross-linking) having an elastic (Young's) modulus approximately twice that obtained for the corresponding molecule having a Gly3 residue.
It is preferred that the amino acid residue in position three be a hydrophobic D-amino acid although other D-amino acids are also contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention. Amino acid residues having no more than 10 carbon atoms in their amino acid side chain are preferred. Preferred hydrophobic side chains are alkyl, aryl, and arylalkl, where aryl represents a phenyl or alkyl-substituted phenyl group. Particularly preferred are the residues of D-alanine, D-valine, D-leucine, D-isoleucine, D-phenylalanine, D-2-aminobutanoic acid, and other molecules of similar size, polarity, and chirality. Especially preferred are alkyl side chains having 1-4 carbon atoms in an α-amino acid residue having an α-hydrogen.
The choice of individual amino acids from which to synthesize the remaining sections of the repeating units and resulting polypeptide is unrestricted so long as the resulting structure comprises librationally suspended segments in a β-spiral. The amino acids are not restricted to α-amino acids, although these are preferred, since it has recently become possible to predict the occurrence of β-turns from the α-amino acid sequence of a polypeptide. A review article discussing the prediction of protein conformation, including the prediction of β-turns, was recently published by Chou and Fasman, Ann. Rev. Biochem., 47, 251 (1978), which is herein incorporated by reference. The size of the side chains present in the hydrophobic amino acids does not greatly affect the β-spiral since the side chains generally extend outward from the surface of the helix with some important but non-restrictive interturn hydrophobic interactions. However, in order to minimize interchain interactions, it is preferred that the side chain contain no more than 10 carbon atoms. Preferred hydrophobic side chains are the same as those previously described for position three, except that the resulting amino acid residues are of the opposite chirality. In addition, it appears from the studies leading to the present invention that preferred side chains of the amino acids are hydrogen or hydrocarbon chains having 1-4 carbon atoms. Examples of especially preferred residues are glycine and the naturally occuring L-amino acids alanine, valine, leucine, and isoleucine as well as closely related molecules such as 2-methyl-2-aminopropanoic acid, L-2-aminobutanoic acid, and L-2-methyl-2-aminobutanoic acid, although it is preferred that the α-carbon have an α-hydrogen. Proline is also a preferred amino acid.
Given positions of the repeating units have amino acid residues that are particularly preferred. The first amino acid residue is preferred to be valine, leucine, or isoleucine; the second is preferred to be proline; the third has been previously discussed; the fourth is preferred to be valine, leucine or isoleucine; and the fifth residue is preferred to be glycine. A particularly preferred repeating unit is L-Val-L-Pro-D-Ala-L-Val-Gly.
An elastomeric polypeptide consisting entirely of repeating units in which the third amino acid residue is of opposite chivality, as described herein, has an elastic modulus approximately twice that of an otherwise identical polypeptide in which all the amino acids have the same chivality, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,852 to the same inventor. Accordingly, it is possible to easily control the elastic modulus by using a mixture of monomers of the two types. Elastomers having at least one repeating unit in which the third amino acid is of opposite chivality are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention.
Although applicant does not wish to be bound or limited to the following theory, it appears that the elasticity of polypeptides of the structure discussed above is caused by thermodynamic drive toward greater entropy. The relaxed state of the β-spiral has a large degree of librational freedom and thus the atoms of the peptide chain can exist in a large number of positions. When the molecules are stretched, the degree of freedom is reduced, particularly for librational motions, and when the tension is released, a thermodynamic driving force toward higher entropy results in reformation of the contracted β-spiral.
A major limitation of the previously disclosed polytetrapeptide and polypentapeptide having glycine units at position three is that relatively large cracks, which are visible under the scanning electron microscope, occured during drying of these materials. On the other hand, the D3 analogues are most commonly characterized by the absence of cracking and, when cracking does occur, only smaller cracks appear and then only in limited regions. This suggests that D3 analogues possess greater strength and cohesiveness in the coacervated state, properties which enhance the usefulness of these materials in prosthetic devices.
Because of the chirality of amino acids and of polypeptides produced therefrom, an equally effective polypeptide can be produced by using polypentapeptide repeating units in which all of the amino acids having chiral centers are of the opposite chirality from that previously described; i.e., the residue at position three is an L-amino acid and the remaining residues are D-amino acids or glycine. Since both L- and D-amino acids are available commercially and can be used as starting materials in a synthesis of the polypeptide of the invention, for example in the method disclosed later, either of these species of the invention may be easily produced. However, since D-amino acids are relatively more expensive, the more preferred species is that in which most of the amino acid residues are derived from L-amino acids and only the residue at position 3 is derived from a D-amino acid. Accordingly, the remainder of this disclosure will discuss only predominantly L-amino acid-containing polypeptides since those skilled in the art will recognize that predominantly D-amino acid-containing species can be easily produced in a like manner by a proper selection of amino acid starting materials.
It should be noted that not every amino acid residue in the polypeptide may be replaced by an amino acid of the opposite chirality. Random replacement leads to destruction of the β-turn and loss of elastic modulus. For example, replacement of an α-hydrogen of the Gly5 residue by a methyl moiety, i.e., synthesis of the L.Ala5 PPP, was carried out as a specific test of the proposed librational freedom mechanism of elasticity. The elastomeric properties in the resulting material were entirely lost even though the β-turn, while weakened, was still present. Likewise, synthesis of a D.Ala5 analog resulted in a material which did not resist the stress of drying. Scanning electron micrographs of a D.Ala5 PPP-Dacron fiber composite showed that the elastomeric matrix ruptures during the stresses of drying and of stretching while wet. Thus, the effect of adding a methyl moiety to the Gly5 residue of the polypentapeptide is to decrease markedly the mobility of the polypeptide chain and to destroy elasticity. Based on structural studies of the β-turn model, it presently appears that only pentapeptides of the invention having the third residue of opposite chirality will retain sufficient librational mobility in a β-turn to produce elasticity according to the mechanism proposed herein.
A second major limitation of the polypentapeptide even when cross-linked, is that, while elastomeric, this material is somewhat lacking in strength. The limited strength of the synthetic matrices is not unlike the biological situation, as the role of the elastic fibers is not one of load bearing but rather of providing resistance to extension, and of reforming the original tissue configuration when tension is released. Thus an improved prosthetic material can be produced by using a collagen-like load bearing component in addition to an elastomeric component of the correct elastic modulus. This can be achieved by compounding the synthetic elastomeric high polymers described above to a second material with greater strength. The second material forms the core of the composite fiber and will be referred to as the "collagen analogue" or "core fiber". The term core fiber is not limited to those forms of elastomeric composite materials in which a first fiber is coated with a second material, but also refers to other forms in which a strength giving fiber (the core fiber) is chemically bonded to a second component that is elastomeric (the polypeptide). For example, elastomeric polypeptide fibers may form strands between the segments of a crimped core fiber. The essential feature is that a chemical bond (of any type) exists between the surface of the core fiber and the elastomeric polypeptide so that the two components do not become separated while the elastomeric component is being stretched or is reforming the relaxed β-spiral. The chemical bond may be covalent or ionic bonding, hydrogen bonding, or the result of electrostatic interactions of various types, such as ion-dipole and diopole-dipole interactions. Covalent bonding is preferred. Linkages may be formed in any conventional manner and, if covalent bonds are to be formed, they can be accomplished by reacting a functional group of the polypeptide with a functional group of the core fiber. The functional groups may be present naturally as part of the polypeptide or core fiber or may be formed later, for example, by suitable chemical reactions involving the already formed core fiber or polypeptide. Such chemical reactions are well known and are discussed in more detail later in connection with cross-linking of the polypeptide.
The collagen analogue may be any fiber-forming natural or artificial material having a tensile strength of 10 to 50 kg/mm2, preferably about 20 to 40 kg/mm2, and most preferably about 30 kg/mm2 and an elastic modulus of no more than 5×1010 dynes/cm2, that is biologically compatible with use in a living organism. By biologically compatible is meant that the core polymer, when compounded into the final product with the elastomer, will not harm the organism in which it is implanted to such a degree that implantation is as harmful as or more harmful than the needed vascular replacement. The term artifical fiber as used herein refers both to fibers formed from synthetic materials and to fibers formed from naturally occuring materials. The term artificial refers to the act of forming the fiber rather than the act of forming the material out of which the fiber is made. If used outside the living body of an organism is anticipated, biological compatibility is not required. Examples of suitable types of polymers which can form fibers of the required properties include polyamides, polyesters, polyvinyls, polyethylenes, polyurethanes, polyethers, and polyimides. Natural fibers include collagen, which is preferred. Non-polymeric fibers, such as metal fibers, and inorganic fibers, such as glass and carbon, may be of use in some applications, although their use is less preferred.
Suitable polyamides include polyamino acids, such as poly condensation products of p-aminobenzoic acid, and condensation products of diamines with dicarboxylic acids, such as hexamethylenediamine and terephthalic acids. Another suitable polyamide would be direct synthesis of an artificial fiber modeled after natural collagen. Polyesters suitable for use with the invention include poly(hydroxy acids) and condensation products of diols or polyols with dicarboxylic acids, such as ethylene glycol and an aromatic dicarboxylic acid. Examples of polyvinyls include poly(methyl methacrylate) and other esters of acrylic and methacrylic acid, polyvinyl alcohol, and esters of polyvinyl alcohol. Polyethylenes include polyethylene itself and halogenated derivatives of polyethylenes, such as polyvinyl chloride, as well as perhalogenated polyethylene, such as polytetrafluoroethylene. Polyurethanes include addition products of aromatic, aliphatic, or araliphatic diisocyanates with either diamines or diols. Polyethers include epoxy resins such as poly(propylenoxide) and poly(ethylene oxide). Polyimides include polymers derived from pyromellitic dianhydride and aromatic or aliphatic diamines.
Preferred collagen analogues are polyesters. Preferred polyesters are condensations products of phthalic, isophthalic, or terephthalic acid and diols, of which the most preferred are polymers derived from terephthalic acid and a 1,2-diol, such as, for example, the condensation product of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol that is sold under the trademark of Dacron by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. Polyesters having aromatic nuclei, such as Dacron, can be easily derivatized in order to provide function groups for covalent attachment of the polypeptide. For example, formylation and carboxylation of aromatic rings are easily carried out, well known reactions and provide functional groups that will react with amino groups present in the polypeptide.
The polymers listed above or other suitable materials are synthesized according to standard techniques and formed into fibers or fabrics, or are obtained from commercial sources as fibers or fabrics or in a form that may be manufactured into fibers or fabrics. Methods of preparing such fibers are well known and are not considered to be part of the present invention. The list given above is not intended to be limiting and any fiber or fabric that meets the standards of strength and biocompatability previously given may be used, whether known at the time of this application or discovered later. A crimping of the core fiber that will provide a uniform extendability of 200% or more is desirable. If the fiber is formed into a fabric, this crimping may be accomplished by the fabric weaving process. Crimping and expandable weaves are well known and are not considered to be part of the essence of the invention.
The diameter of the core fiber is not limited and may be varied as needed for the intended application. When the fiber is to be used in the formation of a vascular prosthesis, a diameter of less than 20 μm will give satisfactory results. Fibers with finer diameters will have a greater surface area per unit weight and are therefore preferred in order to allow better attachment of the elastomeric material to the surface of the collagen analogue (core fiber) and a more effective refolding of the collagen analogue. Diameters of less than 2 μm are preferred with a diameter of about 1 μm being most preferred.
Synthesis of the polypeptide elastomers is straightforward and easily accomplished by a protein chemist. The resulting polypeptides have the structure X-(repeating unit)n -Y where X and Y represent any chemically compatible end group on the amino and carboxyl ends of the molecule, respectively, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 40. Particularly preferred are polypeptides having molecular weights greater than 10,000 daltons. It is possible that one or more amino acid residue or segment of amino acid residues may be interspersed within the polypeptide chain so long as the elasticity of the resulting molecule is not completely disrupted.
Examples of terminal X and Y end groups include the repeating peptide units themselves with free amino or carboxylic acid groups or salts thereof and peptide or amino acid units that have retained a blocking group that was present during synthesis of the polypeptide or that have a blocking group added after formation of the polypeptide. Examples of blocking groups include t-butyloxycarbonyl, formyl, and acetyl for the amino end of the molecule and esters, such as methyl esters, as well as amides, such as the amides of ammonia and methyl amine, for the acid end of the molecule. The end groups are not critical and can be any organic or inorganic group that does not destroy the β-turn conformation of the polypeptide or confer bio-incompatibility to the molecule as a whole.
Methods of preparing polypentapeptide polymers in which the third position is occupied by a glycine residue have been disclosed in Rapaka and Urry, Int. J. Peptide Protein Res., 11, 97 (1978), Urry et al, Biochemistry, 13, 609 (1974), and Urry et al, J. Mol. Biol., 96, 101 (1975), which are herein incorporated by reference. The synthesis of these peptides is straightforward and can be easily modified to allow production of a polymer having a D3 residue. The following summary, which is not to be considered limiting, is an example of one general method of synthesizing the polypeptides.
The first step in the formation of the polypentapeptide of the invention usually is synthesis of a pentapeptide monomer. Any of the classical methods of producing peptide molecules may be used in synthesizing the building blocks of the polymers of the present invention. For example, synthesis can be carried out by classical solution techniques starting from the C-terminal amino acid as a benzyl ester p-tosylate. Each successive amino acid is then coupled to the growing peptide chain by means of its water-soluble carbodiimide and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole. A typically used carbodiimide is 1-(3-dimethylaminylpropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDCI). During the coupling reaction the amino group is protected. The protecting group is then removed after condensation has taken place. A suitable protecting group is tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc), which can easily be removed by trifluoroacetic acid.
The first product obtained in the synthesis of the pentapeptide monomer is a protected peptapeptide, such as, Boc-L.sup.. Val-L.sup.. Pro-D.sup.. Ala-L.sup.. Val-Gly-OBzl. This protected monomer is converted into the reactive monomer by, for example, removal of the Boc protecting group and replacement of the benzyl ester with the p-nitrophenyl ester, for example by exchange with p-nitrophenyl trifluoroacetate. The resulting reactive monomer is polymerized, in the presence of a catalyst such as triethylamine if necessary, to give the polypeptide. A blocking group, such as H-Val-OMe may be added at the conclusion of the polymerization reaction to convert the remaining reactive p-nitrophenyl esters to non-reactive terminal groups if desired.
When a modified chemical structure is desired, as, for example, when chemical cross-linking will be carried out, side-group-blocked lysine or glutamic acid (or another amino acid with a protected side group capable of forming a cross-link after the protecting group is removed) may be utilized in place of one of the normal amino acids that is present in the polypeptide chain. A synthesis of a chemically cross-linked polypentapeptide having a Gly3 residue is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,852, which is herein incorporated by reference.
If the D3 polypentapeptide is to be compounded into a composite fiber, the weight ratio of the core fiber to the sheath component can vary as required for the intended use, with a ratio of from 10:1 to 1:10 being preferred, with from 1:1 to 3:10 being most preferred, when the composite fiber is to be used in a prothesis for a major artery. Lesser amounts of the elastomeric component, preferably about a 1:1 ratio, is preferred for a small artery prosthesis.
The two components are brought together in any manner that results in the formation of a synthetic composite fiber in which the high strength polymeric fiber forms a core which is surrounded by a sheath of the polypeptide. It is desirable to have the elastomeric component bridge between folds in the collogen analogue. In general, this can be accomplished by coating a pre-formed, crimped polymeric fiber or woven fabric with a solution, suspension, or coacervate of the polypeptide, although it may be possible to spin or otherwise form the core fiber in a solution or suspension of the polypeptide.
A preferred method of forming the composite takes advantage of the property of coacervation exhibited by the D3 polypentapeptide (D3 -PPP). The D3 -PPP is soluble in water at temperatures below 20° C. but on raising the temperature above 20° C. the polymers associate and settle to form a dense, sticky phase called the coacervate. The process is entirely reversible, though dissolution can be slow. In order to impregnate the collagen analogue in preparation for compounding, fibers or strips of fabric made from the collagen analogue can be placed on the bottom of a chamber of like dimension. It is preferred to use a polytetrafluoroethylene chamber since the coacervates do not adhere well to polytetrafluoroethylene. Aqueous solutions containing D3 PPP are added to each chamber covering the fabric. The temperature is raised and the coacervate allowed to settle onto the surface of the fiber or into the weave of the fabric. If a fabric is used, it is preferred to largely fill the spaces between the fibers of the fabric. The supernatant can be either removed or allowed to dry down to the level of the fabric strip. The D3 -PPP impregnated strip or fibers are then removed from the chambers.
Other examples of methods of depositing the polypeptide on the surface of the core fiber include evaporation of solutions of the polypeptide on the surface of the fiber and reacting the polypeptide with functional groups present in the core fiber while the core fiber is suspended in a solution of the polypeptide.
It is generally desirable to cross-link the molecules of the polypeptide in order to increase its strength and elasticity. If a composite fiber is being formed, it is preferred to perform the cross-linking after the polypeptide has adhered to the core fiber. The method of creating the linkage is not limited to the methods disclosed in this application and may be any method of covalent or non-covalent linkage that does not prevent the D3 PPP or the composite fiber from behaving as an elastomer. Suitable methods and types of linkages include cross-linking with ionizing irradiation and chemical modification or substitution of amino acid residues of the peptide repeating units and of the collagen analogue repeating units in order to form reactive side groups that undergo chemical reaction with each other (chemical cross-linking) e.g., by amide linkage, aldol condensation, Schiff base formation, enzymatic cross-linking by lysyloxidase, or ester formation. Another suitable method of cross-linking comprises the use of photoactivated agents such as those giving rise to carbenes or nitrenes which may be attached as amino acid side groups or introduced as separate diffusible molecules.
A preferred type of chemical cross-linking occurs when polypeptides are prepared in which some of the repeating units are replaced by units in which one of the amino acid residues is replaced by the residue of an amino acid that has a reactive side chain. Preferred is preparation of a first batch of polypeptide in which a residue of some of the repeating units is replaced by an amino dicarboxylic acid, such as aspartic or glutamic acid, and a second batch of polypeptide in which a residue of some of the repeating units is replaced by a diamino carboxylic acid, such as lysine or ornithine. After a mixture of these two batches has been formed into a sheath around the core fiber, the free amino and carboxylic acid side group are allowed to react to create the cross-linkages. Formation of cross-linked PPP produced in this manner is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,852, which is herein incorporated by reference. If chemical cross-linking is used, it is also necessary to provide reactive functional group in the core fiber so that linkages between the peptide elastomer and the core fiber will also occur. Such modifications are well understood by polymer chemists and may include, for example, glycidyl esters of acrylates or methacrylates (as examples of reactive groups present during formation of the core polymer), or amino or carboxylic acid groups added to the terephthalic acid moeity of Dacron (as examples of reactive groups formed after formation of the core fiber).
The degree of cross-linking is such that elastomeric properties are imparted to the resulting composite fiber and can be varied to provide the desired dynamic mechanical properties. Preferred is an average of one cross-link for every 10 to 100 pentamer repeating units with 20 to 50 being most preferred. The degree of chemical cross-linking can be controlled by selecting the proper proportions of reagents. In general, the ratio of repeating units with reactive side groups to unmodified repeating units within a single molecule can vary from 1:1 to 1:20 with a ratio of about 1:5 being preferred. When two batches of polypeptide containing carboxylate or amino side groups as described above are used, the ratio of carboxylate-side-group-containing polypeptide to amino-side-group-containing polypeptide can vary from 4:1 to 1:4 with a ratio of about 1:1 being preferred.
When irradiation cross-linking is performed, a satisfactory approach is irradiation with gamma radiation from a cobalt-60 source. Other radiation energies required to provide a cross-linking action without excessive destruction of the core fiber or elastomeric peptide structure may be easily determined by simple experimentation. The degree of cross-linking is determined by the length of time and energy of the irradiation when irradiation cross-linking is performed. At least two cross-linkages per molecule are needed. The number of cross-linkages per molecule and the elastic modulus increase as the radiation dose increases. The requisite time for any desired amount of cross-linking is easily determined by simple experimentation for any given source of irradiation energy. Samples of non-cross-linked polymer or composite fiber are exposed to the source of ionizing energy for varying lengths of time, and the resulting elastic modulus is measured. In this manner the irradiation time required to produce an elastic modulus necessary to match a specific design characteristic of the polymer or composite fiber can easily be determined. For use in forming vascular wall prosthetic devices, an elastic (Young's) modulus of 106 to 107 dynes cm2, preferably about 4×106 dynes/cm2, for the cross-linked composite fiber is desired. This is approximately the elastic modulus of the vascular wall.
The elastomeric composite fibers may be woven into a fabric or an elastomeric fabric may be formed from a fabric of the core fiber material by coating and cross-linking the polypeptide on the surface of the fibers of the preformed fabric. When the resulting fabric has an elastic modulus of from 106 to 107 dynes/cm2 and has been formed into an appropriate shape, for example, a tubular shape, the resulting article may be used in vascular prosthesis. One simple way to obtain the desired tubular form, not considered to be limiting, would be to place the preformed woven and crimped tube of core fiber material between two concentric glass tubes with the outer tube containing an aqueous solution of D3 -PPP. The temperature of the solution would then be raised to allow coacervation to take place and the resulting impregnated woven fabric composition would be cross-linked by γ-irradiation at an appropriate dose.
It is also possible to form separate strength-giving and elastomeric fibers and to interweave them into a fabric of the desired shape. The first fiber, which is essentially non-elastic, would provide strength while the elastomeric polypeptide fiber would provide elasticity.
Once the synthetic composite material has been formed into an appropriate shape, if it is intended for use as a vascular replacement or patch, it is surgically inserted into a human or animal in place of diseased or missing vascular material. Tubular material may be used to replace an entire vein or artery by attaching each end to the distal and proximal free ends of a blood vessel having a missing or surgically removed section. Attachment is made so that blood flows through the tube without major leaking by any means capable of providing medically acceptable attachment, such as suturing or cauterizing. The elastomeric composite may be made in the form of a patch to be attached by the same methods if replacement of only a portion of a blood vessel is desired. Also tubular material may be used as a lining to replace diseased termica intima following endarterectomy.
Other uses of the elastomic material of this invention are also contemplated. The elastomer itself or the composite elastomeric fiber can be formed into sutures or used in the formation of artificial ligaments. As was previously described, the elastic modulus is easily controlled, resulting in a material having broad use, both in biological systems for replacement and repair of natural parts of an organism and in the myriad of nonbiological uses presently fulfilled by other elastomers.
The above disclosure generally describes the present invention. A more complete understanding can be obtained by reference to the following specific examples, which are provided herein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting unless otherwise specified.
Synthesis: The synthesis of the peptide, Boc-Val-L.sup.. Pro-D.sup.. Ala-L.sup.. Val-Gly-OBzl (I), was carried out using classical solution methods starting from the C-terminal glycine benzyl ester p-tosylate. Each amino acid was coupled to the growing peptide chain by means of the water soluble carbodiimide 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDCI) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole. The tert-butyloxycarbonyl group was used for amino group protection, and its removal was achieved with trifluoroacetic acid. Peptide I was converted to the free acid by hydrogenolysis and then to the corresponding p-nitrophenyl ester using p-nitrophenyl trifluoroacetate. After deblocking the N.sup.α -protecting group and neutralizing, H-L.sup.. Val-L.sup.. Pro-D.sup.. Ala-L.sup.. Val-Gly-ONp was polymerized in dimethyl sulfoxide for 14 days. The reaction mixture was diluted with water, dialyzed against water and lyophilized. Purity of all intermediate peptides was checked by thin layer chromatography and C-13 NMR spectra. The overall yields were 80-90% in the preparation of the intermediate products and 50% during the polymerization step.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: A JEOL FX-100 NMR spectrometer equipped with a 5 mm probe operating at 100 MHz was used to collect the proton temperature dependent data in Me2 SO-2 H6. Probe temperatures were regulated by a JEOL VT-3B controller to ±2° C. and were measured using an ethylene glycol temperature standard before and after each data accumulation. Tetramethylsilane was used as the internal standard at 0 ppm.
Proton and carbon-13 assigments of the polypeptide in Me2 SO-2 H6 were confirmed by heteronuclear multiple irradiation techniques as previously described in Khaled et al, J. Magn. Resonance, 44, 255 (1981). The FX-100 spectrometer was also utilized for this purpose, equipped with a multinuclear probe and a Model 1-MI multi-irradiation accessory. All of the selective decoupling experiments were performed at 70° C.
A JEOL PFT-100 NMR spectrometer operating at 25 MHz for carbon-13 was used to obtain the Me2 SO-2 H6 -2 H2 O solvent dependence of peptide C--O chemical shifts. Probe temperatures were maintained at 30° C., and dioxane was used as the internal standard at 67.4 ppm from an external hexamethyldisiloxane reference.
Turbidity Studies: A Cary 14 ultraviolet spectrophotometer was used to obtain the temperature profiles of turbidity formation (TPτ's). The optical densities of the sample solutions in a 1 mm cell were monitored at 300 nm during a slow, controlled heating (30°/hour). A Fluke digital voltmeter with a home-built temperature probe was used to monitor the sample temperature.
Scanning Electron Microscopy of Coacervate: For characterization of the D.sup.. Ala3 PPP, coacervate from a 16 mg/ml aqueous solution was formed on a 0.8 mm thick Plexiglass substrate at 40° C. Secondary electron image micrographs of the coacervate coated Plexiglass substrate were obtained using a JEOL JSM U3 scanning electron microscope operating at 15 kV, 200μ final aperture, and a tilt of 38.5°. Specimen preparation prior to SEM examination included attachment to carbon stubs, vacuum drying, and at less than 5×10-5 mm Hg coating with carbon then approximately 200 Å of Au-Pd in a JEOL JEE-4C vacuum evaporator.
Irradiation Cross-linking: Coacervation of the peptide for irradiation cross-linking was accomplished by adding 75 mg of D.sup.. Ala3 PPP in aqueous solution to Debakey Elastic Dacron Fabric (USCI, a division of C. R. Bard, Inc., Cat. No. 007830) strips (7 mm×25 mm) placed in the bottom of Teflon chambers as described in Urry et al, J. Biomed. Mater. Res., 16, 11 (1982), which is herein incorporated by reference. Chamber dimensions were 4.75 mm×12.6 mm. At a slightly elevated temperature (45° C.), the coacervate settled, impregnating the Dacron knit fibers. The impregnated Dacron strips were removed, sealed in 2.5 cm×2.5 cm glass slides containing a 0.24 cm thick Teflon spacer and irradiated. Gamma irradiation cross-linking was performed at the Auburn University Nuclear Science Center Facility as described in the last cited reference. Twenty-four cobalt sources, each ten inches long, three-fourths inch wide and one-eighth inch thick, were positioned in three concentric circles of four, six and eight inches diameter. Eight sources were equally spaced on the circumference of each circle. The radiation intensity was measured to be 13,317 roentgen per minute. The samples were placed in the center of the source configuration for various times so that the radiation absorbed dosages (RADs) could be varied from 1 to 100×106. Low dosages within this range are used with longer chain lengths of polypeptides and high dosages with shorter chain lengths. Exposure of the D.sup.. Ala3 PPP impregnated Dacron to the twenty-four concentrically arranged cobalt sources was typically carried out for the appropriate time to achieve a 30 Mrad dose.
Stress-strain Characterization: Stress-strain data was recorded using an apparatus designed and built in this laboratory as described in the last cited reference. A rigidly mounted Statham model UC-2 transducing cell with UL4-0.5 load cell accessory was used to record force data. Using the required excitation and signal conditioning circuits the output of the UC-2 transducer was recorded on the y-axis of an x-y recorder. The sample was elongated at a constant rate of 2 mm/minute using a Velmex model B2509CJ Unislide driven by a variable speed motor through a Metron Instruments speed reducer. The position of the moving holder was recorded on the x-axis of the x-y recorder using a BLH linear displacement transducer and appropriate excitation and signal conditioning circuits. The thickness and the width of the sample were measured before being placed in the clamps. One clamp was attached to the UC-2 transducer and the other to the moving platform. Initial lengths (Li) of 0.5 and 1.0 cm were used. The x-axis scale is ΔL/Li where ΔL is the displacement of the moving end of the sample from Li. The cross-section area was used to calculate dynes/cm2 from the recorded force; i.e., Young's modulus was calculated using the cross-sectional area and force data. A constant rate of elongation (2 mm/min) was used and extensions of 40, 60, 80 and 100 percent were recorded.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Verification of Synthesis: The complete proton and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of H(L.sup.. Val1 -L.sup.. Pro2 -D.sup.. Ala3 -L.sup.. Val4 -Gly5)n-L-Val-OMe in dimethylsulfoxide are shown in FIG. 2 where all of the resonances are assigned. The presence of peaks as required for the polymer demonstrates the correct composition and the absence of extraneous peaks demonstrates the purity of the preparation. The absence of shifted resonances for the end groups indicates that the degree of polymerization, n, is greater than about forty. By the multi-irradiation method used to achieve the assignments, even the sequence of amino acids is confirmed. Thus, the synthesis of the polymer is completely verified.
Effect of Substitution on Conformation: The temperature dependence of peptide NH chemical shift is an important means of characterizing the conformation of the elastin repeat peptides. This data is shown for D.sup.. Ala3 PPP in FIG. 3 (solid curves) which is to be compared with data for the PPP of elastin (dotted curves). The sensitivity of this type of data to conformation has been well-established. This is particularly evident when comparing data on the series of molecules cyclo(VPGVG), cyclo(VPGVG)2, cyclo(VPGVG)3 and (VPGVG)n. While the sequences of these molecules are the same, the chemical shifts and the solvent and temperature dependence of peptide NH chemical shifts are very different for each of the cyclic molecules which can only be the result of very different conformations. On the other hand, the patterns of chemical shift and temperature dependence of peptide NH resonances of the cyclopentadecapeptide and the linear high polymer, PPP, are essentially identical indicating that the cyclic molecule with n=3 is the cyclic conformational correlate of the linear PPP. In FIG. 3, the upfield position of the Val4 NH resonance and its low temperature dependence of chemical shift are indicative of the Pro2 -Gly3 Type II β-turn in D.sup.. Ala3 PPP as in PPP. The steeper slope for the Val1 NH resonance is the result of greater exposure of this moiety to the solvent. While the D.sup.. Ala3 NH is upfield from the Gly3 NH of PPP, this is due to the inductive effect of the β-methyl moiety. Even so, both the Gly5 NH and the D.sup..Ala3 NH of D.sup.. Ala3 PPP have the same temperature dependence which is similar to that of the overlapping Gly5 NH resonances (curve c) of the PPP. These shieldings are due to the presence of additional secondary structure in the dimethyl sulfoxide solvent. Thus, with the obvious shift of the D.sup.. Ala3 NH resonance which is due to the change in amino acid, the patterns are very similar for (VPA'VG)n and (VPGVG)n indicating similar conformations and in particular the presence of the β-turn.
As shown in Table I, the solvent dependence of peptide C--O chemical shifts are also very similar. In column 1 for water the chemical shifts for the Val1, Pro2, Val4 and Gly5 C--O resonances are essentially identical given the ±0.05 ppm digital resolution. Since these chemical shifts are also sensitive to conformation with shifts of the order of 1.0 ppm occurring due to changes in conformation, this also indicates the same conformation for D.sup.. Ala3 PPP and PPP in water. In dimethyl sulfoxide the differences in these chemical shifts are no greater than 0.15 ppm. The magnitudes of the chemical shifts on going from one solvent, 2 H2 O, to the other, Me2 SO-[2 H6 ], are indicative of the degree of exposure of the carbonyl moiety to the solvent. The least shifted is the most shielded as occurs on intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The differences plotted with respect to the Val1 C--O of the PPP, i.e., the β-turn carbonyl, are given in the last column of Table I. The -0.25 ppm value for the Val1 C--O of the D.sup.. Ala3 PPP indicates greater shielding of this Val1 C--O and that the β-turn is stabilized in the D.sup.. Ala3 PPP as had been anticipated from even a qualitative knowledge of the energetics of the β-turn. This is apparent in FIG. 1A where it is the radial α-hydrogen of the Gly3 residue that is replaced by a methyl in D.sup.. Ala3 PPP. Thus, it is established that the β-turn is not only retained in the D.sup.. Ala3 analog but it is actually stabilized.
Effect of Substitution on Coacervation Properties: Tropoelastin (the precursor protein of fibrous elastin), α-elastin (a 70,000 dalton fragmentation product from fibrous elastin) and the polypentapeptide of elastin are all soluble in water in temperatures below 20° C. but on raising the temperature to the physiological range their solutions become cloudy and on standing separate into two phases. The more dense phase is viscoelastic and is referred to as the coacervate. The upper phase is called the equilibrium solution. This process of coacervation is considered to be a process of fiber formation. The coacervate, when formed by settling however, is not anisotropic because the suspended small aggregates, while comprised of parallel aligned filaments, do not align in the settling process. The temperature dependence of coacervation for D.sup.. Ala3 PPP and PPP is compared in FIG. 4 where the D.sup.. Ala3 PPP analog is seen to have a temperature profile for coacervation that is shifted 5° to 10° C. to lower temperatures. This is consistent with the process being an inverse temperature transition in which the dominant intermolecular forces are hydrophobic and in which the D.sup.. Ala3 analog is slightly more hydrophobic.
Characterization of the coacervate by scanning electron microscopy is also informative. As shown in FIG. 5A, the D.sup.. Ala3 PPP coacervate forms a smooth structureless layer on a Plexiglass substrate. In FIG. 5A the coacervate was scored by a needle to demonstrate its presence. Occasionally small cracks are observed as indicated in FIG. 5B. This is in contrast to the similarly treated coacervate of α-elastin which forms large cracks on drying. The polypentapeptide coacervate is also characterized by the formation of many cracks during the drying for coating and observation in the electron microscope.
Effect of Substitution on Elastic Modulus: The stress-strain curve for D.sup.. Ala3 PPP cross-linked and compounded to Dacron, as previously done for the PPP and disclosed in Urry et al, Biomater. Med. Dev. Art. Org., 9(3), 181 (1981), is shown in FIG. 6. For comparison the curves for similarly treated PPP and for Dacron are also included. Adequate cross-linking by γ-irradiation can be achieved with 30 Mrad for D.sup.. Ala3 PPP whereas 40-60 Mrad was required for the PPP. The elastic (Young's) modulus is about 1O×106 dynes/cm2 for D.sup.. Ala3 PPP-Dacron, increased from 6×106 dynes/cm2 for PPP-Dacron. On subtracting the apparent elastic modulus obtained for the Dacron weave alone, these studies indicate that a doubling of the elastic modulus can be achieved by the D.sup.. Ala3 analog.
an elastomeric polypeptide, wherein said polypeptide comprises pentapeptide repeating units consisting of a first amino carboxylic acid residue, a second amino carboxylic acid residue, a third amino carboxylic acid residue, a fourth amino carboxylic acid residue and a fifth amino carboxylic acid residue, wherein said repeating units comprise amino carboxylic acid residues selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic amino carboxylic acid and glycine residues wherein said residues are amino carboxylic acids which are missing a hydrogen of an amino group and a hydroxyl of a carboxyl group, wherein the third amino carboxylic acid residue of at least one repeating unit of said polypeptide has a D configuration if the first, second, fourth and fifth hydrophobic amino carboxylic acid residues which are not glycine residues have the L configuration or the L configuration if the first, second, fourth and fifth hydrophobic amino carboxylic acid residues which are not glycine residues have the D configuration and wherein said repeating units exist in a conformation having a β-turn.
2. The elastomeric material of claim 1, wherein said hydrophobic amino carboxylic acid residues are selected from the group consisting of residues of hydrophobic α-amino carboxylic acids.
3. The elastomeric material of claim 2, wherein said hydrophobic amino carboxylic acid residues are selected from the group consisting of alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and methionine residues.
4. The elastomeric material of claim 3, wherein the first amino carboxylic acid residue of said repeating unit is a residue of valine, leucine, or isoleucine.
5. The elastomeric material of claim 3, wherein the second amino carboxylic acid residue of said repeating unit is a residue of proline.
6. The elastomeric material of claim 3, wherein the third amino carboxylic acid residue of said repeating unit is a residue of a hydrophobic amino carboxylic acid having no more than 10 carbon atoms in the side chain of said residue.
7. The elastomeric material of claim 3, wherein the fourth amino carboxylic acid residue of said repeating unit is a residue of valine.
8. The elastomeric material of claim 3, wherein the fifth amino carboxylic acid residue of said repeating unit is a residue of glycine.
9. The elastomeric material of claim 1, wherein said repeating unit is L-Val-L-Pro-D-Ala-L-Val-Gly or D-Val-D-Pro-L-Ala-D-Val-Gly.
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2019-04-26T13:09:51Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US4500700A/en
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Arts
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We are pleased to announce that the Fisher Library's exhibition catalogue for "So Long Lives This: A Celebration of Shakespeare’s Life and Works 1616-2016” has won the prestigious Leab Award!
The award recognizes outstanding printed exhibition catalogs and guides, and electronic exhibitions, produced by North American and Caribbean institutions.
“The committee praised ‘So Long Lives This’ for its outstanding scholarship on Shakespeare, his legacy, and the England of his day, all of which offer new insights on materials and topics that are frequently exhibited and discussed,” said Alexander C. Johnston, chair of the RBMS Exhibition Awards committee and senior assistant librarian at the University of Delaware.
Congratulations to Scott Schofield, Alan Galey, Peter W.M. Blayney, Marjorie Rubright, Anne Dondertman, Coach House and the countless others who helped during the writing, editing and production of this catalogue.
Copies of the regular and special hardcover edition which contains an insert of a hand press copy on handmade paper of Sonnet 18 are available for purchase at the Fisher reference desk, or by clicking this link and using the online order form.
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2019-04-21T16:46:04Z
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https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/news/fisher-library-shakespeare-catalogue-wins-prestigious-leab-award
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Shopping
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I’ve went out with friend for a curry on Friday to a restaurant that none of us had been to before so I checked out the reviews online on revyu.com and several other revue sites via my iPhone. I found it had received mixed reviews and was a bit concerned about going on the basis of the feedback but decided to give it a go. I should have taken more notice of the feedback – The service was awful from the word go and even though the restaurant was only ever half full the staff couldn’t cope and it took 1.5 hours before we even got the starter. It was very much like an Eastern version of Fawlty Towers.
Some of my friends complained but to no avail. Even at the end it took more than half an hour and three attempts to wave down staff before we got the bill. The philosophy seemed to be (if there was one) that letting the customer wait allowed time for people to drink more and therefore bring in more revenue through beverages. This has been proven to be a poor business model since quicker turnover on tables (according to those that run restaurants, such as Monsieur Ramsey) is the best way of securing greater income and keeps staff motivated since there is more opportunity for tips etc.
By comparison this week I also took my bike to the bike shop to get it repaired since it has done 10,000 miles and needed a new sprocket. I had just recently bought a set of tyres from the same shop and noticed some lines down the side of the rear one so I asked them to check it at the same itme. They replaced the sprocket and checked the bike over and also replaced the tyre with one which would have cost £10 more than the one I bought originally and didn’t charge me any extra for it. This is the sort of service I value and it may only be £10 but it makes me feel good that they’re prepared to do that for me. I have bought three bikes from them in the past so they know that a small investment in my loyalty will secure future custom worth much more then the new tyre. Good Job CycleKing!
The OU is looking at new models of providing courses. One of the most inspiring for me is the 2+2 model whereby students can apply to do two years of study at the OU remotely (part time) and then complete the final two years at another HE institution in the UK that is partnering with the OU on this scheme. This allows students to work at home (and save some money) in the first two years but then complete at a more traditional campus-based institution and receive a qualification through them. This could be particularly inviting to international students who wish to study here and continue on to work in the UK. It also allow other HEI’s to reduce the work in particular subject areas (and reduce costs) without having to remove the subject area from their curriculum. But how can such compleity in study and flexibility be managed to ensure quality and consistency? – enter (according to the CEO) the QAA and other bodies associated with ensuring quality and contributing to ensuring the awards are administered fairly. Without such a body, independently managing the quality assurance process the move to two year degrees, the 2+2 model or any other new form of degree awarding scheme would be much more problematic so in my opinion if these organisations can deliver good customer service then they have a vital role to play.
I’m not into quango bashing for the sake of it – by all means reduce complexity but if you want flexibility and quality in our UK education services then we need have independent oversight of that and continue to invest in mechanisms to benchmark and ensure quality across the sector.
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2019-04-25T14:34:32Z
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https://technocrapy.wordpress.com/tag/higher-education/
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That this House welcomes the Fish Fight campaign; and calls on the Government to vote against proposed reforms of the EU Common Fisheries Policy unless they implement an ecosystems-based approach to fisheries management, end discards in relation to all fish and shellfish with derogation only for species proven to have a high survival rate on discarding, require that all fish and shellfish are harvested at sustainable levels by 2015, ensure the involvement of fishers and other stakeholders in decision-making processes and enable the UK to introduce higher standards of management and conservation in respect of all vessels fishing within its territorial waters, taking into particular account vessel size and environmental impact."
In other words, the Commons has urged the Government to block changes to the Fisheries Policy unless discards mostly end. Goldsmith is particularly exercised about the "12 mile issue", and perhaps the best means of looking at the subject in the round is to quote most of his speech, which I do below. Sheryll Murray also addressed the Commons for the first time since the tragic death of her husband, and Conservative Home welcomes her back.
"The motion is about the scandal of fish discards. Up to half the fish caught in the North sea are thrown back into the water either dead or dying, as a direct consequence of perverse EU common fisheries policy rules. Members will know that there was an overwhelming public reaction following Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight campaign. More than 600,000 people signed petitions calling for an end to discards, and many of them wrote to their Member of Parliament calling for immediate action. Their concerns are clearly mirrored here in Parliament, where the second most supported early-day motion since the general election calls for a discard ban. In addition, we have a Minister responsible for fisheries and a Prime Minister who have both recognised the absurdity of the current rules.
The time is right for a debate of this type because CFP negotiations are at a crucial stage. The European Commission is to make formal proposals in June or July, and decisions are to be taken some time in October, so now is our chance to give the Government a mandate to take the strongest possible line in those negotiations.
It is difficult to know exactly how many fish are being thrown away, because records are not kept and discards are not monitored. However, the EU estimates that in the North sea, between 40% and 60% of the total catch is discarded. The research of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs more or less backs up that figure. In other UK fisheries, the total is probably even higher. For instance, in the west of Scotland area, the Scottish Government believe that as much as 90% of the total cod catch is discarded. Partly because of that horrendous and mind-boggling waste, the European Commission’s own scientific advisers estimate that 72% of assessed EU species are now overfished.
...As all Members will know, reform of the CFP is complicated and hugely contentious, but whatever reforms are agreed, they must include a discard ban. We know that there are alternatives. For example, we could replace landing quotas with catch quotas so that by-catch that would otherwise be discarded had to be landed. The UK has already been piloting a scheme for cod involving six vessels in England and 17 in Scotland, and results so far suggest that it is working. Discards of cod are down to, I believe, between 1% and 7%. In addition, fishermen are using more selective gear and managing to catch more valuable fish.
In addition to the pilots in our own waters, a discard ban has been operating since 1987 in Norway, where over-quota or unwanted species are landed for a guaranteed minimum value and sold to the fishmeal industry, with the proceeds used to reinvest in and support the fishing industry. To make a discard ban easier, we will have to do everything we can to help fishermen access and use more selective gear so that they can avoid the unwanted fish in the first place.
Consumers also have a clear role. A significant percentage of fish are discarded because there is no market for them, and the Government can boost that market through their vast procurement programme. We spend £2 billion each year on food for the wider public sector, and that is an obvious tool that the Government can use. However, there are obviously limits to what a Government can do to shape a fashion, and it is worth mentioning non-Government initiatives such as “Hugh’s Mackerel Mission”, which is intended to help stimulate new markets for less popular species. It is a valuable campaign, and I urge Members to support it.
Discards are the most visible flaw in the CFP regime, but they are only part of the problem. In addition, the motion calls for radical decentralisation, and I wish briefly to focus on that. One of the key demands from our fishing communities, and in particular from the under-10 metre fleet, is that we assert our control over what are wrongly described as our sovereign waters—the 12 nautical miles surrounding our coastline. I say “wrongly” because whereas the British Government can legally impose whatever rules and regulations they want within those waters, from six to 12 miles out those rules will apply only to British vessels. It is clear that higher standards are a good thing, but only if they are fair and we have an even playing field. That is categorically not the case in our waters.
“enable the UK to introduce higher standards of management and conservation in respect of all vessels fishing within its territorial waters”.
That is an absolutely fundamental issue. If we reassert our control over those waters we will not only provide welcome relief for our smaller boats against the onslaught of the factory fishing vessels, but we will be able to establish an intelligent, ecosystem-based management system and ensure the health of our fisheries indefinitely.
If we were able to reassert control over our waters, we would also be able to set the rules on science. With the active involvement of those who depend more than anyone else on the viability and health of our marine environment—the fishermen themselves—we would be able to get the policy right. That would also allow us to do something even more important—to recognise in law and in our regulatory regime, finally, the difference between smaller, traditional fishing vessels and their giant industrial competitors. It is an absolute mystery to me why successive Governments have always chosen to view the latter, the so-called fishing lobby, as the true voice of fishermen.
More than three quarters of the UK fleet is made up of vessels of 10 metres and under, which represent about 65% of full-time employment. Under the previous Administration, the 5,000 or so 10-metre and under vessels were given just 4% of the national quota, compared with the staggering 96% that was given to bigger boats, which number fewer than 1,500. It is staggeringly unfair, and if we were able to organise ourselves in the way that we chose within those 12 miles, we would be able to recognise the madness of that system in law.
It is an obvious observation that the smaller vessels are restricted in where they can go and what damage they can do, simply because of their size. The tools that they use do not compare with those available to the industrial factory fishing vessels, some of which have lines that would stretch from Parliament to Brighton, and purse seine nets that are big enough to swallow two millennium domes—which is a nice thought in some respects.
...I shall conclude shortly, because I know that there is great demand among hon. Members to speak. For all Ted Heath’s “pure brilliance”—his words, not mine, as no one will be surprised to hear—he was wrong to surrender our fishing rights as a price worth paying for our entry into the European Economic Community. I absolutely agree with the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil) about that. However, we have an opportunity to empower our brilliant fisheries Minister to right some of those historical wrongs. We can end discards, restore control over that key 12-mile zone, and set rules that allow both our fishing communities and our marine environment to survive and flourish. I strongly urge all hon. Members to support the motion.
The Government share the priorities expressed by the motion. I can reassure the House that those will remain at the heart of our thinking as we press strongly for a reformed CFP and continue to address discarding in the UK fleet. I am fully behind the intentions of the motion, although I am not sure that it reflects the full scope of the Government’s ambitions for CFP reform. We have an intensive diplomatic effort ahead to negotiate the reform we need, and we must get the detailed measures right, including those on discards. We can do that only by working with our fishing industry to develop effective measures. I welcome the tabling of the motion and the spotlight that the Fish Fight campaign has shone on the current CFP’s failings at a time when we have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to overcome them."
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2019-04-19T09:10:01Z
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https://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2011/05/zac.html
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Porn
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Society
| 0.134271 |
columbia
|
A key focus of MAGNet is the interdisciplinary education of graduate and postdoctoral students. The goal is to train a new generation of biomedical researchers who posess the computational skills necessary to address important biological problems. The Training Core of the MAGNet Center (under the direction of Dr. Dennis Vitkup) supports computational biology and bioinformatics education at Columbia in several ways.
Center investigators are involved in many departmental and interdepartmental educational programs which offer doctoral education in computational biology. They work with each program to adapt their curriculum to serve the needs of computational biology graduate students.
Columbia offers a wide range of courses in Computational Biology and related fields. Most of these courses are taught by MAGNet faculty. The Center's Education Coordinator (Dr. Richard Friedman) works with the individual faculty members to make sure that all important topics are covered and to reduce redundancy between courses.
Student seminar and journal club.
Presentations at the annual Center retreat.
Mailing list which advertises jobs and Summer internships.
Columbia's Training Program in Computational Biology is jointly administered by MAGNet and the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. The program offers interdisciplinary training that includes coursework in quantitative studies (computation, statistics, and/or physics), life sciences, and computational biology and bioinformatics, with mentored research in computational systems and structural biology at the labs of MAGNet investigators.
Many of the tools developed in the context of the Center's activities are used in classroom courses to train experimental biologists, clinical and translational researchers and medical students in computational methods. The geWorkbench platform plays a key role in this activity.
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2019-04-23T22:24:15Z
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https://systemsbiology.columbia.edu/magnet-training
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Porn
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Science
| 0.920477 |
wordpress
|
Have you already decided to create your own mobile project?. If so, I recommend you take a look at CSS3 Media Queries and JQuery Mobile. In this post I will explain how to use them regarding mobile development.
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2019-04-23T07:03:32Z
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https://hop2croft.wordpress.com/tag/media-queries/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.418873 |
wikipedia
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^ a b c Robert Hendrickson (2000). The Facts on File Dictionary of American Regionalisms. Infobase Publishing. pp. 679–. ISBN 978-1-4381-2992-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=yXY0yQnvmmUC&pg=PA679.
^ Cowboy Bob (2013). Gayetty's Medicated Paper. Cowboy Bob's Dictionary. http://www.lemen.com/imageGayetty1.html.
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2019-04-23T16:19:40Z
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https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%88%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AC%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.95273 |
wordpress
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Tell me then, what do lovers do?
and fall asleep at dawn, drunk and deaf and happy.
but her eyes are averted and her arms are at her sides.
and get to know each other again.
They fall asleep, hands locked under the duvet.
So tell me, what do lovers do?
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2019-04-20T09:10:39Z
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https://jaimedenis.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/what-lovers-do/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.369022 |
wordpress
|
Hi, I just wanted to say that at 2 in the morning just now I finished the book. It made me sob! I was so touched by it. And to find this page on Facebook and see the photos made me cry again! Everyone has come to life. And they are just as I imagined you all.
I’m at the age now where I’ve finished uni, got a full time job and feel like a bit of an adult. That age where I’m starting to loose contact with my Marks and Sians and Nicks and so reading this has helped me realise that I’ll always have my memories of school and college. Although I’m mourning those times a little I’m ready for my next stage to life knowing I’ll carry my friends in my heart with me whilst knowing I’ll see them at our important life events again. Your book is beautifully written and well worth a second read, I’ll be definitely badgering my friends with it as Christmas presents! Thank you so much for sharing your memories of your friends and your parents and making them so vivid and human.
Click here for more on Nothing Ever Happens in Wentbridge.
It could be just coincidence. I’m sure it is, but they do keep on coming.
I guess there would be strange things happening around a book that takes its title from the biggest, most horrible coincidence of them all – that I was told nothing ever happened in Wentbridge and then someone I loved so very much died there. And then there was his voice in the car telling me my baby would be fine, four years after his death; his vivid message to me in a dream the night before my mum died; Tony Hodge meeting him on his landing at home and shouting at him because he was so angry he’d put us all through such grief; and Mandy nodding off at the wheel of her car after our reunion and hearing Mark’s voice, clear as day, saying “Mandy, wake up!”.
The day I was interviewed on Radio Leeds about the book, immediately before my microphone was turned on, there was a traffic news report of delays because of an accident and fatality on the A1 at Wentbridge. When an article about the book appeared in the Pontefract and Castleford Express, the adjacent story was about a young man who’d died when his car crashed on the A1 at Wentbridge. And the other day, someone in the audience for my talk about writing from personal experience at Portobello Book Festival came to see me afterwards to say she hadn’t known before the event that I was from Cottingham. She was too, and as we talked, it became clear she and her husband were friends with Mark’s older brother, and had been since her own brother had died a year after Mark in 1987. Our mothers were both brought up on Newland Avenue, and went to the same school, albeit a year apart.
Things keep on happening around ‘Wentbridge’. It’s a small world, or is it just a lot bigger than we know…?
A feaure by Janet Watson for Yorkshire Post, 11 January 2012.
As a girl, Janet Watson dreamed of seeing her work in print. Stories of when she was younger helped to make the dream come true.
People don’t seem to move far from Hull.
Either they stay put, find a partner, settle down, have children, or they go away then return, finding book and record shops they once knew replaced by sandwich and burger bars.
Vintage clothes shops and coffee bars opening on Chanterlands Avenue; and, for me, a bijou coffee house selling organic cupcakes where my mother used to buy her veg. Now, too, there’s the glittering edifice that is Princes Quay. Well, who wants to walk down Whitefriargate on a cold, wintry afternoon in January?
I once described Hull people’s vowels as being ‘as flat as their horizons’.
The exception to the flat outlook is north and a view of the hills of the Yorkshire Wolds chalk escarpment. But all other points of the compass give vistas to water or the M62. So, flat horizons then – though not necessarily limited.
As a child, I had my very own horizon… I wanted to be a writer. I filled exercise book after exercise book – the red Silvine ones you found in every cornershop – with stories.
I had two topics, witches – usually from Halloween onwards – and horses, about which I was mad in the usual girls and horses way. When I wasn’t writing I was reading about the Famous Five, Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat, and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
I dreamed of one day seeing my witches – often called Esmerelda or Grimalkin – or horse-riding heroines between the colourful covers of a real, bona fide, printed, published book.
And then reality kicked in, and the need to get O-levels, A-levels and boyfriends – and in the process of getting a boyfriend, the seeds of my future book were sown, even though I had completely taken my eye off the ball in terms of writing.
It’s difficult to get lost in an imaginary world when you’re having to learn chunks of Shakespeare and your mother disapproves of everything you do.
And actually, my teenage life – and the friends I made in the sixth form while at Cottingham High School – was quite enough to keep my imagination sated, and I filled diaries instead of exercise books with real stories now, about life, love, the universe and everything.
I headed west to study in Sheffield, and then towork on weekly newspapers in Pontefract and Wakefield before reaching my very own dizzy heights at the Yorkshire Evening Post in Wellington Street, in the very same hexagonal building where I’d taken the tests that had got me into journalism college in the first place.
Life took me away from Leeds in the shape of a job in Scotland and my husband. In 1990, we moved north of the border thinking we were leaving all things Yorkshire behind.
But my home county was having none of it and gradually my past, and the tragedy of what happened to the first love I’d blithely written about in my 1981 diary, caught up with me, insistent, and pulling me back to a point about halfway between Leeds and Sheffield – Wentbridge, on the A1, here ‘something’ happened.
Revisiting the teen me and the story of growing up and leaving, took me back home, and even to writing again, now for the newspaper I left behind in 1990.
I’ve learned my lesson. Never say never. Never say ‘nothing ever happens’, and horizons – even those in Hull – are never as flat or calm as they look.
Click here to read the article on Yorkshire Post website.
A junior reporter bemoans the lack of news stories on her patch.
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2019-04-20T16:28:19Z
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https://routepublishing.wordpress.com/tag/nothing-ever-happens-in-wentbridge/
|
Porn
|
News
| 0.529338 |
google
|
A surgical stapling apparatus is provided. The surgical stapling apparatus includes an actuating device including an elongated shaft. A tool assembly is disposed on a distal end of the shaft. The tool assembly includes a first jaw member supporting a cartridge assembly having a plurality of surgical fasteners, and a second jaw member supporting an anvil. The first jaw member is movable in relation to the second jaw member between a spaced position and an approximated position. One of the first and second jaw members includes a cantilever at a proximal end thereof. A firing cam bar assembly is slidably disposed within the tool assembly and includes a cam surface configured to engage the cantilever to move the first and second jaw member towards the approximated position and a distal end configured to deploy the plurality of surgical fasteners from the cartridge assembly.
The present disclosure relates to a surgical apparatus. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a surgical stapler including firing assemblies configured to control tissue gap distance between jaw members of the stapler when the jaw members are in a clamping configuration and the surgical stapler is fired.
Surgical staplers configured to clamp and staple tissue are known. Such staplers may include a tool assembly that is supported at a distal end of a shaft of the stapler. The tool assembly may, for example, include an anvil and a cartridge including a plurality of fasteners that are configured to staple tissue (e.g., occlusion of vascular structure during a transplant procedure).
To staple tissue with such staplers, tissue can be positioned between the cartridge and anvil, and the anvil can be approximated towards the cartridge to clamp the tissue. Once tissue is clamped, the stapler can be fired to advance the drive assembly of the stapler distally through the cartridge to eject the plurality of surgical fasteners sequentially from the cartridge to staple tissue.
In addition to the mechanisms recited to fire the plurality of fasteners, conventional staplers may further include a structure configured to control tissue gap distance between the anvil and the cartridge of the tool assembly during firing of the stapler.
While the aforementioned staplers may be satisfactory for the above uses, there may exist a need for a simpler design for firing surgical fasteners and/or approximating a cartridge towards an anvil. There is also a need for a firing assembly that takes up less space, as well as a need for an alternative approximation assembly and/or method.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a surgical stapling apparatus. The surgical stapling apparatus includes an actuating device including an elongated shaft. A tool assembly is disposed on a distal end of the shaft. The tool assembly may be removably couplable to the distal end of the shaft of the surgical stapling apparatus. The tool assembly includes a first jaw member supporting a cartridge assembly having a plurality of surgical fasteners, and a second jaw member supporting an anvil. The first jaw member is movable in relation to the second jaw member between a spaced position and an approximated position. One of the first and second jaw members includes a cantilever at a proximal end thereof. The cantilever may be in the form of a bridge that extends transverse in relation to a longitudinal axis defined through the shaft of the surgical stapling apparatus. A firing cam bar assembly is slidably disposed within the tool assembly. The firing cam bar assembly includes a cam surface configured to engage the cantilever to move the first and second jaw member towards the approximated position and a distal end configured to deploy the plurality of surgical fasteners from the cartridge as the firing cam bar assembly is translated distally through the tool assembly.
The firing cam bar assembly may include a first firing cam bar having an elongated configuration and a distal portion defining the cam surface. The surgical stapler may further include a second firing cam bar having an elongated configuration and a distal portion defining the cam surface, the second firing cam bar seated within the first firing cam bar. The cartridge may include a plurality of pushers and the distal portions of the first and second firing cam bars are configured to contact the plurality of pushers of the cartridge to deploy the plurality of surgical fasteners from the cartridge.
The cam surface of the firing cam bar assembly may include a first cam portion disposed distally and at an angle in relation to a second cam portion. The second cam portion of the cam surface may taper inwardly toward a proximal end of the firing cam bar assembly.
A resilient member may be provided on the cartridge for biasing the cartridge radially away from the anvil. The resilient member may include a proximal end that is coupled to a proximal end of the cartridge and a distal end that is positioned to contact at least a portion of the anvil. The proximal end of the resilient member may include two finger portions that are seated within two corresponding apertures defined at the proximal end of the cartridge.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a reload configured for use with a surgical stapling apparatus. The reload includes a shaft including a proximal end, which is adapted to couple to a surgical apparatus, and distal end. A tool assembly is disposed on the distal end of the shaft. The tool assembly includes a first jaw member supporting a cartridge assembly having a plurality of surgical fasteners, and a second jaw member supporting an anvil. The first jaw member is movable in relation to the second jaw member between a spaced position and an approximated position. One of the first and second jaw members includes a cantilever at a proximal end thereof. The cantilever may be in the form of a bridge that extends transverse in relation to a longitudinal axis defined through the shaft of the surgical stapling apparatus. A firing cam bar assembly is slidably disposed within the tool assembly. The firing cam bar assembly includes a cam surface configured to engage the cantilever to move the first and second jaw member towards the approximated position and a distal end configured to deploy the plurality of surgical fasteners from the cartridge as the firing cam bar assembly is translated distally through the tool assembly.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a surgical stapling apparatus. The surgical stapling apparatus includes an actuating device including an elongated shaft. A tool assembly is disposed on a distal end of the shaft. The tool assembly is removably couplable to the distal end of the shaft of the surgical stapling apparatus. The tool assembly includes a first jaw member supporting a cartridge assembly having a plurality of fasteners and a sled positioned to eject the fasteners from the cartridge assembly and a second jaw member supporting an anvil. The first jaw member is movable in relation to the second jaw member between spaced and approximated positions. A sled pusher assembly includes a sled pusher having a distal end configured to engage the sled of the cartridge assembly. A drive beam assembly includes a latch assembly having a latch releasably coupled to the sled pusher assembly. Distal translation of the drive beam assembly from a refracted position towards an advanced position effects movement of the first and second jaw members to the approximated position and disengages the latch of the latch assembly from the sled pusher assembly to facilitate distal movement of the sled pusher independently of the drive beam assembly. Distal movement of the sled pusher independently of the drive beam assembly also advances the distal end of the sled pusher into engagement with the sled of the cartridge assembly to eject the plurality of fasteners from the cartridge assembly.
The latch assembly may include a collar which is coupled to a proximal end of the drive beam assembly and may include an aperture configured to receive a support member of the sled pusher assembly. The support member of the sled pusher assembly may include at least one aperture that is configured to receive the latch of the latch assembly.
The drive beam assembly may include an I-beam having a sidewall defining a notch, the sled pusher being received within the notch. The I-beam may be positioned to cam the first and second jaw members to the approximated position when the drive beam assembly is translated distally.
The latch assembly may include at least one spring configured to bias the latch of the latch assembly into the aperture defined in the support member of the sled pusher assembly. The aperture of the support member may be defined by a proximal wall portion of the sled pusher assembly. The proximal wall portion may be configured to engage the latch of the latch assembly to maintain the drive beam assembly and the sled pusher coupled with one another.
The elongated shaft may include upper and lower housing portions, and at least one of the upper and lower housing portions includes at least one stop member configured to contact a proximal end of the collar of the latch assembly when the drive beam assembly is translated distally. The latch may include a lateral offset extension, and wherein at least one of the upper and lower housing portions of the elongated shaft includes at least one ramp portion configured to be engaged by the lateral offset extension to effect movement of the latch out of engagement with the proximal wall portion when the drive beam assembly is moved distally so as to allow the sled pusher assembly to move distally in relation to the drive beam assembly.
A resilient member may be provided on the cartridge for biasing the cartridge assembly radially away from the anvil. The resilient member may include a bottom portion that is coupled to a proximal end of the cartridge and a top portion that is positioned to contact at least a portion of the anvil. The bottom portion of the resilient member may be seated within a corresponding slot defined at the proximal end of the cartridge assembly. The bottom portion of the resilient member may include at least one detent that couples to a corresponding indent disposed on the cartridge assembly adjacent the slot.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a reload configured for use with a surgical stapling apparatus. The reload includes a shaft including a proximal end and distal end. The proximal end adapted to couple to a surgical apparatus. A tool assembly is disposed on the distal end of the shaft. The tool assembly includes a first jaw member supporting a cartridge assembly having a plurality of fasteners and a sled positioned to eject the fasteners from the cartridge assembly and a second jaw member supporting an anvil. The first jaw member is movable in relation to the second jaw member between spaced and approximated positions. A sled pusher assembly includes a sled pusher having a distal end configured to engage the sled of the cartridge assembly. A drive beam assembly includes a latch assembly having a latch releasably coupled to the sled pusher assembly. Distal translation of the drive beam assembly from a refracted position towards an advanced position effects movement of the first and second jaw members to the approximated position and disengages the latch of the latch assembly from the sled pusher assembly to facilitate distal movement of the sled pusher independently of the drive beam assembly. Distal movement of the sled pusher independently of the drive beam assembly also advances the distal end of the sled pusher into engagement with the sled of the cartridge assembly to eject the plurality of fasteners from the cartridge assembly.
FIG. 44 is the indicated area of detail shown in FIG. 43.
Referring initially to FIG. 1A, a reload 10 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown. The reload 10 may be configured to be coupled to a variety of different surgical actuating devices, shown schematically as 12 in FIG. 1A, including manually operated actuation devices, robotically controlled actuation devices, electromechanical actuation devices, motorized actuation devices, etc. The surgical actuating device 12 includes a shaft assembly 16 having a distal end configured to releasably support the reload 10.
In one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B, the surgical actuating device 12 is a manually operated stapler 212 which includes a handle assembly 214 and a shaft assembly 216 that engages and supports the reload 10. The handle assembly 214 includes a pair of retraction knobs 218 that is configured to return the stapler 212 to a retracted configuration. For a more detailed description of the operation and the operative components of the stapler 212, reference is made to commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,361 to Milliman, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the reload 10 with parts separated. The reload 10 includes an outer tube 18 that houses a shaft assembly 20 configured to couple the reload 10 to the shaft assembly 16 of the actuating device 12 (see FIG. 1A). The shaft assembly 20 includes an upper housing portion 22 a and lower housing portion 22 b that, when coupled to one another, house components of the reload 10. Proximal ends 24 a, 24 b of the upper and lower housing portions 22 a, 22 b are configured to releasably couple with the distal end of the shaft assembly 16 of the actuating device 12 (e.g., see the '361 patent). A distal end of the housing portions 22 a, 22 b of the shaft assembly 20 supports upper and lower coupling members 26 a, 26 b respectively. A distal end of each of coupling members 26 a, 26 b is configured to pivotally engage upper and lower pivot portions 28 a, 28 b, respectively, of a pivot assembly 30 (see FIG. 1A). An articulating link 32 is slidably positioned within the upper and lower housing portions 22 a, 22 b and is configured to articulate an end effector or tool assembly 14 of the reload 10 in relation to the shaft assembly 20.
The tool assembly 14 includes a first jaw member 13 that supports a cartridge 15 and a second jaw member 17 that supports an anvil 19. The first jaw member 13 is pivotally supported in relation to the second jaw member 17 between spaced and approximated positions. The cartridge 15 houses a plurality of pushers 9 and fasteners 11. A dissecting tip 19 a may be secured to a distal end of the anvil 19 to facilitate positioning of the anvil 19 in relation to tissue to be stapled. Such a dissecting tip 19 a is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,348,123 which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Referring also to FIGS. 3-6, the shaft assembly 20 includes a firing cam bar assembly 34 that is releasably engaged with a central rod (not shown) of the actuating device 12. The firing cam bar assembly 34 is configured to move the cartridge 15 from the spaced position (FIG. 1B) towards the anvil 19 to the approximated position (FIG. 18) as the firing cam bar assembly 34 is translated distally through the tool assembly 14. A distal end of the firing cam bar assembly 34 is also configured to push the plurality of pushers 9 to fire the plurality of fasteners 11 from the cartridge 15 as the firing cam bar assembly 34 is translated through the cartridge 15 as will be described in further detail below.
The firing cam bar assembly 34 includes a first firing cam bar 36 having an elongated configuration defined by left and right sidewalls 37 a, 37 b, which have a distal end 38. Each of the left and right sidewalls 37 a and 37 b of the cam bar 36 includes a cam surface 33 having a first cam portion 39 and a second cam portion 40. Each of the first cam portions 39 is disposed distally and at an angle in relation to one of the second cam portions 40 which is defined along a bottom/lower surface of the left and right sidewalls 37 a, 37 b. Only one of the second cam portions 40 can be seen in FIGS. 3-5. The configuration of the first cam portions 39 of the cam surface 33 facilitates movement of the first jaw member 13 towards the second jaw member 17 from the spaced position to the approximated position so that tissue may be clamped as will be described in further detail below. The second cam portions 40 are elongated in comparison to the first cam portions 39 and taper inwardly a distance “T” (FIG. 5) in relation to a longitudinal axis “B-B” of the firing cam bar assembly 34 toward a proximal end of the firing cam bar assembly 34 (FIG. 5). The taper “T” controls a tissue gap distance between the first and second jaw members 13, 17 when the first and second jaw members 13, 17 are moved toward the approximated position, as will be described in further detail below.
The distal end 38 of the first firing cam bar 36 includes two pusher contacting surfaces 42 a, 42 b (FIGS. 4 and 6) which are aligned with the plurality of pushers 9 of the cartridge 15 (FIG. 19). The pusher contacting surfaces 42 a, 42 b are configured to contact the plurality of pushers 9 to deploy the plurality of surgical fasteners 11 from the cartridge 15.
In the illustrated embodiment, the firing cam bar assembly 34 includes a second or inner firing cam bar 44 that is similar to the first firing cam bar 36. The first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 form a nested configuration with one another (as best shown in FIG. 6). The second firing cam bar 44 has an elongated configuration defined by left and right sidewalls 45 a, 45 b, which have a distal end 46. Each of the left and right sidewalls 45 a and 45 b of the cam bar 44 includes a cam surface 53 having a first cam portion 49 and second cam portion 50. The first cam portions 49 of the cam surface 53 are disposed distally and at an angle in relation to the second cam portions 50 (only one of the second portions 50 is shown) of the cam surface 53. The distal end 46 of the second firing cam bar 44 includes two pusher contacting surfaces 48 a, 48 b which are aligned with the plurality of pushers 9 of the cartridge 15 to contact the plurality of pushers 9 to deploy the plurality of surgical fasteners 11 from the cartridge 15 (FIG. 19).
The first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 may be formed from any suitable material including, but not limited to, plastic, metal, etc. In embodiments, the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 are formed from metal.
While the firing cam bar assembly 34 has been described herein as including first and second firing cam bars 36, 44, greater or fewer firing cam bars may be utilized. For example, in embodiments, the second firing cam bar 44 may be omitted. In this particular embodiment, the configuration of the first firing cam bar 36 of the firing cam bar assembly 34 may be modified to include features of the second firing cam bar 44. For example, the left and right sidewalls 37 a, 37 b of the first firing cam bar 36 may be widened at the distal end 38 to align with all of the rows of the plurality of pushers 9 for ejecting all of the plurality of fasteners 11 disposed within the cartridge 15. Alternately, the second firing cam bar 44 can be omitted with no change to the configuration of the first firing cam bar 36.
Referring to FIGS. 7-13, a cantilever 52 (FIG. 13) is provided at a proximal end of the first jaw member 13. The cantilever 52 may be monolithically formed with the first jaw member 13. Alternatively, the cantilever 52 may be formed as a separate component apart from the first jaw member 13 and coupled to the first jaw member 13 via one or more suitable coupling methods, e.g., welding. The cantilever 52 is disposed adjacent the pivot assembly 30 between the lower coupling member 26 b and a distal end of the articulating link 32 (see FIG. 9 for example).
In the illustrated embodiment, the cantilever 52 is in the form of a bridge 54 that is formed between side projections 55 a, 55 b that extend proximally from the proximal end of the first jaw member 13 (FIG. 13). The bridge 54 is disposed transverse to a longitudinal axis “A-A” (FIG. 7) defined through the shaft assembly 20 of the reload 10.
The bridge 54 supports a cam member 57 (FIGS. 2 and 13) which is positioned to be slidably engaged by the first and second cam portions 39, 49 and 40, 50, respectively, of the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 when the firing cam bar assembly 34 is advanced distally within the cartridge 15, as will be described in greater detail below. The cam member 57 may be slanted (as shown in the illustrated embodiment) or otherwise configured to operate in conjunction with the taper “T” of the second cam portions 40, 50 of the first and second cam bars 36, 44, respectively, to control the size of the tissue gap between the first and second jaw members 13, 17 when the first and second jaw members 13, 17 are in the approximated configuration. The cam member 57 may be coupled to the bridge 54 via one or more suitable coupling methods, e.g., adhesive, welding, etc. Alternatively, the cam member 57 may be omitted and the bridge 54 may be integrally formed with a cam surface configured to control the size of the tissue gap. In accordance with the instant disclosure, the bridge 54 engages the firing cam bars 36, 44 to close the first and second jaw members 13, 17 in both the linear and articulated positions.
Referring to FIG. 9, the cantilever 52 defines an aperture 58 between the side projections 55 a, 55 b and the bridge 54. The aperture 58 receives a rivet 59 (FIG. 9) for coupling the lower coupling member 26 b to the lower portion 28 b of the pivot assembly 30 during manufacture of the reload 10.
Referring to FIGS. 2, 14, and 15, a resilient member 56 is provided on the cartridge 15 and is positioned to bias the cartridge 15 radially away from the anvil 19 towards the spaced position. The resilient member 56 includes a proximal end 60 that is coupled to a proximal end of the cartridge 15 and a distal end 62 that is positioned to contact at least a portion of the anvil 19. In the illustrated embodiment, the proximal end 60 of the resilient member 56 includes two finger portions 64 a, 64 b that seat within two corresponding apertures 66 a, 66 b of suitable configuration defined at the proximal end of the cartridge 15 (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 13).
Referring to FIGS. 16 and 17, in use, prior to positioning tissue between the first and second jaw members 13, 17, the tool assembly 14 is in the spaced or unapproximated position. In this position, the distal ends 38, 46 of the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 are positioned proximally of the plurality of pushers 9 and the plurality of fasteners 11. In addition, in this configuration an engagement portion of the first cam portions 39, 49 (see also FIG. 6) of the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 is positioned proximally of the cam member 57. As discussed above, the resilient member 56 is positioned to urge the jaw member 13 to the spaced or unapproximated position.
Referring to FIG. 18, when the firing cam bar assembly 34 is advanced distally, the first cam portions 39, 49 of the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 and engage the cam member 57 of the bridge 54 and pivot the first jaw member 13 including the cartridge 15 towards the anvil 19 of the second jaw member 17 to move the jaw member 13 including the cartridge 15 to the clamped or approximated configuration. In this example, the cartridge is pivotably attached to the second jaw member. However, any of the embodiments disclosed herein can have a first jaw member, or second jaw member, or both that are pivotably movable.
Referring to FIG. 19, continued distal translation of the firing cam bar assembly 34 moves the distal ends 36, 48 of the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 into contact with the plurality of pushers 9 sequentially to eject the plurality of fasteners 11 from the cartridge 15 and into the anvil 19 to staple clamped tissue. In accordance with the present disclosure, as the firing cam bar assembly 34 is translated through the cartridge 15, engagement of the cam member 57 on the bridge 54 with the taper “T” (FIG. 15) on the second cam portions 40, 50 of the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 controls the position of the jaw member 17 in relation to the jaw member 13 to selectively maintain a desired tissue gap distance between the first and second jaw members 13, 17 (FIG. 20). In accordance with the instant disclosure, the degree of the taper “T” on the second cam portions 40, 50 of the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 may be uniform or non-uniform to selectively control the tissue gap distance during translation of the cam bar assembly 34 through the cartridge 15. It is noted that the taper “T” may define a positive or negative slope in the proximal direction to provide the proper or desired tissue gap distance.
The unique configuration of the jaw member 13 including the firing cam bar assembly 34 and cantilever 52 provides a simple design for approximating and controlling the tissue gap between the cartridge 15 and the anvil 19. Additionally, the presently disclosed tool assembly 14 allows for the tissue gap between the first and second jaw members 13, 17 to be accurately controlled by the second cam portions 40, 50 of the first and second firing cam bars 36, 44 as the firing cam bar assembly 34 is advanced.
In embodiments, the tool assembly 14 can be integrally formed with the surgical actuating device 12. In this particular embodiment, the tool assembly 14 can be operably coupled to an articulating assembly, e.g., the articulating assembly 30, which may be supported at a distal end of the shaft assembly 16 of the surgical actuating device 12. Alternatively, the articulating assembly 30 can be omitted and the tool assembly 14 can be directly connected to the distal end of the shaft assembly 16 of the surgical actuating device 12.
FIGS. 21-44 illustrate a reload 110 according to another embodiment of the instant disclosure. The reload 110 is configured for use with the stapler 212 that is shown in FIG. 1B. Only the features that are unique to the reload 110 are described herein.
FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the reload 110 with parts separated. The reload includes an outer tube 118 that houses a shaft assembly 120 configured to couple the reload 110 with the shaft assembly 216 of the actuating device 212 shown in FIG. 1B. The shaft assembly 120 includes upper housing portion 122 a and lower housing portion 122 b that, when coupled to one another, house components of the reload 110. Proximal ends 124 a, 124 b of the upper and lower housing portions 122 a, 122 b, respectively, are configured to releasably couple to the distal end of the shaft assembly 216 of the actuating device 212 (see '361 patent for example). A distal end of the shaft assembly 120 includes a pair of upper and lower coupling members 126 a, 126 b that are configured to couple the shaft assembly 120 to the upper and lower pivot portions 128 a, 128 b, respectively, of a pivot assembly 130 (see FIG. 21). An articulating link 132 is slidably positioned within the upper and lower housing portions 122 a, 122 b and is configured to articulate an end effector or tool assembly 114 of the reload 110 relative to a longitudinal axis “C-C” (FIG. 21) defined through the shaft assembly 120.
Referring to FIGS. 22-24, the tool assembly 114 includes a first jaw member 113 that supports a cartridge 115 housing a plurality of pushers 109 and fasteners 111 and a second jaw member 117 that supports an anvil 119. The cartridge 115 supports a resilient member 156 which is positioned to bias the cartridge 115 radially away from the anvil 119 towards an unapproximated or spaced configuration. The resilient member 156 includes a base portion 160 (FIG. 24) that couples to a proximal end of the cartridge 115 and an upper portion 162 positioned to contact at least a portion of the anvil 119. The base portion 160 of the resilient member 156 is seated within a corresponding slot 165 defined at the proximal end of the cartridge 115 and includes one or more detents 163 (one detent 163 is shown in the figures) which is received in a corresponding indent 166 disposed on the cartridge 115 adjacent the slot 165 to couple the resilient member 156 to the cartridge 115.
Referring to FIGS. 25 and 26, the second jaw member 117 includes a pair of upper rails 121 a, 121 b that extend longitudinally along an interior wall portion 123 of the second jaw member 117. The upper rails 121 a, 121 b are separated by an elongated slot 125 which extends along the length of the upper rails 121 a, 121 b. The upper rails 121 a, 121 b are positioned along the interior wall portion 123 proximal to where the top portion 162 of the resilient member 156 contacts the interior wall portion 123 of the jaw member 117 (see FIG. 35 for example). A dissecting tip 157, such as disclosed in the '123 patent, may be secured to a distal end of the second jaw member 117 to facilitate positioning of the second jaw member 117 in relation to tissue to be stapled.
Referring also to FIGS. 27 and 28, the reload 110 (FIG. 21) includes a drive beam assembly 134 formed from a plurality of drive beam portions 135 that are coupled to one another to form a drive beam 136. A working end of the drive beam assembly 134 includes an I-beam 137 which is coupled to the distal end of the drive beam portions 135 and includes upper and lower flanges 139 a, 139 b respectively connected to each other by a strut 139 c. Unlike conventional I-beams, the I-beam 137 does not include a knife or cutting blade at a leading edge of the strut 139 c, as the I-beam 137 is not configured to sever stapled tissue. The I-beam 137 is translatable through the tool assembly 114 to approximate the first and second jaw members 113 and 117 and eject fasteners 111 from the cartridge 115 as will be described in further detail below. The upper flange 139 a is positioned within the second jaw member 117 (FIG. 26) above the upper rails 121 a, 121 b. When the drive beam 136 of the drive beam assembly 134 is translated distally within the second jaw member 117, the upper flange 139 slides atop the upper flange 139 a to prevent outward movement of the second jaw member 117 in relation to the first jaw member 113. Similarly, the strut 139 c of the I-beam is positioned through an elongated slot 127 (see FIG. 31) that is defined through the first jaw member 113 such that the lower flange 139 b is slidable along an exterior surface of the first jaw member 113 to prevent outward movement of the first jaw member 113 in relation to the second jaw member 117. A notch 129 is defined through a side wall of the strut 139 c, the significance of which is described in greater detail below.
A latch assembly 140 is coupled to a proximal end of the drive beam assembly 134. The latch assembly 140 includes a latch body 141 including a collar 142 defining bottom and top slots 144 (only the top slot 144 is shown). The slots 144 are configured to receive a proximal end of the drive beam 136. A longitudinal aperture 146 of suitable configuration is defined through the collar 142 and is in general alignment with an elongated proximal portion 148 of the latch body 141. The latch body 141 of the latch assembly 140 includes a pair of opposing support members 149 a, 149 b which support a pivot pin 151. A protrusion 170 extends upwardly from the latch body of the latch assembly 140 adjacent the collar 142 and is configured to support a spring 171.
The latch assembly 140 includes a latch 150 having a generally elongated configuration including a distal portion 152, a medial portion 154 and a proximal portion 158. A transverse aperture 153 extends through the medial portion 154 and is configured to receive the pivot pin 151 for pivotally securing the latch 150 to the latch body 141 of the latch assembly 140. The distal portion 152 of the latch 150 is positioned to contact the spring 171 such that the spring 171 urges a proximal end 172 of the proximal portion 158 of the latch 150 downwardly towards the proximal portion 148 of the latch assembly 140 (as best shown in FIG. 27). A protrusion 164 is provided on a bottom surface and at the proximal end 172 of the proximal portion 158 of the latch assembly 150. A lateral offset extension 173 is also provided at the proximal end 172 of the latch assembly 150 and is configured to move the latch 150 upwardly against the bias of the spring 171, as will be described in greater detail below.
Referring to FIGS. 29 and 30, a sled pusher assembly 174 is illustrated. The sled pusher assembly 174 includes an elongated support member 176 which has a distal end that engages a sled pusher 178 and a proximal end which supports a coupling assembly 180. The distal end of the support member 176 defines a slit 181 and a pair of apertures 182 (only one aperture 182 is shown). The apertures 182 extend through the slit 181 and receive a pin 183, rivet or the like. The slit 181 is configured to receive a proximal end of the sled pusher 178. The pin 183 extends through an aperture 186 defined through the proximal end of the sled pusher 178 to secure the sled pusher 178 to the support member 176. As can be appreciated other coupling methods could also be utilized to couple the sled pusher 178 to the support member 176.
An aperture 184 is provided on the support member 176. The aperture 184 is configured to receive the protrusion 164 of the latch 150 such that the protrusion 164 contacts a proximal wall portion 185 defining the aperture 184 (FIG. 33). In accordance with the instant disclosure, when the protrusion 164 is in contact with the proximal wall portion 185, the sled pusher assembly 174 and the and the drive beam assembly 134 are releasably coupled to one another such that movement of sled pusher assembly 174 effects corresponding movement of the drive beam assembly 134 to effect movement of the first jaw member 113 towards the second jaw member 117.
Referring also to FIGS. 32 and 33, the lower housing portion 122 b supports the drive assembly 134 including the latch assembly 140 and the sled pusher assembly 174. The lower housing portion 122 b is configured to disengage the latch 150 of the latch assembly 140 from the sled pusher assembly 174 to allow further distal translation of the sled pusher assembly 174 independently of the drive beam assembly 134. Specifically, a ramp portion 188 is provided along a top wall 189 of the lower housing portion 122 b. The ramp portion 188 is configured to contact the lateral offset extension 173 of the latch 150 to pivot the latch 150 about pivot member 151 to raise the protrusion 164 of the latch 150 out from engagement with the aperture 184 of the support member 176 of the sled pusher assembly 174 when the drive beam assembly 134 and sled pusher assembly 174 are translated distally to approximate the jaw members 113 and 117.
A pair of stops 190 a are provided along an interior wall portion 191 of the lower housing portion 122 b. Stops 190 a are positioned to contact a lower portion of the collar 142 of the latch assembly 140 to prevent further distal translation of the drive beam assembly 134 after the collar 142 engages the stops 190 a. In the illustrated embodiment, a corresponding pair of stops 190 b (FIG. 39) is provided on the upper housing portion 122 a and is configured to contact an upper portion of the collar 142 of the latch assembly 140 to prevent further distal translation of the drive beam assembly 134 after the collar 142 engages the stops 190 a.
FIGS. 34-44 illustrate the operation of the reload 110. Referring to FIGS. 33-35, prior to positioning tissue between the first and second jaw members 113, 117, the tool assembly 114 is urged to the spaced or unapproximated position by the resilient member 156 which contacts the interior wall 123 of the second jaw member 117 (FIGS. 34 and 35). In the spaced position, the protrusion 164 of the latch 150 is in contact with the proximal wall portion 185 defining the aperture 184 in the support member 176 to releasably couple the sled pusher assembly 174 to the drive beam assembly 134 such that distal translation of the sled pusher assembly 174 effects corresponding movement of the drive beam assembly 134.
In the spaced position of the jaw members 113 and 117, the distal end of the support member 176 is positioned through the longitudinal aperture 146 of the collar 142 of the latch assembly 140 and the sled pusher 178 is positioned within the notch 129 of strut 139 c of the I-beam 137 to align a distal end 193 of the sled pusher 178 with a sled 187 that is provided in the cartridge 115 (FIG. 35). The distal end 193 of the sled pusher 178 is configured to engage a proximal end 195 of the sled 187 when the sled pusher 178 is translated distally into the cartridge 115. In the illustrated embodiment, the distal end 193 of the sled pusher 178 and the proximal end 195 of the sled 187 include complementary configurations, e.g., spherical configurations, to facilitate engagement therebetween. The sled 187 is configured to sequentially contact the plurality of pushers 109 to eject the plurality of fasteners 111 from the cartridge 115 as is known in the art.
Referring to FIGS. 36-41, when the surgical actuating device 12 (FIG. 1B) is actuated to advance the sled pusher assembly 174, the drive assembly 134 which is releasably coupled to the sled pusher assembly 174 is advanced distally to move the I-beam 137 distally in relation to the tool assembly 114. As the I-beam is moved distally, the upper and lower flanges 139 a, 139 b of the I-beam 137 engage the first and second jaw members 113, 117, respectively, such that the first jaw member 113 is moved towards the second jaw member 117 to the clamped or approximated position of the tool assembly 114 to clamp tissue (FIG. 36). As noted above, the drive assembly 134 and the sled pusher assembly 174 move in unison as a result of the protrusion 164 being in contact with the proximal wall portion 185 defining the aperture 184 of the support member 176.
As the drive assembly 134 is moved distally to move the jaw members 113 and 117 to the clamped or approximated position, the lateral offset 173 (FIG. 38) of the latch 150 slides up along the ramp 188 of the lower housing portion 122 b and raises the latch 150 to disengage the protrusion 164 of the latch 140 from engagement with the proximal wall portion 185 of the support member 176. In the approximated position of the jaw members 113 and 117, the sled pusher assembly 174 is uncoupled from the drive assembly 134 and the distal end 193 of the sled pusher 178 is positioned in engagement with the proximal end 195 of the sled 187 (as best shown in FIG. 41).
In the approximated position, the collar 142 is in contact with the stops 190 a in the lower housing portion 122 b (FIGS. 38 and 42) and the upper portion of the collar 142 is in contact with the stops 190 b in the upper housing portion 122 a. Engagement between stops 190 a and collar 142 prevents further distal movement of the drive beam assembly 134.
Referring to FIGS. 42-44, after the sled pusher assembly 174 is uncoupled from the drive assembly 134, further actuation of the actuating device 12 effects independent movement of the sled pusher assembly 174 through the aperture 146 of the collar 142 such that the distal end 193 of the sled pusher 178 moves distally in relation to the I-beam 137 of the drive assembly 134 to advance the sled 187 through the cartridge 115 into sequential engagement with the pushers 109 to eject the plurality of fasteners 111 from the cartridge 115 (FIGS. 43 and 44).
While the reloads 10, 110 have been described herein as being configured for use with the stapler 212, it is within the purview of the present disclosure that the operative components of the reloads 10, 110 may be incorporated into a stapler with a tool assembly fixedly attached thereto.
The stapler 212 with either of the reloads 10, 110 attached thereto can be utilized to staple various tissue structures. For example, during a transplant procedure, where blood flow through vascular structure adjacent a transplant site needs to be controlled or inhibited, the stapler 212 can be utilized to staple (i.e., occlude) this vascular structure, thereby controlling and/or inhibiting blood flow through the vascular structure. It is contemplated that the stapler 212 with either of the reloads 10, 110 attached thereto can be utilized to staple other types of tissue structures and/or can be utilized in conjunction with other surgical procedures.
wherein distal translation of the drive beam assembly from a retracted position towards an advanced position effects movement of the first and second jaw members to the approximated position and disengages the latch of the latch assembly from the sled pusher assembly to facilitate distal movement of the sled pusher independently of the drive beam assembly and wherein distal movement of the sled pusher independently of the drive beam assembly advances the sled pusher and the sled of the cartridge assembly to eject the plurality of fasteners from the cartridge assembly.
2. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the latch assembly includes a collar which is coupled to a proximal end of the drive beam assembly and includes an aperture configured to receive a support member of the sled pusher assembly.
3. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the support member of the sled pusher assembly includes at least one aperture that is configured to receive the latch of the latch assembly.
4. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the latch assembly includes at least one spring configured to bias the latch of the latch assembly into the aperture defined in the support member of the sled pusher assembly.
5. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the aperture of the support member is defined by a proximal wall portion of the sled pusher assembly, the proximal wall portion being configured to engage the latch of the latch assembly to maintain coupling of the drive beam assembly and the sled pusher assembly with one another.
6. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the elongated shaft includes upper and lower housing portions, and at least one of the upper and lower housing portions includes at least one stop member configured to contact a proximal end of the collar of the latch assembly when the drive beam assembly is translated distally.
7. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the latch includes a lateral offset extension, and wherein at least one of the upper and lower housing portions of the elongated shaft includes at least one ramp portion configured to be engaged by the lateral offset extension to effect movement of the latch out of engagement with a proximal wall portion of the sled pusher assembly when the drive beam assembly is moved distally so as to allow the sled pusher assembly to move distally in relation to the drive beam assembly.
8. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the I-beam is positioned to cam the first and second jaw members to the approximated position when the drive beam assembly is translated distally.
9. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a resilient member is provided on the cartridge assembly for biasing the cartridge assembly radially away from the anvil.
10. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the resilient member includes a bottom portion that is coupled to a proximal end of the cartridge assembly and a top portion that is positioned to contact at least a portion of the anvil.
11. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the bottom portion of the resilient member is seated within a corresponding slot defined at the proximal end of the cartridge assembly.
12. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the bottom portion of the resilient member includes at least one detent that couples to a corresponding indent disposed on the cartridge assembly adjacent the slot.
13. The surgical stapling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tool assembly is removably couplable to the distal end of the shaft of the surgical stapling apparatus.
wherein distal translation of the drive beam assembly from a retracted position towards an advanced position effects movement of the first and second jaw members to the approximated position and disengages the latch of the latch assembly from the sled pusher assembly to facilitate distal movement of the sled pusher independently of the drive beam assembly and wherein distal movement of the sled pusher independently of the drive beam assembly advances the distal end of the sled pusher into engagement with the sled of the cartridge assembly to eject the plurality of fasteners from the cartridge assembly.
15. The reload according to claim 14, wherein the latch assembly includes a collar which is coupled to a proximal end of the drive beam assembly and includes an aperture configured to receive a support member of the sled pusher assembly.
16. The reload according to claim 15, wherein the support member of the sled pusher assembly includes at least one aperture that is configured to receive the latch of the latch assembly.
17. The reload according to claim 16, wherein the latch assembly includes at least one spring configured to bias the latch of the latch assembly into the aperture defined in the support member of the sled pusher assembly.
18. The reload according to claim 17, wherein the aperture of the support member is defined by a proximal wall portion of the sled pusher assembly, the proximal wall portion being configured to engage the latch of the latch assembly to maintain coupling of the drive beam assembly and the sled pusher assembly with one another.
19. The reload according to claim 15, wherein the elongated shaft includes upper and lower housing portions, and at least one of the upper and lower housing portions includes at least one stop member configured to contact a proximal end of the collar of the latch assembly when the drive beam assembly is translated distally.
20. The reload according to claim 19, wherein the latch includes a lateral offset extension, and wherein at least one of the upper and lower housing portions of the elongated shaft includes at least one ramp portion configured to be engaged by the lateral offset extension to effect movement of the latch out of engagement with a proximal wall portion of the sled pusher assembly when the drive beam assembly is moved distally so as to allow the sled pusher assembly to move distally in relation to the drive beam assembly.
21. The reload according to claim 14, wherein the I-beam is positioned to cam the first and second jaw members to the approximated position when the drive beam assembly is translated distally.
22. The reload according to claim 14, wherein a resilient member is provided on the cartridge assembly for biasing the cartridge assembly radially away from the anvil.
23. The reload according to claim 22, wherein the resilient member includes a bottom portion that is coupled to a proximal end of the cartridge assembly and a top portion that is positioned to contact at least a portion of the anvil.
24. The reload according to claim 23, wherein the bottom portion of the resilient member is seated within a corresponding slot defined at the proximal end of the cartridge assembly.
25. The reload according to claim 24, wherein the bottom portion of the resilient member includes at least one detent that couples to a corresponding indent disposed on the cartridge assembly adjacent the slot.
European Search Report dated May 3, 2017 issued in corresponding European Application No. EP16192621.7-1654.
European Search Report EP 14 1909678 dated Jun. 3, 2015.
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2019-04-26T05:22:51Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US9700312B2/en
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.160601 |
wordpress
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VisualSchema is pleased to offer Visual Schemas For Java EE XML Schemas.
Java EE (Java Enterprise Edition) defines a few XML Schemas for the definition of web applications, tag libraries and few other that are part of the Java EE specifications.
Visual Schemas is built using Java, JSP, Xerces and a few other technologies. So, we are happy to make the xml schemas of the Java EE to be available as Visual Schemas.
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2019-04-19T05:02:54Z
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https://visualschema.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/visual-schemas-for-java-ee-xml-schemas/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.252924 |
wordpress
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Christopher Hitchens has recommended this lecture several times in recent debates. That was all the advice and reassurance I needed to check it out and I was not disappointed.
“The Woody Allen of physics” (as Richard Dawkins dubbed him at the lecture’s end) delivers a wonderfully lucid and humorous account at the Atheist Alliance International conference 2009 of how physics can answer the infernal question posed by religious apologists as to why there is “something” rather than “nothing” for the layman.
Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics. You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements – the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution and for life – weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode.
So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.
I wish Krauss had been my secondary school physics teacher.
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2019-04-26T07:54:02Z
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https://edthemanicstreetpreacher.wordpress.com/tag/astrophysics/
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Porn
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Science
| 0.983009 |
wordpress
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The author of this exact quote is unknown, but I love it. It reminds me of First Thessalonians 5:24 -“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” In other words, success is inevitable… when it’s God’s call on your life.
Has He called you to coach?
Has He called you to teach?
Has He called you to write?
Has He called you to raise those kiddos?
Has He called you to sing your heart out?
Has He called you to tend to your home on a full-time basis?
Has He called you to tend a sick loved one?
How about going to the mission field (close to home, or abroad)?
Has He called you to drive a school bus, deliver mail, or maybe even clean windows?
Whatever He has called you to do…rest in the fact that success is inevitable. No striving. No freaking out. Only simple obedience, faith and trust in Him is necessary. He will bring it to pass. It’s not only a great quote…it’s Scriptural.
Rest in that truth this week and know that no matter what circumstances may look like in this moment, when God has called you and you have answered, “Yes”, success is inevitable. Don’t proceed with caution. Proceed in faith knowing that your God has more for you than you ever imagined (Ephesians 3:20).
As I was reading a book by Neta Jackson a few weeks ago, I came across an explanation that I’ve pondered for quite a while. In her book series, Souled Out Sisters, one of Ms. Jackson’s characters describes “salt people” as people who make a situation taste better and “light people” as people who bring clarity and not confusion. I liked that…a lot.
If you know me at all, you know I love my salt and if you have been around me enough, you also know I love windows because I adore light. Both salt and light add joy to my life. So, why I’ve had trouble with being salt and light in this world is beyond me! I think I’ve tried to make it more difficult than it really is. If salt is simply making a situation more palatable, (as Ms. Jackson’s character explained) we can all do that. It’s not as complicated as I’ve thought.
If attitudes are going south, we can express an encouraging word. If everyone is exhausted, we can be the wise one and suggest a breather, or offer a bag of almonds to help energize the situation. If fear is invading, cover the situation with prayer. Such simple things make life more appetizing, and that’s being salt in this world.
How neat is that? Jesus didn’t just give us a command and leave us to figure out how to fulfill it on our own. He tells us how to receive the clarity we need in each situation in order to be light. It’s called wisdom. How do we receive the wisdom we need for clarity? The book of James tells us we ask God for it. Simple stuff. He gives us the needed wisdom, which gives us the needed clarity, which gives us the needed light to share. Love it!
Oftentimes, I feel like I’ve been more pepper than salt, and more darkness than light, but I’m encouraged by this simple way of looking at being children of light and salt-a-holics in this world. Through Christ, we can bring clarity. Through Christ, we can make life full of flavor for those around us. So, let’s do it. Let’s be salt and light wherever we go.
One of the things I like most about being a Christian is the community of friends that over time become as close as, or even closer, than family. So, this week I’ve decided to introduce you to a great friend and choir buddy of mine. She’s a published author (many times over) and a faithful blogger. Click on the link below to read her blog for this week. Enjoy!
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2019-04-21T12:17:00Z
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https://seekinghearts.wordpress.com/2017/09/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.207751 |
wordpress
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Cats shed. Some dogs shed, too, but my miniature schnauzer doesn’t. Instead, she requires periodic grooming. And though I’m loath to bring her to the groomer more often I can cut my hair, it’s still a small price to pay so I can wear black anytime I want. Sollie’s orange hair used to get everywhere. No more.
Dogs bark. A lot. At apparently nothing. I’m learning there are ways to train dogs not to bark unnecessarily, but I know they bark sometimes anyway. There are a couple of hounds down the street that literally scare me almost every time I walk by that house because they bark so loudly and so menacingly. Cats, on the other hand, can’t be heard by the neighbors in most circumstances.
Dogs can be walked. I love walking my little doggie. With her pink, rhinestone-studded collar and pink leash, I’m sure we look a little like Paris Hilton (only fatter) and her dog as we walk down the street. Sollie the cat barely tolerated a collar, let alone a walk down the street. Chloe, like a good little pack animal, follows me or my husband everywhere we go all day long. If you like company, dogs are where it’s at.
Dogs play with toys. Yes, Sollie liked catnip toys and sometimes string, but she tired of her things in minutes. Chloe, by contrast, has a plethora of little toys in a basket in the living room, and she’s not happy unless half of them are spread from the fireplace up to the bedroom closet. She’s got this little stuffed platypus that has become her “baby.” She’s always got it close by, and she watches it ferociously. Sometimes she drags it upstairs to sleep with it. Like a little kid, it’s fun to watch her play with her toys, but it’s tiresome to pick them up all the time.
Sollie killed birds. It was in his DNA. He was a hunter, and birds were prey. Chloe, on the other hand, is more likely to be carried away by a bird. At seven and half pounds, she’s just the right size for a healthy meal to a big hawk or owl, and we have seen such creatures in our back yard. I don’t leave Chloe outside for too long unattended for fear of having her carried away.
In the end, I have to admit, while I loved my cat dearly, I would be heartbroken if something were to happen to Chloe. She has such a perky personality, and she’s so trusting. She depends on me! I’m not always thrilled to have to rush home to let the dog out of her kennel, but I’ll still take that chore over the cat box any day.
If this cat person can be transformed into a dog person, the dog must be pretty special. She is.
1. As I mentioned yesterday, Sollie was never grotesquely fat, weighing only about 15 pounds at his biggest. After he started spending time outdoors getting exercise, he weighed about 10-12 pounds. Chloe, on the other hand, weighs 7 and half or 8 pounds. Both of them were/are easy to carry around, easy to have on your lap and easy with which to share a bed. Sollie was a good lap cat after he got to know me (oh, about 7 years into our relationship), and Chloe is a great lap dog (for a dog).
2. The other day, Chloe was barking frantically in the backyard and then got strangely quiet. A few minutes later, she was at the back door waiting to get back into the house. She bounded into the house with something in her mouth and deposited it ritually on the floor. It was a chewed-up mouse, or at least I think it was. The amount of chewing left most of the creature unidentifiable, but it did have a mouse-like tail. Yuk! “Tyler, get down her right now!” I wasn’t going to clean it up! It reminded me when Sollie would leave dead birds on our porch, triumphantly sharing his hunter prowess.
3. As any cat owner will tell you, meows are different and they mean different things. Sometimes, meows mean “feed me” and sometimes meows mean “feed me now!” Chloe has different vocalizations, too. Sometimes she growls “I hear something.” And sometimes she barks so much no one can hear anything else!
4. Both Sollie before her and Chloe now love sunshine and being outside. Chloe can find a shaft of sunlight no matter what time of day, even if it means dozing away the morning while hanging halfway on a stairstep. A yard of grass holds mysteries galore for an adventurous pet interested in every leaf, every stick, every insect. With Sollie, no fence was necessary, but not with Chloe. Once, she snuck out the front door and I ran a block in only my bathrobe trying to catch her!
5. Both dogs and cats do yoga. Really! There’s the cat stretch, where you bend your back up and down like a cat who’s alternating between terrified and being petted. And there’s the up-dog and down-dog, like dogs do in the morning when they’re shaking off the cobwebs of sleep.
Tomorrow, how dogs and cats are different.
I picked Sollie out of a crowd of orange-and-white kittens at the Humane Society in 1988.
Sollie’s brother was a lick-a-maniac, and he drove me crazy! So I reached for the kitten cowering in the back of the pen.
Sollie was completely orange all over, even his eyes. And I picked him out on a beautiful, sunny October day. So, in honor of the star name for Earth’s sun, I called him Sol. Quite quickly, his moniker became Sollie.
I was a college student, living in an apartment and engaged to the man I would marry a year and a half later.
Sollie moved four states away with us. That journey, made on a stifling June day, almost killed him, since I was driving was a 10-year-old Chevette without air conditioning, but once we figured out how to put him on ice (literally, we put his carrier with him inside it on a block of ice), Sollie rode along happily.
He lived with us in our one-bedroom apartment in Ohio (with his litter box under our bathroom sink — yuck). And he moved back to Minnesota with us, living in increasingly bigger houses over the course of a dozen years (litterboxes in the basements – better, but not much).
Like any cat, he slept a lot and made nests in all kinds of crazy places including a box of my scarves and the folds of my wedding gown hanging in a tent all around him in my closet. Sollie was never one of those grotesquely overweight housecats, but after one too many times of marking his territory in my first husband’s luggage, he became an indoor-outdoor cat and lost a lot weight lurking around untethered in our yard.
I loved his purr and his soft fur, and I put up with his often aloof manner (hey, if I wanted an overly affectionate cat, I should have picked his brother!).
In 2006, I moved out of the house I shared with my soon-to-be-ex-husband, and at that point, the relationship with my cat had outlived my marriage.
By then, Sollie was arthritic, had kidney problems and was the kind of skinny that you get when you’re really old. My soon-to-be-ex refused to keep him, and I couldn’t have him in my new apartment. So the time came to put an unnatural end to his misery.
Sollie was euthanized in August 2006, a few weeks short of his 18th birthday. I will be forever grateful to my brother-in-law (my sister’s husband) who dug a grave in the back of his lake lot and had my 7-year-old nephew create a marker for it. The brother-in-law, the 7-year-old and the 4-year-old nephew were solemnly present for the funeral, and then my brother-in-law respectfully buried him.
While his end was very sad, Sollie lived a long, healthy housecat life, and he brought much joy to mine.
I still love cats and I would have gotten another one except that my new husband is allergic to them. Which is why we have a dog.
So now, as both a cat person and a dog person, I think I can draw legitimate comparisons, at least between an orange cat named Sollie and a little black schnauzer named Chloe.
Tomorrow, how dogs and cats are the similar.
Until about a year ago, I had always considered myself a cat person.
We had a couple of cats when I was little, and I remember the cats of the friends in my youth fondly. My friend, Jill, had a big beautiful white cat named Harold, for example. Another friend, Amy, had a really squirrely weiner dog.
I just never really liked dogs. Especially the ones big enough to say hello by sniffing your crotch. Yuck. Get away from me, Dog.
But my beloved, as persuasive as he is, convinced me to support giving a dog to Caswell for Christmas in 2007. That’s when the seven-and-half pound miniature schnauzer, Chloe, entered my life.
I hated her for three months.
She was a puppy, and puppies need to be housetrained. It was wintertime, Cas and I had no idea what we were doing and Tyler was, shall we say, less than consistent. So, Chloe was an accident waiting to happen every day.
It was a nightmare to which only puppies owners can relate (at least with babies, you’re not usually scrubbing mistakes out of your carpeting or from between your toes).
Well, she was right. It did get better. I took charge and exerted responsibility for every feeding and every outdoor outing. For a while, she was going outside every 45 minutes. And the weather got warmer, too. She was pretty dependable by about May.
And then I fell in love with her. Without the baggage of canine excrement, she is adorable! I love going for a walk with her (and thrilled when a walk dependably encourages her to do her business)! I savor having her sleep by my side (and the one time she pooped in our bed, she pooped in Tyler’s pillow, not mine)! It’s so fun watching her play or seek out shafts of sunshine in which to lay or sniff around the yard.
But occasionally, I catch myself calling her Sollie. Sollie was the cat I owned for 17 years when I was in adulthood. And he deserves his own tribute.
Tomorrow, a tribute to Sollie.
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2019-04-22T02:34:52Z
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https://minnesotatransplant.wordpress.com/tag/pet/
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wordpress
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This is just a quick video blog where I blabber on (slightly incoherently) about my new favorite book Let It Snow by John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson. If you don’t feel like watching the video, I will sum it up by saying: GO READ THAT BOOK!
There are certain things I love about living near “The City.” And when I say “The City” I mean Naperville, IL. Because Naperville is home to one of the best book stores in the entire country…Anderson’s Bookshop.
Last Friday I went there with my friend Abby to see one of her favorite authors, Mr. John Green. I went along because even though I hadn’t read any of his books yet, he is young and hot and I’m always up for a road trip.
There were probably around 130 people crammed into the store to hear him speak and he bravely stood on a chair the whole time so that those of us in the nosebleed section up near the cash registers could see him. Needless to say he was charming, well spoken, hilarious, complex, intelligent, and emotionally deep. We waited around so he could sign Abby’s book and he was so friendly when we got up there even though he had literally signed 80 books before hers (probably more because some people were clutching all three of his titles). He talked with Abby and then thanked me for coming even though I was just a straggler who hadn’t even bought one of his books.
Anyway, John Green is awesome. Period. He won the highest award in YA lit (the Printz) with his first book!!!! And his second book got a Printz Honor (so close). He has a new book out now called Paper Towns that is getting GREAT buzz. Go to his website here and make sure to check out his YouTube channel because he is hilarious! Also go to Abby’s blog to see a pic of her with Mr. John Green himself.
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2019-04-20T20:37:49Z
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https://nerdgirltalking.wordpress.com/tag/john-green/
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Arts
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yahoo
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Remember being given a glass of wine with your dinner as a treat? Well, now experts warning parents not to let teenagers drink alcohol at home or buy them alcohol because of the potential health risks.
Many parents believe allowing their teens to drink alcohol at home might teach them about drinking responsibly, but a leading addiction expert believes this view is misguided.
Dr Eamon Keenan, national clinical lead on addiction for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was speaking as the HSE launched a guide to alcohol and drugs aimed at parents.
“That approach isn’t particularly helpful, because with it what you’re saying to your child is, ‘It’s OK to drink under the age of 18’,” Dr Keenan said, as reported by The Times.
He went on to say that though parents may think that their children are sensible and grounded and that giving them alcohol at home is a “progressive” way to approach the situation, fundamentally doing this will give teens the idea that they can drink.
Dr Kennan stressed that the link between alcohol and drug-taking in adolescent years and addiction later in life was “huge”.
“A lot of the people who we would see now would have taken drugs or alcohol at an early age,” he said.
According to Dr Keenan Other risks associated with underage drinking include injuries, antisocial behaviour, poor school performance. Long term this could lead to mental health problems and addiction.
There are other reasons parents should be discouraging their teens from drinking underage too.
“With the advent of social media and the images being stored on the web forever, the repercussions of drunken behaviour may last much longer than the time they occurred and may continue to haunt a person into adulthood,” Dr Keenan warned.
Instead of allowing their children to drink at home, the HSE is encouraging families to kick start a conversation about the risks associated with alcohol.
Their new guide, which is available to download at www.askaboutalcohol.ie includes practical advice on how to help them to resist pressure from their friends to drink.
The alcohol warnings come as a recent study revealed that one in six parents are allowing their children to drink alcohol by the age of 14.
Researchers from the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at the UCL Institute of Education and Pennsylvania State University believe that many parents are offering their children alcohol at an early age as a way of teaching them to drink responsibly.
But according to scientists, there is no evidence that supervising children’s drinking protects them against harmful drinking in later life.
Instead, researchers are advising parents to heed the warnings from previous studies which revealed that those who start drinking early are more likely to fail at school and have behaviour issues as well as alcohol and substance problems in adulthood.
Interestingly, however, a further study revealed earlier this year that teens are rejecting “binge” drinking.
While almost a quarter (24%) said they never drink alcohol, of those who did drink, most did so at relatively low levels, with 28% consuming 1-2 units on a typical occasion, and half (50%) consuming 1-4 units.
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2019-04-23T05:55:12Z
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https://uk.style.yahoo.com/addiction-experts-warning-parents-not-let-teenagers-drink-home-103055810.html?src=rss
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Hosted by Gulfside Corvette Club and Castriota Chevrolet, the Corvette and Camaro Car Show will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, at Castriota Chevrolet, 12930 U.S. 19, Hudson; $20 day of show registration from noon to 2 p.m. There will be 50/50, raffles, trophies, food; proceeds to benefit local charities. For information, call (813) 299-5539.
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2019-04-23T08:19:24Z
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https://motoringeditor.wordpress.com/tag/gulfside-corvette-club/
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Porn
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Recreation
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livejournal
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Do I count a Claussen's dill as a veggie?
My lettuce turned again... disgusting.
The local store (34 mile round trip) thought the raspberries were high, so they skipped buying them. If I need them, I have to take a chance on a store that's a 50 mile round trip, or 100 mile round trip.
However, they GOT THE 45 calorie per slice of bread in, high, high, high. I love getting a whole slice with my egg. After that success, I asked the manager to order cans of bean sprouts. I told him I'd probably be on this diet for two years or so to make my weight goal.
Corydon DOES have one place that sells premium gas. It also has one that has the 89.5% blend ethanol, and the mechanic/owner told me how to tell when I needed to blend the gas if I was using the ethanol. What to listen for when. Pinging when passing, etc. We both think the way I generally drive, I can use the ethanol just fine. I get passed, cruising along at 55, the legal limit, rather than being the one hot to pass.
I told him the story about getting the ticket (he used to be a highway patrolman) before I even got my Audi A 6 home, and he responded with a tale of another souped up car, a Chevy Impala full sized car set up to race with a really hot engine (he described it to me, but when I didn't know the name, he told me what it DID.) He was commenting on the "supercharged" aspect of my Audi.
Eventually, I'll have driven it enough to know by feel. It is one smooth car. I bought it with 120 miles on the odometer; it's up to 388 now, so still early days.
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2019-04-24T18:16:00Z
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https://pandemo.livejournal.com/803882.html
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Porn
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Shopping
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When we finally leave campo, we have an emotional hard time, Brigitte and Lucio and Patricio have become good friends in the last 7 weeks.
We cycle the 4km to the Ruta 2, meet up with Brigitte who brings us our luggage with the motocarrito and after the last good-bye we cycle on through the Cordillera.
Cycling is not easy, we are not used to it anymore and the hills make us tired very fast. In Caacupe, 30km further, we take our siesta in a park for pelgrims and visit the very famous cathedral of Caacupe. There are lots of pelgrims and once a year, on the 8th of december the whole town is occupied by them for celebration of the birthday of the “Virgen de Caacupe”.
During the afternoon weather changes for the worse and we decide to camp in the Pelgrims´ refugee. Not our best decision, the man who looks after the property is a drunk and a lonely one as well. As soon as he sees us he starts talking and it´s always the same story, so finally we have to go very early into our tent to avoid him.
The next morning we have to search a hostal anyway, it seems winter has actually come to Paraguay and that means lots of rain, accompanied by cold wind from the South. Temperature drops under 10°C and we leave the Hostal only to buy some food.
But than, two days later we´re off again.
We cycle along the banks of the Lago Ipacarai, a region with a lot of german and austrian inhibitants. During our time at the campo we already visited San Bernardino, a small village near the lake with a german market on Saturdays. We made a boat trip on the lake with Patricio and then went to the market. It was a little bit strange to hear people talking german and see all the german products around (even some unexpected ones), but it was also very delicious: german sausages, bread and cake, fried potatoes with onions and bacon and even beer from bavaria (officially that´s also Germany 😉 ).
Than have a last look on far away Asuncion from the bridge as we cross the Rio Paraguay and finally arrive in Villa Hayes, the entrance to the Chaco.
On the planned first full day of riding the Trans-chaco-road we buy some food and water, and are off under a blue sky.
Three hours later instead of three days we get out in Pozo Colorado, a big crossroad of two main streets and now a big area of mud due to a lot of rain for the last two weeks.
We don´t know it yet, but rain like this comes only every ten years to the Chaco and then changes the whole area from bottom to top.
For the moment we work our way out through the mud and happily start cycling along the eternal straight road. We pass huge areas with palms, everything around is green and sometimes it seems like we pass a sea because of flooded areas left and right to the street.
We spend the second night in Cruce Los Pioneros, 75km further, where we can put up our tent in the garden of the local hotel (the hotel itself being too expensive) next to a small lake. We cook our own meal, buy some beer and watch the beautiful sunset. Same place but different the next morning, mist came up and it takes two hours until the sun burns it away.
Up to now the Chaco is not really a big challenge but a nice experience.
The third day we reach the Mennonite area around Filadelfia, the biggest town in the middle of the Chaco.
At Cruce Calvet, where the road to town leaves the Trans-Chaco road we are called by a man from a small despensa. It turns out that he is one of the local Mennonites, speaks fluent german and is very kind. He proposes that we camp next to the despensa instead of going to Filadelfia and save a lot of money since Hospedajes in town are outrageously expensive. We accept the invitation, and in the afternoon visit Filadelfia, some 17km away, by car-stop. The town is smaller than expected, very dusty and not very invitational to strangers. But since it´s founded and dominated by Mennonites, nearly everybody speaks german, road signs are bilingual and the supermercado sells a great number of german products (including chocolate).
So the next day we first visit Blumental and Hohenau, two small nearby Mennonite settlements and in the afternoon drive with Helmut to Neuland with his Pick-up and our stuff in the back. The settlements are like visiting small villages in Germany. Nice houses, maintained gardens, everything clean – and also very quite. No people on the streets, no music in the houses, nobody drinking Mate on the veranda – somehow strange in South America.
Neuland than is quite bigger and more lively.
We stay at Helmuts´ place and get to know Helmuts´ brother and sister, visit the german “Honorarkonsul” and the Headmaster of the local Colegio and learn a lot more about the Mennonites, their past and their present situation in Paraguay.
We also visit the “Founders´ tree”, where 60years ago the community was born.
Six days go by and on our last day it´s us who get questions asked, by Helmuts´ nephew Oswaldo, in an interview for the local radio and newspaper.
Then it´s the second time we leave a place in Paraguay with mixed feelings. Even if it was only one week, we have once more made friends and get a glimpse into the lives of this special community.
Next stop on the Trans-Chaco is Mariscal Estigarribia, where the migration office for leaving Paraguay is located. The officer offers us a room and proposes to take the bus to Bolivia because of the bad state of the streets. We accept the first but decide to cycle on, now we are determined to leave the country on two wheels!
A decision we question several times on the next 120km. After we get our exit stamp the next morning and have a small flashback to Caacupe, we start in direction of La Patria.
And have to find out, that “bad state” is not a sufficient description for the road. The better one is, that there is nearly no road anymore but stretches of stones, deep holes, sometimes muddy, sometimes sandy and from time to time a few last pieces of asphalt, as a remembrance of former times.
Unbelieveable, this road is used mostly by gasoline trucks since Paraguay buys its gasoline from Bolivia and every liter is imported through the Chaco.
Bram, cycling in front of me, disappears sometimes up to his waist in the holes and it´s a secret to us how the trucks manage this road!
And funny, exactly on this piece of road, the worst imaginable, the name road unworthy, we meet more foreigners than anywhere else.
This part of the road is also the most challenging one of the whole Chaco. Cycling an endless road for several days is one thing, cycling an endless road in this bad condition is a different one. We sweat and sware and fight and though don´t have the feeling to move forward a little bit. The nature, the birds´ singing – nothing helps as long as the horizon doesn´t come closer and only the trip computer shows that we really make km.
Also, since Mariscal, there are no signs of population anymore and we are very happy to pass the first house (there are only three in total on this 120km) in the evening and find a flat stretch of land for our tent.
We are more than happy to reach La Patria two days later and get a friendly welcome by the local police who invites us to camp next to their station and use their (cold) shower.
Two days later, on a road which deserves this name again, we reach Infante Riverola at the border with Bolivia.
We spend a last night in Paraguay, at the border station 20m away from Bolivia and exit the country the next morning.
Altogether, cycling the Chaco was an experience we wouldn´t miss. The endless road was sometimes a mental challenge and especially behind Filadelfia there is nearly no population anymore. We were lucky and got the chance to discover it after the big rains when everything was green and lively and the temperatures were moderate, not hot and dry and barren like we thought before. But still, it´s a rough part of the country and we admire all people who manage to live there and know now, why there aren´t so many!
We start our time at the Campo with discovering the surrounding. The central point is a round house with a glass roof, six metres in diameter and build halfway into the earth which makes it cool in both ways: temperaturewise and it´s fancy.
It´s divided into four rooms, one for cooking, eating and sitting together, two bedrooms and one room for all kinds of stuff. Everything is very small but functional and cozy.
The place where we will stay for the next weeks is 200m away, it´s an old wood cabin with a grass roof and it´s built by the former owner of the property (and not built very good as Lucio tells us). Parts of the roof are falling apart and there are large spaces between the wooden panels but since it´s unusually warm we didn´t mind.
Next to our cabin grow mango and papaya trees and disparsed over the whole property are dozens of mandarin, orange, lemon, grapefruit and avocado trees, mixed within the original vegetation of palms, plants and flowers.
Our toilet is a deep hole in the earth and the bathroom is a natural spring where we take our showers with the help of a bucket.
Usually we go for it before lunch and siesta, but sometimes again in the evening or even in the night, when temperature doesn´t drop a lot. Although it should be autumn now, days often have 30+ degrees and nights still 20.
Work itself is diverse. Brigitte and Lucio have been living here for two years now and they try to establish a self-sufficient way of life on the land. To grow what they need for themselves and a little bit for sale, but not on a large scale for profit.
Still, to cultivate and maintain the property is a lot of work for two people and so the list of “to-do´s” is always long and helping hands are always welcome.
We spend the first days with building a new fence for the planned ckicken area. For this we have to chop down the 12 to 15m long bamboo trees with machetes, saw them to 2m pieces and split these ones in two or four parts.
Sometimes there is a surprise, ants like the hollow chambers of bamboo and upon splitting them they will crawl out very fast and in great number, so we have to leave the place very fast as well to avoid the ants´ bites (which are not dangerous but unpleasant).
The second week Jessi arrives, a girl from the UK who worked in Chile for a NGO and is now travelling in South America.
Luckily she is very sympathic and nice, so living together in our small wood cabin is no problem. Together with her comes rain for the first time here and not only a little bit, but masses of water, thunder and lightning the whole night. As we learn over the next time, this kind of weather usually means a cut of electricity and we have to cook over fire.
And even her cold dishes are tasty and creative, like A-Ca-Ba, a mix of Avocado with Cacao and Bananas.
Work goes on with harvesting and processing corn and then a lot of weeding for the next seeding round of vegetables. The climate is mild and allows to grow them all year round. A daily task is the harvest of maniok, a root vegetable which is eaten to all dishes in Paraguay. It tastes a little bit like potato but can´t be stored for more than one day once it´s digged out of the earth. And twice a day there is the obligatory pausa de terere, cold Mate.
On Sunday we all go to Asuncion, a 3hrs bus-trip, to meet with Lucios daughter and his granddaughters and have a nice relaxing day in town. Then two weeks are gone and Jessi leaves again. It´s unbelievable how fast time passes by when it´s filled with work and spend with people one likes!
As we planned to stay for around three weeks, it would be time for us to go as well but we like the place and the family and don´t feel like leaving, so we decide to stay a little bit longer and just leave for five days to visit Asuncion (the capital which is only 70km away) a second time. We can leave the bicycles and most of our luggage on the campo and travelling with light baggage is a nice change for us!
Asuncion is a rather big city, but as most of the other cities we visited not very nice on the outside. The streets and buildings look a little bit devastated, there are sparsely public places like parks where one can sit and relax a bit and walking around is quite exhausting. It´s quite different behind the facades: whenever we can get a glimpse behind open doors or get an invitation inside, there are big patios, lots of flowers, chairs in shadowy places and it´s always a pleasure, but only for private use.
In the open the only nice and well kept buildings are the governmental ones and some statues to honour the soldiers of recent wars.
But nonetheless there are also interesting places like the harbour area or “Mercado 4”, which is a seemingly endless market. Thousands of stalls with all kind of goods one can think of: food, drinks, clothes, electronics, furniture, and, and, and…one can spend hours walking around and not cross the same point two times.
But it´s not really necessary to visit a market to buy goods. Bus driving serves the same item, on every stop salesmen hop on and off the buses and offer almost everything from chocolate bars to bibles to suitcases. Tough we don´t need any of these it´s really impossible to resist the freshmade “Bollos” with a hot drink.
Besides exploring the city we also try to find a cargoship which will take us up the Rio Paraguay to Brasil, but this turns out to be impossible. A short time ago the Government has forbidden the transportation of passengers on merchandising boats and there are no boats for passengers yet.
We planned to enter Bolivia from Corumba in Brasil and now we have to decide between two other options to leave Paraguay in direction of Bolivia: Bus transfer from Asuncion to Santa Cruz (uncomfortable and boring) or cycling the Chaco (800km of plain, dry and nearly unpopulated area).
But first we head back to the campo and continue our quite rural life and work.
Brigitte and Lucio plan to build a second house and this one should be totally made out of wood.
Everything they need has to be gathered first and it´s not as easy as going to the DIY and buy all the stuff, most parts have to be collected and prepared by manual labour.
A special grass has to be collected and dried for the roof, windows have to be ordered long enough in advance to be sure they are ready six months later and again cutted and shortened bamboo is needed in large amounts to fix the roof. But the heaviest part is the cutting, splitting and cleaning of palmtrees like coco and karanda-u and transporting them from the place where they grow to the campo with the small motocarrito.
It´s hard work because all the wood is sturdy and heavy (and especially coco has long and dangerous thorns!) but it´s the only one that can be used since other wood would decompose too fast in this warm and humid area.
It´s also in this time that we decide to cycle the whole way to Bolivia, neither of us like the thought of sitting for 20 or 30 hours (depending on road conditions and the severeness of road controls) in a bus and we are also a little bit curious, if the Chaco is really as hard to cycle through as people tell us.
With this decision we have to think of leaving the campo at last and that´s the hardest part of the whole time there. From the beginning we have been treated like friends or family members, and it was very easy to like the family the same way. We had a lot of fun, work was never a burden, the atmoshpere always relaxed and after seven weeks we feel like being at home and not like guests. So when the day we chose for leaving comes, we let it pass again and instead continue the work for the new house which now consists of cleaning the area from plants and remove tons of earth to have a flat ground.
Then the first wooden logs for the posts must be peeled and impregnated with a mix of melted asfalt and kerosene.
One week more passes by and we still don´t know if we want to stay the whole winter time or move on now. Than the decision is taken out of our hands, another couple asks for staying at the campo and we take this as the signal for leaving. Four people is too much for the place and there are not many other workaway-places in Paraguay, so we have the feeling it´s best to move on.
With Iguazu as the highlight of our time in Argentina we leave the country for the last time and get our sixth exit stamp at the border. We cross the bridge to Foz de Iguacu in Brasil and it´s easy to see where one country ends and the other starts.
Foz de Iguacu is a rather big city, it takes us nearly an hour to cross it and since it doesn´t look very nice we just stop at a Lancheria to spend our last Reales on food and then go on to the paraguayan border.
Signs are not necessary to find the way, we just have to follow the main road and the thousands of cars which head in the same direction, cross a second bridge and then we enter Paraguay.
For the first time in South America we see such a traffic mayhem, a real chaos of cars, motorcycles, buses, trucks going from right to left and crossing one another.
We are the only ones going into the migration office, apparently for the locals no visum is needed to cross borders.
The other side in Ciudad del Este is even worse what concerns traffic, a miracle no accidents happen here, but for us on our bicycles it´s a little bit scary.
Besides the traffic there are long rows of marketsellers, people who offer money exchange, thousands of yellow Moto-taxis, all kinds of foodsellers and of course masses of people.
Originally we were thinking about looking for a new camera, Ciudad del Este is well known for cheap electronics, but the mix of traffic, people and noise is overwhelming and we decide just to pass through town and leave after a short stop at an ATM.
Our destination for the day is Hernanderias, a small village near the Itaipu embalse and the Nationalpark which surrounds it.
When arrived at Hernandarias, we are called by a man from the Itaipu Power Plant. Manolo tells us that it´s not possible to camp in the Nationalpark because there are local strikes with roadblocks and instead invites us to stay at his house in Ciudad del Este.
So once again, we load our stuff and ourselfes on the back of a Pick-up and drive the whole way back to town: 3hrs ride by bicycles – 20min by car.
We stay for three days with Manolo and his family.
The first day we visit the “Itaipu Binacional” Hydrogen Powerplant which created the embalse and it´s really big and impressive.
It´s a collaboration project of Paraguay and Brasil and in 2008 the company set the world record for one year power generation, the annual production was equal to two days of world consumption of electricity.
Our first full day ride in Paraguay starts off with a 10km trip through the busy streets of Ciudad del Este, and than onto the Ruta 2 – la supercarretera – leading to the capital Asuncion.
Following it we cross the country from East to West and it´s quite different to cycle here then in Argentina.
Paraguay is dominated by agriculture and keeping of lifestock, so one difference is the change of nature along the way.
The dense, overgrown vegetation of Misiones switches to more or less plain pastures and big fields. The colors fade away, instead of dark, rich green we are surrounded by all shades of light green and brown. A common view are also the very big termite hills which add a little bit of red to the color scale.
Cultivated land means also more population, there are a lot of little settlements one after another along the Ruta 2 and sometimes it´s hard to say where one village ends and the other starts.
Cooking is not necessary, there are also lots of streetsellers with small barbecues, selling meat-on-a-stick, sausages and ribs, all from beef and always accompanied by cooked Maniok (similar to potato and the most eaten vegetable in Paraguay).
What was “Gauchito Gil” in Argentina, the Saint of safe travelling, is here “San Expedito”. But instead of offerings of food and water people build impressive sanctuaries.
The following two days it´s easier. Rain starts around four in the afternoon, both times we get soaking wet and cold within a few minutes and are glad to find some hospedaje or hostel to have a dry and warm room for the night.
On the fourth day around noon we arrive in Itacurubi de la Cordillera where we take lunch in a road restaurant and then start cycling the last 15km to Eusebio Ayala, where we are going to have our first “workaway”-stop in South America.
We reach km-mark 76 around 3.00PM, where we should take the dirt-road right to get to our accomodation for the next few weeks. The road leads up to a very steep hill and it is very hot on top of that but we master the climb and cycle on for about 4km, as the directions said.
But instead of the farm of Brigitte and her family we just find an unfriendly woman who behaves like we are going to rob her or something similar and who says she doesnˋt know anything about another german woman. Unlikely in a small area like this one, where everybody knows everybody and every european person sticks out immediately.
However, we go back to the small despensa and are more lucky there, just as we speak to the owner a motocarrito ( motorcycle with attached trailer) with two persons arrives and they turn out to be Lucio and Patricio, man and son of Brigitte.
So we have found the family and they lead us to their farm, which we would never have found on our own, since we have to take some very little paths to get there.Once arrived, we are greeted in the nicest way by Brigitte as well and can move in our new “home”, where we plan to stay for around three weeks and exchange work power with food and accommodation.
Opnieuw prachtige beelden en 2 gelukkige mensen. Wij duimen voor jullie en zijn al benieuwd naar het vervolg.
Groetjes van Annie en Willem.
En weeral veel verschrikkelijke jaloezige mensen hier in Belgenland.
Thanks! The longer we are travelling around the more we enjoy it 🙂 Greetings to Düsseldorf!
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2019-04-22T16:58:23Z
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https://theroyaltrip.wordpress.com/south-america-2014/paraguay-1/
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Porn
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Shopping
| 0.863291 |
wordpress
|
An effective price cap would lower the highest prices, but it would also limit the “headroom” for new firms to undercut prices. So while a cap can lower the price for some consumers, it may reduce competition. Relative price caps, which tie one set of prices to another, are particularly likely to damage competition. We saw this effect when the energy regulator introduced non discrimination clauses between different regions in 2009, which was followed by softer competition between the companies, higher profits – and higher prices.
Smart meters, set to be rolled out at considerable cost over the next few years, are intended to help lower bills as people will realise how much energy they’re using – and when. But the benefits depend on people actually acting on this information. Protecting consumers from making decisions about the energy market now may mean we are all rather lazier about engaging with opportunities in the future.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Market Inquiries, Regulated Industries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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2019-04-25T08:31:11Z
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https://competitionpolicy.wordpress.com/2017/05/03/an-energy-price-cap-could-kill-competition-heres-a-better-idea/
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Porn
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Business
| 0.727331 |
sfgate
|
If painted properly, sloped ceilings embolden your space.
Sloped ceilings present a special challenge for do-it-yourself house painters. In addition to sharp angles that require careful trimming, sloped ceilings need a little more attention when it comes to color selection. Sloping surfaces naturally feature a subtle color gradation and — as an element that comes closer to the walls than traditional ceilings — they have a great impact on the room's color scheme, which in turn impacts the feeling of openness, or lack thereof, in the space.
Choose a color for your sloped ceiling. Although most ceilings are white, match your sloped ceiling with the walls of the room to create a sense of height; this effect, which causes the lines of the ceiling to disappear, makes the ceiling look long and lean. Choose a light color to give a low sloped ceiling the illusion of height or a dark color to enhance the cozy feeling of a study or foyer.
Select a type of interior wall paint to determine the paint's sheen such as flat, flat enamel, semi-gloss or high-gloss. Ensure that the sheen of the sloped ceiling matches the sheen of the walls in the room. Determine how much paint you will need to cover the ceiling. Measure the ceiling and multiply the length times the width, then divide that number by 350 — the number of square feet covered by a typical gallon of paint.
Mask the edges of bordering walls or any areas on the ceiling you don't wish to paint such as vents, windows, outlets or skylights, using masking or painter's tape.
Spread a drop cloth on the floor below the sloped ceiling to catch any paint drips. Position a ladder or stepladder below the ceiling, if necessary. Enlist a partner to stabilize the ladder as you clean, prime and paint, if needed.
Saturate a clean, lint-free rag with a solution of warm water and dish soap and wipe down the entire surface of the sloped ceiling. Allow it to air-dry completely.
Stir your primer slowly with a paint stirrer, mixing from bottom to top. Make long, slow strokes in one direction, using a paintbrush or roller. Stand on a ladder or stepladder to access the higher parts of the ceiling, if necessary. Allow the primer to dry according to the manufacturer's instructions. Apply at least one more coat.
Stir your paint and apply it to the primed surface. Dip a foam paintbrush or angled paintbrush 1 to 2 inches into the paint. Paint the perimeter of the ceiling, corners and other tight spaces. Before this paint dries, paint the center of the ceiling with a paintbrush or roller. Use long, even strokes in one direction. Allow the paint to dry according to the manufacturer's instructions. Apply additional coats, if necessary.
Paint the ceiling before painting the walls if you're repainting the entire room.
Keep a damp rag on hand to wipe away any mistakes you make as you paint. For example, you may accidentally go outside the lines of a difficult surface.
Sand old ceilings before cleaning, priming and painting, using a pole sander equipped with 120-grit sandpaper.
Ventilate your work area as much as possible. Wear a mask and goggles while painting. Follow any warnings provided by the manufacturers of your primer and paint.
Ketchum, Dan. "How to Paint Sloped Ceilings." Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/paint-sloped-ceilings-26793.html. Accessed 20 April 2019.
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2019-04-21T01:14:06Z
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https://homeguides.sfgate.com/paint-sloped-ceilings-26793.html
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.281787 |
wordpress
|
This article explains monolith application, service-oriented architecture and micro-services architecture. It will explain two types of architectural designs for micro-services – vertical slice and categorical division. It will also talk about the advantages and challenges of micro-services.
In monolithic software applications, many features were put together into single bundle running in single servers/machines. In initial development of software, it seems quite easy to have the features into single software bundle.
But as more and more new features need to be added, the application size becomes big and requires more capacity in server/machine. Also if a similar software with few changes needs to be implemented, the entire application needs to be built and maintained separately.
With the emergence of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) a monolithic application is split into layers of many applications. Common functionalities are put into a separate software bundle running in separate servers/machine, which then can be consumed by another application using a communication protocol, such as XML, JSON etc. These are called web-services.
To serve the need of one client, it requires all these services to be implemented/deployed. As there will be many clients, it is required to have a good configuration in the application. As these common functionalities and configuration needs grow, the size of these web-services increases. To serve quickly these services usually have cache mechanism implemented. Increase in size also increases the need for more cache, which in-turn requires more in-memory space.
Micro-Services are small sized web-services which are to serve single/few features. These are the result of dividing the monolith application into small parts which can be put into separate servers/machines. The idea is to have a vertical slice of the monolithic application, i.e. one micro-service application will take full responsibility of one/few functionalities from the top (presentation layer) to bottom (data layer). Separating features into different services will make it easy for enhancement with quick time to market. If one feature needs to be modified, then there is no need to build all applications. Only that micro-service can be modified and deployed. Also, as these are separate software bundles, it will avoid regression issues of modification in one feature affecting others.
But for one feature there can be multiple domain expertise needed. With a vertical slice, many knowledge may need to be put into each micro-service. I.e. one domain expertise need to be put in multiple micro-services. In turn, it can become again a monolithic application. For example in an airline reservation systems, there needs a software which can provide availability of flight seats, lounge facility from inventory and another engine to calculate prices for these based on many rules. If we were to put finding availability and price engine for a seat into one application and same for lounge into another application, it will need to repeat few same features in both the applications and it gets complicated when the business requirement needs combo offers. I.e. with vertical slice there comes difficulty when business requirements are complex. There will be need of a lot of cross-communication between micro-services and it will be an unstructured dependency.
Thinking of categories in business which is an expertise in something from the perspective of a task to be done, there are many features which can be put into the same category. Business requirements can be divided into many small such categories which are independent of each other. Example, creating printable content is an expertise where lies knowledge of different printers and how to create a printer readable format of the content to be printed. Another example, in blog websites, contents can be of a different subject category, but for web-application task will be to save the content and display on the web-page. There can be a Micro-Service for each category.
The micro-service for a category will take care of incorporating any technology present to serve its features. This is also a distributed computing with Micro-Services. Taking the previous example of printing, in airline booking/check-in applications there is a ticket/boarding pass which needs to be printed. The data needed for this is only ticket details. The format of these printable content varies by airline and as well the printer type where it will be printing. So these can be in the same category. It is convenient to put it in a single application as the business requirement is single, but only output formats vary. This printing expertise can be put in one Micro-Service application. This application can be continuously enhanced to adapt different types of related technology.
Categories need to be such that it is easy to add or remove micro-services with any channel of business, channels such as mobile, web etc. With micro-services are based on expertise, there can be a lot of cross-communication which may increase and can become messy over time. Here we would need to be cautious about how and from where to call services.
As we split into small categories, it may become a hierarchical structure. In this case, will need aggregators as we go into the higher level. I.e. many small categories can belong to a high-level category. Here we can have an aggregator or process coordinator to combine computation result of its sub-categories. However, it is always good to have less number of aggregators to reduce layers. It is good to use a generic aggregator such as GraphQL. With these aggregators, we can reduce crosstalk, i.e. communication between micro-services.
However, a central aggregator can become the single point of failure. And we need to write code here to invoke services in required order. There is a new type of programming taking its pace – ‘Reactive Programming’. It uses event sourcing technique. There will be an event stream channel where all micro-services will consume and produce events. There is no need of separate code to invoke services in the required order. Events are pushed into the event stream by a micro-service and another micro-service will be waiting for such events and once available it will consume the event. Services will be automatically invoked in required order without the need of any code and we can as well take benefit of asynchronous behavior.
An advantage of the categorical division is, one expert will be with one application and the application owner can focus on only that. The application can be quickly enhanced to adopt different technologies to serve features of the category. The application can improve its configurability by generalizing many different requirements of the same category. It will also ease change management as configurations of one category of business is with one application. It will also enable plug and play of applications serving a category. It becomes easy to choose the best vendor for each small category. Micro-Services also helps quick time to market and reduces regression issues affecting features of other categories of business. It eases continuous delivery. It also reduces cache load on a single application (as in case of monolithic application, data need of many categories of business are in a single application). It will effectively distribute cache into different micro-services.
Challenges with micro-services are network latency when we are communicating with different servers/machines compared to monolith application where the communication between modules is in the same machine. However, having an aggregator in server-side would avoid the problem of users being on a slow network. Also, with reactive programming or event sourcing, this problem can be reduced. Another challenge with micro-services is logging and tracing. Whenever there is a failure or issue it would be difficult to trace and find which micro-service is causing the failure. It would require perfect logging. But, logging would depend on the developers of a micro-service which can vary service to service. It becomes difficult to debug. However, it is good and easy to have a standard that “each application need to log input message entering the application and output message going out of the application”. This will make it easy to identify which service has the issue. Once the faulty service is identified then we can look into the detailed log of that service. Also with having aggregators, all logs of request and response to different micro-services will be at one place which simplifies tracing. Other problem mentioned by some organizations is having services built with different languages, causes a lack of ability to rotate developers with multiple teams. However, the choice of languages needs to be based on which domain the language is good for and how many developers of the language available in organization or market which the company can hire.
The effectiveness of this approach depends on how well categories are identified. Also continuous delivery requires continuous integration. It is good to put an emphasis on test automation. It is good to have immutability. I.e. new features to be added separately without changing/removing existing.
Adapting micro-service architecture is very helpful in delivering changes continuously. Categorical division of business requirement will yield easy enhancement and plug and play with the best vendor in the market. It improves maintainability and reliability as it provides an ability to deliver fixes/enhancements quickly. However, some of the challenges mentioned above need to be considered and mitigation needs to be planned. Adapting micro-services will avoid regression issues affecting features in a different module, and by having immutability it can be ensured previous services are not affected. However, it is good to have continuous integration (generalized test automation tool) and proper logging to analyze logs to find a fail point (automated log analyzer such as Spring Sleuth and Zipkin).
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2019-04-18T18:52:08Z
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https://rajeevnaik.wordpress.com/2018/02/18/categorical-micro-services/
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Porn
|
Reference
| 0.209892 |
google
|
A laser scanning module employs a scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly supported by a stator structure using a pair of elastomeric wheel hinges. The scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly includes: a scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly having a rotor frame having a pair of rotor support posts aligned along a scan axis passing through the rotor frame; a scan mirror mounted on the rotor frame; and a permanent magnet mounted on the rotor frame. The elastomeric wheel hinge includes a central portion having an aperture for passage and fixed attachment of one rotor support post, a plurality of elastomeric spoke portions extending from the central portion and radially extending from the central aperture to a circumferential rim portion connected to the outer end portion of each spoke portion so as to form the elastomeric wheel hinge.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 61/752,088 for a Laser Scanning Module Employing a Laser Scanning Assembly Having Elastomeric Wheel Hinges filed Jan. 14, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to improvements in laser scanning modules, and more particularly to improvements in laser scanning assemblies employed therein.
The use of laser scanning bar code symbol reading engines is well known in the art. Applications include: hand-held products; reverse-vending machines; and the like.
Currently, various types of laser scanning mechanisms have been developed for scanning laser beams across bar code symbols. Such laser scanning mechanisms include shaft-based laser scanning mechanisms; hinge-based laser scanning mechanisms; torsional-based laser scanning mechanisms; and flipper-based laser scanning mechanisms.
Conventional shaft-based scanning mechanisms suffer from a number of shortcomings and drawbacks. In particular, prior art shaft-based scanning assemblies suffer from friction-related uncertainty and reliability problems. When using a magnet to generate the return force, the resonant laser scanning system becomes unstable when subjected to excessive external forces.
Conventional silicone hinge-based laser scanning assemblies suffer the fact that when subjected to high G forces, additional motion limiters are required to prevent excessive motion.
Also, while conventional torsional-based laser scanning mechanisms provide an alternative way of supporting a laser scanning subassembly, conventional structures have been difficult to manufacture, and lack sufficient ruggedness required in most modern laser scanning applications.
A primary object of the present disclosure is to provide a new and improved laser scanning element and module, which overcomes the shortcomings and drawbacks of the prior art laser scanning methods and apparatus.
Another object is to provide a torsion-based laser scanning assembly employing a silicone spring structure similar to that of watch spring can be used, offering the advantage of being easy to mold and very strong along the axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation.
Another object is to provide an improved torsion-based laser scanning assembly employing a silicone frame having two silicone wheel springs, spaced apart in parallel planes, and supporting a rotor subassembly about the ends of its rotor shaft so that a scan mirror and a permanent magnet supported on the rotor frame are rotated about a scan axis passing through the rotor shaft when the permanent magnet is driven by an electromagnetic coil structure in close proximity to the permanent magnet, thereby creating a scanning motion similar to that supported by conventional shaft-based laser scanning mechanisms.
Another object is to provide an improved torsion-based laser scanning assembly, wherein a pair of silicone wheel springs function as a stationary stator structure that is secured to the scanning engine chassis/housing, and used to support (i.e. hold) the scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly at a minimal distance from the electromagnetic coil structure, to allow lower levels of electrical current to drive the electromagnet coil structure and rotate the scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly about its virtual axis of rotation, in an energy-efficient manner.
Another object is to provide an improved torsion-based laser scanning module employing a silicone torsion-based laser scanning assembly having a scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly rotatably supported by a stationary stator structure utilizing a pair of spaced-apart silicone spring wheels, mounted to the scanning engine housing or chassis.
Another object is to provide an improved torsion-based laser scanning assembly that allows the scanning mirror and permanent magnet mount to be made from solid plastic material, while the restoring forces are generated by a pair of silicone spring-wheels supporting the scanning mirror and magnet rotor subassembly relative to a stationary stator structure contained within a housing.
Another object is to provide a laser scanning module that can be used to replace conventional shaft-based laser scanning engines, with an improved silicone torsional-based laser scanning module that consumes less electrical power, and eliminates friction uncertainty related jams, and high-power consumption problems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved silicone torsion-based laser scanning module (i.e. engine) that allows easy integration into all laser scanning products, while minimizing the space requirements for such integration.
These and other objects will become apparent hereinafter and in the Claims.
FIG. 10 sets forth a flow chart describing the major steps performed during the operation of the laser scanning bar code symbol reading system of FIG. 1.
Referring to the figures in the accompanying drawings, the various illustrative embodiments of the present invention will be described in greater detail, wherein like elements will be indicated using like reference numerals.
The laser scanning module (i.e. engine) 5 is intended for use in diverse kinds of laser scanning bar code symbol reading systems including, but not limited to, the hand-supportable laser scanning system 1 shown in FIG. 1. However, it is understood that the laser scanning module 5 can be installed in other types of laser scanning systems, other than hand-supportable systems, such as POS-projection, countertop, and industrial type laser scanning systems.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the laser scanning bar code symbol reading system 1 comprises: a hand-supportable housing 2 having a head portion and a handle portion supporting the head portion; a light transmission window 3 integrated with the head portion of the housing 2; a manually-actuated trigger switch 4 for activating laser scanning module (or engine) 5 supporting a laser scanning field 6 by swept laser beam 7; and optionally, an IR-based object detection subsystem 9 for generating an IR beam 10 within the laser scanning field 6, as shown in FIG. 1, for automatically detecting an object supporting a bar code 11 in the laser scanning field 6, and generating a trigger event signal in response thereto.
FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C show the laser scanning module 5 removed from hand-supportable housing 2, and revealing its housing framework 40, having a bottom surface 40A (not shown), side walls, and PC board 41 attached to the top open side to close off the framework and form the module housing.
As shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C and 4, the laser scanning module 5 comprises: an engine housing or framework 40 having multiple sides, namely opposing sides, a front side with a light transmission aperture, and opposing rear side, a bottom side and opposing top side; a laser scanning assembly 20 mounted within the engine housing for generating and scanning a laser scanning beam across a laser scanning field 6 adjacent the light transmission aperture; an electromagnetic coil structure 21 mounted in the engine housing 40, for generating an electromagnetic force field to interact with a permanent magnet 17 aboard the laser scanning assembly 20; and at least one PC board 41, mounted on at least one side of the module housing, and having one or more electronic circuits formed thereon implementing the functions of the various subsystems described in the system block diagram shown in FIG. 3.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, laser scanning assembly 20 comprises: a scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly 16 having a pair of silicone wheels 19 and 19′; rotor 16 having posts 16A and 16B supported by silicone wheels 19 and 19, respectively, and supporting scanning mirror 15 and the permanent magnet 17 so that the scanning mirror 15 and the magnet 17 are free to rotate about a scan axis 18 passing through rotor posts 16A and 16B.
As shown in FIG. 5, the electromagnetic coil structure 21 is mounted within the module housing on the rear side of the laser scanning assembly. The electromagnetic coil structure 21 has a plurality of electrically conductive pins connected to its coil windings, which are driven by scanner drive and sense circuits 22 shown in FIG. 3. The function of the electromagnetic coil 21 is to exert electromagnetic forces on the permanent magnet 17 retained in the scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly 20, and cause the scan mirror and magnetic rotor subassembly 20 to oscillate about its scan axis 18 (from its home position shown in FIG. 9A), and sweep the laser scanning beam 7 across the laser scanning field 5.
In the illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the electromagnetic coil support structure 21 has the shape of a bobbin, formed by a pail of parallel flanges extending from a cylindrical portion. About the cylindrical portion, a primary drive coil 21A is wound and terminated in a first pair of electrically-conductive pins. Also, a sense coil 21B is wound about the electromagnetic coil support structure and terminated in a second pair of electrically-conductive pins. As shown in FIG. 5, the first and second sets of electrically conductive pins 21C are arranged in a linear array, but may be arranged in a different configuration, in different illustrative embodiments, as may be required or desired.
As shown in FIG. 3, the laser scanning module 5 further comprises a number of components mounted within the module housing 40, namely: a laser drive circuit 12 for receiving control signals from system controller 13, and in response thereto, generating and delivering laser (diode) drive current signals to a laser source 14 having beam shaping optics to produce a laser scanning beam 7 which is repeatedly scanned across the laser scanning field 6 by the silicone wheel scanning assembly 20; light collection optics 23 (e.g. light collection mirror with an aperture for passage of laser beam 7 from VLD 14) for collecting light reflected/scattered from scanned object in the laser scanning field 6, and a photo-detector 24 for detecting the intensity of collected light and generating an analog scan data signal corresponding to the detected light intensity during scanning operations; and a beam deflecting mirror 31 for deflecting the laser beam 7 from its source 14, as incident beam towards the mirror component of the laser scanning assembly, which sweeps the deflected laser beam across the laser scanning field 6 and a bar code symbol 11 that might be simultaneously present therein during system operation.
As shown in FIG. 3, the laser scanning module 5 further comprises a number of circuits realized on PC board 41, namely: an analog scan data signal processor/digitizer 25 for (i) processing the analog scan data signals, (ii) converting the processed analog scan data signals into digital scan data signals, and then (iii) converting these digital scan data signals into digital words representative of the relative width of the bars and spaces in the scanned code symbol structure; a programmed decode processor 26 for decode processing digitized data signals, and generating symbol character data representative of each bar code symbol scanned by either a visible or invisible laser scanning beam; an input/output (I/O) communication interface module 27 for interfacing with a host communication system and transmitting symbol character data thereto via wired or wireless communication links that are supported by the symbol reader and host system 28; and system (micro)controller 13 for generating the necessary control signals for controlling operations within the laser scanning bar code symbol reading system 1. Notably, components 9, 13, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 can be realized on PC board 41 or other circuit boards, integrated with the laser scanning module 5, or on external PC boards interfaced with module 5 using a flexible ribbon cable, in a manner well known in the art.
Preferably, IR-based object detection subsystem 9 is mounted in the front of its light transmission window 3 so that the IR light transmitter and IR light receiver components of subsystem 9 have an unobstructed view of an object within the laser scanning field of the system, as shown in FIG. 1. Also, the IR object presence detection module 9 can transmit into the scanning field 6, IR signals having a continuous low-intensity output level, or having a pulsed higher-intensity output level, which may be used under some conditions to increase the object detection range of the system. In alternative embodiments, the IR light transmitter and IR light receiver components can be realized as visible light (e.g. red light) transmitter and visible light (e.g. red light) receiver components, respectively, well known in the art. Typically the object detecting light beam will be modulated and synchronously detected, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,971, incorporated herein by reference.
Depending on the application, the object detection subsystem 6 or the manually-actuated trigger switch 4 and related circuitry, can be enabled for the purpose of generating a trigger event signal and supporting either a manually-triggered mode of operation, or an automatically-triggered mode of operation, as required by the end-user application at hand.
Referring to FIGS. 6 through 8B, the laser scanning assembly 20 will be described in greater technical detail. As shown, rotor frame 16 employed in laser scanning assembly 20 is typically made from a thermoplastic, and has a number of structural features, namely: rigid support posts 16A and 16B extending from the rotor frame and aligned along scan axis 18; a mirror mounting surface 16C on the front portion of the rotor frame for mounting scanning mirror 15; and a magnet mounting surface 16D on the rear portion of the rotor frame for mounting permanent magnet 17.
As shown in FIG. 9A, upper silicone wheel hinge 19 comprises: a central portion 19C, having an aperture 19D, for passage and fixed attachment of rotor shaft 16A; four silicone spoke portions 19A1, 19A2, 19A3 and 19A4 extending from the central portion 19C, and extending radially from central aperture 19D to a circumferential rim portion 19E connected to the outer end portion of each spoke portion 19A1, 19A2, 19A3 and 19A4, so as to form the silicone wheel hinge 19, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. As shown in FIG. 6, wheel support projections 19F1, 19F2, 19F3 and 19F4 extend from the rim portion 19E at equal angular distances.
As shown in FIG. 9B, lower silicone wheel hinge 19′ also comprises: a central portion 19C′, having an aperture 19D′, for passage and fixed attachment of rotor shaft 16A; four silicone spoke portions 19A1′, 19A2′, 19A3′ and 19A4′ extending from the central portion 19C′, and extending radially from central aperture 19D′ to a circumferential rim portion 19E′ connected to the outer end portion of each spoke portion 19A1′, 19A2′, 19A3′ and 19A4′, so as to form the silicone wheel hinge 19′, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. As shown in FIG. 6, wheel support projections 19F1′, 19F2′, 19F3′ and 19F4′ extend from the rim portion 19E′ at equal angular distances.
As shown in FIGS. 2B, 2C, 4 and 6, a stationary frame holder (i.e. stator structure) 42 is provided for supporting silicone wheel hinges 19 and 19′ in a spaced apart relationship within the engine housing 40. As best shown in FIG. 6, the stationary frame holder 42 comprises a pair of spaced apart wheel support plates 42A and 42B, supported in spaced apart parallel manner, to form a stator framework embedded within the module housing 40. In the illustrative embodiment, the lower wheel support plate 42A is mounted on the bottom surface of the engine housing 40, as shown in FIG. 4 and has four recesses which receive and hold securely wheel projections 19F1′, 19F2′, 19F3′ and 19F4′.
Similarly, the upper wheel support plate 42B is mounted on the top surface of the engine housing 40, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C and has four recesses which receive and hold securely wheel projections 19F1, 19F2, 19F3 and 19F4. When configured, the stationary frame holder (i.e. stator structure) comprising wheel support plates 42A and 42B should not block the optical pathways of the scanning mirror 15 or the laser scanning beam 7 during laser scanning operations.
As show in FIG. 7A, the rotor frame 16 has a pair of posts 16A and 16B which integrally extend from the body of the frame structure 16 and are aligned along the scan axis 18 of the scanning assembly 20. As shown in FIGS. 9A, 9B, 7A through 7E, a silicone scan mirror and magnet (i.e. rotor) frame 16 comprises: a pair of rigid posts 16A and 16B aligned along a scan axis 18 passing through the silicone frame 36; a first side 16C for mounting a scan mirror 15; and a second side 16D for mounting a permanent magnet 17.
As shown in FIGS. 4, 6, 7A and 7B, the scan mirror 15 is mounted on the first side of the rotor frame 16A by a first layer of adhesive. The permanent magnet 17 is mounted on said second side of the rotor frame 16B using a second layer of adhesive. In the illustrative embodiment, the cross-sectional dimensions of the posts 16A and 16B are circular, but can be rectangular or other regular or irregular geometrical shapes, as may be required or desired, for a particular application. Also, in the illustrative embodiment, the first side 16C and the second side 16D of the rotor frame reside on the opposite sides of the scan axis 18 passing through the silicone frame 16.
FIG. 9A shows the spoke portions of the silicone wheel hinges 19, 19′ arranged in a non-torsionally distorted state. In contrast, FIG. 9B shows the spoke portions of the silicone wheel hinges 19, 19′ arranged in a torsionally-distorted state. In this distorted state, the spokes 19A1 through 19A4 undergo elastically-deformation when the electromagnet coil 21 drives the rotor 16 away from its home position, as shown in FIG. 9B, to its extreme scanning position shown in FIG. 9B, and therewhile generates elastic returning force causing the scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly 16 to return to its home position shown in FIG. 9A. When configured between these two extreme rotational positions, shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the silicone wheel hinges 19 and 19′ are elastically distorted, and generate restoring or returning forces that are generally linear with respect to the angle of rotation of the rotor assembly.
All components of the laser scanning assembly, except for the magnet 17, elastomeric wheel hinges 19 and 19′, and electromagnetic coil windings 21, can be a molded as thermoplastic parts using suitable thermoplastic material (e.g. polycarbonate, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, and/or synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, etc). The permanent magnet 17 can be realized using Neodymium Iron Boron Type N50 magnetic material, or similar material. The elastomeric wheel hinges 19, 19′ can be injection molded from a LSR (Liquid Silicone Rubber) material, such as Momentive Performance #2030 Silicone or Shin-Etsu KE2090-30AB Silicone Elastomer. The durometer of the silicone elaster selected will depend upon the desire resonant frequency for the mechanical system. The layer of adhesive can be a Dow Corning 734 adhesive, or similar material, and the primer layer could be a GE SS4004P or similar material.
In general, system 1 supports both an automatic-triggered mode of operation and a manually-triggered mode of operation. During either mode of operation, a triggering event signal is generated (e.g. by object detector 9 or by manual trigger switch 4). In response thereto, the laser scanning module 5 generates and projects a laser scanning beam through the light transmission window 3, and across the laser scanning field 6, and any object present therein. The laser scanning assembly 20 repeatedly scans the laser beam 7 across the object and any code symbol 11 residing thereon in the laser scanning field 6.
In the torsion-based laser scanning assembly 20 described above, the pair of silicone wheel hinges 19 and 19′ are spaced apart in parallel planes, and support the rotor subassembly 16 about the ends of its rotor shaft 16A, 16B so that scan mirror 15 and a permanent magnet 17 are rotated about scan axis 18 passing through the rotor shaft when the permanent magnet 17 is driven by electromagnetic coil structure 21 in close proximity therewith. This creates a scanning motion similar to that supported by conventional shaft-based laser scanning mechanisms. Also, during each laser scanning cycle, the silicone wheel hinges 19, 19′ provide a spring function (i.e. restoring forces) causing the scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly 16 to automatically return its home position, shown in FIG. 9A, after each scanning rotation shown in FIG. 9B, in an energy-efficient manner.
The light collection optics 23, 24 collects light reflected/scattered from scanned code symbols on the object in the scanning field. The photo-detector 24 automatically detects the intensity of collected light (i.e. photonic energy) and generates an analog scan data signal corresponding to the light intensity detected during scanning operations. The analog scan data signal processor/digitizer 25 processes these analog scan data signals, converts the processed analog scan data signals into digitized data signals, and then converts the digital data signals into digital words, for the decode processor 26.
The programmed decode processor 26 then decode processes the digital words, and generates symbol character data representative of each bar code symbol scanned by laser scanning beam. Symbol character data corresponding to the bar codes read by the decoder 26 is then transmitted to the host system via the I/O communication interface 27 which may support either a wired and/or wireless communication link, well known in the art. During laser scanning operations, the system controller 13 generates the necessary control signals for controlling operations within the laser scanning bar code symbol reading system 1.
Referring to FIG. 10, a method of reading bar code symbols and controlling operations within the laser scanning bar code reading system 1 will be described in greater detail below.
As indicated in FIG. 10, the process orchestrated by the system controller 13 begins at the START Block. Then at Block A in FIG. 3, the system controller determines if a trigger event has occurred (i.e. whether or not trigger signal has been manually generated by trigger 4, or automatically produced by IR detection subsystem 9). In the event that a trigger event has been detected at Block A, then at Block B the system controller 13 directs the laser scanning module 5 to scan the detected object with a laser beam generated by the VLD 14. If not, the system resides at Block A waiting for a trigger event signal.
At Block C in FIG. 10, the decode processor 26 runs a decode algorithm on the captured scan data, and if at Block D, a bar code symbol is decoded, then at Block E, the produced symbol character data is transmitted to the host system, and the system controller returns to Block A. If, however, at Block D a bar code symbol is not decoded, then the system controller 13 determines at Block F whether or not the maximum scan attempt threshold has been reached, and if not, then the system controller 13 returns to Block B, and resumes the flow as indicated.
However, if at Block F in FIG. 10, the system controller 16 determines that the maximum scan attempt threshold has been accomplished, then the system controller 13 proceeds to Block G and sends a Failure to Decode notification to the operator and returns to Block A. In some instances, block G may not be required and no Failure to Decode notice would be sent.
In the illustrative embodiments, the laser scanning modules has been shown to have the form factor of parallel-piped shaped engines, where opposite sides are generally parallel to each other. It is understood, however, that in alternative embodiments, the laser scanning module of the present disclosure can have non-parallel-piped form factors (e.g. cylindrical-shaped, drum shaped, oval-shaped, arbitrary-shaped 3D modules). Also, the laser scanning assemblies of the present disclosure can be installed in all kinds of code symbol reading systems without the use of module or engine housings, and can be realized directly on optical benches, PC boards, and numerous other environments.
It is understood that the laser scanning assembly of the illustrative embodiments may be modified in a variety of ways which will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the novel teachings disclosed herein. All such modifications and variations of the illustrative embodiments thereof shall be deemed to be within the scope of the Claims appended hereto.
a stator structure mounted stationary relative to the module housing, comprising a pair of support members for supporting each of the elastomeric wheel hinges.
2. The laser scanning assembly of claim 1, wherein the pair of elastomeric wheel hinges generate an elastic returning force to the scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly.
3. The laser scanning assembly of claim 2, wherein the magnitude of the elastic returning force is linearly proportional to the magnitude of the angle of rotation of the scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly about the scan axis.
4. The laser scanning assembly of claim 1, wherein each elastomeric wheel hinge frame is molded from a silicone material.
5. The laser scanning assembly of claim 1, wherein the silicone material is a liquid silicone rubber.
6. The laser scanning assembly of claim 1, wherein the rotor frame and the rotor support posts are made from a thermoplastic material.
7. The laser scanning assembly of claim 1, wherein the each rotor support post has a circular cross-sectional dimension or a rectangular cross-sectional dimension.
8. The laser scanning assembly of claim 1, wherein the scan mirror and the permanent magnet are mounted on opposite sides of the scan axis.
9. A laser scanning module comprising the laser scanning assembly of claim 1.
the laser scanning assembly according to claim 1 mounted in the housing.
the laser scanning module according to claim 10 mounted in the housing.
a stator structure mounted stationary relative to said housing, and including one or more support features for supporting each said elastomeric wheel hinges, so that said pair of elastomeric wheel hinges torsionally support said scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly and allow said scan mirror and magnet rotor assembly to oscillate freely about said scan axis passing through said rotor frame.
13. The laser scanning assembly of claim 12, wherein said pair of elastomeric wheel hinges generates an elastic returning force to said scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly.
14. The laser scanning assembly of claim 13, wherein the magnitude of said elastic returning force is linearly proportional to the magnitude of the angle of rotation of said scan mirror and magnet rotor subassembly about said scan axis.
15. The laser scanning assembly of claim 12, wherein each said elastomeric wheel hinge frame is molded from a silicone material.
16. The laser scanning assembly of claim 12, wherein said silicone material is a liquid silicone rubber.
17. The laser scanning assembly of claim 12, wherein said rotor frame and said are made from a thermoplastic material.
18. The laser scanning assembly of claim 10, wherein said pair of said rotor support posts have a circular cross-sectional dimension or a rectangular cross-sectional dimension.
19. The laser scanning assembly of claim 11, wherein said scan mirror and said permanent magnet are mounted on opposite sides of said scan axis.
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2019-04-19T21:50:52Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US20140197239A1/en
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Reference
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wordpress
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Poll – What is Your Favorite Eye Color? | Visionary Eyecare's Blog: "The Eye Journal"
← Visionary Eyecare Website now Translated into English, Spanish, French, Portugese, Italian, Japanese, German and more!
Poll – What is Your Favorite Eye Color?
Here at Visionary Eyecare we are always curious to know your opinions…. we love hearing from you!!
So tell us….what is your favorite eye color??
This entry was posted in Polls and tagged Cast, Color, Eye, Eye Care, Eye Color, Eyecare, Favorite, Love, Opinion, Poll, Poll Box, Polls, Visionary, Visionary Eyecare, Vote. Bookmark the permalink.
I dont have a favourite eye colour… all eyes are beautiful! That said, a dark brown or deep blue are probably equally the best. And big eyes always look more attractive.
If you have brown eyes and your dad has blue eyes ( then you have a dominant brown gene and a recessive blue gene)….and your hubby has blue eyes (2 recessive blue genes) – then if I remember my genetics class (from a billion years ago) then each child that you have has a 50% chance of getting blue eyes. Pretty much a coin toss!!
Wow….and all 5 kids got brown huh?? Well…you are definitely due for the one with the blue eyes – so when are you planning to get pregnant again!??!?!
I agree that all eyes ARE beautiful!!
How lucky am I that I get to take care of them for my patients every day?!?!
Did you vote in the poll box for your favorite eye color?
If you had to choose to look at someone with deep brown eyes or dark blue eyes – which would you choose??
Hi Dr. Bearden! Thanks for your reply. I was hoping to try for that baby with blue eyes but I was outnumbered…and we got a puppy instead! He’s a cute silky terrier…with BROWN eyes!
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2019-04-22T05:12:01Z
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https://visionaryeyecare.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/poll-what-is-your-favorite-eye-color/
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Kids
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wordpress
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I began my working life as a gif chopper at CHBI, having realised that there were already quite enough unemployed Fine Art sculptors in the world. I learnt a great deal at that agency, and left at around the time it was bought by Razorfish, following an ‘inspirational’ (ie: slightly inebriated) meeting with Phil Jones, who convinced me to come and work for him at Realtime Studios. I got to work on several of the Diesel sites, as well as projects for Motorola and an online store for Sony PlayStation which never saw the light of day.
Following Realtime’s merger with the below the line agency Evans Hunt Scott, I began writing copy for DM, alongside the art direction and design work for digital. This meant that when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, I managed to avoid the cull.
2000 was also the year I got married to the still-wonderful Ms. Charlotte Pritchard-Davies. The wedding, for reasons which escape me now, was on “This Morning with Richard and Judy”.
As web advertising began to pick up again, I was part of the pitch team for the newly relaunched MINI, mostly in charge of the website, but with a bit of DM copy thrown in. The MINI web experience also included some games, which I wrote, designed and produced – MINI AIR HOCKEY made it onto the site, however a second game involving Zombies throwing themselves out of the windows of a skyscraper didn’t; it was due to go live on September 11th, 2001. I recall the word ‘inappropriate’ being used repeatedly.
At this point, there was a brief intermission, during which I tried to make a living as a comedian, pretending to be a second-rate personality DJ. I’m not sure what I was thinking.
Returning to my senses (and having become a father for the first time) I did a brief stint as a contract copywriter for Agency.com, writing for BT, followed by a more permanent move to EHS Brann as creative director for Volvo. The Life on Board project was a pretty big campaign running across Europe, which won several awards, including 3 Cyber Lions at Cannes.
However, I was after something else, and left to join a small start up called Mook, where I spent several happy years. It was during this time I produced my first major game design via the BBC ID&E development fund. I realised I wanted to do more of the games thing, so left Mook to go freelance.
In 2007 I almost went back to fulltime, when a long time dream agency came-a-calling. I spent two months working as the CD on Nokia at R/GA, but it wasn’t for me. So instead, we sold our house in London’s fashionable East London and moved to the countryside, where we currently live with our two daughters in an old Co-Op that needs a hell of a lot of renovating.
Once again, I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking.
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2019-04-21T12:44:37Z
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https://bookofworks.wordpress.com/about/
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Porn
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Games
| 0.91828 |
tripod
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Offering professional, reliable and prompt installations of your complete home theater system, components and furniture.
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If you want to get the most out of your home audio and video equipment call on us.
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2019-04-20T22:58:54Z
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http://jshometheater.tripod.com/About%20Us.htm
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columbia
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Ellen Morris has published two books and numerous articles on issues pertinent to ancient Egyptian imperialism. Her first book is entitled The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt’s New Kingdom (Brill, 2005). Her second, Ancient Egyptian Imperialism (Wiley-Blackwell Press, 2018), engages the work of scholars of early empires in examining various instances of Egyptian imperialism from an explicitly cross-cultural perspective.
Ancient Egyptian Imperialism. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell Press.
The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt’s New Kingdom. Probleme der Ägyptologie 22. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Théorie insulaire et affordances des oasis du désert égyptien, trans. Lise Garond. In Mer et désert de l’Antiquité à nos jours: visions croisées, ed. G. Tallet and T. Sauzeau. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 63-90.
Middle Kingdom clappers, dancers, birth magic, and the reinvention of ritual. In Company of Images: Modelling the Imaginary World of Middle Kingdom Egypt (2000-1500 BC), ed. Gianluca Miniaci, Marilina Betrò, Stephen Quirke. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, pp. 285-335.
Prevention through deterrence along Egypt’s northeastern border. Or the politics of a weaponized desert. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 5.2: 133-147.
Exchange, extraction, and the politics of ideological money laundering in Egypt’s New Kingdom Empire. In Policies of Exchange: Political Systems and Modes of Interaction in the Aegean and the Near East in the 2nd Millennium B.C.E., Proceedings of the International Symposium at the University of Freiburg Institute for Archaeological Studies, 30th May-2nd June 2012, ed. B. Eder and R. Pruzsinszky. Oriental and European Archaeology v. 2. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 167-190.
Egypt, Ugarit, the god Ba’al, and the puzzle of a royal rebuff. In The Crossroads II, Or There and Back Again. Proceedings of an International Conference on the Relations of Egypt and the Near East in the Bronze Age, Prague 15-18, 2014, ed. J. Mynářová. Prague: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, pp. 315-351.
Mitanni enslaved: prisoners of war, pride, and productivity in a new imperial regime. In Creativity and Innovation in the Reign of Hatshepsut, eds. J. Galan, B. M. Bryan, and P. F. Dorman. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 361-379.
(Un)Dying loyalty: meditations on retainer sacrifice in Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. In Violence and Civilization: Studies of Social Violence in History and Prehistory, ed. Rod Campbell. Providence: Joukowsky Institute Publications, pp. 61-93.
Propaganda and performance at the dawn of the state. In Experiencing Power, Generating Authority: Cosmos, Politics, and the Ideology of Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, ed. J. A. Hill, et al. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum Press, pp. 33-64.
Paddle dolls and performance in ancient Egypt. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 47: 71-103.
Insularity and island identity in the oases bordering Egypt’s Great Sand Sea. In Thebes and Beyond: Studies in Honour of Kent R. Weeks, ed. Zahi Hawass and Salima Ikram. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities Press, pp. 129-144.
The pharaoh and pharaonic office. In The Blackwell Companion to Ancient Egypt, ed. A.B. Lloyd. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 201-217.
Opportunism in contested lands, B.C. and A.D. Or how Abdi-Ashirta, Aziru, and Padsha Khan Zadran got away with murder. Millions of Jubilees: Studies in Honor of David Silverman, vol. I, ed. Zahi Hawass and Jennifer Houser Wegner. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities Press, pp. 413-438.
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2019-04-19T07:28:29Z
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http://classics.columbia.edu/ellen-morris
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The Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), the borrower for the national transporter, will play the intermediary for raising a large part of the proposed Rs 1,50,000-crore loan from state-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) as well; the instrument will be a 30-year paper with competitive rates for the railways, IRFC’s managing director Rajiv Datt said. The loan from LIC will be raised over five years and will be used for capacity expansion of the railways, he said, adding that funds would be deployed in long-term projects with relatively higher rates of return.
While the Indian Railways (IR) can’t borrow directly and use the services of IRFC, some of the rail PSUs like IRCON and RITES will be raising funds from the LIC for their own projects. Between the IRFC and other rail PSUs, around Rs 17,000 crore will be raised from LIC this year, sources said.
IRFC has raised over Rs 1.3 lakh crore from the market for the railways over the last 26 years; it owns the rolling stock (engines, coaches and wagons) procured by the transporter and receive rentals from the transporter under a finance lease arrangement. Datt said raising LIC funds for the railways was a win-win situation for all given that the cash-rich insurer would find the long gestation period of the railway projects compatible with its business cycle. As for the railways, whose expansion needs are huge and internal funds and budgetary resources are limited, loans from the insurer would complement the financial resources.
The Indian Railways have budgeted the highest ever capital investment of Rs 1 lakh crore for the current fiscal (the figure was Rs 65,788 crore last year) which includes budget support of Rs 40,000 crore and Rs 17,655 crore to be raised from the market by IRFC. The D K Mittal committee had recommended that the IRFC borrowing be raised to Rs 25,000 crore a year and rail PSUs be allowed to raise external commercial borrowings.
Datt said IRFC was more than willing to raise more funds for the railways, if needed, but added that it was for the transporter to take a call on it, given its repayment capacities. As far as the railways’ market borrowings are concerned, the interest and currency risks are borne by the railways and the IRFC earns only a marginal return of 50 bps. The IRFC loan is structured as a 30-year lease and within half the time, the principal and the interest are almost completely recovered by the financial institution. The IRFC bonds are attractive to investors with the yield hovering between the G-Sec and AAA bonds’ rates, Datt claimed.
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2019-04-24T20:50:11Z
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https://indianrlynews.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/irfc-to-facilitate-indian-railways-rs-150000-cr-lic-loan/
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…conducted by Jason O’Toole. It’s both sympathetic and forensic, addressing all the issues that have been raised in recent times. There’s some interesting stuff in there about recent political history too as well as plans for the future.
Not far into our conversation, Clare Daly tells me straight out that she was wrong. In January, the Socialist TD was arrested in Dublin on suspicion of drink driving. Nursing a headcold, the next day she admitted to having had a large hot whiskey before driving. Today, however, she concedes that it was a mistake to have even one drink before getting behind the wheel of her car. ‘It was an error of judgement to have even one,’ she says.
However, she may yet face charges relating to the incident. As our sister paper, the Irish Mail on Sunday, revealed, a file has been sent to the DPP in which gardaí claim that Daly was asked to provide a breath specimen but refused. If tried and convicted she faces a fine of up to €1,000 or up to six months in prison.
Daly — who calls herself ‘an animal loving vegetarian’ — joined the Labour Party in her teens and was the president of the Students’ Union when she studied accountancy and finance at Dublin City University. In the mid-Eighties, she was one of a number of people expelled from Labour for embracing hardline policies. Aged 21, she joined the radical Socialist Party. After college, Daly took a job in Aer Lingus’ catering rather than using her education to pursue a career in business. ‘For me, a job is a means to an end. It’s a way of surviving and to have enough to get by. I wanted time to develop myself in other ways, not through a career in that sense,’ she says. She certainly did that — using Aer Lingus to get involved in trade union politics. In 1999, she was elected to Fingal County Council. Despite managing to top the polls in that election, and two subsequent local elections, it took Daly almost two decades to get elected to the Dáil.
After Daly’s split from the Socialists, false rumours were circulated that she was having an affair with Wallace. She describes such stories as ‘real infantile stuff’ and ‘disgusting’.
…also dismisses reports that there was fallout amongst the Technical Group over Wallace’s tax controversy. ‘In terms of the VAT, we said — as he said himself — that he shouldn’t have under-declared it and that was a mistake. There were no rows.’ She clearly believes Wallace is entitled to a second chance. ‘Yes, originally the VAT shouldn’t have been under-declared but that’s life.
Daly has, however, joined forces with Mick Wallace, Joan Collins and Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan’ to highlight allegations of gardaí improperly wiping thousands of motorists’ penalty points and fines. Their call for an independent inquiry into the matter looked to have backfired, however, when Flanagan admitted that gardaí wiped out penalty points for him on two occasions.
And as to the future?
It is very exciting to hear that Clare and Joan are planning to register as the United Left to run in elections. These two powerful women socialists can show a way forward for the left, can push aside the left sectarianism and ultra leftism of the left groups which has done so much damage to the movement and the struggle of working people. John Throne.
Your Game on Sky is brilliant, John. I never miss an episode. Is the evil incestuous Queen going to get her come uppance in this series? And are there any more of those dragon’s eggs out there?
I am not that enthused. Maybe I am reverting to being a sectarian but I see the above as a very vague left program. Maybe a bit better than Gregory but not by much. Burnt by Wallace and now by Ming, and it is all put down as being irrelevant.I don’t see either of them being responsible to any rank and file movement even if one is started.Must stop now, I am writing like Mark P.
While there are relevant issues in relation to both Flanagan & Wallace, they are really side issues. The main issue is would such a plan, a REAL UNITED LEFT ALLIANCE, be possible with Daly & Collins pushing for that?
Paddy and Seamus Healy start a new party. I hope it leads somewhere. They are both sound and cautious so I don’t think they would move unless they felt the time was right.
Is it possible so that in my constituency next June I will able to choose between candidates for WUA, SP, PBP, CAHWT, UL etc. Yaay big it up for left unity.
By the way are any of the above groups prepared to coalesce in local government?
I think Wallace and Ming are real problems. On a bigger scale my reservations with SF is that they leave open the door to coalition with FF, FG or Labour. If in practice you are doing this already on a local scale with implicit pacts and cooperation with those such as Ming and Wallace, I suspect that you might be open to it if you had the balance of power. I remember what a fool Finian McGrath made of himself and his leftism where he sold his soul to FF. Remember how we was waxing lyrical on Asylum seekers when FG pulled a vote and he went shamefaced into the government lobbies.The excuses will be the national interest, saving a local hospital, a special deal for whatever. FF especially will give anything for power except anything meaningful.
In the next set of elections the Irish working class will be presented by the Irish left with a plethora of candidates, alliances and parties. We will have candidates from United Left, Workers and Unemployed Action, People before Profit, Socialist party, Workers Party, Eirigi , various independents and now almost definitely a CAHWT slate, and probably others. All pushing various left reformist programmes. The result will be that people will overwhelmingly settle for what they perceive as the most effect left reformist party. That will be Sinn Fein. The rest will jockey hard to become the premier left party/alliance/project. The anarchists were right what a waste of time.
The anarchists as an alternative. A long way from that. I think protest politics without a political project is fairly meaningless. Small and rarely large groups of people assembling, having a march is not enough. And the smaller the march the more the chanting of slogans.Will the modern day walls of Jericho fall if we shout a lot? Making up for the lack of numbers by more and more frantic activity.
A meaningful far left project is needed if we are to galvanise opposition. This means an electoral front. A minimum program is needed and for me it’s central plank has to be a pledge not to go into alliances or governments with bourgeois parties or splinters of same.
That’s a lovey caricature of anarchism Jim worthy of politics.ie. I expect better of you.The action of the CAHWT in 2012 had and the pubic sector unions this week will have a greater impact on any policy than all the time and energy spent trying to get a united left election party, but feel free to do what you want.
After college, Daly took a job in Aer Lingus’ catering rather than using her education to pursue a career in business. ‘For me, a job is a means to an end. It’s a way of surviving and to have enough to get by.
Well, Ms. Daly certainly makes a strong case for the introduction of student loans to replace the “free fees” system.
By becoming a washer-upper post-graduation, she choose to waste an extremely expensive state-provided education.
Not only wasteful over-consumption, but also dog-in-the-manger style denial of that resource to someone else who would actually use it for the purpose intended.
What class contempt! A “washer-upper”? A socially useful occupation in contrast to many of the posts – in finance for example – into which many university graduates go.
What is the purpose for which university education is intended? Solely for the middle class to attain the qualifications needed to graduate into the income of their parents?
Should catering workers not learn about literature and history and philosophy and science and economics? Wasteful over consumption? Like the daily charge of a third level educated lawyer?
At least get your facts right. Free fees weren’t introduced until 1995. Clare Daly graduated from DCU in the late 1980s.
Ah Forbenius. As dmfod notes, not too hot on basics like…er… facts.
I see she’s interviewed in the latest Liberty. Was she ever interviewed while an SP member (and SIPTU shop steward) or are they just using her as an attack on the proper left now that she’s a reformist.
Is that her fault though, whether she’s interviewed in Liberty? Surely the fault would like with Liberty if fault there is.
Of course, surely the question of fault would depend on (i) whether she actually had been interviewed by Liberty previously – had she? and (ii) what’s contained in the Liberty interview, and whether it is an attack on the SP.
That said, it’s hard to take seriously any argument using the phrase ‘proper left’.
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2019-04-21T08:47:45Z
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https://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/interview-in-the-mail-with-clare-daly-td/
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George Trefgarne: How did a Conservative Chancellor deliver 7% growth after the 1930s Depression?
George Trefgarne is the author of Metroboom: Lessons from Britain's recovery in the 1930s, published by the Centre for Policy Studies. Follow George on Twitter.
As George Osborne and his Treasury team finalise the Budget, their ears ringing with the appeals of all and sundry about what to do, they could do worse than consider the last time that Britain was caught up in a global financial crisis, when we led the world to recovery: the 1930s.
Misconceptions about the Thirties abound and it is surprising how many stick their fingers in their ears if you try and explain that actually, the British economy was booming by the middle of that decade, and it is time we asked how it was achieved.
By 1935, the economy was expanding at 7%. New industries like car and aircraft production, manmade fibres and consumer goods took off. Most strikingly, some 2.8m new homes were built, for this was the period when Britain became a home-owning democracy. There was not only amazing technical innovation, it was a culturally buoyant time too, both in modern architecture and for reflective British artists like Ravillious, Bawden, Nicholson and Hepworth.
Perhaps the biggest prejudice one has to discard is that the architect of this recovery was a politician who has since become reviled for his role in appeasement: the then Chancellor, Neville Chamberlain. He bestrode the era like a colossus and his successful political and economic strategy led to two of the biggest ever Conservative landslides, in 1931 and 1935. True, there was a coalition, or National Government, but the Conservatives had a large majority on their own and chose to govern with other parties at the behest of the King and in the national interest.
Whatever his subsequent failings as a Prime Minister, Chamberlain was for six years a great reforming chancellor, perhaps as great as Gladstone or Nigel Lawson. He was also a skilful politician, who invented the Budget broadcast on radio and in the cinema, reduced the length of Budget speeches and even featured on the front page of Time magazine in America.
So what lessons are there for today? Three big ones come to mind.
Let us start with tax cuts, as the issues of the 50p rate and whether to give some relief to the "squeezed middle" seem to be dominating the pre-Budget discussion in 2012. Chamberlain would certainly have disliked the 50p rate and he ensured the equivalent surtax rose no higher than 37.5% on incomes of over £1.2m in today's money. But his record is clear. He would not have cut the top rate first. He was a sort of proto-Thatcherite, on the side of the strivers. From 1934 onwards he both reduced the basic rate from 25% to 22.5% and hugely increased the personal allowance, especially for families with children.
The second lesson is to be brave about cuts. The quicker the cuts are implemented and the budget balanced, the quicker the recovery will come. In 1931, Chamberlain and his Labour predecessor Snowden, cut public spending by 10%, including all civil servant salaries and unemployment benefits. But by 1934 the economy was growing fast enough for him to restore them.
The third lesson is to have an effective cheap money policy. Britain came off the disastrous gold standard (the ERM of its day) and devalued by 25% and this helped exporters. Chamberlain also presided over a conversion of the national debt in 1932, thereby reducing the Government's interest bill. The Bank of England then steadily reduced rates from 6% to 2%. He also benefited from the massive growth of some excellent new entrants in the banking system: building societies. Building societies were trusted and it was the mortgages which they offered to the new, rising middle class which underpinned the housing boom.
By contrast, it is not at all clear that Quantitative Easing, the Bank of England's policy today of printing money and buying Government bonds, is working well. Is it really the best cheap money policy on offer? Inflation remains high, small business lending curtailed and mortgage rates are creeping up once more.
The 1930s are not a perfect decade. Unemployment fell by a million, but remained unacceptably high in the Special Areas which relied on shipbuilding and coal mining. But it is a decade which offers powerful lessons for our own time. Ironically, Vince Cable has realised this and in a little noticed paragraph in his leaked letter earlier this month, alluded to the important lessons of the 1930s. Let us hope the rest of us learn those lessons too.
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2019-04-25T22:04:05Z
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https://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2012/03/from-gtrefers-how-did-a-conservative-chancellor-deliver-7-growth-after-the-1930s-depression.html
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Porn
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News
| 0.10408 |
typepad
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Caps to the Capital: Send ONE soon!
I've had some communication from Save the Children today. They would be delighted to receive one cap per knitter, although larger contributions are great, and would like to have caps arrive by mid-December, even though the deadline is January 2, 2007.
So I'm putting the finishing touches on my pile and will send this batch out tomorrow. The action kit has an address of Save the Children, PO Box 950, Westport, CT 06881. The e-mail I received this morning said packages can also be addressed to Save the Children, 54 Wilton Road, Wesport, CT 06880.
The photos here are not great because it's a gray day, but it was gray yesterday, too, and the primary subjects of the photos are about to be sealed up in a cardboard box and will be out of here by tomorrow, when the sun will probably shine.
ONE cap takes less than an hour to knit and can be mailed to Save the Children in a relatively small envelope. I wonder how many people could knit and mail just ONE cap within the next week?
Sending the box tomorrow will open up opportunities for me to finish a cardigan that's been knitted up to the armholes since late spring and to proceed with (and post notes on) my Arctic Lace knitalong projects. They're not only started but well along, and then I got distracted by how simple it would be to make such a big difference in someone else's life. So quickly.
One cap. . . .
Hi Deb, what are the requirements? Any specific type of yarn or pattern required? Are they looking for newborn or premie sizes?
I'm sure I could wip up one cap over the weekend.
The basics can be found with a search on Caps to the Capital. They are looking for smaller-than-average sizes, because many of the babies are low birthweight, although not necessarily premies.
Any soft yarn. I used knitting worsted on U.S. size 5 needles (you'd be on a 5, too, because we both knit loosely; most of the world would be on 7s). I worked in the round.
Here's the Robson-autopilot version of one of the patterns in the Save the Children action kit.
Cast on 44 sts, rib for 1.5 inches, then work stockinette until the whole is 5 inches from the start. Dec round: k 2, k2tog around. Knit a plain round. *Dec round: k1, k2tog around. Knit a plain round.* Repeat from * to * once. Dec round: k2tog around. Break off and pull the yarn through the remaining sts, probably about 7 or 8, and secure the end.
If the stitch counts on the dec rounds don't work out quite right, work an extra k2tog at the end of the round if you feel like it. It's a little random. I also made some random stripes and other amusement on some of the caps.
Count me in for about a dozen.
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2019-04-24T03:47:34Z
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https://independentstitch.typepad.com/the_independent_stitch/2006/12/caps_to_the_cap_1.html
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.113436 |
fc2
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I'm from A, but now, I live in B.
It depends (on the situation).
I talk to my boss.
I consult with my boss.
We will stage magic show in February.
copyright © 2005 Y-mode all rights reserved.
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2019-04-22T22:18:31Z
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http://yumode.blog94.fc2.com/blog-entry-226.html
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.59467 |
wordpress
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For students of music theory, the topic of “sonata form” is both central and daunting. The phrase “sonata form” is used to describe a kind of musical form that arose in the eighteenth century and is still in evidence today. Sonata form is arguably the most flexible, creative and widely-used form in the canon of Western art music of the last three hundred years.
Beginning students of composition naturally want to know what the rules of sonata form are: what is it that defines the form? How does a composer set about writing a piece in sonata form? The answers are nearly always frustrating. Sonata form, they are told, is less a form than a principle … or a style … or a theory; it doesn’t have hard-and-fast rules. And yet it must have rules: otherwise, it couldn’t be thought of as a form at all.
[…] the basic concerns of Sonata Theory are learned relatively quickly—like the moves of chess. These concerns may seem simple precisely because they are simple. […] Beyond the elementary principles of Sonata Theory, though, lies an elaborate network of possibility, nuance, flexibility, sophistication, and detail that takes patience to master. As with chess, again, one may learn the moves rapidly, but to play the game at a fully proficient level is more difficult.
I do not know whether either Robert Hepokoski or Warren Darcy is a keen chess player; neither of them appears in the current FIDE database of active players. But I strongly suspect at least one of them is, because the comparison is so apt. At every moment of writing a piece in sonata form, the composer is faced with a set of possible continuations; all of them adhere to the general conventions of the form, but some sound banal while others sound brilliant. And the grandmaster, contemplating which of the many legal moves on the chessboard he or she will select, is offered the same potential, the same oscillation between banality and brilliance.
Playing through a sonata form movement by Mozart is indeed much like playing through a game by Capablanca; we all know the rules, but we can only wonder at how the results are brought about.
Why make this comparison with sonata form in particular, though? Surely any musical form: fugue, variation form, operatic aria, or whatever, has this same balance of rule-based convention and individual brilliance? Well, yes; but perhaps the connections between sonata form as a practice and chess playing go deeper. I suspect they do; but that is a topic for future posts.
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2019-04-23T01:54:10Z
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https://chessandmusic.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/is-writing-in-sonata-form-like-playing-chess/
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Porn
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Games
| 0.416332 |
wired
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As countless organizations find themselves in the awkward position of trying to expand video offerings while cutting costs, an open-source platform has emerged to save them money and disrupt the online video market.
Kaltura, co-founder of the Open Video Alliance, is the first open-source video platform, from its video codec to its back-end systems for uploading, hosting, embedding, syndicating, analyzing and inserting advertisements into videos. Company founder and CEO Ron Yekutiel likens it to RedHat Linux or MySQL — anyone can use the code for free. Clients pay only for custom installation, integration, and support, depending on their level of traffic.
“We’re completely opening up all the facets of online video,” explained Yekutiel, including recently released components that let people run the system on their own servers. Even before that release, over 35,000 sites have adopted Kaltura, making it the world’s fastest-growing video platform according to Yekutiel.
Anyone with the technical chops and server space can now use Kaltura to build their own version of YouTube, for free. It also helps cash-strapped organizations (and aren’t they all, these days?) save money on integrating video into consumer-facing websites, corporate intranets, educational resources and wherever else video is going (which is just about everywhere).
Wikipedia plans to use Kaltura to add crowdsourced, crowd-editable videos to its online encyclopedia entries by the end of the year, and that’s just the beginning.
Organizations with online video aspirations have faced three main options in the past, each with its own drawbacks: building a platform from scratch (difficult, expensive, feature-starved); embedding videos from YouTube or Blip.tv (less control, no deep integration, bleeds ad revenue, vendor lock-in); or a video management platform such as Brightcove (high recurring fees, vendor lock-in).
Kaltura offers the features and control of a platform like Brightcove, but at a lower cost — all the way down to free, unless a company wants support or custom integration.
“Until today, has been offered only as a service, not as a product,” said Yekutiel, who plans to give that product away for free. And even if a company pays for the maximum level of support from Kaltura, Yekutiel says, its prices undercut those of market-leader Brightcove. (Disclosure: Wired uses Brightcove.) A spokeswoman did not respond in time for publication.
By controlling every aspect of their own video services, companies, schools, video sharing sites, and other businesses free themselves from dependence on third parties to get things done. “Often, you as a website have very specific requirements… and often, if you’re a small or medium site, you don’t have that flexibility because you’re not that important [to a video management provider].” Running Kaltura themselves lets smaller sites customize everything to their heart’s content and integrate video with the rest of their operations without depending on a third-party provider.
Finally, Yekutiel said, Kaltura enables companies to put the video system behind their firewalls — a crucial feature for medical, educational, business, and government uses that third-party video platforms can’t provide. A company disseminating new strategies to its sales force via video wouldn’t want to give its competitors a chance to access them; the same goes for government agency tutorials on how to clear a bridge of IEDs.
In addition to the considerable business potential (at Kaltura.com, where the company offers the paid support option), Kaltura’s free offerings at Kaltura.org stand to democratize media beyond the semi-walled gardens of MySpace and YouTube.
For example, a band that wants to create its own video site can now do so without involving any outside company, other than whatever they use for server space. They’ll probably still upload to YouTube and MySpace for the big audiences there, while linking back to their own standalone sites where their videos can be played without any outside branding to interfere with the direct fan-to-band relationship. That’s just one application; Yekutiel sees online video becoming as ubiquitous as online text.
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2019-04-18T21:06:42Z
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https://www.wired.com/2009/07/open-source-threatens-to-disrupt-expand-online-video-market/
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Porn
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Business
| 0.272996 |
wordpress
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Transitional words and phrases provide the glue that holds ideas together in writing. They provide coherence (that hanging together, making sense as a whole) by helping the reader to understand the relationship between ideas, and they act as signposts that help the reader follow the movement of the discussion. Transitional expressions, then, can be used between sentences, between paragraphs, or between entire sections of a work. The two kinds of transitions are those of logic and those of thought. Each of these kinds is discussed here.
Pronouns and Possessive Pronouns. Follow a noun with a pronoun (to continue the same subject) or a possessive pronoun (to move to something related to the original subject).
Fido is asleep. He is a good dog. His house is near the tree.
The oranges are in the kitchen bowl. Eat all you want, but check them for ripeness first.
The Castells must be home from the beach. I see their car in the driveway.
Keyword Repetition. Repeat the word around which the discussion is focusing.
Many cities are overcrowded. But now there is help for the city.
Your gardener can apply this fertilizer to your lawn monthly. Just read the fertilizer label. OR Just ask your gardener about it. OR Your lawn will become greener and juicier.
Synonyms. A synonym is a word that means nearly the same as another word. The meaning is close enough so that the thought continues, but different enough so that the idea expands and gains greater definition than it would by simply repeating the same word over and over (which would be pretty boring, too, huh?).
Fred’s car is fast and powerful. But is such a vehicle legal? And don’t hot rods like that pollute the air?
We hiked from the meadow to the peak on Monday. Then we walked from the peak to the bluff Tuesday. It was quite a trek.
Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives. Demonstrative pronouns include this, that, these, and those. They are useful for both direction and emphasis. It is a good idea to change demonstrative pronouns to demonstrative adjectives by adding a clarifying noun (so instead of saying, “This is good,” say, “This ice cream is good.”).
Some people suggest giving up salt on popcorn. This idea, however, is ridiculous.
Yes, Air Profit is our best selling shoe. That brand, however, is sold out right now.
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2019-04-23T13:50:41Z
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https://braingymdublin.wordpress.com/category/teenagers/
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.251422 |
typepad
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Just look at the pictures below and you can see why the sweet and simple illustrative work of Jedda Robaard made us smile when it hit our inbox! Isn't it gorgeous? Jedda is an artist from Ocean Grove, who'll be tripping up to share her work with us on Saturday. You'll find high quality prints of her work, greeting cards and a small number of originals at her stall.
You can read more about Jedda and see more of her work on her website.
You'll adore the jewellery range produced by Emerald Green Submarine from Castlemaine. The talent behind these gorgeous wares is Nicole Porrello. This lady is passionate when it comes to colour and design. An interior designer turned jewellery maker, she brings originality and playfulness to her contemporary resin pieces.
Visit the Emerald Green Submarine website for my details and keep up to date on the facebook page.
"buntyandsars is entirely imagined, illustrated and handmade by Emily Van Der Molen in a tiny sunroom at the front of her 1950's family home. It consists of an ever evolving range which reflects upon a childhood filled with drawing, colouring in and and escaping into picture books. A childhood filled with summers spent holidaying at the beach ina caravan. A childhood she wants to share with her children, your children and those children in the hearts of all grown ups!"
Be sure to say hi to Emily and pick up something sweet! Keep up to date on her facebook page.
A big dose of colour and inspiration today from artist Cathy Kirwan, aka Tinniegirl. Cathy's work is defined by her use of colour and layers upon layers of paint to create beautiful and vibrant artworks. The tinniegirl stall on Saturday will be full of prints, cards and a collaborative range of limited edition jewellery.
Cathy says of her artwork "my hope is that not only will people find beauty in my work, but that it will also inspire them to pursue their passions and make their dreams come true."
You can find more of photos of the range in the online shop or stop by the Tinniegirl blog.
There are many crafters around that breathe new life into things that would otherwise be thrown out or discarded. Recycling, upcycling, repurposing, whatever you want to call it, it can yield wonderful results and create new products with function and beauty.
Our stallholder Jen is one such maker... her thing is making old crockery in jewellery! Jen's earrings, brooches, pendants and rings are unique and wearable art from damaged, pre-loved china. With an infinite number of shapes and patterns, each piece has it's own charm and whimsy.
This recycled crockery is only part of her range, stop by to see the other bits'n'pieces Jen makes!
Time to start the sneak peeks!
For those of you who are new to The Square, in the lead up to each market we do a few posts on some of our stallholders, giving you a sneak peek of just some of the goodies that will be available. If you'd like to see a full list of who'll be selling at the market, click here.
First sneak peek for the Autumn market is the always popular jewellery by Saff & Sassi. Kirsty and Justine have retailled with us a few times now and we love having them! This time they have a bunch of new stuff to show us, so be sure to stop by.
If you'd like to apply for a stall, this is your last chance! Applications will close this Sunday, 5th February. Click on the link on the left there for all the information you'll need and the application form.
Our doors are currently open to new sponsors too. We've got a variety of options that include your logo and profile here on our blog, our email campaigns, print advertising and at-market displays. These packages are super-affordable and are a great way to raise the profile of your business to a community of people who love handmade and love local! If you think your business is a good match for The Square, get in touch via email and we'll fill you in on the details of our sponsorship packages.
Another year is upon us! Hope you all had a great holiday season and saw in the new year in style.
We're so looking forward to another wonderful year of handmade ahead... we are making some necessary changes to the market and also planning some lovely bits and pieces for you all too.
We always like to hear you feedback after each market, so if you have any comments or suggestions for us click on the feedback button on the left.
If you are interested in applying for a stall at the market this year, please read the updated 'info for stallholders' page linked on the left. We have made some necessary changes to our prices and stall sites. Stallholders can stay up to date with by getting our stallholder newsletter. Applications are now open for the 17th March market - click here.
If you'd like to become involved with The Square as a sponsor or like to advertise with us here on the website, please email us for a information package. We love to support local small businesses, so if you have an idea for us or would like to be involved in the market in some other way, just get in touch via email and we can discuss some creative ways to work together.
Hope your 2012 is off to a wonderful start!
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2019-04-24T04:23:34Z
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https://thesquarebendigo.typepad.com/the-square/2012-17th-march-market/
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Porn
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Shopping
| 0.225567 |
wordpress
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You are here: Home / General Hair Care / I’m going to be on Dr. Oz!
It’s Audrey! I am so excited that I can barely type. I’ve been holding this for awhile just to make sure that everything was confirmed– but yes! It’s real. I’m going to be on the Dr. Oz show!
The segment will be talking about how heat styling affects the hair and ways that we can work with heat without causing too much damage.
I am so nervous, but super excited! What am I going to say? What am I going to wear? How should I do my hair? What if I mess up? Stutter? So many questions! Lord. Y’all, I am a nervous wreck. I’ve never been to New York either. I have so many thoughts going on in my mind that I can’t really process this. LOL! In fact, when they got in touch with me, I honestly thought it was a joke. I was like, Wait . . . Who? Me?
I’ll keep you guys updated on when the show will actually air. In the meantime, I probably won’t sleep or eat. Haha!
Wow!! That’s awesome! I’m soooo proud of you!! You are going to do well especially with God on your side! You know your fan base will be lifting you up and CHEERING YOU ON!!
Thank you so much! It is definitely a blessing! I just hope that I can represent us all well!
Congrats Audrey! I cannot think of another person that I would have to represent black hair! Thank you for all the wonderful work you’ve done over the years on teaching me how to take care and maintain my hair. Because of The Science of Black Hair (aka THE hair bible) my hair has thrived! I cannot wait to watch!! Again, congrats on this well-deserved opportunity!
Thank you! =D I appreciate that, and so glad the book has helped you in a big way!
Hiya, it’s Divachyk. That’s Awesome! Congrats!!! Well deserved.
Congrats girl, do let us know when it is, that way we can watch. Am sure you will look fabulous, and rock that hair girl!!!
Yeeeehhhh, awesome, awesome, awesome, …If there is anyone out there who deserve to be on this show, then is you. Am so happy for you and i know you will kill it ……YOU WILL DO GREAT GIRL, DON’T BE NERVOUS .
I am so happy and excited for you. You have given a lot. Best wishes.
Keep us informed on when it will air.
Congratulations I can’t wait to see you on Dr OZ.
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2019-04-26T14:41:21Z
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https://blackhairscience.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/im-going-to-be-on-dr-oz/
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Porn
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Home
| 0.782575 |
wordpress
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BARRELASSIN’ MOMMA- ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CLOCK!
Don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re too old to rock n’ roll. It’s simply not true and the proof is in the pudding. No wait, the proof is in the pictures, not in the pudding- that would just be weird. I haven’t had time to post anything lately because I’ve been so busy barrelassin’ around with my barrelassin’ momma.
Let me just tell you- if you’ve never traveled around with your seventy-three year old mother from one random place to another, you’re missing out big time. I encourage you to get on that immediately. There is practically nothing my barrelassin’ mother will say no to. She is responsible for some of the best fun I’ve ever had!!
Barrelassin’ Jay, and of course, me and Barrelassin’ Momma!
We have had some great times at these shows- before, during, and after them actually! No immediate signs of slowing down either. When your barrelassin’ momma calls you and tells you to make sure she gets Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bret Michaels tickets…you make sure she has Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bret Michaels tickets. NEXT!
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2019-04-26T00:19:00Z
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https://barrelassin.wordpress.com/2015/09/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.500963 |
wordpress
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For me 2011 was a complete roller coaster for fashion trends. I tried a lot of different things, not all of which panned out (long boho skirts so not for me) so I want to make a list of trends I picked up throughout 2011 that I’ll continue to do in 2012.
This past summer I dressed very bohemian/hippy chic and it’s so comfy and awesome and I’d love to get more pieces but I need to come to terms with the fact that I look horrid in Maxi dresses and skirts either need to be touching your knee or touching the floor, not the awkward shin length that some of my skirts are. Unfortunately my summer style does a complete 180 when winter rolls around, I wear jeans, and boots with heals, sweaters and pea coats … not exactly boho or hippy chic … but I like it and I haven’t found many dresses I can wear in the winter, not that they don’t exist they just dont’ exisist in my wardrobe at the moment.
Ahh, boots … I got these from Charlotte Ruse when they were doing the buy 2 get the second pair for $15 deal. They rock, and are my everyday footwear this winter. Like I said earlier my winter style totally clashes with my summer style. But I just can’t help but love these boots! and for $15 … really .. could you not love them?
My summer sandals are not so “dressy”.
My favorite summer dress! From AE, I have this in white, and was very tempted to buy the other colors as well. It could be a tad longer as i’m not super lady like and have a tendency to hike through the woods to get to a swimming hole … but oh well.
My hair has grown a bit since this picture was taken when I was learning how to french braid a few months ago but I still do my hair like this, I love the side french braid. I have side swept bangs so it’s nice to have them tucked away once in a while.
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2019-04-25T02:18:13Z
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https://buttonsandyarnohmy.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/fashion-trends-ill-take-with-me-to-2012/
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Porn
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Shopping
| 0.975169 |
wordpress
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I want to say Thank you very much for this site and all the information you have all provided ! It is extremely helpful !! I will hiking the trail sometime in Sept or early October and post an update! Again, Thank you.
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2019-04-23T20:50:42Z
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https://karlrobinstevenson.wordpress.com/2015/07/03/bedwell-trail-2015-update/
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.958514 |
typepad
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New forum for Collaboration for Revit!
We have hit the point where the amount of Collaboration for Revit related forum discussion warranted a standalone forum, rather than having it sprinkled across the 3 existing Revit forums.
Check out the new forum here!
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2019-04-25T06:22:04Z
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https://revitclinic.typepad.com/my_weblog/2015/08/new-forum-for-collaboration-for-revit.html
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Porn
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News
| 0.288526 |
adultwebmasters
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LAS VEGAS—Men of smaller endowments, as well as their key-holders, around the world have spoken and CB-X Male Chastity is listening. The masterminds at A.L. Enterprises, the manufacturers of the brand, are gearing up to let these folks lock themselves up in style, so they can feel as special as other men already enjoying the pleasure of wearing a traditionally sized CB-6000 Gold. The new shortened version, called the Gold Edition CB-6000S, will make its debut this month. "Men and their keyholders have been writing to us since we started shipping the traditionally sized CB-6000 Gold last summer, asking for a shorter version, to fit their 'sissy' lifestyle," said Nikki Yates, corporate director of A.L. Enterprises. "We are always amazed by the feedback we get from real users and encourage it. Let us know what you want, and we will keep leading the pack when it comes to travel friendly, designer male chastity choices!" Not only is the Gold Edition CB-6000S marketable to fetish enthusiasts, who remain the largest audience of buyers, it entices the interest of the mainstream consumer, who are curious about the lifestyle, and ready to try it for the first time. The Gold Edition CB-6000S will solve a problem for men facing the dilemma of wanting to feel special, while knowing they are a useless kept man or sissy. Like all devices in the CB-X collection, the CB-6000S Gold is made of high-quality "This is a device for men who make good money, yet drive through a fast food restaurant after a hard day at work and hope to be degraded!," continues Yates. "Feel like a million bucks and know you are both worthless and kept at the same time!" The shortened models of the CB-X Male Chastity device designer range began shipping in 2013, filling a whole in the market for the less endowed. Like all devices in the collection, the CB-6000S Gold comes with all the bells and whistles needed to fit varying body types, a standard metal lock as well as plastic travel locks. Pre-orders for the device are now being accepted, and attendees of the ANME show next week can see the new item in person. To learn more about A.L. Enterprises, the manufacturers of CB-X Male Chastity devices, visit CB-X.com.
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2019-04-22T06:59:10Z
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https://www.adultwebmasters.org/dir/cskin/2016-01-59023-cb-x-male-chastity-to-debut-gold-edition-cb-6000s.html
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Porn
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Shopping
| 0.518649 |
wordpress
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Alicia Procello Maddox – It is a joy to fill in as the President of the Avery Dennison Foundation. Our gifts in manageability have a significant effect on nature, as well as more essentially on the lives of the general population living in regions where ecological issues are testing.
In some cases we can impact change by essentially giving a grassroots association the assets they have to handle nearby issues in an inventive way — issues that, as a rule, wouldn’t generally be tended to.
In 206 we influenced a two year to allow Global Greengrants Fund. Through our give, we’re subsidizing seven female-drove grantees chipping away at issues of ecological maintainability and ladies’ strengthening—two of the Avery Dennison Foundation’s need territories. The stipends will bolster ladies enhancing groups in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific Islands.
Our concede is now at chip away at Tansin, an island stitched with wilderness and savanna in Northeast Honduras. The vast majority of Tansin’s 50,000 tenants are indigenous Miskito. Most live in towns open just by pontoon or plane and rely upon subsistence cultivating for survival. Deforestation from substantial scale farming, alongside progressively unpredictable climate, debilitates the group’s survival.
While numerous nearby Miskita ladies function as agriculturists, they tend to profit and have less access to nourishment than men since they need access to arrive, seeds, innovation, budgetary administrations, and a voice in legislative issues. Our concede is helping the Women’s Association of Tansin kill that dissimilarity by showing ladies about economical cultivating and backwoods administration. The gathering will prepare ladies in edit expansion, coordinating tree preservation into cultivating practices, and serving the traveler exchange.
Through these trainings, nearby ladies will turn out to be all the more financially autonomous and actualize maintainable methods for bringing home the bacon. The Women’s Association of Tansin expects that 92 neighborhood family units will profit by the undertaking, totaling more than 600 individuals.
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2019-04-19T05:15:40Z
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https://aliciaprocellomaddox.wordpress.com/2017/12/18/environmental-issues-alicia-procello-maddox/
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Porn
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Business
| 0.670733 |
cnn
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This Chinese-Canadian floated around Hong Kong, Vancouver, Montreal, and Beijing, writing mostly about Chinese food for publications such as That's Beijing, Appetite Magazine, Lonely Planet, and Fodor's Travel Guides. In between, she worked on film sets, traveled long distances on fistfuls of cash, started to write a never-ending poem, paraded with Olodum in Salvador da Bahia and failed to find herself.
Now she writes about art, culture and food.
Opinion: Why the selfie stick must die!
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2019-04-21T01:28:32Z
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http://travel.cnn.com/author/zoe-li-hong-kong-editor/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.723153 |
wordpress
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When I blogged some time ago about music literacy, I mentioned the tired trope “I like to everything except Rap and Country,” which seems to be a response given when someone wants to show a cosmopolitan or open musical taste. Plenty of pixels have been typed about the class and race issues associated with the phrase and I won’t rehash them here as I think that only tells a part of the story that the phrase frames.
So, why aren’t you in a band anyway? One of the things I think all Classical Music students (especially performers) should be required to do is play in a band. No, this doesn’t mean they should take up a guitar, bass, drums, or sing. What this does mean is that it should become an integral part of the performing experience–even if for just a semester. Learning the ropes on how to put together a set, getting booked, and dealing with a non concert hall type of venue would do more for teaching kids about the business of music than a class would, I’d think. Along the way, students would also be able to dispel a lot of myths about the Pop Music scene that we romanticize as a result of media representation or unrealistic portrayals of the industry through engagement with big name Pop Superstars.
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2019-04-19T16:37:45Z
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https://silpayamanant.wordpress.com/category/post-pop/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.808454 |
wordpress
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Glasgow Mayday – What is it all about?
The 40 indigenous villages in the rural Zapatista Autonomous Municipality ’16th February’ in Mexico, are in great need of a better health and education infrastructure. The municipality is twinned with Scotland and a number of solidarity groups who are working to raise money for local projects, and build awareness and support for the Zapatista movement in Scotland. For those indigenous villages, international links and solidarity are vital for their future.
In 2004 they asked the Scottish solidarity groups to support them in building their first autonomous health clinic. Showing its successful construction, this film made by Camcorder Guerillas in collaboration with members of the Chiapas solidarity group in Scotland is being used to raise both awareness and money for continued support of the Health Centre in Municipality 16th February.
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2019-04-23T14:57:09Z
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https://camcorderguerillas.wordpress.com/salud-y-solidaridad-scotland-the-zapatistas/
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Porn
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Health
| 0.948534 |
wordpress
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I’m so glad it brought you some laughter! And that is so true lol all women come to the realization eventually. Thanks for reading!
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2019-04-23T10:10:55Z
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https://myownlittlewars.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/comedy-in-marriage/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.296676 |
wordpress
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Mikhail Mikhailovich Solov’ev’s ‘Such Women Didn’t and Couldn’t Exist in the Old Days’ of 1950 features a woman delegate making a speech, flanked on either side by a delegate who listens attentively to her.
Despite the depiction of women as holding positions of power and influence, this poster in fact makes the obligation women have to Stalin particularly explicit.
Solov’ev’s poster places Stalin on a wall in a frame, removed from the action of the real, earthly world. A palette of reds and gold is employed, sacred colours of the Orthodox icon, with the entire earthly domain bathed in golden light, representing the radiance of heaven.
Reminiscent of the Virgin in the icon, the women are dressed in blues and reds. The female delegate is the central figure of a holy trinity. Her placement behind a podium, which serves as a kind of socialist altar, and in front of Stalin’s looming image, is reminiscent of the placement of the Deity in the Orthodox Church.
Although the young woman does not adopt the Virgin’s pose of prayer, her attitude does draw attention upwards to the authoritative figure hovering above her, the position reserved for Jesus in the Church.
While the figures of the women are three dimensional, Stalin is flatter and monochrome, and stands against a symbolic and semi-stylised background – more of an iconic image than a real man. In many images of Stalin with a portrait of Lenin, the Lenin portrait is also in grayscale in contrast to the coloured flesh of Stalin. In this poster, Stalin’s hand lays across the page of an open book, almost as if he is taking an oath, or perhaps drawing on the authority of The Word.
While the strong young woman on the podium in the centre dominates the image, it is clear, both visually and through the text on the poster, that it is only through Stalin’s support that she can do so. It is only by virtue of his authority that she can exist at all.
Stalin is captured in a stylised, rhetorical pose, which reflects, almost in mirror image, the pose of the young woman in front of him. The woman in the 1950 poster exists in the same symbolic relationship to Stalin as the blacksmith’s assistant did to the blacksmith-magician in the propaganda posters of 1920. In her pose, her gaze, and even her upswept hair, she is an imitator of Stalin, and his messenger in the everyday world from which, by 1950, he has almost totally retreated.
The text is taken from Stalin’s speech at the reception for female collective farm-shock workers of the beet fields on November 10, 1935 in which Stalin outlines how collectivisation of agriculture has liberated women. In the poster, it reinforces the identification of Stalin with Christ. It is Christ’s sacrifice that has saved humankind just as here it is Stalin who is the saviour of women, who could not find freedom or salvation before his advent.
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2019-04-23T18:11:50Z
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https://properganderpressblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/08/stalin-poster-of-the-week-121-special-edition-international-womens-day-mikhail-solovev-such-women-didnt-and-couldnt-exist-in-the-old-days-1950/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.544932 |
livejournal
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Birthday Dinner last Thursday: Archive - Dreams are what you wake up from.
Birthday Dinner, for an old, old friend.
harlo! temanbaik is young at heart ok!
I mean the number of years I've know the person.
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2019-04-21T18:22:55Z
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https://into-the-wild.livejournal.com/162181.html
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.373789 |
wordpress
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Garlic Weekend – Celebrate July 4th weekend with garlic-themed programming and hands-on farm activities featuring garlic tastings, garlic activities, farm-to-table classes and more. Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, 630 Bedford Rd., Pocantico Hills. Register: 914 366 6200 x151.
Emotional Freedom for the Inner Child – 7-8:30pm. Celebrate Independence Day by freeing the ‘Inner Child’ using creative techniques and Meridian Tapping. Release blocks to innate joy and experience healing. $35/includes light refreshment. 845.228.8132; Putnamhealingarts.com.
REIKI I Class – w/ Linda O’Shea and Suzanne Roth. Awakenings. 215 Katonah Ave. Katonah. Info: 914.232.0382; awakeningskatonah.com.
Lunchtime Yoga – 12:15-1:15pm. Tuesdays in July. Indulge in a midday break at the Yogascape and Spa; refresh with an all-level flow practice. 1100 Rt. 52, 2nd Floor, Carmel. 845.225.9642; theyogascape.com.
Kid’s Yoga Class – 4:30-5:20pm.Wednesday in July. Ages 5-11 are invited to have fun while engaging in the ancient practice of yoga. The Yogascape and Spa, 1100 Rt. 52, 2nd Floor (at Farmers Mills Rd.), Carmel. $15. 845.225.9642.
Hudson River Ferry Sloop Meeting – 6:30pm. Share the beauty of the river with a non-profit environmental sailing organization inspiring people to appreciate and protect one of the country’s greatest resources. Free. Croton Point Nature Center, Croton-on-Hudson. 914.862.5297.
Meditation Class at Mystical Energy – 6:30pm. $10. Mystical Energy New Age Gift Store. 83 Haviland Dr. Suite 4, Patterson. Info: mysticalenergy.org.
Benefit Baseball Game; Hudson Valley Renegades – 7pm. “Show Your Support Night” for Breast & Ovarian Cancer Support. $15 ticket, food, free gift. Dutchess Stadium. Wappingers Falls, off of I-84. Tickets: 845.838.0094 (Kaitlin) or gadesgroup.com (password “support”).
From Culture to Cosmos/The Real Story – 6pm. A special filming event with psychotherapist Glenn Perry, PhD at The Graduate Institute, Bethany, Ct. Be a part of the audience by calling 203.874.4252 or visit learn.edu.com.
Pelham Art Center Faculty/Student Showcase – 6:30-8pm. Pelham Art Center’s distinguished faculty and enthusiastic students present their work, featuring a wide variety of media and subject matter. Pelham Art Center, 155 Fifth Ave., Pelham. 917.738.2525 x113; pelhamartcenter.org.
Reiki Healing Circle – 7-8:30pm. Enjoy an evening of sharing Reiki healing energy. Practitioners and newcomers welcome. Suggested/$10. Register: 914.672.1916; putnamhealingarts.com.
The Secret of Money – 7-9:30pm. Learn how to use the Law of Attraction to prosper w/Cary Bayer, author of “The Prosperity Aerobics, and Spirit & Money”. $20/by 7/7 or $25. Synchronicity, 54 Charles Colman Blvd., Pawling. Info: 845.855.1172.
Free Ballroom Dance Lessons – 3pm (July 9,12,19,26 & August 2). Learn to dance or improve dancing skills, learning popular dances such as foxtrot, lindy, cha-cha, and more. Somers Library. Register/info: 917.232.5717.
Hunt for Wild Edibles – 1-3pm. Naturalist/Author “Wildman” Steve Brill leads one of his world-famous Wild Food and Ecology Tours. $25/adult, $20/ages 6-14. Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, 630 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills. Register: 914.366 6200 x151.
Farm to Table Cooking/Nutrition Class – Prep and cook delicious, beautiful dishes using crops from the Hilltop Hanover Farm. $40/adults, $20/child (12&up). 1271 Hanover St., Yorktown Heights. Info/registration: 914.217.9249.
Invisibility Plants – 10am. Ferns reproduce without the aid of flowers; thus the myth they have magic properties, including making people invisible. Visit different species of ferns and examine some under a microscope. Marshlands Conservancy, Rt.1, Rye. Free. 914.835.4466.
Spiritual Gathering – 10:30am-12noon. Monthly gathering to share, learn, and experience a guided meditation of a spiritual subject with Michael Rosenbaum ACHT, MP and Michael Finkelstein MD. $20/suggested donation. SunRaven Center, 501 Guard Hill Rd, Bedford. Info: 914.218.9000.
Prenatal Yoga – 12:30-1:45pm. Suitable for all trimesters. Small class size for individual attention. Doctor’s note required before registering for class. Other classes available. $35. Premier Pilates & Yoga. 200 North Ave. New Rochelle. Register/info: 914.235.1250; premierpilatesny.com.
Free Meditation and Satsang – 1:30-2:30pm w/Amy Pearce-Hayden, ERYT. Join in a practice of stilling the mind, followed by group discussion regarding aspects of yogic philosophy. 1100 Rt. 52, 2nd floor (at Farmers Mills Rd.), Carmel; 845.225.9642.
Lasdon Memorial Garden Walking Tour – 2-3pm. Lasdon’s horticulturist leads an informative walk through a fragrance garden, a synoptic shrub border and a formal garden. Lasdon Park, Arboretum & Veterans Memorial, Rt. 35, Somers. Free. 914.864.7268.
Quick and Easy Vegan Cooking – 3-5pm. 20 yr. veteran cooking teacher Vitalah Simon teaches a low fat, wheat and gluten free class using all organic ingredients. $65. Hawthorne. Info/register: 914.769.8745.
New Moon Drumming Circle at Awakenings – 5-7pm. w/ Gail Kelstrom. Awakenings. 215 Katonah Ave. Katonah. Info: 914.232.0382; awakeningskatonah.com.
Herb Workshop/Luncheon – 10am-12noon. Hosted by New Horizons Garden Club. Lasdon Park, Arboretum & Veterans Memorial, Rt. 35, Somers. $25. Call for details/RSVP: 845.225.0444.
Mental Mastery: New Approaches to Managing Stress using Biofeedback, Hypnosis, & other Methods – 6:30-7:30pm. w/ Dr. Sirkin. Free workshop. Full Circle Family Care. 1241 Mamaroneck Ave. White Plains. Info: 914.451.1500; BountifulBrain.com.
Meditation Class – 7-8:30pm w/Robert Mawson. All levels welcome with instruction given. Bring a cushion, or chairs available. Human Bodyworks Massage Therapy & Healing Arts Center, 32 Main St., Hastings on Hudson. $15. Info: 917.445.1767; HumanBodyworks.com.
Healing the Inner Critical Voice – 7-8:30pm. Where does the critical voice come from and whose voice is it really? Heal the inner verbal assault and replace it with a personal coach and champion. $35/includes refreshments. 845.228.8132. Putnamhealingarts.com.
Quick and Easy Vegan Cooking – 12:30-2:30pm. 20 yr. veteran cooking teacher Vitalah Simon teaches a low fat, wheat and gluten free class using all organic ingredients. $65. Hawthorne. Info/register: 914.769.8745.
“Farm-to-Table” at Natural Awakenings Night – 7-9pm. Meet and mingle with other Natural Awakenings readers. Light refreshments. Free. The Flying Pig on Lexington, 251 Lexington Ave. Mount Kisco. RSVP: 914.617.8750. Info: flyingpigonlex.com.
Create your own Healing Mandala – w/ artist Cecilia Soprano aka Amichi. No prior artistic talent required. Supplies provided. $50. Awakenings. 215 Katonah Ave. Katonah. Preregister required: 914.232.0382. Info: awakeningskatonah.com.
Group Walk & Talk for World Healing – 11:30am-1:30pm. Rail-trail walk in Carmel followed by meditation for empowerment of women worldwide. Share creative and practical ideas. Refreshments. $10 suggested. 914.672.1916. Putnamhealingarts.com.
Crystal Speak – 7-9:30pm w/Liz Connell. Discover the silent language of crystals. Invite in devas of the stone kingdom and learn about wearing crystal jewelry to support spiritual growth. $25. Synchronicity, 54 Charles Colman Blvd, Pawling. Info: 845.855.1172.
Integrative Heart Health – 7-9pm. “What part medicine, what part doctor, what part self” presented by Steven Horowitz, MD. Free. The Graduate Institute, Bethany, CT. 203.874.4252; learn.edu.com.
Pilates Instructor Masterclass – 3-4pm. w/ Adriene Ingalls. Weekly Group Class devoted to Pilates Instructors. Have fun and indulge the body with fellow instructors in a comfortable, non-competitive environment. $35. Premier Pilates & Yoga. 200 North Ave. New Rochelle. Register/info: 914.235.1250; premierpilatesny.com.
Riverlovers Pot Luck/Seining by the Bay – 6:30pm. Meet ‘n’ eat with the Riverlovers organization, followed by seining program using a 50-foot net to catch, study and release frequent Hudson River visitors. Croton Point Nature Center, Croton-on-Hudson. Free. 914.862.5297; riverlovers.org.
Reiki 1 Workshop – 9:30am-4pm (7/17&7/18) w/Ginny Mackles, Reiki Master. Be attuned and certified to the first level of Reiki. Millwood. $175. Info: 914.762.7761; ginnymackles.com.
Farmer’s Forum at Hilltop Hanover Farm –10am-Noon. Hilltop’s head farmer Mary Ellen leads an informal walking tour of the farm and is available to answer any gardening questions. $10/registration required. 1271 Hanover St., Yorktown Heights. 914.962.2368; hilltophanoverfarm.org.
From Culture to Cosmos/The Real Story – 10am. A special filming event with psychotherapist Glenn Perry, PhD at The Graduate Institute, Bethany, Ct. To be part of the audience, call 203.874.4252 or visit learn.edu.com.
Painting from the Inside Out & Family Constellation Work – 10am-5pm. Insights gained into family dynamics including unconscious patterns whether in family, work or other symptoms from this painting gathering. $85/by 7/6 or $100. 914.909.6292; evemarieelkin.com.
Crystal Mandala Intuitive Readings – 11am-4pm w/Liz Connell. Listen to positive and supportive messages as the crystals speak about life. Synchronicity, 54 Charles Colman Blvd., Pawling. Info: 845.855.1172.
Westchester Holistic Network’s Annual Potluck – 1-6pm. Food and drink donation for 3-6 people requested. Circle of Tranquility’s Garden, Hawthorne. Please RSVP dish and attendance to: 914.769.1446 or bobbisholisticcare.com.
Pickling 101 at Hilltop Hanover Farm – 2-4pm. Cucumbers and other in-season vegetables from the farm will be used to teach how to safely make and preserve delicious pickles. 1271 Hanover St., Yorktown Heights. $15. Registration required. 914.962.2368; hilltophanoverfarm.org.
Angel Connection Class – 10am-12pm. Class includes instruction book, CD, Angel Book and Angel Oracle Cards. $85. Mystical Energy New Age Gift Store. 83 Haviland Dr. Suite 4, Patterson. Info: mysticalenergy.org.
Zillions of Crabs – 10am. Learn about and hold the Asian Shore Crab and some of the other kinds of crabs that live at Marshlands on a summer morning at the shore. Marshlands Conservatory, Rt. 1, Rye. 914.835.4466.
More Truth Will Set You Free Workshop – 2-6pm w/ Elka Boren, Shaman & Clairvoyant. $65. Private sessions w/ Elka available 7/15-720. Human Bodyworks Massage Therapy & Healing Arts Center. 32 Main St., Hastings on Hudson. Register/info: 917.445.1767; HumanBodyworks.com.
EFT & Holistic Approaches to Diabetes, Arthritis, Gout, IBS – 7-8:30pm. Restore peace and bring balance to metabolism and body pH w/ EFT, guided meditation, and diet education. Film. $25. Register: 845.228.8132. Putnamhealingarts.com.
Free Blood Pressure Event – 10am-12noon. Get professional blood pressure measurements and speak with the pharmacist about hypertension and necessary treatment steps. Lake Mahopac Pharmacy & Surgical, 559 Rt. 6, Mahopac. Info: 845.208.0424; lakemahopacrx.com.
Reiki Healing Circle – 9-11am. Enjoy a morning of sharing Reiki healing energy. Practitioners and newcomers welcome. Suggested: $10. Register: 914.672.1916; putnamhealingarts.com.
Understanding the Self Through Relationships – 7-8:30pm. Change automatic responses and reactions; stop self-sabotage and re-establish new rapport with others learning to love and forgive the self. $35 includes information packet & light refreshments. Register: 845.228.8132. Putnamhealingarts.com.
Summer Soiree at Oasis Day Spa – 7-10pm. On the beautiful Rooftop Garden of Oasis Day Spa. $35/person, $45 at the door. Includes wine, beer, cheese and two 15-minute Spa Treatments. Saw Mill River Parkway, Dobbs Ferry. Limited to 100 tickets. Tickets/info: r4women.com.
Putnam County Fair – All Day (7/24&7/25). Join Muscoot Farm’s 4-H Group and the Muscoot Farm animals as they show at the Putnam County Fair. Putnam County Veterans Memorial Park, Gipsy Trail Rd., Carmel. 845.225.8154.
Introduction to the Mysteries of Life – 9:30am-5pm (7/24&7/25) w/Michael Rosenbaum. Identify and release the 4 main blocks that prevent experiencing higher aspects of the self. Phoenix & The Rose, 36 Bedford Rd, Katonah. $200 by 7/8 or $225. Info/registration: 914.218.9000.
Shamanic Healing Circle – 3-6pm. Shamanic Practitioner, Eileen O’Hare, facilitates a powerful healing circle honoring high emotions that are flowing within us at this time. $40. The Yogascape and Spa, 1100 Rt. 52, 2nd floor (at Farmers Mills Rd.), Carmel. 845.225.9642.
Hospital Affiliated Weight Loss Center – 6pm. Holistic nurse and nutritionist presents safe and effective program options available for supervised weight loss and lifestyle management. The Wellness Club, 3163 East Main St., Mohegan Lake. Free. 914.526.2366.
Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking – 7-8:30pm. Clear and resolve in a few sessions painful memories and other factors that contribute to this widespread fear. $35. Light refreshments. Register: 845.228.8132. Putnamhealingarts.com.
Open House/The Graduate Institute – 5pm. Discover unique M.A. and certificate programs empowering visionary thinkers to create a better future. 171 Amity Road, Bethany, CT. 203.874.4252 or learn.edu.com.
Be Moved – w/ Laura Lutjen, teaching spontaneous movement. Learn what individuals need to learn to fully rejoin with grace and love that is at one’s core. Awakenings. 215 Katonah Ave. Katonah. Info: 914.232.0382; awakeningskatonah.com.
Blood Sugar Health & Testing – 10am-12noon. Bayer Blood Glucose Meter (restrictions apply). Speak to the pharmacist about how to get a free Blood Glucose Meter. Lake Mahopac Pharmacy & Surgical, 559 Rt. 6, Mahopac. Free. Info: 845.208.0424; lakemahopacrx.com.
Animal Communication – 7-9pm w/Medium Barbara Baker. Animals live on in spirit also. Come hear from the animal kingdom and connect with passed and living pets. $25. Synchronicity, 54 Charles Colman Blvd., Pawling. Info: 845.855.1172.
Transformational Women’s Empowerment Weekend – 7/31 & 8/1.w/ Jennifer Magnan-McLeod. A treat for the weekend or for just one day. Wainwright House in Rye. Info/register: 914.772.4078; TheLifeDesigningCoach.com.
Healing Day at Opal Moon – 12-4pm. Healing mini-sessions offered including 15-minute Reiki with Myra Oney, Massage with Diane Barkoe, and Chiropractic/Wellness Consultation with Dr.Marianne Messina, DC. $25/each; 20% off 3. Opal Moon. 2037 Albany Post Rd.Croton on Hudson. Info: 914.788.4955.
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2019-04-26T06:04:32Z
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https://naevents.wordpress.com/tag/ny/
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.525959 |
wordpress
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Tales of a Curmudgeon in the making… How Good Do We Have to Be?
yes, we can get easily distracted from remembering our Creator. We have to re-adjust our thoughts and make them cative to Christ!
This happens to be the lesson in my women’s Bible Study this week! An important lesson for all of us, in this hectic world of ours.
For the record Anna, I didn’t peak!
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2019-04-20T09:15:56Z
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https://ronwhited.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/the-very-real-dangers-of-entanglement/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.539756 |
wordpress
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Have uploaded a brief demo – plucking a string (again!) – combining Oculus, Leap and mmi. If you fullscreen on an Oculus the animation should appear in 3D. The objects are not strictly tied to the hand positions yet, but it demonstrates the idea.
My Leap Motion controller (www.leapmotion.com) turned up this week and is a lot of fun. Masayuki Akamatsu has already created a Max object for the device – here – and so it was a pretty quick task to try this out in mmi. I’ve uploaded a quick vid showing some plucking with the leap motion – the frame rates suffer a bit when using the video capture software, but you get the idea.
This basic example only uses the palm positions and orientations to control the instrument – there is clearly a lot more to explore using finger data.
Here is an example using Control with a bowed string. The GUI on the iPad is constructed by sending messages from mmi over OSC, and then can be used to play the instrument in mmi.
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2019-04-22T08:47:32Z
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https://musigui.wordpress.com/
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Porn
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Society
| 0.106694 |
wordpress
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Unless you were living under a rock the last year or actually had one of them there things they call a life, then you know all about Twitter.
www.Twitter.com is grand central so no whoop-ti-do there.
http://twitter.com/public_timeline is where you see everyone’s public tweet every four minutes.
http://twittervision.com is more fun than the public timeline because it shows a map of the world and all new tweets and where they are coming from.
http://www.twitterholic.com is the leaderboard that tracks who has the most followers on Twitter and who follows the most people. The leader changes all the time but the core top 25 are pretty static. Justine and Robert Scoble duke it out for the most followed humans on Twitter. Interesting to note, Where as Justine rarely follows anyone (7,000 vs 200 est.), Scoble actually follows more people than follow him! There are always debates about following on twitter. Is it better to follow as many people as possible or to be selective?
Twitter Karma examines everyone you follow and those that follow you and reveals interesting results.
Posted by Doriano "Paisano" Carta in Blogs, News.
NPR has an excellent segment on the 10th Anniversary of the term Blog on their site. People were “blogging” more than ten years ago, but it just wasn’t called blogging back then. I called what I was documenting online a personal journal because I refused to call it a diary. 🙂 I remember using LiveJournal as far back as 1999. The times sure have changed, huh?
In honor of this milestone, I updated a popular image called the History of Blogging that has been floating around a while. It ended with twitter and I wanted to bring it more up to date and perhaps beyond a tad so I added the audio micro-blogging service Utterz and then the so-called video twitter, seesmic. So here it is.
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2019-04-24T22:15:14Z
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https://thepaisano.wordpress.com/tag/blogging/
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Porn
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News
| 0.676089 |
tripod
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Coach Stolo may be described as a down to earth, practically minded "player's coach" with a penchant for simple but aggressive, attacking defenses. "I like most things that follow the acronym K.I.S.S. Just line 'em up sound, make 'em understand their assignment and let 'em get after it and just play football."
Having been a running back for most of his playing career, coach Stolo naturally saw himself becoming an offensive coaching specialist but, as fortune would have it, he is happy and comfortable on the defensive side of the ball. "A dominating defense is usually much more intimidating than an explosive offense, since everybody knows that defense can keep that offense from scoring. Simply put, 'If they don't score, we don't lose.'"
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2019-04-25T18:23:58Z
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http://mohawkvalleyvikings.tripod.com/CoachStolo.html
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Porn
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Sports
| 0.993428 |
typepad
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New Mexico IPA Consents to Price Fixing Cease and Desist Order.
The Southeastern New Mexico Physicians IPA in Roswell, New Mexico recently accepted a cease and desist order from the Federal Trade Commission with respect to its negotiations for physician services agreements with third party payers. Two of the IPA's employees directly negotiated fees on behalf of the physicians in the IPA who represented about 73% of the physicians in the Roswell market with Healthsmart, Presbyterian Health Plan, Beech Street and others. SNMP physicians refused to negotiate services except through SNMP, which refused to accept contracts for reimbursement which were less than prices dictated and approved by the membership.
The so-called "messenger model" is used as a vehicle for an intermediary to carry offers from third party payers to the members for individual acceptance or rejection by each member of an IPA membership, not to negotiate a global contract price on behalf of the physician group. Here the "message" was if you don't accept our price, you get no services. As a practical matter it was impossible for a health plan to do business in Roswell without succumbing to the demands of the IPA. According to the FTC complaint the typical service prices in New Mexico ranged from 120% to 140% of Medicare's Resource Based Relative Value System ("RBRVS"), while the contracts negotiated by the IPA included prices as high as 250% of RBRVS. Some observers of recent FTC enforcement actions have registered complaints that the actions undertaken by the FTC are akin to a powder puff derby, with sanctions that provide little constructive disincentive to deter other violations.
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2019-04-23T16:15:59Z
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https://gregpiche.typepad.com/blog/2004/07/new-mexico-ipa-consents-to-price-fixing-cease-and-desist-order-1.html
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Porn
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Business
| 0.955531 |
wordpress
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Below you will see a 14 step pre-game routine that we use. It can be modified hundreds of ways to fit your needs. In order to run it correctly, you will need two coaches hitting fungoes. If you don’t have an assistant coach, I would recommend a very reliable reserve player or team manager. The goal of this routine is to allow as many players as possible to get as many quality touches of the baseball in a short amount of time.
The first few times your team will go through a routine like this one it will take 20 -25 minutes. That may seem long but, with familiarity, that time will be reduced down to 12-15 minutes. Every player will get a variety of game-like plays to practice. This routine can also be used in an extended version at practices.
I’m sure that others have similar routines. If you have some variations or some suggestions how to make this better, please leave a comment.
Station #5: Cage Sequence #5: 1-NO ROCKS IN THE AIR!!!
What you see above is basically the chart that is used during the season when we are stuck inside due to weather. Our cage area has space limitations. Therefore, we have to be creative utilizing the space that we have. This chart serves as a portion of a practice plan. It will be posted. The players are placed into their hitting groups. They should be able to look at the chart, understand where they should be, and what they are to do once they get there. It usually takes 2-3 three times for the players to totally understand the process, but when they get used to it, it’ll be like clockwork.
Here’s how the chart is used. The top of the chart is a map that displays the numbered cage station areas. It also shows the direction in which the players are to rotate. The table in the middle of the chart has Stations 1-5 listed. The coach is to write in drills for each station from the drill list at the bottom. Then, the coach is to circle a cage sequence to be followed once any given hitting group rotates into the machine area of the cage. The whole team rotates when the group on the machine is done. There is no reason for any one on the team to be standing around.
Everyone has a place to be and a purpose once they get there. By planning ahead of time there is less wasted time and more time for the coaches to float around and work with hitters. This is typically used in 45-60 minute session. We try to get everyone to each station twice. Each player should get between 100-125 cuts. If a player gets less than that, it’s on them for not working hard enough.
The first time I saw this drill, or something similar to it, was in Dixon, IL. My friend Dan Crawford was using it as part of his team’s pre-game routine. Whiffle balls were flying in every direction. Players were placed all over left field. Jokingly, I said, “Dan, it looks like a octupus exploded out there. What’s going on?” He told me it was a drill. I liked it so much, that night I scribbled something similar to it on paper.
Purpose: The purpose of this drill is to get each of your players 24 purposeful swings with in less than 8 minutes. It makes a great pre-game hitting routine. I especially like it on the road. It also makes a good practice drill when time or space is limited for hitting. Lastly, it’s a good indoor drill when a cage is not available.
Set up & Grouping: Take your team and divide them into three or four equal groups. I recommend no more than 5 in a group. 4 in each group is just about perfect. Place the bucket of whiffle balls in the center and one group on each side of the bucket. Each group needs a hitter, pitcher, and shaggers. The hitters are nearest the bucket. The pitchers are throwing towards the hitters standing by the bucket.
Station #4: I like to use this one as a wildcard station in order to mix it up. You can make it a bunting station, top hand drill, 2 strike hitting, etc. Most often, I like to use a paddle drill.
The first time you run the drill, it will take a bit longer than 8 minutes due to explanation. It will get to be more fluid each time the drill is run.
For younger players, eliminate the rotation. As the coach, call out a new hitting purpose every 2-3 minutes.
Monitor your pitchers. Make sure that they are throwing the balls hard enough and trying to hit locations.
Monitor your hitters make sure that they are swinging at strikes. Much to often, when the whiffle balls come out, hitter start swinging at everything.
By creating a practice plan you give your practice a framework. Putting it on paper gives a coach a few advantages over other coaches that just “keep it upstairs”. Ultimately, the guys that go off the top of their head might as well be dumped on their head because one look at their unorganized practice would make even a bush league team cringe. Some may say, “Big deal, you’re making a list.” Yes, but the list is as detailed as you want it to be. A good practice plan allows a coach to group his players more effectively, manage practice time better, and motivate his/her players more easily.
Baseball and softball are very skill specific sports. Breaking your team up into small groups based on position is essential. For example, if a coach really wants to work on double play pivots with his middle infielders, does the whole team have to be working on this skill? No! The outfielders could be working on their footwork. The catchers, pitchers, and corner infielders could be working on bunt coverage. By separating into groups an hour worth of drill time could be condensed into 20 minutes, thus, leaving more time for other coaching points. The coach without this sort of plan on paper might have the whole team working on pivots. What a waste for the 10 players that may never play 2nd base or shortstop. Even worse, this same coach may have those 10 non-middle infielders just watching.
I am also a big advocate of social grouping at practice. For instance, we break up into 3 to 4 small groups for batting practice. I am the one that determines what players are in which groups. If allow the players to group themselves, they would always end up with the same players based on the buddy system. Thus, they are never building bonds with their other teammates. As well, buddies are more likely to mess around when no one is looking. Of course, my players would never do that. Yeah, right. They sometimes don’t like the fact that I pick the groups, but this is not a democratic process.
A curriculum and instruction professor in college discussed “advanced organizers” with our class one day. He started the class by acknowledging the word “TEST” written on the chalkboard. Nothing more, nothing less was written on the board. Being 40 paranoid college students in the room, we were relieved when he did say something about it. Our anticipation of an upcoming exam or possibly a pop quiz had all of us on the edge of our seats. There was no test scheduled for a month. He went on to explain that our focus on him and class was at its height due to an advanced organizer. The word “TEST” was the advanced organizer. It gave a group advance notice of an upcoming event. This tool can be as specific or as vague as you want. In this case it was vague. If your practice plan is posted for your players to see, it can have the same effect. For example, many drills are used daily. If the specific drills are written on the plan, the players will know when to expect a drill change. The transition to the next session will go much smoother. Alternatively, a vague note will spark players’ interest about a portion of practice. For example, I like to include an occasional skill oriented game in my practice plan. Just by putting the word “game” as one session of your practice, your players will anticipate that session eagerly. They will also work harder in preceding sessions, not wanting to lose the opportunity to play the game.
No matter what age of players that you may be coaching, a written practice plan is essential. Another good friend of mine says it like this, “KTSB”. That means “Keep Them Suckers Busy”. The plan eliminates idle time. Idle time leads to unnecessary distractions. Plan everything even down to the water breaks and the length of that break. If you plan for a three-minute water break, it will last three minutes or less. We’ve all seen practices and that the short water break turns into a 10 or 12 minute bull session. Well, if may not seem like a big deal, but in reality that could turn out be 10 to 12% of your practice time. What a waste! By planning for the rest periods at practice, announcing the length of the rest periods when they come, and sticking to that time, you’ll be much happier when the team transitions back to work mode. You’ll find that your team leaders, knowing that the break lasts only lasts a predetermined amount of time, will be back on the field ready to go before they actually need to be.
Nothing is cooler than having a player tell you that they really enjoy your practices, because the time goes so fast. Pace is everything. The trick is to mix pace with purpose. Chocking a practice plan full of activities for the sake of filling time is not the point. As a coach, you are a teacher. Each practice (or class) has a goal. Is it introduction of a new skill? Review? Quiz?
Lastly, I love hearing horror stories about the bad behavior of players. “Wait ‘til you get this kid. She/he is a real handful.” Or “That kid never practices hard.” As coaches we need to thrive on that challenge. Providing a quickly paced, skill filled, purposeful practice on a daily basis will typically meet that challenge head on. If you decide to wing it, without writing out a plan, you asked for it. The problem kid will eat you up, just like all of the other chumps that tried to work with that kid and couldn’t get it done.
Are you hitting off a firm front side with your front knee still locked?
Are you still balanced with your head centered between both legs so as not to be lunging forward? Could you take a steel rod and insert it through the top of the skull, go down through the spine, and come out the bottom of the femur?
Is your head still and steady? Does the neck look and feel relaxed? Did the head remain at a consistent altitude?
Is the bat completely wrapped around your back? This may vary, based on whether you are a top hand release hitter (ex. Mark MacGwire) or a no release hitter (ex. Mike Schmidt).
In the last post, I described the qualities of a great batting stance or “rest position”. So, what’s next? Well, the next step is referred to by many different names, such as, “load”, “slot”, “point of no return”, or “launch”. “Launch” is my favorite. It connotes explosion and power. Very positive. No matter what you call it, the point is; hitters need to get a negative movement prior to during every pitch in order to be prepared to swing.
The hands of the hitter take a negative move, back towards the back shoulder. The hands should be held high at the top of the zone.
The hitter should keep the stride shorter rather than longer. This has nothing to do with how high the foot comes off the ground. Stride is relative to the distance the front foot travels from its beginning in the rest position to the end of the launch. In this case, typically, less is more when dealing with the core strength and body control of young hitters.
During launch the hands and front foot move in opposite directions, or walk away from one another. The foot is somewhat optional. Some very successful hitters are stride-less. The hands however are not an option.
Compare this to shooting a rubber band. In order to get it to fly farther and faster, you must pull the ends away from each other. The further apart, the better, right?
Most importantly!!! The weight distribution of the hitter should be 80/20 at launch. That means 80% on the back foot and 20% on the front foot. In the stance, the hitter should have started at 60/40. Getting to 80/20 is difficult for many young hitters. I attribute this to poor instruction at an early age. All to often, I hear parents and coaches tell young hitters to take a big step towards the pitcher. Yes, we want the front foot to go in the general direction of the pitcher, but a step will put the hitters weight distribution at 20/80. That is the total opposite of what it should be at launch position. Years later you’ll hear the same parents and coaches telling the same hitters not to lunge at off-speed pitches. Good luck fixing that one.
This negative movement must happen on every pitch!!!
This negative movement should be practiced in the on-deck circle.
This negative movement needs to be drilled as part of a batting practice routine.
Think of cue words or phrases to remind hitters of this negative movement, such as, “stretch the rubber band” or “load up”.
This post and the following three will all deal with hitting. I feel comfortable discussing both baseball and softball hitting together. There was a point where I wasn’t so comfortable. When I first spent time around fast-pitch softball players, I heard some coaches say that the softball swing was totally different from a baseball swing. So, I sat back and watched. I saw girls having the same problems as boys. I saw myself giving the same advice to female hitters as I would with a male hitter. The major difference that I had observed was that some of the girls had holes in the backs of their helmet for ponytails. Ultimately, hitting is hitting.
We can get into the baseball and softball difference of pitching angles and hitting approach on off-speed pitches at another juncture. I am going to present, what I consider to be, universal fundamentals of both baseball and softball hitting.
Let’s begin with what is most commonly referred to as the STANCE. I’ve always preferred the term “rest position”. I like that term better due a difference in connotation. For example, “stance” connotes readiness but with stiffness and rigidity. Try this, walk up to players and say, “Show me your stance.” More often than not you will see a mechanically sound product, but take a closer look at the player’s forearms, neck, jaw, and legs. You will see muscle tension. “Rest position” connotes comfort and relaxation which is much more conducive for focus and overall success. Promoting a proper mental framework at the plate starts with the stance…. Oh sorry, I meant rest position.
Weight distribution at 40/60. 4o% of the hitter’s weight is on the front foot and 60% on the back foot. Weight should be on the balls of the feet.
Knees comfortably flexed and positioned inside the feet.
Feet parallel to slightly pigeon toed. This will ensure that later on in the swing the big muscle groups in the legs will be allowed to do their job. One of the easiest corrections, seldom made for many youth through high school hitters fixing “duck toes” or both toes pointing outward with the back foot be the most blatant. These hitters are typically all arms and have very little pop. The sad part is many of those same hitters have tremendous hand-eye coordination, but due to bad foot position from the start, singles and doubles are turned into easy outs.
Feet should also be one and a quarter to one and a half of shoulder width.
Hands should be shoulder to ear hole of the helmet high and 4 to 6 inches from the body. This will vary greatly. It is really most important where the hands go after this point. I will further address the hand in the next post.
Forearms should be in the shape of an upside-down letter “V”. DO NOT resort to the old-school advice, “Get that back elbow up.” I cringe when I hear that from someone in the crowd. It usually works against the next step in this sequence…. the grip.
Bat should be held in the fingers, not in the palms of the hands. The “door knocking knuckles” should be aligned. There are many tricks for getting the correct grip. One of my favorites is to have the player point both index fingers while holding the bat. If they go in the same direction, the grip is correct.
The hitter should maintain a tall backside and keep his/her head equidistant between both feet.
Both eyes should be level and facing the pitcher.
In the next post, I will discuss the next step after the rest position. My favorite name for this position is “launch”. It is also referred to as the slot, trigger, load, and etc. No matter what you call it, it is the negative movement needed on every pitch in order to initiate a great swing.
I hope you enjoyed this post. As always, please feel free to comment.
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2019-04-18T13:09:02Z
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https://coach5150.wordpress.com/category/baseball/drills/
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Porn
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Sports
| 0.937023 |
cnn
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Finalists of the CNN African Journalist of the Year Competition, held in partnership with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and sponsored by a number of leading African companies, were announced today by Dr. Doyinsola Abiola, Chairperson of the independent judging panel. The competition received entries from 30 countries throughout the continent.
The winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 19, 2004. The co-hosts for the evening will be Jeff Koinange, CNN Lagos Bureau Chief and Redi Direko, SABC presenter.
Announcing the finalists, Dr Abiola commented: "It was very encouraging to see finalists for this year's competition from three Francophone countries. This yet again confirms the far-reaching talent emerging from throughout the continent and the truly pan African nature of the competition. The overall standard of work resulted in some very heated debate amongst the judging panel. The finalists can all be very proud to have been chosen against strong competition."
The independent judging panel, chaired by Dr. Doyinsola Abiola, Managing Editor/Editor-in-Chief, Concord Press, Nigeria, comprises John Battersby, UK Country Manager of the International Marketing Council of South Africa; Jeff Koinange, CNN Lagos Bureau Chief; Joel Kibazo, Director of Communications and Public Affairs Division at the Commonwealth Secretariat; Jimi Matthews, Head of Television News, SABC; Maimouna Mills, Special Adviser to the former Prime Minister, Senegal; and Rich Mkhondo, Executive Manager: Corporate Communications South African Airways.
The Competition, now in its ninth year, is held in partnership with the SABC and in association with Multichoice Africa Foundation, South African Airways and The Westcliff Hotel, Johannesburg (part of the Orient-Express collection of luxury hotels). Other prestigious sponsors include The Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg; IPP Media Group, Tanzania; Merck, Sharp & Dohme (MSD); Global Media Alliance; Johnnic Communications; This Day; Nederburg Wine Farm and Camerapix.
The CNN African Journalist of the Year Award was founded by Edward Boateng (formerly African Regional Director for Turner Broadcasting System Inc., CNN's parent company) and the late Mohamed Amin, in 1995, to recognise and encourage excellence in journalism throughout Africa.
The CNN African Journalist of the Year competition is open to professional journalists/technicians (including freelancers), born in Africa, working on the African continent for media organisations that are African-owned or principally based in the region, or publish a publication in Africa which is targeted at an African audience for reception within Africa.
Entries were published or broadcast in 2003 for the following awards: Television and Radio-General News; Francophone General News -- Print and/or Photographic and Television and/or Radio; Sport; Arts & Culture; Environment; South African Airways Tourism; M.K.O Abiola Print Journalist; Business; MSD Health & Medical; Free Press Africa and The Mohamed Amin Photographic.
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2019-04-20T16:50:59Z
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http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/africanawards/press.10may04.html
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Porn
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Business
| 0.577492 |
wordpress
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Hence they hate to wait.
Do they have any alternative?
Is the sad reality faced by everyone who suffers.
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2019-04-20T15:09:32Z
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https://alfaazmeredilse.wordpress.com/category/waiting/
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Porn
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Reference
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wordpress
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I waited impatient for a new comic, and this is really an interesting one. In German we say “The eyes eat with us” which means, that food should look appealing. It is an interesting view to think about it as a claim for food being arranged in a correct geometrical pattern.
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2019-04-22T16:01:46Z
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https://dinahtheaspiedinosaur.wordpress.com/2018/10/19/102-dinah-the-aspie-dinosaur-and-the-vegetables/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.863991 |
yahoo
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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — President Barack Obama is carrying out a presidential duty that he hasn't had a lot of opportunity to perform recently: signing into law a major piece of bipartisan legislation.
Obama planned to sign a far-reaching farm bill Friday at Michigan State University, choosing middle America for a rare celebration of Washington political compromise. The bill expands federal crop insurance and ends direct government payments that go to farmers whether they produce anything or not. But the bulk of its $100 billion per year cost is for the food stamp program that aids 1 in 7 Americans.
The White House said Obama would squeeze into his three-hour visit a lunch with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who took office last month. The city is going through the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. They will be joined by Obama's point person on Detroit, Don Graves, senior adviser to the president's National Economic Council.
Obama has said the farm bill isn't perfect but will reduce the deficit "without gutting the vital assistance programs millions of hardworking Americans count on to help put food on the table for their families."
The five-year bill cuts food stamps by $800 million a year, or around 1 percent. That is one-fifth of the cut approved last fall by the Republican-led House. Conservatives remain unhappy with the bill and its generous new subsidies for farmers in every region of the country, including Southern peanut growers, Midwest corn farmers and the Northeast maple syrup industry.
A partisan dispute over food stamp spending held up the legislation for two years, and last fall, lawmakers were warning of an impending spike in milk prices without a deal on the bill, which contains federal dairy supports. The prospect of compromise seemed bleak at the time, when lawmakers couldn't even pass a budget to keep the government running.
The first thing Obama did after a deal finally was reached to end the partial government shutdown was to call on Congress to pass the farm bill, along with a budget and an immigration overhaul. In four months, he's gone 2 for 3, with chances for achieving immigration legislation appearing increasingly iffy.
Obama promised in his State of the Union address last week to make 2014 a year of action, using his presidential powers besides pushing a Congress that usually is reluctant to go along with his ideas. In that spirit, he's coupling the signing of the farm bill with a new administration initiative to boost exports called "Made in Rural America."
According to a draft of the initiative, Obama will direct his administration to work on connecting rural businesses with federal resources that can help sell their products and services abroad. The steps he's directing agencies to take include hosting five regional forums for rural businesses, training Agriculture Department staff in all 50 states to advise on export opportunities and putting on a national conference to highlight successful projects.
The program's creation comes as U.S. farmers are sending record exports overseas, more than $140 billion in the past year, driven in large part by increasing demand from China. But administration officials say additional opportunities exist for farmers and other rural business owners.
Obama's trip is a reward for Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who as chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee helped broker the hard-fought farm bill compromise after years of setbacks. Michigan State, a leading agricultural research school, is Stabenow's alma mater.
But while the bill was passed with bipartisan support, that spirit did not extend to the signing ceremony. Stabenow and other Democratic lawmakers traveled with Obama aboard Air Force One. Republican lawmakers turned down similar invitations, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Before the bill signing at the university's equine performance center, Obama plans to visit Michigan Biotechnology Institute for a look at research to benefit rural communities.
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2019-04-23T14:03:38Z
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https://news.yahoo.com/obama-signing-farm-bill-trims-food-stamps-083911675.html
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Porn
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Business
| 0.15141 |
wordpress
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Mikko Halonen introduced us to the Minerva Plaza building, which is like a tech petting zoo!
The big presentation room is called the Owl’s Nest, and it’s surrounded by smaller rooms with their own technology equipment.
Time-lapse video showing how flexible the Owl’s Nest learning space can be!
Some academics don’t like the glass walls of the Owl’s Nest – everyone can see what you’re doing; and some are tech refusers.
No point having devices if you have no idea how to use them to teach – showing academics how is key part of Minerva Plaza.
Kirsti Lonka has written about Minerva Plaza and its use – see this presentation from slide 19 and my own notes from her talk on engaging learning environments at the IFLA satellite conference on information literacy.
Flinga has been valuable in encouraging discussion and engagement in conferences, as well as with students. It lets people type rather than talk. Non-native speakers of English in our group said they felt more comfortable with this. Conclusion: Flinga is a great tool to use in presentations or during courses. It combines discussing, learning and interaction!
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2019-04-23T03:56:13Z
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https://darkarchive.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/isewlib2014-minerva-plaza-learning-environment/
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Porn
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Computers
| 0.887033 |
tripod
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In one swift motion, Mancuso flung his cloak at those just behind him and lunged at those before him. His blade grew hot with a bright amber edge. LaSor was no ordinary blade; it had a heritage older than Cah Bel and came from unknown origins. It could slice through steal and stone as easily as through flesh.
The first Shadow Knight to come toward him must have known of LaSor’s history, for as soon as he saw the amber edge he dodged rather than parried Mancuso’s first slice. Mancuso’s jab glanced to the side, but using this momentum he ducked to one knee swung around with other leg outstretched and tripped this knight. As the knight fell back he tried to balance his fall with a stone bench. Mancuso sliced up through the bench leg. It crumbled and Mancuso kicked it on top of the knight ... one knight down, for the moment.
With no time to rest, another knight used a bench to jump high into the air and landed right behind Mancuso. He did not land right, and in the moment it took him to catch his balance, Mancuso, still low to the ground, kicked up. The blow landed squarely in the knight’s gullet. The man’s hands went to his chest gasping for air. He stumbled back and fell over the bench he had just jumped over. The dull thud of his head hitting the stone pavement told Mancuso he would not have to worry about this one ... two down.
Mancuso had to remind himself that his goal was to repel, disarm, and question these men, not kill them.
As LaSor came down across the first man’s blade they locked for a split second. LaSor instantly glowed white hot as if in anger. Then, to the astonishment of the Shadow Knight, his blade split asunder into a shower of a thousand sparks. The shock of the blast blinded the unprepared knight who dropped the blackened hilt and stepped back holding his eyes in pain.
Not wasting the momentum, Mancuso continued to swing around and catch the other knight unprepared. Instead of bringing the full force of the still white hot edge against his opponent’s blade, he used the flat side of LaSor to deliver a shocking blow. This with a twisting flick of his wrist ripped the knight’s sword from his numbed hand and sent it flying into the air. The knight watched it as it flipped end over end and started its way back down again. He did not remember seeing it hit the ground but saw only darkness and would wake hours later with a welt the size of LaSor’s ruby on his left temple ... three and four down.
The next knight held back a little further seeing what just happened to his comrades.
“You’re ... you’re a real Firesmyth,” he sputtered.
Firesmyth Mancuso just smiled and bowed gracefully.
Seeing that he was alone ... the knight ran.
With a moan the blinded Shadow Knight blinked and started to regain sight only to see a blur of Mancuso rushing him. The knight shifted his weight to a ready stance but it was too late and he felt his legs sweep out from under him. The ground impacted with a thud that knocked his breath out. He opened his eyes only to look down at a glowing blade beneath his chin.
“Who sent you?” asked Mancuso pressing the flat tip against his chin.
Despite his pain the fallen knight replied only with a look of silent defiance.
Copyright 2000 by Darrell A. Newton, All Rights Reserved.
Last updated: March 06, 2001.
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2019-04-24T08:09:39Z
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http://epiworld.tripod.com/old_EpiStrati/Scroll1/Chapter1/Chapter1_08.htm
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.225035 |
wikipedia
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Musca is an important genus of flies. It includes Musca domestica (the common housefly), as well as Musca autumnalis (the face fly or autumn housefly). It is part of the family Muscidae.
↑ Coquillett D.W. (1901). "Types of anthomyid genera." (PDF/ Adobe Acrobat). Journal of the New York Entomological Society (New York: The New York Entomological Society) 9: 134–146.
This page was last changed on 17 November 2014, at 14:42.
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2019-04-24T22:14:39Z
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https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musca
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Porn
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Science
| 0.464427 |
wordpress
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Teaching children about Physics, Chemistry, Math – this is only 30% of education. We do have to teach them about things which will help them earn a livelihood, but what about the other 70%? The unconscious mind of the student registers everything – and very fast! And how we behave in the classroom is the way they behave in society. In schools, our effort should be to sow some good seeds in their mind, so that they don’t contribute bitter fruits in society when they grow up. When will we start teaching children how to behave well? How to listen, how to observe, how to care? Today schools spend 90% time on academics, which will be soon taken over completely by technology. Do teachers know enough to teach the most important subjects – resilience, responsibility, appreciation, sensitivity?
I don’t agree with the statement that ninety percent time is devoted to academics. As an educator we struggle to find time for teaching subjects because of the various activities conducted for the students, in which they participate actively throughout the year .
Your reflections are very very pertinent. I have been working to build attributes and qualities in teachers first, and at the same time getting them to work with students. However, a lot is dependent on the school Principal! The principal’s belief systems and conviction sets the tone and culture. If he/she gives more importance to exams and academic performance alone then teachers just tow the line!
I do agree with your statement that the belief system of the Principal matters a lot but at the same time it is the philosophy of the institution that plays a pivotal role. A Principal acts according to the guidelines set for her/him by the policy makers of the instituion.
I do agree with your statement that the belief system of the Principal matters a lot but at the same time it is the philosophy of the institution that plays a pivotal role. A Principal acts according to the guidelines set for her/him by the policy makers of the institution.
Does our system allow time and space for teachers to spare any time at all to important life skills required for students that will enable them to be successful and happy global citizens. Efforts however, are being made to include values and life skills in school curriculum [CBSE] – wish it does get implemented and executed effectively across all schools!
Very true. So many children of our generation have memories of school that are about being hit on the knuckles, made to kneel down or the more subtle – ‘donkey / idiot/ stupid’ title they had in school. Today i think it is a lot better, yet children recognise subtle signs – ‘i don’t think miss liked me saying that’, ‘i think miss was in an angry mood today’ etc. Those comments really tell us how much they observe and absorb.
This seems relevant in today’s scenario – though I think this has been true for a while now. Very few adults in a child’s life seem to be successful in enabling them to live their lives fruitfully, in a way that contributes towards harmonious living, and one that will enable them to be happy.
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2019-04-22T02:26:12Z
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https://reflectingschools.wordpress.com/2016/09/26/what-about-schools/
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Porn
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Kids
| 0.671848 |
wordpress
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I was sent a complimentary copy of this one by the author in return for an honest review – thank you very much!
What should you do if you are an actress and your theater all of a sudden gets closed due to circumstances beyond your control? Basically everything that allows you to earn a bit. Derry O’Donnell has to dust off her Madam Tulip persona and, with her sidekick, Bruce, in tow, she goes to perform for the British aristocrats. An Earl is throwing an engagement party for his daughter and a psychic might be a good addition to planned entertainment. What can go wrong? Well, pretty much everything.
There will be priceless paintings, old and new, Russian mafia, horses, and body parts of a very unhappy forger. There will be cards and a crystal ball and fortune-telling, with quite unexpected outcome.
This one is, in my humble opinion, actually better than the first part, quite a feat per se because usually it’s the other way round. I even like the cover art better. It might be read as a stand-alone but if you are given an opportunity read the previous part first – it won’t hurt.
At first glance you deal here with a well-known scheme: a filthy rich aristo is throwing a party because one of his daughters gets engaged. Plenty of people arrive, among them a psychic and an actress from the Emerald Isle, Derry O’Donnell and her driver, Bruce, the ex-SEAL. Then strange thing happen and poor Madam Tulip gets more entertainment than she would like to deal with. What can be done? She does a bit of sleuthing and decides to help poor aristocrats who, this time, might be neck-deep in serious trouble.
Derry was such a sweetie in this one! I fully appreciated the fact that the author didn’t make her fall in love with anybody and still managed to create a very likeable heroine. The mystery behind an arm sent to the Earl was nicely done and quite believable. Still, even though the novel can be pigeonholed as cosy mystery or comic suspense, Mr Ahern was able to smuggle quite acute observations concerning e.g. the ambiguous feelings towards the Royalty and aristocrats and differences in mindset between Americans and British. I also appreciated the important role of paintings and curators in the plot! Making Derry go to the Salisbury Plain during the Mabon was like a cherry on top of a wedding cake!
One more thing and I am done with my inordinate gushing. Two words: the parents. I cannot appreciate enough the fact that Derry is not another parentless ‘stub’ or an orphan girl. The dynamics between her, her American ma and Irish pa is simply priceless and so real! You might call it dysfunctional but it’s so funny to read about!
Now my carping, thrown in just in case I go out of practice: the baddies. Sergiei shouldn’t have hit on Derry and if he already did it he should have followed that attraction. It would have made him far more interesting and the final showdown even more dramatic.
One of funnier and cleverer cosy mystery series I’ve had a pleasure to read so far. If you ever stumble upon a Madam Tulip mystery do not hesitate to give it a go! You won’t regret it!
This entry was posted in adventure, book review, contemporary, cozy mystery, crime, mystery and tagged comic murder mystery, cozy mystery, david ahern, funny heroine, madam tulip, series alert, that's how it should be done. Bookmark the permalink.
It’s always a pleasure to clash with you :).
Pingback: Madam Tulip and the Knave of Hearts is “funnier and cleverer” says Anachronist (portiabridget) | Madam Tulip mystery thrillers!
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2019-04-19T08:18:12Z
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https://portiabridget.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/madam-tulip-and-knave-of-hearts-by-david-ahern/
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Porn
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Arts
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wordpress
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Advanced Art is for very serious, self-motivated art students. Students are given assignments that demonstrate a high level of creativity as well as expertise in technical abilities and thorough knowledge of composition. Students work on specific assignments as well as individual study under teacher approval contract. Aesthetics are paralleled with contemporary late 20th century art. Advanced Art may be repeated indefinitely with the teacher’s approval but it does serve as a preparatory class for AP Studio Art.
COURSE DESCRIPTION Advanced Art I and II: Advanced art is for the very serious self-motivated art student. Students will be given assignments in which they must demonstrate a high level of creativity, expertise in technical skills, and a thorough knowledge of composition. Students will work on specific assignments given to the entire class, as well as projects designed for individual study per individual contract. Art theory, history, and aesthetics are explored in the context of contemporary art. Advanced Art 1 and 2 may be repeated indefinitely with teacher approval.
Synthesize visual arts elements and continue to use a variety of media, genres, styles, and techniques to communicate for specific purposes and audiences.
Work independently and safely to develop a personal style in a body of work that exemplifies, and is evidence of, a deeper understanding of technical skill and perceptual mastery.
Be competent in a wide range of art media that is typically used at the post-secondary level and beyond.
Integrate personal experience and meaning. As visually literate thinkers, creators, and consumers of visual art, they examine, produce, exhibit, and justify a body of original work.
Use a variety of aesthetic criteria to analyze, interpret, and respond to art and make connections across disciplines, cultures, place, and time.
Study career paths related to the visual arts.
Explore, by visual means, the nature of our society and us. The student should be able to reflect these observations back in an effective artistic form.
Study the art elements and principles in a manner that reflects the student’s ability to demonstrate their understanding of the term “fine art”.
Become competent in a wide range of art media that is typically used at the post-secondary level and beyond.
Develop strength in recognizing and refuting clichés in art that stunt creativity and damage your trust in your ability to grow and learn.
Develop a portfolio that is strong enough to gain entrance into an art program of one’s choosing beyond high school.
COURSE OUTLINE: Throughout this course you will produce a large quantity of sketches, notes, and other written or visual information to help you gain ideas. Students will work in both 2 and 3 dimensional materials. Two-dimensional media will include painting, drawing, and printmaking. Three-dimensional work will include clay, plaster, metal casting and fabrication, and other mixed media. Emphasis will be on personal expression and developing one’s own original style. Projects will be assigned for each unit of study during the semester. A complete explanation and rubric with due dates will be given at the time the assignment is given. To develop communication skills, each project requires a student written self-evaluation when work is turned in.
Assignments are usually given through visual presentations. Verbal instruction will support the specifics of each assignment. With each new project you will acquire new skills. Students are encouraged to “toss ideas around” before beginning any project. Preliminary work is often where you will learn most. All projects will require some preliminary work or “thumbnail” sketches to better help you develop your original and imaginative thoughts. Original thought requires critical thinking—yes, you have to use your brains!!! Kitschy, crafty, gimmicky or graphic art is NOT what we will strive for. You will have the opportunity to discuss your ideas with your fellow students and to discuss works after they have been completed. Seasoned students sharing skills and ideas with novices continue the strength of the art department. Seniors share your knowledge, and less experienced students—take it!! Art cannot be created in a vacuum—our class is one of our greatest resources. Students will be required to participate in critiques. These will be both verbal and written. Students will learn what to look for in a critique, how to address issues, and use of proper terminology.
In all your work you will strive to accomplish three critical components through research, development, realization, and analysis.
Do not miss turning in an assignment.
Students will be graded on the strength of their work based on the above criteria. Effort is expected at this level.
Do not get behind. If you have missed school, make up the work as soon as possible. Make sure you get credit for all work you have turned in.
Make sure you are following the assignment criteria. HHS students work well without the teacher around, be imaginative, but don’t lose the assignment.
When you help others this is noticed (= points).
If you miss more than 12 days of class expect a lower grade—you may be denied credit as well.
Listening is part of the learning process, students not listening, or denying others the opportunity to listen will lose points—and my respect.
You can see the importance of the participation, behavior and productivity points to your overall grade-230 per quarter. You may be asking yourself why this is such a big part of your grade? Well, if you think about it, this class is very similar to a lab class. Technically you don’t have a text book and the instruction happens in the classroom. If you are not here, you are not listening and doing, and if you are not doing and listening, you are not learning. You are in class to learn. If you are not in class, then you are not learning. No learning=no points. Arrangements can be made to make up missing points on extended day Thursdays.
Classroom materials aside from items used for projects include educational videos that pertain to the life and works of major artists or on technique methods. They are from the RSD approved curriculum, and MPAA rating is not applicable for any of them.
Other course materials include teacher demonstrations, slide lecture/discussions, web sites, monthly art publications and a variety of art books. Slides are from major art history text sources, from current professional art publications, or of actual student work samples. Prints of major artists and samples of outstanding student work will be displayed regularly. Students will be expected to use resources from HHS or the Richland Public Library, or from the Internet, etc.
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2019-04-18T14:37:43Z
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https://1312wherearthappens.wordpress.com/courses/advanced-art/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.2598 |
wordpress
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How do I book a speaking engagement with Shay?
Thank you for your interest in booking me for your next event! My goal is to make your scheduling process run as smoothly as possible.
Inquiry Call: Give me a call at (323) 596-1843. My schedule fills quickly and I have limited availability each month for travel outside of Los Angeles, CA. Please call to discuss your event and whether I am a fit for your objectives. During this call, we will also discuss your budget and my fees. I cannot guarantee that I will be available for your event until I receive the signed agreement and deposit (see below).
Contract & Deposit: After you confirm that you are ready to move forward with scheduling and booking me as your speaker, I will send the speaking agreement and invoice. Your organization’s authorized representative has no later than fourteen (14) days from receipt of the agreement to send the signed agreement and your non-refundable 50% deposit, plus travel fees (if applicable), made payable to Bigger than Your Block. I will not hold the date or consider your event date confirmed until I receive your signed agreement and the deposit in full.
Release of Publicity Photos and Bio: After I receive your signed agreement and deposit paid in full, I will send my photos and bio for use in organizing, advertising or promoting a contracted speaking appearance.
Pre-Event Questionnaire: I will send you a detailed Pre-Event Questionnaire to help us design and deliver a successful event that meets your goals and the needs of your audience. The questionnaire provides information about your objectives and logistical aspects of your event.
Pre-Engagement Phone Meeting: After receiving your Pre-Event Questionnaire, I will talk with the meeting planner and key contacts prior to the event to aid in the preparation of the presentation.
Development of Presentation(s): I will prepare a presentation to meet your event objectives as discussed with your authorized representative.
Balance Due: The 50% balance of the speaking fee is due on-site the day of the event.
Shay Speaks at Your Event: I will deliver the speaking and appearance services described in the Agreement.
Shay’s fees are customized for each event depending on the specific request, location, length of the presentation, and requirements. My fee structure includes various options to fit different budgets. Please note that fees quoted during the inquiry phone call are only valid for 30 days and the same rate is not guaranteed at a later date. The fees quoted in the speaking agreement supersede and merge all prior oral or written conversations and understandings and are valid for 14 days from receipt. In addition to my fee, you will also be responsible for my travel expenses if I need to travel to your event.
What Payment Methods Does Bigger Than Your Block Accept?
Can Shay Hold an Event Date?
A non-refundable deposit (50% of the speaking fee + flat rate travel fee) is required prior to the event to secure the date, guarantee my participation, and release my publicity photos and bio for promotional purposes in association with the scheduled presentation. Shay has limited availability for speaking engagements — especially if travel is involved — so don’t delay in submitting your request! If I am available for your event, the deposit and signed contract must be received a minimum of 30 business days before the scheduled presentation(s) to allow sufficient time for planning, making travel arrangements, processing, discussing the details of the event, and preparing the customized presentation(s). However, it is best to contact me 3-6 months in advance.
I would like to bring Shay to speak to my group, but we have a limited budget. Is Shay’s speaking fee negotiable?
I would like to provide financial education for every student that is interested. I am willing to help you explore creative options for funding my programs.
Can I make an audio or video recording?
I have spent about nine years researching and honing my presentations. Written permission must be obtained prior to the event if you want to capture my presentation or post photos or recordings on web sites. Depending on the use of the recording, additional fees may apply.
Can I web stream Shay’s presentation?
Written permission must be obtained prior to the event if you are considering web streaming any portion of Shay’s presentation.
Does Shay work with different age groups?
Yes! Shay speaks to adult and youth audiences. Participants are typically ages 9 and older. Find out more about our speaking programs.
How long are Shay’s presentations?
My workshops are 45 minutes – 1 hour. I can also deliver 1/2-day and full-day presentations. Please let me know more about your event and objectives to make sure that I can provide what your audience needs.
Can Shay incorporate specific topics into her presentation?
Yes, I can customize presentations to meet the needs of your audience. Additional fees may apply. Find out more about our speaking programs.
What are Shay’s speaking requirements on the day of the event?
To ensure that your event flows smoothly, I will provide a detailed event rider prior to your scheduled event.
We’re ready to book Shay. What is the next step?
Give me a call at (323) 596-1843. I look forward to speaking with you!
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2019-04-22T00:43:46Z
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https://biggerthanyourblock.wordpress.com/faqs/
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wordpress
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I’m taking a brief detour from our adventure to share some more recent stories, but next post, we go to Greece.
I may be starting to freak out. It was bound to happen. I’d say it was only a matter of time and that time has come. My birthday may have had something to do with it but mostly I think it was time.
Yeah five months ago when we first came home, I bragged to friends about how for the first time in my life, I was plan-free, living life off track, post-corporate and proud. I am no longer okay with these things. And while I do have a plan now, it is evolving at a pace so slow it could kill me. I also bragged that one of the lessons I learned from our trip was that life has a pace of its own and you just have to go with the flow. Despite that revelation, I’ll probably die still trying to swim against it.
When I went out for a girl’s night the week we got home, I actually told my friends that they were stressing me out. Seriously. In a voice reminiscent of the cast from “Dazed and Confused,” I told two of my closest girlfriends—amazing women who were juggling the complexities of work, husbands, kids, and life in general—that they were bumming me out. I was still reeling from my world awareness high and the issues of building a life in modern America seemed so unnecessary.
I am working with a theory right now that suggests the dirty little secret of the life I grew up in is that things are so good, so comfortable, just so fine that we actually have to make up things to be upset about. Take a brief survey of your problems and assess which ones are actually self-inflicted, self-perpetuating and which ones are real. And even though I recognize that, I can help inflicting a little existential pain on myself.
The oh-for-the-first-time-in-my-adult-life-I-don’t-have-a-plan-Molly got left behind when I could still joke with people that we were summering at my parents house in CT, rather than living with them because we don’t have jobs to support ourselves. Suburban squatting is what I call it now. I hope it’s self-deprecating enough to get a little laugh from people but not insulting to my parents who have been so supportive. They’re so generous that not only do they let us live in their house, eat their food, use their wifi, and drive their cars, they were also willing to star in my parody video of the whole experience.
But it’s hard coming home, especially if you were the kid that was so independent she was never going to live at home. I created that narrative a long time ago, and I lived with it for all of my adult life, so you can understand how reshaping it has been a process.
When I went down to the town hall in my hometown to re-register to vote, the women helping me with the form looked very confused about me. Finally it came out that she had a daughter that went to my high school that was about my age. I later figured that her daughter was probably in my older sister’s class. But at the time, I could not get out of there fast enough and agreed non-committally with everything that she said. But then came the ego-blow.
“So moving back home are we?” she asked in that faux concern, thrilled at the prospect of some juicy gossip, sing-song tone.
I murmured something about traveling the world for a year with my husband and looking for jobs so we could move back to New York City which is where we had been living for the past ten years and working successfully before we voluntarily took off to travel around the world. But the damage was done. I left and had a good, short cry in the car, drove home and fished my uninsured engagement ring out of the safe and wore it around for the next week to make myself feel better.
A friend did get me a couple days of work as a fashion assistant. I was going to include those adventures here but I think I’ve got enough material for a separate post. And Nellu verified votes for the AP for three days so we do have a little money coming in.
I’ve become a connoisseur of cat videos and Gangnam style tributes. (Apparently there was a recent cat video film festival and Henri 2, Paw de Deux won a well deserved award for top video.) I do this mostly under the guise of research. I want to be gainfully employed, writing and creating video for the web, news video really, but it’s important for me to know what’s out there, right? This is the same justification that led me to conclude I could sample the local brews abroad and call that research too.
I actively look forward to “Mentalist” marathons and I try hard to suppress my disappointment when they air shows I’ve already seen. I may have go cold turkey on this addiction because after five months, I’m pretty much caught up.
While I do spend most of my days in my worn yoga pants and fleece swag from my old job, I have an active policy stating that neither velour pants nor my fleece-lined Crocs should be worn out of the house. Although, on more than one occasion, you could catch me running errands in my Crocs.
I used to call these my Connecticut shoes, but since I live here now, I just call them my shoes.
And I’ve made progress on retraining my hair. This is just a nice way of saying that I go as long as I can without washing my hair so that I can wash it less often when I am gainfully employed, which I hope will be soon, real soon.
I lived for a long-time in the world where my job dictated my large degree of my self-worth. Rewriting this story is hard. Change and transition are hard. But not as hard as not having food, running water, internal heat, access to education, opportunity, upward mobility or dealing with the persistent threat of violence, conflict or war on a daily basis. Shall I go on or should I just stop freaking out and be grateful that I have such a cushy place to squat?
And after ignoring the friendly advice of others, I can tell you they are right. It’s similar to the feeling you have after riding a horse…but worse, much worse. (Nellu swears he bruised his tailbone.) Still, given the opportunity to ride a camel, you have to do it.
From Marrakech, Nellu and I took an overnight trip over the Atlas Mountains, through the city of Aït Benhaddou (a town that has been used as a backdrop for several famous films), and to the Sahara Desert.
At the edge of the desert, we met our camels for a 45 minute ride out to the Berber camp where we spent the night.
While the overnight was relatively uneventful, the highlight was definitely the journey, a journey which left a lingering impression on our bodies.
The Berbers made a fire for us in the Sahara Desert. Photo by Nellu.
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2019-04-21T04:11:11Z
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https://ourlifeofftrack.wordpress.com/2012/11/
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wordpress
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The Covenantal Baptist made a great post with excerpts from an old essay by John Norcott against paedobaptism. It has some great points. Ponder carefully his reference to Romans 11.
Thou art in a Maze which hath no Clue.
Update: Please see this post instead.
This is just a properly formatted version of John Owen’s tract.
Please take the time to watch Dr. Gribben’s lecture John Owen, Baptism, and the Baptists.
For an analysis of the ways in which this tract contradicts Owen’s published thoughts in his Hebrews commentary, see here.
THE question is not whether professing believers, Jews or Gentiles, not baptized in their infancy, ought to be baptized; for this is by all confessed.
Neither is it whether, in such persons, the profession of saving faith and repentance ought not to go before baptism. This we plead for beyond what is the common practice of those who oppose us. Wherefore, testimonies produced out of authors, ancient or modern, to confirm these things, which consist with the doctrine of infant baptism, are mere tergiversations, that belong not to this cause at all; and so are all arguments produced unto that end out of the Scriptures.
The question is not whether all infants are to be baptized or not; for, according to the will of God, some are not to be baptized, even such whose parents are strangers from the covenant, But hence it will follow that some are to be baptized, seeing an exception confirms both rule and right.
First, They by whom this is denied can produce no testimony of Scripture wherein their negation is formally or in terms included, nor any one asserting what is inconsistent with the affirmative; for it is weak beneath consideration to suppose that the requiring of the baptism of believers is inconsistent with that of their seed. But this is to be required of them who oppose infant baptism, that they produce such a testimony.
Who shall disannul what God hath granted? What he hath put together who shall put asunder? To abolish or take away any grant of privilege made by him to the church, without his own express revocation of it, is to deny his sovereign authority.
An express revocation of it by God himself; which none can do either directly or indirectly, in terms or any pretense of consequence.
An instance of a greater privilege or mercy granted unto them in the room of it; which they do not once pretend unto, but leave the seed of believers, whilst in their infant state, in the same condition with those of pagans and infidels; expressly contrary to God’s covenant..335 All this contest, therefore, is to deprive the children of believers of a privilege once granted to them by God, never revoked, as to the substance of it, assigning nothing in its room; which is contrary to the goodness, love, and covenant of God, especially derogatory to the honor of Jesus Christ and the gospel.
Infants are made for and are capable of eternal glory or misery, and must fall, dying infants, into one of these estates for ever.
All infants are born in a state of sin, wherein they are spiritually dead and under the curse.
Unless they are regenerated or born again, they must all perish inevitably, John 3:3. Their regeneration is the grace whereof baptism is a sign or token. Wherever this is, there baptism ought to be administered.
Fifthly, God having appointed baptism as the sign and seal of regeneration, unto whom he denies it, he denies the grace signified by it. Why is it the will of God that unbelievers and impenitent sinners should not be baptized? It is because, not granting them the grace, he will not grant them the sign. If, therefore, God denies the sign unto the infant seed of believers, it must be because he denies them the grace of it; and then all the children of believing parents dying in their infancy must, without hope, be eternally damned. I do not say that all must be so who are not baptized, but all must be so whom God would have not baptized. But this is contrary to the goodness and law [love?] of God, the nature and promises of the covenant, the testimony of Christ reckoning them to the kingdom of God, the faith of godly parents, and the belief of the church in all ages. It follows hence unavoidably that infants who die in their infancy have the grace of regeneration, and consequently as good a right unto baptism as believers themselves.
Sixthly, All children in their infancy are reckoned unto the covenant of their parents, by virtue of the law of their creation. For they are all made capable of eternal rewards and punishments, as hath been declared. But in their own persons they are not capable of doing good or evil. It is therefore contrary to the justice of God, and the law of the creation of human kind, wherein many die before they can discern between their right hand and their left, to deal with infants any otherwise but in and according to the covenant of their parents; and that he doth so, see Romans 5:14. Hence I argue, — Those who, by God’s appointment, and by virtue of the law of their creation, are, and must of necessity be, included in the covenant of their parents, have the same right with them unto the privileges of that covenant, no express exception being put in against them. This right it is in the power of none to deprive them of, unless they can change the law of their creation. Thus it is with the children of believers with respect unto the covenant of their parents, whence alone they are said to be holy, 1 Corinthians 7:14.
Children are still in the same covenant with their parents, or the truth of the promises of God to the fathers was not confirmed by Christ.
That covenant was with and unto Christ mystical, Galatians 3:16; and he was the messenger of no covenant but that which was made with himself and his members.
He was sent, or was God’s messenger, to perform and accomplish the covenant and oath made with Abraham, Luke 1:72, 73.
If they have any interest in it, it is either in its grace or in its administration. If they have the former, they have the latter also, as shall be proved at any time. If they have neither, they have no interest in it; — then the truth of the promises of God made unto the fathers was not confirmed by Christ.
That unto whom the covenant or promise doth belong, to them belongs the administration of the initial seal of it, is expressly declared by the apostle, Acts 2:38, 39, be they who they will.
Eighthly, Particular testimonies may be pleaded and vindicated, if need be, and the practice of the primitive church.
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2019-04-23T15:06:11Z
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https://contrast2.wordpress.com/2010/08/
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yahoo
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The Yahoo Sports Fantasy Podcast is back with Episode 2. Liz Loza and Dalton Del Don kicked things off by exploring the ramifications of two promising rookie running backs being hurt.
With Derrius Guice’s season over (approximately at the 4:19 mark of the show) and Rashaad Penny’s Week 1 availability in doubt (7:23), how should fantasy players react?
From there, Brad Evans and Matt Harmon went through their five most promising rookies early in the preseason process (10:05). Kerryon Johnson (11:18) and Royce Freeman (15:23) both made the list.
We also tackled your pressing draft questions, including which players are being drafted at their ceiling ADP wise (28:50) as well as a debate on who should be the No. 1 pick between Le’Veon Bell and Todd Gurley (30:50).
In the stretch run, we got a guest appearance from someone who might have helped you win a Fantasy Baseball title back in the day: CC Sabathia. Ahead of his charitable fantasy draft on Friday with Big League Impact, he revealed his passion for Fantasy Football stems from some really bad Raiders teams (38:55).
Finally, Dalton and Liz ponder the hardest receiver for them rank (42:40).
Just like NFL teams this time of year, we’re working through any potential issues like sound quality. Please bear with us as make this the show you deserve. Have a suggestion on the type of content you’d like to hear or anything else about the pod? Tweet us at @yahoofantasy.
We’ll release two new episodes next week, but you can subscribe now, so you never miss out on an episode. We’re available on Apple Podcasts or wherever you download your podcasts.
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2019-04-26T16:10:43Z
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https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/yahoo-sports-fantasy-podcast-rookie-standouts-no-1-pick-episode-2-135919652.html
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I’m pleased to welcome Robin Patchen to this month’s Finishing Strong. Robin is not only a romantic suspense author but the owner of Robin’s Red Pen. So if you need a freelance editor, I can tell you from experience that she’s a joy to work with. Welcome, Robin!
I’m not one of those people with a million ideas floating around in my head at the same time. I usually just have one decent idea at a time—and I’m glad to have it.
When I start a series, I don’t even know who all the books are going to be about. I usually only know how many books I intend to write and what genre they will be.
For instance, with the Hidden Truth series, I had the idea for the first book, Convenient Lies. I plotted that book and started writing it, and when I introduced Samantha, Rae’s best friend, I knew she would eventually have her own book. But the deeper I got into Rae’s story, the more I knew book two had to be about Nate. I’d put him through such horror in book one, I figured he deserved it. As I finished writing Convenient Lies, in the back of my mind, I was already plotting Nate and Marisa’s story. Halfway through writing Twisted Lies, I was planning Sam’s story. By the end of Generous Lies, I knew poor Eric had been left out long enough. He and Kelsey became the protagonists for Innocent Lies. So, I’m generally thinking and planning only one book ahead.
All that planning fell apart as I started writing Beauty in Flight. It was intended to be book one in a four-book series that takes place in the fictional town of Nutfield, New Hampshire (where the Hidden Truth books take place.) Unfortunately, Harper’s story got completely out of control. It became far too long, and there were three distinct parts that didn’t flow well together. I reached a point when I realized there was no way I could tell her story in one normal-length novel. I stalled out, and the book sat and sat while I agonized over what I should do away with.
Finally, I decided that I would write the story as three books, and with that plan in mind, I was able to finish them up. For me, when a plan stalls, I do, too. It’s not a pretty picture. But when a plan (even if it’s a new plan) comes together, it’s a beautiful thing. I’m thrilled with the three books that make up the Beauty in Flight series.
I think some writers would have moved on to a different project all together. Maybe that would have been wise. I’m a bit stubborn, honestly, so when I decide I’m going to write something, I stick with it until it’s written. And in this case, I couldn’t leave Harper and Jack’s story unfinished. I rarely know exactly how a story is going to end when I start it, and I wanted to know what was going to happen!
The moral to the story for me is that I have to plan my projects well, or I’ll cause myself lots of grief.
Don’t miss Beauty in Hiding, Book 2 in the Beauty in Flight series.
Download a free copy of Convenient Lies, book 1 in the Hidden Truth series, when you visit Robin’s website, robinpatchen.com.
Author Candee Fick stops by today to give us her perspective on what it takes to “Finish Strong” when it comes to our writing projects. Welcome, Candee!
Some authors have one epic idea for a book that consumes them for years. Others—like me—have far more ideas than available hours to write. There’s a quote circulating about avid readers dying next to a pile of books they’d wanted to read. I fear I might be the writer whose heirs uncover an overflowing folder of unwritten story ideas.
On one hand, having a multitude of stories waiting on the backburner of my brain allows them the opportunity to simmer for awhile until each nugget of an idea grows strong enough to carry a complete book. On the other hand, it’s too easy to get distracted by all those interesting characters and situations instead of focusing on the current work-in-progress and seeing it through to completion before starting something new.
When I’m tempted to wander down that rabbit trail and start work on a different idea, I’ve learned to allow myself a few moments to write down that fabulous dialogue snippet or plot twist or setting detail. Then I drop it into my file of future ideas…and forget about it. When the time comes to start a new story, all those assorted pieces will be there waiting.
So how do I choose my next writing project? It’s a combination of inspiration and business tactics. What genres, time periods, lengths, and series/standalone tropes are selling best? Does the idea fit into my overall brand as an author and would my readers enjoy the story? But most of all, am I still excited about the idea? If not, back into the pot it goes to keep cooking while I fish out another idea instead.
In some ways, I think of my idea bank like a recipe for chicken and dumpling stew with many terrific ingredients simmering for awhile…and then the goodies rise to the top. In fact, that’s what happened with my newest series featuring castles. I had four historical ideas simmering that just would not leave me alone until the day I came up with a plan to weave them alongside a contemporary plot to create a series.
Of course, I’m still putting in the work to actually write all of the books, but having an exciting feasible idea in the first place makes it that much easier to finish strong.
How do you store all those flashy new ideas until you’re ready to use them?
If you like clean medieval romance, the Scottish Highlands, and cheering for the underdog, then you’ll love the first installment of this new series from Candee Fick.
Candee Fick is a multipublished, award-winning author. She is also the wife of a high school football coach and the mother of three children, including a daughter with a rare genetic syndrome. When not busy writing, editing, or coaching other authors, she can be found cheering on the home team at sporting events, exploring the great Colorado outdoors, indulging in dark chocolate, and savoring happily-ever-after endings through a good book.
I’m posting on the Seriously Write blog today and talking about book covers. Join in on the conversation. Tell us your experience in choosing the right cover for a book or what you do and don’t like in covers.
Have you been responsible for making the decision about a book cover? What did you learn from it?
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2019-04-19T18:27:07Z
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https://sandraardoin.wordpress.com/category/creativity/
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Porn
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| 0.40211 |
wordpress
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Stoked you like our videos! They were a ton of fun to produce and hopefully, in the future we’ll be making more. Your blog rocks. We’d like to link to it when we update our site.
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2019-04-18T17:28:55Z
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https://membracid.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/the-bug-chicks-insect-strength/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.327065 |
wordpress
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For anybody who has edited video in Final Cut Pro, you know that there are many different ways to perform the same tasks. Recently I watched this free Apple seminar on how to rapidly edit news and sports packages. This tutorial is geared primarily for TV shooters and editors transitioning from tape-tape and into the world of non-linear editing. The video seminar is taught by long-time TV news shooter and editor Joe Torelli, who really knows his stuff.
I found the most useful information comes in the second video where Torelli shows an interesting way to edit clips on the timeline verses setting in and out points in the viewer. His techniques, geared for deadline productions, are something I will try when I need to edit something in a hurry. As newspaper websites use more and more video, learning to edit efficiently will only become more important.
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2019-04-20T02:48:27Z
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https://masteringmultimedia.wordpress.com/tag/apple/
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Porn
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News
| 0.758004 |
wordpress
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« Get used to it!
This entry was posted on juni 10, 2013 at 7:18 e m and is filed under Uncategorized with tags bebis, Chris, Kolmården, Madeleine, prinsessa, Tanzania. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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2019-04-18T13:37:06Z
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https://litenbitchirullstol.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/allt-verkligen-allt-kan-handa/
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Porn
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| 0.364352 |
canalblog
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A 4 hours workshop very rich of words, sharing and listening, exchanges between both of us. This is very helpful and resourceful when you have doubts about yourself, feedback is so important to get your self-confidence back… it reveals your beauty, your unique face. A workshop about Sharing, Compassion, Respec too….
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2019-04-25T02:22:48Z
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http://wakeuptomakeup.canalblog.com/archives/2011/06/08/3238894.html
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.355571 |
yahoo
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The Washington Nationals learned something valuable during Saturday’s 17-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
If the team ever encounters any questions about its starting rotation, the answer should not be Jeremy Guthrie.
The veteran right-hander was called upon to make a spot start on Saturday, which also happened to be his 38th birthday. It was Guthrie’s first major-league start since 2015. Unfortunately, it might his last as well after he recorded just two outs and allowed 10 runs in Philadelphia’s team record 12-run first inning.
We’d usually say Guthrie joined some exclusive company with this outing. After all, only 11 pitchers in MLB history have allowed 10 or more runs in one or less innings pitched. The problem is Guthrie was already one of those 11, so now he’s the first to repeat it.
Nationals starter Jeremy Guthrie is one of 11 pitchers in MLB history to allow 10+ runs in 1 IP or less … and now he's done so twice!
Guthrie allowed six hits and four walks before giving way to Enny Romero. The biggest blow being Howie Kendrick’s two-out bases-clearing triple. The Phillies would add two more against Romero, bringing their total to 12 without the benefit of a home run.
There are a lot of really interesting or terrible numbers to come from this outing, depending on which side you’re supporting. If you’re a Nationals fan, we’d encourage you to shield your eyes.
Did you notice that each of the 15 batters did something productive with their at-bat? Either they reached base or drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, which is truly remarkable.
This marked the 7,645th game in Natioanls/Expos history. Guthrie has pitched in one of them and still managed this first.
By the way, Guthrie’s 2017 ERA sits at a cool 135.00.
Honestly, this one is painful. We know this night meant a lot to Guthrie and having it fall on his birthday probably felt like a pretty good omen. Unfortunately, there was nothing to celebrate from a baseball perspective, and that feeling came through in Guthrie’s postgame tweet.
As we mentioned, Guthrie was making a spot start on Saturday. Chances are this stint was going to be short-lived one way or the other, but the Nationals made that official on Sunday by designating him for assignment.
Nats have added righty Matt Albers and designated Jeremy Guthrie for assignment.
Guthrie’s not one to make excuses. When you can’t fool major-league hitters and your command is spotty, you’re going to get knocked around the ballpark. Unfortunately for him and for the Nationals, they didn’t see this one coming.
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2019-04-23T20:33:53Z
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https://sports.yahoo.com/news/jeremy-guthrie-repeated-worst-kind-history-return-nationals-012332263.html
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Porn
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Sports
| 0.607268 |
wordpress
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Become a sponsor for the 2nd annual Greater Hartford Mini Maker Faire!
What do can openers, colored television, portable typewriters, vacuum cleaners, sewing machines, the first primitive submarine, and frisbees all have in common? They were invented right here in Connecticut. The good news is that Connecticut ingenuity is alive and well in our state, only too many people don’t know about it.
Maker Faires are a family-friendly event that promotes this spirit of invention and creativity—a coming together of inventiveness and artistic expression that translates into the inventions of the future or in some cases, the here and now. Through interactive workshops, demonstrations, and exhibits, it’s hoped that the young and the old become inspired to create a better world through invention. It’s a place where people show what they are making and share what they are learning. It’s for people of all ages who create, make, build, innovate, tinker, hack, engineer, or design.
Become a sponsor! Contact Adam Ney at adam.ney@cbia.com or 860.244.1933.
The Connecticut College of Technology’s Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing in partnership with CBIA, MakeHartford, and MakerspaceCT.
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2019-04-25T21:42:27Z
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https://greaterhartfordmakerfaire.wordpress.com/sponsors/
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Porn
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Business
| 0.655489 |
wordpress
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The latest battle between religion and secularism is the issue of prayer. In the wake of San Bernardino, the front page of the New York Daily News screamed, “God Isn’t Fixing This” in response to statements by several GOP presidential candidates, who offered thoughts and prayers for the victims. The point was that prayer isn’t enough; it’s time for these politicians to take action.
Naturally, there’s been a backlash to what has become known as “prayer-shaming.” Some Christian leaders have called for the firing Daily News editor responsible for the story. Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention said, “If the news media want to be atheists, that’s their business. But how dare they now ridicule people of faith. This kind of anti-religious bigotry is precisely what fuels Islamic terrorists’ hatred toward Americans.” Others want to teach us that prayer is action, but atheists just don’t understand that.
Once again, the battle lines get drawn between believers and atheists. But this is a false dichotomy. Not all Christians would join the outcry against this so-called attack on the faithful.
There’s nothing wrong with offering “thoughts and prayers.” Sometimes we don’t know what else to say and our words convey our compassion. But I do not see anything wrong with calling people who claim to offer “thoughts and prayers” to account for their actions which belie their purported beliefs.
I hope that other Christian voices are heard in this latest fray. It’s not a war on Christianity. It’s not an atheistic attack on prayer. It is a challenge against hypocrisy. And it is a call – to all of us – to action.
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2019-04-23T12:42:20Z
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https://progressivechurch.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/prayer-shaming-a-time-honored-tradition/
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News
| 0.978337 |
wikipedia
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Started in 1972 by Jack Kramer, Donald Dell, and Cliff Drysdale, it was first managed by Jack Kramer, as Executive Director, and Cliff Drysdale, as President. Jim McManus was a founding member. Jack Kramer created the professional players' rankings system, which started the following year and is still in use. From 1974 to 1989, the men's circuit was administered by a sub-committee called the Men's International Professional Tennis Council (MIPTC). It was made up of representatives of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the ATP, and tournament directors from around the world. The ATP successfully requested that the MIPTC introduce a drug testing rule, making tennis the first professional sport to institute a drug-testing program.
In May 1973 Nikola Pilić, Yugoslavia's number one tennis player, was suspended by his national lawn tennis association, who claimed he had refused to play in a Davis Cup tie for his country earlier that month. The initial suspension of nine months, supported by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), was later reduced by the ILTF to one month which meant that Pilic would not be allowed to play at Wimbledon.
In response the ATP threatened a boycott, stating that if Pilić was not allowed to compete none should. After last-ditch attempts at a compromise failed the ATP voted in favor of a boycott and as a result 81 of the top players, including reigning champion Stan Smith and 13 of the 16 men's seeds, did not compete at the 1973 Wimbledon Championships. Three ATP players, Ilie Năstase, Roger Taylor and Ray Keldie defied the boycott and were fined by the ATP's disciplinary committee.
But the tour was still run by the tournament directors and the ITF. The lack of player representation and influence within the MIPTC as well as dissatisfaction with the way the sport was managed and marketed culminated in a player mutiny in 1988 that changed the entire structure of the tour.
CEO Hamilton Jordan is credited with the Parking Lot Press Conference on 30 August 1988 during which the ATP announced their withdrawal from the MIPTC (then called the MTC) and the creation of their own ATP Tour from 1990 onwards. This re-organisation also ended a lawsuit with Volvo and Donald Dell. On 19 January 1989 the ATP published the Tour calendar for the inaugural 1990 season.
By 1991, the men had their first television package to broadcast 19 tournaments to the world. Coming online with their first website in 1995, this was quickly followed by a multi-year agreement with Mercedes-Benz. Lawsuits in 2008, around virtually the same issues, resulted in a restructured tour.
In 2009, ATP introduced a new tour structure called ATP World Tour consisting of ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500, and ATP World Tour 250 tier tournaments. Broadly speaking the Tennis Masters Series tournaments became the new Masters 1000 level and ATP International Series Gold and ATP International Series events became ATP 500 level and 250 level events respectively.
The Masters 1000 tournaments are Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Toronto/Montreal, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris. The end-of-year event, the ATP Finals, moved from Shanghai to London. Hamburg has been displaced by the new clay court event at Madrid, which is a new combined men's and women's tournament. In 2011, Rome and Cincinnati also became combined tournaments. Severe sanctions are placed on top players skipping the Masters 1000 series events, unless medical proof is presented.
Plans to eliminate Monte Carlo and Hamburg as Masters Series events led to controversy and protests from players as well as organisers. Hamburg and Monte Carlo filed lawsuits against the ATP, and as a concession it was decided that Monte Carlo would remain a Masters 1000 level event, with more prize money and 1000 ranking points, but it would no longer be a compulsory tournament for top-ranked players. Monte Carlo later dropped its suit. Hamburg was "reserved" to become a 500 level event in the summer. Hamburg did not accept this concession, but later lost its suit.
The 500 level tournaments are Rotterdam, Dubai, Rio, Acapulco, Barcelona, Aegon Championships (Queens Club, London), Halle (Gerry Weber Open), Hamburg, Washington, Beijing, Tokyo, Basel and Vienna.
The ATP & ITF have declared that Davis Cup World Group and World Group Playoffs award a total of up to 500 points. Players accumulate points over the 4 rounds and the playoffs and these are counted as one of a player's four best results from the 500 level events. An additional 125 points are given to a player who wins all 8 live rubbers and wins the Davis Cup.
The ATP Tour comprises ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 series, and ATP World Tour 250 series. The ATP also oversees the ATP Challenger Tour, a level below the ATP World Tour, and the ATP Champions Tour for seniors. Grand Slam tournaments, a small portion of the Olympic tennis tournament, the Davis Cup, the Hopman Cup and the introductory level Futures tournaments do not fall under the auspices of the ATP, but are overseen by the ITF instead and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the Olympics. In these events, however, ATP ranking points are awarded, with the exception of the Olympics and Hopman Cup. The four-week ITF Satellite tournaments were discontinued in 2007.
ATP publishes weekly rankings of professional players: Emirates ATP Rankings (commonly known as the ‘world rankings’), a 52-week rolling ranking, and the Emirates ATP Rankings Race to London, a year to date ranking. All ATP players also have a Universal Tennis Rating, based on head-to-head results.
The ATP Rankings is used for determining qualification for entry and seeding in all tournaments for both singles and doubles. Within the ATP Rankings period consisting of the past year, points are accumulated, with the exception of those for the ATP Finals, whose points are dropped following the last ATP event of the year. The player with the most points by the season's end is the world No. 1 of the year.
The ATP Rankings Race To London is a calendar-year indicator of what the Emirates ATP Rankings will be on the Monday after the end of the regular season. Players finishing in the top eight of the Emirates ATP Rankings following the Paris Masters will qualify for the ATP Finals.
At the start of the 2009 season, all accumulated ranking points were doubled to bring them in line with the new tournament ranking system.
Chris Kermode is the current Executive Chairman and President of ATP. Mark Young is the CEO of Americas, David Massey is the CEO of Europe while Alison Lee leads the International group.
The 12-member ATP Player Council delivers advisory decisions to the Board of Directors, which has the power to accept or reject the Council's suggestions. As of November 13th, 2018, the Council consists of four players who are ranked within the top 50 in singles (Kevin Anderson - Vice-President, Robin Haase, John Isner, Sam Querrey), two players who are ranked between 51 and 100 in singles (Yen-Hsun Lu and Vasek Pospisil), two top 100 players in doubles (Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares), two at-large members (Novak Djokovic - President and Stefano Travaglia), one alumni member (Colin Dowdeswell), and one coach (Daniel Vallverdu).
^ Tandon Kamakshi (November 6, 2008). "Posing 10 ATP questions for 2009". ESPN.
^ a b c "How it all began". ATP. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
^ "Davis Cup Results". ITF. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
^ a b John Barrett, ed. (1974). World of Tennis '74. London: Queen Anne. pp. 15–17, 45–47. ISBN 978-0362001686.
^ "Wimbledon faces 2004 boycott". BBC. 23 June 2004. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
^ "The History of the Championships". AELTC. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
^ Christine Brennan (December 9, 1988). "Men's tennis in limbo". The Washington Post.
^ James Buddell (August 14, 2013). "The Tour Born in a Parking Lot - Part I". ATP.
^ Dwyre, Bill (2008-05-27). "Jordan used political skills to help tennis". LA Times. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
^ Frank Riley (2004-03-22). "The Formation of the Woman's Tennis Association". Inside Tennis. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
^ "Volvo v. MIPTC v. Volvo, Dell 1988". 1988. Archived from the original on 2010-05-15. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
^ James Buddell (August 14, 2013). "The Tour Born in a Parking Lot - Part II". ATP.
^ "Court in Session: Hamburg, ATP go to trial". Tennis.com. 2008-07-23. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26.
^ "ATP Unveils New Top Tier Of Events for 2009". Tenniswire.com. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
^ "ATP Unveils 2009, 2010 & 2011 Tour Calendars". ATP. 30 August 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
^ "ATP Violates Antitrust Laws, Lawsuit Alleges". 9 April 2007. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008.
^ "Hamburg listed among second-tier events for 2009 season".
^ "ATP wins crucial anti-trust case". BBC News. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
^ "ATPtennis.com - ITF and ATP Announce Dates and Ranking Points for Davis Cup by BNP Paribas". Archived from the original on 2008-11-22.
^ "Frequently Asked Questions". ATP World Tour.
^ "Tennis community pays tribute to Brad Drewett". ATP. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
^ a b "Organizational structure". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^ "Structure | ATP World Tour | Tennis". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
^ "New ATP Player Council Elected In London | ATP World Tour | Tennis". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
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2019-04-26T16:47:12Z
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Tennis_Professionals
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| 0.643905 |
wordpress
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← Want To Minister in the Philippines? Contact Me!
I was thinking about all the people we see on TV and in the newspapers who strive to get rich and famous and the Lord showed me something very important about their lives. Once they reach their goals and the whole world is theirs — their lives begin to crumble. Getting there is a lot of work but once they reach what they feel is the zenith of their careers and the money starts pouring in — then the challenges begin to both their safety, their reputations and their characters.
Yes — they can buy anything they want and they surround themselves with beautiful homes and all the luxuries money can buy — but they are still unfulfilled — always searching — always desiring the limelight but hating every minute of it. As they are driven to seek recognition and monetary rewards they become captive to their life styles. The more famous they are — the more confined their lives become as they slowly build their gilded cages around them.
Male actors and musicians find themselves adored by beautiful women — women to sleep with — women who want a “part of them.” Groupies flock to them and press in to be close to them, famous by association. As the men reach out to enjoy what is thrown at them– jumping from city to city and bed to bed they reap the benefits of fleshly desire and the consequences of STDs, unwanted paternity suits, divorce, scandal, embarrassment and more – but they never quite find happiness in relationships that last. Empty to the core.
Famous women are expected to be beautiful at all costs — for without beauty their fame will fade and their money will dry up and their lovers will move on to someone else of promise. Their privacy is a thing of their youth. They can’t gain weight or become pregnant without major speculation and being analyzed without mercy under a microscope. Look at the lives you see daily in the tabloids, They are judged publicly and harshly in magazines, TV and the internet. Women with money who become thieves, drug addicts, alcoholics, divorced, cougars, etc are exploited with public jokes as their life styles are revealed. Even as they try to find credibility in doing good works and humanitarian gestures they come under criticism and reproach.
The life of the Rich and Famous is not easy but they never realize what they have become until it’s too late. Always worried about their public but yet weak. Idolized by millions — they become secluded, isolated, alone. Targets for drug pushers who want to get their claws into them and their money. Targets for the manipulators; stalkers; — the piranha of life — who gain their trust and become the inner circle — their entourage — which is a fancy word for “hanger-on-ers”. Those are the “friends” that money buys. Trust is something they no longer understand. Their haughty attitudes separate them from the common people. Paranoia sets into their lives.
Politicians and the rich hire bodyguards to try to protect them and keep their “gilded cages” safe. They lie, they cheat — all in the name of protecting their empire. Power is the name of the game — and power will destroy them in the end.
Job 27:8-10 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he may gain much, if God takes away his life? Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he call on God?
I Timothy 6:6-15 6Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
11But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Money is not going to kill you but your attitude towards money could kill your soul.
So little children — my word for today is to desire God and the things of God —- and not the world. Keeps your eyes on Him and you won’t stumble. He will provide everything you need for a happy life.
Happiness is not in what you possess — OR who knows your name —- Happiness is in knowing the Lord God Almighty who calls your name!
Hi to All! I love art in lots of forms and use all mediums. Its WHATEVER suits me on that day. I'm the mother of 5 children. In my spare time, I'm a Real Estate Broker in Sandpoint, Idaho. I'm actively involved in my church and serve on an Area Team for Aglow International. My giftings are teaching Adult Sunday School and Preaching the Word of God. You can find me on several sites - Just Google me! Zazzle - The place to buy my original Art and Photography online. They turn my original art into Posters, mugs, keychains,Postcards, Notecards, Invitations, Dog clothes, Tennis Shoes, Magnets, T-Shirts, Sweatshirts and much more. See my store at Zazzle One note: I noticed last night that some of my artwork came up as stomachs and bottoms --- not my fault!!!! I have to revise them because they make the picture fit the product. Oh My! EBAY - I carry Home Decor, Holiday items, Collectibles, Art, Art Books and Supplies. Also imported items from Jerusalem, Israel, Silver Communion Cups and Christian merchandise. Hundreds of Items. I make one of a kind beaded jewelry in modern and Native American. If you need something special just ask.
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2019-04-19T04:44:35Z
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https://beverlygoding.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/the-price-of-fame/
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Porn
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Reference
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blogs
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Prince Harry can have Las Vegas ... it's New York that Pippa Middleton wants.
The most famous single sibling of a royal is nibbling at the Big Apple this week and stepping out with the rich and handsome as she prepares for the launch of her party planning book next month.
There's a few pesky publishing meetings to attend, but they are all a sideshow to having a good time during one of the busiest weeks of the New York season, which includes the U.S. Open tennis and the city's Fashion Week.
There are even reports that she was out with a realtor looking for an apartment, according to the Huffington Post, though there have been rumours of an impending move from England since the spring.
Throw in Pippa's 29th birthday on Thursday and you have the makings of perfect party planning storm.
Needless to say, the younger sister of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is not without the company of some eligible men. Having split from Alex Loudon, Pippa has become the poster girl for mate-searching and her name has been linked to just about anyone within her eyesight.
Over the weekend, it started with multi-millionaire Andre Balazs (left), who owns eight hotels and has had his share of celebrity hookups, including Uma Thurman and comedian Chelsea Handler. The 55-year-old divorced father of two flew Pippa to his boutque hotel on Shelter Island off the eastern tip of Long Island in his private sea plane.
According to at least one source with Daily Mail, there was "a lot of flirting going on" during their day of ping-pong, sightseeing and, later, dinner. Later, Pippa was at the exlusive Electric Room lounge in Manhattan, gabbing with hockey bad boy Sean Avery, ex of the Rangers.
On the surface, it's hard to believe they would have much in common, but Avery (right) is a big fan of women's fashion and was once an intern at Vogue magazine. It's a sure bet Pippa is being invited to every runway in use during Fashion Week. Can't forget that Avery has that old British colonial connection, too, born and bred in Toronto.
Pippa's most public exposure in NYC has come at Flushing Meadows, where she watched the action behind designer sunglasses with Spencer Vegosen, a 24-year-old Harvard grad and junior tennis player. Her 'player guest' badge reportedly came from Swiss court superstar Roger Federer, but the dress was all British, from Paper London, a multi-coloured outfit that goes for about $590 (Canadian).
On Wednesday, the ever popular Pippa shifted gears and was spotted in jeans and a NYC baseball cap roller-blading in a Upper East Side park.
As usual, there were no words from the lips of Pippa for publication. At least not yet. Once her book -- "Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends" -- is released Oct. 30, it's hard to imagine she won't be trying to drum up a little publicity to earn back some of her reported $630,000 advance for the publisher.
The Earl and and Countess of Wessex (right) will be making a week-long visit to Ontario and Nunavut, Sept. 11-18.
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie will begin in Ottawa, followed by stops in Trenton, Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Midland and Iqaluit.
This will be 33rd visit to Canada for Queen Elizabeth's 48-year-old son, while Sophie will be making her ninth visit. Both were in Toronto last year at separate times.
Their visit to the Canadian Arctic will be a first for both of them.
Rubbish, these "Royals" should be helping hungry children like Dianna did, instead of out flaunting their hats. Harry wasn't even near the attack at the air base, he was off galavanting again, like he does best as it was his birthday so many of them were off partying to celebrate his birthday party. So we pay billions in tax dollars to help make the world more peaceful, and help these royals flaunt their tax dollars we give to them. What a waste of time, money and shame to put others in risks way just so you can pin medals on these troubled children.
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2019-04-19T23:01:33Z
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https://thestar.blogs.com/royals/2012/09/pippa-middleton-packs-parties-tennis-and-plenty-of-men-into-new-york-trip.html
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wordpress
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-The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.
– Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn.
-99% of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
-A mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
When you have a moment and want a laugh time listen to this song or read the words below.
It’s reading and math. Forget all the rest.
Your score is their score, but don’t get all stressed.
They’d never teach anything not on the test.
With rules but no funding, they’re caught in a bind.
Are not in your school ’cause they’re not on the test.
‘Cause rational discourse was not on the test.
And someday you’ll learn to, but someday’s not now.
Here are some reminders on what education is all about. As the new year begins, let’s consider how to help our students solve problems.
Math is far more than the ability to calculate, memorize formulas, or solve equations. Many students don’t understand this. Math trains your mind to think logically and succinctly. It requires you to perceive patterns, observe relationships, clarify and critically analyze problems, deduce consequences, formulate alternatives, test conjectures, estimate results, and enhance all of your problem-solving abilities. By sharpening your reasoning and thinking skills, you can become more productive in all aspects of your life.
Math provides you with the resources to comprehend the barrage of information that is communicated to you each day. It gives you the ability to be a more critical reader of anything you read, from newspaper reports to research articles to insurance policies and loan documents. Math logic, reasoning, and thinking ability help you ascertain possible risks or fallacies, to unearth biases, and to come up with suggestions and alternatives.
It’s no wonder that so many careers require math skills. Numbers do count in life. Employers want to hire individuals who can solve problems, who can think clearly on the job, and who can deal with new ideas, ambiguity, and change. We are constantly being flooded with technological advances, new scientific discoveries, new knowledge.
They are the means by which we grow. They are not necessarily bad.
Problem solving is one of the critical and central activities in one=s life.
Good problem solvers rely on their own judgment. Though they know there is wisdom in counsel, they respect their own decision-making abilities.
Good problem solvers are not fearful of being wrong or of making mistakes.
Good problem solvers are not fast answerers.
Good problem solvers are flexible and are often capable of seeing more than one answer to a question or a problem.
Good problem solvers do not need to have an absolute, final, irrevocable solution to every problem.
Good problem solvers have methods for approaching and solving problems.
Good problem solvers think about their thinking and review their problem solving methods in order to sharpen these tools for future problems they will encounter.
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2019-04-22T12:43:35Z
|
https://motivationalmagic.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/
|
Porn
|
Business
| 0.093369 |
wordpress
|
We recently had a surprise 4-day weekend (class suspension on a Thursday and a holiday on a Friday). Holidays are great, but class suspensions are the best! It’s like finding an extra P500.00 in the bottom of your purse (or in my case, the baby’s bag). I was all pumped up and high on family love, so we made this as a joke. This is our first attempt at podcasting (well, mine. Mikey’s a pro).
So, I have a new Phone.
So, I got a new phone. Mikey gifted me with an iPhone X for Valentine’s Day and our anniversary. He bought it from a friend at a really good price and presented it to me. I have to admit, at first, I was more interested in flipping it. We could have easily made a good profit. But Mikey said that he wanted me to have the phone because I was with Max all day long and he wanted really good photos and videos of him (my trusty iPhone SE started having microphone issues). So after negotiating with him all night long (we agreed to sell a bunch of things so it doesn’t feel like we paid too much for a phone), I accepted his wonderful gift.
And boy am I happy that I did! I LOVE IT! I love all the nice photos I can take of Max and I love that I don’t have to worry about my microphone going kaput when Max says the strangest things. And the icing on top of this super expensive cake? WIRELESS CHARGING! When you’re sandwiched in between two boys in the dark, it’s hard to look for your cable without waking anyone up.
If there’s one thing that’s been pretty consistent this season, its Max’s drool. All of his teeth decided to start popping this year! Before the New Year, he only had four teeth. Now, in addition to his two top teeth and his two bottom ones, he has 4 new molars and 4 new front teeth. Hopefully, he gets a break soon.
Because of his teething, Max spends a lot of his time latched at night (especially when the molars were erupting). But I’m so glad that he’s on a pretty predictable nap schedule now! He can nap twice a day, but usually, he has a long nap after lunch (about 2-3 hours).
We still have a really happy camper! Max easily smiles and laughs with us. His joy is our joy. We live a joyful home. Let’s eat Chicken Joy!
Max always looks for his Papa when he’s out. His first words in the morning are usually “Papa?”. When he’s playing and he sees something he normally uses with his Papa (like the guitar), he’ll call out for his Papa and run to our front door. Whenever Mikey gets home, Max runs to him and hugs him. He’s so in love with his Papa.
After a day with my new phone, I told Mikey that the phone was magical because it made Squish look so handsome in photos. Mikey said that Squish is handsome and that the iPhone X can finally capture him in all his glory. Hehehe. Oh well. I made sure to toddler-proof my phone by getting an Otter Box. It was well worth it because one week in and Squish already ran off with it and playfully tossed it.
Usually, I think of Max at his worst, most animalistic self, and I make sure that I’m prepared for that. When we’re out, I scan the area and see where Max could get hurt or inconvenience others. I try to avoid places that aren’t baby/toddler/kid friendly. I’ve declined invitations to go to really fancy restaurants because I worry that Max will bother the other customers. I want Max to have fun, but not at the expense of other people.
I underestimate Max all the time.
When Mikey told me that he wanted us to watch Jesus Christ Superstar (staged by The Rude Mechanicals and kids from the Tuloy Foundation) at Insural Life Theater in Alabang, I thought that we would take turns playing with Max outside. So, I agreed. On the day of the play, we were on our way home from my mom’s birthday celebration in Tagaytay (and on our way to Alabang) when Mikey said that he thought we could watch together with Max. I immediately argued and said that he would make too much noise and I didn’t want to bother the audience. Mikey said he would take care of it. He said that we should try and that if he freaks out, he’ll walk out with Max.
My brain went kind of haywire. More often than not, Mikey lets me take the lead in figuring out what’ll work for Max. But he seemed confident in his decision and I have to admit that I really wanted to watch the entire play. I calmed myself down and trusted that Mikey would take care of it if Max started freaking out.
When we got to the theater, Max was happy and clam. He was pointing out all the new things he was seeing. When we bought the tickets, the lady looked at Max worriedly. She asked Mikey if he would be okay during the show (in my head: I’m super worried too!). Mikey assured her that he would take him out if he started to make any kind of noise. When we got into the theater, I told Mikey that we should get seats by the exit so that we could run out if Max started acting out. When we got settled in our seats, Max was curious about the theater, he kept wanting to go up and down the aisle. Mikey let him explore while we waited for the show to start, but as soon as the lights went out, Mikey sat down beside me with Squish on his lap.
Max was sitting down with Mikey during the first few minutes, but after a while, Max asked to come to me. I sat him down on my lap and then he hugged me tightly while watching. I think the darkness, loud music, and bright stage lights scared him for a while. Eventually, he let go from the hug and just sat on my lap. He watched the entire first act quietly and clapped with everyone at the end!
Maximus was interested in the buzz and he wanted to know what was happening!
I was stunned! During the entire first act, my heart was beating so fast and I was half ready to jump out of my seat and run out of the theater. I couldn’t believe that he quietly sat through the entire first act!
During intermission, I told Mikey that Max needed to run around. Mikey took him around the lobby and to say hello to some of his friends. When the second act began, Max wasn’t ready to sit down just yet. So, I told Mikey that I would run around with him outside until he was ready to come in. After 10 minutes of running and exploring, I asked him if he wanted to join his Papa and he nodded so we went back to the theater. When we went in, we were just standing by the exit and Mikey joined us. Max wanted his Papa to carry him. I sat down and eventually, they sat down next to me. Max watched for a bit, but after a while he asked for me and tugged at my shirt. He started to breastfeed, and he fell asleep for the rest of the second act. It turned out well because the second act gets gory towards the end. Hahaha. He woke up during the curtain call when the audience was roaring and applauding. He joined them in the applauding. I think he really enjoyed the parts of the show he got to watch.
Again, I was floored. He could have played the fussy card, instead he quietly asked for milkies and fell asleep in my arms. I need to learn to trust my child (and husband—hahaha) more. I can’t believe that he almost missed out on this experience because I was afraid. I wonder how many potentially successful experiences I’ve deprived him of already? Oh well. I shall do better. Max deserves better.
Max played all morning in Tagaytay with my folks. He was allowed to run freely and play during the morning. There wasn’t a lot of pent up frustration in him and I think that helps when you’re planning to have a toddler sit down for an extended period of time.
Max napped really well right before the play. On our way down from Tagaytay, Max fell asleep almost immediately. In fact, he was still asleep when we got to Alabang. Mikey said that we should let him sleep some more so we actually hung out in the parking lot until he woke up. He slept for about 3 hours.
Max ate before the play. Mikey suggested that we get a bite to eat before we head to the theater. We weren’t really hungry and we didn’t even finish our order. But Max had a lot of tofu and had a lot of miso soup. I think he would have been fussy if he was hungry.
Seats by the exit. It helped during the beginning of the second act when Max wasn’t ready to sit down yet. It also helped calm my nerves because I could make a quick getaway with the toddler if I needed to!
Gah! I can’t believe that we have a one year old! I have a 12th month update that needs to be uploaded soon, but we’re still recovering from the week of multiple cakes (we opted for multiple small gatherings rather than a big party for Squishy’s first birthday). But I need to share this with everyone because we’re floored by our friend’s love and talent! This emotional Momma almost broke down when she first saw it.
Squishy is going through a spoon refusal stage. It makes me sad because he was such a good eater! Now, it seems that he’s only interested in eating if he can hold the food or if we use our hands to feed it to him. Our floors have never been this sticky. It’s kind of stressing me out because since Squishy turned six months old, he’s officially been on the leaner side of the curve. He’s taller than he is chubby. His doctor told us that his height is in the 90th percentile, while his weight is in the 70th. His pediatricians assure us that Squishy is doing great and he’s healthy, but people often uses chubbiness as a gauge of the baby’s general well-being, so when those people give us their two cents, it makes me second guess myself. But I have to remind myself that science is on our side. And to cheer myself up, I made an album of Squishy posing as food. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
|
2019-04-23T21:07:52Z
|
https://squishydays.wordpress.com/category/art/
|
Porn
|
Kids
| 0.680523 |
columbia
|
Gifts of all sizes make a direct impact on our students, faculty, and community. Find examples below of ways your support can make a difference.
Purchase an opera ticket for a Music Humanities class student.
Sponsor a guided tour of MoMA for two Art Humanities classes.
Bring a keynote speaker to campus to discuss their Core Curriculum-related work with students.
Sponsor an information session providing first-in-family students with valuable resources and guidance.
Support travel and materials related to a student's senior thesis.
Cover the costs of books for one student in an academic year.
Support the College's commitment to a need-blind admissions policy.
Provide one student with the opportunity to attend an off-campus leadership retreat.
|
2019-04-23T02:01:00Z
|
https://www.college.columbia.edu/campaign/ways-to-give/opportunities
|
Porn
|
Arts
| 0.991549 |
wordpress
|
Judge Jennifer Elliott was honored for her 10 years of service to the Dependency Mothers Drug Court program. WestCare Nevada presented Judge Elliot a plaque at their annual graduation ceremony Sept. 19.
Judge Jennifer Elliott launched the specialty court aimed at helping moms with addiction and has been presiding over the dependency mothers’ drug court since 2008. It is a program that has helped to get many mothers away from the clutches of addiction and into the arms of their children. The legacy of what she accomplished since 2008 will carry on for generations.
WestCare Nevada provides a wide spectrum of behavioral health services including treatment for substance abuse. Their services are available to adults, children, adolescents and families.
Judge Jennifer Elliot has been presiding over the dependency mothers’ drug court since 2008. It is a program that has helped to get many mothers away from the clutches of addiction and into the arms of their children.
Judge Elliot is turning over the administration of the dependency mothers’ drug court to Judge Frank Sullivan who handles neglect and abuse cases. She told those in court that Judge Sullivan would ensure that the program would continue to be successful.
This week, three more moms graduated from the program. That’s a handful of kids who won’t have to be in foster care; who won’t have to wonder where mom is; and who will have someone who loves them deeply caring for them.
Judge Elliot who launched the specialty court aimed at helping moms with addiction won’t be managing the day-to-day of the program, but the legacy of what she accomplished since 2008 will carry on for generations.
Program participants gave Judge Elliot a giant farewell card.
Judge Jennifer Elliot has been presiding over the dependency mothers’ drug court since 2008. It is a program that has helped to get many mothers away from the clutches of addiction and into the arms of their children. This week, three more moms graduated from the program. That’s a handful of kids who won’t have to be in foster care; who won’t have to wonder where mom is; and who will have someone who loves them and deeply cares for them.
Judge Elliot is turning over the administration of the dependency mothers’ drug court to Judge Frank Sullivan who handles abuse and neglect cases. She told those in court that Judge Sullivan would ensure that the program would continue to be successful. Judge Sullivan responded, “No one can replace Judge Elliot.” Program participants gave Judge Elliot a giant farewell card. The judge who launched the specialty court aimed at helping moms with addiction won’t be managing the day-to-day of the program, but the legacy of what she accomplished since 2008 will carry on for generations.
Judge Elliot has an all rise banner in her courtroom to remind us that when rises, we all rise.
Dependency Mothers’ Drug Court grads are treated to cupcakes as a celebratory gesture.
When judges enter the courtroom, all rise as a sign of respect. Judge Jennifer Elliot and the courtroom all rise when participants graduate from the mothers’/fathers’ specialty court.
When judges enter the courtroom, all rise as a sign of respect. Judge Jennifer Elliot and the courtroom all rise when participants graduate from the mothers’/fathers’ specialty court. Judge Elliot and hearing master Margaret Pickard cheer grads.
The children of the graduates now have the person who loves them most, making them dinner, helping with homework, giving them love being part of their dreams. Their families are better for it and our community is better for it.
Dependency Mothers’ Drug Court grads get a gift bag with inspirational items to help them on their journey.
Dependency Mothers’ Drug Court grads can now take an active role in the lives of their children.
Children from three families will now have the most important person in the world back in their lives, after two mothers and one father recently graduated from the Eighth Judicial District mothers’/fathers’ specialty court. All three completed a rigorous in-patient treatment program, that involved spending between six and 12 months in the WestCare treatment facility learning a new way of life.
The graduation was attended by Judge Jennifer Elliot who presides over the Dependency Mothers’ Drug Court, the treatment providers, specialty court staff and fellow specialty court participants. The fellow drug court participants got to see how successful recovery looks. They got to witness someone in a situation much like their own, turn their life around, have their children in their lives in a meaningful way, and leave drugs and crime behind.
When judges enter a courtroom, all rise as a sign of respect. Judge Elliot and the courtroom gallery all rise when participants graduate from the mothers’/fathers’ specialty court. The children of the graduates now have the person who loves them, the way only a parent can, back in their lives making them dinner, helping with homework, giving them love, and being part of their dreams. Their families and our community are better for it.
Since 1992, the Eighth Judicial District Court has been responding to the emerging social issues of addiction and mental health by establishing specialty courts. Each day, the court handles cases on the many crimes committed by people addicted to illegal drugs or suffering from mental illness. The Dependency Mothers’ Drug Court is a partnership between Nevada’s Division of Child and Family Services, Clark County Department of Family Services, Clark County Specialty Courts and WestCare of Southern Nevada. Components that make the program work are early intervention services, coordinated clinical assessment, coordinated case management, program referral, residential treatment services including reunification services, parenting skills education, outpatient support services, staff training support and client transportation.
|
2019-04-22T18:33:05Z
|
https://eighthjdcourt.wordpress.com/category/dependency-mothers-drug-court/
|
Porn
|
Health
| 0.39969 |
livejournal
|
Went to Chinatown after the rain..
-Seam ripper ._.;;;; lost mine again..
'My wa loli is coming this month1111"
"Got any cheap wa lolis????"
Hrmn lets try making a few waloli style things.
sweatdrop. cannot, so far. oh dear..
Jacq and co are hiring a make&hair artist. o_o sugoi..
hahahhaaha mon was like. sak, CMI.
Hrmn so go spotlight before Heros.
That I know off anyway.
k 2 30 better sleep if I wanna get up earley for more sewing time.
haha my mom's smitten with the ipod. XD lol.
and my com is not reading my phone.
and my mom's com keeps giveing the sector drive error.
I'll try my bro's com. aklsdhfg.
I'll call up the Sakura supplier auntie.
Haha oh yeah did I ever say?
Shiro kodana? haha it's the first time I've heard that, but it's CUTE.
[Tesshi? omg or Toma! XD Hahahaha and Junno!
Haha I suppose that's why we have dolls.
You know I can't stand how on sgcafe they keep going..
When they're selling their [invariably crappy raschel lace infested] clothes.
I think I'll restring Natsuki anyway.
Links, because today is yay!
I can't quite figure out that collar tho.
It looks like Sasuke's collar..
It's been appearing more and more...but..
Second Risa icon in the teasers.
*_______* This is really why I want the illust book.
kdsfkgdlkfg I can't wait for it to come outttttttttt.
Hurry Christmas Hurry Fast...Ah wasureta. XD; That chipmunks song.
Haha that style, it kinda reminds me of Air Gear.
Ah and there's this illustration in my fashion drawing book that looks like Otani..
albeit taller. XD As Cyn pointed out. Haha I shoud scan it or something.
Uwa, soshite iyo iyo kasa GETTO shimashita~~~~! *________* *kirakira* Haha ureshii, meccha ureshii~~~ 155 ribbon dake deshita da shi~~~~ haha the funny thing was, I saw another umbrella going for 400ribbons the page after. XDDD stupid overpricing.
Haha the last time I saw her was Pirates.
There was this otaku looking guy reeeally fussing over his [very cute rori] MSDs in kknm.
It was just a veryverybriefmoment , but for a justashortsplitsecond?
|
2019-04-24T09:48:51Z
|
https://users.livejournal.com/sakky-/tag/lolita
|
Porn
|
Reference
| 0.684359 |
american
|
President Kerwin to Step Down in 2017 | American University Washington D.C.
Dr. Kerwin is AU's 14th president and the first president in the university's history to also be an alumnus.
American University President Neil Kerwin announced today that he plans to step down after more than a decade of leadership that transformed the institution in academic quality, campus facilities, and national standing.
Kerwin informed the Board of Trustees of his decision to step down when his current contract expires in May 2017.
American University’s 14th president and the first alumnus to serve at its helm, he was appointed interim president in 2005, having served as professor, dean of the School of Public Affairs and Provost. In 2007 following a national search, the AU Board of Trustees appointed him president. His tenure at AU—as a student, professor, dean, provost and president—spans 42 years.
Kerwin brought transparency, openness, planning and strategic thinking to an institution that was confronting governance and leadership challenges in 2005. His steadfast insistence on effective planning, shaped by wide participation and linked to resource allocation, provided a roadmap for a university that is now measurably stronger in terms of academic quality, financial position, facilities and stature.
“American University, inclusive of its trustees, administrative leadership, faculty, staff, students, and alumni has been deeply engaged in a transformation exercise since 2008. The institution’s “Statement of Common Purpose” remains the same, as does its fundamental nature as a research university with a strong leaning toward the social sciences and related professional programs, and in its focus on providing a high touch, high impact experience for its students. Almost everything else about the University has changed based upon the ambitions of the leadership, a living strategic plan deeply rooted in AU’s values and realities, widespread benchmarking, the willingness of the faculty and staff to assess their programs and activities and then modify them, and a healthy dose of creativity.
The demand for undergraduate admission to AU has never been greater. Today, only one in four applicants is admitted to AU. A record number of applications for Fall 2016 and rapid increases in yield rate (the percentage who accept an offer of admission) over the last two years mean that AU has become much more selective, so as not to exceed capacity for classes and residence halls. The result: an admit rate of 25.7% for freshmen applicants, a drop of almost 20 percent from just two years ago.
Research and scholarship are more rigorous and intensive. The university’s research classification by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education moved from the lowest tier among research universities to the middle tier, called “Doctoral: Higher Research Activity." The reclassification is a result of strategic decisions to expand AU’s array of doctoral programs, as well as a reflection of increased productivity in externally funded research. AU is now grouped with institutions like Dartmouth and William and Mary.
Financial stability and growth are reflected in bond ratings and endowment. Ratings agencies consider a host of factors, including demand, reserves, financial statements, and debt, when they advise potential investors and creditors about the financial position of universities. AU’s rating was one of few private universities to improve during the recession and continues to be strong. Moody’s rated AU an A2 in 2005 and is A1 now. Standard & Poor’s rated AU an A in 2005 and A+ today. AU’s endowment, with careful investment and management, has grown from $272 to $550 million.
The university’s transformation is changing perceptions and its reputation is growing. With intentional commitments to increase visibility and recognition, AU’s momentum is being noticed. One measure is AU’s position on the top 100 of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges over the last ten years. AU is one of the fastest movers on the list, rated 87 in 2005; today it is 72.
AU during Kerwin’s tenure strengthened the rigor of the academic programs at the undergraduate level and focused on improving the quality of the student experience. AU also has worked to address national higher education challenges, most notably on access and affordability, prevention and response to sexual assault and most recently, on a plan to improve diversity and inclusion.
Living up to a commitment to make financial access a high priority for his tenure, AU improved affordability, radically shifting financial aid resources from merit to need based aid.
In addition, AU substantially reduced average student debt by 21% over the last five years, and increased the proportion of enrolling students from low-income families.
Kerwin also focused on measuring and effectively communicating AU’s return on the student’s investment and graduate outcomes. A first of its kind website, We Know Success, provides the employment and graduate school admission rates, as well as income level by degree program and major.
Doubling down on commitments in the university’s mission to engage with the city of Washington and to maintain its role as a global education leader, Kerwin helped AU expand its reach nationally and internationally.
He served as a member of the board of directors of the American Council on Education (ACE) (2012-15) and on the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) from February 2012 to February 2014. He is a member of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and DC Chamber of Commerce; chaired the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area Board of Trustees (2013-15) and was Patriot League Council of Presidents (academic years 2013-14 and 2014-15).
AU’s stature and reputation have grown remarkably. In 2016, American University attracted a record number of applicants (more than 19,300) at the undergraduate level, sharply lowered admit rates to historic levels (25.7%), and expects to exceed the 2015 yield rate (32%) for students offered admission. More than half of all freshmen identify AU as their first choice.
It now competes with the nation’s most elite institutions for faculty and wins its share, with recent hires from Columbia, Berkeley, Stanford, Georgetown, Northwestern, Syracuse, University of Arizona, University of Missouri, LSU and University of Glasgow. AU is growing rapidly in the sciences and the faculty is focused on finding solutions to the great issues of our time by examining emerging research topics that will be critical to the well-being of a global society in 2030.
AU alumni are showing their Eagle pride by getting more involved with the university. During the last five years, alumni participation has increased 178 percent. New alumni groups and events support the university's commitments to diversity and inclusion, including Latino Alumni Alliance, Black Alumni Alliance, Pride Alumni Alliance, Women's Network and the Multicultural Alumni Reunion.
AU has also benefitted from increased philanthropic efforts. Since 2005, donors have contributed more than $300 million, a third of which has been raised in the last three years.
Additionally, annual gifts and pledges have nearly doubled, representing 19 percent of all funds raised since 2007. AU has secured 37 gifts of at least $1 million each from 30 unique donors.
Kerwin is a noted scholar and expert on rulemaking, which made him a natural choice for the United States Senate Task Force on Federal Regulation of Higher Education. His book, Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy is in its fifth edition. Kerwin founded the Center for the Study of Rulemaking at AU’s School of Public Affairs.
For his contributions to the Washington, DC, area in higher education, economic development, and public policy, Washingtonian magazine named him a “Washingtonian of the Year” in 2009.
During Kerwin’s presidency, AU has received numerous national accolades, including repeat appearances on or in the following: the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll; the Peace Corps ranking of top volunteer-producing schools; and the Institute of International Education’s “Open Doors” report, which lists universities that have the greatest number of students studying abroad.
AU is a top school in the nation for the percentage of students holding internships and the top producer in the nation for Boren scholars and fellows, combined. The university is regularly among the top schools in the nation for producing Presidential Management Fellow semifinalists and Fulbright Scholars.
Sustainability will be another enduring legacy of his presidency. Kerwin promised carbon neutrality by 2020, the first institution of its size to commit to this date and signed the President’s Climate Commitment. In 2014, AU combined with George Washington University, the GWU Hospital to reduce their carbon footprints through a 20-year solar energy deal with Duke Energy Renewables—which will eliminate about 60,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year—the equivalent of taking 125,000 cars off the roads. Kerwin also worked with the AU Board of Trustees to establish an investment green fund, allocating $5 million in endowment to a green investment fund.
During the past 10 years, the university has championed its commitment to recruiting scholar-athletes who excel in the classroom and on the playing fields. Since spring 2005, AU scholar-athletes have held an average cumulative GPA of 3.31, well above the NCAA’s Division I eligibility requirement that a student athlete maintain a 2.0 GPA in his or her core courses.
For the first time in school history, the men’s and women’s basketball teams won Patriot League Championships and earned trips to their respective NCAA tournaments. The men’s team’s first NCAA tournament appearance was in 2008, followed by repeat appearances in 2009 and 2014. The women’s team’s first NCAA tournament appearance was in 2015.
During this time, AU’s field hockey, volleyball, and men’s cross country teams also earned multiple Patriot League Championships and participated in the NCAA tournaments for their programs.
Twenty-three Eagles scholar-athletes were named All-Americans, with several of them earning the title numerous times during their collegiate athletic careers.
Washington, DC’s NPR station WAMU 88.5 grew from a $9 million operation in 2005 to a $23 million one in 2015. During this time period, its total weekly audience (for all platforms) grew from 620,000 to more than 800,000 people; membership nearly doubled from 33,064 to nearly 60,000 donors; and membership support grew from nearly $4 million to more than $10 million.
Milestones for the broadcast media outlet include its 50th anniversary in 2011; moving to a new facility at 4401 Connecticut Avenue in 2014; and Diane Rehm receiving the National Humanities Medal from President Obama—also in 2014.
President Kerwin is a native of Waterbury, Connecticut. His wife, Ann Kerwin, served as a strong and important influence during his presidency, particularly in terms of her support for the Arts at AU, the library and the Arboretum. They met as students at AU and have served as one of AU’s proud alumni sweetheart couples. They are the proud parents of two adult sons, one of whom followed in his parents' footsteps and is also an AU alumnus.
|
2019-04-23T01:54:49Z
|
https://www.american.edu/ucm/news/20160328-nk-announcement.cfm
|
Porn
|
Science
| 0.097665 |
livejournal
|
"Yay for Sweden" or "Utah finally gets one!"
Is it tacky I'm excited Utah is finally getting an IKEA?
Not at all! When it was announced that New Haven was getting one I did an excited Snoopy dance. :) I'm *so* happy to have one literally 10 minutes away.
Not at all! I've never been to an IKEA and I'd be thrilled to finally get to go. Cheap furniture!
Oh, I'm so happy to hear someone else has never been to IKEA! :-) I was beginning to think I was the only one.
There's not one in Knoxville, although Atlanta just got one. I've yet to go to it though.
Only if it's tacky that I'm jealous because there isn't one anywhere even close to me!
oh, no, you're not. When I lived in WI I drove 90 minutes or 4 hours (depending on who I was visiting) for IKEA. I'm just sad it's gonna take so long to get it up and running.
I think everyone is excited. It's gonna be a zoo!
A couple years ago, the owner of IKEA briefly passed Bill Gates for richest person in the world. It was mostly due to the weak dollar at the time, but still, he's quite wealthy.
Wow! Congratulations! I guess I always took Ikea for granted. We've had one in Edmonton ever since I can remember. Does Canada have more Ikea's than the U.S. in general, or am I just lucky?
|
2019-04-24T04:28:49Z
|
https://jatg.livejournal.com/391525.html
|
Porn
|
Shopping
| 0.935544 |
google
|
Disclosed is both a method and composition for making a low formaldehyde emission panel. The panel includes a scrim that is typically formed from fiberglass bound together in a mat by a substantially formaldehyde free resin. The scrim is applied to the facing side of the panel by an adhesive that is also substantially formaldehyde free. The adhesive may also contain a formaldehyde scavenger. The formed panel has a low rate of formaldehyde emittance and can used as an acoustical ceiling panel.
In an embodiment, the low-formaldehyde panel includes a substrate having a facing side with a scrim attached to the facing side. The scrim is attached to the facing side by an adhesive including about 15% to about 70% by weight of at least one non-hydrolyzable, hydrophobic monomer copolymerized into the polymer structure of the adhesive and about 1% to about 5% of a formaldehyde scavenger. Typically, the scrim is formed from a fiberglass mat bound by a polyvinyl alcohol and is substantially free of formaldehyde. The non-hydrolyzable, hydrophobic monomer may be selected from the group consisting of ethylene, styrene, vinyl chloride and vinylidene chloride/fluoride. The formaldehyde scavenger may be urea. Additionally, a coating may be applied to the scrim. Typically, the panel has a formaldehyde emittance of less than 20 μg/m 2 per hour.
These and other features of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
Some of the components of the panel are described as being substantially formaldehyde free. The term “substantially formaldehyde free” is defined as meaning that an incidental or background quantity of formaldehyde may be present in the components of the panel composition such that the panel has a formaldehyde emittance of less than 20 μg/m 2 per hour, which is to be within the scope of the invention. Thus, formaldehyde may be present in an embodiment of the invention in the claimed substantially formaldehyde free components of the invention so long as the panel has a formaldehyde emittance of less than 20 μg/m2 per hour.
In greater detail, the panel is such that it emits a low concentration of formaldehyde into the surroundings. Low formaldehyde emission can be characterized as a panel having a formaldehyde emittance of less than 40 μg/m 2 per hour. In a further embodiment, low formaldehyde emission can be characterized as a panel having a formaldehyde emittance of less than 20 μg/m2 per hour.
In FIG. 1, the laminated low-formaldehyde panel is shown having both the substrate 2 and scrim 8. The substrate 2 has a facing side 4 and a backing side 6. The facing side 4 has a scrim 8 adhered to the facing side 4.
a scrim attached to the facing side by a polymeric adhesive, the adhesive including about 15% to about 70% by weight of a copolymerized non-hydrolyzable, hydrophobic monomer and about 1% to about 20% by weight of a formaldehyde scavenger.
2. The panel of claim 1, wherein the scrim is formed from fiberglass.
3. The panel of claim 2, wherein the fiberglass of the scrim is bound by a polyvinyl alcohol and is substantially free of formaldehyde.
4. The panel of claim 1, wherein a wicking tension of the scrim is between about 55 to about 70 dynes/cm.
5. The panel of claim 1, wherein the gloss level of the acoustical panel is between about 0.1 to about 0.2.
6. The panel of claim 1, wherein the copolymerized non-hydrolyzable, hydrophobic monomer is selected from the group consisting of ethylene, styrene, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride/fluoride and combinations thereof.
7. The panel of claim 1, wherein the polymeric adhesive comprises about 25% to about 50% by weight of the copolymerized non-hydrolyzable, hydrophobic monomer.
8. The panel of claim 1, wherein the adhesive comprises about 30% to about 40% by weight of the copolymerized non-hydrolyzable, hydrophobic monomer.
9. The panel of claim 1, wherein the adhesive further comprises a fire retarding agent which is substantially free of formaldehyde.
10. The panel of claim 1, wherein the panel further comprises a coating applied to the scrim.
11. The panel of claim 2, wherein the coating is substantially acoustically transparent and includes a formaldehyde scavenger.
12. The panel of claim 1, wherein the substrate is an acoustically absorbent fiber board.
13. The panel of claim 1, wherein the formaldehyde scavenger comprises urea.
14. The panel of claim 1, wherein the panel has a formaldehyde emittance of less than about 20 μg/m2 per hour.
15. The panel of claim 1, wherein the Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of the panel is greater than 0.6.
16. The panel of claim 1, wherein a coating comprising a formaldehyde scavenger is applied to the backing side of the substrate.
17. The panel of claim 1, further comprising a formaldehyde scavenger containing coating disposed between the substrate and the scrim.
18. The panel of claim 1, further comprising a formaldehyde scavenger containing coating applied to the scrim.
19. The panel of claim 1, further comprising a formaldehyde scavenger containing coating applied to the backing side of the substrate.
20. The panel of claim 19, wherein a formaldehyde scavenger containing coating applied to the side of the scrim opposite the substrate and a formaldehyde scavenger containing coating is disposed between the substrate and the scrim.
a substantially formaldehyde free scrim formed from fibers bound by a substantially formaldehyde free resin, the scrim having a wicking tension of between about 55 to about 70 dynes/cm, where the scrim is attached to the facing side by an adhesive, wherein the adhesive includes from about 15% to about 70% by weight of a copolymerized non-hydrolyzable, hydrophobic monomer.
22. The panel of claim 21, wherein the panel has a formaldehyde emittance of less than about 20 μg/m2 per hour.
23. The panel of claim 21, wherein the scrim is formed from fiberglass and the substantially formaldehyde free resin binding the fibers includes a polyvinyl alcohol.
24. The panel of claim 21, wherein the substrate is an acoustically absorbent fiber board.
adhering to the facing side a scrim attached to the facing side by an adhesive, the adhesive including about 15% to about 70% by weight of a copolymerized nonhydrolyzable, hydrophobic monomer and about 1% to about 20% by weight of a formaldehyde scavenger.
MXPA03008070A MXPA03008070A (en) 2002-09-09 2003-09-08 Low formaldehyde emission panel.
MXPA05009436A (en) 2005-11-23 Improved mat-faced gypsum board.
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2019-04-23T10:30:22Z
|
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20040048531A1/en
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.155078 |
wordpress
|
A while back, I posted about the memory box I started last year.
I thought I’d share an update.
I’ve started seeing memories from last year as I’m writing down something that happened recently. For example, last year on November 10, I hosted a Friendsgiving dinner at my apartment. This year, on that same date, I was in the wedding of one of the girls who attended Friendsgiving.
I really have enjoyed adding to the memory box all year. Some of the memories were big ones, like writing about the holiday party I host every year. The really cool ones are the little memories of something small that happened that day, that you might not otherwise remember, like the day we dubbed cheap dinner night (we used coupons/gift cards and created an eclectic dinner that cost us next to nothing).
I’m looking forward to adding more and more memories as time goes on!
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2019-04-24T14:05:35Z
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https://neversettling.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/memory-box-update/
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Porn
|
Home
| 0.81704 |
wordpress
|
Friday’s Child is Loving and Giving….
This was Jinty’s last Guy Fawkes issue, and there were only two more issues before the merger. Jinty‘s drop in energy seems to be falling even more with this issue, because the Guy Fawkes celebrations are even more lacklustre than those for Halloween in the previous issue. Only the cover features Guy Fawkes. The text story inside is on a completely different topic – a treasure trove – and the spot artist is not even Mario Capaldi. All the regulars are on business as usual and none of them are even thinking of fireworks and bonfire parties.
The back cover is a surprise, though. Alley Cat, who had not been seen in Jinty for several years, suddenly makes an appearance. There is no sign of Snoopa, and Snoopa artist Joe Collins draws a spot feature of some jokes in this issue. Was Collins not available this issue and the editor had to find fill-ins for the gag spots?
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2019-04-20T12:12:55Z
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https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/tag/guy-fawkes/
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Porn
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Business
| 0.760545 |
wordpress
|
We are pleased to release the 3rd edition of our Arresting Justice report. Since 2011, we have published data about juvenile arrests in Chicago.
Today, we share juvenile arrest data from 2013 and 2014.
The number of juvenile arrests decreased by over 17 percent from 2013 to 2014. Since 2009 when we first began analyzing these numbers, juvenile arrests have decreased 43%.
While Blacks represent 37% of the 0-17 youth population, they accounted for over 79% of juvenile arrests in Chicago in 2013 and 2014.
While Latin@s represent 40% of the 0-17 youth population, they accounted for over 18% of juvenile arrests in 2013 & over 17% in 2014.
Males were over 83% of juvenile arrests in 2013 & 2014.
In 2013 & 2014, 15 to 17 year olds accounted for over 80% of juvenile arrests (they represent 16.6% of Chicago’s youth population).
Most juvenile arrests were for misdemeanor offenses in 2013 & 2014. The top three in 2014 were miscellaneous non-index offenses, drug abuse violations and simple battery.
Based on the data, in 2014, 48.3% of juvenile arrests were referred to court while 19.1% resulted in detention. 25.4% of juvenile arrests resulted in informal station adjustments and 3.85% in formal station adjustments.
Download a visual summary of the report HERE.
Thanks to our friend Dan Cooper at the Adler School, here are some maps of 2013 & 2014 juvenile arrests in Chicago.
According to CPD, there were 17,783 juvenile arrests in 2014; down from 21,496 in 2013 (a decrease of over 17%). Since 2009 when we first began analyzing these numbers, juvenile arrests have decreased 43%.
The 21st district merged with the 2nd in March 2012, the 23rd district merged with the 19th in 2013 and the 13th district with the 12th at the end of 2012.
In 2013 and 2014, Black children & youth comprised over 79% of juvenile arrests in Chicago. Black juvenile arrests outpace all other groups in each district except for the 17th and 25th districts. A closer look at rates of arrests, however, reveals that Black juveniles are disproportionately targeted in these districts too.
For example, Black juveniles represent 3.8% of the youth population in the 17th district yet they comprise 27.8% of arrests in 2014. White Hispanic juveniles represent 57.7% of the youth population in the 17th district and comprised 56.5% of arrests in 2014. The same pattern holds in the 25th district where white Hispanic youth represent 76.5% of the youth population and 57% of juvenile arrests. In both districts, white Hispanic youth are arrested at or below their population. Black youth are arrested disproportionate to their population in both districts. Blackness is the determinant factor of juvenile arrests in Chicago.
The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission put together a helpful handout that underscores disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system at the national, state and county levels for calendar year 2013.
More than 2,000 kindergarten suspensions were recorded during one school year in Illinois. See the report HERE.
The raw data from the report is HERE.
Suspension rates in Chicago Public Schools have declined markedly but still remain very high, particularly among the system’s most vulnerable students. In the 2013-14 school year, 16 percent of CPS high school students received an out-of-school suspension (OSS), down from 23 percent in 2008-9. Still, 24 percent of high school students with an identified disability and 27 percent of high school students in the bottom quartile of achievement received out-of-school suspensions in 2013-14. Suspension rates for African American boys in high school remain particularly high, with one-third receiving at least one out-of-school suspension.
Suspension rates are strongly related to students’ prior test scores, their race, and their gender. African American students are much more likely to be suspended than students of other races/ethnicities. Suspension rates are particularly high for African American boys in high school. About one-third of African American boys in high school (33 percent) received an OSS in 2013-14. In comparison, 13 percent of Latino boys in high school and 6 percent of white/Asian high school boys received an OSS in 2013-14. African American girls also have high OSS rates in high school, at 23 percent in 2013-14. This compares to high school OSS rates of 6 percent for Latina girls and 2 percent for white/Asian girls.
The decline in high school OSS rates has been accompanied by a doubling of in-school suspension (ISS) rates among African American high school students. In the 2013-14 school year, 15 percent of high school students received at least one in-school suspension, up from 11 percent in 2008-09. Thus, the rise in in-school suspensions is counter-balancing the decline in out-of-school suspensions. In-school suspensions are given more frequently to African American students than students of other racial/ethnic groups. ISS rates nearly doubled for African American high school students between 2008-09 and 2013-14, but remained the same for other student groups.
Read the full report. Read an article about the report here.
The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice publishes monthly data about the population in its youth prisons. You can read August data here (PDF).
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2019-04-20T06:24:04Z
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https://chiyouthjustice.wordpress.com/
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Porn
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Kids
| 0.106668 |
typepad
|
Fabric and fibers - Sewing, quilting, knitting, weaving, and new crafts I haven't yet tried.
A trip to the art museum and Fabric Mart in Los Angeles is always a great way to spend a day. Both fabric design classes met at the Museum of Art in downtown Los Angeles. This is a place I’ve been to many times – changing exhibits (like Georgia O’Keefe, Picasso) and many permanent art exhibits that are quite familiar.
But this time, we are lead to a room of Indonesian textiles that are five centuries old. The designs are spectacular, swirling, colorful, and fascinating. We are told not to take pictures, and when I asked my instructor if it was okay to draw a copy of the designs we were seeing, she said that was fine. Here’s one design, so you can see what they look like.
The teacher told me it was quite common for textile artists to copy centuries old designs, because they are copyright free. The light bulb really went on then – if I couldn’t come up with something totally new, I could at least be inspired by what I could see in other, ancient designs. Architecture, antiques, old tiles.
In fact, there is a movement right now in the quilting world by women taking pictures of floor tiles in Europe and Asia, and then coming home to translate those tiles into beautiful quilts.
After the museum, I was off to the Los Angeles Fabric Mart. If you ever come to Southern California, this is a must do. Parking is always a challenge, but once you’re walking the streets, you’ve come to a wonderland of sewing excitement.
First time I went to the Fabric Mart, I was overwhelmed by the many streets and number of stores – all packed with fabric remnants, zippers, thread, elastics – everything discounted because it’s leftovers from the clothing manufacturers in the area. Now doesn’t that sound like a trip worth taking?
I’ve been there many times, and now know it’s better to have a specific project in mind, so you aren't tempted by so many choices. You probably won’t find anything other than polyesters, or blends. This is not nirvana for quilt makers looking for cotton, or for home sewers looking for linen, bamboo, soy, or hemp.
On this trip, I luckily found some silk prints – silk jersey and silk knits that are worth the price. Imagine this print in a flowing dress, blouse or robe.
Aren't we lucky to be so close? Although I see on your blog you moved from L.A., so it's now further for you.
If you like sewing events there are a few upcoming ones in the L.A. area you might like - http://www.hiplinemedia.com/Hip_Line_Media/Swap_O_Rama_Rama.html and http://www.etacalifornia.com/.
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2019-04-18T18:44:31Z
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https://stitchadventures.typepad.com/stitch-adventures/2010/08/a-trip-to-the-museum-and-fabric-mart.html?cid=6a0133ec7a4796970b0133f3879fe4970b
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Porn
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Shopping
| 0.8481 |
livejournal
|
Photo Friday, Number 51. Theme: Children.
The Big H, fifteen months of cuteness and food stuffs welded to the corner of her mouth.
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2019-04-25T10:27:45Z
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https://timothyjlambert.livejournal.com/340303.html
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Porn
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Kids
| 0.976782 |
wordpress
|
I grew up in Hong Kong and have since moved to America during my last year of high school. After spending half of my life in America, I’ve realized it has made me very US-centric when it comes to designing for our customers.
But after spending a month in Hong Kong, where I grew up, it has reminded me to always think about our customers at a global level especially when our product serves customers from many countries other than the U.S..
When I search for businesses in Hong Kong, I find that most places don’t have a website. They rely heavily on local listing sites like OpenRice (Yelp equivalent) and Google Map listings. They also don’t have the most updated or correct information. I see this as a HUGE opportunity for WordPress.com.
How can we help small businesses get their word out and make sure they always have the most updated listings?
Digital payment is huge in Hong Kong.
An Octopus card is a contactless smart card can not only pay for your transportation fare, but it also takes care of your bills at grocery stores, restaurants, and shops. Digital pay methods like Apple Pay and Android Pay are also popular. In China, weChat is the prominent payment method over cash to combat counterfeits.
Can we expand our payment button options so our international customers can pay/receive payments in their preferred method?
With only one major TV network (and some smaller cable networks), people don’t have a lot of choice in their traditional media. As boring as that sounds, it does allow for watercooler talk regarding the episode of soap opera that everyone watches. It allows for brands to event-ize their TV ad efforts for a more custom sponsorship.
Pretty much everyone uses a smartphone in Hong Kong. They consume lots of video, media, and articles on their phones on apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, to their localized buzzfeed-type sites.
How can we target our customers in these markets?
I had a lot of opportunity to hang out with my septuagenarian relatives. They ALL use smartphones for WhatsApp group chats and web browsing, which is very common in Asia. When I watch them use their phones, almost all of them have enlarged their font size in their system settings.
This has validated our inclusive design efforts to increase legibility in our mobile products, led by Matt Miklic and co.
Traveling home has allowed me to gain some new perspectives for prospective customers. It also has reminded me of the opportunities we have to help small businesses around the globe to expand their businesses. With Automattic employees across the globe, I’m sure we can all share even more insights and opportunities to help our community grow.
A piece I wrote based on my experience living in my hometown, Hong Kong, for a month after being away in America for years.
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2019-04-21T06:10:24Z
|
https://a8cdesignvoice.wordpress.com/2017/08/31/lessons-from-hong-kong/
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Porn
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Business
| 0.505328 |
wordpress
|
Don’t get me wrong, I love gambling websites and portals, as do the millions of other gaming enthusiasts spanning the globe. But regardless of whether these sites offer casino games, poker, bingo, sports betting, or what have you, they all have one thing in common; they are all trying extremely hard to “get it up.” Their page rank, that is.The simple logic behind marketing a gambling site is this: the higher your Google/Yahoo/AOL/MSN page rank, the more exposure you will have to prospective customers. Greater exposure translates into more viewers clicking to your website and ultimately purchasing your products and/or services.
The problem, however, is that in order for a website – gambling or otherwise – to achieve a high search engine page rank so that they appear on the first search results page (ideally), the information or ‘content’ provided on a site must be written according to the rules set out by these search engines. This is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Unfortunately for surfers, especially those shopping for the best online casinos or poker rooms etc., what may appear to be independent and unbiased information posted on a site for human consumption could very well have been written for strictly SEO purposes in order to merely satisfy a company’s SEO needs and hopefully raise their site’s page rank.
Hence, the moral of this story is: Those gambling websites lucky enough to be enjoying high search engine page rankings are not necessarily the best sites for you, the consumer. If the content (articles, reviews, news items etc.) do not read smoothly and properly, there’s a good chance the site was written with Google in mind, and not you. Or the writing quality is just plain lousy regardless of whatever language it was written in. In either case, you should avoid these sites. After all, there are plenty of top-notch online gambling sites out there much more deserving of your business!
|
2019-04-25T10:36:17Z
|
https://blogambling.wordpress.com/2007/09/16/the-problem-with-gambling-websites/
|
Porn
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Business
| 0.627803 |
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