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Earlier today, the official Good Morning America Twitter account hinted at a big Avengers announcement on tomorrow’s show. That tweet, as shown below, was occupied by a clue featuring Hawkeye’s arrows. — Good Morning America (@GMA) April 6, 2015 Hours later, Robert Downey Jr. did the same thing, this time featuring a piece of the Iron Man armor in his clue. — Robert Downey Jr (@RobertDowneyJr) April 6, 2015 Both tweets clearly state it’s something Avengers related, and both seem to feature bits of text, though it is difficult to make out what is spelled out as the images are cropped to hide those bits of information. So, what could this announcement be? With Avengers: Age of Ultron set to release in less than a month, it could be an exclusive clip or some sort of contest. (Worth noting: The cast will be presenting an exclusive clip at the MTV Movie Awards on April 12th.) Or it could be something related to Civil War. The cast of Captain America: Civil War keeps referring to the film as Avengers 2.5, tomorrow’s big announcement could be the confirmation of the cast for that film. After all, Civil War is set to start filming any day now. (There is a photo that has hit the web featuring the Stark Industries logo, but as pointed out, it looks like it’s mainly for exterior shots.) Or it could be the announcement that the Russo brothers will, in fact, be directing Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 & Part 2 as the trades have already confirmed. What do you think it could be? Be sure to check back here tomorrow once the announcement has been made! Updated to add this latest tweet: — Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) April 6, 2015 Now this one looks like it could say Jimmy on it. Maybe the cast will be premiering a new clip on Jimmy Kimmel Live? That seems more than probable seeing as Disney does love their corporate synergy. — Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) April 7, 2015

“I personally take all my brand endorsement decisions. I am the first point of contact, not the last one. So it goes without saying that I delve into depth and detail about the brand, product, everything. I would never endorse a brand if I didn’t believe in it” – Masterchef Sanjeev Kapoor. He came, He cooked and He conquered the hearts of women of all ages and kinds. Sanjeev Kapoor mastered the art of Indian cooking and won both domestic adulation as well as international acclaim for his recipes for a perfect gastronomic delight. He is not just an icon for food connoisseurs, but also the marketing world’s favourite chef since his Khaana Khazana days on Indian television. He has been associated with many brands such as Natura Diet Sugar by Sugar Free, edible oil brand, Sweekar, Sapat Tea, and the recently announced association with Tata i-Shakti range of pulses. The chef special While all of Kapoor’s endorsements primarily lie within the ambit of food-related and cooking brands, is there a deeper synergy and connect between his personality and that of the brand? What is the brand equity of the chef that brands are looking to leverage and rub off on themselves? Having been a visible and known face on television all these years, Kapoor enjoys instant recognition and mass appeal. And it is this television presence spanning more than a decade that is the essence behind his popularity factor and the impetus behind his fan following. The cult cookery show on Zee Television, Khana Khazana, launched in 1994 turned him into a household name and helped him earn the distinction of being the only Indian chef to run the longest running cookery show on a general entertainment channel. Manisha Tripathi, National Director, LiquidThread, Starcom MediaVest Group agrees with the show being his window to the celebrity world. “He has had the unique opportunity to influence the cooking habits of an entire generation or two that was starting to cook or looking for newer options in cooking, through the 90s and early 2000s, not just in India, but also the Indian diaspora overseas. That’s pretty powerful for any media created,” she opines. According to Himanka Das, Senior Vice-President, West, Carat Media, before this show, master chefs did exist but were never registered in people’s mind, and it was the show’s promotion by one of the oldest broadcasters, Zee that helped in changing that trend and gaining popularity. “The programme became popular across target audience, over a period of time Khaana Khazana and Sanjeev Kapoor became synonymous and slowly entertainment industry acknowledged him as celebrity chef,” he explains. Moreover, his awareness and recognition is more within a certain consumer profile, which helps brands in attracting its target audience better. Explaining the dynamics at play, Ramanujam Sridhar, Chief Executive Officer Integrated Brand-Comm says that if a food-related or cooking brand has identified its target audience, which would either be a woman homemaker, a cooking enthusiast or someone who is family-oriented, Kapoor is the perfect fit in each of these. “He is at the top of mind recall for the target customers of most of the product categories he endorses and his presence would make a huge difference to the brand’s awareness,” he says. However, more than anything else it is his credibility factor and his vast expertise, having been in the food industry for years that makes him a relevant brand endorser for food category and other related brands. Sridhar shares the same opinion and feels that such associations send out a strong signal. He candidly points out that such a brand association is different from those by Bollywood celebrities, who are not experts but only add an entertainment value. According to the chef himself, one of his major strong points is his ability to understand the Indian consumers. “Whether it is content on television or in the kitchen, I am able to create an empathy with the consumer,” says Kapoor. On the brands that would go well with his personality attributes, Tripathi feels that while the more recent, new age, premium, edgier brands may not be an ideal fit, it is the cookery-related brands, rooted in the ethos of the 90s and 2000s that would work best for him. Sweekar, the edible oil brand from Cargill Foods signed in Kapoor to endorse the re-launched Sweekar. According to Aseem Soni, Director – Consumer Sales, Cargil India, Kapoor blends in perfectly with the brand’s new proposition of ‘Ghar Ka Restaurant’ because of his connect with homemakers. “He not only imparts the knowledge and skills but makes homemakers confident of the outcome. His ability of making seemingly difficult restaurant dishes easy yet healthy makes him the right brand ambassador,” he says. Besides engaging in consumer interactions through BTL activations, the chef has also shared cooking tips and exclusive recipes with Sweekar, and one such recipe is distributed free along with the product. The recent announcement of Tata Chemicals roping in Kapoor for its unpolished range of dals, i-Shakti is also based on the same premise of putting an expert stamp on its products along with the added recognition. “With the association of Sanjeev Kapoor and Tata i-Shakti unpolished dals, we think that we will enhance our engagement with consumers who seek great tasting food with a healthy dose of nutrients,” says Ashvini Hiran, COO, Consumer Products Division, Tata Chemicals. The differentiating ingredients If Kapoor is the preferred choice of advertisers because of his valued expertise, experience and a strong visible presence, then how are the other iconic chefs and industry stalwarts any different? The celebrity chef has not just beaten the likes of the popular younger generation chefs like Vikas Khanna but has also scored ahead of iconic figures like Jiggs Kalra and Tarla Dalal when it comes to bagging endorsements. While the age factor is clearly ruled out with his brand endorsements being higher than both the younger and the older, experienced lot, what are the other factors that have worked in his favour? Experts seem to agree that Kapoor enjoys much higher recall value and recognition as opposed to any other Indian chef. While Tripathi feels that being around continuously for more than a decade and a half on one of the most defining cookery shows has been his greatest advantage, she does not write off the younger chefs. “There is definitely a space for a younger, more exciting food personality to shine through but media has come a long way and for the younger brigade to make an impact will be much more complex and would need to go across a mix of platforms in a way that really catches the fancy of the Indian food lover,” she explains. Das shares a similar view. According to him, even though Dalal and Kalra are undoubtedly master chefs and probably in the same league in the master chef fraternity, it is Kapoor’s television presence that has increased his popularity. “Considering the cumulative exposure and the investment that has gone behind promotion of Sanjeev Kapoor whether as a host or while he endorsed brands, Sanjeev Kapoor is bound to score much high than these two,” he opines. Any brand’s marketing strategy and choice of celebrity endorsers is driven by a cost-benefit analysis. With the huge investments associated with having a brand ambassador, companies have to weigh in cost factor as well as the benefits derived from the celebrity presence. In Kapoor’s case also, the perceived benefits of signing him, along with the added expertise and connect that he brings is likely to outweigh the costs incurred. According to Sridhar, Kapoor is much above all the other celebrity chefs at present and advertisers will pursue the other food personalities only in certain circumstances. “If Kapoor becomes over-exposed and starts endorsing multiple brands, then consumers might start having uncertainties recalling the specific, individual brands he endorses. In that case, a brand may switch over to someone else,” he opines. Donning many hats Besides being a known chef, Kapoor’s entrepreneurial ventures have also helped in building his brand image over time. He launched ‘WonderChef’ range of cookware, kitchen tools, and accessories, ventured into the restaurant business, Indian Cookery Pvt Ltd, which now boasts of a slew of successful restaurants such as the flagship brand Khazana, The Yellow Chilli, and Sura Vie, among others. Last year also saw the chef launch his own, 24X7 food television channel ‘Food Food’ amidst much pomp and show. Kapoor has also authored a wide array of cookery books. While he helps marketers in promoting their products, what is the marketing strategy undertaken by the chef himself for all his ventures? According to Kapoor, for every business vertical, there is a separate business and marketing plan. So while ‘WonderChef’ would have more point of purchase marketing and internet marketing, a totally different approach would work for the restaurants. “Barring the television channel, we have not looked at aggressive marketing plans for any other ventures because our belief is that first we should be able to create a product or service that has the ability to create a pull,” he explains. While he seems to be making all the right moves, both in his own ventures as well as his endorsements, there are challenges as well. According to him, his ideas and thoughts are very unique but at the same time, the underlying risk factor is also equally high. “Since there is no one to follow, I have to create my own benchmarks, and that is not an easy thing to do,” he says.

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Don’t worry, Charlotte – Southern Season hasn’t forgotten you. You’re just playing hard to get. Clay Hamner of Carrboro Capital, the CEO of the Chapel Hill-based specialty food store, says he is negotiating on two sites for the long-awaited Charlotte location and expects to have news to announce within two to three months. “We’re working hard to get to Charlotte,” he told The Observer this week. He calls Charlotte “our No. 1 market” in desirability because of all the people who have ties to the Triangle, such as university football loyalties, and know the original location of Southern Season. Southern Season began expanding two years ago, adding a store in Mount Pleasant, S.C., outside Charleston, and a store that is about to open in Richmond. Its large Chapel Hill location includes housewares and cooking equipment, a full-scale restaurant, a cooking school and multiple specialty departments with cheese, cured meats, wine and imported food products. Hamner still expects to open a Charlotte store in late 2016. But the Charlotte real-estate market has made it difficult to find the right location, he says. Finding a spot will mean compromises, he says. While he originally wanted a location with ample parking and a single-floor retail space in Myers Park or SouthPark, he concedes that isn’t likely. “We start out (looking for) a perfect location, and they don’t exist,” he says. At the moment, he says, he expects the Charlotte store will have to have a parking deck, and it may have “vertical construction,” similar to the two-story setup used at Whole Foods and several recent Harris Teeter locations. Asked to name an ideal location, he mentioned Park Road Shopping Center but said there wasn’t enough room there. While he’s looking at other areas, including South Boulevard, he says he wouldn’t go farther out to the University City area, for instance, or south of Quail Hollow. He won’t look at doing a smaller store in Charlotte, though. A location here would still have a cooking school, like the ones in Chapel Hill and Charleston, and a full-scale retail operation. “We’re 11 stores in one,” he says. “People don’t come to us as a candy store or a wine store. You come to us for a bottle of wine and you end up buying candy. It’s the synergy effect. We’re a specialty gourmet food store.”

Lucas Systems will be demonstrating next-generation Jennifer VoicePlus voice-directed warehouse applications at Logistics Link South later this month. The company, which produces warehouse productivity solutions for mobile workers and distribution centre managers, has themed the event: “Voice Just Got Smarter” reflecting the development of intelligently-designed multi-modal voice solutions that combine voice, scanning and screens. Smarter voice applications go beyond voice picking to include other warehouse processes and build upon emerging consumer technologies to enable smartphone-like intuitive user interfaces. The company points out that smarter voice applications also include rich reporting and analytics tools to help managers run their operations. The business case for upgrading systems will come under scrutiny at Logistics Link South in a seminar hosed by OBS Logistics, which supplies transport and warehouse management software to leading 3pl, e-fulfilment and end user organisations. The seminar will also look at how a cloud computing approach can ease the transition to an affordable and versatile solution that responds to the changing needs of your business. Link 51 will use the show to highlight its full range of pallet racking, shelving, and storage solutions, at this year’s Logistics Link South exhibition in Esher. The company has more than 60 years of experience within the warehousing, industrial, retail, and e-fulfilment sectors. It will use the show as a chance to demonstrate its technical expertise in designing large scale distribution centres, which it says ensures both greater flexibility and leads to significant savings. “But the show is even more significant this year because of all the exciting developments that are happening in the South, especially with the London Gateway, which looks set to revolutionise, and bring significant opportunities and economic savings to the supply chain industry,” said marketing director at Link 51, Simon Baugh. Co-located with the new Port to Shelf Exhibition, Logistics Link South will be taking place on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th February 2014, at Sandown Park Racecourse. Global provider of SaaS WMS, Synergy Logistics, will launch its latest picking solution SnapPTL there, which it says will both lower the number of visits to a pick face, and increase accuracy. SnapPTL has been designed to enhance the power of the company’s Snapfulfil SaaS WMS, with a Pick to Light (PTL) cart, which aims to both drive pickers to the shortest walk sequence, and indicate to the picker which orders, totes, or cartons the items need to be picked into. “Ecommerce businesses require a highly adaptable WMS to support high-volume- they can now add the PTL cart to this, to allow ‘hands free’ picking and highly visible stock deposits into picking cartons/totes quickly and cost effectively,” said commercial director, Gavin Clark. “With SnapPTL there is no longer a trade-off between shipment accuracy and a ‘hands free’ picking environment.” Industry professionals from Hotel Chocolat, British Telecom, and Toshiba have already confirmed their visit to the show- presenting the ideal networking opportunity for a range of organisations. Senior logistics and supply chain members of staff from Jordans Cereals, Samsung, Caffe Nero Group, Barclays, Johnson & Johnson, Halfords, Spirit Pub Company, and Jaeger, will also be attending the event. Attendees will get the chance to put their (imaginary) football boots on for a live penalty shootout with Dynamic Storage Systems, who will be hosting a competition at its stand, to highlight its total project management capabilities. DSS specialises in the design, supply, and installation of ultra-efficient storage and warehouse solutions. It is currently working with firms, such as Coca Cola, New Look Retailers, Greene King, and Travis Perkins. “Customers can rely on our proven expertise in a comprehensive range of systems and products from racking and shelving to mezzanine floors, live storage and automation equipment,” said managing director, Howard Gillard. “And in this World Cup year, we thought it would be a good idea to let people know that our wide experience means they are in safe hands.” Warehouse management system provider Access Group will also be present at the exhibition, to discuss its latest research. Access Group recently conducted a survey of 132 warehouse operators, across manufacturers, wholesalers, and 3PL warehouse service providers.The results were collected by Redshift Research for Access’ recent whitepaper, Space and stock: the financial frontier. They revealed that many businesses without WMS are missing out on a “relatively easy” route to reduced cost and improved service, because they are unable to optimise stock levels and space usage. “The survey highlights that regardless of size, companies need to go far beyond their current thinking to discover the benefits of optimised stock and warehouse space,” said supply chain divisional sales manager for Access Group, Rob Hodgson.

Rowland Synergy IIi. 10 responses Add your response I am using both a Klyne (SS) and a First Sound (tube) with my 201s. The jury is still out. I suspect you could use just about anything you like. Rowland will also have a new preamp pretty soon: Concerto. Lower priced than the Synergy, apparently designed as a companion to the ICEpower 201 and 501 amps. Phono options. $3900, I think. Also available as an integrated amp in combination with two channels of 201 amplification. I used to run a Rowland Synergy 2i with 12 monos, it's one of the better preamplifiers out there, it's lush, clean, and fast. I have since replaced the Synergy with a Ayre K1x, everything seems to open up, sound expanded in all directions...more 3D soundstage. If you like the Synergy, you hould definitly audition the Ayre, you won't regret.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - If the schedule works out, UAB's baseball team will play as many games as possible at Regions Field, the new home of the Birmingham Barons, starting next season. UAB athletics director Brian Mackin and Barons managing partner Stan Logan both confirmed the discussions to AL.com. The new stadium opens this season for the Barons and is adjacent to Railroad Park and right next to UAB's campus. The Southern League releases its schedule for the next season in October. However, UAB begins its college baseball season some six weeks before the minor league regular season begins. UAB has played its games at Young Memorial Field on campus since 1984. Stan Logan is the son of Barons owner Don Logan, and Mackin is friends with the Logans. "Don sees the synergy between the UAB and the Barons and the economic development in that Railroad Park district," Mackin said. "We're very excited about the opportunity about playing at Regions Park. "We're going to look at the schedule. They don't come into town until April. As many games as we can play before they get there, that's an advantage and we'll see what we can do working around their schedule." Stan Logan echoed Mackin's sentiments and felt that playing some games at Region Field, and well more than just one a year against an Alabama or Auburn-type program, would help the UAB baseball program have immediate benefits. "We have a great relationship with UAB and plan to play as many games as our schedule permits," Logan said. "When you walk on this field as a baseball player, how can you not get tingles? I hope it helps UAB out tremendously." Logan said they were still working out logistics, but wouldn't be looking to make some huge profit from UAB's athletics program by hosting UAB baseball games at Regions Field. "We'll make sure they get what they need," Logan said. "We view this as a community opportunity for a great partner for us and the city of Birmingham. "UAB helped us tremendously to make this ballpark happen. Without them, this may not have come to fruition. We absolutely want them to be able to utilize it and find a way to benefit its athletic program." Mackin hopes the benefits of playing many games at a minor league park draws more fans. There will certainly be many more seats, as Young Memorial Field's listed capacity is 1,000. Regions Field will seat 8,500. When Mackin played at UAB, the Blazers had home games at Rickwood Field. "We had fans that were a part of the Barons program that would come watch us play just because they loved baseball," Mackin said. "They came down and supported us and the Barons both. I think we will pick up that type of fan."

Last week, we published the winners of the 2011 RIBA Awards, as well as the RIBA International Awards, presented by the Royal Institute of British Architects for architectural excellence in the UK and abroad. The 3XN-designed Middelfart Savings Bank in Denmark was one of the eight buildings honored in the European Union award category. The building had previously been awarded the MIPIM/Architectural Review Future Projects Award in 2006 and IIDA Global Excellence Awards 2010, Honorable Mention. Project Description from the Architects: Middelfart Savings Bank is a key institution in the town of Middelfart, located by the Lillebælt waters on the island of Funen, Denmark. Thus the Savings Bank wanted their new Head Office to provide a new public space for the local citizens as well as an architectural icon for the town and the Savings Bank. The building is characterized by a dramatic roofscape accommodating multiple functions. 83 prism-like skylights compose the spectacular roof surface defining the geometry of the building – in reference to the maritime environment as well as the surrounding timber framed buildings. Thus, the new Head Office gently reflects and interacts with the dimensions, scales, roofs and cornice lines of the old town. The roof is specially designed to frame a perfect view towards the water while at the same time shading from direct sunlight; thereby demonstrating a perfect synergy between design and function. A bookshop, a café, a real estate agent and the cash desk are placed around a central plaza, resulting in the building forming an informal public meeting space at the ground floor level. The Savings Bank work stations are located on three open terraces internally connected by broad staircases encouraging interaction and informal meetings or breaks. All plateaus are endowed with plenty of daylight and an unhindered view to the water. The working environment is further improved by sustainable features such as natural ventilation and the latest technologies in energy efficient heating and cooling. Thermo active concrete elements facilitate energy savings of 30-50 percent. Address: Havnegade 21, DK-5500 Middelfart Client: Trekantens Ejendomsselskab A/S Area: 5,000 m2 3XN Team: Kim Herforth Nielsen, Jens Henrik S. Birkmose, Rasmus Kruse, Helge Skovsted, Flemming Tanghus, Jan Ammundsen, Tommy Bruun, Morten Mygind, Peder Kragelund, Klaus Mikkelsen, Tommy Ladegaard, Lars Povlsen, Jørgen Søndermark, Rikke Zachariasen, Heidi Daggry, Johanne Holmsberg, Stefan Nors Landscape Architect: Schønherr KS Awards: MIPIM/Architectural Review Future Projects Award 2006; IIDA Global Excellence Awards 2010, Honorable Mention; Royal Institute of British Architect's (RIBA) European Award 2011 Find many more photos of Middelfahrt Savings Bank in the image gallery below. Comment as :

From the Midnight Sun blog: Darrin Ebron, a Baltimore DJ with tenuous Hollywood connections (he once played Eddie Murphy's wedding!) has been named in a federal complaint as part of a drug ring that transported hundreds of pounds of cocaine from Los Angeles to Baltimore. In the complaint, which the Washington Times reported Tuesday, Ebron is accused of conspiring with eight other men to transport 100-plus pound loads of cocaine in private planes, which sometimes carried loads totaling as much as $1.2 million at a time. The complaint says Drug Enforcement Agency agents heard Ebron and an associate discuss a purchase for which the DJ would owe $900,000. Later, he was spotted at Los Angeles' Jerry's Famous Deli discussing another shipment worth $50,000. Ebron, who has not been located, is feared to be a flight risk, and federal agents have requested his detention. Though he is described lavishly on his website - it says he "was trained in four instruments" and worked at major record labels, "from BadBoy [sic], Def Jam Rocafella [sic]" - Ebron has no paper trail. He's never appeared on the pages of Baltimore City Paper or The Sun despite having grown up here and playing "at events which grew to several thousand people." (I've put out calls to several established local DJs - Ultra, BooMan - but haven't heard to see if any of them have heard of Ebron.)(The Washington Times reports he was an independent contractor for Edmonds Entertainment; his website lists him as a vice president of marketing.) Whether or not he was a successful DJ, you can still purchase his music on his website. "One hundred percent of proceeds," it says, "will be donated to UNICEF for relief efforts in Haiti." In addition to being a DJ, Ebron runs a "casual luxury" clothing company called Goodlife American Clothing that sells $50-64 t-shirts. Ebron's website, which name-checks Tibetan Buddhism and personal healers, describes the Goodlife lifestyle thusly: "At Goodlife, a positive synergy between our corporate, creative, sales and retail partners permeates everything we do. We also believe in giving backand contribute a portion of our online sales to our favorite charity partners."

Posted on Oct 30, 2007 | Comments 0 Pilates exercises will help you to obtain strong back. You can attain several advantages by practicing these exercises such as: - These Pilates exercises will help you to build strength without “bulking up” - Optimal core control will be developed within your body - These exercises will improve your flexibility and agility - Flat slender thighs, abdominals and a strong back will be created by practicing these exercises regularly - Pilates exercises assists to align your body - Your body will be stretched and strengthened a lot with these exercises - Your energy levels will be increased and weight loss will be achieved [Weight Loss Programs] - These exercises help in rehabilitation of injuries These are the several advantages you can achieve by practicing Pilates exercise daily. Some easy and useful Pilates exercises are explained as follows: Successful Pilates workout needs essential warm-up. Necessary warm-up will make your muscles loose by allowing flexibility and it also prevents cramping. This exercise is used to warm-up your spine and back muscles. You have to perform this exercise in slow and controlled motion. - In this Pilates exercise, you have to stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees soft and keep your arms straight up to the sky. - You have to remember that you should inhale while pulling your abs in and exhale while letting your arms fall forward. - First step in this exercise is inhale by pulling your abs. Let you arms fall forward by allowing your knees bend gently and by arching your back into a curve while exhaling. - You have to relax in that position by allowing your head and shoulders to fall forward. You have to keep your abs tight and make a note on how your spine reacts. You should obtain gentle stretch movement while performing the exercise. - Eventually your arms will be down to your sides and you have to pull them behind you as far as you are comfortable. - From that curled position, slowly come back to the starting position by inhaling. - Repeat this exercise as many times as you can. Your torso will be strengthened by acquiring the back muscles to work in synergy with abdominal muscles with this exercise. - First you have to lie flat on your back on the floor by keeping your shoulders down. Lengthen your body and point your feet, leading the stretch with the top of your head. - Now slowly raise your both legs and head off the floor, by keeping your back flat on the floor. You should be sure to keep your chin tucked and neck neutral. - Now extend your arms and begin to lift and lower them at about 2 inches from the floor. You should breathe in on the lift and breathe out on the lower. - Do this Pilates exercise for 5-up –and-down beats and you have to repeat this exercise for 10 times, until you have done a “hundred”. These are the two easy Pilates exercises, which helps you to attain strong back [Other Back Exercises]. Posted in: EXERCISES

At the beginning of Sexy Evil Genius, a trio of starkly-different strangers sit down over drinks in a largely-dead metropolitan bar, where they proceed to chat about good times and bad involving their mutual, mentally-unhinged ex-girlfriend, Nikki. They're not shy about it either, dishing out stories of obsession, love lost and how they were eventually shafted in one way or another. Steadily, and humorously, these characters take shape by revealing more about their failed relationships and life post-Nikki, all because their scheming ex covertly got them all together for ... some eventually-revealed purpose. That component works in Shawn Piller's crafty little comedy-mystery, a chatty never-leave-the-room lark that's more of a blend between stage performance and an extended skit than much of a movie. And it's entertaining in its own twisted little way, as long as it focuses on speculative gossip among spurned lovers and avoids revealing the actual purpose behind getting them all under the same roof. This scenario could almost be misinterpreted as a dream in the mind of a sleeping TV geek, as if characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, LOST, and Battlestar Galactica have gathered together in a bizarro universe for the purpose of willfully defying their pre-established types. Seth Green plays a levelheaded, suit-wearing salesman, Zach; Michelle Tractenberg dons dark eyeliner and a sour demeanor as an alternative ex-addict, Miranda; a laid-back Harrold Perrineau muses about the soul and authenticity of jazz as Marvin; and, in a twist, Flatliners and Virus actor William Baldwin is a silver-tongued, morally-grey defense attorney, Bert. They're all drawn to their "sexy evil genius", Nikki, and Katee Sackhoff's fiery eyes and blown-back hair cleverly avoid the attributes that accentuate her Toaster-killin' fame-maker. Sure, these are some rather on-the-nose, one-dimensional characters, but that simplicity eventually serves a purpose once their conversations formulate some common grounds. Witty dialogue -- perhaps a little too witty -- bounces between the assorted ex-lovers in Scott Lew's script, playing to their character types without really betraying their semi-authentic personalities. In terms of pure surface-level enjoyment, watching this banter can be fun long before the topic of their conversation arrives, long before Sexy Evil Genius really even has a purpose beyond the vague "Nikki's up to something ... again". It's amusing to see Zach fiddle with his olive-laden martini while wrapping his mind around his ex-girlfriend in a lesbian relationship, as is observing Marvin's reaction when he discovers what kind of music his bongo-banging ex really likes. The strengths in Lew's writing become obvious once Nikki's motivations, and the underlying plot developments, start to detract from that clever synergy; in a way, I almost wish that Nikki had stayed away until much, much later on. The dialogue's ability to put this mostly-invisible woman on a pedestal, reducing these sharp people to her thralls, are what held my attention. Eventually, Sexy Evil Genius pulls the curtain back on the reason for Nikki's scheming -- involving deaths, stalkers, substance abuse, secrets from the past relationships, and a desire for revenge -- which presents a frustrating and unrecoverable kink in Shawn Piller's film. Nikki is a feisty mix of brilliance and insanity, and her feistiness is great to behold when filtered through the BSG veteran's edge, but the shady baggage her character brings to the table becomes too much for the story's quaint charisma to shoulder. Some of the film's best moments, such as the personalized ways Nikki greets her exes and identifies their beverages, are soon weakened once her overly-chaotic inclinations force black-comedy absurdity into the mix. Mind you, the performances maintain the same pulse as they do in the beginning, allowing the characters to amusingly wrap around the situation as it grows out of control; they're all in top form, straight-faced and frazzled, as they adjust to the scenario. There's just way too much dark, inane drama. The main thing keeping Sexy Evil Genius from blowing out of control is the confinement of its one-set location, creating an almost literal stage effect -- a faint Hitchcockian ode that's better at grounding the plot that enhancing suspense. Outside of colorful flashbacks manipulated by distorted blues and erratic lens flares, almost everything takes place within plain, public view at the heart of the bar; a few privacy-required scenes shuffle over into the bathroom. This becomes important as the "danger" mounts among the group's later inebriated conversations, and it's one of the reasons why Shane Pillar's film ultimately sustains a meager amount of interest through its hectic climaxes. Without that novelty, without the ability to watch this sarcastic play resolve its story threads and motivations in a single spot, it would've appeared far too indulgent as the skeletons in Nikki's closet come tumbling out in a precarious jumble. Like this, at least there's a glint of appeal in seeing the evil genius' scheme come to fruition among her admirers. Video and Audio: Imagine sitting in your favorite dimly-lit bar for an hour and a half, a non-smoking bar, and you've essentially got the visual temp for 90% of Sexy Evil Genius. The 1.78:1-framed DVD from Lionsgate embraces the photography strengths, though: it captures the translucent brilliance in a glass of absinthe, gracefully presents the pop of blue in Nikki's straight-laced attire, and allows the details in darker corners of the room to stay visible. What's more, the scant rays of light shining among the bar grace the contours of faces and garments with reputable clarity, and the handful of lighter scenes that are available -- outdoor sequences and bright-blue flashbacks -- capture as much detail as they can. It's a standard multi-camera setup similar to a sitcom, but it achieves the desired tone rather well. Talking at length about the 5-channel Dolby Digital track would involve a lot of discussion about how the different vocal registries of the actors were properly handled, so let's keep this short and simple. The dialogue remains front-focused, clear, and dynamic enough to achieve the film's desired effects, while there's next-to-no surround effects to add dimension to what's going on -- outside of an echo in the bathroom and the sound of a jukebox in the distance. It gets the job done. English and Spanish subs re available. Audio Commentary with Shawn Piller, Seth Green, and Harrold Perrineau: If your definition of a successful commentary lies in technical, per-scene info learned, then you're probably not going to chalk this margarita-fueled track up as much of a success. However, this is an exceptionally entertaining, down-to-earth audio accompaniment, and it proves something very clearly: that those responsible for making this movie had a blast doing so, and felt legitimately passionate about what they were doing. Green and Pillar consistently tell stories (with occasional, enthusiastic interjections from Perrineau) about the diligence that went into making the film, usually having nothing to do with the actual scene playing; you're lucky if the content focuses on a specific actor or actress on-screen. They will, however, discuss the rapidity of the shooting schedule and line memorization, lay out some humorous stories laced with insights on production decisions (Was that real champagne? Whose pool was that? Kim Novac?), and precisely how all the main actors got involved. Give it a go. Also available is the warm, effective mini-documentary Jujitsu-ing Reality (16:45, 16x9), about writer Scott Lew's struggles with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Sexy Evil Genius is worth a watch for the sardonic dialogue that bounces between a cluster of old flames who share the same certifiably-insane, beautiful mastermind of an ex, delivered with charisma and fine comedic timing from a group of veteran TV and film actors passionate about the project. You'll have to tolerate a developing "plot" that gets more ridiculous as the conversations deepen, which drastically weakening the sarcastic theatricality filling the one-location setup. It's those individual performances and the way they navigate Scott Mew's clever dialogue that makes it worth a Rental, where there's enough situational hi-jinks and tack-sharp dialogue to get something out of it.

With sales of the 3DS starting to wind down, attention is turning to what Nintendo (NASDAQOTH:NTDOY) will put forth for its next handheld hardware. Now, a recent interview suggests that Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) could be supplying the chips for Nintendo's next handheld. What would this mean for the two companies and their investors? The last fiscal year saw approximately 57% of the company's revenue derived from hardware sales, so the introduction of a hit new portable sometime within the next two years is essential to the company's outlook. Comments from President Satoru Iwata and legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto have indicated that Nintendo may pursue a unified hardware ecosystem for its upcoming platforms. This would likely mean that much of the same software would be playable across the company's portable and home console platforms. AMD is interested in dedicated gaming hardware An interview in which AMD's vice president and general manager indicates that the company is interested in the dedicated portable market has recently been brought to light by a member of the NeoGaf gaming forum . The June interview had previously flown mostly under the radar, but its contents offer an interesting glimpse into a partnership that could have a major impact on the portable market. The interview was originally published on a Barron's blog, and, in it, AMD executive Saeid Moshkelani points to dedicated handhelds as an area of interest for the company. Given that Sony is very unlikely to ready a traditional successor to its PlayStation Vita, this would suggest that the chipmaker is looking at a deal with Nintendo. Moshkelani also pointed to the 3DS as evidence that dedicated platforms were still moving solid numbers. Is there money to be made with a dedicated portable gaming system? Nintendo's next handheld platform is up against a wide array of challenges, but that doesn't mean that a deal to supply chips wouldn't be largely beneficial to AMD. The company has done a good job of securing contracts to provide processing units for dedicated gaming devices. It will provide chips for Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One throughout their respective lifecycles, and both consoles look to do healthy numbers. Completing a deal with Nintendo to deliver processing units for its next platforms would be a big win for AMD, even if those platforms sell less than their predecessors. For those interested in taking a position in AMD, the announcement of a deal with Nintendo would likely provide a notable valuation bump. The company currently provides a highly diversified range of chips that are suitable for a wide range of products, so the suggestion that it will work with Nintendo on a new portable is not unreasonable. AMD already provides the graphics processing unit for the Wii U, and Nintendo has stated that the company is interested in using its current home console's hardware architecture as a template for future gaming platforms. What would a deal with AMD mean for Nintendo? For Nintendo, partnering with AMD for its next portable could be a smart move toward achieving the goal of a unified hardware ecosystem. The move could also help The House That Mario Built secure more third-party support, as working with more simplified AMD hardware could make porting to Nintendo's consoles an easier endeavor. The possibility that AMD will supply the chips for Nintendo's next handheld also suggests that it might play a role in Nintendo's still mysterious "Quality of Life" business. Nintendo has stated that QOL will not be dependent on wearable tech, but it's not unreasonable to think that the budding enterprise will have some manner of hardware component. If that's the case, the company will likely want to aim for some manner of synergy between its health-based business and its gaming platforms. As such, chances are good that QOL is also being considered as a part of Nintendo's unified hardware ecosystem. Foolish final thoughts If AMD supplies chips for Nintendo's next batch of hardware, it would create a substantial new revenue stream for the company. For Nintendo, the move would be a smart bit of strategy to help modernize its hardware platforms. The complex custom hardware in Nintendo's systems has made porting software more difficult than necessary and contributed to the lack of third-party support. A partnership between AMD and Nintendo would be beneficial for both companies. For investors interested in gaining from such an arrangement, AMD looks to be the better option. The chipmaker would see significant benefits if it supplies processing units for Nintendo's next platforms even if the devices don't put up massive sales. Keith Noonan has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Rifco are an award winning Theatre Company that develops and creates vibrant, accessible and high quality theatre which reflects and celebrates the contemporary British Asian experience. Our success lies in knowing what our audience wants. We constantly strive to produce great and watchable art that educates without preaching. We want our audience to deal with current topics and at times taboo subjects whilst being able to laugh at the world we live in. This combined with all the glitz and glamour you would expect from a British Asian Theatre Company makes Rifco unique! We focus on artistic excellence, new writing and ambitious programming. We believe in Artist Development; working with new writers, nurturing young artists and creating new and exciting work, involving the community every step of the way. Rifco Arts aims to: - Develop exciting and innovative work through participation with the Community; our audience development scheme and our Arts Ambassadors programme. - Develop new audiences to experience and take part in the arts. - Develop new writing, new talent and emerging artists through our Artist Development Scheme. - Tour relevant, entertaining and thought provoking theatre locally, nationally and internationally. - Explore the synergy between British Asians and their culture and heritage. Established: January 1998 Registered Charity Number: 1123986 Full time staff: 3 Phone number: 01923 810305 Address: Rifco Arts Watford Palace Theatre 20 Clarendon Road Watford WD17 1JZView charity accounts on the Charity Commission website

A brief recap of the Nova's specs is in order before an explanation of what I call The Nova Sessions. The Nova consists of an 80 watt integrated amplifier, Class A <30 ohm variable preamp-output, five transformer coupled digital inputs, user selectable on/off 6922 tube output stage, three analog inputs, a galvanically isolated USB stage, ESS 9006 Sabre DAC, eleven regulated power supplies for the DAC, home theater bypass, and a Class A tube headphone section. I utilized every feature except the headphone output during The Nova Sessions. The music server used was a Mac Pro running OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7 64-bit. The components and configurations used are as follows. Needless to say the Nova looked like a high end audio Medusa with a plethora of cables coming out of the unit. There isn't enough time left in 2010 to compare every component and interface combination possible. I used some logical combinations to compare the Nova's DAC to that of the DAC1 PRE, Proton, and DLIII. I compared the interfaces on the Nova to determine what sounded most accurate to my ears. I also bypassed the Nova's DAC and Preamp section to single out its amplification prowess when connected to the DAC1. All of these comparisons must be taken with an abundance of caution. Singling out a single interface, DAC or any one piece of these components is nearly impossible. One can only try different configurations and report sonic impressions related to those configurations. Each of the DACs involved has its own analog output stage that suffers from its own coloration. In addition auditioning the coaxial S/PDIF interface of these components I used the ASUS audio card that may have limited or enhanced the performance compared to other digital I/O cards available. Hopefully readers can use my impressions as data points to supplement their own listening sessions and cross reference my words with those of many other people who've used these components. The Nova Sessions - No Pictures, No Large Print, Just Results - Mac Pro OS X > USB > Wavelength Audio Proton > Analog RCA > Nova AUX3 - Mac Pro OS X > USB > Nova USB input Listening via the Wavelength Audio Proton connected to the Nova's AUX3 analog input produced a very noticeable background fuzz. This fuzz was absent when listening via USB straight from the Mac to the Nova. This is likely due to volume control compatibility "issues." I was unable to find the right combination of volume level on the Proton and volume level on the Nova. The closest to satisfied I got was with the Proton's volume set to 94. When the proton was set around 90 or below I had to turn up the volume on the Nova to one or two o'clock. The background fuzz was apparent in this configuration as well as with the volume in the mid 90s. However with the Proton's volume set in the high 90s I heard major distortion. This was remedied by turning the Proton's volume down and the Nova's volume up. I did not use the Home Theater Bypass feature of the Nova in this configuration as I'm not a fan of using the Proton's software based analog volume control directly connected to an amplifier. Many CA readers have absolutely no problems using it this way. As I stated in my review of the Proton I don't like depending on software volume controls that may not be as responsive as I need at any given moment. All of this aside the sound of the asynchronous USB Proton DAC was superior than feeding the Nova's USB input directly. The Nova smeared the overall image and severely hindered the decay. Cymbals appeared to face much more naturally via the Proton's DAC connected to the analog input of the Nova. The Nova made voices sound good and a little larger across the sound stage but suffered from a little less definition via it's own USB interface. - Mac Pro OS X > Airport Express (wired) > Nova optical digital input 2 - Mac Pro OS X > Built-in optical TosLink digital output > Nova optical digital input 1 Optical input from the Airport Express did sound better than the optical feed straight from the Mac Pro's built-in optical output. Voices via the Airport Express appeared a bit further back. Cymbals via the AE were a bit harsh and somewhat unnatural but the decay was more appropriate than what I heard via the built-in optical output of the Mac Pro. Bass was a bit thin via the AE as well. The sound via the built-in Mac Pro optical output was better than the sound fed directly from the Mac Pro to the Nova via USB but not nearly as defined as the analog feed from the Proton. Bass via the built-in optical output was not real cohesive and was inconsistent lacking on some selections and a bit forward on others. Note: I used the Airport Express digital feed into the Nova's optical input number 2. This input has been adjusted by Signal Path to be more tolerant of sources with higher than average jitter at the sacrifice of a little sound quality. Users previously had issues during playback via an AE until this adjustment was made. In addition not all versions of iTunes and not all versions of the Airport Express work the same. These differences lead to inconsistent results for those seeking to test this at home. - Mac Pro OS X > USB > PS Audio DLIII > Analog RCA > Nova AUX1 - Mac Pro OS X > USB > Nova USB input The Nova was sonically superior to the DLIII in every way via both components' USB inputs. The DLIII was not cohesive and sounded artificial. Compared to the Nova everything via the DLIII just sounded wrong. This could be partially due to the automatic upsampling to 24/96 that was done by the DLIII. I didn't try upsampling to 24/192 during this listening session. Via the DLIII to the Nova's analog inputs images were very smeared and voices were not crisp when they should have been. Voices even sounded nasally compared to the Nova.The DLIII's bass definition was less than all the other components and the overall sound was fatiguing and over-saturated. Listening through the Nova's internal upsampling compared to the external upsampling of the DLIII was much better sounding. Upsampling is not a matter of where it takes place. In this comparison the Nova's upsampling produced a much more cohesive sound when compared directly to the DLIII via USB inputs on both. - Mac Pro OS X > USB > Benchmark DAC1 PRE > Analog RCA > Nova AUX2 & AUX3 Home Theater Bypass Mode - Mac Pro OS X > USB > Nova USB input Connected to the Nova's Auxiliary analog input 2 the DAC1 was set to calibrated mode via the switch on the rear of the DAC1. Calibrated mode bypasses the front panel volume control on the DAC1 for configurations like the one used here. The DAC1 PRE's bass was much tighter than the Nova's when USB inputs were used on both. Keep in mind the DAC1 PRE uses CEntrance code and the TAS1020B chipset for its USB input whereas the Nova does use a rather generic off-the-shelf USB implementation. Compared to the Nova this tight bass didn't have as much texture to it. It's hard to verify which sonic characteristic is the most accurate without hearing the mic feed at the recording. The DAC1 feeding the Nova produced vocals with pinpoint focus and revealing highs. Decay via the DAC1 PRE had a tad bit of overhang and appeared too bold for natural sounding decay. The Nova via direct USB input lacked air around the instruments that the DAC1 PRE displayed. The Nova's bass lacked the DAC1 PRE punch and instruments during complex passages all merged together much more so than the DAC1 PRE. Following this configuration I flipped the rear switches on the DAC1 PRE and Nova to enable the DAC1's volume control and Home theater Bypass on the Nova. The HT Bypass feature allowed the DAC1 PRE to work as a preamp delivering an analog signal straight to the Nova's power amp. To use an over-generalization the vocals in this configuration sounded like they came out of a cave. The decay was still bold, unnatural, and seemed to hang on for dear life much longer than appropriate. To say it another way, the DAC1 PRE tends to memorialize some events. If it's possible to make a clear conclusion I think the Nova's preamp was a benefit to the sound of the DAC1 PRE. I much preferred the vocal performance via the DAC1 PRE when HT Bypass was disabled and the DAC1's volume control was bypassed feeding the Nova's preamp. In addition I preferred the coaxial input of the DAC1 PRE feeding the Nova's HT Bypass analog input over the previous USB based DAC1 connection. This was better sounding but still required the Nova's preamp section to bring out the best DAC1 PRE had to offer. - Mac Pro Windows 7 > ASUS Xonar Essence STX > Coax S/PDIF > Nova coaxial digital input 1 - Mac Pro Windows 7 > ASUS Xonar Essence STX > Coax S/PDIF > Benchmark DAC1 PRE > Analog RCA > Nova AUX3 Home Theater Bypass Mode The last configurations I tried used a Windows 7 64-bit based music server. The reason for the switch is the ASUS card does not work with Mac OS X at this time. I used J River Media Center v14 and WASAPI output in Exclusive Mode. I verified bit perfect digital output to the best of my ability via the HDCD illuminator on my Alpha DAC in addition to researching many different configuration options and their results on the bit stream output. The ASUS Xonar Essence STX PCIe audio card feeding the Nova via coaxial S/PDIF was clearly the best sound I received throughout The Nova Sessions. Again, the Nova in this configuration sounded better than all the other components and all the other configurations. The DAC1 PRE's USB input connected to the Nova's AUX2 analog input was a close second. During The Nova Sessions the tube section of the preamp was in use until the very end. With the tube disabled the bass had a bit more texture and the differentiation between bass notes was a tad better. Listening to John Mellencamp's Longest Days at 24/96 the Nova added a little gloss to the vocals that I hadn't heard elsewhere. I'm not a fan of additives in my music, but many readers may find this bit of added gloss pleasing in the short term. Using the ASUS Xonar Essence STX to feed the DAC1 PRE's coaxial input raised a bit of background noise not present when feeding the Nova directly or feeding the Nova via the DAC1 USB based configuration. This could be due to the preamp section or volume control of the DAC1 since the HT bypass only uses the Nova's amp bypassing it's DAC and preamp section. The pinpointed vocals heard via the DAC1's USB input were no longer present via coaxial S/PDIF. The overall sound was a bit sloppy compared to the DAC1's very good USB input. Real Wrap Up Once again the free flow of information and uncensored Computer Audiophile reader comments have lead to something good. I was called-out on a less than stellar review. After the initial shock I set out to work the Nova over like a speed bag to deliver actionable information and additional data points for the CA readers. The whole process involved pages of notes and a lot of listening to music. I couldn't be happier that the CA readers spoke up and pushed for better information. Bringing out my small arsenal of DACs for a comparison to the Nova was fun and informative. Another plus was Signal Path's David Solomon being open to and encouraging these comparisons. Not all manufactures will allow direct comparisons during reviews of their products. In typical Signal Path form David said, "Let the chips fall where they may." To recap my overall impression, the Nova sounded better than the other components and configurations using Windows 7, J River Media Center, WASAPI + Exclusive Mode, and ASUS Xonar Essence STX outputting bit perfect audio via coaxial S/PDIF to the Nova's coaxial input number one. The Benchmark DAC1 PRE using its USB input, feed by Mac OS X and iTunes, and outputting analog audio to the Nova's Auxiliary input number two was a close second place. The Wavelength Audio Proton is not a recommended combination with the Nova for reasons mentioned above. The Proton continues to be one of my favorite product of 2009 but there isn't any synergy with the Peachtree Nova. The PS Audio DLIII was out of its league during The Nova Sessions although it may perform better in other scenarios. I'd like to wrap things up by thanking the dedicated Computer Audiophile readers for providing constructive criticism that lead to the real completion of the Peachtree Audio Nova review.

Connecting Families to Senior Living Talk to a local advisor for FREE Easley in SC offers so many senior living options, how will you know what is the right fit for you? Our compassionate Senior Living Advisors are local experts who offer personalized assistance, financial resources and time-saving advice. We have helped families in the Easley South Carolina area find the right senior living community options to match their unique needs and budget. Find the best senior living services that provide not only the best solution but also the best experience for your needs. Choose from over 40 Senior Living communities in Easley, SC and read 273 reviews with an average rating of 4.0 stars out of 5. We've helped 1,141 families in Easley, SC where Senior Living typically range from $1500.00 to $9400.00 per month. Brookdale Easley is an assisted living community in Easley, South Carolina, partially in the counties of Pitkins and Anderson. 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If you are regular DIVERSE Customer you would have come across a volume measurement on your boards or heard us talk about it before, or you have been browsing our models and noticed the Litre figure after the reccomended board dimensions. I would like to explain some more about it, to help you get a good understanding of how i arrive at the measurement, what it means to you and how to use it to your advantage when choosing a new board. HOW DO YOU WORK OUT THE VOLUME? The volume calculation/measurment comes from our shaping software. As i Design the board the software calculates the surface area and the displacement volume. It cannot be worked out as a sum of length x width x thickness = volume. As you can see in the illustrations of boards below many shaped boards with differing volumes can come from the same dimensions. HOW DOES THE VOLUME AFFECT FLOATATION? It is important to note that different board contruction methods with give you a different floatation. For example a Dynocore Epoxy board with a Core Fusion Blank can have 10-15% more floatation with the same volume and displacement. So as you read this information please understand it is a general guide for the traditional PU style surfboards we make and you see everyone riding day to day here. WHAT IS THE BEST VOLUME FOR ME? Ahh, How long is that mythical piece of string? Ok i will tell you what i have discovered over the last few years. i took the time to find out the weights of my pro riders & advanced surfers that i make boards for, then went thru all the boards they were having the most success with & collected the volume data… i came up with a calculation of .35 litres volume per kilo of body weight. Eg: 100kg = 35litres. So grab your bathroom scales type in your weight on a calculator and times it by .35 = your answer! Now you can test yourself and see what is the ideal volume for a PRO SURFER riding a high performance shortboard in everyday to good conditons is. Now is the time to start thinking of what your skill level is… Unless your at the peak of surfing, just maybe you will need a little more volume than that answer you just calculated! HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? If you can see the pics below of the 6’2″ std construction PU Sprint shortboard, you can start to see the effects on your boards design. all 3 boards have the same pencil dimensions on the shape but quite different volume, floatation & most importantly performance characteristics. Regularly at our shop in Tugun we have people come in who have put on a few kilos (most of us do at some stage..) These surfers will want to go up an inch in length. Did you realize that going up longer by 1″ on a 6’2″x18 1/2″x 2 1/4″=25.9l short board you will increase the volume by 300-400ml. Thats can of coke or a stubby of beer..! Yet if you go thicker by 1/8″ the volume jumps up approximately 1.2-1.5 litres. Going wider by 1/4″ will give you a 700-800ml increase in volume. Here is some more cool information. That 6’2″x 18 1/2″x 2 1/4″ shortboard we have been using as an example with 25.9 litres floatation is very close to the same volume as a Magic mullet fish 5’6″x 19 1/4″x 2 5/16″ =25.7litres or a Twin fin at 5’0″x 19 1/2″x 5 5/16″= 25.9litres…. Then Look a mini Simmons at 4’6 x 21″x 2 1/2″=27.4 litres… thought about riding a 4’6 lately? you see that old 6’8 x 18 1/2 x 2 3/8 semi gun on the used rack at the local surfshop? its about 6 years old, hardly been used but pretty brown.. it only about 26.5 litres too! Which board is too small for you? Low Volume, with narrow Outline, thin Nose, Tail and Low rails. Suits good waves. Like punchy beach breaks and Indo style reef where paddling is not a major concern Standard Volume, medium Rails, Std Outline & everyday Rocker. This is what our Pro’s choose to ride. Best choice for all round everyday high performance surfing High Volume, wide Outline, full Rail with Thicker nose & Tail. Paddles like a canoe. For Beginner & average Surfers in fat slow average surf… Ok Time to Check a few boards out in the Dynocore Store to see what volumes are in stock today.. Using Computers to design Surfboards…. I started shaping surfboards in a Glassing Factory i worked at. I went on with hand shaped custom boards for about 12 years; An invaluable and exciting learning process of hard work and Dusty lungs. Over time the ‘hands on’ approach of handshaping thousands of boards teaches your mind to imagine different waves and to mesh the vast array of surfboard designs to a wide variety of different surfers’ styles. Your hands learn to create a specific shape that is going to become the synergy between wave and surfer. Hand shaping allowed me to develop the style and character of my boards. Over time you begin to find certain designs that work like a dream; the ‘magic boards’ I like to call them. We have all had them; those ones that just go insane…fast when it’s small, yet loose and holding in when it’s big; the boards that do exactly what you want them to do and when you want them to do it. Well, the busier you become hand shaping boards, the more of a toll it begins to take on you. Duplicating the proven ‘magic boards’ becomes time consuming, backbreaking work. Try holding a planer in your hands just above waist height and being on your feet all day buzzing away foam. Your back, wrists, elbows, knees and eyes start to hurt. You start to have no time to do the very thing that lead you into that path..Surfing. You start spending one afternoon a week at chiropractors etc.. And at the end of the day you can’t be assured every board is going to stay at that magic level you want. Along came Shaping machines.. the first ones i used helped me get a basic profile down and eased the reproduction process, but i lost the ability to do it my self as the earlier software was adapted from high end boat building cad/cam programs etc. Then i was introduced to the APS3000! So since 2004 I have been using the APS3000, along with BoardCad & the industry standard Shape3D. Each board is virtually shaped on these three-dimensional design programs. I start by choosing from one of a series of proven ‘magic boards’ I have on file. Design it, Cut it, and tweak it myself to create what i had imagined in my head. These are my best handshapes (and more recent computerized modifications) developed over time through feedback from team riders, individual customers, friends and from just going surfing.Then I adjust the length, width, thickness, rocker, rail shape/ volume, and bottom contours to complement and enhance each particular surfer’s style. Recording all the changes and refinements. Sure beats the complex measuring system i used to use to record the boards in the big box of of notebooks i have put away in my shaping toolbox. Every surfer has a different way they approach a wave; the Computer design software allows me to customize the board to the surfer, the type of waves they ride and the direction they want to take their surfing. The true beauty of this system is two-fold: The shaper/ designer can spend time designing and refining boards, interacting and catering to customers. And the surfers (that simply want a great board which is dialed in specifically for them) can get consistency, quality, and quick turnaround for their custom board.All files are kept on a database so your ‘magic board’ can be identically replicated at any time. Let’s say your magic board is/was magic, but now you’re 10 Kilos heavier and it is feeling a little small…we get your file, pull your board into the design program, add 1/8″ or 1/4″ thickness to it keeping the rest of the shape the same…Or let’s say your magic board is perfect at your local point break, but you want another board just like it but slightly looser at the beachbreaks….so….we grab your file, add a little more bend to the rocker between your feet, or a little kick out the last bit of the tail off the back fin – and there it is; perfect, fast, loose and holding in through the tight spots! ….Or let’s say you want to put this outline on that bottom curve….this same board with a flatter deck and fuller rails, or vice versa… The capabilities of the Computer design process are limitless really and help board design to move ever forward providing us all with better boards. I even use machine stuff-ups to create more crazy designs to test and try keeping evolution alive… The shaping machine has opened my time up to working more with material components. testing and tweaking different products on the same shape, getting to understand the dynamics and properties. So Dynocore™ was born. the result of testing and designing all those shapes with an amazing array of new tech materials! Oh and I know what to change on your favourite shape to when you change to Dynocore™ too! This is a pretty good way for common board rail standardization. Helps things a lot as a customer can measure his board himself in a far away place and give you a dimension.. much clearer than low, medium or boxy… Measure the board thickness in the centre, then the rail thickness 30mm in from the rail apex… do the math (100 divided by the centre measurement times by the rail measurement equals rail volume percent) and you have your rail volume percentage.. Many shapers have a different view on rails and their volume tag. maybe longboards and unusual designs might still need some clarification. But this would certainly aid online board descriptions… Just give me some time to add it to all our board model info on our website..

By Suze Solari One does not need an excuse, but there are many reasons why it is necessary to invest in a few key pieces for Spring. I have officially put away my tall boots, and brought out sandals, & new peep toe wedges. Sleeveless tops & dresses will soon be displayed prominently in my closet, yippee! Which brings me to my Style tip of the week: Color- pop tunics, exquisite graphic tops for evening and daywear, made from gorgeous French & Italian fabrics. Introducing the seasons chicest outfits, as Deedee & Edee debuts their new Spring must -haves. Deedee & Edee private label ‘Surplus’ wrap top, $72 and orange jeans - the hottest color of the moment. ‘Synergy’ dress, so adorable and easy to wear, $64. Unbelievable zigzag pattern ‘Kelli’ tunic is flying out of the store, $129. This is a key classic shape, and I really wish there was one in my size. boo! The ‘Holly’ private label tapestry jacket, can be worn as outer wear, or inside for a dressy topper. ‘Surplus’ top in the coolest leopard print is super chic in blue, put together with a pair of ‘Not your Daughters’ jeans, for $120. These ‘Surplus’ tops, are very forgiving, noted for their ability to hide any figure flaws. How about these great pull on cropped pants, $109, paired with the ‘Mary’ top..and the magenta pink ‘V-shawl’ is simply stunning. Its so easy to style these garments with the abundance of jewelry, shoes & sandals all available in the boutique. Don’t miss the hot ticket event - Fundraiser for The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest hosted by Deedee & Edee on April 12th! This is a perfect time to not only shop for your Spring fashions, but to help your community's 80 year old, award winning local Symphony reach their goal of $50,000. Food and bevies will be served, & Deb has agreed to generously donate 15 % of the evenings sales to The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest. Make a reservation for this fun shopping party through Deedee & Edee by e-mailing the store firstname.lastname@example.org or phoning #708-209-1448. If you crave more fashion news and advice, follow me on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to my monthly Styling Newsletter: you can sign up by visiting my website: www.suzesolaridesign.com Answer Book 2016 To view the full print edition of the Wednesday Journal 2016 Answer Book, please click here. Sign-up to get the latest news updates for Oak Park and River Forest. |Submit Letter To The Editor| |Place a Classified Ad|

The Vanderbilt Institute for Obesity and Metabolism was created in 2008, under the direction of Roger Cone, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. The VIOM provides opportunities for synergy and collaboration among basic scientists, clinicians, and public health professionals at Vanderbilt and its community partners. Another key role of the Obesity Program is to provide a base of expertise for public (community) education, policy development and advocacy. - To develop the nation's leading comprehensive obesity research program addressing the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of obesity and obesity-related disease; - To coordinate and facilitate obesity research and education on the etiology, consequences, treatment and prevention of obesity; - To enhance development of new research efforts based on areas of greatest scientific opportunity and challenge, accelerating progress in obesity research. This interdisciplinary program involves participating faculty from Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Genetics, Nutrition, Medicine and Public Health, Cardiology, Pediatrics, Cancer, Diabetes, Surgery, Psychiatry, Psychology, Neuro-Imaging, School of Nursing, Health Economics, Employee Health & Wellness, Biostatistics and Informatics. Roger D. Cone, Ph.D.

|by Flemming Funch| Britt, Mitch and I have weekly phone meetings to plot the progress of Xpertweb. Today we were also meeting with Allen Searls who created Global Alive, which happens to be an online network of experts, who have conversations with each other, in turn rating the experience. There's some obvious potential for synergy there. Xpertweb aims at becoming useful as plumbing for all sorts of exchanges of value. And as a shared memory of the perceived value of past exchanges. All sorts of value-added activities and businesses can be built on top of such a structure. Mitch has a lot of excellent ideas about that. There can be a significant role for 'infomediaries', who use the information gathered in the network to connect up business.

Headquartered in Van Buren Township, Michigan, Visteon Corporation (NYSE:VC) ("Visteon") is a global automotive parts company originally spun-off from Ford Motor Company in 2000. The Company is a tier 1 supplier of climate, electronics and interior systems, modules and components to automotive OEMs including Hyundai/Kia (~33% of sales), Ford (~31% of sales), BMW, Chrysler, Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, PS Peugeot, Toyota and Volkswagen. Visteon operates three business segments and a 50% non-consolidated partnership. Halla Visteon Climate Control ("HVCC") (HCC, KS:018880) (~62% of total 2012 sales), a publicly traded company on the Korea Stock Exchange, is the world's second largest supplier of automotive climate systems and components. Visteon owns a 70% consolidated stake in HVCC. The segment has 33 manufacturing sites supported by five global technical centers in 18 countries and employs approximately 11,000 people. HVCC is one of only two "full-line" suppliers, meaning switching costs for customers are high, a competitive advantage for HVCC. This is because HVCC gives their customers the ability to reduce costs by purchasing a variety of HVCC products at once; thus, making the cost per unit lower than if the customer was to individually purchase the parts from multiple suppliers. 1st half '13 consolidated sales and EBITDA have grown 19% and 36%, respectively vs. 1st half '12. Management anticipates this segment will grow sales at a CAGR of 7%+. Visteon Electronics (~18% of total 2012 sales) is a global provider of electronic components and systems for the vehicle cockpit, including audio and infotainment systems, instrument clusters, displays, climate controls and decorative control panels. The segment is the #3 producer of driver information and controls in the world. Visteon Electronics utilizes 16 manufacturing plants, four global technical centers and 11 regional customer centers with nearly 5,000 employees. Management anticipates this segment will grow sales at a 12%+ CAGR, outpacing vehicle production growth, by taking advantage of significant market growth in a fragmented market. 1st half '13 sales and EBITDA have grown 14% and 12%, respectively vs. 1st half '12. Visteon Interiors (~20% of total 2012 sales) is a global provider of vehicle cockpit modules, instrument panels, consoles and door trim modules. Management makes divesting Visteon Interiors a priority, stating the segment does not fit the Company's long-term value objectives. Revenue and EBITDA has consistently been declining since 2011. Yanfeng Visteon Automotive Trim Systems Co. ("YFV") is a 50% owned and non-consolidated China-based partnership between Visteon and Huayu Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. Recent Operating Overview Despite a weak European economy, Visteon, as a whole, delivered a strong 1st half '13 performance, generating an EBITDA of $357mm, up $67mm from the 1st half '12, as well as increasing sales by 10%. Gross and operating margins improved 130 and 120 basis points, respectively in Q2 FY13, resulting from fundamental improvements in operations. Visteon's Story: From Bankruptcy to Restructuring Weak economic conditions attributed to the global credit crisis caused Visteon to file voluntary petitions to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. The Company completed its organization and emerged from Chapter 11 in October 2010. Recently, Visteon has sped up its restructuring efforts by divesting underperforming assets and allocating significant amounts of capital towards cost cutting initiatives. The market's opinion concerning Visteon's restructuring is evident in the Company's >50% YTD share price appreciation. Despite the rally, the stock is still valued at a discount to its intrinsic value. I believe the mispricing is attributed to four factors: - YTD rally makes the stock appear expensive. - Deterring investors: The sour taste created by a company who emerged from bankruptcy. - General lack of in-depth analysis and information due to the Company's small market cap size. - Visteon screens at 6.36x TTM EBITDA, giving it the initial appearance of a fully valued OEM manufacturer, causing many investors to immediately turn their heads. After doing some due diligence, I have concluded that Visteon trades at a discount to intrinsic value based on several components: - Benefiting from cost reduction initiatives, HVCC and Visteon Electronics' EBITDA and operating margins will materially improve by 2016. Meanwhile Visteon Interiors' EBITDA will decline slower than the rate its sales will decline. Visteon's recent track record of operational improvements indicates a good chance of the program's success. - Visteon's continued restructuring will create tremendous value for its shareholders, underestimated by the market. Divestiture of YFV and its affiliates, as well as the acquisition of YFV-Electronics ("YFV"), will benefit Visteon and its shareholders in multiple ways: large cash proceeds that will be returned to shareholders by 2015, simplify a relatively complex business, added operational focus towards two core businesses, and lessen exposure to the risks associated with the weak European economy. - Visteon's three segments and non-consolidated partnership, each with independent business fundamentals and growth prospects, make the Company difficult to value as a whole. By analyzing and valuing each segment, the sum-of-the-parts are greater than the enterprise value. Cost Reduction Plan In November 2012, the Company announced a $100mm restructuring program designed to reduce fixed costs and improve operational efficiency by addressing certain underperforming operations and administrative costs. Management indicates the key drivers of savings include IT and engineer-related cost savings, elimination of redundant costs between HVCC and Visteon, and Elimination of support costs incurred by Visteon related to YFV. The Company ultimately hopes to reduce fixed costs and SG&A by 13-22% from current levels by 2015. Management's track record of consistent improvements in manufacturing efficiencies supports the likelihood of a successful cost reduction program. Administrative and manufacturing efficiencies accounted for a $16mm and $101mm reduction in SG&A and operating expenses, respectively in 2011. Manufacturing efficiencies accounted for a $125mm reduction in operating expenses in 2012. Efficiencies will expand HVCC and Visteon Electronics' EBITDA and operating margins, while preventing Visteon Interiors' EBITDA from declining at the rate its sales have declined. Background of the Divestiture and an Initial Catalyst for a Potential Idea The Company signed a definitive agreement back in August 2013 to sell its 50% non-consolidated stake in YFV (excluding YFVE), as well as its direct interests in other related interiors joint ventures to longtime business partner HASCO. Visteon will also increase its ownership stake in YFVE to $300mm. The transaction will contribute $1.1 billion in after-tax net cash proceeds, equivalent to 31% of Visteon's current enterprise value. This implies the Company's remaining three remaining segments are valued at approximately $2.6bn. Visteon's TTM EBITDA excluding YFV, adjusted to include YFVE, is approximately $624mm, meaning the Company's three non-YFV segments are valued at only 4.2x TTM EBITDA, considerably beneath relevant industry peers who trade around 6.0x TTM EBITDA, despite Visteon Electronics and HVCC's attractive growth prospects. Value Creation from Divestiture The divestitures will create value for Visteon shareholders in the following ways: - Large cash proceeds returned to shareholders via share repurchase program. - Simplifying the dynamics of Visteon for both the Company's management and financial analysts. - Acquisition of YFVE makes Electronics segment less exposed to the weak European economy, as well as making growth expectations tangible. Returning Capital to Shareholders: Capital received from the YFV divestiture will create shareholder value through share repurchases. Following the announcement of the divestiture, Visteon's Board of Directors increased its share repurchasing program from $250mm to $1.0bn over the next two years. Simplified Business: While Visteon isn't exactly a multi-national conglomerate, it is a multi-national business containing many subsidiaries and affiliates who produce an array of different product lines, all in various stages of the product life cycle. The complexity of Visteon's business stems from YFV's five channels: YFV Interiors (the core of YFV's business), Seating, Electronics, Safety, and Exteriors. By simplifying Visteon's corporate infrastructure from nine to three businesses, management can direct more operational focus towards the Company's two growth segments and further strengthen their efforts to divest the remainder of Visteon Interiors. On an external basis, less moving parts will attract additional investors and analysts who feel more comfortable with assigning a value to three, as opposed to nine, business segments. Less EU Exposure and Tangible Growth Prospects: As part of the YFV-transaction, Visteon will increase its stake in YFVE by $68mm to gain a controlling interest and integrate the previous joint venture into a consolidated business. Consolidation yields two benefits. Because YFVE's global footprint is primarily in Asian markets, Visteon Electronics' sales to the Asian Pacific region will increase from 21% to 37% after the transaction. At the same time, sales to the European region will decrease from 38% to 30%. By increasing its exposure into Asian markets, Visteon lessens the adverse effects (poor consumer demand, currency related issues) created by the slump in the European auto industry. Less exposure to European markets also makes management's expected 12% sales growth rate achievable. Electronics sales decreased 8.5%, or $117mm, from YE '11 to YE '12. This figure is not a representation of the future. A $47mm decline in volume was attributed to economic conditions in Europe, partially offset by higher production volumes in North America and Asia. Product sales decreased $54mm as a result of unfavorable currency related to the Euro and Rupee. By increasing its global footprint in a favorable Asian market, Visteon Electronics can position itself to take advantage of the positive economic tailwinds prevailing in Asia, while creating an effective hedge against mediocre sales in Europe. Given the multiple moving parts Visteon comprises of, each with different prospects and fundamentals, a sum-of-the-parts valuation is the most appropriate method for determining the intrinsic value of the Company. The Company's enterprise value in the status quo is $3.7bn (My calculation provided below). $3.90bn + $0.129bn Short-term debt + $0.67bn Long-term Debt - $0.983bn Cash = $3.7bn EV Value of YFV: Visteon's 50% stake in YFV will be sold to HASCO for $1.1bn net cash. Value of HVCC: HVCC is 70% owned by Visteon and is traded on the Korea Stock Exchange. The shares last traded on 10/21/13 at ₩39,350 South Korea Won, equivalent to about $37.00 USD per share (at the current exchange rate). At 106.76mm shares outstanding, the market capitalization for HVCC is about $3.950bn, making Visteon's stake equivalent to $2.765bn or 75% of Visteon's enterprise value. Value of Visteon Electronics and YFVE: According to a 2009 report published by Deloitte on M&A activity in the automotive sector, OEM suppliers were acquired at 3-4x EBITDA during the Great Recession and 6-7x EBITDA in more robust markets. A 6-7x TTM EBITDA multiple for Visteon Electronics and YFVE is well deserved given three factors: - 12%+ expected revenue growth rate achieved through consolidation and synergy of Visteon Electronics and YFVE. - An automotive market that is weaker in some regions (Europe) of the globe than others (Asia and North America) As a result of the YFVE transaction, Visteon Electronics will lessen its exposure to Europe, while simultaneously increasing its exposure to the Asian Pacific, a region with favorable macro-tailwinds. - The most relevant multiple, 7.5x 2012 EBITDA, implies a 6-7x multiple slightly undervalues the business. 7.5x is the multiple YFVE is valued at. Visteon's stake in YFVE will be valued at approximately $300mm after the YFV-transaction. Divide $300mm by YFVE's 2012 EBITDA of $40mm (adjusted accordingly to account for Visteon's new ownership percent of YFVE post-transaction) and 7.5x is the result. At 6-7x TTM EBITDA, the segment would be valued at $924-1,078mm. Note: My calculation includes Visteon Electronics TTM EBITDA of $114mm (excluding equity in affiliates and NCI) plus YFVE's 2012 Adjusted EBITDA of $40mm. Value of Remaining Visteon Interior: I will assign a multiple of 4.5x EBITDA to Visteon Interiors to properly account for Visteon Interior's lackluster performance and prospects. Assigning a 4.5x EBITDA multiple to Visteon Interior's '12 EBITDA implies the remainder of the segment is valued at $180mm. Value (in millions): Value Per Share Market Cap./Per Share Price Q3 earnings call set for 11/07/13: Most transactions for the YFV deal are expected to close late 2013/early 2014. Given the deal contains multiple transactions, if some transactions closed before the next earnings call, there will be a significant increase in the Company's cash balance. This will lower enterprise value, making the Company appear cheaper. Returning capital to shareholders: The Board of Directors increased the share buyback program to $1bn over the next two years, up from $250mm at the start of the year. Completion of YFV Divestiture: Following its completion in 2014, Visteon will be left with a large cash balance (thus a different EV) and a simpler business, prompting the market to revalue the fundamentals. Catalyst for Long-Term Value Creation: Divesting Remaining Interiors Business: Divesting the entire Visteon Interiors segment remains a priority for management. Upon completion, margins will improve dramatically, as well as revenue growth prospects. - Margins: By divesting its entire Interiors business, Visteon will eliminate a segment with razor thin EBITDA margins. Excluding equity income, Visteon Interiors' 2012 EBITDA margins equaled 2.9%, materially beneath HVCC and Visteon Electronics' EBITDA margins of 10.0% and 8.6%, respectively. After the divestiture, expect EBITDA margins to improve around 130 basis points. - Revenue: Growth HVCC and Visteon Electronics exhibited 19% and 14% revenue growth, respectively in 1st half '13 vs. 1st half '12. Despite the two segments displaying strong YoY revenue growth, the entire company's sales from continuing operations only grew by 10%, dragged down by the 12.6% decrease in Visteon Interior's 1st half '13 sales vs. 1st half '12. This is not a new occurrence. In 2012, Visteon Interiors' revenue from continuing operations declined 18% YoY. Following Visteon Interiors' divestiture, the dynamics of Visteon will once again alter. As the only two segments, HVCC and Visteon Electronics' revenue growth and expectations will no longer be overlooked. Visteon, with only its two core segments, will begin reporting positive YoY revenue and EBITDA growth, causing another price correction to reflect the change in expectations. I recommend investors take a long position in Visteon. Despite the YTD rally, the Company is still undervalued by at least >32% based on the sum-of-the-parts valuation. The Company's 70% stake in HVCC and cash proceeds from the YFV divestiture equate to roughly the Company's current enterprise value. Visteon Electronics and Visteon Interiors are essentially free to the investor going long on the stock at the current market price. An investor will also receive a management team with a solid track record of creating shareholder value and returning capital to shareholders. Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in VC over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

University of Reading, September 23, 2016 Deadline: Jun 15, 2016 Object Lessons and Nature Tables: Research Collaborations Between Historians of Science and University Museums With the 'material turn' in the humanities, historians of science are paying greater and greater attention to collections of all kinds, and to their complex structures and histories. University museum collections in the UK and across Europe form a singular meeting point in humanities discourses for which history of science is highly significant – such as environmental history, histories of colonialism, and information histories. What exactly does this new landscape of university researchers and their science collections look like now? How do we approach the material culture of science? What are the research projects taking place in this arena, and what is its future potential? How do collaborations between curators and historians of science function – especially inside university contexts? What are the examples of innovative research conjoining university collections and historians of science? When do teaching and research in history of science come together in collections contexts? What public histories of science are being co-produced in university- based science museums? These epistemological and practice-based questions will be the focus of this one-day conference co-sponsored by the Centre for Collections Based Research and the Department of History of the University of Reading, and supported by the British Society for the History of Science. This conference hopes to attract historians of science of all fields and career levels, from doctoral students including CDAs through to early career researchers and senior figures, as well as curators, archivists, collections managers and research funders. The conference addresses both methods and findings, and will therefore have both formal papers in panel structures and presentations of actual collections objects. We are soliciting proposals for conference participation in the form of conventional papers (15 – 30 minutes) and also proposals for 'object animations' (20 minutes). Object animations will involve the presentation of actual collection objects, demonstrating just what incisive and relevant work can be done with material culture investigations in the history of science. Proposals will be selected through a peer review process. The 'object animations' participants will be offered flexible support to enable their participation. This will include the option of arriving the night before as a guest of the conference in order to facilitate couriering of objects, as well as the assurance that the conference venue (Special Collections/Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading) is a collection-secure area. We will also provide appropriate AV technologies (object camera with overhead data projection) for demonstrating objects close-up. Proposals of up to 750 words (and images of objects) are solicited in the following suggested areas and beyond: - practices and methods of material culture in history of science - history of science research projects in university collections: practices, processes, experiences and outcomes - university scientific museums as arenas for the public history of science and for history of science impact joint appointments, curatorships and embedded research in history of science and university museum collections - Collaborative Doctoral Awards in history of science and collections - university museums as training grounds for new practices in history of science Please send your proposal by 15/06 to the co-convenors of the Dr Martha Fleming, Programme Director, Centre for Collections-Based Research, University of Reading : firstname.lastname@example.org Dr Rohan Deb Roy, Lecturer in South Asian History, Department of History, University of Reading : email@example.com The conference will be preceded by an optional afternoon on the previous day (22/09) during which collections visits to the University of Reading's Herbarium, Geology Collections, and the Cole Museum of Zoology will be possible. Please note that this conference will take place concurrently with the University Museums Group 2016 Conference at University of Reading, and that there will be opportunities for synergy between the two events. Thanks to the generosity of the British Society for the History of Science, a number of stipends will be available to enable the participation of students.

CryoLife, Inc., a leading medical device and tissue processing company focused on cardiac and vascular surgery, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire On-X Life Technologies Holdings, Inc. ("On-X"), an Austin, Texas-based, privately held mechanical heart valve company. J. Patrick Mackin, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of CryoLife, said, "We believe this will be a transformative acquisition for CryoLife that will significantly enhance the size of our addressable market and growth potential. This transaction will provide CryoLife access to the $220 million mechanical valve market with a highly advanced portfolio of products. On-X valves have been implanted in over 200,000 patients, and On-X has achieved a 13% revenue CAGR over the past four years with modest sales and marketing support. We are very excited about the outlook for continued growth for several reasons. First, the On-X aortic valve is the only mechanical valve to receive FDA labeling requiring an INR (international normalized ratio) level of only 1.5-2.0. This labeling provides the On-X valve with a distinct competitive advantage. Second, with the addition of the On-X sales team to the CryoLife team, our U.S. cardiac surgery sales force will more than double. Third, as the power of On-X's technology and its supporting robust clinical data become more widely known through our expanded sales organization, we believe the acquired portfolio will continue to post double-digit compounded growth from 2016-2020. Finally, we believe we will also see strong synergy between our product portfolios, which will drive cross-selling opportunities across our entire business." Clyde Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer of On-X, commented, "On-X is extremely excited to join forces with CryoLife and we believe CryoLife is well suited to take the On-X business to the next level. We expect this transaction to enhance the growth trajectory of On-X products through the additional resources provided by a larger, global cardiac surgery company." On-X generated revenue of approximately $33 million in 2014, representing compound annual growth of approximately 13% over the preceding four years.

He had nothing to be sorry for, having been nothing but kind (even helping me pick out my first firearm at a gun show in 2005) and a true gentlemen. He passed away late that same year after a terrifyingly painful bout with cancer, but this great man looked me in the eyes before he died and apologized. In what was once his inviting living room, but had now become essentially his final resting place, he looked me in the eyes and, breathing with the help of an oxygen machine, apologized. "I'm sorry for what you have to inherit," was all he said. I never got to say goodbye to this great man, and everyday I lament how things ended with his daughter, yet few words have stuck with me in my life as his did that day. The world of today will change. What we have inherited was not of our doing. Not because we want things to be as they were in the past, but because we understand they should never, ever be the way they are in the present again. The world that he apologized for helping birth and nurture can be summed up in this piece from Bell Curve City. [Imagine A Better St. Louis: Rappers unite to spread message of peace, KMOV.com, 1-7-16]: With 188 homicides, 2015 proved to be a violent year in St. Louis. That's why KMOV launched the End Violence STL campaign. But with the new year we are shifting focus, making St. Louis a better place to live, work and enjoy all of what makes our communities great. It's called Imagine A Better St. Louis, and we are already hearing from some in the community who want to see a change. Rappers from all over St. Louis recently sat down with News 4 This Morning anchor Andre Hepkins, and told him they knew many of the young African-American men killed by violence last year. They also said they know many of the killers. Now they're united by the music they're using to spread this message: "We must stop killing each other." The song is called “Neighborhood.” The hook came from Buddie Love, one half of St. Louis hip-hop crew The Yunginz. The powerful pair grew up together in the same neighborhood near Natural Bridge Avenue and Grand Boulevard. If Buddie Love is the Yin, Leak Jacob is the Yang, and the two think a way out of the grip of gun violence in the city is an alliance with other St. Louis rappers. Most of them come from neighborhoods full of homes that are literally or figuratively broken, or both. They know a lot of people who have been shot to the death and they know the shooters who are still out in the streetsThat's why they're all coming together to stand behind the message of peace, rather than glorifying guns. They came to that realization late last year. In 2015, St. Louis city detectives investigated 188 homicides, 148 of the people who were killed were black men.Now they want to be at the center of a new synergy that brings serenity to the streets of St. Louis.By the end of 2016, how many of these black "rappers" in St. Louis will have not only participated in a murder, but will actively help enforce the "no snitch" code keeping black murderers off the streets? How many of these black "rappers" will be dead by the end of 2016, by the hand of a black person? There is no greater cancer in America than the population responsible for virtually every homicide and nonfatal shooting in St. Louis.

Lung Cancer and Tuberculosis Awareness Lung cancer and tuberculosis are two of the most common diseases around the world. Many people suffer from these diseases and many people die of them. So, it is important for everyone to know the causes and prevention method so that they can stay away from these serious diseases. This article aims at informing the readers about these two diseases and how they can be prevented. Notes: Learn more about Lung Cancer from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Lung cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer. Usually it occurs in older women and men. But this does not mean that it cannot occur to the men and women of other ages. Both white and black women are in a danger of developing this disease. But black men are more prone to this disease than white men. This is one of the most serious forms of cancers. The reason is that the infection spreads very quickly. But people can survive from it. If it is detected at an early stage, people can survive through proper treatment. There are different types of lung cancer. The cause, symptom and treatment will vary according to the type of the cancer. The most common kinds of lung cancer are small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Most of the people suffer from non-small cell lung cancer. Several kinds of non-small cell cancer happen because of smoking. But smoking is responsible for every kind of small cell cancer. Researchers have found out that the most common and the biggest cause of lung cancer is smoking. The smokers are more prone to the lung cancer than the non-smokers. Even the non-smokers who live with smokers may develop this cancer. Another reason behind this form of cancer is exposure to the radon gas. Cracks in drains and pipes; foundations in building; soil etc. emit this gas. So, if you come in contact with this gas regularly, you may develop a lung cancer. The patient may feel pain while laughing or breathing. He may also suffer from pleurisy or pneumonia. The patient coughs up rust-colored phlegm or blood. He usually loses his weight and appetite. He may feel dizzy and exhausted. Often he may feel shortage of breath. He may also suffer from fever or bronchitis. These are the symptoms of a lung cancer patient in his primary stage. The patient who is in an advanced stage may suffer from jaundice. He may feel strong pain in his bones. He may become too weak and feel dizzy. He may develop epidermis because of the spreading of cancer. His neck and face may get swelled. At this stage the patient loses his weight very rapidly. It is really difficult to treat this problem. So, it is better that you try to stay away from this disease by following some steps. Here they go: Firstly, you will have to stop smoking. This is the number one reason behind lung cancer. Secondly, you will have to check your house frequently to ensure that it is free from radon gas. Thirdly, you will have to change your diet plan. You will have to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. You will have to cut off extremely cold food, fat, cholesterol and carbohydrate. You will have to switch to a balanced diet full of vitamins and minerals. Fourthly, you will have to consult with your doctor frequently to know whether you are in a risk of lung cancer or not. If you have risk, you must try to prevent it before it attacks you. Tuberculosis refers to a kind of disorder of the lungs. It is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The germs of this disease get transmitted from one person to another through air. People of all ages have the risk of being attacked with this disease. But mostly the old people are more prone to this disease. One can get cured from this disease if he goes through proper treatment at a primary level. But if the infection develops and moves to the ether parts of the body, the patient may die. There are five kinds of tuberculosis. They are: Latent or Inactive Tuberculosis Pulmonary or Primary Tuberculosis Reactive or Secondary Tuberculosis Mycobacterium causes Tuberculosis. This is usually called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this case, the bacteria are transmitted to a new host from an infected old host. It is usually transmitted through respiratory vapor. When an infected person spits, sneezes or coughs, the bacteria get released into the air. When another person inhales the air carrying these bacteria, he is attacked by tuberculosis. Even one bacterium can cause a serious infection. If the infection of tuberculosis is serious, the patient may suffer from fatigue, fever, weight loss and severe cough. If the infection is not treated properly at a primary level, it may spread into the other parts of the patient’s body. It will cause serious injury to the lymph nodes, brain, bones, kidneys and lungs. When the infection reaches the lungs, it is called Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis. It affects the important systems within our body like lymphatic, gastrointestinal, skeletal, nervous or genitourinary system. At an advanced level, this disease causes cell death. If not treated properly, the patients die because of cell death. Firstly, you will have to consult the doctor immediately if you find the symptoms of TB in your body. You need to go through a thorough medical treatment for getting cured. Secondly, when you are suffering from this disease, you should not go out. It is important both for you and for others that you stay at home. This will help you to get recovered early. At the same time, it will help preventing the spread of the bacteria. Thirdly, you must eat healthy foods that include a lot of vitamins, minerals and proteins. Fourthly, you will have to submit your sputum sample to your doctor to check whether you have fully recovered or not. Lung Cancer – A Worldwide Epidemic The issue of lung cancer is highly spread throughout the world, and lung cancer is actually the most common cause of death provoked by cancer in both men and women. Sad statistics show that more than 1.3 million deaths are occurring each year, due to this disease, so it is easy to imagine why awareness is being constantly raised throughout the world. Despite of the fact that the exact causes of cancer are yet to be determined, and also despite of the fact that many people get ill even if they are not smoking or doing anything to seemingly jeopardize the integrity of their lungs or health in general, there are still certain elements that are causing uncontrolled cells to grow in the lung tissue, and from there to small-cell lung cancer or oat cell cancer or non-small-cell lung cancer, there is only one small step. Nevertheless, just like a drug rehab facility needs to focus on the main causes that are making people use drugs, research institutes need to pay a lot of attention to the reasons why lung cancer patients are developing these harmful cells inside their bodies. Long-term exposure to tobacco smoke seems to be one of the leading causes that are responsible for cancer; worldwide sad statistics with special emphasis on the United States data suggest that up to 15% of all lung cancer patients are in fact non-smokers. In other words, just like HCG drops tend to act in time, slowly, and they tend to help folks lose weight, prolonged and gradual exposure to tobacco smoke can also definitely have some long-terms effects on your lungs and general health. Unfortunately, here, we are not taking about the same results as people going on the Atkins diet, but rather some negative results. Prestigious researchers have also expressed their view on the triggering causes that are making these people get sick, despite of the fact they are not actually smoking. Exposure to radon gas, genetics, asbestos and air pollution seem to be some of the main aspects that are causing lung cancer in these patients. Treatment needs to be addressed immediately after the very first symptoms show up, such as shortness of breath, weight loss, coughing and coughing up blood. The costs of these treatments are of course much more expensive as compared to heat pump prices or some high-quality San Antonio web design services. Patients who are searching for free cell phone for low income are going to require some serious sources of money in order to buy their medicine and follow their treatments. if we come to think of the fact that, in 2007, in the United States there were over 200,000 people diagnosed with lung cancer, it is easy to see why much awareness needs to be addressed to this topic, why measurement urgent measurements need to be taken and why people need to become better informed and protect themselves. Using some massage tables every now and then in order to loosen up, reading some relaxing books on trazer amor de volta or going shopping for some new dog collars and spending more time with a beloved pet are certainly going to help one relax more, get rid of the stress – and this is definitely a highly useful piece of advice we should all follow. Cancer is also known to be related with stress issues, so stop thinking about that drivers insurance exam and start enjoying life again. Lung Cancer in Africa Lung cancer is a real problem in Africa as it is throughout the world, as this is a developing country all medical expenses are paid for by the patient, in many cases these patients cannot afford the medication and treatments required. It has been determined that the majority of patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer in Africa are a result of smoking. Other causes include asbestos poisoning, indoor pollution, residential exposures and dusty working environments. Like a contemporary wedding photographer York, patients need to take care to ensure that they receive the right treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. A wedding photographer needs to take care that the photographs he takes on the special day are the best; patients need to ensure the treatment they receive is the best. Lung cancer isn’t as common in developing countries as it is in developed countries, but WHO estimates a 50% increase in lung cancer patients in the next twenty years. There were 12.7 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2010 of which 63% of that was in developing countries, such as Africa. 90% of lung cancer cases in Africa are caused by smoking, but HIV/AIDS is considered to cause lung cancer, and HIV and AIDS are very rife in the African country. It’s like auction sites when it comes to public health intervention in Africa, its luck of the draw on whether you win or not. Public health officials struggle with educating village areas on a daily basis on how to live, improving lifestyles and teaching about HIV / AIDS and smoking. The public health intervention campaigns and stop smoking campaigns have reduced the rate of lung cancer in many African areas, but work environments and residential environments still have a large part to play. If looking for jobs near you, you want to ensure that these workplaces offer hygienic and safe working environments, in many cases the African continent don’t have these advantages, they work in dusty environments which can be a cause for lung cancer. Helen Pastorino is the founder of a revolutionary real estate company and she surrounds herself with remarkable people on a daily basis, this improves her knowledge and understanding of her client’s needs. Hospital and health workers in Africa need to take some guidance from someone like this to improve the quality of life of patients in the nearby areas. The facts about lung cancer in Africa: The majority of cases are aged between 50 and 69 years old with 67% of those being men. Much like putting remodeling estimates together and taking into account your customers’ requirements, African people need to be educated on the dangers and treatments of lung cancer so they can change their lifestyles. There were 4,525 lung cancer deaths in Africa in 2006. When you look at cars for sale you take every little bit of information into account, people in Africa need to start doing the same to reduce the amount of deaths caused by lung cancer. Ensuring they work from serviced offices can reduce the risks of working in dusty working environments. Getting the best web hosting available will improve your website traffic and up time, finding ways to improve quality of life and enabling everyone to have access to necessary medications can prevent lung cancer deaths. Yoga mats offer a cushion when doing exercise, offering these lung cancer patients in Africa a cushion they can rely on will make all the difference and reduce the estimated 50% increase in lung cancer patients in the next 20 years. A pull up bar is a great way to train. Finding ways to train the minds of remote villages in Africa to reduce their exposure to indoor pollutants, asbestos and filthy working environments can reduce the risk of lung cancer. Symptoms of Lung Cancer Cancer is one of those diseases that is pretty hard to spot and requires considerable observation from trained eyes before the slightest symptoms can even be detected. It can be like the tedious process of hatching eggs: one minute, it’s not there; the next minute, it’s already staring you in the face. Such unpredictability requires dedication and commitment to finding out if indeed symptoms of lung cancer are already popping out left and right so something can be done about it in the earliest possible time. But what are the symptoms of lung cancer in the first place? How can someone without training spot the early signs of cancer even before it progresses to a serious stage? In the succeeding paragraphs, we’ll talk about the symptoms of lung cancer and what should be done whenever these symptoms start manifesting. The first and perhaps most important consideration is to spot risk factors that can increase a person’s susceptibility to cancer. Smokers, both current and former, are obvious candidates but there are others. For example, those who are in the rug cleaning business might inhale rug fibers that over time can lead to cancer. The same can be said of those in the industry of air conditioning repair Houston or any other location for that matter. Truck drivers who drive with the window down inhale all sorts of car emissions that can lead to cancer. The truth is that it is hard to isolate potential risk factors but everything can be a potential precursor especially if a person has genetic propensities that increase the risks for cancer. When you come across these risk factors, you know you would have to be more vigilant just like when you buy cheap laptops and you are half-expecting a breakdown every time. So what are the symptoms you should be on the look out for? Persistent coughing that lasts for days or weeks or are recurring to the extent that you think a person has a perpetual cough. Especially when coughing is accompanied by blood, alarm bells should be ringing left and right. You don’t need a criminal justice online degree to know that blood is the sign of something bad. Chest pains might also be indicative of cancer. Sadly, it can also be a symptom of many other illnesses. Chest pain happening once or twice and occurring over few and far between might be okay; if it happens too frequently at shortening intervals, you might have to be more vigilant. Just like a York property management agency knows that something might be up when properties begin defaulting one after another, you should also know that consecutive chest pains indicate something serious. Shortness of breath. Whenever a person is not doing anything stressful but continually experiences shortness of breath, that can be a sign that the lung is having difficulty in delivering oxygen to the rest of the body. While that doesn’t automatically mean lung cancer, it nonetheless points to a potential serious and fatal condition that demands immediate attention. To put it bluntly, symptoms like shortness of breath are not like wrinkles that disappear with an application of anti wrinkle cream. You have to be more proactive in responding to these types and symptoms just like you would with melaleuca. Given the general unpredictability of cancer, not to mention its severity and the speed at which it can spread, spare no effort in scheduling an appointment with the doctor whenever you see one or two of these symptoms in combination. Don’t be like most sports teams who would only admit a coach hire is wrong when the team has endured an irreversible tailspin. Likewise, you wouldn’t need all the fancy posts from the most exotic for you to know that something should be done. Trust your gut and be vigilant of the symptoms. You might not be able to prevent cancer but catching it at the earliest possible moment would give you a headstart and deciding on the right course of action for treatment. Signs and Symptoms of Lung Cancer Lung cancer just like any other type of cancer is caused by abnormal growth of cells to form a tumor, normally the body only manufactures cell when they are needed but when this process is interfered then a lot of cells are made at a single time to form tumors. Lung cancer can cause body malfunction just as Hyundai used cars because the lung is a vital organ just like any other organ of the body. Lung cancer is a very common disease, like the business management degrees, it is very common to the elderly than young people. The main challenge that faces doctors all over the world is the diagnosis of this disease. It is caused mainly by smoking and exposure to Asbestos like people who work in umbrella company a higher exposure to this infection. Patients suffering from it always need medical aid of the highest order. It is as easy as earning aacsb accredited online mba to prevent lung cancer, surveys have shown reduced rate of infection worldwide due to community education on the negative health benefits of smoking. It is not easy to recognize the early signs and symptoms of lung cancer but as the disease grows it becomes easy to tell that someone is suffering from the disease. The most common early signs include; difficulties in breathing, wheezing, coughs with blood and chest pains. It can also cause speaking difficulties through paralyzing the vocal codes, and difficulties in swallowing. Like having home security systems, patients are advised to be ready always and to seek medical aid when the disease hits. If the Lung cancer is not diagnosed early it grows complex like executive mba, it may affect the brain leading to poor vision, seizures, and lack of sensation on some parts of the body. It can also lead to severe stroke and total body weakness where the patient is not even able to move any part of the body. Unlike depuy hip recall the disease can cause permanent harm to the patient’s body and hence doctors recommend regular chest checkups to prevent situations like this. One of the systems include unexplained loss of weight, patients suffering from this disease have been shown to lose figure weight over short period of time. Treatment involves surgical removal of the infected lungs, just like replacing spoiled Samsung mobile batteries with a new one. Chemotherapy, targeted therapy and radiation may also be used to bring little relief to the patient. Doctors always recommend protection than cure because there is no defined medicine to cure cancer. People should stop living poor lifestyle that exposes them more to cancer infection like smoking. Quality car batteries UK make car function and likewise without health lungs you won’t live a good life. Stay safe! Recovery Process from Lung Cancer According to a sad 2010 statistic created by the National Cancer Institute, there were more than 222,000 Americans who diagnosed with lung cancer during that respective year, and the numbers are not looking good in the present either. At a global level, the issue is even more alarming, as millions of people are struggling with this disease. In the United States of America alone this disease is responsible for almost 30% of all deaths provoked by cancer, and the figures are higher as compared to the ones that might come from colon, breast and prostate cancer altogether. If you are having a hard time coping with this information, some RN to BSN online programs or some nurse practitioner programs online might pose some interest to you, aiding sufferers cope with their disease or helping them cope with the recovery treatment after surgery might be something on your liking. If you live in Encinitas, California, and you are planning on becoming a therapist Encinitas based and aid lung cancer patients handle their after-surgery activities, you are going to have to specialize in this particular field. You are going to have to know exactly which are going to be the inner changes that are going to occur inside these people’s bodies and know what the best mediums to handle these changes are. Just like learning how to change some Christmas mini lights or San Marcos flooring might pose some difficulties to you, the same might happen provided you are not going to hold all the right cards on the table. We are speaking in terms of lung cancer recovery treatments, with special emphasis on diets and regular checkups. Some of the most important steps that the lung cancer recovery process is going to imply are going to have to refer to permanent checkups that are going to have to ring the bell on any type of health changes that might occur in a patient. Recurrences of lung cancers or the development of new lung cancers are going to have to be immediately observes, so that the necessary treatment can be put into practice soon. Patients who need to go through recovery also need to know how to successfully discern among different types of foods, just like freshmen need to be capable of choosing between 3 different specialties, such as getting their communication degree, their Master in Public Administration or opting for their online MBA program instead. The best foods they could be choosing could be compared to a student opting for some top engineering schools; protein needs to become these folks’ main concern, as protein deficits are known to delay the healing process considerably; egg whites ad fish or skinless poultry can prove to be some excellent choices. Healthy fats are also recommended, and nut and peanut butter are going to be some great choices. Whole grains such as brown rice pr whole-wheat pasta are going to do a remarkable job at eliminating the toxins inside the body, improving breathing processes and easing chest pains. Think of these foods as some useful wetsuits for your lungs. Three Ways to Prevent Lung Cancer Today, lung cancer continues to headline the list of leading causes of death in many countries across the world. Fueled by the growth of lung cancer precursors like smoking and air pollution, it is not hard to picture out why more and more people are succumbing to the deadline grips of lung cancer. Of course, like most diseases, there are steps that can be done to prevent lung cancer. For this, you do not need expert degrees in all sorts of high education programs. Most are apparent and obvious enough that even without the benefit of the best online MBA programs or MBA finance online degrees, one would be able to tell that this can help lower one’s risks for lung cancer. Here are some of the easiest things you can adopt to lower your risks or ultimately prevent the onset of lung cancer. 1. Stop smoking cigarettes. If you are not a smoker, do not hang around your friends while they are smoking. According to study vouched for by many health experts including but not limited to those in MPH programs, and HCG drops experts, cigarette smoke leads the list of the most potent carcinogens that affect the lungs. Estimates say that about 87% of lung cancer deaths are primarily due to exposure to cigarette smoke. Consequently, doctors argue that there is no such thing as “being too late to quit smoking.” When given the chance, the body automatically heals itself to try and reverse the damage caused by the carcinogens in cigarette smoke. So try to stay away from the temptation to puff a cigarette whether out of habit or driven by stress. Many professionals from all fields including Masters in Accounting or makers or dreamweaver templates say that work-related reasons push them to take up cigarette smoking. By cutting this impulse in the bud, you stand a better chance of extricating yourself from the risk of lung cancer. 2. Be wary of the effects of outdoor air pollution. There are some cases where people with supposedly healthy lungs – runners for example who train in the city – find themselves afflicted with lung cancer. This is because outdoor air pollution can also carry carcinogens like organic chemicals or particulate matter. If you are working in a truly polluted city, take the time to wear a mask or close the window of your car on your drive to work to avoid inhaling polluted air. For this, you do not need an online information technology degree to point you in the right direction. 3. Watch out for the effects of indoor air pollution as well. If you think you will be safe from lung cancer if you stay inside a building, think again. Poorly ventilated indoor spaces can be more polluted than the outdoors. People who work round the clock with little breaks in between such as those who do ERP software programming or leeds work are susceptible to this kind of risk. Check with your office building manager if you have a program in place to track the level of indoor air pollutants in your workspace. The pervasiveness of the potential causes for lung cancer does not respect any profession or location. Even those who work with logbook loans online can be afflicted with lung cancer if the proper steps are not done to prevent its causes. Keep yourself informed of the circumstances surrounding your work environment, your commute, or the habits of people you regularly hang out with so you can take the necessary steps to prevent lung cancer. Signs amp; Symptoms of Lung Cancer Lung cancer is the type of cancer that has caused the most deaths in cancer related illnesses. In the United States alone, lung cancer causes death more than breast and prostate cancer combined. Discovering cancer in its earlier stage increases the chances of survival for those with lung cancer. On a basis of a 5-year survival rate, 60-80% of those who discovered cancer in their earlier stages survive as opposed to 10% of those who discovered they had cancer in the latter stage, particularly stage 4. In is in this regard that it is unfortunate that most people diagnosed with cancer are already in the latter stage of the disease. Otherwise stated, more than 50% of people diagnosed with cancer are already in their latter or advanced stage. For information regarding the effects of lung cancer, you can visit source at http://www.life123.com/health/cancer/lung-cancer/effects-of-lung-cancer.shtml. You can learn more about the effects of lung cancer by visiting this site. So what are the symptoms of lung cancer that you should be aware of? When you are coughing and it doesn’t stop, or if it persists for a few weeks then you should be on the guard. Many people simply attribute chronic coughing to something else and thus brush away the idea that it could be a symptom of something very serious. Many people attribute it to their allergies or as something caused by a cold weather. This is especially true with regard to people having a condition that predisposes them to cough. In such cases, coughing would just end up being attributed to such condition. For example, a person with asthma would more likely than not, attribute coughing to his condition (asthma). One of the most common symptoms of lung cancer is coughing up blood. While it sounds dreadful, it is actually very subtle. You may only notice a small tinge of blood in phlegm. This leads to people not noticing it. Thus, when you suffer from chronic cough, try to ask a second opinion from your physician. Shortness of Breath Clearly one of the most overlooked symptoms in lung cancer. If you notice that you are suffering from shortness of breath every time you get involved in an activity, try to consult your physician. This is the most overlooked symptom since it can be easily attributed to old age, lack of exercise, or the fact that you have just gained weight. If you find yourself being short of breath every time you get involved in an activity, do not hesitate to call your physician. It might be a symptom of something more serious. If you are suffering from any of these symptoms, do not hesitate to call on cancer awareness programs. They have toll free numbers that are available in the internet. Can top wrinkle creams cause lung cancer? Yes. Products that use mineral powder can cause lung cancer. The small nano particles that are present in products using mineral powder can penetrate and scar the lungs. For more information regarding products that use mineral powder, you can visit source at. I’ve heard that pizza can help reduce the risk of acquiring cancer, is it true? Yes it is. But the important element that reduces the risk of cancer is not with the pizza dough but rather the toppings of the pizza. For more information regarding how pizza can reduce the risk of cancer, you can visit http://www.wyomingscholars.com/eating-pizza-can-prevent-cancer.html. The Three Easiest Ways to Reduce Risk of Lung Cancer Lung cancers are among one of the leading causes of death around the world today. The most common of all cancers is skin cancer and this is closely followed by lung cancer. There are ways to reduce your risk; here are three of the easiest ways to reduce your risk of getting this horrific disease. While this is probably the most obvious of the ways to reduce lung cancer, it is one of the hardest to give up. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, giving up now will increase your chance of reducing your exposure. Luckily these days there are a range of extra resources to help you quit, from plasters filled with nicotine to gums and medication. Your doctor will be able to advise you on the advantages of each of the cessation treatments, along with their pros and cons, enabling you to determine which is the best course of action for you. You can also read about them online, do a search the same as you would for gynexin or jaksta, read the information and make your choice from there. A Healthy Balanced Diet Eating a healthy balanced diet rich in minerals and vitamins will ensure you have a good immune system. Eating your fruit and vegetables daily and reducing the amount of red meat, processed meat and salt you include in your diet can dramatically reduce the risk of cancer. A healthy diet is easy to incorporate into your daily lifestyle. There are also foods known as anti-cancer foods such as pomegranates, which you can include into your diet to reduce your risk even further. Adding additional minerals and vitamins to your diet through a good multi-vitamin can ensure your body is getting the nutrients it needs when you don’t get around to eating the fruit and veggies you are meant to be consuming. You can kratom capsules here or buy multi-vitamins at any pharmacy. Maintain Your Weight It has been proven that people who are considered overweight or obese are more likely to contract cancer than those who have a good balanced weight. The reason is that an overweight body produces more hormones, which lowers your immune system dramatically. Regular moderate exercise five times a week can help you maintain your weight and some cardiovascular exercise can help you keep your lungs healthy. You can discover more online if you visit service offering information on exercising for cancer. Through regular exercise you are working your lungs, keeping them fit. It doesn’t have to be heavy exercise, a brisk half hour walk each day, a gentle cycle through the countryside or a swim in a local pool are all considered excellent forms of exercise. If you are concerned about your cancer risk, maybe you have someone in your family who has or has had lung cancer, then read more here. Start a healthy diet plan, do regular exercise, maintain your weight and stop smoking now to reduce your risk. International Lung Cancer Prevention Measures Lung cancer is the leading cause of deaths caused by cancer at a global level. Unfortunately, just 15% of all cases of lung cancer are usually detected at an early stage. Lung cancer spreads at a fast pace, and early detection is considered to be the number one strategy to fight against it on the long term. A global synergy and combined efforts have led to numerous international conferences debating the efficient prevention of lung cancer. The recent regulations that forbid public smoking in a lot of European countries and the obligation of restaurants and pubs to create special smoking and non-smoking areas are some of the best strategies that have been implemented. Further international measurements that involve the reducing of radiation and air pollution are also critical at this point. Humankind still has to come a long way until it can completely write off debt towards the young generation who s forced to live in a severely polluted environment that causes deadly illnesses. These global anti-lung cancer measurements need to be regarded as small business loan types such as pikavippivertailu that can help all of us breathe some cleaner air and improve the statistics. Smoking tobacco poses the greatest lung cancer risk that can be avoided at a global scale. It causes no less than 22 percent of all cancer deaths that are being recorded on a yearly basis. About 70 percent of all cancer lung cases are currently directly related to smoking. Second-hand smoking has been also proved to cause cancer in nonsmoking adults. Even chewing tobacco can cause oral, pancreatic or esophageal cancers. All nations need to play their cards right and create nationwide awareness when it comes to the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoking. Schools should be the primary targets, as smoking at an early age has become a disturbing phenomenon that needs to be nipped in the bud. Proper dieting is yet another approach that should be closely examined by all nations. Dietary alternations represent a crucial approach to cancer control, as a clear link between being overweight and obese and breast, colorectal, kidney or esophagus cancer has been found. Fruit and vegetables need to become a mandatory part of each meal. International awareness needs to continue to be raised concerning the importance of healthy dieting; also, moving to some Affiti serviced apartments located someplace near a park or several gyms should interest more and more people, as exercising is yet another essential lung cancer prevention that needs to be considered. International policies should and are being implemented as we speak, in order to raise awareness and fight against exposure to the risk factors of cancer. So everyone should pull their furry animals out of their dog beds andgo out for a jog as often as they can, eat healthy, stop smoking and avoid smoking areas and try to move to less polluted areas. What Is Asthma? Asthma is a long-term respiratory disease that affects the lungs by inflaming and narrowing one’s airways. Asthma is known to be responsible for recurring wheezing periods, and it can also trigger shortness of breath, coughing, and tightness of the chest. If you would like to know what each of these symptoms means, you should visit website sections of a medical source and get all the information you need. Asthma is known to affect people of all ages, but it is often times triggered during childhood. In order to properly understand this health condition, it is important to get a clear view of the way airways work. First of all, high school education youngsters should already know that the airways are the tubes that are responsible for carrying the air in and out of the lungs. The inflammation of these airways is the main symptom that an asthma sufferer is going to report. This triggers the swelling and sensibilisation of the airways, especially when certain substances are inhaled. Car accident lawyers or zoekmachine optimalisatie specialists who are affected by asthma might hence be having a harder time coping with their disease, while at work, surrounded by certain triggering substances such as dust or strong perfumes. The main reaction related to asthma and the inhalation of a certain substance is the tightening of the muscles around the airways. This way, less air gets to the lung, and the worsening of the swelling is able to narrow the airways even more, leading to some more severe asthma episodes. Also, the cells that are to be found inside the airways could be producing extra mucus than they normally do. The presence of more mucus into the airways can result in extra narrowing of the airways. In other words, every time the airways start to inflame, more disturbing symptoms can occur. At times, these symptoms can be mild. Nevertheless, they can also cause a great deal of distress and problems to sufferers. Using minimal forms of treatment, the milder symptoms can be controlled, and they can go away on their won. The intensification of asthma symptoms are popularly known as asthma attacks. They are also referred to as flare-ups and the most important thing to do when they occur is to start treating all symptoms. This way, future symptoms are going to be prevented and the worsening of these seizures can also be kept under control. Emergency care might, at time, be required, in case of severe asthma attacks, which can be lethal. In case you are having some problems with your bulging discs and you have also started to notice shortness of breathing and other asthma-related symptoms, it is recommended that you see a doctor and have him check you up. Don’t continue to read online movie reviews if you feel your breathing is affected or you have started to develop wheezing. Lung Cancer; Causes and Symptoms Lung cancer is a form of cancer which, as suggested by its name, targets the individual’s lungs. The worst thing about this form of cancer is that it can easily spread to surrounding organs such as the liver. Lung cancer is perhaps one of the most common form of cancer that is diagnosed. The causes, symptoms and treatments range in number. The best way to fight it is to obviously start fighting at a very early stage. This post will focus on the causes and symptoms of this killer disease. It is sad that young adults these days are worried about such trivial things in life that we tend to forget the value of health. In a survey, it was suggested that when young adults ask their friends about tips on how to get your ex back, a very common suggestion given to the individual is to start smoking. When these individuals are told about the harms of smoking, they simply state that they smoke electronic cigarettes which are ‘not harmful at all’. With all the electronic cigarette reviews circulating these days, it is not hard to understand why people have fallen for this untrue fact that these cigarettes are safe. Smoking, of any kind, is one of the major causes of lung cancer. The truth is, these cigarettes are almost as risky as ppi claims; the chance that something will go wrong is tremendously high. Passive smoking, or being in the company of smokers, is yet another way via which lung cancer takes its toll. You see, it is actually more harmful to be in the company of smokers even if you don’t smoke yourself. Even your average dentist Glasgow will be able to tell you how harmful it is to be in the company of smokers. It is very important to avoid such circumstances and it is even more important to look out for any abnormal signs that there may be. People have actually spent their entire savings after which they have taken several US Fast Cash loans simply to be able to fund their treatments. They more it is delayed, the more lengthy and expensive the treatment gets. Prolonged coughing, spitting out blood with cough are some very basic symptoms. Spots also start appearing on the lungs which are easily visible in a number of scans these days. Most importantly, constant support is needed for those who are affected. It may not be a good idea for you to send flowers via the flower delivery service of florists Victoria bc as lung cancer patients may be allergic to flowers and pollen, however extending support in any other way is an extremely nice thing to do. If you happen to be around someone who is affected, do not act as if the person has something contagious; they don’t. Instead, make sure that you extend your support in any way possible. Finally, create as much awareness about lung cancer as possible. If a friend smokes, make them quit. If they don’t, leave their company. It may be hard to do so at that time, but believe me, it cannot be harder than dealing with lung cancer. What are the precautions to prevent Lung Cancer? Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, responsible for 1.38 million deaths annually as of 2008. Anybody can get cancer. You may even find dentists with lung cancer. Also known as carcinoma of the lung, lung cancer is a malignant tumor found in the lungs. Distinguished by uncontrolled growth of cells in the lung tissues, the growth can spread to nearby parts of the body, through the process of metastasis, if left untreated. Medical and scientific research has discovered ways and precautions for people to be prevented from getting inflicted by lung cancer. Probably the most important and most effective prevention from getting lung cancer is for people to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating and drinking the right types of food as well as observing regular exercise with sufficient rest to allow the body to recuperate after enduring all kinds of stresses from work. Food rich in beta carotene, such as carrots, are known to prevent cancer. It’s been a medical fact that smoking is one cause of lung cancer. If you’re not a smoker, then don’t start smoking. A typical cigarette may look harmless, but when it’s lighted, it discharges about 4,000 harmful chemicals. Over 70 of those chemicals can cause lung cancer. The nicotine component of the cigarette makes smoking very addictive and hard to quit. You gradually increase the number of sticks you smoke daily and before you knew it, you’re hooked into it and you expose yourself to risks of getting lung cancer. Second-hand smoke can also cause lung cancer, so always avoid smoking areas if you’re a non-smoker. If you’re already a chain smoker, then the right time to quit smoking is now. Like any addiction, smoking is a hard habit to break. It’s best to ask for help from your family or non-government organizations whose sole purpose for existence is to help people effectively quit smoking. Before you light another cigarette, remember that lung cancer is a very expensive disease to cure, not to mention that a person with this disease will cause so much inconvenience to lots of people. It is possible that your work environment may contain chemicals that can cause lung cancers. Do some research and determine if your work place has cancer-causing agents, such as asbestos, radon, arsenic, chromium, nickel, tar, and soot. Some of these chemicals can be found in mines and chemical plants. If you do find some of these in your work, then maybe it’s about time to find another safer job. If it’s not worth leaving your job, be sure to wear sufficient safety or protective wear. Although not yet standard therapy, chemoprevention is another way of suppressing or preventing lung cancer by taking specific natural or manufactured drugs. Screening is also recommended to diagnose any symptoms of lung cancer in its early stages. To learn more about lung cancer, visit your favorite doctor to get more information. Remember, knowledge is power and it can save your life.

NBC's "Heroes" has taken its share of lumps since its heralded first season with fans vocal about their unhappiness with storylines, a ratings decline and the WGA strike. As the series prepares to launch the latest cycle of episodes, entitled "Fugitives," Masi Oka, who plays Hiro Nakamura, talked about the new episodes, the return of Bryan Fuller and why fame is something he'll never get used to. Oka had no qualms in talking about the ups and downs the sci-fi series has taken since its debut in 2006 and what the plan is with the new crop of episodes. "We're going to go back to the fundamentals of what made the show really great and what kept it grounded, which is going back to central character and trying to tell smaller stories but with big action. More character-based and more centralized on specific characters as we see them finally come together towards the end in trying to save themselves." Speaking of creator Tim Kring's plans for the coming new episodes, Oka shared that he does feel there is some patience involved with the way the show's stories are told. "Tim always has a great map to where we go but at the same time there's a collaboration that happens that allows us to go from interesting places and allows us to discover and we hope that the audience and the fans will go on that discovery and journey with us and knowing that there'll be a good payoff. I think with all our volumes, in particular, we sometimes have slow starts but we always pick it up into high gear towards the end. I think because a show like this takes such risks and makes bold choices it takes a little bit of time for the audience and the critics to get accustomed to this kind of new journey that we're going to take and once everyone is on board we hit the ground running." In the "Fugitives" volume, fan favorite Hiro has to adjust to life without his ability to travel through time. "I find that actually interesting to play, a powerless character," Oka said, "because you kind of get the joy of rediscovering that power and what it means to be a hero without powers. How does someone who had that power and someone who's powerless... it's an interesting character/mind thing. You kind of fall from grace in many ways [and ]it's a balance of adjusting to that and how to live that and how you live your life and how you can still be a hero by helping others." The dynamic between Hiro and his faithful sidekick Ando (James Kyson Lee) is also turned upside down when it's Ando who has the powers and Hiro is a normal human. "In the beginning, Hiro is powerless and Ando has a kind of super-charger powers so Hiro is trying to nudge him on. In many ways, he realizes now he's had his turn so he needs to see what he can do... [Hiro] takes on pretty much the role of the butler. He becomes Alfred (laughs)... he tries to make a Batman out of Ando but Ando's reluctant and he only cares about girls right now so Hiro tries to make him use the power for good to save other people and, of course, Hiro ends up getting in trouble and Ando ends up helping him." There's been much action behind the scenes at "Heroes," as well, with the ousting this past November of longtime Executive Producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb. Asked if he (and the other actors) were aware of what was going on at the time, Oka admitted, "We weren't aware at all. We had no idea. In many ways what happens in the writers room stays in the writers room. For us, we have a lot of respect for that process and it's not our place to say anything. So it was actually really a shock for us to find out that was happening." Despite the feelings of regret for Alexander and Loeb's leaving, Oka is thrilled that Bryan Fuller has returned to "Heroes," where he worked during the show's first season before venturing off to create the recently cancelled "Pushing Daisies." There are definite advantages to having Fuller back on the show, Oka explained. "[Bryan] knows what the topics were and he knows what made it great and having stepped out of it for a season and a half he had a different view on how the show was, how the show became... having him come back he was so excited and said 'Lets go back to this.' He came back the day after he found out 'Pushing Daisies wasn't coming back and he was so gung ho about this show and came back with all these ideas, so excited... Bryan coming in I think gave an uplifting momentum and energy and a big morale boost to everybody... there's a great synergy in the room right now." In bringing some real human tragedy to the show, Hiro's mother recently appeared on the show and later had to deal with her death. Oka talked about how filming those scenes were difficult because of some ironic parallels in his own life. "It was quite difficult because at that time it kind of overlapped with my own mother who has been battling breast cancer. It kind of was difficult to kind of separate that at times but, at the same time, I hate to use the word easy but because I was living it in many ways that I kind of just transferred it." Oka later said in the conversation that his mother was on her last round of chemotherapy and was doing great. An acting challenge of a different kind came during the "Villains" chapter when Oka had to play his character in both the present and as a ten-year old. "Hiro himself is kind of a man-child," Oka explained. "It was a challenge to play a ten-year old so that it doesn't seem like it's forced but at the same time enough of a distinction between the present Hiro and the ten-year old Hiro. It was definitely fun because on-set it was definitely no holds barred because I got to play a kid. I kind of channeled Tom Hanks in 'Big' or Robin Williams and just go all out and it actually freed me up to improvise a lot physically and it was definitely a lot of fun." While nothing could prepare Oka and his fellow cast members for the level of popularity when "Heroes" first premiered, is it just a normal thing in his life now? "I don't think you can ever get used to it," he said. "It's always daunting. It's very overwhelming because even halfway around the world someone in Singapore is watching our show and they are big fans. That's actually one the great things about our show. We've been able to connect with so many people that I wouldn't have been able to connect to... and I don't think you can ever get used to it." The first chapter of the "Fugitives" volume, which was written by Kring and directed by Emmy-winning Greg Yaitanes, airs Monday night at 9:00/8:00c on NBC.

The CAG actively seeks to build partnerships through corporate support. These relationships are a vital form of fundraising for us and mean that you are helping to secure the future of our institution, unique to Vancouver and the province. In joining the CAG you will become part of a community of leading Vancouver and Canadian companies and organizations who support the gallery’s mission of presenting excellence in contemporary visual art and creating engagement opportunities for people of all ages through innovative experiential learning and education programs. The gallery has been a catalyst for the careers of many now well-known Canadian artists who have helped shape the Vancouver and international art scene. Such advocacy is key to our operation and this work never stops; the CAG consistently challenges our understanding of what contemporary visual art is while supporting audiences in their engagement with its presentation. Such a stimulating environment is fundamental to the city and province, and can have far-reaching effect. There are a number of different ways in which the corporate sector can get involved and support the future of the CAG, including: Demonstrate your company’s support for the arts and a vibrant cultural life through bespoke packages for corporate clients that include discounted venue hire, brand exposure and access to a young creative network. Increase your company’s profile, generosity and visibility by becoming a sponsor. We can work with you to find synergy around various elements of our programs, highlighting stakeholder hospitality and brand awareness opportunities. The CAG has spaces suitable for both private and corporate events. Please see the appropriate detail of our facility here. We can tailor benefits packages to meet your business interests and needs including branding opportunities and client or employee entertaining. To find out how we can create a package to meet your company’s needs please contact +1 604 681 2700 or by email at email@example.com. The CAG is the longest standing independent public art gallery dedicated to presenting contemporary visual art in Vancouver. We deliver between ten and twenty exciting exhibitions and off-site projects each year, provide an extensive range of learning and public programs for adults, families and children, offer a series of residencies for Canadian and international artists directly contributing to the local scene, and publish insightful catalogues that create a lasting legacy of exhibited work.MORE

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Q. What did you learn from guys like George Karl, Larry Brown, even Coach Calhoun, about trying to get guys to buy into a certain way of going about their business? COACH OLLIE: Just every day having the consistency. We look at it as you can be a pro or you can be a professional. A pro just does it in convenient times. A professional does it in inconvenient times and convenient times. You do it over and over again, and it becomes habit. That’s what I try to put on my team each and every day, to get better at something. If we can do that, we’ll get better and we’ll win games and we’ll win together. I learned that from George Karl. I learned that from Larry Brown, of course Larry Brown, because he’s a perfectionist. He wants you to do certain things the right way, and especially the things you can control, which is your attitude and the way you show up each and every day. I learned that from him because without him I wouldn’t be here. Just the toughness that you got to show each and every day. Hopefully it feeds over into my coaching staff. Q. Each coach coming into this Final Four is a unique story. I’m curious about for you, the expectations that you have dealt with in following a legend and how that compares with the expectation that is John Calipari’s had with this talented historic recruiting class. COACH OLLIE: Yeah, I can’t speak for John. I can speak for myself. Having this ability to coach this program has been great. I don’t look at it like a lot of people look at it, that I’m replacing Coach Calhoun. Coach Calhoun is still beside me. He’s in front of me. He’s behind me. I’ve locked arms with coach because what he’s put inside of me and his belief system in me is something I’m going to always have great gratitude about. Of course this is my program now, and I have to do certain things that’s according to my core values, of course. But just going forward, just marching and believing in the program. I think that’s what gets us through. But Coach Calhoun has done a great job. My story and filling his shoes, I can never fill Coach Calhoun’s shoes. I can never build a program to a perineal Top‑10 program each and every year. This program has already been built. But I want us to sustain it. I want to get it to another level. That another level is not about winning championships, it’s about creating great young men so they can go out there in their community after they leave the Storrs campus and be ambassadors of their family, of their name and also this great university. So that’s what I believe in. It’s a special feeling being up here and being in the Final Four. But like I said, I’m not chasing championships. I want championships to chase me. I want to do it the right way, and that’s providing my student‑athletes with a great platform for them to succeed each and every day. Q. Could you talk about the relationship that you have now with Coach Calhoun and what he might have done, talked to you about going to your first Final Four, what you can expect and getting yourself prepared for this stage. COACH OLLIE: I had a great opportunity to see him work in 2011, which was not that far away. It was a couple years ago. So, of course, it’s a different venue. It’s a different stage. I’m in that head coaching seat. But I seen him and I worked closely with him. I see the ups and downs. I see how he deals with problems that arises and I learned a lot from him. In 2011, how he dealt with the team, how he kept it simple, and that’s the main thing. You want to make it simple as possible for our guys to understand the game plan, execute it, and go out there and play unselfish basketball. I seen him do that to a T in 2011. A lot of people wasn’t expecting us to make that great run and win 11 in a row. A lot of people not expecting us to be here and we are here. A lot of people picked against us, and we’re still here. That’s the great thing about this program, because it’s not about one person, not about Ray Allen, Donyell. It’s about a collective group of guys that made this program successful. If we keep believing in that, UConn will live longer than any player, because that’s a tradition that we have built over the years. It’s about our program. Q. I asked you this yesterday about DeAndre. Why is it that he has stepped up and played so well in the NCAA tournament and what is his ceiling going forward? COACH OLLIE: I have no roofs on my players, so we don’t even look at limitations. I think he’s going to be a great outstanding basketball player. He’s learning how to be more consistent and that’s not only in the basketball. That’s eating right, sleeping right. It’s a lot of other things that a lot of people don’t see. What changed his game, we made it simple for him. It’s about touches. A touch is a defensive rebound, an offensive rebound, doesn’t have nothing to do with points. It’s a deflection. It’s a block. When he’s playing with effort and energy, he scores. You can go look through all our box scores, when he averages over eight rebounds, he averages 19 points. So we want him to get rebounds. We want him to be active. Then his talent just takes over. He’s 6’9″ and can shoot the three. I can put him on the post. I can manipulate the defense with him. But if he don’t play with that activity, it kind of limits him a little bit. We want him to play with that activity and have that attitude that I’m the best player on the court. I think he’s starting to get that mindset and that moxie that I am the best player on the court every time I step out there. Q. In your two years as the head coach, how much has it helped to have such a connection to UConn on your staff as well as the older players who come back and impart wisdom on your current guys? COACH OLLIE: Oh, it’s invaluable. I can’t put a price tag on it. I can go through my coaching staff, two of my coaches coached me. Glen Miller coached me my freshman year, my sophomore year when I didn’t know anything. I’m just walking around as a freshman and trying to find my way, and Coach Calhoun’s screaming at me and I didn’t understand what he was saying, and I’m very glad Glen was there. Now he’s on my staff. Coach Hobbs came in after Glen left and he coached me my junior and senior year. That’s when I really started taking off as a point guard and really establishing myself as a basketball player and a point guard. I loved those guys to death. To see them on my staff now, and then couple that with the younger coaches that I got on my staff, two of the guys played on our 1999 National Championship team. So my coaching staff, I tell them they’re the best in America because they young, but they’re all UConn guys. They all graduated. They all got their degrees from UConn. It’s a beautiful synergy that we have because we all have that common denominator that we played for UConn. We know what it takes to put that jersey on and the pride that we are playing for each and every night. Q. You joining the UConn program was sort of contingent on there being a position open on Jim’s staff. There’s a position open, and so you get it, and then Jim retires and now here we are. Would you be in college coaching if not for a position being open at that particular time right now? Do you have any idea what else you might be doing? COACH OLLIE: I would have probably been with the Thunder, because I had an opportunity to stay with the Thunder in different capacities. Me and Sam Presti is great friends and he wanted me to come back and be a coach or be in the front office with him. I could have still played because I’m not a free agent that’s going to get signed July 1st. So I usually get signed probably in September right before training camp. So I didn’t have that luxury to see what was the free agent market. So I decided to just go back to UConn. They had a spot open even before the season was over with. That spot was open, and I decided to many could back. I wanted to be closer to my family. The last five years of my NBA career, my family stayed in Glastonbury, Connecticut, while I was at Oklahoma City, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philly 76ers, so I wanted to be close to them. It’s nothing like coming back home and being at University of Connecticut and everybody say, How do you recruit? It’s like recruiting is natural for me because I’m not making nothing up or anything, this is what I believe in. I said I sat in those same seats, I went to the same classes that you’re going to, and it’s just a part of me. I love the university and I want to be here for a long time. Q. On your second year, and being the only coach to post a 20‑win record in your first year, this year coming into the Final Four being neglected as a team that would have made it here, how does that help you determine and push your players to fight against all odds and actually be here in this situation? COACH OLLIE: Yeah, they were fighting against all odds when we were banned last year, and they didn’t have anything to do with the ban. They wasn’t there at that time. Then we had a lot of odds against us, and like I said yesterday, we had a lot of problems that other people seen, but we seen possibilities that we can get better from this. We’re going to make sure no other program, no other player in the UConn program will ever have to go through this again. They just buckled down and they dug their heels in, not only on the basketball court. I’m more proud of them guys with the APR that they had. They had a thousand APR. We have five guys on the dean’s list. With all them distractions we had, that stuff for a student‑athlete, and I’m more proud of that. Forget the 20 wins. I really don’t care about that first one. I don’t really care about that. I care about the way they performed on the classroom, which was remarkable, because they said, We’re not going to have another senior, another freshman, another sophomore, another junior go through what we went through. We’re going to be barrier breakers and that’s what they were. COACH OLLIE: Kasey, with his speed, his ability to make plays, Scottie does the same thing, but it gives them an opportunity, kind of like us, where we can play 2‑point guards at the same time. They didn’t have that option when they played us last time. I don’t think I had the option of Terrence Samuel either, because he wasn’t playing a lot. Now I can put three point guards out there. So it’s a different game. That was four months ago. We’re a different team. I’m a different coach. Billy Donovan’s definitely got better understanding his team and what it takes for his team to win. So it’s going to be a whole different game. But Kasey Hill is a wonderful player. Now they got Chris Walker back in the rotation, which they didn’t have before. It’s going to be a challenge for us. We have to play our A‑game. I’ve been telling the guys we don’t have a B‑ or C‑game. We just got an A‑game and that’s what we got to bring each and every night when you step out on the floor and play in the NCAA tournament. Q. What’s your relationship like with Billy Donovan? COACH OLLIE: Just cordial. We haven’t had an opportunity to spend a lot of time together, but just on a recruiting trail. Especially when I first got into the business and seeing all the coaches, they were very cordial to he me saying, Welcome. Saying all the bad things about coaching, but also the good things. We stay in the gyms for 15 hours and all that stuff. But it was great just to see all the coaches. I admire Billy Donovan from afar even when I was playing. To do the different things that he’s done at the age of 48, he’s definitely a Hall of Famer where he’s built the program, predominantly football school, and he took it and made it a basketball school also. I have so much respect for him, and getting his teams to win each and every year is tough. To build a program that’s tough, but to sustain it is even tougher. He’s sustained it over a lot of years there at Florida. I respect him so much. I just look at how hard his teams play each and every play. It’s not each and every game, each and every play, and that’s what I respect. Q. Talk about Shabazz and his experience here and how that’s going to help him. Then also how he can impart some wisdom on some of the younger guys, since he’s been here before? COACH OLLIE: Yeah, he’s doing that. We call it, ‘under the waterline,’ a lot of things that a lot of people don’t see. He gets those guys together. The big word that we use in our program is ownership. He’s taken ownership of his team, and every player that puts that UConn jersey on has taken ownership. I can coach, but them guys coach me. They own the court. I listen to their advice a lot of times and we can make adjustments, and that’s the ownership that we have. Where a guy can challenge his teammates and no one takes it personal. We’re trying to get better as a group. I’ve seen them grow in that area of ownership throughout the year, and it’s at the peak right now. Where I can come in, and Shabazz is already doing drills, already out there with the fellows. I’m like, Man! I call him my unpaid coach, and that’s for a reason, because he has a coaching mentality. Me and him think the same. He knows when to get on guys, but then he knows when to back off of guys, too. I think that’s the evolution of him as a leader. He’s getting better and better each and every day. I couldn’t think of another point guard that I really give the keys to and let drive the bus, because he does it wonderfully for me and my program. Q. You were talking a lot about coaches and one that’s here in Dallas, Larry Brown for SMU. Talk about him. I know you go back with him a little bit. Talk about him and the influence he had over you. COACH OLLIE: He means the world to me. I don’t think I would have took this job if it wasn’t for his advice. I wanted an unbiased opinion, and I called Larry and he is like, I’m going to hang the phone up on you, you better go back to the school that you played for and you believe in and the NBA will always be here. I took that advice and I’m glad I did it. But he’s been giving me advice my whole life. He really gave me an opportunity to play in the NBA. I played before I got to Philadelphia, but he really supplanted me in the NBA as the guy that can play in the playoffs, that can be a point guard here and run a team. He gave me that opportunity. I thank him. I thank him. I can’t even thank him more, and it’s priceless the relationship we have. I can still pick up the phone and call somebody that’s in the Hall of Fame. Just a great person. I really thank him. I’m glad that he’s doing so well. He beat me twice this year, so I got a little payback for him next year. Hopefully I can get a win against him. Q. Transfers have changed college basketball. Billy Donovan has four. I think you have two. Wisconsin has one. They’re more predominant today. How does that affect you guys from a recruiting standpoint? It’s almost like a little bit of a free agency situation. COACH OLLIE: Yeah, you definitely got to look at the transferring, transfer market, the five‑year graduate students also. We have been doing a real good job with that having assigned Kromah here this year from GW, and last we had R.J. Evans from Holy Cross. They played a great role a leadership role on our team. We have Rodney Purvis that’s sitting out right now, he’s like a Ferrari sitting in the garage that I can’t drive. But he’s practicing and getting better. He’s just a wonderful person. It’s tough for guys to sit out like that. They think that they can be better changing venues and I want to just make sure they understand that they’re a part of this team, too, while they sit out. Q. (No microphone.) COACH OLLIE: I mean, it is different. It’s a different situations. I know it’s probably good for Rodney because he wanted to change. He’s a good kid. He had to be penalized by sitting out and he can’t be here with us in the Final Four, but he’s here in spirit. But I think he’s going to be a better person for it because he made a decision, and that’s what you want young kids to be committed, by making a decision. He decided to leave NC State and come here. We want to make this the best situation for him. For us, we don’t lack for all transfers, but we do look for certain situations that we evaluate basketball players on their character. We think that’s a good fit for our team and transfer fifth year seniors. If it’s a good fit for our team, we’re going to look at it and explore that option. Q. You’ve experienced this world as an athlete. You’ve experienced this world as an assistant coach, now as a head coach. If there was just one common sense change that you would say to the NCAA, I would like to make, what would that be and why? COACH OLLIE: Yeah, I mean, that’s so hard. You have to get in the room and you have to sacrifice a little bit. Everybody got to come to a compromising position. I think that me playing, we never played in venues like this. The venues got bigger, the ticket prices got more. We have to find out a way that we can involve the student‑athletes a little bit more, give them more benefits and help them out even more. I would like to see, you know, when they graduate, medical benefits or something like that, a 401K. Something when they get out of playing that they have something to fall back on. I don’t know the right way to go. I don’t know the wrong way to go. But I want to see us getting in a room and start changing a little bit because I’ve seen all this change. My last game was in the Oakland Coliseum in 1995. This is definitely a bigger venue than that. So I would like to see things change. Hopefully we can come to a situation where we can get better as student‑athletes and it’s a business. Hopefully we can get better at that. Q. When you were an athlete, was there ever a moment where you looked at what was going on around you and you saw the contradictions in what was going on? COACH OLLIE: Of course you seen it. We wasn’t getting paid and you see our jerseys getting sold. So you seen it. But at the end of the day, I was living the dream. I was at University of Connecticut. I was playing basketball. The relationships I have now with my friends back in 1995, through 1991 and 1995, I still have today. They’re here at the Final Four with me and they’re celebrating this achievement of our teal. So I can never put a price tag on the relationships I have. I got my degree in communications, so I can never put a price tag on that. But definitely things got to change. You’re aware of it. At the end of the day, I’m getting a great education and I embrace that. I want our kids to embrace that because it’s a great time in their lives and they should be celebrating that instead of looking at all the negative things. COACH OLLIE: Yeah, he’s his own man. He’s been through a lot. None of those guys been through a ban and had the options of leaving, and probably nobody in this room right here would have blinked their eyes and said, Yeah, okay, I’m transferring because we’re banned. They can’t play in the NCAA tournament. He had to deal with that. Kemba didn’t have to deal with that, Jeremy didn’t have to deal with that. On the basketball court, he’s just a great leader. He wants the ball in the, I call them, the gaps. The game altering plays, he makes those. He wants the ball. He’s done something in our history that nobody has ever done, score over 1700 points and get over 600 assists. Nobody’s ever done that. All the great players we put on the UConn jersey, nobody’s never done that. It just shows testament of hard work and where that can get you if you really believe in yourself and you believe in your team. The biggest thing for me is just his maturation, his maturing as a young man. I say that a lot. That’s why I’m in this business. I mean, they can have the trophies. They can have all this stuff. But the maturity that I see from his growth and all my other players growing up as young men, it makes me happy. It makes me feel like I have done a small thing to impact their lives. But they have done so much to impact my life that I can’t even put in words. So I love the character that he shows each and every day. And he’s getting better, he’s going to be a great pro, but most importantly, he’s going to be a great person once he leaves Storrs campus. Q. Could you contrast for me Billy’s got a team that’s considered one of the more balanced teams in the country. You’ve got a great team as well, but you heavily reliant on a star. I’m just wondering from your own comfort level, do you prefer having a team that’s maybe a little bit more dependent on one guy to carry the load or would you prefer the balanced situation? Could you contrast those two situations? COACH OLLIE: I just want to be at the Final Four. Okay. I don’t care how I get here. It could be Ryan playing good, Bazz playing good. I think we have a complete team, too. I think you can’t get here by one player. If you seen our games, you had DeAndre Daniels stepping up in one game. If Amida Brimah didn’t make the three‑point play against St. Joseph’s, we wouldn’t be here. That wasn’t Shabazz. Shabazz is a great player, don’t get me wrong. But I think we got more balance than a lot of people give us credit for. Ryan Boatright is playing unselfish basketball and that’s really allowing us to flourish on the offensive end. We have Niels Giffey that’s a deadeye three‑point shooter that’s playing a bigger role than he played last year. So I give a lot of credit to my team. A lot of people don’t talk about our front court because they don’t score all the points, but they are tough. We showed that against Michigan State shutting down Dawson and shutting down Adreian Payne, and Shabazz didn’t really have a hand in that. Our bigs had to do that job and control the paint and limit them to six points and in the paint. So we have a more complete team than a lot of people give us credit for. Q. I wanted to ask you what Ryan Boatright’s greatest value or contribution is to the team? COACH OLLIE: Just his pressure that he can put on the offense and defensive end. I think he really turned the Michigan State game around. We got down by nine, we called a timeout. Out of that timeout, Shabazz hit a three, and then he just harassed Trice all the way down the court, got a turnover. Then we went down and scored again. He really puts great pressure on the basketball. I think that’s one of his greatest attributes. Of course, he’s an explosive player. We are trying to teach him now that it’s not all about scoring and he’s starting to be more coachable, which is great. I think that’s allowing him to be a better basketball player. The way he can get in the middle of the lane and start kicking out to our shooters has been impactful to our run in the Final Four. He’s just been doing a wonderful job. And it’s not only that, his leadership has been getting great. It’s been getting better. That’s what we want the evolution of him as a player has been great and he’s really allowing us to really play at a high level now. THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by the UCONN players. So questions can be asked of anyone on the podium. Q. You’re talking about benefits for the student‑athletes. I was curious, along those lines, do you favor the Northwestern players decision to try to unionize as employees? Do you think that’s practical? COACH OLLIE: You know, whatever they decide to do is on them. I’m not in their skin. I do think the players need to have a voice out there talking in their behalf. Of course, they can talk about their benefits and their non‑benefits, but to have a voice out there would be great. Also, we have to decide on what we’re going to do with the NCAA and these student‑athletes to make it better, to start evolving more. I think we’re doing that. I think that’s the first step. But the second step we have to understand that we don’t get today back. Whatever today brings, let’s be great people out of it. If that’s giving more benefits, that’s not giving more benefits, you can control your attitude. That’s what I want our student‑athletes to understand, that we can always control our attitudes. You can’t control what’s going on out there. You can’t control an event. But you can control your attitude. Hopefully our student‑athletes exemplify that each and every day. Q. Coach and Ryan, just to follow‑up on the question about Ryan and his defense, when a guy comes into the school offering 31 points a game, what’s the process like to get a guy to become a defensive player and a stopper? For Ryan, coach was talking about you having an evolution as a player and becoming more coachable. Just wondering how you develop that, how you have become more coachable and how you have evolved since being at UConn. COACH OLLIE: I just think when you come from high school, you are All‑American, but you’re not always surrounded by All‑Americans also in your high school team. So you’re going to have to understand it’s a part of a team and you’re going to have to find your way. When I came in the school I had Ray Allen and Donyell Marshall and I scored a lot. But I found out that them guys can score more. I had to I understand a way to get in the rotation. For me it was playing defense. Ryan is an explosive scorer. He does some great things. But I think for him to get to that next level, he has to make his teammates better. That’s what he’s starting to do. That’s what he’s starting to embrace, and it’s great to see. That’s how he’s going to get to the next level and continue to play, is to embrace his teammates and make everyone better. That might be scoring, some nights that he scores 20 points. Some nights he scores 10. But you can always be a great teammate. I think all of our student‑athletes are understanding that it’s not all about being great players, but every day, every time we step out on the court, every time you put that UConn jersey on, you can be a great teammate. I think that’s what we’re starting to get on a more consistent basis. I think that’s allowing us to get to this venue and play in a Final Four and have 80 minutes from cutting down the nets. RYAN BOATRIGHT: Like he said, when you in high school and you’re scoring 50, 60 points, averaging 33, you think you know it all. When I got to this level I was coachable, but I always had something to say back. So I learned right away playing for Coach Calhoun that that ain’t a good thing to do. I just started listening more and knowing that I didn’t know it all. I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. So Coach Ollie said, Open your heart and open your ears so you can get better, and I just started doing that. Q. Coach, when kids were deciding whether to go or not, and can you specifically speak to Roscoe, when they go through that decision, what is your advice, if anything? How do you take kids through the process of, Will they stay, will they go? Can you speak about, he would be a senior on this team, so he started as a freshman, what role would he have? Through that process, we talked to Shabazz about did you re‑recruit him or did they just have to make up their minds on their own? COACH OLLIE: You tell them about the value of coming back and what role you expect them to play when they comeback. But at the end of the day, I can’t make anybody want to come back. I can’t make their decision. It wouldn’t be right for me to have them come back against their will. They got to make their own decision. At the end of the day, I told Roscoe to think about it, and I want to be your coach, I want you to stay here at this program because I believe it’s the greatest program in the nation. But at the end of the day, he has to make his own decision. I can give him suggestions, but at the end of the day, he got to make his own decision. He decided to go to UNLV, and it worked out great for him, you know. These guys decided to stay. It worked out great for them. So that’s how life is. You ask for wisdom from your family and they thought that was the best choice for him. He thought in his heart that was the best choice for him. So I wish him all the luck. I love Roscoe still to this day, and I think he had a great run this year rebounding the basketball, doing all the different things that we wanted him to do while he was at the University of Connecticut. I’m glad I got this team here. I’m glad these guys believed in the program, believed in me, but most importantly believed in each other to stay, to fight through the tough times, and now they’re reaping the benefits. Q. Kevin and DeAndre and Phillip, you were talking about how you don’t feel your front court gets enough props because it’s so much focused on the back court in shutting down Dawson and Payne that was a great example. Can you compare the challenges that they have compared to Florida’s bigs, specifically, and maybe how your guys are equipped to handle that? COACH OLLIE: First of all, it starts with activity for our bigs. They did a great job widening, they did a great job boxing out. We call it, ‘commit to hit.’ Every available hit, make sure you take it and that’s what they did. DeAndre was doing a great job finding his niche in our offense. He’s a dynamic scorer. He’s a hybrid four, hybrid three, whatever you want to call him. He’s just a great player inside out. I can manipulate the defense with him. Phillip is doing all the things that it takes for us to win. He got a dunk at the end of the game last game. He didn’t pass it to Niels Giffey, but he said Niels don’t never pass it to him, so he was going to dunk that one. So it was great for him to have that. Him playing 27 minutes, 29 minutes, it really gave us that point where we can go and have a big be a stopper, and I appreciate that. A lot of people don’t see it, but I go back and watch tape after tape after tape, and I see what these guys bring to our team each and every day. We are a complete team. It’s just not our guards, it’s our bigs, it’s our coaching staff. It’s just not me, it’s everybody involved in winning and making this program the best. It’s just a great feeling when we can all get here together and we have been through our ups and downs and we never gave in. We kept providing that energy each and every day and we taking ownership. RYAN BOATRIGHT: Talked about that earlier, these guys taking ownership of the team now. This is, I’m in the back. They’re taking ownership. They’re driving the bus right now. That’s the only way we are here at the Final Four. Q. (No microphone.) COACH OLLIE: They present a big challenge. We played those guys. They pick‑and‑roll guys, they dive hard, Young is a great player, Yeguete brings his challenge, Finney‑Smith shooting the three‑ball, going inside. They present a big challenge for us, and we got to be ready to play. We got to play at a level five. We got to rebound. We got to limit their touches. We got to do our work early. Phil and DeAndre know that because they hear me screaming it each and every day. PHILLIP NOLAN: Pretty much everything coach said. Just I have to do whatever I need to do to help this team win, whether it’s running, fronting the post, getting an extra rebound, it’s just me. I have to do what I have to do. DeANDRE DANIELS: It starts with the little things. Just playing the details and always following the game plan that we have. We work on it every day in practice, of fronting the post and boxing out. We have been doing a great job lately of that. But most important thing is the front court. We lack size all year, but one thing we don’t lack is heart. And we’re just out there having fun and playing hard. Here are Florida’s Final Four Pregame Quotes. quotes courtesy of asap sports photo credit: stephen dunn – hartford courant

New York State Teacher of the Year Horseheads Teachers Association Vickie Mike, a high school language teacher at Horseheads High School, was chosen as the 2009 New York State Teacher of the Year by the State Education Department. Mike is the 39th New York State Teacher of the Year and the first from the Horseheads district where she has taught 27 years. She has served as the Horseheads department chairperson for Languages Other Than English for the last 16 years and was invited to participate in a Symposium of World Language Educators in China in October of 2007. Her principal of the last three years, James Abrams, describes her as embodying life long learning. "Mrs. Mike is always searching for a more engaging lesson, a new way to use technology in the classroom to enhance student learning, a better way to share ideas with colleagues and the best way to make a difference in the lives of her students." Horseheads colleague, Mary Ann Schmitt, describes Vickie as representing "everything that is good about education and teaching, and [she] is truly a role model for all. Vickie is passionate about her profession, and she is intuitive, proactive and approachable. She works cooperatively with others, creating synergy through the individual strengths and contributions of the people with whom she works. Vickie has a strong work ethic and works tirelessly for her students, her colleagues and her school community." Her commitment is evident in all of her work, particularly her travel abroad with students and parents. She is dedicated to connecting her school community to the larger global community and encouraging her students to become citizens of the world. Other finalists were: Maribel Pregnall, a science teacher at Arlington High School in Lagrangeville; Joan D'Urso, an elementary inclusion teacher at Medford Elementary School in Patchogue; Deborah Dahlin, an art teacher at Elmcrest Elementary School in Liverpool; and Richard Lemke III, a science teacher at Sachem High School East in Farmingville. The State Teacher of the Year Program is sponsored in part by NYSUT. It is run in conjunction with the National Teacher of the Year Program.

Usually, if a museum announced its website had been hacked, it would ring alarm bells among the staff and create problems for its visitors. But just months after the launch of the new reynoldahouse.org , Reynolda House Museum of American Art asked a New York-based business to do just that. Reynolda House has partnered with Museum Hack, a museum-tour company that describes its experiences as un-highlights museum adventures. The companys team has led tours at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History and, this week, the digital wing of Reynolda House. On Feb. 26, Reynolda House debuted Museum Hack Hacks the Collection, an online gallery curated by the same team that leads in-person tours at the New York City museums. The concept, said Sarah Smith, Reynolda House director of marketing and communications, was to look at the Reynolda House website as an experience parallel to visiting the museum in person and open up new ways to explore and share the museums renowned collections of American art, historic house objects, and Reynolds family archives. Nothing can replace an in-person experience at Reynolda, she said. But with nearly 400 objects from our collections now available onlinemore than can be on view in our museum galleries at any one timewere redefining and expanding the Reynolda experience. Working with Museum Hack is a step forward in our exploration of how we make memorable connections with people before and after they set foot in the museum. This is the first time that Museum Hack has hacked a museums online collections. For its online gallery, the Museum Hack team selected nine objects, including eight works from the American art collection and one from the historic house collection. Each selection is explained by the Museum Hack team on the museums blog. Visitors can jump from a 1917 copper ashtray with matchbox holder to a 1973 silkscreen with dye and flocking print by artist Alan Shields. Its this unusual juxtaposition of objects that makes a Reynolda House experience onsite and online unique, says Elizabeth Chew of Reynolda House. What this Museum Hack gallery demonstrates is that weve created an opportunity for people to look at the objects in our collections in a very personal way, said Chew, the Betsy Main Babcock of the Curatorial and Education Division. Thats when transformational moments happen when you see a painting, an archival image, or piece of historic furniture and it adds to your own life experiences. You dont need an art history degree to know what paintings make you feel happy or what archival object reminds you of home. Chew says the museum is envisioning other online galleries curated by visitors, museum members, or other audiences. Museum Hacks founder, Nick Gray, is a 2004 graduate of Wake Forest University, with whom Reynolda House formally affiliated in 2002. The museum and the university share the Reynolda Campus, named for the original 1,087-acre estate of R.J. and Katharine Reynolds. Gray remembers Reynolda House fondly from his days as an undergraduate. I lived on campus all four years, and I liked to take a lot of walks through the historic property, brainstorming business ideas and talking with friends, said Gray. Reynolda House was always on my radar. Getting the opportunity to work with Reynolda House on an official project was a huge honor. I loved looking at the collection and pictures of the historic house from my laptop in New York City. Reynolda House and Museum Hack will host an online discussion on Twitter March 13 at 2 p.m. Follow the hashtag #hackreynolda to participate. In April, the museum will hold a day-long retreat with Gray and other thought leaders in the museum field on the ideas of visitor-generated experience and engagement at Reynolda. The Museum Hack gallery is part of a larger Reynolda House initiative called the Digital Engagement Project launched in 2010 with the digitizing of the museums collections. The federally funded project included cataloging each object in the museums collections, redesigning the museums website to facilitate access to collections, and creating new opportunities for people to interact with the museum online. In February, Reynolda House announced that it had created a new staff position for its new digital wing. Trish Oxford was named Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications, a position that will focus on creating synergy between on-site experiences and virtual experiences through management of the Museums new website, email, social media, and other digital platforms.

Autoglass has launched a four week campaign on Jazz FM, to help choose a new jazz-infused jingle to better suit the station. The challenge Autoglass® campaign will be promoted on air, online and across both Jazz FM’s and Autoglass®’s social networks. Jazz FM listeners will have the chance to go online and vote for their favourite ad featuring various jazz twists on the recognisable Autoglass jingle. In doing so, they will also be automatically entered into a competition to win a range of Jazz FM prizes. “For Autoglass®, the brand is key to our business success,” says David Meliveo, Marketing Director at Autoglass®. “We appreciate and understand our customers’ varying tastes and are excited about this campaign with Jazz FM, in a bid to find the nation’s preferred jazz take on our jingle.. By empowering the station’s listeners, we hope they appreciate we truly value their thoughts and opinions and we’ll be delighted to share the results when they’re in!” Mike Vitti, programme controller at Jazz FM commented: “The programming team at Jazz FM are delighted to be working so closely with Autoglass. The campaign we are about to launch is a perfect example of how synergy can be achieved between audience, client, radio station."

A few weeks ago, Tim Goodman at the Hollywood Reporter brought back his recurring feature The Power Rankings!, wherein he ranks the 11 best shows of the week. In the column’s return he awarded Portlandia the number 10 slot, offering the following argument for inclusion: “We may have entered a time when Portlandia has been so great that we all demand too much of it. Honestly, the consistency and joy it brings puts ever more pressure on the next episode and the next season. But the show always delivers. And like any good comedy, when it hits and hits hard, you forgive it all of the lower points. Still strong after all these years (yeah, it hasn’t been that long, but still). Respect.” I’ve been unable to let go of that entry since reading it, because there’s a part of me that feels like I’ve been too hard on the show in the last few weeks. (A feeling that a lot of you seem to share, based on the last couple weeks’ worth of comments.) My impression has been that Portlandia has been coasting for the second half of the season, lacking in truly memorable installments and retreading some of the same ground it covered in previous years. I’ve also regularly bemoaned the fact that the show has abandoned the more narrative direction that it took last year, a decision I felt allowed it to transcend its position as a sketch comedy show and set itself up as an innovative hybrid of sketch and sitcom. Looking back on the season as a whole, I’m inclined to be more charitable. Yes, season four of Portlandia may have stepped back from the ambitions of season three, but doing so hasn’t shaken the strong foundation the show was originally built on. It’s even more impressive given that Portlandia has some structural limitations that other sketch comedy shows like Key And Peele and Inside Amy Schumer don’t have, continually mining within the boundaries of a single city for its material. Every week Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein keep going to the same well, and somehow they continue to find new takes on the “Portland is weird” mentality and deliver winning installments: the opening ghost sketch with Kirsten Dunst, the Steve Buscemi celery narrative, Spyke’s adventures with cars and weekly newspapers, Jeff Tweedy trying to write a truly authentic song. I still believe the show was better last year when every episode felt like part of a larger whole, but that shouldn’t detract from the fact that when it works, it remains incredibly satisfying. And if cohesion has been one of my main problems this year, the season finale manages to remedy that and allow Portlandia to close on a high note. The last two Portlandia season finales “Brunch Special” and “Blackout” have been tremendously entertaining installments that cash in on the show’s rich universe, taking a few Armisen/Brownstein couples and throwing them into an adventure of surprisingly epic scope. “Getting Away” takes the same approach, and ups the stakes by pushing its chosen couples entirely out of their comfort zone to the unfamiliar universe of New Beavertown—a move made obvious immediately with neatly revised opening credits, theaters and bridges replaced with images of small town attractions and the great outdoors. The episode gets off to a strong start by selecting the right couples for this adventure: ultra-intense Dave and Kath, sweetly distracted Peter and Nance, and militantly feminist Toni and Candace. All three have distinguished themselves on prior finales, and at this point in the show’s run they’re the show’s most fleshed-out pairings. (Fred and Carrie come close, but they’re more fictionalized versions of the creators than they are original creations.) That individuality is further established with the distinctive reasons for why they’re leaving town—a desire to relax, a romantic getaway and a Feminist Moon Weekend, respectively—and the way Jonathan Krisel chooses to shoot and score each of their interactions. A standout scene comes when all three move through the lobby of the New Beavertown hotel, alternating with theatrical efficiency and with noticeable tonal shifts as the actors switch out characters. That lobby ushers all three couples to new adventures, thanks to a well-placed kiosk of brochures. Dave and Kath’s quest for peace and quiet is derailed when Kath sees a brochure for an outlet mall, sending them into a near-rabid hunger for discounts. Portlandia had a great sketch earlier this season with Malcolm and Kris’ accidental sweatshop, and this flips circumstances terrifically as Dave and Kath excitedly peruse clothes that even a Portland vintage shop would think twice about carrying. (Kath: “Is that a cigarette burn or a bullet hole?” Dave: “It’s like a beauty mark!”) Their continual obliviousness leads them to buy three-piece fleece and camp out in the car for the earliest deals, a desire for which reveals Kath as the pair’s most intense member. Compared to those—and indeed compared to most people in general—Peter and Nance enjoy a quieter experience, locking into a walking tour of New Beavertown. Yet their experience becomes as complicated as their time in brunch jail or their Birdman-motivated walkabouts, as Peter reads the cartoon map so literally that he’s unable to find his way back to the hotel. (“Now if I go this way, the giant beaver in the construction hat…”) Peter’s stammer has a one-note quality, but Fred Armisen somehow manages to make him endearing every time he fumbles through situations he makes worse, and Nance’s eternal patience with him extends so far that she’s prepared to be homeless for a night. Toni and Candace have the most active reaction to the kiosk, and that reaction is to take it with them as they enter the woods, payment for an imagined slight by the concierge. That reaction is driven by redirected passive-aggression, as the two are furious that their all-women weekend has been “penetrated” by a male bus driver, Kimtopher (Kim for short). Played by Armisen’s former Saturday Night Live co-star Jason Sudeikis (his first appearance since playing a cult leader in the pilot episode), Kim is exactly the sort of person it’s funniest for the bookstore owners to hate—someone who doesn’t deserve a bit of it because he dares to be affable and tolerant. His friendship with the women of the group—including one played by country singer k.d. lang—stands in stark contrast to Toni and Candace, reduced to lurking just off-screen and hissing with disapproval. All of these adventures would be enough for an episode, but Portlandia finales have a taste for pushing their adventures to the extreme, and ironically it’s Peter who accelerates things too far. After miraculously seeing the giant beaver that was on the map he carves his and Nance’s initials on it, and the action is seen as an act of war on the part of the exiled beavers of Grimwood. Here’s where things take on the expected scope, as a simultaneously adorable and frightening CGI beaver gnaws through a dam and submerges the entire town. Portlandia’s always been good at creating a high-stakes feeling, and “Getting Away” effectively portrays a flooded city through stock footage and location shoots. While coping with this disaster can make for a good source of comedy, Portlandia has always been equally invested in strengthening its characters, and all the couples find a satisfying resolution. Dave and Kath manage to patch their raft up using their new fleece stockpile, and realize that in this chaos they’ve never felt more alive—a surprising amount of self-awareness given how typically dense they are. Peter and Nance having a moment on top of a bench is less surprising as they’ve now come out of three catastrophes stronger than ever, but Armisen and Brownstein have such easy chemistry as these two especially that it can’t help be sweet. The most miraculous part of the finale though comes when the resolution turns out to from the last source you’d expect. It’s easy to treat Toni and Candace as a pair of uptight and out-of-touch small-business owners, whose commitment to their beliefs doesn’t mesh with any form of reality. This season has gradually chiseled away at that perception, with the duo successfully spearheading a car wash and guiding the Trail Blazers to a dunk-centric winning streak. (The team could use some of that energy right now in the playoffs, especially after last night.) They lock arms with their retreat comrades—all clad in terrifically unflattering underwear—and beseech Mother Moon to turn back the tide in between arguing about the proper use of “mist” and “midst,” the episode’s best running gag. Wonder of wonders, it works, and the river subsides enough to let them walk back to camp in a newfound sense of unity. This allows the finale to end in a wonderfully positive way, as when the bus has washed away the group decides to walk home. Under the clearing clouds, accompanied by k.d. lang strumming a gorgeous version of “Down In The River To Pray,” they head down the bridges and back to their beloved city. “Getting Away” is a terrific close to the season, one that allows Portlandia to both go big and go home within the same half-hour. Episode grade: B+ Season grade: B Season’s best sketch: Celery - This Week In Portland: Nothing, given the episode doesn’t even take place in city limits. But for anyone looking for some real getting away, I recommend a day trip to hike either the falls on Historic Columbia River Highway or Beacon Rock on the Washington side. If you have more time, either Astoria or Newport make for a great weekend trip to the coast. - You might have missed the best joke of the night if you weren’t paying attention and don’t watch Grimm, but the hiker who warns Toni and Candace they’re heading into beaver territory is played by Danny Bruno, better known as easily flustered Eisbeiber (beaver Wesen) Bud. I hoped for more Grimm cameos after Silas Weir Mitchell appeared in “Celery,” and it’s good to see the synergy continues. - A bit disappointing not to see Kyle MacLachlan one last time, especially because this is the first season finale he’s missed. Then again, I suppose after the last finale Mr. Mayor has a crippling fear of getting outside of city limits. - One final complaint: after how effectively the show paired up Spyke and Lance, I badly want to see Armisen and Brownstein try mixing up their pairings more in season five. There’s a lot of comedic potential there that’s barely been tapped. - Great sight gag in the outlet mall: There’s a rack of fleece that simply says “Green,” and there doesn’t appear to be a single green garment there. - The tour guide has some great stories. On the settlers fighting off the beavers: “They had no choice but to skin them and use the skin for hats. And they would take the meat, and they would not eat the meat.” Nance: “That’s horrible! We are an awful, awful species.” Guide: “And now I’m going to show you an old store.” Nance: “Oooh!” - “I can’t even see the raft anymore. I’m just clouded by anger.” - “I’m not going to use the truck stop and be mistaken for a lot lizard.” - “Does the zipper work? That’s what fleece is about.” - “So you want to nosh before we go to OshKosh B’gosh?” - “I just want to put a ‘Do No Disturb’ sign on the bench.” - And the flood waters recede, taking this season and these reviews with them. Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope to see you next year for season five.

SGIA Announces 2013 Board of Directors Friday, October 19, 2012 Press release from the issuing company Lynn Krinsky of Stella Color named Chairman of the Board Las Vegas – SGIA welcomes Lynn Krinsky, Stella Color (Seattle) as the new Chairman for the 2013 Board of Directors. Krinsky was appointed along with incoming First Vice Chairman Pete Gallo, Vista Color Imaging Inc. (Cleveland); Second Vice Chairman Tim Markley, Markley Enterprise (Elkhart, Indiana); and Third Vice Chairman Hoddy Peck, Meisel (Carrollton, Texas). James Gill, FUJIFILM Dimatix Inc. (Lebanon, New Hampshire) continues as Associate Vice Chairman; Rich Thompson, Ad Graphics Inc. (Pompano Beach, Florida) was named Secretary; and Michael Mockridge, Mockridge Doming Systems (Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancaster, England) was named Treasurer. Continuing their term on the Board are Christopher Bernat, Vapor Apparel/Source Custom (Charleston, South Carolina); Sheila Caddell, Alabama Graphics & Eng Supply (Birmingham, Alabama); Edward Cook Jr., ECI Screen Print Inc. (Thomaston, Connecticut); Thomas Cooper, RockTenn Merchandising Displays (Winston Salem, North Carolina); Scott Crosby, Holland and Crosby Limited (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada); Tom Davenport, Motion Company (West Sacramento, California); Michael Emrich, Meto-Graphics Inc. (Cary, Illinois); Nathan Franzblau, Graphic Application Systems (Jacksonville, Florida); Christopher Howard, Durst Image Technology US LLC (Rochester, New York); David Landesman, Lawson Screen and Digital Products Inc. (St. Louis); C Y Lee, C Y International Co. Ltd. (Gyeonggi-do, South Korea); Steve Urmano, Mimaki USA Inc. (Suwannee, Georgia); and Roland Vinyard, BBC Industries/Black Body (Pacific, Missouri). Directors serving their first term include Ford Bowers, Miller-Zell Inc. (Atlanta); Terry Corman, Corman Synergy inc. (Indianapolis, Indiana); and Kevin Gazdag, KSK Visual Ingenuity (Cleveland). Also serving on SGIA's 2013 Board of Directors will be immediate Past Chairman Gordon Brown, New Vista Image (Golden, Colorado); Chairmen's Advisory Council Representative Michael Mockridge; and SGIA President and CEO Michael Robertson (Fairfax, Virginia). Follow the SGIA Expo on Twitter @SGIAExpo and like us on Facebook. To post a comment Log In or Become a Member, doing so is simple and free

Welcome to the official website of Stephen J. Stirling, religious educator and author of LDS religious non-fiction Shedding Light on the Dark Side: Defeating the Forces of Evil, A Guide for Youth and Young Adults, and the novels Persona non Grata, and Garden of the Gods. My dear friends, I thought I would take this opportunity to send out one final message. (Oh, my, that sounds awful. in its ponderous implications.) No, I don’t intend to die — not yet. Though my battle with cancer continues to go on. What I am saying is, that with the restructuring of the areas of the Southwest, I may not be seeing some of my friends of the former Phoenix Valley again – and I am anxious that you know how I appreciate my professional and personal relationships with many of you. Thank you – so many of you – for your prayers and your most heartfelt petitions to heaven on my behalf. Many of those prayers have been offered on the altars of the most sacred places on earth, and I am grateful. I suppose one of the grand lessons on my path to more powerful, moving faith has been gratitude – to a loving Father in Heaven and to his children who have, I know, prayed with their families for my recovery. I continue to apply myself that those prayers may be effectually answered. My fondest dream and desire is that I might return to the classroom in August, to join you in the sacred effort to teach the youth of Zion the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ours is a holy trust, and it has been one of the great blessings of my life to work with some of the finest men and women in the world in fulfilling that trust. My heartfelt commitment to serving them and our Father’s children is a singular lesson I have learned in watching my colleagues who have provided the example of what a teacher should be. Whatever I have left of life, I dedicate to that kind of service on behalf of my Savior to his children. My life obviously does not belong to me. (Indeed, in a sense, it never did.) But in allowing me to live another day (or many days), I am impressed with the responsibility I have to serve to the end, and to serve selflessly. Finally, I appreciate the Christ-like love I have watched in those I have worked with. From my brethren and sisters of Seminaries and Institutes I have learned the meaning of charity. If I may incorporate that charity into my life, I will have learned something worth living for. Gratitude, service, and love are the greatest lessons I have gleaned thus far in my battle for life. And I am, again, thankful for those blessings of my education. If I emerge from this experience with only those lessons learned, I will have been amply blessed. My Heavenly Father has been good to me and I have seen great miracles of healing and of the companionship of the Spirit. But, in sum, where do we stand at this point? What do we know for sure? Well, not much more than we knew 6 months ago, which is slightly frustrating. Doctors who examine the tests believe that the cancer, or better said, the tumor, is gone – but the answer does not get much more definitive than that so far. And yet — considering the malignancy of the melanoma – that is a miracle in itself. I feel that I have been cleansed. I am gaining weight again, my spirits are generally well, and I have been blessed with the very best of caregivers — Diane. Still, the war goes on. The pain in my throat persists. (That pain is likely the residual result of radiation and chemotherapy. In other words, I now suffer from the cure, now that the disease has fled. Ironic.) My affirmations and confidence, however, are unchanged. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and have a testimony of his personal interest and involvement in my life. I know that I am a child of God and know the joy that comes from a witness of that identity. I am a survivor of mortality – under the most desperate of circumstances — and intend to continue to qualify for survival – by fighting for life and living. And I burn with a commitment to serve others with the time I have left (hopefully a lot of it) — and the capacity I am given to offer that service. Life has been good to me – which is by no means a line of farewell, but rather an invitation for us all to smile, take a deep breath, and join in the adventure together – because in all the best ways, life just continues to get better. That is our promise of the future. May the Lord bless us all with that vision. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Late into the hours of the night last night I sat, staring at the wall and pondering the universe. The inside in my throat continues to be painful and that pain is persistent. In spite of the tenacious pain, I have been struggling to gradually reduce my dependence on pain medications. The result — too edgy with nervous anxiety to sleep, and yet too exhausted to occupy my mind with anything but aimless wanderings. I considered the journey I have ventured on to this point – a long journey by my standards. But many have undertaken far more lengthy and arduous passages in life. My voyage has been both personalized and laden with purpose. I have been called upon to learn something. And I might succeed in escaping the education which my Father in Heaven so desperately wants me to grasp. So many prayers and blessings exerted in my behalf, all over the world, might indeed persuade me that I could be healed and slip from the grasp of destruction. There are things I have to do, missions yet to fulfill and ‘miles to go before I sleep.’ But immediate healing, and escape from pain, is unlikely. Heavenly Father doesn’t waste his time. No. In spite of the faith of the righteous and the power of the cosmos – all effectually called upon my head in hearts to the altars of holy temples which dot the earth – God is not through with me. And he has made no pronouncement to the contrary. Father, I love thee with all my heart. Answers to my petitions in personal prayer and priesthood blessing have reaffirmed the realities of my situation as my ordeal progresses. I have been counseled to follow the instructions of my doctors, submit to their treatment, to endure to the end of this medical process, and to be patient under the length of that care. That does not sound to me like a miraculous and instantaneous flash of televangelical healing power – though Heavenly Father still manifests his power with such healing command. No, my miracle may be even more dramatic, in teaching me to be more humble, more patient in affliction, and more long-suffering in endurance. ‘So Father, in the midst of my ongoing ordeal, I ask a simple fulfillment of the promise that thou hast always made to thy children – and to me. Walk with me Father. Take me by the hand, let me cling to thy side, bear me up in the gloom which goeth before – and abide with me. That is enough. Someone very dear to me had a huge setback – as we all do. But this setback seemed enormous. She wanted to join the Phoenix Fire Department, and against all odds, had made incredible strides at doing so, over the course of a grueling year. All of this came down to the final interview – and by all judgments, things looked good. And then suddenly, tragedy struck – a freak accident and a broken arm. None of this boded well as a sign to impress the board who would be choosing the final candidates. The worst kind of incident at the worst time. And of course, our first reaction is the foolish, knee-jerk response, “How could God do this to us?” That “God doesn’t do things like this to us” is the first reality which we need to acknowledge. But, in a more helpful vein, I would like to share another simple reality which we must all, always remember about God, his universe and the Divine arithmetic of the cosmos. I capsulized it in a short letter. ‘My dear little champion, Please, don’t be discouraged. I know that is a lot to ask – but not of you. You are no stranger to doing the difficult – or the impossible. Yes, breaking your arm, especially right now, was a pretty rough turn of fate. But God is also fully capable of doing the impossible. And he has been doing it for years. I want you to consider a simple concept with me and know that your Heavenly Father is still with you and that he is still very much under control. “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.” — Doctrine and Covenants 90:24 The Lord has reiterated this promise elsewhere in the scriptures, but this is the most complete expression of the formula. Notice and never forget that “all things shall work together for your good. . .” That is a strange kind of arithmetic where all things – not just the good things, not a bunch of good things mixed with a few bad things — but literally all things will combine to work together for your good. And I have found that formula to be true. Of course, there are qualifiers. We must (1) search diligently, (2) pray always, (3) and be believing. But if we do so and (4) walk uprightly and (5) remember the covenants which we have made, then the promise of the Lord is sure. My friend, you meet those qualifiers. You always have. You have therefore earned the right to look to your Heavenly Father with a full expectation that he will keep that promise. It is ironclad. I know that you have spent a lifetime staying true to your covenants and choosing the right. I know that you have ever been prayerful and searched the scriptures and for inspiration in pursuing the course of your life. But I also know that right now may be a very difficult time for you to believe that your broken arm can somehow contribute, under the circumstances, to the happy ending we all look for at the conclusion of this story. But this story will indeed have a happy resolution. That’s where believing comes in – and that can often be the hardest part. But I know that Heavenly Father will never let you down. I don’t know how he intends to work out the details, but he always has, and he always will. Never forget, you are one of my heroes. You know how to face adversity and do awesome things. This may be one of the most difficult things you have ever done. But I know that your Heavenly Father loves you and will not let you down. Have faith in him. Take him at his word. Take the scriptures at face value. And allow the power of the atonement to fix this – yes, even this. I don’t know how, but I have full confidence that all of this will work, not in spite of the circumstances, but because of them, to bless your life. My most fervent prayers are with you. “Stand still and behold the power of God.”’ Well, I wrote that letter a month or so ago – I think. Within a week or two she will leave for the perfect assignment – on a Wildlife Fire Crew, (you know, forest fires)! The offer rolled in a few days after her rejection from various fire departments – and the expected verdict, “You’re just too small.” The Wildlife teams said she was just the right size, with the endurance and drive they need – in fact with all the qualifications they need. Within the next several days she received more invitations to join other companies. She finally joined a crew operating out of Springerville, Arizona. The pay, the benefits, the days on and off – everything about the new job was ideal to her situation, and her family circumstances. Who ever thought the Lord could work out things so perfectly well. But then again, that’s the way he works things out – all the time. 1+1=3. That is God’s miraculous arithmetic as he blesses our lives with the impossible. I anticipate with faith for all things to so work in my life. May the Lord likewise bless all of us. Many prayers have been answered as I have struggled through this nightmare of sickness and the miracles of restoration. Through the power of the priesthood, I returned to the healing process, and hence, to the pathway of normal life. Radiation continued – and the Chemo therapy moved forward. Of the radiation, less than fifteen treatments remained. That dramatic process took the shape of a weekday countdown that went eventually from two hands to one — as the bright crimson, tissue-paper thin skin of my throat repaired itself and cease to “agonize at the slightest touch.” However, the targeted and focused nature of the radiation therapy continued to burn the cancer away — on the inside. The final day of the fiery process – half a month ago — ended in genuine celebration. What I experienced was a genuine miracle. But in the end, it was only a milestone. And there was still no end in sight. Life and the medical treatments progressed on at the clinic. But new kind of pain now took center stage in a new and singular way. I had heard chemot was like being sick all the time. I had heard correctly. My sore throat continued, accompanied by a constant cough, upset stomach, and taking of medication that made it impossible to get a good night’s sleep. Prayers and priesthood influence continued to sustain us. And still there was no end in sight. To finish chemo was the next big milestone. And on Monday of this week, I enjoyed my last chemo treatment and I went from that last session to the hospital – (not one of my scheduled milestones) where I remained for the next two days. Again, my body responded to quickly to transfusions there. Surprising doctors, I continue to do surprising things. There is no end of the miracles in my life. And of that — there is no end in sight. I am home again now. Therapies continue to be applied at the clinic. And again there is no end in sight. I have been so blessed. And of them I testify. I bear witness of the constant blessings of a loving Heavenly Father who continues to be my daily comfort, guardian, guide and stay. I bear gratitude for the heavenward pleas of so many of this world’s angels who have served us with love and goodness. I thank God for the regular gifts of the Spirit in these times of trial. And I acknowledge the tender mercies of loving Father in Heaven. But of course, we all acquainted to with those. I pray that we may always remember what great things the Lord has given to us – in times of bounty as in times of trial. May I leave that testimony before heaven and earth. I know the goodness of God and his children. And of the reality that there continues to be no end in sight. Of that certainty and of the certainty that life extends beyond what we know to be as mortality into the realms of eternity I also bear witness with all my heart. Yes, life can be a struggle. The pain is intense, on occasion, and growing. But I am still here. And of that I also point out — there is no end in sight. About a month ago I began the therapies of healing designed to literally blast cancer from my body. If that sounds like a violent process — it is. It is nothing short of turning our bodies into a war zone between runaway rogue cells (the ones we call cancer), and the technologies of men which take the shape of a medieval torture chamber – with more bells and whistles. Welcome to modern medicine. It is our reality in a world where we have abused these poor bodies of ours with such pollutants and poisons that we are subtly killing ourselves. Cancer today is endemic. In the face of that battle ground, conscientious and dedicated doctors do their best to wage the good fight armed with the high-tech equivalent of deer skins and stone knives. Hence is laid out the simple plan of attack. Kill the cancer – hopefully without killing off the patient. It is a delicate balance. And I, along with millions of others, am stuck in the middle. Let me remind my friends who are following this drama, that my situation was weird to begin with. The misdiagnosis of my problem from the beginning was a result of normal expectations. “Nobody gets cancer there.” A melanoma of the larynx is extremely rare. I was told that there are only about 90 reported cases of it over the past 30 years. And of those few there have been no definitive studies. Once identified, after almost a year of neglect, it was fully expected that this aggressive cancer would have had a field day in my unsuspecting body. The PET scan and MRI surprised everyone with results that the cancer had not spread beyond my throat. In that I was extremely blessed. My Heavenly Father has been looking out for me. But once identified, the cancer quickly made its intentions known, and within weeks, spread aggressively to the cartilage of my throat. The war was on. I went into tomotherapy (a very specific and targeted radiation treatment) immediately. It was intensive and highly invasive – and my reaction to it was radical. After a little over 20 treatments I was forced to discontinue treatment. Again, my response was rare. My throat, both inside and out, was seared with second degree burns which gave my skin the appearance of raw hamburger. I couldn’t move my neck, I couldn’t eat without pain, and I found it almost impossible to sleep. Simultaneous chemotherapy was also discontinued. Everything about my situation seemed to be uncharted territory. Everything about my treatment and my reaction to it seemed unusual. My white blood count was extremely low. My platelet count was also at dangerously low levels. My treatment had come to a halt. I was going nowhere and in the greatest of pain. I was as discouraged as I have ever been in my life. It was at this point that Diane and I asked so many of you to remember us in your prayers – specifically that I might be healed to resume my treatment. I believe in fasting. I believe in prayer. I believe in the blessings of the priesthood and the power of God. That was one week ago. ON that Sunday night, after so many days of pain, frustration and little progress, the comforting peace of the Holy Ghost visited me with the assurance that the effectual prayers and blessings of the faithful would be answered in my behalf. Last Monday I woke up in the morning to find that the skin in my throat was healed to the degree that I was able to function without pain. Most of the rawness was gone. I could move again. I began radiation two days later, with a countdown of 14 treatments until it is over. My tests at the clinic continued to reveal my unusual nature. I persist in being the case that the doctors cannot figure out – with reactions they have not seen before. Remarkably, my white blood count and my platelet levels suddenly rebounded to optimal levels, without the prescription of invasive drugs usually necessary to make it so. They were so baffled, they resubmitted my blood work to verify the results – and confirmed what they’d already found – and recommended that my chemotherapy be resumed. The doctors don’t understand how all this is possible. But I do. I am grateful to conscientious healthcare professionals. I am grateful for modern medicine which offers hope in a peril-fraught world. I am grateful for the wonders of the human body, which will do amazing things for us if we will just feed it right, and exercise it, and care for it in the way that God intended. But above all I am grateful for friends, and family, and loved ones, and perfect strangers who will reach out with faith and prayer and the power of eternity to work miracles. I know that God lives. I know that He loves us and is an active participant in our lives. I know that the might and authority of the priesthood are literal. And I know that the power of Jesus Christ and of his atonement are real. I believe in miracles. And I am grateful to all who have been a participant with me in this one. I continue to ask an investment of your faith and prayers in my adventure. It is far from over. But it is well underway. May we continue to find strength in the things of eternity – and in the love that binds us here in mortality as well. Strange! For the first time in my life I’ve come face to face with my mortality. I suppose I’ve been here before. We’ve all flirted with death – intentionally or unintentionally. In one way or another we’ve all cheated death, and lived to tell the tale. But this is the first real instance in which I have been genuinely and realistically threatened with my own demise. And yet, I have, to this point, been able to contemplate the issue with a calm logic and resolve. I am not afraid. Everybody has to die. I could shake my fist at God and wail that I am too young to die. But I’m not. I’ve had a pretty good ride. Don’t misunderstand me. My heart aches that I wouldn’t be around to laugh with Diane, to take pride in my children (my favorite people), or to watch my grandchildren grow. There is a lot I would miss, tons of people I would be sorry to say good-bye to, and a few things that I still wanted to do – that never got done. In that sense, I would regret seeing it all come to an end. But on the other hand, I know that it will never really come to an end. I know who I am and I know what I’m about. And I know that this thing we call mortality is just a little part of life – life that is eternal. I came from somewhere, and sooner or later, I’m going somewhere. The only question is — when, which question is now about to be answered by the evaluations and the performance of modern medicine. And their decision will be a best guess determination. They may make a prognosis and it may be wrong. But with cancer – they seem to be right a lot of the time. Even so, I’m not afraid. I have no dread of the unknown – because I know. I have a faith that is unshakable that this is all part of an eternal Plan, and that makes it good. I’ve never had a test of faith quite like this. And yet the simplicity of my faith in God and in life beyond this life is so certain that I have not the slightest misgiving over it or doubt in it. I seem to look upon my own potential passing as the beginning of a journey, and a pretty exciting one at that. ‘Crossing over’ as some call it, is to me the equivalent of a great road trip – an unimaginable adventure. My faith is that strong in that untouchable world, because to me it is literally only a heartbeat away. And with that last heartbeat, I know that I shall still be alive and well, anticipating the remainder of the journey into eternity with a perfectly charted course and a crystal clear view of the way ahead. Faith is the opposite of fear. And as I consider the bleakest forecast of the days ahead, I realize I fear nothing. It is invigorating and enlivening to face the future with absolute fearlessness. Still, don’t misunderstand me. I intend to fight for survival. Our nature is to prefer life to death. I am no different, particularly as I consider my brief journey on earth. What about all those things I must leave behind, and what of the dreams of life I’ve yet to accomplish. And most of all what about Diane. What I would miss the most would be her. What I would regret most leaving behind would be her. And my promise to her compels me to stay, that we may enjoy, complete, and wear out this life together. That determination alone makes me realize how much I love her. For her, if for nothing else, I need to cling tenaciously to life. ‘To be or not to be’ has literally become the question in the most powerfully real sense. As I have resolved before, I have determined again with a will of iron – to stay in this world. There is time enough for eternity. And I commit myself to the reality that my place, for now, is in this estate. If God feels differently he will let me know. The surgery went well. I was in and out. And I am now at home, recuperating from the ordeal for the next few days. I described my nemesis as a lump of ‘mass’ about the size of a marble below my vocal chords. It turned out to be a very large marble – more like a grape. Not one of those Food King grapes you get at your average grocery store. This was more like a Costco grape – you know, those really big grapes that look like they were nourished with steroids. Except this huge grape was dressed up (appropriately) in a Halloween costume to go trick or treating as a cauliflower. The monster practically filled the diameter of my entire throat passage. Looking at the snapshots the surgeon took of it, I don’t see how I could breathe, and I know why I couldn’t talk. With regards to talking, the ‘mass’ had grown very close to my vocal folds. In fact the surgeon found it necessary to remove a sliver of my vocal chords with it. And I was anxious to give my voice a beta test as soon as I made my dizzy reentry from anesthesia. “Hello,” I said – and was pleased with the result. I have tried not to talk a lot since, in order to give my throat and voice box a chance to heal. So, I’m not sure, at this point, if I’ll ever sing grand opera again. And trial runs so far indicate that my voice may settle in a tad higher than it used to be and may never be as resonant. But time will tell. It’s a little early for conclusions. And it is much too early for regrets of misgivings. I feel tremendously blessed, and I do not intend to give a whimper of complaint. I have struggled and survived a misfortune that 150 years ago would have killed me. In all likelihood, most of us have. I can breathe again. I can talk again. I can teach again. I am grateful to a kind Heavenly Father, to a skilled surgeon, and to the faith and prayers of so many thoughtful friends who implored the blessings of eternity on my behalf. Thank you for your mindfulness of me in my adversity. Life goes on. May we all continue to enjoy its bounties – and to bask in the affection of caring friends and the kindness of a loving Heavenly Father. Some of you know (though most of you don’t), that I haven’t been able to talk for several months. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t been too active here for a while. Interesting! Losing something so fundamental in life tends to effect almost every aspect of your daily walk and conversation. As a teacher my voice is the tool of my trade. But having it reduced to a whisper has made a significant impact not only on my occupation, but my devotions, my personal interactions, and just about everything else. To realize the simplicity and commonplace nature of the things that are our most cherished possessions, and to recognize how we have taken them for granted – is a truly humbling and truly valuable life experience. I’ve been having trouble with my throat since last Christmas. And medical science has taken the better part of a year to finally identify the problem. Of course, by the time the proper diagnosis was made, the problem had grown into an unpleasant looking mass of stuff that had grown to the size of a marble just below my vocal chords. In that time, my ability to communicate was reduced to a raspy growl that would make Bruce Wayne proud. I have managed to continue to teach with a lavalier microphone, and a pocket stuffed with cough drops. However, even with those helpful crutches, I’ve had to contend with sudden attacks of uncontrollable hacking, and moments when I have had to slip out of the classroom altogether. At this point (October) my rich operatic voice is little more than a hoarse whisper. It’s even becoming difficult to breathe. I don’t think I would be able to teach for another week – as much as I love to teach. I suppose total incapacity is the only circumstance that could keep me out of the classroom or away from the students whose company I enjoy so much. On Monday, the last of a long line of medical specialist, took one look at me and scheduled surgery for Friday to ‘excise the mass’ from the ‘laryngeal area’. (That’s doctor talk.) He is a very good surgeon and I have complete confidence in him – though I am concerned about any surgery at or around my voice box. I want to breathe again – and I want to talk again. But in this life there are no guarantees. So, without seeming overly dramatic about my upcoming adventure tomorrow morning, (October 30), I would like to ask for an investment of your faith and prayers. If you believe in God, then he will honor your desires for good and bless you – and perhaps even me — for your efforts. If you don’t believe in God, then I’m sure he’ll appreciate your exertions all the more – and so will I. May our Father in Heaven be with us all, my friends. And may the effectual power of miracles change more than one life this week. Perhaps one of them will be mine. Last Saturday, Lindsey Stirling served as mistress of ceremonies for Arizona’s Distinguished Young Women awards. (“It’s not a pageant. It’s a scholarship program.”) It was a return of sorts for Lindsey. For on that very stage at Mountain View High School, in Mesa, that Lindsey herself was crowned as Arizona’s Junior Miss exactly 10 years ago. It was also at that same event that she experimented with a new concept in 2005. “I’d like to see if I can play the violin and dance at the same time.” Well, the rest is history. Granted, to see that ‘05 pageant performance and compare it to a 2015 Lindsey Stirling extravaganza is a real contrast. (She plays a lot better and she dances a LOT more.) Still at the time it was a new frontier — and it blew the audiences and the judges away. She had found something phenomenal that she has run with and made completely her own. But last Saturday night, ten years later, when I saw her take that podium as well as that stage, I realized something breathtaking. Lindsey is not only a talented and exceptional performer – she is also a consummate entertainer who is as comfortable hob-nobbing conversationally with a crowded auditorium as she is sharing her art with a packed amphitheater – and she is capable of doing both interchangeably. There are a lot of great performers, and not quite as many great entertainers. But Lindsey Stirling is both and more. She is a master at the art of showmanship – and that is rare. It is a discipline that comes naturally to a select few, in a complex blend of talent, a love of the stage, affection for the fans, and pure charisma. Not many have it — but Lindsey does. And it is that indefinable quality that has drawn enthusiasts to her from six continents – the mysterious something that is moving a world to fall in love with a dancing violinist. Anyone who has seen a Lindsey Stirling performance knows that it is a physically exhausting experience. One review reported that she stepped out onto the stage for her hour and a half concert “and-she-never-stopped-moving.” However I have heard testimony that the show is just as draining an experience for many fans. It is kind of a vicarious exhaustion that reaches out and touches the spectator – in the most intimate kind of synergy. Likewise, having Lindsey drop in for a week is a blessing, an adventure, and a workout all at the same time. And in many ways it is a group as well as an individual experience. Lindsey arrived in Arizona with her crew last Tuesday morning. Diane picked her up at the hotel. That might have looked like a relaxing day. But Lindsey spent a good part of it with someone who needed her — someone with whom she could converse about important things. She made a new friend and completely enjoyed herself. That is a lot of what Lindsey does whenever she can, because to Lindsey, life is about people. That night she played the national anthem at the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. She came home that evening (after a great game) but was on her way early Wednesday morning for Tuscon. It was my first day of school (another year begins) but I raced home after my last class so Diane and I could get to Lindsey’s Southern Arizona concert. I hadn’t seen it since the Red Rocks show in Colorado. But it never seems to get old. We were exhausted when we returned home at 1:00. But I can only imagine how tired Lindsey is – or should be after one of those performances. She and the crew drove to Phoenix the next morning to prepare for the concert at the Comerica Theater. Another day of teaching for me, and another grueling race to get to the venue where so many friends and fans gathered for another dynamic presentation. It is awesome to watch that girl entertain. Anyone who has seen her shoe knows that she doesn’t merely give a concert. She presents a spectacle in showmanship. And she did again that night for 5,000 spectators. She came back to Gilbert that evening, for a few more short hours of family and home. But it didn’t last long. Lindsey moves faster than a speeding bullet, and more frequently a locomotive – because they occasionally stop. We had to have her to the airport by 6 am for a flight to Utah. That day, Friday, she graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in youth management and psychology. Her emphasis was in helping at-risk girls. With Lindsey, it’s always about reaching out to people. On Saturday she was back on the road. And tomorrow (Monday) she performs at the Greek Theater in LA – a bucket list item for any artist – where she will end the “Music Box Tour.” I hope she takes a day or two off to get some rest. I know that whenever she comes to town for a visit – I always need some time to recuperate. In the meantime, can’t wait until she drops in again. It’s good exercise.

Synergy at Work Shevana of Denmark is the first service provider in Europe looking into sustainable accommodation solutions to improve the living quality of traveling professionals. In a recent survey 87% of HR specialists of international companies confirm that the comforts of apartment residence make employees feel happier, appreciated and less frustrated to change when working away from home. All survey respondents believe that provision of suitable accommodation to employees and their families during international assignments is essential for building performance and organizational health. We continuously encourage companies to promote residential wellbeing as a sustainable corporate practice with the foresight to enhance the wellness of employees at the project workplace. Travelling, photography, blogging, literature AndreiaI hasn't logged any travels yet. AndreiaI hasn't been active in the wiki travel guide yet. Have you?

The combination of the two, makes them even more effective when contained in eye creams that target at dealing and preventing all of the above skin conditions. Puffiness under eyes, the so called bags under eyes, is a common situation that people suffer from due to different reasons. One reason is the building up of fluid in this specific area because of poor drainage and fragile capillaries. The leakage of fluid into adjoining tissues creates those bags under eyes. If this fluid stays in the body, the bags may become bigger due to gravity. Moreover, as the years pass by, the area around the eyes loses fat, becomes thinner and loses its elasticity. What is Eyeliss? Eyeliss is a patented peptide, formulated in Europe and has been the secret of celebrities until fairly recently when it started hitting the public market, too. Peptides are known to be one of the building blocks of life, just like proteins. They are an important part of the skin, affecting collagen production and other crucial skin functions. Eyeliss is made by three active substances, Hesperedin Methyl, Chalcone and two peptide chains. It has been clinically proven that Eyeliss is very effective in all three conditions that cause puffiness. It improves drainage, reduces capillary fragility, irritation and skin slackening. Moreover, it is very potent in increasing firmness and elasticity of the skin. Clinical studies conducted in volunteers from 40 to 60 years old having a chronic condition of bags under eyes, have shown 65% of the people having their bags reduced within 28 days. Also, in 56 days, 70% of the volunteers showed a great improvement. 86% witnessed that Eyeliss moisturized their skin and 71% felt their skin softer and with a soothing effect. You can also check out what eyeliss reviews are saying. Clinical trials of Eyeliss were also made by the Electronic Retailing Self-Regulating Program (ERSP) investigating the positive claims made for Eyeliss and reported that those claims were completely justified. What is Haloxyl? Haloxyl is another unique ingredient, also clinically proven to reduce eye bags and dark circles under eyes by more than 60%. The two of them together, Eyeliss and Haloxyl can be powerfully combined in an effective eyeliss eye cream. Haloxyl boosts blood circulation, removes accumulated haemoglobin and helps towards the thickening of the skin under eyes. What Other Ingredients An Effective Eye Cream Should Have?Eyeliss and Haloxyl are both quality ingredients that can be used to treat puffiness effectively but have to be combined with other beneficial and not harmful ingredients to give you an eye cream that can successfully improve the appearance of eye wrinkles, eye bags and dark circles. Some skin care companies today create eyeliss products which also contain chemical synthetic ingredients to keep the cost low, resulting of course in extra profit. But the problem is that those chemical ingredients can cause skin dryness, irritation and faster aging. People these days are using skin care products which can be full of harmful ingredients that accumulate in the bodies over years, affecting even their overall health and they just don’t realize it. So, what is the benefit of taking a beneficial ingredient and combining it with other harmful ones? Natural quality ingredients in the right amounts is the answer to avoiding that. Eye Cream with Eyeliss and Haloxyl They use natural components in adequate amounts which work in synergy for better results. In their Eye Contour Cream for women they are using Eyeliss, Haloxyl and other effective natural ingredients. Some of them are: - Xtend-TK which is clinically proven to boost the collagen’s regrowth, elastin and new cells. - Nanobelle Coenzyme Q10 which penetrates your skin deep down and fights the free radicals that are also to be blamed for skin aging. - Homeo Age, deriving from a brown algae, is proven to reduce eye wrinkles. - Babassu is effective in softening the area around eyes. - Natural Vitamin E and Manuka Honey boost this eye serum’s anti aging properties. If you are looking for an Eyeliss Eye Cream with natural ingredients, then Xtend Life Eye Contour Serum for women and Xtend Life Eye Contour Cream with eyeliss for men is a very good option, followed by a 1 Year full Money back Guarantee if for any reason you are not completely satisfied with the product you have purchased. Xtend Life Eye Contour Serum has recently changed and renamed into Xtend Life Eye Contour Cream. Apart from this slight change of the product´s name, most of the product´s ingredients have also changed. Eyeliss is still the main ingredient but from what I was able to find, Haloxyl does not exist in the product´s ingredient list any more. For all the information given in this review relating to the ingredients, please go into the Xtend Life Official Site for an update of the new ingredients.

I am fortunate to lead an extraordinary institution: Empire State College, one of the sixty-four institutions of the State University of New York (SUNY), the largest comprehensive system in the United States. I am surrounded by talented and dedicated employees, and we have much to be proud of as an institution of open learning, one that thrives in an era of “open everything.” Most important, in the undergraduate and some graduate programs at SUNY Empire State College, learners work with faculty mentors to design individualized degree plans that integrate previous and emergent formal and experiential learning. Integration of the learners’ studies with their external worlds and with the vast array of open educational resources is understood and encouraged. Our learners are the original “EduPunks.”1 And in an era when, as my friend Elliott Masie likes to say, learning is more about getting smarter than about getting a degree, all of these approaches, plus the emergence of stackable credentials, would seem to position our institution ahead of those still trying to understand what disruptive innovation actually looks like. So, what keeps me up at night? During a forum with faculty to discuss the strategic direction of the college,2 one bright-spark faculty member in Labor Studies noted that the most common reason for a revolution is unfulfilled expectations. He thought I was promising a lot with my long-term vision, and he advised me to be careful. This advice came back to me as I prepared for a January 2012 workshop, jointly sponsored by EDUCAUSE and the Center for American Progress, focusing on the largely unfulfilled expectations of information technology to truly transform higher education and to fundamentally distort the iron triangle of access, cost, and quality. Sure, there are plenty of examples of individuals or departments and even institutions that, through innovation and some fundamental rethinking of the instructional model, effect real change. However, the oft-cited examples often seem to be institutions that do not have tenured faculty, recognizable academic freedom, any system of serious shared governance, or even, sometimes, a comprehensive array of academic offerings. As a devotee of public education at all levels, I believe these characteristics are foundational to sustaining academic quality and integrity, and I do not think that they, in and of themselves, inhibit effective change. In fact, academic autonomy and the freedom to challenge the status quo stimulate innovation and new approaches to everything. Academic freedom does slow things down occasionally, but often for good reason. (I’ll say more about speed later.) From a leadership perspective, what is hard is leveraging innovation beyond the small pilot or boutique system into something that can be shared and scaled up and widely adopted in order to extend the richness and reach of institutional offerings. Time and again, I learn about individuals or small groups doing some wonderful work, such as new instructional practices or innovative uses of information technology, only to find that similar work is being done elsewhere in the college in an effort to solve the same problem. Across the SUNY system, the same is true for the sixty-four campuses and their individual uses of information technology in instruction, with little evident synergism. The question then is, how can we encourage synergism? It is in the nature of most academics (and campuses) to want to figure things out for themselves, even though the benefits and efficiencies of collaboration and sharing would seem to be obvious. Certainly in most disciplines, conducting research without collaboration and extensive sharing is nearly impossible. In fact, the first and essential step in any potential research is to exhaustively search for what everyone else has already said or done and to connect with those in that research community. Surprisingly, this does not often happen routinely and rigorously when it comes to instruction, although some good work is emerging on how to scale up change through networks and incentives and the use of intermediary organizations.3 We are looking at this approach at SUNY through the establishment of Open SUNY, a space for collaboration and innovation in open and online learning across the system. The problem of synergy in instruction is likely exacerbated by distance. For example, SUNY Empire State College has thirty-five locations around the state and eight abroad, with a rich array of face-to-face instructional modes plus extensive online offerings that use many adjunct faculty who are themselves widely disbursed. We thus need to use information technology not only to deal with the iron triangle for the learners but also to support and foster collaboration across distances and disciplines. We need to provide sharing and innovating spaces that are open, robust, and intuitive. Ensuring collaboration and effective change is not just about the technology, however. We have the wherewithal, and intention, to design the best kind of open-learning system, one that provides places for faculty and learners to collaborate across the college and beyond. We do this by accessing open educational resources, building digital portfolios that integrate prior and emergent learning, supporting communities of practice, and stimulating relevant research and scholarship. But “build it and they will come” is not enough. Leaders must get back to the basics of leadership: motivating and building trust; creating a working environment where sharing, collaboration, and innovation are supported and rewarded; obtaining the funding needed to support people properly as they take risks; and being prepared to openly measure and discuss the impact of it all. When leaders can demonstrate success, they also must become enthusiastic braggarts about what has been accomplished as they set off to seek funding for the next round of innovation. I think we are taking all the right steps at my college and across the system for synergism. But I also worry about speed. That clever TV advertisement that shows a 4G-connected smart aleck having the scoop on office gossip over his 3G colleague (“that is so 27 seconds ago”) is disconcerting. Technology is moving rapidly, and the industry is adept at raising expectations and making money without regard to the ability of the human soul to adjust. Some observers have commented on the mismatch between the pace of change and the rate of human adaptability.4 I do not see the pace decelerating, nor do I see a decrease in expectations for the impact of information technology on higher education. Speaking of speed, some of my colleagues view our focus on innovation with technology as actually being complicit in an insane race to Doomsday.5 Arguing against this view is difficult when, for instance, newspapers write powerfully about the sustainability of the planet in one section and then elsewhere (in the financial pages) promote consumers’ capacity to buy more stuff as some sort of proxy for national economic health. This fragmentation of public discourse is seen everywhere, even in higher education. Part of my collaborative leadership thus involves having conversations about whether our focus on enabling higher education to create access and quality at low cost, thereby supporting workforce and economic development, misses the much larger issue of “why?” But I digress. This discussion should continue elsewhere, maybe in a future issue of EDUCAUSE Review: “The Doomsday Edition”? 1. Anya Kamenetz, “How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education,” Fast Company, September 1, 2009, <http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/138/who-needs-harvard.html>. 2. Empire State College, President’s Office, Vision 2015, <http://www.esc.edu/president/vision/2015/>. 3. See Adrianna Kezar, “The Path to Pedagogical Reform in the Sciences: Engaging Mutual Adaptation and Social Movement Models of Change,” Liberal Education, vol. 98, no. 1 (Winter 2012), <http://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-wi12/kezar.cfm>. 4. Rebecca D. Costa, The Watchman’s Rattle: Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction (New York: Vanguard Press, 2010). 5. Doomsday Clock Overview, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: <http://www.thebulletin.org/content/doomsday-clock/overview>.

Rosa Joshi, Ki Gottberg and Carol Wolfe Clay Associate Chair and Associate Professor of Fine Arts Professor of Fine Arts Professor of Fine Arts There’s tremendous synergy among this trio of theater professionals who ignite the imagination. A prize-winning playwright with training as an actor, Ki Gottberg directs and produces a range of theatrical productions in addition to teaching acting and playwriting. She received a playwriting fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts along with numerous commissions and awards for her work. Gottberg, a Seattle University faculty member since 1988, says both acting and playwriting call for a voice of authenticity about the intricacies of life. Scenic designer Carol Wolfe Clay enjoys manipulating theatrical space and creating that powerful moment when the audience first experiences the visual world of the play. Since joining the SU faculty in 1986, she designed more than 50 productions. Her scenic work is a regular feature of many Seattle theater productions, including six professional shows in a recent 18-month span, and she brings her students along as assistants whenever possible. Rosa Joshi is a director who likes digging into plays that explore the extremes of human behavior, whether classical or contemporary. Her all-female theater collective, upstart crow, casts only women actors, an unusual twist for what Joshi acknowledges is a male-dominated profession. Joshi, a member of the SU faculty since 2000, credits Clay and Gottberg with being especially formative to her career. The three regularly collaborate on projects, including a September 2012 production of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, which Rosa directed, Ki acted and Carol designed. Gottberg and Clay both won Footlight awards from the Seattle Times, Gottberg for a 2009 solo show and Clay for best set in 2011. Gottberg and Clay have collaborated on many projects, most recently the original new play with puppets, little world, which won a grant from the City of Seattle mayor’s office in 2011. All have a hand in professional theater and find opportunities for their students in off-campus theatrical productions. Gottberg says Seattle-area theater groups are partial to SU students as interns because of their breadth of experience working with professionals in the field. Clay, Gottberg and Joshi are artistic collaborators whose work has brought significant attention to Seattle University’s contributions to cultural life in Seattle.

Entertaining 'Roman de Gare' is full of intrigue 'Roman de Gare,' a French film from Claude Lelouch, is a user-friendly murder mystery. Roman de Gare takes a cue from Hitchcock KILLER EYES: Fanny Ardant stars as a famous writer accused of having committed the perfect crime in Roman de Gare . In 'Roman De Gare,' serial killer, writer have connection A popular crime novelist whose works may have been ghostwritten by a serial killer is one of the main characters passing through Claude Lelouch's fanciful Roman De Gare , a glossy melange of suspense and ... Aspen Film, in association with the Aspen Music Festival and School, will present seven films in the SummerFilms series. Roman de Gare Starring Dominique Pinon and Fanny Ardant, and Audrey Dana. In French with English subtitles. Opening Friday: 'Get Smart' Anne Hathaway stars as Agent 99 in the action comedy "Get Smart." 'The Foot Fist Way' Danny McBride stars in this martial-arts comedy. Israel Film Festival at Cinerama Dome SCREENING ROOM The Israel Film Festival celebrates the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel with the start of its 23rd edition tonight at the Cinerama Dome, featuring the U.S. premiere of "Secrets," ... Ardant to make stage appearance at festival French cinema actress Fanny Ardant will be in stanbul later this week to perform on the theater stage in an adaptation of Marguerite Duras' short story "La Maladie de la Mort" . The one-woman play, directed by ... Fanny Ardant to make her directing debut "It's a very personal story about blood ties in a clan, with a Shakespearian feel" French screen diva Fanny Ardant will make her directing debut with family drama "Cendres et Sang" , produced by Paolo Branco's Alfama Films. via Hollywood Reporter Movie review: Suspense lifts 'Roman de Gare' Roman de Gare: Suspense. Starring Dominique Pinon, Fanny Ardant and Audrey Dana. via SFGate Photo Credit: Fanny Ardant's picture is courtesy of Stars et Célébrités. Photographic illustrations of Fanny Ardant are copyright © by their respective holders. The images are published with permission or as allowed by the copyright law's fair use or quotation provisions. If any copyright holder objects to an image being included, please notify us and it will be removed immediately. Top Synergy reveals the methods and means that have led to the development of the popular Relationships Analyst. While some aspects are more suited to experienced astrologers, you will find a lot of fascinating topics that may sway you from any conservative views you may have about relationships. Find out why Astro Profile has become such an important self-improvement tool. And now, you can also get your own report, just like the ones we prepared for all the famous people on our database. With thousands of famous relationships and their Astro Profiles, you can analyze your relationships with your mentors and favorites and find out what types of relationships work best for you . You can also learn in great detail how they handle their relationships and other aspects of their lives, and what makes them tick. A knowledgebase about common topics is growing thanks to your inquiries and in-depth exploration of the workings of the Relationships Analyst. Enjoy your reading and help to further boost the FAQ section by posting your questions and comments. Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are. This ancient saying is also true when it comes to our love-, business-, and other relationships. This is why we are here; to make the most of ourselves, a courageous choice that enhances all aspects of life, relationships included. So come and join us, your friends who respect your imperfections, love your resolute, and embrace you for the wholesome being that you are! Top Synergy's popular Relationships Analyst calculates the intensity of the commitment, intimacy, passion, and synergy in your relationships. With this free yet powerful tool, you will also understand what types of relationships are most likely to work for you and your partner. The report also features your RQ (Relationship Quotient) score for the most common types of relationships, such as love, business, friendship, intellectual, sensual, etc. Enjoy practical articles about building and enhancing relationships, improving our self-awareness, and other interesting topics. Dr. Brenda Shoshanna - our anchor author and a world-renowned relationships psychologist - offers you the benefit of her vast professional experience. We seek more articles about more topics by more authors. Are you the one or know of any? Here you will find up-to-date news from around the world about relationships. Hundreds of hand-picked links are neatly organized by categories such as: dating, relationship support, sensual relationships, self improvement, and more. There is a special section dedicated to relationships in the new age: astrology, psychic, tarot, dreams, spells, etc.

Claude Lalumière‘s Nocturnes and Other Nocturnes (infinity plus, December 2013) collects twenty-five dark stories of sex and death, spanning realism and a breadth of fantastical genres. Previous books include the collection Objects of Worship (2009) and the mosaic novella The Door to Lost Pages (2011). He has edited or co-edited twelve anthologies in various genres, including Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic (2003), Lust for Life: Tales of Sex & Love (with Elise Moser; 2006), Tesseracts Twelve: New Novellas of Canadian Fantastic Fiction (2008), Masked Mosaic: Canadian Super Stories (with Camille Alexa; 2013), and Super Stories of Heroes & Villains (2013). With Rupert Bottenberg, he’s the co-creator of the multimedia cryptomythology project Lost Myths. KEITH BROOKE: Your most recent collection, Nocturnes and Other Nocturnes, falls into three sections: “Shades of Noir”, “Nocturnes” and “Strange Tales of Sex and Death”. What’s the rationale behind this collection and the way it’s organized? CLAUDE LaLUMIÈRE: As a reader I love the concept of the thematic collection, so, as a writer, I try to organize my stories and books that way, too. I’ve known for a few years that I had a collection brewing on the related themes of sex and death. Its exact breadth and scope kept changing, though. Of course, sex and death are a big part of most stories we tell, but I wanted to assemble those stories of mine that put those themes explicitly – and intimately – in the forefront. Until recently, I couldn’t quite figure out how to make the book come together and make sense as a statement or united work. Then, in early 2013, I woke up one morning with the story “Our Love” rattling around in my mind. I had no idea I was going to write anything that day, but once I’d finished it I knew that I’d written the final piece, the final word, for my sex and death collection. The book had to end with “Our Love” (and it does). Knowing that I’d finished writing it, I worked harder at assembling my new collection. I kept looking at all my available stories that fit the theme and kept reorganizing them this way and that, until I could no longer ignore that several of my “nocturnes” (a term I coined to describe the form of fiction called contes in French) absolutely had to be a part of the mix; I’d previously decided to exclude such texts from my previous collection, Objects of Worhsip, even though a few would have been excellent fits in that book. I already knew that my noir and quasi-noir stories would be slotted in the “sex and death” book. And there was a subset of my SF/fantasy/horror tales that had to be in there, too – those less outrageous in their speculative fancies than my usual SF and fantasy; more intimate and only one cognitive break away from reality. The uniting thread of the book is not generic but thematic. To paint a satisfying picture of my fictional explorations of those themes, the book had to be fluid about genre. But it also made sense, tonally, to group stories by mode. So I open with a subset of noirish realist tales (Shades of Noir), continue with a group of mythic nocturnes (Nocturnes), and end with a group of intimate stories of SF, fantasy, and horror (Strange Tales of Sex and Death). The book moves from realism to myth to fantasy, a path that made sense, especially given the theme(s) at play. KB: You’re one of those writers who is hard to label, with your work fitting most comfortably into the gaps between genres. Is challenging categorization a deliberate strategy on your part? Is genre labelling a good or a bad thing? CL: My life as a writer would be much easier if my work could be easily slotted anywhere. No, it’s not intentional. But I can’t seem to avoid it. As to genre labelling, it’s neither a good nor a bad thing – or rather both a good and bad thing. It’s both useful and unfortunate, necessary and distracting, fun and annoying. KB: Many of the stories in Nocturnes and Other Nocturnes are explicitly erotic, albeit erotica with a strange and dark twist; several of these have been published in Maxim Jakubowski’s Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica. What’s the attraction of dark erotica, and what kinds of things are you exploring in these stories? CL: I rarely set out to write explicitly erotic fiction, but I also don’t shy away from sex or from the sexual implications of who my characters are or what situations they find themselves in. KB: Much of your creative efforts over the years has gone into your multimedia cryptomythology project, Lost Myths (working with collaborator Rupert Bottenberg). What do you mean by ‘cryptomythology’ and where’s the best place for interested readers to start? CL: From 2010 to 2012, Rupert and I posted 101 Lost Myths at lostmyths.net. Until this past January the full archive was online, but we recently scaled that back and have kept only 21 of the more interactive or multimedia myths on the site, because right now we’re working on the book version of Lost Myths, and we want the website to be a complement, not a substitute, for the eventual book. The best place to start would be the very last Lost Myth we posted, “Cryptomythology 101“. Also, in the Nocturnes section of Nocturnes and Other Nocturnes, readers can find text-only versions of several Lost Myths. What is Lost Myths, or cryptomythology? Basically, it’s made-up mythology, with the conceit that it’s myth that’s out there to be found but hidden from consensus reality. We have a lot of fun with this concept. CL: I’ve tried collaborating with other writers, and I can’t do it. Writing is too hermetic a process for me to be able to collaborate in that sense. However, I love to collaborate with artists who work in fields other than writing, or with a co-editor for anthologies. In those two instances, I find collaboration easy, fun, and enriching, both for me and for the work. With Rupert, sometimes we start with an image of his, and I write text to go with it, and then he maybe tweaks the image to further fit the text, or adds new images to the final product. Or sometimes we start with a text of mine, and Rupert either illustrates it or adapts it to comics, and I might tweak the text based on Rupert’s comments. When it comes to Lost Myths, Rupert and I have an inexplicable creative synergy that continues to surprise both of us. The collaborative sum is always greater than the whole of our respective parts. We also had musical collaborators on several Lost Myths. For example, on “That Long-Foretold Second Coming,” we started with a text of mine. Then, Rupert added an illustration. Then, his father, composer Wolfgang Bottenberg, wrote a piece of solo cello music meant to accompany a dramatic performance of the myth. Then, my friend Saskia Latendresse, a cello player, was brought on to play the cello part. Saskia and I rehearsed for several nights until we were both happy with how her playing and my performance interacted. Then, we went over to musician and recording artist Matthew Jacob Lederman’s home studio, and he recorded us performing the piece together. Right now, I’m working with one of my favourite cartoonists, Bernie Mireault (creator of The Jam), and that process has been mind-blowing. Bernie is a genius, an artist’s artist whose work since the 1980s has influenced, directly and indirectly, a generation of cartoonists, and working with him has been and continues to be not only incalculably fun but also a valuable learning experience. Bernie enhances everything I give him in ways that constantly leave me in awe. I can’t wait to be able to show people the work we’re doing together. But it’s part of Avatars of Adventure, a larger project of mine, and I have to wait for more pieces to fall in place before going public. KB: As well as your work as an author, you’re also a prolific anthologist, with a dozen titles to your credit and more in the works. Surely picking a few stories to put in a book is the easiest job in the world? (Pause, as interviewer ducks for cover.) Or is there more to it than that? How did you get into this field and what are you trying to do with your anthologies? CL: There are three types of anthologies I’ve worked on. - Contract anthologies where I edit pre-selected stories (I edited four volumes collecting the winning stories from a literary competition); in this case, my job is to work with authors to hone the stories into publishable form and to find a good reading order for the book. - Thematic reprint anthologies; in this case, my favourite strategy is a mix of approaches: stories I already know I want; writer submissions; reader suggestions; and lots of research and reading. There’s very little editing per se with reprints (but there is some). - All-original thematic anthologies; this is where it’s most fun to work with a co-editor. I love the back-and-forth, the passionate arguments, being compelled to view stories through each other’s editorial eyes. I’m not fond of the lowest-common-denominator effect of slush readers or editorial committees, but two editors working together as equals is tons of fun and, to my mind, leads to a much more powerful final selection than either a solo editor or a committee could do. In this kind of anthology, there’s often quite a bit of substantive editing. As to what I’m trying to do … I love short fiction. Writing and editing are two complimentary facets of my passion for short fiction. CL: Well, I hate to play favourites. But I will point to two stories that had special meaning for me. In Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic, I published the final work by my dear friend Martin Last, who died three years later. Martin was a man who had led a rich life and befriending him and his lifetime companion Baird Last (who died a few years before Martin wrote this story) changed my life for the better in many ways. For Super Stories of Heroes & Villains, I convinced George R.R. Martin – although he was sceptical at first that it would work – to let me use his interstitial material from the first Wild Cards volume to form a unified mosaic story sketching the secret history of the Wild Cards universe. This material had never appeared in quite that form before, and I love the results. People have told me it’s one of their favourite stories in the book. KB: Next up on the anthology front is The Exile Book of New Canadian Noir, co-edited with David Nickle. Tell us more… CL: Well, the idea is to provide a snapshot of the noir esthetic in Canadian fiction today, with new works by contemporary Canadian writers, regardless of genre. Again, as in my own Nocturnes and Other Nocturnes, the thread will be thematic and not generic. We want to see noir explored in as many genres and modes as writers can come up with, including but not limited to traditional crime noir, lit noir, erotica, weird horror, superheroes, etc. We open to subs on 1 March, and details are at claudepages.info/new-canadian-noir. David and I were judges for a story contest a few years ago, and we’ve been waiting ever since for the right project to co-edit. KB: And what next from Claude the writer? CL: There’s Avatars of Adventure, a comics project with several cartoonist collaborators, including Bernie Mireault, Rupert Bottenberg, and a few more I can’t name yet. There are two Lost Myths books in the works, in collaboration with Rupert Bottenberg: one is a fake nonfiction book, surveying Lost Myths from around the world and beyond; the other is a collection of Lost Myths comics stories. I have another thematic collection that’s almost done, this one a collection of my adventure stories; it’s shaping up to be my longest collection. And I’m a few episodes shy of completing work on my mosaic novel Venera Dreams. Keith Brooke‘s first novel, Keepers of the Peace, appeared in 1990, since when he has published seven more adult novels, six collections, and over 70 short stories. For ten years from 1997 he ran the web-based SF, fantasy and horror showcase infinity plus, featuring the work of around 100 top genre authors, including Michael Moorcock, Stephen Baxter, Connie Willis, Gene Wolfe, Vonda McIntyre and Jack Vance. Infinity plus has recently been relaunched as an independent publishing imprint producing print and ebooks. His novel Harmony (published in the UK as alt.human) is a big exploration of aliens, alternate history and the Fermi paradox and was shortlisted for the Philip K Dick Award. His latest novels include Parallax View, a sort fiction collection co-authored with Eric Brown, and the Expatria duology. He also edited Strange Divisions and Alien Territories: the Sub-genres of Science Fiction, an exploration of SF from the perspectives of a dozen top authors in the field. He writes reviews for The Guardian and Arc, teaches writing at the University of Essex, and lives with his wife Debbie in Wivenhoe, Essex.

By John Burek October 27, 2014 2014 Guide: The Best Android Tablets Getting more features and screen for your money is a big part of Android tablets' appeal versus Apple's mighty iPad Air and iPad Mini tablets. Check out our top Android picks, big and small. Why consider an Android tablet in this age of Apple's slick, über-popular iPad Air and iPad Mini models? We can think of several good reasons, especially for buyers on a tight budget. (After all, even with Apple's late-2014 price shifts, no one ever accused Apple of selling its iPads for anything less than top dollar.) But perhaps using straight-up Android seems a daunting, unfamiliar choice of operating system. If so, one thing's worth mentioning before all others: Perhaps you're already using Android. You may own an Android tablet, and not even know it. Got an Amazon Fire tablet of some stripe? What we call the "bookseller tablets"—Amazon's Fire line and Barnes & Noble's now-discontinued Nook tablets (the color models, not the companies' monochrome e-book readers) run various versions of Android. They are heavily modified, or "skinned," to create tablet experiences optimized for buying and consuming media purchased from those sellers. If you have one of these, the Android operating system may not be all that foreign. Some makers of general-purpose Android tablets skin Android, too, though far less drastically than the booksellers do. A "true" Android-tablet experience, though, gives you more flexibility out of the box. You may know Android from a smartphone, as well, and in that possibility lies one of an Android tablet's potential advantages: app synergy. If you've already bought a host of Android apps for your Android-based smartphone, you may be able to use some of them on your tablet, even if they render a bit low-res on its bigger screen. (Likewise, owning a host of apps for an Apple iPhone can tilt a buyer toward an iPad for the same reason.) Going Android or iOS (the operating system in the iPad) is mostly a matter of personal preference, depending on which OS you are already comfortable with, coupled with what you're willing to pay for a tablet. That last element—price—is where Android tablets tend to shine. With the cheapest new (and non-refurbished) Apple iOS-based tablet now starting at $249 (that would be the 7.9-inch-screened iPad Mini), you can generally get more tablet hardware and features for your money with an Android tablet, especially in terms of screen inches per buck. The "classic," full-size iPad Airs now start at $399 for the 2013-vintage iPad Air (which is still available new) and $499 for the current-gen model, the new-for-2014 iPad Air 2. (Hit the link for a preview of that tablet.) If an iPad Mini or Air is out of budget reach, Android makes for an excellent alternative. The Buying Basics Name-brand Android tablets fall into two broad screen-size classes: compacts (with 7-inch to 8.3-inch screens) and full-sizers (10-inch and larger screens). Most of the 7-inch Android tablets run $100 to $200; the 8-inchers range from $150 to around $400; and the bigger-screen models start around $200 and range well upward. The most feature-packed 10-inch models, such as the killer Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, start near the same $499 as the cheapest version of the iPad Air 2. (You'll also see a bunch of budget-priced 9-inch Android tabs out there, but these are almost exclusively second-stringer models worth ignoring.) In this roundup, we'll ignore the Amazon tablets in favor of "pure" Android tablets, most of which allow unfettered access to the Google Play store for apps and media. (The Play store's inventory is impressive, if not quite up to the organizational or quality level of Apple's App Store and iTunes Store.) At the 7-inch size, our favorites remain Google's 2013 refresh of the Nexus 7 and Asus' bargain-priced MeMO Pad 7; the latter is a 2014-issue, $149-list tablet that's much the same as Google's very good 2012 version of the Nexus 7. These are the value leaders at their price points among 7-inch tabs we've tested, though we've seen workable, unspectacular models as low as $119. (We'd generally avoid the under-$100 brigade of non-name-brand Android tablets typically sold in drugstores and other such outlets; some don't offer full access to Google Play, and their screens tend to offer quite subpar resolutions.) In the burgeoning 8-inch class, it's hard to beat the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and its stellar screen, but it's also pricey, starting at $399, the same price as a full-size 2013 iPad Air or a 2014 iPad Mini 3. Good, budget-friendlier models at the 8-inch size are the Asus MeMO Pad 8 and Dell Venue 8 3000 Series, both under $200. An intriguing middle-of-the-pack model to consider, if you're buying a tablet mainly for game-playing, is Nvidia's new Shield Tablet, which we're aiming to review in the next few weeks. It's outfitted with gaming-grade graphics and some interesting side features of interest to serious PC gamers. (Meantime, check out a review of Shield on our sister site, PCMag.com.) As for the 10-inch-and-bigger class, our current faves include Sony's elegant, superthin Xperia Z2 Tablet and, for those intrigued by the idea of advanced stylus input, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition). If the biggest possible screen and some rudimentary multitasking are what you're after, another option worth investigating is Samsung's big-screen (12.2-inch!), pricey Galaxy Note Pro 12.2. Intrigued? See our deep-dive reviews of 12 of the best Android tablets on the market that we've tested of late. We've got details on battery life, feature sets, and much, much more. Check out the best Android tablets we've tested... Our Verdict: A premium-priced tablet with an eye-popping display, the Tablet S delivers the most innovation we've seen in several tablet generations. It's the best full-size Android slate to date. Our Verdict: Today’s best compact Android tab, this 8.4-incher packs the most innovation we've seen in several tablet generations. The color-rich display literally stands out from the crowd, and the slim design and low weight make the Tab S easy to tote. Our Verdict: Among the thinnest, lightest full-size Android slates to date, the Z2 is fast, packs a great display, and is both attractive and durable. It's premium in every sense, competitive with Samsung's and Apple's best. Our Verdict: This refresh of Samsung's pen-enabled, full-size power tablet is fancier and faster, and it packs a spectacular beyond-high-res screen. It's one of our favorite Android slates to date. Our Verdict: Blazingly fast and packing a stunning HD screen, this 2013 update of the Nexus 7 rewrites the rules for compact Android slates. If you’re looking for the best 7-inch tablet to date, this is it—and the race is not close. Our Verdict: With a superior screen and a light, attractive chassis, Dell’s Atom-refreshed 8-inch tablet delivers fine value and performance for the price. Our Verdict: This budget-friendly 10.1-inch Android tablet comes with a detachable keyboard and surprisingly good screen—and it doesn't cost more than the average entry-level stand-alone slate. Our Verdict: This budget-friendly 8-inch Android tablet delivers a fine-looking screen, decent audio, and strong performance—all for under $200. Our Verdict: With a supersize screen, a stylus, and multitasking, the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is the first Android tab to balance form and function for real productivity use. (But compare the price, fully outfitted, with that of a very able laptop before diving in.) Our Verdict: Like its predecessor (the HD 7), the MeMO Pad 7 redefines what a budget tablet can be, in a snappy Atom-based 7-incher ideal for students, children, and tablet first-timers. Our Verdict: This pen-enabled 7-inch Android tablet delivers good value, even if the design's a bit clunky and the stylus implementation undercooked. It’s one fast slate for under $200.

Add all your Contacts' Birthdays to the calendar with iCalImporter While PalmOS would automatically add your contacts' birthdays to your calendar, webOS has yet to add that feature in. We have already shown you how you can get your Facebook birthdays or your Google Contacts' birthdays added to your Google Calendar, but there are a few drawbacks to using those methods. First, you may have duplicate calendar events if a contact's birthday is in both their Facebook profile and your Google contact record. In addition, neither of those methods allow for notifications to remind you of the event. Finally, if you have contacts in your Palm Profile or other synergy account, those birthdays will be stuck in the Contacts app, seemingly never to appear on your calendar. However, webOS App Developer (and prolific homebrew developer) MetaView, the original developer of the UberCalendar patch, has devised a solution to getting all of your contacts' birthdays into your calendar, as well as providing alert notifications for those events. In order to accomplish this, you will need two pieces of software. First, you will need to download the homebrew app BirthdayEvents from Preware or webOS Quick Install. Then, you will also need to purchase iCalImporter from the official App Catalog (available for all webOS versions) for $1.49. After you have these two apps, continue after the break for detailed instructions on how to import your birthdays. Open BirthdayEvents on your device and tap the green "Create Events" button. You will be presented with options to determine if you want a notification alert to go off before the event (you can decide for "No Reminder" or at noon 1, 2, 3 or 7 days beforehand), and if you want to add just one years worth of birthday events or if they should repeat forever. The app will read all of your contacts from all your synergy accounts and then launch the iCalImporter app. Be patient as it will read through your contacts and update the "Total" number of birthdays. At this point, you have a few options of how to add these events to your calendar 1. Import directly from iCalImporter - Simply tap the "Update Calendar" button on the top of iCalImporter app to add these events to your calendar. - Note that once you create these events, you should immediately go to the Accounts app, find the iCalImporter account and make sure that "Calendar" is turned ON. Otherwise, these events will appear in an "undefined" account 2. Import to Google Calendar - Instead of tapping the "Update Calendar" button, go back to the BirthdayEvents app. - The app will provide you with an iCal-formatted list of all the birthdays. From here you can tap the "Save" button and it will save the file to your device (it will be saved on the USB drive as BirthdayEvents[Today's date].ics . Note that this option to save an .ics file will only be available if you have iCalImporter installed on your device - Copy this file on to your computer - Go to http://www.google.com/calendar on your computer - Tap the dropdown arrow to the right of "Other calendars" on the bottom left and select "Import Calendar". - Find the BirthdayEvents.ics file and select which Google Calendar you want to import the events into. If you want to create a separate calendar, cancel out of this, create that new calendar, and then select "Import Calendar" again - You will now have all your contacts' birthday in Google Calendar that can sync to your device, complete with any notifications you specified The main benefit of using a Google Calendar import vs an iCalImporter account import is that you will have access to these events on all your devices, not just the one you did the import on. So, you may be asking yourself if it's worth the $1.49 to purchase iCalImporter to get your contacts birthdays on your calendar, or if you should just stick with importing your Google and Facebook birthdays instead. Here is a rundown of the pros and cons of iCalImporter - If a contact has a birthday listed in Facebook and your Google Contacts account, iCalImporter will only create one entry for that birthday instead of two separate ones in your calendar - You can add notification alerts to your events - You can download a file for future references or to load elsewhere as necessary - This import is a static one-time import. So, if you add or remove contacts or add birthday's to your contacts, they will not be updated on your calendar. As your contact list changes, you will need to re-import the calendar - Many of your Facebook friends may have their birthdays on their Facebook profile (and would therefore before included in a direct Facebook import) but have privacy settings to not send that data to your synergy contact record. So, you may be missing some birthdays if you do not also do a Facebook import, which would result in duplicate listings (although I found that most of my Facebook friends did get pulled in with a BirthdayEvents import) So, if those benefits outweigh the drawbacks, then go to the App Catalog and pick up a copy of iCalImporter. Also, while you are at it, pick up a copy of MetaView's other app AgendaZ for webOS 2.0 and higher that will give you a great agenda view of your appointments

Having just moved into my new apartment in Providence, Rhode Island, I was elated to discover that Verizon FIOS was an available option for my television and internet needs. If you’ve never heard of FIOS, it’s essentially a fiber optic cable fed directly into your home capable of providing ludicrous speeds and outstanding response time. Needless to say I opted for their fasted package. 35Mb Up/Down. This is my result: Now we’re cooking with lasers! So far so good… but after getting everything hooked up and configured, there were a few random bits that weren’t working; namely MobileMe, Back to my Mac, and Synergy. Thanks to Ken Yegelski’s really awesome blog post over at his blog Just One Point of View, I was up and running in a snap. His trick involved diving into the modem/router combo that Verizon provides you, and configuring the IP address range to accomodate for the 10.0.x.x IP’s that OSX is used to, and putting the AirPort Extreme into Bridge Mode. Dead simple, and almost totally effective. The only thread left hanging for me, is Synergy. Synergy is software installed on multiple machines that run over a network in a client/server fashion, allowing to share a keyboard and a mouse with each other. Previous to having FIOS, everything worked fine; now, my keyboard doesn’t share. Mouse works fine, just no keyboard. So consider this post a giant thanks and hat-tip to Ken, and a signal flare for experience on configuring Synergy/SynergyKM between OSX and Windows7.

London resi developer Regal Homes has brought in a new Head of Sales & PR, and a new in-house interior designer. Trish Henderson joins as Head of Sales & PR from Taylor Wimpey, where she’s spent the last four years as UK and International Sales & Marketing Director and a board member. At TW, Henderson was behind branding for the developer’s new division – Taylor Wimpey Central London – and drove concepts and strategies for all developments. Before this, she worked for the Ballymore Group as UK and European Sales Director; Berkeley Group, Cobham as Head of Investments, and also at Berkeley East and West London as Sales & Marketing Director. Derrick Bareness has also been recruited as an Interior Designer, which Regal is trumpeting as “a key milestone in the company’s continued expansion.” Bareness was previously at Mixity Design, where he established the Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment (FF&E) department, and oversaw the implementation of Spec Designer – a comprehensive web-based specification software system, which was specifically engineered to help interior designers and FF&E departments increase productivity, keep track of every detail and save time by managing projects and providing remote access to data any time. His projects included fitting out Trump Tower Hotel and Residences in Baku. Pre-Mixity, he served with GA Design as a Senior FF&E Designer, where his projects included concept design for the Langham Hotel, Hong Kong, and FF&E design for the executive suites at the JW Grosvenor on Park Lane, London. Paul Eden, CEO of Regal Homes: “Trish will be a very valuable addition to the Regal Homes management team. Her impressive portfolio of experience will help to drive the Regal Homes brand identity to greater heights and help the company to consolidate its position as an industry leader in delivering high quality London homes. “Derrick is a strategic hire as we strive to strengthen the interior design component of our business. His impressive portfolio of high-end projects reflects the high standard of quality our customers have come to expect from Regal Homes and he will undoubtedly help us to continue to deliver London’s highest quality homes.” Trish Henderson: “Regal Homes is a natural fit for me and I am looking forward to joining at this pivotal point in its growth. I have been impressed by the company’s achievements up to this point and I hope that I will be able to add an extra dimension to an already very talented team of individuals and help the company continue this steady growth.” Derrick Bareness: “Making the transition from agency to in-house is a strategic decision. I am keen to work with greater autonomy and Regal Homes is the perfect fit – offering creative freedom and flexibility. There is a synergy between the quality of homes they build and the interior design I deliver, which I will leverage to showcase their outstanding projects. I look forward to working with the talented team at Regal Homes and driving forward the interiors of the many exciting and innovative projects in the development pipeline.”

“You have to learn how to interpret the cards, they don’t do much for the unaware, or untrained, thus they are just tools - Magic not included.” The problem sets in when people assign esoterical values to things that aren't at all esoteric. I tend to think the traditions being passed off as hard rules or "belief" systems started out as a way to create a common ground among the first readers or across the many as an evolutionary step as a form of discipline training but in the end the cards contain no magic, burying your deck in salt will not remove any "energies" the cards have collected, and any form of Tarot spells are not magic but rather again, discipline in action. The idea behind the salt and various traditions for "keeping the deck pure" and "cleansing the deck" are rooted more in convincing the mind and bypassing hard core filters/beliefs that may be hindering your ability to fully "believe" in your ability to activate your intuition and read the cards then to articulate what happens in your thought process. It's about convincing you that your mind is clear so you stop holding on to thoughts that may be counter productive. Think about it, if you truly believe that by burying your deck in salt for a few days would cleanse them, wouldn't you be more apt to believe they are, and thus YOU are, not encumbered by anyone else's or even negative energies? It's about cleansing the thought stream and actually feeling clarity of thought. Belief is a very powerful medicine and it can even cure foggy thought syndrome. If you believe you can, you simply can. The inscents, lowered lights, and candles are all part of utilizing the environment externally to calm the environment internally- it's also about "getting into character"- putting your mind and focus in the right place to accomplish the task. It's also about generating the magic- ambition and focus of thought. Think about this as a Karate Expert breaking a 6" thick board perched between two stacks of bricks with his forehead- sheer strength and thrust alone will only give the guy a concussion but focus and a SPECIFIC state of mind, clear of thought, razor sharp focus and of course practice learning how the body moves, the laws of physics. That there is a very specific way you have to hit that board, a specific amount and control of thrust (i.e. hitting the board with the fibers), and a specific amount of counter balancing, and retraction of your body parts is required so you hit the board hard enough but don't reverberate that energy back into your scull causing a concussion This is not an easy skill set to learn but once learned and practiced, completely understood and executed with precision- it can appear to the uninformed as a "magic" feat, or an "impossible" feat- but it's just physics and the mind working in synergy! Luckily, the Tarot skill set is much easier to learn and develop and much safer during the development period- worse case scenario, you get it wrong but can later see (you should always record your reading on paper or video so you can review after the period you asked the question for i.e. "next week" "this month" etc...) and crystallize what the reading really was telling you. It's a great way to learn actually as you start to develop this way and it feels like a chain reaction of beautiful aha moments! End Side Bar

webOS updates, a look back With webOS 2.0 due out before the end of the year, we thought it’d be fun to take a look back at how far webOS has come since version 1.0. So we’re going to do that, and we’re going to go back to the beginning to start. Actually, we’re going to go back to the first update, webOS version 1.0.2, which landed on June 5, 2009, otherwise known as the day before the much-anticipated release of the Palm Pre. It was a different time, both literally and figuratively - one only need look at the modern smartphone landscape to see how drastically things have changed since June 2009. For perspective, the top-tier phones of the day: the iPhone 3GS, the HTC Hero (only in Europe), the BlackBerry Bold/Tour, and the Palm Pre. My, how things have changed. After the break, we chronicle just how webOS has changed over the past 16 months. webOS 1.0.2 - 5 June 2009 - The clock app appeared, bringing the begged-and-pleaded-for native alarm solution the day before the Pre officially launched. - Several glaring webOS 1.0 bugs were squashed, including making the camera app run faster. webOS 1.0.3 - 19 June 2009 - Updates were fast and light in the early days, with many kinks still to be worked out once webOS was being tested by tens of thousands of early adopters. - Changes were also made to meet real world usage scenarios, including more frequent calendar and contact syncing. - Non-SSL Microsoft Exchange support was baked in, the first in a long series of incremental updates to Exchange support in webOS. webOS 1.0.4 - 29 June 2009 - Perhaps the fastest webOS update we ever saw, 1.0.4 came with one goal in mind: patching a fairly major security flaw that gave us our first taste of homebrew. The hole patched was that any application installer file (ipk) downloaded through email or the web installed without warning or prompt. While very cool for early homebrew, it was also a big vulnerability if left unpatched. webOS 1.1.0 - 23 July 2009 - The first major update to webOS, version 1.1.0 brought changes to several apps, as well as numerous system tweaks and enhancements. - Facebook contacts Synergy support was corrected such that removing a friend also deleted that contact. - Email received additional Exchange enhancements (including PIN enforcement and remove wipe) and the ability to sync new Gmail labels (as folders). - iTunes sync was restored for the first time after Apple broke Palm’s debatably hacky “I’m an iPod!” sync method. webOS 1.2.0 - 28 September 2009 - Amazon MP3 was updated to allow downloads over cellular connections. - The first ecommerce groundwork was laid in the App Catalog, allowing you to enter and store a credit card number. - Email gained search capabilities, merely start typing to search subjects, senders, and recipients. - Email, Web, Contacts, and Messaging all received non-editable text copy-paste (editable text having been available since day zero). webOS 1.2.1 - 2 October 2009 - iTunes sync was fixed, again. This time photo synchronization was added in. This would not last. - Version 1.2.1 also baked in all the fixes from 1.2.0, as the casual update checking nature of webOS meant that not everybody had downloaded 1.2.0 by the time Palm pushed out the 1.2.1 update four days later. - Just a few days after 1.2.1 was released, the first paid webOS apps were made available for purchase. webOS 1.3.1 - 13 November 2009 - Yahoo Synergy synchronization was added, bringing Yahoo email, calendar, and chat support. - Contact linking support was updated to differentiate between similar-but-different names, as well as suffix-carrying names. - PIN-locking (both voluntary and EAS-enforced) was updated to allow PINs of longer than four digits. webOS 1.3.5 - 28 December 2009 - Version 1.3.5 fixed a major oversight that up until the paid-app expansion of the App Catalog hadn’t been an issue for many outside the homebrew community: Palm’s file system implementation partitioned webOS such that installed apps were in a separate partition from the USB drive. This allowed for apps to not carry burdensome security measures. But it also meant that that no matter how much space a user had free in the USB-accessible partition, they only had a small space available for app installations. Palm fixed this with 1.3.5, creating a system that stored apps in the spacious USB partition, but inside an auto-encrypting folder that would mask itself when the phone was put into USB mode. - The webOS update mechanism was also adjusted so that users could download an update over 2G data connections instead of just 3G and Wi-Fi. This wasn’t a recognized issue until the Pixi was released the month prior. With no Wi-Fi, the Pixi could only download updates over 3G connections, and if that wasn’t available, there was no way to get a webOS update. Palm eventually crafted an App Catalog app to help Pixi users stuck on 1.2.9 (a special Pixi launch-only version of webOS) and 1.3.1 get to the point where they could download 1.3.5. webOS 184.108.40.206 - 4 January 2010 - Released quickly after 1.3.5, version 220.127.116.11’s sole purpose as to fix an Exchange bug in 1.3.5 that made all Exchange-synced Calendar events disappear. webOS 1.4.0 - 25 February 2010 - Custom alert tones came to Calendar, Email, and Messaging. - PDK gaming came to webOS, as promised at CES the month prior. The App Catalog selection was still limited to beta partners, but the bright new world of 3D gaming on-par with what was offered on Apple iOS devices was too fantastic to downplay. Except for the low market share app price premium levied on webOS users. - The ability to record video was added to webOS, bringing along on-device editing and uploading to YouTube and Facebook, plus sending as MMS and email attachments. - Paid app purchases were expanded internationally. - If you were a US Pre user, you already had app purchases, and instead reaped the benefits of multiple bug fixes. webOS 1.4.5 - 30 June 2010 - The most painful of webOS update releases, it took until 11 October 2010 for all devices to have webOS 1.4.5 available. Scratch that, it’s still not available on Telcel in Mexico. The suspected reason for the delay was for Palm to have time to fix a bug that affected how PDK apps saved files (e.g. your progress in a game), but for whatever reason that bug was not fixed even in later parts of the extended roll-out. - The groundwork was laid for the PDK apps program to be opened up to all developers, with proper sandboxing for PDK apps enabled. Prior to webOS 1.4.5, PDK apps ran with unlimited access to files all across the device - a major security concern, but not a problem so long as the PDK program was in beta. With the PDK program leaving beta, said PDK apps were in need of walls, hence the sandboxing. So, there it is, the history of webOS updates. Excluding oddball versions of webOS (like 1.2.9 on the Sprint Pixi launch and 1.4.2 on the AT&T Pre Plus and Pixi Plus launch), we’ve seen some twelve updates to webOS over the span of sixteen months. It’s an impressive pace, one that was especially evident when major bugs - usually Exchange-related - were discovered soon after an update’s release and a fixed version of webOS was released just a few days later. With webOS 2.0 around the corner, we’re looking forward to some more major changes to the way webOS works. We’re also looking forward to webOS coming from a Palm with the backing of HP. Our hope is that that’ll mean two things: more frequent larger updates (i.e. more new features, API support, etc), and more thoroughly-tested updates (i.e. no more broken Exchange support with every other update). Now that you’ve read through the short but tumultuous history of webOS updates, what do you think of Palm's pace to date?

|Home | Archives | About | Login | Submissions | Notify | Contact | Search| Copyright © 2006 by the author(s). Published here under license by The Resilience Alliance. Go to the pdf version of this article The following is the established format for referencing this article: López-Hoffman, L., I. E. Monroe, E. Narváez, M. Martínez-Ramos, and D. D. Ackerly 2006. Sustainability of mangrove harvesting: how do harvesters’ perceptions differ from ecological analysis? Ecology and Society 11(2): 14. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss2/art14/ Research, part of Special Feature on Do we need new management paradigms to achieve sustainability in tropical forests? Sustainability of Mangrove Harvesting: How do Harvesters’ Perceptions Differ from Ecological Analysis? 1Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2Winrock International, 3Instituto para la Conservación del Lago de Maracaibo, 4University of California at Berkeley To harvest biological resources sustainably, it is first necessary to understand what “sustainability” means in an ecological context, and what it means to the people who use the resources. As a case study, we examined the extractive logging of the mangrove Rhizophora mangle in the Río Limón area of Lake Maracaibo, in western Venezuela. The ecological definition of sustainable harvesting is harvesting that allows population numbers to be maintained or to increase over time. In interviews, the harvesters defined sustainable harvesting as levels permitting the maintenance of the mangrove population over two human generations, about 50 yr. In Río Limón, harvesters extract a combination of small adult and juvenile trees. Harvesting rates ranged from 7–35% of small adult trees. These harvesting levels would be sustainable according to the harvester's definition as long as juvenile harvesting was less than 40%. However, some harvesting levels that would be sustainable according to the harvesters were ecologically unsustainable, i.e., eventually causing declines in mangrove population numbers. It was also determined that the structure of mangrove forests was significantly affected by harvesting; even areas harvested at low, ecologically sustainable intensities had significantly fewer adult trees than undisturbed sites. Western Venezuela has no organized timber industry, so mangrove logs are used in many types of construction. A lagging economy and a lack of alternative construction materials make mangrove harvesting inevitable, and for local people, an economic necessity. This creates a trade-off between preserving the ecological characteristics of the mangrove population and responding to human needs. In order to resolve this situation, we recommended a limited and adaptive mangrove harvesting regime. We also suggest that harvesters could participate in community-based management programs as harvesting monitors. Key words: conservation; tropical forest; sustainable management; Venezuela. Conservation biologists now recognize that social and ecological systems must be linked, and local and scientific knowledge integrated, to develop ecologically resilient and sustainable community-based management programs (Berkes and Folke 1998, Becker and Ghimire 2003, Brown 2003). Biological resources can only be sustainably managed when scientific knowledge of population structures, abundances, and growth rates are integrated with the knowledge of the local people who use these resources (Berkes et al. 1998, Mackinson and Nottestad 1998, Turner et al. 2000, Armitage 2003, Brown 2003, Moller et al. 2004). Recently, however, several authors have argued that the term “sustainable” is vague (Newton and Freyfogle 2005a,b). They maintain that it is essential to ask the following questions: What is being sustained? By whom? For whom? Over what time period? We believe that to sustainably manage biological resources it is first important to understand what sustainable means both ecologically and to the people who use the resources. Only when contrasting meanings of sustainability are clearly defined can community-based management programs be developed that link social and ecological systems. Here we examine the extractive logging of the mangrove Rhizophora mangle in the Río Limón area of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela as a case study for understanding the concept of sustainability from both biological and social perspectives. First, we studied the effects of harvesting on mangrove forest structure, and modeled the effects of harvesting on population dynamics to understand sustainability from an ecological perspective. We asked the following question, “What is the effect of harvesting on forest structure and the long-term fate of the mangrove population.” We used field surveys of harvested plots to determine harvesting rates and the effects of harvesting on forest structure. We studied the dynamics of an undisturbed mangrove population to understand the mangrove population’s potential resilience to harvesting. We surveyed forest plots to determine the range of harvesting intensities in the region. Matrix population projection models were then used to simulate harvesting and (Usher 1969a,b), and matrix elasticity analysis was used to detect vulnerable mangrove population elements in which harvesting has the most impact on mangrove population growth (de Kroon et al. 1986). Second, we interviewed local harvesters about their local knowledge and to determine how they understand the concept of sustainability. We asked them if they thought it important to sustainably harvest the mangroves, and to define the time frame over which the mangrove resource should be sustained. We inquired if they thought that current levels of mangrove harvesting were sustainable. We asked for their opinion of what makes mangroves resilient or susceptible to harvesting. Finally, we inquired about harvesting practices, and whether the availability of the mangrove resource had changed over time. Biological knowledge of mangrove population dynamics and an ecological interpretation of sustainability were then compared with the harvesters’ knowledge and definition of sustainability. The ultimate goal of this project was to provide local people and managers with sufficient information about the ecology and social context of mangrove harvesting for the development of an ecologically and socially integrated community-based mangrove management program. Study site and species selection The Río Limón mangrove forests of Lake Maracaibo (10,900 ha) are Venezuela’s fourth largest mangrove system (Galue and Nucette 1982, Conde and Alarcón 1993). They are located 50 km northeast of Maracaibo, Venezuela’s third largest city. Two of the four species of mangrove present in the area, Laguncularia racemosa and R. mangle are harvested for logs. These species are restricted to low intertidal, low salinity areas. Here we focus on R. mangle because it is the most common (Narváez 1998) and the most commonly harvested species (López-Hoffman and Narváez, personal observation). Historical and sociological background For centuries, indigenous groups have used logs from the mangroves of Lake Maracaibo to build canoes and palafitos, stilt huts (Conde and Alarcón 1993). Western Venezuela has no organized timber industry, so today mangrove logs are used in many types of construction, from palafitos to the scaffolding used to build homes, stores, and office buildings in Maracaibo and other nearby large cities. In the 1970s, the Venezuelan government became alarmed at the rapid rate of mangrove decline and decreed that all remaining mangroves would be government-owned lands (Lacerda 2002). Although mangrove harvesting is now illegal, the Venezuelan National Guard does not appear to have sufficient resources to enforce mangrove protection. In the Río Limón area, mangrove stands within 1–2 km of the National Guard station are not harvested, although harvesting is common in more removed areas (López-Hoffman and Narváez, personal observation). Mangrove logs are harvested by small groups of 2–6 men using machetes. Each group of harvesters has plots of mangrove forest that they harvest on a regular basis, but the plots do not legally belong to the harvesters. Rather, there are informal agreements between harvesters about who has the right to harvest a given plot. After cutting, mangrove logs are transported by boat to nearby communities where they are sold. Most logs are sold directly by the harvesters, but there are middlemen who buy logs and resell them in the nearby city of Maracaibo at higher prices. Historically, only rural and indigenous people harvested mangroves, but increasingly, urban people are engaging in harvesting. Conversations with local officials indicate this may be due to lax enforcement, a lagging economy, and a lack of alternative construction materials. For most harvesters, fishing is their primary source of income, and mangrove harvesting is secondary; some urban harvesters engage in other activities. The mangroves of Lake Maracaibo been shown to be vital for the maintenance of healthy shrimp and fish stocks (Gil et al. 2003). In addition to logs, the only other direct usage of mangroves that has been observed is the collection of honey from hives in A. germinans trees. Interviews with harvesters In July and August 2001, we interviewed 23 harvesters from the urban community of El Moján and 12 and 5 from the rural communities of Puerto Paez in Laguna de Sinamaica and Maraca Island, respectively. The subjects were between 22 and 92 yr of age (mean = 47.6, SD = 6.3 yr), and had between 1 and 66 yr of harvesting experience (mean = 21.3, SD = 17.1 yr). In 2002, the parish of San Rafael, where El Moján is located, had a population of 54,282, most living in or around the town (OCEI 2002). In 1992, Puerto Paez and Maracas Island had populations of 372, of which 200 were men, and 233, of which 125 were men, respectively (OCEI 1992). Most rural men harvest mangroves at least occasionally. We do not know how many urban men harvest mangroves. Rather than determine the number of potential harvesters in the region, we wanted to understand how those who do harvest perceive the sustainability of harvesting. The anonymous interviews were conducted at local meeting places for fishermen and harvesters. We interviewed all the harvesters present at the time of our visit in the late afternoon or early evening. We used both the semidirected interview and the questionnaire suggested by Huntington (2000) for assessing local knowledge. In the semidirected interview, we inquired about the harvesters’ belief systems; we asked the harvesters about the importance of sustainable harvesting, to define sustainability, and if they thought current harvesting levels were or were not sustainable, we asked why or why not. In the questionnaire, we asked for quantitative assessments of harvesting practices and perceived changes in mangrove resource availability over time (Table 1). Examples of harvesting practices are the number of logs extracted on a daily basis and number of months waited before returning to harvest a given site (Table 1). Given that the Venezuelan National Guard rarely enforces mangrove protections and because the interviews were anonymous, we do not believe the subjects were hesitant to give frank answers. Principal components analysis (PCA) based on a correlation matrix of standardized variables, appropriate for mixed sets of ordinal and continuous variables (ter Braak 1987), was used to analyze the questionnaire data, using PC-Ord (MjM Software Design, Gleneden Beach, OR, USA, Version 4 for Windows). We consider only eigenvectors with eigenvalues greater than 1. The interview subjects were categorized as younger (< 40 yr of age) or older (40+ yr). We had originally intended to compare the attitudes and harvesting practices of urban vs. rural harvesters, but detected few important differences, so do not make this distinction in the analyses presented. The study was not designed to test for age differences, but these turned out to be the most significant factor explaining differences in respondents' answers. A description of the variables is provided in Table 2. Mangrove demography: the population dynamics of undisturbed mangrove forests For 2 yr from June 1999 to June 2001 we followed the growth, survivorship, and fecundity of R. mangle individuals in five life history stages in undisturbed forest stands. These data were used to parameterize a stage-based matrix population projection model for understanding the dynamics of undisturbed mangrove forests and for simulating the effects of harvesting. We established 60 x 10 m transects, eight in total, in three sites that were not harvested because they were near the National Guard station. The sites were 0.5–2 km from one another. All sites were in low salinity, low intertidal areas, and subject to approximately the same inundation and salinity regimes, with seasonal variation between 0–15% of full seawater (Narváez 1998). The five stage classes were: seedlings (S: < 70 cm height), juveniles (J: > 70 cm height and < 2 cm dia.), small adults (A1: 2–14.9 cm dia.), medium adults (A2: 15–29.9 cm dia.), and large adults (A3: 30+ cm dia.). A life cycle flux diagram (Fig. 1) shows the density of each class/ha, the sampled number of individuals/class, and the geometric mean transition rates and arithmetic mean fecundity values of the 2 yr. Appendix 1 details the model parameterization and analysis. We used elasticity analysis to identify the mangrove population’s most vulnerable components. Elasticity analysis describes the relative sensitivity of population growth rate, λ, to changes in each transition element (de Kroon et al. 1986). Demographic elements with high elasticity may indicate a population’s most vulnerable components, in which harvesting will have the greatest impact and conservation efforts may be most effective (Silvertown 1987, Caswell 2000). The matrix models do not consider density-dependent effects or environmental feedbacks, such as the creation of gaps in the tree canopy caused by harvesting. Although moderate increases in light availability have been shown to increase R. mangle seedling growth (López-Hoffman et al. 2006), large gaps may change soil salinity, temperature, and pH, possibly negatively impacting seedling development (Hamilton and Snedaker 1984, Smith 1992). Future demographic studies should examine gap feedbacks. Mangrove demography: the effect of harvesting The first step in assessing the effect of harvesting was to develop a method for determining when a tree stump had been cut. We identified two harvester informants from El Moján with 67 and 52 yr of harvesting experience. The use of key informants, often local leaders, is recommended in studies of local knowledge (Huntington 2000). The informants showed us the stumps of trees they had harvested previously. We observed the decomposition of 15–20 stumps cut in each of the previous 7 yr, and developed a classification scheme for determining when a stump was harvested (Table 1). All the observed tree stumps were located in low intertidal, low salinity areas. Our second step was to determine the range of harvesting intensities in the region. We asked the leaders of the mangrove harvesters in the three communities to define, based on their experience, three harvesting levels, Low (no to low harvesting), Medium, and High. We established 20 quarter-ha plots (50 x 50 m), 6 each at Low and Medium, and 8 at High Intensity. All plots were located in low intertidal, low salinity areas, similar to the baseline stands. Within each plot, we counted all cut stumps and estimated the time since cutting. We also estimated the density of the remaining juveniles and adult trees. In each plot, the number of individuals cut/stage class/yr was determined by using the density estimates to reconstruct the original tree frequencies/stage class in each plot. We then calculated the geometric mean harvesting rate over 7 yr. We compared the average size structures of the forest stands at Low, Medium, and High harvesting intensities with the average forest structure of the undisturbed stands. The data were analyzed with a general linear model using GLIM 3.77 (Royal Statistical Society, London, UK) using a Poisson error and a logit link function (Crawley 1993). We used a demographic approach to simulate the effects of harvesting on long-term population growth rates (λ), in which harvesting is an additional source of mortality, i.e., a reduction in survivorship. The mathematical limit for sustainability is the harvest level when λ, the mangrove population growth rate, equals 1, indicating a population in numerical equilibrium. Additional mortality will drive λ below 1, and the population will decline (Lefkovitch 1967, Usher 1969a,b). The essence of this criterion is that a sustainable harvesting regime permits the extraction of some individuals while maintaining or even increasing overall population numbers. Note that positive population growth, λ > 1, would eventually lead to density-dependent feedbacks limiting population size, and these are not incorporated in the matrix analysis. We observed that most harvested trees were in the A1 size class, i.e., < 1% of harvested trees were A2, and no A3 trees were harvested, so we only considered A1 harvesting. We detected very few harvested juveniles, however, harvesters said that they cut significant numbers of juveniles. Juvenile stumps are thinner, and most likely decay faster than adult stumps. To account for juvenile harvesting in the simulations, we also calculated the sensitivity of λ to 0–40% harvesting of juveniles. We simulated harvesting using the baseline data from each of the 2 yr, and report the geometric means for both λ and 95% confidence intervals for λ (see Appendix). Social context of harvesting: interviews with harvesters All 40 interviewed harvesters believe in the importance of sustainably harvesting the mangroves. Almost all agree that the period over which the mangrove resource should be sustained is two human generations. One harvester said, “We should leave enough mangroves for our grandchildren to be able to harvest.” All of the harvesters believe that the current levels of mangrove harvesting are sustainable according to their definition. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the questionnaire data about harvesting practices and changes in mangrove resource availability over time. The first PCA axis for the questionnaire data was related to mangrove resource availability (Fig. 2). People at the higher end of Axis 1 reported that (1) the difficulty of finding mangroves to harvest and the combined distance they have to travel by boat and walking had increased over time and (2) over time, the average number of logs extracted/d had declined. In addition, people at the higher end of Axis 1 had more years of experience harvesting mangroves (Fig. 2). In an ANOVA, Axis 1 scores were strongly associated with the age of the subject, with higher Axis 1 scores for older subjects (Fig. 2). PCA Axis 2 was associated with the frequency of mangrove harvesting. Individuals who waited longer intervals before returning to harvest again at a given site, i.e., people who harvested less frequently, were at the higher end of Axis 2 (Fig. 2). There was a weak relationship (P = 0.078) between Axis 2 scores and age, suggesting that older harvesters returned less frequently than younger harvesters (Fig. 2), i.e., older harvesters harvested less intensively than younger harvesters. We asked the harvesters if the mangrove resource could ever be depleted. Over 90% of those interviewed consider the mangroves to be inexhaustible, although a few conceded that in the future they might have to “look harder to find them.” The harvesters gave a variety of answers when asked to specify why mangroves cannot be depleted (Fig. 3). Over 40% think that mangroves regenerate quickly enough to recover from harvesting. One experienced harvester said, “Cut 10,000 and 10,000,000 will grow back.” Four subjects thought that their management practices would prevent mangroves from being depleted: two said they did not cut small trees, and two said they did not cut large trees. Forty percent believe that mangroves reproduce quickly enough to repopulate themselves, i.e., 17% specifically mentioned that mangroves produce many seeds (Fig. 3). Only three harvesters believed that the mangroves resource could be exhausted. All three expressed concerns that too many logs were being cut. One indicated that this was because too many houses were being built. Another responded that harvesters were cutting too many young trees, and that “they should wait until the trees are older.” These three individuals were 24, 32, and 52 yr old. The demography of harvesting The population growth rate (λ) of the undisturbed population was λ = 1.044 (1.07, 1.02, 95% CI). This indicates an expanding population and suggests that some harvesting can be sustained without causing population numbers to decline. We know of no other estimates of λ for other R. mangle populations. The highest elasticity value was 34%, for survivorship of A1 trees, followed by survivorship of the other adult classes. In contrast, the sum of the growth elasticities, i.e., transition from one stage to another, was less than 20%, and the sum of the fecundity elasticities was 5.5% (Fig. 4). This elasticity structure is in agreement with the general pattern observed in woody plant populations; the highest elasticities are found in the survival component of adult stages, followed by growth and fecundity (Franco and Silvertown 1996). Elasticities may be used prospectively to project population growth trajectories following a disturbance (Caswell 2000), suggesting that changes in adult survivorship will result in the highest changes in population growth rates, whereas the population is mostly insensitive to changes in fecundity. The annual harvesting rates of A1 adults ranged from 7.7% (SD 6%) at the Low intensity sites to 23.9% (SD 2.9%) to 33.4% (SD 2.6%) at the Medium and High intensity sites, respectively. We also discovered one additional site where each year over the last seven years, 43.7% of A1 trees were harvested. There was a statistically significant effect of harvesting on stand structure (P < 0.05). The Low, Medium, and High intensity sites had fewer adult individuals than the undisturbed stands (Fig. 5). The amount of harvesting that can be sustainably applied to the mangrove population depends on the combination of juveniles and A1 individuals removed (Fig. 6). In the simulation analysis, some harvesting levels had mean λ values below 1, but 95% confidence limits that ranged above 1 (Fig. 6). To be statistically conservative, we consider these harvesting levels to be potentially sustainable. Using these criteria, with no juvenile harvesting, up to 40% of A1 individuals can be harvested sustainably. If 10% of juveniles are harvested, A1 harvesting should be limited to about 30%. A 20% rate of juvenile harvesting means only 20% of A1 harvesting is sustainable. A 40% rate of juvenile extraction should limit A1 harvesting to 10% (Fig. 6). The harvester’s definition of sustainable harvesting was sustaining the mangrove resource for two human generations, or about 50 yr. For heuristic purposes, we interpret their definition of sustainability as allowing up to a 50% reduction the mangrove population over 50 yr. Figure 7 shows the number of years of sustained harvesting that can be applied before causing a 50% reduction in mangrove population numbers. The analysis considers only those harvesting levels in Figure 6 that were considered statistically unsustainable, i.e., both the mean λ and the 95% CIs are below 1. Using the criteria of sustaining 50% of the population for 50 yr, three harvesting levels that were considered ecologically unsustainable according to the analysis in Fig. 6, might be considered sustainable according to the harvesters’ definition (Fig. 7). What are the ecological effects of harvesting? The mangrove forests are clearly being affected by harvesting as even Low intensity sites have significantly fewer adults than do the undisturbed sites. Our finding that adult trees are relatively less frequent in harvested areas is supported by the harvesters’ observations that they currently have to travel farther to find A1 size trees than they did in the past. It is possible that local extirpation of A1 trees is occurring in areas easily accessible to harvesters. The mangroves of the national park, Ciénaga de los Olivitos, across Lake Maracaibo from Río Limón, also have skewed stage structures in heavily harvested areas. The park, which is easily accessible to harvesters, appears depopulated of small and intermediate R. mangle adults (Lopez-Hoffman, personal observation). Are current harvesting rates ecologically sustainable? Ideally, it would be useful to know the mean regional extraction rate. However, time and funding constraints did not allow for random sampling to estimate a regional rate, or for understanding the spatial patchiness of harvesting. We do know that annual harvesting rates of small adult trees range from 7.7% at the Low intensity sites to 23.9% and 33.4% at the Medium and High intensity sites, respectively, and may be as high as 44% in some areas. The mangrove population response to harvesting depends on the exact combination of juveniles and small adults extracted. Even though the precise levels of juvenile harvesting are unknown, our analyses suggest that some harvesting is sustainable. It is important to be conservative when identifying a sustainable harvesting scheme because a regime that reduces λ to 1, leaves the population “balanced on an extinction knife-edge” (Caswell 2001). In such populations, uncertainty in parameter estimation or environmental and demographic stochasticity increases the likelihood that a population will be inadvertently driven to a precariously low level (Caswell 2001). The Low intensity harvesting level is sustainable as long as juvenile harvesting does not greatly exceed 40%; juvenile extraction rates greater than 40% are unlikely. Medium intensity is sustainable if juvenile harvesting does not exceed 10%. High intensity may not be sustainable according to Caswell (2001), and the highest harvesting rate observed, 44%, is clearly unsustainable. The definition of ecologically sustainable harvesting employed thus far in this paper is harvesting that allows population numbers to be sustained or even increase over time. Even in an ecological context this definition may be limited. First, if the ecological goal is to determine a harvesting rate that leaves the harvested population unchanged, it may be unachievable (Struhsaker 1998). In this study, even stands harvested at low rates, which permitted the maintenance of positive population growth, had significantly altered size structures. Furthermore, this definition of sustainable considers only the effect of harvesting on the target species R. mangle; it does not consider the effects on the entire mangrove system (e.g. Newton and Freyfogle 2005a,b). A more inclusive ecological characterization of sustainability would consider the effects of R. mangle harvesting on other mangrove tree species, on the animals and insects who nest in R. mangle trees, and the marine organisms who use the mangrove as breeding grounds. Are current harvesting levels sustainable according to the harvester's concept of sustainability? The harvesters defined sustainable harvesting as permitting the maintenance of mangrove population numbers over two human generations, about 50 yr. According to the field surveys, most harvesting ranges in intensity from 7–35% of A1 trees. These harvesting levels are sustainable according to the harvester's definition as long as juvenile harvesting rates are less than 40%. However, some harvesting levels that are sustainable according the harvesters, are ecologically unsustainable, i.e., eventually causing declines in mangrove population numbers. What are the age differences between harvester knowledge and harvesting practices? Local knowledge is heterogeneous; often, not all members of the given area or community have the same ecological knowledge (Gadgil et al. 2000, Brown 2003, Ghimire et al. 2004). We discovered that age explained most variation in harvester knowledge. It appears that older individuals harvested less intensively than younger harvesters; they harvested fewer logs/d, and waited longer before returning to harvest a given site. Differences in physical strength might explain the difference in daily harvesting rates, but do not explain why young men returned more frequently to harvest a particular site. It also appeared that older men were more selective in their harvesting practices, taking only the most desired tree sizes. One 52-year-old harvester noted that younger harvesters “are destroying the mangrove, cutting immature trees and not letting them grow. In the past, the mangrove was all shady, but now it has gaps because of cutting.” Older harvesters than younger harvesters perceived declines in mangrove abundance over time. Obviously, this could be due to experience, i.e., number of years harvesting, as age and experience were correlated (R2 = 0.50, P < 0.01). However, it is curious that even the older harvesters who had been harvesting mangrove for only a few years noted trends in scarcity. This could be due to conversations with their more experienced contemporaries. It is possible young men do not spend much time with older men, making it difficult for older harvester’s knowledge to be transmitted to younger men. Many authors have noted that intergenerational information transmission is extremely important to the preservation of local conservation knowledge (Alcorn and Toledo 1998, Gadgil et al. 2000). It is also possible that younger harvesters are more assimilated into contemporary culture than older harvesters, diminishing their ecological knowledge (Turner et al. 2000). Why is there a discrepancy between the local harvesters perceptions of sustainability and ecological analysis? As discussed above, for some harvesters, their definition and the ecological definition of sustainability are simply different. However, it is possible that some harvesters are actually harvesting according to both the sociological and ecological notions of sustainability. The low intensity plots are harvested according to the ecological definition of sustainability. From the interview data, it is clear that older men harvest less intensively than do younger men. It is possible that older men are harvesting their plots in an ecologically sustainable manner whereas younger men are not. In addition, local knowledge about sustainable ecological practices is sometimes ignored under situations of economic need (Ghimire et al. 2004). The lagging economy and the lack of alternative construction materials may make mangrove harvesting a profitable and seemingly necessary activity. Although some harvesters may realize that harvesting levels are ecologically unsustainable, their economic situation might compel them to harvest in an ecologically unsustainable manner. Why is there a discrepancy between local and scientific knowledge with respect to what makes mangroves susceptible or resilient to harvesting? The harvesters extract small adult trees, which according to the elasticity analysis are the most important and vulnerable element of the mangrove population, while stating that fecundity, a relatively unimportant demographic element, can compensate for the effects of harvesting. According to the models, a 167% increase in fecundity would be necessary to offset the effect of harvesting only 12% of A1 adults. An increase in fecundity of this magnitude is unlikely under natural conditions. It is understandable that harvesters identify fecundity as a mechanism for resilience to harvesting. Mangroves have high reproductive output and high rates of seedling establishment, which might lead to the assumption that fecundity can compensate for intense harvesting. This is similar to the effort to protect Caretta caretta sea turtles, when natural resource managers and scientists mistook the importance of fecundity. Prior to performing demographic analyses, conservation efforts had focused on fecundity, i.e., the protection of nests and eggs, and hatchling survival as ways to increase population growth. Using elasticity analysis, it was determined that Caretta caretta population growth rates are most affected by adult mortality due to bycatch in shrimp and fish nets (Crouse et al. 1987). How to reconcile the differences between the ecological and social conceptions of sustainability? The most outstanding result of this study was the apparent difference between the ecological and sociological conceptions of sustainability. In some situations, harvesting levels, considered sustainable by the harvesters, were not ecologically sustainable because overtime they would cause a decline in mangrove population numbers. Furthermore, if the ecological goal is maintaining the mangrove population completely unchanged, then ecologically sustainable harvesting is impossible (e.g., Struhsaker 1998). In this study, even low harvesting intensities that were ecologically sustainable, i.e., positive population growth was maintained, caused significant changes in forest structure. Nonetheless, the undisturbed mangrove population we studied had an annual growth rate of about 4%, suggesting that the population can withstand some harvesting without experiencing a decline in population numbers. Given the local economic situation and the lack of alternative construction materials, mangrove harvesting seems to be a necessity for local people. This situation creates a trade-off between preserving the ecological characteristics that make the mangrove population resilient and responding to human needs. Resolving this situation necessitates creative and practical management solutions. What are possible management solutions? Unless economic conditions change substantially, it appears that mangrove harvesting will continue in the Río Limón area. It is important that harvesting be conducted in such a manner as to impact the mangrove population as little as possible. Currently, harvesting is concentrated in areas near towns, roads, and waterways that are easily accessible to harvesters (authors’ observations). The harvesters should be encouraged to harvest over a broader area. We recommend a conservative harvesting scheme: harvesting no more than 20% of small adult trees, A1 size class, if no juveniles are extracted, or harvesting up to 20% of juveniles if small adult harvesting is limited to 10%. A practical metric for harvesters would be to extract 1 out of every 10 adults and saplings in a given spot/yr, or 1 out of 20 adults and 2 out of 10 saplings in a given area. At these harvesting intensities, λ would be > 1. The management system should be adaptive (e.g., Holling 1978); harvesters should be able to respond to feedback from the system, and adjust harvesting levels over time. In healthy mangrove populations, there should be about three small A1 individuals to every two large A3 trees (3:2). A quick indicator of overharvesting is if the ratio of Al to A3 trees drops to 2:2 or 1:2. In such cases, a harvester should look for another location. Although local knowledge may be imprecise and qualitative, it is based on long-term observations and large sample sizes, making it useful for monitoring the long-term effects of harvesting (Abbot and Guijit 1998, Moller et al. 2004). Older mangrove harvesters reported a decrease in the local availability of the favored size of mangroves for harvesting. Their observations were supported by the scientific data about the effect of harvesting on population stage structures. Because of this consistency between local and scientific knowledge, we believe that harvesters could be effective monitors of the effect of harvesting on the mangroves of Río Limón. Incorporating harvesters in conservation programs as monitors will address two other concerns identified by this research: (1) that harvesters identified mangrove fecundity is a mechanism for mangrove resilience, whereas the matrix models suggest the mangrove population is insensitive to changes in fecundity and (2) that there may be little intergenerational transfer of knowledge between older and younger harvesters. The trust built from scientist/harvester collaborations might help scientists transmit scientific knowledge about the resilience or susceptibility of mangroves to harvesting. In addition, fostering collaboration between younger and older harvesters in a structured monitoring program may enhance the transfer of knowledge between age groups. Responses to this article are invited. If accepted for publication, your response will be hyperlinked to the article. To submit a response, follow this link. To read responses already accepted, follow this link ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe thank our harvesting informants for participating in this study. We thank F. Barboza, F. Garcia, N. Leviner, A. Loaiza, and M. Lundvik and Instituto de la Conservación del Lago de Maracaibo (ICLAM) for help with field work and logistical support. L. L. H. particularly thanks E. Medina for the introduction to Venezuela’s mangroves. We thank D. Cáceres, A. Castillo, S. Díaz, J. Kennedy, J. McKiernan-Gonzales, F. Mora and R. Naylor for comments on the manuscript. Funding was provided by Mellon Mays and NSF fellowships to L. L. H. and dissertation improvement grants from the NSF (# 0003023), the Morrison Institute, and the Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford University. Abbot, J., and I. Guijt. 1998. Changing views on change: participatory approaches to monitoring the environment. Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods (SARL) Discussion Paper Number 2. 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Oficina Central de Estadistica e Information (OCEI). 1990. Anuario Estadístico de las Comunidades Indígenas de Venezuela. OCEI, Caracas, Venezuela. Oficina Central de Estadistica e Informacion (OCEI). 2002. Anuario Estadístico de Venezuela 2000. OCEI, Caracas, Venezuela. Silvertown, J. 1987. Introduction to plant population demography. Longman Scientific and Technical, Harlow, Essex, UK. Smith, T. J. 1992. Forest structure. Pages 101–136 in A. I. Robertson and D. M. Alongi, editors. Tropical mangrove ecosystems. American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., USA. Struhsaker, T. T. 1998. A biologist’s perspective on the role of sustainable harvest in conservation. Conservation Biology 12(4):930-932. ter Braak, C. J. F. 1987. Ordination. Pages 91–173 in R. H. G. Jongman, C. J. F. ter Braak, and O. F. R. van Tongren, editors. Data analysis in community and landscape ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Turner, N. J, M. B. Ignace, and R. Ignace. 2000. Traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. Ecological Applications 10(5):1275-1287. Usher, M. B. 1969a. A matrix approach to the management of renewable resources, with special reference to selection forests: two extensions. Journal of Applied Ecology 6:347-348. Usher, M. B. 1969b. A matrix model for forest management. Biometrics 25:309-315. |Home | Archives | About | Login | Submissions | Notify | Contact | Search|

After a week off, Indiana returns to action on Saturday for a matchup with Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers are 2-2 all-time in the event and beat Butler last season after falling to the Fighting Irish back in 2013. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 2:00 p.m. ET with Dave Flemming and Dan Dakich on the call: The Crossroads Classic, which will take place through at least 2019, is in its fifth season in Indianapolis and this may be its most intriguing year yet. From a national perspective, the nightcap is the headliner as undefeated Purdue, which is 0-4 all-time in the Classic, meets Butler. But from an entertainment standpoint, it’s hard to argue which game will be more fun to watch. Indiana and Notre Dame will bring two of the nation’s best offenses to the floor and the fact that each team is average at best defensively screams that this could be a shootout. There’s no sugarcoating it: This is close to a must-win for Indiana in December. A win means the Hoosiers can march into Big Ten play feeling good about themselves with a non-conference that boosts the resume. A loss, however, means that resume is void of a solid win heading into Big Ten play and puts major pressure on the Hoosiers to win at least 11, if not more, league games. MEET THE FIGHTING IRISH Mike Brey’s Notre Dame teams typically play a tight rotation and this year’s iteration of the Irish is no different. Brey is playing just seven guys regularly and his frontcourt has even less depth than Indiana. The centerpiece of that frontcourt, however, can be dominant. Zach Auguste, a 6-foot-10, 245 pound senior currently sits in the top ten of KenPom’s national player of the year rankings and will give Thomas Bryant his stiffest test to date. Auguste is utilized frequently as his usage (30.2 %Poss) ranks No. 40 in the country. His 14.4 points per game is second on the team and he leads the roster in rebounding at 10.4 per contest. Auguste is great at cleaning up the defensive boards (26.9 DR%) and finishes close to 54 percent of his 2s. According to Synergy Sports, he’s had 50 post-up possessions through nine games and is scoring .92 points per possession on those opportunities, which is solid, but not great. Joining Auguste up front are 6-foot-5 sophomore forward Bonzie Colson and 6-foot-8 junior forward V.J. Beachem. Colson is an undersized four-man, but his length helps him make up for what he’s lacking in height. Like Auguste, he’s very good on the defensive glass (23.9 DR%). Colson is Notre Dame’s best shot blocker (4.7 block percentage). Beachem is a scoring wing. He’s always been a work in progress physically, but can shoot it. The Fort Wayne native is hitting 43.3 percent of his 3s. According to Synergy, he’s great in spot-up situations. His 1.31 points per possession in spot-ups ranks in the 91st percentile nationally. Where Beachem isn’t great, however, is inside the 3-point arc. He’s finishing less than 43 percent of his 2s. Freshman Matt Ryan will see minutes off the bench and at 6-foot-7, he must be marked on the perimeter. Ryan is hitting 41.2 percent on 3s and with the other options on the roster, he can benefit from defenses keying too much on other guys. Austin Torres, a 6-foot-7 junior, could also see spot minutes depending on the foul situation. Torres has been very turnover prone in limited minutes. The three-man backcourt rotation consists of junior Demetrius Jackson, junior Steve Vasturia and sophomore Matt Ferrell, who comes off the bench. Jackson is one of the nation’s best point guards and is making a strong case to be a first rounder in next June’s NBA draft. The Mishawaka Marian product is hitting 42.9 percent of his 3s, 61.4 percent of his 2s and leads the Irish in assist rate (27.3 percent). Per Synergy, he excels in a variety of offensive situations: Vasturia seems under appreciated nationally, but can really shoot it and score. He’s third on the team in scoring at 13 points per game and is hitting 44.4 percent of his 3s. Vasturia is most comfortable on the left wing, where he’s hitting 50 percent of his 3s. He’s also very efficient inside the arc (58.7 percent on 2s). Farrell is the backup point guard and isn’t much of an offensive option. His effective field goal percentage is poor (38.5) and his turnover rate (15.6) is higher than his assist rate (12). In other words, if he’s using possessions, it’s probably advantageous for Indiana. If you fancy efficient offense, Saturday might be as good as it gets. You’ll see a pair of top four offenses going head-to-head and the differentiating factor right now is Notre Dame is better at taking care of the ball. Indiana, however, will only have itself to blame on Saturday if it turns it over as the Fighting Irish are one of the 20 worst teams in the country at turning over their opponents. If IU can play anywhere close to even in turnovers, the Hoosiers will have more than enough offense to win. Where Notre Dame has a chance to really hurt IU is on the offensive glass. The Hoosiers have been shaky on the defensive glass (242nd nationally) and the Fighting Irish, led by Auguste and Colson, can crash. IU is the better offensive rebounding team, but a staple of Notre Dame teams is keeping teams off the boards along with not fouling and not turning it over. Speaking of fouls, both teams are outstanding at keeping their opposition off the line, so it bears watching how closely the new freedom of movement rules are enforced. NCAA VP of men’s basketball championships Dan Gavitt expressed concern this week that the new rules aren’t being enforced at the same level recently as they were during the season’s opening weeks. “I am pleased that the package of new playing rules has helped improve the pace of the game, which has resulted in more offensive production,” Gavitt said. “But I have significant concerns that the officiating directive to reduce physicality in the game has fallen short of expectations so far.” For Indiana, a more tightly officiated game is advantageous because the Hoosiers have more depth and have both Thomas Bryant and Max Bielfeldt as reliable pieces in the post. WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO Pomeroy likes Notre Dame by 1, Vegas opened as a pick’ em and Sagarin likes IU to win narrowly. Neither team has been great away from home as IU is 1-3 from Assembly Hall (win over St. John’s) and Notre Dame is 2-2 away from South Bend (wins over Iowa and Illinois). The Bryant-Auguste matchup looms large as does Jackson-Yogi Ferrell, but this may come down to how well Troy Williams performs. There really isn’t a natural matchup for Notre Dame to throw at Williams as neither Beachem or Colson seem well equipped to contain his athleticism around the basket. The uncertainty, of course, is whether Williams plays up to his potential or comes out with a five turnover game, which is also possible. With a week of prep for both teams, this game should be well played and the atmosphere should be outstanding. Games in Bankers Life Fieldhouse almost always have a pro-IU crowd and Saturday should be no different. There’s no downplaying the importance of this game for Indiana. A win could be help stabilize what has been a shaky last month and a loss only adds to the fuel that the Hoosiers have been a disappointment thus far. (Photo credit: Rob Foldy/Getty Images North America) Filed to: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

While it may not be difficult to locate replacement parts for Chevrolet vehicles, these days only the highest quality are required to repair your automobile. Make no mistake, you didn't buy your R20 Suburban unless you understood you would be getting horsepower and good looks both rolled up into one automobile. Auto enthusiasts appreciate the a brand you can trust built into each Chevrolet, and understand that only top quality repair R20 Suburban parts will suffice when your car or truck needs fixing. When your Chevrolet R20 Suburban left the factory, it was destined for a person with discerning taste who prioritizes value in their automobile. It requires a certain synergy - a need for many cooling components on your Chevrolet R20 Suburban working in concert - to maintain constant engine temperature, and like a house of cards when one goes down they all fail. A very important one is the cooling fan assembly, and it will kick on after a temperature sensor detects the coolant is getting too hot. You might notice your Chevrolet R20 Suburban cooling fan assembly usually turns on when you are stopped or driving slowly; this is because the radiator is not able to scoop up enough air to function properly. While the cooling fan is running it is sucking air from in front of the radiator through its fins, the coolant inside the core loses its heat and then exits out the lower radiator hose and goes back to the engine. Given all the trouble that can be involved with fixing broken parts on your car or truck, let www.carpartsdiscount.com be the first place you go to make purchasing it easy. When your Chevrolet needs a new replacement Cooling Fan Assembly, there's no need to go somewhere besides the authority, Car Parts Discount. Bring your R20 Suburban back to life with the highest quality replacement parts from the experts at Car Parts Discount. Chevrolet R20 Suburban Cooling Fan Assembly parts for 1988, 1987 vehicles are available here... just click your year to find them.

Simplicity, speed and flexibility are critical to IT departments and providers looking to deliver on both end user experience and cloud oriented business requirements. Citrix Synergy attendees visiting the Solutions Demo Sandbox this year will enjoy getting hands-on experience with Citrix Cloud and engaging in deep dive discussions with Citrix Solution Experts. In the Solutions Demo Sandbox, attendees have the opportunity to sit down and spend time operating and understanding the services and features of Citrix Cloud. Technical experts and architects stand by to answer questions or engage in discussion about cloud initiatives, use cases and technology architecture. Featured for Citrix Cloud in the Solutions Demo Sandbox this year: Connecting Clouds: Experience first-hand how simple and fast it is to connect your cloud to Citrix Cloud. Quickly run through a Cloud Connector deployment, get introduced to key hybrid cloud concepts and explore identity and access management features. Workspaces: Get hands on with workspaces in Citrix Cloud by designing and creating a new workspace, then publishing access to a subscriber. See how multiple services can be easily delivered and managed with Citrix Cloud workspaces. App and Desktop Delivery: Explore features and discuss architecture of the XenApp and XenDesktop Service in Citrix Cloud. Experience and learn about service management by introducing and delivering a new application using the XenApp and XenDesktop Service. Ease of Access: Experience simple end-user access using cloud StoreFront and NetScaler Gateway as a Service. Explore first-hand how ShareFile drive mapping provides a simple and effective approach for making user data available anywhere. New Cloud Services: Sign the Citrix Cloud Sandbox guestbook by publishing your company or favorite URL using the Secure Browser Service. Tinker with Citrix Cloud Labs services such as Citrix Launch for Microsoft Access to learn about new and emerging cloud services. Sound interesting? Stop by the Solutions Demo Sandbox at Synergy and spend as much time as you like experiencing and diving deep into Citrix Cloud. Nothing beats hands on experience, don’t miss it! See you in the Sandbox!

Water Bill Assistance Now Available In 8 Oakland County CommunitiesResidents in eight Oakland County communities can now apply to receive help paying their water bills. Police: Burglars Targeting For-Sale Oakland County HomesBelieve it or not -- they're targeting large kitchen appliances. Police Alert Residents About Franklin, Bingham Farms Home Break-InsKitchen appliances, in particular, are being targeted. Client Wins From February 5The latest new business earned by Michigan's technology-focused companies Empower Student Information System Releases Update to Expand Capabilities Empower Student Information System, an application designed to meet the vast administrative needs of colleges and universities, has released its 66th update. Energy Retailer's Call Center To Create Over 100 Jobs In Bingham FarmsMembers of the Bingham Farms city council, Oakland county executives, state lawmakers and other community leaders joined Just Energy, a leading energy retailer in North America, to celebrate the opening of a new call center in Bingham Farms at a ribbon-cutting event Thursday. Groundbreaking Service From Ratekick Shops For Auto Insurance For YouFor the first time ever, consumers can finally comparison-shop auto insurance rates and be alerted when rates drop thanks to a new service from Bingham Farms-based Ratekick.com. Two Tech Job Fairs SetA tech job fair will be held Thursday, March 29 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Synergy Computer Solutions, 30700 Bingham Road, Suite 2615 in Bingham Farms. Also, Jervis B. Webb Co. is hosting a private job fair with the Engineering Society of Detroit. Banks In $25B Deal To Settle Foreclosure AbusesMichigan is among 49 other states to receive a chunk of cash from a landmark $26 billion settlement from five banks for alleged foreclosure abuse. Canadian Energy Firm Brings 130 Jobs to Oakland CountyJust Energy, an independent energy supplier with more than 1.8 million electricity and natural gas customer accounts throughout the U.S. and Canada, will locate a 130-person call center in Bingham Farms, with the help of the Oakland County Department of Economic Development & Community Affairs. Real Estate Manager Fourmidable Enters Bulk Wi-Fi BusinessThe real estate management company Fourmidable Monday announced the formation of a sister company, E-Crosstown, that installs bulk Wi-Fi Internet access for apartment communities, office buildings and commercial developments. Manhattan Christian College Selects Bingham Farms Firm's Student Info SystemBingham Farms-based ComSpec International Inc. said Wednesday that after a 12 month review, Manhattan Christian College in Manhattan, Kan. selected ComSpec's Empower Student Information System to manage its academic information.

Role of Pathologic Shear Stress Alterations in Aortic Valve Endothelial Activation - First Online: - Cite this article as: - Hoehn, D., Sun, L. & Sucosky, P. Cardiovasc Eng Tech (2010) 1: 165. doi:10.1007/s13239-010-0015-5 - 83 Downloads Calcific aortic stenosis is the most common aortic valve (AV) disease and is triggered by an active inflammatory process involving endothelial activation and cytokine expression. Interfacing between the leaflet and the surrounding blood flow, shear stress is presumed to play an important role in endothelial injury. This study investigated the hypothesis that pathologic alterations in shear stress magnitude contribute to valvular endothelial activation via BMP-4- and TGF-β1-dependent mechanisms. The fibrosa of porcine AV leaflets was subjected to physiologic, sub-physiologic and supra-physiologic magnitudes of native oscillatory shear stress for 48 h. Endothelial activation was assessed via immunohistochemistry in terms of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expressions. Cytokine expression was investigated in terms of BMP-4 and TGF-β1. Pro- and anti-osteogenic media were used to characterize the role of those cytokines in the shear stress-induced pathological response. Supra-physiologic shear stress increased the expression of all biomarkers in a shear stress magnitude-dependent manner. In contrast, neither physiologic nor sub-physiologic shear stress elicited a pro-inflammatory response. While BMP-4 inhibition and supplementation had limited effects on endothelial activation, TGF-β1 supplementation increased the overall leaflet pro-inflammatory state and TGF-β1 inhibition reduced endothelial activation in response to elevated shear stress. Combined TGF-β1 and BMP-4 inhibition completely suppressed shear stress-induced endothelial activation. The results demonstrate that elevated shear stress activates the valvular endothelium on the fibrosa via a BMP-4- and TGF-β1-dependent pathway. The suggested synergy between those cytokines also provides new insights into the transduction of valvular hemodynamic alterations into a pathological response.

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The Miami Heat took a convincing 3-1 lead in their best of seven series with the Boston Celtics. They did so by beating Boston on their beloved parquet floor, an achievement in and of itself, but as I’ve mentioned before, the warning signs were in plain sight. When the ‘Big Three’ of the Heat combined beautifully on the game-clinching play, Pat Riley’s vision has never been more palpable. When LeBron James and Dwayne Wade worked in tandem — displaying all the synergy they’ve acquired –- to exploit mismatches and induce hitherto unseen cracks in Boston’s excellent pick-and-roll defense scheme, the blog world was in ecstasy. That’s what they’re supposed to do. It is their moral obligation to explore the endless potential of their partnership. But when the Heat inevitably win this series, it will not be solely due to the dynamic duo. It will be a myriad of factors. Boston’s age – and I’m beating the same drum here – has been showing all series long. Rajon Rondo isn’t the Rajon Rondo that terrified the Heat in the regular season (and how could he be, dislocated left elbow and all). And of course, every rational Celtics fan’s favourite lament: Danny Ainge screwed up, big time. Those are all valid points, but everyone seems to be forgetting a core ingredient in Miami’s post-season success: Coach Spoelstra. Erik Spoelstra deserves a lot of credit here. Here is a man, who, throughout the course of the season, was a) publicly maligned by the nation’s writers whenever the Heat suffered inexplicable losing streaks, b) had his credentials incessantly scrutinized to a fault, c) whose job security was always in question no matter the on-court results, d) whose substitution patterns was called out by his own players, and e) endured arguably the most debated player-coach ‘shoulder-check’ in sports history. (Listing these out and refraining from adding 14523 more points made me realize how ridiculous the media coverage on the Heat really is. And yet, I’m falling right in line with them. I’d be damned if there really is a lockout.) What I’m trying to get here is that Spoelstra deserves more credit than he’s been given. Many a time, he’s the media’s easy scapegoat, and his level-headedness and unwavering optimism in the face of relentless critique has often fallen by the wayside. He could have folded, compromised his principles and gave in the pressure, but he didn’t. He could have called out LeBron and Chris Bosh for questioning his superiority (and thereby straining their relationship), but he didn’t. He could have chosen the easy way out, handing over the reins to Pat when they were a paltry 9-8, but he didn’t. He has been a consummate professional, abiding by his ‘defense-first’ rhetoric and never once succumbing to the media. And now, it is paying dividends in the Heat’s playoff run. The Heat are blossoming right before our eyes: The stingy defense that characterized the Boston Celtics have become a staple in Miami’s success (although they differ in fundamental methodology). The offense that was once discombobulated and uneven is now the perfect amalgamation of the Big Three’s talents. Chris Bosh is playing superb defense; Joel Anthony’s all-court hustle is bleeding into now-trademark Heat ‘skirmishes’; and LeBron has embraced the off-ball game and is fully utilizing his otherworldly frame as a monster screener. With so much going for them right now, Miami seems to be prime favourites for the Larry O’Brien trophy. And while the players deserve credit for sticking to the game plan and executing beautifully, Coach Spoelstra has emerged as an excellent tactician, orchestrating the Heat symphony with great poise and maturity. They say Rajon Rondo is “the straw that stirs the drink” for the Celtics. I say Erik Spoelstra is the quintessential “glue guy”, melding the edgy new age of analytics with solid, fundamental coaching principles. Before this post digressed into an outlet for my unsolicited basketball man-crush on Erik Spoelstra, I actually meant to write a sensible breakdown of Game 4’s key plays. So without further ado, here are my convoluted, irrational thoughts on Miami’s victory. Bullets From The Breakdown: D-Wade’s Hop-Step Dribble – [MIA 52 BOS 55] Different players have different styles. Likewise, each individual has their own brand of slashing that is unique to themselves. Paul Pierce has ‘herky-jerky’ hesitation dribble. Derrick Rose ‘bounces’ towards the rim. Russell Westbrook just explodes. Dwayne Wade likes to employ a little hop-step dribble before rising for the layup. - He is often twisting and turning past defenders and changing directions multiple times so that little mini dribble helps Wade maintain a little balance before he goes up for the layup. Wade is arguably the best in the league at using this hop-step which is as much a stylistic preference as it is a way to throw off defenders’ timings. - Instead of the usual gather and one-two step routine, the hop-step presents defenders with a few more complications. For one, it forces the defender to be extra cautious as Wade can choose to either explode immediately after the hop-step, or he can give a little up-fake to bait a defender into contesting. It’s a nifty little move, and Wade is its best exponent. Joel Anthony’s Improved Finishing – [MIA 65 BOS 73] - Tom Haberstroh recently explored Joel Anthony’s dedicated effort to improve his offensive game –- catching, turning and finishing strong. Those efforts appear to have come to fruition in this series as he has displayed uncommon efficiency in finishing from close range and off offensive boards. None was more impressive than when he found himself open at the rim (which is a very common occurrence), caught LeBron’s interior pass confidently and rose to finish over Jermaine O’Neal. - As O’Neal approached from his left, he shielded the ball, absorbed contact and finished with his strong hand away from the contest. It was basic fundamental finishing, something he could not have done early in the season. Good ‘D’, Better ‘O’ – [MIA 77 BOS 76] - Pierce receives the ball at the right corner with the shot clock winding down. He creates space with his ‘rocker’ step, but LeBron is right in his mug as he launches a 21-foot fadeaway that hits nothing but net. - The basketball cliché is best epitomized in this sequence, as LeBron played absolutely perfect chest-to-chest defense knowing that Pierce had no time to drive and get a shot off. D-Wade Overhelping, Again – [MIA 81 BOS 81] - Anyone remember this game winner? Similar scenario pans out here. - Wade overhelps on a Pierce drive when the lane is already protected by both Bosh and Chalmers. Yet again, he absent-mindedly leaves his man open in the corner and Delonte West makes him pay. Again. You’d think Wade -– after admitting his mistake to the media no less – would have learnt his lesson by now, but apparently bad habits die hard. LeBron James, Clutch Extraordinaire – [MIA 81 BOS 84] “The rumors of my demise (in the clutch) have been greatly exaggerated.” – LeBron James - Okay, LeBron may not have actually said that, but he had every right to bark back at those (read: everyone) who questioned his shot making in pressure situations after making what might have been his biggest shot of the entire season. - Fresh off a Ray Allen dagger, LeBron –- right in front of Boston’s bench, mind you -– answered right back with one of his own. Catching the rock on the right wing and with little time or space to work with, LeBron did his best Paul Pierce impression as he rocked Pierce back before pulling up for three. Time stood still for a moment as players, coaches and fans trailed the shot’s high arc, and then hearts ruptured and lungs collapsed. Turning point. Crowd silenced. LeBron freaking James. - On a side note: Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis has been subpar the entire series. He admitted to being lost on court and spoke of “finding Glen” before he could contribute on court. Well, I think Glen Davis “found” himself as he screamed and yelled frantically (as his limbs flailed in directions and speeds unbeknownst to man), trying to throw LeBron of his shot. He would make a great cheerleader.

I began 2013 making a huge transition in my life. I left an employer for whom I’d worked for nearly 17 years and joined a VAR, LPS Integration, as a Citrix Engineer. I knew it would be a big change, moving from the customer side of things to the reseller side, but I don’t think I could have anticipated just how different the VAR environment would be until I jumped in. In fact, if you’re considering a job at a VAR, I’d suggest you stop reading this post and go read a post written by a buddy of mine named Matthew Norwood entitled “This Job Isn’t for Everyone.” Don’t worry, I’ll wait. * * * Back? Great, I’ll continue. I’ve spent the last seven months working with some of the best, smartest engineers I’ve ever met. To be truthful, I wondered more than once during my first month on the team if I had the chops to be a part of it. Working with them has made me better and pushed me to learn more. I know I’ve been exposed to more and done more varied and complicated things in seven months on the numerous client systems I’ve worked with and consulted on than I could have done in years of working on just my own systems – no matter how large their scale. I’ve learned about more than just being an engineer at a VAR. I’ve worked closely with a veteran Account Manager and his Pre-Sales Engineer (we call them Technical Consultants) and have enjoyed learning about the sales cycle, from beginning to end. This side of the business was so new to me, I literally felt like I was going to school again for the first several weeks of pre-sales calls and visits. I’ve learned, for the first time in my life, what it’s like working for a truly small business (number of employees-wise, if not revenue-wise) and that has been both exhilarating, especially given my background at a state university and the Army, and sometimes confusing. My coworkers laughed at me quite a bit over the first few weeks as I tried to adapt to there not being a mountain of process, forms, and approvals for things like purchases and taking time off. So working for a VAR has been an amazing experience for me, but it’s one that is coming to and end, at least for now, this week. * * * Why? Well, if you read Matthew’s post I linked to above, you might think I experienced some or all of those negative aspects he refers to, and maybe they counterbalanced the positive aspects, leaving me, on the whole, unhappy with the experience. But you’d be wrong. I linked to Matthew’s post because I experienced some of all of those things, both negative (1) and positive (2), and I think it’s a great perspective piece on being an engineer at a VAR. I also think they’re universally true, no matter the VAR. But no, my decision to change directions right now is pretty simple – I found that being away from my little boy for several days at a time, even if it wasn’t an every week kind of thing, was just too hard on me. Heck, I got to go to Citrix Synergy this year and deliver a technical breakout session and hang out with a couple of rockstar members of my team, in the city and state of my birth. While there, I got a free night at Disneyland, for Pete’s sake. What should have been a week of pure fun and excitement turned out to be a strange mix of fun and misery, as I just plain missed the crap out of my wife and son. I then traveled 3/4 weeks in June, including Father’s Day weekend, and every week when I flew back home (don’t get me started on how miserable flying frequently as a non-veteran traveler can be), I saw real changes in my son – new words, new mannerisms, new things I hadn’t been there to see for the first time. My son is just about to turn 17 months, so I’m still new at this parent thing. I have lots of friends who travel for work and I figured if they could do it, so could I. What I discovered is that, for right now anyway, I would rather have a job that minimizes the amount of work-related travel, especially for several days or weeks at a time, I might have to do. So I’ve accepted a position that will allow me to do that and work on exciting new problems. More on that later. * * * For now, to my fellow engineers on Team Citrix at LPS – Patrick, Brian, Daniel, Joel, Kevin, Rick, and Wael – thanks for the amazing experience working with you has been. I will miss it. To my coworkers based out of East Tennessee – Tim, Chris, Drew, Jose, and Jennifer – thanks for making me feel welcome and for putting up with me as I acclimated to life working at a small company. To the entire LPS family – I wish you all the very best. * * * (1) The negative item on Matthew’s list I struggled with the most was #7 (Sometimes you don’t know the answer). I hate not knowing the answer and it was a real struggle for me getting to the point of not equating not knowing the answer to failure. I was a much calmer, happier engineer once I figured that out – or rather once I started listening to everybody from my coworkers to my boss about it. (2) The positive item on Matthew’s list I valued the most was a combination of #1 (You get to see some cool stuff) and #2 (Experience). I was able to work with a major financial services company, a huge operator of acute care hospitals, multiple government agencies, and several higher education institutions, just to mention a few.

Universal Power Group, Inc. (NYSE Amex: UPG), a Texas-based distributor and supplier of batteries and related power accessories, today announced it has acquired for $3.3 million the assets and business of Progressive Technologies, Inc. (PTI), a North Carolina-based battery pack manufacturer specializing in lithium-ion battery packs, the fastest growing segment of the battery market. PTI designs and builds lithium-ion and other custom battery products for specialized OEMs in the medical, technology, government and military markets. Its custom battery solutions are used in computers, camcorders, tools, medical equipment, military applications, metering, mining and handheld communications equipment. Committed to high quality standards, PTI operates a state-of-the-art production facility, and holds several ISO certifications required by medical and other specialized battery pack buyers. "PTI is a first-class organization,” said Ian Edmonds, president and CEO of UPG. “Its specialized products will enhance UPG’s product line and its lithium-ion battery packs provide UPG with an initial entry into this fast-growing market segment. PTI will enable UPG to offer expertise in battery packs spanning a full array of chemistries and a variety of markets, further enhancing our product and service offerings. In addition, PTI’s products will specifically strengthen our position in the fast-growing medical field. We believe there is great synergy between our two companies, especially as we look to integrate our technical capabilities and sales channels to grow our business.” “We are pleased to join forces with a strong company like UPG to further our long-term strategic growth objectives,” said Ray Rock, president and founder of PTI. “I am convinced that our combined company will provide significant opportunities to further broaden our product offerings and enhance our business relationships with many long-standing customers, while also taking advantage of opportunities in our fastest growing markets.” About Universal Power Group, Inc. Universal Power Group, Inc. (NYSE Amex: UPG) is a leading supplier and distributor of batteries and power accessories, and a provider of supply chain and other value-added services. UPG's product offerings include proprietary brands of industrial and consumer batteries of all chemistries, chargers, jump-starters, 12-volt accessories, solar and security products. UPG's supply chain services include procurement, warehousing, inventory management, distribution, fulfillment and value-added services such as sourcing, battery pack assembly, coordination of battery recycling efforts, and product design and development. For more information, please visit the UPG website at www.upgi.com. Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the Company's actual operating results to be materially different from any historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements that explicitly describe these risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements that contain terms such as "believes," "belief," "expects," "expect," "intends," "intend," "anticipate," "anticipates," "plans," "plan," to be uncertain and forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company's filings with Securities and Exchange Commission. Historical financial results are not necessarily indicative of future performance.

Get the latest news in local search marketing each week. 5 Ways To Use What Consumers Want To Boost Local SEO Strategy Local businesses have unique competitive advantages over larger brands, and columnist Wesley Young analyzes a study by Yodle to find ways to leverage them into an effective search strategy. The business of local is enjoying a surge of growth, supported both by consumer demand and business interest. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have long been touted as the backbone of the economy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent data (2012), businesses with fewer than 20 employees make up 90% of all employer businesses and produce $4 trillion in sales receipts. But it is their future growth that has marketers taking notice. Local online marketing company Yodle released a report titled, “Yodle Insights: What Consumers Want from Local Businesses,” that surveyed more than 6,000 consumers. Yodle found that 82% of US consumers use local businesses, and that they use them more than national chains. More importantly, 47% of consumers stated that they used local businesses more this year than last year, and 48% planned to use local businesses even more over the next 12 months. Virtually no one expressed that they would use local businesses less (1–2%). This growth in consumer dollars spent locally is a huge opportunity for marketers to help small business. Yodle’s data on what consumers want from local businesses is key to understanding how to take advantage of this opportunity and market in a way that distinguishes local businesses in their areas of strength. Yodle’s study reports that 42% of consumers use online reviews or social media to research a business online — and there is significant overlap and synergy among various media as consumers seek, discover and consider products and services. (For example, a search on Google for Chinese restaurants in Frisco, Texas, yields results from Yelp, Zomato, TripAdvisor, YellowPages.com and FourSquare.) With that in mind, each of the following strategies should be part of your overall search marketing toolbox. 1. Highlight What Consumers Value About Local Businesses Consumers value local businesses for quality. They overwhelmingly chose local businesses over national chains for providing personalized service, delivering quality work, treating customers fairly and being reliable in delivering a product or service as promised. Each of these business traits represents a competitive advantage local businesses have over those with larger, more recognizable brand names. One way to highlight these traits is to include language in search results that communicates them. For example, for “kitchen remodeling” search results, include in the business description terms such as “customized designs,” “hand-cut stonework,” “quality remodeling,” or other terms that remind the consumer that delivering quality is an important factor when evaluating a business. Another way to take advantage of this consumer perception is to emphasize the fact that your business is local. Since consumers already strongly believe local businesses have the above traits, attaching the local business tag to your store immediately identifies you as a business with high quality and personal service. So include information in your meta descriptions, landing pages and business listings on other websites (e.g., Yelp) that emphasizes your local presence, such as address, neighborhood, maps and local area code. Even national franchises can make sure that customers know the store is locally owned. Prominently include pictures of local owners and staff and use the term “locally owned” to help draw in some of the benefits of being identified as a local business. 2. Ask Customers To Provide Positive Reviews Yodle found that more than 75% of customers say that online reviews are important to their evaluation of a local business, with 40% expecting to see reviews and 36% believing it sets a local business apart from its competitors. What is most surprising is that almost 90% of consumers would leave a review if asked, yet only 7% have been asked. While some businesses shy away from online reviews because of the fear that complainers are more vocal and likely to leave reviews, Yodle’s study found that 80% of customers posted reviews as the result of a positive experience with a business. So local businesses are missing a huge opportunity for positive PR, content and reviews, all of which affect SEO and ranking. Do searches on your own business to find which sites with reviews pull up. Taking the previous example of Chinese restaurants in Frisco, Texas, a local restaurant should monitor and seek reviews on Yelp, Zomato, TripAdvisor, YellowPages.com and FourSquare. Also, reviews are prominently used in map search results such as Google Maps. 3. Update Websites In Both Form & Content Local Search Association (LSA) research shows that 50% of consumers state they are extremely likely to look at business websites when searching for a local business, the second highest source behind search engines — and 67% of consumers want improvements or mobile-optimized sites from those businesses, according to Yodle. The importance of websites as a source of information is clear: Search results, online reviews or display ads contain limited information and often link back to the website, where more detailed information is available such as menus, prices, detailed service descriptions, staff qualifications and other information that consumers want to inform their buying decision. Of course, this assumes that you have a website. LSA’s Local Pulse Survey conducted by Thrive Analytics earlier this year revealed that only 51% of sole proprietors have websites. More than 30% of businesses with fewer than 25 employees still do not have a website. For those that do have a website, failing to maintain it — or treating it as a static asset — may be just as bad as not having one. Outdated or inaccurate information frustrates consumers and risks losing valuable customers. Perhaps the highest profile example of problems outdated websites can cause was the case of Harvard professor Ben Edelman’s dispute about a $4 overcharge by a local restaurant. Edelman reported the restaurant to local authorities and threatened legal action. While Edelman’s boorish behavior backfired on him after the dispute went viral, the “overcharge” was the result of outdated menu prices on the website — he was correctly charged the newer prices on in-store menus. According to LSA’s Local Pulse Survey, 56% of SMBs wait six months or more before updating their websites, and 60% are not optimized for mobile. Fresh content and mobile optimization not only help SEO, it’s what consumers want. 4. Use Offers & Deals To Compete On Price The one big advantage national brands have is scale, which helps them offer lower prices. Yet it would seem that if prices were comparable, customers would choose what they believe to be higher quality local businesses. On the other hand, significant price increases were rated as the number two reason that surveyed customers would stop using a local business, so setting temporary low prices to gain business just to raise them later is not a winning strategy. The solution may be to use offers and discounts. A whopping 88% of consumers in the Yodle survey want special offers for returning customers, with 57% saying it sets the business apart and 31% saying it is expected. Discounts allow prices to remain at a sustainable level while providing temporary or one-time offers. These offers draw in customers to experience a local business’ quality and service. Offers and discounts are particularly effective for mobile advertising. Consumers using mobile devices to find local businesses are often on-the-go and ready to buy, and limited-time discounts offered during their search will help motivate purchases. Thrive Analytics’ 2015 Local Search Report for LSA found that 50% of consumers who clicked on a mobile ad and made a purchase did so because the ad offered an attractive deal or discount. Use of offers or discounts in search engine listings, display ads, landing pages and other search results was the biggest factor consumers in the Yodle study said differentiates local businesses from the competition. 5. Email Customers To Keep The Business Top Of Mind Another area of opportunity that local businesses aren’t taking full advantage of is communicating with existing customers. Good communication with existing customers can stand in for brand reputation and management. There are many reasons that justify reaching out to consumers: appointment reminders, the aforementioned deals and discounts, timely advice such as seasonal gardening tips, promotion of events, new services, and generally helpful news. Luckily, customers are open to receiving these communications, as the following chart from Yodle illustrates. Businesses often cite lack of time and resources as reasons why they fail to engage in such communications. However, almost 70% of the consumers surveyed preferred to receive email communications, as opposed to phone or mail, from businesses. Email and digital services such as online booking and payments can be kept simple and automated to reduce both the cost and time needed to manage them. Regular emails will keep a local business top of mind so that when customers conduct searches, they are likely to use narrower or targeted keywords that ensure the business turns up in results. Local businesses have many competitive advantages over big name brands that can help attract customers. Consumers also often prefer doing business with local merchants. Knowing what consumers want and appealing to those desires will help win them over. The key is when consumers search for local products and services, the results and the following actions as they discover and consider local businesses all reinforce factors valued in local business. Communicate the advantages of doing business with a local business, and customers will keep coming back — and they’ll tell their neighbors, too! Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- CSG, in conjunction with the New York Yankees, today announced the new Yankee Stadium will become the first facility in Major League Baseball (MLB) to be treated with the Sports Antimicrobial System(TM) (SAS). Comprised of several leading-edge and highly advanced products, the SAS is a comprehensive process that kills illness-causing microorganisms and continually inhibits the growth of bacteria, mold and fungi on any surface for up to three years. "We feel the Sports Antimicrobial System will be critical to our operations in 2009," said Doug Behar, Senior Director, Stadium Operations. Areas of Yankee Stadium set to be treated with the SAS include the home and visiting club houses, locker rooms, training rooms, dugouts, showers, managers and coaches offices, weight training areas, and family lounge. Additionally, the Team's washable fabrics will be treated with FabricAide(R). "When applied through the wash, FabricAide will continually inhibit the growth of a wide array of bacteria, mold and fungi on any fabric or textile. Defined by its durability, FabricAide's unmatched antimicrobial effectiveness will last a minimum of 30 washes before another application is needed," said Craig Andrews, Chief Executive Officer, CSG. "Integrating the Sports Antimicrobial System and its family of products into Yankee Stadium evidences just how committed the Yankees are to being innovators in the world of professional sports." According to Craig Andrews SAS is recognized in the sports world as the most comprehensive, long-lasting antimicrobial solution because the process is thorough and the products are innovative. Certified applicators from ENVIROspect (Nesconset, NY) begin the process by systematically applying a cleaner disinfectant that was formulated to work in synergy with SAS antimicrobial products. This is an integral portion of the process because it effectively kills 99.9% of germs and bacteria, including harmful microbial contaminants like MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and staph. After properly cleaning all the surfaces tabbed for treatment, an advanced antimicrobial product called SportsAide(R) 1000 is sprayed throughout the facility. Further, he indicated that one treatment of SportsAide 1000 will inhibit the growth of bacteria, mold, and fungi on surfaces for up to three years. The advanced antimicrobial power of SportsAide 1000 is vastly superior to any other technology and thus trusted by over 1,200 high schools and pro franchises nationwide for several key reasons, but most importantly because the water-based antimicrobial fights a wide array of microbial growth 24/7. CSG is America's leading provider of long-lasting antimicrobial products, treatments and services. CSG offers products and services for any facility. Its customers include franchises in the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, the U.S. Army, and over 1,200 universities and high schools. Visit www.csggrp.com or call (248)-299-2607 for more information. |SOURCE COATING SPECIALIST GROUP| Copyright©2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

SM Supermalls United Nation Day Celebration October 24, 2013 October 24, 1945 marks the declaration of friendship and partnership of nations united with a mission to preserve peace and advance justice in the world – the founding of the United Nations. Celebrated across the globe, countries commemorate the special day in their own creative ways. Here in the Philippines, United Nations’ Day is celebrated through a showcase of colourful flags, nationalistic costumes and synergy of cultures. Let us remember the day of peace and celebrate oneness on U.N. Day happening this October 24, 2013 only at SM Supermalls. What else can signify U.N. Day other than colourful flags? Feast your eyes on a vibrant splash of colours at the SM Supermalls’ Flag Exhibit. Feel the hype of the celebration as flags of the United Nations’ members fill the spacious hallways of the SM mall nearest you. Parade of Nations This is a perfect opportunity to teach children about different cultures and get them familiar with the national costumes of various countries. SM Supermalls will hold a contest among public and private schools for the best national costume. The contest is open to students from nursery to grade 6, and one boy and one girl will receive the Best in Costume Award. The school that has the most number of students will be awarded with spectacular prizes. Dances to Nations Discover young talents as participating schools perform dance numbers showcasing national dances of different countries. Get those tippy toes grooving and move to the beat at the Dances of Nations at SM Supermalls. Witness a chorale of voices as participating schools and local groups perform soulful songs in nationalistic costumes. Take a taste of foreign flavors at the World Feast in SM Supermalls, where participating restaurants will feature their foreign specialties. Look out for the United Nations’ poster and flag to know which restaurants are joining the celebration and what country it represents. Save this sale event to your calendar: Like This Post? Share it with your friends!

Stream Your Social Life on Your Smartphone Though your mobile phone keeps you more connected, it can also make things more complicated. Using a cell phone to track e-mail, text messages, instant messages, voicemail, Facebook, and Twitter can be a burden--after all, these social networking applications attempt to shoehorn Web 2.0 resources onto small devices that weren't designed with Web 2.0 in mind. Mobile-device manufacturers Motorola and Palm have taken things a step further by designing phones that merge different communications and social networks into a single tool, allowing you to interact with all of them from one spot. For a look at the future of mobile social networking, check out our reviews of the Palm Pre and the Motorola Cliq, as well as their respective social networking features, Synergy and MotoBlur. You don't have to rush out and get a Palm Pre or Motorola Cliq to experience merged tools, though. You have a few other options to consolidate your social networks and messaging sources. TweetDeck: Not Just for Twitter One of the most popular tools for managing Twitter is TweetDeck. Released long before Twitter added Lists to its features, TweetDeck is a desktop application that enables users to create filtered groups to help cut down the noise and highlight the tweets that are most important. The TweetDeck for iPhone app behaves in much the same way. And like the desktop program, it also allows you to add Facebook accounts to create a unified console for all of your messages and status updates. Once connected, you can add columns to TweetDeck to view status updates from your Facebook account. To use the app, you must first get TweetDeck for iPhone from Apple's App Store. After the TweetDeck for iPhone app syncs to your iPhone, go into the app and then enter the settings by touching the gear icon at the bottom. Under 'Facebook', touch to sign in and add your Facebook status updates to TweetDeck. The setup screen explains that you can 'Connect TweetDeck for iPhone with Facebook to interact with your friends in this app and to share stories on Facebook.' Next you have to provide the e-mail address and password you use for your Facebook credentials. After you log in, you see two additional permission screens. The first allows TweetDeck for iPhone to read content from your Facebook account and display it in the app; the second permits TweetDeck for iPhone to post status updates to your Facebook profile. Once your Facebook account is connected with TweetDeck for iPhone, you can add a column to your TweetDeck console for your default Facebook News Feed. If you have hundreds of Facebook contacts, though, the volume of status updates creates a great deal of noise and makes catching the ones you're interested in more difficult. To bring order to your updates, first click the Add Column icon at the bottom of the TweetDeck for iPhone screen, and then select Facebook from the Choose Column Type screen that appears. You can pick from two types of Facebook Columns: All Friends, or Group. The All Friends column displays the full News Feed, including status updates, photos, and other posts from your entire catalog of Facebook contacts. If you opt for Group, you can select a subset of your Facebook contacts, like family or high-school friends, and display only the updates from the Facebook contacts you choose. Right now, the mobile TweetDeck app manages only Twitter and Facebook, and is available exclusively for iPhone. TweetDeck's developers have stated that they "are determined to eventually see TweetDeck available for other mobile platforms, such as Windows Mobile, Symbian, Blackberry and Android, but there are no timelines for these as yet." Stream Your Social Life on Your...Next Page

Seismic data acquisition and interpretation belongs to the oldest geophysical methods used in glaciological research. Its has been in use since the beginning of the 20th century. However, since the advent of airborne radio-echo sounding (or radar), the amount of seismic work carried out on polar ice masses and glaciers has been decreasing. The reasons is that airborne radars can acquire much more data in a very short time, especially when it comes to sounding ice thicknesses, than ever possible with seismics. Seismic data can only be acquired with the seismic source and recorders, i.e. geophones, on the ground. Moreover, as the top tens of meters of polar ice masses consist of porous firn, the traditional application of explosive seismic sources require drilling of shot holes about 10 to 50 m deep into the firn to overcome strong wave attenuation. Such constraints make seismic works comparably slower than radar data acquisition. Despite such disadvantages, the mutual application of seismic and radar methods provide a strong synergy for enlighting the internal structure and property of ice masses, important for determining ice-dynamic flow parameters, as well as the properties of the sub-ice geology. A considerable improvement in seismic data acqiusition has been achieved over the last two years with the successful application of standard vibroseismic methods on cold firn, both, in the polar regions as well as on high-altitude Alpine glaciers. In this contribution we provide an overview over the achievments, both, technically and scientifically, obtained in the last two years. AWI Organizations > Geosciences > Junior Research Group: LIMPICS

Cisco is directly attacking HP Networking's claims of being the less expensive vendor by arming its sales force... By submitting your personal information, you agree that TechTarget and its partners may contact you regarding relevant content, products and special offers. and channel with a total cost of ownership (TCO) study that explains away Cisco's higher up-front costs by showing the long-term savings that result from better performance, lower maintenance requirements and advanced services. Cisco admits it charges more for products, but the networking market leader says that acquisition costs are just a small part of the puzzle. When operational costs and advanced features are considered, the cost gap between Cisco and HP narrows or disappears altogether, according to the study. Cisco commissioned an unidentified consulting firm to assemble this TCO study, which directly compares Cisco-based networks and HP-based networks in order to disprove HP's claims that lower list prices equal a more affordable, good-enough network, according to Ross Fowler, vice president of Borderless Network Architecture at Cisco. “I don’t recall any time where we’ve used a [TCO] model to specifically counter a particular competitor’s statements,” Fowler said. “[HP was] making very bold statements that were going unchallenged, and we said, ‘OK, we are not going to play a dirty game with our competitors, but if they are making claims that don’t appear to be substantiated, then we have to call them on that.’” Network hardware prices: Just a small piece of the puzzle The Cisco study examined the TCO and the return on investment (ROI) over five years if an enterprise built a network for 10,000 users with Cisco vs. HP products, in two scenarios: A network built for basic connectivity, and a network that leverages broader architectural capabilities like security, rich media delivery and energy management. The study confirmed that Cisco charges about 25% to 30% over HP, but that the premium is reduced to 7% by the lower operational costs associated with Cisco in the form of reduced labor, bandwidth, service and energy costs. And if one deploys some of the architectural technologies from Cisco, such as Medianet, TrustSec and EnergyWise, the premium slides to 4% over HP. In some cases it flips and the TCO of a Cisco network is slightly lower than an HP network. In a statement released by HP, the company stood by its claims of a “total cost of ownership savings of up to 66 percent for an HP network over a traditional three-tier Cisco network.” HP says its FlexNetwork architecture allows networks to build two-tiered (core and access) networks that require less network hardware and lower management costs. HP also says that hardware acquisition costs with HP can be up to 50% lower than Cisco. Cisco disputes that last claim. The numbers may not hold up for smaller companies Cisco’s TCO study is clearly aimed at CIOs, but will network managers buy into it? The study is based on the ownership experience of a network built for 10,000 users, which makes some network engineers wonder how well the numbers would hold up with smaller networks. “That is quite a bit larger than our environment, and I suspect it is quite a bit larger than the majority of environments,” said Don Lester, senior engineer with Wenatchee Valley Medical Center in Wenatchee, Wash. “That baseline makes it much easier to provide a valid argument since even a marginal cost savings can be multiplied by the larger infrastructure.” Lester said he has never considered HP as a networking vendor, although he uses a wide variety of vendors in his network, including Cisco, so he is sympathetic to the TCO arguments that HP and other Cisco rivals have made. “I suspect that Cisco is getting into a tough spot in some parts of their product line,” he said. “No matter how much they spin it, basic Layer 2 [connectivity] has been around a long time and really hasn’t changed much. Unless the customer in question is doing something bleeding edge or really needs to be able to guarantee optimal performance, just about any switch will work as well as many customers will need.” Dave Williams, vice president of IT at a regional bank on the East Coast, said the TCO study from Cisco may hold up for large enterprises with complex environments, but in midsized enterprises he’s always found Cisco to be the more expensive vendor to work with. “When you deal with these big companies, they want you to have one homogenous system that is all their products. That’s the way they see the world. They’ll always paint it as the least expensive with their own products, but just because you’re using Cisco doesn’t mean that across their products there is that much synergy.” Williams built his network with a mix of Juniper Networks and Adtran switches, and lower network hardware prices were the deciding factor. In two years, he’s had one Adtran switch fail. The network has met his needs, although he admits that he doesn’t have a very complex environment. Network hardware prices less important to those who need end-to-end solutions On the other hand, Cisco’s lower TCO for a complete network makes plenty of sense to customers at large enterprises who still view HP Networking as a mix of old HP ProCurve products and the 3Com/H3C products that it acquired a couple years ago. While HP has some networking products that are equal to or superior to Cisco, HP still has some maturing to do, according to Forrest Schroth, lead network engineer at SFN Group, a workforce solutions company with 800 locations on a wide area network. “[HP is] trying to pull in a lot of different pieces and make it into a holistic solution,” he said. “From my perspective they really haven’t consolidated their solution into an end-to-end offering yet. Some of [Cisco’s] end-to-end solutions are easier to migrate onto because they are more predictable and known. Some of the soft costs I see with people trying to implement HP solutions right now come with integration costs that you really wouldn’t see in a Cisco scenario.” Let us know what you think about the story; email: Shamus McGillicuddy, News Director.

IBM is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems, sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that could bolster the technology giant against rivals in the high-end computer server market. IBM is offering to pay at least $6.5 billion, or double Sun's Tuesday closing price of $4.97, The Wall Street Journal reported online earlier. Shares of Sun jumped 64 percent in pre-market trading to $8.16, while IBM shares fell 2 percent to $90.89. If they reach a deal, it would be IBM's largest-ever acquisition, and represent a departure from its recent strategy of focusing on deals to strengthen its software and services businesses, rather than hardware. Analysts saw the talks as part of a consolidation trend, as Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Cisco Systems jostle for control of corporate data centers and compete to supply the high-end computers that power complex corporate transactions and networks. "It makes sense in an industry consolidation view, but looking at Sun's performance over the last couple of years, it's not one of my top picks for IBM to buy," said Jyske Bank analyst Robert Jakobsen, speaking from Denmark. "Having said that, there's clearly a huge synergy combining these two companies," he said. "The market hasn't been kind to Sun Microsystems in the last 12 months. So it's not an expensive acquisition in my view." Sun, which was not available for comment, has long been cited as a takeover target for IBM, HP, Dell or Cisco, which introduced a comprehensive set of data center products earlier this week. Bankers have said Sun has been searching for a buyer in recent months. But the challenge of valuing Sun's intertwined software, hardware and services businesses could put off potential buyers, analysts say. Sun has never fully recovered from the dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s, when demand for its servers cratered. IBM, which had nearly $13 billion in cash at the end of $2008, declined comment. Its largest acquisition to date is the $5 billion purchase of Canadian software maker Cognos in 2008. The Wall Street Journal said HP had declined to buy Sun, citing a person briefed on the matter.

HONG KONG, 24 July 2014 - FWD Hong Kong and Bank of Communications Co., Ltd. Hong Kong Branch (“Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch”) join hands to launch the “Bank of Communications FWD Credit Card” (“co-branded card”), further strengthening the long-term strategic partnership of the two companies. Both FWD Hong Kong and Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch have established esteemed positions in their industries. With the joint efforts of the two active industry players, the co-branded card offers their customers a suite of innovative and tailor-made insurance offers and spending rewards. Officiating at the card launching ceremony, David Wong, Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong & Macau and Executive Vice President, Greater China of FWD, commented, “The Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch has been an important partner of FWD Hong Kong for many years. Our long-term cooperation has achieved synergy benefiting both businesses’ growth.” Wong continued, “The launch of the co-branded card marks a milestone in our strategic partnership. FWD Hong Kong will leverage the well-established credit card services, branch network as well as the large customer base of Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch, to bring a wide range of innovative insurance and financial planning products and services to the consumers. Customers who settle their FWD policy premiums with the co-branded card will be able to earn bonus points to enjoy cash rebates or mileage, further adding value and convenience to the customer experience.” Ms. Nancy Chan, Deputy Chief Executive, Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch, added, “We are pleased to have the co-branded card launched, and join hands with FWD Hong Kong to offer our customers integrated services of insurance and credit card.” Chan continued, “Co-branded cardholders can earn bonus points when they settle premiums through either insurance advisors or using Direct Debit Authorization service. Moreover, the co-branded card comes with a premium installment plan. While enjoying annual premium payment discounts and bonus points, cardholders can repay the premium in 12 months. With another key theme of healthcare, double bonus points will be rewarded for all spending at local hospitals, clinics and health check centres”. Following the co-branded card project, further joint initiatives are ahead, such as the exclusive distribution of selected medical and critical illness insurance products, which will further enrich the selection of protection and financial planning products for the bank’s customers. FWD Hong Kong will also provide in-branch assistance at Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch’s network. Both FWD Hong Kong and Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch aspire to bring to their customers new experiences with the co-branded card, providing multi-dimensional convenience in the lifestyle, healthcare, protection and financial planning aspects of customers’ daily lives. To learn more about the co-branded card, please visit www.bankcomm.com.hk, or via FWD 24-hour Customer Service Hotline at (852) 3123 3123, Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch Customer Service Hotline (852) 2239 5559 or Platinum Card Hotline (852) 2269 9888.

Turning Thought Into Action Delivering the Right Customer Experience Experience shows that the success of an organization goes hand-in-hand with the degree to which they are successful in acting in the best interests of their customers. EarlyBridge (formerly Van de Laar / Pothoven) advises and implements strategies to improve customer contact in all channels, thereby boosting business performance. Because times like these require fast results, EarlyBridge applies methods that deliver tangible short-term improvements and EarlyBridge offers you a welcome combination of strategic long-term consultancy and short-term, practical and results-oriented business transformation. Customer Journey Mapping: Focus on the best interests of the customer This methodology helps your organization to set up your processes from the customer‟s perspective. Customer Journey Mapping can be used to improve existing processes or to launch new products and services. What Customer Journey Mapping can do for your • Fast, pragmatic and cost-efficient insights into customer needs, customer processes and the • Processes aligned and optimized from the • Marketing objectives activated and processes aligned with brand values. • Insight into where you can realize cost-savings – without jeopardizing performance. • Pinpoint per channel concrete improvements to Experience Based Training: Mobilize your organization Experience Based Training is an innovative performance improvement and training concept to translate marketing, sales and service strategies into action. What Experience Based Training can do for your • Cost savings through more efficient and results- oriented customer interaction • Better sales results and marketing performance thanks to customer-focused working • Higher customer satisfaction and Net Promoter Score by creating the right customer experience in • Leverage inbound customer contacts for customer- focused cross-selling (increases profits) • Strengthen the customer relationship (reinforces reputation and repeat sales) • Greater loyalty to your brand by making good on your brand promise in one-to-one interactions with Sales Performance Scan: Easier buying = easier selling Unique about this insightful scan is that both sides of the sales/buying process are analyzed. First, the customer perspective is analyzed to understand how easy it is to buy. Next, the processes, barriers and opportunities are analyzed to understand what is stimulating and what is hindering sales. Both „outside-in‟ and „inside-out‟ are made transparent. The results of both analyses are combined and translated into concrete improvements to drive sales. What the Sales Performance Scan can do for your • Barriers and levers are uncovered from both the internal (salesperson) and external (buyer) • You know which concrete improvements you • You can begin immediately to realize extra sales • A welcome spin-off of the Sales Performance Scan is that it provides insight into unnecessary – and thus avoidable – costs. Service Performance Scan: Fast, better service delivery at lower costs Poor service delivery costs you customers. The Service Performance Scan gives you fast insight into where your service processes can be improved. First, the customer‟s access to information and ability to get solutions to their problems are analyzed - your service process from the customer‟s perspective. Thereafter your existing service and fulfilment processes are screened. By combining the outcomes of both analyses, necessary improvements are pinpointed that can increase customer satisfaction and/or reduce costs. What the Service Performance Scan can do for your • Barriers and levers are uncovered from both the internal (your organization) and external (the • You know which concrete improvements you • You can begin immediately to improve your service to customers • You know where you can reduce costs and Customer Experience Scan: Knowing how your customers experience you How do your customers experience their contact with your organization – really? In which channels is the interaction satisfactory, where can it be improved? Are you missing opportunities? The comprehensive Customer Experience Scan gives you the answer to these and other questions. What the Customer Experience Scan can do for your • Barriers and levers are highlighted from both the internal (your organization) and external (the customer) perspective • You know where your opportunities lie and which concrete improvements to prioritize • You realize more targeted and efficient changes and improvements to your customer processes in order to align them better with the customer • You know what you must do to eventually align your customer processes with your brand values and your company philosophy Channel Proficiency Scan: Better channel synergy How does your mix of distribution and communication channels perform? And more important: how is the synergy and alignment between channels? Is there consistency? Or does one channel undermine the performance of another? The Channel Proficiency Scan gives you fast answers to these questions. So you know how “mature” your channels are. And which steps you need to take per channel in order to realize fully-developed multi- What the Channel Proficiency Scan can do for your • You get fast insight into the performance per channel (sales, satisfaction, and process quality) and the channel interactions. • You know exactly which concrete activities are needed to enable your channels to work together more effectively. • You have better insight into channel-specific activities as a step towards structural How we do it: Turning thought into action The starting point for everything that EarlyBridge does is that effective customer contact is possible only when the processes and the organizational behavior reinforce the marketing strategy and brand values of the company. Depending on the issue at hand, a project can focus • Organizational improvements in customer Strategy processes or channels & • Training and coaching • Activation of the marketing strategy or The strength of EarlyBridge is the ability to combine the existing knowledge and talents in an organization into a holistic approach to customer contact, built from the customer perspective. Channel We call it „turning thought into action‟. It‟s our way Behaviour of activating and mobilizing the latent strengths in employees your organization. EarlyBridge does this step-by-step, using finely scoped and measureable pilot projects. Broader implementation follows proven success. How EarlyBridge can help your organization to think from the Analyze customer insights: Learn to listen to the customer and transform the learning into Develop customer journeys: Pinpoint what the added value of the channel strategy is for the Align the organization in the interests of the customer: For organization-wide impact and breaking through the status quo. Design a roadmap for the organization: Guide the organization at all levels and activate the strategic Execute practical, results-oriented pilots: In order to test the roadmap and realize concrete results Extract learning from pilots: Leverage experience for broader implementation and visible results. Achieve essential change in your organization: So that beginning now employees work customer-focused from the Over the founders The strength of EarlyBridge sits in the chemistry between the two founders. Both specialists in multi-channel customer interaction and customer experience management. And both driven by the same vision of –and passion for –improving customer contact. Kathy van de Laar has worked in direct customer contact and CRM in the US and Europe for more than 20 years. She has extensive experience in driving change for marketing, sales and service organizations for companies such as ABN AMRO, AT&T, BT Cellnet, FedEx, IBM, Merck Medco, OHRA and Philips. She advises companies in customer strategy and translating strategy into practical has more than 17 years experience in the financial sector including ABN AMRO Bank where he last served as Head of Customer Experience & Innovation for direct channels. His expertise is in multi-channel customer interaction and the integration of distribution channels. Learn more about EarlyBridge Every company has its own dynamics and challenges. We welcome the opportunity to discuss how our products and services can help you reach your objectives. Call or mail for an appointment. We would be happy to introduce ourselves and discuss your situation and needs. 1017 CC Amsterdam T: +31 (0)20 – 715 5918 F: +31 (0)20 – 715 5941

September 15, 2010 As presented to the Bryn Mawr English Department What did I learn from this project? Professor Hedley: I learned that an impressive web-site and an impressive 35-page essay have some of the same strengths, but also that they differ in important ways. The payoff from a web-based discussion of Moore’s Bryn Mawr poems lies in the multiple ways a single poem can be contextualized and the multiple ways you can intervene textually to good effect. The downside of this multiplicity is that the whole project is apt to have less focus, fullness and “heft” than a conventional senior thesis. Instead of a linear journey whose recursivity can generate a deep, conclusive engagement with the material, web-based presentation ramifies outward, privileging nimbleness, variety and open-endedness. Jen Rajchel: Using a virtual platform stimulated me to think of scholarship in a three-dimensional way. I was challenged to explore every aspect of scholarly work from first-hand research in Special Collections to editing for publication. Through the website thesis, I learned how to approach a major project while still familiarizing myself with the tools. I also gained the confidence to seek advice from experts (from Marianne Hansen in Special Collections to Vince Patone for IT development) and manage collaboration on large scale. The work I did on my thesis demonstrated for me in very concrete ways how the skills I gained as an English major are marketable in and outside of academia. Synergy between critical analysis of Moore’s Bryn Mawr poetry and design of the webpage: Professor Hedley: Even more than Emily Dickinson, whose unorthodox modes of poetic ‘publication’ have received a lot of attention in the last two decades, Marianne Moore is a writer who was attentive to context in clever, subtle and unexpected ways. Each of the poems Jen worked with allowed her to engage with the text-to-context relationship differently, so that she was not just talking about this relationship but finding ways to dramatize it for us. Jen Rajchel: The questions of space and publication I faced with my own medium helped me to theorize more deeply about Moore’s own tensions with publication and consider the subtle aspects of Moore’s revisionary tactics. Thinking through the design of the website allowed me to consider how Moore’s experience as both a reader and writer influenced her conceptions of public and private space. Intellectual payoffs from the project: Professor Hedley: Jen’s analysis of how each of the poems she chose from the archive highlights text-to-context relations gave me a new sense of why Moore’s poems are worth studying, as well as a new appreciation of the value of archival scholarship. In addition, Jen did some really good thinking about the reading experience a webpage fosters. In her ‘Introduction’ she theorizes that experience vividly and persuasively, which was a goal of her project from its inception. (Her thinking about this might have gone even further had she begun working with the CommentPress program sooner.) Setbacks and problems were less demoralizing than they might have been, insofar as the emerging field of digital humanities is itself a work in progress. Jen Rajchel: As an undergraduate student, I had become jaded when it came to issues of editing. Certain fundamental issues of editing such as shaping a paragraph and guiding the reader faded into the background as I focused on diving into theory and crafting my own ideas. The digital platform necessitated that I revisit these issues and enabled me to hone my technical skills. In the papers I have written since working with a digital platform, my approach has included a strong emphasis on clear, focused progression. While editing for publication was a daunting task, the more risk that was involved, the more I realized I had to be invested in my own work. Professor Hedley: Any student who undertakes a web-based project will need to take full responsibility for pacing both the labor involved in creating the website and the timing of her consultations with tech support staff. Her production of the thesis must, of necessity, unfold not only with reference to departmental deadlines for submitting new writing to her advisor, but also with regard to the lead-time needed for website implementation, feedback, and revision. This was not a problem with Jen, who is adept at working with other people and was determined to make her project work; it could become a problem if a student were to underestimate these challenges. Jen Rajchel: It was difficult to seek out a platform for my site without having a lot of experience with web technology. Furthermore, it was challenging to anticipate the obstacles which would arise from the inherent technological limitations. In the beginning, it was a challenge that both Professor Hedley and I were unfamiliar with the platform. But with this challenge, came opportunity; I recognized that if I did not take responsibility for this facet of my project, it would not be possible to create a website thesis. I was inspired to learn as much about the functionality as I could, and ultimately, this made me a better student of the medium. Professor Hedley: Archival projects seem especially well adapted to web-based presentation. This could be an exciting way to involve our students with local archives, whether at Bryn Mawr, in Haverford’s Quaker Collection, or perhaps at the Rosenbach in Philadelphia. In future I would recommend that webpage design and implementation be recognized to be at stake from the inception of the project, as a key piece of the intellectual and practical labor that is entailed: this dimension would need to be a crucial component of English 398 for any student who wants to undertake a project of this kind. Ideally, also, a senior who goes down this road will have prior coursework in the history of the book and/or the history of reading, as well as some familiarity with contemporary scholarship in the digital humanities. If there were more than one such project being staged in any given year, I would recommend that the chair of the department clear them in advance with Information Services, to ensure that the necessary technical assistance and mentoring from IT staff members could be forthcoming. Jen Rajchel: A student wishing to embark on a website thesis must demonstrate prior experience with digital media. This will become easier as more and more courses in the Bi-Co incorporate digital media in courses. The proposal for a website thesis must include a section which discusses how the virtual platform enhances the thesis topic at hand.

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Robert H. Garick, CPA, LLC, a Certified Public Accounting firm based in Boca Raton, Florida, draws from over 35 years of experience providing audit, accounting, tax, and consulting services to entities ranging in size from start-up organizations to publicly traded entities in diverse industries. We deliver premier technical expertise, prompt responsiveness, and the attention you deserve. Robert H. Garick, CPA, LLC brings synergy between your needs and our capabilities. We provide clients superior technical expertise gained from experience at both the national and regional level. That experience allows us to understand your requirements and the importance of addressing them in a prompt manner. For CPA firms, we offer highly technical research, lead partner and engagement quality reviews, and provide internal pre-inspections in preparation for triennial peer review. Audits of publically traded and private companies including pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, internet, manufacturing, distributors, not-for-profits, CIRA, electronics, biotech, broker-dealers, ERISA, real estate, and construction companies.

There are widely acknowledged imperatives for helping the elderly live at home (semi)-independently for as long as possible. Without cognitive stimulation support the elderly dementia and depression sufferers can deteriorate rapidly and the carers ill face a more demanding task. Both groups are increasingly at the risk of social exclusion. CompanionAble will provide the synergy of Robotics and Ambient Intelligence technologies and their semantic integration to provide for a care-giver's assistive environment. This will support the cognitive stimulation and therapy management of the care-recipient. This is mediated by a robotic companion (mobile facilitation) working collaboratively with a smart home environment (stationary facilitation). In the videos below, some of the CompanionAble concepts are shown. Programme: ICT-2007.7.1 ICT & Ageing Duration: January 2008 – July 2012 Visit the project website at www.companionable.net In this project, Smart Homes cooperated with:

Since 2002, ArchNewsNow has provided thousands of readers with a daily email update on what's happening in the world of architecture and design. We talked with the founder and editor, Kristen Richards, Hon. AIA, Hon. ASLA, about how she selects content, the role that she's played to connect the architecture community around the globe, and where she sees ANN going in the next ten years. Congratulations to Kristen on the success of ANN and its 10th Anniversary. AAO: How did you get started with ArchNewsNow (ANN)? Kristen Richards (KR): I edited a similar webzine/newsletter for two years and developed an international readership hungry for news of the A/E/C industry from around the world. When the tech bubble burst and it went offline, I realized I had a fantastic opportunity to fill a void. A big plus was that the proprietary search engine I used was developed by my husband, George Yates -- a brilliant software designer/developer, so I already had a system in place. We launched February 18, 2002 -- about two weeks after I left the first online publication. AAO: These days, lots of us take ANN for granted as one of the best go-to sources for architecture news. Thinking about the early years, what was the turning point when you knew it would be successful? KR: The first time I felt we really had a shot was when the incredibly talented environmental graphic design firm Calori & Vanden-Eynden/Design Consultants (known for its graphics, signage, and wayfinding programs for notable projects such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the DC Heritage Trail, and Acela) contacted me very shortly after launching and offered to create a logo and style for ANN (which was much needed). The home page with our new look and first two features posted less than a month after starting the newsletter (and I am forever grateful). I knew we were on the right track when Planetizen and Crain's Detroit named ANN one of their Best Websites of the Year in 2002 -- before we'd even been up and running for a year. AAO: What's your best guess on the total article count since you started ten years ago? KR: Feature article count is easy -- they're numbered, and we're nearing the 400 mark. I've posted well over 2,300 daily newsletters that average around 18-20 news links a day -- a guesstimate would at least 46,000 articles (give or take a few). AAO: What is the process that you go through each day? How do you select content? KR: My day starts around 6:30 a.m. with a strong cuppa coffee, a hug to my cats (George is still asleep), and making sure the bird feeder is filled. Then it's off to the Internet. I scan about 200 news stories every morning to come up with what I consider the Top 20. I love it when a thread emerges, tying a theme or trend or project type together. Keeping the readership (and my own focus) in mind, news stories, opinions, and reviews covering everything from urban and environmental issues to just really cool (or absurd) stuff will make the cut. AAO: Because the newsletter format is digital, it can reach a large and diverse audience. How have you seen the community grow? Any advice for our AAO audience about how to increase readership of digital communications? KR: I keep tabs on new subscribers (and the "unsubscribes"). ANN has about 16,000 subscribers to the daily newsletter; another 5,000-8,000 access it directly from the newsletter's web page. In addition to the list being an amazing gathering of international architectural talent (that just thrills me!), a great satisfaction is the number of architects and planners in government agencies, educational and cultural institutions, and real estate developers from around the world (and many send me tips about great stories!). Perhaps what excites me most is when I see educators and students subscribe, particularly when they hail from a country such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, and other countries in conflict or under severe rule. It gives me hope -- these students are our future. My best advice to the AAO audience: if you have a website and you either use or someone suggests using Flash, don't! Your website will never be picked up by any search engine (Google or ANN). They are also most welcome to contact me directly with story ideas, links to interesting items they've posted, or questions: kristen@ArchNewsNow.com AAO: You've been honored by a number of different organizations for your work. What specifically have they recognized about the value of ANN? What's the most interesting feedback that you've received? I can't express how honored I am to have received Honorary membership in both the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects. I don't see how one can really separate the two professions in the built environment, and I make every effort to call out the synergy between the two. The most interesting feedback: the scores of e-mails that come in asking if everything is o.k. when I miss a day without an editor's note alerting readers the day before. Those e-mails keep me setting that alarm every morning. AAO: This June will mark one year since you started curating "Watercooler," the monthly A+DEN eNews for our members interested in K-12 design education. What have you taken from this experience? KR: For me, it's a marriage made in heaven. During my 10-year tenure at Interiors magazine, I was called the "education editor." And since 2003, I've had the privilege of serving as editor of the AIANY Chapter's quarterly journal, Oculus and, for its first three years, the electronic newsletter, e-Oculus. I've learned so much (and have so much fun) working with the Center for Architecture Foundation's indefatigable team. In doing ANN, I come across so many wonderful stories about architectural education for the K-12 generation that inspire me, but don't really fit ANN. Watercooler is an incredibly rewarding way to help "get the word out." I look forward to developing the dialogue with -- and among -- AAO/A+DEN members (and hope they spread the word, too!). You can subscribe to Kristen's daily posts by visiting http://www.archnewsnow.com.

- Buyers Guide AGILENT AND ANITE TELECOMS TEAM-UP Agilent Technologies Inc. and Anite Telecoms announced the development of a HSDPA RF conformance test solution. Release is planned for April 2006, followed by a complete W-CDMA RF conformance test solution. The Agilent and Anite relationship, formed in 2003 to develop and promote protocol and system simulator test solutions, now moves into RF conformance testing with the development of the Agilent GS-8800+ RF conformance test system. Both companies will market the GS8800+ solution to their customers. Agilent and Anite have both contributed to the development of the new system. Already a development support product, the GS-8800 system has now been extended, using the Anite Baseband Processor and Anite System Software to help 3G wireless device technology developers perform RF pre-conformance testing to 3GPP TS 34.121 specifications. Anite's SAS system simulator and SAT systems use Agilent's E5515C (8960) wireless communications test set as a network simulator. "With the high levels of complexity and new technology adoption in wireless products, design and validation teams require higher performance test systems to support multiple formats," said Amir Aghdaei, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Measurement Systems Division. "This GS-8800+ test system illustrates our commitment to providing innovative test solutions for enhancing performance throughout the product development cycle—from protocol implementation to RF design validation and final conformance testing." "Both Agilent and Anite understand the time-to-market pressures faced by wireless R&D customers and test houses when bringing wireless devices to the market," said Daniel Oosthuizen, Anite director. "The natural synergy between our firms has enabled us to create end-to-end test solutions wireless developers can depend on for performance and repeatability." The addition of HSDPA and W-CDMA formats for RF pre-conformance and design verification expands the capabilities of the GS-8800 system, which already supports GSM, GPRS, EGPRS, cdma2000, cdmaOne, 1xEV-DO and AMPS technologies. Those seeking to expand the capabilities of installed GS-8800 RF design verification systems can upgrade to the GS-8800+ system with hardware and software upgrade options.

North Texas Community Hospital is now the Bridgeport campus of Wise Regional Health System – but it may be a couple of weeks before it is back up and running as a full-scale hospital. Wise Regional CEO Steve Summers and NTCH CEO Max Ludeke met Monday afternoon at Guardian Title in Decatur to sign the papers formalizing the transfer, which officially took place a minute after midnight Tuesday. The papers went to a few other players for signatures, and the $20 million bankruptcy buyout was complete. Wise Regional agreed in November to be the “stalking-horse” bidder as NTCH filed Nov. 8 for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. After a bidding period that lasted Dec. 11 to Jan. 28, Wise Regional’s proposal remained the only one on the table. The Decatur-based hospital was awarded the bid in a Feb. 4 hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth. Some creative last-minute financing was required to provide enough cash to keep the hospital operating until the official changeover. Bondholder Susquehanna International came through last week with around $1.7 million, and the Bridgeport facility was still up and running, caring for patients, when the keys were handed over to Wise Regional. Indeed, most of the keys were handed to the same people who carried them before. Donna Stowers, RPh, who has been with the Bridgeport hospital “since the dirt – since we were in trailers” will serve as the director of patient support services, coordinating “everything that isn’t nursing.” Longtime Wise Regional ICU Director Pam Martin, RN, will be the director of nursing for Bridgeport. Stowers said attending to all the details – “from keys to patient processes” – has kept everyone extremely busy during the hospital’s last few days and into the transition period. But even though the majority of NTCH’s employees are staying on, there was still some emotion as the long-awaited transition finally arrived. “It’s mixed emotions for me,” she said. “Wise brings many positives, resources and structure. But I am sad that NTCH as it exists now will be no more.” But, she was quick to add, there has been “a good spirit of cooperation” from both sides. “It’s been a very positive thing,” she said. “One of my jobs is to keep the heart of this place as much like it has been as possible. We’ll have new policies, practices and programs, but a lot of the same people, and definitely the same goal, which is to continue to serve our community.” Stowers said those people are ready to work within a new system and continue to serve. “I am excited to start the next chapter of healthcare in Bridgeport with the many positives that Wise Regional will bring,” she said. “The heart of NTCH has been the staff and physicians who have dedicated their lives to caring for patients in our community. “Even though we will see a few changes, these folks have left their footprint on the lives of those they have worked with and taken care of. Their dream continues as we are still here taking care of patients. “I am proud to have been part of this organization and am looking forward to what lies ahead.” Hospital board chairman Dr. Jimmy Horner thanked everyone at the Bridgeport facility for their perseverance as the clock wound down. “The directors would like to thank the senior leadership at this hospital for their knowledge and professionalism that has seen the hospital through this challenging time,” he said. “We would also like to thank all of the hospital employees and physicians. They remained focused and continued to deliver high-quality care throughout this process. “We know this past year has been tough, and we sincerely appreciate their dedication and loyalty to their work and to our community.” He also expressed his thanks to the directors “for coming together and making some difficult decisions this past year in support of this hospital and our community.” NUTS AND BOLTS After shutting down the ICU, labor and delivery and most surgery last week, the Bridgeport hospital was already operating basically as an emergency room by the time the transition took place. They had the capability to admit up to four patients from the ER, although any needs beyond that would be transferred to Decatur. The business and accounting offices were set to move to Decatur immediately, to begin realizing cost savings. NTCH will maintain office space in the facility to continue to collect its accounts receivable so that it can pay its final bills and satisfy the IRS – part of the bankruptcy deal. Ludeke said he will stay on for about 30 days, and some finance personnel may stay for up to 90 days. John Neal, who heads up the radiology department at Wise Regional, has been serving as the transition coordinator since November. “My responsibility from the beginning was making sure that each manager from Decatur made it to Bridgeport, identified the things that needed to be done and had a plan to take care of them,” Neal said. “Any two facilities in any field will have different practices, different ways they operate. “We wanted to make this a full-scale Wise Regional facility, so that our employees don’t have to switch over when they go back and forth to different equipment, different procedures.” Among the physical modifications being implemented: - Upgrades to the HVAC venting system to reduce energy costs and consumption; - Additional firewall protection; - Modifications to corridor doors, ceiling and flooring, as needed; - Additional training of employees; - Transitioning computer systems and upgrading software; - Staging, placement and testing of computer systems; - Setup of the Electronic Medical Records system; - Transporting additional medical equipment to the Bridgeport campus, including the Pyxis medication administration systems; - Installation of new time clocks; - Installation of new signage; - Re-striping the parking lot and painting more visible fire lanes; - Phase-in of new supply vendors for continuity through Wise Regional’s Group Purchasing Organization, which will result in cost savings through increased volume; - Implementation of barcode scanning to move to a completely automated re-ordering system for surgical, lab and office supplies. Many of the modifications are designed to meet different standards in advance of a Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation monitoring visit that is scheduled fairly soon after the facility opens. The Bridgeport hospital was accredited through DNV Healthcare, but as part of Wise Regional the facility will be accredited through the Joint Commission. All this was projected to take about two weeks, but Summers said the major projects should be finished in time for the hospital to go back full-service by Monday, April 8. “Our goal within this timeframe is to maximize the infrastructure efficiencies within the facility, so that the Decatur and Bridgeport campuses will operate seamlessly together,” said Shannon Puphal, marketing and communications director for Wise Regional. MOST FACES THE SAME While patients in Bridgeport will see a few new faces, much of the staff will transition to the new organization. Ludeke said of the 220 or so staff members, about 30 already worked in both places, and the other 150 or so have already signed on with Wise Regional. Most of the physicians who have treated patients at Bridgeport already had staff privileges at Wise Regional, and others have applied or plan to. Monday night, the Wise Regional Health System board modified its policy to allow physicians to choose which facility will be their primary practice. That move will allow doctors who have primarily worked at Bridgeport to continue to do so without seeing new on-call requirements in Decatur. It will also come into play when Wise Regional’s new surgical facility off I-35 in the Alliance area of Fort Worth opens. Neal said a few changes will be permanent. “Nuclear medicine will not be a part of radiology over here, and labor and delivery will all go to Decatur,” he said. “The ICU will be shut down for an undetermined time – but it will come back at some point. We just don’t know exactly when yet.” During the transition phase, Neal said the staff from Bridgeport will essentially be “absorbed” – continuing to staff the ER and those beds there, but also undergoing training and “shadowing” their Wise Regional counterparts in Decatur, learning the different procedures, until the Bridgeport facility ramps back up. “Full-time employees with Bridgeport will get the hours they need to maintain their pay,” Neal said. Ludeke said his greatest satisfaction is seeing those employees continue to have jobs, and the community continue to have a hospital. “It’s kind of like sending a kid away to school,” he said. “There’s some heartache, but you’re also proud and excited about the future. “There’s a synergy that’s going to exist when they’re fully joined – sort of a one-plus-one equals three. Both of these hospitals will be better because of the other,” he said. “This transaction provides us with the benefits that come with local control and being part of a larger healthcare organization and continuing to provide high-quality healthcare for residents of Bridgeport, Wise County and our surrounding communities. “This is a great outcome for North Texas Community Hospital. We look forward to beginning our next phase with Wise Regional Health System.” CONSIDERING THE HOSPITAL’S FINANCIAL STRUGGLES, DO YOU THINK THE ARRANGEMENT WITH WISE REGIONAL IS AN ACCEPTABLE RESOLUTION? “I have always been a huge supporter for the Bridgeport hospital, and I truly hate to see the financial struggles they have gone through. Worse than that, I would hate to see it close. Wise Regional is willing to keep the hospital open for the Bridgeport community; therefore I think their resolution is more than acceptable.” – Susan Miller, James Wood Motors Inc. marketing director “Under the circumstances, it is the best that could happen. I wish the family practice doctors who do deliveries could be taken care of. That part is unfortunate.” – Fred Meyers, Meyers Agency owner/agent “My short thought is it is GREAT! We are glad to get to keep a facility here. Some of the services are being reduced that I’d like to see here, but I am sure the new owners are making wise financial decisions and will expand later. I think it is great for the community, and I am glad Wise Regional is the one who stepped up to keep it here and open. “ – David Correll, State Farm Insurance agent

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Just a few months ago, Grishin Robotics made its robotic first investment (that we know of) by writing a check for a cool quarter million to Double Robotics and its rolling iPad telepresence thingy. Today, Grishin has announced investment number two, with another $250,000 going to Elad Inbar's RobotAppStore. What is RobotAppStore? We'll break it down for you: it's a store, that sells apps, for robots. You can buy (or download for free) apps for a variety of consumer robots (Naos, Pleos, Roombas, Lego NXT kits, and more), each of which has been checked out by RobotAppStore itself to make sure it won't cause your hardware to explode. On the other end, developers can sell apps through the store, keeping 70 percent of whatever their apps bring in. Here's Dimtri Grishin on why he decided to go with RobotAppStore: “Robotics is a combination of good hardware and software – thus, the important role of a project like the RobotAppStore in the market ecosystem is unquestionable. The concept of ‘Cloud robotics’, which implies ability of all robots to connect to the internet, share a common knowledge database and seamlessly upgrade their functions in real-time, is a soon-to-be future; one reminiscent of the of personal computer industry. We believe that the strong team behind RobotAppStore coupled with their ability to leverage the advantages of having strong community already built around the product, can make this future closer”, said Dmitry Grishin, founder of Grishin Robotics, Co-Founder & CEO of Mail.Ru Group. That mention of cloud robotics isn't coincidental; Grishin is betting that there's a future in giving robots the same ability to benefit from cloud software and cloud hardware that smartphones have now. Like, let's take some sort of stupendously difficult problem that may or may not be solved (depending on who you ask), like grasping, and imagine how a cloud-based app store or service could improve it: your robot could be about as smart as a plastic spork with an arm and a Kinect on it, but as long as you've got the right app and a connection to the cloud, it doesn't matter. Your bot can simply send a 3D image of the object in question, some supercomputer somewhere can do some number crunching, and send back grasping instructions faster than you can say "wow, that was fast." Obviously, the RobotAppStore isn't set up for this kind of thing yet, but that's why now's the time to invest, I suppose. Anyway, here's what Elad thinks about the whole thing: “The support provided by Grishin Robotics is a great vote of confidence in our plans for the company,” said Elad Inbar, Founder & CEO of RobotAppStore. “It shows their belief in our vision and the importance of the marketplace for robotics applications. The robotics industry has reached its tipping-point with broad market acceptance, usability of robots, and the ability to extend the robots' capabilities. Being a part of Grishin Robotics’ portfolio provides high synergy with other robotics companies and better resource utilization. We are excited to use this funding to secure our place as THE market-leader of the consumer and educational robot-apps™ industry." As much as I'd like to believe this, "the robotics industry has reached its tipping-point" is a sentiment that I've heard consistently ever since I started writing about robots back in 2007, and as far as I can tell, nothing has tipped yet. I think it's more likely that Grishin's investments, and RobotAppStore itself, will help the robotics industry reach some sort of tipping-point in the first place. An app-type ecosystem, where you can download new capabilities for your robot that someone else has come up with rather than taking the time to develop them yourself, is one of the things that has made ROS so successful in robotics, and has the potential to do something similar for consumer robots in general. The only question I have at this point is whether there are really enough robots out there for RobotAppStore to get a good foothold, but even if there aren't (yet), the existence of a place to share apps will perhaps motivate people to buy more robots knowing that new capabilities are already available.

|Reference : Genome-wide epistasis screening for Crohns’ disease| |Scientific congresses and symposiums : Poster| |Life sciences : Genetics & genetic processes| |Genome-wide epistasis screening for Crohns’ disease| |Gusareva, Elena [Université de Liège - ULg > Dép. d'électric., électron. et informat. (Inst.Montefiore) > Bioinformatique >]| |Van Steen, Kristel [Université de Liège - ULg > Dép. d'électric., électron. et informat. (Inst.Montefiore) > Bioinformatique >]| |20th Annual IGES Conference| |International Genetic Epidemiology Society| |[en] Genome-wide association (GWA) studies of Crohn's disease have identified numerous genes. However, a substantial portion of the heritability of this disease remains unexplained. Some gene variants, not detectable via main effects GWA study, may manifest themselves only in interaction with other variants. To search for interacting genes involved in the regulation of Crohn's disease, we performed GWA epistasis screening in a large human cohort (1851 cases/2938 controls) belonging to the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC). All subjects were genotyped with the GeneChip 500K Mapping Array Set (Affymetrix chip). SNPs that passed our quality control (359,479 SNPs) were processed in Biofilter (a software package that looks for candidate epistatic genes contributing to disease risk) giving rise to 14,185 SNPs. Subsequent MB-MDR epistasis screening discovered four pairs of interacting SNPs on chromosome 4q35.1 and eight pairs on chromosome 11q23.2. The identified pairs of SNPs were confirmed with synergy-based measures. Notably, despite their mapping to the same genomic regions, the interacting SNPs were not in LD (r^2 < 0.5). Our findings support the idea of close chromosomal localization of two pairs of interacting genes that are involved in development of Crohn's disease.| |Researchers ; Professionals ; Students| There is no file associated with this reference. All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

The number of the week is 3 I was originally going to write a long, angry rant about the state of warlocks (pet resilience change did nothing, etc). I’ve changed my mind, however. One of the biggest changes in the upcoming season is the change to the 2v2 bracket (no longer awards titles, weapons, or shoulders). Let’s talk about that. So with the 2v2 bracket obsolete, 3v3 will become the de-facto bracket for WoW arena players. What does this mean for warlocks? Luckily, we have several very viable 3v3 comps. Let’s run down a few of the more viable/popular: This is a comp that makes things go boom! Your primary role for this comp is to bring “mad burst.” Between bloodlust, resto shaman burst, rogue burst and CC, and chaos+conflag crits this comp can put out a tremendous amount of hurt in a very short period of time. A key for this comp is to stay offensive. Go into this comp with the mindset of playing double dps. That is to say, aim for getting a very strong opener and making quick switches where possible. Force cooldowns and punish the enemy team for wasting any amount of their resources in the beginning of the game. Shadowfury an enemy healer in the middle of a cast into a blind=>hex=>death coil=>spell lock chain (or any long CC chain) is game breaking. Another important thing to remember is that destro burst is very susceptible to dispellers. For this reason, make it a priority to either CC the enemy healer or put out so much pressure that the healer doesn’t have time to dispel. Also, rogues become very fragile creatures once their cooldowns have been used up. It should be your goal, therefore, to pop cooldowns quickly and score a fast kill. This comp can put out a lot of burst, but it does it in a different way. The key here is the synergy between destroy warlocks and frost mages. Frost mages control melee classes beautifully… while destroy warlocks do not. To succeed at this comp you need to have very good communication between yourself and the mage, since he needs to control your foes and be ready to pull out his burst when called for. The shaman is the ideal healer for this comp once again because of bloodlust and his own individual burst (which is the highest of the healers). This is comp is viable again not because of any specific buffs warlocks have gotten recently (because we really haven’t gotten any… QQ). Warriors and druids, on the other hand, are extremely strong in the current arena environment. The amount of damage a warrior can put out is simply ridiculous, especially against a cloth class. Add in MS, the pressure of an affliction warlock (that’s you), and druid CC and you can see why this comp is strong. Your role in this comp is mainly support. You must spread your DOTs around to create pressure and use fear extremely often and well. Every member of this team needs to peel for the others to succeed. If you are getting train your warrior can hamstring one, the druid can root or cycle the other, while you run away/port to freedom. Conversely, fear also is a great peel if your druid is getting trained. If your warrior gets trained… I guess peel. You could also /lol. Death Knight/Warlock/Druid (DKLD) This comp is similar to WLD, except it doesn’t have MS. You also have more CC thanks to death knights having strangulate… mind freeze… ghoul stun… death grip… chains of ice… you get the idea. Since you don’t have MS your role will be to create as much pressure as you can (you’re affliction here) so that when the DK unloads his burst something dies. Peels are also the name of the game here. Shadow Priest/Warlock/Shaman (Shadowplay) This comp is very, very strong right now. Shadow priests now have a mini MS which, along with recent shaman buffs, put this comp from retarded bad to amazing overnight. You will of course be affliction. As before, you need to create as much pressure as possible (I’m sounding like a broken record). In case there is any doubt how to do that, always put up UA first against teams with dispel. If your opponents have no dispellers put up haunt first, then UA. After your casted DOTs are up on your primary target put up instant DOTs, then spread DOTs in the same order to the other players. Your other major job is to kite, kite, kite. This is always something you should do on any comp, but it is more important here because you don’t have hax warrior or DK peels to help you out. Because of this, I strongly recommend using the Shadowflame glyph. If you can land a shadowflame slow on your melee train and then port away that will give you some breathing room. That’s all for now. I apologize for the long delay in updates. I have recently moved, so I had to get everything squared away there. Rest assured, I have not left and I will continue posting updates in the coming weeks.

In order for your dreams and visions to become a reality, you must continue to think that youre going to become successful, that youre going to surpass all of your expectations in life, and that nothing is going to come in your path to prevent you from achieving your goals. Without the right amount of positive thinking, you may never attain success. You have to imagine where you want to be in life. Think of your imagination as the mental canvass where you can dream, wonder, think of possibilities, and just let your mind wonder and wonder into new worlds. Having an imagination in the key to creativity. You need to be thinking about your plan and if you dont have a plan you better make one right now. The thing about a plan is that it keeps you focused on your goals. Having a weak plan is better than not having a plan at all. So get some paper and a pen, and write down your plan. (Im not talking about a formal business plan) I am talking about sentences, words, ideas, drawings, shapes, images, anything on a piece of paper something to post on your wall to observer, think about, and revise. Your desire to succeed must be strong. Students have been taught to go to school, get good grades, find a job, work for someone for 40 years then retire living off of social security checks for the rest of your life. Well you know what I say to that? Hell NO! The student entrepreneur doesnt settle for that, he or she builds, creates, expands, and changes the world. In order not to end up just like every other dude, you need to persist above all the bullshit that is going to try to stop you, i.e. friends, family, bosses, teachers, and acquaintances that tell you to play it safe. (Im sure youve heard that before, eh?). Itll be wise to build a team of like minded individuals. When I think of teams, I think synergy! (2 + 2 = 5). Look into linking up with other students who you think can add value to you business with their creativity, insight, or intelligence. In doing so, what you guys create will be more than the sum of your individual contributions to the group. When a team focuses on one goal, the possibilities are endless. Never stop thinking about the future. We are living in a world where things are constantly changing from day to day. Ideas that you once had may need to be revised or adjusted for future changes in the world. The way you think about your business should never be concrete, it should be fluid: ready to change at any given moment. We dont live in a static world, so you business shouldnt be static. Be flexible and ready for anything. Theres only one thing that is perfect in this world and its definitely not going to be your business. There are going to be setbacks on your road to success, there will be days filled with headaches and stress, days that youll just want to give up and never look backthis is all a part of starting a business and the strong-minded always prevail. Never stop THINKING. Disclaimer: By David Askaripour Not me!

NorTech, a Cleveland technology-based economic development organization, is hosting what it's calling the 2014 Innovation UnConference this Wednesday, bringing in a few hundred participants for a conference with no boring speeches, no set agenda and no predetermined topics. It's just a whole bunch of the area's best business and entrepreneurial minds and people looking to make connections. We caught up with NorTech president and CEO Rebecca O. Bagley who filled in some details on the UnConference and economic development in Northeast Ohio. Doug Brown: What is the concept behind this? Rebecca O. Bagley: We wanted something that could really be a platform for innovation -- to practice what we preach -- and so we felt that this format is flexible, participant-driven, very different than traditional conferences. For us, it's focused on transformational trends, cutting-edge technology, and innovative business approaches. It feeds off of NorTech's work, and really embodies off that innovative sense. DB: So when did the idea come about? RB: It was about nine months ago, actually. We had traditionally hosted business-to-business conferences in energy and had different types of conferences in flexible electronics, and so we were segregating the two audiences and we realized by coming together, there could be so much synergy. And the other piece was I was actually on a panel at somebody else's conference, and I thought, "This is just boring." I'm ON the panel and I'm bored. I'm looking out into the audience and I'm thinking, "There is as much talent and expertise on the topic we're talking about as panelists in that audience as there is on the panel." I came back and challenged the organization to look for a different model that really more embraced what we are trying to do, which is accelerate the pace of innovation in Northeast Ohio, so let's live that in every part of what we're doing. My team came back with the UnConference concept. DB: I see there's a list of nearly 30 "mentors" that will be there. Is there anybody you'd like highlight from that list for our readers? RB: It might sound like I'm dodging your question a little bit, but I think the most interesting part about that list is the mix of people. You have everybody from Jeff Hoffman, who co-founded Priceline and has moved to Northeast Ohio to help entrepreneurs, to somebody like a Matt Hlavin who is, I think, third-generation running Thogus and has really taken them in a different direction and has grown exponentially what was a very traditional manufacturing company. So it's this big mix of different types of mentors, and gives participants a mix of people to choose from as they're looking for who they want as mentor or to make connections. DB: What has to happen to make the UnConference a success? RB: The major piece for what we're looking for is making connections. And so we'll probably only be able to track that anecdotally with surveys, and the energy you feel at conference, but the goal is to make connections at the event that are relevant to participants' day-to-day work. I think that is really how we'll measure success, and we'll try to capture that through surveys and anything else. And there's good content to facilitate discussions. The cool thing is, from nine to 10 in the morning a national facilitator, who's done these kinds of things all over the world, is coming in to do the agenda setting. People will walk up to the mic and pitch a session, and the sessions are all discussion groups with no Powerpoint. People will say, "I want to lead a discussion on x," and the agenda is literally created in front of your eyes. We also have something called "the law of two feet" so if the discussion that you're in doesn't add a ton of value to what you're working on, or it was different that what you expected, then you just go to another discussion group. That's the idea and it's very dynamic. DB: In a broader sense, I'm sure you've seen that Slate article saying Cleveland could be the next Silicon Valley. Is the author exaggerating or onto something? RB: I suppose I'd say we're not trying to be the next Silicon Valley. What we should try to be is the next iteration of what Cleveland and Northeast Ohio can be, and I think it looks very, very different than that. But I think it's the idea of a dynamic environment where collaboration is more important that competition, where you have a diversity of people involved in the work that you're doing, appreciate youth like Silicon Valley does. It's a version of us that still makes things, integrating the IT and the manufacturing culture together and being able to meld those things together. So I'd say we're not trying to be the next Silicon Valley, but we are trying to have a similar innovative feel. DB: What are the challenges Cleveland has to get to that? RB: I feel we're at a tipping point and there's a lot of momentum driving us in the right direction. I do think there are inherent assets, but like everything, your greatest asset could also be your greatest challenge depending on how you manage it. For instance, risk aversion has been a big challenge. You have a manufacturing culture that is largely supply-chain, and that has a risk aversion factor to it. We need to break down that barrier, become more risky. I think competition has been a major thrust with how our companies interact with each other -- I think there's a sliding scale between competition and collaboration and we have to slide it a little more toward collaboration. Competition is always going to have its place. And then, like I said, diversity. I think there's not enough diversity no matter how you talk about -- background, race, female or male, youth. We just need to embrace viewpoints; I'd say the historical is earn your place versus let's figure out how we can all work on these challenges together. Subscribe now to get the latest news delivered right to your inbox.

Iran continuously amazes even me. The patience and methodical review of policy and adjustments made to macro-economical, political, and strategic realities in Iran are done as an expert chess player would play the game. Neo-conservatives and radicals in Europe, Israel, and the US who claim Iran is a land lead by crazy people intent on nuking all as soon as the opportunity arises have zero understanding of realities and have no clue who their adversaries are. The decision that Iran continues to make to date, that surprises me, is how each further sanctions move results in a movement towards reforming areas of the economy that have proved troublesome and too sensitive to alter in the past. Instead of an emotional and knee-jerk reaction of retaliation, Iran chooses to go the path of internal reform rather than external response. After the US congress blackmailed international firms from selling Iran gasoline, Iran quickly expanded local production to meet demand. This was no walk in the park as imports were 40% of internal requirements even though Iran has the second largest oil reserves in the world. Through finally lifting decades of subsidies that made Iran the cheapest place to pump, converting petrochemical plants to produce gasoline in the short-term, and creating a rationing smart card system, Iran was able to avoid the intended economic destruction hoped for by the US Congressmen. Examples are abundant of such reforms that successive administrations were not able to push through due to the public backlash or fear of change. The latest reform is something that has not only been a great wish of many presidents of the Islamic Republic but also something that the former Shah of Imperial Iran wanted to achieve but all had failed till now - converting crude oil sales to added-value exports. Selling oil in its crude form means selling a commodity as it is. No work other than pumping it out of the ground is done and so very little in labor and synergy on the economy are achieved. But if Iran would be able to instead refine the oil as petrochemicals or other products like plastics, industrial solvents, chemicals, or even electricity than the returns to the Iranian economy would be revolutionary and something that not only has Iran not yet achieved but no oil exporting country to date has been successful in. Iran's economy to date is hugely diversified versus its neighboring oil exporters. Also due to the Iran-Iraq war (longest modern war) and over 33 years of sanctions Iran has seen the need early on to build local industries and today boasts some world leading sectors for quantity of production. The black curse given to oil is named appropriately as it truly curses an oil exporting economy to easy and fast returns from selling oil versus building local industries to process that oil and create jobs for its population. This policy reform was explained by National Iranian Oil Company chief Ahmad Ghalehbani last Wednesday, on the oil ministry's news site Shana, "Iran's goal is eventually to stop exporting crude and expand the production of refined products and other derivatives" There are also plans to export more electricity to energy deficient neighbors. New transfer lines are being built recently to allow for this new income source. Analyst have also estimated that with a fraction of the crude oil now being exported could be rather converted into exported electricity and have returns as much as Iran's whole oil exports combined. Other monumental reforms which would bring Iran into the developed and modern form of economy would be the use of taxes to pay for annual budgets. Iran currently utilizes taxes for around 43% of its income. Having already the least amount of its annual budget coming from oil sales (apart from Norway) Iran could truly reform its economy and achieve as Norway has done in looking at oil as capital versus income. This reform has been in Iran's Parliament for a while now and if eventually passed would be commendable. If agreed to, Iran would no longer be able to export oil and use the funds as income. It would have to do with the returns as it does any other capital; as investments. Platts reported that Iran's Economy minister Shamseddin Hosseini said on October 24 that Iran planned to rely increasingly on taxation rather than on oil revenues, quoting the labor news agency ILNA as saying. "Parliament has agreed to debate urgently a bill to modify the country's tax regulations." They go on to say ILNA by quoting Hosseini that 43% of Iran's expenses was covered by taxation and that "if we get into trouble in selling oil, we should use tax resources to cover the expenses." These decisions are not those of mad men with little insight on where they want their nation to go. The image of Iran that is built by her enemies can be a double-edged sword in that building a misunderstood perception of your counterpart means you also misinterpret the reactions that that nation would make. That is why after forcing all sellers of gasoline to stop their exports to Iran, the US was in a state of shock and denial at first. What they had not foreseen was of the ability of Iran to not only avoid self-destruction but create efficiencies in the usage of gasoline while saving billions of dollars in import bills and more billions (estimates of 10-30 billion dollars) in subsidized energy sales. But to their credit predicting Iran's reactions is no easy task. As I quoted the last Israeli ambassador to Iran as saying a reflection of his words is timely and fits well with this topic. Uri Lubrani was quoted in the The Daily Beast He said the Iranian leaders he'd met over the years were all highly skilled negotiators who would run circles around American officials. "They are traders in their tradition. They're bazaaris. They know how to how to haggle, when to catch an adversary when he's weak. They're pros," Lubrani said. "It took me a long time to understand this. I developed a gut feeling out of sheer experience. No Ivy League graduate will ever really understand the soul and the tradition and the behavior of the Iranians." |The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.

Improving Relationships Between Hospitals and Physicians Date Posted: January 19, 2011 January 19, 2011 - Healthcare reform has many in the industry contemplating partnerships between hospitals and physicians in new accountable care organizations or sharing bundled payments, which is prompting more talk about improving hospital and physician relations. But some hospitals have made collaboration a priority in the quest for better patient outcomes. Linda Efferen, M.D., FCCP, indicated that hospital-physician relationships are becoming more formal as both entities grapple with the potential impact of healthcare reform. “Transition of care points improve if we are aligned correctly and that equals quality of care,” said Daniel Salinas, M.D., chief medical officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, who transformed their system into one led by physicians and administrators sharing decision-making from the upper levels through each service line. “Physician-nonphysician synergy is powerful,” Salinas added. “The administrators acknowledge and validate what the physician brings, in terms of clinical expertise and thought process, and the physicians acknowledge and validate the administrators’ business acumen, strategic thinking and ability to get things done.” Salinas listened to physicians and learned they wanted more transparency, involvement in decision-making, more collaboration and a system that functions. That drove Children’s Healthcare to develop a physician leadership cabinet, to reorganize the organization to develop the shared management teams and to re-enfranchise primary care physicians with a voice in creating a better system. Maria Fernandez, physician communication consultant at Children’s Healthcare, added the changes came about through consistency, honesty and delivering on what is promised. “We built trust, and we gave hope,” Salinas added. Building trust is a key factor in good collaboration, which benefits the patients, said Christy Dempsey, senior vice president of clinical and operational consulting for Press Ganey Associates of South Bend, Ind. “For hospitals and physicians to collaborate well, you have to address the issue of trust,” Dempsey said. A recent Press Ganey survey conducted for Modern Healthcare found that 62 percent of responding employed physicians said trust was a medium-to-large obstacle to better relationships with hospitals. Tracey Mayberry noted that market conditions are drawing physicians and hospitals into employee-employer relationships. “Having physicians at the table making data-driven decisions is the key to overcoming trust issues,” Dempsey said. “Then they hold each other accountable for those decisions and making it work together in a collaborative relationship and, ultimately, build a foundation of trust.” Claudia Caine said administrators at Lutheran Medical Center always discuss ideas with physicians before implementing any changes. Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., has closely collaborated with its physicians, having operated for years with a philosophy that a hospital can be successful only if good relationships with physicians exist. “Nothing is done in this institution without talking to and partnering with physicians,” said Claudia Caine, chief operating officer at Lutheran Medical. When Lutheran Medical launched a house call program, hiring physicians to do the visits, the hospital let doctors market the service as an extension of their practice. The house-call doctor then calls the primary care physician from the patient’s home to collaborate on the case. “We are always thinking of ways to make the pie bigger, not smaller, for the docs,” Caine said. In implementing an electronic medical record (EMR), Lutheran Medical involved physicians in the process and included features, such as reviewing or ordering tests in their offices, which would enhance doctors’ lives. Now Lutheran Medical’s physicians are ordering 93 percent of patient medications using computerized provider order entry, far exceeding the federal government’s meaningful use requirement of 30 percent. South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, N.Y., hopes an EMR will enhance communication with its physicians and create smoother transitions of care, said Linda Efferen, M.D., FCCP, chief medical officer at South Nassau. “Improving the hospital-physician relationship is an ongoing dialogue to explore the challenges and barriers,” Efferen said. “It’s gaining a level of understanding about the issues and overcoming those barriers.” Although discussions and meetings with physicians pre-date healthcare reform, Efferen said physician initiatives will become more formalized as reimbursement changes. Connie Curran, EdD, RN, FAAN, said effective change starts at the board level. Connie Curran, EdD, RN, FAAN, president of Best on Board, a company that provides education, testing and certification for hospital board members, maintains that leadership for effecting change in hospital-physician relations should start with the facility’s board of directors. “The board can be helpful in creating criteria that are real and attract physicians that have the same values [as the hospital’s values],” Curran said. Many goals of hospitals and physicians are similar, she added. They want to provide good quality care. Both entities can build on that commonality. Rochell Pierce, vice president of physician relationship management at Aegis Health Group of Brentwood, Tenn., added that hospitals must listen to their doctors and get to know what issues are of concern, so they can resolve them. She recommends creating an environment where physicians can be productive and grow their practices by using a disciplined, formal and measurable program, measuring by tracking desired outcomes, such as referrals and physician satisfaction. “You want to reward productive physicians,” Pierce said. “Recognizing and thanking physicians for their hard work to the community is very important.” John R. Thomas reported that market conditions are bringing hospitals and physicians closer together in collaborative relationships. Both hospitals and physicians are expressing greater interest in the employed-physician model. The Press Ganey survey found that 92 percent of physicians thought the percentage of physicians employed by hospitals will increase. “It all stems from issues around healthcare reform,” Dempsey said. “It’s fear of the unknown, uncertainty about what is going to happen.” Physicians are under a lot of pressure, facing decreased reimbursement and challenges associated with healthcare reform, and hospitals can mobilize around initiatives, such as care management, more quickly with employed physicians, explained Tracey Mayberry, a partner with CSC Healthcare Group in Long Beach, Calif. “Market conditions move the parties toward each other; life apart is less attractive than life together,” Mayberry said. “People have to come into it for the right reasons and understand the reasoning and how that plays out.” John R. Thomas, president and CEO of MedSynergies of Irving, Texas, added that physician practices also have faced difficulty accessing capital at a time when they had to invest in technology, and hospitals need to move quality outside their four walls. It’s a perfect storm of technology, billing complexity, regulation, capital access and economics that have forced both parties to have rational discussions,” Thomas said. “The motivation is around providing better quality, lower cost, better access to the healthcare system.”

Fan Interview with Larry Gott 2nd March 2008 | wearejames By wearejames.com forum member Kirsty Pheasant It’s all a bit surreal. I’m in Manchester, in a taxi, headed off to interview Larry. I’m greeted like an old friend rather than a stalker caught scavenging in the bins, which is a good start. He fetches me tea and leaves me to listen to the new album while he catches up with a few things, he is a very busy man it seems. So, as instructed, I sit back and listen. The new album was always going to sound great, having heard the tracks previewed at Hoxton I knew the foundations were there for something special. I was prepared to hear something I didn’t like, or to find something to criticise but as I listened I was submerged in this breathless soundscape that sucked me in and didn’t let me back up for air till the closing notes of I Wanna Go Home. It sounded truly astonishing; mature, accomplished, an absolute work of art. I was blown away by its sheer beauty and power. So below, for your delectation and delight, I bring you, at long last, Larry Gott, guitar hero, James legend and excellent tea maker, in conversation. K: Let’s start with the new album, Hey Ma. How did you choose the title – mothers and babies seem to be a prominent theme in James be it song titles, album names or artwork? L: Mothers and babies always do in James stuff. I suppose an album feels like you’re giving birth, it’s about creation. I don’t know why we’re drawn to that. With the Hey Ma artwork, the graphics company came up with a shortlist of four ideas. Some suggested Whiteboy visually, another suggested I Wanna Go Home, some said Hey Ma. There was one, it was a really low resolution photo of a baby lying on its back, with a gun in its feet, pointing the gun at it’s own mouth, like it’s about to shoot itself. It was an utterly stunning image that suited hey ma, we couldn’t trace the originator and get clearance for it so we had to let it go, it would’ve been quite controversial. K: The artwork that you’ve got is fairly provocative anyway… L: It’s provocative yes and that does pose problems. You see as artists we have artistic license to do whatever we want; we can produce provocative imagery, we can swear, you can’t constrain an artist expressing themselves. The problem comes when its advertised in Q etc or the picture appears on itunes or for HMV to rack it in a store. Then its in the commercial realm and the Advertising Standards Authority would come down on them like a ton of bricks for displaying an image that could be considered objectionable by some people. K: Yeah and all of a sudden you’re in headline in the Daily Mail territory… L: Yeah quite possibly, but its more likely the album would just disappear. If you can’t advertise your album and the review isn’t going to get a big spot in any magazine because they can’t show a photo, you know it’s gonna have a negative effect. To avoid this we have used a different slip case image. K: Is that annoying having to compromise a really interesting image? L: It’s not annoying no, it presents you with a new challenge; we thought what if the slipcase becomes the set up and the reveal of the sleeve the punch line? So the slipcase has the baby (oliver is his name) looking straight at you, with quite a malevolent look on his face surrounded by building blocks and a toy gun. In the reveal the child’s got a real gun and this time he’s reaching for it. It has power; you’ve already set up the image of a malevolent child who looks like he could use it. You could say we approached it from a point of compromise, but what we ended up with was better than the original idea, so it’s always good to address these things. K: The song, Hey Ma, seems quite anti war in sentiment; the ëboys coming home in body bags’ lyric is quite strong. There’s not a lot of protest or debate about big issues in music at the moment. Is that going to pick up a lot of attention? L: Anti war?… it’s more, ‘be aware of your actions’ in sentiment, and be even more aware of your RE-actions. You only have to look at forums to see how someone says something and then one person flies off the handle and has an extreme reaction, just be aware of that. I’m not saying 9/11 was an innocent act, far from it, but the rapid reaction from America, whether justified or not, is open to a lot of discussion. And that’s all I’m going to say on that. K: Moving away from such tricky subjects and back to the album and its evolution. What made you decide to preview the songs at Hoxton in September? It seemed quite an ambitious move L: Historically, and I can only speak about when I was in the band, certain songs would pop themselves forward and we would say ëlets get that one together and play it live tonight’. Then that would happen with the next song and the next and the next, we were touring a lot then and we’d always put in some of the new songs and try them out. It was all part of the distilling process. It also freshened us up doing a new unknown song. K: But it wasn’t just a case of putting in a few new songs, it was a whole gig? L: Well yeah, that’s what used to happen historically. With this album we didn’t have that luxury because by the time we were on tour with Fresh As A Daisy we’d only just begun writing the songs. There were a few that we tried in a band situation, we then tried them on the tour, but that was it. Once the tour and the festivals were over, and we knew that we were going into the studio to record with Lee, there were two things we needed to know. 1) That the idea of going to Warsy and building our own studio would work and 2) whether working with Lee was the right thing for all of us. When we worked on the songs in pre production it seemed like it was all going to work and Tim (or Jim) said it used to help when we played new songs live, so we put in a Hoxton gig. We had a week I think, 6 or 7 days to rehearse them and get them all ready for those shows. K: So it was that short a time scale? L: Yeah, obviously some of them like Upside and Not So Strong, we already had. I think there were about 24 on the shortlist and as after those 2 nights about 5 or 6 of them got dropped. K: What straightaway? L: We had to focus, we only had a limited amount of time at Warsy, we couldn’t do all of the songs and we needed to focus on about 18 of them. So some of them fell by the wayside and Traffic was one of them funnily enough, it was a really strong early contender K: So we all had these setlists given out to us, and we were invited to fill in our comments, how much influence did that have, did you read them and the reviews people posted online? L: I did yeah, I read all the reviews. They were very enlightening, some people were looking for hits/singles others were more lyrical. K: And did it have an influence at all? L: I don’t know, I really don’t, it’s difficult, cos I wasn’t sure about doing the gig, but it turned out to be an absolute blast, especially that first night, what a wonderful experience K: Yeah I was only at the first night, but it was quite amazing L: It was, it was stunning, the second one wasn’t quite as good, the only problem was the first one didn’t record, the CD’s were just full of white noise, so it’s gone forever, it’s just one of those things, its in the ether. K: So which songs from the album are you happiest with, which ones made you sit back and go wow? L: The one that’s really surprised me is Waterfall, I wasn’t that keen on it, I didn’t think it was that strong, and it was a headache. We knew there was something good in it, we spent ages and ages trying it this way and that, in the end I got fed up of the bloody thing. It became a pain in the arse and I thought, it’s not worth it, it was causing too many problems. K: Then of course you end up overworking it and it gets worse. L: Yeah, I would have happily dropped it, it was always at the bottom of my list, but other people kept flying its flag, thank god. We recorded it, edited it and then when it came back from the mixing stage, we put it on and it was like woah! Where did that come from? All of the other songs sounded better at the mixing stage, but that one just leapt forward, it suddenly made sense. It went from being my least favourite to almost my favourite overnight and that’s where I’m at with it at the minute, but I know that that will change. K: And you’ve still got to tour them of course, which will change them again. L: Jimmy and me rehearsed it the other day; we put the CD on in a rehearsal room, cranked it up through the PA and played along, Waterfall felt really, really good. I think its gonna become a stormer live, a real cracker The songs are completely different to how they started out and we need to learn them now. K: So recording with Lee, how did that work, you’ve recorded with people like Eno, how was working with Lee different? How did the whole process of recording the album differ? L: The amount of time we spent actually recording was about seven days, which isn’t a lot really. In the laid/wah sessions we didn’t think we had enough time either, so Eno suggested doing two albums instead of one and using 4 or 5 different studios all at the same time. In Warsy, we had this huge chateau, so we set up six recording studios. Lee produced a master backing track for us all to work off. Chunny was over in the midi suite putting keyboards on it, Andy was up in his bedroom putting trumpets and cornets on it, Saul was in his room putting violins & guitars down and also some drums. Dave was also trying other ideas on top. I was doing guitars in the oak panelled study, and Tim was in the billiard room with KK doing the vocals. So we were all beavering away separately. At the end of the day Lee would come round and harvest all of the parts for a particular song. K: Which is very different to trying to recreate a live performance on record? L: It was, it was all of us throwing ideas in the pot and Lee would go away and listen. He’d say ëthat guitars not working… or the trumpets are working but? lets have a listen to what you did live …’ We were literally giving him a library of James samples that he could then pull together. Because we didn’t have the benefit of living with the songs for years or even months it was really condensed. Lee would just go through and sift things out, get the track working. Probably 70 or 80% of the stuff produced ended up on the floor, never used. I’d give him 6 guitar parts and he’d use a bit of one maybe because that’s all the song needed or he might use all 6 and throw everything else out, you never knew. K: It sounds a very different process and one which Lee was integral too L: Yeah it was different, there were some songs that stumped him, he would say ëI just can’t see this working’. Jimmy or me would then say ëwell let us have a look at it.’ We’d bring it back from Brighton, stick it on my computer, listen to it and say what if we try this, that and the other? We would cut it up, change the arrangement around and go down to Lee and say we think this might work, he’d listen and hopefully say ëthat’s it! I get it! give it to me’. He’d take over and do his stuff, he was much better at it than us, and suddenly it was all sounding a lot better. It was very homemade. K; You said earlier that you’ve all worked with other people since the split, has it changed the way you work together, for the better? L: Oh completely I think, Tim’s been away and worked with Angelo, Lee and KK on his projects, Andy’s worked with David Thomas( Pere Ubu) and Frank Black. Producing albums by both of them as part of ëTwo Pale Boys’ production team. Saul has worked with Unkle Bob and produced their album, Chunny was involved in that and he was also part of producing Ainslie from Fame Academy with saul. Dave’s always been producing stuff on the computer, he was the first one to do it really and I’ve been recording and writing for a project with Edward Barton. We’ve all produced and we’ve all found different ways of working as well. That’s been good for us, as has setting up our own studios and doing it that way rather than seven people who all think they know best in the same room. K: Well that’s it, it must be hard to sit you all down in a room together just to make decisions? L: The best thing, for us, is to not talk, to just play. When there are seven of us playing together it works, when we talk we differ. K: So Whiteboy’s going to be the single? We’ve already heard it on the radio. L: Yeah, the wrong edit, but… K: The wrong edit? L: It doesn’t start with Tim singing, it starts with a guitar arpeggio and then kicks straight in. There’s some guy who had a rant about us not announcing it on the website, why weren’t you told that Whiteboy was on the radio? COS WE DIDN’T FUCKING KNOW! IDIOT! K: Really, you didn’t know? How come? L: As soon as we’d got 6 tracks ready to listen to, including the original Whiteboy with the ëall mashed up’ intro, we sent it to various key people in the music industry and its having a massive effect. Two of the people we sent it to, Maconie and Radcliffe, took it upon themselves to play Whiteboy off the CD we sent them. It’s not the radio edit, it wasn’t even mastered, it had only been mixed, it should sound a hell of a lot better than it did cos it hadn’t been mastered for radio play. That’s why the intros really loud and then goes quiet K: The sound didn’t seem right at all on the radio. L: It wasn’t, but the thing is, it’s a good problem to have isn’t it? We’re getting radio plays that are not scheduled, they’re off their own bat, the viral thing is working. K: In the past James have rarely had an easy relationship with the press, has that made you wary of too much promotion or too much press involvement? L: I think the press is going to be different now. Rather than being wary I have been hounding our press guy Lewis to get as many press interviews as he can as I think that after release we will be in a good position given the strength of the music on this album. If you want an overview, just go to amazon and read the user reviews for GAWI or the Best of, two albums which I think reflect the panacea of James’ career up till now and read the comments on there. There are people from all over the world; it gives a good insight as to how we are viewed in various territories. K: Yeah, it’s astonishing how much support you’ve got in places like Greece and Portugal, and all the Mexicans that came over to the Dublin show last year. L: Yeah its growing, even though we haven’t been touring, we haven’t been on the radio, we haven’t been in the newspapers every week. We just disappeared, except, where music fans are concerned, there are people posting videos on you tube and giving people their i-pod play lists and word is getting around. People are discovering james albums like the best of and raving about it, they’ve given it to their sister and their brother. K: It’s incredibly broad the age range of James fans, from teenagers to people who’ve been around since the beginning in the early 80’s. L: You see we’ve always done what we wanted to do; we’ve always ploughed our own musical furrow and never followed fashion. Sure we’ve occasionally been influenced by what’s around at the moment, that’s just a natural thing but we’ve always had our own unique style. For example in America when Laid came out, Nirvana were hitting, grunge was the thing. Laid wasn’t a grunge record! We’d just come off the Neil Young tour of America, Neil Young (the godfather of grunge) was doing an acoustic tour!!? That’s where the acoustic sound of Laid came from, doing our own thing but being unintentionally anti fashion as a result. We always knew we’d have longevity; every album we make serves to increase the legacy of James music and not to satisfy the music press of the day. I find it short sighted of them and hypocritical of them to continually validate and champion bands by saying, this band are as real as it gets, you should listen to them because they’re valid and they’re original and. . . I’m like, hang on a minute, all of those things can be applied to James and yet you don’t see it, why do you not see it? We’ve just used the wrong colour ink at times for people to see. Tim puts it very well in his lyric on boom boom. K: Does that frustrate you, do you feel that at times James should’ve had more chart success, more recognition, then they’ve actually had? L: At one time I would’ve said yes, but since the advent of the internet, I’d say no, the evidence is out there that the recognition is there, and when you get away from this small island of England we’re viewed completely differently. We’re viewed as this weird cult outsider group. In America we’re known especially for Laid, and then when people hear our other music they go this is amazing, cos we don’t always sound like Laid. K: Do you think though, that James being the worlds best kept secret, has helped your longevity, the fact that you’re still going now, is partly because you’ve never been tied into ëthis years thing’ or a particular scene. You’ve always been outside, you were really only part of the Madchester thing because you were from Manchester, and you were making Laid and touring America while Britpop was happening. Has it helped you still be here? L: For every boat that was leaving, we would be offered a trip on a cool little yacht. We’d say, ëthat sounds cool, lets do that’, and then the big boat leaves with everybody on it and we go ëwell, we’ve had a really, really nice trip’ but the press had focused on the big boat, not the nice little yacht that we were sailing in. What is it, serendipity? It’s just one of those things; we’ve never been the zeitgeist. Our timing’s been wrong, we were born in the right town fortunately and I think historically we’ll be viewed quite differently than we have been portrayed in the past. Having never fitted into any of the genres has been a problem at times, the thing about writers is that, as they always love to write about genres (its easier for them, like a job lot) we never end up getting mentioned. K: Very much so, whenever you have a top 50 programme on TV or in a magazine James never get mentioned. L: No no! Number 75 most annoying song ever for Sit Down wasn’t it?!! K: So how much does the bands future depend, if at all, on the success commercially or critically of Hey Ma? L: At the minute it doesn’t rely very heavily on it, you’ve heard it, I think there’s no way it will be ignored. I think it’s gonna be a very, very successful album and I think that’s the feeling generally, so we’re working towards a second album now. K: Excellent. That’s fantastic to hear, you’re really looking toward the future then? L: We’ve already started writing it. All of us have every intention of doing another album and then another and so on until something stops us. Right now nothing’s stopping us; it feels really good, really positive and strong. It seems like a worthwhile thing to spend all your time doing. So we’re going to carry on doing it. But if this album bombs entirely there’s no telling what damage that could do to us psychologically. K: You said to me earlier that it would be difficult as a musician to take? L: It would be difficult for me to know what to do next, if this doesn’t hit. For me, it’s an absolutely stunning record, and if people ignore it, if it’s not what people call good music, then I don’t know what good music is! To me this is brilliant music and I’m at odds with everybody else. But even so, we can still play live wherever we want and we’ve got a great bunch of fans out there that keep us going. K: Talking about that great bunch of fans, something that Tim often talks about is connection, especially regarding when you play live, does something special happen between you and the fans, when you’re on stage? And also from the fans perspective you see the interaction between band members as well, when you’re watching in the audience and you see some songs taking off, there seems to be something going on there that’s special. Do you get a sense of that? L: Well yes it does happen, you never know where its gonna happen, you never know when it’s going to appear. Call it what you will, some people call it the muse, I know in flamenco they have the phrase ëel duende’ which means ëthe spirit’ and you only experience great flamenco when el duende is present. When there is a synergy between the musician – usually the guitar player – and the dancer and between the two of them they create an energy that makes the dancer dance like never before and the player play like never before. It’s not something that will appear by clicking your fingers (no castanet pun intended). However, when everybody is focused and the situation is right, it does appear and at that moment you can’t do anything wrong. When the feelings right, one or two members of the band will be inspired and confident enough to take it in a different direction and everybody will just follow, they know where its going. Mind you, there are other gigs where it’s a struggle, because of the sound or the energy onstage, whatever it may be. Then you just get down and focus, you concentrate be professional and play the best gig you possibly can even though it’s a struggle. There were a couple of times on the last tour, during the festivals I think, where that happened and Tim played a blinder. He ignored it and went off on his own little trip and got this thing going with the audience, he had a brilliant gig. There are other times when we can propel Tim so you never know, it’s completely unpredictable. K: And also do you find it slightly weird that fans will travel across the country across the world just to see you guys play. Do you sometimes look out and see the same faces again and think good god get a life! L: (Laughs) I don’t find it weird, I find it enviable. The people who came over from America and Australia, Mexico and Spain, Portugal, all kinds of places during last year’s tour, especially the Dublin gig. For those people music, good music is so, so important to them in their life. The fact that they get such a fantastic buzz out of it that, for them, it overshadows everything else I think is amazing. It shows that they’re vital and alive and that their heart beats just a little bit stronger than somebody who doesn’t have that passion in their life. I think you yourself Kirsty expressed a feeling of being released, almost set free last year, you spoke of waking up and things like that. To have that kind of effect, that humbles me, but the fact is I’m envious of them/you. I don’t think I’d do it, well maybe I would, lets say if Jimi Hendrix – I know its extreme – if he came back from heaven for one gig in Mexico, then yeah I would travel. K: Lets go back a year. How did you and Jim jamming in a room together become James again, because you were just playing together, you didn’t have an intention that it was going to become this James behemoth again did you? L: No, we just enjoyed playing together again; I think Jimmy rediscovered something about himself that he’d lost sight of, his creativity and his love of jamming. I was lucky in that at college, there were a lot of musicians on the course, they had a band called Soup. It was a great name cos it was literally like a soup, every week you didn’t know what the ingredients were gonna be. Whoever turned up turned up and we’d just jam. K: Yeah I was going to ask you, you left James and went off to design your ëarmchairs’ L: (laughs) I don’t design armchairs, I’ve never designed anything with an arm on it, thank you very much! K: You knew what I meant, is being onstage and playing guitar something that’s inescapable for you, that you always return too? L: I hardly touched the guitar when I was first at college, I had a problem with my left arm and I couldn’t play guitar for about 18 months, so I just got on with my college work and became pretty much a student. Music had very little place in my life because I’d become oversaturated during the James years. However soup were having these jam sessions and I got invited down to one of them. They were just parties really; everyone would turn up at someone’s house for a party. There’d be a drum kit and PA set up in the kitchen or basement. By 1 o clock in the morning everyone would’ve had a bit to drink and be nice n loose and they’d start to jam, the next time I took my guitar and just became part of it. I learnt so much and started to get the vibe back. So when Jimmy asked me in 2001 ëdo you want to do some jamming’? I was like yeah cool, so we just jammed for the next few years. We tried working with other singers and things like that but nothing seemed to click. We weren’t driven we were doing it for fun. K: So really, this incarnation of James has evolved more from fun and freedom and not having those restrictions on you? L: Yeah, it did. We were able to rediscover the unique relationship that we had, and the love of jamming. With Soup I had some really good jams, but there’s something special between Jimmy and me… K: Like an old married couple? L: (Laughs) Well no, like two best friends. K: Finishing each other’s sentences when you’re playing together? L: Well, yeah, we just know, it’s weird, socially we’re not like that. Me and Jimmy’ll go out and have a drink and everything like that, but when I see him with say Saul, now there’s two mates! within 30 seconds of being together they’re on the floor fucking laughing – they’re just so funny together! They’re just so in tune with each other. Jimmy and me, that’s different, we’re only like that when we play and then we relate (clicks fingers) like that. And, then Tim, I asked Tim to come down and join us, he said no at first, then he said yes in the November of 2006. K: So we’ve got to the point where there are you, Tim and Jim back, what was the reaction of the other band members? L: They didn’t know, we weren’t going to tell ëem. It was our intention for it not to be called James, we were just gonna write material together and record it. K: So at what stage did they get involved – because Who Are You and Chameleon were recorded without them? L: Well you see, we got hijacked. I think Tim mentioned something to our manager Peter that the three of us were getting together that weekend. On the Friday we went out for a meal together and talked about, y’know the old historical problems and stuff, then went to the studio and had a really good jam, Pure Beauty was one of them. K: Wow that was quite a start. L: We cleared the air between the three of us and got a lot of things out of the way. Then the next day Tim comes in and he’s had a phone call from Peter our manager. It turns out that he’d been keeping things on the back burner all the time. As soon as he found out we were together he made some phone calls, to the record company and to Simon Moran our promoter. He told Tim that the record company had a thing in the pipeline about remastering some of our back catalogue and that Simon would jump at the chance of putting a tour together. So Tim was literally presenting us with a tour in support of a record that would include new material (if we had any new material which we didn’t at that point), and we’d only been together a day! K: It was a lot to pull off from coming together just once? L: Well yeah, we were just doing it to see how the land lay between us and the business side came in and just kind of bullied us. Jimmy really, really, really didn’t want to do at first. Tim was open to the idea and I was very much on the fence, I was like ëhang on, I’m not sure here.’ Tim and Jim’s position was very much influenced by what they had experienced after I’d left and I hadn’t been part of that, which was very difficult for me. But it was interesting; all three of us were in different headspaces. K: So do you think that helped because you hadn’t been part of the later period? L: Well it meant I could be objective in terms of the two of them: I could listen to both arguments. So the upshot was that we decided yes, we would tour in support of the album, mainly because in that Friday night jam, and the subsequent Saturday and Sunday, we wrote some amazing stuff. That weekend I think we came up with Who Are You, Chameleon, AB, Pure Beauty and a song called Fear. K: You knew that it was working and viable? L: Yeah. We thought we could come up with two new songs and it was at that point then that we had to get in touch with the lads; we didn’t want to do a tour if it was the three of us plus some session musicians, that’s not in keeping with James. So we had to have a chat with all of them. K: Did they take much persuading? L: Er (long pause) yes and no. They wanted to do it but it would be different; the situation would be different to the one they left and some of that was difficult but everything’s fine now, everything’s been worked out, everything was amicable. (Stressed) Everybody wanted to do it. K: And what about Andy? L: As soon as we asked Andy if he fancied coming back he jumped at the chance. K: And for the fans that was something that got them quite excited. I remember being at the front of the stage at Hoxton before you came out and suddenly someone spotted this trumpet and it just went out through the audience and everyone was like *mouth open* – because it was kept quiet and it was an amazing surprise. L: Andy, for me, was a seal of approval and validity; Andy wouldn’t have come back into it if it wasn’t valid – he wouldn’t come back just to recreate the glory years. He wanted to do it and he could see there was something going on. I think he was torn when he left, but he had his calling in other areas than James. He was around for the most successful part of James, so it was all Top of the Pops and photo shoots for him, and less about music. K: And from what I can gather that’s not what he’s about, he’s quite ëout there’ as a musician? L: He likes to play, he doesn’t like to do photo shoots and video shoots, he wants to play. K: So, the reunion gets announced and suddenly everything goes ballistic, the tour tickets go on sale – they sell out in seconds virtually. L: Yeah, I got a phone call from Simon Moran, the promoter. We’d been having a lot of conversations with Simon over the re-launch, y’know with the new daisy and all of that kind of stuff. We wanted to make sure this wasn’t seen as a ‘lets go back to the 80s and have a good time like we used to with James’ kind of tour – we said no, this is the first stage in a new beginning. That wonderful quote in the Guardian or Independent that said “this doesn’t feel like a reformation, more a second coming” put a smile on my face, that was our intention. So Simon phoned me when we were in the studio in Brighton recording Who Are You, when he said we’d sold the whole tour out. We were all on the fucking floor. K: Were you not expecting that sort of reaction at all? L: Not with the size of the venues, no. Simon consciously wanted a really good support act to possibly help sell tickets. He got The Twang but he was also talking about other support acts for Manchester and for London. Triple bills to help sell tickets but he cannily had second nights at Glasgow and Brixton on hold in case we’d sell out, but we’d sold out not only the tour in those few hours but those other nights as well. K: So how did that derail the process of you jamming and wanting to write stuff for the new album, because all of a sudden you’ve got this massive tour and you’re doing festivals in the summer – did it slow things down? L: It didn’t slow things down, no, it helped to focus things. Suddenly we didn’t have all the time in the world to produce the album that we were starting to work on. It did derail the writing process however, originally we wanted to get together and just write hundreds of new songs, make the best album that we could possibly make. We wrote every opportunity we had; it was very difficult and physically draining. Instead of having days off, we rehearsed. This is one reason why the website ended up being just four pages long – those four pages were put together during the time of recording Who Are You and the tour selling out, the new artwork and everything. We suddenly went ‘shit, we’ve got to get a website’ the tour ad’s got wearejames.com at the bottom of it!’ So we stuck those four pages up. And then the avalanche hit, the tickets went on sale; the tour got extended…. K: so the website was a victim of the tour success as well? L: Yeah, everything was. K: I think that the gripe that some of the fans have is that you guys are busy touring, busy creating, you know what you’re up to, but for the fans there’s just silence. L: Don’t forget that we had no structure in place; all we had was a band and a manager in America. That’s all we had. When Chainmail was together, we had an office in Manchester, our management, four assistants and a t-shirt company. We had an entire structure that had grown up over years and now we had nothing; we had one girl based in an office in London at the time. As it became a ongoing project Peter, our manager, sorted it out and we’ve now got a manager here in London with an assistant. In the new deal we’ve struck with Mercury, they fund the website and stuff like that so they’ve got a team involved to update it – that kinda stuff don’t happen overnight! K: In the meantime the most reliable source of information has tended to be the oneofthethree and My Federation websites, which seems a bit back to front? L: OK, let’s deal with the My Federation thing. The James website is the official website, news goes on there and we are responsible for the validity of that news. We publish it and we are then responsible for it. My Federation were offered the tour, and sure enough they were excited about it and they put it on their website, I don’t blame them but those dates had not been confirmed. Until it’s certain, we can’t print it. K: Ok, so moving forward from that, you’ve got stuff in place now so can we expect to get more news? L: Embryonically; all I know is that people are assigned to do what needs to be done. As I said, designing the website has been a uphill struggle. Only when the website looks and works how we want it to, will it go live. K: So the UK tour is in place, what about festival appearances? L: Festivals will be announced as and when. They’re coming in all the time. So yeah, there’s going to be lots of festivals this year, at home and abroad. K: Is there any possibility of you going to America? L: There’s always a possibility of us going to America and there’s always the possibility of the album being released in America. There is no deal signed at the minute that guarantees the release of this album in America, however the music is already doing the talking – K: So it’s a case of interest coming back from that? L: As far as I know four record companies in America have expressed interested at the moment. Mind you with downloads cant you just go on itunes and buy it? We’d like everything that we’ve ever done to be released in America, but that’s not our choice. Regarding gigs in America, always a possibility and this year, a much, MUCH higher percentage possibility than any previous year. L: And we do want to go to America! WE DO NOT HATE AMERICA! We spent two and a half years touring America solidly. K: We don’t want it splitting you up again though! L: It didn’t split us up! It really didn’t. It was very, very hard and Lollapalooza was awful I believe, I wasn’t part of it thank god. For the record I DONT HATE AMERICA EITHER! I hate LA or rather downtown LA, I’ve had some wonderful times at Laguna Beach and I love San Francisco, so north or south of LA and even inland of LA is wonderful but downtown LA? No thanks. It may be because I had a gun pointed at me or it may just possibly be because it’s a shithole as well. K: I can’t really argue with you there. On the subject of live performances, would you consider recording any gigs using Concertlive? L: We will be doing something but we won’t be using Concertlive. K: You will be doing something? So does that mean there’ll be some kind of live ‘thing’ available? L: We’ve done Come Home, Seven and Getting Away With It and our legacy of live recording has always been of lasting depth and quality. People will always turn up at gigs and record it on their MP3 players or their phone or whatever, then go home and listen to it K: You don’t have a problem with that? L: If that’s what they do then you can’t really stop them can you; look at the size of the bloody things! I’m not about to stop and search everybody going in, so if they want to do that and record their own experience then that’s fine. There have been other things that we’ve done like the BBC recordings – Alton Towers and Radio1 ‘in concert’ we did a lot of preparation for them, selecting the right engineer and paying for him to do two or three gigs before we went live so we could check out his mixes. With Concertlive, we’re concerned that we wouldn’t have any control over it. They’re contractually obliged to provide people with a recording at the end of the live show no matter what the quality. K: So you want to keep some control basically? You don’t want something going out there that you consider substandard? L: The idea at the moment is in keeping with the way that we’ve approached every jam and every rehearsal so far, and that is to record onto multi-track. A lot of that stuff by the way ended up on the album – some of those songs have bits from Warsy, bits of the original jam and bits of the pre-production sessions. If say Saul did some brilliant bits of violin in rehearsal, we might use it as a beginning of a song played in Warsy with bits of the guitar from the original jam. This meant we could use stuff that was never recaptured. Lee has suggested we get a massive hard drive, and record every gig on multi-track so we can subsequently mix it and put together a live album if we feel that it’s justified, if we feel that it’s worthy of it. Also, every single item of the mercury back catalogue will be remixed, remodelled or re-launched in some form. K: Well yeah, One Man Clapping is something else that comes up, will that get reissued? L: Well, let’s just let that lie shall we? isn’t it wonderful that this thing that we put together and financed existed and that’s it? It’s gone, never to return. It’s just a lovely little thing that I wouldn’t want to tamper with that K: You like it as an artefact, a historical document? L: Yeah that’s right an artefact, the companies that own the rights to the other albums can extract as much revenue as they want, but I like the fact that we’ve generated this thing and anyone who’s got it can sell it on eBay and cash it in if they need to buy a puppy K: (laughs) a puppy? Where did that one come from? L: Well whatever comes into their life that they have to have, its one of those things innit that people say ahhhh and they have to have it! (Degenerates into laughter) K: Leaving your puppy fantasies aside, we need to talk about venues, and how you came to choose the venues. In particular, why aren’t you playing Manchester, that’s got people vexed, you’re a Manchester band goddammit! L: Well it doesn’t mean we have to play there. We’re playing in Bradford which I think is 15 -20 miles away. You could travel further to Brixton from Acton or somewhere. So we’re playing in Bradford, we’re playing in Sheffield, that’s a lovely drive over the snake pass. And Blackpool, a trip just north of here, you can be there in æ of an hour driving from Manchester. I’ve done it loads of times. Go to Blackpool, have a night out after we’ve finished there’s loads of bars and clubs – K: B and B’s are cheap apparently… L: Yeah, B and B’s are dirt cheap. Make a few days of it, whatever you want to, and then Liverpool, a train to Liverpool; they leave every half an hour, its 25 minutes or whatever. It could take longer for you to get from Bury to Manchester than to get to Liverpool! and Derby’s not that far away either. But, getting serious now, this tour is to promote this new album. The celebration was Fresh as a Daisy and the last tour. We all got together and we played to our old friends in our old centres of fandom, Manchester, Birmingham London and Glasgow. Our old favourite haunts where we’re always well received and people travel from miles and miles and miles to see that. The people that do travel miles and miles are usually the converted. Our thinking behind this is that we don’t necessarily want to preach to the converted so we’re playing smaller venues in more outlying places. Why else would we go to Norwich for god’s sake! Or Aberdeen! If we could we’d make the tickets 10 quid and play a load of student venues. Manchester, we’re not ignoring you; there are special things in the pipeline for you. K: (Laughing) So it wasn’t deliberate to play everywhere in the East Midlands apart from Nottingham? L: (laughs) No, I don’t know when Simon put this tour together but I know we were in the studio recording and our main focus was the album. I think we might have had a meeting one day when we were a bit bleary eyed after spending too long in the studio and something was said about this tour and there was a load of gigs put in front of us and I said ‘we’re doing a tour, great, yeah’ and that was it, I didn’t consider where we were playing or anything because we were 110% focused on getting the job at hand done. We knew without a great album the game is off anyway so forgive us but the website, the tour, etc etc took second fiddle to that. K: So are there any TV appearances planned? L: Obviously the relevant stuff has been approached, I’d be very surprised if you ever see me playing on the top of the fire exit on the Friday Night rejects, or whatever the fuck that abysmal thing is called,. K: (laughs) Thank god for that! It is a truly abysmal programme! L: It is, and it’s so derogatory to stick a band up there above the entrance playing a bit of incidental music as they go to the adverts. Who came up with the concept of reducing the role of live music to that of a lowly second fiddle to inane twats sat on a fucking sofa dribbling on about nothing! I wanna see the bands play! I don’t want to see Justin twatface massaging an ego that’s bigger than his belly! K: (Laughing and thinking that a good TV appearance for Larry would be Grumpy Old Men) L: Obviously we would like to do Jools, and we’d like to do Jonathan Ross, what else could we do? K: It’s limited isn’t it really? L; Yeah so within the limited scope K: Finally, Kylie or Danni? L: Ooohhh! Kylie! But only in the ‘I Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ video wearing (?) that dress by Fiona Doran, it’s an amazing bit of fabric that, amazing. But she’s not the same woman anymore is she? She was different then, that was her peak, she was in her own space…. (Trails off looking rather wistful…) So Kylie. In that dress. Or the hotpants…

Ascension_Arenas_of_War_Announcement_Trailer.zip (1 file(s) Ascension: Arenas of War is Ludorum Studios debut title for the PC. It aims to mix the fast paced play of current FPS's with skill based classes whilst encouraging a team dynamic in order to achieve specific goals. This team synergy is crucial to achieve victory in the numerous unique game modes that Ascension has to offer. With diverse design and aesthetics, Ascension offers unique game play within interesting environments.

By Dr. Mercola Over the past few years, parents of unvaccinated children have been publicly blamed for increasing cases of B. pertussis whooping cough and deaths. This despite the fact that even the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) admits that the rise in reported whooping cough cases cannot be blamed on unvaccinated children because "they are not the driving force behind the large scale outbreaks and epidemics."1 Going back decades, rates of whooping cough have been nearly identical in countries with high and low vaccination rates. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pertussis vaccination rates in the U.S. have remained stable or have increased since 1992. It's important to realize that the pertussis vaccine has never conferred lifelong immunity to whooping cough—even after multiple doses.2 Other viruses and bacteria, such as parapertussis and RSV (which are not covered by the vaccine) can also be clinically misdiagnosed as pertussis if proper lab tests are not performed, while many cases of pertussis are never diagnosed by doctors or reported to the CDC. Most importantly, researchers are now realizing that B. pertussis bacteria have evolved and become vaccine resistant. It is reminiscent of the way that bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, thanks to the massive overuse of antibiotics in food production. Evolving Whooping Cough Bacteria Outsmarts Vaccine As reported in the featured article,3 after 2012 whooping cough outbreaks, researchers turned to genetics to determine the cause. The study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases,4 analyzed the genomes of whooping cough bacteria, finding that the "acellular vaccine antigen encoding genes are evolving at higher rates than other surface protein encoding genes." This suggests that the disease is not being prevented with mandatory, mass vaccination programs. According to the featured article:5 "The researchers said that it was happening even before countries like the United States and the U.K. switched from the whole-cell whooping cough vaccine to the acellular whooping cough vaccine, but the evolution of whooping cough bacteria has progressed more rapidly since the new vaccine was introduced a decade ago. The researchers further added that the old whole-cell vaccine produced longer immunity to whooping cough bacteria than the current acellular whooping cough vaccine and that the current vaccine may be generating an expanded pool of carriers, particularly teenagers." In 2013, the FDA discovered that while the whooping cough vaccine may reduce symptoms in those who are vaccinated, the pertussis vaccine does not prevent infection and transmission of the disease. In fact, you can get a series of pertussis shots and still become an asymptomatic carrier who is contagious and can spread the disease to others without even knowing it. That study effectively shattered the long-held illusion of vaccine-induced herd immunity. Mumps Vaccine Isn't Working Well Either Download Interview Transcript As recently reported by Forbes,6 the mumps vaccine isn't working very well either, further proving that vaccine-induced herd immunity is a fallacy. In the middle of December, more than a dozen NHL hockey players contracted mumps, despite having received their childhood MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccinations. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group told Forbes there are three likely factors at play: - Waning immunity - The vaccine's initial effectiveness (or lack thereof) - The quality of the individual vaccine given As noted in the article, childhood MMR vaccination may be insufficient to prevent disease in adulthood: "When the CDC began recommending the vaccine in 1971, they recommended only one dose... The agency didn't begin recommending a second childhood dose until 1991, following a series of measles outbreaks in the '80s... In an outbreak, the CDC recommends that a third dose of the MMR be considered." According to the CDC,7 one dose of the MMR vaccine has a disease prevention rate of 78 percent, so right off the bat you know it's not going to prevent disease in everyone. A second dose is claimed to increase protection to 88 percent. But outbreak rates suggest the vaccine's effectiveness wears off, and might be lower than expected to begin with. In 2010, two Merck virologists filed a federal lawsuit under the False Claims Act against their former employer, alleging the vaccine maker has been lying about the effectiveness of their mumps vaccine (which is part of the trivalent MMR vaccine). The whistleblowers claimed they witnessed "first hand the improper testing and data falsification in which Merck engaged to artificially inflate the vaccine's efficacy findings." Merck allegedly falsified the data to hide the fact that the mumps vaccine in the MMR shot has in fact significantly declined in effectiveness over the years. Lack of effectiveness may account for why Penguins captain Sidney Crosby contracted mumps despite having received a booster shot that same year. According to mandatory vaccination proponent Dr. Paul Offit: "That's surprising, but he could have had vaccine failure, or he may not have developed vigorous enough antibodies. Like all medical products, vaccines are not 100 percent. A vaccine dramatically lowers your risk, but it doesn't eliminate it." A lowered risk might sound like a good thing, but if bacteria and viruses are evolving and becoming vaccine resistant, mirroring what we're seeing with growing resistance against antibiotics, the entire vaccine program would need a serious review. What if we're misusing vaccines like we've misused antibiotics, creating far worse diseases and reduced immune function in the process? Authorities Urge Following Vaccine Schedule Regardless of Actual Value Unfortunately, health officials are turning a blind eye to growing suspicion that vaccines may do more harm than good, especially for individuals with both known and unknown biological high risk factors that make vaccination especially dangerous for them. Even when the benefit is known to be negligible for some individuals or society as a whole, they still urge everyone to go ahead and "take the shot." Why? In late December, a 37-year old Missouri woman died from complications from the flu, despite getting the flu vaccine.8 After being hospitalized, she initially began showing signs of improvement, but quickly developed a staph infection that led to her death. While this tragic story is played up as evidence for how dangerous seasonal influenza can be, there are a couple of factors to take into consideration before hitting the panic button. First, this year the CDC actually issued a warning saying that the 2014/2015 flu vaccine is a poor match to the influenza A strain causing most cases of influenza this year because the H3N2 strain has mutated. This means that this year's flu vaccine offers little protection against illness caused by the most prevalent influenza strain circulating this year. Despite that, health officials are still urging people to get a flu shot, claiming the vaccine can make symptoms less severe. This is ironic, considering the fact that some research suggests the flu vaccine might make you more susceptible to severe respiratory illness. In 2012, Canadian researchers found that the flu vaccine increased people's risk of getting sick with H1N1, and caused more serious bouts of illness to boot. So, could the flu vaccine itself have contributed to the woman's death? There's no way to know for certain, but I think it's a pertinent question. Moreover, the actual cause of death was not type A or type B influenza strains—it was a staph infection. These kinds of hospital-acquired infections have become increasingly prevalent and deadly because of one thing—antibiotic overuse. So should her death really be blamed on influenza or on the routine misuse of a pharmaceutical product? Repeated Flu Vaccinations Reduces Vaccine Effectiveness A study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases9 in September 2014 investigated the effect of influenza vaccination over the course of eight seasons. They found that seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness in children under the age of nine was significantly higher among vaccinated children who had NO prior flu vaccination history, compared to vaccinated individuals with a history of frequent influenza vaccinations. Similar results were obtained when analyzing data for adults between the ages of 18–49. What this suggests is that, as you keep getting the flu vaccine year after year, your chances of the vaccine not conferring protection increases—and there are plenty of studies showing the flu vaccine does not work as advertised to begin with. Take the 2012 independent study review from the Cochrane Collaboration10 for example. Tom Jefferson, an influenza researcher with the Cochrane Collaboration told Northwestern.edu:11 "There is no evidence that vaccines can prevent deaths or prevent person-to-person spread of infection." Basically, the evidence suggests that the more you're vaccinated, the less responsive your immune system gets. According to the authors: "vaccine-induced protection was greatest for individuals not vaccinated during the prior five years. Additional studies are needed to understand the long-term effects of annual vaccination." Red Flag Raised for Universal Flu Vaccine Flu shots work, or more aptly often don't work, because they are supposed to protect against just three or four strains of type A and type B influenza that public health officials predict will be the strains most commonly circulating in the upcoming flu season. The three or four influenza strains contained in annual flu shots represent a small fraction of the more than 300 influenza strains which may circulate during a flu season, in addition to the many other different viruses that cause respiratory symptoms the CDC identifies as "influenza-like illness" (ILI). Vaccine developers working for different pharmaceutical companies in partnership with federal health agencies are racing to create a "universal flu" vaccine that they say will, theoretically, protect against every one of the hundreds of strains of influenza. However, the discovery12 that vaccinating against one strain of influenza can raise your risk of severe respiratory infection after exposure to a related but different strain of influenza has raised a big red flag.13 This previously unknown effect is now called "vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease." The research, which was done on pigs, was conducted by the US Department of Agriculture's Research Service and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The problem can be summarized as follows: Typically, most flu vaccines stimulate the production of antibodies to the main protein of the flu virus, called hemagglutinin, which is located on the outer shell of the virus. This protein gives you the "H" designation of a given strain, and it is this protein that attaches to the cell it's trying to invade. There are 17 known hemagglutinins and the antibodies created to an H1 virus will not protect against an H3 or H5 virus, and so on. There are also different strains within each of these subtypes, and the artificial immunity you get from a vaccine may or may not extend to all strains of any given hemagglutinin subtype. To get around this, the vaccine industry is trying to boost vaccine-acquired immunity by targeting "stalk antibodies." Here's what this means, and why their efforts may end up producing the opposite effect they're seeking: The hemagglutinin is shaped much like a lollipop, with the mutating part making up the head. Researchers have learned that the stem or stalk of the protein, on the other hand, tends to remain fairly unchanged across the various viruses. This is the discovery that has resulted in the current crusade to develop a "universal" flu vaccine. Vaccine developers believe that by removing the head portion, namely the stalk—i.e. the dominant protein portion of the virus—they might be able to induce cross-reactive antibodies capable of protecting against virtually any influenza virus, regardless of whether it's an H1, H3, or H5, and so on. However, the flu vaccine research in pigs calls into question the validity of this hypothesis. After giving piglets an H1N2 vaccine, they were then exposed to the H1N1 virus in circulation during 2009. But instead of being protected, the H1N2-vaccinated pigs developed more severe respiratory disease than that experienced by exposed unvaccinated pigs. As it turns out, the vaccinated pigs had high levels of antibodies attached to the stalk of the H1N1 hemagglutinin, but not to the head of the protein. The researchers are now trying to figure out why this produces more severe disease, but one theory is that the stalk antibodies bind to invading viruses, and help them enter the cells and multiply. This effect was seen in humans in Canada14 and Hong Kong15 during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and in subsequent research on ferrets.16,17 Here, too, ferrets in the vaccine group became significantly sicker than the unvaccinated animals. Are We Weakening Our Bodies' Ability to Fight Disease? So the big question is: Are we in fact weakening our overall ability to fight viruses by getting too many vaccines? While this question can apply to any vaccine, it's particularly pertinent with regards to influenza vaccine, which public health officials say we must get each and every year from the age of six months throughout our lives until death. An even larger question, and one which researchers looking at epigenetics have only just begun to scratch the surface of, is whether or not universal use of vaccines can have a generational effect. One 2013 study18,19 suggests that this may indeed be the case. The study found that infants born to mothers who received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine lose natural, passively acquired immunity from their mothers sooner than those born to mothers who'd been naturally infected with measles. The reason for this is because vaccinated mothers tend to have lower concentration of measles-specific antibodies. Another study20 published in the same issue of the same journal found that, on average, the duration of passive protection against measles was two months longer for infants born to unvaccinated mothers. Sadly, the authors use these alarming facts to support recommendations to get infants vaccinated sooner, rather than address the elephant in the room, which is whether or not one-size-fits-all mandatory vaccination policies have seriously compromised natural immunity over the past 50 years and will further compromise it for generations to come? Most of the childhood diseases for which children are vaccianted today are not deadly for the vast majority of children. Moreover, why are we trading a more robust and longer lasting natural immunity for an artificial more temporary vaccine acquired immunity? How to Protect Your Health During Flu Season Avoiding serious complications from influenza and resisting other influenza-like illness during the flu season is primarily about taking positive steps throughout the year to maintain a healthy, well functioning immune system. By following these simple guidelines, you can help keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you're far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with or, if you do get sick with the flu, you are better prepared to move through it without complications and soon return to good health. - Optimize your gut flora. This may be the single most important strategy you can implement as the bacteria in your gut have enormous control of your immune response. The best way to improve your beneficial bacteria ratio is to avoid sugars as they will feed pathogenic microbes. Additionally, processed foods and most grains should be limited and replaced with healthy fats like coconut oil, avocados, olives, olive oil, butter, eggs and nuts. Once you change your diet, then regular use of fermented foods can radically optimize the function of your immune response. - Optimize your vitamin D levels. This is one of the absolute best strategies for avoiding infections of ALL kinds, and vitamin D deficiency may actually be the true culprit behind the seasonality of the flu – not the flu virus itself. Regularly monitor your vitamin D levels to confirm your levels are within the therapeutic range of 50-70 ng/ml. Ideally, you'll want to get almost all of your vitamin D from sun exposure or a tanning bed. Supplement with an oral vitamin D3 supplement to make sure your level is 40-60 ng/ml. Just be sure to take vitamin K2 and magnesium if you are taking oral vitamin D as it has a powerful synergy and will help prevent any D toxicity. - Avoid sugar and processed foods. Sugar impairs the quality of your immune response almost immediately. It also can decimate your beneficial bacteria and feed the pathogenic yeast and viruses. Be aware that sugar (typically in the form of high fructose corn syrup) is present in foods you may not suspect, like ketchup and fruit juice. If you are healthy then sugar can be consumed but the LAST thing you should be eating when you are sick is sugar. Trans fats in most processed foods also play havoc with your immune response. - Get plenty of rest. If your body is overly fatigued it will be harder for it to fight the flu. Be sure to check out my article "Guide to a Good Night's Sleep" for some great tips to help you get quality rest. - Have effective tools to address stress. If you feel that stress is taking a toll on your health, consider using an energy psychology tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which is remarkably effective in relieving stress associated with all kinds of events, from work, to family, to trauma. - Get regular exercise. When you exercise, you increase your circulation and your blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it spreads. Be sure to stay hydrated – drink plenty of fluids, especially water. However, it would be wise to radically reduce the intensity of your workouts while you are sick. No Peak Fitness exercises until you are better. - Take a high-quality animal-based omega-3. Increase your intake of healthy and essential fats like the omega-3 found in krill oil, which is crucial for maintaining health. It is also vitally important to avoid damaged omega-6 oils that are trans fats and in processed foods as it will seriously damage your immune response. - Wash your hands. Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Be sure you don't use antibacterial soap for this. Antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. Instead, identify a simple non-toxic soap that you can switch your family to. In addition to washing your hands regularly, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. If possible, avoid close contact with those, who are sick and, if you are sick, avoid close contact with those who are well. - Use natural immune-boosters. Examples include oil of oregano, liposomal vitamin C, and garlic. Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics, these do not appear to lead to resistance. - Avoid hospitals. I recommend avoiding hospitals unless you're having an emergency and need expert medical care, as hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds—including antibiotic-resistant diseases. The best place to get plenty of rest and recover from illness that is not life-threatening is usually in the comfort of your own home.

The Regional Youth Cooperation Office of the Western Balkans RYCO will be aiming to “promote the spirit of reconciliation and cooperation between the youth in the region” through exchange. A working group has developed a common proposal for its establishment, which was signed by the Prime Ministers of the Western Balkans – 6 – Participants on July 4th, 2016 at the Western Balkans Summit in Paris. The Institutional Framework of the Working Group During the Western Balkans Summit in Vienna, the 27.8.2015, the Prime Ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have signed a “Joint Declaration on the establishment of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office of the Western Balkans”, in which they declare that they have agreed to “create the Regional Youth Cooperation Office of the Western Balkans, as a regionally-owned structure that leads and coordinates youth cooperation in our region”, aiming “to promote the spirit of reconciliation and cooperation between the youth in our region”. In order to establish this structure, the Prime Ministers declared that they have agreed to “task relevant institutions of the participants to develop, in close collaboration with the Working Group on regional youth cooperation concrete proposals for the mission, structure, activities and financing of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office, to be finalized by 1 March 2016”, also stating that “the Franco-German Youth Office will provide the Working Group with technical assistance”. The working group handed in this proposal on March 1st 2016. In the past months the governments of the Western Balkans-6 finalized and approved the proposals. The Agreement for the creation of RYCO was finally signed at the Western Balkans Summit in Paris on July 4th, 2016. The Members of the Working Group The Working Group consists of 13 members (one representative from the Youth Ministry/Directorate for Youth/National Agency for Youth, and one representative from Youth organizations, for each of the WB6-Partcipants). The moderation of the working process was handed over to the Franco-German Youth Office, as proposed in the Joint Declaration from the 27.8.2015. The moderation team consists of three persons: Frank Morawietz, Nicolas Moll, Bujar Luma. The Joint Declaration from 27.8.2015 has set as deadline for the Working Group the 1st March 2016, in order to develop concrete proposals for the mission, structure, activities and financing of the RYCO. Concretely the WG delivered the following documents: After several meetings and four months of intense work, the WG delivered concretely the following documents to the six governments:: - Draft of the Agreement for the creation of RYCO - Draft of the Statute of RYCO as an annexe to this Agreement - Definition of the mission and of the activities of RYCO - Organigram proposal for RYCO - Budget proposal for the first year The goal and the necessity of RYCO The Western Balkan societies share both common heritage and common challenges. Conflicts of the past decades have brought with them different forms of prejudice and intolerance, while its aftereffects have continued to be underlined by a lack of opportunities for youth resulting in massive youth unemployment figures and heavy brain-drain across the region. Additionally, young people are facing numerous obstacles often created as a consequence of administrative barriers and mental barriers caused by lack of trust, lack of information, and existing prejudice.Time has shown that only through joint action in promoting tolerance, solidarity, mobility and cooperation we, as a region, can progress. The establishment of the Regional Youth Exchange Office (RYCO) puts the concepts of friendship,reconciliation and cooperation at the forefront. It is inspired by the experience of the Franco-German Youth Office, along with other successful European youth cooperation projects, which established new relationships and significantly improved cooperation. The unique apporach of the foundation process of RYCO is marked by the different levels of cooperation. It is first and foremost a cooperation between different countries of the region and their young people. The WB6 participants are cooperating with international stakeholders to find common grounds and are looking for synergy effects and reciprocital support at the same time. Moreover is the equal participation of civil society and government a modern approach to ensure inclusivness and create a most promising youth office for the region.

Client Drive Redirection enables users to access files and folders located on the endpoint from within a VDI or HSD session. It has been in XenApp for more than 15 years and in XenDesktop from Day 1, so it has been battle-tested for quite some time now. Because it’s been a core feature in XenApp and XenDesktop for such a long time, many people have assumed that this is basic feature that exists in every other VDI/HSD solution, as well. As many VMware Horizon evaluators have learned, accessing files and folders on the endpoint has not been available, until the recent release of Horizon 6.1.1. For VMware, this new release means that Horizon just got a big step closer to being equal with XenApp and XenDesktop, a view shared by some of industry analysts. This post offers an in-depth evaluation of this feature, based on results we found when evaluating client drive mapping in Horizon 6.1.1, to make it easier to evaluate the quality of the new Horizon features. In the fine print while installing the Horizon View Agent, you might spot “… use this feature only on a secure network,” next to the client drive redirection checkbox. From a technical point of view, this means files and folders are sent as clear text across the network. Furthermore, there is no way to add any level of encryption, unless you: - Add a Horizon Security Server (with all its limitations) and treat all users as external users. But even then the last mile between the Security Server and the VDI/HSD system remains unencrypted - Implement IPSec This means with simple networking tools it is possible to capture and reconstruct the files and folders users access. Below you can find a screenshot of Wireshark capture of a text file uploaded to a VDI system, containing the Synergy Innovation Award announcement: Customers who are particularly cautious about security might not want to use client drive redirection with Horizon View. In contrast, with XenApp and XenDesktop all network traffic is encrypted end to end (ICA encryption or TLS), even without deploying a NetScaler Gateway in between. When client drive redirection was introduced with XenApp, dial-up connections were the standard. So the feature was built very bandwidth-efficient and has been optimized for high latency. This means even users who connect over WAN links will have a good user experience. The Horizon client drive redirection feature has not been optimized to work on low-bandwidth connections. Below, you can see a table comparing the time it takes to copy a file from the client to the virtual desktop as well as to browse the local C:\ drive using a 2Mbit/s 100ms RTT link. User experience and admin controls With XenApp and XenDesktop all client drives (including network and removable drives) are mapped into a user session automatically. So, a user will have all files and folders accessible on the endpoint available from within the virtual desktop as well. Of course the admin can modify this behavior. So, it’s possible to only connect specific folders (instead of full drives) or to link MyDocuments and Desktop to the equivalent on the server. Furthermore, it is possible to deny or limit access to local resources, enable the mapping for specific drives only (e.g. just network drives) or prevent uploads or downloads respectively. All of this can also be configured by means of SmartAccess, where for example only users on clients with encrypted hard disks can download files, while others users can only upload. In contrast, Horizon View only maps the profile folder of the current user (e.g. C:\Users\thomas) automatically. In case a user has started a published application and additional folders or drives are required, the following steps need to be performed: - Switch to the Horizon Client window on the endpoint - Right-click on any of the app icons - Click Properties - Click Sharing - Select the appropriate file/folder/drive and click OK - Go back to the published app, wait a few seconds and click refresh. Furthermore, the admin is provided with the ability to control this behavior. XenApp and XenDesktop support client drive redirection from Windows, Mac OS and Linux endpoints as well as file up/download capabilities for ChromeOS and HTML5 client users. In contrast, Horizon View client drive limits mapping support to Windows clients only, while support for Mac OS is experimental and other platforms are not supported at all. While VMware Horizon enables users to interact with files and folders located on Windows endpoints, a number of essential usability, admin and security features are still missing. The following table summarizes the findings discussed within this blog post: Follow me on Twitter @tberger80.

Photo Thumbnails (click to enlarge) X0 Rear Derailleur The X0 rear derailleur is available in three cage lengths, short, medium and long (tested), and comes in Silver, and Black, Blue, Red and Gold graphic colors, and retails for $255. The inner pulley cage is made from aluminum while the outer is a carbon fiber composite, and the parallelogram linkages are forged aluminum with wide pivots to ensure linkage stability and stiffness. It has sealed bearing pulleys, and utilizes their Exact Actuation Ratio technology, which is a 1:1 actuation ratio (shifter cable travel : derailleur movement), and the EA offered simple, stable and easy shifting, regardless of the load applied, the cog set spacing and cable tension. Cable routing into the derailleur uses their Direct Route Technology, in which it connects directly to the actuation mechanism to lessen damage and decrease friction and input effort. I have always liked the 1:1 actuation ratio of SRAM’s rear derailleur’s, and the X0 rear offered crisp shifts that had a nice detent, without any ghost movements or over shifting. Rolling up or down the cassette worked just fine, and with the aid of the Grip Shift, you could do large swaths of gears at once. With the big 11-36 range of 10 speeds on the cassette, it took a bit of tweaking of the high and low limit screws to get all the gears rolling properly, and the longer cable meant occasional adjustments were needed to keep things sharp and slop free. The rear has been pretty durable, and has taken a lot of abuse, slamming and scrapping past rock squeezes and ledges, and the only thing it has suffered is some cosmetic scratches along the outside edge. The spring tension has stayed taut, so shifting has been crisp, and the cage pulleys have continued to roll with low friction, and the parallelogram pivot points have retained smooth movement and actuation. PowerChain 1091R Chain The PowerChain 1091R is made from Nickel silver with Chrome hardened pins and hollow rivets, and retails for $65. It uses the highly functional PowerLock tool-less connecting link, which always makes installing and removing a chain much easier. When the chain was new, it shifted without any issues even when I forgot to lube it, but after eight months of heavy abuse, and I’m getting some ghost shifts. I tend to be a low gear granny monster, wreaking havoc and creating huge amounts of torque, and the chain hasn’t failed or died prematurely. Truvativ X0 Cranks The Truvativ X0 cranks are available in 2X10 version with 22-36, 24-38 (tested), 26-39 and 28-42 gearing options, and PF30, BB30, GXP and GXP PF bottom bracket configurations (not included). They come in Silver, and Black, Blue, Red and Gold graphic colors, 170 and 175 lengths, and retail from $444 – $513. The three-piece Truvativ X0 cranks are comprised of the drive side arm with attached spindle, non drive side arm and bolt-on chainring spider. The crank arms are hollow carbon fiber composite with a non-structural foam core and aluminum inserts at the bottom bracket and pedal which are co-molded in place. The forged aluminum spider meshes onto a spline on the inside on the non-drive side arm, and in this tested version, it is comprised of a 24 tooth chainring, 38 chainring and a bashguard. The chainrings are made from CNC 7075 aluminum, and the bashguard is carbon fiber. With this 24-38 gearing and the optional 22-36 version, the odd spacing is 104/64 BCD, which is required to fit everything within the confines of the system. The Truvativ X0 cranks have a minute amount of flex if you stand on the arms during a technical move, and it feels like the spindle twists, and not the arms directly, but I never felt any loss of power when cranking away while pedaling. The arms are stiff, and have been durable, with only the typical cosmetic shoe rub on the outside. The pedal inserts haven’t loosened, which can be a culprit on carbon fiber and aluminum glue-in interfaces. The ends of the carbon arms can get chipped slightly if you hit lots of rocks (like I do), so I added some crank arm boot protectors. The 24-38 chainrings nicely meshed with the 11-36 cassette, especially if you ride a 29er, or you’re a granny gear aficionado. Their X-Glide technology functions well, and the synergy of aligning the chainring pick-up rivets to the chain pivot pin gives smoother shifts on any terrain or power mode. The closely spaced engagement zones around the circumstance of the rings, gives faster shifts under any load, though I found it somewhat clunky during the transitions and not as smooth as Shimano. On occasion, the transition of the 24 to the 38 could be temperamental, and I think a closer ratio, such as 24-36 would be beneficial. They have options for other gearing ratios, including 26-39 and 28-42, and the already mentioned micro gearing of 22-36 and 24-38. The 38×11 (chainring/cassette) gearing isn’t the most functional when you want to press the bike to Mach 1, but it will get you going at a decent clip, and this set up is meant for AM and AT riding, not full on XC racing. The 38T offers good obstacle clearance and the 24T granny keeps the gear inches low (gear ratio x wheel size), which is especially nice for 27.5″ and 29″. After about eight months the 24T granny is worn out, and shifts aren’t quite as crystal clear like they were when new, but small chainrings get an extreme amount of torque placed on themselves, so it exasperates the wearing. They don’t yet sell individual chainrings, so you’ll need to buy the entire spider to replace anything, and even though $140 seems expensive, you do get two fresh chainrings and a bashguard in one complete package. The bashguard has gotten some heavy abuse, and is showing some fraying and shredding of the carbon fiber material. It is only happening at two locations, right smack opposite the spindle when the crank arms are parallel to the ground. I think a more robust thickness might help with the longevity, but at least it prevented damage to the large chainring. The bottom bracket includes Truvativ’s new Gutter sealing system, which has a better seal design, with less drag, greatly improved water resistance and bearing durability. It has been durable and smooth rolling throughout it usage, without any grittiness or stiction, and the cranks easily spun through them.

Disclaimer: This site is *not* affiliated with AIPAC, Ahmed Chalabi, K Street, ClearChannel, or Urban Moving Systems of Weehawken, NJ. In case you were curious. Full disclosure: I have a "long Apple position" and therefore I have an Apple bias. If secret federal aviation is the Big Lebowski, Bristow is the rug that really ties the room together. It's been thrilling to watch one of my favorite topics, aviation in covert operations, hit the bigtime over the last few news cycles.A few tweets about suspicious plane hovering over Baltimore 'disturbances' registered to a ghostly "NG Research" at a Bristow, Virginia PO Box cued the story. The FBI conceding to Washington Post that it was their flight set the stage for this. These stories have quietly been leaching out for years. As far back as 2003 (or 2006 in WIRED) references to small aircraft doing domestic surveillance have been popping up. After the Boston Marathon bombing, a small aircraft was traced to the same Bristow VA cluster. Today the story hit turbo with a big AP story, FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities, but there are lots more to find because the AP didn't really go outside of Bristow. You'll find plenty of N Numbers to snoop on below - and cool new tracking techniques too!! Quote of the year? The FBI asked the AP not to disclose the names of the fake companies it uncovered, saying that would saddle taxpayers with the expense of creating new cover companies to shield the government's involvement, and could endanger the planes and integrity of the surveillance missions. The AP declined the FBI's request because the companies' names — as well as common addresses linked to the Justice Department — are listed on public documents and in government databases. In my own scoping in the last week or so it appears that these shell company registration were mostly set up around 2010 or 2011, making this an Obama operation through and through. I apologize for not tipping yall more quickly to this impending development but I have been too busy! This story shows that secret airlines are becoming an obsolete method for the [deep] state, because with the Internet and planespotters it becomes possible to observe and end-run around the secrecy of the networks, as the last big wave of awareness around secret detainee flights in the Bush years really revealed (though mostly in Eurasia, not North America). (2007 Cryptome Story and Category:Alleged CIA pilots - SourceWatch) .......As the C.I.A. tries to veil such air operations, aviation regulations pose a major obstacle. Planes must have visible tail numbers, and their ownership can be easily checked by entering the number into the Federal Aviation Administration's online registry. So, rather than purchase aircraft outright, the C.I.A. uses shell companies whose names appear unremarkable in casual checks of F.A.A. registrations. Years ago I asked a staff research person at the Minnesota Department of Transportation if there was something weird about how FAA registration works, if it is designed to hide ownership, and he assured me it had been that way since the FAA had been set up - and went on to tell me that when he was much younger, in the late 1980s he had traced a disappeared pilot to Texas, then found that someone had pulled the flight plans from the FAA file. This shadowy story was literally the first thing I heard from a government employee when I went asking, confirming my long-running theory that everyone has some kind of story that touches on the corrupt secret government or deep state. Naturally the FBI/DOJ also has its own similar shells. Due to incredible laziness the feds registered tons of them with the same name pattern at the same locale in Bristow VA. Here, have some original art I made on May 25, well before the Star Tribune and Associated Press picked up this story! Several independent parties put these pieces together and triggered the massive news snowball today. Probably the first to catch a large section of it was john wiseman (@lemonodor), who figured out good methods for tracing the transmitters and radio traffic. My friend Sam Richards (@MinneapoliSam) was the first as far as I know to put together the larger data set about the Bristow VA node, after getting a tip about a sketchy spy flight over Minneapolis, although Wiseman verifiably came up with a whole bunch of the shells in early May. Wiseman explains his narrative in new post: Tracking FBI aerial surveillance (with images, tweets) · jjwiseman · Storify Below is a listing of 100 aircraft registered to shell companies that do not exist. The US Department of Justice can claim plausible deniability for owning and operating these aircraft however that is a flimsy defense. At the time of posting, a number of these aircraft may be airborne over American cities, equipped with surveillance, stingray, or other hardware. FOIAs are being drafted and will be submitted so it is only a matter of time before a brighter light is shined upon these secretive operations. For examples of the flight patterns conducted by many of these aircraft within the last few days, check: Here's an article by the ACLU highlighting why these operations are of concern https://www.aclu.org/blog/ohio-aerial-surveillance-system-moving-forward... "ARGUS, the high-flying drone technology capable of capturing super-high-definition video of a 15-square mile area and automatically tracking all moving vehicles and people within that area. I pointed out that this makes possible our nightmare scenario for drones: wide-area mass surveillance and location tracking of entire cities and towns." Now the FBI is an onerous position where they have to turn over, de-register or re-register all of these planes, somehow reconciling rebuilding the secrecy of the fleet exposed above with the FAA's registration system, and the hordes of planespotters out there now reinforced by tons of interested activists cued into the national scope of this operation. Good luck Feds! SOURCE: View image: image5. This plane has been flagged as using the JENA code which seems to be the usual code until probably around now. Images scaled down, resize to see more. N959JT is of course registered in Bristow VA. Bonus points awarded for pink toenails in spotting this secret aircraft machinery which seems to resemble the gear spotted on the recent Minneapolis plane. I live in Phoenix and my coworker was telling me she's been noticing this plane circling around their neighborhood the past 12 days. They started tracking the planes on Flightradar24 and she sent me these screenshots of some of their flight paths: http://postimg.org/image/tpdhpd789/http://postimg.org/image/o2h4rw4pl/http://postimg.org/image/uuc58hj2x/ She even had a pilot friend go down to the airport that they've been flying out of and do some snooping. He found took this photo of the camera equipment mounted to the bottom of the plane: http://postimg.org/image/hm861sw61/ She said that it's always the same 3 tail fin numbers which take turns doing the same flight path. They start at daybreak and only stop late in the night. Update: Here's another pic my coworker got of one of the planes parked at the Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix. You can see the camera equipment on the side: http://postimg.org/image/oj5bwlcjn/ She also said over the past couple days all the tail fin numbers changed on Flightradar24 and they are now all showing up as some variation of "JENA". Screenshot: http://postimg.org/image/n3ahqjgql/ Finally it is worth noting it has been difficult but not impossible to get credit to independent journalists for blowing up this story. I appreciate Bob Collins at Minnesota Public Radio's Newscut for engaging on Twitter when we pressed him on the issue of crediting the story, and including references to Sam's original medium.com story, while the Star Tribune and AP did not credit Sam at all. (Although the Strib has been communicative recently and I have some hope they will circle back within a few days). Additionally I suspect "CHAPPARRAL AIR GROUP" may be another front, they got a craft from the DEA: N540DB. seeHelicopter Flying Above Claycord on Thursday Afternoon —claycord CLAYCORD.com: "A google search of the tail ID can help you confirm this also, where you will find no shortage of photographs of this specific aircraft operating out of Concord and San Jose. Note that the federal government recently (2011) transferred registration of 15 Federal law enforcement helicopters out of the names of the Department of Justice, DEA, to an entity in Texas called the Chaparral Air Group." Before the story broke we had a bunch of diggings, now it's time to share! MORE RELATED RAW DATA: NOTE there are some false positives and general "NOISE" in here, please proceed with discernment!!! In broader context, the Obama administration has continuted to expand the use of intelligence tracking, including fusion centers and electronic intelligence, to keep rebellious groups under control, as addressed here On April 29, a Cessna 206H registered to National Aircraft Leasing Corporation circled overhead for hours at about 3,500 feet, flying repetitively over western Baltimore. On the nights of April 30, May 1 and May 2, another aircraft, a Cessna Model 182T registered to a company named NG Research in Bristow, Virginia, flew over the same areas at a similar low altitude. Also on May 1 and May 2, an unidentified Cessna Citation V jet made similar nighttime flights, orbiting Baltimore at the relatively low altitudes (for a jet aircraft) of 6,400 and 9,400 feet, based on records from Flightradar24. Kind of vague hit comes up for the google search on National Aircraft Leasing Corporation Edit 3: After looking through the list of aircraft registered in Bristow, VA for a town of 15,000 there are 64 aircraft registered including one owned by the Department of Justice. All within the past decade most within the past 3 years. Most of them are owned by companies with 3 letters then what they do RKT Productions, PSL Surveying, KQM Aviation, LCB Leasing, NBY productions etc. They also all are operation 182t Cessna’s. All of the companies only have a PO Box in Bristow. Looks like an FBI airport. The one tail number that the initial Washington Post article linked to is N39MY, which is a Cessna 182T registered to NG Research, PO Box 722 in Bristow, VA. That company's web presence is close to zero, basically below the noise floor. If you google [po box bristow va] you find FAA records for a bunch of other oddly named companies that all have similarly close-to-zero web presence and addresses that are PO Boxes in Bristow: FVX Research, NBR Aviation, NBY Productions, OBR Leasing, OTV Leasing, PSL Surveys, PXW Services. They all seem to like Cessna 182Ts. If you Google the tail numbers of aircraft registered to those companies, you start to find forum and mailing list posts (often at sites that tilt toward paranoid/conspiracy/right wing, but not always) with people discussing these specific tail numbers and linking them to the FBI. Some of the supposed evidence includes details of radio communications that people have heard, e.g. talking about "being on station" or using callsigns that start with JENNA, JENA or ROSS, which are supposedly used by the FBI. Other posts claim that DOJ/FBI surveillance aircraft often squawk 4414 or 4415 on their transponders. I monitor aircraft in Los Angeles using an RTL-SDR dongle. I keep a database of almost every transponder ping I receive. You can see some more info, analysis and examples of stuff I've seen (U-2, AF1, AF2, EXEC-1F, E-6 "Doomsday" planes) at I decided to check my database for planes that have squawked 4414/4415 or used one of the suspicious callsigns: I found 8 aircraft in the past 2 months, several of which exhibit suspicious behavior: Flying for hours at a time without going anywhere in particular (I don't have position information for them, but I know they're in the air and not leaving the LA area), flying almost every day for months at a time, squawking 4414 or 4415, and one that used a JENNA callsign. 2 of them are registered to companies with PO Boxes in Bristow, VA. Another is registered to AEROGRAPHICS INC. 10678 AVIATION LN, MANASSAS VIRGINIA, which googling shows has also been linked to the FBI/DOJ. Several others are registered to WORLDWIDE AIRCRAFT LEASING CORP and NATIONAL AIRCRAFT LEASING CORP in Delaware, similar to other suspected FBI front companies (e.g. Northwest Aircraft Leasing Corp. in Newark, Delaware). (I call what I'm doing "persistent sousveillance": using historical sensor data to retroactively identify and track new subjects, it's just that my subjects are the government. One of the surprising things I've found is that all you need to do is look: the weird stuff jumps out right away, e.g. Cessnas registered to fake-sounding companies that loiter overhead for hours every day.) It's a lot of circumstantial evidence, but at this point it doesn't seem far-fetched that I'm monitoring aircraft involved in persistent FBI aerial surveillance. Edit: One other thing worth mentioning is that I was surprised at how many local news stories I turned up while googling these planes & companies that fit the template of "Citizens complain about mystery Cessna flying low, circling over their neighborhood".) The FAA manages this program and NBAA no longer has any policy or administrative control over the FAA ASDI Block program. However, if you have general questions or concerns about the FAA process, contact NBAA's Operations Service Group firstname.lastname@example.org (202) 783-9250. The FAA’s primary electronic mailbox for all aircraft blocking and unblocking requests and for related inquiries directed to the ASDI blocking program isASDIBlock@faa.gov. 102BR 18282264 OTV LEASING PO BOX 636BRISTOW, VA 20136-06361176R 18281688 CARTER JOHN B 190 CAMPUS BLVD # 320WINCHESTER, VA 22601-287214205 18281889 ANESTHESIA AVIATION LLC 206 ROSEMEADE PLACELEESBURG, VA 20175142LJ 18282272 OBR LEASING PO BOX 725BRISTOW, VA 20136-07251725L 18282019 MEYER FRANK 3025 NATHANIELS GRNWILLIAMSBURG, VA 23185-7505182EM 18282233 PXW SERVICES PO BOX 802BRISTOW, VA 20136-0802223EM 18282252 KQM AVIATION PO BOX 721BRISTOW, VA 20136-07212451Z 18280949 MASCIOLA MICHAEL J 8138 QUINN TERVIENNA, VA 22180-7467267RH 18282208 PXW SERVICES PO BOX 802BRISTOW, VA 20136-0802274BB 18282270 LCB LEASING PO BOX 726BRISTOW, VA 20136-0726290RM 18282215 NG RESEARCH PO BOX 655BRISTOW, VA 20136-0655302MP 18282273 KQM AVIATION PO BOX 721BRISTOW, VA 20136-0721311SB 18282246 NBR AVIATION PO BOX 752BRISTOW, VA 20136-0752318SJ 18282251 OBR LEASING PO BOX 725BRISTOW, VA 20136-0725319KS 18282243 FVX RESEARCH PO BOX 554BRISTOW, VA 20136-0554323LP 18282244 RKT PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 926BRISTOW, VA 20136-092633HA 18282279 HORIZON AIRCRAFT SALES & LEASING INC 2801 AIRPORT DRCHESAPEAKE, VA 23323-6411361DB 18282245 LCB LEASING PO BOX 726BRISTOW, VA 20136-0726404KR 18282203 OBR LEASING PO BOX 725BRISTOW, VA 20136-0725411CP 18282232 KQM AVIATION PO BOX 721BRISTOW, VA 20136-072141DL 18281142 LDAIR INC 7198 HOLLYBERRY RDROANOKE, VA 24018-5510428MT 18282234 NBY PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 656BRISTOW, VA 20136-0656444VB 18281034 YOUNG REGINALD S 1218 HITE DRBUFFALO JUNCTION, VA 24529-3110461AJ 18282225 RKT PR ODUCTIONS PO BOX 615BRISTOW, VA 20136-0615467TS 18282239 PSL SURVEYS PO BOX 756BRISTOW, VA 20136-07565101U 18282156 SYCOLIN ENTERPRISES LLC 18930 LOUDOUN ORCHARD RDLEESBURG, VA 20175-68575141Y 18281077 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA 2600 WASHINGTON AVE FL 3NEWPORT NEWS, VA 23607-4317514NY 18282271 NBR AVIATION PO BOX 752BRISTOW, VA 20136-0752520EP 18282274 PXW SERVICES PO BOX 802BRISTOW, VA 20136-08025273F 18282193 PSC LEASING LLC 9500 INNOVATION DRMANASSAS, VA 20110-2210527KM 18282260 NG RESEARCH PO BOX 655BRISTOW, VA 20136-06555340X 18281207 AGVEST LLC 1210 HILLMAN HWY NEABINGDON, VA 24210-4137539MY 18282238 NG RESEARCH PO BOX 722BRISTOW, VA 20136-0722562CB 18282207 KQM AVIATION PO BOX 721BRISTOW, VA 20136-0721576DS 18282229 LCB LEASING PO BOX 726BRISTOW, VA 20136-072660430 18281839 COUNTY OF HENRICO VIRGINIA PO BOX 90775HENRICO, VA 23273-0775657TP 18282253 PXW SERVICES PO BOX 802BRISTOW, VA 20136-0802731CL 18282256 NBY PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 656BRISTOW, VA 20136-0656747GK 18282029 EASTERN STEARMAN INC TRUSTEE 42061 BALD HILL RDLEESBURG, VA 20176-6020806TH 18282266 FVX RESEARCH PO BOX 632BRISTOW, VA 20136-0632811AH 18282240 OTV LEASING PO BOX 831BRISTOW, VA 20136-0831824HA 18281824 VAJ COMPANY LLC 3850 FIELDCREST DRRINER, VA 24149-2590879WM 18282216 PSL SURVEYS PO BOX 756BRISTOW, VA 20136-07569036B 18282258 HELSLEY WILLIAM W 10350 BELLA LNMC GAHEYSVILLE, VA 22840-2435906TM 18282269 RKT PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 615BRISTOW, VA 20136-0615910LF 18282284 NBY PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 502BRISTOW,VA 20136-0502912EX 18282231 OBR LEASING PO BOX 725BRISTOW, VA 20136-0725916WR 18282262 PSL SURVEYS PO BOX 756BRISTOW, VA 20136-0756981MR 18282212 NBY PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 502BRISTOW, VA 20136-0502984JS 18282218 FVX RESEARCH PO BOX 632BRISTOW, VA 20136-0632 N-Number Serial Number Name Address102BR 18282264 OTV LEASING PO BOX 636BRISTOW, VA 20136-06361176R 18281688 CARTER JOHN B 190 CAMPUS BLVD # 320WINCHESTER, VA 22601-287214205 18281889 ANESTHESIA AVIATION LLC 206 ROSEMEADE PLACELEESBURG, VA 20175142LJ 18282272 OBR LEASING PO BOX 725BRISTOW, VA 20136-07251725L 18282019 MEYER FRANK 3025 NATHANIELS GRNWILLIAMSBURG, VA 23185-7505182EM 18282233 PXW SERVICES PO BOX 802BRISTOW, VA 20136-0802223EM 18282252 KQM AVIATION PO BOX 721BRISTOW, VA 20136-07212451Z 18280949 MASCIOLA MICHAEL J 8138 QUINN TERVIENNA, VA 22180-7467267RH 18282208 PXW SERVICES PO BOX 802BRISTOW, VA 20136-0802274BB 18282270 LCB LEASING PO BOX 726BRISTOW, VA 20136-0726290RM 18282215 NG RESEARCH PO BOX 655BRISTOW, VA 20136-0655302MP 18282273 KQM AVIATION PO BOX 721BRISTOW, VA 20136-0721311SB 18282246 NBR AVIATION PO BOX 752BRISTOW, VA 20136-0752318SJ 18282251 OBR LEASING PO BOX 725BRISTOW, VA20136-0725319KS 18282243 FVX RESEARCH PO BOX 554BRISTOW, VA 20136-0554323LP 18282244 RKT PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 926BRISTOW, VA 20136-092633HA 18282279 HORIZON AIRCRAFT SALES & LEASING INC 2801 AIRPORT DRCHESAPEAKE, VA 23323-6411361DB 18282245 LCB LEASING PO BOX 726BRISTOW, VA 20136-0726404KR 18282203 OBR LEASING PO BOX 725BRISTOW, VA 20136-0725411CP 18282232 KQM AVIATION PO BOX 721BRISTOW, VA 20136-072141DL 18281142 LDAIR INC 7198 HOLLYBERRY RDROANOKE, VA 24018-5510428MT 18282234 NBY PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 656BRISTOW, VA 20136-0656444VB 18281034 YOUNG REGINALD S 1218 HITE DRBUFFALO JU NCTION, VA 24529-3110461AJ 18282225 RKT PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 615BRISTOW, VA 20136-0615467TS 18282239 PSL SURVEYS PO BOX 756BRISTOW, VA 20136-07565101U 18282156 SYCOLIN ENTERPRISES LLC 18930 LOUDOUN ORCHARD RDLEESBURG, VA 20175-68575141Y 18281077 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA 2600 WASHINGTON AVE FL 3NEWPORT NEWS, VA 23607-4317514NY 18282271 NBR AVIATION PO BOX 752BRISTOW, VA 20136-0752520EP 18282274 PXW SERVICES PO BOX 802BRISTOW, VA 20136-08025273F 18282193 PSC LEASING LLC 9500 INNOVATION DRMANASSAS, VA 20110-2210527KM 18282260 NG RESEARCH PO BOX 655BRISTOW, VA 20136-06555340X 18281207 AGVEST LLC 1210 HILLMAN HWY NEABINGDON, VA 24210-4137539MY 18282238 NG RESEARCH PO BOX 722BRISTOW, VA 20136-0722562CB 18282207 KQM AVIATION PO BOX 721BRISTOW, VA 20136-0721576DS 18282229 LCB LEASING PO BOX 726BRISTOW, VA 20136-072660430 18281839 COUNTY OF HENRICO VIRGINIA PO BOX 90775HENRICO, VA 23273-0775657TP 18282253 PXW SERVICES PO BOX 802BRISTOW, VA 20136-0802731CL 18282256 NBY PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 656BRISTOW, VA 20136-0656747GK 18282029 EASTERN STEARMAN INC TRUSTEE 42061 BALD HILL RDLEESBURG, VA 20176-6020806TH 18282266 FVX RESEARCH PO BOX 632BRISTOW, VA 20136-0632811AH 18282240 OTV LEASING PO BOX 831BRISTOW, VA20136-0831824HA 18281824 VAJ COMPANY LLC 3850 FIELDCREST DRRINER, VA 24149-2590879WM 18282216 PSL SURVEYS PO BOX 756BRISTOW, VA 20136-07569036B 18282258 HELSLEY WILLIAM W 10350 BELLA LNMC GAHEYSVILLE, VA 22840-2435906TM 18282269 RKT PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 615BRISTOW, VA 20136-0615910LF 18282284 NBY PRODUCTIONS similarly there are some hits here. for entire listing in LOUDOUN county PO BOX 502BRISTOW, VA 20136-0502912EX 18282231 OBR LEASING PO BOX 725BRISTOW, VA 20136-0725916WR 18282262 PSL SURVEYS PO BOX 756BRISTOW, VA 20136-0756981MR 18282212 NBY PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 502BRISTOW, VA 20136-0502984JS 18282218 FVX RESEARCH PO BOX 632BRISTOW, VA 20136-063 Possible tech or similar PERSISTENT REAL-TIME INTELLIGENCE OVER A WIDE AREA -- DAY & NIGHT Here's another new piece of hard evidence showing how billionaire sex abusers get their own special treatment in America. One of the most dire problems facing the United States is the double-standard justice system. If you're a greasy billionaire like Jeffrey Epstein, federal prosecutors (who ultimately report to your chums) will eventually bend over backwards to let you get away with running an international sex abuse ring, and even protect your co-conspirators from prosecution. Epstein pled guilty to limited charges and was forced to spend at least a few hours a day in a Florida jail for several months (he could wander during the day), and then on "house arrest" to cruise around to his various international pads. The deal specifically protects his unnamed co-conspirators from prosecution. For apparently the first time on the open interwebs, here is the full text of Epstein's non-prosecution agreement, republished on HongPong.com with permission of alt journalist Wayne Madsen at WayneMadsenReport.com: An additional issue that Wayne cites in his paywalled article is that the timeline here casts shadows on both the Clinton and the Bush families, since both noxious dynasties had roles overseeing the federal prosecutors and accepting this chummy deal published above at different points in the timeline. Freaky financier Jeffrey Epstein wants to keep negotiations for his shady nonprosecution deal with the feds under wraps. In papers filed in Florida federal court, Epstein, 61, has asked for a protective order keeping all correspondence about his controversial deal with the feds under seal. The feds agreed not to pursue charges against Epstein and four alleged co-conspirators in dozens of cases involving under-aged girls if he pleaded guilty to a single state felony case back in 2007 — but the deal was kept hidden from the victims at Epstein’s request, court papers say. The billionaire perv pal of Prince Andrew pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a minor in mid-2008. Four of Epstein’s alleged victims are challenging the nonprosecution agreement in court. In a ruling Thursday, Judge Kenneth Marra said, “Public policy favors judicial records being open to the public,” and that Epstein has to submit additional filings “setting forth the extraordinary circumstances or particularized needs necessitating a seal in this case.” Dareh Gregorian #OpDeathEaters & a history of political blackmail: I would like to call attention to the project spearheaded by Anonymous type cats called #OpDeathEaters (a reference to Voldemort's buddies in Harry Potter), which is a pretty quick-moving research project to expose multiple levels and nodes of what they describe as the global paedosadist network. They are trying to get away from the term 'pedophile' which is actually preferred by child sex abusers because 'phile' means love, when in fact it's really child abuse. It started around November 2014. An important dimension stressed by some of the articles below is that the power and depth of the pedosadist and child abuse networks has grown so deep that it has overrun the ability of honest elements of law enforcement to deal with, so to some extent Internet activists are trying to expose the networks and render difficult investigations into open-and-shut cases if possible, with the hopes of obtaining justice for victims and their families as well as preventing future abuse. Intelligence Rabbit Hole Begins: Additionally Epstein's close confidante for many years, Ghislaine Maxwell (L), has also been tagged as a major player in the abuse ring. Adding an intelligence twist to the matter, Ghislaine's late father Robert Maxwell ( R ) is pretty widely known to have supported the Israeli Mossad secret intelligence service. With Epstein's island home apparently stuffed with hidden cameras, this suggests he was generating sexual blackmail material which could certainly prove handy to manipulate political figures. This leads to a bunch of speculation such as JEFFREY EPSTEIN, MOSSAD AND 9 11 etc etc, with Florida airfields that were used by Mohammed Atta perhaps intersecting with this sordid tale prior to 2001. [I am not claiming that I support such a line of inquiry as the evidence isn't really there yet, but there are some overlapping data points] That particular rabbit hole would take a long time to sort out, but shady rich people, aviation and weird covert ops certainly are a Florida tradition. The only thing missing is yet another Gulfstream owned by CIA shell company packed with cocaine or heroin. A little over 51 years ago Albert Thomas, chair of congressional subcommittee for defense appropriations, winked at Lyndon Baines Johnson aboard Air Force One immediately after Pres. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas. [Thomas' underling Jack Valenti went on to run MPAA for many years.] Thomas went on to hand out billions for the Vietnam War. 51 years later the American public is still as infantilized by the national security state as ever. Tons of documents around the assassination are still classified for decades, setting the pattern for managing perceptions of 'deep state events' clearly intersecting with intelligence players like Iran-Contra & 9/11. The surest sign that Watergate majordomo Howard Hunt's deathbed confession recording is accurate is how thoroughly mainstream media ignored it, while instead promoting discredited plagiarist shills like Gerald Posner. Hunt said that LBJ was at the "head of a long line of people waiting for some change in the executive branch" and had "an almost maniacal urge to become president," with Rolling Stone, Coast to Coast and the alt media among the very few to take this seriously. Hunt said CIA's Cord Meyer led the task for LBJ, embittered because Cord's wife had been one of JFK's mistresses. He also ID'd David Atlee Phillips, "in Miami and elsewhere" referencing JM/WAVE CIA station, Watergate alumnus Frank Sturgis, "Operation 40" mercenary David Morales, all players within the nucleus related of intelligence operations diligently identified by researchers since 1963. "In short it was a very mobile experience" said the Watergate chieftain, "I was a benchwarmer on it." Kennedy was no saint, but Dallas was a display intended to traumatize the American public into accepting that a brutal machine behind the scenes would now more openly, literally, call the shots, and as our country continues to spin along an ugly trajectory, achieving some kind of tangible political freedom from these forces of intelligence intrigue and social control has never been more necessary. A tiny peek into a huge deal: the potential fracas between assorted would-be American military cyberwar commandoes and international (and domestic!) computer activists. This lower-level report (Unclassified//For Official Use Only) (U//FOUO) perhaps is more interesting for its "metadata" rather than thoroughly censored content. Below I also included some other domestic military operations documents below to draw a wider context than just this "cyberwar" stuff, as Ferguson has prompted Gov. Nixon in Missouri to activate the state militia, it's good to read up on what federal legal doctrine for "civil disturbances" is. Such recipients: In order, it says it is from "DIRECTOR FBI" to: DNI WASHINGTON DC - Director of National Intelligence. (Clapper at the time) HQ AFOSI Andrews AFB Maryland - Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Tip, if you have some message for them, use their unencrypted contact form to let them know about fraud or etc. What could possibly go wrong? > http://www.osi.af.mil/main/contactus.asp HQ NORAD USNORTHCOM INTEL PETERSON AFB - US Northern Command located near Colorado Springs was created as Dept of Homeland Security's military counterpart for "Homeland Defense", an elastic concept extending Pentagon involvement with "critical infrastructure," namely the machinery of major corporations. They also revised "GARDEN PLOT" into CONPLAN 3502 Civil Disturbance Operations," relevant in a Ferguson type context under federal mobilization. (see 2010 story) They were also written into Superman's plot. JOINT STAFF Washington DC - J2 - Director for Intelligence (J2) on the Joint Chiefs of Staff (now this guy) NGA HQ Bethesda Maryland. The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, like DIA, is up to a lot of things off the radar. They have domestic satellite spying (GEO INT) responsibilities at National Special Security Events which require a special domestic military intel privacy waiver. http://www.stratcom.mil/functional_components/ . Big spenders. NSA FT GEORGE G MEADE Maryland - National Security Agency at the oddly spelled out Ft Meade. I wonder how many land in this inbox - and how many times "George G" is stored in their databases. US SECRET SERVICE WASHINGTON DC USCYBERCOM FT GEORGE G MEADE Maryland - Cyber Command in ur router, sniffin ur packets WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM WASHINGTON DC. BT . … I am fairly sure this is a closing list tag like </UL> Serial IIR 4 213 4003 12, "WARNING (U): This is an information report, not finally evaluated intelligence. It is being shared for informational purposes but has not been fully evaluated, integrated with other information, interpreted or analyzed. Receiving agencies are requested not to take action based on this raw reporting without prior coordination with the FBI. Unless a conviction in a criminal proceeding occurs, a presumption of innocence exists for any person being reported on in this IIR." Declassification date appears 20370607, as this hot stuff needs to lay low for a couple more decades. What is an IIR? It is pretty low level stuff for the FBI. For a bit of info see FBI Intelligence Information Report Handbook | Electronic Frontier Foundation. That document interestingly, at the very end includes a statutory info pipeline from Grand Jury operations to various feds. Patriot Act Section 203(a)(1)( C )(i)(V) certainly makes for an industrious star chamber circuit, but they don't want grand jury info going out in IIRs without asking the HQ attorney. This document was obtained by Smiley Hill via FOIA. Please follow https://twitter.com/smilyus for more smileable FOIAs on a regular basis. The use of the military - and these contractors in the game now - to police corporate systems labeled as Critical Infrastructure is significant. After all, Missouri Gov Nixon just activated the state militia because of Ferguson. “The announcement of the grand jury’s decision … will likely be exploited by some individuals to justify threats and attacks against law enforcement and critical infrastructure,” the FBI says in an intelligence bulletin issued in recent days. “This also poses a threat to those civilians engaged in lawful or otherwise constitutionally protected activities.” As for the legal ramifications of domestic military operations and targeting electronic activists with tools like STRATCOM / CYBERCOM retain for battling Al Qaeda servers or whatever, most people say "But, Posse Comitatus!" In reality a vast area of domestic military operations has been expanded and operated by JAGs. See : www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/operational-law-handbook_2012.pdf This Domestic Operational Law Cyber Realm has a Handbook, People! PI highlighted a bunch of good 2011 stuff, since we are talking Ferguson anyway, it's worth noting again: G. The Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plans Formerly, DoD’s Civil Disturbance Operations (CDO) plan was known as “GARDEN PLOT.” Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and USNORTHCOM however, DoD has delegated to geographic combatant commanders responsibility for developing CDO Contingency Plans (CONPLANs). These geographic commanders’ CONPLANs provide guidance and direction for planning, coordinating, and executing military operations during domestic civil disturbances. 1. Civil Disturbance Operations Mission Broadly stated, the CDO mission assists civil authorities in restoring law and order in the United States and its territories.58 This mission statement, while not duplicating the language in the Insurrection Act allowing for the use of federal forces to “suppress” insurrection, provides wide latitude to the President to use federal forces to assist civil law enforcement in “restoring” law and order. The restoration of law and order must be distinguished from the preservation of law and order. CDO mission statements do not allow the joint civil disturbance task force commander to undertake preservation missions. It is generally agreed that missions to restore law and order include dispersing unauthorized assemblages, patrolling disturbed areas, maintaining essential transportation and communications systems, setting up roadblocks, and cordoning off areas. Care should be taken before a military commander accepts missions that are routine maintenance of civil order. 2. Combatant Commanders’ CONPLANs The CONPLANs provide the basis for all preparation, deployment, employment, and redeployment of Department of Defense component forces, including National Guard forces called to active federal service, for use in domestic civil disturbance operations, in support of civil authorities as directed by the President. The concept of a civil disturbance operation is multi-phased: Phase 0, Shape; Phase I, Anticipate; Phase II, Respond (deployment can occur in either Phase I or Phase II); Phase III, Operate; Phase IV, Stabilize; and Phase V, Transition (redeployment). Prior to deployment, military forces maintain five preparedness postures, called Civil Disturbance Conditions (CIDCONS) in order to alert and react to potential civil disturbance operations. Changes in the CIDCON level are directed by the JDOMS. 3. The Standing Rules for the Use of Force for U.S. Forces Civil disturbance operations are conducted in accordance with Appendix L of the Standing Rules of Engagement/Standing Rules for the Use of Force for U.S. Forces (SRUF). Guidance on how and when forces can use force in a CDO mission are detailed in that annex. Although the CJCSI is classified, Annex L is not and can be shared with our mission partners. a. Custody and Detention All apprehensions should be made by the civil police force unless they are not available or require assistance. Military forces have the authority to detain rioters, looters, or other civilians committing criminal offenses. Civilians taken into custody should be transferred to civilian law enforcement authorities as soon as possible. All members of the force must remember that state and federal criminal law and procedure govern apprehension. Apprehension is justified only on the basis of probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed and that the person to be apprehended committed the offense. Soldiers should not question detainees beyond basic pedigree such as name and address. If formal questioning of an offender is necessary, civilian police should conduct the interview. If civilian police are not available, CID agents or military police may conduct interviews only if the interview is essential to the civil disturbance mission. Actions taken by Soldiers that do not conform to criminal law constitutional standards could jeopardize future prosecution and subject Soldiers and their Commanders to criminal and/or civil liability. b. Search and Seizure CDO CONPLANs anticipate that military forces will generally not be involved in searches unless there is “an immediate danger of violence, destruction of evidence, or escape of violent persons unless the search is conducted without delay.” In all other cases, local authorities should conduct searches. When required to perform searches, federal armed forces may conduct warrantless searches under the same constitutional parameters imposed upon law enforcement officials. Joint Civil Disturbance Task Force forces conducting a warrantless search will fully document the reasons for the search as soon as is reasonably convenient.69 Generally these searches are limited to the following incidents. (1) Stop and Frisk If there is a reasonable suspicion based upon articulable facts that a person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, that person may be temporarily stopped and questioned about his activities. The stop must be limited in duration to that which is reasonably necessary to investigate the suspicion. If there is a reasonable suspicion based on articulable facts that a person is armed or is carrying instruments of violence and that the individual presents an immediate risk of harm, members of the armed force may conduct a “frisk” (an external “patdown” of the clothing) for weapons. Any weapons found during a frisk may be removed from the individual and seized. (2) Search Incident to Lawful Apprehension A person lawfully detained may be searched for weapons or destructible evidence. A search for weapons or destructible evidence may also be conducted in the area where the detained person could reach with a sudden movement to obtain a weapon or destroy evidence. (3) Exigent circumstances Military forces assisting law enforcement may make a search without a warrant when they have reason to believe (probable cause) that weapons, objects related to criminal activity, or persons believed to have committed an offense, are in the place to be searched; and they have reason to believe that the delay necessary to obtain a search warrant would result in removal of the weapons or destruction of the objects related to criminal activity. For example, Joint Civil Disturbance Task Force forces may stop and search an automobile without a warrant when there is reason to believe that the automobile contains weapons or instruments of violence and/or contains an individual reasonably believed to have committed violence. Military forces in a civil disturbance operation may make an immediate entry into a building when there is reason to believe that entry is necessary to prevent injury to persons, serious damage to property, loss of evidence, to protect public safety, or to render aid to someone who is in danger. (5) Hot pursuit Military forces pursuing a person who they have reason to believe has just committed a serious crime, may enter a vehicle or building believed to be entered by the suspect and search the building or vehicle for the person or any weapons that might be used to further his escape. (6) Plain View During the course of otherwise lawful activity, military forces may seize any unlawful weapons or objects related to criminal activity which they observe in plain view. When conducting warrantless searches that require a probable cause determination, military forces can obtain advice from a judge advocate; however, the probable cause determination must be made personally by the individual desiring to conduct the search. If a search warrant is required, local civil authorities should obtain judicially issued search warrants. If local civilian authorities are not available, judge advocates need to be prepared to provide advice on probable cause to military authorities before they approach a local judge or magistrate for a search warrant. When feasible, all searches conducted by military personnel will be conducted by two personnel with the actual search performed by someone of the same sex.76 A hand receipt or some similar document should be prepared when items of personal property are seized from an individual. c. Confinement Facilities The Joint Civil Disturbance Task Force should not operate a detention facility. Any person apprehended should be turned over to the police for detention. Military correctional facilities cannot be used to detain civilians. If available civilian detention facilities cannot accommodate the number of detained persons who are awaiting arraignment, the Joint Civil Disturbance Task Force commander must seek the approval of the SCRAG and Combatant Commander to set up a temporary detention facility. Should the Task Force be required to operate a detention facility, the detention facility standards and operations should conform, to the maximum extent possible, to current DoD confinement facility operations and will be under the professional supervision and control of Military Police personnel. The establishment and operation of military detention facilities is a temporary expedient and is authorized only until such time as the custody of detained persons can be transferred to civil authorities. d. Riot Control Agents Normally, for CDO the deployment and use of riot control agents is allowed as a matter of U.S. policy. However, initial approval authority for its deployment and use may be retained at a level higher than the Joint Civil Disturbance Task Force Commander and may require a specific request. This is not the same as a state-level activation, but it is the doctrine that is crafted at the federal level these days so I think it's pretty relevant to Ferguson. Here is something kind of nifty - just got the latest court filings from an investigation into Oklahoma City bombing now approved by a judge to move forward in federal court against the CIA and FBI. The crux of it is missing videotapes, a recurring problem in major terror incidents -- anyone remember those commercial surveillance videos that never got released from near the Pentagon 9/11 crash site? [VT 'Truth' & Skeptics views] Unbeknownst to most, Jesse Trentadue, a diligent attorney from Salt Lake City, has been trying to wrench loose every last bureaucratic particle related to the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing attributed to "lone wolf Patriot" Timothy McVeigh and his accomplice Terry Nichols. Trentadue's brother died horribly while in custody of the US Bureau of Prisons, which he suspects was a case of mistaken identity linked to shadowy figures involved in OKC. Thus, in honor of his brother's memory, get all the files On the Table. The bombing presaged a new era of domestic police legislation, more cops on US streets thanks to the federal government, the thorough discrediting of the general "Patriot" scene and so on. Current Attorney General Eric Holder had a "Trentadue Mission" as well in all of this. SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake attorney who contends the FBI is hiding surveillance video associated with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing might see his case go trial. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups denied the government's motion to dismiss the case Monday and ordered both sides to prepare for a bench trial. He scheduled a status hearing for Nov. 21, at which a trial date will be set. "This is a significant ruling," said Jesse Trentadue, who has spent years trying to get the tapes. "There's no doubt that evidence exists. The question then becomes why can't you find it. The obvious answer is you don't want to find it." At issue is whether the FBI adequately responded to Trentadue's Freedom of Information Act request for footage of Timothy McVeigh parking a truckload of explosives at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. Specifically, he is after surveillance tape of the federal building and neighboring buildings as well as dashcam video from the Oklahoma state trooper who stopped McVeigh 90 minutes after the explosion that killed 168 people. The FBI has released 30 videotapes and 200 documents in response to Trentadue's FOIA request. Trentadue began looking into the bombing after his brother died in a federal detention center in Oklahoma. He believes federal agents mistook Kenneth Trentadue, a convicted bank robber, for a bombing suspect and beat him to death during an August 1995 interrogation. His official cause of death was listed as suicide. Trenatdue claims the video will reveal a second bombing suspect who resembles but is not his brother. Waddoups has chastised U.S. Department of Justice several times for not producing the tapes since Trentadue sued in 2008. A Few Unresolved Backstories: Another dimension generally unknown is the large number of informants working for different agencies in the milieu McVeigh circulated in. This certainly included German BND intelligence agent Andreas Strassmeir ("Andy the German"), ATF informant & neo-Nazi Carol Howe, Rev. Millar at the "Elohim City" Christian millenialist compound (nicknamed Alphabet City for its many three-letter agency plants), and a weapons dealer named Roger Moore who Nichols alleged supplied the Kinestiks used in the truck bomb. Department of Homeland Security was involved in the Moore/Nichols/kinestiks thing. Just found this too. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an Alabama-based investigative/intelligence nonprofit organization with a huge endowment that dabbles in various legal cases involving racists and intolerant people, also was cited in numerous bits of the paper trail as having at least one informant of some kind they were using to provide information to the FBI. While the SPLC has cultivated a positive reputation with liberals because of highly visible campaigns against racists, their still-partially concealed role is quite relevant to the complete truth around OKC. What did SPLC know and when did they know it? [And will they ever go after banks for making southerners poor??! Or would that harm their awesome endowment assets??] So basically around OKC, you have a level of informant saturation well above zero in this situation, and of course it's marketed as the "lone wolf" incident par excellence. What would undermine this narrative? Well, as various official internal documents indicate rather directly, video footage from security cameras near the Murrah building showing multiple people in the Ryder truck would be pretty awkward, years later. There were certainly cameras around the building, and Trentadue has had these FOIA requests in for quite some time. Anyway let's have ourselves some fresh court documents: One axiom of the Interwebs research world is that the CIA is Wall Street and Wall Street is the CIA. This reflects many key dynamics, a personal favorite example is laundering of drug money through Wall Street for the benefit of CIA proxies in the "war on drugs". NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. today announced the appointment of retired four-star General and former Director of the CIA David Petraeus as Chairman of the newly created KKR Global Institute. Henry Kravis, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of KKR, stated: "I have long known and respected General Petraeus and, on behalf of everyone at KKR, I welcome him to the firm. As the world changes and we expand how and where we invest, we are always looking to sharpen the ‘KKR edge.' With the addition of General Petraeus, we are building on the work we have done to understand the investment implications of public policy, macro-economic, regulatory and technology trends globally. We are pleased to bring all of this expertise together under one umbrella, the KKR Global Institute, to deliver the best of KKR's insights for our investors." Over the past several years, macro-economic and geopolitical considerations, including the heightened role of central banks following the financial crisis, new regulation and major changes in public policy, have led to KKR's increased engagement on these areas and on environmental, social and governance issues. At the same time, KKR is a global firm investing in new and emerging markets that have new risks and opportunities. The KKR Global Institute will be the nexus of KKR's focus on the investment implications of these issues. It will also further build on the firm's efforts to help KKR's portfolio companies expand globally, and it will periodically serve as an outlet for publishing the firm's thought leadership products, including views from portfolio managers and industry experts. As Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, General Petraeus will work with a team at KKR and in tandem with Ken Mehlman, Global Head of Public Affairs, and Henry McVey, Global Head of Macro & Asset Allocation. In addition to his role as Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, General Petraeus will also support KKR's investment teams in the diligence process, especially when the Firm is considering investments in new geographies. "KKR is one of the best investment firms in the world," General Petraeus observed. "I am very pleased to join such a great team. I have watched KKR evolve as it adapted to the post-financial crisis world and became a go-to partner for companies worldwide. I look forward to supporting the investment teams in their pursuit of the best opportunities for clients and also being a part of a new initiative to provide additional insights to KKR's clients and companies." [Yes it is the former Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman, CFR member & notable component of log cabin style GOP.] However, political scandal month has just started. Another former high-ranking government official is already preparing his lesson plans for his college course at the City University of New York. Former CIA director David Petraeus, brought down by an affair with Army reserve officer Paula Broadwell, will be teaching courses that favor the building of the Keystone XL pipeline and the benefits of gas fracking and "clean coal." Petraeus's Wall Street employer, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts (KKR) has significant financial stakes in all three energy projects. So, when Petraeus ignited a firestorm of protest at CUNY by accepting a $150,000 salary for teaching a single three-hour course a week, he changed his mind and said he would teach the course for a mere $1. Obviously, KKR's deep-pocketed pals at TransCanada are picking up the difference. On Wednesday, Petraeus will give his first paid speech since resigning as CIA director in November. It’ll be at Duke University and is titled, “America and the World: A Conversation with Gen. David Petraeus.” Petraeus is working with six veterans’ support groups, and is chairman of the newly created KKR Global Institute for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. He also is teaching this fall at the University of Southern Californiam, and beginning Monday at the City University of New York. It's a pretty woolly political scene right now & wanted to slam up some docs leading different directions on this. At least the damn narrative is moving along. More or less we're looking at the merging of criminal investigations with direct military signals intelligence (SIGINT) technology run by the same contractors that recently ran these technocratic social control 'kinetic' programs for the Pentagon in assorted occupied lands around the Middle East etc. Naturally the war on drugs first brought this war home - special bonus points for the Viktor Bout angle of the DEA SOD/DICE projects story from Reuters earlier... For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans’ phone calls — parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agency’s hotly disputed collection of phone call logs. The Hemisphere Project, a partnership between federal and local drug officials and AT&T that has not previously been reported, involves an extremely close association between the government and the telecommunications giant. The government pays AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units around the country. Those employees sit alongside Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data from as far back as 1987. ...... Hemisphere covers every call that passes through an AT&T switch — not just those made by AT&T customers — and includes calls dating back 26 years, according to Hemisphere training slides bearing the logo of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Some four billion call records are added to the database every day, the slides say; technical specialists say a single call may generate more than one record. Unlike the N.S.A. data, the Hemisphere data includes information on the locations of callers. The slides were given to The New York Times by Drew Hendricks, a peace activist in Port Hadlock, Wash. He said he had received the PowerPoint presentation, which is unclassified but marked “Law enforcement sensitive,” in response to a series of public information requests to West Coast police agencies. The program was started in 2007, according to the slides, and has been carried out in great secrecy. “All requestors are instructed to never refer to Hemisphere in any official document,” one slide says. A search of the Nexis database found no reference to the program in news reports or Congressional hearings. The Obama administration acknowledged the extraordinary scale of the Hemisphere database and the unusual embedding of AT&T employees in government drug units in three states. Oh the war on drugs, will your terrible travesties never end... Nice work exposing this program by all involved!! A spectacular catch for sure. Meanwhile we also have yet to deal with the terrible secret Special Operations Division which as this slide makes clear, subverts the entire concept of criminal defense and discovery. Therefore probably all drug cases should be thrown out, eh? (Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans. Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges. The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to "recreate" the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant's Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don't know how an investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence - information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses. "I have never heard of anything like this at all," said Nancy Gertner, a Harvard Law School professor who served as a federal judge from 1994 to 2011. Gertner and other legal experts said the program sounds more troubling than recent disclosures that the National Security Agency has been collecting domestic phone records. The NSA effort is geared toward stopping terrorists; the DEA program targets common criminals, primarily drug dealers. "It is one thing to create special rules for national security," Gertner said. "Ordinary crime is entirely different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations." THE SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION The unit of the DEA that distributes the information is called the Special Operations Division, or SOD. Two dozen partner agencies comprise the unit, including the FBI, CIA, NSA, Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security. It was created in 1994 to combat Latin American drug cartels and has grown from several dozen employees to several hundred. Today, much of the SOD's work is classified, and officials asked that its precise location in Virginia not be revealed. The documents reviewed by Reuters are marked "Law Enforcement Sensitive," a government categorization that is meant to keep them confidential. "Remember that the utilization of SOD cannot be revealed or discussed in any investigative function," a document presented to agents reads. The document specifically directs agents to omit the SOD's involvement from investigative reports, affidavits, discussions with prosecutors and courtroom testimony. Agents are instructed to then use "normal investigative techniques to recreate the information provided by SOD." .....SOD'S BIG SUCCESSES The unit also played a major role in a 2008 DEA sting in Thailand against Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; he was sentenced in 2011 to 25 years in prison on charges of conspiring to sell weapons to the Colombian rebel group FARC. The SOD also recently coordinated Project Synergy, a crackdown against manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of synthetic designer drugs that spanned 35 states and resulted in 227 arrests. Since its inception, the SOD's mandate has expanded to include narco-terrorism, organized crime and gangs. A DEA spokesman declined to comment on the unit's annual budget. A recent LinkedIn posting on the personal page of a senior SOD official estimated it to be $125 million. Today, the SOD offers at least three services to federal, state and local law enforcement agents: coordinating international investigations such as the Bout case; distributing tips from overseas NSA intercepts, informants, foreign law enforcement partners and domestic wiretaps; and circulating tips from a massive database known as DICE. The DICE database contains about 1 billion records, the senior DEA officials said. The majority of the records consist of phone log and Internet data gathered legally by the DEA through subpoenas, arrests and search warrants nationwide. Records are kept for about a year and then purged, the DEA officials said. About 10,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agents have access to the DICE database, records show. They can query it to try to link otherwise disparate clues. Recently, one of the DEA officials said, DICE linked a man who tried to smuggle $100,000 over the U.S. southwest border to a major drug case on the East Coast. "We use it to connect the dots," the official said. ... OK so let's get to PROTON, CRISSCROSS, CLEARWATER and Lexis-Nexis. I think this covers a lot of new ground. Hard to say if the DOJ side of the story ties in, but the Lexis-Nexis level is pretty clearly documented already but not well known outside of research circles. Also some of this gets to the SCS - Special Collection Service - which I think would have been part of Snowden's tour of duty in CIA. Given the use of constitutionally repulsive practices by the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies, this information is being made public to educate and inform so they might arm themselves against government intrusion and for attorneys as a backgrounder for future appeals. I suggest American guerillas seek non-Internet modes of communication. If you think Rex Sherwood was pulled over for not using a turn signal, you are wrong. I was "read on" the PROTON/CRISSCROSS program in late 2006 and was a frequent user of this system for over a year. As part of my duties, I employed PROTON/CRISSCROSS in HUMINT exploitation role. In the Intelligence Community, PROTON/CRISSCROSS is referred to as PROTON. Unless otherwise specified, the same is true in this report. PROTON is a storage and analysis system of telecommunications selectors at the TS/SI/FISA/ORCON/NOFORN level of classification and handling. PROTON is the program name as well as the name of the technology. It has been described as "SAP-like", and I suspect that PROTON was once a DEA special program. PROTON is well known in HUMINT and DOJ clandestine law enforcement. It remains the primary, if not fundamental, tool of HUMINT and DOJ law enforcement operations, both of which have considerable overlap in phenomenology and methodology. PROTON carries the FISA caveat because Top Secret FISA collection is contained in PROTON's massive database. Through my professional associations within the Intelligence Community, I became aware of a Department of Justice (DOJ) system called CLEARWATER. CLEARWATER is similar to PROTON but at the SECRET/NOFORN level of classification and exclusively a DOJ program, where PROTON is CIA, DOJ and DOD. Most DOJ Special Agents and analysts do not have Top Secret clearance. Every informant is run through CLEARWATER, every witness gets vetted through the system. PROTON and CLEARWATER are not just analytic tools, they provide actionable intelligence and both programs are used everyday for target discovery and development. CLEARWATER practically leads FBI and DEA investigations. PROTON is used throughout HUMINT for asset validation, recruitment, background checks on sources, etc. The FBI and DEA as both law enforcement and intelligence community members have resources of both sides and domestic law enforcement by these agencies is more of a HUMINT operation of the type seen in Afghanistan. Find, Fix, Arrest. PROTON and CLEARWATER work so well that Special Agents and Case Officers can't wait to get data into the system and see how it networks together. Top Secret and FISA mean NSA sensitive sources and foreign collection. NSA resources are unneeded in America---CALEA and the DOJ have that covered for you under Title III, the Patriot Act and opinion from the federal kangaroo judiciary. FISA is not only used against terrorists and spies but also private and quasi-government organizations . The most impressive network I ever laid eyes upon was the PROTON derived communications network of the Netherlands and Swiss SWIFT. Allot of target discovery there. It's how you find a needle in a haystack. The U.S. hosts one of three SWIFT secure messaging centers. Well, the NSA and CIA have insured SWIFT is allot less secure. SWIFT is a major communications target and the NSA is deep in that This is a modern take on "follow the money." If Americans are wondering how the IRS found their secret bank accounts..well, here 'ya go. When I read the description of Drug Enforcement Administrations (DEA) DEA Internet Connectivity Environment (DICE) system: the billions of records, partnership with CIA, NSA and DOD, the need to cover sources at the expense of a fair trail--- it struck me that what was described sounded more like PROTON and/or CLEARWATER. As I read further, DICE was sounding more like a legitimate DEA program that was being used to provide cover for PROTON and/or CLEARWATER---either intentionally or sacrificially. The early descriptions of DICE present it as an information sharing and collaboration tool through the Internet. The recent public descriptions of DICE are awkward and contrived when compared to past information. DICE is being used to cover PROTON and/or CLEARWATER. Properly, CRISSCROSS is the database of telecommunications selectors. Selectors are, in NSA terms, that information that selects a target for analysis, investigation or collection. Telephone numbers, email addresses, hexadecimal addresses from INMARSAT telephones, IMEI---really any telecommunications "number" or "address" a person would have as a means to contact another, are contained in CRISSCROSS. PROTON is the operating software written in JAVA for cross-platform usability and runs on JWICS for connectivity to CRISSCROSS. PROTON contains the tools for network analysis and would be familiar to anyone who has experience in undergraduate social network analysis, statistics and data visualization. CRISSCROSS has an interesting and murky history. As it was explained to me by a PROTON Program Officer, CRISSCROSS was originally a very secret DEA program to provide a repository for DEA collected selectors. It was, by every account, an excellent resource. With the post-911 reorganization of the Intelligence Community, everyone was required to share their resources for the "War of Terror." CRISSCROSS was very successful and well-received and ultimately exceeded DEA capabilities to manage. The CIA took over as executive agent---but CRISSCROSS is shared by the DOD and DOJ in a co-ownership manner. It's uncertain if PROTON received Special Collection Service (SCS) data when it was a solely DEA activity, but PROTON presently receives SCS collection amounting to about 1 one terabyte monthly, and that's just selectors, not content. PROTON also receives data from Computer Network Exploitation (CNE), by the now famous Tailored Access Office (TAO). Included as well is an enormous repository of Title III data from CALEA enabled domestic collection, FISA and an enormous amount of purchased data from various communications providers like Intellius. PROTON does not contain content, only selectors for targeting. Consider that in the context of one (1) terabyte of just selectors per month (just from the SCS) for over 10 years. I have no idea how much the TAO provides, however the two biggest contributors to PROTON are the SCS and TAO. An analyst or law enforcement officer can "run" a selector in PROTON and visualize the social network of correspondents associated with that selector in a visual format. The user can select and display most frequent numbers called or have called, duration of call, and other functions familiar to social network analysis. An analyst may choose to look at the network in terms of who called who: persons of importance typically have allot of people calling them so we can build a network based on that to determine centricity. We can build a network based on call duration, frequency, date---pick a variable. Sometimes it's useful to look at the outliers which may be hang-arounds to some drug trafficking organization. We can task NSA or DOJ for collection on these hang-arounds and begin network deconstruction from the ground up. These calling networks include family, friends and other non-target persons. Non-target persons, like family members, are very useful in developing the target and as leverage. Non-target communications provide intelligence from things spoken between people in confidence who may not be aware of the targets activities or associations, like the location of a fugitive who has ceased using his known selectors, but communicates with his mother through her known selectors. Another very useful feature is the Bankswitch function, which allows network discovery by the calling pattern, not necessarily by a selector. Often, groups of U.S. government interest will use a cellphone, then dispose of them , preventing further intelligence collection from that group of cellphones. Bankswitch allows the analyst to quickly rediscover the calling network that has switched phones. Humans typically have some constant behavior in who and how they make their calls and persons. Groups and enterprises not having supplicated to the U.S. government avarice will have a whole additional set of behaviors in who and how they call. This is highly useful for calling networks that dispose and rotate telephones regularly. A fresh cellphone provides enough of a lead to discover the calling pattern of the whole network based on historical calling records. Both the DEA and FBI have found this useful in their activities in Columbia, Mexico and the United States. I know for certain PROTON contains communications selectors on American Citizens (AMCITS) since I ran a query on a number using only a Maryland area code and a partial prefix. PROTON returned a huge list of "masked" domestic numbers. An NSA masked number is always domestic and reveals only the area code and prefix with the rest of the number obscured. A PROTON user can email the NSA with a request to unmask the number---it's in the database, but a user has to present some justification for a number to be unmasked. Voice cuts are available through a similar process. PROTON is really well thought out. Not only does it provide a wealth of network investigative tools, it also allows for the easy introduction of data. Let's say you're a DEA Special Agent surveilling local boat captains as part of OPERATION PANAMA EXPRESS (PANEX) in Barranquilla Columbia---a major Port of Origin for drugs to the U.S. and someone gives you a business card. Just run the number and see if it hits. The Special Agent" can take that card and mail it to the PROTON Program Office (PPO). Scans, cell pictures of the information are also acceptable to ingest. An FBI Case Officer attending a UAV conference in Las Vegas can take all the "grey literature" and hand that to the PROTON office as well. The numbers find their way into the database The PROTON office will also ingest entire phone books---still popular in some parts of Europe and Asia. They use a method similar to Google books to automatically turn pages and scan data from them. Anything that contains a selector can go into PROTON. Part of the PROTON program is the resource that provides software engineering to order unordered data and otherwise make raw data ingestible. PROTON users can add and edit PROTON data as well. If a user discovers the identity of a previously unidentified selector, one can edit that record or leave notes for other users. With PROTON, you can see who's talking to whom in a telecommunications relationship context. How you hit that network is up to you. Network deconstruction techniques vary throughout the 'Community. Domestically, the DOJ prefers the highly publicized raid with the media providing the entertainment backdrop. The DEA prefers covertness. The DOD prefers a Predator strike. Yes, those drone attacks are network deconstruction techniques and target selection is often facilitated, if not provided, by PROTON. As stated earlier, CLEARWATER is a SECRET/NOFORN version of PROTON. The DEA red herring called DICE reportedly contained NSA collection which rules-out CLEARWATER (a S//NF system) and highlights PROTON (a TS//SI system) as the source of DICE intelligence. I'm providing information on both since the government is no longer under constitutional restraint and is illegitimate. Parallel Construction. You fuckers. A cornerstone of American law and western culture sacrificed for the security of the Elites. With the CALEA requirements, TITLE III collection is very simple affair involving a court order and the Cisco routers which, through CALEA legislation, are engineered for surveillance. Cisco is a very enthusiastic partner to the Intelligence Community---one of those sensitive relationships managed through the NSA Special Source Operations office. The NSA finesses such relationships---with the DOJ, you get a thug in a nice suit and the quiet menace of federal law enforcement. If you think the DOJ is a law enforcement agency, you're stupid. Internal security is DOJ Job #1. As we have seen, the DOJ is maintaining internal security by both legal and extralegal means with the full support of the federal judiciary and the lukewarm animus of the U.S. Congress. Federal judges and congress persons are largely immune to DOJ surveillance. You are not. The "new" counter-insurgency operations by the government concentrate on a Reasonable Suspicion by persons and groups---not on Probable Cause. CLEARWATER contains selectors from any number of sources: TITLE III, purchased data from telecommunications data brokers, National Security Letters, subpoenas, technical operations by FBI TACOPS, search warrant, informant production, arrests, detentions. If the DOJ has searched you, arrested you or let you go, count on that data being in CLEARWATER. Did you give the Special Agent your telephone number? Arresting someone to search them without needing consent or court order is not an unheard of means to get a Person of Interests selectors into CLEARWATER. Something laying openly on your desk? A cell-phone snap and email to the program office. How about those utility bills you throw away without shredding? If you're a Person of Interest, somebody is walking away with your trash. There is a a real motivation by DOJ Special Agents to get telecommunications selectors into PROTON or CLEARWATER to build the networks for analysis and deconstruction. CLEARWATER has all the features of PROTON and at least one other---mapping. An FBI Case Officer operating domestically can query say, Lahore Pakistan, and place on a map, those locations in the U.S. where those calls originated or terminate---a choropleth map with colored density clusters, all in a spatial context. With that, the DOJ knows where to focus it's domestic security efforts. A DEA Special Agent can run a selector seized in an amphetamine investigation and, within a few minutes, have the calling network and visualize the correspondents locations on a map. That's how DOJ led task forces show up in your neighborhood. Watching a OWS protester enter a number into their cell phone is perfectly legal without consent or a warrant and once I get that number, we'll look at that calling network, find the node that is you, and walk that back to that moment we shared under the chestnut tree. If you're visiting the USA from abroad, you may have your wallet and pocket litter photocopied at secondary screening. Then an email to the National Counterrorism Center (NCTC) Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) office, and from there, a Forward to the PROTON office. PROTON, CLEARWATER and LEXIS-NEXIS all provide data export into Analyst Notebook file format (and PDF for ease of sharing). All members of the Intelligence Community have access to LEXIS-NEXIS. LEXIS-NEXIS contains biographic information on most Americans having a driver or occupational license. Your state sells the contents of its drivers license database to companies like LEXIS-NEXIS for a profit. They can do this since that information is considered in the public domain---driving is a privilege and if you don't want to be in database then don't get a drivers license. LEXIS-NEXIS contains other highly personal and granular information depending on which state is providing information. Florida provides pretty much everything it can to LEXIS-NEXIS. Automobile information, luxury water craft, occupational licenses---if you submit information to a state agency, it can end up in LEXIS-NEXIS. All domestic law enforcement has access to LEXIS-NEXIS, its a fundamental investigative tool. IRS, DOJ, Treasury, Local PD, Sheriffs Office all have a LEXIS-NEXIS access or the means to pull data from them. Law Enforcement Officers can have their data removed from LEXIS-NEXIS. An LAPD and NYPD "spokesperson" informed me that this is the case. Imagine your a citizen in New York and you get surveilled by one of the numerous surveillance technicians the NYPD has fielded since 9-11 , a quick look-up via mobile device or WiFi and they know who you are now. So, a Special Agent or analyst simply runs the selectors in PROTON and CLEARWATER, then runs those names or other biographic/vital information again in LEXIS-NEXIS, all that data related to the TARGET is exported in Analyst Notebook format, those files are imported into the Analyst Notebook application and...viola!...a relatively complete social network and biographics of the TARGET. That could be you of course. By Supreme Court decision and other judicial misadventures, LEXIS-NEXIS contains public information and you do not have an expectation of privacy. There is no need for Probable Cause or Reasonable Suspicion because this data is, by judicial opinion, public. Something to think about next time you're at the DMV. Citizens are queried regularly in LEXIS-NEXIS. CLEARWATER and PROTON provides network association and the selectors. A subpoena, NSL or search warrant to the telecommunications provider of that selector gives us names and locations. LEXIS-NEXIS provides Pattern of Life, geolocation and personalia. I was able to see my past three residential addresses, past telephone numbers and identifying information about my previous automobile. LEXIS-NEXIS is coupled to Automatic License Plate Recognition Systems (ALPRS) as well. Who you are, where you were and where you are. The DOJ and Intelligence Community access LEXIS-NEXIS through a VPN and a proxy (government). A DOD proxy is registered to the Virginia Contracting Office, but it's a non-logging proxy so, good luck in your discovery. LEXIS-NEXIS has no idea of the individual accessing it's database and, according to the spokesperson, does not maintain logs of government clients. A subpoena cannot discover what is not there. Around 2008, LEXIS-NEXIS purchased Choicepoint to start their new product line. I recall some representative, at a promotional meeting, extolling the virtues of Choicepoint---all the data in a easy to use format. A user of Choicepoint could run a query and not only get biographics and addresses but have that information located on a map or satellite image (by Pinpoint, Inc. or a Google map server). The Choicepoint representative giving the presentation said no Social Security Numbers or drivers license pictures would be included in the database in order to protect the rights of the citizen. Such conceits are good ethics in Washington, D.C. That said, CLEARWATER and PROTON are not omnipotent. Foreign intelligence organizations use the Internet for covert and clandestine communication without detection and you can as well. Do not believe that the NSA or DOJ is all powerful. They are not and they can be defeated. Of the many systems used by NSA and DOJ, CLEARWATER, PROTON and LEXIS-NEXIS are the most significant from a "boots on the ground" investigative prospective. There is real concern that PROTON may be to widely known for such a program and efforts are being made to walk it back into a compartment. Location: Hanover, MD, US Job Order: J0311-0630 - Permanent Full Time Title: SIGINT Analyst Category: Consulting / Business / Functional City: Hanover, Maryland, United States Job Description: SIGINT Analyst CGI Federal is seeking a SIGINT Analyst to work in our Hanover, MD office. Applicants will work as a member of a government-contractor team whose primary focus will be providing support to deployed analysts and software developers. In this capacity, uses an in-depth knowledge of general communications procedures, traffic analysis and reporting formats and vehicles to produce time-sensitive and event-oriented reports Provide support to force protection, indications and warning and situational awareness; provides target continuity and mentorship to a junior and rotating workforce; conducts research to answer RFIs and produces working aids to support new tool development. Must be willing to receive and conduct training on new systems, databases, processes and procedures. Analyst will be supporting deployed US military troops and must understand the military decision making process and miliary doctrine. Minimum of five (5) years experience with the military or government agency using the collection management cycle, intelligence cycle, targeting cycle, and the SIGINT intelligence fusion process from tactical to national level required. Experience with Falconview, Analyst Notebook, Arc View, Arc-GIS, Arc-Editor, AIM, Pathfinder, SEAS, STARLIGHT, GCCS and other current analyst tools. Active TS/SCI security clearance w/ polygraph required. Experience with NSANET, RTRG tool suite, Global Reach, Proton/Criss Cross, Broom Stick, CW II, Banyan. Geo Bootcamp and knowledge of ArcGIS a plus. Preferred experience includes analysis in OIF/OEF, NSA, INSCOM, or ACE At CGI, we're a team of builders. We call our employees members because all who join CGI are building their own company - one that has grown to 71,000 professionals located in more than 40 countries. Founded in 1976, CGI is a leading IT and business process services firm committed to helping clients succeed. We have the global resources, expertise, stability and dedicated professionals needed to achieve results for our clients - and for our members. Come grow with us. Learn more at www.cgi.com. This is a great opportunity to join a winning team. CGI offers a competitive compensation package with opportunities for growth and professional development. Benefits for full-time, permanent members start on the first day of employment and include a paid time-off program and profit participation and stock purchase plans. We wish to thank all applicants for their interest and effort in applying for this position, however, only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. No unsolicited agency referrals please. WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. - Analytical Thinking - Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) Official description: CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Soldiers of the North Carolina National Guard train for Rapid Reaction Force duty at the Catawba River Pump Station here today. The training scenario tests the Soldiers ability to use nonlethal force to disperse a crowd of aggressors from a water plant. This training prepares the Soldiers to support state and local first responders and county emergency management agencies. The RRF is a quick reaction team that, on order, is deployable anywhere in North Carolina within 24 to 36 hours of a critical event. In times of crisis, the RRF may be ordered by the President of the United States or the Governor of North Carolina in order to augment Federal or State Authorities in response to actions such as a known terrorist attack, civil unrest or a natural and/or man-made disaster. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1s Class Robert Jordan / released) Ugh, the Syria scenario is really dispiriting but I think much of the western political leadership may finally be backing down from another round of interventionism - let's hope! Here are a bunch of new notes - take em all with a grain of salt, and may they hopefully shed a bit of light on matters. No matter how it turns out, it will be really hard to get the Middle East moving into a politically independent foundation, respectful of human rights and devoid of massacres and social 'sloshing' as mistrust escalates on all sides, with various specialists in destruction jumping in to make matters worse at every turn. The Britam Defense Leak involving a Syria chemical weapons plan is denied, but perhaps one of those things like a Project Northwoods about the Syrian Chemical Weapons scenario: (Northwoods was an infamous JFK-era doc from the Joint Chiefs suggesting a fake attack involving Cubans and hijacked planes.) An article on 29 January reported allegations on the internet that the US Government had backed a plot to launch a chemicals weapons attack in Syria and blame it on the Assad regime. The reports made reference to an email said to have been from David Goulding, the Business Development Director of Britam Defence, to company founder, Philip Doughty. The email had been published on the internet after Britam’s computer system was illegally hacked in Singapore. It referred to a proposal that Britam would deliver chemical weapons to Syria for enormous financial reward and suggested that the directors were willing to consider the illegal proposal. We now accept that email was fabricated and acknowledge there is no truth in any suggestion that Britam or its directors were willing to consider taking part in such a plot, which may have led to an atrocity. We apologise to each of them and have agreed to pay substantial damages. A British defence company has been breached and as a result a heap of documents have been published online and now the site has gone offline. The attack is on britam defence (http://www.britamdefence.com/) and has been claimed by a hacker using the handle JAsIrX who uploaded the leaked information to various file sharing websites and released it via a single pastebin post with the a message about the release (see bottom). The documents come in 6 parts and total over 423MB compress zip files and inside the compress files appears to be a common layout of three main folders named !!Syria, Iran and Iraq. Inside these appear to be documents like passports, incident reports about drunk employees which are labelled private and confidential as well. A quick look into the files shows shocking plans for chemical warfare attacks where they have planned to lure victims to kill zones. The file can be found in the Iran folder under OPLAN (Ruhayyat) 1433H-1.doc. More possible chemical weapons false flags from previous months: video "Chemical Weapons False Flag against Syria Update http://youtu.be/DbMdll58lis posted on August 3rd 2012. Also worth noting this! Iraq uncovers al-Qaeda 'chemical weapons plot' BBC News June, 1 2013, and this RT report on the Turkish authorities discovery of Sarin in a Jabhat al Nusra safehouse http://youtu.be/vet0PV-XPlw in May 2013. Reported by RT in May and firmly in the memory hole right now: 2 kilograms of sarin captured with rebels in Turkey?! WTF Published on May 31, 2013RussiaToday: Suspected Syrian militants have reportedly been detained in Turkey with a cylinder of highly poisonous sarin gas found in their possession. Those arrested are believed to be members of the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front. Earlier this month, UN investigators voiced suspicion the nerve agent was being used by opposition fighters. RT's Middle East correspondent Paula Slier reports. Obviously RT has a Russian perspective here but indeed as we will see this is not the only clue floating around about Al-Nusra & chemical weapons. DC alternative journalist Wayne Madsen is not always correct but this particular narrative just smells really damn likely right now. R2P is "responsibility to protect" interventionist faction of Beltway, the newest iteration of "cruise missile liberals" more-or-less. Go get em Wayne: September 1-2, 2013 -- Special Weekend Report. Washington, DC (WMR) Obama caved under last-minute pressure from Dempsey WMR's White House sources report that on the evening of Friday, August 29, President Obama was on track to launch a sustained 72-hour cruise missile and drone attack on pre-selected air defense and other strategic military targets in Syria. Obama had been convinced by his national security adviser Susan Rice, UN ambassador Samantha Power, and deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, all "Responsibility to Protect" advocates, that he could trump congressional approval for his attack by claiming that humanitarian operations do not require approval under the War Powers Resolution or Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Many of Washington's insiders went to bed Friday night firmly convinced that Obama would give the final order to attack Syria sometime during the early Saturday morning hours of August 30. However, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, made a hurried trip to the White House during the early morning hours of Saturday to make one last final plea to hold off on any attack. WMR has learned from White House sources that Dempsey told Obama that the president's plan would not work. "If you do this, the plan will fail and you'll get in deeper. And without congressional approval, you'll be screwed," Dempsey told Obama. Dempsey's warning about Congress had merit. Already, 210 House members signed a letter to Obama warning him not to attack Syria without congressional authorization. In addition, a head count showed that some Democrats would join Republicans in voting for impeachment if a bill were introduced. Dempsey's argument prevailed and Obama decided to hold off on any attack until Congress reconvenes after Labor Day. Obama decided he would seek a congressional vote to authorize a military strike on Syria. However, in overriding Rice, Power, Rhodes, and Secretary of State John Kerry, who all favored a military strike, Dempsey incurred the wrath of the R2P faction that dominates the National Security Council. State Department sources began spreading the word that Obama would still attack Syria without congressional approval. The Pentagon, on the other hand, pointed out that none of the National Security Council "heavies," Rice, Power, or Rhodes had any military experience and that Kerry was channeling the wishes of his good friend Senator John McCain, who has consistently supported Al Qaeda-led rebels in Syria and Libya. Obama is faced with another grim reality. Some within the Pentagon ranks are so displeased with Obama's policies on Syria, they have let certain members of Congress of both parties know that "smoking gun" proof exists that Obama and CIA director John O. Brennan personally authorized the transfer of arms and personnel from Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al Sharia Islamist rebels in Libya to Syria's Jabhat al Nusra rebels, who are also linked to Al Qaeda, in what amounts to an illegal "Iran-contra"-like scandal. The proof is said to be highly "impeachable." The developing scandal involves Turkish, Qatari, Lebanese, and Croatian firms and front operations; Qatar Airways Cargo; ousted officials of the Mohamed Morsi government of Egypt; small Turkish and Jordanian air service companies contracted by the CIA; Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud; the September 11, 2012 attack on the CIA annex in Benghazi; and "black" carve-out contracts with the U.S. Air Force. Obama's, Brennan's, and then-CIA director David Petraeus's knowledge of the operation was so intimate, Petraeus visited GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in October of last year to plead with him not to bring up the covert operation in the third presidential debate. Romney acceded to Petraeus's request. Fluoride for the Win: Frankly at this point in the demented charade, the possible Sodium Fluoride - aka fluoridated water precious bodily fluids casus belli - angle is now my favorite. Naturalnews is not always dead on either, but it's too damn appropriate I say. I am borrowing another excerpt from Madsen which includes a possible connection between major CIA pointman on the Caucasus and indeed Islamic fundamentalist network logistical support over the years (interesting in the pre-2001 interval eh) . Graham Fuller keeps popping up as a major figure in all of this, perhaps he will turn out to be something like the Oliver North of 9-11 itself - not to mention the sponsor of the Boston bombers' uncle Ruslan. Once the angles with Fuller surfaced, did anyone notice how fast mainstream press attention drained away from their backgrounds??!!! The murky world of the CIA's past and current support for radical Islamist groups on three continents has emerged in newly-released documents from the CIA that show that Graham Fuller, the agency's one-time top interlocutor with the Saudis, Afghan mujaheddin, and Muslim Brotherhood, was a right-hand man to three CIA directors. Fuller, a business partner of Ruslan Tsarni (Tsarnaev), the uncle of the accused Boston Marathon bombers, served as a close adviser to CIA directors William Casey, William Webster, and Robert Gates, according to recently declassified internal CIA memoranda. Since retiring from the CIA, Fuller has been engaged in supporting the Chechen Islamist guerrilla groups fighting Russia as well as the Republic of Georgia, which has become a base for anti-Russian and anti-Syrian military activities, which includes, the transport of chemical weapons to Syrian rebels from the Pentagon-operated Richard G. Lugar Center for Public Health Research in Tbilisi, which, although a biological weapons research laboratory, also warehouses chemical agents, according to U.S. intelligence sources familiar with the facility. The Tbilisi facility was the major source of chemical agents used by Syrian rebels to attack civilians outside of Damascus in a "false flag" terrorist operation coordinated by the CIA and Mossad. Throughout the 1980s, Fuller was front and center at many of the acts of violence in the Middle East and South Asia, from Lebanon and Syria to Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Yemen. One CIA memo describes how Fuller was also heavily involved in the early part of the CIA's stirring political activities in the Balkans during the collapse of Communism in eastern Europe. A May 22, 1985, memo from George Kolt, the CIA's National Intelligence Officer for Europe, invited Fuller to a June 11, 1985, dinner at CIA Headquarters at which the former U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria, Robert Barry, discussed at the Confidential level "The Strategic Importance of the Balkans for the United States." [......] I'm leaving the rest of the story off for now out of respect for an indie journo making a run at this ... and moments after plugging this in, Wayne's site is having Varnish caching issues. It's all got to be cross checked - someone could be feeding him knowingly bad info for their own purposes certainly - I think we have a substantial amount of paydirt on our hands here. This is an incredibly short period of time, he said, and it forces a change in the relationship between DOD and other agencies. The old paradigm was to have civil partners “pull assistance” from DOD, while now DOD will actually push assistance where it is needed. Mission drift into the US continues as the Pentagon contemplates dealing with "domestic extremists" under the rubric of Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) - one aspect of which is the US Northern Command's "USNORTHCOM CONPLAN 3501". CONPLAN 3501, This generic emergency plan is relatively easy to obtain (most of the text), but it is the "friendly" hand of the DOD compared to the more mysterious and riot-control-oriented "USNORTHCOM CONPLAN 3502" entitled "Civil Disturbance Operations" (CDO). This surfaced in researching the role of Northcom at the 2008 Republican National Convention, which was a very 3502 CDO style operation with National Guard controlling space on Kellogg Blvd. CONPLAN 3502 is the post-2002 version of GARDEN PLOT, the 1960s-1990s template plan for domestic military deployments, like for example in the LA Riots. Here is the new front-piece document. Also bonus weird stuff about the ever popular integration of North America. An interesting Snippet: Loosely-networked or individually motivated violent extremists will continue to exhort followers and encourage violent extremism in the homeland. o HVEs will operate alone or organize in small groups and will be largely autonomous in their operations; they will have access to web-based resources to assist them in their operational planning. o Military members and facilities will remain prominent targets of terrorists, and particularly by HVEs. ł DoD will be called upon to provide significant resources and capabilities during a catastrophic event in the homeland. o The National Response Framework will remain the primary instrument for applying Federal capabilities during disaster response. Rapid and actionable intelligence on terrorist threats DoD will maintain and enhance the Joint Intelligence Task Force for Combating Terrorism (JITF-CT) as its key node for sharing intelligence with interagency partners on terroristthreats. DoD will improve and refine intelligence and information-sharing relationships thathave developed since 9/11 and as a result of the Fort Hood shootings. DoD maintains a robust array of foreign intelligence capabilities, and sharing relevant counterterrorism-related information with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and otherkey parties is vital to the prevention of potential terrorist threats to the homeland. JITF-CT willremain the focal point for DoD’s outreach and sharing of intelligence and information with theFBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the NationalCounterterrorism Center (NCTC). Additionally, DoD will expand its participation within thevarious FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs),9as well as other similar entities to maximize“top-down” and “bottom-up” sharing of key pieces of intelligence and information, consistentwith applicable law and policy. And of course, Unity of Effort and the ever popular Council of Governors: Promote Federal-State Unity of Effort Unity of effort between the Federal Government and States must be one of DoD’s guiding principles in the homeland, since unifying DoD’s efforts with those of its external partners improves collaboration and shortens response times for meeting life-saving needs during emergencies. Unity of effort also means greater national preparedness at less overall cost, while preserving both Federal and State constitutional requirements and responsibilities. DoD and its Federal partners must continue to strengthen unity of effort with States to define common goals regarding capabilities, structures, and processes for responses to disaster and emergencies in the homeland.The Council of Governors – established by Executive Order in 2010 – will be an essential forum for enhanced, senior-level dialogue among Federal and State civilian and military officials for this purpose. [.....] DoD will regard dual-status commanders as the usual and customary command and control arrangement in cases where Federal military and State National Guard forces are employed simultaneously in support of civil authorities within the United States. DoD will continue to refine processes for dual-status commanders and their associated command structures. By leveraging the use of such commanders, DoD will improve Federal-State communication, economy of force, and force employment for planned events and no-notice or imminent incidents.Historic examples of the employment of dual status commanders includenational special security events such as the Democratic and Republican national conventions andresponses to disasters like Hurricane Sandy and wildfires in the western United States... Vague talk of militarized domestic databases always good: Since Federal and State military components have varying requirements for relevant information and level of detail, development of a COP solution need not specify systems, hardware, or software. Instead, it must be based on common data from authoritative military or civilian databases that flow to various systems in a common format..... The DCE/DCO structure is reconfirmed to be key to domestic military operations: DoD will use the planning capacity of Defense Coordinating Elements (DCEs)to expand planning cooperation at the regional level so that Departmental capabilities are considered in FEMA-led regional planning efforts. DoD will also build an integrated organizational architecture for its liaison and coordinating officers at various headquarters. The ten FEMA regional offices are key nodes for integrating Federal planswith State and local plans, and DCEs within these regional offices are essential for operational and tactical unity of effort in an adaptive environment. This regional planning relationship bridges the gap between State-level planning conducted at a National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters (JFHQ)-State and DoD and DHS national-level planning. The JFHQs in each of the 54 States and Territoriesprovide vital ties to State emergency officials and the National Guard Bureau. This enduring synergy positions the JFHQ as the key State-level organization for integrating the emergency plans of local DoD installations with State plans and FEMA regional plans. DoD will deepen and facilitate rigorous Federal, regional, and State-level planning, training, and exercises through coordination and liaison arrangements that support civil authorities at all levels. These arrangements include DoD liaison officers at DHS and FEMA, Defense Coordinating Officers (DCOs), and Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officers from each Service..... WASHINGTON, April 1, 2013 – The Defense Department incorporated hard lessons learned when it codified its new homeland defense and civil support strategy, said Todd M. Rosenblum, DOD’s top homeland defense official. In an interview with American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel, Rosenblum, the acting assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas’ security affairs, said the new strategy is a recognition that the operating environment has changed. “We face new threats, we have new vulnerabilities, we have new dependencies, most importantly we have a new way to do business,” Rosenblum said during a Pentagon interview. “We have to capture that and make sure the department is prepared and directed toward being more effective and efficient as we can be.” The Defense Department is charged with defending the homeland from attack. U.S. Northern Command is further charged with working with state and local entities and other federal agencies to provide support in times of natural or man-made disasters. In the first instance, DOD has the lead. In the second, another federal agency -- such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- has the lead. The strategy, released in February, looks at the lessons learned from past experiences -- from Hurricane Katrina through Hurricane Sandy. They also looked at changes including the growth of communications networks, dependence on private-sector capabilities and “the rising expectations from the president and from the secretary, and certainly from the American people, that we will be prepared to provide support to civil authorities within a 24- to 48-hour window,” Rosenblum said. This is an incredibly short period of time, he said, and it forces a change in the relationship between DOD and other agencies. The old paradigm was to have civil partners “pull assistance” from DOD, while now DOD will actually push assistance where it is needed. “So we are postured to provide assistance as fast and rapidly as possible,” Rosenblum said. The vast difference between the response to Katrina in 2005 and to Sandy in 2012 shows the effectiveness of the new strategy, he said. “We were more efficient, timely and effective in our support to Hurricane Sandy,” Rosenblum said. “This is because we did integrated planning within DOD, with our federal partners, and with our state partners. We recognized the need to not wait to be called upon, but to pre-position our support capabilities knowing there’s going to be audibles and ad hoc requests.” Planning is at the heart of the strategy, he said. Integrated planning -- with state and local officials, with other federal agencies and with non-governmental entities -- has increased visibility and prominence. The National Guard -- an organization that bridges state and federal efforts -- continues to play a crucial role. But, Rosenblum noted, the strategy recognizes that response to disasters requires an all-of-government approach. Cyberattacks, he said, also could produce the type of man-made disaster that would require DOD assistance. The homeland defense mission codifies requirements to provide cyberdefense, he added. “The threats to networks and critical infrastructure increase when we are engaged in operations overseas,” he said. “The physical effects of cyberattacks can impact our military operation capabilities and response capabilities.” The fiscal environment impacts this -- and all other -- strategies. “The sequester is real and effecting DOD through readiness, training,” Rosenblum said. “It is difficult for the department to plan and budget intelligently, when we don’t have budget certainty.” Officials devised the strategy when the department had already committed to $487 billion in reductions over 10 years. “Sequester has changed the calculus tremendously,” Rosenblum said. “But this strategy is not about buying new capabilities: It’s about our planning, our processes and our integration.” DOD Releases Strategy for Homeland Defense and Defense Support for Civil Authorities The Department of Defense announced today the release of the Strategy for Homeland Defense and Defense Support of Civil Authorities. This policyestablishes DoD’s priorities in the areas of homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities through 2020, consistent with the president’s National Security Strategy and the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance. It links with other DoD and national strategic documents related to missile defense, space, cyberspace, counterterrorism, and the Western Hemisphere. The strategy identifies two priority missions for the department in the homeland: defend U.S. territory from direct attack by state and non-state actors; and provide assistance to domestic civil authorities in the event of natural or manmade disasters, potentially in response to a very significant or catastrophic event. The strategy emphasizes cost-effective policy mechanisms and innovative approaches to defend the homeland against direct attacks and to provide timely responses to routine and catastrophic events on U.S. territory. It stresses the continuation of DoD capabilities to defend against conventional and emerging threats in the air and maritime domains, while expanding cooperation with federal, state, and local partners to defeat asymmetric threats – including, for example, homegrown violent extremists who may seek to use improvised explosive devices. Additionally, it addresses DoD preparations for responding to man-made and natural disasters. “The Department of Defense’s contributions to the defense of our nation have evolved over the past decade and account for new threats and challenges. Lessons learned from events like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and collaboration with our interagency partners and State Governors have framed our current approach to DoD civil support activities,” said Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs Todd Rosenblum. “This strategy emphasizes strengthening our partnerships with federal agencies like the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, with state and local governments, with the private sector, and with our Canadian and Mexican neighbors – not only for more comprehensive approaches to complex security challenges in the homeland, but also to create efficiencies through collaboration and joint action,” Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs [Acting?] Todd M. Rosenblum is the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs. In this position, he advises the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on the homeland defense activities of the Department and regional security matters for the countries of the Western Hemisphere. He is also responsible for advising the Secretary of Defense on all matters pertaining to defense support to civil and law enforcement authorities in the homeland. Mr. Rosenblum has nearly 25 years of political, policy, and legislative experience in national security affairs. Prior to his appointment at the Department of Defense in May 2011, Mr. Rosenblum was the Deputy Under Secretary of Intelligence for Plans, Policy, and Performance Management, Department of Homeland Security, from February 2009 to May 2011. He directed strategic and policy planning for the Department’s intelligence program, oversaw budget development and resource allocation priorities for the synchronization of intelligence programs and priorities, provided stewardship and direction for the Information Sharing Enterprise, and ensured that the intelligence program was aligned with national, departmental, and intelligence strategy and requirements. Mr. Rosenblum was a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Intelligence Committee from March 2005 to November 2008, leading Committee oversight of Department of Defense human intelligence collection programs and Intelligence Community-wide intelligence collection programs and operations in the Middle East. Concurrently and prior to joining the Committee, he served as the Military Legislative Assistant and National Security Advisor to Senator Evan Bayh from January 2001 to November 2008, where he acted as senior counsel and represented the Senator on defense issues and foreign policy, national security legislative actions, and public affairs. He was a member of the Senior Personnel Staff, National Security Cluster, on the Obama Presidential Transition Team from November 2008 to February 2009. Mr. Rosenblum held several management and advisory positions at the Department of State and the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency from August 1994 to January 2001. From April 1999 to January 2001, he was the Executive Assistant/Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation where he provided executive management and policy liaison on the full range of nonproliferation issues. He was the Senior Foreign Affairs Advisor for Northeast Asia at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency from August 1994 to April 1999, where he represented the Agency in numerous nonproliferation negotiations and regional security dialogues. From January 1993 to August 1994, he was the Deputy Political-Military Advisor for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Mr. Rosenblum chaired an interagency export control working group, providing departmental recommendations on proposed arms sales to the region, and was responsible for ensuring consistency between national policy and regional security assistance activities. He was an Intelligence Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Near Eastern Affairs, Directorate of Intelligence, from September 1988 to January 1993. Mr. Rosenblum has received numerous individual and group awards from the Department of State, the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency. He received his Masters in International Affairs in 1988 from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, and his Bachelor of Arts in 1986 from Columbian College, The George Washington University. Anyway that should give everyone a little more to work with, given the heightened domestic military operations surrounding the Boston aftermath, it is important to get a sense of where the Pentagon sees itself going in these reactions and ongoing operations -- what happens next is another question. A great move would be publishing the entire text of USNORTHCOM CONPLAN 3502 Civil Disturbance Operations on the Internets immediately! Hundreds of billions of dollars, between cash flows and valuations, depend upon the ability of American law enforcement structures avidly maintaining their illusionary belief system about laundered drug money, informants, and banking systems. All of this is normal, they say, it's normal to throw the book at tons of little fish while mysteriously failing to find any really substantial laundered drug money or criminal prosecution for lawyers and bankers involved. The name of the game is to fail gracefully at detecting and punishing drug money in the banking system, to create a PSYOP of coherency on top of countless total ironies, structured protection & utter failures. By the same token, the US government really always tends to nudge all markets into being dominated by a few big actors, whether "legal" or "gray" or "shadow" - be they milk producers or drug traffickers. They want to minimize the number of PayPals on the market, and the number of major drug players. At some point it apparently came to pass that formal informant deals with favored cartels would also be inked -- the Sinaloa cartel even officially promoted as the proper dominator of certain "plazas" in public relations items. Because no one really cares about war on drugs policy -- it's not like this horrible policy affects the level of gun violence in North America -- nothing ever gets done about this at the federal level. It's beginning to finally dawn on people that the secretive Federal Reserve System wire transfer networks - casually known as Fedline & Fedwire -- must somehow be involved [noted in Oct 2010], and I have never seen a single person even bother to claim to the contrary. The banking wire transfer systems are inextricably part of the "protected" drug money laundering system which is "protected" in the same formal way as at least some of these Sinaloa crucial informant thugs. Let's see if state police can pry into the Fed. LOL!! So anyway, we have hard proof of it in court that Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla's attorney was in fact an informant operated expressly to pull intel from Sinaloa into the US government. The questions: how much the "kingpin" deserves cover from that, especially since he was moving along Fast & Furious guns to waste other cartels & assorted innocent people? How many documents showing underlying protected illegal relationships will the judge force into the public record? How much 'controlled demolition' will the public tolerate in this relatively obscure case? The whole thing is such a spectacular sham it really calls into question whether federal prosecutors, informants, drug laws and the rest of the charade should even exist in the first place. It is truly a massive stage of fakeness, and frankly none of these people deserve to have any influence over the level of drugs available in society. Not that drugs are harmless, clearly they all have some negative qualities, but clearly this entire schema is hosed well beyond the point of no return, and can only produce more violence and chemical dependency as it drags us all into hell. There are of course countless rabbit holes involving drug trafficking links with 'deep events' like the CIA, Iran-Contra, 9/11, the Taliban & al-Qaeda etc and I'm not going to get into that much here, though plenty of Iran-Contra related background fills the history of links above. Also as linked here what is the role of NORTHCOM anyway?

On a warm day with a soft breeze at midday, an angel kills his brother in the circle of an old grove while the threat of purgatory pulls at his shoulders from above. His earliest memory is of the sand between his toes. He recalls the taste of salt on his tongue, sharp as the rocks at his shores, and the way the cold wind stung, even through his layers; the sound of waves crashing against lines drawn by water and the crunching of the pebbles as the tide drew them out, one by one, one on top of the other. He remembers waking up to these sensations with no idea of anything but feeling. He had been young then, just as the people making home, unaware of much beyond the stirring of society and the hollowness of his bones as he explored the ocean's edge, drawing plans in the sand and delighting in the way the foam swept them away. He remembers running through forests and the smell of rich, overturned soil entrenched in his hands from hours of digging for raw turnips. He remembers standing on tiptoe to reach for the branches heavy with fruit and just not quite being able to reach, splinters in his heels from eventually giving up and climbing to retrieve the spoils, and the first pair of boots he made from tanned leather to keep his feet free of bark and poison ivy. He remembers a lot of things. Nature things. People things. And he remembers them all as he stands on the beach and watches as a ship lands on his sand for the first time. Heavy rain runs the small craft ashore, bringing with it a waterlogged brunette, teeth chattering loud enough to hear from behind the trees. He looks younger; slighter, but not by much, face still round with boyhood beneath the shadow of tangled, mud flecked wings. He is similar. Another. He struggles to bring his ship into shallow waters, the bow caught against the rocks, but despite the downpour, he pushes against the wind, determined as the Earth could ever make one. Hidden behind pieces of driftwood that smell of brine, he watches the stranger with curiosity, impressed by his ability to combat the waves. His clothes are different than his own, stitched less and tied more, loops of rough rope knotted up spindly legs to keep his boots up. Odd, but very much the same. Not quite an invader, but not quite a visitor either, the alluring pull of the unknown draws him out from hiding and they face each other in the surf. The stranger looks at him. He looks at the stranger. His feathers are black. He takes Black Feather to his home above the cliffs and offers without words a fire to dry beside and skins to warm his hands with. Curiosity fills the blue eyes of the stranger, blue like the ocean he appeared from, and he wonders if perhaps Black Feather was born of the water and sea, from depths where the sun could not reach to bake his wings into the same soft gold of his own. Or maybe it is he who is created differently, made from sand and rock and heavy things that cannot move like waves. On the horizon, the wind is blowing grave clouds their way, bringing wind and rain that will beat his shores and rein the others into their homes with fear of the clapping thunder and cold. "Beaches," Black Feather says and reaches his small fingers to touch the wings so different from his own. "You are of land. Stone." His hands move and touch the light strands of long, curly hair that frame his face. "Wheat. You are touched by sun?" Stone. He likes how it sounds when Black Feather says it. His voice is deeper. "Yes. I am Stone." "Stone. I am…" Black Feather's arms retreat. His eyes cast downward, confused, and his salt water words cease in the unknown of newly minted speech. His wings draw in close to his arms, holding, comforting, long pinions not unlike the woven wool Stone hides beneath during the storms. "You are of sea?" He offers quietly. The fire flickers and Black Feather is looking at him from behind his knees. "I do not know." Stone nods. "You are of sea." His ankles creak when he pushes with his feet and sits beside Black Feather, prying apart his wings with a gentle hand and brushing away raindrops from his shoulders. "Traveling waves meet the shore. That is why you are here." Black Feather tilts his head slightly and turns to face Stone. He lifts an open palm. "Sea." Stone nods and presses his own hand against Black Feather's. "Land." Sea covers Stone with black warmth as they sleep and they leave together at the first morning light. In 2053, Earth scientists place a new set of coordinates in their telescopes and discover, in the distant sky, almost out of their sight, an irregular galaxy, the result of two separate spiral galaxies smashing into each other. They find the two objects have been in a state of collision for millions of years and show no slowing of combination. Images are processed of a vaguely winged shape, glowing brilliantly with hydrogen through thick swaths of dust and debris, long tails curling in every direction, interacting and melding together at a pace too slow to observe with the naked eye. It is nick-named The Angel's Embrace and filed accordingly. If there are three things Cas knows about his life, it is that jazz, liquor, and Balthazar are going to be what ends it. He knows this as well as he knows the taste of scotch and as well as he knows the wail of a trumpet and as well as he knows the smooth side of Balthazar's hands. It's frustrating, sweaty, sour, and Cas has had enough pussyfooting around the issue to last him to his last breath. Maybe pussyfooting isn't a good word for what they are doing. Cockhanding, maybe. Regardless, he is going to end it, at the same place it began so many months ago; Sal's is, at a glance, an ice-cream parlor that shares space with a tire shop on a non-descript corner in down-town San Diego, but houses a distillery in the basement as well as a low stage and seating for fifty. Every Tuesday and Saturday evening, Sal himself opens up a pair of secret doors for a secret gang of men and women who happen to hold a very secret membership, a membership that Cas only has because Balthazar supplies Sal with the supplies that keep his rye cold and plentiful. Not coincidentally, Tuesday and Saturday evenings are also the evenings that Cas winds up drunk on gin and jazz and drags Balthazar into the streets for a less than discreet roll in the backseat of the smarmy French bastard's new Ford. They drink, they dance, they screw, and then they both go home and never call in the morning. It's been going on for too long and there has been too many close calls with the cops lately and so Cas decides that he is definitely going to cut it off and find himself a new speakeasy to get his drink at. Except it's Saturday and he's sitting at the bar in the basement of Sal's Parlor with a glass of whisky in one hand and the sleeve of Balthazar's new suit in the other. It's a fine gray, lightly striped, and it's criminal how well the matching vest fits to his chest and waist. It's expensive, no doubt, just like everything else he owns, and he makes no effort of hiding that fact when questioned about the new digs. As they sit, he runs lazy fingers up and down the small of Cas's back, sipping his drink, and keeps an open tab with the bartender, offering to buy as much as Cas will take. "As much as I enjoy having you finger at my arms, darling, I think your energy might be better directed at a more engaging activity." He slides from his stool and smoothes his vest down, extending a hand to Cas. "Let's dance, shall we?" Maybe it's the liquor, maybe it's the suit, maybe it's his own fault, but some primal, knuckle-dragging, idiot side of himself agrees and Cas slips into step with Balthazar in time to a rolling chord of piano keys, and allows himself to be swept into the throws of the dancing crowd, past light reflecting off of beads and past slick, oiled hair, right into Balthazar's hold. Cas has never been one for The Charleston and he doesn't have the patience to figure out how to dance The Baltimore with a partner, but there isn't a man alive who can dance quickstep like Balthazar can, and he makes a show of spinning Cas on his heels and pulling him into step with him. From the stage, the piano speeds up and is joined by the trilling of two clarinets. Balthazar clamps a hand on his hip and laces their free fingers together, gloveless, and sways so far over that Cas ponders how his hat doesn't fall off, snapping upright and ringing Cas to his front, crowding his chest and backing him up. His breath falls against Balthazar's cheek and he knows his dance partner can feel it by the way he smiles into Cas's neck. Sweat clings to his shirt cuffs and Cas spins again, ankles kicking out and sliding to the side. A trumpet blares and Balthazar twirls him back in, back to front this time, and flicks a wet stripe up the shell of Cas's ear before once again twisting away. Cas spins on his heel and grabs the lapels of Balthazar's stupid suit, hauling him forward, stopping just shy of crashing their lips together, instead letting that little bit of space hang heavy and obvious in the inch that keeps them separated. He spends a moment just looking at him, chest heaving, panting audibly, hands clenched into the fabric of that damned vest. Balthazar has just the littlest bit of sweat clinging to his upper lip and Cas is overwhelmed with the compulsion to remove it. He cranes his neck forward. At precisely that moment, a bang screams from the piano and the no-longer-secret door is ripped from its hinges, boots, breaking glass, and shrieks filling the bar. A flash of blue and they are yanked away from each other. Cas and Balthazar spend the night in a jail cell. Cas still laughs when Balthazar kisses the back of his neck and promises a better dance next Tuesday. Balthazar fills Castiel's hospital room with flowers. Ever since the first day they had to put him here, he has filled Castiel's room with flowers. "They make my nose itch," Castiel tells him, watching from his position in bed as Balthazar arranges a new vase in the corner of the room, clearing away old bouquets that are losing their luster. "You don't need to bring so many." He reaches out a long, white hand and waits. "Being here is enough." Balthazar smiles to himself and turns. White skin against white sheets—Castiel looks like a ghost, wraith-like and too thin beneath blankets from their home. Strange that his eyes should still be so bright and his hair so dark when the rest of him is so visibly translucent and bruised. Balthazar takes his seat beside him and takes Castiel's hand into his own, gently curling his fingers in and kissing the exposed ridges of his knuckles. "For every flower, a meaning," he says, quiet and not quite willing to move his lips away from the coolness of Castiel's fingers. "I enjoy bringing them." Castiel motions for Balthazar to help him sit up. "What have you brought today?" "Geranium." He pulls the vase closer to allow Castiel to touch the thin, red flowers. "Bloody hard to get my hands on, but only the best." He kisses Castiel's hand again. "They are an appreciation flower. Friendship, specifically." A soft huff of laughter from Castiel. "Friendship?" "Of the purest kind." He places the vase back on the bedside table. "For my oldest and dearest friend." Castiel watches birds from the window in his room. He hurts today, deep in his bones, and Balthazar eases him upright to smooth comforting circles into his back and shoulders, out of time to the crooning of the two bickering blue jays outside, pausing now and then to place snow-flake gentle kisses to the back of his neck. The birds hop along the branches, sometimes clear over to the windowsill, and Castiel misses his room on the lower floors of the hospital, with the windows that opened all the way. When sitting up becomes too much, Balthazar lies him back down and runs his thumbs up and down Castiel's legs, paying special attention to his knees, and recites for him the latest news from their house; the cats are restless without him there and his garden needs some tending to, a chore that he suggests Castiel take care of as soon as he comes home, which he absolutely will. Just a few more weeks of treatment and he can get back on top of those blasted vegetables he loves so much. The thought helps his heart unclench, just a little. Balthazar brought him sprigs from a pear tree today. Castiel can no longer bathe himself. He hates the sterile hands of his nurses and goes red with anger the first time they (gently) request he allow them to assist. He feels sweaty and greasy and he wants to be clean, but not with their help. A day later, he hasn't the strength to feed himself either, and he leans into Balthazar's chest, begging him to stay—to save the notion that he still has his dignity. Balthazar brings him soups and breads from home and helps him eat without sympathetic commentary, and in the evenings, he fills the bath with warm water and surrounds the tub with statice sinuata, easing Cas back and holding him up with one arm, carefully tending to the rest of him with the other. "Never be afraid to ask for help," he whispers into Castiel's ear, eyes closed and exhaling into strands of wet hair. "I will always be here. No matter what you ask, I will be here." Castiel grips a handful of the flowers and leans back, kissing Balthazar with as much energy as his fading body will allow. Balthazar is at work when he gets a call from the hospital. Castiel has an infection. Balthazar isn't sure he's ever driven his car so fast and is not even sorry that he's double parked as he takes the stairs, two at a time, to Castiel's floor, finding him pale and sweaty and buried in covers. He shakes, chilled, but so warm, and through cloudy eyes, reaches for Balthazar as soon as he's through the door. "Cas…" he whispers and toes off his shoes. He vows to post a note of leave at the office first thing in the morning—he never should have left in the first place. Hospital bills don't pay themselves, but this is too much. He slides into bed beside him, ignoring the damp sheets and the sharp angle Castiel's bones have taken, and wraps himself around Castiel's waist. He draws him against his chest, solid, and holds him, whispering to him as his teeth chatter, kissing his temples and apologizing over the rattling breaths that Castiel keeps taking. "Balthazar," Castiel pants and his fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt. "I'm not-" "Don't," Balthazar hisses. "Just don't. Not yet." Silence swallows the room and Castiel nods after a moment. Balthazar doesn't move until morning, even then only leaving the room long enough to call in a favor. A bow of fragrant cedar is delivered by noon and he places it near Castiel's pillow. The fever never goes away. Castiel is confined to his bed except for the now very rare occasions when Balthazar is allowed to carry him to the bathroom for a full bath. Castiel doesn't say much—he is placed on oxygen and pain killers that make him drowsy and boneless—but when he does speak, it is often of how hot he feels. He requests tiny sips of water and for the blankets to be pulled back, just a bit, and lies on his back with his head tilted sideways as Balthazar feeds him ice chips and gently strokes his scalp. He sleeps more than he is awake, but it seems that the dark hours between three and five AM are when he is at his strongest. In these hours, he requests that Balthazar read to him and listens, drifting, blinking slowly and occasionally tightening his grip on Balthazar's hand to let him know that he is still awake. When he is able to sleep on his side, he asks that Balthazar sleep with him. He lies with his head on his chest, allowing himself to be lulled by the slow up and down motions of his breath, thankful for the silence and comfort, even if the heat is sometimes too much to bear. The short time they get for baths remain a holy privacy for them both—a chance to be flesh-to-flesh, a chance to be close without the eyes of staff ever close by. Castiel's body has long forgone the strength to form an erection, unable to afford the blood redistribution without a panic, but still, Balthazar slides a hand between his legs and touches him like nothing is wrong, gentle and slow, whispering to him while Castiel buries his face in the dark place between Balthazar's neck and shoulder, just breathing and feeling skin against his thin limbs. He cannot return the favor; this is not a mutual worship of the body, but the gesture is grounding and humanizing and Balthazar never asks for anything in return. One night, while Balthazar sleeps, Castiel calls a nurse and requests and telephone. It takes several calls to different florists until he finds what he is looking for. In the morning, Balthazar finds a vase filled with several kinds of milkvetch by his wallet and keys. Alongside it, a yellow post-it note with Castiel's shaky penmanship: Your presence eases my pains. Balthazar vows never to leave the room again. Castiel is given three more days at best and Balthazar fills his room with primroses. "Please," he whispers, Castiel's hand clasped in his own. "Please, dove, I can't do this without you." Castiel dies on a Thursday. He's barely lucid, so far into the beyond already, but he clings to the last fibers of a body failed, taking in breaths that break into pieces while Balthazar holds him and strokes his hair and murmurs that it's okay, he doesn't have to stay, he can go when he needs to. Balthazar kisses his eyelids and his lips and his hands and every part of him that he can still feel, and places morning glory, mudwort, oak leaves, and olive branches around his bed, gestures encouraging peace and tranquility when it is needed most. He wishes so deeply to express his gratitude, fondness, and attachment to Balthazar. He wishes he still had the breath to form the words of devotion. He wishes he could still give thanks for his mere being, his love, and a thousand other things, but all he manages is to turn his head, pull away his oxygen mask, and smile while Balthazar scrubs a hand through his own hair and tries, failing, to smile back. A nurse pulls the sheet back less than a minute later and Balthazar is left, alone, to pay his final respects. There is nothing left to say. When Balthazar returns home, he leaves his knowledge of flowers at the hospital. He has vegetables to tend to, now. "Class, we have a new student today." Castiel looks up from his cursive practice to the front of the class. Next to his teacher, a new boy is shifting from one foot to the other, grinning around two missing front teeth, and swinging a Star Wars lunchbox back and forth with one hand. It's the box that has Han Solo and Chewie firing their blasters. Castiel is instantly jealous. "This is Balthazar. His family just moved here from London, so please make sure to make him feel welcome. Say hello, class." Satisfied, she ushers Balthazar to the empty seat beside Castiel. "This is Castiel. He's going to be your class buddy until you get settled." She nods at Castiel. "Make sure to show him around and help him get caught up with his class work, okay?" She places a cursive sheet in front of Balthazar and returns to her post at the front of the room. Balthazar is more than eager to introduce himself and he sticks a hand out for Castiel to shake. "Hello, Cassie! I'm Balthazar." "You talk funny," Castiel shakes his hand. "Is London a nice place?" Balthazar ignores the question and grabs Castiel's paper away from him, holding it up and inspecting it. "Wow, Cassie, your cursive is really good." "When do we eat lunch?" "Do you want to eat with me?" "Well, okay, bu-" "What do you have for lunch?" "A cheese sandwich, but I'm not supposed to tr-" "I'll trade you sandwiches, okay? I have peanut butter and I don't like it one bit." Balthazar grins and hands Castiel his paper back. "Good!" He sits back and starts on his own paper. "I'm glad we're friends, Cassie!" Castiel blinks and waits for his brain to catch up to their conversation. He returns the smile. "Me too." Balthazar's first assignment as a guardian angel is not a conventional one. "This is absolutely absurd," he crows and throws the assignment at Michael's feet. "Did Gabriel put you up to this? He must have." Michael sighs and carefully picks up each of the scattered tasks. "No, he did not. These are orders from straight up top. The Righteous Man is still yet a child and is in need of comfort. And the source of that comfort is in danger. All you need to do is get it to the boy, unharmed, and then you'll receive a new assignment." Balthazar scrapes his palms down face but leaves nonetheless. The sooner he can get this over with, the better. He materializes on Earth, one city over from where he knows The Righteous Child is living, in the parking lot of an animal shelter. He huffs a breath. This is ridiculous. The chime above the door rings as he enters and he is greeted by a volunteer who is far too enthusiastic to be working in such a depressing place. She leads him into the back room where kennels are lined against the wall, and leaves him to make his selection. Not that he needs to peruse the cast. He knows just who he is looking for. "Well then, fuzzball," he grouses and sits down in front of the cage of a black kitten. "It's your lucky day, I suppose." He flicks his index finger and unlocks the kennel, scooping up the docile little creature and wrapping it up in the inner pocket of his vessel's jacket. The kitten yawns, apparently unaware that it's being cat-napped, and blinks up at Balthazar with watery, blue eyes. That's sort of cute. He zaps himself out of the shelter, but does not go straight to the Winchester home. Instead, he touches down in a sunny field a few states over and gently coaxes the kitten out of his coat. It doesn't go very far—it seems plenty content to remain curled up against him. Balthazar sighs and strokes a finger down the kitten's soft head. "Don't tell Michael, all right?" He's been across three time zones, on a plane for more hours than he cares to recount, and doing business with sleazy executives for the past three days. He's tired, wrung out, and Balthazar is, by some hand of miracle, in the same city as he is on a six hour lay-over between New York and Hong-Kong, matching up with Castiel's own five hour stop. Castiel barely has the presence of mind to pay the taxi driver as he fumbles out of the cab and into the hotel lobby and he hopes that the wad of bills he tossed at the man was enough to cover a decent tip just until he sees a flash of blonde hair disappearing into the elevators. "Wait!" He calls, grappling with his briefcase. "Hold the lift!" He shakes fatigue out of his eyes and hurries through the lobby, praying that the doors stay open. Don't make me wait, he thinks, angrier than he ought to be. You bastard, it's been weeks, don't make me wait. He doesn't. Balthazar keeps the elevator door open just long enough for Castiel to throw himself inside, roughly shoving the other man against the wall after hitting the button for the twenty-third floor. He rips at the knot of his own tie and bites at Balthazar's neck. "You unbelievable ass," he hisses. "You were supposed to be home last Sunday." "I know, pet, I know." Balthazar shucks his brown suit jacket off and flings it to the floor. The bell in the lift dings as they pass the tenth floor. "The merger took longer than expected and they just wouldn't let me leave." He cranes his neck and releases a shuddering breath, his own hands ripping at the buttons of Castiel's dress shirt. "Oooh, but I have missed you." His fingers press and pinch, dragging across sore muscles and day old sweat. "So very, very much." The elevator stops on their floor and Balthazar pushes Castiel backwards into the hall, attaching himself to his mouth. He really needs to brush his teeth, both of them do, but airlines haven't provided toothpaste to coach passengers in years and this is the first they've been out of the air in hours. The stagnant air from the cabin has nothing on the air that hangs around Castiel—he smells like hotel soap and the orange vitamin C tablets he insists will save him from swine flu and every other awful plague a frequent flier can hack up. He licks at Castiel's lips, chapped, and yanks his shirt all the way off. In a distant part of his brain, he's aware he left his jacket in the elevator; oh well, he has another. Castiel hits the door and hoists himself up before Balthazar can even get the door open, wrapping stiff legs around his waist, gripping his hair, and grinding down on him, hard already just by touching. Balthazar fumbles with his keycard. He doesn't want to break the contact (or drop Castiel) but it's hard as hell to find the coordination to swipe his key when all of the blood in his brain has drained out south and he has a timer running on how long he can deal with it. The door gives, finally, blissfully, with a click and they stumble inside, biting and licking, panting and growling, all the way to the bed where Castiel falls backwards in an ungraceful arc of messy hair and scuffed dress shoes. He's out of his clothes faster than Balthazar can process, a cufflink bouncing against the bedside table, and then he's naked except for his glasses and black socks, lifting his hips and moaning for it like he's never had it at all. "Fuck, Cas, we need to start booking lay-overs together more often." He pauses, halfway out of his underwear. "Lay-over. Get it?" "Your puns are awful, get over here. I have a plane to catch in four hours." He's already slicking himself up, fucking down on two fingers while he waits. "I can't be late for this flight. I'm meeting with a Toyota CEO." Balthazar damn near falls on top of him, latching himself to his collarbone. "Don't talk business,for the love of God, please." He grinds down, making Castiel jolt beneath him. "Nothing turns me off like synergy does." Castiel's abdomen tenses. He winds his legs around Balthazar's waist and draws him in, arching his back and relaxing himself against the slow burn, allowing just a brief moment of calm to adjust, breathing hot and damp against Balthazar's scalp. "You need a haircut," he huffs, gradually pulling his hips back and forth. "It's getting—nngh—curly." "I need a haircut, you need to pay the credit card bill, and that damned parrot of ours needs a new muzzle." He exhales like the breath has been punched out of him when Castiel clenches and slams up against him. "Nothing new, love." Balthazar rolls his hips, connecting their bodies once again, sending a shock of heat straight to his groin. Castiel fists his hands in the sheets (stiff, itchy hotel sheets) and groans out what he chooses to interpret as his name, somewhere between the cursing and heavy breathing. A red flush spreads down Castiel's neck and chest, red like their car, which is need of an oil change, and his eyes blink open, wide and glassy, grimacing. "I forgot to claim my baggage at the airport," he grunts. "I was in such a hurry—" "You can get it later." Castiel fists his own cock and squeezes, already losing the rhythm they've built up. It's been weeks since they last shared a bed, or have even seen each other outside of their nightly Skype calls, and with the pressure building in his belly, Balthazar knows Cas isn't the only one struggling to make it last. His free hand comes up to cup the back of Balthazar's neck and he pulls him down, kissing him fiercely, bucking, cursing, and panting, glasses knocked crooked and sweat beading his hairline, gritting out his name and coming into his palm. The heat in Balthazar's body contracts, almost painfully, to a single point and he follows suit a moment later with a shudder the wracks him boneless, dropping him on top of Castiel in a sticky wreck. They lay for a second or two, just catching their breath, but the clock is still ticking down and they need to leave time for a shower and suit ironing before they vacate the room. Castiel glances at the bedside clock. "I need to be at the airport by six." Balthazar nods. "Seven for me." They look at each other. There's still time for at least two more rounds if they make the shower a quick one. They sit in a café at the end of the city to wait out traffic. Balthazar orders a plate of something he can barely pronounce while Castiel contents himself with a cup of black coffee. Castiel has been watching over his shoulder for a few months now, but Balthazar still can't seem to convince him that food is one of the many perks that comes along with guarding a human. "This place has amazing fish," Balthazar tells him. "The harbor is right nearby. It's very fresh." Castiel watches him blow over a forkful of creamed potatoes. "Is that so?" "You bet." His lips come together. He exhales. "Quite good." Castiel sips his coffee; peers over the rim of his mug, through puffs of damp steam, lower lip vanishing for just a moment to catch an escaped drop. It's been months since things have been calm enough for Balthazar to observe him like this. To be able to quietly enjoy his meal, without threat, as Castiel's dark eyelashes get lost in the shine of fluorescent lights against his reflection in the window and his tongue dips out to sooth the winter-cold pink of his mouth. Balthazar ponders if Castiel might taste like where he is from— like his environment. Heaven isn't a physical place, from what he understands, but there must be something there to create a distinct flavor. Seas or forests or something of the like. Salt seems likely, if only because they encounter it so often on their hunts. Again, his tongue darts out, an adopted habit. Maybe not salt. That would be too obvious. Coffee and burgers seem too easy as well, which leaves only one thing, really. "How is it?" Balthazar blinks. "What?" "Your meal," Castiel nods at him. "Is it pleasing?" "Oh. Yes, very good." He places his fork on his plate and slides it across the table with two fingers. Castiel's eyebrows lift in suspicion, but he takes a careful, small bite of the potatoes. He nods, apparently approving. "That is satisfactory." Balthazar watches the rain hit the window and spends the rest of the meal wondering what wind tastes like. On a warm day with a soft breeze at midday, an angel kills his brother in the circle of an old grove, eliminating the threat of purgatory altogether.

Is Synergy Logistics in 80 Turumaha Street, Auckland 7801 your business? Claim your listing and attract more leads by adding more content, photos and other business details. More companies in Auckland, 7801, NewZealand 81031 89 Brigham Creek Road Whenuapai Auckland 0618 12 Maurice Road Auckland 1006 1 Rawhiti Road Auckland 0930 8 Tennyson Street Auckland

Eleanor Cippel is the Corporate Managing Director Sales for E.W. Scripps. She was one of the coaches for Super Camp last year. She was today’s presenter to an undivided room for the second morning session. Sales and editorial have traditionally been divided in American newsrooms. In today’s shifting terrain, this means entrepreneurial journalists often feel nervous about selling. As a one-woman session at BxB12, Cippel highlighted some of the most common concerns that BxB attendees voiced at last night’s dinner. To begin, a few BxBers shared lessons learned from working with ineffective sales reps. Cippel’s own team is a mix of salaried and commissioned sales staff. If sales reps are out getting things done but there are few results, Cippel believes the problem can always be traced back to one of three things, all of which are coachable: - Confidence – Are they confident as a seller? - Competence – Does the person know how to get through a deal? - Belief – Do they believe in the product? Part of the support is in setting the tone, creating structured and explicit time in the schedule. Cippel blocks off some time for administrative and research tasks. She sets weekly goals for calls and door-to-door knocks. She also holds a couple of “power hours” each week in which staffers gather to do nothing but set appointments. “The more calls you make, the more biz you get, and so help me god, that is the truth,” she said. Those who do not make enough calls tend to waffle based on feedback from their few clients/potential clients, but there’s not enough evidence that support the client’s feedback for change to the sales package. She advised BxBers to use a CRM, and if not, then collect call sheets. “Make sure the data you’re getting is from a reasonable sample size. You wouldn’t follow a market sales study with a sample size of five people,” she said, emphasizing that business owners shouldn’t make decisions about their business without digging in more. Most sales reps are hired on commission, and it is important for them to see what they’re able to make. In motivating sales reps (regardless the size of the team), Cippel gives a few pieces of advice: - Ask sellers to determine their personal earnings goal for the next 12 months - Work the numbers backward to figure out how much they have to sell to get there - Have the reps design their 100-day plan of action that sets the model for the year But the key to fabulous sales is not just having a high volume of appointments or a committed group of representatives. It’s about establishing a relationship with your advertisers. Before beginning, do research on your potential advertisers. Figure out where you can fit into the game. If you are not the dominant media player in a competitive local market, don’t sell like that. If you’re trying to position yourself better than others, you’re telling the advertiser that they made a bad decision. “It’s the equivalent of telling them their baby is ugly,” Cippel said. She urged publishers to help advertisers understand that their decision is a good one for the reasons that they made it, but that they should consider spreading their ad dollars around to reach a wider audience, what she calls “stealing shares.” Cippel advocates a consultative/trusted advisor sales approach. In a competitive market, business owners are constantly being called on by sales reps, so why would they choose you? Cippel then showed a graph that visualized how low a seller’s credibility is when walking in cold because the value of your product has not been established, nor has the reasoning for price. The value proposition has to be clear. “At the end of the day, this isn’t about you … Advertisers want to meet an objective or a goal. Advertising works as a collective. Advertising should work together in synergy whether they’re buying from you or not,” Cippel said. “Virginia [Citrano of MyVeronaNJ] last night said the solution [to advertising] isn’t necessarily me, but those solutions include me.” Develop the right combination of ideas and solutions to help advertisers achieve their goals, Cippel said. What publishers should be hoping for is collective lift for all advertising solutions, themselves included. By analyzing the advertising budget and needs of an business, you can help them optimize their current dollars to reach a wider audience. “Any good prospect or advertiser you have on board with you is a seed for a referral. It’s a warm lead, and it’s far easier to work with a warm referral than a cold call,” Cippel said. She also emphasized the importance of setting expectations. Cippel once sold a coupon campaign to a pop-up golf course to buy a coupon campaign. She didn’t fully understand what they would count as an accomplishment and set reasonable expectations from the beginning, so when they got 69 coupons redeemed from a circulation of 4,300 households, the golf course manager was upset. This was a phenomenal result, but Cippel could not have said anything after the fact to convince the manager of that. Another difficulty for publishers is closing the deal. Publishers are already sticky in their communities. As journalists, they know how to get a story out of someone, to ask the right questions. But, Cippel says, “This is a sales call. They are never going to be more enthusiastic, they are never going to be more willing to flirt with you they are never going to be more willing to do what you’er talking about doing than at the moment that you have them excited. You have to ask for the money, you have to ask for the order.” Raw notes over at the MIT Etherpad, and an archived recording to come from RJI.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif - (December 14, 2015) – Avid outdoorsman, professional hog hunter, and TV personality Brian “Pigman” Quaca is joining forces with thermal image technology innovator Seek Thermal to help further evangelize the company’s line of affordable thermal imaging products for sport and everyday hunters. As part of the multi-faceted strategic marketing and branded content media relationship, Seek Thermal will take on a sponsorship role within Leupold’s Pigman: the Series on the Sportsman Channel. Seek’s products will be integrated into the network and show to help educate viewers on the benefits of personal thermal imaging devices. Specifically, how they help hunters to quickly identify their target and make smarter, safer decisions. In addition, Brian’s expertise around hunting products and accessories will help Seek define and design the right products for this target audience, and support in-store promotional efforts with key retail channels. “Getting behind Seek Thermal was a no-brainer,” says Brian “Pigman” Quaca. “For my fans and everyday hunters everywhere, the Seek smartphone CompactXR and soon the RevealXR will revolutionize the way we hunt. Imagine always having the advantage of knowing what the rustling leaves are in complete darkness while you sit in your tree stand or increasing the odds of the recovery of game because you can spot it in the pitch black, even hours after it has died. That’s a game changer in our industry where so many flashlights and spray gimmicks have failed consumers time and time again, and I’m thrilled to accomplish this with a great company.” Brian will be on hand at the Seek Thermal booth at the 2016 SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range on Monday, January 18th from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m for interviews and autograph signing. “Today’s biggest challenge isn’t the technology, it’s affordability. The synergy between Brian’s mission in the sport of hunting and Seek’s vision of accessible thermal image tools, is a perfect match,” says Tracy Benson, Global VP of Seek Thermal. “Brian’s understanding of the sport and his empathy for the everyday hunter, will help guide our energy and efforts to make thermal imaging available to all outdoorsmen.” Up until now, thermal image devices for the outdoors have been upwards of $1,300-$5,000 and affordable by few. Seek Thermal’s award-winning CompactXR thermal image camera plugs directly into your iOS or Android device, and in seconds, can detect temperatures from -40° up to 626° Fahrenheit, wiith the ability to detect heat up to 1,800 feet away. This quickly gives hunters the ability to track game, scout terrain, and guarantee recovery of downed animals. The product also allows people to more easily navigate in the darkness and scan around a campsite for predators, all for a price point of under $300. The company intends to create other camo-inspired products designed in partnership with Pigman and True Timber early this spring. The Seek CompactXR ($299) is available at thermal.com and amazon.com. For Canadian product availability please visit our store locator and put in your postal code to find the nearest Canadian dealer selling Seek Thermal Cameras.

Cocktail Workshops - Team Building Beyond Beverage Solutions Bars, Events, Corporate Functions Beyond Beverage Solutions Cocktail workshop is an entertaining, unique & hands on experience. This team building exercise is designed to improve and promote a positive teamwork environment and to enhance team cohesion amongst your staff. This 1.5 hour hands-on workshop is hosted by our professional in-house mixologist where he will take you through the techniques in making different style cocktails; cocktail shaking, cocktail mixing, cocktail ingredients, home party ideas & the history of the cocktail. After your staff have identified the taste and synergy on how the ingredients work in a cocktail, each group will form together and brainstorm ideas to create their signature cocktail. You will leave the workshop with a personalized recipe book enabling you to carry on mixing in the comfort of your own home. The workshop is also perfect for private parties, hen’s nights or even a great gift idea for staff or family. , Beverage Catering , Catering Service , Catering Services , Cocktail Party , Corporate Functions , Event Catering

When you take a look at the Lexus lineup, you’ll find that most of the cars with hybrid technology are toward the top of the range. That’s changing with the more entry-level minded Lexus CT 200h. It’s not going to be as cheap as a Yaris, but it’s one of the most affordable Lexus vehicles yet. Unfortunately, that comes with some sacrifices. Starting at $29,120 US (£23,485 UK), the Lexus CT 200h is supposed to compete against the likes of the BMW 1-series and the Audi A3, except it comes loaded with that whole Synergy Drive thing. It uses the exact same tech as the Toyota Prius, but in a slightly more upscale package. And we do mean slightly. Early reviews are saying that the interior leaves something to be desired: with “plasticky leather and shiny plastic trim, the CT 200h is beaten by a VW Golf for premium feel inside.” The performance is lacking too, and they’re not fans of the “numb steering” and the not exactly smooth regenerative brakes. It’s good to see Lexus flesh out the range with more hybrid options, but even the entry-level CT 200h looks like it’s overpricing itself for what it is.

March 30, 2014 Despite the challenges of last year’s flooding and continued slow growth in getting product to market, Anadarko Petroleum again posted record volumes out of its drilling program in Weld County in the last year. The company reported a net fourth-quarter loss of $770 million, but a year-end gain of $801 million, attributable to common stockholders. The company reported record sales volumes for natural gas, crude and natural gas liquids of 285 million barrels of oil equivalent, or an average of 781,000 BOE per day, a 7 percent increase over 2012 sales volumes. “U.S. onshore growth plays were major contributors to our strong results … and leading this impressive liquid rich growth was the Wattenberg horizontal program,” company president Al Walker told analysts in a conference call recently. Anadarko’s U.S. onshore operating areas achieved a 25-percent increase in oil volumes for full-year 2013 compared to the prior year, driven by record production in several major growth plays, including the Wattenberg Field, Eagle Ford Shale in west Texas and East Texas/North Louisiana Horizontal play, a company news release stated. Anadarko reported that the Wattenberg Field, which is the core of its Rockies drilling and encompasses much of Weld, had an average sales volume of 116,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter, up 15 percent from the quarter before. From its Wattenberg horizontal wells alone, the company produced approximately 72,000 BOE a day in the fourth quarter of 2013 — 28 percent greater than the third quarter, and a 95 percent growth from the same time last year, according to its operations report. The company boosted its capital spending in the Wattenberg to $200 million from the third quarter, operated 13 rigs and drilled 93 horizontal wells. Anadarko reports it continues to focus on capital efficiencies, reducing its Wattenberg drilling times to 9.4 days in the fourth quarter of 2013, down from 12.4 days in the same time in 2012. The company ended the year with $3.7 billion of cash on hand, up $1.2 billion from year-end 2012. Noble Energy reports it continues to see record numbers coming out of its drilling programs in northern Colorado, with apparently no end in sight. Company officials reported that the company’s overall drilling of five core areas across the globe saw a 20 percent production increase over 2012, led in large part to the U.S. onshore drilling, in Pennsylvania and Colorado. Overall for the fourth quarter, the company saw $182 million in adjusted net income, down from 2012 fourth-quarter income of $277 million from continuing operations. For the full year, the company recorded $1.05 billion in adjusted income, vs. $862 million in adjusted income the year before. Discretionary cash flow from continuing operations was $3.44 billion for the year, up 19 percent from 2012, and net cash provided by operating activities for the year was $2.94 billion, the company reported. “The DJ Basin we had 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day increase, an increase over the third quarter despite the impacts of the devastating flood and asset exchange,” said Noble CEO Chuck Davidson. Noble and Anadarko Petroleum, last fall completed a 100,000-acre asset exchange, which consolidates their operations on either side of Weld County, which resulted in a small loss in production for Noble. The move was to pool their assets and reduce expenses. Overall, in the DJ Basin, which is the field that encompasses subsurface Weld, Noble’s production grew 16 percent from the prior year. In the quarter, the company completed a record 87 wells and commenced production from 90 new wells. In the quarter, the company also created its first Integrated Development Plan area on the Wells ranch, which consolidates operations of several wells into one central processing facility to be shipped out via pipeline to market. So far, company officials say the resulting efficiencies in centralizing operations around a group of wells has been immense. “We continue to drive efficiencies and cost savings through the IDP approach,” said Dave Stover, president and COO of Noble in the earnings call. “As we implement IDPs across the DJ, it has potential to deliver over 1 million dollars of net impact. With an inventory of thousands of locations to be drilled, that’s a huge impact to an already robust program.” After a major restructuring in the fourth quarter, Calgary, Alberta-based Encana Corp. reported strong growth in its liquids production for 2013, and expectations of continued growth this year. The company reported it averaged 53,900 barrels per day of liquids production, a 74 percent increase over 2012. This year, the company expects a 30 percent increase in total liquids production, which is expected to offset a small decrease in forecasted natural gas production. Encana averaged 2.8 million cubic feet per day of natural gas production in 2013, but expects that to decline slightly this year, according to its earnings release. Of Encana’s five main plays, the Denver Julesburg basin is running six rigs, which is up by two from 2012. Encana officials have highlighted their cost-savings in wells in the DJ Basin, noting that on its most recent well, “the company set a record of approximately eight days from spud to rig release, down from the 13-day average in 2013.” The company reports it also reduced its hydraulic fracturing costs by 34 percent. In the San Juan Basin in southwestern Colorado, Encana is drilling with one rig, for now. Its most recent well performed well, with a 30-day production rate of approximately 450 barrels of oil per day. “The company continues to work with the Bureau of Land Management to streamline the permitting process to help with the acceleration of Encana’s development in the play,” according to the company’s earnings release. In a conference call with analysts, company CEO and president Doug Suttles said the plan is to beef up production in the San Juan. “Our plan all along was to ramp up to three rigs by about mid-year as we worked on that,” Suttles said in the call, transcribed by SeekingAlpha. “I mean these wells, thankfully, the drilling performance is strong. So we go through a lot of wells quite quickly. So we need to make sure before we ramp up rigs we have permits in hand.” In the DJ, company officials told analysts in the call that they are pleased with the continued cost reductions. “In 2013 we experienced significant economies of scale, process improvements and efficiency gains associated with drilling and completions. For example, in the DJ Basin from July to November of last year, we achieved a 34 percent cost reduction in hydraulic fracturing from moving to floodwater completion fluids [ph] and using the zipper frac technique, which allows us to fracture two wells simultaneously,” Sherri Brillon, executive vice president and CFO said in the call. She added that the company spent roughly $400 million less in 2013, while still being able to meet production projects, while exceeding cash flow projections. Trending In: Energy Pipeline - Energy Pipeline: Executive Profile — Matt Owens, Extraction Oil and Gas - Energy Pipeline: Oil and gas workers wanted — now - Energy Pipeline, Executive Profile: Ed Holloway, CEO of Synergy Resources Corp. - Energy Pipeline: Need for truckers continues in northern Colorado - Energy Pipeline: One knock at a time, new oil, gas company Extraction moves in to Wattenberg

The burden of musculoskeletal diseases in the United States is substantial. The complexity of osteoarthritis creates a challenge for diagnosis and management. Inadequate education and training in musculoskeletal diseases has left many primary care providers--often the first ones to evaluate individuals with signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis--feeling ill-equipped to manage the disease. Continuing education can help fill this substantial educational gap. This course will provide an overview of the prevalence of osteoarthritis in various demographic groups in the United States. What is known regarding the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease will be explored, including known risk factors. The diagnostic criteria for osteoarthritis at various anatomic sites will be provided, including the role of the functional assessment. Finally, evidence-based guidelines for the management of osteoarthritis will be discussed, and treatments for which evidence is lacking will be identified. This course is designed for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients with osteoarthritis. NetCE is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. NetCE is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. NetCE is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). NetCE complies with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognized internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices. As a result of this accreditation, NetCE is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. This program has been pre-approved by The Commission for Case Manager Certification to provide continuing education credit to CCM® board certified case managers. The course is approved for 10 CE contact hour(s). Activity code: H00023132. Approval Number: 160003598. To claim these CEs, log into your CE Center account at www.ccmcertification.org. NetCE designates this enduring material for a maximum of 10 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. NetCE designates this continuing education activity for 10 ANCC contact hour(s). NetCE designates this continuing education activity for 5 pharmacotherapeutic/pharmacology contact hour(s). NetCE designates this continuing education activity for 12 hours for Alabama nurses. Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 10 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit. Completion of this course constitutes permission to share the completion data with ACCME. This continuing education activity is approved for 9 CE credits by the Association of Surgical Technologists, Inc., for continuing education for the Certified Surgical Technologist, Certified Surgical First Assistant and Associate members. This recognition does not imply that AST approves or endorses any product or products that are included in the enduring materials. AACN Synergy CERP Category A. NetCE is authorized by IACET to offer 1 CEU(s) for this program. In addition to states that accept ANCC, NetCE is approved as a provider of continuing education in nursing by: Alabama, Provider #ABNP0353, (valid through December 12, 2017); California, BRN Provider #CEP9784; California, LVN Provider #V10662; California, PT Provider #V10842; Florida, Provider #50-2405; Iowa, Provider #295; Kentucky, Provider #7-0054 through 12/31/2017. This activity is designed to comply with the requirements of California Assembly Bill 1195, Cultural and Linguistic Competency. The high prevalence of osteoarthritis and its substantial burden at both the individual and healthcare system levels demands sound knowledge and clinical skills in diagnosing and managing the disease. The purpose of this course is to provide healthcare professionals with the information necessary to adequately assess osteoarthritis symptoms, treat osteoarthritis patients based on evidence-based guidelines, and appropriately refer to specialists. Upon completion of this course, you should be able to: - Discuss the prevalence of osteoarthritis in the context of demographic variables. - Describe what is known about the etiology and pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. - List the risk factors for the development of osteoarthritis. - Identify the diagnostic criteria for osteoarthritis at various anatomic sites. - Describe the roles of radiography and patient-related factors in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis. - Recommend lifestyle changes and education strategies that should be incorporated into the osteoarthritis treatment plan. - Apply evidence-based guidelines for the appropriate use of oral and topical analgesics to manage osteoarthritis symptoms. - Analyze the appropriateness of intra-articular medications for the treatment of osteoarthritis. - Discuss alternative therapies that lack evidence to support their routine use in the management of osteoarthritis. - Identify operative procedures used to manage osteoarthritis. Lori L. Alexander, MTPW, ELS, MWC, is President of Editorial Rx, Inc., which provides medical writing and editing services on a wide variety of clinical topics and in a range of media. A medical writer and editor for more than 30 years, Ms. Alexander has written for both professional and lay audiences, with a focus on continuing education materials, medical meeting coverage, and educational resources for patients. She is the Editor Emeritus of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Journal, the peer-review journal representing the largest association of medical communicators in the United States. Ms. Alexander earned a Master’s degree in technical and professional writing, with a concentration in medical writing, at Northeastern University, Boston. She has also earned certification as a life sciences editor and as a medical writer. Contributing faculty, Lori L. Alexander, MTPW, ELS, MWC, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned. John V. Jurica, MD, MPH Jane C. Norman, RN, MSN, CNE, PhD Chris Keegan, CST, MS The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned. The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare. Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice. It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners. Supported browsers for Windows include Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0 and up, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and up, Opera 9.0 and up, and Google Chrome. Supported browsers for Macintosh include Safari, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and up, Opera 9.0 and up, and Google Chrome. Other operating systems and browsers that include complete implementations of ECMAScript edition 3 and CSS 2.0 may work, but are not supported. Many conditions comprise musculoskeletal diseases, but osteoarthritis is by far the most common joint disorder, particularly osteoarthritis of the knee. The disease exacts a high cost in terms of pain and decreased function. Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of activity limitation and absenteeism among working-age adults and is associated with a significant decline in function among older individuals. The toll of osteoarthritis on the healthcare system is also great, with high rates of physician office visits and hospitalizations, and the burden of the disease is expected to increase. Osteoarthritis is a complex disease. Its etiology is not completely understood, and its risk factors and clinical and radiographic presentation vary according to the joint site. This complexity creates a challenge for diagnosis and management. Although diagnostic criteria exist, diagnosis can be difficult for a variety of reasons, most notably, a low sensitivity of radiographs in detecting early osteoarthritic changes and the lack of correlation between radiographic evidence of disease and symptoms. As no curative therapy for osteoarthritis is currently available, management is focused on decreasing pain and increasing function. The great range in treatment options has made it difficult to determine which ones are most effective; more than 50 treatment modalities have been addressed in 23 guidelines for the management of knee and hip osteoarthritis alone. Adding to the challenge of selecting appropriate therapy is evolving evidence on the efficacy of specific options; systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomized controlled clinical trials have demonstrated that many commonly used treatment options for osteoarthritis offer limited or no benefit. This course addresses osteoarthritis of the most commonly involved joints (knee, hip, and hand), providing important details on risk factors, diagnosis, and the most current evidence-based recommendations for treatment. Arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases were, and continue to be, the leading cause of activity limitation across all age groups in the United States (Figure 1) [1,2,3]. Osteoarthritis is by far the most common type of arthritis and is one of the leading chronic diseases in the United States, affecting an estimated 27 million individuals 25 years of age and older and nearly 50% of people by 85 years of age [4,285]. In addition, the prevalence of the condition is rapidly increasing; from 1997 to 2009, the prevalence increased 95% overall and 151% among individuals 45 to 64 years of age . It is the leading cause of chronic disability in individuals older than 70 years . This exponential rise is unique to osteoarthritis, as there have not been similar increases in the prevalence of other types of joint diseases . SELF-REPORTED LIMITATIONS IN ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING (ADL) FOR PERSONS DUE TO MUSCULOSKELETAL CONDITIONSa—UNITED STATES, 2012 |aIncludes arthritis/rheumatism condition, back or neck problem, fracture/bone/joint injury, musculoskeletal/connective tissue condition, or missing or amputated limb/finger/digit.| Osteoarthritis exacts a cost in terms of pain, limited mobility, and decreased function among a wide range of individuals. Among working-age individuals, arthritis is a leading cause of activity limitation and absenteeism [2,7]. For the older population, osteoarthritis is associated with a significant decline in function and causes a higher rate of disability than any other chronic condition, including cardiovascular disease [8,9]. The toll of osteoarthritis on the healthcare system is also high. Arthritis (all types) is a leading reason for physician office visits, and hospitalizations for osteoarthritis nearly doubled between 2001 and 2013 [5,10]. It has been noted that the increase in hospitalizations is primarily related to higher rates of joint replacement; specifically, a significant increase in knee and hip replacement surgery [1,11]. An estimated 704,000 hospitalizations in 2012 were due to osteoarthritis-related knee replacement surgery (compared with 416,000 in 2004), and an estimated 296,000 hospitalizations were for osteoarthritis-related first-time hip replacement in 2012 (compared with 172,000 in 2003) . Osteoarthritis is also a substantial economic burden; according to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for the years 1996–2005, osteoarthritis raised aggregate annual medical care expenditures by $185.5 billion ($149.4 billion in insurer expenditures and $36.1 billion in out-of-pocket expenditures) [13,14]. Data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) indicate that osteoarthritis was the second most expensive condition billed to Medicare ($8 billion) and private insurance ($5.7 billion) in 2011 . The burden of osteoarthritis is expected to increase as the population grows older and lives longer, especially given the high rate of obesity [1,16]. The high prevalence of osteoarthritis and its substantial burden at both the individual and healthcare system level demands that clinicians have sound knowledge and clinical skills in diagnosing and managing the disease. However, several studies have shown that medical education in musculoskeletal disorders is inadequate, and competency examinations and surveys have shown that medical students and residents lack the necessary knowledge and clinical confidence in this field [17,18,19,20,21]. As a result, the Association of American Medical Schools has made recommendations for improving the undergraduate medical school curriculum on musculoskeletal diseases . Inadequate education and training in musculoskeletal diseases has left many primary care physicians—often the first ones to evaluate individuals with signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis—feeling ill-equipped to manage the disease [19,23,24]. This course is designed to help fill this substantial educational gap by providing an overview of the prevalence and natural history of osteoarthritis, details on risk factors for the disease, and a discussion of the evidence base for a wide range of medical treatment options. Because surgical treatment options are not within the purview of primary care physicians, these options will be addressed briefly. The primary focus of this course is osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, and hand, as disease at these joints has the greatest clinical impact and is associated with the greatest public health burden [1,16]. In addition, most of the literature on osteoarthritis focuses on these joints. Osteoarthritis of other joints—primarily the shoulder, elbow, and ankle—is discussed as appropriate. As noted, osteoarthritis develops most frequently in the knee, hip, and hand. Although pain in the lower back and the neck are the most frequently occurring musculoskeletal conditions and are the leading cause of functional limitation and work absences, the etiology of back and neck pain is often unclear, with many cases involving muscles and ligaments rather than osteoarthritic changes [4,25,26]. Osteoarthritis is classified as primary or secondary. The cause of primary osteoarthritis is idiopathic; no abnormality is the cause of changes in the joint . Secondary osteoarthritis is the result of a known cause, most often trauma/injury or systemic diseases. Secondary osteoarthritis is most often found in the shoulder, elbow, and ankle and is more likely to become clinically apparent at a younger age than primary osteoarthritis [6,27,28,29]. A population-based study showed that secondary osteoarthritis related to trauma accounts for approximately 12% of the overall prevalence of symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, or ankle . Injuries sustained in sports activities comprise a large portion of post-traumatic osteoarthritis . A wide variety of systemic diseases have been identified as frequent causes of secondary osteoarthritis; these conditions include metabolic diseases, endocrine disorders, bone dysplasias, and crystal deposition diseases (Table 1) [6,32]. SYSTEMIC CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH SECONDARY OSTEOARTHRITIS |Hemochromatosis||Knee, hip, ankle| |Gaucher disease||Knee, hip| |Hemoglobinopathies (e.g., sickle cell disease and thalassemia)||Knee, hip| |Wilson disease (hepatolenticular degeneration)||Knee, hip| |Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (and other joint hypermobility)||Knee, hip| |Avascular necrosis||Hip, ankle| |Hypothyroidism (severe stages)||Knee, hip| |Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia||Knee, hip| |Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia||Knee, hip| |Progressive hereditary arthro-ophthalmopathy (Stickler syndrome)||Knee, hip| |Osteo-onychodystrophy (nail-patella syndrome)||Knee, hip| |Epiphyses-related conditions||Knee, hip| |Osteochondritis dissecans||Elbow, ankle| |Calcium Crystal Deposition Diseases| |Calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease||Knee, hip, MCP joint (especially middle and index fingers)| |Apatite crystal deposition disease||Knee, hip| |Other Systemic Diseases| |Neuropathic arthropathy (Charcot joints)||Knee, hip| |Paget disease (osteitis deformans)||Knee, hip| |MCP = metacarpophalangeal.| Research has shown that the symptoms of osteoarthritis do not correlate well with its radiographic evidence [16,36,37,38]. According to a systematic literature review, radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis is found in 15% to 76% of individuals with pain, and 15% to 81% of individuals with radiographic evidence of disease have pain . An estimated 40% of individuals with structural changes on radiographs are asymptomatic [36,37]. In addition, many individuals have joint-related symptoms and no radiographic evidence [4,6]. As a result of this discordance, the disease is defined as either radiographic (evidence on imaging studies) or symptomatic (frequent pain in a joint plus radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis in that joint) . Total joint replacement is used as a surrogate measure of symptomatic end-stage osteoarthritis, as the procedure is the option chosen when nonoperative measures have failed to manage pain and improve function and mobility. Some large-scale, population-based studies have been used to determine the prevalence of osteoarthritis overall and within demographic subgroups (by age, gender, and race/ethnicity) and according to joint site. Among the most-often cited sources are the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study and the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project. The Framingham Osteoarthritis Study involved a cohort of approximately 2,400 adults (26 years of age and older) from the Framingham Heart Study, and osteoarthritis of the knee and hand were evaluated [40,41]. The Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project was designed to compare the prevalence of knee and hip osteoarthritis in approximately 3,000 white and black men and women (45 years of age and older) in a rural county in North Carolina [42,43]. In addition, information on the prevalence of osteoarthritis has been gathered through several national surveys, such as the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the National Hospital Discharge Survey, and the Ambulatory Care Survey. The NHIS is conducted among a cross-section of adults (18 years of age and older) each year. NHANES involves a nationally representative sample of about 5,000 persons each year who are interviewed and physically examined. The National Hospital Discharge Survey and the Ambulatory Care Survey capture the number of specific diagnoses for inpatient stays and outpatient visits, respectively. Determining the prevalence of osteoarthritis is challenging for several reasons. First, few epidemiologic data are available for specific types of arthritis or joint-specific osteoarthritis, and the questions in surveys such as NHIS and NHANES refer to a single category of arthritis. Given that osteoarthritis has been shown to represent an overwhelming proportion of all types of arthritis, it seems reasonable to expect that osteoarthritis would account for most of the data gathered in a broad "arthritis" category . In addition, although survey questions specifically refer to "doctor-diagnosed" arthritis, survey data have limitations, as they represent self-reports of the disease. Further complicating the situation are the differences across studies in how osteoarthritis is defined—radiographic or symptomatic—and in how radiographic changes are defined—mild or moderate/severe. Also problematic is the lack of correlation between radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis and symptoms and the high number of individuals who do not seek medical care for joint-related symptoms. Several studies point to a high—and increasing—prevalence of arthritis. Data from the 2010–2012 NHIS showed a prevalence of doctor-diagnosed arthritis of 22.7% in adults, a rate similar to the 21% reported in a later analysis of combined data from the 2002, 2003, and 2006 NHIS [44,45]. These rates represent a substantial increase over previous decades; according to the 1971–1975 NHANES (NHANES I), the prevalence of osteoarthritis was approximately 12% among adults . In the NHIS, the prevalence of arthritis varied substantially with age, ranging from 7.3% for those 18 to 44 years of age to 49.7% for those 65 years of age and older . However, based on other trend data, the prevalence of osteoarthritis is now likely greater than the 2008 estimate of approximately 27% [1,4]. Data on hospitalizations indicate an increase in the prevalence of arthritis. The number of hospital discharges with a principal diagnosis of arthritis more than doubled between 1997 and 2009, from 418,600 to 921,000 . By 2011, that number had reached more than 3.1 million, accounting for 47.4% of all arthritis-related hospitalizations . Osteoarthritis moved from the sixth leading principal diagnosis in 1990 to the second leading diagnosis in 2010 . Although the number of physician office visits for arthritis decreased slightly from 1996 to 2012, arthritis remained the second-leading chronic condition diagnosis for visits in 2012, accounting for 13% of all adult (18 years of age and older) visits (Figure 2) . Data show that the prevalence of arthritis (and osteoarthritis specifically) can differ substantially according to age, gender, and race/ethnicity. The prevalence of all types of arthritis increases with age. According to a CDC analysis of data from the 2010–2012 NHIS, the prevalence was 7.3% for individuals 18 to 44 years of age, 30.3% for individuals 45 to 64 years of age, and 49.7% for individuals 65 years of age and older . The prevalence of osteoarthritis, specifically, also increases according to age, with the highest prevalence among those 65 to 84 years of age [5,51]. (The lower rate of hospitalization for osteoarthritis among individuals 85 years of age and older is more a reflection of lower rates of arthroplasty than of actual frequency of osteoarthritis.) The increases in osteoarthritis over time follow the same age-related pattern. Between 1997 and 2009, the prevalence of osteoarthritis increased 151% among individuals 45 to 64 years of age and 58% among individuals 65 to 84 years of age . The increased prevalence of radiographic and symptomatic osteoarthritis among older individuals is found across all joints. In the Nurses' Health Study, the risk of hip replacement for women 70 years of age or older was nine times greater than for women younger than 55 years of age . Similarly, in the NHANES III, the prevalence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis increased with age, from a low of 17.7% for the 60 to 64-year age-group to 26.0% for the 80 years and older age-group . The prevalence of hand osteoarthritis also increases significantly with age, and a review of the literature (1950–2009) demonstrated that the prevalence can reach 80% in the older population [53,54]. Data on the age at the time of diagnosis of osteoarthritis at other joints are limited. However, studies have indicated a younger age at the time of clinical presentation of elbow osteoarthritis (approximately 50 years) and ankle osteoarthritis (43 to 58 years) [29,55]. The overall prevalence of arthritis (all types) has consistently been higher among women than men . According to a CDC analysis of NHIS data from 2010–2012, the prevalence of arthritis was approximately 26.0% for women compared with 19.1% for men . With respect to osteoarthritis specifically, women accounted for approximately 64% of hospitalizations for osteoarthritis in 2011, a proportion that has been essentially the same since 1997 [1,5]. One exception to this female predominance relates to age; within the population of individuals younger than 50 years of age, osteoarthritis is more common in men, a difference that has been attributed to a higher rate of osteoarthritis secondary to joint injury . Because osteoarthritis is overall more prevalent in women and women use healthcare resources to a greater degree than men, the economic burden of osteoarthritis is disproportionately high among women. The total expenditures related to osteoarthritis among women account for nearly two-thirds of the increased cost, or $118 billion . Studies have also provided information regarding gender differences in the prevalence of osteoarthritis according to the affected joint. These studies have shown that symptomatic knee, hip, and hand osteoarthritis are more prevalent among women than among men, with the greatest difference related to knee osteoarthritis (Table 2) [42,43,53,57]. Again, there is one exception to female predominance: osteoarthritis of the elbow, which has a male-to-female ratio of approximately 4:1 . This gender difference is likely due to the predominance of elbow osteoarthritis among individuals who have an occupation involving strenuous manual labor . Information on gender differences in osteoarthritis at other joint sites is lacking. COMPARISON OF JOINT-SPECIFIC OSTEOARTHRITIS IN MEN AND WOMENa |Joint||Radiographic Osteoarthritisb||Symptomatic Osteoarthritis| Osteoarthritis of the knee is estimated to account for 83% of the total number of osteoarthritis cases . Using data from NHANES III, Dillon et al. found that symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis did not differ by gender but that the prevalence of asymptomatic radiographic osteoarthritis was greater among women (42% vs. 31%) . In addition, there were significantly more moderate-to-severe osteoarthritic changes among women (13% vs. 17%) . In the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, symptoms, radiographic knee osteoarthritis (mild and moderate-to-severe), and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis were all more prevalent among women than men . Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 found that the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in women is nearly twice that of men worldwide . In the Johnston County Osteoarthritis study, hip symptoms, mild radiographic osteoarthritis, and symptomatic osteoarthritis were more prevalent among women than men. However, the prevalence of moderate-to-severe radiographic osteoarthritis was similar (2.6% for men vs. 2.5% for women) . The data on gender differences for osteoarthritis of the hand have been conflicting. Of 1,041 men and women (71 to 100 years of age), the prevalence of symptomatic hand osteoarthritis was twice as high among women in the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study (26% vs. 13%), but NHANES III data showed that the prevalence of symptomatic hand osteoarthritis was similar among men and women [41,53]. The difference may be due to the older age of individuals in the Framingham study, as the prevalence of hand osteoarthritis increases significantly with age . A review of the literature (1950–2009) supports a gender difference in the prevalence of osteoarthritis of the hand . Data from 2010–2012 NHIS showed a higher prevalence of arthritis (all types) in the non-Hispanic white population (25.9%) compared with the non-Hispanic black (21.3%), Hispanic (12.1%), and Asian/Pacific Islander populations (11.0%) . In contrast, the prevalence was higher for the American Indian/Alaska Native population (27%) . Studies have consistently shown that osteoarthritis of the knee is more prevalent in the black population than the white population. Multivariable analysis of data from NHANES III showed significantly higher odds of radiographic knee osteoarthritis (Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2 or higher) among non-Hispanic black participants (52%) compared with white (36%) or Mexican-American (38%) participants [57,60]. Although the findings of the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project also demonstrated that knee-related symptoms, radiographic knee osteoarthritis (mild), and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis were all more prevalent among black individuals than white individuals, the difference was slight. However, the prevalence of moderate-to-severe radiographic osteoarthritis was significantly greater for both men and women in the black population (11% vs. 5% for black vs. white men and 16% vs. 8% for black vs. white women) . A study of more than 1,000 premenopausal and perimenopausal women demonstrated that early osteoarthritis changes were more prevalent in black women than white women (23% vs. 9%) . The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis has also been found to be higher in the Chinese population than in the white population . In the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, the greatest racial/ethnic difference was found for mild radiographic hip osteoarthritis among men (23.8% vs. 33.2% for white vs. black men) . There were also racial differences among men and women for symptomatic hip osteoarthritis (7.6% vs. 11.7% for white vs. black men, and 10.8% vs. 12.2% for white vs. black women) . Among women, the prevalence of moderate-to-severe radiographic hip osteoarthritis was higher for the black population (2.3% vs. 3.5%) . A subsequent study indicated that the radiographic features and patterns of hip osteoarthritis differed according to race and gender, which suggests that anatomic and/or development variations in the joint may contribute to differences . Hip osteoarthritis has been found to be less prevalent among Chinese individuals than among white individuals . In a study of more than 1,000 younger women (premenopausal and perimenopausal), the prevalence of hand osteoarthritis was higher among black women (26%) than among white women (19%), and the specific hand joints affected differed between the two groups . However, NHANES III data indicated that symptomatic hand osteoarthritis occurred less frequently among non-Hispanic black individuals than white individuals . Research has also indicated that hand osteoarthritis is less common in the Chinese population than in the white population . Historically, osteoarthritis has been considered to be a disease of articular cartilage, but research has indicated that the condition involves the entire joint organ [6,64,65]. The loss of articular cartilage has been thought to be the primary change, but a combination of cellular changes and biomechanical stresses causes several secondary changes, including subchondral bone remodeling; the formation of osteophytes; the development of bone marrow lesions; changes in the synovium, joint capsule, ligaments, and periarticular muscles; and meniscal tears and extrusion (Figure 3 and Figure 4) [16,66,67,68,69]. These changes lead to structural and functional changes in the joint, causing pain, disability, and psychologic distress . Normal adult articular cartilage is made up of extracellular matrix (approximately 98% to 99%) and chondrocytes (1% to 2%) . The chondrocytes secrete enzymes and cytokines that help regulate the normal cycle of degradation and repair of articular cartilage by inhibiting the production of proteoglycans and collagen, the two major components of the extracellular matrix . Damage to the extracellular matrix interferes with its ability to bind or exclude water, resulting in edema and subsequent softening of the cartilage and expansion of the matrix, which makes the matrix vulnerable to further injury and breakdown of its components [71,72,73]. Among the enzymes stimulated by chondrocytes are matrix metalloproteinases (e.g., collagenase, stromelysin, and gelatinase) and other proteinases (e.g., cathepsin and tissue plasminogen activator). Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is the cytokine that has been identified as playing an important role in promoting the synthesis of degradative enzymes, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha and IL-6 have been found to work synergistically with IL-1. Inhibitors of these enzymes and cytokines, such as tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-7 (PAI-7), help stimulate a repair process by keeping degradation in check. In addition, polypeptides, such as insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), stimulate chondrocytes to synthesize proteoglycans. When chondrocyte function is lost, the balance between degradation and repair is lost, resulting in damage to the articular cartilage . There are some indications that the early structural changes of osteoarthritis (such as bone marrow lesions and cartilage defects) may be reversible, especially among younger individuals [67,69]. However, it is difficult to detect early changes, given the high percentage of individuals who are asymptomatic during the early development of osteoarthritis . Still, the potential reversibility sets up early changes as a target for disease-modifying interventions, and research is being directed in this area. As damage occurs to the articular cartilage, fragments of cartilage may break off and enter into the joint capsule, where they can damage the synovial lining of the joint and interfere with proper joint function. Continued erosion of cartilage results in narrowing of the joint space, with the potential for bone-to-bone contact. Eburnation, or the formation of a new articulating surface from subchondral bone, may occur. Bone remodeling may also occur in the subchondral bone, which may cause overgrowth of bone at the edges of the joint. These osteophytes usually develop in the nonweight-bearing area of a joint. In osteoarthritis of the distal interphalangeal joints, these osteophytes are dorsolateral swellings referred to as Heberden's nodes . The lack of clarity about the etiology of osteoarthritis is further complicated by the terminology used to refer to the disease. The term "osteoarthritis" implies an inflammatory process, but inflammation is not a hallmark characteristic of the disease; if inflammation is involved, it is usually mild and affects only the synovium and periarticular tissues . Alternative terms that have been suggested include "osteoarthrosis" and "degenerative joint disease," but neither term is completely satisfactory. The former is vague, and although the latter term is more accurate, it implies a process that naturally occurs with aging, and many differences between the osteoarthritic joint and the aging joint have been identified (Table 3) [6,67]. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OSTEOARTHRITIC JOINTS AND AGING JOINTS |Feature||Osteoarthritic Joint||Aging Joint| |Fibrillation in cartilage||Primarily weight-bearing joints||Nonweight-bearing joints| |Cartilage mass||Hypertrophy, erosion||No change| |Water content of cartilage||Edema (early stage)||No change or dehydration| |Cell activity||Increased activity and proliferation||Reduced| |Synovium||Mild focal superficial inflammation||Atrophy| |Bone changes||Subchondral bone remodeling||Osteopenia| The definition and natural history of osteoarthritis continues to evolve as research provides new information. Some researchers have now posited that an inflammatory process is present during the early development of osteoarthritis, with a suggestion that osteoarthritis has a biochemical and inflammatory profile similar to that of metabolic syndrome [69,75]. Another study providing evidence of a different natural history of osteoarthritis indicated that structural changes precede articular damage. In that study, the results of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of healthy knees and knees with early osteoarthritis suggested that such changes as subchondral bone expansion, bone marrow lesions, and meniscal tears and extrusion lead to defects in the articular cartilage, which may or may not subsequently result in loss of articular cartilage and radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis . The cause of osteoarthritis-related pain is not well understood. Because articular cartilage is aneural and avascular, degradation of cartilage, a primary characteristic of osteoarthritis, is not likely to be the direct source of pain, stiffness, or other typical symptoms . The probable sources of pain, therefore, are other tissues in the joint structure that are richly innervated, such as the subchondral bone, periosteum, periarticular ligaments, periarticular muscle, synovium, and joint capsule [6,65]. Pain is most likely generated by several factors, and the predominant source of pain has been unclear, as the severity of osteoarthritis on radiographs does not correspond to the degree of pain . However, the improved imaging of the joint provided by MRI has allowed researchers to explore the source of osteoarthritis-related pain, and studies have shown that bone marrow lesions, synovitis/effusion, subarticular bone attrition, osteophytes in the patellofemoral compartment, and meniscal tears are strongly associated with severity of pain in knee osteoarthritis [6,38,76,77,78]. The evidence has been strongest for bone marrow lesions and synovitis, and the association is greater for pain on weight-bearing (compared with nonweight-bearing) joints . Psychologic and social factors also play an important role in osteoarthritis-related pain [6,65]. There is substantial heterogeneity in osteoarthritis across anatomic sites with regard to risk factors, clinical features, and outcomes, which has drawn some researchers to conclude that osteoarthritis of different joints are distinct clinical entities [79,80]. Some examples to support the concept of distinct disease entities include [28,29,33,81]: Primary osteoarthritis of the knee is more common than secondary osteoarthritis, but primary osteoarthritis of the ankle is rare, with the disease at that joint occurring more often after trauma (e.g., fracture or ligamentous injury). Overweight/obesity has been identified as the most common risk factor with knee osteoarthritis, but mechanical overuse is the primary predisposing factor for hand osteoarthritis. Erosion of articular cartilage and narrowing of the joint space are hallmark characteristics of knee and hip osteoarthritis, but articular cartilage is relatively preserved. There is no joint space narrowing in primary osteoarthritis of the elbow. Osteoarthritis of more than one joint may be a distinct disease in which a genetic predisposition plays a more important role than biomechanical factors . The risk factors for osteoarthritis include several modifiable as well as nonmodifiable factors (Table 4) [27,29,33,34,35,54,82,83,84]. Secondary osteoarthritis can also develop as a result of a systemic disease, as noted earlier . Some of the same risk factors for the development of osteoarthritis are also factors that have been noted to increase the risk of disease progression. RISK FACTORS FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS |Age||Knee, hip, hand| |Gender||Knee, hip, hand (women); elbow, cervical spine (men)| |Race/ethnicity||Knee, hip, hand| |Genetic predisposition||Knee, hip, hand| |Overweight/Obesity||Knee, hip, hand, shoulder| |Previous trauma, joint injury||Ankle, glenohumeral joint, knee, hip, hand, wrist| |High-impact sports||Knee, hip| |Malalignment||Knee, hip, ankle| |Bone density (high)||Knee, hip, hand| |Vitamin C and D deficiency||Knee, hip| |Estrogen deficiency||Knee, hip| |Developmental deformities||Hip, glenohumeral joint, ankle| |Joint laxity||Knee, hip, hand| |Repeated episodes of gout or septic arthritis, or infection||Knee, hip, glenohumeral joint (infection)| As discussed, age, gender, and race/ethnicity influence the development of osteoarthritis at many joint sites. Genetic predisposition is another nonmodifiable risk factor. Among the modifiable risk factors, the greatest contributor to development of the disease is overweight/obesity. Previous trauma/joint injury and specific sporting or occupational activities are other important risk factors. The potential contribution of many other factors is still being explored. Studies have indicated that there may be a genetic factor to the development of osteoarthritis, and the familial risk factor for osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, and hand has ranged from 27% to 60% [32,54,79]. It is thought that most genes related to osteoarthritis affect the development of the disease at any joint but that specific genes may also be involved at specific joints [32,79]. Over the past several years, a candidate gene study and several genome-wide association studies have collectively established 15 loci associated with knee or hip osteoarthritis that have been replicated with genome-wide significance, providing further evidence of joint-specific effects in osteoarthritis [16,79,80,85,86,87,88,89]. Clinical studies have long demonstrated that the risk of osteoarthritis is higher for individuals who are overweight or obese, and obesity has been referred to as the most important modifiable risk factor for severe osteoarthritis of the knee [90,91,92]. In a meta-analysis, those who were obese or overweight were nearly three times as likely to report osteoarthritis of the knee . Overweight as a risk factor is thought to be related to the increased load on weight-bearing joints; however, some studies have indicated an association between obesity and osteoarthritis of the hand and shoulder, which suggests factors other than joint overload [27,33,54]. Factors that have been proposed are a metabolic intermediary (such as diabetes or lipid abnormalities) or an increased production of humoral factors (produced by excess adipose tissue), which alters the metabolism of articular cartilage . The data on osteoarthritis and overweight have been more consistent for osteoarthritis of the knee than for disease at other joint sites, and most studies have indicated that overweight/obesity is a greater risk factor for women [35,79,82,90,94,95,96,97,98]. In the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study, there was more than a 50% decrease in the risk among women who had a loss of approximately 11 pounds or a decrease in body mass index (BMI) of 2 kg/m2 or more . Weight gain was also associated with an increased risk for osteoarthritis, but the difference was not significant . In a population-based case-control study in England (525 men and women [45 years of age and older] with primary knee osteoarthritis and 525 matched controls), the risk of osteoarthritis increased progressively with higher BMI; compared with a BMI of 24.0–24.9 kg/m2, the risk was 0.1 for a BMI of less than 20 kg/m2 and 13.6 for a BMI of 36 kg/m2 or greater . The results of a large, prospective population-based cohort study (28,449 subjects; 17,203 women and 11,246 men) in Sweden indicated that all measures of overweight (BMI, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, and percentage body fat) were significantly associated with a higher incidence of osteoarthritis of the knee in both men and women . Across studies, the relative risk of osteoarthritis of the knee and hip has been 2 to 10 times higher for the BMI in the top quartile compared with BMI in the lowest quartile, with the risk typically higher for knee osteoarthritis than hip osteoarthritis and for women compared with men [52,96,99,100,101]. Among men, the risk for knee and hip osteoarthritis has increased with a higher BMI, even within the normal range . In addition, the risk for osteoarthritis of the hip has been greater for individuals who had a high BMI beginning at a younger age [52,99]. There is no evidence that routine, moderate exercise or leisure recreational activity increases the risk of osteoarthritis of the knee or hip [52,79]. In a systematic review of 72 studies, a high level of physical activity was not a risk factor for osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, provided that the activity did not cause pain in the joint or predispose to trauma . However, the risk for osteoarthritis appears to be associated with increasing intensity and/or duration of the activities, and there is moderate-to-strong evidence of an increased risk of osteoarthritis of the knee and hip with high-intensity, high-impact sports activities, especially when individuals are involved in such activities before the age of 50 years [82,103,104]. The risk of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee also has been found to be greater among individuals who participate at an elite level in sports that involve high joint loads. Overall, the risk associated with high-intensity sports is not as great as that associated with overweight or trauma . With respect to other joints, the risk of osteoarthritis of the elbow has been increased after weight-lifting and throwing activities, the risk of osteoarthritis of the shoulder has been increased in association with overhead sports activities, and the risk of osteoarthritis of the spine has been higher after participation in wrestling, gymnastics, tennis, and weight-lifting [27,28,31]. Many researchers have theorized that injury is a stronger risk factor than sports participation itself, especially when participation continues after injury to a joint or cartilage [32,103]. One systematic review evaluated studies that included injury, sport/physical activity, overweight/obesity, and/or occupational activity as risk factors; outcomes included osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, and/or ankle . Joint injury, obesity, and occupational activity were all associated with an increased risk of osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, with joint injury identified as a significant risk factor for both knee and hip osteoarthritis. Meniscal tears and injury to a cruciate ligament have been shown to be risk factors for osteoarthritis of the knee, chronic rotator cuff tear is a risk factor for osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint, and injury to the ankle ligaments increases the risk for osteoarthritis of the ankle in the long-term (more than 25 years) [27,31,105,106,107]. The prevalence of osteoarthritis has been shown to be higher among individuals in occupations involving repetitive tasks that place a high load on a joint and cause fatigue in the muscles that protect the joint, although the precise nature of the biomechanical stresses that lead to osteoarthritis are unclear [79,82,103,108]. Occupations that have been associated with high rates of osteoarthritis are manual labor/construction work (knee, hip, elbow, and shoulder), farming (hip), and housekeeping/housecleaning and clothing industry (hand) [27,28,33,54,57,79,108,109,110]. Specific occupational actions/activities that have been identified as risk factors for osteoarthritis of the hip or knee include heavy lifting (55 pounds or more), kneeling, squatting, walking more than 2 miles per day, climbing, jumping, and unnatural body positions [103,108]. Obese workers with such exposures are at additional risk of osteoarthritis of the knee . Some studies have indicated that occupational workload is a more significant factor for osteoarthritis of the knee than for osteoarthritis of the hip, but little research has been conducted among female workers [111,112]. One nationwide register-based follow-up study that included women found that construction, farming, and healthcare work (compared to office work) increases the risk of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee in both men and women, with farmers having the highest risk of osteoarthritis of the hip and construction and healthcare workers having the highest risk of osteoarthritis of the knee. The risk estimates were generally higher for men, with an exception for construction work, in which the risk estimates of osteoarthritis of the knee were similar or slightly higher for women . One systematic review (25 studies) found moderate evidence for a relationship between kneeling, heavy lifting, and knee osteoarthritis; a limited number of studies indicated that the association was stronger for the combination of kneeling/squatting and heavy lifting than for kneeling/squatting or heavy lifting alone . Two studies examined the interaction of obesity with kneeling/squatting and lifting [114,115]. In both studies, squatting/kneeling and high BMI carried independent risk of knee osteoarthritis, but their combination raised the risk 5- to 15-fold. In addition, limited data indicated a relationship between climbing stairs or ladders and an increased risk for knee osteoarthritis . Although most studies of occupational risk for osteoarthritis have been conducted with men, some have shown similar results among women . Muscle weakness as a risk factor has been primarily studied in the setting of knee osteoarthritis. Weakness of the quadriceps muscle has been found frequently among individuals with knee osteoarthritis, but it was thought to be the result of atrophy that developed as the individual tried to minimize pain in the joint [79,116]. However, studies have indicated that weakness of this muscle may actually be a risk factor, with the weak muscle unable to appropriately distribute load across the knee joint and maintain joint stability [117,118]. Such dysfunction may actually precede and expedite cartilage deterioration . In individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee, quadriceps strength is an important determinant of physical function . Reduced strength of the quadriceps muscle as a risk factor has been found to be more common among women, especially in relation to higher body weight, and to be related to symptomatic osteoarthritis and not radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis [117,118,121,122,123]. Weakness of the hamstring muscle has not been found to increase the risk of osteoarthritis of the knee. However, individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee have well-documented hamstrings strength deficits [118,121,124,125,126]. Several other risk factors have been identified as potential contributors to the development of osteoarthritis. Among these are malalignment, bone density, vitamin C and D deficiency, and estrogen deficiency. Additional research is needed to determine the effect of these factors on the development of disease. Poor bone alignment resulting from developmental abnormalities or injury changes the load distribution on a joint . The resultant increase in compressive loading in an area of the joint can increase the risk of osteoarthritis . For example, genu varum (bow-leggedness) and genu valgum ("knock-kneed") have been shown to increase the risk of osteoarthritis at the medial and lateral compartment of the knee, respectively [127,128]. However, study results have varied. One evaluation of 110 knees with tibiofemoral osteoarthritis and 356 random control knees demonstrated that knee alignment was not associated with either radiographic tibial osteoarthritis or medial tibiofemoral osteoarthritis, and the authors suggested that malalignment was a marker of disease severity rather than a risk factor . An observational, longitudinal study of the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study cohort found that varus but not valgus alignment increased the risk of incident tibiofemoral osteoarthritis, and that both varus and valgus alignment increased the risk of disease progression in arthritic knees . A third study of malalignment included 881 subjects from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study and 1,358 subjects from the Osteoarthritis Initiative study. The researchers found that all strata of malalignment increased the risk of progression of radiographic knee osteoarthritis and incidence as well as the risk of lateral cartilage damage . Forefoot varus malalignment has been found to be related to a higher rate of hip osteoarthritis and hindfoot malalignment with a higher rate of ankle osteoarthritis [29,132]. Bone density is related to osteoarthritis, with a high bone mineral density found in association with an increased prevalence of knee, hip, and hand osteoarthritis [32,33,79,133,134,135,136]. Higher bone mineral density has also been reported in association with osteoarthritis of the spine [137,138]. The reason for the relationship is not clear, and some inconsistencies and areas of controversy remain . Shared genetic factors and lifetime exposure to estrogen (exogenous and endogenous) have been suggested [32,134,139,140]. Deficiency of vitamin C or D has been targeted as a potential contributor to osteoarthritis because of its role in antioxidation or bone metabolism, respectively . The literature on the role of vitamin deficiency in osteoarthritis is limited, but the findings of some early studies have indicated that low levels of vitamin C and D may be associated with early osteoarthritic changes [32,69]. For example, in the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study, the risk of radiographic osteoarthritis of the knee and knee pain were substantially lower among individuals in the highest tertile of vitamin C intake . A study of the effect of dietary antioxidants, including vitamin C, found a significant positive association between dietary vitamin C intake and radiographic knee osteoarthritis . Ascorbic acid has also been found to provide protection for human chondrocytes against oxidative stress that can lead to osteoarthritis and cartilage aging . Vitamin D deficiency appears to be related to progression of osteoarthritis rather than initial development; this may be because the lack of vitamin D impairs the bone response to osteoarthritic changes . Low levels of vitamin D were not related to the prevalence of osteoarthritis in the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study, but the risk for progression was three times higher for individuals in the lowest tertile of vitamin D level than for individuals in the highest tertile . However, later studies found that vitamin D supplementation does not reduce knee pain or progression of osteoarthritis of the knee, though there may be an association between a low level of vitamin D and an increased risk of both new-onset hip osteoarthritis and its progression [145,146,147,148,149]. There is increasing evidence that estrogens fulfill an important role in maintaining the homeostasis of articular tissues and of the joint itself and that they may also have a protective role against the development of osteoarthritis . The dramatic rise in the prevalence of osteoarthritis among postmenopausal women, which is associated with the presence of estrogen receptors in joint tissues, suggests a link between osteoarthritis and loss of ovarian function [151,152,153,154]. Numerous clinical studies have shown that osteoarthritis is related to estrogen levels, with a greater prevalence in women than men and a clear increase in women at menopause [151,152,155,156,157]. Additional research will help shed light on the role that estrogen deficiency plays in the mechanisms of menopause-induced osteoarthritis . The diagnosis of osteoarthritis at most joints is made primarily on the basis of clinical findings, with imaging studies and laboratory tests more useful for ruling out other diagnoses rather than for confirming the diagnosis of osteoarthritis [37,74,158]. Although radiographic findings are considered to be diagnostic criteria for osteoarthritis, radiographs are not usually part of the initial diagnostic evaluation for several reasons. The primary reasons are the lack of evidence of early osteoarthritic changes on radiographs and the poor correlation between symptoms and radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis [16,36,37,38]. Thus, the absence of radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis in the presence of joint-related symptoms should not exclude the diagnosis of osteoarthritis. However, radiographs are often included in the diagnostic evaluation and are essential to the diagnosis of osteoarthritis at some joints, such as the shoulder, elbow, and ankle [27,29,55]. Radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis is most commonly graded according to the Kellgren-Lawrence system, which uses a scale of 0 to 4 : 0: No radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis 1: Possible small osteophytes and joint space narrowing, both of which are of doubtful clinical significance 2: Definite osteophytes and normal joint space (or possible narrowing) 3: Multiple moderate osteophytes, definite narrowing of the joint space, some sclerosis, possibility of deformity of the bone contour 4: Large osteophytes, severe narrowing of the joint space, severe sclerosis, definite deformity of the bone contour Similarly, no abnormal laboratory findings are associated with osteoarthritis, but again, blood tests can help rule out other diseases or conditions [6,37]. For example, an erythrocyte sedimentation rate and/or rheumatoid factor titer can help determine a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, and a complete blood count can be used to rule out infection [27,74]. The differential diagnosis of osteoarthritis varies according to the anatomic site as well as such patient-related factors as age, gender, and history (Table 5) [27,29,35,37,159,160,161]. In general, the differential diagnosis includes infection, traumatic injuries, bursitis, other types of arthritis, and overuse syndromes . In addition, clinicians should consider secondary osteoarthritis in patients who have metabolic bone disorders, endocrine diseases, and other systemic conditions, as described earlier . Ancillary testing should be done for patients who have joint pain at night, who have progressive joint pain, or who have a strong family history of inflammatory arthritis . Many features on clinical evaluation and imaging studies are characteristic of osteoarthritis, and some features differ according to joint site (Table 6) [27,28,35,55,160]. JOINT-SPECIFIC DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS |MCPJ = metacarpophalangeal joint; PIPJ = proximal interphalangeal joint.| TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF OSTEOARTHRITIS BY JOINT SITE |Joint||Clinical Characteristics||Findings on Imaging Studies| |Ankle||History of trauma/injury to the joint|| The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) developed classification criteria for knee, hip, and hand osteoarthritis, and these have been widely accepted [160,163,164,165,166]. More recently, the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) has established evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis of the knee and hand [162,167]. Evidence-based criteria for classification of osteoarthritis at other joints are not available. Regardless of the affected joint, pain is the most common presenting feature of osteoarthritis. Because many individuals with joint pain do not seek medical care specifically for the pain, clinicians should ask their patients about joint-related symptoms at all routine office visits and other healthcare encounters [168,169]. When obtaining a history, questions should focus on the nature of joint-related symptoms, patients' self-reports of limitations in function or activities, and information related to established risk factors for osteoarthritis. The following questions can help elicit important information needed for a diagnosis: Do you have any joints that hurt? If so, how long have they been bothering you? When does the pain occur? After certain physical activities? At rest? Do you have relief of pain if you rest? Does the pain bother you at night? Does pain wake you up at night? Are your joints stiff when you wake up in the morning? If so, how long does the stiffness last? Do the joints that hurt ever lock up or give out on you? Do you have a family history of osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis? What types of recreational activities or sports do you participate in? If you play sports, do you do so for leisure or competitively? What is your occupation? Are there tasks or activities that are part of your job that bother any joints? Have you ever had an injury to a joint? Are there daily activities or other tasks that you cannot do because of pain or other symptoms in any joint? When considering patients' self-reports of pain and function, clinicians should understand that these self-reports can differ according to gender and race/ethnicity [45,170,171]. Self-reports of work or activity limitations or severe pain have been significantly more common among black, Hispanic, and mixed-race individuals than among white individuals with osteoarthritis; the rate of self-reports for Asian/Pacific Islander and Alaska Native/American Indian populations have been similar to those for the white population . Among participants in the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, total scores on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and scores on the pain and function subscales were significantly worse for black individuals than for white individuals with knee osteoarthritis. The total WOMAC scores were similar for the two racial groups among individuals who had only hip osteoarthritis or hip and knee osteoarthritis . The researchers hypothesized that high BMI and frequent depressive symptoms in the black population may have contributed to the racial/ethnic differences. Obtaining an accurate history necessitates effective patient-physician communication, which is challenging given the high number of people with inadequate language proficiency and/or health literacy [172,173]. Clinicians should ensure that patients understand history-related questions and should seek the help of a professional translator if necessary. (A more comprehensive discussion of patient-physician communication and literacy appears later in this course.) The physical examination should include : Assessment of body weight and BMI Palpation of joints for pain and/or tenderness Evaluation of joints for signs of swelling, enlargement, or deformity Determination of crepitus during joint movement Range of motion in the joint Determination of muscle strength and ligament stability Additional evaluation may be necessary according to the joint causing symptoms. The primary symptom of osteoarthritis of the knee is pain, especially with weight-bearing exercise or activity, that improves with rest. Stiffness in the joint occurs in the morning, lasting 30 minutes or less, and may occur after periods of inactivity . Individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee usually have tenderness on joint palpation, osseous enlargement, crepitus on motion, and/or limitation of joint motion . Inflammation is not typically present; when present, it is mild and usually localized to the joint . Radiographs of the knee are not routinely needed for a diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis. The characteristic findings of osteoarthritis on radiographs include osteophytes and joint space narrowing. Changes in the structure of the knee joint have been found more frequently on MRI than on plain radiographs, and the use of MRI in diagnosis may become more common . MRI may also be helpful in ruling out other causes of knee pain with radiographic findings similar to those of osteoarthritis, such as osteochondritis dissecans and avascular necrosis . The ACR developed the classification criteria for osteoarthritis of the knee with three "trees" designed to enable diagnosis based on only the clinical findings (history and physical examination), a combination of clinical and radiographic findings, or a combination of clinical and laboratory findings (Table 7) [163,166]. The criteria for clinical and radiographic findings has the best reported sensitivity/specificity (91%/86%), compared with that for clinical and laboratory findings (92%/75%) and clinical findings only (95%/69%) . AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RHEUMATOLOGY CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE |Based on Clinical Findings Only| Pain in the knee and at least three of the following: |Based on Clinical and Radiographic Findings| Pain in the knee and at least one of the following: |Based on Clinical and Laboratory Findings| Pain in the knee and at least five of the following: According to the EULAR guidelines on the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis, a diagnosis can be made with 99% confidence when three symptoms and three signs are present : Persistent knee pain Limited morning stiffness The clinical presentation of hip osteoarthritis is similar to that of knee osteoarthritis, with pain being the most common symptom driving individuals to seek medical care . Pain related to hip osteoarthritis is an ache—most often diffuse—that is usually felt during use of the joint and relieved by rest. Pain is typically gradual, variable, or intermittent; the joint may feel stiff after a period of inactivity . The loss of function or mobility is usually related to the degree of pain. The strongest sign of hip osteoarthritis on physical examination is pain that is exacerbated by internal or external rotation of the hip with the knee in full extension . Other signs include crepitus and gait abnormalities (resulting from alterations in walking to avoid pain) . Deformity and instability are late signs of severe osteoarthritis, but they are uncommon . Both hips should be examined if osteoarthritis is suspected, as the disease occurs bilaterally in approximately 20% of individuals . The ACR criteria for classification enables diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the hip on the basis of the clinical presentation and either laboratory or radiographic findings. According to this set of criteria, which has a reported sensitivity/specificity of 89%/91%, diagnosis requires patient-reported pain in the hip and at least two of the following three signs [164,166]: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (Westergren) of less than 20 mm/hour Radiographic evidence of femoral or acetabular osteophytes Radiographic evidence of joint space narrowing (superior, axial, and/or medial) Osteoarthritis of the hand is characterized by pain with use, which affects one or a few joints at any one time, and mild stiffness in the morning and/or after a period of inactivity . The severity of osteoarthritis-related pain varies, and the pain may be intermittent. The joints most often affected are the distal and proximal interphalangeal joints and the base of the thumb [165,167,166]. Individuals who have evidence of osteoarthritis at several joints in the hand are at increased risk for generalized osteoarthritis, and clinicians should evaluate such patients as appropriate . Osteoarthritis of the hand may be associated with substantial limitations in function, and the clinician should ask the patient whether he or she has difficulty with such tasks as dressing, eating, writing, handling or fingering small objects, and carrying or lifting 10 pounds [41,53]. Several validated questionnaires are available to assess function of the hand, and the choice of questionnaire depends primarily on the clinical question . Individuals with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the hand also may have reduced maximal grip strength [41,53]. The ACR criteria for classification of osteoarthritis of the hand enable diagnosis on the basis of only clinical findings [165,166]. They consist of pain, aching, or stiffness in the hand and at least three of the following features: Hard tissue enlargement of at least 2 of 10 selected joints Hard tissue enlargement of at least two distal interphalangeal joints Fewer than three swollen metacarpophalangeal joints Deformity of at least 1 of 10 selected joints The 10 selected joints are the second and third distal interphalangeal, the second and third proximal interphalangeal, and the first carpometacarpal joints of both hands. This set of criteria yields a sensitivity/specificity of 94%/87% . The evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis of hand osteoarthritis developed by EULAR support the ACR's criteria of only clinical findings, stating that a confident clinical diagnosis can be made in adults older than 40 years of age on the basis of the described clinical findings . Hard tissue enlargements on the distal interphalangeal joints (Heberden and Bouchard nodes) are the clinical finding that is most characteristic of osteoarthritis of the hand [53,165,166]. Although radiographic findings are not an established diagnostic criterion, evidence of osteophytes is the only unique radiographic criterion for a diagnosis . Other classic radiographic findings include joint space narrowing, subchondral bone sclerosis, or subchondral cysts [160,165]. The diagnosis of hand osteoarthritis does not require blood tests, but such tests may be helpful in excluding coexisting disease or in identifying an inflammatory arthritis . Pain related to osteoarthritis of the shoulder is typically progressive, related to activity, deep in the joint, and often localized posteriorly . Pain is usually present at rest and interferes with sleep, with nocturnal pain becoming more common as the disease progresses. More advanced disease is also associated with stiffness that limits function. Younger patients with shoulder pain should be asked about previous trauma, dislocation, or surgery for shoulder instability, as all have been related to the development of osteoarthritis . In the early stages of disease, the findings of the physical examination may be unremarkable. Some signs indicative of osteoarthritis are painful crepitus, enlargement of the joint, tenderness at the joint line, and joint effusion. The range of motion is usually decreased, especially in external rotation and abduction. In advanced stages of disease, grinding may be audible or palpable when mechanical stress is placed on the shoulder. Signs that are not indicative of shoulder osteoarthritis are lack of pain on palpation or passive range of motion (e.g., bursitis, rotator cuff disease, or biceps tenderness) and loss of passive or active range of motion (e.g., calcific tendinitis or idiopathic adhesive capsulitis) . Unlike the case with osteoarthritis at other sites, imaging studies are essential for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the shoulder . Signs of early disease include slight narrowing of the joint space, small osteophytes, subchondral sclerosis, cysts, and eburnation or advanced loss of articular cartilage. Narrowing of the joint space can be best detected with either an axillary view or an anteroposterior view, with the arm held in 45 degrees of abduction . MRI can demonstrate wearing of articular cartilage, and computed tomography arthrograms can be used to localize articular defects . A blood panel can help identify infection. An erythrocyte sedimentation rate greater than 45 mm/hour may indicate rheumatoid arthritis, an underlying malignancy, or chronic infection. These blood tests are sensitive but not specific in determining causes of shoulder pain . Individuals with osteoarthritis of the elbow typically have pain, stiffness, and weakness in the joint . Later stage disease is associated with pain when carrying a heavy object at the side of the body with the elbow in extension. The history is important when evaluating symptoms related to the elbow because of the strong relationship between trauma or occupation with osteoarthritis, especially in individuals who are younger than 40 years of age . Primary osteoarthritis of the elbow is often associated with osteoarthritis at another joint site, especially the second and third metacarpophalangeal joints, the knee, and the hip, and those joints should be evaluated as appropriate . Range of motion should be examined in flexion-extension and pronation-supination. Most patients will have pain at the endpoints of range of motion rather than at other points throughout the arc of motion. Crepitus can usually be heard during range of motion. As with osteoarthritis of the shoulder, osteoarthritis of the elbow can be diagnosed with standard radiographs, and anteroposterior and lateral projections are best [28,55]. A distinction of primary elbow osteoarthritis is preservation of the joint space, even when disease is at an advanced stage [28,55]. Other radiographic characteristics of primary osteoarthritis are an anterior and medial osteophyte (involving the coronoid process) and a posteromedial osteophyte (olecranon process). The location and size of osteophytes can be determined by computed tomography (CT) with three-dimensional reconstructions . It may be difficult to detect loose bodies on plain radiographs . A history of ankle fracture or ligamentous injury is a hallmark feature of osteoarthritis of the ankle . Diagnostic evaluation includes radiographs of the ankles made with the patient standing. MRI is also recommended, as it can provide evidence of osteonecrosis as well as indicate the amount of involvement, the extent of bone loss, and the size of subchondral cysts . There is currently no curative therapy for osteoarthritis, and treatments to alter or arrest the disease process are few and mostly ineffective . Thus, management is focused on decreasing pain and increasing function [180,181]. Several treatment approaches have been used for osteoarthritis and subsequently included in practice guidelines. The range in options has made it difficult for clinicians to determine which ones are most effective; more than 50 treatment modalities have been addressed in 23 guidelines for the management of knee and hip osteoarthritis alone . These guidelines have been established by professional organizations in the United States, such as the ACR, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), and the American Geriatrics Society (AGS); and in Europe, such as EULAR, the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI), and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The guidelines have addressed osteoarthritis in general, osteoarthritis at specific joints (primarily the knee and hip), and exercise programs (Table 8) [160,174,180,181,182,183,184,185,186]. In addition, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has commissioned research for comparative effectiveness studies and evidence reports related to osteoarthritis [187,188,189]. CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF OSTEOARTHRITIS |Izquierdo R, Voloshin I, Edwards S, et al. Treatment of glenohumeral osteoarthritis. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2010;18(6):375-382.| Despite the availability of these guidelines, gaps in evidence-based recommendations exist. There are currently no evidence-based guidelines on the management of osteoarthritis of the elbow, ankle, or spine; there is only one (European) guideline on management of osteoarthritis of the hand. Adding to the challenge of selecting appropriate therapy is evolving evidence on the efficacy of specific options; systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomized controlled clinical trials have demonstrated that many commonly used treatment options for osteoarthritis offer no or limited benefit. As clinicians on the frontline of care, primary care providers and nurses are typically the first to see individuals with symptoms indicative of osteoarthritis. Primary care providers can coordinate the management of osteoarthritis, and a multidisciplinary approach is best. The ACR and the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (a division of the ACR) support such an approach, noting that the healthcare team may include a rheumatologist, primary physician, nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist, physiatrist, psychiatrist, psychologist, orthopedic surgeon, social worker, registered dietician, vocational counselor, and others . A primary care physician should consider referral to a rheumatologist in the following situations : Atypical signs and symptoms (e.g., pain at night, prolonged stiffness in the morning, involvement of multiple joints) Overall evaluation to address needs for nonpharmacologic treatment Lack of response to standard treatment Need for operative procedures (arthroscopy and arthroplasty) The optimal management of osteoarthritis encompasses both nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic measures, beginning with basic modalities and following a so-called pyramid approach as the disease progresses or symptoms do not respond . Several factors should be considered when selecting treatment modalities, including risk factors (e.g., age, comorbidity, overweight/obesity), the level of pain and functional limitations, signs of inflammation, and degree of structural damage . Many treatment options are associated with benefits and risks, and the clinician should discuss the benefits and risks with patients and support their participation in the decision-making process [193,194]. Patient preferences are an important consideration when choosing treatment options and establishing treatment goals, and the ACR advocates care that addresses treatment goals that are meaningful to the individual patient . Decision aids can help enhance patients' knowledge of treatment options, improve patients' participation in their care, and produce realistic expectations of outcomes . Decision aids for osteoarthritis have been developed in a variety of media (e.g., print, online, video) and are available online (http://www.ohri.ca/decisionaid) . The pain and disability associated with osteoarthritis often has a substantial psychologic and social effect. It is important to discuss these aspects with patients and to address psychologic issues, especially depression, in order for treatment measures to be effective . Several nonpharmacologic treatment options have been found to be effective in managing osteoarthritis (Table 9). EVIDENCE-BASED NONPHARMACOLOGIC OPTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF OSTEOARTHRITIS |Patient education and self-management||All joints| |Weight loss/maintenance of optimum weight||Knee, hip| |Regular exercise||Knee, hip| |Knee, hip, hand, elbow| |Braces, orthotics, walking aids||Knee, hip, ankle, hand| Education and self-management, through lifestyle modifications are universally recognized as the core of treatment in clinical guidelines . This recommendation is based on research showing that education helps patients become more involved in their care, leading to improved outcomes . The AHRQ notes that an effective partnership is the key to the effective management of osteoarthritis; the healthcare professional's role in this partnership is to : Encourage patients to change their behavior to improve symptoms or slow disease progression Promote the proper use of medications Instruct patients on how to interpret and report symptoms accurately Support patients' efforts to maintain normal activities Help patients adjust to new social and economic circumstances and cope with emotional consequences Clinicians should emphasize to patients that adhering to the management program will alleviate their symptoms, improve their function, and enhance their quality of life. Education should be tailored to address individual needs. For example, patients who participate in sports should be advised to avoid sports with direct contact and high impact and to wear protective equipment to prevent injury . Similarly, for patients in occupations with high risk for osteoarthritis, clinicians should discuss the importance of avoiding high-risk tasks. It is also essential to encourage patients with osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint or the elbow to modify activities that led to the development of the disease [28,55]. Periodic contact during follow-up can help promote self-management . Clinicians should also encourage patients to participate in formal self-management programs in the community or online and to use reliable educational resources, such as the Arthritis Foundation (http://www.arthritis.org). When educating a patient about osteoarthritis and its management, it is essential to ensure that he or she understands the treatment plan and his or her role in self-management. However, according to the 2003 National Assessment of Health Literacy, 14% of individuals in the United States have "below basic" health literacy, which means they lack the ability to understand health information and make informed health decisions [172,195]. According to a systematic review of more than 300 studies, an estimated 26% of patients had inadequate literacy and an additional 20% had marginal literacy . Understanding the problem of health literacy is especially important for clinicians managing osteoarthritis, as low health literacy is more common among older individuals, the population most affected by the disease . Health literacy also varies widely according to race/ethnicity, level of education, and gender, and clinicians are often unaware of the literacy level of their patients [197,198]. Predictors of limited health literacy are poor self-rated reading ability, low level of education, male gender, and nonwhite race [198,199]. Ensuring that patients understand health information is essential, as limited health literacy has been associated with poor health outcomes . Several instruments are available to test patients' literacy level, and they vary in the amount of time needed to administer and reliability in identifying low literacy. A review of several instruments demonstrated that the two most accurate tools for identifying literacy are the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) and the shortened version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) . REALM takes 3 minutes to administer, whereas S-TOFHLA takes 7 to 12 minutes to administer . More rapid testing is available in the form of the Newest Vital Sign (NVS), an instrument named to promote the assessment of health literacy as part of the overall routine patient evaluation [172,201]. The NVS takes fewer than three minutes to administer, has correlated well with more extensive literacy tests, and has performed moderately well at identifying limited literacy [197,198]. Two questions have also been found to perform moderately well in identifying patients with inadequate or marginal literacy: "How confident are you in filling out medical forms by yourself?" and "How often do you have someone help you read health information?" . Compounding health literacy are language and cultural barriers, which have the potential for far-reaching effect, given the growing percentages of racial/ethnic populations. According to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2014, 20.9% of the population speak a language other than English, and of those, 8.6% speak English less than "very well" . Clinicians should ask their patients what language they prefer for their medical care information, as some individuals prefer their native language even though they have said they can understand and discuss symptoms in English . Translation services should be provided for patients who do not understand the clinician's language. "Ad hoc" interpreters (e.g., family members, friends, and bilingual staff members) are often used instead of professional interpreters for a variety of reasons, including convenience and cost. However, clinicians should check with their state's health officials about the use of ad hoc interpreters, as several states have laws about who can interpret medical information for a patient . Even when allowed by law, the use of a patient's family member or friend as an interpreter should be avoided, as the patient may not be as forthcoming with information and the family member or friend may not remain objective . Children should especially be avoided as interpreters, as their understanding of medical language is limited and they may filter information to protect their parents or other adult family members . Individuals with limited English language skills have actually indicated a preference for professional interpreters rather than family members . Most important, perhaps, is the fact that clinical consequences are more likely with ad hoc interpreters than with professional interpreters . A systematic review of the literature showed that the use of professional interpreters facilitates a broader understanding and leads to better clinical care than the use of ad hoc interpreters, and many studies have demonstrated that the lack of an interpreter for patients with limited English proficiency compromises the quality of care and that the use of professional interpreters improves communication (errors and comprehension), utilization, clinical outcomes, and patient satisfaction with care [207,208]. Clinicians should adapt their discussions and educational resources to a patient's identified health literacy level and degree of language proficiency. The use of plain language (free of medical jargon), asking patients to repeat pertinent information, regularly assessing recall and comprehension, and using translated educational materials can all help ensure that patients better understand their disease and its management, ultimately leading to higher quality care. Given the strong correlation between overweight/obesity (defined as a BMI greater than 25 kg/m2) and osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, weight reduction and maintenance of a healthy weight are central to guidelines on the management of osteoarthritis at these sites [174,192,209,210,211]. A systematic review showed that a moderate weight-loss program (0.25% of body weight per week) can reduce pain and physical disability for individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee . In its 2013 guideline for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee, the AAOS recommends weight reduction, specifically, achieving and/or maintaining a BMI ≤25 kg/m2 . The recommended approach to weight loss is through dietary modifications and an exercise program . The Arthritis, Diet, and Activity Promotion Trial (ADAPT), which involved 316 overweight or obese adults with knee osteoarthritis, demonstrated that an 18-month program of modest weight loss and modest exercise provided the most benefit (compared with a diet-only or exercise-only program) . Individuals in the diet-plus-exercise group had significant improvements in self-reported physical function, six-minute walk distance, stair-climb time, and knee pain. The 2012 ACR guideline specifies weight reduction counseling . Regular, moderate exercise can help maintain overall health, muscle strength, and range of motion of the joint. In addition, several physical therapy strategies can help improve function and relieve pain. Some patients may fear that regular exercise will exacerbate pain, but a review of the literature has shown that moderate exercise does not increase the risk for progression of osteoarthritis, provided that care is taken to avoid injury [103,214]. The goal of an exercise program is to control pain, increase flexibility, and improve muscle strength and endurance . The exercise program should be individualized to the patient, with consideration given to the patient's age, comorbidities, and mobility . Guidelines suggest that exercise should be prescribed for all patients with osteoarthritis, regardless of age, severity of pain and disability, and comorbidity . The AGS notes that absolute contraindications to an exercise program include uncontrolled arrhythmias, third-degree heart block, changes on recent electrocardiography, unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, and acute congestive heart failure . Relative contraindications include cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, poorly controlled blood pressure, and uncontrolled metabolic disease . Promoting exercise as part of an overall positive lifestyle change can increase the effectiveness of the program . Supervised group exercise and home-based programs have been shown to be equally effective, allowing patients to select the type of program they prefer . The Ottawa Panel recommends that significant weight-loss occur before starting weight-bearing exercise (particularly for obese patients) in order to maintain joint integrity and to avoid joint disease and dysfunction . Low-impact aerobic exercise, such as walking, bicycling, swimming, or water aerobics, has shown to offer substantial benefit in terms of improved physical function, reduction of pain and disability, and enhanced perceived quality of life in individuals with knee osteoarthritis, especially overweight/obese individuals [211,214,217,218]. Although there is little evidence that exercise is of benefit to individuals with hip osteoarthritis, one systematic review found that land-based (as opposed to water-based) therapeutic exercise programs can reduce pain and improve physical function [216,218]. Adherence is the primary predictor of long-term outcome from exercise for the management of knee or hip osteoarthritis; because of this, clinicians should encourage patients to engage in exercises they enjoy, as this can enhance the likelihood of long-term adherence. Long-term monitoring, frequent contact during follow-up, and/or involving family members in the program may also enhance adherence [180,216,219]. In 2000, the ACR guidelines for the management of knee and hip osteoarthritis included a recommendation for aerobic exercise . A year later, the AGS published evidence-based recommendations for exercise as part of managing osteoarthritis in older individuals. (These recommendations were not joint-specific.) In 2005, a European multidisciplinary expert panel developed evidence-based recommendations for exercise to manage osteoarthritis of the knee or hip . The AAOS incorporated these previous recommendations into its 2008 guideline for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, noting that patients should be encouraged to participate in low-impact aerobic fitness exercises (level of evidence: I, A) and quadriceps strengthening (level of evidence: II, B) . Subsequent reviews of the literature have supported that exercise reduces pain and improves physical function [214,220]. The 2013 AAOS guideline on the treatment of knee osteoarthritis strongly recommends the implementation of a variety of physical therapy and exercise modalities, including low-impact aerobic exercise, strength training, self-management programs, and neuromuscular education . Exercise recommendations should be consistent with national guidelines. The 2012 ACR Technical Expert Panel recommends land- or water-based aerobic exercise for all patients (depending on patient preference) except those who are extremely overweight or aerobically deconditioned; for these patients, water-based exercise is recommended until conditioning (i.e., improved aerobic capacity) is achieved . Substantial improvement in symptoms related to osteoarthritis of the knee has been achieved through several physical therapy strategies, including range-of-motion (flexibility) exercises, muscle stretching, and soft tissue mobilization . A combination of physical therapy (to the knee as well as to the lumbar spine, hip, and ankle, as required) and a standardized exercise program provided more benefit than placebo (subtherapeutic ultrasound to the knee) in a small randomized study (83 patients) of the management of knee osteoarthritis . Patients treated with the combination therapy had clinically and statistically significant improvements in WOMAC score and six-minute walk distance, whereas no improvements were found in the placebo group. The benefits were sustained at one year, and fewer patients in the treatment group had undergone knee arthroplasty (5% vs. 20%) at that time. Another small randomized study compared home-based physical therapy with clinically-based physical therapy . The 134 participants with knee osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to a clinic treatment group or a home exercise group. The clinic treatment group received supervised exercise and individualized manual therapy; they also completed a four-week home exercise program. The home exercise group completed the four-week home exercise program, with reinforcement at a clinic visit two weeks later. Both groups showed clinically and statistically significant improvements in six-minute walk distances and WOMAC scores at four weeks and eight weeks. By four weeks, WOMAC scores had improved by 52% in the clinic treatment group and by 26% in the home exercise group. Average six-minute walk distances had improved about 10% in both groups. At one year, both groups were substantially and about equally improved over baseline measurements. Subjects in the clinic treatment group were less likely to be taking medications for their arthritis and were more satisfied with the overall outcome of their rehabilitative treatment compared with subjects in the home exercise group . The AGS guidelines recommend flexibility exercises, strengthening exercises, and endurance exercises, along with heat modalities, for older patients with all types of osteoarthritis. Range-of-motion (flexibility) exercises can help decrease stiffness, increase joint mobility, and prevent soft-tissue contractures . Static stretching can improve range of motion. Exercises that combine flexibility and resistance training (e.g., yoga, tai chi) have significant therapeutic benefit for knee osteoarthritis [174,211]. The goal of strengthening exercises is to increase the strength of the muscles that support the affected joint . Exercises to strengthen the quadriceps muscles have led to improvements in pain and function for individuals with knee osteoarthritis . In addition, studies suggest that strengthening the quadriceps muscles may help delay progression of knee and hip osteoarthritis . In general, patients should begin a strengthening exercise regimen with isometric exercises and advance to isotonic resistance exercises as tolerated . Isometric, isotonic, and isokinetic training have similar long-term benefits . The findings of a systematic review suggest that therapeutic ultrasound may help reduce pain and increase function for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee . However, the quality of the evidence is low, which left the authors uncertain about the magnitude of the effects of the treatment modality. The AAOS guideline on the treatment of knee osteoarthritis refrains from making a recommendation for or against therapeutic ultrasound; however, the authors of the guideline reviewed several studies showing evidence of its benefit, particularly when combined with various forms of exercise . With regard to other joints, EULAR guidelines recommend an exercise regimen that involves range-of-motion and strengthening exercises for all individuals with osteoarthritis of the hand . The guidelines also recommend local application of heat, especially before exercise; heat can be applied with a hot pack or paraffin wax . Thermal agents/modalities in combination with exercise are also endorsed by the ACR . The AAOS found inconclusive evidence for physical therapy as an effective treatment option for osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint and is unable to recommend for or against physical therapy as part of initial treatment of the condition . Similarly, a supervised physical therapy program is not routinely a treatment approach for osteoarthritis of the ankle . Physical therapy should begin in the early stages of osteoarthritis of the elbow (mild pain and loss of less than 15 degrees of motion) . Strategies may include gentle range-of-motion exercises to maintain mobility and strength . Although valgus or varus bracing can theoretically relieve pain and improve function by shifting joint load away from the medial or lateral compartment of the knee, respectively, the AAOS found inconclusive evidence of the efficacy of these types of braces in terms of relieving pain or improving function or quality of life . As a result, the AAOS is unable to recommend for or against the use of a brace with a valgus directing force for patients with medial unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee or a brace with a varus directing force for patients with lateral unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee . With regard to other joints, a thumb splint may be helpful for people with osteoarthritis of the thumb base, and a brace has been suggested as part of conservative management of osteoarthritis of the ankle. However, these recommendations are based on expert opinion only [29,167]. It has been proposed that lateral and medial wedges may help relieve the symptoms of medial and lateral compartment osteoarthritis of the knee, respectively, by reducing joint load. However, studies have not provided evidence that wedges alone improve osteoarthritis-related symptoms [161,224]. The ACR guidelines suggest that patients may benefit from the use of wedged insoles to correct abnormal biomechanics related to varus deformity of the knee, but the AAOS recommends that lateral heel wedges not be prescribed for patients with symptomatic medial compartmental osteoarthritis of the knee [174,211]. Clinicians should also advise patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis about appropriate footwear; the optimum shoe may be one that is flat or has a low heel and that is flexible (rather than stabilizing) . Foot orthoses to correct varus malalignment of the forefoot may help reduce pain in the hip among individuals with osteoarthritis of that joint . Modifications to footwear may be helpful for people with osteoarthritis of the ankle . The ACR recommends patellar taping for the short-term relief of pain and improvement of function among individuals with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee . Although the AAOS has previously endorsed taping, the 2013 update does not address this approach [211,219]. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been used as part of management of knee osteoarthritis, but the data on its effectiveness are conflicting. One review of the literature (systematic reviews published between 2000 and 2007) demonstrated evidence of moderate quality that TENS reduces pain . The authors of a subsequent review (up to 2008) reported that they could not confirm the benefit of TENS for the relief of pain, noting that the review was inconclusive because of the inclusion of small trials of questionable quality . The ACR recommends the use of electrical stimulation only for patients with severe pain who are candidates for total knee arthroplasty but who are unwilling or unable to undergo the procedure (i.e., contraindication due to comorbidities/medication) . The AAOS is unable to recommend for or against any form of electrotherapy . The available literature demonstrates that acupuncture provides minimal, short-term relief of pain related to knee osteoarthritis [220,226,227]. Acupuncture was considered to be a therapy "under investigation" at the time of publication of the 2000 ACR guidelines for the management of osteoarthritis of the knee and hip . The 2012 ACR expert panel recommends the use of acupuncture only for patients with severe pain who are candidates for total knee arthroplasty but who are unwilling or unable to undergo the procedure . The AAOS is unable to recommend for or against the use of acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for pain relief in patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee; however, it was noted that some studies showed clinical efficacy and that there was little or no potential for harm . No recommendations have been made regarding the use of acupuncture as part of the treatment of osteoarthritis at other joint sites. No drugs have been found to effectively alter the disease process or the structural properties of the joint; therefore, the goal of pharmacologic therapies is to relieve pain. Oral analgesics form the basis of pharmacologic management, and other effective pharmacologic options, depending on the joint, include topical analgesics, viscosupplementation, and intra-articular corticosteroids (Table 10). EVIDENCE-BASED PHARMACOLOGIC OPTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF OSTEOARTHRITISa |Oral analgesics||Insufficient evidence to recommend for osteoarthritis of the shoulder| |Acetaminophen||Up to 4 g/day| |Nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (e.g., naproxen, ibuprofen)||A gastroprotective agent (proton-pump inhibitor) should be prescribed for patients at high risk for gastrointestinal complications| |Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective NSAIDs||Some agents associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction| |Tramadol||Considered separately from opioid analgesics due to modulatory effect on serotonin and norepinephrine levels| |Opioid analgesics||No recommendation for or against use for osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, or shoulder. Should not be used for osteoarthritis of the hand. Weak opioids may be used for pain refractory to other pharmacologic agents.| |Topical analgesics (e.g., NSAIDs, capsaicin)||Insufficient evidence to recommend for osteoarthritis of the shoulder| |aNo evidence-based guidelines are available for osteoarthritis of the elbow or ankle.| Educating patients about their pharmacologic treatment plan is crucial. A questionnaire designed to assess patients' knowledge of osteoarthritis and its management demonstrated a substantial lack of knowledge about analgesics . Fewer than one-third of the patients knew that they could take analgesics prophylactically, and 70% did not know that analgesics should be taken when pain starts to build. In addition, approximately one-third did not know that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) should be taken with food or following a meal . Another small study showed that patients with multiple coexisting conditions are dissatisfied with the complex medication regimen required for comorbidities . Patients in this study were unclear on how to take analgesics on an "as needed" basis, pointing to the need for clearer guidance from clinicians and other healthcare professionals . Because of the wide range of pain relievers available, the challenge is to select an agent that will provide optimum relief with minimum adverse events. The oral pain relievers used for osteoarthritis include acetaminophen, nonselective NSAIDs, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective NSAIDs, opioids, and tramadol. The 2013 AAOS guideline specifies NSAIDs (oral or topical) and tramadol as first-line pharmacologic treatments for symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee . The 2012 ACR guideline recommends NSAIDs (including COX-2-selective agents) and tramadol as first-line treatment for hand osteoarthritis, and acetaminophen, NSAIDs, and tramadol for knee and hip osteoarthritis . Some guidelines recommended acetaminophen as the initial analgesic for the management of mild-to-moderate pain related to osteoarthritis, but this recommendation has since been shown to be questionable . A comparative effectiveness study conducted by the AHRQ found good evidence that acetaminophen is modestly inferior in efficacy compared with NSAIDs but has a lower risk of gastrointestinal complications . An update to this study found that no currently available analgesic offered a clear overall advantage compared with the others . Its original findings on acetaminophen remained the same, with the addition that acetaminophen poses a higher risk of liver injury . Other research has shown that NSAIDs are more effective than acetaminophen for relieving osteoarthritis-related pain, especially moderate-to-severe pain . The AAOS working group noted that many physicians prefer to prescribe acetaminophen rather than NSAIDs (because of the side effect profile of NSAIDs), but that this practice is "unreasonable" because acetaminophen does not show a benefit over placebo . For this same reason, the AAOS recommendation was downgraded from level B (moderate) in the 2008 guideline to inconclusive in the 2013 edition. NSAIDs should be prescribed at the lowest effective dose, and their long-term use should be avoided . A COX-2 selective agent or an NSAID with a prescription for a gastroprotective agent (such as a proton-pump inhibitor) may be used for patients who have an increased risk for gastrointestinal complications . There is good evidence that nonselective NSAIDs and COX-2-selective NSAIDs have comparable efficacy and that COX-2-selective agents are comparable to each other [187,232]. Although COX-2-selective agents have better tolerability in general compared with NSAIDs, there is considerable variability across individual drugs in terms of protection against serious gastrointestinal events . In addition, some COX-2 selective NSAIDs have been associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, and these drugs should be used with caution in patients with cardiovascular risk factors [187,232]. Studies have found that opioids were more effective overall than control interventions with respect to pain relief and improved function, but the beneficial effects were small to moderate and were outweighed by a substantial increase in the risk of adverse events [233,234]. The authors of the review concluded that opioids should not be used routinely for individuals with osteoarthritis, even for severe pain. Some guidelines suggest the use of weak narcotics or opioids for pain that has been refractory to other pharmacologic agents; however, the guidelines note that strong opioids should be used sparingly . The 2013 AAOS guideline on the treatment of knee osteoarthritis does not make a recommendation for or against the use of opioids, and the ACR guidelines similarly make no recommendations, aside from advising against their use for osteoarthritis of the hand (with the exception of certain patients) [174,211]. In reviewing the literature for its guidelines on the treatment of osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint, the AAOS was not able to find sufficient evidence to support several pharmacologic treatments, including acetaminophen, NSAIDs, opioids, or narcotics. As a result, the AAOS states it is unable to recommend for or against the use of any of these options for the initial treatment of patients with osteoarthritis of this joint . Tramadol should be considered as an option if patients do not respond satisfactorily to NSAIDs . A Cochrane review has shown that tramadol reduces pain intensity and improves function in patients with osteoarthritis . The efficacy of tramadol was found to be similar to the NSAID diclofenac but superior to acetaminophen. The drug has a favorable tolerability profile and has a potential for abuse similar to NSAIDs and significantly less than hydrocodone [236,237]. Extended-release formulations are recommended for osteoarthritis pain . There is good evidence that topical NSAIDs have efficacy comparable to oral NSAIDs, although most trials have involved knee osteoarthritis only, and head-to-head trials have not been large enough to evaluate the comparative risk of serious cardiovascular events and gastrointestinal effects . There is also good evidence that topical NSAIDs are safer than oral NSAIDs, but a systematic literature review showed that systemic adverse events have occurred in a substantial proportion of older adults treated with topical NSAIDs . Capsaicin has also been effective in relieving osteoarthritis-related pain, and some guidelines have suggested the use of this topical agent as an alternative treatment or an adjunct to treatment with oral analgesics . The ACR guideline recommends the use of topical capsaicin for hand osteoarthritis and topical NSAIDs for hand and knee osteoarthritis . The AHRQ comparative review found that topical capsaicin was superior to placebo but associated with increased local adverse events and withdrawals due to adverse events . As is the case for oral analgesics, the AAOS was not able to find sufficient evidence to support the use of topical analgesics for the treatment of glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis and is unable to recommend for or against the use of these agents for the initial treatment of patients with osteoarthritis of that joint . Most of the evidence regarding the efficacy of intra-articular injection of long-acting corticosteroids comes from the literature on osteoarthritis of the knee, and many experts have called for more research on this treatment approach at the hip and other joints [32,209]. In general, this treatment option is used for moderate-to-severe pain in a joint that has not responded to nonpharmacologic measures or to oral analgesics. Pain relief is thought to be related to the anti-inflammatory effects of the corticosteroid [240,241]. Certain guidelines conditionally recommend intra-articular injection of corticosteroids into the knee or hip, especially after aspiration of fluid in patients who have signs of local inflammation with joint effusion [6,174,192]. For example, the ACR recommends this therapy for knee and hip osteoarthritis if the patient does not have satisfactory response to acetaminophen and topical NSAIDS and if there is a contraindication to oral NSAIDs. The AAOS was unable to make a recommendation for or against corticosteroid injection based on a lack of compelling evidence . Although the approach is otherwise widely recommended, it is acknowledged that intra-articular corticosteroids provide short-term relief only [32,242,243]. A meta-analysis of 28 trials (1,973 patients) of knee osteoarthritis showed a benefit of pain relief for two to four weeks, with no benefit in terms of functional improvement and no benefit in either pain or function beyond four weeks . An update to the meta-analysis, which included 27 trials (1,767 patients), found that the overall quality of the evidence did not clearly support a benefit of intra-articular corticosteroid use after one to six weeks . Despite the short-term benefit found in most studies, clinical experience has shown longer relief in many patients . Because of the potential side effects of intra-articular injections, which include long-term damage to joint cartilage, flare after injection, and infection, most physicians do not recommend more than three to four injections per joint per year [6,32]. Intra-articular injection is more technically difficult in the hip joint than in the knee, and radiographic or ultrasonographic guidance has been suggested, although there are no comparative data to provide evidence that accuracy is increased with such guidance [6,209]. Recommendations for the use of intra-articular corticosteroids at other joints are based primarily on expert opinion, as randomized controlled trials are lacking or have included small numbers of patients. EULAR guidelines for osteoarthritis of the hand note that intra-articular corticosteroids are effective for painful flares of osteoarthritis, especially of the trapeziometacarpal joint . As with data on the hip and knee, intra-articular injections have provided benefit for up to four weeks [6,167]. Although intra-articular corticosteroids are often used in clinical practice to treat shoulder pain of all etiologies, the AAOS concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the use of this approach for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint . Intra-articular corticosteroids are also options for refractory pain in individuals with osteoarthritis of the elbow or ankle, although data are lacking to support the approach [28,29,55]. Endogenous hyaluronan (also known as hyaluronic acid) is a primary component of the extracellular matrix of synovial membrane and tissue and articular cartilage, as well as the synovial fluid . It provides viscoelasticity and lubrication to the joint and helps to maintain tissue hydration. The use of exogenous hyaluronan to treat osteoarthritis—known as viscosupplementation—began in the 1960s; several formulations of viscosupplements are now available, each produced by different manufacturers with different molecular weights. Data on comparison of high-molecular-weight and low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid have been conflicting, with some studies indicating that high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid is more effective, whereas other analyses have shown that the efficacy is similar [245,246]. Research reviewed by the AAOS panel suggests that high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid is more effective than low-molecular-weight . How hyaluronan and similar products alleviate osteoarthritis-related symptoms is not entirely clear, but its action is thought to be related to its anti-inflammatory, anabolic, and chondroprotective properties [66,247]. It is difficult to determine the efficacy of hyaluronan because research evidence is confounded by different molecular weights of hyaluronan preparations, different dosing schedules, and poor trial design, and the level of evidence across studies has been low [209,244,245,248]. Most of the evidence available is related to osteoarthritis of the knee, with limited data available on use of the treatment for osteoarthritis of the hip, hand, or shoulder. Since the publication of the 2000 ACR guidelines, certain studies and analyses have supported the efficacy of hyaluronan/hylan derivatives for relieving pain and improving function in patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee (compared with placebo), with the greatest benefit found in conjunction with less severe pain and disability at 5 to 13 weeks after injection [192,245,249,250]. However, researchers have noted that the effect size is small compared with placebo and that the effect may be overestimated as a result of publication bias [244,245]. When compared with NSAIDs, hyaluronan takes longer to relieve knee symptoms; additionally, the dosing schedule necessitates more office visits than intra-articular corticosteroids, creating inconvenience and increasing costs [192,209]. Uncontrolled and small studies of hyaluronic acid for hip osteoarthritis have shown pain reduction after treatment, but intra-articular corticosteroids were more effective in one small study [209,248,251]. In its 2012 recommendations, the ACR conditionally recommends against using intra-articular therapies for hand osteoarthritis . This recommendation is based largely on the absence of evidence from randomized controlled trials to support the benefits as well as the potential for harm from such therapy . In its 2013 guideline on the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee, the AAOS notes that it cannot recommend the use of intra-articular hyaluronic acid for individuals with symptomatic disease . The rationale for this recommendation is based on a lack of efficacy, not potential harm. Treatment with hyaluronan has been reported to be well tolerated, with a low incidence of adverse events [248,249,252]. Among the potential adverse events are transient pain (mild to moderate) at the injection site and increases in joint pain and/or swelling . The NICE guidelines, revised in 2014, also note that intra-articular injections of hyaluronan cannot be recommended for the treatment of osteoarthritis [186,244]. Evidence of benefit of hyaluronan for osteoarthritis of other joints is limited. A small study (56 patients) showed that a single course of three injections of intra-articular sodium hyaluronate relieved pain and improved joint function in patients with osteoarthritis of the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb. Although the effects were achieved more slowly than treatment with triamcinolone, the duration of benefit was longer (up to six months) . In another small study (16 men), intra-articular sodium hyaluronate (administered once weekly for five weeks) improved scores for pain (primarily at rest) related to osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint . The AAOS recommends viscosupplementation as an option for patients with glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis but notes that the level of evidence for the recommendation is weak . A case series of 18 patients with post-traumatic osteoarthritis of the elbow demonstrated short-term pain relief and very limited improvement in function, and the authors concluded that viscosupplementation was not suitable for the condition . Descriptions of suggested treatment options for osteoarthritis of the ankle have not included hyaluronan, although a review of seven studies (275 patients) published between 2006 and 2008 suggested that viscosupplementation may be of benefit for osteoarthritis at that joint . In the United States, glucosamine and chondroitin are heavily marketed as dietary supplements that promote "joint health" and relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee and hip. Glucosamine and chondroitin are both made in the body; glucosamine is an amino sugar that is thought to enhance the formation and repair of cartilage, and chondroitin is a carbohydrate found in cartilage that is thought to promote water retention and elasticity and to inhibit the enzymes that degrade cartilage. More than 20 products contain glucosamine alone, chondroitin alone, or a combination of the two, and contamination or mislabeling has been found for some products . Data on the efficacy of glucosamine and chondroitin are available primarily for osteoarthritis of the knee, with limited data on its effectiveness for osteoarthritis of the hip; no studies have been done to evaluate the use of these supplements for osteoarthritis at other joint sites. Several early systematic reviews failed to show a benefit of glucosamine and/or chondroitin in terms of pain, stiffness, and function when compared with placebo [209,257]. These findings were supported by the results of the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), a randomized study involving 1,583 patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis that has provided the best evidence to date on these supplements [188,258]. The results demonstrated that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, alone or in combination, did not reduce pain more effectively than placebo . A multicenter study done as part of GAIT showed that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate did not alter progression of knee osteoarthritis, with no clinically important difference in the loss of joint space width compared with placebo . A report on the two-year results from GAIT noted that there were no significant differences in pain among groups treated with glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, a combination of the two supplements, or a placebo . A systematic review evaluated the benefit and harm of chondroitin compared with placebo or a comparable oral medication (e.g., NSAIDs, analgesics, opioids, glucosamine) . The review included 43 randomized controlled trials, including 4,962 participants treated with chondroitin and 4,148 participants given placebo or another control. The majority of trials were in osteoarthritis of the knee, with few in the hip or hand, and the length of the trials varied from one month to three years. In studies of less than six months in length, participants treated with chondroitin achieved significantly better pain scores than those given placebo (absolute risk difference: 10% lower); the risk difference for pain was 9% lower in studies longer than six months. A 20% reduction in knee pain was achieved by 53 of 100 participants in the chondroitin group versus 47 of 100 in the placebo group. Differences in the composite of pain, function, and disability favored chondroitin compared with placebo in studies of less than six months. Chondroitin was associated with significantly lower odds of serious adverse events compared with placebo. Chondroitin alone or in combination with glucosamine or another supplement is associated with a significant reduction in pain compared with placebo or an active control; no significant differences in the numbers of adverse events were reported. As stated, the authors found that most of the randomized trials included were of low quality; overall, the benefit of chondroitin was small to moderate . Other analyses and results of randomized controlled trials have indicated that glucosamine and/or chondroitin sulfate have no or modest benefit in terms of pain, function, or structural alterations [262,263,264]. In its guidelines on the management of osteoarthritis of the hand, knee, and hip, the ACR deems the evidence on glucosamine and chondroitin to be inconclusive and conditionally recommends against their use . In the 2013 AAOS guideline on the management of knee osteoarthritis, the recommendation is to not prescribe glucosamine and/or chondroitin sulfate or hydrochloride for patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee . With regard to osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint, the AAOS is not able to recommend for or against the use of glucosamine and/or chondroitin . In a systematic review undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of 22 herbal medicinal products, there was some evidence of pain relief with topical capsaicin, avocado-soybean unsaponifiables, and SKI306X (a Chinese herbal mixture). However, none of the 22 products had proof of effectiveness beyond doubt . According to a review of studies involving antioxidant and anti-inflammatory supplements, the following cannot be recommended for the treatment of osteoarthritis: vitamin E (alone); a combination of vitamins A, C, and E; ginger; turmeric; omega-3 fatty acids; or Zyflamend (an extract of 10 different herbs) . Additional clinical trials are needed before alternative supplements can be recommended. Operative treatment for osteoarthritis should be delayed until all possible nonoperative options have been exhausted . In general, the indications for operative treatment are debilitating pain and major limitations in function and activities of daily living [16,174]. In an effort to delay total knee or hip replacement, many have recommended arthroscopic lavage and debridement, but several studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses have shown that there is no evidence to support the efficacy of this approach for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee [267,268,269,270]. In addition, comparisons between the use of intra-articular corticosteroids and joint lavage showed no differences between the two treatments with respect to efficacy or safety [211,242,243]. Arthroscopic lavage and debridement may be useful for removing unstable tissues (such as loose bodies, meniscal tears, or loose cartilage) that are causing mechanical symptoms [16,267]. In its guideline on the management of knee osteoarthritis, the AAOS recommends against performing arthroscopy with debridement or lavage in patients with a primary diagnosis of symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee . The AAOS notes that arthroscopic partial meniscectomy or removal of loose bodies is a common option for patients who have primary signs and symptoms of this condition, but that evidence regarding its efficacy is inconclusive and there were no significant treatment benefits in the one study that met inclusion criteria . It is suggested that clinical judgment, along with patient preference, should guide the consideration for meniscectomy. The AAOS found insufficient evidence on arthroscopic treatment of the glenohumeral joint and is therefore unable to recommend for or against the procedure . Experts have described satisfactory outcomes after arthroscopic debridement of the elbow [28,271]. The ideal candidate for the procedure is younger than 60 years of age, is active, and has impingement pain at the extremes of the range of motion but not at the midpoint of the arc of motion or at rest [28,55]. Compared with open debridement, the arthroscopic procedure is associated with decreased intraoperative bleeding and less postoperative pain. The procedure is technically demanding but is safe when performed by an experienced surgeon familiar with the technique . Debridement (through arthroscopy or arthrotomy) of the ankle has relieved pain, decreased swelling and stiffness, and improved the activity level in more than half of patients . Improvement is most likely when debridement is done to remove osteophytes, smooth unstable chondral surfaces, and remove loose bodies . The 2013 AAOS guideline on the treatment of knee osteoarthritis includes a limited recommendation for valgus-producing proximal tibial osteotomy . The panel reviewed nine low-strength studies that showed nine of 10 outcomes significantly improved from baseline and significantly reduced pain scores. Distal femoral (varus-producing) osteotomy was not evaluated because of a lack of studies meeting inclusion criteria. Total arthroplasty (joint replacement) is considered when all other options have failed. Indications for the procedure are severe symptomatic disease (chronic pain and disability) . The procedure has led to high rates of good-to-excellent results when done at the knee and hip and is cost-effective compared with nonoperative management [16,35]. In 2013, an estimated 700,740 total knee arthroplasties were completed in the United States . According to the National Institutes of Health, the success of total knee arthroplasty in most patients is strongly supported by more than 20 years of follow-up data, with significant improvement in pain, joint function, and quality of life in 90% of patients . However, some patients will experience prosthesis failure, and risk factors for failure include male gender, age younger than 55 years at the time of surgery, obesity, and the presence of comorbidities. In terms of factors related to the surgeon, greater procedure volume (both of the surgeon and the facility), prosthesis choice, and surgical technique (e.g., proper alignment of the prosthesis) all contribute to better patient outcomes . It is important to note that both knee and hip arthroplasty are associated with a high risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism compared with other surgeries. Without prophylaxis, DVT will develop in most patients . Therefore, prophylactic treatment, usually with either low-molecular-weight heparin or warfarin, is recommended for patients undergoing one of these procedures, unless contraindications are present. Because there are anatomic differences in joint structure and size between men and women, a gender-specific knee prosthesis was designed specifically for women . Researchers believed that the better fit would lead to improvements in recovery and outcomes for women who had total knee arthroplasty. In one study, 85 women who received a standard joint in one knee and the gender-specific joint in the other knee were followed up for two years after the surgery . Patient satisfaction, range of motion while lying, and WOMAC scores were similar for both prostheses. The researchers did note that the standard prostheses appeared to fit at the distal part of the femur better than the gender-specific type; furthermore, the small size of the gender-specific prosthesis exposed more bone and resulted in more bleeding immediately after surgery. Although the study concluded that there were no benefits to the use of gender-specific prostheses in women undergoing total knee arthroplasty, research evaluating long-term effects is necessary. Postoperative rehabilitation is a necessary component of recovery after operative treatment of osteoarthritis and requires cooperation of the entire multidisciplinary team. In the case of total knee arthroplasty, patients should be guided on a postoperative exercise and rehabilitation plan that focuses on obtaining an acceptable level of joint function, range of motion, and quality of life (e.g., ability to perform activities of daily living unassisted). In some cases, a continuous passive motion device may be used. This device has been suggested as a means to obtain greater range of motion more quickly after surgery . While this may be the case, no long-term benefits (e.g., ultimate range of motion) have been definitively proven, and evidence on the short-term effects are conflicting [276,277]. It is not a recommendation of the AAOS or the ACR at this time. In general, the institution of a structured exercise plan, guided by the physician and physical therapist, will assist patients in regaining range of motion and return to performing daily activities. A daily physical therapy program after total knee arthroplasty should continue for four to six weeks, at which point the patient's needs will be reassessed. According to one study, the greatest improvements in lower-extremity functional status after total knee arthroplasty were demonstrated in the first 12 weeks, with little improvement noted after 26 weeks . By the end of physical therapy, the patient should be able to perform activities of daily living and progress to ambulating on flat surfaces and stairs. Strengthening and stretching exercises focusing on the hamstrings and quadriceps should be incorporated into the program. There is some debate regarding the importance of supervised outpatient physical therapy compared with exercise programs carried out in the patient's home. One meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials found that supervised physical therapy provided no benefits for patients who were younger at the time of surgery and had few or no comorbidities . However, the researchers noted that there is a lack of evidence regarding the use of outpatient physical therapy for older patients with comorbidities and those who have undergone more complicated surgeries. One study that included older patients (60 to 79 years of age) was designed to determine the functional differences between the effects of supervised physiotherapy with a standardized home exercise program following total knee arthroplasty . All patients were evaluated for joint range of motion, pain, functional status, overall quality of life, and depressive symptoms. Postoperative assessment showed a significant clinical improvement in both groups, and the authors found no significant difference between the groups in range of motion and functional status. Total hip arthroplasty is also relatively common, with 474,400 procedures completed in 2013 . This procedure is recommended for the treatment of osteoarthritis in older patients for whom nonsurgical interventions have been ineffective. Some data suggest that the benefit of arthroplasty of the hip is greater when done earlier in the course of disease . According to one study, female gender, the presence of comorbidities, contralateral hip osteoarthritis, back pain, and poor preintervention health or mental health status were predictors of poorer outcomes and lesser improvements in quality-of-life measures after total hip arthroplasty . Although steps are taken to prevent it, leg length can be altered as a result of total hip arthroplasty. It is important for the leg on the operative side to be measured and, if there is a discrepancy, corrected with the use of orthotics. As with knee arthroplasty, individuals who have undergone total hip arthroplasty require a physical therapy and exercise regimen that will allow them to obtain the optimal level of joint function and flexibility. The goals of therapy are the same as those described for total knee arthroplasty. One consideration is when to initiate physical therapy in order to gain the most improvement, particularly considering that improvements seem to plateau after 12 to 26 weeks. In a study of 593 patients who had total hip arthroplasty (performed by six different surgeons using different surgical techniques), 191 began physical therapy on the day of surgery and the remaining 402 patients began physical therapy on postoperative day 1 . The length of stay was significantly shorter for the patients who had early physical therapy (2.16 days compared with 3.38 days). Another consideration is the type of postoperative exercise and rehabilitation program recommended. One study compared a conventional rehabilitation program with the use of early maximal strength training in patients who had received a total hip replacement . Individuals in the treatment group performed leg press and abduction with the operated leg five times a week for four weeks in addition to the conventional program (supervised physical therapy three to five times per week for four weeks). The researchers found that those who included maximal strength training in their postsurgical physical therapy had a significantly larger increase in muscular strength and a trend toward a better work efficiency than those in the conventional therapy group. Other joint replacement procedures are not done as widely and are not associated with the same success as knee and hip arthroplasty. The AAOS guideline on the treatment of osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint includes a weak recommendation for total shoulder arthroplasty and hemiarthroplasty as options, with a moderate recommendation for total arthroplasty over hemiarthroplasty . The use of total elbow arthroplasty is limited by the high risk for instability and loosening and is rarely used to treat primary osteoarthritis [28,55]. When performed in younger patients, long-term success of the procedure has been limited because of high functional demands . As a result, total replacement should be reserved for patients older than 65 years of age who are willing to accept low levels of activity [28,55]. The complex anatomic and biomechanical features of the ankle joint have challenged the use of joint replacement . New designs of prostheses have led to good-to-excellent outcomes postoperatively, but complications have included osteomyelitis and osteolysis. In addition, only short-term data are available. An estimated 27 million adults have osteoarthritis, making it the most common joint disorder, and this number is expected to rise as the population grows older and lives longer. The disease is a leading cause of activity limitation and absenteeism among working-age adults and is associated with a significant decline in function among older individuals. The etiology of osteoarthritis is complex and not completely understood; some experts have theorized that osteoarthritis represents distinct disease entities according to the joint site, as the risk factors and clinical presentation vary across joints. This variation, along with a lack of correlation between symptoms and radiographic evidence, has created challenges in diagnosing osteoarthritis. In addition, clinicians must consider a wide range of differential diagnoses when evaluating a patient with joint pain. Diagnostic criteria have been well-established for osteoarthritis of the most common joints (knee, hip, and hand), and evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis of the knee and hand have been published. The clinical presentation and history remain the most important components of diagnosis for osteoarthritis at most joint sites. No curative therapy is available for osteoarthritis, and management is thus focused on decreasing pain and increasing function. 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You have searched for LeT commander Fayyaz Kagzi in the news | LAST UPDATED : 23 Oct 2016, 00:00 IST - Allu Sirish a tank commander in his Malayalam debut Telugu actors NTR Jr and Jagapati Babu put on stellar shows with superstar Mohanlal this year in 'Janatha Garage' and 'Pulimurugan', respectively. And it is the turn of Allu Sirish, younger brother of Allu Arjun, next. We had earlier reported that Allu Sirish, Rana Daggubati and Vijay Sethupathi, were in discussions to play the role of Lieutenant Chinmay of the Indian Army in Major Ravi’s upcoming war drama titled 1971: Beyond Borders. The director now confirms that it is Sirish who has bagged the part. “His is an important role, that of a battle tank commander,” says Ravi. “Sirish liked the script and his character, and has given the nod to play the role. We will start filming next month.” The film, which is reported to be a Malayalam-Telugu-Hindi trilingual, would mark the actor’s Mollywood debut. With Allu Arjun enjoying a massive fan base in Kerala, Sirish too wanted to be part of the Malayalam film industry and when this opportunity came by, he just couldn’t let it slide, he tells us. “I am very patriotic and so the theme of the film was a clincher,” he says. “Also, I follow Malayalam films and I have watched most of the recent movies. Whenever my brother visited Kerala, I have tagged along and I feel a certain connect to the state and the people. I always wanted to be part of such a vibrant industry.” On landing the role, Sirish says, “I have heard of Major Ravi’s films such as Keerthichakra and Picket 43. We happened to meet at Hyderabad some time ago and he told that he wanted to narrate a story to me. Right after I heard the plot, I was sold.” Sirish shares that his role will also have a romantic track in the film. Although his leading lady isn’t finalised yet, he admits that they have a few options lined up for the casting. The actor will start shooting for the film in Rajasthan by November. The film, set against the backdrop of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, focuses on the battle tank fights between the nations and the internal conflicts of the soldiers on both sides of the border. - Army starts sensitizing commanders and troops against Pakistani tweets The Army has alerted command headquarters across the country, including the eastern one based in Kolkata after Pakistan-based twitter handles went viral on the alleged suicide by a Sikh soldier after being asked to attack Pakistan - Failed North Korean ballistic missile launch detected: US strategic Command The North American Aerospace Defense Command determined the missile launch did not pose a threat to North America, US Strategic Command said in a statement, adding that it was presumed to be a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile. - 44 held in Baramulla for terror-related activities; LeT issued warning to SHO Pakistan-based terror group Laskar-e-Taiba has issued a warning to the Baramulla SHO for facilitating an operation on Monday in which at lease 44 have been arrested for terror-related activities. After 700-odd houses were searched, security agencies seized petrol bombs, Chinese and Pakistani flags - China impedes India’s attempt to mention Pakistan-based JeM, LeT in Goa Declaration Goa Declaration in many ways did not deliver the knockout blow to Pak which many had come to expect. Given China’s presence, a specific mention of cross-border terrorism was never going to be possible but India was expecting the declaration to mention India-specific terror groups like JeM and LeT. - 10 Maoists including top commander arrested from UP NOIDA: A top Maoist from Jharkhand's Latehar district Pradeep Singh Kharwar was arrested on Saturday night along with five other accomplices from an apartment in Noida. The operation was conducted at a residential complex in Noida Sector 49. Four more were later arrested from Noida and Chandauli district, taking the number to ten. #UPDATE Three more Naxals arrested with explosives & detonators in Noida: UP IG ATS.— ANI (@ANI_news) October 16, 2016 One more Naxal arrested from Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. Total no of Naxals arrested: 10— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 16, 2016 The area commander was hiding in Noida since February 2012. UP police claimed a major attack in Delhi, NCR has been averted with the arrests. The group was nabbed in a joint operation of intelligence agencies and Uttar Pradesh ATS. The arrested commander had Rs 5 lakh reward on him and was among the most wanted, say said UP police top brass. Pradip is a resident of village Bariyatu in Latehar district of Jharkhand. Cache of weapons were recovered from them. - India to nail Pakistan's lie on LeT funding at international meet NEW DELHI: When delegates from 190 countries, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), United Nations and multilateral agencies sit together from Sunday in Paris for a weeklong discussion on financing of terrorism, the Indian representatives will turn the spotlight on the free run given to banned outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and its UN co-listed entities Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) for raising funds for terrorism in the name of charity in Pakistan. India will also highlight the recent collection of funds in the name of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani. According to the latest Asia Pacific Group report on action taken by Pakistan against terror financing in line with FATF recommendations, exclusively accessed by TOI, Islamabad claimed to have taken several measures under international pressure against these UN listed groups. The action included taking over the management of these UNSCR 1267 designated organisations — LeT and its charitable arms — FIF and JuD, and appointing an administrator from Punjab (Pakistan) government to oversee their operations. Pakistan also said it has frozen 33 bank accounts related to individuals and entities associated with LeT, JuD and FIF. In order to stem the fundraising activities of these outfits, the Nawaz Sharif government claimed to have put a ban on advertisements seeking funds in the name of charity, holding public rallies and has blocked websites and telephone services for raising of funds. However, the report which Indian officials are likely to raise in Paris says that the Markaz is still running under the name of JuD, which indicates that asset freezing and prohibitions on collecting funds are not comprehensively implemented. Indian officials say that Jamaat-ud Dawa and its branches still openly hold public rallies and collect funds while Pakistan is lying to the international community on such action. “It’s all eyewash. Pakistan doesn’t want to take action against UN listed organisations and individuals and doesn’t comply with the recommendations of world body on terrorism financing — FATF,” said a government functionary. The Indian delegation, which includes officials from MHA, MEA and other agencies, will also share steps taken by the Narendra Modi-led government in curbing terror funding through banking and non-banking channels, confiscating terrorists’ assets, action on money laundering and amending unlawful activities (prevention) act to criminalize terror financing. In its last report to FATF in 2015, India had informed that Pakistan-based terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen was receiving funds originating from Pakistan through different channels. - 6 people including top Naxalite commander hiding in a Noida apartment arrested NEW DELHI: A top Naxalite from Jharkhand's Latehar district Pradeep Singh Kharwar was arrested on Saturday night along with five other accomplices from an apartment in Noida. The area commander was hiding in Noida since February 2012. UP police claimed a major attack in Delhi, NCR has been averted with the arrests. The group was nabbed in a joint operation of intelligence agencies and Uttar Pradesh ATS. The arrested commander had Rs 5 lakh reward on him and was among the most wanted, say said UP police top brass. Pradip is a resident of village Bariyatu in Latehar district of Jharkhand. Six weapons have been recovered from them. The operation was conducted at a residential complex in Noida Sector 49. - 'High Command' movie triggers debate in political circles BELAGAVI: High Command, a Kannada movie producing by Satish Jarkiholi, former minister known to his anti-superstition campaign has created curiosity with its title and subject across the state. Auditions for the suitable characters are going to begin from Sunday at Belagavi and later at Kalburgi, Mysuru and Bengaluru. Jarkiholi released posters of the movie recently in Belagavi and said preference will be given to the actors who look similar to popular political personalities and imitate them effectively. High Command will be the movie put light on true political incidents in state and national level and role of politicians. It will be presented before people in sarcastic way with light comedy. Increasing gap between rich and poor and confrontation of farmers with governments also will be the subject part of movie. "I have seen lot of political ups and downs in my political career of 30 years. I don’t want to make people serious but it’s an effort of telling untold stories of the Indian politics to the people in humoristic way. My minister post has already been snatched recently but I am not the person who sit silent without doing any work. I am stepping into movie production as my second innings”, Jarkiholi said. Movie, having the story of Satish Jarkiholi and being directed by Nagendra Magadi is coming under the banner of Buddha Cine Combines. Keshavaditya has written dialogues while it has camera work of Ramesh Babu. If all goes well, movie will be released to theatres in June 2017. Clinched debate in political circles: The movie has clinched debate in political circles with its title and probable contents of the movie, as the advertisement published in different news papers for auditions, asks characters look similar to political personalities and imitate them effectively. Many are asking how a leader of a political party having high command culture produces such movie. There are also rumours that Congress high command is the target of movie as Jarkiholi has embarrassed in the party after he dropped from cabinet. Because of the embarrassment and find a future political career, he has already put one leg in JD(S) party and just formality of joining is remained. A senior Congress leader with condition of anonymity said it’s a political strategy of Jarkiholi brothers keeping their existence in all major political parties as at least one of them must be a minister, be any party forms a government. - 6 LeT terrorists may infiltrate through Pathankot river: Intel CHANDIGARH: The Border Security Force (BSF) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) have issued a security alert about six Lashkar-e-Taiba militants attempting to cross Punjab border for a fidayeen attack on defence establishments. The alert comes days after Punjab government revoked its evacuation order from the six border districts of Ferozepur, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Taran Taran and Fazilka. “Input received has indicated that a group of six Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists is camping near Pakistan's border out post (BOP) Sukha Chak,“ the alert said. The alert is descriptive in nature and says the terrorists are trying to infiltrate either through the densely forested area of Ujh river near BSF BOP Manjhari or through Ravi river in Dinanagar sector. “The group may target Army or BSF establishments in Pathankot area,“ it adds. The Punjab police said it was ready to thwart any attempt by the terrorists. “The riverine beds remain a concern. We had highlighted this point during the meeting between Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal and Union home minister Rajnath Singh. On both occasions, that is during Dinanagar and Pathankot, we suspect the infiltration was facilitated through water bodies by the locals,“ said a senior Punjab cop. Punjab government, in a report to Rajnath Singh during the meeting on sealing Indo-Pak borders in Rajasthan, had said that 30 such river entry points near the border were susceptible to infiltration across six districts in Punjab. The Punjab government has also tabled a proposal to put its own unmanned aerial vehicles in the sky and patrol boats in the water. - Two sailors die in separate incidents at Eastern Naval Command VISAKHAPATNAM: Two sailors were killed in two separate incidents at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) in a span of two days. The victims were identified as sub-lieutenant Tejveer Singh of warship INS Kuthar and Pawan Kumar Pandey of submarine INS Sindhudhvaj. According to sources, Singh was handling a weapon on board INS Kuthar when it accidentally went off. The incident took place at 2.30 pm on Tuesday. He was immediately shifted to ENC's hospital INHS Kalyani. In spite of best efforts by the doctors, the sailor succumbed to his injuries. Navy officials did not divulge any details as to what Singh was doing with the weapon and what make it was. In another incident on Monday, leading electrical power supply sailor Pawan Kumar Pandey was electrocuted while he was supervising the maintenance of an equipment at around 3 pm. He was given first aid by a medical team on board INS Sindhudhvaj and later shifted to INHS Kalyani. However, he also died while undergoing treatment. Indian Navy has ordered an inquiry into both the incidents. - LeT threat to minister; security beefed up Srinagar, Oct 6 () The security of Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Naeem Akhtar has been beefed up following threats to him by militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) over restarting of schools in unrest-hit valley and urging people to send their wards to schools. - IAF Wing Commander unspools drug racket web Hyderabad: Growing up in Jeedimetla, an industrial area, came in handy later for arrested Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander G Rajasekhar Reddy to quickly establish an amphetamine manufacturing unit and produce the contraband. During interrogation, Rajasekhar Reddy told Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths that he grew up in Apurupa Colony, Jeedimetla, as his father Jayanna was an employee of HMT.He told the NCB officials that he studied at Satyavani Vidyaniketan of Jeedimetla, where co-accused and Bengaluru-based scientist Venkata Rama Rao was his classmate. The 36-year-old Wing Commander confessed that the `cook' of the amphetamine, M Rama Murthy of Jeedi metla, who worked as a chemist in several labs in the city, had been his acquaintance since his college days. Rajasekhar Reddy joined the IAF in 2002 as a flying offi cer and served at Bha tinda, Jalandhar and Bengaluru before be ing posted at the Di rectorate of Informa tion Technology , Indi an Air Force, Delhi. The Wing Commander's tryst with narcotics began in 2013 when a childhood friend, K Sreenu, who used to work at a chemical factory near Reddy's house approached him for help. Sreenu, who was arrested in an NDPS case, sought Reddy's help in securing bail. Rajasekhar Reddy helped him in getting bail.While helping Sreenu, the wing commander met Sreenu's friend A Vishnu, who also had drug trafficking history . “Vishnu introduced me to Syed Vazarullah Pasha, a narcotics peddler from Vijayanagar Colony , in 2015. Pasha, in turn, had introduced me to several other drug peddlers, including Narender of Hyderabad and Nabil of Mumbai,“ Reddy said in his confession. Narender introduced the Wing Commander to notorious drug peddler Venkat Reddy alias D Srinivas Reddy alias DSR of Doddaballapur in Bengaluru in January 2016. During this period, he also met his classmate Venkat Rama Rao, a scientist at a chemical factory in KIADB industrial area, Electronic City Phase II. In the meantime, Rajasekhar told DSR that he wanted to start a chemical lab in Hyderabad and the latter promised to give him Rs 1.5 crore to manufacture narcotics. “I took the offer from DSR and collected Rs 1.5 crore from him. Using Rs 1.25 crore, through one NV Rama Rao, the reactor was taken on lease at a chemical factory in IDA Bolarum and told Rama Murthy to prepare meth for Venkat Reddy and Nabil,“ he told the investigators. Two months ago, Venkat Reddy asked Rajasekhar Reddy to prepare 250 kilos of amphetamine for a ready-to-buy customer. On the directions of the Wing Commander, Rama Murthy collected Rs 20 lakh from the IAF officer's wife at Jeedimetla and started preparing the drug. Later, as per the instructions of Rajasekhar Reddy , Venkat Rama Rao reached Hyderabad on September 29 to collect the amphetamine from Rama Murthy's brother Ravi Shankar Rao, but was arrested by the NCB. When Rajasekhar came to know about the arrest, he left Delhi for a safer location. As he was trying to escape to Goa from Nanded via Kolhapur on the advice of Nabil, the Nanded police apprehended him and handed him over to the NCB sleuths. The NCB officials produced Rajasekhar Reddy before a local court here on Wednesday , which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody . - IAF wing commander who ran international drugs racket held Probing one of the biggest international drugs racket in recent times, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested a serving wing commander of the Indian Air Force. Some other officers are under surveillance for manufacture and supply of psycho-stimulant drugs, considered “cool” and “fashionable” by youngsters in most parts of the world. - Wanted LeT men from Hyderabad are operating from Saudi and Pakistan HYDERABAD: Absconding Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives from the city have turned recruiters for banned outfits and started enlisting youth from across the country for carrying out terror attacks and targeted killings. Though online recruitment through propaganda videos of ISIS has been under the scanner of intelligence agencies, the National Investigation Agency’s recently concluded probe into a pan-Indian terror module, busted in January last, has revealed that the banned terror outfit has operatives in the city. On September 16, the NIA special court in Bangalore had sentenced 13 LeT operatives, including B Com student from the city, Obaidur Ur Rehman, to five-year imprisonment for conspiring to kill right-wing politicians, journalists and police personnel from Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Hubli and Nanded. The four-year investigation by NIA’s Hyderabad unit revealed that six of them, currently residing in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, were instrumental in hatching the conspiracy. Three of the 13 convicts — Abdul Hakeem Jamadar, Zafar Iqbal Sholapur and Md Akram from Karnataka — had in fact got in touch with Abdul Rahman alias Mohammed Farhatulla Ghori, the terror operative from Hyderabad wanted in the Akshardham temple attack case. Hakeem Jamadar and Iqbal Sholapur met Ghori in Karachi, while Akram contacted him in Saudi Arabia twice (2011 and 2012). “Jamadar and Zafar wanted to join Taliban and fight against Nato forces in Afghanistan. Ghori convinced them to carry out jihadi activities in India and introduced them to ISI handlers Hamd, Mustafa, Abdul Wahed and LeT commander Riyan. The duo was trained in intelligence gathering, cyber espionage and weapon handling," an NIA official said. LeT and Huji operative from Hyderabad, Mohammed Abdul Majeed, brother of Task Force blast case accused, Shahid Bilal, had lured Akram of Bangalore to Saudi with a driver job as cover. "Majeed introduced Akram to several LeT operatives of Hyderabad based in Riyadh and Dammam, who were already guiding other accused about how to carry out terror attacks in India," an official, who was part of the investigation, told TOI. Among the six Hyderabad LeT operatives, three of them have criminal cases registered against them. Ghori is wanted in the Akshardhan terror attack case, while Mohammed Bhai alias Abdul Bari alias Abu Hamza in the 2002 Dilsukhnagar Sai Baba temple blast case and Siddique Bin Osman in the 1998 conspiracy case (155/98) registered at the CCS, Hyderabad. "Red Corner Notices are issued against all the wanted accused from the city and even the Saudi Arabian government was given their details, requesting for capture in case of a trace so that they could be deported," a Telangana intelligence official, said. LeT operatives from the city: Md Abdul Majeed, Siddique Bin Osman alias Abu Hanzala alias Saber alias Chimamu alias Rafeeq alias Jabri, Furkhan Bhai alias Abdulla alias Abu Saad alias Masood, Abdul Rahman alias Mohammed Farhatullah Ghori alias Abu Sufiyan alias Sufi Mama alias Faru Miya alias Qaid alias FG alias Professor, Asad Khan alias Abu Sufiyan alias Asadullah Khan and Mohammed Bhai alias Abdul Bari alias Abu Hamza. - Army chief briefed on Western Command theatre Chandigarh: Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag on Saturday visited the Western Command headquarters at Chandimandir Cantonment. During his brief visit, General Suhag was briefed by Lieutenant General Surinder Singh, General of Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Western Command, on the overall security situation in the command theatre. The Army chief also interacted with senior formation commanders and exhorted them to continue to maintain the highest vigil and alertness on the western borders. Gen Suhag was also accompanied by Lt Gen Subarata Saha, deputy chief of the Army staff (planning and system), during his visit to the strategically important command. Western Command guards the western fronts of the country. The entire area of Punjab, some parts of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh come under the command. In view of the current security situation, various army formations under the Western Command have started moving towards designated defensive positions in the western front. For the past one week, Western Army commander Lt Gen Singh has been visiting various forward locations in Punjab and HP to take an account of level of preparedness of his troops. He has also ordered field commanders to ensure a high degree of readiness at all levels with special reference to the areas adjoining Jammu and Kashmir including Pathankot and Gurdaspur. The Western Command is coordinating with the Border Security Force, which is guarding the international border on the western front and intelligence agencies for a better synergy in the present scenario. Earlier on Saturday morning, the Army chief had visited the Northern Command in Jammu and Kashmir area to take stock of the situation and preparedness of the troops. He had also interacted with the troops who participated in the surgical strike operation and conveyed his appreciation and best wishes to them. - Uri aftermath: Army removes Uri Brigade Commander In a damage control exercise twelve days after the 12th brigade, popularly known as ‘Kalapahar brigade’, came under attack from terrorists killing 19 soldiers, the army authorities has shifted its commander Brig K Somashankar from the command of brigade. - Pune Command hospital hosts symposium on organ donation, transplantation PUNE: A scientific symposium on ‘Current Concepts in Organ Donation and Transplantation’ was organised by Command Hospital, Pune under the aegis of Director General Medical Services (Army) and Headquarters Southern Command. Organ transplantation is based on identification of suitable donors, from whom organs can be harvested, once they are declared brain dead. Certification of brain death is done by a Board of Doctors. Once brain death has been certified, transplant teams are notified and arrangements are made for retrieval of organs, transportation and finally transplantation into the body of a recipient. The highlights of the outreach programme included educational lectures and scientific presentations by army specialists in the field of organ transplantation. This was followed by an interactive panel discussion where various medical, legal, ethical and scientific issues were discussed. The speakers dwelt upon the modalities and facilities for kidney, liver, cornea (eye), bone marrow and stem cell transplantation and their successful results in the armed forces. In his inaugural address, Lt Gen Raymond Noronha, Chief of Staff, Southern Command motivated the audience to pledge their organs to save the lives of needy patients with end stage organ disease. Lt Gen Velu Nair, Director General Medical Services (Army) and Colonel Commandant, Army Medical Corps delivered the concluding address emphasising the national need to promote organ donation. He underscored the need to energise organ transplantation and put in place a system to ensure its sucess. The armed forces have been recognised as an organisation at par with the states, for the purpose of authorising harvesting, transportation and transplantation of human organs. He also showcased the success of organ transplantation programme in the armed forces, and complimented the endeavours made by Command Hospital Pune, in this direction.

eNigeria 2014 International Conference and exhibition was held in Abuja at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja from 18th November 2014 to 20th November 2014. The 2014 summit had the theme CREATING MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIGENOUS ICT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. e-Nigeria is an annual information Technology (IT) summit organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in collaboration with relevant stakeholders from private and public sector as well as non-governmental organisations 1. It is a great pleasure to present the opening address at this 2014 edition of e-Nigeria, Nigeria’s international annual Information and Communication Technology Summit organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). 2. In 2011, I created the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology in recognition of the growing importance of ICT to national socio-economic development, job and wealth creation. 3. Two years later, the ICT sector made a direct contribution of 10.56 % to GDP. ICT also contributed a combined 2.56 % of added value to other sectors, thereby, validating our emphasis on a more strategic and deliberate focus on the ICT sector. 4. At last year’s forum which had the theme Local Content in IT Development in Nigeria: The Journey So Far; I requested His Excellency the Vice President, Architect NamadiSamboGCON to launch the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT. This key policy has received a lot of interest from both local and global ICT stakeholders. Currently, the Office of Nigerian Content Development in ICT, the vehicle to ensure judicious and sustainable implementation, is close to being fully operational. 5. The theme of e-Nigeria 2014,“Creating Market Opportunities for Nigerian ICT Products and Services”, is a useful follow-up to last year’s theme. Largely, the success of our local content initiative will depend on the deliberate and market driven opportunities through which Nigerian ICT products and services can be delivered. 6. There are numerous studies performed by the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) that support a strategy of strengthening the local IT sector by using public procurement. Government procurement of ICT goods and services is substantial and will continue to grow, as we deliver more and more services online, use social media to engage with citizens, and leverage ICTs to improve the productivity of civil servants and efficiency of public service delivery. 7. A number of policy directives already exist – for instance government procurement of Personal Computers PCs, below a certain configuration, must be sourced locally. Government also gives preference to meaningful technology transfer partnerships and collaborations between local and international companies, for the deployment of ICT services in government MDAs. 8. To place our efforts in global perspective, the “Buy China” efforts contributed tremendously to China’s remarkable rise over the past thirty years, with unprecedented global achievement that has brought China great respect globally. China leveraged a policy for large State-guaranteed financial investments driving local industry, sharing of expertise and significant technology transfer. 9. Similar progress has been made by South Korea. In the aftermath of the 1997 Asia financial crisis, South Korea adopted an ICT focussed and technology catalysed economic recovery strategy. Within a few years, ICT contributed 25% of the country’s GDP and today South Korea is leading the world in key sectors like electronics and shipbuilding. 10. However, ladies and gentlemen, in creating market opportunities for Nigerian ICT products and services, we must be mindful to not fall into the trap of protectionism or poor quality, if there is a perception of a guaranteed market. Under my administration Nigeria has recorded the highest levels of foreign direct investment in our history, and this is a testament,not only the size of our domestic market, but to a liberalised and market driven economy that is open for all serious and honest business people. 11. The Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, through NITDA, has made a strong statement of projecting Nigeria’s ICT sector as a premium investment destination through investment outreach missions to Silicon Valley, USA, and the more recent country strategic partnership with organisers of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) 2014. It is only important for us to build on the success achieved at this event, and encourage Foreign Direct Investment to further grow the ICT industry in Nigeria. 12. The incentives in government procurement, which I mentioned earlier, imply that there are readily available market opportunities that ICT companies can tap into, but the theme of this conference underlines that we also need to create new markets and new openings for ICT companies in Nigeria. This is where creativity and innovation, which is already a strong sub-theme in this conference, comes in. 13. A number of innovative programmes have already been rolled out by NITDA to complement the local innovation ecosystem. These have been designed to aggressively improve the numbers and quality of tech-preneurs and to ensure that profitable businesses are built around the innovative applications, solutions and platforms that our talented young women and men are producing. 14. The IT Development Entrepreneurship Accelerator (iDEA Hub), with locations in Yaba, Lagos and Tinapa, Cross River State, have begun to make an impact with 70 start ups being incubated and nurtured. A number of these start-ups are gaining recognition both at home and in Silicon Valley, and NITDA must be commended for this. I look forward to the next tech billionaire being a Nigerian! 15. In line with these efforts, Venture Capital Funds are being raised to help fill the gaps in seed funding that are a major handicap for our young tech-preneurs. Earlier this week we launched a 50millionUS dollars Venture Capital fund for SMEs, and this will very nicely complement the 22million US dollars ICT focussed VC fund that NITDA has seeded through the vehicle of the National IT Development Fund (NITDEVF). 16. With these preliminary records of success, there is no better platform to take advantage of the great potential in this sector, and no better time for us to consolidate our achievements than now that Nigeria is considered the largest economy in Africa, with a record of close to 7% growth in each of the last five years. 17. Mr.Chairman, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, permit me to reiterate that improving the number and level of companies from Nigeria that are significantly active in our ICT industry, is a key part of my Administration’s Transformation Agenda for growth with jobs and wealth creation. 18. With the content of this conference and the class of resource persons invited, I am confident that its outcome will help us to develop a useful framework that will provide an all-inclusive approach for creating market opportunities, for indigenous ICT products and services in our country. 19. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my honour and to formally declare open the e-Nigeria 2014. 20. I wish you all a very successful conference. 21. Thank you and God Bless Nigeria. Communique issued at the end of the…Edition of the e-Nigeria Conference and Exhibitions Held from November 18-20, 2014 at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. The 2014 e-Nigeria Conference and Exhibition was held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja from November 18 through 20, 2014. The program was declared open by His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, represented by the Honorable Minister of Communication Technology, Dr (Mrs) Omobola Johnson. Other dignitaries at the event were the House Committee Chairman on ICT, HonShehuGusau, Prof Turner Isoun who chaired the opening ceremony, Director-General of NITDA who presented the welcome address on behalf of the Honorable Minister of Communication Technology and Mr. Jelani Aliyu, Nigerian-born, US-based automobile designer who was the keynote speaker. In attendance also were the members of the Board of NITDA and President of Council of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN). Over 500 delegates attended the conference whose theme was “Creating Market Opportunities for Indigenous ICT Products and Services” 2.0 The three day conference featured demos by over 10 business start-ups and over 20 presentations in 6 plenary sessions on the following sub-themes: 1. Showcasing Indigenous ICT Innovations for National Development 2. Value Addition, Wealth and Job Creation for ICT Solution Providers 3. Strategies for Enhancing the Quality of Made in Nigeria ICT 4. Building ICT Entrepreneurs and Human Capital in Nigeria 5. Leveraging International ICT Exhibitions and For a for Showing Nigerian Content 6. IT Innovations for Security and Crime Prevention A parallel session on “Scoping of ICT Deployment in Universities” was also hosted during the conference for the purpose of examining ICT related interventions in federal universities by various government agencies to identify possible areas of collaboration for more strategic and effective government ICT initiatives 3.0 The Conference: 1. Commended the theme of the conference as a consequential follow up to last year’s conference and observed that the success of the local content initiative would depend on the deliberate creation of market driven opportunities through which Nigerian ICT products and services could be delivered. 2. Noted with delight that ICT now contributes over 10% to Nigeria’s GDP. The Conference ascribed this to the 2011creation of a Ministry dedicated solely to ICT development, and the emphasis of President Jonathan’s administration on a more strategic and deliberate focus on the ICT sector. 3. Commended the recent launching of a 50million US dollars Venture Capital fund for SMEs by the Ministry of Communication Technology and the seeding of 22million US dollars ICT focussed VC fund by NITDA into the Fund. The conference expressed optimism that the venture fund would help in alleviating the funding problems experienced by tech-preneurs in the industry; 4. Commended NITDA for the establishment of pilot technology innovation hubsin Lagos and Calabar as prelude to the evolution of a viable innovation ecosystem. 1. Although the Conference had expressed satisfaction with the strides being made in developing the indigenous ICT industry, it cautioned against falling into the trap of protectionism or poor quality, if there is a perception of a guaranteed market. It further advised that: a. Local manufacturers and service providers should strive for international certifications in process improvement and enterprise IT governance frameworks such as COBIT 5. b. The Federal Ministry of Education and Policy Makers should put attentionon STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education, including the establishment of industrial design, robotics and artificial intelligence courses in tertiary and secondary schools as the basis for sustained growth in national development initiatives. 2. The Conference: a. called on the Federal Government, NITDA and ICT stakeholders to adopt deliberate, planned, and sustainedmulti-stakeholder approach towards investing in ICT governance and standardization, and investing in ICT infrastructure for power, broadband, cloud computing and big data) to consolidate on the achievements made in the sector, especially now that Nigeria is considered the largest economy in Africa, with a record of close to 7% growth in each of the last five years; b. Called on NITDA to collaborate with stakeholders to provide good business environment, quality education, peace and securityfor the youth as the foundation for business transformation; c. Called on the federal government and players in the ICT industry to pay close attention to Child Online Protection issues in the country; d. Called on NITDA to collaborate with stakeholders to establish and manage a National Software Directory, and to develop a distinctive National Software Master Plan 3. The Conference also considered the propriety of a forensic databaseandsecure information network for timely information sharing among law enforcement agencies. The Conference therefore called on law enforcement agencies to collaborate with NITDA to establish a national crime database and information infrastructure backbone to facilitate citizen participation and multi-stakeholder approach in crime prevention and management. In conclusion, the Conference expressed gratitude to Mr. President, The Ministry of Communication Technology, the sponsors of the Conference, members of the Board of NITDA, ICT stakeholders and the media for their support in making the 8th edition of the e-Nigeria Conference and Exhibitions a success. CREATING MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIGENOUS ICT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: THE PHILOSOPHY FOR SUCCESS by Jelani Aliyu, MFR In the realm of advanced living organisms, consciousness is the thread that binds all together and dictates realities, likewise with the ever growing sophistication of modern technology, ICT is the force that unifies and energizes all the various concepts and systems, creating the efficacy and synergy for the success of humanity as a civilization. We are now at a very exciting and decisive moment in our nation’s history, and the importance of the National Information Technology Development Agency in charting and enabling this encompassing catalyst that is so necessary for the enlightenment, empowerment and development of all our societies is immeasurable. It is my hope that this conference, eNigeria 2014, is remembered as one of the key events that have enabled and signified an exciting era when we as Nigerians decided to usher in a bold and better future for ourselves. We must never underestimate the amazing power of human imagination, the ability to envision a dramatically positive and dynamic future. Every great city, every monument, every historic feat, as it stands for all the world to see, was once pure thought, pure imagination acted upon and brought into reality. To imagine is to dream, to dream is to tune in to the ever amazing possibilities of the future. And when we do dream, it must be big, because to dream small is to totally underestimate the amazing capabilities that lie within each and every one of us. Our own country, Nigeria, from the Atlantic shoreline in the South, through the grasslands of the Middle-Belt, all the way to the rolling hills and bright blue skies of the North, Nigeria is truly a magnificent and blessed country. Yes, we have crude oil, yes, we have natural gas and a wide variety of raw materials, and yes, we have fertile soil that could be cultivated to feed hundreds of millions, but above all, what we have is our humanity, that magical inner spirit that glows from within, that magical inner spirit that makes us an integral and crucial part of the human civilization. And so, we must see ourselves not just as Nigerians, but as members of a global community, sharing constructive ideas, sharing inspirations, and together coming up with solutions for the betterment of humanity worldwide. We as Nigerians must not be afraid of success, but we must face the future with courage, we must individually and collectively focus on progressive opportunities and solutions. Those powerful capabilities that reside within each and every one of us must be reawakened, and it all starts in the mind, if you can imagine it and clearly see it in your mind then you are half way there, you can then easily strategize, jump into action and bring it into reality. We must not be defined by our current problems, they are not who we are, we are bigger than them, we must be defined by our dreams and aspirations, we must be defined by what we can achieve, we must be defined by a better tomorrow. Nothing is impossible, there are no impossibilities; there is only a better Nigeria to build. Our great country, Nigeria, Land of the Niger crocodile, Land of the Baobab tree, Nigeria, Where smiles are free, Like the bright blue sky, And the beautiful stars of the night. I grew up in Sokoto, land of the midday sun. My parents came from Dogondaji, which is a town about an hour southwest of Sokoto. Growing up was a fascinating experience, the wide open spaces, the bright blue skies and the very closely knit family. They were very exciting times. I attended Capital School and FGC Sokoto, where I met a lot of friends and teachers from many parts of Nigeria, and from Asia, and Europe. I have always been fascinated by automobiles and decided to be a car designer very early on. While growing up we had a lot of books, magazines and select educational TV shows that opened up our world beyond Sokoto and beyond Nigeria. Through all that content and with information from our dad and elder brother who travelled a lot, we learnt of how big the world is and of all the incredible potential and opportunity out there. Our father had a library where we read about great inventions, ideas and amazing places, I drew a lot and saw art as a language, through which one can conceptualize and develop ideas. I got a lot of support and encouragement from my family and a family friend. I found imagination especially fascinating as I often engaged in it to envision futuristic products, systems and positive scenarios. After FGC Sokoto, I had a number of admissions and the opportunity to study at a number of universities in the country, but I chose to study Architecture at the Birnin-Kebbi Polytechnic, because my priority was to immediately engage in hands on practical design, which the polytechnic offered, and to prepare myself for Automotive Design. At Birnin-Kebbi I did studies in sustainable home designs that were in tune with the Nigerian climate, buildings that passively kept cool without the need for air conditioners or other external energy sources. After Birnin-Kebbi I concentrated on going into Automotive Design itself. I got a book from a cousin of mine that listed all the American colleges and universities, in there I learnt of the Collage for Creative Studies in Michigan. I sent them the portfolio of designs I had done and secured admission. Sokoto State Scholarship Board offered me a full scholarship to study at the college. Automotive design is part of Industrial design, which is a fascinating field, in its purest and most useful form it is a tool for survival and economic growth, dealing with the challenges that people face every day and coming up with solutions to them, which are for the most part physical products or systems that empower people and make life easier, they also enhance relationships and interactions within humanity and between humanity and the environment. I strongly believe that no other man made product that is so attainable by billions of people has as much magic and enchantment as the automobile. In its most basic form it is a phenomenon that accentuates and amplifies human strength and capabilities, automobiles have become an integral part of modern life and are for the most part taken for granted, but technically and philosophically what they have done is made us a civilization of super humans, with the freedom to individually go anywhere at speed cocooned in our own microclimate. Automobiles in a way also give you an exo-skeleton that is not only physically protective but can be emotionally assertive and captivating. Altogether, an excellent automobile is physically indispensable and emotionally irresistible. And now with ICT, the automobile is evolving to be an even more exciting machine with untethered connectivity, autonomy and Artificial Intelligence, it is transforming into a new transportation genre: without the need for a driver, whole passengers would soon be able to do whatever they want while in transit, working, surfing the internet, cooking or sleeping. After graduation I got a job with General Motors, after about three years in Detroit I went on an international assignment to Germany for about two years to design Opels. When I came back to the Tech Center I worked on the Pontiac G6, then I transferred to the company's Advanced Design Studio, there I developed the design concept of the Chevrolet Volt Electric Car, the vehicle would go on to usher in a new era not just for GM but for the whole industry and world in general. The Chevrolet Volt project started with a brief by the then Vice President of product development on the need to develop a highly advanced vehicle concept that would take the company forward into the future. Three advanced studios were engaged in the competition, the one in California, one in the United Kingdom and the Michigan Advanced Studio where I was. Together there were hundreds of entries. Out of those hundreds, five were chosen for the final round. At the final selection my proposal was chosen to go forward as the Volt. I conceptualized the design of the Volt to be very advanced and to capture the spirit of the African wilderness and also that of the magnificence of the marine life off the African Atlantic shores: like a cheetah poised for an attack, like a shark swimming with powerful grace and focus. There are two incredible creatures, one mythical, one real that will forever be associated with the history, culture and achievements of Asia, these creatures are the dragon and the tiger. Whereas in old Europe dragons were believed to be fire breathing flying monsters that needed to be hunted down, in Asia the dragon is a symbol of power, leadership, and new beginnings. Although mythical, it occupies a position of strength in the minds of Asia, so does the tiger. Which in itself is an unbelievably powerful creature, the perfect balance of brute force and flexibility, calm and ferocity, when it hunts it does so with calculated strategy, utter focus and unyielding tenacity. These are also the exemplary characteristics of four unique Asian countries which have exhibited so much achievement that they have now come to be called the ‘Asian Tigers’, these are the countries of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. Four countries that have created nothing short of a miracle: within a relatively short period of about thirty years, from the mid-sixties to the nineties, they would transform themselves from underdeveloped economies into some of the world's most advanced nations, moving their populations from a life of hardship to that of prosperity. How did they do this? They employed a number of strategies, key amongst which were intensive education that led to the development of a highly skilled work force, free enterprise and the aggressive manufacturing of goods exported to the West. They had a concerted effort to make primary and lower secondary school education compulsory. A strong curriculum was put together, teaching was made an important profession and the best graduates were encouraged to go into that field. They were trained to create highly competent and enthusiastic faculties at all schools. Salaries of teachers was made competitive with other contemporary professions. The governments of the Asian Tiger countries supported major corporations and public initiatives to establish strong ICT solutions that were deployed directly within the country, enabling the successful establishment of the new systems on a massive scale before further scaling up globally. In the case of Taiwan, the country moved from a virtual nonexistent ICT sector in 1960 to a powerful global player by the 90s, and it has continued to be in that league. The government created two mega companies in the heyday of the country’s ICT development, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (TSMC), the world's first dedicated semiconductor foundry, and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), with such momentum the country became the research and development hub of the Asia-Pacific region. With South Korea, their technology initiative led to the development of one of the world’s most successful and actually the first 100-percent electronic customs e-government information systems in the world, The Korea Customs Service’s Universal Pass, known as ‘UNI-PASS’. It has since been exported to a number of countries around the world. South Korea also gave priority to Industrial design, the concept of creating new products that are solutions for everyday applications and economic growth, this enabled a strong industry that designed, manufactured and exported these solutions overseas, especially to the United States. The Asian Tigers moved from just manufacturers of ICT products to pervasive nationwide users of it, integrating the technology in all aspects of government and social life. They developed a highly skilled workforce which in turn fostered strong innovation and entrepreneurship, bringing unprecedented progress to their populations. Can we emulate this miracle of the Asian Tigers as they did with their leap from poverty to prosperity, can we also emulate their success as high caliber ICT global innovators and exporters? We, as Nigerians, are now at an exciting moment in our country’s history, we have never been ordinary, we may have had challenges, but we have never lost our zeal. It is now our turn to muster and leverage all our capabilities and usher in a new era of advanced progress and abundance, in effect, to bring back the greatness of our people, to recapture the magic and prosperity of our histories, cultures, kingdoms and empires. To bring back the era when our societies engaged the authentic capabilities of all citizens and prospered. And so the answer is yes, just as the Asian Tigers transformed their economies and became crucial players in the global ICT sector, we too can do the same, and must be done in an even shorter period. Our greatest enabler is Intelligent Technology, technology that is in tune with Africa, technology in tune with our culture, histories, climate and geography. And the encompassing phenomenon to bring about this transformation is a nationwide development and adoption of the most advanced ICT. So, who are we? Who are the Nigerians? Environmental consciousness has become an integral part of global development, nature is now once again no longer seen as a force to conquer, but rather, it is seen as a medium from which to learn, efficiently draw energy from and live in harmony with. And when we do observe nature, we see that we live on a truly magical planet, a gigantic orb of life hurtling through space, everywhere we look around us, we are surrounded by wonders of our natural world, from the tiny leaf only fractions of a millimetre thick and yet a highly efficient factory to the amazing sea rays that glide within the deep waters of the Atlantic, planet earth is a perfect balance of beauty and practicality. And so in these days of environmental consciousness, sustainability and renewability, who more environmental than the African, who more sustainable than the Nigerian? Who better to understand this global movement and position themselves as high calibre creators of world class solutions than Nigerian innovators? Africa is a unique continent, with extreme climates and geographies, extreme heat and rough terrain, but these are not problems, they are not negatives, these are what Africa is. They are the beauty of Africa, and are the magic and the characteristics that have for millennia engaged a people and crafted them with immeasurable wisdom, virtue and prowess, characteristics that have fashioned a continent full of wonder, awe and adventure, and given us the magnificent Obudu hills, Serengeti and Ngoro Ngoro, the incredible Zambezi River, and the beautiful landscapes of the Sahel. Yes, there are challenges in infrastructure, energy supply, transportation, and education. But that is just what they are, challenges, they are not us, we are bigger than them. Having the right technology is crucial in any society or locality. A major reason for the failure of a lot of infrastructure and systems in our nation is because they were not fundamentally designed for our applications, they do not fall within the critical physical and mental patterns that are natural for Africa, and so they don’t fail because of an inherent lack of local human support. It is no surprise that our physical environment is absolutely different from the conceptual birth place of a lot of the technology that finds itself transplanted into Africa. From time immemorial, Africans have had tools, systems and technologies that have assisted them in their daily lives. These technologies had been developed and evolved over time to be the most conducive for our people and environment. For example, most of Africa is hot, and historically homes have been built to be comfortable with local natural materials and passive cooling technologies without the need for added energy. In the last couple of decades we have equated progress with completely disregarding and forgetting a lot of our local and very effective technologies. This is not right, we must not dismiss them, but rather we must build on them, so as we progress, we must leverage advanced product development and intelligent Information Technology, coupled with our honed inherited understanding of extreme circumstances, to create advanced new systems that best suit our terrain, climate, psyche and histories. Therein will lie the secret to the success of our ICT products and services, making them authentically African for the unparalleled extreme African solution and hence effective for the world. And so, imagine integrating these advanced effective solutions into our cities, infrastructure, institutions and patterns of life, making them the pride and jewels of modernity while upholding the very core values of our heritage and our respect for the magnificent natural world around us, for example: 1) Based on our cultures and ways of living, we have millions of children spread all across the country who cannot come to a traditional classroom because they are an integral part of their family’s vocation, some are not even in their towns or settlements but out there farming, herding, fishing and hunting, so how do we take education to these kids wherever they maybe? How do develop a self-adapting and un-tethered educational system, with intelligent networks, specialized sustainable hardware and software that would reach and engage these students while they are out there farming, hunting and fishing? 2) A majority of our citizens live in rural areas with no access to public or modern private services. Delivery of medicine, goods and needed supplies is a challenge over inhospitable terrain, across unbridged rivers and impenetrable forests. How do we provide intelligent logistics systems that can autonomously and safely service every town, village and settlement, making irrelevant the lack of roads to any of those places, to operate either by air or by land, perhaps autonomous delivery drones or self-driving off-road solutions with the capability of efficiently and expediently traversing any natural terrain and leaving it pristine and undisturbed? The two examples mentioned above are but a window to the advanced future of Nigeria and Africa, without expensive roads crisscrossing and destroying natural habitats we can reach every citizen of this country with essential goods and services, without building a physical school in every village and settlement we can give world class education to each and every Nigerian child. While maintaining the natural environments of Africa we can, through leveraging strategic ICT solutions, create advanced nations where our people will once again live in harmony with nature, in abundance, peace and prosperity. Once we pioneer and develop these types of advanced and highly applicable ICT solutions, we can very easily scale them up and provide them to the world. And so, what are some of the enablers to creating these Africa conducive ICT solutions? First and foremost is the acknowledgment of the miracle that we have all around us: the magic that is Africa that must be preserved. Establishing Industrial Design courses and making the profession an integral factor of ICT and general technological development, through its discipline of creative hardware innovation and development. To set up departments at tertiary institutions, and integrate the course in the curriculum of secondary schools. Establishment of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence courses right from secondary school to degree courses at universities, polytechnics and specialized schools. · Engaging Nigerian professionals in the diaspora in collaborative initiatives and projects, to merge their collective international experiences and contacts with Nigerian based experts and opportunities. a) Engage in collaborative advanced Research and Development, and b) Organize exciting local challenges and competitions to expose our local talent to the international community. It is an exciting new world, and we must be strong valuable members of it, we must go for the seemingly impossible and make it reality. We must brave new paths with no fear, we must all come together and courageously strive towards the achievement of all that which will positively and most dynamically impact multiple facets of the Nigerian human experience. Jelani Aliyu, MFR, Automotive/Industrial Designer and Developer,

May 23, 2014 Tissot providing this year's Official Watch of MotoGP The 2014 MotoGP season is in full swing, following the first circuit in Qatar in March - so, with a full schedule of exhilarating races to come, there's still plenty of time to get acquainted with the sport's Official Timekeeper. As well as fulfilling its continued role of timekeeping, Swiss brand Tissot will also once again be providing this year's Official Watch of MotoGP. Famous for both precision and prestige, Tissot watches are the perfect fit for the MotoGP tournament and this year is no exception, with the Tissot T-Race MotoGP Limited Edition 2014 Collection setting the season off with sophisticated style. The Tissot watches in question are two brand new models, one mechanical and one quartz, both produced in limited edition runs. The watches follow a long line of timepieces specially made in celebration of the ongoing collaboration between Tissot and MotoGP, showcasing the great synergy between the two with the iconic shared colours of black and red. François Thiébaud, President of Tissot watches, said "The dynamic and fast nature of MotoGP matches the brand's spirit perfectly... Like the mechanics, as the sport evolves and timing gets tougher, we keep up-to-date with all the latest technologies to provide utmost accuracy whether with our watches or timekeeping." As they deliver season after season on the race track, Tissot watches similarly continue to deliver within the wider watch industry with collections every year that pair classic Swiss design with the latest technological innovations. Following the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas on 13 April, Marc Marquez of the Repsol Honda Team is in pole position. Don't fall behind – keep time with the latest MotoGP developments with your own Tissot watch from House of Watches. Video of the watch: