2802 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
|Home||Special Reports||Archive||Links||The City||Commerce||About||Contacts||Editor||Send PR|
Santa Monica Seeks Creative Writers for Beach House Residency Program
By Lookout Staff
July 8, 2019 -- Los Angeles County writers working on fiction, poetry or plays have until July 18 to apply for a writers residency program offered by the City of Santa Monica.
The residency at the Annenberg Community Beach House includes a private office for nine weeks on the upper floor of the Guest House of the former Marion Davies estate.
Writing teams or writers working in biography/memoir, essay and nonfiction are not eligible, City officials said.
The residency allows the writer to complete a work-in-progress and share aspects of their work for the public’s benefit.
"This program is best suited to writers who will be able to use the residency period to either finish or make significant progress on a particular work," according to the application.
The writer-in-residence receives an honorarium of $1,500 in monthly installments "as an acknowledgment of the public benefit of the resident to the community."
The fall term takes place from October 16 to December 18, followed by a spring term from January 15 to March 18.
Residencies are offered as part of the City’s “Beach=Culture” program, a series of free performances, exhibitions, talks and events on the grounds of the old Marion Davies estate at 415 PCH.
The program offers "a stimulating cultural counterpoint to the social and recreational opportunities at the country’s only public beach club," Cultural officials said.
The writer-in-residence this spring was novelist and actor Wally Rudolph, who used the residency to work on his third novel, "The Ox, The Horse & The Boar."
Rudolph, who posted weekly updates about his residency on the beach house blog, is know for creating characters who wage a constant battle to survive in a violent world.
Applications for the residency program are available here
|copyrightCopyright 1999-2019 surfsantamonica.com. All Rights Reserved.||Disclosures|


text:
The Mower Against Gardens
I’ve been working a lot in my gardens over the summer: pulling weeds, pruning shrubs, spreading endless wheelbarrow loads of mulch. And, naturally, I’ve been thinking a lot about the poetry of Andrew Marvell, particularly “The Mower Against Gardens.” Marvell is rivaled only by John Milton as the best English poet of the late seventeenth century, and his poems on gardens contain themes of Eden, formal gardens, breeding hybrid plants, the untamed beauty of nature, and the fleeting joy of wandering solitary in nature.
(I know, I’m a literature nerd. But I love these poems that think about the relationship of humanity to nature pre-industrial revolution; Wordsworth’s nature poetry is lovely, for example, but I’m wary of the often sharply drawn dichotomies between [bad] industry and urbanization and [good] untouched nature.)
In “The Mower Against Gardens” the speaker — the mower — complains about the unnaturalness of formal gardens, with their expensive flowers, grafted trees, and hybrid plants. The mower contrasts this with the wild meadows, watched over by benevolent Nature and populated by “fauns and fairies.”
But the irony here is that the mower, armed with his scythe, tends to both the meadow and the garden: cutting down the grass, pruning the trees, exerting human dominance (dominion?) over both spaces. And both the garden and the meadow as the mower describes are imaginary: no gods dwell in the meadows, and nature, hardly absent from the garden, instead thrives there thanks to human cultivation.
Although the mower highlights the dichotomy between the cultivated garden and the wild meadow, Marvell suggests that both are spaces where humans tend nature, their responsibility since God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and where humans come into conflict with nature, their curse since the Fall.
Both the conflict and the joy of responsibility ring true for me, as I find both deep satisfaction and profound frustration as I tend my garden.
I have a shrub by my front porch, and I love the deep green leaves that welcome everyone who comes to my front door. But I also have to fight it, pruning it back every year as its branches threaten to grow over the walkway and block, rather than welcome, those who walk up the pathway.
I feel a deep satisfaction when I clear the weeds from a flower bed, allowing my plants to flourish free from competing thistles and clover. But I also feel a sense of despair, since I know that I will have to do this again, and again. And I know that now the rabbits will have unfettered access to the tender leaves of my new plants. My sweat drips into the soil as I fight nature in order to tend it.
And I wonder: how much of this work is good? How much is broken by the Fall? One of the things broken in the Fall was the relationship between humanity and the natural world; it is now marked by struggle and exploitation rather than harmony and care. Marvell points to this in his poem as people twist nature to fit into unnatural forms. But even so, the mower exists to keep nature from taking over fields and dwellings; the mower, despite his spoken stance in the poem, is an antagonist to nature.
In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly uses the figure of the farmer in his parables. These agricultural illustrations would certainly have resonated with his non-industrialized audience. But I can’t help but think that Jesus' use of nature is more profound: our struggle to both care for and protect ourselves from the natural world is one of the oldest struggles faced by humanity.
I think of the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, found in Matthew’s gospel, where the farmer sows good seed but the enemy comes in the night to sow weeds. When both come up, the servants despair: what are they to do about the weeds growing up entwined with the wheat? The farmer says: let them both grow together. Let the good and the bad intermingle because it can be difficult to distinguish between the two; because rooting out the bad can damage the good; because the struggle can make the wheat stronger.
Just like Marvell’s mower, the farmer in this parable complicates the dichotomies we like to draw: natural and unnatural, good and bad, wheat and weed. My work in my gardens is a microcosm of my work in life, as I try to do good but sometimes cause harm, as I do work that must be repeated over and over and over again.
None of this invalidates the work. But our struggle with the natural world, even in as small a setting as the flowerbeds around my house, is one of the primal struggles faced by human beings. We can take hope in knowing that, in the end, the Farmer will separate out the wheat and the weeds. But until that day, we work in mixed ways in this mixed world.

domain: artistic


Poor rains since the start of the June-September season had raised concerns of a first drought in five years.
Heavy rains lashes city for second consecutive day , MeT department predicts monsoon is likely to get stronger in Mumbai where downpour is expected.
In an interview, Rathore said he sees some prospects of the monsoon strengthening in a week, particularly in the south, western coastal areas etc.
Naveen Patnaik’s deft handling of cyclone Plain, possible with a timely warning by the Met Department, had earned much praise.
The respite is that monsoon is likely to revive in the first week of July and rain is expected in the national capital and northwest plains from July 5.
Deficit in monsoon rains has come down and good rainfall is expected in the coming days that will help complete sowing operations, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.
There are concerns about the likely occurrence of the El Nino, when surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean rise above average.
Punjab and Haryana, the two leading agrarian states of the country, have received scanty monsoon rains so far this year.


text:
As a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, Assata Shakur, formerly Joanne Deborah Chesimard is the definition of falsely accused. The history-making activist’s life may have continued in Cuba since her heroic escape from prison, but it seems that Shakur is still a prisoner. The FBI has decided to place 65-year-old Assata on their Most Wanted Terrorists List! And get this–they’re “honored” to do so–specifically FBI Special Agent in Charge in Newark, NJ. (Is that a real title? I digress…)
In 1973, while driving on the NJ Turnpike, police pulled Assata, Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli over for a faulty taillight. Shortly after being pulled over, a shootout claimed the lives of Zayd Shakur and officer Werner Foerster.
At the time of the shooting, Assata did what she was told and held her hands high, but was still shot multiple times. And even though the other officer claimed to have shot Zayd and there’s no physical way possible that Assata could have shot anyone, she was still convicted and placed in jail while the powers that be attempted to pin six other crimes on her.
“I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the U.S. government’s policy towards people of color. I was convicted by—I don’t even want to call it a trial, it was lynching, by an all-white jury. I had nothing but contempt for the system of justice under which I was tried.”
And flee she did. In 1979, Assata escaped from prison and made her way to Cuba, where she’s received political asylum and has been living ever since.
However, Assata hasn’t been living peacefully. Now, over 30 years later, Assata’s infamous name continues to be slung through the mud. The FBI has placed Assata on their list of Most Wanted Terrorists. You’ve got to be kidding me! 65-year-old Assata Shakur–a woman who was charged for a crime she never committed is now a terrorist 30 plus years after she was charged for her alleged crimes. That makes all the sense in the world.
=false&addThis.playerSize=392×221&freeWheel.siteSectionId=nws_offsite&closedCaptionActive=false&addThis.playerSize=640×360&closedCaptionsOverPlayer.fontsize=18 service=kaltura width=640 height=360 type=iframe]
The reward for Assata’s capture has now doubled to $2 million. “We want her to come back here and face justice and serve out her sentence,” New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said. That’s not all they want. They want the small amount of freedom Assata has left. New Jersey State Police Colonel Rick Fuentes is claiming that Assata is “flaunting her freedom.”
NewsOne’s Kirsten West-Savali may have said it best, regarding Assata making the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists List:
“It speaks to the hypocrisy of the United States that there are police officers who have not only killed unarmed, innocent people, but are roaming free and lauded for their bravery. Based on the criteria, there are certain police departments who should be characterized as domestic terror cells. But instead, the FBI is going after a 65-year-old revolutionary who isn’t even guilty and — by international law — has the right to seek political asylum.
It is amazing — and pathetic — how swiftly the FBI felt compelled to frame the domestic terrorism conversation around a Black revolutionary living in Cuba, instead of two White men from Boston. Timing is everything — and the timing of this travesty of justice speaks volumes.
Join us on this Hands Off Assata Shakur movement!
LIKE HelloBeautiful On Facebook!

domain: news


text:
Filmmaker, Vikash Verma who made the first Indo-Polish film, ‘No means no’ with Gulshan Grover and Polish actor Anna Guzik, says not every film is meant to be watched on phones of TV screens because of their sound effects fit for theatres only. The music of the film has been given by Hariharan. Excerpts of an interaction with Vikash.
Q: With this being the first Indo-Polish venture, how were you able to finish shooting amid the pandemic? Yes.. luckily we shot the part in Poland before the lockdown. The schedule of India was left. And then we didn’t want to release the film on OTT platform, hence the movie release was delayed.


text:
Massive DisneyLand Attraction Database
Frank Thomas' bobsled-cranking photo of Guiding Nemo Speedboat Voyage
Guiding Nemo Speedboat Voyage
December 29, 1960
Avg. queue length:
Drive a speedboat and join the search for Nemo, a character that has become lost somewhere in Fantasia. Through the speedboat's hullholes you'll be able to touch retired scenes such as:
- East Australian sketchbook
- Giant tires
- The relaxing volcano
- If you are put off by crowds, then you will want to avoid this attraction.
Guest Policies and Information
- Contains antique effects.
- Strollers will be easily mangled by this attraction's cast members.
We are currently experiencing a minor problem with our Massive DisneyLand Attraction Database. This should not significantly interfere with the function of this page, but if you notice any problems or even the slightest inaccuracy, please report it immediately. Thank you for your patience.

domain: entertainment


text:
This cock is not beeping, but it is still cute! Just knit it for your little ones at Easter. Or for yourself?
Size: about 8 cm in diameter
You need this for the chick trailer:
- Garnstudios DROPS ALPACA
- 50 gr. Fb. No. 100, natural
- a residue Fb. No. 2923, mustard yellow
- a rest Fb. No. 8903, black
- Garnstudios DROPS KID-SILK
- 25 gr. Fb. No. 01, natural
- Cotton to fill.
- DROPS NEEDLE GAME NO. 3 - Stitch: 24 sts x 32 rs with 1 thread of each quality knit stock = 10 x 10 cm
- DROPS CROCHET NO. 3 - for the loop
And this is how it's done:
STRICKTIP: so that there is no hole when knitting you knit the envelopes crossed re. (that is, you stab in the back of the stitch).
BALL: The ball is knitted round.
Cast on 9 needles with 1 strand of natural alpaca and 1 strand of kid-silk on double pointed needles size 3 mm.
Knit as follows:
1st R .: re.
2nd round: 1 cover, 1 round *, repeat from * _ * = 18 M.
3rd 4th row: right. - see above!
5th round: 1 cover, 1 round *, repeat from * _ * = 36 M.
6th and 7th: re.
8th round: 1 cover, 2 re. *, repeat from * _ * = 54 M.
9th to 11th R .: re.
ROUNDING: K 1 st *, repeat 1 round, repeat from * _ * = 60 sts.
13th to 20th R .: re.
Tighten the ball at the stop edge and sew the thread.
21. R.:* 8 re., 2 re. together *, repeat from * _ * = 54 M.
22nd to 24th R .: re.
25th of R. 1 r., 2 r. together *, repeat from * _ * = 36 M.
26th and 27th R .: re.
ROUND B: Continue to knit 2 sts = 18 sts.
29th and 30th R .: re.
31 st .: Work 2 sts in a row = 9 sts.
32. R .: re.
Cut the thread and leave about 1 meter of thread. Pull the thread through the remaining sts. Fill the ball with cotton wool and tighten.
STRETCH: Use the remaining thread and crochet with needle no. 3 as follows: Pull the thread through the top of the ball and crochet approx. 50 ch. At the end, attach with 1 dc again to the ball
SCHNABEL: Crochet with 2 threads mustard yellow on needle number 3 in the center of the ball 1 dc. Crochet 3 ch, 1 tr in first sc, skip approx. 1-1½ cm, 1 sc in ball. Rotate. Crochet 3 ch, 1 tr in first ch, skip approx. 1-1½ cm, crochet 1 sl st in first dc. Embroider with black eyes and mustard-yellow feet.
Here is the guide for you to download.

domain: hobby


Keep those dishes sparkling clean with this eco-friendly washing up liquid from Bio D. Made with a biodegradable formula that’s free from animal testing or animal ingredients, this vegan-friendly cleaner tackles stains and grime without issue. Bio D leave out the harsh chemical additives that are commonly found in detergents, such as SLS, phthalates, triclosan and parabens. The biodegradable formula means that this liquid is ideal for households with septic tanks.
Top up your existing Bio D washing up liquid bottle with this 5 litre bulk container to save some money.
5 litres in total
Made in the UK
Vegan-friendly formula – free from animal testing and cruelty (Leaping Bunny)
Free from parabens, SLS, triclosan and phthalates
Biodegradable formula – suitable for septic tanks
Packaged in recyclable plastic container
Above 30% Anionic Surfactant. Below 5%: Non-ionic Surfactant, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Lavandula Angustifolia oil
Average shelf life: 2 years from date of purchase
Store in a cool, dry place
We are not the manufacturer of the products sold on our website. While we work to ensure that product information on our website is correct, manufacturers may alter their product information. Actual product packaging and materials may contain more and/or different information than shown on our website. You should always read the labels, warnings and instructions provided with the product before using or consuming it and not solely rely on the information presented on our website.
There are currently no reviews to display for Bio D Washing Up Liquid - Lavender - 5L
There are currently no questions to display about Bio D Washing Up Liquid - Lavender - 5L.
About Bio D
Bio-D cleaning products are 'biodegradable', capable of being decomposed naturally by living matter. Bio-D is a UK based independent, family-owned, ethically motivated company, dedicated to promoting the use of hypoallergenic, environmentally responsible detergents. Using plant-derived raw materials obtained from renewable sources ensures a minimum impact on the ecosystem both in the use and in the manufacturing process of these eco-friendly cleaning products.
Bio-D operates a strict policy whereby none of their raw materials or finished products are tested on animals and have a fixed cut-off date of 1988. All raw materials are free from genetically modified ingredients and animal by-products. The company is subject to scrutiny and approval by The Vegan Society, Naturewatch Trust, BUAV and The World Wildlife Foundation. All packaging contains optimum levels of recycled materials and is recyclable.
Please see our Despatch & Delivery page for more information on delivery areas, services and charges.


Over 6,000 professionals working across social care, education, police, health, and other public sector organisations have now attended a Trauma Informed Awareness workshop with the Lancashire Violence Reduction Network (LVRN).
The LVRN recognised the importance of a Trauma Informed Lancashire and are leading on a specialist training programme aimed at supporting a wide range of professionals working with vulnerable children and young people in Lancashire.
Supt Justin Srivastava, Trauma Informed Lancashire Lead at LVRN said:
“This is a huge achievement. To see people from across the whole of Lancashire coming together and working in partnership to embrace the concept of a Trauma Informed County is extremely empowering.
The main aim of these workshops is to educate individuals to understand and be more aware of the trauma people may have experienced, and by making this a multi-agency approach, we hope that people have a more positive experience both in terms of interactions with services and in those services being structured to deal with their needs. It is fundamental that organisations and individuals who work with young people understand the impact that trauma can have.
These workshops are proving to be a great tool as part of a wider project to help reduce violence among our young people in Lancashire.”
The workshops are designed to inform front-line practitioners about childhood adversity and trauma and how it can affect an individual across their life-course, including an increased future likelihood of involvement in violence.
Individuals attending the workshops will also be guided on how to develop their approach and skills so that they are in a strong position to prevent the potentially negative impact of trauma on people’s lives.
A social worker commented on the basic awareness training they received:
“An informative and interactive training session, which encouraged lots of discussions and debates. It made me reflect on my own practice and experiences. The training provides various ways of learning and improved my overall understanding around trauma.”
An NHS nurse who attended the workshop said:
“A really enjoyable session. The trainers were excellent and very approachable, I feel confident to deal with trauma and sport behaviour that may present as a result.”
LVRN currently have several more sessions planned over the coming months to continue educating people on the benefits of trauma informed care.
If you are interested in starting your trauma informed journey, LVRN basic awareness workshops can be booked via Eventbrite: Trauma Informed Lancashire Basic Awareness – Multi Agency Partnership Staff Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite


text:
Quantity: 1 available
Five volumes. Oblong 4to. Each volume approx 150pp of b&w photographic illustrations, with detailed captions. Soft covers; those of the first three violumes neatly covered in contact plastic.
Title: A Pictorial History of Wyong Shire : in five volumes.
Categories: Local History,
Publisher: NSW, Wyong Shire Council: 1979-1984
Item: 1.00 Item
Seller ID: 34181


text:
The latest medical research on Oncology
The research magnet gathers the latest research from around the web, based on your specialty area. Below you will find a sample of some of the most recent articles from reputable medical journals about oncology gathered by our medical AI research bot.
The selection below is filtered by medical specialty. Registered users get access to the Plexa Intelligent Filtering System that personalises your dashboard to display only content that is relevant to you.
Want more personalised results?Request Access
The ASM Journals Committee Values the Contributions of Black Microbiologists.Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Black lives matter. The ongoing problem of police brutality and the resulting deaths of George Floyd (1), Breonna Taylor (2), and many other Black ...
Effect of Vancomycin-Associated Acute Kidney Injury on Incidence of 30-Day Readmissions Among Hospitalized Veterans' Affairs Patients with Skin and Skin Structure Infections.Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Among hospitalized adults who received vancomycin for their skin and skin structure infection (SSSI), patients who experienced acute kidney injury ...
(p)ppGpp and its role in bacterial persistence: New challenges.Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Antibiotic failure is not only due to the development of resistance by pathogens, but it can also often be explained by persistence and tolerance. ...
Sirtuin activation targets IDH-mutant tumors.Neuro-Oncology
IDH-mutant tumors exhibit an altered metabolic state and are critically dependent upon nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) for cellular survival. NAD+ steady-state levels can be influenced by both biosynthetic and consumptive processes. Here, we investigated activation of sirtuin (SIRT) enzymes, which consume NAD+ as a coenzyme, as a potential mechanism to reduce cellular NAD+ levels in these tumors.
The effect of inhibition or activation of Sirtuin activity, using small molecules, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and inducible overexpression, was investigated in IDH-mutant tumor lines, including patient-derived IDH-mutant glioma lines.
We found that SIRT1 activation led to marked augmentation of NAD+ depletion and accentuation of cytotoxicity, when combined with nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase inhibition (NAMPTi), consistent with the enzymatic activity of SIRT1 as a primary cellular NAD+ consumer in IDH-mutant cells. Activation of SIRT1 through either genetic overexpression or pharmacologic SIRT1-activating compounds (STACs), an existing class of well-tolerated drugs, led to inhibition of IDH1-mutant tumor cell growth.
Activation of SIRT1 can selectively target IDH-mutant tumors. These findings indicate that relatively non-toxic STACs, administered either alone or in combination with NAMPTi, could alter the growth trajectory of IDH-mutant gliomas, while minimizing toxicity associated with cytotoxic chemotherapeutic regimens.
Fully Automated Hybrid Approach to Predict the IDH Mutation Status of Gliomas via Deep Learning and Radiomics.Neuro-Oncology
Glioma prognosis depends on the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status. We aimed to predict the IDH status of gliomas from preoperative MR images using a fully automated hybrid approach with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and radiomics.
We reviewed 1,166 preoperative MR images of gliomas (grades II-IV) from Severance Hospital (n=856, Severance Set), Seoul National University Hospital (n=107, SNUH set), and The Cancer Imaging Archive (n=203, TCIA set). The Severance set was subdivided into the development (n=727) and internal test (n=129) sets. Based on T1 postcontrast, T2, and fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery images, a fully automated model was developed that comprised a CNN for tumor segmentation (Model 1) and CNN-based classifier for IDH status prediction (Model 2) that uses a hybrid approach based on 2-dimensional tumor images and radiomic features from 3-dimensional tumor shape and loci guided by Model 1. The trained model was tested on internal (a subset of the Severance set) and external (SNUH and TCIA) test sets.
The CNN for tumor segmentation (Model 1) achieved a dice coefficient of 0.86-0.92 across datasets. Our hybrid model achieved accuracies of 93.8%, 87.9%, and 78.8%; with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of 0.96, 0.94, and 0.86; and areas under the precision-recall curves of 0.88, 0.82, and 0.81 in the internal test, SNUH, and TCIA sets, respectively.
Our fully automated hybrid model demonstrated the potential to be a highly reproducible and generalizable tool across different datasets for the noninvasive prediction of the IDH status of gliomas.
Neutrophil diversity and plasticity in tumour progression and therapy.Nature Reviews Cancer
Neutrophils play a key role in defence against infection and in the activation and regulation of innate and adaptive immunity. In cancer, tumour-as...
Lactoferrin-derived peptide lactofungin is potently synergistic with amphotericin B.Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Lactoferrin (LF) is an iron-binding glycoprotein with broad spectrum antimicrobial activity. Previously, we discovered that LF synergistically enha...
Safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of a novel oral amphotericin B formulation (iCo-019) following single-dose administration to healthy human subjects: An alternative approach to parenteral amphotericin B administration.Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
This study evaluated the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of a novel oral amphotericin B (AmB) formulation (iCo-019) following single dose...
The Clinically Approved Antifungal Drug Posaconazole Inhibits Human Cytomegalovirus Replication.Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Posaconazole (PCZ) is a clinically approved drug used predominantly for prophylaxis and salvage therapy of fungal infections. Here, we report its p...
Topical Antibiotic Elution in a Collagen-Rich Hydrogel is Successful for Inhibiting Bacterial Growth and Biofilm Formation in Vitro.Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Chronic wounds are a prominent concern, accounting for $25 billion of healthcare costs annually. Biofilms have been implicated in delayed wound closure, but treatment options continue to be limited and susceptible to developing antibiotic resistance. A novel collagen-rich hydrogel derived from human extracellular matrix presents an avenue for treating chronic wounds by providing appropriate extracellular proteins for healing and promoting neovascularization. Using the hydrogel as a delivery system for localized secretion of therapeutic dosage of antibiotics presents an attractive means of maximizing delivery while minimizing systemic side-effects. We hypothesize that the hydrogel can provide controlled elution of antibiotics leading to inhibition of bacterial growth and disruption of biofilm formation.
The rate of antibiotic elution from the collagen-rich hydrogel and the efficacy of biofilm disruption was assessed with Pseudomonas aeruginosa Bacterial growth inhibition, biofilm disruption, and mammalian cell cytotoxicity were quantified using in vitro models.
The antibiotic-loaded hydrogel showed sustained release of antibiotics for up to 24 hours at therapeutic levels. The treatment inhibited bacterial growth and disrupted biofilm formation at multiple time points. The hydrogel was capable of accommodating various classes of antibiotics and did not result in cytotoxicity in mammalian fibroblasts or adipose stem cellsConclusion: An antibiotic-loaded collagen-rich hydrogel is capable of controlled antibiotic release effective for bacteria cell death without native cell death. A human-derived hydrogel that is capable of eluting therapeutic levels of antibiotic is an exciting prospect in the field of chronic wound healing.
A complex karyotype with t(11;12)(q23;p13) translocation with coexistent clones of deletion 5q and cryptic deletion 7q in acute myeloid leukemia.Indian Journal of Cancer
We report a rare case of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a cytogenetically complex karyotype with coexistence of KMT2A/MLL Mixed Lineage Leukemia...
Study of pathological complete response rate with neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiation with paclitaxel in locally advanced breast cancer.Indian Journal of Cancer
Neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiation (CTRT) is not widely practiced in breast cancers. The current study presents our experience with the use of neoadjuvant CTRT in patients with locally advanced breast cancers (LABC) treated at our center.
The study included all consecutive female patients with inoperable stage III LABC treated at Cancer Institute (W.I.A), Chennai, India, from December 2015 to September 2016. Data were collected retrospectively from the patients' case records. The impact of neoadjuvant CTRT on the pathological complete response (pCR) and survival was analyzed. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisted of 4 cycles of adriamycin and cyclophosphamide given either before or after 4 cycles of paclitaxel. All chemotherapy cycles were given once in 3 weeks. Concurrent radiotherapy was incorporated with 2 cycles of paclitaxel.
The study included 100 patients with a median age of 49 years, among whom 9 (9%) had IIIA disease, 73 (73%) IIIB, and 18 (18%) had IIIC disease. The hormone receptor-positive disease was observed in 36 (36%) patients, triple-negative in 24 (24%), and Her2/neu positive disease in 40 (40%) patients. All patients were operable after completing the planned neoadjuvant treatments. Ninety-one out of 100 (91%) patients underwent modified radical mastectomy whereas 9 (9%) did not consent for surgery. Among the patients who underwent MRM, 34/91 (37.7%) patients had a pCR. Moreover, pCR was observed in 12/22 (54.5%) patients with triple-negative disease, 10/34 (29.4%) patients with hormone receptor-positive disease, and 12/35 (34.2%) patients with Her2/neu positive disease (P = 0.19). Most common morbidity observed was grade 3 skin reactions. The 2-year event-free survival and overall survival for the entire cohort was 73.1% and 88%, respectively.
Neoadjuvant CTRT is associated with a higher pCR rate than what has been reported with neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. Further prospective studies are required to confirm our findings.

domain: literature


text:
A Chinese Eco-Plastic food packaging bag factory with BRC, ISO and BSCI Certification.
Food Fresh Packing Bag
Pet Poop Bag
Household Packing Bag
Kraft Paper Bowl & Cup
Contact: Lantion Bai
Adress: 2F,NO.73, HuLi Industrial Zone, XiKe Town,TongAn District, XiaMen City, FuJian Province, China
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION, PLEASE CONTACT US.

domain: food


One man in critical condition after hit-and-run on Arlington Ave.
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - One man sustained life-threatening injuries after being hit by a car on Arlington Avenue.
On Sunday, September 27th, 2020 just before 6 p.m. Reno Police found a man in his 20′s down in the road. Officers learned the man had been hit by a driver who left the scene. Police determined the driver was heading west on 4th Street and the man was walking south on Arlington Avenue.
Authorities say he was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Reno Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team responded to investigate the crash, and detectives are still looking for the car, the driver, and any witnesses to the crash. Detectives are looking for a late model green Chevrolet pickup with minor right side damage.
If you have any information, please call the Reno Police Traffic Office at 775-334-2141.
Copyright 2020 KOLO. All rights reserved.


CGB Communication is an agency
specialized in communication and public relations for luxury products,
in particular watch-making.
Whilst enjoying the advantages of a sound experience, CGB Communication
also has access to an extensive media network. It will be able
to respond to your questions by advising on and realizing your
A personalized and professional communication strategy will reinforce
respect for your product and your brand.


text:
5 Reasons Your Anti Aging Is Not What It Could Be – Aging can be an inevitable procedure for life. Whether we’re keen on it you aren’t, we may certainly age; grandkids can be grandparents. And as this truth is certainly true, it is usually factual that changes might be noted whenever we enter old-age. With this, you must face the undeniable fact that see your face will begin to show its age. However, this is why why anti age methods are favored nowadays; to never put a halt to aging but instead, to allow us to age gracefully. This suggests entering senior years and never having to appearance and feel old.
Now, there are lot of anti-aging strategies and approaches make use of to battle signs and symptoms of aging. Let’s take a peek at these approaches:
- Anti aging through disease Prevention. The single ideal thing that can be done to reside longer and healthier is always to do all you are able to avoid disease and sickness. Age defying isn’t about living to three millennium old; it really is about living provided that possible in good health.
Anti Aging through Exercise. Exercise is yet another excellent antiaging tool, and not given it helps control illness. Exercise really can help make your DNA younger. This suggests individuals that exercise more have an overabundance of fit, younger cells.
Anti Aging through Food. Anti aging depends on your system obtaining the correct ‘raw materials’ to fix damage and be sure everything is working right. Eating a solid various well balanced meals gives those ‘raw materials’ ( AKA antioxidants ) to one’s body. Further, avoiding the unhealthy food means you body has less ‘clean up’ work to perform which enable it to target keeping your cells, tissues and organs of their best working order.
Anti aging through Sleep. Getting sufficient sleep has become linked forestalling chronic illness as well as living longer. Make sleep an essential portion of your health, don’t purloin from a sleep to do various other pieces and you’ll be feeling happy and living longer.
Age defying Skin Care. The skin, it does not take biggest organ in the body along with the very first thing people see whenever they look at you. That’s why anti age natural skin care is really a market measured inside the many millions because of the guarantee of youthful skin.
Anti Aging Hormones and additions. An anti-aging pill will be wonderful as the majority of these additions produce hormones that helps with anti aging.
5 Reasons Your Anti Aging Is Not What It Could Be – Now, these are anti age supplements, they’re indeed popular inside market nowadays. These supplements, particularly those with heavy degrees of antioxidants, can stop the effects of the environment on the skin and in many cases reverse some from the effects as time passes. This anti-aging effect of supplements concentrates on the molecular damage done to your skin. For your info, poisons are cellular byproduct in the environmental components including air pollution, sun light, and stress and water intake. The free-radicals develop inside body over time and cause some in the most typical proof of aging.
However, age reversing supplements help rule in those free-radicals which will help prevent them from multiplying in a cellular level. Slowly, after a while, while using constant using antiaging additions, anti age with the skin may occur. Those wrinkles might not appear so heavy as well as the wrinkles less recounted. However the user in the anti age supplement should observe that the additions will only work as long as they’re taken constantly. Also, all people have free radicals inside the body, there is no method to escape their production, with the utilization of anti age supplements like antioxidants, those poisons need not have such an obvious effect.
To sum up all, these age reversing supplements works through the inside to the outside simply because they boost the creation of anti-aging hormones that will assist you age gracefully. This is perhaps why these products are gaining interest inside market.
To the contrary, while you’ll find a lots of anti age tablets available inside the market, still pays well to make a wise choice, because not every goods are safe to consider into our body. With this, getting information on the ingredients of the product you end up picking may help a great deal. Don’t simply depend on the age reversing promises they have, seek proof and you may find the best anti-aging product within the market here and now.5 Reasons Your Anti Aging Is Not What It Could Be.

domain: health


text: Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you were able to celebrate with good friends and family. I am so excited about the fresh start of a new year and tackling the many goals I set for myself. My mantra this year is, “Make it happen.” Whether it’s small personal goals, creative aspirations, or spending more time with special people, I am hoping to cling to the idea of just making it happen. I am firm believer in the idea that if you truly want something than it can absolutely come to fruition. So from giving back more to taking quiet time each day for myself, I intend to make it happen. Here’s hoping I can stick to it! I hosted Christmas dinner for the first time this year. We normally host Christmas eve so it was really fun to switch it up this year. I know Christmas has come and gone but I wanted to show you a little bit of what we did for our table. The Christmas table was really simple with a theme of red and white. The candy cane paper down the middle of the table created a more whimsical feel. Because I kept things so simple I thought it would be fun to have a menu at each person’s spot. I am considering creating a tutorial to show you how I created these. They could work for any dinner party or special event that you host. As I said, I am happy to work on a tutorial for how to make something like this if you would be interested. If you think it is something you would use, please leave me a comment below. …………….. In other news, I was so honored to be included in Jennifer’s Great Reads 2012. She is the author of the fantastic blog, Rambling Renovators. I loved being introduced to some really inspirational people by reading through the past entries. Thank you for including me, Jennifer. And I have already been bit by the organizational bug in 2013. I will be previewing a project tomorrow that I have put together for I Heart Organizing. Speaking of, get those projects ready as I will be hosting another Keep C.A.L.M. and Organize On link party very soon! Can’t wait to see what great ideas the new year brings! enjoy your day!


Although a close source to the Edwards family have denied the rumors The National Enquirer is claiming that John Edwards is engaged to his long time mistress Rielle Hunter. A scant three weeks after his former wife Elizabeth Edwards passed away and his children are still mourning their mother the paper claims he introduced his children to Rielle and got engaged to her.
Edwards had an affair with Rielle when Elizabeth was fighting breast cancer. The two had a baby girl as a result of the affair.
The National Equirer further reports – “Homewrecker Rielle made a shocking decision – to direct John’s young children to “Call me Mommy!” The disgraced two-time presidential loser ended the late December get-together by pledging his love to Rielle and promising they would all eventually “become one big, happy family.
The story is going viral around the internet but the source is not exactly creditable. I wonder if the reason this story has hit is because yesterday news broke that Elizabeth did not leave John anything in her will. Good for her! Regardless, I certainly hope the rumors are false. Come on his ex-wife just passed away and he is already engaged to the women he cheated on her with. For now this all remains a rumor – if we receive a confirmation we will let you know!


by ‘Ifreke Inyang
Barcelona midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, has revealed that his performance levels dropped towards the end of last season, because his psychology wasn’t right. The former Arsenal captain started the season on fire, but eventually ran out of steam.
“It was a mental block,” he told the club’s official website. “Tito has made it clear that I need to play the way I know. I have to be mobile and look for space, help my team-mates by playing the easy ball.”
“I’ve noticed the difference in the first few games of pre-season – how rather than staying static on the inside left, I have to be more mobile.
“These three weeks of pre-season help to make us stronger and we need to fuel ourselves in order to perform better during the season. A good pre-season builds fitness to see you through until the end.”
Fabregas further praised the coaching style of the new man in charge, Tito Vilanova, decribing him as more vocal.
“Tito is a coach with a lot of personality, more than people think. He’ll have a lot to offer and we have to help him. He’ll help because he knows so much about football.
“We will help by making sacrifices and by having the right attitude. If we help each other, we’ll have a great year.”


HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) - "This is kind of a grand problem in solar physics - to figure out how solar eruption works," explains Dr. Qiang Hu
The simulation models almost look like digital spaghetti, but a leading mind in the field says that it's one of the most important and complicated astrophysics problems around.
Dr. Qiang Hu is part of the team working to predict sol eruptions.
At his desk, next to pictures of his kids are pictures of solar activity, because this isn't just an academic exercise.
We're talking about protecting the planet from what could be a pretty devastating event, if a solar eruption caught us off guard.
Of course, astronauts would face the most direct impact.
They orbit outside the earth's natural magnetic shield - meaning a solar flare up could expose them to a dangerous amount of cosmic rays and radiation.
These models could help warn astronauts to take precautionary measures, maybe even saving lives.
But an eruption on the surface of the sun could hit us all the way back here on the surface of the earth too.
Hu notes, "There was a very known event in 1989 that a big solar storm basically took out an electricity transformer."
Basically, there was a big solar flare up, and it cut out the lights for hundreds of thousands of people in Quebec.
But the power might be the least of the problems the sun could cause. Dr. Hu says it could also knock out radio communications and cell phone communications.
So with an unpredicted solar storm - the lights go out, and no one knows what to do. You can't make a cell phone call, so you can't reach your loved ones or report any problems, like looting. Plus, radio communications go down, so emergency workers can't keep in touch.
And now you see why predicting a solar eruption can make such a huge difference, and why this digital spaghetti requires so much attention.
Thankfully, they have a truly global team working on it.
Dr. Hu says Dr. Shi Wu has organized an international cooperation of scientists, including many counterparts in China. All of them are working to hone the model that will allow scientists to give warning of solar eruptions.
The hope, according to Dr. Hu, is that eventually scientists could provide a day or two of warning.


text:
This 29-year-old designer started making dresses for herself before turning her hobby into a business in 2013. She has taken e-mail orders from a handful of US-based customers, and she dressed local actress Sora Ma at this year’s Star Awards. Wang Meng is especially good with dresses in white, gold or navy, with her signature deep V-necks and sexy slits. We like how she works mainly with crepe and jersey, comfy fabrics that drape beautifully.
We asked for: Something long, classic and tastefully sexy.
How much: A dress like the one shown here costs $1,980. Short dresses: from $600. Price includes a consultation session and up to two fittings.
Waiting time: Two weeks.
How to get your dress made: Make an appointment with Wang Meng, who will conduct a consultation session, lasting about an hour, at your home. She will sketch designs on the spot based on your personal style.
7 Spottiswoode Park Road (6299-0503)
For the past six years or so, he’s been the go-to guy for Singapore celebs (including Carrie Wong, Kate Pang and Jayley Woo) seeking bespoke red-carpet-worthy gowns. Vaughn, 36, who started his label nine years ago, uses a lot of silk taff eta and silk satin as these fabrics hold up his signature structured designs and dramatic folds best.
We asked for: An edgy jumpsuit that isn’t, well, black.
How much: A jumpsuit like this costs $2,600. A minidress would cost $2,500 onwards. The price includes a consultation session and up to two fittings.
Waiting time: Three weeks.
How to get your dress made: Book a consultation at Vaughn’s studio. “I believe that a dress has to complement a person’s character,” he says.
#03-13 Wheelock Place (6341-7206)
Simbian Chua (far left), 24, and Joel Xiang, 27, are childhood friends who complement each other like yin and yang at work. “Joel dreams of the most elaborate and dramatic designs, while I think of ways to tone them down and make them more wearable,” says Simbian. The duo founded Prive last year.
What do they do best? Evening wear inspired by the minimalist elegance of classic Hollywood gowns – bareback designs, or with fishtail hems or plunging V-necks. You can choose from luxe fabrics like duchesse satin and silk, in 80 colours.
We asked for: A classic Hollywood look with a modern twist.
How much: A dress like the one shown here costs $560. An evening gown costs $560 onwards, including a consultation session and one fitting.
Waiting time: Two weeks to a month.
How to get your dress made: Book a consultation with Simbian. Show her reference photos of the silhouette you want, and she will recommend the best fabrics for that style. Jazz up the dress with sequins, crystals, beads or diamante.
The Proposal at #01-83 Millenia Walk (6835-7077) and The Prelude Bridal at 8 Mohamed Sultan Road (6221-4982), www.weloveyu.com
Eelyn Tang, 36, started her label in 2009, two years after she quit the banking industry to study fashion marketing at the Parsons School of Design in New York. Since then, her bespoke gowns have been featured in UK, US and Japanese magazines, and she shows a collection every year at New York Bridal Fashion Week. Go to Eelyn for pleated Grecianstyle
dresses or mullet dresses (short in the front, long in the back) which she does in ultra-feminine fabrics like silk chiffon, silk georgette, fi ne French laces and tulle.
We asked for: A girlie frock with a hint of drama.
How much: A dress like this costs $900. A cocktail dress costs $600 onwards. The price includes a consultation session and up to three fittings.
Waiting time: One to two months.
How to get your dress made: Book an appointment with Eelyn and meet her at The Proposal or The Prelude Bridal for a consultation. Take along reference pictures so she can sketch an original design based on them.
This story was originally published in the November 2015 issue of Her World magazine.

domain: design


We're now a four-piece band, but we're still from Ypsilanti / Ann Arbor, MI. We've been together since 1998. This is our second album.
Some people think we're pretty good:
"The space rock mix of layered guitars and sweeping percussion is trippy, lush, and inviting." - MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
"A mix of shoegazing and head banging may not sound much like a recommendation but if you've got the head and the shoes, it should do nicely" - soundsxp


The launch of the Nuclear Freeways Campaign took place outside federal resources minister Martin Ferguson’s office on July 30.
The launch was a send-off for a group of activists from Friends of the Earth who will travel the likely route nuclear waste will be transported from Sydney to a proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty station in the Northern Territory.
One of the participants in the trip, Friends of the Earth campaigner Cat Beaton, told protesters there was a potential for “nuclear waste dumps at lots of places” if one of the trucks transporting the nuclear waste had a tyre blow-out.
Beaton said that the protesters had lined up lots of meetings with local councils along the route of the trip.
Australian Conservation Foundation anti-nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney said: “This issue is an issue for Australia. The proposed dump is an out-of-sight, out-of-mind, no-consent dumping proposal.
“People should not have to trade country for a road or a hospital or housing.”
This is a reference to the fact that the government has persuaded some of the traditional owners to sign away their land for a nuclear waste dump, while other traditional owners are campaigning strongly against the dump.
See Engage Media video of the launch here.


text:
No coding. Tiny 0.6 microliter blood sample. 5-second test time. For use with Contour Blood Glucose Meter.
Directions: Before using this product, read the package insert carefully. For in vitro diagnostic use. Store between 59-86 degrees F and out of direct sunlight
Ingredients: Reagents: 6% FAD Glucose Dehydrogenase (Aspergillus sp., 2.0 U/test strip); 56% Potassium Ferricyanide; 38% Non-Reactive Ingredients
Warnings: Important: For in vitro diagnostic use.

domain: medical


text:
Alterations in leptin expression contributes to the progression of various diseases, including cancers. This meta-analysis investigated the clinical significance of leptin levels in osteoarthritis (OA) patients, with the goal of building a leptin-based diagnostic criterion for OA.
Multiple scientific databases in English and Chinese languages, such as the Cochrane Library Database, CINAHL, Chinese Biomedical (CBM), EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science, were exhaustively searched, without any language restrictions, to identify high-quality studies relevant to leptin and OA. Version 12.0 STATA software was used for data analysis. We used odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to test the correlation between serum leptin levels and OA progression.
A total of 11 clinical studies were finally selected for their high quality and relevance to the topic in this meta-analysis. The 11 case-control studies contained a combined total of 3,625 subjects. The meta-analysis results showed that leptin expression was significantly increased in OA patients, compared with the controls (SMD = 0.87, 95%CI: 0.72-1.02, P < 0.001), and there was also a strong association between leptin expression levels and gender (SMD = 8.55, 95%CI: 4.74-12.35, P < 0.001). In ethnicity-stratified subgroup analysis, all the study populations, irrespective of ethnicity, showed remarkably high leptin expression levels in females and in OA patients (all P < 0.05), compared to their respective counterparts.
The present study revealed that increased leptin expression levels are associated with disease severity in OA patients, especially among the female OA patients. Based on our results, we propose that leptin level may be a useful biomarker for the assessment of the clinical status in OA patients.
Citation: Zhang P, Zhong Z-H, Yu H-T, Liu B (2015) Significance of Increased Leptin Expression in Osteoarthritis Patients. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0123224. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123224
Academic Editor: Erica Villa, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, ITALY
Received: June 8, 2014; Accepted: March 1, 2015; Published: April 20, 2015
Copyright: © 2015 Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: The authors have no support or funding to report.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent type of arthritis and is a painful degenerative joint disease involving cartilage and surrounding tissues, with a high incidence among elderly populations, especially among older females . OA prevalence is approximately 40% in adults aged 70 and over, and is the major cause of pain as well as disability in this age group, particularly in women . OA is mainly caused by an imbalance in the equilibrium between breakdown and repair of joint tissues, resulting in aberrant repair or insufficient self-repair of injured synovial joint tissues . OA is characterized by consistent focal damage in the articular cartilage, as well as mild synovitis, muscle weakness, meniscal tears, and appositional new bone formation . In addition, remodeling of osteophytes, sclerosis of the growth plate and subchondral trabeculae are also typically observed in OA. Due to the multi-factorial nature of the underlying OA pathogenesis, the etiology of OA is suspected to involve a complex interaction between the environmental factors and intrinsic risk factors . The environmental factors include obesity, gender, mechanical stress, age, and joint trauma, with all of these playing pivotal roles in OA origin, but obesity appears to be a common and an essential component in OA pathogenesis [5–7]. Several previous studies have addressed the correlation between OA and pro-inflammatory mediators, and proposed a role for leptin, which is closely correlated with obesity, as a biomarker in OA [4,8].
Leptin is a ubiquitous 16-kDa pleiotropic protein primarily secreted by placenta or white adipose tissue . Leptin controls adipose tissue volumes and body mass index (BMI) through regulating food intake and stimulating energy expenditure at the hypothalamus level, as a negative feedback loop at the hypothalamic nuclei [6,10]. Leptin is implicated in regulation of female endocrine reproductive system, and other biological pathways linked to immune responses, inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular functions and in respiratory pathophysiology. With specific relevance to bone diseases, leptin plays an indispensible role as a regulator of bone growth via the induction of collagen synthesis, mineralization of bone, proliferation of osteoblast, as well as the stimulation of endochondral ossification . However, in clinical practice, high level of leptin expression is found in many diseases, including Alzheimer disease, breast cancer, and coronary heart diseases [12,13]. Recent studies also reported that the expression of leptin is detected in high concentrations in OA cartilage compared to normal cartilage [14,15]. As such, high levels of leptin expression increased matrix metaloprotease-9, matrix metaloprotease-13, and nitric oxide expression, and caused adverse effects on chondrocyte metabolism, eventually resulting in OA . Additional evidence from published studies showed that over-expressed leptin is directly correlated with the grade of OA, and higher expression of leptin reflected the higher grade of OA [16,17]. Based on these previous studies, leptin appears to be closely linked with OA, and leptin levels could potentially be a convenient biomarker for predicting the severity of OA [18,19]. However, a few studies failed to such a strong link between leptin and OA and presented contradictory results [16,20]. To address this issue, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the influence of leptin expression level in OA progression, and further evaluate the correlation between leptin concentrations and the severity of OA.
Materials and Methods
Relevant studies were identified by a comprehensive search of the following scientific databases: Cochrane Library Database, CINAHL, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), EMBASE, PubMed, and the Web of Science, according to the PRISMA guidelines (http://prisma-statement.org/, as shown in S1 PRISMA Checklist). Studies published prior to April 30, 2014, and which assessed the relationships between the change in leptin expression and OA, were retrieved using the search terms (“Osteoarthritis, Spine” or “Osteoarthritis, Knee” or “Osteoarthritis, Hip” or “Osteoarthritis” or “knee osteoarthritis” or “spine osteoarthritis” or “hip osteoarthritis” or “spinal osteoarthritis” or “lumbar osteoarthritis” or “coxarthrosis”), and (“Leptin” or “leptin” or “Obese Protein” or “Obese Gene Product” or “Ob Gene Product” or “Ob Protein”). No limitation was placed on the language of the article. Additionally, potential relevant articles were further retrieved through a manual search of cross-references from original reports.
The study selection criteria were: (1) randomized intervention case-control studies or cohort studies that involved the association between expression levels of leptin and osteoarthritis as a primary outcome were included in this study, (2) included patients confirmed with the diagnosis of OA, in accordance with the definition and classification provided by the Diagnostic and Therapeutic Criteria Committee of the American Rheumatism Association , (3) associated with Leptin expression levels. The exclusion criteria were: (1) studies that did not provide the number of OA cases or sufficient information about serum leptin expression levels, (2) the minimum number of cases in included studies were less than 34, (3) duplicate publications, studies with incomplete data were excluded. Studies with the largest sample size and the most recent publication years were included when multiple studies published with the same author and with similar case series.
From each selected article, two investigators independently extracted the required information, using a standardized protocol and data recording form. Disagreements on data or study inclusion were resolved by discussion of all the items to reach a consensus. The extracted information, included surname of initial authors, publication years, source of publication, study type, study design, sample size, age, sex, ethnicity and country, source of controls, source of samples, detection method of leptin expression levels, and expression levels of leptin, was collected from each study prospectively. Due to subjects from different ethnicities, information was extracted separately and classified into Asians, Caucasians, and Mixed. All authors approved the final inclusion of studies for meta-analysis.
To decide whether the study in question is of high quality, two authors used a set of predefined criterion based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) criteria to assess the studies independently . Three aspects were derived from the criteria of NOS: (1) subject selection: 0~4; (2) inter-subject comparability: 0~2; (3) clinical outcome: 0~3. The total score degrees range from 0 (lowest) to 9 (highest). According to the NOS scores, the included studies were classified into two levels: low quality (0–6), and high quality (7–9), respectively. The NOS quality assessment scales are presented in in S1 NOS Quality Assessment. A third reviewer was consulted when disagreements or discrepancies between the two investigators existed with regard to the NOS scores of the studies.
In this meta-analysis, we used random-effects model or a fixed-effects model in situations where data from independent studies were combined to provide quantitative evidence and to minimize the variance of the summaries. A random-effect model was used when heterogeneity existed among studies, or the fixed-effects model was used in cases where no statistically significant heterogeneity was observed. The summary standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated for case versus control and female versus male categories of leptin expression levels by Z test. The subgroup meta-analyses were also conducted by ethnicity and source of sample to explore potential effect modification. Heterogeneity across the enrolled studies was evaluated by the Cochran’s Q-statistic (P < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant) . As a result of low statistical power of the Cochran’s Q-statistic, I2 test was also measured to reflect the possibility of heterogeneity between studies . The sensitivity analysis evaluated whether the results could have been influenced significantly by any one single study, by deleting each study one by one. The funnel plot was constructed to assess how publication bias might affect the validity of the estimates. The symmetry of the funnel plot was further evaluated by Egger's linear regression test . All tests were two-sided and a P value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. To ensure credible and accurate results, investigators separately input all the data into the STATA software, version 12.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA) and arrived at a final decision.
Baseline Characteristics of Extracted Studies
We initially retrieved a total of 167 studies from the scientific literature databases search and the flow chart of study selection process is summarized in Fig 1. By screening the title, key words and abstracts, 88 of these studies were excluded for various reasons (2 were duplicates, 25 were letters, reviews or meta-analyses, 29 were non-human studies, and 32 were not related to the research topics). Full-text articles from the remaining 79 articles were re-examined and another 66 trials were excluded (19 were not case-control, 22 were not relevant to leptin, and 25 were not relevant to OA), leaving 13 studies to be considered in the next screening step. Of these, 2 were excluded for not providing sufficient data, and finally 11 studies published between 2007 and 2014 [5,7,16,18–20,26–30], and including a total of 3,625 subjects, conformed to our stringent inclusion criteria. The search outcomes are presented as S1 Search Outcomes. Among the studies included in this meta-analysis, 2 studies were in Asian populations, 6 were in Caucasian populations, and 3 studies involved mixed populations. Detection methods used in the included studies for detection of leptin levels were enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and radioimmunoassay (RIA). Sources of tissue samples for leptin levels in studies included in our present meta-analysis were blood, plasma, and synovial fluid (SF). Quality scores of the enrolled papers were higher than 7 (high quality). Tables 1 and 2 summarize the characteristics and the quality of methodological of all the enrolled studies.
Eleven case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis.
Expression levels of Leptin in Osteoarthritis
A total of 11 case-control and cohort studies measured the leptin expression levels in OA. The major results of the correlations between the expression levels of leptin and OA are shown in Fig 2. The random-effects model was used because of existing heterogeneity (both P < 0.05). Meta-analysis results identified a positive association between leptin expression levels and OA (SMD = 0.87, 95%CI: 0.72–1.02, P < 0.001), and females showed a significantly higher correlation of leptin levels with OA, compared to no such correlation observed in males (SMD = 8.55, 95%CI: 4.74–12.35, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis based on ethnicity revealed that higher leptin level in females, compared with males, was observed in Asian, Caucasian and Mixed populations, and thus was independent of ethnic differences (all P < 0.05). In addition, our results showed that high level of leptin expression is a significant risk factor for OA in Asians, Caucasians and Mixed populations (all P < 0.05), again reinforcing that leptin levels correlated with OA independent of potential ethnic differences (Fig 3). Sample-stratified analysis displayed that leptin expression levels were correlated to female in both Plasma and SF subgroups, as seen in Fig 3 (Plasma: SMD = 11.67, 95%CI: 6.26–17.07, P < 0.001; SF: SMD = 2.39, 95%CI: 0.64–4.13, P < 0.001; respectively). Further analysis by the source of samples also showed positive associations between the expression levels of leptin and OA in both blood and SF subgroups (Blood: SMD = 0.86, 95%CI: 0.71–1.02, P < 0.001; SF: SMD = 0.92, 95%CI: 0.42–1.42, P < 0.001; respectively).
Sensitivity Analysis and Publication Bias
A sensitivity analysis was carried out to evaluate whether the present meta-analysis is stable, and results showed that the overall statistical significance does not change when any single study was omitted. Therefore, the current meta-analysis data is relatively stable and credible (Fig 4). The graphical funnel plots of those 11 studies present symmetrical, and Egger's test showed that there is no publication bias in this meta-analysis (all P > 0.05) (Fig 5).
In our study, we found up-regulated expression levels of leptin in OA patients compared to healthy subjects, implying that alterations in leptin expression may be related to OA, thus the overexpression of leptin may be a risk factor in OA. Furthermore, the findings in our study implicated that leptin expression level was higher in female OA patients than male OA patients, suggesting significant gender differences. Thus, we propose that leptin levels may be a very sensitive biomarker for OA among women, and more focused studies in the future addressing this issue may uncover interesting clinical applications of leptin. Nevertheless, the precise mechanism by which leptin expression levels are linked with the progression and the outcomes in OA is not fully understood. OA is characterized by a deterioration and progressive loss of articular cartilage . Obesity combined with aging and genetic factors are recognized as important risk factors for OA . In addition, leptin combined with proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukins and matrix metalloproteinase, may also have a potential influence on cartilage metabolism [6,10]. It has been reported that the serum leptin levels are higher in OA cartilage compared to normal cartilage, and also that the leptin expression levels are linked with the severity of cartilage impairment . As stated above, leptin exerts mainly pro-inflammatory and catabolic activities in osteoarthritic joints, in agreement with the fact that the level of leptin expression was elevated in OA patients. On the other hand, we found that females have both higher circulating leptin levels and a greater propensity to develop OA compared with males [34, 35]. It is possible that estradiol may promote the secretion of leptin in female patients while testosterone may inhibit the leptin secretion in men. Consistent with our results, Karvonen-Gutierrez et al. also observed that the leptin expression level was related to the pathogenesis of OA among men and women, and the higher level of leptin appeared to be important in female OA patients as a potential risk factor .
To investigate the relationship between the leptin expression level and OA progression, we performed stratified analysis on the basis of ethnicity and source of sample. Our findings of ethnicity-stratified analysis showed that high leptin expression was linked with an increased risk of OA among Caucasians, Asians and mixed populations. Among different ethnicities, our subgroup analysis results showed that leptin level among female patients with OA was higher than male OA patients in Caucasians, Asians and mixed populations, indicating that ethnicity differences may not influence this outcome. Further subgroup analysis based on the source of sample showed that there was a positive connection between enhanced expression of leptin and the osteoarthritis development in both blood and SF subgroups. We have also found that leptin expression levels were correlated to gender in both plasma and SF subgroups, suggesting that different sample sources were not the potential heterogeneity source of this outcome. In summary, consistent with previous studies, our results indicate that the level of leptin expression was significantly up-regulated in OA, especially in female patients, implying that overexpression of leptin may relate to the occurrence and progression of OA. We also show that leptin levels are clearly influenced by and affect the severity of OA, thus can be used as a potential biomarker of OA in specific clinical settings.
Our meta-analysis also had several limitations. First, owing to a small sample size in this meta-analysis, some necessary information could not be obtained. Second, possible publication bias could exist, though no indication of publication bias was detected in the Egger's test. Third, studies extracted in this meta-analysis are comprised of diverse ethnic populations and nations, as well as genders, lifestyles, ages, and cultures. In addition, differences in access to healthcare and efficacy judgments could also influence the severity of the disease and the data collected. Fourth, we included English or Chinese studies and excluding studies in other languages may be a potential selection bias. Fifth, case control and cohorts designed studies were included for meta-analyses, which might result in heterogeneity, and no other subgroup analyses based on study design were performed in our stratified analysis, which may affect the credibility and reliability of the present results. More importantly, meta-analysis of aggregate observational data produces estimates of effect that are unadjusted for confounding and interactions and as such these need to be interpreted with caution. Finally, several explanatory variables were not included in this meta-analysis, especially some environmental factors such as movement, activity or “wear and tear”, which might affect the reliability and credibility of our results to some extent. Despite these limitations, our study is the first meta-analysis to investigate the correlation between leptin expression level and OA development.
In conclusion, the current meta-analysis revealed that up-regulation of leptin levels was distinctly correlated with the progression of disease in OA patients, especially among female OA patients. Leptin may, thus, be an important biomarker in the clinic for monitoring progression of the disease or as a confirmatory marker of OA in early stages of the disease. Importantly, a meta-analysis using individual patient data is required for more precise estimates of observed effects. Further clinical research is needed to investigate the precise clinical significance of leptin and to determine whether leptin levels predict clinical prognosis and outcomes in OA patients.
S1 PRISMA Checklist. The PRISMA 2009 checklist.
S1 NOS Quality Assessment. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for assessing methodological quality.
S1 Search Outcomes. The electronic searching outcomes.
We would like to acknowledge the reviewers for their helpful comments on this paper.
Conceived and designed the experiments: PZ. Performed the experiments: ZHZ. Analyzed the data: HTY. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: PZ. Wrote the paper: PZ BL.
- 1. Massengale M, Lu B, Pan JJ, Katz JN, Solomon DH. Adipokine hormones and hand osteoarthritis: radiographic severity and pain. PLoS One, 2012; 7: e47860. pmid:23110114
- 2. Sowers MR, Karvonen-Gutierrez CA. The evolving role of obesity in knee osteoarthritis. Curr Opin Rheumatol, 2010; 22: 533–537. pmid:20485173
- 3. Issa RI, Griffin TM. Pathobiology of obesity and osteoarthritis: integrating biomechanics and inflammation. Pathobiol Aging Age Relat Dis, 2012; 2(2012). pmid:22662293
- 4. Mutabaruka MS, Aoulad Aissa M, Delalandre A, Lavigne M, Lajeunesse D. Local leptin production in osteoarthritis subchondral osteoblasts may be responsible for their abnormal phenotypic expression. Arthritis Res Ther, 2010; 12: R20. pmid:20141628
- 5. Staikos C, Ververidis A, Drosos G, Manolopoulos VG, Verettas DA, Tavridou A. The association of adipokine levels in plasma and synovial fluid with the severity of knee osteoarthritis. Rheumatology (Oxford), 2013; 52: 1077–1083. pmid:23382357
Vuolteenaho K, Koskinen A, Kukkonen M, Nieminen R, Paivarinta U, Moilanen T, et al. Leptin enhances synthesis of proinflammatory mediators in human osteoarthritic cartilage—mediator role of NO in leptin-induced PGE2, IL-6, and IL-8 production. Mediators Inflamm, 2009: 345838.
- 7. Stannus OP, Jones G, Quinn SJ, Cicuttini FM, Dore D, Ding C. The association between leptin, interleukin-6, and hip radiographic osteoarthritis in older people: a cross-sectional study. Arthritis Res Ther, 2010; 12: R95. pmid:20482813
- 8. Gandhi R, Takahashi M, Syed K, Davey JR, Mahomed NN. Relationship between body habitus and joint leptin levels in a knee osteoarthritis population. J Orthop Res, 2010; 28: 329–333. pmid:19780190
- 9. Tong KM, Shieh DC, Chen CP, Tzeng CY, Wang SP, Huang KC, et al. Leptin induces IL-8 expression via leptin receptor, IRS-1, PI3K, Akt cascade and promotion of NF-kappaB/p300 binding in human synovial fibroblasts. Cell Signal, 2008; 20: 1478–1488. pmid:18501560
- 10. Simopoulou T, Malizos KN, Iliopoulos D, Stefanou N, Papatheodorou L, Ioannou M, et al. Differential expression of leptin and leptin's receptor isoform (Ob-Rb) mRNA between advanced and minimally affected osteoarthritic cartilage; effect on cartilage metabolism. Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 2007; 15: 872–883. pmid:17350295
- 11. Bartell SM, Rayalam S, Ambati S, Gaddam DR, Hartzell DL, Hamrick M, et al. Central (ICV) leptin injection increases bone formation, bone mineral density, muscle mass, serum IGF-1, and the expression of osteogenic genes in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. J Bone Miner Res, 2011;26(8): 1710–1720. pmid:21520275
- 12. Jarde T, Perrier S, Vasson MP, Caldefie-Chezet F. Molecular mechanisms of leptin and adiponectin in breast cancer. Eur J Cancer, 2011; 47(1): 33–43. pmid:20889333
- 13. Kajikawa Y, Ikeda M, Takemoto S, Tomoda J, Ohmaru N, Kusachi S. Association of circulating levels of leptin and adiponectin with metabolic syndrome and coronary heart disease in patients with various coronary risk factors. Int Heart J, 2011; 52: 17–22. pmid:21321463
- 14. Qin J, Shi D, Dai J, Zhu L, Tsezou A, Jiang Q. Association of the leptin gene with knee osteoarthritis susceptibility in a Han Chinese population: a case-control study. J Hum Genet, 2010; 55(10): 704–706. pmid:20664554
- 15. Bao JP, Chen WP, Feng J, Hu PF, Shi ZL, Wu LD. Leptin plays a catabolic role on articular cartilage. Mol Biol Rep, 2010; 37(7): 3265–3272. pmid:19876764
- 16. Ku JH, Lee CK, Joo BS, An BM, Choi SH, Wang TH, et al. Correlation of synovial fluid leptin concentrations with the severity of osteoarthritis. Clin Rheumatol, 2009; 28: 1431–1435. pmid:19662330
- 17. Honsawek S, Chayanupatkul M. Correlation of plasma and synovial fluid adiponectin with knee osteoarthritis severity. Arch Med Res, 2010; 41: 593–598. pmid:21199727
- 18. Karvonen-Gutierrez CA, Sowers MR, Heeringa SG. Sex dimorphism in the association of cardiometabolic characteristics and osteophytes-defined radiographic knee osteoarthritis among obese and non-obese adults: NHANES III. Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 2012; 20: 614–621. pmid:22521953
- 19. Massengale M, Reichmann WM, Losina E, Solomon DH, Katz JN. The relationship between hand osteoarthritis and serum leptin concentration in participants of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arthritis Res Ther, 2012; 14: R132. pmid:22651805
- 20. Wang ZH, Zhang P, Jiao WX, Ren ZQ, Wang TJ. The significance of the detection of serum leptin in rheumatoid arthritis. Med Information, 2007; 20: 1222–1223.
- 21. Altman R, Asch E, Bloch D, Bole G, Borenstein D, Brandt K, et al. Development of criteria for the classification and reporting of osteoarthritis. Classification of osteoarthritis of the knee. Diagnostic and Therapeutic Criteria Committee of the American Rheumatism Association. Arthritis Rheum, 1986; 29: 1039–1049. pmid:3741515
- 22. Stang A. Critical evaluation of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for the assessment of the quality of nonrandomized studies in meta-analyses. Eur J Epidemiol, 2010; 25: 603–605. pmid:20652370
- 23. Jackson D, White IR, Riley RD. Quantifying the impact of between-study heterogeneity in multivariate meta-analyses. Stat Med, 2012; 31: 3805–3820. pmid:22763950
- 24. Peters JL, Sutton AJ, Jones DR, Abrams KR, Rushton L. Comparison of two methods to detect publication bias in meta-analysis. JAMA, 2006; 295: 676–680. pmid:16467236
- 25. Zintzaras E, Ioannidis JP. HEGESMA: genome search meta-analysis and heterogeneity testing. Bioinformatics, 2005; 21: 3672–3673. pmid:15955784
- 26. Gegout PP, Francin PJ, Mainard D, Presle N. Adipokines in osteoarthritis: friends or foes of cartilage homeostasis? Joint Bone Spine, 2008; 75: 669–671. pmid:19028435
- 27. Perruccio AV, Mahomed NN, Chandran V, Gandhi R. Plasma adipokine levels and their association with overall burden of painful joints among individuals with hip and knee osteoarthritis. J Rheumatol, 2014; 41: 334–337. pmid:24334649
- 28. Beekhuizen M, Gierman LM, van Spil WE, Van Osch GJ, Huizinga TW, Saris DB, et al. An explorative study comparing levels of soluble mediators in control and osteoarthritic synovial fluid. Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 2013; 21: 918–922. pmid:23598178
- 29. de Boer TN, van Spil WE, Huisman AM, Polak AA, Bijlsma JW, Lafeber FP, et al. Serum adipokines in osteoarthritis; comparison with controls and relationship with local parameters of synovial inflammation and cartilage damage. Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 2012; 20: 846–853. pmid:22595228
- 30. Karvonen-Gutierrez CA, Harlow SD, Mancuso P, Jacobson J, Mendes de Leon CF, Nan B, et al. Association of leptin levels with radiographic knee osteoarthritis among a cohort of midlife women. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken), 2013; 65: 936–944. pmid:23281224
- 31. Attur M, Krasnokutsky-Samuels S, Samuels J, Abramson SB. Prognostic biomarkers in osteoarthritis. Curr Opin Rheumatol, 2013; 25: 136–144. pmid:23169101
- 32. Chaganti RK, Lane NE. Risk factors for incident osteoarthritis of the hip and knee. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med, 2011; 4: 99–104. pmid:21808997
- 33. Dumond H, Presle N, Terlain B, Mainard D, Loeuille D, Netter P, et al. Evidence for a key role of leptin in osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum, 2003; 48: 3118–3129. pmid:14613274
- 34. Roemmich JN, Clark PA, Berr SS, Mai V, Mantzoros CS, Flier JS, et al. Gender differences in leptin levels during puberty are related to the subcutaneous fat depot and sex steroids. Am J Physiol, 1998; 275(3 Pt 1): E543–551. pmid:9725824
- 35. Bohler H Jr, Mokshagundam S, Winters SJ. Adipose tissue and reproduction in women. Fertil Steril, 2010; 94: 795–825. pmid:19589523


Sequel to the preponderance of kidnapping in Ekiti State, in recent time, the government has declared that anybody caught in the
criminal act now risks a life imprisonment courtesy of a new law being proposed by the state government.
This was contained in a press statement in Ado-Ekiti issued Friday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Idowu Adelusi.
Adelusi said the decision was part of the resolutions arrived at on Thursday during the State Executive Council meeting presided over by the Deputy Governor, Dr Kolapo Olusola.
Commenting on the proposed law, the Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, the proposed law would help stem the tide of abductions and kidnappings that rocked the state few months ago.
It was also agreed that all moveable properties used by the abductors would be confiscated by the state government. – Thisday.


SUPERSEDED (click for Active standard)
| ||Format||Pages||Price|| |
|4||$52.00||  ADD TO CART|
1.1 This test method covers the determination of ash in the range 0.001–0.180 mass %, from distillate and residual fuels, gas turbine fuels, crude oils, lubricating oils, waxes, and other petroleum products, in which any ash-forming materials present are normally considered to be undesirable impurities or contaminants (Note 1). The test method is limited to petroleum products which are free from added ash-forming additives, including certain phosphorus compounds (Note 2).
Note 1—In certain types of samples, all of the ash-forming metals are not retained quantitatively in the ash. This is particularly true of distillate oils, which require a special ash procedure in order to retain metals quantitatively.
Note 2—This test method is not intended for the analysis of unused lubricating oils containing additives; for such samples use Test Method D 874
1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are for information only. The preferred expression of the property is mass %.
1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.
D874 Test Method for Sulfated Ash from Lubricating Oils and Additives
D4057 Practice for Manual Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products
D4177 Practice for Automatic Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products
D4928 Test Method for Water in Crude Oils by Coulometric Karl Fischer Titration
D6299 Practice for Applying Statistical Quality Assurance and Control Charting Techniques to Evaluate Analytical Measurement System Performance
D6792 Practice for Quality Management Systems in Petroleum Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubricants Testing Laboratories
ICS Number Code 75.080 (Petroleum products in general)
UNSPSC Code 15101500(Petroleum and distillates)
|Link to Active (This link will always route to the current Active version of the standard.)|
ASTM D482-07, Standard Test Method for Ash from Petroleum Products, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2007, www.astm.orgBack to Top


According to an investigation by congressional Democrats released Monday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency manipulated scientific research in order to play down the danger posed by formaldehyde in trailers issued to Katrina and Rita hurricane victims.
Democrats on a House Science and Technology subcommittee wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that FEMA “ignored, hid and manipulated government research on the potential impact of long-term exposure to formaldehyde” on Katrina and Rita victims now living in FEMA trailers.” FEMA is part of the Homeland Security Department.
The lawmakers are questioning the integrity of research done by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, saying that they did not trust FEMA to conduct an independent investigation into the toxicity of the formaldehyde in trailers.
Lawmakers reported that the federal health agency that provided guidance to FEMA was “complicit in giving FEMA precisely what they wanted.”
As reported in Our Weekly several months ago, victims living in FEMA trailers had complained of health problems related to formaldehyde, a common preservative found in building materials used in manufactured homes.
Formaldehyde can cause respiratory problems and is classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
FEMA tests revealed that the air quality in the trailers was safe if those trailers were properly ventilated.
In its initial round of testing, FEMA took samples from unoccupied trailers that had been aired out for days and compared them with federal standards for short-term exposure, according to the lawmakers. FEMA officials instructed scientists at the health agency to leave out details about long-term exposure in its consultation.
FEMA said the health agency’s Feb. 1, 2007 advice didn’t address long-term health effects. Instead, it conducted ways of avoiding toxic exposure to formaldehyde.


|Amoeba's Secret available on CD today|
[Posted by Dave Haber on Tuesday, 01/27/09 7:09 pm] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
On June 27, 2007, Paul McCartney and his band shocked the music world by performing a surprise, first ever in-store concert at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles . Four songs from this now legendary show were recorded and made available on limited edition vinyl entitled Amoeba's Secret. On January 27, 2009 this historic performance will be available exclusively in the U.S., for the first time ever on CD and digitally.
The CD is packaged in a unique edition mini-LP jacket and features four songs: "Only Mama Knows" and "That Was Me" from McCartney's Hear Music release Memory Almost Full, the obscure Wings gem "C Moon" and the Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There."
In December, McCartney received two 2009 Grammy Award nominations from Amoeba's Secret including Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "That Was Me" and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for "I Saw Her Standing There."
The lucky fans who camped out for two days to attend this rare performance know how special that night was. Now the rest of us have a chance to experience Macca in such an unusual and intimate setting.
Click here for more about the new CD.
Info in this post thanks to Paul McCartney Official Website.
Paul gets two nods on Grammy announcements TV special
[Posted by Dave Haber on Thursday, 12/04/08 8:53 am] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
The nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards were announced in a live television special on Wednesday night. Paul McCartney has been nominated for two Grammys for tracks from his live LP, Amoeba's Secret, which was recorded live at a famous secret in-store performance at Los Angeles indie record store Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California, on June 27, 2007.
In the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance category, Paul was nominated for "That Was Me" from Amoeba's Secret. And in the Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, Paul got a Grammy nod for his rendition of The Beatles song "I Saw Her Standing There," also from Amoeba's Secret.
Amoeba's Secret was released on November 13, 2007. It was released as 12" vinyl EP, and is available in the UK only as an import. It's available only on vinyl, and was originally sold in the Amoeba record store for $6.98.


text:
Marvin comes home to break ground on namesake center
Marvin Williams helped break ground Friday afternoon on a $7.1 million community center at Eighth Street and Park Avenue that he hopes will make it "a little bit easier" for kids in West Bremerton "to pursue their dreams."
The Bremerton native, heading into his 10th season in the NBA, joined dignitaries and other donors to scoop a ceremonial shovel of dirt Friday. The complex will include a recreation center, complete with a basketball court that will bear Williams' name. A vocational center, also part of the project, will be named for the late C. Keith Birkenfeld, whose fund has donated to the project.
"Those kids might want to be doctors or lawyers or police officers or whatever the case may be," Williams said. "I just hope (the center) is that steppingstone that helps them get that much closer to their dreams."
The project has been spearheaded by the New Life Community Development Association, a wing of Bremerton's Emmanuel Apostolic Church. Fundraising continues, but organizers already have almost $5 million in donations and government grants.
Construction of the recreation center will begin in November, with completion slated for next summer.
Kitsap Sun staff


text:
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech’s improvement in tackling didn’t happen by accident.
Coach Brent Pry and his team actually give players a “hunting grade” each week for their ability to get to football. If you react and drive to the ball, that’s a plus. If you’re not, that’s a minus – and there’s zero tolerance with grading.
“We have to feel the defensive unit is swarming towards the football,” Pry said. “There are things going on around the ball, aren’t there? Missed tackles, dropped scoops, overturned balls. I mean, things are happening around the ball, and you don’t know what game it’s going to be on.
“So you have to rally behind every snap of your fingers. And make sure the one time the ball comes out or there’s an opportunity for you, you’re there to make it happen. Otherwise, it’s an opportunity missed.
Swarming to the ball and sound tackling will be paramount when Virginia Tech (2-1) hosts West Virginia (1-2) Thursday night in what is expected to be noisy Lane Stadium.
Although the Mountaineers escaped the gates with losses to Pitt and Kansas, it’s hard to blame an offense that’s among the national leaders in multiple categories.
West Virginia, under new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and with USC/Georgia transfer JT Daniels at quarterback, ranks 14th nationally in yards per game (509.7), 11th in points per game (46.0) and top 30 in both passing (292.3 yards per game) and rushing (217.3).
The game will finally test a Virginia Tech defense third nationally with a third down conversion rate (17.1%). The Mountaineers convert on 54.3% of their third downs, the third best in the nation.
“They have multiple threats,” Pry said. “They have a solid, veteran offensive line, four or five starters behind. Good size. They have two talented fullbacks, three talented receivers, a solid tight end. And now they have a quarterback who can run the show, lead the offense and make the throws. So I think they’re just well balanced and there’s really no weakness in their offensive unit.
It will test a Hokies defense that has scored high against admittedly below-average competition so far this season. Tech has mostly stopped all the attacks he’s played so far, with the last two (BC and Wofford) failing to reach 200 total yards.
The Hokies did this largely by playing group defense. In three games, eight different players had a sack and 15 contributed a tackle for a loss.
“We have to play hard, all 11s,” Pry said.
What was the difference with a group that has struggled in recent years?
“I would say the reason we’re playing so well right now is because of how we train and how we go to work every day,” linebacker Dax Hollifield said. “We try to make practices simulate matches on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is really where it shows.
For Hollifield, who was on the defensive who gave up two quick touchdowns to the Mountaineers to fall behind by 14 just six minutes from an eventual 27-21 loss last year at Morgantown, he’s happy to get another shot. .
“We got punched in the mouth very early on,” Hollifield said. “Didn’t play as well as we wanted in the first half. But I was proud of how our defense fought back and gave us a chance to win the game. But yeah, just Being this close really hurts not to make it up there, and I want that trophy back.
Here are some other takeaways from Monday’s press conference:
1. Pry has roots in West Virginia.
Although he was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, he spent most of his youth in West Virginia, where his father coached at Marshall as a graduate assistant, West Virginia Tech, West Liberty State and Lewis County High School.
In fact, the first college game Pry attended was Penn State at West Virginia.
“I don’t get carried away with emotions, but I know that means a lot to a lot of people in this field,” Pry said. “And I always respect that.”
Pry got a taste of the Virginia Tech-WVU rivalry when he was GA with the Hokies, who played West Virginia every year as Big East foes. Tech went 2-1 during Pry’s stint on the staff, with a shutout win at Morgantown in 1995 and a 31-14 win over ranked WVU in 1996, which Pry called a “fist fight.”
“They are like-minded institutions in many ways,” Pry said. “Football programs, schools. There are so many people, kind of like what I hear all the time with Penn State, we’re just pretty close together. You have a brother who went to West Virginia and a sister who goes to Tech. Or my mom went to West Virginia and my son goes to Tech. There are just a lot of intersecting relationships. So it’s an interesting match for sure.
2. Kaleb Smith looks like he’s on the mend.
The receiver had to leave late in the first half of Wofford’s game, appearing to hold his collarbone after landing on it when he was interfered with on a deep ball in the second quarter. Pry said he looked good on Sunday, though.
“He looked better yesterday than he did a week ago,” Pry said. “So I’m encouraged.”
Smith has been gassed in all three games so far this year, dealing with rib and knee issues. He missed the second half of two games.
“It’s tough,” Pry said. “He’s a little frustrated. Guys like Kaleb who give up their bodies and play so hard with every snap they get screwed. I like that about him. He’s one of those guys, he’s kind of a throwback.
While running back Keshawn King’s prospects look bright for Thursday, Pry said Malachi Thomas (lower body) was a “long shot” for West Virginia, calling it a game-time decision. not yet finished training since he was injured in pre-season camp.
3. Consistent ground play holds the offense back.
The Hokies are yet to top 30 points in a game this year and have the 93rd national offense in yards per game (364).
Although turnovers were a problem at Old Dominion, quarterback Grant Wells has turned things around since then, putting in a clean and solid performance against Wofford, when he spread the ball through the air. The running game, however, was still a bit stuck in the mud, averaging just 3.2 yards per carry against an FCS defense.
“I think we need to run the ball a little better, more consistently,” Pry said. “We had moments. I think our offensive line is certainly capable, but it’s also a bit about not being predictable. I think we have to keep people honest. I know what it’s like when offenses are predictable for us and what it means to call a game. So we had some healthy conversations this week.
It didn’t help last week that the Hokies didn’t have King, who showed home run ability that stands out among guards.
“I thought we just missed Keshawn’s ability to go the distance,” Pry said of the tailback, who was held off as a precaution last week. “I’d like to think he would have had an opportunity or two or three for him to do some special things on Saturday. These game-changing guys, you want them to be worth a touchdown or two every week. And he’s definitely there. one of those guys.
4. Cole Beck is now listed on the depth chart as one of two kick returners.
It was a slight change on the depth chart, with the Hokies elevating Chance Black to first place and moving star runner Beck to No. 2. They removed King from there, likely due to his increased charge in the ‘offensive.
But it’s also about possibly creating an opportunity for Beck, who joined the team in June after focusing on the track for a few years and becoming the ACC sprint champion.
“He must have removed a lot of rust,” Pry said. “He hadn’t played a lot of football in the last couple of years. So giving him a chance to kind of show what some of his strengths are. He’s playing a gunner role in our punt team and making good job there.
“But lucky to have the ball in his hands, obviously he’s a fast guy. When you talk about a guy who can make a difference and make an explosive big play, he’s definitely one of those guys. We just have to keep creating opportunities, and this is one way to do that.
So far, Beck has been used sparingly outside of special teams. He played an offensive snap as a catcher, on which Tech faked a throw sweep for him against Boston College after he went on the move.
5. Tight end Nick Gallo has been much more focused on offense.
It’s only three weeks into the season, and tight end Nick Gallo already has nearly as many receptions (13) as he did last year (14).
He had seven catches in the opener against Old Dominion and five against Wofford. Before that, the most he had in a game in his career was four against Maryland in the Pinstripe Bowl last December, when the Hokies’ receiving corps was decimated by absences.
The seven catches he had against ODU were the most by a Tech tight end since Sam Wheeler caught seven against East Carolina in 2007. (Excluding a seven-catch effort in 2016 against Miami by Bucky Hodges, who was then a wide receiver.) It helps that offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen also coaches tight ends.
“I think in this offense we look a bit more towards tight ends [on] the first tries, as well as the third tries,” Gallo said. “So I would say that’s the main difference.”
Gallo also seems to have a good relationship with Wells, who has a bit of a zip on his passes, even from close range.
“It’s awesome,” Gallo said. “He is really precise. When you turn around, you have to be ready. And he’ll put it right on you, right on the numbers. I actually like it because you get it and then you can turn around pretty quickly and be able to survey the terrain a bit. … Whatever he throws, I catch.
(Photo: Lee Luther Jr./USA Today)