"Or as they say in every newspaper sports department across the country, every day is Election Day in sports."
Oh, so true.
Guarantee you that all those survivors of newspaper sports desk around the country are thinking, and saying, exactly what Scott expressed. And laughing about the pizza party they'll be having in the newsroom tonight while the election results -- and the stories -- roll in.
The newsside reporters and desk personnel will be in mild states of panic -- mild early, severe panic late near deadlines. It happens five, six, seven nights a week in sports.
Yes, elections are difficult to cover and there seemingly are thousands of angles and stories and photo ops to cover. Just like any Friday or Saturday night in sports during football season or in March during basketball season or in the middle of summer in an Olympics year.
If the people who run newspapers gave us -- the sports department -- pizza for every difficult night that we had, we'd have owned a pizza franchise.
You think I miss those nights? No way.
I don't miss 50 to 100 or so high school football games -- depending on how big the market you're in -- being phoned in, and stories or roundups needing to be written, while you're also dealing with the 10 to 25 games from which you have reporters sending in stories (which need to be edited and which need headlines written, and possibly with photo cutlines/captions added).
Plus, there are -- depending on which month -- major-league baseball roundups to be one, and a Texas Rangers game story/sidebar/notes to be dealt with, and/or a Dallas Mavericks story and notes, and a Dallas Stars' game and notes, and maybe some breaking news on the Dallas Cowboys because they're always making news (some of it even good news), and -- hold up the sports front -- here's a late-breaking Rangers' trade.
There are Tuesday and Friday nights in basketball season when every high school team is playing all over the area, and there are college games going on at all levels, and there's an NBA roundup to be done.
And even on "slow" days in summer, when there are no high school sports going, there is almost always a full schedule of MLB games and there's news about the Cowboys and there's the shocking latest development of wrongdoing in the sports world.
It's been the same in every market I've worked in -- perhaps not as busy in Shreveport or Honolulu or Knoxville as in Fort Worth-Dallas or Jacksonville. It's a circus act more nights than not, believe me.
Meanwhile on news side, the "excitement" level might hit that kind of warp speed once every two or three weeks ... if that much.
Don't mean to say that newsside jobs aren't as difficult; they can be. Newsside does have a lot more life-and-death stories, and I would not trade places with the reporters and editors who had to handle those.
I am saying that night sports departments are much more accustomed to the frenzy most nights.
My wife, who has had an interesting and varied array of jobs, worked at the Knoxville News Sentinel for five-plus years -- mostly in the editorial department -- and saw the frenzied atmosphere (and the pizza rewards brought in) on newsside for Election Day coverage. She would remind the people in the newsroom that the sports department went through this almost nightly. (We've been married a long time, so she knew.)
She said the newsroom reply was: Yeah, but if we make mistakes (on election coverage), they are not forgotten. What we do is much more important.
OK, I'll concede that point. It is a little more important who is elected the governor of Texas and which party is in charge of the U.S. Senate than whether or not Tony Romo plays Sunday for the Dallas Cowboys.
What I am saying? No, it's not. What chance do you think the Cowboys have without Romo in the lineup?
And, really, does it actually matter when the Democrats or the Republicans have the majority in the Senate? They're not going to get much of anything done in the next two years either way. Plus, Greg Abbott as governor instead of Rick Goodhair (thank you, Molly Ivins)? Makes no difference ... well, no difference to me, anyway.
|David Brooks, left, and Mark Shields: The political analysts on PBS are the|
guys we watch to make sense of what is going on ... if it makes sense at all?
If you must know, I think David Brooks -- The New York Times' political columnist and perhaps as well-known for his political analysis on PBS -- should be our next President. He knows more, and is more sensible, than any of the politicians I see.
But back to the original subject -- Election Night at the newspaper. I once volunteered to help out on newsside; I think it was the 2004 Presidential election, and my job that night at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was to do a roundup of the biggest election stories in each of the 50 states.
As I remember it -- and actually I'm trying to forget -- I did briefs item on each state and then updated as the election results came in. When we got to deadline time, I think I had updated some 30 of the 50 states (couldn't get to the Western time zone states).
Of course, I panicked near deadline time. You'd think with all the nightly sports desk experience I'd had, I could have handled it with ease.
But I got in on the pizza party. That's what was really important.
So I'll miss the pizza tonight, but I won't miss the frenzy on newsside. I won't miss the action.
Besides, here's the benefit of retirement. There's a pizza seller set up just across from our apartment complex, a monthly occurrence here. I'm going over and buy a pizza now, and we'll eat it as we watch the election results on television. Happy Election Day.


text:
Infant death rates by county, California /
Health Data and Statistics Branch.
[Sacramento] : State of California, Health and Welfare Agency, Dept. of Health Services,
Infant Mortality /
Description based on: 1980-86; title from caption.
|Locate a Print Version:||
Find in a library
|Item Link||Original Source|
|Limited (search only) 1980/84-1980/89||University of California|
|Limited (search only) yr.1980-87||University of California|
|Limited (search only) yr.1980-88||University of California|
|Limited (search only) yr.1980-89||University of California|

domain: geography


text:
Celebrate Father's Day with a food gift full of flavor! Whether it's sending Dad a great tasting food basket or giving Dad a break from the grill, Burgers' Smokehouse can help! From our variety of steak samplers to bacon gifts or even his favorite BBQ combination, treat Dad to the best this Father's Day.
Don't forget - Father's Day is Sunday, June 17, 2018. Order by Wednesday, June 13th - 12:00 p.m. CST for guaranteed Father's Day delivery.

domain: food


NEWS & EVENTS
Dordt College News
Three Meet National Track And Field Standards
May 5, 2014
(Monday, May 5; Sioux Center, Iowa) Three Dordt College athletes reached automatic qualifying standards for the NAIA National Track and Field Championships with their performances at the GPAC Championships on Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3.
Kayla Byl (Sophomore; Sioux Center, Iowa) ran the 3,000 meter steeplechase in a time of 11:24.74, just getting under the needed time of 11:25 to qualify for the national meet.
Christy Heidema (Senior; Ridgetown, Ontario) triple jumped 38-2.25 inches, just getting past the needed standard of 38-2 to qualify for the national meet. Heidema qualified for the same event in the NAIA National Indoor Championships where she placed ninth.
Mycah Hulst (Sophomore; Byron Center, Michigan) cleared 5-6.5 in the high jump to finish second at the GPAC Championships and met the national qualification standard of 5-6.
The NAIA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held Thursday, May 21 through Saturday, May 23 at Gulf Shores, Alabama.


August 1, 2014
This piece was adapted from a June 9 presentation at PRSA’s Travel and Tourism Conference in Tampa.
We work hard to give journalists the most compelling features for their publications, write articles for our business’ publications, and craft great stories for our customers or visitors. But, we don’t have to work harder for content creation — just smarter. Many believe that content is king, but I’m here to tell you that context is.
Please log in to MyPRSA to read this article, as well as to view and leave comments.
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Linea Gagliano is a communications professional with 20-plus years’ experience in the hospitality and tourism industry and is passionate about the positive impact that travel has on our lives, both economically and personally. She is a storyteller and grammar nerd, making her the perfect fit in her role as global communications manager at Travel Oregon.
Broaden your skill set with access to an extensive library of live and on-demand professional development webinars — one of PRSA's premier member benefits.


text:
Plunket is stopping its car seat rentals permanently this year, a move a health board member has called "a disaster waiting to happen".
At the Bay of Plenty District Health Board's monthly meeting in Tauranga, concerns were raised about Plunket no longer offering car seat rentals to families who could not afford to buy their own.
Elected board member Mark Arundel said Plunket pulling out of the programme was a "disaster" and it was something every health board in the country would be concerned about.
"Clearly it's a disaster waiting to happen. I don't know how we can fix that."
Eastern Bay member Judy Turner said she would understand if the car seat renting programme cut into funding for Plunket's other operations, but said if this was the case, it was necessary that another charitable trust stepped into that role.
"For families in deprivation, they are very expensive items to purchase, along with all the other items you need for babies."
General manager of governance and quality Gail Bingham said the local Plunket group was "more than willing" to keep the programme going, but had been directed by the national body to stop.
The board determined it would write to Plunket and to the Ministry of Health to share its concerns.
Tania Garrett, Plunket's business community development manager, said the organisation was moving away from selling and hiring car seats, but would continue to provide car seat education and advocacy as part of a new injury prevention strategy.
"Families are increasingly choosing to buy car seats from one of the many commercial providers rather than hire a car seat from Plunket. The decline in use has led to the service running at a loss for several years.
"As a charity, it's important we use our limited funds in the most effective way to help families keep their children safe."
Jandhe Troughton, Plunket Bay of Plenty president, said the rental and sales of Plunket car seats had already finished in Opotiki and was in the process of winding up in Whakatane, with plans to exit the service in Tauranga by November.
"Although Plunket is moving away from the rental and sale of car seats in Bay of Plenty, we've still got considerable expertise in child restraints and injury prevention, which we'll continue to provide through education and safety checks."
Papamoa mother Shantelle Mahia said it was a shame Plunket was stopping the rental service, but there were other options available to parents if they could not afford a car seat.
"I think Baby Factory does hire out car seats, and whanau can come on board and help out other whanau. We just did that, I had a spare car seat in the work car which I've let out to whanau. There's no harm in asking.
"And there are lots of mums on Facebook that are always keen to help other mums out."
A New Zealand Police spokesman said ensuring the correct restraints were worn, including for children, had always been a strong focus for police, as it was one of the simplest things people could do to ensure their safety on the road.
"Last year about 40 per cent of the people killed on our roads were not wearing seatbelts. That equates to a lot of families and loved ones who could have potentially been saved considerable loss and grief," the spokesman said.
In appropriate circumstances, police could provide opportunities for those who did not have child car seats for their children to obtain an safe car seat.
This could take the form of "compliance" - giving the person a set amount of time to buy a car seat and wiping the resulting fine if this was adhered to.
"Police would rather money was spent on making children safe than paying fines."
Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty Travel Safe programme leader Karen Smith said the Plunket car seat technicians were a valuable resource and did a lot of work not only teaching parents how to install car seats, but in training people from other agencies how to do so.
She hoped this knowledge base would be retained.

domain: news


The Underwater Recovery Team is comprised of officers specially trained to deal with any incident occurring in, on, or under the various bodies of water located within the Town of Jupiter. The team members have a overall duty and responsibility to perform rescues and protect life and property.
The members of the Underwater Recovery Team (URT) consist of police divers that are certified "Underwater Investigators" and are trained to conduct underwater crime scene investigations.
The investigations consist of recovery and documentation of evidence in any underwater environment, including weapons, stolen property, vehicles and cadavers. The Underwater Recovery Team provides support for both the uniform patrol and criminal investigation sections by conducting evidence recovery, investigation and port security.
With Jupiter having an ocean access inlet, our URT divers have assisted federal and state agencies with various operations developed to protect our shoreline from illegal activities.


text:
Please tune in to Blind Dinner Party on the Food Network this Friday night, 10/26 at 11pm!
** UPDATE: Blind Dinner Party will also air on 11/5 at 11:30pm
Comedian Margaret Cho is conducting a bizarre social experiment, inviting eight total strangers to a “blind dinner party.” These eight strangers have entirely different backgrounds, beliefs and views on everything and — under normal circumstances — would likely never choose to dine together. But can people from extremely disparate worlds come together and find common ground over food?
Tags: Blind Dinner Party

domain: sociology


text:
Sri Lanka Treasuries auction fails despite rate hike
Feb 24, 2016 19:50 PM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)
ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka failed to sell the 22 billion rupees of maturing Treasury bills offered for auction on Wednesday selling only 9.2 billion rupees of paper, data from the debt office showed, raising fears that at least a part of the balance will be repaid with printed money.
There is an estimated 26 billion rupees of maturing bills due on Friday.
The debt office, which is a unit of the Central Bank said 6.8 billion rupees of 6-month bills were sold at 8.07 percent, up exactly 50 basis points and 2.3 billion rupees of 12-month bills were sold 8.50 percent, up 55 basis points.
Unlike in the 1990s the Central Bank no longer reveals the volume of money printed each week and market participants have to wait till Friday to find how much freshly minted liquidity hits the interbank market.
The Treasuries auction also failed last week with the central bank's Treasuries stock climbing from around 163 billion rupees to 184 billion rupees and excess liquidity went up from 14 billion rupees to 36 billion rupees.
Analysts warn that despite a 50 basis point rate hike, the monetary authority's habit of using central bank credit to finance the deficit will lead to continued pressure on the currency, as the newly created money generates imports.
The central bank is effectively printing money to prevent sovereign default. From time to time, there has also been foreign bond sales, which generates outflows, which are not directly related to domestic credit conditions.
When the early balance of payments crises started after the central bank was created with money printing powers in 1951, reports show that parliament's Public Accounts Committee had questioned officials closely though the knowledge seems to have been lost later.
The central bank was "forced by necessity" to be main subscriber of Treasury Bills, against its own advice to avoid the government defaulting on its payments, then Governor R W Rajapathirana was quoted as telling the Public Accounts Committee in a 1962 media report reproduced in Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Retrospect published in 2010.
Asked why he could not refuse to buy Treasury bills Governor Rajapathirana had said: "..suppose we refuse to buy and there are no other purchasers then the government has no money to pay its bills. That would be a more chaotic situation than the Central Bank buying Treasury bills."
PAC chairman R S V Poulier: Is it then correct to say that although the Monetary Board functioning in the proper capacity could not recommend the purchase of Treasury bills they had to do it because of the practical necessities?
Governor R W Rajapathirana: That is correct…
In 1968, during another period of balance of payment troubles, John Exter founder Governor of the Central Bank had delivered a lecture at Institute of Chartered Accounts at Longdon Place during a visit to Sri Lanka.
"..[A] central bank should show restraint in its monetary policies, there should be a reasonable expansion of credit in the economy but the creation of excess credit by deficit financing were bound to cause inflation, balance of payments difficulties and generally unstable conditions," he had said.
Exter had pointed to Singapore and Hong Kong, which had no exchange or trade controls and inflation was low.
"The thing about Hong Kong and Singapore was there were no Central Bank-like institutions…" he had said.
Monetary policy was determined by market conditions and were "no organization to disturb the stable dynamism of the economy."
Exter had slammed "The New Economics" of the then US administration, saying the edifice "could collapse like a pack of cards," and the consequences would be "disastrous for the world economy."
His prophesy came true when in 1971 the Bretton Woods system of soft-pegs collapsed ignominiously with gold and oil prices shooting up. (Colombo/Feb24/2016)


text:
FVII, FVIIa, and Downstream Markers of Extrinsic Pathway Activation Differ by EPCR Ser219Gly Variant in Healthy Men
Objective— The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a variant in EPCR (Ser219Gly), previously shown to affect EPCR shedding, on plasma FVII, FVIIa, and downstream markers of activated coagulation.
Methods and Results— Statistical analysis was undertaken in ≈2000 healthy middle aged men (NPHSII). Higher soluble EPCR levels were confirmed for Gly allele carriers (P<0.0001). Significantly higher levels of FVII, FVIIa, and downstream markers of activated coagulation in the extrinsic pathway (FIX activation pep [FIXpep]; FX activation pep [FXpep]), and prothrombin F1+2 (F1+2) were identified in baseline samples, in Gly carriers compared to Ser/Ser (P<=0.04 for trend). In repeat samples collected for up to 5 years, levels of FVII and F1+2 were higher in Gly allele carriers compared to Ser/Ser by (FVII: 6.9% CI 5.5 to 8.4 in Ser/Gly; and 23.4% CI 16.3 to 30.8 in Gly/Gly, P<0.0001), (F1+2: 8.1% CI 5.2 to 11.1 in Ser/Gly; 25.2% CI 11.8 to 40.3 in Gly/Gly, P<0.04), confirming reproducibility of findings at baseline. Molar ratios for FIXpep, FXpep, and F1+2 to FVIIa were constant in Ser/Ser and Ser/Gly but tended to be higher in Gly/Gly, reaching statistical significance for FIXpep:FVIIa (P=0.04).
Conclusions— These data suggest that higher levels of FVII and FVIIa circulate when EPCR shedding is greatest. Furthermore, these results suggest consequences for activation of extrinsic coagulation.
- endothelial protein C receptor
- extrinsic coagulation
- FIX activation peptide
- FX activation peptide
- prothrombin F1+2
Endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) plays an important role in the inhibition of thrombin generation by its participation in the PC pathway.1 As an integral endothelial membrane protein it captures circulating PC and presents it to an adjacent thrombin-thrombomodulin complex which activates the PC with a consequent inhibition of coagulation factors Va and VIIIa, resulting in reduced thrombin generation.1 We and others have previously reported altered functional characteristics associated with an amino acid change within the membrane spanning region of EPCR (Ser219Gly), both by in vitro analysis2,3 and in data derived from ex vivo plasma samples.2,4–6 Increased thrombin generation, as determined by prothrombin F1+2 (F1+2) levels, was found in those with the EPCR 219Gly allele in a large study of patients with type 2 diabetes and in healthy individuals within the large prospective study of heart disease, Northwick Park Health Study II (NPHSII).2 A large difference in soluble EPCR levels across EPCR Ser219Gly genotype groups is now well established both in health and disease, with at least 70% of the variance of soluble EPCR levels in plasma being caused by the EPCR Ser219Gly variant.2,4,5,6 In vitro analysis has confirmed increased shedding of EPCR in those with the Gly allele.2,3
See accompanying article on page 1712
Recent in vitro analysis by surface plasmon resonance of FVIIa passed over soluble EPCR bound to the surface,7 and cell surface EPCR binding to both FVII and FVIIa8 has suggested that EPCR also acts as a cellular receptor for activated factor VII (FVIIa) and FVII on endothelium. FVIIa and FVII bound to EPCR with a similar affinity compared to binding of PC and activated PC to EPCR.8 Furthermore, FVIIa that had bound to EPCR was unable to accelerate either FVIIa activation of FX or to activate protease activated receptors.8 FVIIa endocytosis was also facilitated by its binding to EPCR.8 EPCR binding is therefore suggested as a clearance mechanism for FVIIa. An in vitro study has also shown that blocking the FVII binding site of EPCR on the endothelial surface increased the generation of FXa by FVIIa, further suggesting a physiological hemostatic consequence of EPCR-FVIIa binding.9 Soluble EPCR was shown to dose-dependently inhibit the activation of FX by the FVIIa-tissue factor (TF) complex.9 These findings suggest, in terms of the FVII/FVIIa binding, that higher levels of endothelial or soluble EPCR may shift hemostatic balance toward anticoagulant activity, although it is difficult to predict the relative effects of these processes in vivo.
Within NPHSII, markers of coagulation activity have been measured at several steps along the extrinsic or tissue factor pathway. A sensitive assay to the peptide liberated (FIXpep) with the generation of activated factor IX (FIXa)10 has demonstrated that FIXa generation in vivo results mainly from activity of the tissue factor pathway, rather than the contact or intrinsic pathway (factor XII, prekallikrein, high-molecular-weight kininogen, factor XI). Levels of FIXpep were shown to be reduced in hereditary FVII or FIX deficiency.10 Similarly, levels of FXpep were shown to be lower in patients with FVII deficiency.11
In a recent study of NPHSII, a higher ratio of FIXpep: FVIIa was found to be an independent risk for heart disease12 and was as good as or better than the classic and inflammatory risk factors used in risk algorithms. In the current analysis of this large study of middle-aged men, healthy at the time of sampling, measurements of FVII and FVIIa13 have been assessed by EPCR Ser219Gly genotype, and the consequences of this on activation of coagulation has been studied using activation markers within the extrinsic coagulation pathway (FIXpep and FXpep). Measurements of activated factor XII (FXIIa)14 and F1+2,15 were used also to determine any effect on coagulation outside the extrinsic pathway, and thrombin generation, respectively.
NPHSII is a prospective study of heart disease currently with 15 years follow-up. The study involved 2997 men who gave written informed consent, and was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Subjects did not fast before blood collection but were instructed to avoid heavy meals. They were also requested not to smoke or to take vigorous exercise from midnight before sampling.
EPCR genotyping was determined using PCR, followed by restriction digest, and visualized using microarray diagonal gel electrophoresis, as reported previously.2
Measurements of Coagulation Factors and Markers of Activated Coagulation
For the current analysis, only samples without a questionable venepuncture performance were included, following a scoring system by predetermined criteria.16 FVII levels were measured by coagulant (FVIIc) and antigen (FVIIag) levels. Markers of an activated extrinsic pathway (FIXpep,10 FXpep,11 FVIIa13), and a coagulation marker outside the extrinsic coagulation pathway (FXIIa, Axis-Shield)14 together with a marker of thrombin generation (F1+2)15 were measured as described previously, in baseline samples.17 Numbers for those with genotype data corresponding to EPCR Ser219Gly and each coagulation marker, in baseline samples are as follows: FVIIc (n=2427), FVIIag (n=2273), FVIIa (n=1086), FIXpep (n=1259), FXpep (n=1120), FXIIa (n=1970), F1+2 (n=2188).
In addition, FVIIc levels had been measured in samples collected at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years and F1+2 levels had been measured at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years. These data were used to determine the reproducibility of findings in baseline samples. Only those who had both genotyping data and coagulation markers for each year were included in this analysis (FVIIc n=1564; F1+2 n=1147).
Measurement of sEPCR Levels
sEPCR levels were measured specifically for this study using an ELISA assay (Diagnostica Stago). Baseline (n=84) or 1-year (n=15) samples from both individuals who did and did not develop a CHD event and within each genotype group were randomly selected for assay. For those homozygous for the rare allele, all available samples were used (n=11). Eleven samples would have 90% power to detect a 1.5-fold difference between those homozygous for the rare allele compared to those with both common alleles. Previous findings have shown a 3.9-fold difference between sEPCR levels between these 2 groups. All samples were measured in duplicate, the mean of each pair being recorded. sEPCR levels were also measured in samples at 2 (n=99) and 5 years (n=99) for the same individuals. Interassay coefficient of variation for the sEPCR assay was 9.7%, 9.9%, and 13.1% for 3 different control samples.
Levels of coagulation markers were log-transformed. Geometric mean levels and approximate SD were used throughout. Effect of genotype on baseline levels was tested using both a codominant and an additive genetic model. Adjustments were made by analysis of covariance. Coagulation markers by genotype group and across years used repeated measures analysis of variance using those with complete data for all years. Follow-up visit was treated as a categorical variable, and an additive model was used for genotype to give a test for trend across the 3 genotype groups. Β coefficients were exponentiated to obtain an estimate of the percentage increase for each category. Differences in the effect of genotype over time were assessed by fitting an interaction term.
Levels of FVIIc, FVIIag, and FVIIa in Baseline Samples by EPCR Ser219Gly Variant
All 3 measurements showed a statistically significant increasing trend from lowest levels in Ser/Ser to higher levels in Ser/Gly with the highest levels in those who were Gly/Gly (P<=0.04, Figure 1). Similarly, for all 3 measurements, levels were significantly higher in a combined group with at least 1 Gly allele compared to those with only Ser alleles (P<=0.04, Figure 1). The significance of the associations with EPCR Ser219Gly after adjustment for confounders (center, age, smoking, creatinine, CRP) were: P<0.0001 for FVIIc; P<0.0001 for FVIIag; P=0.05 for FVIIa, confirming the significance of each association.
Markers of Activated Coagulation Downstream From FVIIa, in Baseline Samples, by EPCR Ser219Gly Variant
To determine whether an increase in circulating FVII and FVIIa could have consequences for downstream events in the extrinsic coagulation pathway, FIXpep, FXpep, and thrombin generation (F1+2) were analyzed. Both FXpep (P=0.04) and FIXpep (P=0.01) were elevated in those who were heterozygous and homozygous for EPCR 219Gly compared to noncarriers and showed a statistically significant trend (P<=0.04, Figure 2). FXIIa however, a coagulation marker outside the extrinsic system, showed no significant difference in levels by variant group (P>=0.73, Figure 2). The previously reported significantly higher F1+2 levels by EPCR genotype in these healthy middle-aged men2 are included here also for completeness. F1+2 levels were significantly higher in the EPCR 219Gly carrier groups (P=0.001) and by trend (P=0.0001, Figure 2). These results show slightly different geometric mean levels to those in the previous publication2 because of removal, in the current study, of those individuals whose blood sampling was thought to be of inadequate quality. This did not, however, change the statistical significance of the results. The significance of the associations with EPCR variant site after adjustment for potential confounders, (center, age, smoking, creatinine, CRP) were: P=0.12 for FIXpep; P=0.07 for FXpep; P=0.05 for FVIIa; P=0.0005 for F1+2. Although the association with fragments intermediate in the tissue-factor pathway became statistically borderline, after this adjustment, the marker of thrombin generation F1+2 remained highly statistically significant.
Reproducibility of FVIIc and F1+2 Levels, Across 4 to 5 Years, by EPCR Ser219Gly Variant
Levels of FVIIc and F1+2 across 5 years and 4 years, respectively, in those with complete data for all time points, were analyzed by EPCR Ser219Gly (Table). FVIIc and prothombin F1+2 levels increased significantly over time in those who were Ser/Ser (P<0.0001) and Ser/Gly (P<0.0005). Alhtough levels were considerably higher in those who were Gly/Gly compared to the other variant groups, there was no significant increase in either FVIIc or F1+2 levels from baseline to 4 or 5 years (P>0.42). Results were remarkably consistent across the years by the EPCR variant site for both FVIIc and F1+2, with levels by variant site being highly statistically significant at each year (P<=0.0001 for FVIIc, Table 1A; P<=0.04 for F1+2, Table 1B). The effect of EPCR variant was consistent over time, as no significant interaction for genotype with time was identified (P=0.68 for FVIIc and P=0.85 for F1+2). When the effect over all years was estimated by repeated measures ANOVA, with year of follow-up fitted as a categorical variable, levels of FVIIc and F1+2 were higher according to the number of Gly alleles carried (P<0.0001). After adjustment for the differences between years, levels of FVIIc in Ser/Gly were 6.9% (95% CI: 5.5 to 8.4) higher than in Ser/Ser and in Gly/Gly were 23.4% (95% CI: 16.3 to 30.8) higher (Table 1A). Similarly after adjustment F1+2 levels were 8.1% (95% CI: 5.2 to 11.1) higher in Ser/Gly than in Ser/Ser and 25.2% (95% CI: 11.8 to 40.3) higher in Gly/Gly (Table 1B).
Molar Ratios of Coagulation Activation Markers, in Baseline Samples, by EPCR Ser219Gly Variant
In line with the other coagulation activation markers, which were reported as molar concentrations, FVIIa was converted to a molar concentration using a molecular weight estimation of 51.6 kDaltons. Molar ratios for FXpep:FVIIa, FIXpep:FVIIa, and F1+2:FVIIa were calculated to determine whether they differed by EPCR variant. Although levels of the 3 extrinsic pathway activation markers (FVIIa, FIXpep, and FXpep) and a marker of thrombin generation (F1+2) were higher in carriers of the Gly allele, molar ratios for these 3 activation markers to FVIIa levels were constant in Ser/Ser and Ser/Gly (Figure 3). However, although numbers were small, there was a tendency toward higher molar ratios in those who were Gly/Gly, which reached statistical significance for the ratio of FIXpep:FVIIa (1.8-fold higher than in noncarriers, P=0.04), and >1.3-fold higher than in noncarriers for the other 2 ratios (P=0.20 for F1+2:FVIIa; P=0.10 for FXpep:FVIIa).
Levels of sEPCR Across Ser219Gly Genotype
To confirm previous results that sEPCR levels differ by Ser219Gly genotype, baseline (or year 1) samples were assessed across the genotype groups. No significant difference could be found between the samples at baseline (n=84) and year 1 (n=15, P=0.52), and accordingly, these were assessed as 1 group. Significantly higher levels were identified for those with the Gly allele, as expected (P<0.0001, both unadjusted and adjusted for those who later had a CHD event). Geometric mean levels in Ser/Ser were 82.6 (SD 34.6, n=54) ng/mL; in Ser/Gly were 212.4 (SD 87.6, n=34) and in Gly/Gly were 270.5 (SD 233.0, n=11). sEPCR levels were significantly higher in year 2 and in year 5 samples compared to baseline (or year 1), both within genotype groups (Table 1) and overall (geometric mean [SD]: baseline or year 1, 130.3 [90.8] n=99; year 2, 149.3 [102.4] n=99; year 5, 142.7 [97.6] n=99; P<0.0001). sEPCR levels were analyzed across all genotype groups by correlation with FVII levels and with the coagulation activation markers in baseline or (year 1) samples. Significant positive correlations were identified with FVII levels (FVIIc r=0.41, n=98, P<0.0001; FVIIag r=0.31, n=94, P=0.003). Significant or borderline significant correlations were identified also with each extrinsic pathway activation marker (FVIIa r=0.28, n=53, P=0.04; FIX activation peptide r=0.30, n=44, P=0.05; FX activation peptide r=0.27, n=37, P=0.11) and with prothrombin F1+2 levels (r=0.22, n=90, P=0.04), but not with FXIIa (r=−0.03, n=88, P=0.78). The correlation between FVIIc and sEPCR levels appeared higher within Ser/Gly (FVIIc r=0.42, n=34, P=0.01) compared to Ser/Ser, which showed no significant correlation (r=0.11, n=53, P=0.42,) and even higher in Gly/Gly (r=0.64, n=11, P=0.03), although numbers were small in this group. Correlations between the extrinsic pathway activation markers and sEPCR were not significantly correlated in Ser/Ser, but became significantly correlated in Ser/Gly for FVIIa (r=0.64, P=0.001, n=23) and FIX pep (r=0.54, P=0.01, n=21). Insufficient paired measurements were available for correlation analysis of FVIIa, FIXpep, and FX pep in Gly/Gly. F1+2 levels only became borderline significantly correlated with sEPCR within Gly/Gly (r=0.61, n=9, P=0.08), although numbers were small.
Previous studies have shown a large difference in soluble EPCR levels across EPCR Ser219Gly variant groups, being 2-fold higher in Ser/Gly and 4-fold higher in Gly/Gly compared to noncarriers of Gly.2,4–6 The current analysis has confirmed the higher levels of sEPCR identified for the Gly allele. The large variability in levels for the “Gly” allele, which can be seen in the current study by the large SD for the Gly allele, has been suggested to be caused at least in part by alternative splicing of the mRNA for this allele, resulting in a longer protein that is expressed, but which does not associate with the membrane. A minor portion of plasma sEPCR has been identified as this alternatively spliced variant in carriers of the Gly allele.18 It has been suggested that the plasma level of the alternatively spliced variant may be related to inflammatory processes.18 The levels of sEPCR in the current study were measured in health and, as the alternatively spliced variant would be expected to be present in only minor amounts, would not be expected to account for the findings in the current study.
The current data would support the concept that reduced amounts of EPCR on the surface of endothelium, attributable to increased shedding, in EPCR Gly carriers, has a consequence for reduced binding of FVII and FVIIa, resulting in higher circulating levels of these coagulation pathway proteins. These findings extend those reported for binding of FVII and FVIIa to surface expressed EPCR by in vitro analysis,7,8,9 and suggest that binding of FVII and FVIIa may have physiological significance. Analysis of FVIIc levels over 5 years in a large number of samples confirmed the effect of the EPCR variant site on levels and gives strong evidence for the reproducibility of the results.
The finding of higher levels of downstream activation markers for the extrinsic pathway (FIXpep, FXpep) but not for a coagulation marker outside of the extrinsic pathway (FXIIa) suggests that the reduced binding of FVIIa in those with the Gly allele may have consequences for activation of these coagulant proteins, resulting in an increase in thrombin generation (F1+2). Again, as for FVIIc levels over 5 years, the consistent effect of the variant site on F1+2 levels over 4 years gives strong evidence for the reproducibility of these results.
The question arises as to whether the increased activation through the extrinsic pathway is directly related to the lower FVII and FVIIa binding to the endothelial cell surface or via another mechanism. In this regard, it may be expected that reduced amounts of EPCR on the surface of endothelium would impact on PC binding also, leading to reduced activated PC generation in Gly carriers. The consequence of this would be reduced inhibition of the thrombin feedback loop leading potentially to an increase in FIXpep, FXpep, and F1+2 levels. FVIIa levels, however, would not be expected to increase in this case, as it has been suggested that thrombin is probably not a physiologically important activator of FVII in vivo.19 To disentangle the potential consequences of increased FVIIa level per se on downstream activation of the extrinsic coagulation system, compared to the consequences of reduced amounts of activated PC generation, a molar ratio of each downstream activated coagulation marker to FVIIa was calculated.
Although the increase in FVIIa levels in Ser/Gly was statistically significant compared to Ser/Ser, the percentage increase was small. For this small increase in FVIIa level in heterozygotes, the molar ratio of each activation marker in the extrinsic coagulation system to FVIIa was constant, compared to each ratio in Ser/Ser, suggesting that the higher FVIIa level in carriers of one Gly allele leads to an equally high “knock-on” effect of downstream activation.
The tendency toward an increased molar ratio for FIXpep: FVIIa (1.8-fold), FXpep:FVIIa (1.6-fold), and F1+2:FVIIa (1.3-fold) in those homozygous for Gly, however, does suggest that further deregulation of activated coagulation downstream from FVIIa is likely in those with the highest levels of EPCR shedding. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is the most important regulator of the FVIIa-tissue factor complex, but differences in levels of TFPI would not be expected to differ by EPCR variant and account for these results. The altered ratio may represent the added effect of a deregulated PC pathway, with reduced inhibition of the thrombin feedback loop, but requires further study. Collectively, the findings suggest 2 physiological roles for endothelial EPCR in the regulation of thrombin generation: binding and clearance of FVIIa, in addition to regulation of the thrombin feedback loop.
In vitro analysis has suggested that FVII and FVIIa will bind soluble EPCR in addition to endothelial-bound EPCR and that soluble EPCR-bound FVIIa has reduced ability to activate FX.9 The higher soluble EPCR levels associated with the Gly allele, therefore, may be expected to compensate for the reduced endothelial located EPCR, but it is not clear what the importance of this mechanism would be in vivo. This finding is in contrast to activated PC binding to soluble EPCR, which unlike membrane-bound EPCR has been suggested to inhibit the functional activity of activated PC, rather than promote it.20 In mice, it has been suggested that only supraphysiologic levels of soluble EPCR could influence PC activation and exaggerate the coagulant response.21 This is a complicated dynamic physiological process, therefore, and it is difficult to predict what would actually happen in vivo, from in vitro studies. The current study has not addressed the relative contribution of the endothelial versus circulating levels of soluble EPCR to bind FVII and FVIIa, nor the relative effects of the membrane versus circulating compartments of EPCR-FVIIa complex on downstream hemostasis. However, the results have suggested that in health, when EPCR shedding is high (Gly/Gly), the balance of these processes leads to relatively higher downstream activation of extrinsic coagulation, determined by molar ratios of the downstream activation markers to FVIIa, than was observed for the other 2 genotype groups. At an intermediate level of EPCR shedding (Ser/Gly), whereas increased FVIIa levels paralleled an increased activation of extrinsic coagulation, the relative amounts of FVIIa and downstream activation markers were constant (determined by molar ratios), compared to those who have the lowest level of EPCR shedding.
These findings, in Ser/Ser compared to Gly/Gly, help the understanding of the 3-fold elevation in risk for heart disease for Gly/Gly identified previously in NPHSII2 and extend the findings for the association of a higher FIXpep:FVIIa in those with heart disease without reference to genotype in NPHSII also.12 The small increase in extrinsic coagulation markers measured in health in heterozygotes for Gly in the current study does not detrimentally affect clinical outcome for heart disease.2 In these heterozygotes, the molar ratio of FIXpep: FVIIa did not increase above that seen for Ser/Ser and further suggests the usefulness of this molar ratio in prediction of risk for heart disease.
As stated previously, analysis of NPHSII has shown a higher molar ratio for FIXpep:FVIIa in baseline samples in those who went on to have a heart disease event.12 This ratio was attributable to both higher FIXpep levels and lower FVIIa levels in those who later developed a heart disease event. The potential explanation for these results was through increased amounts of intravascular tissue factor, with the lower FVIIa levels suggested to arise because of binding of FVIIa to tissue factor and loss of circulating measureable FVIIa. In contrast, although the current analysis would suggest that homozygotes for EPCR 219Gly are hemostatically compromised by an increased FIXpep:FVIIa molar ratio and were previously associated with heart disease in NPHSII,2 we have shown FVIIa levels to be higher in Gly/Gly. So these results indicate 2 situations associated with risk for development of heart disease, in healthy individuals: High FIXpep, low FVIIa, high FIXpep:FVIIa ratio across all individuals in NPHSII; and high FIXpep, high FVIIa, high FIXpep:FVIIa ratio in EPCR 219Gly homozygotes.
In summary, we have extended previous in vitro analysis which showed that FVII and FVIIa bind endothelial and sEPCR, by providing evidence that a functional variant site in EPCR has consequences both for plasma levels of FVIIa and for downstream activation of the extrinsic coagulation pathway. The stability of these results across 4 to 5 years, shown for FVIIc and F1+2 levels in this very large study, provides strong evidence for the variant effect. These results have also extended a previous study of NPHSII, suggesting that an increased ratio of FIXpep:FVIIa is associated with future development of heart disease. The consequences of the findings for the EPCR variant site for heart disease and other conditions associated with increased inflammatory or thrombotic processes, require further study.
Limitations of the Study
The ability to measure activated PC in this study would have been useful but is not possible as samples require collection into a specific anticoagulant cocktail.
The authors dedicate this manuscript to George Miller, who was principal investigator for NPHSII, responsible for its initiation and recruitment but who sadly died before initiation of the current analysis. We thank also the primary care practices for their collaboration in the recruitment phase of NPHSII.
Sources of Funding
The NPHSII recruitment and monitoring was supported by the British Medical Research Council, the National Institutes of Health (HL-33014 and HL-54502). S.E.H. and J.A.C. are supported by the British Heart Foundation (RG 2005/014), and H.I. is supported by the Coronary Thrombosis Trust. JHM was supported for this work by NIH grant (ROL HLA 7014).
J.H.M. has royalty income from patents related to assays used in this work; M.P.E. licensed the technology for the FXIIa assay to Axis-Shield.
Received January 9, 2008; revision accepted July 31, 2009.
Ireland H, Konstantoulas CJ, Cooper JA, Hawe E, Humphries SE, Mather H, Goodall AH, Hogwood J, Juhan-Vague I, Yudkin JS, Di Minno G, Margaglione M, Hamsten A, Miller GJ, Bauer KA, Kim YT, Stearns-Kurosawa DJ, Kurosawa S. EPCR Ser219Gly: elevated sEPCR, F1+2, risk for coronary heart disease, and increased sEPCR shedding in vitro. Atherosclerosis. 2005; 183: 283–292.
Saposnik B, Reny JL, Gaussem P, Emmerich J, Aiach M, Gandrille S. A haplotype of the EPCR gene is associated with increased plasma levels of sEPCR and is a candidate risk factor for thrombosis. Blood. 2004; 103: 1311–1318.
Medina P, Navarro S, Estelles A, Voya A, Woodhams B, Mira Y, Villa P, Migaud-Fressart M, Ferrando F, Aznor J, Bertina RM, Espana F. Contribution of polymorphisms in the endothelial protein C receptor gene to soluble endothelial protein C receptor and circulating activated protein C levels and thrombotic risk. Thromb Haemost. 2004; 91: 905–911.
Preston RJ, Ajzner E, Razzari C, Karageorgi S, Dua S, Dahlbäck B, Lane DA. Multifunctional specificity of the protein C/activated protein C Gla domain. J Biol Chem. 2006; 281: 28850–28857.
Ghosh S, Pendurthi UR, Esmon CT, Rao LV. Endothelial cell protein C receptor acts as a cellular receptor for factor VIIa on endothelium. J Biol Chem. 2007; 282: 11849–11857.
Bauer KA, Kass BL, ten Cate H, Hawiger JJ, Rosenberg RD. Factor IX is activated in vivo by the tissue factor mechanism. Blood. 1990; 76: 731–736.
Bauer KA, Kass BL, ten Cate H, Bednarek MA, Hawiger JJ, Rosenberg RD. Detection of factor X activation in humans. Blood. 1989; 74: 2007–2015.
Morrissey JH, Macik BG, Neuenschwander PF, Comp PC. Quantitation of activated factor VII levels in plasma using a tissue factor mutant selectively deficient in promoting factor VII activation. Blood. 1993; 81: 734–744.
Teitel JM, Bauer KA, Lau HK, Rosenberg RD. Studies of the prothrombin activation pathway utilizing radioimmunoassays for the F2/F1+2 fragment and thrombin–antithrombin complex. Blood. 1982; 59: 1086–1097.
Cooper JA, Miller GJ, Bauer KA, Morrissey JH, Meade TW, Howarth DJ, Barzegar S, Mitchell JP, Rosenberg RD. Comparison of novel hemostatic factors and conventional risk factors for prediction of coronary heart disease. Circulation. 2000; 102: 2816–2822.
Saposnik B, Lesteven E, okajczyk A, Esmon CT, Aiach M, Gandrille S. Alternative mRNA is favored by the A3 haplotype of the EPCR gene PROCR and generates a novel soluble form of EPCR in plasma. Blood. 2008; 3442–3451.
Liaw PC, Neuenschwander PF, Smirnov MD, Esmon CT. Mechanisms by which soluble endothelial cell protein C receptor modulates protein C and activated protein C function. J Biol Chem. 2000; 25: 5447–5452.
Zheng X, Li W, Gu JM, Qu D, Ferrell GL, Esmon NL, Esmon CT. Effects of membrane and soluble EPCR on the hemostatic balance and endotoxemia in mice. Blood. 2007; 1: 1003–1009.

domain: health


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Events For Kids & Teens
Yes, you can find information on all our events on our store calendar. But we want to make sure our younger patrons (and their parents) don't miss out on something special. Here, you'll find a list of events especially geared to kids of all ages. Feel free to print out our flyer attached below (two pages). Note that the flyer will change as events occur or are added.
Keep checking! Authors are most often on tour in the spring and fall.SUNDAY, March 16 @ 3 p.m. - RICHARD PECK
If you've heard him before, you know Richard Peck is a phenomenal speaker, as well as author. The Newbery Medal (A Year Down Yonder) and Newbery Honor (A Long Way From Chicago) recipient returns Sunday, March 16, at 3 p.m.. His latest novel, an animal tale of a tail, is The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail. Ages 8+. “If you don’t like books by Richard Peck, there is probably something very wrong with you.” - Lemony Snicket. You want to listen to Mr. Snicket!
SATURDAY, April 12 @ 3 p.m. – ELIZABETH LANGSTON
Past and present met in Whisper Falls, Elizabeth Langston's historical fantasy. Join us on Saturday, April 12, at 3 p.m. when she returns with the sequel, A Whisper in Time. Ages 12+.
TUESDAY, April 15 @ 7 p.m. – LAURA ELLIOTT
Laura Elliott, author of the acclaimed Under a War-Torn Sky, continues her war sequence with Across a War-Tossed Sea. She turns the action to America when she visits on Tuesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. In 1943 Virginia, two English boys have escaped the Nazi blitz, yet they still find the peril of the war close by. Ages 9+.
WEDNESDAY, April 16 @ 7 p.m. – JENNY HAN & JENNY HUBBARD
It's the night of the Jennys (or is that Jennies?) when two strong authors of realistic teen fiction join us on Wednesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. Jenny Han shares To All the Boys I've Loved Before - what if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once? Jenny Hubbard brings us And We Stay, a gentle, smart and powerful book about a suicide's aftermath told in wonderful verse and prose. For ages 12+.
WEDNESDAY, April 23 @ 7 p.m. – KATHERINE APPLEGATE
"I am Ivan. I am a gorilla.... It's not as easy as it looks." Katherine Applegate not only received the 2013 Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan, she created a beloved modern children's classic. We're thrilled to welcome her on Wednesday, April 23, at 7 p.m. with Ivan. This brave, moving story is perfect for anyone who loves animals and has ever wondered what they think about their lives inside a cage. Ages 9+. (Did you know she used to live in North Carolina?)
THURSDAY, April 24 @ 7 p.m. – MARCUS SEDGWICK
He's the 2014 Printz Award recipient (Midwinterblood). Now Marcus Sedgwick brings us his new novel, She Is Not Invisible, on Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m. In this thriller that challenges readers' understanding of the universe, a blind girl leads the way on a transatlantic adventure. Obsession, family ties, and mystery weave to create a taut mystery. Ages 12+.
SATURDAY, April 26 @ 1 p.m. – SHELIA MOSES - RESCHEDULED
**RESCHEDULED** Shelia Moses (The Legend of Buddy Bush; Joseph's Grace) returns Saturday, April 26, at 1 p.m. with The Sittin' Up. When his adopted grandfather, the last slave man around, dies in 1940, Bean is hurt, but excited to be included in his first sittin' up--a wake for the dead. Bean and his best friend face an unforgettable week, laced with humor. Ages 10+.
WEDNESDAY, April 30 @ 7 p.m. – MIDDLE GRADE MANIA with FOUR AUTHORS
Mystery, sports, and fable; prose and poetry - these authors have every interest covered! We welcome four talented authors on Wednesday, April 30, at 7 p.m. with their novels for ages 9+:
- Kwame Alexander with The Crossover, a novel in verse for basketball lovers.
- Kate Samworth with Aviary Wonders Inc. Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual, a comic environmental fable.
- Audrey Vernick with Screaming at the Ump, in which sports and ethics collide.
- Marcia Wells with Eddie Red Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile, in which Eddie's special talents are put to use.
|Children's Events 2014-03.pdf||604.46 KB|
|Events for Teens.pdf||539.74 KB|

domain: library


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Whatever you call it – 100-Mile Diet, the locavore movement, slow food or lessening one’s ‘foodprint' – eating locally grown food makes sense for so many reasons: flavour, freshness, safety and, not least of all, environmental impact.
For folks concerned about downsizing their carbon footprint, there’s almost no better way to do that than consuming foodstuffs that you’ve grown yourself or purchased at a local farmers' market or from farm gate sales.
Food miles is the term used to estimate how far food has travelled from the field in which it was grown to arrive on your plate. According to Realfoodmovement.ca (a website set up by Hellman's to promote fresh produce and "real food" to Canadians), it’s estimated that 58 commonly eaten imported items in a Canadian grocery store’s produce section travels an average of 4,000 miles from field to plate. The fuel usage and emissions don’t make this too appetizing.
It’s also nutritionally beneficial to gather your goods closer to home. According to Larissa Lenhardt, public health dietitian with the Middlesex-London Health Unit, “Locally grown food is often ripened on the vine, not picked ahead like imported food, so the nutritional content is higher.”
Maryann MacDonald, of London, Ontario, was concerned about both of these aspects of her food supply. On January 1, 2010 she resolved to follow the 100-Mile Diet. “In the fall, I couldn’t find locally grown garlic. I knew we grew garlic here but it wasn’t in the store and that got me to thinking. My son gave me The 100-Mile Diet book (by Alisa Smith) for Christmas and that’s what really got me started.”
She sources food from local farmers' markets, mentioning that her repertoire of recipes has expanded as a result. “It makes you eat by the season as our parents and grandparents did. And no processed foods, because you don’t know where their ingredients are coming from,” says MacDonald.
To make more locally grown food available, one young eco-preneur has adopted an old practice for a new paradigm. Twenty-five year old Heather Walker has resurrected the concept of share-cropping. Once used in the American South in times of economic hardship, Walker’s idea is ready-made for those who want to be part of the overall solution to building the food supply.
With her effort, called Stratford Urban Farms, Walker wants to use the yards of friends and neighbours to grow vegetable patches. The land is supplied by the homeowner; the seed is either supplied by them or purchased through funds raised by Walker; the labour is supplied by a team of volunteers. Walker hopes to have 10 to 15 garden plots spread throughout parts of Stratford, Ontario and 10 to 20 volunteers to help maintain them. The resultant crops will be shared among the landowners, the volunteers and Walker, and the remainder will go to local food banks.
A major grocery store chain, Loblaw, has seen the green light as well. According to senior vice president in charge of produce Mike Venton, Loblaw has relationships with 400 Canadian farmers to ensure that produce reaches their stores across the nation within 24 hours.
This summer, during Loblaws’ Grown Close to Home campaign, 40% of their produce was Canadian grown, according to company stats. So if filling up the car and taking a long drive into the country to gather your weekly groceries doesn’t make sense, it is possible to buy some local produce at your nearby chain grocery store.
For more information:


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Coronavirus: Consultant Amged El-Hawrani dies after testing positive for COVID-19
The NHS worker's 18-year-old son Ashraf has paid tribute to his father who was "dedicated towards his family and profession".
Monday 30 March 2020 09:53, UK
A frontline NHS consultant has died after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Amged El-Hawrani was an ear, nose and throat specialist at Queen's Hospital Burton.
The 55-year-old died on Saturday night at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. It was understood he had not been in contact with patients in recent weeks.
Dr El-Hawrani is the first frontline hospital worker in the UK to die after contracting COVID-19.
His 18-year-old son Ashraf said: "Most of my dad's time was dedicated towards his family, and the rest of that time was dedicated towards his profession.
"He taught me the significance of respect and equality. He also stressed the importance of not worrying about the things I cannot control, which he displayed to me right up until the end of his life.
"He did not seek the praise and approval of others, he was satisfied by viewing the positive effects of his actions and the wellbeing of his family. I am incredibly proud to say that for 18 years of my life, Amged El-Hawrani was my father."
A family spokesperson added: "Amged was a loving and much-loved husband, son, father, brother, and friend.
"His greatest passions were his family and his profession, and he dedicated his life to both.
"He was the rock of our family, incredibly strong, compassionate, caring and giving."
Gavin Boyle, chief executive at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB), said: "I want to pay tribute to Mr Amged El-Hawrani, who has sadly passed away."
He added: "(Mr El-Hawrani) was known for his dedication and commitment to his patients. He had also raised funds for the hospitals, including climbing in the Himalayas with a group of friends some years ago. The whole UHDB family are desperately saddened at losing Amged who was such a valued and much-loved colleague.
"On behalf of everyone here at UHDB, including our patients and the communities we serve, I would like to offer our sincere condolences to his family."
England's deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harries, said: "It clearly is a worrying event, it is worrying for the nation because it is another death in our statistics, it is another loss to a family.
"And it will be a loss to an NHS family as well."
Dr El-Hawrani's death came before another 207 people were confirmed to have died after testing positive for the virus in the UK, bringing the total to 1,235.
Meanwhile, the British Medical Association has written to its counterparts in Italy after it emerged that more than 50 doctors have now died after contracting the virus there.
The BMA has warned that these fatalities "must serve as an urgent warning to the British government over the supply of personal protective equipment to doctors and healthcare workers in the UK".
In the letter, Dr Chaand Nagpaul wrote: "British doctors have looked to Italy with trepidation as the spread here continues, as we are naturally concerned that we may face a challenge of the same scale within weeks.
"The bravery and compassion shown by our Italian colleagues in the most harrowing circumstances is an inspiration to us.
"We have particularly noted with frustration your calls for proper personal protective equipment go unheeded.
"The death of one doctor is a tragedy, but to lose more than 50 is a catastrophe."
According to the BMA, doctors in British hospitals and GP practices are continually warning that they do not have anywhere near enough personal protective equipment, items are being rationed, or the standard of equipment is substandard.
"The BMA has been unequivocal in its warnings about PPE: without a proper supply and adequate protection, doctors will become infected and ill, and some will die," the letter adds.
During the daily Downing Street news conference, Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said teams are working "around the clock" to deliver equipment to frontline NHS staff - with 170 million masks, 42.8 million gloves and 2.3 million pairs of eye protectors delivered to 58,000 healthcare facilities so far.


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Is it common for adults with ADD to have trouble with language? In the afternoons, it seems like I have a lot of trouble speaking correctly, or forming the right words. If this is related to my ADD, what might help? It’s embarrassing to stumble over my words like this.
Though the amount of research continues to increase, we still lack a lot of information about adult ADHD. As far as I know, difficulty speaking correctly and stumbling over words, particularly at a certain time of the day, have not been found to be related to ADHD. I suggest you speak with your physician about this problem, and seek out a neuropsychological evaluation if necessary.
Learn more in the Everyday Health ADD/ADHD Center.

domain: psychology


Photo by RIA Novosti
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine abolished the compulsory isolation of coronavirus for Crimeans who enter the country. This was during the online briefing said the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of health Maxim Stepanov, the Agency “UNIAN”.
The abolition applies not only to residents of Crimea and Sevastopol, and the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. In addition, for refusing to pass to residents of areas that have not agreed to self-isolation with the use of an electronic service, will require additional justification.
The Cabinet also established a requirement that necessarily pass the observation needs of those who come from countries “with significant spread” of mers.
29 may, the Minister of foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said that the country is beginning to open the border crossings, including for foreigners. Condition for entry, he outlined the compliance with the 14-day quarantine. According to him, it would restore movement across the border, and simultaneously to control entry into the country.
For the entire period of the pandemic in Ukraine got sick 30 506 people, 13 of them recovered 976, 880 died.
Video, photo All from Russia.


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Discussion in 'Classic Mustang Specific Tech' started by SadbutTrue, Jan 7, 2009.
With the engine running? I don't know. I guess it would be checked the same way as crank end play.
The SBC uses pressure from the timing cover/cam button to position the cam. To adjust this you actually use a hammer and bang on the timing cover. What the other guy was seeing was an oil can effect on his timing cover.
The SBF uses a cam retainer plate to hold the cam in position. I don't know of an easy to check this while the engine is together.
I still stand behind my statement of fix the carb first. Fix it first because
1)It is easy to fix
2)It is known to be a problem with his setup.
3)Safety issue..........There is fuel leaking from it
Everything we are doing right now is pure supposition because his engine isn't back together right now. We can suggest this and that and the other thing but if he can't turn the key because it is still apart then no real diagnosis can happen.
I agree there are multiple things going on here. The carb is not the only issue but it is a significant issue and it is causing a problem.
Take a 5/8 wrench and remove the whole float assembly including the lock screw. When the head of lock screw is pointing down the needle should be on the seat. When the head of the lock screw is pointing up to the sky you should be able to see the tip of the needle inside the cage. If the needle doesn't fall down in the cage then it's stuck in the seat. That needle needs to move freely up and down with no resistance.
If it does fall down then your float was set too high, or there is something else leaking from your carb.
The float is the easiest to check which is why I suggest checking it first.
Not true, he can check to see if the advance has been locked on his distributor, which would explain his timing problem. His symptoms point this way, however someone would have had to intentionally locked the advance. Not sure if this is a new distributor for him, something he bought used, been running all along etc. But it is simple to check and easy to fix if it is the problem. Agree his carb issues need atention as well, but really should have the engine back together and running to tune the carb IMHO.
I think once I get my Juniper networks test out of the way I'm just going to go over to his house and bang out all of these tests with him... I'm geting sick of his car not running.
While we are working on the carb, should we check the tire pressure, do a brake inspection, and send the battery out to be load tested?
I don't have a problem fixing the carb, but c'mon - first things first.
my point exactly. leaking fuel is the thing I would fix first in this scenario. that's just me.
At least you are still working on it. Plus, it makes for some entertaining reading while I'm in the sand box...
What about this?
So yeah... if my spark plug wires were wrong, 1 spot off either way... would that cause my strange initial advance reading and/or be why I have to rotate my distributor as far as it would go in order to get it to run decently?
If you are off a wire it will cause poor performance.If you have everything " in line" Your distributor should have plenty of room for adjustment.
Keep up the good work, I've been following this snce the beginning!
I don't think anyone on here's an idiot and i appreciate the help, but your tone when you said I'd been doing months of 'pointless' troubleshooting wasn't helpful and was insulting. I truly do appreciate and consider everyone's input on here, and if I overreacted I apologize... I'm frustrated enough about this and telling me what I've done so far to fix it is 'pointless' definitely doesn't help though.
I did consider that the MSD was messed up and replaced it, along with my distributor and coil. The only issue with finding another ignition system is that I can't keep throwing money at this problem in $3-500 chunks and continue to see no improvement. So far i've probably burned about a grand replacing parts that apparently were perfectly fine.
jcode... no, we didn't perform that procedure. The rotor caps off, I could go downstairs and check that its not locked out right now. It was a brand new distributor. Also worth noting again that when we first started having this problem it was with a stock distributor, and swapping to the MSD distributor was one of the first steps we took to try to fix it.
I'm almost 100% sure it's cam walk. Did you check the camshaft endplay when you swapped the timing chain?
You said theres fuel in the intake tract. Is it coated or is it puddled?
Could it be something as simple as moving the spark plug wires over one way or the other? What would the effect of doing that be?
I think I asked this previously (could have been on another forum). I believe my current ones are right (and they're in the right order) but perhaps they're off one, one way or the other.
Coated. I believe we checked the endplay as per the instructions.
Hi there sad but true,
I have also been following this thread, interesting for me but a real pain for you.
Forgive me if i missed something ...... You say the timing jumps around, what do you mean by this .. Is the jumping around you having to move the dizzy to keep it running or ?
Still sounds like timing to me IMHO
Heh, I'm not sure where the idea that the timing was 'jumping' around came from. In both this thread and others on other forums it seems that terms getting introduced somewhere and I'm not sure where.
I don't know what timing 'jumping' means exactly, but I'm pretty sure mine isn't doing it. My timing DOES stay set where I tighten the distributor down. The problem is that it wont run unless I set it at initial timing values that don't make sense (ie 30-55 degrees initial). Once we get it set it'll idle (in a very rough manner) without us touching the distributor. It doesn't move after I set it, its just I'd like to set it and visually see that its 10-14 degrees like its supposed to be.
we used the timing light to check my brothers stock 289's timing (in his 67 cougar) and it was working fine (showed about 10 degrees initial timing on that motor). so you can eliminate the timing light, I believe, unless my crazy ignition is causing some sort of interference that his stock setup isn't causing.
I had mine set at 34 degrees with the distributor locked out for a while. It drove fine. It was a little hard to start if it was warm, but I didn't have the retard function from the MSD you do now......just something to think about.
This is what made me think it was changing ....
Frtom the start of the thread ....
"As a few people on here probably remember, Ive had some issues getting my car running right after the H/C/I build over summer. My car is/was impossible to time and timing would change after starting and wouldn’t stay set, leading to hard starting, poor performance, and now a massive backfire last night as i was tunning it. "
Oh. Well. Yeah I guess I could see where you got that. Going to have to edit that post. To correct...
I do believe the timing stays set once we get it running. I don't believe the problem is that it is moving on me, rather... I cannot get the engine to run when the timing is not in the 30-55 degrees initial range. Obviuosly, the engine should run best with 10-14 degrees initial and 35-36 degrees total all in by 3500 rpm or so. It actually seems to run best with an indicated 50-55 degrees initial timing.
Sorry for the confusion.
Couldn't hur to see if its locked out I guess. I just sorta doubt thats the problem since I know my stocker distributor wasn't and the new distributor didn't change anything when we put it in.
It could if you were not hooking up your timing light to the #1 spark plug wire.
If you move your wires around one spot you may be able to get the distributor turned to the place that it runs best.
My guess, if it is not jumping around, is that you are off a wire or two and it is causing the erronious readings.


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Image via Guitar Center “I was pretty much afraid of everything. Afraid of the world, afraid of speaking – a really, really shy kid. And music was a way to speak. As simple as that.” These words belong to Metallica’s James Hetfield, from the opening lines of Guitar Center’s most popular video on their YouTube channel.

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Even after federal investigators alleged that the Massachusetts Department of Corrections violates the constitutional rights of inmates by failing to supervise mentally ill inmates and forcing lengthy mental health-watches in restrictive housing, prisoner advocates say no changes have been made to correct the problems.
Gov. Charlie Baker said Nov. 18, the day after the federal investigation from U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling was released, that "this is a fail that needs to get fixed."
"A lot of that stuff that he recommends and his folks recommend, it came out of dialog and conversation's taking place with DOC over the course of the investigation," Baker said, adding that the Executive Office of Health and Human Services is also involved.
But Elizabeth Matos from Prisoners' Legal Services, a corrections watchdog group, says there's no evidence the Department of Corrections has changed anything.
"As far as we can see through interviews with our clients, I don't know that any significant changes have actually been implemented yet," Matos told GBH News.
The federal investigation insisted, against a penalty of legal action against the state, that Massachusetts prisons add mental health clinicians and supervision to better monitor inmates under mental health watch.
Rep. Ruth Balser was surprised by the feds' findings since she says there are already laws in Massachusetts regarding mental health care in prisons.
"What's very alarming about the report is it does not sound like these policies that were enacted by the Legislature are being followed in our state prisons," Balser said.
The Department of Corrections would not comment on any changes they've made since the federal report, saying only that they have implemented additional training to staff, intervention plans for inmates that harm themselves, and have stopped selling razors to inmates at some facilities, which the report criticized.
In a statement from Nov. 17, Department of Correction spokesperson Jason Dobson wrote the department "has already begun to address the issues raised in the report and maintain the significant progress we have already made."
"The Department remains deeply committed to the health and well-being of all entrusted to our care and fully invested in protecting their physical safety and civil rights," Dobson wrote.
Like Matos, Sen. Cindy Freidman (D-Arlington) says there's no reason to believe DOC has taken any major steps to increase care for the mentally ill and suicidal.
"And what my experience tells me is that I don't expect to see it. And if you're telling me that the thing you did was take a razor away from somebody who was seriously ill or suicidal, that's what you think is providing people with good care. You've got to be kidding," Friedman said.
Baker requested $730 million dollars for prisons in this year's budget, but Democrats cut that to under $688 million in their final spending plan.


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A suburban Minneapolis police officer fatally shot a black man on Wednesday during a traffic stop, police said, and a woman posted a video on the internet saying he had been reaching for his licence and showing what she described as the aftermath of the incident.
The incident comes hours after the US justice department said it had opened an investigation into two police officers who had fatally shot a black man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday.
The use of force by law enforcement against African-Americans in cities from Ferguson, Missouri, to Baltimore and New York has come under heavy scrutiny.
The St Anthony police department said in a statement an unidentified black man was wounded in an officer-involved shooting during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, at 9pm local time.
The man was taken to hospital, where he later died, police said.
A woman live-streamed what she described as the aftermath of the shooting in a 10-minute video posted on YouTube and briefly on Facebook. Reuters has been unable to confirm the validity of the video.
The video begins with the unidentified woman in the passenger seat describing what had happened moments before while a black man covered in blood sat in the driver’s seat as a police officer pointed a gun into the vehicle.
The woman said that her boyfriend had just been pulled over for a broken tail light and explained that he had a gun, which he was licensed to carry.
“He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out of his pocket,” she said.
“He let the officer know that he had a firearm and that he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm.”
Police said a handgun was recovered at the scene.
Officers told the woman to keep her hands up as a small child is heard briefly crying in the background.
“Fuck. I told him not to reach for it,” a distraught man is heard screaming in the video.
The Minneapolis Star newspaper reported relatives and friends identified the man as Philando Castile, 32. Castile was a cafeteria supervisor at a school in St Paul school district, according to the paper.
“He doesn’t deserve this,” the woman was heard saying as she cried in the video. “He was a good man.”


Plans for an 874-space multi-storey car park at the Royal Derby Hospital have been submitted to Derby City Council.
The proposed location for the five-storey building is on the current car park six site, which has capacity for 385 vehicles, but which will be lost during any construction work.
The lay-out of the new car park would actually give a total capacity of 922 spaces but as only 874 are needed, the rest would be used as storage space. This would give the site an extra 300 car parking spaces.
A planning statement accompanying the application, submitted by the University Hospitals of Derby NHS Foundation Trust, says that the siting of the car park "is as close as possible to the existing internal roadway maintaining pedestrian footpaths and crossing points from the hospital building".
Electric charging points will be incorporated into the design with a minimum of one every five spaces.
The planning statement also says that the hospital has been subject to a series of recent planning applications which have resulted in the loss of parking space on the site.
These include the construction of a new outpatients department, which will result in the loss of 101 parking spaces in car park eight and the loss of 88 parking spaces in car park one, where a temporary ward has been sited but will be February removed in 2023.
In total , there are 3,195 spaces serving the hospital, including the manor car park and staff spaces.
A couple of letters of objection from residents in nearby Constable Drive have been received by the city council planners.
They express concerns about the size of the building and also noise and light pollution emanating from it.
It has not been revealed where the trust is obtaining the funding from for the project and what the final cost will be.
In 2018, Derbyshire Live reported that plans for a "huge multi-storey car park, staff car park and new operating theatre" were set to be bankrolled by Derbyshire County Council.
It appears, the hospital trust agreed a loan from Derbyshire County Council totalling for £9.8 million to help pay for a 1,000-space multi-storey car park at the Royal Derby.
Then last November, Derbyshire Live reported that the trust had unsuccessfully bid for a potential £59 million bonus intended for capital projects including "a long-awaited new multi-storey car park at the Royal Derby Hospital".
Dr Magnus Harrison, executive medical director, said: “We are committed to improving patient experience at our hospitals, and we know that car parking at Royal Derby Hospital has been a long standing issue and we are working hard to rectify this.
"These preliminary plans to construct a car park for patients and visitors will help us to achieve this, and we will continue working with our partners and local residents to understand how we can best move forward with these plans.
“Construction has also begun on a new multi-storey car park at Queen’s Hospital Burton, which will create 425 parking spaces on site.”


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Multi-Objective Spatial Decision Model for Land Use Planning in a Tourism District of India
Developing tourism in a hilly region has become a thriving process which induces a complex land-cover dynamics. The study area (Shimla District in Himachal Pradesh) is located in the beautiful Himalayan environment in northern India and was the summer capital of India during the days of British rule. The current study has attempted to understand and model the suitability of three major land use forces (agriculture need, forest ecosystem conservation and human development) using the spatial Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). Further, the study utilised a multi-objective conflict analysis (MOCA) to understand and resolve the competition amongst these major land use forces. The cross overlay analysis of the existing land use map and the MOCA-derived map infers that the agricultural and human settlement preference can potentially expand into 26% of the current actual forest area. Around 18% of the potentially suitable area for forest class has already been occupied by non-forest classes. The potential future change zones are located in the middle and western regions/sections of the study area. Since the western region is already developed, more attention needs to be paid in the future to the central region of the study area.
Keywords: multi-objective, decision model, planning, land use, allocation
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According to Canadian psychologist and researcher Dr. Scott Bishop, mindfulness consists of two primary features:
As it happens, that describes the fertile soil for creativity and, by extension, innovation.
You can’t have innovation without creativity. And creativity, by its nature, is an internal process; you have to understand what’s happening inside yourself in order to be sustainably, reliably creative. In other words, mindfulness enables creativity and innovation.
While you can’t force creativity to happen, you can be rigorous and systematic about how you create the right conditions to generate that process.
One way to develop the discipline of curiosity is to become more deliberate about training yourself to directly participate in your experiences – otherwise known as…


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Sure you may think there is nothing wrong with an eclectic look, but a complete matching bedroom set will really bring your room together and give it a designer look. From Japanese to Swedish, modern design comes in all flavors so don't think your choice will be limited. And with internet shopping as an option you'll easily be able to find a set that speaks to you, that you love.
There are other combinations too when it comes to a bedroom set as they can come with all sorts of furnishings in addition to the example that was just mentioned. There are other options that come with armoires that can nicely double as entertainment centers if you like to watch TV and movies in your bedroom, some that feature bed benches so you can take advantage of extra storage space and also a nice spot to sit down and put on shoes or just rest, and you can even get ones with matching bookcases or desks, perfect for if you like to work on projects before going to bed.
They are also built to last. Thanks in part to their superior design, excellent craftsmanship and innovative use of materials, modern bedroom sets continue to look fashionable for decades.
Lilian Philidor Bedroom Set Monday April 15th, 2019 05:02:01 AM
Hit One of The Thumbnails Below to Get More Bedroom Set Ideas
Monday April 15th, 2019 05:02:01 AM

domain: design


2018-3-29 prevention is key to reducing violent crime - april 2012 reducing homicide and violent crime in detroit is essential to improving our quality of life. Crime is a major problem in the united states when reading a newspaper or watching tv, it is impossible not to hear about some murder, robbery or violent act. We’d like to learn more about crime carried out on mopeds if you’ve been affected or have knowledge about the issue, please get in touch published: 5:51 am. 2012-12-18 what is the solution to the rape/ crimes against women what is the solution for youth crime why does bjp have the highest number of mps,. 2013-7-25 crime & the city solution好听的歌:six bells chime,the last dictator i,six bells chime,streets of west memphis,hey sinkiller等crime & the city solution最新.
2018-6-12 escalating levels of crime and violence are a serious threat to human development, democratic institutions and good governance throughout much of the world, including southern africa. 2014-10-22 crime prevention in aboriginal communities rick linden university of manitoba 2 crime rates in aboriginal communities in manitoba both the aboriginal justice. Title: crime and violence in jamaica: causes and solutions issue 2 of department of government occasional publication volume 2 of occasional papers // university of the west indies, department of government. 2009-12-8 please check this essay for methank you so much :d :d most street crimes are rarely committed by big criminal organizations but its effects have a strong influence in society.
Free essay on crime problems available totally free at echeatcom, the largest free essay community. Definition of crime: harmful act or omission against the public which the state wishes to prevent and which, upon conviction, is punishable by fine,. Manage your financial crime risks fccs can tailor anti-money laundering, sanctions, and anti-bribery & corruption solutions to your specific needs.Solutions to violence our solutions to violence programs provide empowerment-based services to strengthen and support survivors of intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking crimes we also provide prevention and education services for groups, schools, and the community about child abuse preven. The office of justice programs’ crimesolutionsgov uses rigorous research to determine what works in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services on crimesolutionsgov you will find. 2014-11-6 say what you will about gangs, but their model works when it comes to attracting young people it's time to use that model to save kids and reduce violence and crime.
2017-9-23 crime prediction and classiﬁcation in san francisco city addarsh chandrasekar, abhilash sunder raj and poorna kumar abstract—to be better prepared to respond to criminal activity. 2018-3-14 there are a number of programs council is involved in to increase public safety and awareness in liverpool by equipping people with a greater knowledge and understanding of safe practices and crime prevention liverpool community safety and crime prevention advisory committee liverpool community. Arctic intelligence is a leader in regulatory compliance and risk management software and helps companies to easily and cost effectively manage their financial crime.
2017-11-6 guide to preventing workplace fraud taking action to reduce business crime exposure “honesty pays, but it doesn’t seem to pay enough to suit some people. Cyber crime solution bd 20 likes community এই পেজটি শুধু পুলিশ সদস্য দ্বারা পূর্ণ করতে চাই। যাঁরা ড্রেস.
2009-5-27 cleen foundation page 6 6/29/2005 acknowledgment this publication is a compilation of the proceedings of the national summit on crime and policing in nigeria. The crimesolutionsgov web site is a resource to help practitioners and policymakers understand what works in justice-related programs and practices it includes information on justice-related programs and assigns evidence ratings--effective, promising, and no effects--to indicate whether there is evidence from research that a program achieves. We develop crime analysis software including link analysis, crime analytics, crime mapping, and criminal intelligence database management solutions.


Joe Biden is not the most popular man in the White House these days after he forced his boss to speed up his announcement favoring gay marriage.
But Republicans are hoping that focusing on the gaffe-prone vice president will turn him into even more of a perceived liability.
Story Continued Below
Mitt Romney’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have spent weeks tracking Biden’s every move, crashing an Ohio event held by Obama’s loquacious No. 2 and blasting out video clips of the vice president giving regional interviews in which he’s stumbled on his message. Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu targeted Biden in a conference call Tuesday in advance of the veep’s visit to the state.
It’s an effort to dent Biden’s working-class appeal as Obama’s most enthusiastic and high-profile surrogate hits the campaign trail by highlighting the veep’s penchant for verbal tumbles and miscues. And if it needles the White House in the process, that’s good, too.
Yet it’s a strategy that Democrats — and, privately, some Republicans — argue is a waste of time, one that won’t move any votes, won’t break through the media noise and won’t ensure a laser-like focus on Obama.
It’s a battle that will win “Twitter hashtag wars,” and that’s all, as one Democrat put it.
Republicans, who have pushed out Biden videos through social media, insist it’s a strong line of attack.
“The guy’s a ticking time bomb,” a source close to presumptive GOP nominee Romney said of Biden. “Who the hell knows what he’s going to say?”
Two GOP sources said that going forward, Republicans will continue to spotlight Biden.
Yet whether Republicans acknowledge it or not, the intense bracketing effort also reflects Biden’s potency as a surrogate — the vice president, who is from Scranton, Pa., is seen as a bridge to the coveted white, working-class vote — for a president who’s often criticized as aloof and removed.
“He’s probably the best surrogate, and at times arguably better suited to campaign in certain areas than the president. What the Republicans submit are flaws of Joe Biden are the things that endear him to most Pennsylvania voters that I know,” said former state Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney. “It comes down to seven counties in Pennsylvania. You need Joe Biden in those counties arguably more than you need the president. He can take care of things. He can have conversations that the president just can’t.”
But in other swing states like Ohio, filled with the working-class voters to whom Biden typically appeals, Republicans insist he’s a more regional player because of White House policies.
Interim Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett said blowback during Biden’s visit to his state last week was organic, and largely a result of concern about coal policy, not politics.
“People came out and protested [his event] on their own,” he said. “We didn’t have to do anything. They just showed up. … Both Obama and Biden are just out of touch. [Biden’s] doing the best he can. He’s just not doing a very good job.”
“He is [the] chink in the armor,” said one Republican in explaining the attack-Biden strategy, saying that the veep commits the unforced errors that the teleprompter-aided tends to avoid by sticking to the script.


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More than twenty victims stretched over several weeks, Mt. Pleasant Police crack a stolen credit card ring.
Two downstate men are in jail for stealing cell phones and credit cards from pockets, purses and coats at the Wayside Central bar in Mt Pleasant.
They are still searching for a third suspect.
Police say the men would steal the cards and take them to the local Meijer and try to purchase Visa gift cards through the self check out lane with the stolen cards.
After four weeks of reports, police were able to catch them in the act at the store.
While the case wraps up, police remind people to watch their backs to avoid getting hit themselves.
“Don’t leave your items unattended when you’re out conversing with other people,” says Officer Autumn Balcom of the Mt. Pleasant Police Department, “Don’t leave them alone. Try to probably not keep your debit card with your cell phones. I know that they make them convenient but if you do lose it then you have everything that’s exposed.”
Police believe the third suspect is on the run but they do know who he is and there is a warrant out for his arrest.


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The European eel (Anguilla anguilla), the freshwater blenny (Salaria fluviatilis), the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera auricularia) and the pronged clubtail (Gomphus graslini) are some of the vulnerable species that are not sufficiently represented in the biodiversity catalog of the Natural River Basins (RNF) in Spain, according to a new article published in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. Researchers Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles and Núria Bonada from the Research Group Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM) of the University of Barcelona participated.
The article, focused on the Ebro River basin, includes citizens and other social and institutional agents (water agencies, hydrographic confederations, scientists, non-governmental organizations, environment consultants, etc.) in the design process for the water reserves map in Spain.
Natural - River - Basins - RNF - Spain
The Natural River Basins (RNF) were created in Spain in 2015 to preserve the river areas with no human intervention, and which were in a perfect ecological state. The new study reveals the first conclusions of Reservial (2015-2017), a pioneering project in the European framework to assess the efficiency of the RNF in Spain with the participation of all stakeholders.
This innovative project seeks to shape a network of water basins of the rivers in Spain to guarantee the protection of river regions with the highest ecological and socioenvironmental value, as well as the preservation of water biodiversity. Reservial is led by Núria Bonada, lecturer from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the Biodiversity Research Institute (UB-IRBio) of the U.
Participation - Research - Protocol - Experts - Conservation
With public participation in the research protocol, experts defined the conservation criteria RNF should fulfill to guarantee the protection of biodiversity related to rivers. "About 60 percent of the species that were assessed in the project are not sufficiently represented in the RNF. Some of these species are regarded as vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)...
Wake Up To Breaking News!
Does it ever seem that life has become one long rerun?

domain: biology


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Amgen Inc. reported a 26 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit, based on higher sales of its Aranesp anemia medicine, but warned of slower revenue growth this year.
For the October-December period, the Thousand Oaks-based biotech giant reported net income of $689 million, compared with $547 million for the like period a year earlier. Revenue rose 24 percent, to $2.91 billion.
Sales of Aranesp climbed 40 percent, to $705 million, as Amgen took market share from Johnson & Johnson's Procrit. But the U.S. government has reduced payments on Aranesp this year and that may hurt revenue growth, the company said.
Amgen projected revenue growth in "the high single-digits to low teens range," compared with an increase of 26 percent to $10.6 billion in 2004. "We think at this stage of the year we ought to be mindful of those reimbursement uncertainties," Chief Executive Kevin Sharer told analysts in New York Thursday morning. "It's as simple as that."
In the fourth quarter, combined sales of anemia drugs Epogen and Aranesp rose 21 percent from a year ago to $1.4 billion. Combined sales of anti-infection drugs Neulasta and Nepogen rose 13 percent from a year ago to $778 million.
Shares of Amgen dipped 1.7 percent to $62.48 in late-morning trading.
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- Wouldn't this be a better world if we could just put our information of the required food caloric needs of family members, the exact meal palatial needs, the exact amount of meals, taking into account product spoilage lengths make a printout. We would take it to the store, the producers and we only purchase what we need. Only exact purchases of the exact quantity is purchased and produced. That is one part of the need.
- Food products and other consumer products require shipping materials that are often just removed and disposed. Creative and innovative shipping procedures, product production locations as well as recycling processes of the materials is need two.
- Matching needs with the non-edible products. The introduction of the intranet has gotten us closer to helping us reach this goal. Black Thursdays and Fridays are a great example of the problem. On these days millions of consumers waste resources such as fuel in their cars to time they could be with families and still not finding what they want or need. Can we do this step and not interrupt the consumer markets?
- Product sharing can help save resources of need. People have been coming up with ways to share cars, computers or creative ways to use the cloud (internet storage) to reduce the computer, notebook, camera and phone needs.
- Examples of companies trying to keep this thought in mind can be good areas to invest as well. Here is a link to check out: 8 companies with results.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Food waste. Our current state of life on this planet is unsustainable unless we find ways to better manage the resources we have. Do you want to start a business? Maybe your innovative contribution creating inventions, here are just some needs that waste presents.
This project will not only put China as a leader in building construction innovations but show they have some truly top project managers. I would have to add to this statement, some very cooperative city regulators. In the USA project managers would agree that city safety, building regulators and planners would have to redevelop their processes to make this happen in the United States. During building construction the inspectors can be the biggest challenge to on-time completions. However, many could argue that a USA building of this magnitude would draw less comments like, "You wouldn't catch me in that building."
Could we learn from the Chinese about this process, absolutely! We have modular, and factory component construction. We have a transportation system that is not the best in the world but competitive. We have some very knowledgeable and veteran project managers. We have some of the most skilled construction workers in the world. Yet if you were to ask, "Could we do this in America?" Few in the business would say it could be done.
The cost of building construction done "China style," could make building buildings like this in America very attractive and affordable. Material and energy wastes could be cut. Building big buildings could change the trends of urban sprawl and change apartment rental and real estate trends. More people could share the views of oceans and bays near large cities. Manufacturing in America could get an extra boost as we start building more building structures in factories designed to do so. It would require a change in how we do things. Can we do it? Yes we can!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The Star Wars movies were given credit for pushing the imaginations of engineers to what lasers could do. It also pushed the brains to imagine of space travel and what other worlds could be like. The Black Knight has several creative ideas of what today's military could look like. Today's special forces have some primitive looking equipment compared to what Hollywood has put together.
It was said in several other reports, that the producers of the Dark Knight played with toys in their garages to get the right look for their movie. The Bat Tumbler was designed by putting a Hummer and a Lamborghini together. The Bat and the Bat Pod are definitely creative. I am very sure the the military will have vehicles in the future that resemble these clever machines that will give military troops an advantage in battles.

domain: economics


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Showtime's linear premiere of The Borgias blessed the premium network with its top drama premiere in seven years.
The two-hour series bow on April 3 averaged 1.06 million watchers in its 9 p.m., according to Nielsen data, before adding in another 432,000 viewers at 11 p.m. Jeremy Irons stars as Pope Alexander VI, who headed the notorious Borgias clan in the late 15th century.
Click here to read the full story at Multichannel.com.
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domain: entertainment