text:
Want to become a master in the kitchen?
Want to know how to achieve it without culinary school, expensive equipment, or with little experience?
Burgers truly are amazing. They can be both salty, sour, sweet and can bring out the best flavor of any meat. There is no wondering to why burgers are very popular.
This cookbook also features some mouth-watering and unique homemade burger recipes that you will want to get on with cooking right now.
Recipes You Will Learn:
Tasty Big Bang Burgers
Yummy Barbecue Citrus Burger
Unique Smashed Reuben Burgers
Ultimate Sweet Potato & Chickpea Burgers With Peanut Sauce
Iconic Tuna Burgers With Anchovy Aioli
Awesome Salmon Burger With Wasabi Mayo
And much more....
So, what are you waiting for?
Grab a copy of this book and start cooking burgers today!Genre: COOKING / Methods / Gourmet
Recently we ran a promo and were able to make 1500 sales during the promotion period. Though all sales were free downloads but it signifies that the topic has potential and is capable of making money. Paid downloads vary between 40 to 60 per month.
Please Note - This is just one book. I have over 1000+ books in my arsenal. If one book can do this much imagine how much even 10 books could do for you. Just stay committed with our business model and I assure you that we all will make money!! Lot of it!!
Titanic Chunky Avocado Turkey Burgers
Mystery with this recipe or rather a chemistry with it.
Preparation and cooking Time: 20 to 25 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6
Already translated. Translated by Samantha Delfino
Already translated. Translated by Daniel Orlandi
Translation in progress. Translated by Lorena Fernández

domain: food


text:
This week our challenge over at Totally Gorjuss is "Spring", so get crafty and join us this week for an easy Challenge, we are all doing Spring Cards right, well hop on over at Totally Gorjuss and join us.
I decided on this cute image from Whimsy Stamps called Easter Bunny, used some fun Spring colors on my card. I love the cute little Bunny, Chick and Egg it all speaks Spring to me!
Colored my image with Copic Markers, The Sentiment, Tag and Flourishes are all from Whimsy Stamps.
My flowers, Shabby Ribbon and Mesh Trim are all from The Little Boutique Etsy Shop, Thanks for your visit!!

domain: artistic


text:
'The most important message it sends is that your wishes matter.'
Isle of Wight Council is asking the Supreme Court to overturn the High Court judgment.
Government loses its Brexit challenge.
'It has nothing to do with my case'.
Burn: 'He misunderstands the entire premise of the case.'
Breaking Hearts. Adjudicating Matters Of Law.
The demonstrators were few but colourful.
'She's always been opposed to Britain leaving the EU' - IDS
'Political anger the likes of which none of us has witnessed.'
'Punished way beyond what would be considered proportionate.'

domain: sociology


text:
Alexandria bicyclist killed in crash
Published 07/19/2010, Alexandria Echo Press
An 87-year-old Alexandria man died from injuries he suffered in a bicycle-pickup crash north of Alexandria Saturday.Word count: 76
The full article is available to newspaper subscribers. If you are a subscriber please log in to continue reading.

domain: news


CHARLESTON, S.C., June 2 -- A dispatch from Bennettsville, S.C., the home of Senator McLaurin, says there are good reasons for believing that just prior to the meeting of Congress, in December, Senator McLaurin will resign and request Gov. McSweeney to appoint his successor. Should the Senator do this, which is most likely, he would expect the Governor to appoint a strong man representing the political views of Messrs. View Full Article in Timesmachine »
Full text is unavailable for this digitized archive article. Subscribers may view the full text of this article in its original form through TimesMachine.


Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has released a response to a lawsuit filed against it Thursday by David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital hedge fund. Einhorn believes Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) should increase shareholder value by giving away preferred stock, and he told Bloomberg TV Thursday that the company could unlock “several hundred dollars per share” by offering preferred stock. He also defended his views in an email discussion with Business Insider’s Henry Blodget.
Apple is recommending that shareholders vote in favor of Proposal 2—an item up for a vote at the next shareholder meeting—which Apple says would enable shareholders to vote on the issuance of preferred stock. David Einhorn believes if the proposal is adopted, it would bar the future issuance of preferred stock.
However in its response to Einhorn’s lawsuit, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it doesn’t believe Proposal 2 will prevent preferred stock from being issued.
“Apple’s articles of incorporation provide for the issuance of ‘blank check’ preferred stock by the Board of Directors without Shareholder approval,” Apple’s statement said.
Instead, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) said that if Proposal 2 passes, shareholders would gain the right to approve the issuance of preferred stock. This suggests that preferred stock could still be issued in the future.
Einhorn’s lawsuit claims that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is hoarding cash in a way that it is against the best interests of shareholders. He believes that Apple could still return value to shareholders by issuing preferred stock without having to delve into its large cash pile.
Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 3 percent in trading on Thursday.


text:
Most helpful critical review
358 of 369 people found the following review helpful
Some intriguing new features, but not everything you'd want; quality is fine for ordinary use but not professional
on June 30, 2010
This is a decent low-end printer with a few very cool features, and satisfactory but not stellar performance. It would be the ideal printer for a small family, especially with children who like to print things (and what kids don't like to print things). I'm going to quickly go through the features and mention what I've experienced after playing with it for a few days; where relevant, I'll compare its features to my slightly more expensive Canon printer.
The printer's nicely packed, and easy to put together. The only trick I had was installing the printer cartridges. Like another reviewer said, the printer cartridges don't go in exactly the way the diagram or the illustrated video on the printer's screen suggests. If you make a mistake, it will say that they're not installed, and then you can't just go fix the mistake because it doesn't recognize you've fixed it unless you power off and power on again. One other thing I like is that the whole thing comes with a handy canvas carrying tote. That'll be nice because I may occasionally bring it home.
Setting up this printer as a wireless printer was extremely easy. I've setup about 5 different wireless printers over the past year and this was by far the easiest. What made it simple was that the instructions on the printer's screen show you exactly how to connect it to a local wireless point, and then when you install the software on the screen it automatically recognizes the printer as there to be used. Easy stuff.
It's advertised as a photo printer, and it does okay with photos but not great. I printed an 8.5 x 11 glossy of my family on quality photo paper and from far away it looks fine, but if you get close you'll see evidence of print lines. It's especially evident on skin, where you can see the little lines that make it almost look like your subjects had been sleeping on corduroy pants and had little fading line indentations left behind.
For other kinds of print jobs, where fine details are less important, the printer does a good job and things look nice. It's pretty slow, though. It's not nearly fast enough for most professional office use, so the speed alone pretty much qualifies this as a home use printer. My Canon PIXMA MX860, for example, is quite a bit faster, and prints better photos. Of course, that one is bulkier than this one, and costs a bit more.
The Photosmart scans just fine, though if you want any kind of control you have to scan from the software that installs on your computer with the driver. I tried scanning a page of text to send to my computer using just the controls on the printer and it ended up scanning only half of the page, and inverting the layout from the way it was actually placed on the scan bed. You can only scan one page at a time - there's no feeding.
Additionally, it only scans things as images, that it can send either as .jpg or .pdf files. That means you can't produce an editable text document from a scan unless you have additional software that can convert the images into such. My Canon Pixma MX860 does give me the option to create .txt files.
Works fine, exactly as you'd expect.
Doesn't exist. This is not a fax machine, so the "All-in-One" might be a bit of a misnomer - then again, who uses fax machines anymore? I have fax capability on all my other printers and I've never had the need to use it. When I absolutely need to fax, I use my office's dedicated machine. One more reason, though, that this wouldn't work as an all-in-one office printer even for a small office, since sometimes business use requires faxing.
There are two web features this comes with. One, apparently, doesn't work yet (as of June 30, 2010) but is (allegedly) coming soon. That's the "ePrint" function, that allows a registered user to print to this printer from anywhere on the web, even if they aren't anywhere close to the printer. I'd love to be able to print out stuff I'll need the next day from home, so it'll be ready for me when I arrive at my office, so this is a feature I'm looking forward to.
The other feature is what's called "Print Apps" - basically, you register for print apps online at HPs site (several will be already set up for you if you accept the Web features during setup ... in fact, right now as far as I can tell every one of the available apps is already set up for you, though it looks like they are planning to have a lot more apps.) Anyhow, the webapps allow you to print directly from the web. I kind of like the Sudoku app, that allows me to print Sudoku puzzles directly from the printer. There's also a Coupon app - so far I haven't found any useful coupons, but this could be nice. My son loves the PBS KIds and Disney apps. Again, this would be cool for families.
This is a decent, low-end printer, with some novel features that would make it great for some personal and home uses. It doesn't print the best photos and it's not as fast as some. At this price, though, it would be a good deal for many users.

domain: hobby


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#217 / 365 – ‘Fright Night’ 3D – 106 mins
Cinema Challenge #85 / 115
Charlie Brewster’s (Anton Yelchin) beginning his senior year of high school and things are finally falling into place: he’s grown a few inches, gained a few pounds and he’s now dating the most coveted girl in school. But trouble arrives when Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a cool guy, but beneath the surface, there’s something off about him – something intimidating. And after observing some very strange activity along with the mysterious disappearance of his best friend, Charlie comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire who’s preying on the neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone of what he knows, Charlie is going to have to come face to face with the monster himself.
One of the great things about Fright Night is the casting is spot on. Colin Farrell is scarily funny as the menacingly bloodsucker and has huge fun within the role in an effortlessly cool way. David Tennant, borrowing a text-book look straight from Russell Brand, is fun as the nervy Las Vegas illusionist. Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays to great effect another cool nerd in angry Ed. Anton Yelchin puts in a fairly solid lead performance as Charlie.

domain: entertainment


Christine Musisi United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Director for International Relations Uganda
Elizabeth Cardosa Heritage of Malaysia Trust President Malaysia
Emmanuel Kouela City of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Director for Cultural Affairs and Tourism Burkina Faso
Jyoti Hosagrahar United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director of the Division of Creativity India
Merola Virginio City of Bologna, Italy Mayor Italy
Philippe Garnier CRAterre Head of Habitat sector Switzerland
Shain Shapiro Sound Diplomacy CEO United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Zandile Gumede City of Durban, South Africa Mayor South Africa
This session aims to enhance the understanding on how a city’s culture and diversity can be leveraged to better contribute to integration and create cities for all and shared by all. The objectives include:
- Take stock of recent trends and good practices that could be promoted in a global campaign “Housing at the Centre: Diverse cities, cities for all”.
- Advance discussions with organizations and stakeholders on a joint programme on access to housing, diversity and culture in cities.
As spaces of agglomeration and intersection, cities are often at the centre of debates on culture and diversity. Diversity, much like sustainability and resilience have become the top- trending buzz words that appear in cities’ self-representations and development plans. Equally important, the adoption of policies that promote cultural expression, the protection of heritage, including intangible heritage, and the development of creative industries are key ways to contribute to social cohesion, capitalise on diversity, provide livelihoods, and empower local communities.
The New Urban Agenda promotes culture and respect for diversity and equality as key elements in the humanization of our cities. In its paragraph 10, the New Urban Agenda acknowledges that culture and cultural diversity are sources of enrichment for humankind and provide an important contribution to the sustainable development of cities, human settlements and citizens, empowering them to play an active and unique role in development initiatives. The New Urban Agenda further acknowledges that ensuring equal rights and opportunities, socioeconomic and cultural diversity, and integration in the urban space are important conditions to guarantee that no one will be left behind.
The special session will discuss how a city’s culture and diversity can be leveraged to better contribute to integration and create cities for all and shared by all. The contributors will explore the socioeconomic and cultural mechanisms that can encourage inclusiveness in the world’s cities, seeking approaches that view diversity as an asset rather than a threat.
Q1: What are the key factors contributing to diversity in cities?
Q2: How a city’s culture and diversity can be leveraged to better contribute to integration and create cities for all and shared by all?
Q3: What are the socioeconomic and cultural mechanisms that can encourage inclusiveness in the world’s cities?
Q4: What are the challenges to achieve diverse and culture-rich cities? To reap the benefits of urban diversity, decision makers must understand the challenges and know how to effectively deal with them.
2030 Agenda, Cities for All, Culture, Diversity, Inclusiveness, New Urban Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals, Urban Identity.


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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — When Jason Bay returned to the Mets on June 6 after a lengthy stint on the disabled list, he accepted that it would take him some time to become acclimated to the speed of the game.
Although he feels caught up now, the desired results have not followed.
“I feel like I’ve gotten to that point now, where I don’t feel like I’m behind the speed anymore at all,” Bay said. “But I am missing balls.”
Bay, who was batting fifth in the Mets’ lineup for their game Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, started the day mired in an 0-for-16 slump that began the day he was activated. Manager Terry Collins said Wednesday that he would continue to use Bay to try to get him going.
“I think he’s close,” Collins said of Bay. “I’ve got to get him there, so that we can get back on track.”
But Collins acknowledged, too, that once the Mets return from Florida, where they have enjoyed the luxury of the designated hitter spot in the lineup, he will have some decisions to make about playing time.
The Mets are scheduled to face three straight right-handers during their series against the Cincinnati Reds, and Collins said Wednesday that Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda would probably play all three games, leaving Bay to battle for time with Scott Hairston and Andres Torres.
Previously, Ike Davis seemed to be a candidate to be bumped from the lineup, with Duda perhaps moving into his spot at first base. But Davis has appeared in the last few games to be in something of a slow ascent. He raised his average to .174 Tuesday night with two hits, including a long home run. Collins kept Davis in the lineup Wednesday against David Price, a left-hander.
Bay, meanwhile, is sinking to a new depth. His hitless performance Tuesday sent his average to .182.
Counter to Bay’s self-assessment, Collins said it looked as if Bay was still a half-step behind the game. He suggested Bay’s current struggles could be rooted in the relative lack of at-bats he had during his rehabilitation. Bay said that he gained all he could from his minor league rehabilitation games.
“You can get as many at-bats in extending spring training, A-ball, Triple-A, whatever, as you want, but ultimately it’s not the same,” Bay said.
He agreed though that the period of inactivity on the disabled list had derailed him somewhat, as far as having a grasp on the condition of his swing.
“It’s not an excuse, but when you miss six weeks and then come back, it’s kind of hard to start pinpointing specific problems after just a few days,” Bay said. “There’s nothing I feel like I’m not doing. It’s just missing, basically.”
And Bay said he was up to speed, though he knew his numbers seemed to suggest otherwise.
“It’s a results business,” Bay said. “You can talk about how good it feels to almost do this or that, but ultimately it’s about getting it done. Right now, I’m not.”
Collins Named to All-Star Staff
Terry Collins was officially named to the coaching staff of the National League All-Star team, which will be managed by Tony La Russa.
Collins last participated in an All-Star Game in 1995 when he was a member of Felipe Alou’s National League coaching staff. La Russa first approached Collins during spring training about joining his group — which will include Ron Roenicke of the Milwaukee Brewers, along with the staff from the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals.
“It’s an honor to be asked and certainly it’s a thrill to be associated with the game itself,” Collins said. “I told Tony I was shocked.”
La Russa and Collins have never worked together at any level, but they became friends several years ago through the game.
“The job that he’d done last year, nobody had more adversity than that, and he kept the club competing, and he’s doing it again this year,” La Russa said. “I think you need to recognize when somebody is handling a ball club and day in, day out, there’s no difference in how they compete.”
La Russa called Collins the morning after Johan Santana’s no-hitter to voice support for his decision to leave Santana in the game well beyond his pitch count. La Russa said he watched the game on television and managed along in his head.
“All of a sudden, you had what was really clearly a terrific dilemma,” La Russa said. “When he got the last out, when you looked at his face, he was the only guy in the ballpark that was not cheering and celebrating, and I knew it was because he had doubts about pushing it.”


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I Feel Fine! Paul McCartney beams as a host of stars come together to honour him (including Yoko Ono)
The stars aligned so Sir Paul McCartney could enjoy a Hard Day's Night tonight.
For a host of famous faces turned out for a special tribute event honouring the Beatles legend.
But front and centre was the 69-year-old Kisses on the Bottom favourite himself, who was accompanied by his wife Nancy.
He's Number 1: Sir Paul McCartney looked pleased as punch to be attending his MusiCares Person of the Year tribute with wife Nancy Shevell tonight
And the 51-year-old looked radiant as she accompanied Sir Paul down the red carpet in a white floral dress at the MusiCares Person of the Year special tribute evening.
Sir Paul, 69, looked sharp himself, wearing a smart black Beatles-esque suit for the star-studded affair.
But there was a special old friend there too who he seemed pleased to see - his Beatles co-writer John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono.
A wave for the fans: Paul gave a greeting to fans who attended the event after a mini bout of Beatlemania
We Can Work It Out: Sir Paul seemed to have put his differences with Yoko Ono to one side as they enjoyed a chat
Imagine seeing you here: Seeing John Lennon's widow there was an unexpected pleasure for many fans
Lady in red: Musician Christina Perri seemed to have mixed up her pop singer-songwriters while Alicia Keys also paid tribute
The pair chatted at the dinner table, and the old acrimony that has dogged their relationship over the years seemed a million miles away.
Meanwhile they were joined by a gaggle of famous faces both old and new on the night.
Musicians such as Alicia Keys and Katy Perry were there alongside less famous names such as Christina Perri.
Living legend: Sir Paul hopped up on stage to cheer the crowd with a classic set
Worthy successor: The Foo Fighters Dave Grohl paid a tribute to the great Beatle
Lighting up the red carpet: Singer Kerli looked good in a bright dress while actress Tamara Braun played it safe
The other Elvis: Legendary new wave star Costello was happy to honour an old friend he had worked with previously
All you need is LOVE: Cast members from the smash Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas show were also there
But surely a seasoned veteran such as Paul will have been most excited to see influential favourites such as Elvis Costello and Smokey Robinson as he enjoyed his evening in the limelight.
Other stars who lighted up the carpet included cast members from the Cirque Du Soleil and Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson.
It is certainly a busy time for Sir Paul. As well as releasing his first album since 2007 Kisses on the Bottom, he finally received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday.
After taking to the podium at the event the gracious singer said: 'I couldn't have done it with certainly three boys, so I want to thanks to those guys --John, George and Ringo.'
Entertainment: Eddie Izzard's hosting went down a treat, though Katy Perry's take on Hey Jude received a mixed response
Branson's pickle: Virgin tycoon Sir Richard appeared to be without a date while Smokey Robinson upped the music legend quota
Motown magic: Producer Barry Gordy was also there with Eskedar Gobeze at the prestigious event
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Netflix released the trailer of its upcoming star-studded film Don’t Look Up and it has gone viral across social media platforms.
The synopsis on IMDB read: “Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth.”
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep star in the end all be all movie event of the year.
Don’t Look Up premieres December 24. pic.twitter.com/PWZ22nKFVf
— Netflix (@netflix) November 16, 2021
The trailer of Don’t Look Up shows their predictions about the threat of the “Planet Killer” being taken lightly or being laughed at. There are situations where authorities are thinking of how much money the incident can generate.
The comedy-drama flick will be having a star-studded cast with Academy Awar winners Leonardo DiCaprio playing the role of Dr Randall Mindy and Jennifer Lawrence portraying the character of Dr Kate Dibiasky.
Timothée Chalamet, Melanie Lynskey, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Ariana Grande and Jonah Hill will also be seen in the upcoming film.
The movie – which will be available for streaming on the web show and movie-streaming platform – is written, directed and co-written and co-produced by Adam McKay.
Nicholas Britell has given the music score and is set on a budget of $75 million.


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“A Dark Way Out” – Special Screening
A launching pad for many successful filmmakers and other artists alike.
Connecting thru our Network, Panels, Film Screenings, Special Events, Workshops, Parties, More.
Over 100+ Entertainment Power Brokers representing more than 100+ companies. Over 500+ Submissions.
This year is something special! We honor industry leaders, producer, talent and more with the PVIFF AWARDS 22.
Hosted by Nina Brown & Chubb Rock | Joining presenters and awardees such as Lakeith Stanfield, Gail Bean, Alix Lapri, Keith Brown, BernNadette Stanis(virtual), Bow Legged Lou, Jasmine Guy, Dave Pic Conley, Jasmine Burke, Darrin Henson, DeBlair Tate, Princess Sarah Culberson, Chase Dillon, Chaz Sheperd, Hank Stewart, DJ Chigga, & Howard Gibson.
This Years Awards Show will take place on
Sunday November 6, 2022 at 11am
Legendary For Hall - 621 King Arnold St, Hapeville, GA 30354
You'll partake in delectable treats, a full bar, & a delicious Brunch.
Making a steady climb towards success from the time he was a teenager, actor Lakeith Stanfield was perhaps best known for his role on the groundbreaking series "Atlanta" (FX, 2016-). His big break came when he was cast as Mark in the short film "Short Term 12" (2008). Still more prominent roles would follow, such as Jimmie Lee Jackson in the acclaimed civil rights movie "Selma" (2014), a co-starring role in the indie hit "Dope" (2015), & Don Cheadle's "Miles Ahead" (2016). The same year, Stanfield joined the cast of "Atlanta," starring alongside series creator Donald Glover. He also starred in Jordan Peele's "Get Out" (2017).
Gail Bean is an American actress who has co-starred in the series Paradise Lost and the film Unexpected. She has also acted in Insecure, Love in the Time of Corona, Atlanta, and Detroiters. She is best known for her portrayal of Wanda Bell on Snowfall and recently landed a role on the hit show P-Valley.
Now Showing in Select AMC Theatres.
Moderated by Author/Producer Tamika Newhouse and featuring an all-star panel: Jasmine Burke - Actress producer | Dolapo Erinkitola - Producer | Kaye Singleton - Showunner/Actress | Deance Wyatt - Producer/Writer | Zane - Producer/Author
And the Winner is...
Screen and rate the JARO finalists for the 2022 PVIFF Short Film Competition.
Sunday, October 30, 2022
Thursday, November 3, 2022 at the Synchronicity Theatre.
Red Carpet at 6pm | Screening at 7pm with Reception to follow with the Cast & Crew.
The top 3 winners of the JARO Short Film Competition sponsored by JARO will receive special awards and cash prizes.
Stay Connected and Up to Date. Follow us and let's talk about it! Here you will find the latest on the events, news, the industry and more. Don't forget to join the convo over at PVIFF Chat.
Director Rob Hardy is cranking up the power with a new first-look deal with Lionsgate and Power creator Courtney […]
Black Media Honors held its inaugural Awards on August 21-22, […]
Showtime has renewed hit drama series The Chi for a fifth season. The […]

domain: celebrity


text:
UN Alarms World Over Loss of 100 million Hectares of Forests In Two Decades
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization reported a loss of nearly 100 million hectares of forests in two decades. It indicated that Sub-Saharan African and Southeast Asian forests suffered major losses. It also noted the agriculture and animal-husbandry as major reasons for deforestation in less developed nations like Ivory-Coast, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brazil. On the contrary, China, France, Britain, Canada and Australia have shown … read-more
Tags: environment, deforestation, United Nations, FAO, Urbanisation, Climate Change
Courtesy: Deccan Herald
Global Food Price Rise by 2% in a Row in August, Says FAO
On September 3, the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations announced that the global food price has risen for the third consecutive month in August due to high demand. The FAO food price index tracked the international prices of the most commonly traded food commodities, which averaged to 96.1 points in August. Reportedly, the points have reached the highest by 2% than the previous month.
Tags: FAO, United Nations, food, FOOD PRICES
Courtesy: ANI News

domain: agronomy


BOARD is normally an integrated software system that manages data from distinctive core areas, including cash strategy, forecasting, reporting, and scorecarding. With its comprehensive set of time-based functions, that enables users to quickly deploy moving historical evaluation, comparison, and data contextualization. It also allows multidimensional ruse, allowing users to quickly associate a couple of analysis viewpoints. With these capabilities, Board can align organization performance which has a company’s total strategic eyesight.
With the help of mother board management software, plank members may RSVP to events and record their attendance. They can also archive https://esoftwarepro.com/bottom-line-in-software-progress-for-the-last-decade earlier meetings and organize resources. Board affiliates can set up unlimited directories and set permissions to access several content. They will also drag & drop files into folders and re-order them as they see fit. Panel members can also assign duties and receive reminders. Aboard management software makes managing panel meetings less complicated and more successful. It is designed for free trial down load.
Board individuals should examine their current board management solutions. Table members must look into the benefits of the technology they may use. Seek out solutions that could integrate easily into the board’s workflow. Technology ought to promote productivity and production and reduce the administrative burden. Choosing table software is dependent upon many elements, so be sure to do your homework when you begin on a treatment. It should be simple to use, and you’ll conserve time and money along with the accompanied by a the software.
Support options and response times change between users. Board application that provides immediate customer support is vital for panels, especially for large teams. A board web site solution should also allow remote control participation in meetings and stay compatible with multiple devices. It may also be appropriate for all major operating systems, desktop personal computers, and mobile devices. Customer service should also end up being effective. However , there isn’t a guarantee that each and every one problems with a software solution will go away. Eventually, finding a program solution with excellent support is essential to achieving aims.


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- A seminar by Journalists for Rights to commemorate the International Day for the Universal Access to Information
Journalists for Rights organization held a seminar in Colombo National Library on 26 September 2024 to commemorate the International Day for the Universal Access to Information which falls on 28 September every year.
The theme of the seminar was the Future of Right to Information in the Limits of Cyberspace and it was held by the time the government of Sri Lanka had published a draft bill on online safety on gazette. Delivering one of the keynote addresses of the seminar Viranjana Herath, Attorney-at-Law of the Media Law Forum said that this bill if passed as an Act would severely affect the freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. He expressed the following views as well in his presentation.
“Right to Access to Internet is a primary requirement in the present-day human life. Therefore, unrestricted access to internet has been guaranteed as a basic right in many countries in the world. In Sri Lanka, Sri Lankans experienced enormous difficulties when social media was blocked temporarily for a couple of days by state by the time of violence in Digana in 2017 to prevent the use of social media to mobilize violence. Other than information, people engage in many other important activities like business using internet. Therefore, the unrestricted internet is essential today.
“The proposed Online Safety Act aims to appoint a Commission which has powers to ban communication of certain statements the Commission decides false within Sri Lanka. If the publisher does not comply with the orders of the Commission, that person can be punished by the Commission, and a case can be filed against that person before a Magistrate Court. The Commission has powers to ban online accounts, identify IP addresses that are used for illegal acts, ban fake accounts etc.
“As a lawyer I do not see this Act a good move. However, some unethical acts, fake news, hate speech, disinformation etc. can be banned and the perpetrators can be punished. The system used for this is problematic.
“The five-member Commission is appointed by the President. He can appoint as well remove them. Any member who is appointed to this committee has to act according to the requirements of the President and therefore, this cannot be considered an independent commission.
“One can argue that this Act provides for the protection for the individuals affected by information disorder. It addresses issues such as contempt of court, religious extremism, promotion of war and rebellion, fake news, disinformation, revealing private information and defamation etc. However, there are laws such as Computer Crimes Act, ICCPR Act and even PTA that can be used for that purpose. This Act will affect the freedom of expression.
“I observe that the powers under the criminal defamation law which was abolished in 2002 is being reintroduced this Act.
“Big tech companies that provide social media platforms are taken under state control to a certain extent by this proposed law. But will the big tech companies follow these rules? In Pakistan, Meta did not agree to it. Tech companies that do not comply can be fined for not abiding with the orders of the Commission. Will they comply or withdraw? What will happen to us in such instances?
“Social media expended the freedom of expression through freeing information from the gatekeepers like editorials and media owners. The implementation of laws like ICCPR Act against hate speech only occurred against persons like comedians and not the real culprits of hate speech.
“We cannot shut down or restrict internet and get the opportunities for the country. I believe this Act should be defeated and the available laws must be used against unethical and illegal acts. This Act will promote censorship and self-censorship, if it is implemented.”
Executive Director of Transparency International, Nadeeshani Perera, Attorney-at-Law said that declaration of information depicts accountability. “Only the corrupt elements want to hide and distort information. We have noticed information requests at the village level which were highly productive for their purposes. Pro-active exposure of information is among the responsibilities of public authorities under RTI Act. However, a recent survey conducted by Verite Research regarding 29 major public authorities revealed that only one institute was at a good standard on declaration of information. The Act clearly provides for proactive declaration of information but the implementation is very unsatisfactory,” she said.
Addressing the seminar, Treasurer of Journalists for Rights Rohana Siriwardena shared experiences of the organization and the journalists on the use of Right to Information. “When we visited 30 offices to file Right to Information applications to obtain crucial information, in some offices, we found that no officer in the institute knew who the information officer. In 2022, I requested some information from Bribery or Corruption Commission but the information was released to me after a full year. Obtaining information from even the Information Commission is extremely difficult. As an organization, we request the government and especially the Information Commission to act to implement the 2026 No. 22 Right to Information Act properly and to enhance the right to information of the people.”
Secretary of the Journalists for Rights, Dulan Dasanayake, Attorney-at-Law, emphasized the need for citizens’ engagement in strengthening the Right to Information. “A country which has guaranteed the Right to Information went bankrupt not only because of the fault of the politicians but also because of the lack of active citizenship. In some instances, the public also offer bribes and demand privileges from the state.
“Case law has made a significant contribution to the development of the Right to Information. Even before it became a law in Sri Lanka, Fernando vs. Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation case and the Environmental Foundation LTD Vs. Urban Development Authority case, it was decided that freedom of speech and expression includes the Right to Information and makes it more meaningful.
“Recently, in the appeal of the case Kamal Withanage vs. Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Information Commission defined Bar Association of Sri Lanka as a public authority. It is a decision that strengthened the Right to Information. Although there are many laws and institutions, the people must be active citizens to secure the right to information as well as other rights.”

domain: law


text:
- Open Access
Anti-HTLV antibody profiling reveals an antibody signature for HTLV-I-Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP)
Retrovirology volume 5, Article number: 96 (2008)
HTLV-I is the causal agent of adult T cell leukemia (ATLL) and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Biomarkers are needed to diagnose and/or predict patients who are at risk for HAM/TSP or ATLL. Therefore, we investigated using luciferase immunoprecipitation technology (LIPS) antibody responses to seven HTLV-I proteins in non-infected controls, asymptomatic HTLV-I-carriers, ATLL and HAM/TSP sera samples. Antibody profiles were correlated with viral load and examined in longitudinal samples.
Anti-GAG antibody titers detected by LIPS differentiated HTLV-infected subjects from uninfected controls with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity, but did not differ between HTLV-I infected subgroups. However, anti-Env antibody titers were over 4-fold higher in HAM/TSP compared to both asymptomatic HTLV-I (P < 0.0001) and ATLL patients (P < 0.0005). Anti-Env antibody titers above 100,000 LU had 75% positive predictive value and 79% negative predictive value for identifying the HAM/TSP sub-type. Anti-Tax antibody titers were also higher (P < 0.0005) in the HAM/TSP compared to the asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers. Proviral load correlated with anti-Env antibodies in asymptomatic carriers (R = 0.76), but not in HAM/TSP.
These studies indicate that anti-HTLV-I antibody responses detected by LIPS are useful for diagnosis and suggest that elevated anti-Env antibodies are a common feature found in HAM/TSP patients.
Human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is a retrovirus that infects 20 million people worldwide . HTLV-I infection can cause a variety of human diseases including adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) [2–4], HTLV-I associated myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP) , infective dermatitis , and uveitis . While the two major HTLV-I-associated diseases, ATLL and HAM/TSP, are present in all endemic areas, including Japan, the Caribbean basin, South America and parts of Africa, the incidence rates show geographic heterogeneity . ATLL is an aggressive monoclonal proliferation of HTLV-1 infected CD4+ T cells that occurs mostly in adults. Perinatal HTLV-I infection is thought to be associated with a heightened risk of developing ATLL after a long latency period. Although the pathogenesis of ATLL is not completely understood, the HTLV-I regulatory protein Tax plays a critical role in cellular transformation by interfering with genome instability, cell cycle and apoptosis .
HAM/TSP is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disorder that involves demyelination of the spinal cord and is characterized by CNS perivascular infiltration of inflammatory cells . Epidemiological studies indicate that acquiring HTLV-I infection later in life through sexual contacts or through blood transfusion are linked to the future development of HAM/TSP a short time after infection. While HAM/TSP patients have high levels of anti-HTLV-I antibodies [10, 11], lower anti-Tax antibodies are often found in ATLL patients, which may be due in part to Tax mutations that allow viral escape from cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses [12, 13]. HAM/TSP patients show high HTLV-I proviral loads in peripheral blood lymphocytes [14–16] and increased spontaneous lymphoproliferation in vitro [17–19]. HAM/TSP patients also have high levels of HTLV-I-specific CTLs that have been reported to play an immunopathogenic role [20–22]. On the other hand, ATLL patients commonly exhibit immunodeficiency  and show ineffective anti-HTLV-I cell-mediated immunity .
Although there are adequate methods for determining if people are infected with HTLV-I, there are no serological diagnostic tests available for discriminating asymptomatic carriers from HAM/TSP patients or ATLL patients. Currently HTLV-I diagnosis is performed by immunoassays for HTLV-I gene products, HTLV-I-specific antibody production, detection of HTLV-I DNA, Southern blotting for ATLL diagnosis and more recently, proteomic approaches . The ability to clearly distinguish between clinical outcomes of HTLV-I infections in a robust and simple serological test would have obvious clinical utility.
Currently, most immunoassays measuring anti-HTLV-I antibodies do not quantitatively evaluate multiple antigens and are incapable of detecting conformational epitopes in these antigens. We recently developed a highly sensitive immunoprecipitation technology called Luciferase Immunoprecipitation System (LIPS) that utilizes mammalian cell-produced, recombinant fusion protein antigens for efficiently evaluating antibody responses to multiple viral proteins and even a full virus proteome . Here, LIPS was used to profile antibody responses to seven different HTLV-I proteins to gain a better understanding of the anti-HTLV-I antibody responses in non-infected controls, asymptomatic HTLV-I-carriers, HAM/TSP and ATLL sera samples. In addition to determining the prevalence of antibodies to these different proteins in HTLV-infected individuals, antibody titers were analyzed for correlations with HAM/TSP and ATLL clinical phenotypes, as well as proviral load.
Diagnostically useful anti-Gag antibody titers are present in all HTLV-I infected individuals
Sera samples analyzed in this study were derived from 115 well-characterized participants including healthy volunteers, asymptomatic HTLV carriers, ATLL, and HAM/TSP patients. The gender, race/ethnic group and mean age of sample acquisition are summarized in Table 1.
While most previous studies evaluating anti-HTLV-I antibodies have used processed proteins of Gag such as p19 and p24, the full-length Gag was used in LIPS. Using the Cos1 cell containing fusion protein extracts, two independent measurements were made with 115 blinded sera in the LIPS format. From the average of these tests, the anti-Gag antibody titers showed values in the 115 sera ranging from 0 to 231,132 LU (Figure 1). The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of the anti-Gag antibody titer in the 42 normal HTLV-I seronegative controls was 123 ± 150 LU and it was significantly different (P < 0.0001) from the mean value of 143,250 ± 56,169 LU for the confirmed 73 HTLV-I infected samples including the asymptomatic carriers, ATLL and HAM/TSP samples. Using a value of 875 LU as a cut-off derived from the mean plus 5 SD of the controls revealed 100% sensitivity (73/73) and 100% specificity in detecting positive anti-Gag antibodies in the known HTLV-I positive samples. Some of weak background signals seen in control samples were below the cut-off value and were dramatically lower than any of the HTLV-I positive samples. While the anti-Gag antibody was highly useful for the diagnosis of HTLV-I infection, the mean anti-Gag antibody titers were not statistically different between the 15 asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers, 18 ATLL and 40 HAM/TSP HTLV-I positive patient groups (Figure 1).
Anti-Env antibodies are markedly elevated in HAM/TSP compared to ATLL or asymptomatic HTLV-I-carriers
Anti-Env antibodies were also evaluated in the 115 sera samples (Figure 2). While the 42 normal HTLV-I seronegative control samples showed anti-Env antibody titers with a mean and SD of 730 ± 599 LU, the 73 known HTLV-I infected sera samples had a 300-fold higher mean and SD of 222,158 ± 232,681 LU. A Mann-Whitney U test showed a marked statistical difference in anti-Env antibody titers between the controls and HTLV-I infected patients (P < 0.0001). A cut-off of the mean plus 5 SD of the control subjects revealed 85% sensitivity (62/73) and 100% specificity in detecting positive anti-Env antibodies in the HTLV-I positive samples. The anti-Env antibody responses were less useful than the anti-GAG antibody titers to discriminate HTLV-I infected from uninfected controls and this is reflected by the slightly lower area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.95 for anti-Env antibodies verses 1.00 for the anti-Gag antibody test as determined by analyzing receiver-operating characteristics (ROC).
As shown in Figure 2, analysis of the mean anti-Env antibody titers in the different HTLV-infected groups revealed that the HAM/TSP patients had much higher serum antibody titers than the 18 ATLL or 15 asymptomatic HTLV-I-carriers. The mean anti-Env antibody titer in the HAM/TSP patients was 345,176 ± 232,983 LU, while the ATLL and asymptomatic HTLV-I-infected patients had mean titers of 82,825 ± 125,784 LU and 61,310 ± 109,976 LU, respectively. A Mann Whitney U test showed that the anti-Env antibody titers in the HAM/TSP patients were markedly different than the asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers (P < 0.0001) and ATLL patients (P < 0.0005). In contrast, the anti-Env antibody titers were not statistically different between the asymptomatic HTLV-I-infected and ATLL patients (P = 0.1782).
Inspection of patient characteristics did not reveal any obvious differences that explained the 4 ATLL and 4 asymptomatic HTLV-I-infected outliers with relatively high anti-Env antibody titers (Figure 2). For example, the patient characteristics (age, range 36–74; gender, one male and three females; race, one white and three African descent; or country of origin, one Jamaican; three U.S.) of the 4 asymptomatic HTLV-I-infected individuals showed no consistent pattern and none of these 4 individuals developed HAM/TSP during a 2–5 year follow-up. Furthermore, none of the ten HAM/TSP subjects with relatively low anti-Env antibody titers as a group significantly differed from the HAM/TSP cohort with respect to age, gender race or country of origin. However, all ten HAM/TSP patients were not classified as rapid progressors and three of the ten had a history of treatment with anti-retrovirals.
LIPS analysis of anti-Tax antibodies
HTLV-I Tax is a major regulator of gene expression in the human host and several studies have suggested anti-Tax antibodies are involved in the pathogenesis of HAM/TSP [27, 28]. Using LIPS, the anti-Tax antibody response showed a wide dynamic titer range varying from 0 to 1.3 million LU in the entire sample set (Figure 3). The 42 normal HTLV-I seronegative control samples had a low mean anti-Tax antibody titer of 560 LU ± 826 LU. In contrast, the anti-Tax antibody titers for the 73 HTLV-I infected samples were almost 1000 times higher with a mean value of 449,609 ± 223,747 LU (P < 0.0001). Using a cut-off of the mean plus 5 SD of the control subjects revealed 85% sensitivity (14/15) in detecting positive anti-Tax antibodies in the HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers and 98% sensitivity (39/40) in detecting positive anti-Tax antibodies in the HAM/TSP samples. In the case of the ATLL samples, 100% (18/18) were found to have anti-Tax positive titers.
Inspection of the mean anti-Tax antibodies among the different HTLV-I infected groups showed that the 40 HAM/TSP patients had a mean anti-Tax antibody titer of 518,849 LU that was close to twice the mean value of 282,900 LU for the asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers. This elevated anti-Tax antibody in the HAM/TSP patients compared to the asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers was highly statistically significant (P < 0.0001). In contrast, no statistical difference (P = 0.1815) was found between the mean anti-Tax antibody titer of the HAM/TSP and ATLL samples.
Few detectable antibody responses to other HTLV-I antigens
A previous study using LIPS to profile HIV-infected patients' humoral responses to the entire HIV proteome revealed antibody responses to all HIV proteins including the HIV reverse transcriptase and minor accessory proteins such as Rev and Vif . To determine if LIPS could detect antibody responses to additional HTLV-I proteins, we tested for antibodies to HTLV-I encoded p12, p30, Rex and reverse transcriptase. While no detectable anti-p12, anti-p30 or anti-reverse transcriptase antibodies were detected (data not shown), several of the HTLV-I infected sera showed positive immunoreactivity towards Rex. Using a cut-off of 3,907 LU, the mean plus 5 SD of the anti-Rex antibody titers in the control samples, three HTLV-I positive sera were detected, comprised of two HAM/TSP samples with titers of 60,958 LU and 1.35 million LU and one ATLL sample with a titer of 92,044 LU. It should be noted that these anti-Rex antibody positive samples may represent high anti-HTLV-I antibody responding patients because all 3 of these samples were also positive for anti-Gag, anti-Env, and anti-Tax antibodies.
Correlation of antibody titers with HTLV-I proviral load
Recent studies indicate that higher HTLV-I proviral loads correlate with HAM/TSP [29, 30]. In agreement with these studies, the mean HTLV-I proviral loads in the HAM/TSP patients were three-fold higher than the HTLV-I asymptomatic patients, which was statistically significant (P = 0.0067). Comparison by regression analysis of the HTLV-I proviral load with the HTLV-I antibody titer data revealed that there was no significant correlation between the different antibody titers determined by LIPS and the proviral load in the HAM/TSP patients. For example as shown in Figure 4A, the correlation between the anti-Env antibody titers and proviral load in HAM/TSP patients showed a Pearson correlation coefficient of only (R = 0.18, P = 0.345). In contrast, anti-Env antibody titers from asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers markedly correlated (Pearson R = 0.76; P = 0.003) with the HTLV-I proviral load (Figure 4B). Based on the covariance, the anti-Env antibodies explained 49% of the proviral load levels in the asymptomatic HTLV-I infected patients. In asymptomatic carriers, anti-Gag and anti-Tax antibody titers had no significant relationship with HTLV-I proviral load (data not shown). Together these results suggest that anti-Env antibody titers determined by LIPS may be a weak marker for the level of virus present in the blood of asymptomatic HTLV-I-infected patients, but not in HAM/TSP patients.
HTLV-I antibody titers are relatively stable in longitudinal samples
An additional set of blinded serial samples (n = 76) from a number of selected patients were also analyzed for anti-Gag, anti-Env, and-Tax antibodies. Representative results from several of these patients are shown in Figure 5, in which the anti-Gag, anti-Env, and anti-Tax antibody titers were relatively stable in both the asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers and HAM/TSP.
Antibody profiles versus HTLV-I clinical phenotypes
Several of the HTLV-I antigens showed markedly higher antibody titers in HAM/TSP patients compared to ATLL and asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers. Therefore, ROC analysis was used to evaluate the most useful antibody markers. The anti-Env antibody titer showed the best discriminative power for identifying patients with HAM/TSP versus asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers and ATLL, as shown by the large AUC value of 0.83 from the ROC curve. Anti-Tax and anti-Gag antibodies were still informative but had lower AUC values of 0.72 and 0.61, respectively (data not shown). When a cutoff threshold greater than 100,000 LU was applied to the anti-Env antibody titers, the sensitivity and specificity for identifying HAM/TSP patients versus ATLL and asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers were 81% and 72%, respectively (Table 2). Using this 100,000 LU cut-off, the odds ratio for HAM/TSP versus ATL and asymptomatic was 11.1 (95% confidence interval 3.7–33.5). The presence of anti-Env antibody titers above 100,000 LU provides a fairly useful diagnosis (sensitivity 81%; specificity 72%; positive predictive value 75%) and shows the importance of monitoring these antibodies. For comparison, a higher cutoff value of greater than 200,000 LU yielded a sensitivity of 85% sensitivity and 70% specificity with an odds ratio of 13.1 (95% confidence interval 4.1–42.0). Additional analysis separately comparing the HAM/TSP patient with either asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers or ATLL yielded similar values (Table 2). For example, using the 100,000 LU cut-off of HAM/TSP versus asymptomatic patients yielded a sensitivity of 91% and 55% specificity with an odds ratio of 12.0 (95% confidence interval 2.8–51.4). Lastly, incorporation of anti-Tax and anti-Gag antibody titers into the HAM/TSP diagnostic algorithm did not significantly improve the sensitivity or specificity of the test (data not shown). This is because many of the samples positive for anti-Tax and anti-Gag antibodies were already positive for anti-Env antibodies and several additional false positives would have been detected in the asymptomatic HTLV-I carrier and ATLL groups.
LIPS technology provided quantitative measures of antibody titers to most of the proteins of HTLV-I. This simple modular system, expressing HTLV-I antigens as a series of Ruc fusion proteins followed by standardized chemiluminescent detection, efficiently evaluated patient humoral response to these different HTLV-I antigens. The substantial difference in anti-Gag antibody titers between the HTLV-I-infected samples and normal HTLV-I seronegative controls as determined by LIPS allowed for a universal and rigorous statistical cut-off (the mean of the 42 controls plus 5 standard deviations). Of the 7 antigens tested for diagnosing HTLV-I infection, the anti-Gag antibody test was the most informative, achieving 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The LIPS assay likely detects more conformational epitopes than alternative immunoassay formats providing high sensitivity, high specificity and robust signals that provide a substantial and clear distinction between positive and negative HTLV-I sera. Additionally, the high-throughput format used here makes this approach highly feasible for screening large numbers of sera samples.
From our LIPS studies profiling 7 different HTLV-I antigens, anti-Env antibody titers significantly correlated with the proviral load in asymptomatic HTLV-I seropositive samples (R = 0.76; P = .003). These results suggest that anti-Env antibody titers detected by LIPS may have utility in monitoring HTLV-I proviral load in asymptomatic individuals. This correlation between anti-ENV antibody titers and proviral load was unique to HTLV-I seropositive asymptomatic patients and consistent with previous studies demonstrating HTLV-I proviral load associations with anti-HTLV-I antibodies [12, 13]. We now can suggest that in asymptomatic carriers, this correlation with HTLV-I proviral load was specific for antibodies to the Env region of HTLV-I. Of interest was the observation that anti-Env antibodies did not correlate with HTLV-I proviral loads in HAM/TSP patients. This may reflect higher levels of HTLV-I virus expression in patients with HAM/TSP reported to be associated with HTLV-I proviral integration sites that are not randomly distributed within the human genome but rather in transcriptionally active regions . It has been proposed that an individual's steady state rate of HTLV-I proviral load and the accompanying risk of inflammatory diseases such as HAM/TSP, are the result of an equilibrium between HTLV-I replication and the host immune response . In HAM/TSP, the immune response is fully engaged so that anti-Env antibody levels no longer correlate with HTLV-I proviral loads. In asymptomatic carriers, this saturation has not been achieved and HTLV-I proviral DNA levels highly correlate with antibody responses.
To date, most studies have found little utility in using antibody levels for monitoring disease progression or for sub-stratifying HTLV-I disease subtypes. Remarkably, in our study using LIPS, HAM/TSP patients had the highest level of anti-Env antibodies compared to ATLL or asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers. Anti-Tax antibodies were only elevated in the HAM/TSP patients compared to the asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers, but did not markedly differ with those of the ATLL patients. In contrast, anti-Gag antibodies were relatively similar between the different HTLV-I-infected patients. While antibody titers and proviral load have been reported to be higher in HTLV infected patients from Jamaica compared to Japan , simple demographics can not easily explain the differences in the sub-groups observed in this study. One implication of these findings is that anti-Env antibody titers above 100,000 LU have 75% positive predictive value and 80% negative predictive value for identifying the HAM/TSP sub-type (odds ratio, 12.0; 95% CI, 2.8–51.4). High anti-Env antibody titers were a better marker for HAM/TSP than anti-Tax antibodies, suggesting that the response to Env may have an important role in the progression to HAM/TSP. Alternatively, surface glycoproteins such as HTLV-I Env may be more immunogenic than intracellular Tax or Gag proteins. The detection of these high titer anti-Env antibodies in the HAM/TSP subgroup has not been previously reported and this is likely due to the fact other immunoassay formats such as Western blotting and ELISA poorly detect conformational epitopes and are not capable of quantitatively detecting these antibodies. Unlike published studies [33, 34], we did not detect the lack of antibodies to Tax in ATLL versus asymptomatic carriers. This discrepancy may be due to the increased sensitivity in detecting anti-Tax antibodies in the LIPS format.
Previously, molecular mimicry against HTLV-I proteins was hypothesized to be responsible for HAM/TSP [27, 28]. These studies showed that anti-Tax antibodies cross-reacted with a human protein, HNRNP-A1, associated with neurons. Based on the success of LIPS in detecting human autoantibodies associated with neurological diseases , the identification of human autoantigens (e.g. anti-HNRP-A1) associated with HAM/TSP may further improve the accuracy of this test and thereby potentially provide a non-invasive method to monitor and predict disease outcome in HTLV-I-infected patients. It is also likely that examining HTLV-I antibody and autoantibody titers in the CSF may provide additional information.
In summary, we have identified a predictive signature for HAM/TSP that would be economical and easy to implement in clinical laboratories. Currently we plan on investigating the contribution of anti-Env and anti-Tax antibodies in prospective studies of HTLV-I associated disease. Future studies using LIPS to discover additional auto-antibodies associated with clinical outcomes of HTLV-I infection may provide new tools for the prediction, diagnosis and monitoring of these disorders.
HTLV-infected patients and controls
The sera analyzed were derived from 115 well-characterized participants including healthy volunteers, asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers, ATLL (all subtypes were included with the majority of samples obtained from patients with the lymphomatous and acute leukemia subtypes) and HAM/TSP patients (diagnosed according to WHO guidelines) evaluated under Institutional Review Board-approved protocols of the NCI and NINDS, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD). The gender, race/ethnic group and mean age of sample acquisition are summarized in Table 1. Additional longitudinal samples (n = 76) were also analyzed blindly from a subset of patients spanning a 2 year time period. Sera were kept at -80°C, aliquoted, then stored at 4°C, and measured as anonymous samples.
Generation of Ruc-antigen fusion constructs
pREN2, a mammalian Renilla luciferase (Ruc) expression vector, was used to generate all plasmids . HTLV-I cDNA clones for Gag, Env, reverse transcriptase, p30, p12, Rex and Tax were amplified by PCR with specific linker-primer adapters as described [26, 36, 37]. In each case, constructs employed full-length HTLV-I proteins fused to the carboxy terminus of Ruc. Additional Gag constructs representing the p24 and p19 processed proteins were also generated, but were found not to be as diagnostically useful as the full-length Gag. DNA sequencing was used to confirm the integrity of all the plasmid constructs. PCR primer sequences that were used to generate each construct are available on request.
Following transfection of mammalian expression vectors, crude protein extracts were obtained as described . For example, the full-length Gag construct yielded extracts with 1 × 109 light units (LU) of Ruc-Gag protein per 100 mm2 plate of Cos1 cells (sufficient for ~300 serological tests). The LIPS immunoprecipitation assay was performed in a 96-well plate format at room temperature as described . First, a "master plate" was constructed by diluting patient sera 1:10 in assay buffer A (20 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM MgCl2, 1% Triton X-100) in a 96-well polypropylene microtiter plate. For evaluating antibody titers by LIPS, 40 μl of buffer A, 10 μl of diluted human sera (1 μl equivalent), and 50 μl of the equivalent of 1 × 107 light units (LU) of Ruc-antigen Cos1 cell extract, diluted in buffer A, were added to each well of a polypropylene plate and incubated for 1 hour at room temperature. Next, 7 μl of a 30% suspension of Ultralink protein A/G beads (Pierce Biotechnology, Rockford, IL) in PBS were added to the bottom of each well of a 96-well filter HTS plate (Millipore, Bedford, MA). To this filter plate, the 100-μl antigen-antibody reaction mixture was transferred and incubated for 1 hour at room temperature on a rotary shaker. The washing steps of the retained protein A/G beads were performed on a BioMek FX work station (Beckman Coulter, Fullerton, CA) using an integrated vacuum manifold. After the final wash, LU were measured in a Berthold LB 960 Centro microplate luminometer (Berthold Technologies, Bad Wilbad, Germany) using coelenterazine substrate mix (Promega, Madison, WI). All LU data were obtained from the average of at least two independent experiments and corrected for background by subtracting the LU values of beads incubated with Cos1 cell extract, but without sera.
HTLV-I proviral load
Real-time PCR analysis of HTLV-I (Tax) proviral load was performed as previously described . DNA was extracted from 1 × 106 cells using Puregene DNA Isolation Kit (Gentra, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States), and 100 ng of the sample DNA solution was analyzed by this system. The HTLV-I proviral DNA load was calculated by the following formula: copy number of HTLV-I (pX) per 100 cells = (copy number of pX)/(copy number of β-actin/2) × 100.
The GraphPad Prism software (San Diego, CA) was used for other statistical analysis, including evaluating test performance by area under the curve (AUC). Results for qualitative antibody titers between the controls, seroindeterminates, asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers, HAM/TSP and ATLL are reported as the mean ± SD. Mann-Whitney U tests were used for comparison of antibody titers in different groups. Statistical significance of the regression analysis was evaluated by Pearson correlation coefficient and the level of significance was set at P < 0.05. For the calculation of sensitivity and specificity between HTLV-I infected and uninfected samples, the cut-off limit for each antigen was derived from the mean value of the 25 control samples plus 5 standard deviations. The sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value and diagnostic odds ratio were calculated by using 2 × 2 contingency tables and calculated using the GraphPad software. The multivariate data which included antibody titers and clinical covariates was also evaluated using the RapidMiner http://www.rapidminer.com suite of data mining tools.
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Nagai M, Usuku K, Matsumoto W, Kodama D, Takenouchi N, Moritoyo T, Hashiguchi S, Ichinose M, Bangham CR, Izumo S, Osame M: Analysis of HTLV-I proviral load in 202 HAM/TSP patients and 243 asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers: high proviral load strongly predisposes to HAM/TSP. J Neurovirol. 1998, 4: 586-593. 10.3109/13550289809114225.
Yoshida M, Osame M, Kawai H, Toita M, Kuwasaki N, Nishida Y, Hiraki Y, Takahashi K, Nomura K, Sonoda S, et al: Increased replication of HTLV-I in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy. Ann Neurol. 1989, 26: 331-335. 10.1002/ana.410260304.
Itoyama Y, Minato S, Kira J, Goto I, Sato H, Okochi K, Yamamoto N: Spontaneous proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes increased in patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy. Neurology. 1988, 38: 1302-1307.
Jacobson S, Zaninovic V, Mora C, Rodgers-Johnson P, Sheremata WA, Gibbs CJ, Gajdusek C, McFarlin DE: Immunological findings in neurological diseases associated with antibodies to HTLV-I: activated lymphocytes in tropical spastic paraparesis. Ann Neurol. 1988, 23 (Suppl): S196-200. 10.1002/ana.410230744.
Usuku K, Sonoda S, Osame M, Yashiki S, Takahashi K, Matsumoto M, Sawada T, Tsuji K, Tara M, Igata A: HLA haplotype-linked high immune responsiveness against HTLV-I in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy: comparison with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. Ann Neurol. 1988, 23 (Suppl): S143-150. 10.1002/ana.410230733.
Jacobson S, Shida H, McFarlin DE, Fauci AS, Koenig S: Circulating CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for HTLV-I pX in patients with HTLV-I associated neurological disease. Nature. 1990, 348: 245-248. 10.1038/348245a0.
Kannagi M, Harada S, Maruyama I, Inoko H, Igarashi H, Kuwashima G, Sato S, Morita M, Kidokoro M, Sugimoto M, et al: Predominant recognition of human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) pX gene products by human CD8+ cytotoxic T cells directed against HTLV-I-infected cells. Int Immunol. 1991, 3: 761-767. 10.1093/intimm/3.8.761.
Koenig S, Woods RM, Brewah YA, Newell AJ, Jones GM, Boone E, Adelsberger JW, Baseler MW, Robinson SM, Jacobson S: Characterization of MHC class I restricted cytotoxic T cell responses to tax in HTLV-1 infected patients with neurologic disease. J Immunol. 1993, 151: 3874-3883.
Taguchi H, Miyoshi I: Immune suppression in HTLV-I carriers: a predictive sign of adult T-cell leukemia. Acta Med Okayama. 1989, 43: 317-321.
Kozako T, Arima N, Toji S, Masamoto I, Akimoto M, Hamada H, Che XF, Fujiwara H, Matsushita K, Tokunaga M, Haraguchi K, Uozumi K, Suzuki S, Takezaki T, Sonoda S: Reduced frequency, diversity, and function of human T cell leukemia virus type 1-specific CD8+ T cell in adult T cell leukemia patients. J Immunol. 2006, 177: 5718-5726.
Semmes OJ, Cazares LH, Ward MD, Qi L, Moody M, Maloney E, Morris J, Trosset MW, Hisada M, Gygi S, Jacobson S: Discrete serum protein signatures discriminate between human retrovirus-associated hematologic and neurologic disease. Leukemia. 2005, 19: 1229-1238. 10.1038/sj.leu.2403781.
Burbelo PD, Ching KH, Mattson TL, Light JS, Bishop LR, Kovacs JA: Rapid antibody quantification and generation of whole proteome antibody response profiles using LIPS (luciferase immunoprecipitation systems). Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007, 352: 889-895. 10.1016/j.bbrc.2006.11.140.
Levin MC, Lee SM, Kalume F, Morcos Y, Dohan FC, Hasty KA, Callaway JC, Zunt J, Desiderio D, Stuart JM: Autoimmunity due to molecular mimicry as a cause of neurological disease. Nat Med. 2002, 8: 509-513. 10.1038/nm0502-509.
Levin MC, Lee SM, Morcos Y, Brady J, Stuart J: Cross-reactivity between immunodominant human T lymphotropic virus type I tax and neurons: implications for molecular mimicry. J Infect Dis. 2002, 186: 1514-1517. 10.1086/344734.
Kubota R, Kawanishi T, Matsubara H, Manns A, Jacobson S: HTLV-I specific IFN-gamma+ CD8+ lymphocytes correlate with the proviral load in peripheral blood of infected individuals. J Neuroimmunol. 2000, 102: 208-215. 10.1016/S0165-5728(99)00175-7.
Puccioni-Sohler M, Chimelli L, Mercon M, Goncalves RR, Pimenta G, Bianco C, Rios M, Jacobson S: Pathological and virological assessment of acute HTLV-I-associated myelopathy complicated with encephalopathy and systemic inflammation. J Neurol Sci. 2003, 207: 87-93. 10.1016/S0022-510X(02)00413-6.
Meekings KN, Leipzig J, Bushman FD, Taylor GP, Bangham CR: HTLV-1 integration into transcriptionally active genomic regions is associated with proviral expression and with HAM/TSP. PLoS Pathog. 2008, 4: e1000027-10.1371/journal.ppat.1000027.
Hisada M, Stuver SO, Okayama A, Li HC, Sawada T, Hanchard B, Mueller NE: Persistent paradox of natural history of human T lymphotropic virus type I: parallel analyses of Japanese and Jamaican carriers. J Infect Dis. 2004, 190: 1605-1609. 10.1086/424598.
Hisada M, Okayama A, Shioiri S, Spiegelman DL, Stuver SO, Mueller NE: Risk factors for adult T-cell leukemia among carriers of human T-lymphotropic virus type I. Blood. 1998, 92: 3557-3561.
Yokota T, Cho MJ, Tachibana N, McLane MF, Takatsuki K, Lee TH, Mueller N, Essex M: The prevalence of antibody to p42 of HTLV-I among ATLL patients in comparison with healthy carriers in Japan. Int J Cancer. 1989, 43: 970-974. 10.1002/ijc.2910430603.
Burbelo PD, Groot S, Dalakas MC, Iadarola MJ: High definition profiling of autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylases GAD65/GAD67 in stiff-person syndrome. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008, 366: 1-7. 10.1016/j.bbrc.2007.11.077.
Burbelo PD, Goldman R, Mattson TL: A simplified immunoprecipitation method for quantitatively measuring antibody responses in clinical sera samples by using mammalian-produced Renilla luciferase-antigen fusion proteins. BMC Biotechnology. 2005, 5: 22-10.1186/1472-6750-5-22.
Burbelo PD, Groot S, Dalakas MC, Iadarola MJ: High definition profiling of autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylases GAD65/GAD67 in stiff-person syndrome. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008, 366 (1): 1-7. 10.1016/j.bbrc.2007.11.077.
Nagai M, Kubota R, Greten TF, Schneck JP, Leist TP, Jacobson S: Increased activated human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) Tax11-19-specific memory and effector CD8+ cells in patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis: correlation with HTLV-I provirus load. J Infect Dis. 2001, 183: 197-205. 10.1086/317932.
This work was supported by the Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health and, in part, by a Bench to Bedside award from the NIH Clinical Research Center. R.M. was supported by INSERM.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
FK initially conceived of the study. FK and RM provided a pilot set of sera for proof of concept. PB generated the needed constructs. PB and HL analyzed the sera by LIPS. SJ, EM, JG, KY, UO, and JJ provided the sera samples used in this study, participated in the design of the experiments and analyzed the data. PB analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript. MI funded the study. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Burbelo, P.D., Meoli, E., Leahy, H.P. et al. Anti-HTLV antibody profiling reveals an antibody signature for HTLV-I-Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Retrovirology 5, 96 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-4690-5-96
- Antibody Titer
- Asymptomatic Carrier
- Proviral Load
- Spastic Paraparesis
- Seron Sample

domain: medical


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Taught byStephen Armstrong
Paul's letter to the Romans is widely acknowledged to be the single most important theological essay ever written. Romans is literally loaded with essential Christian doctrine, and no Bible education is complete without a thorough examination of this book. Martin Luther commanded every Christian to memorize Romans word-for-word, and though we may never reach Luther's goal, we can certainly give ourselves to understanding the letter's wisdom.
The Book of Romans reads like a course in systematic Christian theology, and it holds the keys to understanding a long list of fundamental Christian doctrines and beliefs, including soteriology (the doctrine of salvation), harmartiology (the doctrine of sin), Israelology (the doctrine of Israel), election, predestination, sanctification, and many other important truths.

domain: literature


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Well, I had high hopes with this album. That’s for sure. I’m always keen to listen to new music from new people. This is actually my first time listening to Jaden despite this being his second album. One thing I can’t tell for sure is whether this is any better than his previous record Syre. Instead, I’ll just focus on The Sunset Tapes and what I thought about it.
The first time I heard Jaden, he did this collab with Justin Bieber when they were still kids. Look at them now. Bieber is a global star and Jaden is slowly but surely making his mark in the industry. With this record, there are some things he gets right and there are things I just don’t like. Hey, that’s just me.
What I like
Let me start with the fact that this is an 11-track song. This wouldn’t go unnoticed. See people? Just make a maximum of 12 songs and we’ll be okay. I don’t think the artists themselves don’t finish listening to their 20+ tracks. So why bother giving it to us? 🤷♂
Onto serious matters now, there is much to like about Jaden Smith. First, he got bars for days. One thing I won’t dispute is his rapping skills. You can tell that he is putting a lot of thought into his lyrics. Good job. The production of the whole record is great which is not surprising because Roc Nation handled it. When the beat plays, it plays hard. That’s my favorite thing about the whole record. The beats and Jaden’s skills complement each other. I dig it.
Another thing that should be mentioned is his music style. In this era of music, everyone is trying to come up with their own style and stick with it. We have seen how the Migos formula is affecting the kind of music we are getting nowadays. We are even having boybands rapping like them. As for Jaden, he isn’t trying anything new but fusing many styles together. You get a little bit of everyone. What you’ll feel at the end of every song is that it reminds you of another song; which isn’t a bad thing. I consider it daring at best because he is perfecting known formulas that acts as a double edged sword which you will see in the next few moments.
Also, there are no features in this album. Unless they aren’t credited, that’s a pretty bold move from Jaden. J Cole did it, I see why he shouldn’t do the same. Besides, no need for a feature to steal your spotlight, right?
What I don’t like
The Auto-tune and singing. Dear me. It should be mentioned that this record is somewhat balanced between rapping and singing. The rapping is great, no doubt about it. It’s the singing that got me thinking otherwise. I’ll go ahead and say it, I hate it when rappers sing. It’s like they all became Ja Rule or Fetty Wap all of a sudden. Rappers with feelings. I’m not a fan.
For the record, the only person that I don’t mind using auto-tune is Travis because it doesn’t sound weird when he does it. Jaden, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same luck with his songs. They are exhausting. What’s even worse is that they are longer than the rap songs. Ugh. You have no idea how I was tempted to skip to the next track every time I heard the auto-tune. Sure, the lyrics are good but the voice is a no-no.
Probably the only thing that is of more concern to me is musical style. Given that he is incorporating so many styles to his music, it begs to ask what is he really on about. What’s his standout factor? I just don’t see it. I’ll admit, this is my first time listening to his work which puts me at a huge disadvantage. Perhaps I’ll get used to his music. Hey, everyone has to adapt to new stuff. Only time will tell with this one.
As of now, I’ll only give a score based on how I felt about it. I give it a 6.3/10. This is subject to change in the next couple of weeks. Or not. We shall see.


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Conveniently near the airport in the heart of Eilat, Rimonim Central Park is close to Eilat Museum and Art Gallery, North Beach, and Dolphin Reef. Additional area attractions include Coral Beach and Shlomo Mountain.
Rimonim Central Park has an outdoor pool, a sauna, and a fitness facility. Wireless Internet access is available in public areas (surcharges apply) and a computer station is located on site. This Eilat hotel offers a restaurant, a coffee shop/café, and a poolside bar. A complimentary breakfast is available. Additional amenities include a nightclub, a complimentary children's club, and an arcade/game room. Onsite parking is complimentary. The property has designated areas for smoking.
Rooms have city, pool, or garden views. The 278 air-conditioned guestrooms at Rimonim Central Park include minibars and safes. Wireless high-speed Internet access (surcharge) is provided. Televisions are equipped with cable channels. In addition, housekeeping is offered daily and amenities available on request include wake-up calls.

domain: travel


Changes to pre-charge bail
Changes to pre-charge bail, also known as police bail, came into force across England and Wales on 3 April 2017.
The Policing and Crime Act, which was given Royal Assent in January, introduced a number of changes to policing.
These include changes to the pre-charge bail process and means that the powers to release a suspect on bail have changed under the new legislation.
What do you need to know?
The changes to bail apply to all arrests made after midnight on Monday 3 April.
The biggest change is that there is now a presumption of release without bail unless strict criteria are met around necessity and proportionality.
The decision as to whether a suspect will be released on bail will be made on a case by case basis.
There are three main bail periods that can be authorised by police. These are as follows:
- An initial bail period for 28 days authorised by an inspector;
- An extension to the initial bail period, to three calendar months from the bail start date, authorised by a superintendent;
- A further three calendar month extension, authorised by an assistant chief constable or commander. This extension only applies to exceptionally complex cases.
All other extensions to the bail period beyond this point will have to be authorised by a Magistrates’ Court.
The changes to pre-charge bail do not affect the role of police in serving and protecting the public. The grounds for arresting an individual remain the same, crime will still be investigated fully and victims will continue to be supported.
Overview of the Policing and Crime Act 2017
The Policing and Crime Act includes provisions which, according to the Home Office, will:
- “Reform pre-charge bail to stop people remaining on bail for lengthy periods without independent judicial scrutiny of its continued necessity”
- “Enable chief officers to make the most efficient and effective use of their workforce by giving them the flexibility to confer a wider range of powers on police staff and volunteers (while for the first time specifying a core list of powers that may only be exercised by warranted police officers)”
- “Place a duty on police, fire and ambulance services to work together and enable police and crime commissioners to take on responsibility for fire and rescue services where a local case is made”
- “Stop the detention in police cells of children and young people under 18 who are experiencing a mental health crisis (and restrict the circumstances when adults can be taken to police stations) by reforming police powers under sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983”
- “Reform the police complaints and disciplinary systems to ensure that the public have confidence in their ability to hold the police to account, and that police officers will uphold the highest standards of integrity”
- “Increase the maximum sentence from 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment for those convicted of the most serious cases of stalking and harassment”
- “Amend the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, including to ensure that 17-year-olds who are detained in police custody are treated as children for all purposes, and to increase the use of video link technology”
- “Amend the Firearms Acts, including to better protect the public by closing loopholes that can be exploited by criminals and terrorists”
- “Confer an automatic pardon on deceased individuals convicted of certain consensual gay sexual offences which would not be offences today, and on those persons still living who have had the conviction disregarded under the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012”.
For more information on the Policing and Crime Act, please visit the Home Office website.
Further information on the subject of bail.
The temporary release of a person suspected or accused of an offence with a duty to surrender themselves to a court or a police station in the future. Bail may be unconditional or with conditions which restrict activity, contact with others or frequenting specific locations. Additionally there are occasions where a sum of money (called a Surety) may be required and lodged to guarantee their appearance.
Failing to answer bail or complying with bail conditions can cause a person to be arrested and provide grounds to refuse bail.
There’s a difference between 'bail before being charged' where the investigation is ongoing and 'bail where a person is charged'. Before being charged, bail is given to return to a police station at a date and time and this is sometimes referred to ‘section 47 bail’. After being charged it will be bail to appear at court for the offence(s).
To be formally accused of committing an offence where the offence is read out according to a form of words under law. Generally it means the investigation is complete and it progresses to court. A written copy of the charge is also provided.
- Why is bail used?
- What is ‘refused bail’?
- I’m on bail and have lost my paperwork
- Can juveniles be ‘refused bail’?
- I want to change my bail conditions
- What if I’m on bail and can’t sign or answer on time?
- Someone I know is on bail and breaching their conditions
People have a right to bail by law. It is a way of legally binding a person to a process of investigation or prosecution.
Where people are bailed as part of ongoing investigations, conditions can be imposed to prevent further offences committed, obstruct the course of justice, intimidate witnesses (which includes the victim) or to ensure they answer bail. For example, a condition might be to sign at a police station on certain days at specific times.
This is the same for people charged with an offence to attend court, but with the additional option that bail may be refused so they are remanded to appear at the next available court.
This is where a person has been charged and the police or the court has decided bail should not be granted because there are reasons to believe:
- Further offences may be committed.
- Fail to surrender to bail, commit an offence on bail.
- Interfere with witnesses.
- Obstruct the course of justice.
Contact the relevant officer dealing with your case as soon as possible and you can be provided with a copy of the information you need. This does not provide a reason to fail to answer bail or breach any conditions.
It’s important that any paperwork or documentation provided by the police or court is retained. For example, your solicitor may wish to see them.
For juveniles (young people under 17 years of age) there are circumstances where bail may be refused. Normally steps are taken for the young person to be taken into the care of the local authority pending the court hearing unless:
- It is not practicable to do so such, as the local authority is unable to take them into their care.
- The juvenile is at least 12 years old, no secure accommodation is available and any other accommodation is not adequate to protect the public from serious harm from that juvenile.
In such circumstances the juvenile will remain at the police station until they can be escorted to the relevant court. For breach of bail or an arrest under a warrant, there is no requirement to transfer to local authority care.
Bail conditions given by the police and not yet appeared at court: You need to contact the police station who released you on bail and speak with a custody officer. Alternatively contact your solicitor who may make representations on your behalf. The custody officer will decide if your conditions can be changed.
Bail given by a court: You need to contact the relevant court as the police will not be able to consider your request. You’re advised to contact your solicitor who can make representations on your behalf.
Please be aware that any application for a change to your bail conditions can take time, whether to the police or the court.
Failure to comply with conditions set by the police or the court which you accepted as a condition of your release is likely to result in your arrest.
There are circumstances where it’s understandable people will not be able to answer bail such as being at hospital, in police custody or too ill to sign. Documentary proof is required from you (such as a doctor's note), as the police will not make enquires to confirm your reasons. Explanations such as financial or transportation problems, oversleeping, forgetting or losing your paperwork are not recognised as valid excuses.
Contact the police by emailing 101 to inform them. You may be asked to provide your details and the police may ask you to provide a statement. Even if you don’t want to give your name and details, if someone is breaking any of their conditions we still want to know. If someone is at risk of immediate harm you need to dial 999.
Source: North Wales Police


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Iréne gives the wealthy businessmen what they want, diving headfirst into the filthy river, thinking only of providing for her baby daughter, Marisa, as the men salivate over her soaked body emerging onto the bank. A young boy tries to befriend the reticent younger sister of the town’s cruelest bully, only to discover the family betrayal behind her quiet countenance. Josefa, a young bride, is executed for murdering the man who raped her. Joy Castro’s How Winter Began traces these and other characters as they seek compassion from each other and themselves.
Thematically linked by the lives of women, especially Latinas, and their experiences of poverty and violence in a white-dominated, wealth-obsessed culture, How Winter Began is a delicately wrought collection of stories. The question at the heart of this riveting book is how or whether to trust one another after the rupture of betrayal.
Adoptee Author: Joy Castro
Publication Year: 2015


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IJF Refugee team can expect all support in Brasilia
6 Oct 2019 09:35
Two Brazil-based members of the IJF Refugee Team will grace the Grand Slam in Brasilia in their adopted homeland this week. Rio 2016 Olympians Popole Misenga (U90kg) and Yolande Mabika Bukasa (U70kg) have been at the forefront of the movement since the IOC initiative was introduce for South America’s first Olympics and have benefited from the IJF’s new system of introducing a refugee team to the IJF World Judo Tour.
Both judoka are coached by the legendary Geraldo Bernardes at the Instituto Reação in Rio de Janeiro which was founded by Flavio Canto.
Misenga, who fought in both the individual and team event at the 2019 World Championships, and his teammate Bukasa both hail from the Democratic Republic of Congo and were given refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the build-up to Rio 2016.
Bernardes, 76, who cultivated the talents of Olympic champion and former world champion Rafaela Silva, reflected on the latest chapter in his illustrious coaching career.
“I was coach of the Brazilian team for 20 years participating in 4 Olympics,” said the world-renowned coach.
“My involvement with the refugee team is a mission and thank god for the opportunities and success I had as a coach in the Brazilian team.”
“I do work to improve Physical / Technical participating in international competitions with the support of the International Judo Federation so they can gain more experience.”
The most experienced coach in the competition this weekend also revealed how Popole and Yolanda have been preparing for the Brasilia Grand Slam.
“They have done two physical and technical training sessions on a daily basis. In the morning it’s physical training and at night technical training.
“In this technical training they do with the Instituto Reação athletes including Brazilian national team judoka who have a lot of experience.
They also participate in some steps of the Brazilian judo domestic calendar and have joined the CBJ training at the Team Brasil dojo.”
Luiz Fernando Godinho, spokesman for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, said: “Popole and Yolande’s stories are a remarkable reminder that being a refugee should not stop anyone from following their dreams. As children, they had to flee violence, lost contact with their families and grew up in a refugee camp. Despite all this, they found their way to judo and became black belts and great competitors.
“First as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at Rio 2016, and now as candidates for Tokyo 2020, they are a symbol of hope for all refugees in the world. It is with great honour and pride that UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, supports these athletes and many others to access equal opportunities and thrive, not just survive.”
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For the first time, a team of refugee athletes will compete under the Olympic flag. Since the modern Olympics began in 1896, over 200 national teams have vied for glory at the Summer and Winter Games. Now, for the first time, a team of refugees will compete as well. The International Olympic Committee today announced the selection of 10 refugees who will compete this August in Rio de Janeiro, forming the first-ever Refugee Olympic Athletes team. Two of them are judoka from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Read more
Olympic heavyweight champion Teddy Riner made light work of former world silver medallist David Moura (BRA) in the last contest at the first edition of the Brasilia Grand Slam. Riner moved to 4-0 against Brazil’s man-mountain as he rushed past the home hope in 20 seconds by ippon from an o-soto-makikomi. Read more
In the final of the men’s U100kg at Brasilia’s Grand Slam Kentaro Iida (WRL 15) had the measure of Rafael Buzacarini (BRA-WRL-22) as the Japanese youngster impressed his coach and legendary champion Inoue Kosei. The 21-year-old, who has often been dubbed the ‘new Inoue’, has a devastating uchi-mata just like this mentor but it was his morote-seoi-nage which earned his second Grand Slam gold medal with 64 seconds remaining on the clock. Read more
At the Grand Slam of Brasilia former world champion Nikoloz Sherazadishvili of Spain defeated former world silver medallist Ivan Felipe Silva Morales of Cuba in a rematch of the 2018 Worlds final. The Spaniard extended his winning record over the Cuban to 3-1 with a trademark uchi-mata which was worth a waza-ari score which separated the rivals after four minutes of compelling action. Read more
Two Brazilians heavyweights in the final of the Grand Slam in Brasilia. The World number eight Beatriz Souza beat world silver medallist Maria Suelen Altheman (BRA) for the first time on the IJF stage to claim her first Grand Slam gold medal. The 21-year-old defeated world number three Altheman, 31, after throwing for a waza-ari score and pinning down her teammate with a kesa-gatame. Read more
Joris Kuger (GER)


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