It would be possible using multiple SPDT switches, or a DPDT switch, but the aim was to go for simplicity, so I opted for an external module, which could be charged from mains using removable batteries (And much faster too)
Step 1: Rail Mount
First, two rectancles to undercut the gun's rails. They had to be seperate so they don't catch on the fake rail at the front of the gun.
Second, an elongated "U" shaped riser.
Last, the actual platform on which the electronics would sit.
The epoxy I used was pretty old, and kept coming apart, so I drilled some pilot holes at strategic intervals, and twisted/pushed some small brass screws through the acrylic, securing the layers in place
I sanded the sides down, and made a slight angle for the bottom layer to help it fit under the rails more easily, as well as the screws and acrylic's underside
Step 2: Electronics / Laser Mount
The battery holder, again wouldn't stay on with epoxy, so I partially melter a pair of screws into the dividing wall, through the acrylic.
For the laser, I made a small sandwich of acrylic at the front of the upper acrylic plate, and dremmeled a semicircular groove for it.
I also made a very basic on/off circuit with an SPDT switch, but only secured the laser module with blu-tak for the time being.
Step 3: Laser Calibration
Make a note of the average hit location, attach the laser array, and epoxy the laser into the slot with it pointing at the location on the wall. The priming mechanism on the Maverick is constructed fairly precisely, but will wobble slightly, causing the laser dot to vary within a ~15cm range, so try to centralise it before deciding what position to glue the laser in.
I held it in place with a rubber band and a paintbrush to lever the back up while the epoxy set.
Note: The red line in the second picture is only the paintbrush! You can see the dot on the wall!
Step 4: Results
The major downside is the weight of the whole module causes the priming mechanism to slide back and forth once it has been locked back (The spring to hold it forwards isn't very strong).
A far simpler method would be to drill a hole into the front of the gun, and make an internal laser mechanism as originally intended (Tutorials already exist for this), but to also attach a DC port for charging the batteries with a 7.5v mains adapter.
I can now add it to my ever growing collection of zombie defense weapons!


text:
Hunger games minecraft server address, Hunger games minecraft server address, hunger games minecraft server address, hunger games minecraft server address, hunger games minecraft server address, hunger.Minecraft hunger games version 1.7.2 servers - filter, Minecraft servers search for: + hunger games servers - you know the book / movie - now in minecraft+ server version 1.7.2 - we have thousands of servers waiting for. The hunger games 1.6.2 mod minecraft 1.6.2/1.5.2, Download the hunger games 1.6.2 mod; install risugami’s modloader, following the instructions provided by risugami. run minecraft as normal. if a black screen.
Epic minecraft | hunger games | 22 mini-games | ip epic-mc, Epic minecraft | hunger games | 22 mini-games | ip epic-mc.com; server status: online: last online ping: 1 minutes ago: server ip address: epic-mc.com.The hunger games mod 1.5.2 | minecraft mods, This mod is based on the amazing film and books, the hunger games. the hunger games 2 mod, or thgm as it is often called, is a minecraft mod designed to bring the. Hunger games - fun - minecraft bukkit plugins - curse, Hunger games about. hunger games is a minecraft server mod which enables any user to host hunger games on their server. the plugin has features which include, and not.

domain: hobby


Week in Review
Droughts are a sign of global warming. Excessive rains are a sign of global warming. Little snow fall is a sign of global warming. Powerful blizzards are a sign of global warming. Let’s see, what else? Meteorites threatening the planet are a sign of global warming. Gun violence is a sign of global warming. Obesity is a sign of global warming. And pretty much anything else is a sign of global warming. Because climate ‘scientists’ and journalists say so (see Climate contradiction: Less snow, more blizzards by Seth Borenstein, Associated Press, posted 2/18/2013 on The Detroit News).
Ten climate scientists say the idea of less snow and more blizzards makes sense: A warmer world is likely to decrease the overall amount of snow falling each year and shrink snow season. But when it is cold enough for a snowstorm to hit, the slightly warmer air is often carrying more moisture, producing potentially historic blizzards.
“Strong snowstorms thrive on the ragged edge of temperature — warm enough for the air to hold lots of moisture, meaning lots of precipitation, but just cold enough for it to fall as snow,” said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “Increasingly, it seems that we’re on that ragged edge.”
The ragged edge of temperature? So what this climate ‘scientist’ is telling us is that if it’s too warm it won’t snow. It will just rain. They’ve been telling us for DECADES that rising temperatures will melt the Arctic icecap. Raising the ocean levels. Swamping our coastal areas. Causing our farmlands to turn into deserts. And moving our warmer climes further north. Keeping the snow further north. So if temperatures have been rising and pushing the collisions of these hot and cold air masses further north we should be getting less snow in the mid latitudes and more snow in the higher latitudes. Burying them in snow. Especially in Canada around the Great Lakes. Because it’s the same amount of snow but in a smaller area. Building huge snow masses to provide a long snowmelt to fill those Great Lakes all spring and summer. Raising their levels to record highs. It’s a sound theory. Only one problem. The Great Lakes are at record lows.
But wait a minute, you say. What about rain? The reason it didn’t snow as much in the higher latitudes is because all that moisture fell out of the sky as rain before it got to those higher latitudes. An excellent point. Only one problem. North America suffered one of the worst droughts on record. Devastating our corn crops. And raising the price of food across the board.
But wait a minute, you say. That doesn’t prove anything. Because of rising temperatures it’s just not precipitating as much. Less moisture in the air because of higher temperatures means less rain AND less snow. Another excellent point. Only one problem. It has been raining. A lot. The UK suffered above average rainfalls this past year. Sending her rivers over their banks. And causing some of the worst flooding the UK has ever seen.
But wait a minute, you say. And I say, enough. Everything cannot be the result of global warming. Warmer temperatures and cooler temperatures cannot both be the result of global warming. Droughts and flooding cannot both be the result of global warming. Less snowfall and greater blizzards cannot both be the result of global warming. Every contradictory piece of empirical evidence cannot prove global warming. Real science doesn’t work that way. Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius. And boils at 100 degrees Celsius. These are distinct states of matter. And they cannot exist at the same time. For there are rules in science. And you can’t keep changing them to prove a theory.
Scientists won’t blame a specific event or even a specific seasonal change on global warming without doing intricate and time-consuming studies. And they say they are just now getting a better picture of the complex intersection of man-made climate change and extreme snowfall.
Then why have we been listening to you for close to three decades now? Why do we have laws that change the way we live going back decades when you’re only now understanding man-made climate change? If you were wrong decades ago how do we know you’re right now?
Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann points to the recent Northeast storm that dumped more than 30 inches in some places. He said it was the result of a perfect set of conditions for such an event: Arctic air colliding with unusually warm oceans that produced extra large amounts of moisture and big temperature contrasts, which drive storms. Those all meant more energy, more moisture and thus more snow, he said.
Do you know who Michael Mann is? He’s the guy that created the ‘hockey stick graph’ that supposedly proved global warming. Temperatures were relatively constant for 900 years. Then rose. Giving the shape of a hockey stick. He took data from tree rings, lake sediments and ice cores and calculated temperatures for the past 1,000 years. Giving us the hockey stick graph. But in 2010 some emails came to light showing other climate scientists, Phil Jones, Keith Briffa and others, were not all on board with the hockey stick graph. Despite the powers that be in climate ‘science’ adopting Mann’s hockey stick (see Controversy behind climate science’s ‘hockey stick’ graph by Fred Pearce posted 2/2/2010 on the guardian).
…Briffa…sent a long and passionate email. “It should not be taken as read that Mike’s series is THE CORRECT ONE,” he warned. “I know there is pressure to present a nice tidy story as regards ‘apparent unprecedented warming in a thousand years or more in the proxy data’, but in reality the situation is not quite so simple… For the record, I believe that the recent warmth was probably matched about 1,000 years ago.”
What’s this? If you take the data beyond the starting point of Michael Mann’s data, back before man was creating any global warming, there was a matching rise in temperature? Or so said the hacked emails from the University of East Anglia’s climatic research unit. So Michael Mann is a guy that likes to look at limited ranges of data. Just enough to support his hypothesis. And not too much so it doesn’t refute his hypothesis. So one cannot help but to take whatever he says with a grain of salt.
So what does all of this mean? Global warming is more politics than science. Most of the accepted research was done by people funded by governments that want to take ever more control over the private sector economy. To increase the size of government. And to increase tax revenues. If you don’t believe this consider the volcano. When they erupt they tend to cool the climate. Because they put smoke, soot, ash, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The same things coal-fired power plants put into the atmosphere. Yet volcanoes cool the planet. While coal-fired power plants warm the planet. Go figure. Two things doing the same thing. Yet each producing completely opposite results. To understand this you have to enter the world where there are square circles. And intersecting parallel lines. A place where there are no scientific laws. Only wild imagination. For it is a wacky world when it comes to the field of climate ‘science’.
Tags: ash, blizzard, carbon dioxide, climate scientists, coal-fired power plants, cooler temperatures, drought, flooding, Global Warming, Great Lakes, higher latitudes, hockey stick graph, hypothesis, man-made climate change, melt, Michael Mann, mid latitudes, ragged edge of temperature, rain, smoke, snow, soot, sulfur dioxide, temperatures, volcano, warmer temperatures


text:
- Apr 24, 2006
- Charlotte, NC
- Real Name
- Matt Hough
Ernest Hemingway’s 1927 short story “The Killers” was made into one of the most stunning and individual films noir ever produced. Directed by Robert Siodmak in 1946, Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers has every attribute the French would later attribute to the noir genre: long, dark shadows inside a murky world of crime and deception, a treacherous femme fatale, rain soaked streets and neon lights garishly beaming down on an ugly world. The new Criterion Blu-ray release of this unmistakable classic has been combined with the 1964 made-for-TV (but released to theaters due to its violence) version directed by Don Siegel. Though it has its moments, it’s worlds away in quality compared to the original.
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: English PCM 1.0 (Mono)
Subtitles: English SDH
Rating: Not Rated
Run Time: 1 Hr. 42 Min./1 Hr. 34 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-raykeep case
Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Release Date: 07/07/2015
The Production Rating: 4/5
The Killers (1946) – 5/5
Two hit men (Charles McGraw, William Conrad) rub out a service station attendant known around town as “The Swede” (Burt Lancaster). Insurance company investigator Jim Reardon (Edmond O'Brien) investigates the crime wondering why the man who had been warned ahead of time of their imminent arrival had done nothing to prevent his murder, so he sets out on a lengthy investigation into the man’s past uncovering a $250,000 safe heist he had been a part of by interviewing a former girl friend (Virginia Christine), his former best friend now a cop (Sam Levene), his former cellmate (Vince Barnett), and others suspected of being part of the big robbery (Albert Dekker, Ava Gardner, Jeff Corey, Jack Lambert). Basically, Reardon is looking for the answer to two questions: who paid for the hit and where is the $250,000 that the Swede had absconded with?
Hemingway’s original story covered the film’s first quarter hour. The rest of the story involving the entire sad life of one-time boxer Ole “The Swede” Anderson was a concoction of screenwriter Anthony Veiller who earned an Oscar nomination for one of the most brilliant scripts of the era blending a splintered flashback structure with such surety and strength that following the progression of Swede’s life and loves is not only easy but completely engrossing aided in no small measure by the terrific Oscar-nominated direction by Robert Siodmak who moves the camera through sordid flophouses, a grimy prize ring, and even grand homes which reek of corruption. Burt Lancaster makes a stunning screen debut as the tortured, fatalistic Swede, and Ava Gardner as his lady love gives a riveting performance (one of her few films, she later said, of which she was proud). Edmond O'Brien is the viewer surrogate determined to get to the bottom of the mystery while devoted Sam Levene and oily Albert Dekker stand out in major supporting roles. But there isn’t a weak performance in the bunch from the truly threatening hit men of William Conrad and Charles McGraw to luckless small time crooks like Vince Barnett’s Charleston and Jeff Corey’s Blinky.
The Killers (1964) – 3/5
Two hitmen (Lee Marvin, Clu Gulager) find it very odd when a teacher for the blind Johnny North (John Cassavetes) doesn’t try to escape their shooting him and so begin to investigate him to possibly learn the reason why. They discover that he was at one time a champion race car driver in Miami, and after landing there, begin to grill all of the people with whom he was close four years earlier: his partner in the race car business Earl Sylvester (Claude Akins) and then three people with whom he allegedly stole a million dollars in a mail heist: Mickey Farmer (Norman Fell), former girl friend Sheila Farr (Angie Dickinson), and building contractor Jack Browning (Ronald Reagan). But where is the million dollars? No one seems to have a clue concerning its whereabouts.
Though the major narrative and character relationships from the original are still present in this adaptation by Gene L. Coon, there’s not a word of Hemingway present in the script, and the movie plays more as a bright, flashy crime drama than a brooding, fatalistic film noir. The relationship between the victim and the femme fatale is focused on much more in this version leaving character exploration for the other people in the story quite lacking, and since every character is a bad guy here (the insurance investigator character is not present), there’s no rooting interest. Don Siegel’s direction tries a couple of askance camera angles to add some mood, but as the film was originally made for television, close-ups reign supreme, and the film always has the feel of a studio-bound production making the movie seem smaller and less vital. As the two hitmen, Lee Marvin gives an effectively menacing performance countered by Clu Gulager’s health conscious psychopath, but the best performance in the film is offered by John Cassavetes whose cocky racer is brought down to earth by the film’s vixen Angie Dickinson playing an all too obvious woman on the make. The film’s final twist is repeated from the original movie, but it has far less impact here due to Ronald Reagan’s less than chilling performance as the film’s dapper villain.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 3D Rating: NA
Both films are presented in 1.33:1 with the AVC codec used to present a 1080p transfer. The 1946 version is one of the greats: a gorgeous, reference quality, artifact-free transfer that offers superb sharpness and a grayscale that presents the deep, inky blacks which are absolutely essential for proper film noir presentation. The 1964 color version has tons of head room (meaning it would have had no problem being framed for widescreen theatrical exhibition) but offers a clean, colorful transfer with rich skin tones and lots of detail in hair and facial features. Sometimes second unit work and stock footage is soft and doesn’t mix well with the rest of the original footage, but contrast is outstanding even if black levels are very good but seldom great. The original film has been divided into 21 chapters while the remake has 19 chapters.
Audio Rating: 4/5
Both films are presented with a PCM 1.0 (1.1 Mbps) sound mix. Neither offers the richest, widest-ranging fidelity (the 1964 version is stronger aurally), but both are more than adequate to support the sterling visuals. Dialogue, music, and sound effects have been mixed together with professional expertise with no compromises for any aspect of the presentation. There are also no age-related problems with hiss or crackle to mar the listening experience.
Special Features Rating: 4.5/5
Each film has its own set of bonuses and each has its own enclosed supplemental pamphlet.
Stuart M. Kaminsky Video Analysis (17:46, HD): the writer gives some background about each of the two films’ production histories, offers the history of the film noir theory, and then compares and contrasts the two presentations.
Ernest Hemingway’s “The Killers” (17:43): Stacy Keach reads the original short story.
Screen Director’s Playhouse (29:41): the 1948 radio adaptation of the film starring Burt Lancaster and Shelley Winters.
The Killers (20:38, HD): Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1956 adaptation of the short story made when he was a film student. This Russian film short uses white English subtitles.
Robert Siodmak Trailers (10:18, HD): trailers for five films directed by Robert Siodmak. They may viewed separately or in montage. They are for the films Son of Dracula, Cobra Woman, The Killers, Cry of the City, and Criss Cross.
Clu Gulager Interview (18:46, HD): filmed in 2002, the actor reminisces (with a fair amount of profanity) about the making of the film and expresses his pride in what they accomplished.
Don Siegel Autobiography (19:32): excerpts from Don Siegel’s autobiography that deal with the two productions are read by actor Hampton Fancher.
Theatrical Trailer (2:23, HD)
Enclosed Pamphlets: each contains the cast and crew lists, information about the transfers, and an essay on each film. The 1946 pamphlet essay is by novelist Jonathan Lethem while the 1964 piece is by critic Geoffrey O’Brien.
Timeline: can be pulled up from the menu or by pushing the red button on the remote. It shows you your progress on the disc and the title of the chapter you’re now in. Additionally, two other buttons on the remote can place or remove bookmarks if you decide to stop viewing before reaching the end of the film or want to mark specific places for later reference.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
One of the quintessential films noir comes to Blu-ray with Criterion’s double feature release of Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers. Both versions have received sterling video and audio treatment making this a wonderful bargain loaded with interesting bonus material ported over from the original 2002 DVD release. Highly recommended!
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
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domain: entertainment


text:
Raices Profundas (Deep Roots) is a famous Cuban Dance Company, which will perform its enthralling dances in Vietnam from April 19-22.
According to the Centre for the Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the 12 member company will put on a display different dances that give an insight into Cuba ’s musical history.
With their professional performances, the dancers will entertain audiences with dynamic performances that reflect Latin America , with a mix of African and Spanish dances combined with ballet.
Vietnamese audiences will have the chance to savor the enchanting Salsa and others including the Rumba, Danzon, Cha-Cha-Cha, Mambo, Bolero and Salsa Casino.
First established in 1974, Deep Roots has performed in many countries around the world.


|Publication number||US6488827 B1|
|Application number||US 09/541,132|
|Publication date||Dec 3, 2002|
|Filing date||Mar 31, 2000|
|Priority date||Mar 31, 2000|
|Also published as||CA2405423A1, CN1222361C, CN1431934A, DE60112414D1, DE60112414T2, EP1268063A2, EP1268063B1, WO2001074242A2, WO2001074242A3|
|Publication number||09541132, 541132, US 6488827 B1, US 6488827B1, US-B1-6488827, US6488827 B1, US6488827B1|
|Inventors||Robert Justice Shartle|
|Original Assignee||Lifescan, Inc.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (23), Referenced by (50), Classifications (20), Legal Events (4)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This application relates to U.S. application Ser. No. 09/333,793, filed Jun. 15, 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,873).
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a medical diagnostic device that includes an element for controlling fluid flow through the device; more particularly, to a device that facilitates fluid flow through a stop junction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of medical diagnostic procedures involve tests on biological fluids, such as blood, urine, or saliva, to determine an analyte concentration in the fluid. The procedures measure a variety of physical parameters—mechanical, optical, electrical, etc.,—of the biological fluid.
Among the analytes of greatest interest is glucose, and dry phase reagent strips incorporating enzyme-based compositions are used extensively in clinical laboratories, physicians' offices, hospitals, and homes to test samples of biological fluids for glucose concentration. In fact, reagent strips have become an everyday necessity for many of the nation's estimated 16 people with diabetes. Since diabetes can cause dangerous anomalies in blood chemistry, it can contribute to vision loss, kidney failure, and other serious medical consequences. To minimize the risk of these consequences, most people with diabetes must test themselves periodically, then adjust their glucose concentration accordingly, for instance, through diet, exercise, and/or insulin injections. Some patients must test their blood glucose concentration as often as four times or more daily.
One type of glucose measurement system operates electrochemically, detecting the oxidation of blood glucose on a dry reagent strip. The reagent generally includes an enzyme, such as glucose oxidase or glucose dehydrogenase, and a redox mediator, such as ferrocene or ferricyanide. This type of measurement system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,125, issued on Sep. 23, 1980, to Nakamura et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,382, issued on Oct. 8, 1985, to Higgins et al., incorporated herein by reference.
Hodges et al., WO 9718464 A1, published on May 22, 1997, discloses an electrochemical device for measuring blood glucose that includes two metallized polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers sandwiching an adhesive-coated PET intermediate layer. The metallized layers constitute first and second electrodes, and a cutout in the adhesive-coated layer defines an electrochemical cell. The cell contains the reagent that reacts with the glucose in a blood sample. The device is elongated, and the sample is introduced at an inlet on one of the long sides.
The electrochemical devices for measuring blood glucose that are described in the patents cited above, as well as other medical diagnostic devices used for measuring analyte concentrations or characteristics of biological fluids, generally share a need to transport the fluid from a sample inlet to one or more other sections of the device. Typically, a sample flows through capillary channels between two spaced-apart surfaces. A number of patents, discussed below, disclose medical diagnostic devices and include descriptions of various methods to control the flow of the sample.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,083, issued on Mar. 3, 1981, to Columbus, discloses a device that includes a sample inlet configured to facilitate movement of a drop of fluid sample into the device, by causing a compound meniscus to form on the drop. (See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,817, issued on Dec. 7, 1999 to Crismore et al.)
U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,451, issued on Jan. 17, 1984 to Columbus, discloses a multi-zone fluidic device that has pressure-actuatable means for controlling the flow of fluid between the zones. His device makes use of pressure balances on a liquid meniscus at the interface between a first zone and a second zone that has a different cross section. When both the first and second zones are at atmospheric pressure, surface tension creates a back pressure that stops the liquid meniscus from proceeding from the first zone to the second. The configuration of this interface or “stop junction” is such that the liquid flows into the second zone only upon application of an externally generated pressure to the liquid in the first zone that is sufficient to push the meniscus into the second zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,129, issued on Sept. 19, 1989 to Gibbons et al., discloses that the back pressure in a stop junction can be overcome by hydrostatic pressure on the liquid in the first zone, for example by having a column of fluid in the first zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,866, issued on Jul. 27, 1993 to Shartle et al., discloses a fluidic device with multiple stop junctions in which the surface tension-induced back pressure at the stop junction is augmented; for example, by trapping and compressing gas in the second zone. The compressed gas can then be vented before applying additional hydrostatic pressure to the first zone to cause fluid to flow into the second zone. By varying the back pressure of multiple stop junctions in parallel, “rupture junctions” can be formed, having lower maximum back pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,603, issued on Dec. 5, 1995 to Schembri (see also U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,041), discloses using centrifugal force to overcome the back pressure in a stop junction. When flow stops, the first zone is at atmospheric pressure plus a centrifugally generated pressure that is less than the pressure required to overcome the back pressure. The second zone is at atmospheric pressure. To resume flow, additional centrifugal pressure is applied to the first zone, overcoming the meniscus back pressure. The second zone remains at atmospheric pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,307, issued on Dec. 14, 1999, to Naka et al., published on Oct. 29, 1997, discloses a device and method for analyzing a sample that includes drawing the sample into the device by suction, then reacting the sample with a reagent in an analytical section. Analysis is done by optical or electrochemical means. In alternate embodiments, there are multiple analytical sections and/or a bypass channel. The flow among these sections is balanced without using stop junctions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,695, issued on Dec. 23, 1997 to Yassinzadeh et al., discloses an apparatus for collecting and manipulating a biological fluid that.uses a “thermal pressure chamber” to provide the driving force for moving the sample through the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,404, issued on Apr. 7, 1998, to Yassinzadeh et al., discloses a method for determining the coagulation time of a blood sample that involves causing an end of the sample to oscillate within a passageway. The oscillating motion is caused by alternately increasing and decreasing the pressure on the sample.
None of the references discussed above suggest a device in which a flow channel has a stop junction that is angular in the flow direction.
This invention provides a medical diagnostic device for measuring an analyte concentration in a biological fluid. The device comprises a capillary flow channel within the device, in fluid communication with a sample inlet, the flow channel
a) adapted for conveying a sample of the biological fluid in a first direction, from a first region, proximate to the sample inlet, to a second region, distal to the sample inlet, the first region having a capillary dimension in a second direction, substantially perpendicular to the first direction; and
b) having a stop junction, comprising a boundary region that
i) separates the first and second regions,
ii) has a predetermined dimension in the second direction that is greater than the capillary dimension, and
iii) forms an angle that points toward the first region.
Note that in the present specification and the figures, capillaries are shown bounded by parallel plates. In that case, the “second direction”, which has the capillary dimension, is uniquely determined. Alternatively, capillaries of the invention could be cylindrical. In that case, the second direction is radial, in a planar circle, or disk, that is perpendicular to the direction of fluid flow.
Devices of the present invention provide, in a flow channel of the device, a stop junction that is angular in the flow direction. Such a stop junction can be designed with readily-controlled break-through pressure.
FIG. 1 depicts the operation of a stop junction in a medical device.
FIGS. 2-5 depict the flow of a fluid in part of a device of this invention.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a device of this invention.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the device of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a cross section through the device of FIG. 7.
When fluid flows through a channel, a discontinuity in channel cross section can form a “stop junction,” which can stop the fluid flow, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,426,451; 5,230,866; and 5,912,134, incorporated herein by reference. The stop junction results from surface tension that creates a back pressure that stops the fluid meniscus from proceeding through the discontinuity. The stop junction is weakened, and flow thereby enhanced, when the leading edge of the meniscus encounters the vertex of an acute angle and is then stretched along the arms of the angle. This may be described as the angle “pointing” in a direction opposite to the direction of fluid flow.
This invention relates to a medical diagnostic device that has a flow channel with a stop junction. The stop junction is angular in the direction of flow, which permits fluid in the channel to break through the stop junction when there is a predetermined pressure difference across the stop junction. The advantages of such a controlled break-through stop junction are apparent from the description that follows.
FIG. 1 depicts part of a medical diagnostic strip 10 that is a multilayer sandwich. Top layer 12 and bottom layer 14 sandwich intermediate layer 16. A cutout in intermediate layer 16 forms channel 18. Lines 20 and 20A are scored into the bottom surface of layer 12 and form in channel 18 stop junctions 21 and 21A, respectively. Thus, sample S, introduced into channel 18 at sample inlet 22, stops when it reaches stop junction 21.
FIGS. 2 and 3 depict the part of a medical diagnostic strip of FIG. 1 in which stop junctions 21 and 21A have been modified by adding serrations 24 and 24A, respectively. Serration 24 forms an acute angle A that “points” toward sample inlet 22. FIGS. 2 and 3 depict sample S just before and just after it breaks through stop junction 21, respectively. Note that the breakthrough occurs first at the vertex that points opposite to the direction of fluid flow. The effectiveness of the serration in enhancing flow through a stop junction in a capillary channel depends on the angle and the length of the legs that form the angle. The smaller the angle and the longer the legs, the greater the effectiveness of the serration. Thus, if the angle is small and the legs long, only a small hydraulic pressure differential across the scored region will cause the sample to flow through it. Preferably, angle A is less than about 90° and its axis of symmetry is aligned with the direction of flow in the channel.
Stop junction 21A has an angle that points toward end 26 of channel 18 that is opposite inlet 22, and it would have reduced resistance to the flow of sample that entered end 26. If the stop junction is to have reduced resistance to flow that enters either end of channel 18 and flows to the other end, then preferably both stop junctions 21 and 21A have more than one serration, with at least one pointing in each direction (as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7).
FIGS. 4 and 5 depict the flow of sample through channel 18 after it has broken through stop junction 21. In FIG. 4, the sample is stopped at stop junction 21A. In FIG. 5, sample has passed through stop junction 21A at its two ends. The breakthroughs occur there, because although the angles at the two ends are greater than 90°, they are smaller than the angle (i.e., the supplement of the angle that points toward 26) at the center of serration 24A. A short time after the sample reaches the position shown in FIG. 5, the sample will pass through stop junction 21A across the entire width of channel 18.
FIG. 6 depicts an exploded view of a device 28 for measuring the analyte concentration of a biological fluid that incorporates a capillary flow channel 30 and stop junctions 32 and 32A of the present invention. Top insulating sheet 34 has an electrically conductive surface 36, which is typically a metal, plated on a surface of insulating sheet 34 by vacuum deposition, sputtering, electroplating, or any other suitable method for providing a conductive surface, well known in the art. In from the longitudinal edges of surface 36 are scored insulating lines 38 and 38A. Scored lines 38 and 38A extend through the thickness of surface 36, on the underside of sheet 34, to provide gaps in the conductive path across the width of the device.
Intermediate insulating layer 40 is sandwiched between conductive surface 36 of top insulating sheet 34 and conductive surface 42 of bottom insulating sheet 44. Intermediate layer 40 is preferably a thermoplastic sheet with adhesive on both surfaces for adhering to sheets 34 and 44. Cutout channel 30 in intermediate layer 40 provides—between conductive-coated sheets 34 and 44—first end 46, second end 48, and an electrochemical cell 50 that lies between the two ends. Within capillary channel 30, a dry reagent coating 49, consisting of buffer, mediator, and enzyme, is shown on conductive surface 42. Alternatively, reagent coating 49 could be deposited on conductive surface 36 instead of, or in addition to, surface 42. Electrochemical cell 50 is the region within which is measured an electrical parameter of the fluid/reagent combination. The region in which the reagent is coated generally, but not necessarily, corresponds to the cell 50. The reagent and electrochemical cell 50 may be limited to the region within channel 30 and between scored lines 38 and 38A. Alternatively, the reagent coating (and cell) may extend over the entire cutout region between the edges of the device.
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 6. It is clear from FIG. 7 that scored lines 38 and 38A divide conductive surface 36 into three regions—36A, 36B, and 36C—each insulated from the other two. The purpose of scored lines 38 and 38A is to permit electrical monitoring of the filling of channel 30 by an electrically conductive biological fluid sample. By monitoring the electrical resistance between adjoining conductive regions, such as 36A, 36B, or 36C, 36B, one can determine when the sample bridges the scored line 38 or 38A that lies between the regions. Scored lines 38 and 38A form stop junctions in channel 30 and would stop flow, as shown in FIG. 1, but for serrations 52 and 52A. Note that serrations 52 and 52A form angles that point both to first end 46 and second end 48 of channel 30. Thus, unlike the “single” serrations in stop junctions shown in FIGS. 2-5, the serrations in stop junctions 32 and 32A each facilitate sample flow in both directions; i.e., whether sample enters first end 46 or second end 48.
FIG. 8 is a cross section along the line 8—8 of FIG. 7. As is clear from FIG. 8, scored lines 38 and 38A interrupt conductive surface 36 and extend into insulating sheet 34. Conductive surface 36 is typically gold, and conductive surface 42 is typically palladium, but each may alternatively be any other conductive material that does not react with the reagent or sample and that can be applied to an insulating surface. Additional details regarding electrochemical monitoring of analyte concentrations, using the device of FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 appear in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/540,319 (still pending), incorporated herein by reference.
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|U.S. Classification||204/403.01, 422/82.01, 204/409, 422/417|
|International Classification||B01L3/00, G01N27/416, G01N33/483, G01N35/08, A61B5/00, G01N37/00|
|Cooperative Classification||B01L3/50273, B01L2300/0887, B01L3/502738, B01L2300/0825, B01L2300/0645, B01L2400/0406, B01L3/502707, B01L2200/027, B01L2400/0688|
|Mar 31, 2000||AS||Assignment|
|May 24, 2006||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|May 7, 2010||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8
|May 7, 2014||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 12


Following the National Budget Speech by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday, 27 February 2013, executive committee members of the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA) have provided some commentary around the announcements.
The 2013 Budget announced that the medical schemes tax credit was increased from R230 to R242 for each of the taxpayer and the first dependent and from R154 to R162 for each additional dependant. “The inflation-linked increase in the medical schemes tax credit is the minimum increase the FIA would have expected,” says Gregory Setzkorn, Chairman of the Healthcare Committee at the FIA. “While individual taxpayers will no doubt enjoy the additional tax relief the concession does not go far enough to encourage new entrants to the medical schemes industry.”
There is good news for the over-65s. “Taxpayers 65 and older may claim as a deduction all qualifying medical expenditures not covered by their respective medical schemes,” says Setzkorn. “They can also claim a deduction for medical scheme contributions exceeding four times the amount of the medical schemes tax credits.”
Gavin Came, Chairman of the Financial Planning Committee of the FIA, welcomed the Retirement Reform update that was published alongside the 2013 Budget. “The note sets out National Treasury’s latest thinking on a wide range of retirement reform issues including the taxation of retirement fund contributions and withdrawals, preservation of accumulated retirement savings and the treatment of non-retirement savings,” says Came. “It is now up to industry stakeholders to further engage with Treasury on these proposals by the stated 31 May 2013 deadline. The FIA looks forward to representing the views of its member intermediaries to government in this regard”.
“Reforming South Africa’s retirement landscape is a difficult balancing act,” he adds. “National Treasury has to both accommodate individuals that have been saving for many years under the old dispensation while at the same time recognising the urgency of the reform process”.
“The FIA believes that Treasury’s ‘2015 or later’ approach to many of its proposals, particularly where pre- and post-retirement preservation are concerned, make sense given the amount of stakeholder consultation that still has to take place”.
Pieter Cronjé, Chairman of the Employee Benefits Committee at the FIA, comments on Employee Benefit related announcements:
Tax deductibility of Contributions. The FIA supports the harmonisation of contributions towards different types of retirement funds and is comfortable with the overall caps and allowance for the rollover of non-deductable contributions. The FIA again wants to reiterate the danger of contribution caps per individual on defined benefit arrangements.
Change to Provident Funds. The FIA welcomes the protection of vested rights for provident fund members older than 55 and the retention of the ability to withdraw the capital value and growth thereon subsequent to implementation of the changes.
Means Test. The proposal to remove the means test with corresponding adjustments to the rebates is welcomed by the FIA.
Preservation. The FIA supports preservation but cautions that vested rights must be protected in order to prevent a situation where members start to withdraw their retirement benefits because they are afraid that access will be restricted at some future date.


Rainiers red caps a major hit in the minor leagues
“R” you seeing it?
A trendy Rainiers logo is following you around Tacoma.
Look up on the street, and chances are somebody will pass by you wearing a baseball cap with the “R” logo on it.
And around the old ballpark at Cheney Stadium, fans showcase the brand name all over the place — on hats, jackets, jerseys, even socks.
Tacoma has placed in the top 25 nationally in merchandise sales the past two years for all of minor-league baseball, which incorporates 160 teams.
The sudden craze over the logo has driven Rainiers merchandise sales to record levels. In the past two years, Tacoma has placed in the top 25 nationally in sales for all of minor-league baseball, which incorporates 160 teams.
The Rainiers are also one of six Pacific Coast League teams to break into the top 25 in back-to-back years, joining El Paso, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Sacramento and Salt Lake City.
Unlike the busy, fun-filled logos of their league counterparts, Tacoma’s is refreshingly minimalist — and singular.
“This isn’t a market you can get away with the prevailing trends of minor league baseball with shock or character images,” Rainiers team president Aaron Artman said. “The Northwest is more sophisticated than that.”
Baby boomers know exactly where they’ve seen this “R” logo before — on a Rainier beer can.
That was the signature emblem the Sick family went with when it purchased the downtown Seattle brewery in the 1930s.
Emil Sick, a Tacoma native and son of Canadian brewer Fritz Sick, also used that serif typeface “R” in the team logo when he bought the city’s minor-league baseball team, changing it from the Seattle Indians to the Seattle Rainiers.
Nearly 50 years later, the Rainiers’ nickname resurfaced in baseball, but in Tacoma. After the George Foster-owned Tacoma Tigers ended their affiliation with the Oakland Athletics to sign on as the Triple-A team for the Seattle Mariners in 1994, they adopted the name.
That mid-1990s “R” logo was modified: The lettering was thickened. And it was also accentuated by a drop shadow, giving it more of a three-dimensional look.
The next logo redesign came in 2009 under a new ownership group — SDL Baseball Partners, led by Kirby Schlegel.
That is when current Rainiers creative director Tony Canepa first got to put his touch on the logo’s script lettering.
“A lot of it was cleaning up certain angles and making it look a little sharper,” Canepa said.
Canepa removed the drop shadow, and tilted the angle of the “R” a little more to the right. He also tightened up the fancy flourish at the top of the “R” — technically known as a swash.
The changes were slight, but made carefully, Canepa said.
“That ‘R’ is extremely unique,” Canepa said. “It’s a beautiful piece of a simple, elegant design. When you break it down, or change a piece of it, it starts to fall apart almost immediately. You cannot take anything away from it and have it work.”
THE ‘R’IGHT DECISION
For the first 20 years in Tacoma, the “R” symbol was primarily glued to another image.
Of course, it has always been part of the whole nickname — the Rainiers. But it was glued next to a “T” from 1995-2008 as one of the team’s secondary logos.
And in 2009, both the “T” and “R” were placed in the middle of a compass to make up the Rainiers’ primary logo.
When spring 2014 rolled around, the team had been in the hands of new ownership for a few years with The Baseball Club of Tacoma, a group of 15 partners, headed by Curtis High School graduate Mikal Thomsen.
Artman knew the compass logo had run its course. So he and his creative team had a series of meetings that spring to discuss rebranding ideas.
And they kept going back to one conclusion: Isolating the “R” by itself.
It had been done before with hats. The Rainiers had always offered a limited supply of baseball caps with just an “R” logo on them. They had always sold out, too.
“It was iconic enough on its own that we would have been crazy to figure out something else to do with it,” Artman said. “A good design is a good design.”
Added Canepa, who suggested the redesigned “R” from 2009 would still work six years later: “A lot of it was just paying attention to what was coming from the fans. It was something everyone gravitated toward.”
For the 2015 season, the team decided to go with “Rainiers” as its primary logo, which is seen mainly on shirts and jackets. And it went with the stand-alone “R” as its secondary logo, which is largely a cap logo.
Tacoma baseball’s first marketing slogan for that season? “Check Out ‘R’ New Look.”
“I started here in 2007, and did not see a lot of Rainiers hats around town,” Artman said. “Now I see them everywhere. It is something people are identifying with.”
WHY ‘R’ YOU SO POPULAR?
Bret Woody has lived in Tacoma his entire life. He attended baseball games at Cheney Stadium with his grandfather, who had season tickets. His grandfather was a ticket seller for the franchise when it debuted as the Tacoma Giants in 1960.
“I rocked the A’s hat,” Woody said. “Loved (Jose) Canseco. Loved his number — 33.”
But it wasn’t until 2008 when Woody started collecting Tacoma minor-league baseball hats, starting with the Giants, then the Cubs, the Twins, the Yankees, the Tugs, the Tigers — and now the Rainiers.
His collection of hats has reached nearly 50, with more than half of them “R” logo hats. He stores all of them in big, plastic bins, separated by colors and eras.
Woody estimates he has invested $5,000 in the hats. He also has spent another $3,000 on Tacoma baseball jerseys.
“I told them a few years ago to put out more and more of them,” said Woody, a 1995 Mount Tahoma High School graduate who is now a criminal defense attorney in Olympia. “Anything put out that says ‘Tacoma’ is something we will buy.”
Last year, Rainiers director of merchandise Ashley Schutt said the team sold about 13,000 adult baseball hats. Ninety percent of them had the “R” logo on it.
That was the organization’s top-selling item. By comparison, the Rainiers sold 9,000 adults sweatshirts, T-shirts, jackets and jerseys.
For this baseball season, Schutt said the team has diversified its hat inventory. Customers now have 50 assorted “R” logo hats to choose from, starting at $24.99.
Schutt said the best seller is the navy-colored hat with the red-colored “R” emblem. It is also the official team hat.
“We have more product, and we keep creating better gear,” Artman said.
The Rainiers also have expanded the ways they market the “R” logo, using it for promotional videos, programs, calendars, banners and even children’s storybooks.
Why has it become so prominent?
“It has become a symbol of Tacoma,” Artman said.


Esther Schindler writes "We like to imagine that every OS installation will work just as well as the vendor or open source community promises. When things don’t work out, identifying and remedying the case of failure can be time consuming and frustrating. This lesson in how to determine why Windows 7 didn’t install may help you troubleshoot a problem of your own — and save you from a Lost Weekend.
Maybe you'll find this useful all on its own. But the real key here is that the author is Ed Tittel — who's written over 100 books. If this hardware geek spends days solving a CPU-meets-Windows 7 problem, what chances do mere mortals have?" Link to Original Source
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text:
Catch up Online - ACIAC Seminar: Mirroring the Past: Chinese-Australia in Historical Perspective
Speaker: Dr Michael Williams
Chinese have been in Australia for over 200 years but these two centuries have seen very different peoples arriving and settling under the label “Chinese”. Cantonese, working class, non-white, a weak China and on the fringe of national history are all characteristics of Chinese-Australia for its first 100 years. While much of the last 50 years can be characterised as Mandarin, middle class, multicultural, with a strong China. This seminar gives a comparative perspective of Australia’s 19th and early 20th century Chinese-Australian history with its post-1949 history.
View the English transcript (opens in a new window) of the seminar.

domain: library


Kickstarter - Solar Space Heating Technology Finally Enters the 21st Century
Finally, the science of solar heating is catching up with the technology of the 21st Century and "Okapi Bluetooth" is leading the race by miles. Through quite a visually enticing Kickstarter Project, this creative, clean-tech company has just released their new Okapi model upgrade: Okapi Bluetooth!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
"Solar Space Heating Technology Finally Enters the 21st Century"
Sept.9, 2014, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Okapi Systems are intelligent, variable speed fan control systems for solar air heaters, created and manufactured by Greenhill EnviroTechnologies Inc.
Through quite a visually enticing Kickstarter Project, this creative, clean-tech company has just released their new Okapi model upgrade: "Okapi Bluetooth: the Solar Air Heater Control System". You can learn more about this exciting and fun innovation here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2107309041/okapi-bluetooth-the-solar-air-heater-control-syste
The Okapi Fan Control System product line is positively a "disruptive innovation" for the world of solar space-heating. The very first of its kind, Okapi is able to pump solar heated air out near floor level, with multiple temperature sensors, using programmed microcontroller units that intelligently and autonomously control variable-speed fans. They are patent-pending in North America.
"Okapi Bluetooth" now enables the user to see Inlet, Outlet, Ambient Temperatures and Fan Speeds via any Android device through their new "Okapi Manager App". A Bluetooth-enabled PC or Mac can be used to log this data over minutes, hours, days or weeks, then graph and analyse it.
Finally, DIY enthusiasts can truly see and measure how well their solar air heaters are performing!
"Okapi Bluetooth" is Greenhill EnviroTechnologies Inc.'s second Kickstarter Project and it already looks like it will be a successful one, like their first from 2013.
Highly active on many social media sites, Greenhill EnviroTechnologies is a fun company to follow, sharing visually empowering images and ideas, and always keeping you wondering: what are they working on next?
Finally, the science of solar heating is catching up with the technology of the 21st Century and "Okapi Bluetooth" is leading the race by miles.
"Okapi Bluetooth" will definitely satisfy any DIY solar air heater builder's constant nagging questions: "How hot is the air coming out now?" "How is this heater performing compared to that other one I built?" "How can I prove to my friends this thing really works?"
Visit their Kickstarter Project page today: maximize your solar heat harvest, minimize your heating bills and of course, make the next generation proud!
Meredith Williams, President
Alencon Systems - High Power, High Voltage DC:DC Optimizers
Alencon Systems is the premier manufacturer of high power, high voltage DC:DC optimizers for alternative energy applications including solar, battery energy storage, Microgrids, Fuel Cells and Electric Vehicle charging. Alencon's DC:DC converter offerings include the SPOT, BOSS and CUBE series DC:DC converters. The SPOT is a modular, uni-directional DC:DC solution ideal for solar applications. The BOSS is a modular, bi-directional unit for use with battery energy storage. The CUBE is a monolithic DC:DC converter which is available in both uni-directional and bi-directional modalities. Pictured above, is the Alencon SPOT.


A mild winter suits eyespot so the risk is potentially greater this year. Sow date is actually quite a small influence, so the proportion of late drilled crop only reduces the risk slightly. Base your need to treat on your previous experience of the disease, and on the risk assessment which is shown below. Wetter sites with a high preponderance of cereals in the rotation are at greater risk. Where the risk is high there is an additional rationale for using an SDHI at the T1 timing.
Calculate the pre-sowing risk score
2. Assess eyespot disease in spring
Assess eyespot incidence in the field at GS31-32, as the % of stems showing visible eyespot symptoms on plants collected at random.
You can see from this table that if you are already up at 20 points or more before you do the field assessment then it doesn’t change your risk if you find a lot or a little in the field, so you could plan treatments for these fields now and then look at the low or moderate risk fields again at T1.
3. Take action based on the final eyespot risk
Prioritise treatment to those crops that score highest.
Sign up to the FAS newsletter
Receive updates on news, events and publications from Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service


text:
Have you recently checked out Flo’s V8 Cafe over in Cars Land? Disney Parks Blog has shared some exciting new details on new menu items. Let’s take a look at some of the changes.
First off we have the BBQ Pork Ribs which includes a house made Coca-Cola bbq sauce with side of mash potatoes and cole slaw.
Next is the Roast Beef and Cheddar Sandwich. This includes caramelized onions with horseradish aïoli all between a garlic chive bun. You can even try the Turkey Dip which is placed in a potato ginder roll with turkey au jus and provolone cheese.
Looking for a refreshing salad? How about the Citrus Turkey Salad? This salad has a variety of mixed greens including cherry tomatoes and lettuce. There are even some yummy yellow peppers and cucumbers all topped with a citrus dressing. Also for any vegetarians out there, a returning item on the menu is the Veggie Tater Bake. This is a great vegetarian take of a shepherd’s pie.
This and much more are on the menu at Flo’s V8 Cafe. Why not try them all? What would you like to try?

domain: food


text:
With most of our day being spent at work, it is important to cultivate healthy coworker relationships. There are many benefits to having workplace friendships. Not only do strong relationships between coworkers make the workday more fun, but they also support professional development, growth, company culture, and so much more.
We recently asked our Braintree team members what benefits they gain from their workplace friendships. Here are a few top highlights.
Workplace Friendships Create an Avenue for Support and Success
“Work friends and the relationships built make me more successful at my job because I feel welcome, heard, and supported always. Those are key elements to success! I think workplace friendships benefit our workplace because it brings us all closer together and we care about one another. We are a team and all support each other individually as well as collectively. A strong foundation is what holds us all together so we can all be at our best and accomplish all we want to and more!” – Lindsey Atkinson
“Work friends help you be more successful by being there to cheer you on or to help when needed. They don’t leave you behind, where someone may be slacking or having struggles there’s always one that can step in to help guide you.” – Valerie Spencer
“The friendships I value the most at work are the ones that push me to be a better version of myself, which contributes to my overall success as a team member and person.” – Dina Quesnell
Workplace Friendships help Team Culture Thrive
“Friendships benefit the workplace by fostering a positive, transparent, and innovative culture. Culture to me is paramount. It is a clear indicator of the success of a company.” – Dina Quesnell
“When you have workplace friendships, you have an inviting atmosphere, not only to new employees but the guests as well. Workplace friendships help keep an air of camaraderie, respect, and loyalty that is apparent through all departments and to how guests are received and treated.” Kris Zerby
Bonds with Coworkers Strengthen Work Outcome
“My work friendships strengthen our bonds to the company and motivate us to make it even better. We are there to challenge each other, and support each other, which in turn, strengthens our culture. I believe work friendships are very important!” – Alika Hoff
“My friends at work help me to be better when I see the love and passion they put into their activities; they make me try harder and always do my best just like they do. By doing this we are a united and invincible team, and it is beautiful to go to work with them every day.” – Oliver Salvador
“My workplace friends are the best! they push me to always be friendly and customer focused. Workplace friendships help foster a better working environment which helps us work our best.” – Lauren Davis
Friendships Between Coworkers Make Work More Fun
“When you have work friends, they become family. I have always said when I leave home to go to work, I’m leaving home to go to my other home. I’ve been at the same Hampton for almost 14 years & it is all because of the strong friendships I have made. We are a stronger team. We trust each other, we can be honest, we can put in hard work and have each other’s back, then the best part is the fun we have. The pranks, the constant laughing, it’s amazing & I wouldn’t want it any other way.” – Teresa Rose

domain: sociology


Welch Allyn Model 71630: 3.5V Desk Charger With Handles (Formerly Wa-71610)
This compact, portable unit provides convenient drop in
recharging of desk/well charger instrument handles. Model 71630 comes with two NiCad handles. Colored LEDs indicate power to the unit and that handles are charging. Advanced circuitry for constant automatic safe ...
Welch Allyn 3.5V Coaxial Diagnostic Set With Throat & Nasal Illuminators &
This portable set features Welch Allyn's finest diagnostic
instruments. The Coaxial Ophthalmoscope (11720) uses a Halogen HPX lamp that provides 30% more light output for true tissue color and consistent, long lasting illumination. It has 28 lenses from 25 ...


A month and half into the unlock phase, Madhya Pradesh’s VVIPs are facing the full brunt of Covid. The state chief minister, three of his cabinet colleagues, eight MLAs and key office bearers of the BJP have tested positive for Covid in the last couple of weeks.
State Minister for cooperatives Arvind Bhadoria was the first minister to test positive on July 23. Two days later, on July 25, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that he, too, had tested positive for the virus. On July 28, BJP state general secretary (organisation) Suhas Bhagat and state water resources minister Tulsi Silawat, who was incidentally the health minister in the Kamal Nath government and at the time of the Covid breakout in the state, announced he was Covid positive. The next day, OBC welfare minister Ramkhilawan Patel was also found positive, as were BJP state president V.D. Sharma and BJP divisional general secretary (organisation) Ashutosh Tiwari.
Medical experts suggest that the high number of cases among VVIPs in the state is due to a combination of factors, including not following social distancing norms, interacting with large numbers of people without any barriers in closed air conditioned spaces and basically not practicing what they preach to the public. On July 21, CM Chouhan, Bhagat, Bhadoria and BJP president Sharma had gone to Lucknow by a chartered flight to attend the funeral of state governor Lalji Tandon.
The chief minister asked his cabinet colleagues, with whom he had interacted for quite some time on July 21 during a meeting, to get themselves tested. While some did, most didn’t. He also asked all officials who had met him in the last few days to get tested. On July 29, one of the additional secretaries in his CMO also tested positive.
There are 27 bye-elections due in Madhya Pradesh, which are likely to be held by the end of September, though a formal date is yet to be announced. Many of the newly-appointed ministers, 14 to be precise, would be candidates in these bye-elections and it is imperative for them to win their seats to hold on to their posts. Consequently, these leaders have begun campaigning in their respective constituencies, many of which are located in areas with a high number of Covid cases.
Norms for social distancing or safety measures like masks and gloves are being ignored while campaigning as showing familiarity through hugs and embraces is key to winning polls.
Covid-positive minister Silawat, who had been campaigning in Sanwer, Indore, had addressed nearly 15 public meetings in his constituency on July 23 and 24. Besides Silawat, other Indore-based BJP leaders, minister Usha Thakur and MLA Malini Gaud, have also been campaigning on Silawat’s behalf in Sanwer.
The districts where the most number of bye-polls are to be held are Gwalior and Morena. Gwalior, which has three seats up for grabs, has reported 2,100 Covid cases and is the third-most affected district in the state. Morena, with five seats, follows as the fourth-most affected district with 1,600 cases. These districts are seeing a large number of public meetings, but the local administration is not discouraging them. Former Morena MLA Raghuraj Kansana, who will be the BJP candidate at the bye-polls, has also tested positive.
“Politics is a people-oriented profession. The nature of interaction is such that physical proximity is unavoidable. With more people being carriers of the virus than ever before, and politicians exposing themselves to people owing to elections, cases are bound to increase,” says Deepak Tiwari, senior journalist and former vice-chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National Journalism and Communication University in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.


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OKRAA heads up the second release on Shadow Puppet, with a remix from Nicolás Duque.
02 Helpless Country
04 Everything is Waves
05 Phase (Nicoles Duque’s Down to Earth Mix)
Title: Everything is Waves EP (incl. Nicolás Duque Remix)
Label: Shadow Puppet
Release: 29th October 2021
Cat No: SHWP002
Format: Vinyl / Digital
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domain: artistic


Sea turtles are swimming safer in the world’s oceans. According to a 2022 Arizona State University study presented by marine conservation scientist Jesse Senko, poaching has become less threatening to endangered species in recent years.
Poachers have long been hunting and harming the global population of the reptiles: During the 30-year time span between 1990 and 2020, over 1 million sea turtles were illegally harvested, per the study. Though the number is alarming, researchers have now concluded that the illegal catch of sea turtles has decreased in the past decade by almost 30% — a win for the animals and their ecosystems.
“Contrary to popular belief, most sea-turtle populations worldwide are doing quite well,” Senko told Nature. “The number of turtles being exploited is a shocker, but the ocean is big, and there are a lot of turtles out there.” An estimated 6.5 million sea turtles continue to roam the sea, though the exact number is difficult to definitively determine.
Sea turtles have an impressive lifespan, though no two are exactly alike. A loggerhead can live up to 80 years or more, while Kemp’s ridleys — the smallest sea turtle in the world — have a lifespan around 30 years. A green turtle is the largest hard-shelled turtle, whereas a leatherback is the biggest on the planet.
There are several hotspots throughout the world that are popular for breeding and hatching. Many of these places are close to the warmth of the equator, like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Gili Islands in Indonesia. Additionally, there are islands in the Philippines and Malaysia that are dedicated to maintaining and protecting sea turtles: Selingan, Little Bakkungan, and Pulau Gulisaan, which are only able to be explored with a guide in order to protect the turtles and guests.
The recent study indicates that conservation efforts to protect turtles are largely working, with a particularly “notable” drop in the poaching of green turtles, the most frequently exploited species.
“The silver lining is that, despite the seemingly large illegal take, exploitation is not having a negative impact on sea-turtle populations on a global scale. This is really good news,” Senko said.
They do remain endangered, but efforts to preserve the population are on track to increase and protect the future of the ocean swimmers.


A Michigan mother is suing the Archdiocese of Detroit and a priest after he suggested during her son's funeral that the teenager may not get into heaven because he took his own life.
Linda Hullibarger filed the suit Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court, naming the archdiocese, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, and the Rev. Don LaCuesta as defendants.
Hullibarger and her husband, of Monroe County, met with the priest before the Dec. 8, 2018, funeral, to make "very clear" that they wanted him "to deliver a positive, uplifting, and loving message" about their 18-year-old son, according to the lawsuit. Maison Hullibarger was a bright student, good athlete, and loving brother to five siblings.
“They expressly stated they wanted the service to be a celebration of how their son lived," the lawsuit, filed by Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, LLC, states.
Instead of a positive homily, the priest delivered a lecture on suicide and suggested Maison may not get into heaven because he took his own life, according to the suit.
"Many in attendance, including very close friends of their son, immediately became upset and burst out crying," the lawsuit states. "Despite the Hullibargers and others being visibly upset and vocally distraught, Father LaCuesta continued to hammer out his message on suicide. Father LaCuesta repeatedly discussed suicide and how it is condemned by the Church, how it is a secular crime, and how it is a sin against God with dire consequences."
Linda Hullibarger said she was shocked.
“We had no idea, no indication that was going to happen,” she said in a news release provided by Charles E. Boyk Law. “No parent, no sibling, no family member, should ever, ever have to sit through what we sat through. ... When you’re already beyond devastation, why would you make it even worse? No words can describe that [be]cause you don't think you could feel any worse."
Hullibarger's attorney, Andrea Young, said the lecture caused the family "irreparable harm and pain."
"At a time of tragedy, the Hullibarger family turned to their church for peace and comfort but instead Father LaCuesta's actions caused them irreparable harm and pain," Young says in a news release.
Shortly after the funeral, the Archdiocese of Detroit barred LaCuesta from preaching at funerals but took no further action against the priest.
Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.


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Designed for the discerning commuter, that person who’s looking for some performance in their day-to-day travels, the newly designed 2013 Dew DL features a speedy Kona Project Two Aluminum fork and new smooth-shifting, easy-to-maintain 1×9 Shimano drivetrain. This year we’ve also added fenders with long tails to keep your feet dry, front porteur-style aluminum rack, and wide platform pedals that provide good tread without cutting your shins.
- New Kona 6061 Aluminum Butted Ergo frame
- Shimano 1×9 drivetrain
- Tektro Novela disc brakes
- Kona HandPlant handlebar for a casual upright riding position
- Color-matched fenders

domain: design


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BENICIA — It started out as a way for Krizy Osada to deal with her sometimes difficult pregnancies.
To get her mind off the pain, the mother of three would bake sweets, bringing fresh cookies to her nurses during her occasional trips to the hospital.
Osada had no idea this would be the beginning of a business.
“People just started to rave about my cookies,” said Osada, a mother of three and longtime Benicia resident.
Today, Osada not only has developed Whipt Baked Goods, but has become one of the first people in Solano County to take advantage of California”s new cottage food operation law.
“(The law) allowed for certain foods to be prepared in-home and be sold at retail and wholesale to the public,” said Terry Schmidtbauer, a county environmental health manager whose office oversees the registration and permitting process for cottage food industries.
Cottage food operators can make food in their own kitchens, but must stick to a list of “non-hazardous” foods to avoid food-borne illnesses. They also must label their products as home-made.
“There”s definitely a need out there for this sort of law to legitimize things that were happening anyway,” Schmidtbauer said.
The law describes two types of operations. Class A allows people to create their food at home and sell them directly to consumers. Class B gives entrepreneurs the option of indirect sales, or selling their goods to restaurants and stores for resale.
In Solano County, applicants pay $96 a year for Class A and $316 for Class B permits.
The law also limits how much revenue can be made from cottage food operations to $35,000 this year. It will be capped at $50,000 in 2015. Additionally, operators can”t smoke in the kitchen or have pets or children when the kitchen is being used to make goods for sale. They also must seek permission from other counties when selling their products outside Solano.
Since January, 16 people have registered their cottage food operations with Solano County, allowing them to directly sell foods such as baked goods, nuts, spice mixes, jams and other goods listed in state law.
But Osada has been the only person so far to go through the Class B permitting process to sell her chocolate chip and walnut cookies as well as her signature sugar cookies.
“It was a learning process for everybody,” Osada said, describing her back-and-forth between Benicia and the county about what she would need as jurisdiction was established.
The agencies eventually decided Osada would first need to apply to the county for her cottage food operation permit. Then she needed to obtain a Benicia home-based business license. Two weeks ago, the county inspected Osada”s kitchen and gave her Solano”s first cottage food operation permit.
Now Osada must complete a California Department of Health training — all while juggling the duties of a wife and mother.
“I”m everything … janitor, billing, business services, IT — everything,” Osada said.
Despite pouring in a lot of her energy into the business, Osada is excited and glad to have the chance to create.
“I just enjoy the process of producing, so it doesn”t matter what it is,” Osada said.
Osada can be reached at (707) 742-3215 or whiptbakedgoods.com. For information on cottage food operations, call the county at (707) 784-6765.
Contact Lanz Christian Bañes at (707) 553-6833 or firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow him on Twitter @LanzTimesH.
At a glance
Cottage Food Operation
* Operators can make food at home and sell direct to consumers (Class A) or indirectly through restaurants or stores (Class B)
* Products limited to “non-hazardous” foods: candy, chocolate, dried fruit, dried pasta, fruit pies, honey, granola, herb and spice blends, vinegar, mustard, roasted coffee, churros, cookies, etc.
* Goods with cream, custard or meat fillings prohibited
* Solano County fee, $96 for Class A and $316 for Class B
* Annual kitchen health inspection
* Details: (707) 784-6765


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Now that I am busy sewing bucket bags, I see sofas and pillows differently. I point out fabrics that I like and textiles that I think will make beautiful bags.
I just love the dusty blue, jewel-tone green, and neutral grey of this tote. The pocket is stunning with simple floral petals that look like dancing mushroom, except in soft blue-grey.
It’s so pretty in all my favorite colors! I’m sure it was nice as a sofa but don’t you think it was always meant to be a bag.
This bag is no longer available for purchase. Please check our other bags.


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Afternoon folks! Hope you are all having a lovely weekend! 🤞🙏😁 Welcome back to my weekly Blog Recap with links to all the blogs I posted during the previous week. Especially designed for those of you who have busy lives outside of the WordPress blogosphere.
On Monday; Wednesday; Friday & Saturday morning I posted motivational running quotes for ye’re inspiration. Hope it helped. 🤞🤞 Here’s the links to all of them:
Also on Monday I published my Blog Goals for the Week Ahead where I set out my blog schedule and creative goals for the coming week. The link to it is here: https://kenhume31.wordpress.com/2022/11/14/blog-goals-for-the-week-ahead-10/?preview=true
On Tuesday I published the 1st of my poems for the week titled Dreadlocked Invocation composed in response to Sadje’s latest #WhatDoYouSee #WDYS Poetry Image Prompt. This was followed later that day by another piece called “Taste The Fear.” It was inspired by something Grace, my oldest daughter asked me the previous week. The links to both of them are below:
Then on Wednesday I posted my 3rd poem of the week titled: WAITING IN THE WINGS written in response to d’Verse’s most recent Quadrille Prompt. You’ll find the link to it here:
On Thursday we had our latest edition of my new Throwback Thursday Poetry Readings which this week featured a recitation of an old poem titled SILVER SCREEN OF MEMORY. This was followed up later in the day by a new poem called: “Cold Blanket; Heavy Fog.” You’ll find the links to them below:
On Friday & Saturday I published 2 more poems. The 1st of them, written in response d’Verse’s latest Poetics Prompt was titled: No-Body Knows! And the 2nd one was inspired by a picture prompt from Reena’s Xploration Challenge called KEY TO FREEDOM which I quite enjoyed writing. The links to both of them are here:
That’s all the round up for this week folks! Thanks so much for stopping by and joining me on this catch up! 🙏😁😊 Until next Sunday, mind yourselves; stay creative and take care! 🤞🙏


text: Marine bacteria encounter a myriad of abiotic factors that can influence survivability and adaptation. Specifically, bacterial symbionts that are environmentally transmitted have dual roles that select for both phenotypic and genetic adaptations that influence survival in the planktonic as well as the symbiotic state. Host animals may shift their native range in response to changing local environmental conditions like temperature, while free-living symbionts need the ability to either migrate with their native hosts or infect novel hosts that are found in their geographical range. The sepiolid squid-Vibrio symbiosis has been a tractable model to examine abiotic factors that influence environmental trade-offs that Vibrio bacteria are subject to while outside the squid. We used an experimental evolution approach to investigate whether adaptation to specific environmental conditions (e.g. temperature) increased the ability of symbiotic bacteria to accommodate new hosts from different geographic areas and temperature regimes. Using physiological measures associated with bacterial ability to initiate and maintain symbiosis (bioluminescence, colonization, growth, biofilm formation), we compared ancestral to evolved strains from a number of Indo-west Pacific populations to determine whether temperature increases the ability of V. fischeri to expand their host range. Furthermore, infection assays indicate that the ability to colonize a novel host by strains from a different geographic origin and host squid is influenced by the temperature regime at which they were evolved, indicating that environmental factors shape symbiont colonization and fitness. Results from this study will provide a better understanding of whether adaptation to abiotic fluctuations affects holobiome fitness, and will give insight to the degree at which climate change influences beneficial associations.

domain: geography


text:
Having your vision checked should occur on a regular basis, but many people neglect this part of their health care until they experience vision problems of one kind or another. There are many reasons why people neglect to visit an optometrist regularly. The cost, as well as the time involved, is high on many people’s list, but worrying about having to wear glasses can also keep people from making and keeping appointments. To help make things easier on you, here are some tips that can help you prepare yourself before visiting an optometrist.
This first aspect of preparing for your visit begins when you make your appointment. During your phone call, ask if the optometrist needs to dilate your eyes or use other kinds of drops during your exam. If so, ask if these are likely to affect your vision and make driving more difficult than normal. When you find that the drops used might cause problems with glare from the sun or affect your ability to focus, you might need to have a friend go with you to drive you home after the optometrist finishes your examination. This person can also help you remember to ask questions that you may forget during the examination.
There are several things you should bring with you when you are visiting an optometrist. You should write a list of any issues you may have had recently with your eyes, as well as your family’s vision health. Being honest about any fears or nervousness about activities because of visual difficulties you are experiencing can help get you back on track with these. Medication that you take on a regular basis can also impact your visual health and you should discuss these with your optometrist. There may be a spot where these can be listed on your patient intake sheet, as well. Don’t forget to list any non-prescription medications you also take.
Your visit to an optometrist may seem full of many different aspects, and that is because several exams take place. Many dread the intraocular pressure test, as this requires you to remain very still while the optometrist blows a puff of air at each one of your eyes. This is probably the least comfortable test given, but it is crucial to detect the development of glaucoma before it becomes unmanageable.
Other tests given include the visual acuity test during which you read the letters on the chart from a specified distance. This gives your optometrist a general idea of where to begin with the other exams that measure vision. These are called the retinoscopy test and the refraction examination. These two give information about your eyes and their strengths and shape. An additional examination to check on your peripheral vision also plays a role in detecting problems with your eyes and vision. To learn more about the various tests performed during an eye examination, research the office website before you go. An office like Stoney Creek Eye Care will have a list of services and what each of those mean. Taking a quick peek beforehand will go a long way to making you feel more comfortable about what will happen.
However, many visits do not result in the detection of serious problems but instead, discover vision changes that are expected to occur as we age. These often result in prescription lenses. When your new lenses are ready, you need to revisit the optometrist to ensure they fit your face correctly. This visit does not take as long as the initial one, nor does it require the use of drops. Many times, fitting your glasses takes place with an assistant instead of the optometrist.
If the optometrist discovers a serious condition, ask for care sheets and other literature about the condition. Having these can help you find out more after you go home and can do some research online. Stick with sites that carry high authority and are written by licensed optometrists and other vision care specialists. Make sure to ask what you can avoid, as well as what you can do, to slow down the progress of any diseases affecting your eyes. If you want to assure yourself that the diagnosis is correct, you can ask for a referral to gain a second opinion.
Optometrists also help patients cope with damage to their eyes. Injuries from playing sports, using machinery or tools, or other accidents can cause serious injuries that require immediate medical attention. An optometrist can help resolve these issues and protect your vision from becoming damaged permanently. When this is not possible, these professionals can help you successfully cope with vision loss.
Hopefully, the reason you are visiting an optometrist is that you made an appointment. Taking care of your vision is something that requires your input and partnership with a qualified optometrist and his or her staff.

domain: health


text:
Today was the day, in eight hours we got the entire orchard fence torn out, leveled off and reinstalled! Now it did take three of us to do it but Mr Professional spent the first three hours spraying thistles while the Future NASCAR Driver and myself did actual manual labor and tore out the fence.
Mr Future NASCAR Driver and myself first had to clean up all of the flood debris. My contribution was driving the tractor as we used it as a wheelbarrow. We did have to skid out a couple of logs with the tractor and we had to pull the bridge from the barn lot away from the fence! It managed to travel about 100 yards through three fence creek crossings before catching on the fourth fence line. It is still intact, I am going to create concrete footings for it and just drop it back in place in the barn lot! Once we had all the fence down and all the debris on the burn pile I used the tractor to tear up the ground and create a nice even slope. There were a couple of high spots and one spot where we lowered the ground level almost 12”. I used all that dirt to fill in the very large hole in the ground from the flooding. I was able to build back two feet of dirt line. When I combined the new dirt with moving the fence forward about 10” the new fence went right in.
Future NASCAR Driver and myself hand dug three railroad tie holes and Mr Professional came over and did the fourth. We created two H braces on the left of the new breakaway section and one to the right. The center 16’ section is suspended by a 1/4” cable between the H braces, it is clipped at the bottom with a flimsy clip that will only hold about 300# of material. I then took another 16’ panel and laid it under the breakaway and had to bend a 10” section upward at 90 degrees to cover the U shaped bottom. That section was clipped with heavy duty clips to the breakaway section then about 1500# of rocks piled onto the panel laying on the ground. When the water hits the upright side it will create a dam and the water will push the bottom out and wash away the rocks allowing the panel to lift up and allow the water and materials to pass through the fence with minimal to no damage to the fence. This is my hope and wish and dream.
As we were cleaning up and trying to get three rigs back out to the machine shed I asked the Future NASCAR Driver to move the pickup. He doesn’t drive. So I gave him the low down on the tractor. He was not super comfortable with it but I figured he could get the 4’ wide tractor over the 10’ culvert. Mr Professional had him drive the side by side as there is only a gas peddle and a brake pedal and he still had to holler at him to only use one foot and touch one pedal at a time.
We started the burn pile on our way out of the field and moved the bridge to behind the barn.
We did attempt to put the sickle mower on the tractor but I had bent the three point hitch adjustable bar earlier last week or the week before and did not have a replacement on hand. We managed to get to D and B store 2 minutes before they closed. I got the part and will be mowing hay first thing in the morning. We are going to work on the far barn lot fence. Once it is done we will be able to sort the cows in Alcatraz and let the bull out with the female cows, let the ram out with the sheep after we sort off the cull ewes and female lambs and let the main sheep herd down with the cows. I won’t be much help this weekend as I will be covering night shifts at work. I will try and help out when I can in between sleeping.


Rock for Wishes is the area’s greatest gathering of musical talent. We started in 2006 with the goal of raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin. Make your way down to Tanner’s Grill & Bar in Kimberly, WI. The doors open at 3:00pm and Spitfire Rodeo takes the stage at 10:10. Tickets are $10.00 and can be purchased at Tanners. As always, this is an all ages event. 50/50 raffles, silent auction items, and much more! So be sure to come on down and help make wishes come true!