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Wedding Photography from Quendon Hall
Wedding Photographer in Cambridge
In our last blog post we started looking at some of wedding photography from Quendon Hall, as we looked at the start of Holly and George’s wonderful wedding day. It start in Zoo Hairdressers in Bishop’s Stortford before we headed to Quendon Hall, close to Saffron Walden, and on the way to Cambridge. From there we saw Holly and George’s ‘Ido’s’ after Holly and her bridesmaids made the trip through the stunning interiors of Parklands Quendon Hall to the a beautiful ceremony.
It;s pointless in many ways to pick out what my favourite part of a wedding day is, as I enjoy it all for different reasons and challenges. But it is always wonderful to spend some time with the Bride and Groom once the rings have been given and received and everyone can relax, until the speeches that is!
But now it’s time to take a bit of time, so I headed off with Holly and George around the stunning ground of Quendon Hall. We headed to the gardens, with the Deer looking on, and across to the Pond, over the lawn and down the tree lined path.
It was however still March, and slightly on the cool side, so it was to good to get back into the warm. Holly and George got to share a drink and spend time with family and friends. We also went to explore Quendon Hall and look at the amazing decorations for the Wedding Breakfast, which would soon be enjoyed, followed by speeches and dancing the night away…
John Turner is a Cambridge Wedding Photographer, covering Weddings in and around Cambridge, as well as Throughout the UK. For our Prices click here. It would be great to hear a Little More about what you have planned for your Big Day, so send us a Message!


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CFA Arts Administration Intern Chloe Jones ’15 talks to writer, director, and performer Thaddeus Phillips of Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental about the Connecticut premiere of his solo theater work “17 Border Crossings,” taking place this Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 8pm in the CFA Theater.
What was the initial inspiration for “17 Border Crossings”?
Most of the shows I’ve made with Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental involved traveling somewhere to make the show. The travel is done as research for the performance. For example, we did a road trip from Denver to L.A., and we dropped down into New Mexico where we tried to find all the old parts or Route 66, and we filmed stuff and took notes and developed this piece called Flamingo/Winnebago based off that trip. We’ve done that in Bosnia, Cuba, the Amazon. But what would happen is I would come back and tell people stories of things that happened that weren’t directly related to the project we were doing, and I realized I wanted to do something with all this “outtake” material that was simply about travel. It didn’t have a storyline or a plot. It was just about traveling, and then I realized all of the stories that I was remembering or finding were about border crossings.
Can you talk a little about the work itself?
There are seventeen different scenes or sequences. I had done solo work before but very involved, complicated stuff with video or crazy sets, and [for 17 Border Crossings] I wanted to try doing the classic Spalding Gray monologue at a desk with a microphone and a glass of water. Because I’ve used video in other work recently, I’ve been trying to do works that are much more cinematic in their theatricality but with no video—the simplest scenes possible: the movement of a chair or lights or sound. The idea is to create a very modern/contemporary style of theater but without any media that actively engages the audience’s imagination, individualizing the experience more. If you use a bunch of media, everyone’s seeing the same thing, but if you simply suggest something and fill it in with text and sound, then the way you’re seeing it is a little bit different than the way the person next to you is seeing it because it’s not fully there yet.
Other than the overarching theme of border crossing, what elements of traveling does the work address?
There’s a few: one is that modes of transportation are weird, like a plane is a very weird thing if you really think about it, so there’s a little sequence about being in a plane that tries to expose all that—what you’re not supposed to think about. Then there’s always being taken to a little square room by immigration authorities. Technically when you land, before you leave Customs, you’re not anywhere. [It’s] this weird space where you go through the passport control. You’re in an architectural space that’s been defined as nowhere in the world. Then the whole absurdity of borders themselves, like the border between Israel and Jordan was made up by Winston Churchill, and he made jokes about it, saying “I just invented a country!”
What do you see as the significance of performing this work in such a globalized world, where travel is so much more accessible than it once was and so many more people are traveling?
When you start talking about these little stories or human stories, what you have is a huge global theme but [told] through specific details about a very specific person. What the show tries to do is make very human what it is to cross a border, from being on a plane and being completely unconscious of what’s going on underneath you to people trying to get across for a better life.
Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental: 17 Border Crossings
Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 8pm
$19 general public; $17 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $6 Wesleyan students

domain: artistic


Francis and Trump: Opposites Competing for the American Soul
John ThatamanilABC Religion and Ethics 28 Sep 2015
Donald Trump and Pope Francis are incarnations of the kind of power to which they appeal. To choose between them is to make a basic human decision about the shape of a worthy life. Credit: Aristide Economopoulos / Sean Rayford / Getty Images
The two most popular figures in American life in recent weeks are polar opposites: Pope Francis and Donald Trump.
Trump is a favourite candidate of white nationalists and xenophobes. The Pope, by contrast, speaks tirelessly on behalf of the poor, the marginalized, immigrants and the planet - "our common home."
The Pope points away from himself and to the needs of others. Trump constantly points to himself. Trump has no platform save Trump. His core message is, "I am great. I will make the nation over in my own image, and so it too will be great again."
Read more at


What the law says about PPE responsibilityBMJ 2020; 369 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1718 (Published 30 April 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;369:m1718
Who is legally responsible for providing personal protective equipment?
James Down, a partner at the law firm Hempsons, explains that under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) employers have a duty to ensure the health, safety, and welfare at work of all their employees “so far as reasonably practicable.”
The duties enshrined in the HSWA reflect the longstanding obligation under common law on employers to take reasonable care to ensure a safe system of work and safe equipment, he says. This includes a duty to provide and maintain equipment, systems of work, and a working environment that are safe and without risks to health.
In addition to the requirements in the HSWA, other health and safety regulations expand on employers’ specific duties, including the 1992 Personal Protective Equipment at Work regulations (the PPE Regs).1 These state that employers provide staff with suitable personal protective equipment unless risks to their health and safety have been adequately controlled by other means.
So in the NHS, for staff employed on national contracts, the legal responsibility for the supply of PPE sits with the NHS trust or foundation trust that employs them. “Under section 33 of the HSWA, breach of the PPE Regs may amount to a criminal act,” Down says.
What are the legal requirements for PPE?
Down explains that, according to the EU PPE directive that the PPE Regs are supposed to implement into UK law, PPE should be relied on only where the risks posed by work cannot be avoided by other means. But, he says, in the healthcare context the reality is that this “last resort” is often going to be the first line of defence.
The relevant regulations state that, to be suitable, the PPE must be appropriate for the relevant risks and the conditions under which it is used; take account of the user’s health, ergonomic requirements, and workstation; fit the user; and be effective in dealing with the risks without increasing the overall risk.
Who is responsible for checking that NHS staff have enough PPE?
For most workplaces in England and Wales, including hospitals, the regulator for health and safety law is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). This includes having responsibility for enforcing statutory duties under the HSWA and associated regulations, such as those relating to PPE.
“HSE inspectors have the power to take enforcement action if breaches of the law are found,” Down says. Hospitals that breach PPE regulations could be served either an improvement notice or a prohibition notice. “HSE inspectors . . . can also bring criminal prosecutions for breaches of health and safety legislation, including for a failure to comply with improvement or prohibition notices,” he adds.
Why is no enforcement being carried out?
Down points out that HSE inspectors typically physically visit workplaces to check compliance with the law, and there is little chance that such visits would take place in the current circumstances.
“It is unlikely that HSE inspectors will be conducting inspections to ensure compliance with the statutory duties to provide PPE to workers,” he says. “Inspectors would themselves also need to be provided with PPE in order to be able to safely observe how medical care was being provided.”
He also points out that, beyond practical issues, other considerations may mean such visits are not desirable at the moment, as it would mean taking staff away from patient care. “It is unclear whether the public would be supportive of the HSE taking enforcement action against hospitals,” he adds.
“Furthermore, a HSE inspector is very unlikely to serve a prohibition notice, because it would prevent the healthcare provider from providing medical care. Therefore, while the HSE has the statutory powers to act where employers fail to provide suitable PPE to workers providing medical care, there are practical and political obstacles to the use of HSE’s powers of enforcement at the present time.”
Can NHS staff take their own action against trusts?
Adrian Mansbridge, a legal director at the law firm Addleshaw Goddard, says that employers could also face civil claims from employees. “Where employers breach their duty to employees or to the public at large under health and safety law, this may open them up not only to prosecution by regulators but also potentially to civil claims by those who suffer injury as a result, where negligence can be proven and where this can be demonstrated to have given rise to injury on the basis of medical evidence,” he says.
With PPE shortages, how can the NHS balance the needs of patients and the safety of staff?
NHS chief executives are the accountable officers of every trust, and so technically they are responsible for their employees’ PPE. But John Coutts, policy adviser for governance at NHS Providers, points out the boards of directors of NHS trusts are facing duties that are pulling in potentially different directions.
“They have both a duty of care to employees and a duty of care to patients under their organisation’s care, to whom they must provide appropriate treatment for the patient’s condition, which might mean asking staff to do things that in other circumstances they would avoid,” he says. “The directors’ legal duty of care to the patient is found in various NHS legislation, and also derives from common law.”
Coutts says that there is a “potential tension” between a trust’s duty to its staff and that to its patients. “The job for directors is to think long and hard about what the balance of these two duties is: to manage and mitigate risks accordingly,” he says.
“The well documented issues on PPE bring this into sharp relief. NHS trust leaders are currently thinking and working very hard on risk management processes right now, to ensure staff and patients are safe.”
What happens if an employer can’t get enough PPE?
An employer may be unable to obtain PPE despite reasonable effort. Could the employer use what is termed a “force majeure” argument in its defence? “A force majeure clause in effect suspends obligations under the contract and may entitle a party to terminate the contract if the force majeure event is prolonged,” explains Bill Gilliam, a partner at Addleshaw Goddard’s dispute resolution practice who specialises in healthcare. Whether a force majeure argument applies to a particular contract would depend on the particular clause in the relevant contract and the actual effect of covid-19 on the performance of the contract, Gilliam says. Such clauses can’t be implied unless they are specified in the contract, but they can apply to every contract between parties for a supply of goods or services where the contract has a specific force majeure clause.
Competing interests: None declared.
Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.


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About Trees KenTal
Trees KenTal promotes planting uniform, drought-tolerant shade trees to enhance the beauty and sustainability of a green canopy in the Kensington and Talmadge neighborhoods of San Diego, and surrounding areas.
To promote awareness on the expansive value of shade trees and the preservation of designated heritage trees.
To establish resources for replacing vulnerable trees, especially palms affected by the South American Palm Weevil.
To vet replacement tree programs.
To develop a five-year neighborhood tree plan to identify a single or limited number of resident-preferred canopy trees and establish a strategy for implementation

domain: biology


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Town Ground Rugby Stadium will come alive today as 13 rugby teams battle it out for the Solomon South Pacific Oil 7’s tournament top prizes.
The winner will walk away with SBD$50,000 while the runner up will walk with SBD$20,000.
The tournament is already the main topic of discussion among rugby teams and supporters following the arrival of Fijian, PNG, Bougainvillean and Vanuatu players.
They are now teaming up with local teams the Islanders, Malaita Subi and other teams ahead for the tournament.
The arrival of the oversea players particularly Fiji has brought the mode of Rugby into higher note which fans and supporters would not want to miss it out.
Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation (SIRUF), Chief Executive Officer, Gerald Oiaka said he can’t wait to see the tournament kick off.
He said the Federation is excited and looking forward to witness a good tournament filled with actions.
He said the local organizing committee in preparation for the kick off time held a technical meeting to ensure the tournament run smoothly.
“We are excited and just waiting for the kick of time.
“The clubs are also excited and can’t wait to battle against each other,’’ he said.
Oiaka explains that the competition willbe played according to the current World Rugby Laws of the Game and the World Rugby Regulation of the Game, subject to additional specifications contained in the Terms of Participation and subsequence communication of SIRUF, Oceania Rugby and World Rugby.
The 13 teams were drawn into four pools, Pool A, Pool B, Pool C and Pool D.
According to the tournament format, winner of eachpool will qualify for the cup quarter final.
“Winners in this quarter finals will then qualifier for the cup semi-final.
“Loser of the quarter final matches will then play off for the plate.
“The 2nd and 3rd runner up in each pool will play off for the Bowl.
“Winner of the play off will qualify for the Bowl semifinals.
The tournament will have three categories, Cup, Plate and Bowl. There will be only two top prizes.
Finalists will be battling for Cup which is $50,000 first prize and $20,000 second prize.
Plate’s prizes are $10,000 and $6,000 while Bowl Prizes are $5000 and $3000.
Oiaka said, the match for today will kick off at 1pm today and should be completed tomorrow with finals.
The first action of the tournament will be between Diesel and Western Tonado starting at 1pm.
Meanwhile the entrance fee is $10.
2. Western Tornado
3. Malaita Subi
3. Islanders Brothers
1. Henderson Hammerheads
4. Bougainville Black Orchids
1. Tia Warriors
2. Vanuatu Barbarians
3. Fulon Hunters
By CROFTON UTUKANA

domain: news


According to Reporting Texas:
Mary Caldwell has spiky pink hair, tattooed arms and works in customer service for a software company. She’s also the leader of a Wicca meet-up that gathers every other Monday at Monkey Nest Coffee on Burnet Road.
On a recent Monday evening, she led the group in a discussion of numerology – the belief that numbers have mystical meanings – as well as rituals and personal experiences with spirits. Recently, some members of the group had visited a local cemetery to commune with spirits.
“Some of the people in the group just see them, some just hear them and some of them just smell them,” said Caldwell, 44. “It was great fun.”


Salvation Army offers homelessness expertise as a partner in a ‘ground-breaking’ new rough sleeping service for Norwich
published on 23 Jul 2018
Salvation Army representatives attended the launch of an innovative new outreach service to address rough sleeping in Norwich today (20 July).
The church and charity is one of seven organisations working together as part of the ‘Pathways’ initiative. The service aims to offer a creative, effective and collaborative response to the current homelessness situation in the city. The other six organisations in the consortium are St Martins, Shelter, YMCA Norfolk, City Reach, The Feed and Future Projects.
Nicola Darkins, Service Centre Manager of The Salvation Army’s Pottergate ARC, a drop-in centre for people in need in the city centre, said: “Tackling poverty and homelessness in Norwich is a priority for The Salvation Army. The launch of Pathways today demonstrates our commitment to working with other organisations and the council to ensure vulnerable people have access to the services they need.”
Commissioned by Norwich City Council in March, Pathways offers a new partnership approach to addressing rough sleeping and supporting people with complex needs. The project will ensure that partners work together to deliver a joined-up service. During the past four months, the Pathways team has been recruited and has started to offer services on the streets as well as support and advice from ‘hubs’ at various accessible locations around the city. The Salvation Army’s Pottergate ARC is a Pathways hub.
Councillor Kevin Maguire, Norwich City Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for rough sleeping, said: “Today marks the beginning of a ground-breaking approach to homelessness and rough sleeping, and I am pleased to see the Pathways team come together to tackle these issues.
“As part of Norwich City Council’s strategy to reduce and, wherever possible, prevent homelessness, we have commissioned these specialist charities to collaborate to provide intensive, tailored support for those most in need.
“I would like to thank everyone involved for getting this project up and running, and wish the team the very best as they embark on this collaborative work.”
In Norwich, The Salvation Army provides immediate support for homeless people. Pottergate ARC is a safe and welcoming drop-in centre that facilitates engagement with specialist support and offers refreshments, access to washing facilities and a compassionate advocacy service.
Recognising that some people may not feel able to come into the ARC, The Salvation Army brings support to them at the Haymarket. Salvation Army volunteers serve food, drink and other essential supplies to rough sleepers in Norwich every evening. Both services aim to build positive relationships and signpost people to appropriate services on their journey towards independent living.
Nicola continued: “We support individuals at the start of their journey to independent living. Many people who are experiencing homelessness feel isolated. We want them to know there are people who care and want to help.
“It is always a privilege to hear from individuals who we have referred on to services such as St Martins Housing and are now in their own accommodation, leading independent lives.”


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Having placed more than 135 lawyers in the Middle East, predominantly in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Riyadh, Hydrogen’s Middle East Legal team is best placed to help NQ or junior lawyers considering relocating to the region find the right position.
If you are due to qualify in the UK over the next year, there is no need to requalify to be able to practice in the Middle East, and now is the time to take advantage of the opportunities we have for you there. We had more newly qualified opportunities in 2019 than the previous two years combined, and we expect to see more of the same demand at that level in the coming years.
2019 market review
Although some firms have prioritised candidates with previous experience in the Middle East, or with Arabic language ability we still had numerous roles for NQ lawyers in corporate, banking, TMT, FS regulatory, dispute resolution and construction this year.
Many of the Magic Circle, Silver Circle and US firms continued to grow their associate ranks over the course of 2019 and we also experienced an increase in demand for projects and energy lawyers and corporate lawyers at the mid to senior level in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
2020 market forecast
The Middle East has a number of large scale projects on the horizon, including Expo 2020 in Dubai and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and these are driving significant investment in the region, alongside some strong M&A activity. The knock-on effect of this will be increased demand for lawyers in a number of specialisms.
In TMT for example, innovation and consumer demand means the space is constantly evolving and therefore so do regulations, licensing and data protection laws, as well as associated areas such as IP infringements. Dubai is also positioning itself as a global leader in the fintech industries. We already have roles for star corporate and TMT NQs, currently at US and Silver Circle firms and we expect this to continue as new tech drives the sector forward next year.
If you would like more information on any of the opportunities we have across a number of locations in the Middle East, or want some advice on relocating to the region, contact me at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Qualifying as a lawyer might seem like the end you have been working to. But it is only the beginning! Enter your details to receive NQ updates direct to your inbox:
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domain: geography


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Peach Blossoms Celebrates 30th Anniversary With Homecooked Specials
Promotion: June 1 - 30, 2017 (Expired)
Cooked with love.
It’s Peach Blossoms’ 30th anniversary and what better way to celebrate it than by letting us enjoy delicious, home-cooked meals prepared by the culinary team. They shine the spotlight on comfort food from different Chinese cuisines—from your favourite deep-fried live prawns in traditional ‘Hakka’ style to steamed pork belly buns and the braised pig trotter in sweet and sour vinegar.
15 Men's Watches To Gift This Christmas
December 12, 2017 | BY Hong Kong Tatler
Gursehaj Dhillon's Minion-Themed Birthday
December 4, 2017 | BY Phoebe Taylor
Rebecca Eu On Finding Inner Beauty
November 30, 2017 | BY Charmaine Lee
Which Airline Has The Best First Class Flying Experience?
November 28, 2017 | BY Kevin Cureau

domain: food


PLEASE READ THE FULL DESCRIPTION ON THE ATTACHED WORD FILE.
we work on job sites where we have engines. each engines has capital parts that are installed in the engine and every maintenance we need to remove these parts and replace them with parts from our site inventory. The parts that gets out of the engine goes to the repair facility to be repaired. Once it is repaired it goes back to site inventory to be planned for use on the next engine maintenance and so on.
we usually keep extra spares to make sure we have an effective circulation plan for the parts between in engine, in repairs and in inventory. and we have many sites.
We have part types and each type has a specific quantity depending on engine frame.
attached is an example of Site X that has 2 engines (Engine A & Engine B). Each engine has the following parts type in it: F, L, T, N1, N2, S1, S2. without having the all of these parts in the engine the engine will not run.
in this example the engine frame is 900, 1 set of each type contains a certain quantity as follows:
F = 10
L = 10
T = 10
N1 = 20
N2 = 20
S1 = 30
S2 = 30
For this site we have 3 sets (SE1, SE2, SE3) of each part type to be circulated between the engines, repairs and the inventory.
for each engine maintenance we have a da....... PLEASE CONTINUE ON WORD FILE ATTACHED.
Word file attached now.
A Excel automation system need to develop to Track different Parts of Engine.. Relevant Skills and Experience Excel, VBA, Proposed Milestones $300 USD - Whole work Please communicate to discuss in details..
25 frilansare har i genomsnitt lagt bud på $435 för detta jobb
Description is in complete as word file which u mentioned is missing in attachment Relevant Skills and Experience Macro Proposed Milestones $444 USD - Macro
I would like to take opportunity to work on this Project. Relevant Skills and Experience Excel Expert. Data Standardization, Dashboards in Excel Proposed Milestones $450 USD - Mutual Decision


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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by autoimmune damage to the central nervous system. All the current drugs for MS target the immune system. Although effective in reducing new lesions, they have limited effects in preventing the progression of disability. Promoting oligodendrocyte-mediated remyelination and recovery of neurons are the new directions of MS therapy. The endogenous opioid system, consisting of MOR, DOR, KOR and their ligands, has been suggested to participate in the pathogenesis of MS. However, the exact receptor and mechanism remain elusive. Here we show that genetic deletion of KOR exacerbates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, whereas activating KOR with agonists alleviates the symptoms. KOR does not affect immune cell differentiation and function. Instead, it promotes oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination both in vitro and in vivo. Our study suggests that targeting KOR might be an intriguing way to develop new MS therapies that may complement the existing immunosuppressive approaches.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a predominantly T-cell-mediated autoimmune disorder that results in inflammatory damage to the central nervous system (CNS) and causes disability in young adults. The pathogenesis of MS is characterized by a cascade of pathological events, involving the activation of the immune system, infiltration of lymphocytes, activation of microglia, focal inflammatory demyelination and axonal damage1. CD4+ T cells, especially the Th17 and Th1 subgroups, have been suggested to cause the early initiation of the disease2.
All the currently available treatments for MS target the immune system with mechanisms of action including general immunosuppression/immunomodulation, such as beta-interferons, glatiramer acetate, mitoxantrone, teriflunomide, fingolimod and dimethyl fumerate, and blockade of immune cell infiltration into the CNS, such as natalizumab3. Although effective in reducing the relapse rate and the formation of new lesions, these drugs, however, have very limited effects in preventing the progression of disability. Promoting oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) differentiation, remyelination and subsequent functional recovery of the neurons have been proposed to be the new direction of MS therapy4,5.
The endogenous opioid system has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of MS. In a Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus model of MS, mRNA levels of all the three opioid receptors, that is, the mu, delta and kappa opioid receptors (MOR, DOR and KOR), were significantly decreased in the spinal cord6. The loss of opioid receptors might partially explain the central neuropathic pain commonly observed in the MS patients7. Pregnant women have been reported to express higher levels of endogenous opioids8. Pregnant MS patients experience remission of the disease and have fewer relapses. However, 3 months after delivery, these women show a marked increase in relapse rate, in contrast to the decrease in endogenous opioid levels9,10. A pilot clinical study showed that met-enkephalin given intrathecally exerted beneficial effects on 13 patients with chronic severe progressive MS11, indicating that activating the opioid receptors might be beneficial. However, several small-scale clinical studies showed that low-dose naltrexone (LDN), a non-selective opioid receptor antagonist, also had protective effects on MS patients12,13,14. Although the exact mechanism remains unclear, LDN may block opioid receptors intermittently and thus promote the expression of opioid peptides and receptors15.
The endogenous opioid responses are mainly mediated by MOR, DOR and KOR, all of which are G-protein-coupled receptors. The previous studies indicate the involvement of opioid system in MS without knowing the exact receptor and mechanism. Here we study the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a commonly used animal model of MS, in MOR, DOR or KOR knockout mice, and find genetic deletion of KOR induces a significantly severer phenotype of EAE. KOR does not affect T-cell differentiation and function. Instead, it is critically involved in the differentiation of OPC towards myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs). Activating KOR promotes OPC differentiation and remyelination, whereas KOR knockout prevents agonist-mediated beneficial effects.
KOR knockout mice are more susceptible to EAE
We first examined the mRNA levels of the three opioid receptors (DOR, KOR and MOR) and the precursors of endogenous opioids including proenkephalin (Penk) and prodynorphin (Pdyn) in MOG-EAE mice on various days post immunization. In the brain, the expression levels of these genes did not show a clear time-dependent change (Supplementary Fig. 1a). In the spinal cord, however, all the genes were significantly downregulated from day 15, which is typically after the onset of the disease (Supplementary Fig. 1b), similar as previously reported in a Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus model of MS6. In the lymph node, DOR was downregulated from day 9 to 18, while KOR did not show a time-dependent change. Owing to the low expression level, MOR, Penk and Pdyn were undetectable in the lymph node (Supplementary Fig. 1c). The downregulation of the receptors and ligands after MOG35–55 immunization indicates that the opioid receptors might be involved in EAE pathogenesis.
We then induced EAE in wild-type (WT), opioid receptors knockout and heterozygous mice. Deletion of MOR did not seem to affect the onset of EAE (Fig. 1a). However, the deletion of DOR led to a slightly severer type of EAE (Fig. 1b), whereas ablation of KOR induced a significant increase in the disease score (Fig. 1c). The disease severity in heterozygotes was similar to their WT littermates (Fig. 1b,c). Histological examination of the spinal cords was performed on day 17 post immunization. Leukocytes infiltration and demyelination could be observed in the spinal cord of the WT (KOR+/+)-EAE animals (Fig. 1d–g). KOR−/−-EAE mice exhibited significantly increased leukocytes infiltration and more extensive demyelination (Fig. 1d–g).
Pharmacological activation of KOR alleviates EAE
Since the knockout of KOR led to a severer type of EAE, we wondered whether activation of KOR confers protection against EAE. U50488 and asimadoline, two selective KOR agonists, were tested. U50488 had significant therapeutic effects at all the three dosages tested, with the best effect observed in the 1.6 mg kg−1 group, which showed the lowest peak severity and cumulative clinical score (Fig. 1h). Asimadoline also showed significant therapeutic effect (Supplementary Fig. 2). Histological analysis revealed that U50488 (1.6 mg kg−1) also significantly reduced leukocytes infiltration into the spinal cord and demyelination in EAE (Supplementary Fig. 3). To avoid the possible off-target effect of the agonist, U50488 (1.6 mg kg−1) was used to treat EAE induced in both the WT and KOR−/− mice. Similar to our previous observations, U50488 significantly reduced EAE severity in the WT mice, and KOR knockout significantly increased the disease score. However, the therapeutic effect of U50488 was completely abolished in the KOR−/−-EAE mice (Fig. 1i). These data demonstrate that KOR signalling contributes to EAE resistance.
KOR regulates EAE pathogenesis in CNS
MS is an autoimmune disease initiated by immune cells in the periphery. T cells, B cells and monocytes have all been reported to participate in MS pathogenesis16,17,18. However, U50488 did not alter the percentage of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, B cells and CD11b+ cells in the spleen, blood and lymph node of EAE mice (Supplementary Fig. 4a). Similarly, KOR knockout did not significantly affect the percentage of these cells except that the CD8+ T cells were slightly reduced (Supplementary Fig. 4b). The percentage of the major pathogenic Th1 and Th17 subgroups of the CD4+ T cells in EAE mice were also not affected by the treatment of U50488 (Fig. 2a and Supplementary Fig. 5a) or KOR knockout (Fig. 2b and Supplementary Fig. 5b). Cytokine secretion by Th1 and Th17 cells (IFN-γ and IL-17A) after MOG35–55 restimulation was not affected by U50488 or KOR knockout either (Supplementary Fig. 5c,d). In vitro differentiation of Th1, Th17 and Treg cells were also not affected by KOR activation or knockout (Fig. 2c).
These observations led us to speculate that KOR might not function in the immune system during EAE pathogenesis. We induced EAE in Rag1−/− mice reconstituted with splenocytes isolated from WT or KOR−/− animals. KOR deficiency in the splenocytes did not affect the EAE score in these Rag1−/− mice (Fig. 2d). Bone marrow chimeras were generated by transferring WT or KOR−/− bone marrow cells to lethally irradiated WT mice, or transferring WT cells to lethally irradiated WT or KOR−/−mice (Fig. 2e,f). EAE were induced after immune system reconstitution. KOR deletion in the bone marrow cells did not affect the EAE score in these chimeras (Fig. 2e). However, a significant increase in the disease score was observed when KOR was knocked out in the recipient mice (Fig. 2f). Passive EAE was also induced by adoptive transfer of splenocytes isolated from MOG35–55 immunized WT or KOR−/− mice to WT mice, or from MOG35–55 immunized WT mice to WT or KOR−/− mice (Fig. 2g,h). KOR deletion in the splenocytes did not affect the passive induction of EAE (Fig. 2g), while KOR deletion in the recipient mice significantly enhanced the disease severity (Fig. 2h). These data demonstrate that KOR in the immune system is not involved in EAE pathogenesis, while KOR in the CNS might play a critical role in controlling the disease severity.
KOR does not block astrocytes and microglia activation
It has been reported that the brain endothelial cells, astrocytes and microglia participate in the leukocyte trans-migration and inflammatory process in the CNS, leading to the onset of EAE19,20,21. So we explored whether KOR signalling affects the activation of these cells. The mouse brain microvascular endothelial bEnd.3 cells could be activated by TNF-α and INF-γ stimulation22,23, and could upregulate the expression of cell adhesion molecules and chemokines, including ICAM1, VCAM1, CCL2, CCL5 and IP-10, and downregulate the tight junction protein Occludin (Supplementary Fig. 6). These changes may facilitate the breakdown of blood–brain barrier and the infiltration of leukocytes. KOR agonist U50488 could not block TNF-α- and INF-γ-induced downregulation of Occludin, it even enhanced cell adhesion molecule and chemokine expression, indicating that the beneficial effect of KOR activation in EAE may not relate to endothelial cell regulation. The primary astrocytes were isolated and activated in vitro by various cytokine combinations including TNF-α/IL17 and TNF-α/INF-γ (ref. 24). U50488 treatment did not seem to affect the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in activated astrocytes (Supplementary Fig. 7). Primary microglia were also isolated and activated in vitro by LPS25. U50488 even slightly enhanced LPS-induced inflammatory cytokine expression in microglia (Supplementary Fig. 8). Taken together, these data indicate that KOR signalling does not alleviate EAE by blocking the activation of brain vascular endothelial cells, microglia and astrocytes.
KOR activation promotes remyelination in mouse models
MS and EAE are characterized by autoimmune-mediated demyelination and neurodegeneration. In CNS, myelin is formed by OLs. Current research on MS therapy is directed at three major goals: controlling the inflammatory immune response to prevent the development of new demyelinating lesions, protecting the demyelinated neurons from degeneration, and promoting OL differentiation and remyelination26. Remyelination can occur effectively and spontaneously following demyelination with the migration of OPCs to the sites of injury and subsequent differentiation to mature OLs that remyelinate the damaged axons. However, for reasons yet to be fully elucidated, this process is generally incomplete and often fails in MS27. Since KOR did not seem to play a role in the immune system, we wondered whether it could affect the remyelination process. The OLs and OPCs in the EAE lesions in the spinal cord were assessed by immunostaining using antibodies target MBP (OLs) or NG2 (OPCs) (Fig. 3a). MBP staining was substantially reduced in the EAE animals, indicating severe demyelination. The demyelinating areas were filled with NG2+ OPCs, indicating that the recruitment of OPCs to the lesions was normal but differentiation to OLs might be blocked (Fig. 3a–c). In U50488-treated EAE mice, demyelination was significantly mitigated, and NG2+ OPCs were also reduced (Fig. 3a–c). Furthermore, myelin surrounding spinal cord axons in the remission phase of EAE was observed with electron microscopy. Demyelination was very apparent and g-ratio of the myelinated axons was significantly increased in vehicle-treated EAE mice compared with the naive ones, but g-ratio in U50488-treated mice were significantly lower than that in vehicle-treated mice (Fig. 3d,e), indicating a possible better recovery. In contrast, the g-ratio in KOR−/−-EAE mice was significantly higher than WT-EAE animals, indicating less recovery (Fig. 3f,g). These observations suggested that KOR activation might promote the generation of OLs and remyelination in EAE.
KOR-promoted remyelination was further evaluated with a non-immune-mediated, cuprizone-induced demyelination model28 (Fig. 4a). Myelin status at the corpus callosum was evaluated with Luxol fast blue staining. All cuprizone-fed groups showed a significant loss of myelin at the corpus callosum region (Fig. 4b). Two weeks after cuprizone withdrawal, both the vehicle and U50488 groups showed limited remyelination (Fig. 4b,c). However, significant spontaneous remyelination could be observed at 3 or 5 weeks after cuprizone withdrawal, and U50488 treatment further enhanced the remyelination process (Fig. 4b,c). We also checked the effect of KOR knockout in the cuprizone model, and the KOR−/− mice showed significantly less remyelination than the WT mice (Fig. 4d–f).
KOR promotes OL differentiation and myelination in vitro
To test whether this remyelination promoting effect of KOR is direct or not, and to rule out the possible crosstalk between neurons or other types of the cells in CNS with OPCs or OLs, we performed the in vitro OPC to OL differentiation assay. KOR was indeed expressed by the OPCs (Fig. 5a). And U50488 dose dependently promoted OL differentiation from OPCs, with the best effect appearing at 0.5 and 1 μM (Fig. 5b,c). This KOR agonist-mediated enhancement of OL differentiation was almost completely abolished in the KOR knockout OPCs (Fig. 5d). The downstream pathways linking KOR activation to OL differentiation were further analysed with pathway inhibitors. Blocking Gαi/o pathway with pertussis toxin (PTX), L-type calcium channels with nifedipine, or p38 pathway with SB203580 all significantly reduced U50488-promoted OL differentiation, while other pathway inhibitors showed no significant effect (Fig. 5e). The observation that KOR signalling promotes OPC differentiation towards OL in culture raises the question of whether it also promotes myelin formation. To address this question, we set up an in vitro myelination system29 by co-culturing OPCs isolated from KOR+/+ or KOR−/− mice with dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons isolated from KOR+/+ mice. Myelinated axons will be positive for both the OL marker MBP and axon marker NF-200 (neurofilament, 200 kD). Compared with the control, administration of KOR agonist U50488 significantly increased the length of myelinated axons in the co-culture containing the KOR+/+ OPCs (Fig. 5f,g). And the positive effect of U50488 was abolished in the co-culture containing the KOR−/− OPCs (Fig. 5f,h). Taken together, these results suggest that KOR activation enhances OL differentiation and myelination both in vitro and in vivo.
It has been known for a long time that opioids can influence the immune responses, typically exibiting inhibitory effects on humoral and cellular immune responses30. Early studies suggest that opioids might modulate immune responses indirectly via the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis31. But with the discovery of opioid receptors in various types of immune cells, direct modulation of immune cell functions by opioids have also been reported32. The role of opioid receptors in EAE was elusive. As a matter of fact, both agonists and low-dose antagonist (naltrexone, LDN) were found to be effective in treating MS or EAE33. The therapeutic effect of LDN was presumably explained by the feedback upregulation of endogenous opioids and opioid receptors caused by the temporary blockade of the receptors, but the exact mechanisms and receptors involved remain unclear. In this study, with knockout mice, we clearly demonstrate that MOR does not affect EAE, while knockout of DOR slightly enhances EAE, and genetic deletion of KOR induces a significantly severer type of EAE. And interestingly, KOR does not seem to modulate the disease via the immune system.
Apart from immune suppression, remission in MS/EAE also attributes to the migration of OPCs to the sites of demyelination and subsequent differentiation to mature oligodendrocytes which remyelinate the axon5,34. Our study indicates that activation of KOR stimulates OPC differentiation both in vitro and in vivo, and promotes remyelination in both immune- and non-immune-mediated demyelination mouse models. Although our data suggest that KOR does not directly affect the functions of major immune cell types during EAE induction, KOR-mediated remyelination and tissue repair might reduce secondary inflammation in CNS (Fig. 1d,f). A few earlier studies suggested that KOR is involved in the regulation of cytokine production in macrophage35,36. However, CD4+ T cells, and to a lesser extent, CD8+ T cells and B cells, are considered the major pathogenic cells in MS/EAE2,37. It is not surprising that the regulatory effect of KOR on macrophage might not significantly affect EAE pathogenesis.
Promoting OPC differentiation, remyelination and functional recovery of the neurons have recently been proposed to be the new direction of MS therapy4,5, since the immune suppressive drugs are not very effective in preventing the progression of disability. In a recent study, by using an image-based screen, Deshmukh et al.34 identified that benztropine, by blocking M1 and/or M3 muscarinic receptors, selectively induces OPC differentiation towards oligodendrocytes and promotes remyelination in EAE and cuprizone-induced demyelination model.
In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time, to our knowledge, that the activation of KOR significantly alleviates the symptoms of EAE by promoting OPC differentiation and remyelination. Our study suggests that targeting KOR might be an intriguing way to develop effective new therapies for the treatment of MS that complement the existing immunosuppressive approaches.
C57BL/6 mice were purchased from Shanghai Laboratory Animal Center (Shanghai, China), DOR−/−, KOR−/−, MOR−/− and Rag1−/− mice in C57BL/6J background were all purchased from the Jackson Laboratory. All the mice were maintained in pathogen-free conditions with standard laboratory chow and water ad libitum and genotyped by PCR of DNA isolated from tail clippings. All the experiments were approved and conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Animal Care Committee of Tongji University.
Induction and assessment of EAE
Mice (8–10 weeks) were immunized subcutaneously with 200 μg MOG35–55 emulsified in CFA, which contains 5 mg ml−1 Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The mice received intraperitoneal injections with 200 ng PTX on days 0 and 2. For drug treatment, the mice receive daily intraperitoneal injection of U50488 or asimadoline starting from day 3. The disease severity was scored daily.
For adoptive transfer EAE, donor mice were immunized as described above. Splenocytes were prepared from donor mice on day 10 post immunization and restimulated in vitro with MOG peptide at a concentration of 25 μg ml−1 for 72 h. A total of 1 × 107 splenocytes per mouse was transferred intravenously into recipients that were sublethally irradiated (4 Gy) before adoptive transfer (day 0). On days 0 and 2, the animals were also injected intraperitoneally with 200 ng PTX.
The mice were then killed at the end of EAE clinical score assessment or at the time point as indicated in the text.
Chimera generation and EAE induction
In some experiments, Rag1−/− mice received 1 × 107 splenocytes from WT or KOR−/− mice from the same litter 1 day before immunization. The recipient mice were immunized for the induction of active EAE, as described above. For bone marrow chimeras, 5-to-6-week-old female WT or KOR−/− mice were irradiated with a lethal dose of 8 Gy, the bone marrow cells from 6-week-old WT or KOR−/− mice from the same litter were then transferred intravenously into the irradiated mice (1 × 107 cells per mouse) on the same day. Six weeks later, these bone marrow chimeras were subjected to EAE induction with MOG immunization.
Cuprizone-induced demyelination mouse model
Female C57BL/6 mice (8 weeks) were fed with 0.2% (w:w) cuprizone (Sigma) mixed into ground standard rodent chow. Cuprizone diet was maintained for 3 weeks, thereafter cuprizone-infused feed was removed and the animals were given standard chow. The mice receive daily intraperitoneal injection of U50488 (1.6 mg kg−1) after cuprizone withdrawal. The treatment lasted for 2, 3 or 5 weeks. The animals were then killed. Their brains were extracted, paraffin-embedded, sectioned and stained for histopathological analysis.
Histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis
Paraffin-embedded sections of the spinal cords and brains were stained with haematoxylin and eosin or Luxol fast blue to visualize leukocyte infiltration or assess demyelination, respectively. For immunohistochemistry, frozen sections of the spinal cords were incubated with Rabbit polyclonal anti-NG2 antibody (Millipore, AB5320, 1:200) and mouse anti-MBP antibody (Covance, SMI-94R, 1:500) at 4 °C overnight. After thorough washing, the sections were stained with secondary antibody conjugated to Alexa Fluor 488 (Thermo Fisher, A-11001, 1:1,000) or 546 (Thermo Fisher, A-11010, 1:1,000), and nuclei were stained with Hoechst 33342. Images were taken using an Olympus IX51 inverted fluorescent microscope or an Olympus FV10i confocal microscope, and quantitative image analysis was performed using ImagePro.
Lymph node cells, peripheral blood monocytes and splenocytes were stimulated with PMA (50 ng ml−1), ionomycine (750 ng ml−1) and brefeldin A (10 μg ml−1) for 5 h at 37 °C. Surface markers (CD4, CD8, B220 and CD11b) were stained with relevant antibodies (CD4 (BioLegend, 100528, 1:100), CD8 (eBioscience, 11-0081, 1:100), B220 (eBioscience, 12-0452, 1:100) and CD11b (eBioscience, 11-0112, 1:100)). Following surface staining, the cells were resuspended in fixation/permeabilization solution (Cytofix/Cytoperm kit; BD Bioscience) and intracellular IL-17A and IFN-γ were stained with PE-labelled anti-mouse IL-17A antibody (BioLegend, 506904, 1:100) and APC-labelled anti-mouse IFN-γ antibody (BioLegend, 505810, 1:100), respectively. For Foxp3 staining, PE-labelled anti-Mouse/Rat Foxp3 antibody (eBioscience, 12-5773-82, 1:100) was used. Guava easyCyte 8HT System and GuavaSoft software were used for the analysis.
CD4+ T-cell separation and differentiation
Naive CD4+ T cells were isolated from the spleens of female C57BL/6 mice (8–9 weeks) by magnetic cell separation (Invitrogen). The cells were cultured in complete RPMI 1640 containing 10% FBS, L-glutamine (2 mM) and 2-mercaptoethanol (50 μM). The cells were activated with anti-CD3 (BioLegend, 100331, 2 μg ml−1) and anti-CD28 (BioLegend, 102112, 2 μg ml−1). Th1 cells were generated by the addition of IL-12 (10 ng ml−1) and anti-IL-4 (BioLegend, 504115, 10 μg ml−1). For Th17 differentiation, the cells received anti-IL-4 (10 μg ml−1) and anti-IFN-γ (BD Bioscience, 551216, 10 μg ml−1) plus a Th17 mixture containing TGF-β1 (3 ng ml−1), IL-6 (30 ng ml−1), TNF-α (10 ng ml−1) and IL-1β (10 ng ml−1). Polarization of Treg was induced by the addition of TGF-β1 (5 ng ml−1), IL-2 (10 ng ml−1) and anti-IFN-γ (10 μg ml−1).
Reverse transcription and PCR
Total RNA was extracted with TRIzol (Invitrogen). The RNA was subjected to reverse transcription with random hexamer primer and Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase (Promega). Real-time PCR was conducted in a LightCycler quantitative PCR apparatus (Stratagene) using the FastStart Universal SYBR Green Master (Rox). All the gene expression results are expressed as arbitrary units relative to expression of the gene encoding β-actin. The sequences of the primer pairs used are showed in Supplementary Table 1.
To detect the opioid receptors in OPCs and OLs, PCR was performed using diluted reverse transcription products, 35 cycles were used for DOR, KOR and MOR transcripts amplification, 27 cycles were used for PDGFRα, MBP and GAPDH transcripts amplification. All the products of RT-PCR were analysed by 1.5% agarose gel electrophoresis. The sequences of the primer pairs are showed in Supplementary Table 1.
Isolation of primary astrocyte and microglia
Whole brains of newborn mice (P0–P2) were harvested and dissociated with Neural Tissue Dissociation Kit (Miltenyi). For astrocyte isolation, the whole-brain cells were suspended in complete DMEM containing 10% FBS and seeded onto 100-mm dishes. After 7 days (with medium changes at 24 h and then every 3 days), the cultures were trypsinized and re-plated. The cells from the cultures that had been passaged twice were used as astrocytes and purity was >95% as determined by immunostaining with anti-GFAP antibodies (Millipore, MAB360, 1:200). For microglia isolation, the whole-brain cells were sorted by anti-CD11b microbeads (Miltenyi) and purity was >95%. The cells were suspended in DMEM plus 10% FBS and seeded on 12-well plates. After 10 days of cultivation (with medium changes every 3 days), the cells were ready for LPS stimulation.
OPC differentiation and immunocytochemistry
Neural progenitor cells (NPC) were isolated from the cerebral cortex of embryonic day 15.5 mouse embryos. NPCs were expanded as neurospheres in the DMEM/F12 medium containing 20 ng ml−1 EGF, 20 ng ml−1 bFGF and 2% B27. To generate OPCs, neurospheres were dissociated into single cells with accutase and plated on poly-ornithine plus laminin-coated plates in DMEM/F12 medium containing 10 ng ml−1 bFGF, 10 ng ml−1 PDGF-AA and 2% B27 for 2 days. To induce OPC differentiation, the cells were cultured in basal medium (DMEM/F12 containing 2% B27) with or without the KOR agonist U50488. After 5 days’ differentiation, the cells were fixed and stained with anti-MBP antibody and secondary antibody conjugated to Alexa Fluor 488. Hoechst 33342 was used to identify cell nuclei. For cell imaging, we captured five pictures per well and detected the nuclei and MBP-positive cells using Operetta high content analysis system.
The spinal cords isolated from paraformaldehyde (4%, w-v) perfused mice were fixed in PBS containing 2.5% glutaraldehyde for 2 h. Then the tissues were washed, fixed in 1% osmium tetroxide, dehydrated in acetone and embedded in EPON. Then 70-nm thin sections were cut with a diamond knife and mounted on copper slot grids coated with Formvar and stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate for examination on JEM-1230 transmission electron microscope. The images were analysed in ImagePro for g-ratio measurements, approximately 200 axon and axon plus myelin units were measured for each group.
OPC-DRG neuron co-culture
DRG neurons were prepared as previously reported29. In brief, DRGs were isolated from postnatal (P5–P10) mouse and incubated in papain (3 U ml−1, Sigma) and L-cysteine (0.36 mg ml−1) solution for 10 min at 37 °C. After careful removal of papain solution, DRGs were further incubated in collagenase II (100 U ml−1, Roche) and dispase II (2 U ml−1, Roche) solution for 10 min at 37 °C. After thorough washing, the dissociated DRG neurons were seeded at a density of 20,000 cells per well onto poly-D-lysine and laminin-coated 48-well dish and maintained in OL-medium (DMEM with B27, Glutamax, insulin (5 μg ml−1), transferrin (50 μg ml−1), 0.5% FBS, progesterone (0.2 μM), 3,3′,5-triiodo-L-thyronine (0.6 μM), putrescine (100 μM) and BSA (0.1 mg ml−1)), and fluorodeoxyuridine (10 μM) was added to remove contaminating glia cells. After 9 days, 3 × 104 OPCs isolated from 0 to 2 postnatal day mouse cortices with anti-AN2 microBeads (Miltenyi) were added per well to DRGs, and co-cultures were maintained for another 9 days in OL-medium. In myelination experiments, drugs were added after the addition of OPCs. The cultures were fixed and stained with anti-NF-200 (Sigma, N4142, 1:1,000) and anti-MBP (Covance, SMI-94R, 1:500) antibodies. For cell imaging, we captured 10 pictures per well using Operetta high content analysis system and myelination was identified as neuritis double positive for MBP and NF-200 staining.
The data are presented as means±s.e.m. Two-way analysis of variance test was used to assess the significance between treatment groups of EAE animals. For any given date, the EAE clinical scores were analysed using a non-parametric Mann–Whitney U-test. For other analyses, including gene expression, cell percentage and histological analysis, the significance was assessed by two-tailed Student’s t-test. The P values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.
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This project was supported by grants from Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA01040301), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2015CB964503, 2014CB541903), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81425024, 31171348, 31371414), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2014CB541906, 2012CB910404), Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (14zz042) and the State Key Laboratory of Drug Research (SIMM1302KF-09).
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
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Du, C., Duan, Y., Wei, W. et al. Kappa opioid receptor activation alleviates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and promotes oligodendrocyte-mediated remyelination. Nat Commun 7, 11120 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11120
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domain: health


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ReligionArts & IdeasLiterary History, Criticism, & TheoryPhilosophyFaith & SpiritualityArt History, Criticism & Theory
Nature’s Primal Self examines Corrington’s thought, called “ecstatic naturalism,” in juxtaposition to both C. S. Peirce’s pragmatic and semiotic concept of the self and Karl Jaspers’ existential elucidation of Existenz. Peirce’s and Jaspers’ anthropocentrism is thus corrected by Corrington’s ecstatic naturalism. Ecstatic naturalism, as a new movement, is both a semiotic theoretical method and a metaphysics that probes deeply into the ontological divide between nature naturing and nature natured. Author Nam T. Nguyen attempts to achieve three goals: first, to present and elucidate the underlying philosophical concepts of Charles Peirce, Karl Jaspers, and Robert Corrington; second, to critique the anthropocentric self of Peirce’s semiotic pragmatism and of Jaspers’ existential anthropology (periechontology) from the standpoint of ecstatic naturalism; and third, to introduce the concept of nature’s primal self, radically grounded in the perspective of ecstatic naturalism, as a judicious, more encompassing, and richer framework compared to Peirce’s semiotic construction of the self and Jaspers’ existential concept of Existenz.

domain: library


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I’m going to try to write some posts about public goods as part of writing something about the new age of public goods. As readers to this blog will know, I’ve got a bit of a thing about public goods, and most recently argued that Web 2.0 is the product of ‘emergent public goods‘.
But for now a taster. It’s funny when you investigate something and find something that really is very simple and basic and yet hasn’t been said before – or you haven’t seen it said before (but part of the point of this is that you can point out if it has been said before).
The textbook definition of a public good is that it’s something that’s both non-rival in consumption and non-excludable. And that textbook definition is wrong! It’s the definition of a (particular) public good problem. To be a public good the good need simply be non-rival in consumption and whether or not it’s excludable it needs to be not excluded. So Google, G-mail, Twitter and Facebook are perfectly excludable – in each case the platform providers could exclude those who won’t pay them a subscription. But in not doing so they choose to make these platforms public goods – and so maximise their social value. It just so happens that they also make the judgement that their private value to them is maximised by maximising their social value – a nice confluence of interests. But Google, G-mail, Twitter and Facebook are, I would argue, public goods notwithstanding their in principle excludability.
Anyway, I hope to return to this in some subsequent posts – in between watching the Pakistanis and the Australians battling it out on the field.

domain: economics


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The people of Nantes love a good party so, it's just as well there are loads of musical events taking place from June to September in and around the city. It's the perfect chance to explore the area from a whole new perspective an…
The White Queen of Nantes
La Reine Blanche is without doubt my very first cinematographic memory of Nantes. This Jean Loup Hubert film was shot in my beautiful city in 1991, where Hubert was actually born. It tells a story of young love between the beautif…


Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne has recently finished up his first Canadian tour post-pandemic titled “Live In Canada Tour 2022” which featured fellow Strange Music artist King Iso. Musik Mirage was on the scene for the Toronto concert event that happened earlier this month and took place at the Danforth Music Hall on Sunday, October the 2nd. The show also featured the last minute addition of Canadian rapper Robbie G who opened the show for both of the main event acts. The tour started on the west coast of the country in Coquitlam, BC and finished up in the east in Quebec City on October the 9th. The “Live In Canada Tour 2022” would feature a total of 17 concerts in seven different provinces.Tech N9ne, who is the founder and owner of Strange Music which is a very successful American music label who has signed a lot of artists such as King Iso, Mayday, Rittz and Krizz Kaliko to name a few. The hip-hop label has done Canadian tours many times over the past 20 years and usually works with the International Tour Agency as the promotional company to host the events. Tech N9ne and his faction of rap artist have been one of the most success independent hip-hop acts in recent memory. The emcee has garnered a cult like following with out any significant radio air play much like the Detroit “juggalo” rap group The Insane Clown Posse who have also collaborated musically on many occasions.Canadian rapper Robbie G was the first rapper to hit the stage at the Danforth Music Hall on this night followed by a very power performance by Omaha city native King Iso. The city of Omaha, Nebraska isn’t famous for many musical acts but King Iso has come to put this city on the map. His recent signing to Strange Music should help do the trick. It was very impressive to see how easily King Iso won over the crowd from the start of his performance to the finish. The mid-west emcee stopped many times between songs to talk to the crowd and I noticed the exact moment he started to connect with the audience when he started talking about issues of mental health and depression. At the time of his last song, King Iso had everyone in the building chanting his name with a fist pumping in the air acknowledging his performance. Relating with a crowd is a great strategy as an artist if done properly and I would say King Iso pulled it off flawlessly. Tech N9ne has had a multi-decade career and as mentioned earlier it was all done as an independent artist before the days of social media. Pure hustle and grind got this artist where he wanted to go with little to no mainstream attention. It was because of all this work Tech N9ne would become the rap king of Kansas City. He brings the type of energy that can hype up an entire NFL sized stadium which he has done on at least one occasion being an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan. Tech N9ne is a special breed of artist that has a dedicated fan base which is sure to show up for the rapper when visits towns and cities across the continent to hear his catalogue of old and new songs alike. Many legendary tracks like “Einstein” and “Bout Ta Bubble” which are always regular crowd favourites.
Be sure to check out Tech N9ne on Instagram @therealtechn9ne for future updates and check out the photo gallery below to see more photos from the concert in Toronto on October 2nd at the Danforth Music Hall.
Article and Photos By Kyle McNeil(@trueaspectmedia)


Ms McGee will become the first women to ever receive the district’s highest honour.
The awarding of the freedom by the council was in recognition of the “global positive impact” Ms McGee’s work has had on the city and district.
The award was proposed by SDLP Waterside councillor Martin Reilly.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Reilly said the ceremony would be an opportunity for the city “to show how proud we are of Lisa”.
“The work she has done and the way she has put Derry on a global map through her writing really is just incredible,” he said.
“The freedom of the city is the highest honour a council can bestow on an individual and it’s really great that Derry girls is being recognised and, more importantly, a Derry girl specifically is being recognised.
Derry Girls, which first aired on Channel 4 in 2018, follows four teenage girls – and “a wee English fella” – growing up in Derry during the 1990s.
It follows the group as they navigate the ups and downs of teenage life, all in the shadow of the final years of The Troubles.
Derry Girls has been a massive success for Channel 4, winning Royal Television Society Awards, Irish Film and Television Awards and being nominated for BAFTAs.
It is currently availabe on Netflix to audiences around the world.
Other notable recipients include:
Nobel Peace Prize winner and former SDLP leader John Hume
Former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill
Composer, musician and songwriter Phil Coulter
Former Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops, Edward Daly and James Mehaffey
Derry City’s treble-winning manager Jim McLaughlin
Ultra-endurance athlete Danny Quigley
Ms McGee’s other notable work includes the television series Raw, which she created for Irish broadcaster RTÉ, the Channel 4 sitcom London Irish and The Deceived for Channel 5.
The Derry-born screenwriter will be conferred the honour at a ceremony at 4 pm following a special meeting of council at the Guildhall.
The ceremony will be broadcast live over on Derry City and Strabane District Council’s YouTube channel and a large crowd is expected to descend on Guildhall Square for the event.Tags:


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Old Fashioned Apple Upside Down Cake - a decades old family recipe that uses very simple ingredients to create a comfort food dessert that everyone will love; a classic Autumn dessert that's only improved by a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Chocoladerijsttaart met kokosmelk
Worteltaart Jamie oliver
Blackberry Pie Bars!
Easy Rum-Soaked Grilled Pineapple -- this is a flameless and delicious take on "pineapple foster", and it's a definite crowd-pleaser! | gimmesomeoven.com #dessert
Yogurt Drops: Spoon flavored yogurt into a plastic bag. Squeeze dots onto cookie sheet and place in freezer. They'll be ready in about an hour! | Such a great healthy summertime snack.
Mini citroen meringue taartjes
Paaseieren gevuld met chocolademousse - Libelle Lekker !


Annually certificated the inspection tools is necessary when you need make sure the quality of fasteners.Machines and tools would be demage if you have been using for longtime.Kinsom will take step by step following with quality control system and produce the fasteners meet the customer's request.
Professional Test Machine: Atomatic optic imspectorKinsom always focus on the Fasteners and precision metal parts industry, to help customer to get the right parts.
Helps customers Improve Quality, Achieve Faster and more Secure Delivery, Reduce Total Cost.We use the professional test machine to ensure your quality.
To fulfill customers’ growing demand on competitive price and stable quality, more faster delivery time and cut down total cost, Kinsom established the factory Samhotak with the facility of Multiple station cold forging machine, professional well-equipped inspection laboratory in Kunshan in 2019. which audited pass ISO9001 certificate, all the fasteners can go through the ROHS, ELV, SGS test. And test 100% with optical sorting machine, even some mechanical properties test with PPAPIII Level.


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Browsing Dental College of Georgia (DCG) by Authors
An ORMOSIL-Containing Orthodontic Acrylic Resin with Concomitant Improvements in Antimicrobial and Fracture Toughness PropertiesGong, Shi-qiang; Epasinghe, Jeevani; Rueggeberg, Frederick A.; Niu, Li-na; Mettenberg, Donald; Yiu, Cynthia K. Y.; Blizzard, John D.; Wu, Christine D.; Mao, Jing; Drisko, Connie L.; et al. (2012-08-01)Global increase in patients seeking orthodontic treatment creates a demand for the use of acrylic resins in removable appliances and retainers. Orthodontic removable appliance wearers have a higher risk of oral infections that are caused by the formation of bacterial and fungal biofilms on the appliance surface. Here, we present the synthetic route for an antibacterial and antifungal organically-modified silicate (ORMOSIL) that has multiple methacryloloxy functionalities attached to a siloxane backbone (quaternary ammonium methacryloxy silicate, or QAMS). By dissolving the water-insoluble, rubbery ORMOSIL in methyl methacrylate, QAMS may be copolymerized with polymethyl methacrylate, and covalently incorporated in the pressure-processed acrylic resin. The latter demonstrated a predominantly contact-killing effect on Streptococcus mutans ATCC 36558 and Actinomyces naselundii ATCC 12104 biofilms, while inhibiting adhesion of Candida albicans ATCC 90028 on the acrylic surface. Apart from its favorable antimicrobial activities, QAMS-containing acrylic resins exhibited decreased water wettability and improved toughness, without adversely affecting the flexural strength and modulus, water sorption and solubility, when compared with QAMS-free acrylic resin. The covalently bound, antimicrobial orthodontic acrylic resin with improved toughness represents advancement over other experimental antimicrobial acrylic resin formulations, in its potential to simultaneously prevent oral infections during appliance wear, and improve the fracture resistance of those appliances.

domain: medical


ODYSSEY TAKES THE FUSS OUT Of USING YOUR SOLAR BLANKET!
THE EMX IN-GROUND SOLAR REEL IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS!
INCLUDES STRAP KIT
This high quality solar reel will glide your blanket off of your pool so easily just one person can do it. The patented bearings and pivoting cranking knob assure smooth operation for years to come. Our rugged bases are constructed of heavy gauge polymer that is super strong, lightweight, and non-corroding. It also is U.V. inhibited to withstand the sun's harsh rays. The super strong aluminum tubing will not sage and its telescoping design allows one size to fit up to a 20-ft. wide by 45-ft. long pool. The entire reel weighs under 35 lbs. so it is easy to move. Its low profile design requires only 18 of clearance, so it fits nicely under most diving boards.
The available wheel (caster) system makes this reel very portable. The rugged magnetic casters clip out of the way during regular operation so the reel stays put. To move the reel, simply flip down the wheels on each base and roll away.
Our premium reel fits any shape pool and comes complete with all the hardware necessary to attach the blanket to the reel. Some installation required. Comes complete with assembly instructions. Backed by a 3-Year Warranty.


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Friday mornings in Male is the time those parents who do care about their children take them out. Others may think this is the day for them to sleep in. But if you are one of those who do venture out on Friday mornings onto the blissfully deserted streets of Male, it would be better for you to take them out for a walk rather than for a round on your motor-cycle. True, your kid may enjoy the thrill of the movement and speed and for you too it maybe easier than the walk if you are one who has got so used to the seat of a motorbike, and you feel that you have done your parental chore of performing your share of being with the child on a day when you could sleep in. Well and good for you, but for the child, the walk may indeed be better -- and if you think a bit deeper into this, for you too, as it takes you off that motor cycle on which you perch all of your working week.
Yes, there is magic in walking because you are then interacting with the environment around you and between you both rather than just witnessing these as you would as you whiz on a motor-bike. The touch of your hands, the voice of your conversation, and the protracted time for taking in the scenery with its myriad nuances to sink in indelibly, would all add to the richness of your moment together. With the absence of that speed and the suffocating wind in your child’s face, you now have the time to observe, touch, feel and reflect on the objects of the environment around you. These personal moments they call ‘quality time’ are what move the soul from a mundane existence to one charged with spirituality and pure being. Such moments will help you and your child mentally and spiritually and of course for you, physically too for waking up – even weekly -- those lethargic muscles that linger idle as you perch week-long on that motor-bike.
May Allah give us the awareness to be our best in a changing world!

domain: psychology


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2015-16 was a year of consolidation and transition for Blue Star.Consolidation refers to the completion of a two-year exercise involvingcorporate restructuring and retrospective amalgamation of Blue Star Limited and Blue StarInfotech Limited (BSIL). Towards the end of the year the Managing Director SatishJamdar conveyed his desire to retire which created a mood of anticipation of the changesto come. The year concluded with the smooth transition of leadership from Satish Jamdar toVir S Advani and B Thiagarajan.
Consolidated Financial Performance
Instead of the Standalone Accounts it is more meaningful to look at the ConsolidatedAudited Accounts. Total Revenue grew by 19% to Rs.3787 crores while Profit After Taxdoubled from Rs. 54 crores to Rs.108 crores.
Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) beforeexceptional items climbed to Rs.233 crores. Return on Capital Employed at 24.8% and Returnon Shareholders Funds at 19.4% reached their highest levels in the past five yearsand are expected to keep improving. These encouraging financial results confirm theacceleration of business growth and profitability that began in the previous year.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
Complementing the healthy growth of revenue and profit is the state of the BalanceSheet which strengthened considerably mainly due to the merger of Blue Star and BSIL. Theyear-end borrowings of Rs.363 crores shown in the Consolidated Accounts are reallyequivalent to a much lower net figure of Rs.205 crores after adjusting thecurrent investment of Rs.158 crores which was the net cash received by BSIL for the saleof its IT business.
The year-end debt equity ratio on a consolidated basis came down to 0.55 a more solidfigure than the previous years 0.87. This reduction occurred despite the interimdividend payout of Rs.75 crores in March 2016. Had the dividend been declared and paidafter the finalisation of accounts as is usually done borrowings would have been lowerto that extent and debt/ equity would have further reduced to a comfortable 0.44.
Thus with modest leverage and substantial liquid assets in the Balance Sheet BlueStars financial position is now much stronger. Looking ahead the Companysasset-light financial model aims to deliver cash profit high enough to pay good dividendswhile retaining sufficient profit to fund future business growth without resorting toexcessive debt. We have achieved this in the past and we will do it again.
A review of the segment-wise performance reveals that Electro-Mechanical Projects &Packaged Air Conditioning Systems revenues grew a moderate 12% to Rs.1908 crores whileoperating profit showed a healthier increase of 48% to Rs.80 crores. The businesscontinued to be handicapped by the long slump in industrial investment and commercialconstruction aggravated by the slow execution of ongoing projects.
Unitary Products (the erstwhile Cooling Products) with 42% of Corporate revenues i.e.Rs.1576 crores produced 58% of the profits i.e. Rs.166 crores. This segment hasconsistently been the major bread-winner for the Company. The current extension of theproduct range into non-cooling but related areas like water purifiers and air purifiersexplains the new name for this business segment.
Professional Electronics & Industrial Systems had a disappointing year mainly dueto recessionary conditions in the industrial sector. Though revenues grew 15% the resultsdeclined from Rs.31 crores to Rs.27 crores.
Top Management Succession
The new financial year 2016-17 began with the passing of the Managing Directorsbaton from Satish Jamdar to Vir S Advani. Simultaneously B Thiagarajan stepped into theposition of Joint Managing Director. While the new team will manage the Company togethereach of them will oversee different business areas and support functions. Thisorganisational structure leverages individual strengths and provides clear accountabilityin a diversified company. Major corporate matters of course involve coordination andjoint decisions where the shared corporate culture and values ensure a common bond withunified decision making. What gives me confidence in the partnership is that Vir andThiagarajan have actually worked successfully in this manner as Executive Directors underSatish.
The new top management is off to a quick start. They had already begun the planningprocess earlier along with senior managers by addressing the fundamental question of whatsort of Company they want Blue Star to be in 3 years when it celebrates its 75thJubilee. This exercise resulted in the Strategic Plan FY17-FY19: Blue Star @ 75 and theAnnual Business Plan for 2016-17 which have been approved by the Board.
I do not intend to steal Virs thunder. Let him tell you himself. In a separatecommunication in this Annual Report he explains the Corporate Vision and plans and howthe management intends to tackle the opportunities and challenges of the Company. Sufficeit to say they aim to transform Blue Star in a number of important ways over the next 3years. Their views and aspirations are thought-provoking and aggressive yet veryconscious of the heightened risks and uncertainties in the world of today.
The Road Ahead
While 2016-17 has started well and business growth is expected to pick up our plansare to some extent dependent on a healthy growing economy. India is relatively wellpositioned compared to most other countries but there are a number of macro-economicfactors that could be problematic. Inflation is rising again especially highly sensitivefood prices. This is preventing the RBI from cutting interest rates. Investments in theinfrastructure and industrial expansion remain subdued due to the dysfunctional bankingsystem and over-leveraged corporate balance sheets. The Brexit development will create amajor upheaval in international financial markets. India too will feel the effect to someextent but being relatively insulated is better prepared to deal with the consequences.
I do not wish to list only problems and uncertainties because my personal view remainsupbeat for good reason. There are many positive developments taking place across the broadeconomic social political and technological canvas of India. The Central and Stategovernments are paying serious attention to the ease of doing business by simplifyingbureaucratic procedures and relaxing controls which will benefit industrial and businessactivities while encouraging foreign investment. A new generation of youth is growing upwith different hopes and aspirations. There may not be too many conventional blue collarjobs being created but Indian entrepreneurial spirit is generating new self employmentand contract work opportunities. In short there is progress on many fronts and change ishappening.
Blue Star too has a younger group of engineers and managers who are empowered to takeon the new challenges. The Company's financial position is reasonably strong. We areresilient enough to absorb the impact of Brexit and continue business as usual. We havethe vision the resources and the leadership. Our employees possess commitment skill andabove all the willingness to work hard. I believe they will transform the Company into adynamic new Blue Star.
| ||Ashok M Advani |
|Mumbai: June 24 2016 ||Chairman |

domain: finance


Home Experts: Local News
Story Updated: Mar 27, 2012
What does a blot look like?
These blots run the gamut from two small lots to four or five, and can take up most of a city block.
For some, the extra space has provided a place to put in a wheelchair ramp or a raised garden bed, or allowed for the planting of trees for privacy. Others have prompted large additions such as a new wing or a move to change the orientation of the house to face away from the street and to a central garden.
Harris, a yoga instructor, and his partner installed a pool in their backyard, and added Zen-style landscaping, including a large wooden arch, statue of Buddha and groves of bamboo. Harris' half-acre compound has been featured on the Ohio City garden tour four times in the past two decades.
"As a result of our salvaging this house, we have really changed the whole neighborhood," says Harris, 63. "There's a lot of new construction going on. It's hard to believe it's the same neighborhood."
Shelina Gethers, 48, who lives in the historic Gentilly neighborhood in northern New Orleans, has created her own beautiful retreat after purchasing the abandoned corner lot next to her from the city for $4,000 in late 2009. She put a concrete fence around both lots and added a pool and a gazebo, while keeping the mature trees on the lot she acquired.
"It really is a little outside oasis," she says. "When it's hot, my granddaughter is in the pool every day."
The process was easy, she says, despite its nine-month time frame. And because she had such an easy time of it, her neighbor across the street decided to purchase the lot next door to her, and has since added a gazebo and a half-dozen fruit trees, further improving the look of her street.
The problem with blots
Of course, larger lots don't solve the problems that some of these emptied-out neighborhoods have with crime, and they can't replace prime amenities, parks or good schools.
Gethers, who moved to the neighborhood in the early 1990s when every house was occupied, still doesn't like having a vacant house across the street and empty lots next to her, but she says so far there has been no vandalism or vagrants.
"We would really love to have neighbors" move in there, she says.
Gethers was lucky to have neighbors who are willing to make value-boosting improvements. Without much oversight from the city or neighborhood groups, some side-yard expansions have wound up as car parks or places for people to store their junk, Dewar says.


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A massive dredging project at the Port of Redwood City has entered a new phase.
The aim of the $12.8 million project is to deepen the channel to greater than 30 feet to allow more vessels to dock at the port. Before the project began, the depth of the Redwood Creek channel was 22 feet, but “a recent study concluded that every ocean going ship that calls at the Port has a loaded design draft greater than 30 feet,” according to a city statement.
The dredging project got underway last September and is scheduled to be finished over the winter. The last time the port had an authorized depth of 30 feet was December 2009.
Before work began, safe navigation of the channel “was causing extra costs and logistics problems for the cargo shippers.” The current phase, set for completion in August, will take most of the channel to a depth of minus-30 feet. A final phase is needed due to funding restraints and restrictions over how much dredged material can be placed in the Bay.
“Increasing the depth of the channel by six feet meant that the cargo-carrying capacity of the ships calling at the port increased by 10,000 to 12,000 tons per ship,” said Michael Giari, executive director for the Port of Redwood City.
The port’s tonnage has been steadily increasing since 2009 and last year reached 1.8 million metric tons, according to the city statement.
Email Kevin Kelly at firstname.lastname@example.org or call him at 650-391-1049.


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Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Global Multiple Sclerosis Market" globally.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/19/2017 -- This report mainly introduces volume and value market share by players, by regions, by product type, by consumers and also their price change details. As a MarketResearchReports.Biz report, it covers all details inside analysis and opinion in "Global multiple sclerosis market".
This report splits "Global multiple sclerosis market" by Product & Service, by Test Type, by Allergen, which covers the history data information forecast from 2017 to 2022.
Global multiple sclerosis market is steadily growing and it is expected to cross over US$ 20 Billion landmark by 2022. Multiple sclerosis market is one of the most common neurological disorder diseases in the world. It is estimated that global multiple sclerosis patient numbers will increase around 35 Thousand by 2022. According to Renub Research analysis, we have found that there is huge gap between actual and unmet market as disease modifying therapy receiving prevalence vary from country to country. Global multiple sclerosis unmet market is much higher compared to its actual market.
Request To Get Sample Copy Of Report: https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1328149
Reimbursement is key growth driver for Multiple Sclerosis market globally
Reimbursement is playing major role for the growth of multiple sclerosis market as multiple sclerosis drugs are too expensive and without reimbursement, it is nearly impossible to afford the treatment of MS by most of the multiple sclerosis patient in the world. Most of the European and North American countries have multiple sclerosis reimbursement policy; however eligibility criteria vary from country to country.
Multiple Sclerosis Drugs price is too expensive
Multiple sclerosis drugs price is steadily increasing which create a major challenge for the growth of multiple sclerosis market in the world. It is estimated that newly launched multiple sclerosis drugs are expensive than previous generation disease modifying drugs. According to our research, we have found that, United States multiple sclerosis drugs are nearly five times higher than European multiple sclerosis drugs price.
Injectables Disease Modifying Therapy Multiple Sclerosis Market is losing Ground
Injectables disease modifying therapy multiple sclerosis market is continuously declining. Newly launched orals disease modifying therapy is a growing market.
Global Multiple Sclerosis Market, Patient Numbers & Forecast (By Mode of Administration: Injectables Market, Infusions Market, Orals Market) – Actual & Unmet (Potential) published by Renub Research on Multiple Sclerosis Market. This 108 page report with 93 figures and 1 Tables provides 6 Countries: actual and potential/unmet patient numbers and market. This report also explains multiple sclerosis disease modifying therapy (DMT) mode of administration.
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Actual Market is the current market which is already present
Unmet Market is the market which can be accomplished; but it has yet not been accomplished due to demand and supply gap. At present DMT receiving patients are less than total number of multiple sclerosis patient numbers.
6 Countries Multiple Sclerosis Market & Patients Treated Studied in the Report is as Follows:
Worldwide and United States Multiple Sclerosis Market & Patients Treated by Mode of administration
Key Questions Answered in the Report?
What is multiple sclerosis market globally and its growth potential in Future?
How many number of patients treated by disease modifying therapy globally?
What is the multiple sclerosis market in United States and other European countries?
How many number of multiple sclerosis patients living in United States and other European countries?
To order report Call Toll Free: 866-997-4948 or send an email on firstname.lastname@example.org


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Today has been a special day. It wasn’t my birthday, no one got married (no one I know anyway), and I haven’t got my OBE, but nevertheless it was special to me. No one else knows that today was significant. No friend and no family member. And that’s totally ok. It’s not that they haven’t been paying attention, and it’s not because I kept it a secret from them. I didn’t know that today would feel special until I woke up this morning.
It turned out to be special as today I went to my last psychotherapy session after three and a half years of deep exploration of who I am and what I might become. It has been incredibly challenging and beautiful. It has taken me on a mucky journey to the darkest places of my soul which was painful, and worth it to release what was buried there quietly but consistently disrupting and damaging my life. It also taught me how to love myself and live in the world knowing I have as much to offer as the next person. I feel transformed, able to direct the course of my own life and taking no shit! I will not be dictated to about how I should be or what I should do, and I will not be shamed or feel guilt for issues and pain that does not belong to me. This is huge and I’m incredibly proud of myself, so today kind of felt like my graduation into a fully-fledged grown up – standing on my own two oversized feet independent and whole.
Going into therapy isn’t something everyone supports though. At first, people close to me didn’t understand why, and where it would all end. They only wanted to protect me of course and I am grateful that they love me enough to want to guide me away from harm. Even people and colleagues in the Yoga community showed concern, encouraging me towards therapies with a faster result. Once someone even rolled her eyes at me and offered to ‘wipe my sub-conscious in 3 sessions’ of her particular form of therapy – which sounded a little unsettling! Jokes aside, other forms of therapy can be equally transformative in their own way, and not everyone needs to go deep to work with their particular issue, or they don’t want to. And that’s totally acceptable but I knew this was the right path for me.
Taking time to get to know myself properly, to grow and nurture my self-esteem, to learn how to communicate with people I love, to own my shit and let others own theirs, to accept all that I am which can be less than pretty – sometimes I’m a snob, sometimes I shut people out, sometimes I eat a hideous amount of chocolate and sometimes I’m selfish and self-absorbed, and there’s plenty more where that came from. But accepting that part of me allows me to accept it in others too. Paradoxically I become less judgemental, more compassionate and feel more deeply connected to others when I accept my full humanity. For a long time, I put away the so called ‘bad’ parts of myself. What I didn’t realise is that when I put those away, I also put a lot of what was good about be away too, like my fun side! I became tired and listless, unmotivated and uninspired, judgemental, disconnected, rigid, anxious and fearful and lost my libido. Learning to love and accept all of me has been the greatest gift I could ever give myself.
This is by no means the end of my journey. I may even return to therapy in the future if it’s appropriate. But for now I’m exploring growing as a grown up. Stretching my boundaries and riding the storms instead of choking on them. Letting my Yoga and meditation practise be the vehicle by which I can continue this exploration.
I’m incredibly grateful for all the wonderful ways there are to heal ourselves now, and for all of the brave people who are doing their own healing and helping others. Though it’s unlikely she will read this, my sincerest thanks to the wonderful woman who has been a rock solid, safe space of non judgement, gentle guidance and nurturing, reflecting back to me the truth of who I am for the past 3 years.
This is the greatest lesson I have learnt… Embrace yourself wholeheartedly. Embrace yourself the most when you are sad, anxious, fearful, lonely and grieving. Give yourself your full attention and give yourself time, understanding and patience, and the kind words that you’d no doubt give to your own children. Listen to your body. Your body is the container for your feelings which are the magic guiding you to deeper knowledge of yourself. There are NO bad feelings. Don’t try to push out or override difficult or painful feelings. Let them guide you to what they are trying to teach you. If you have cut off from your feelings as I had, seek out help to reconnect to them – perhaps through Yoga, psychotherapy or embodiment meditation and practises. Accept that healing is a journey in itself and it may take time to seek out the right kind of help and you may try a few things first that don’t work for you. Trust your intuition about what is right for you and know that you are courageous.