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J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2022;15(2):18–22.
by BS Chandrashekar, MBBS, MD, DNB and Soragavi Soumya, MBBS, MD, FRGUHS
Dr. Chandrashekar and Dr. Soragavi Soumya are with the Department of Dermatology and the CUTIS Academy of Cutaneous Sciences in Vijayanagar, Bangalore, India.
FUNDING: This study was funded by Menarini India Pvt Ltd.
DISCLOSURES: The authors report no conflicts of interest relavant to the content of this article.
ABSTRACT: Objective. We sought to determine the efficacy and safety of a topical under-eye serum (Melalumin™; Menarini India Pvt Ltd.) in patients with periorbital hyperpigmentation (POH).
Methods. In this prospective, open-label single-arm study, 90 patients aged 18 to 55 years with Grade I to IV pigmentary POH, were given the under-eye serum for three months. Follow-up visits were scheduled at one, two and three months from baseline. Effectiveness was evaluated by two independent dermatologists using a skin colorimeter (Dermacatch) and dermoscopy (FotoFinder Systems, Inc., Medical Imaging Systems; Columbia, Maryland), as well as global photographs and patient-reported satisfaction ratizngs (excellent, very good, good, not satisfied). Adverse events were recorded. The colorimeter values were evaluated using the paired T test and the single-mean T test was used for dermoscopy and global clinical photographs.
Results. Of the 90 patients included, 85 completed the study. Significant reductions in colorimeter values were noted in both melanin (from 708 to 621) and erythema (from 450 to 417) over three months (p<0.05). Mean improvement in dermoscopic assessment was 48.41 percent; Most (n=73/85; 85.88%) patients achieved >25-percent improvement; over one-third (n=31/85; 36.47%) showed >50-percent improvement. Global photographs improved by 49.47 percent; most (n=75/85; 88.24%) patients showed >25-percent improvement, over one-third (n=38/85; 44.71%) showed >50-percent improvement. Patient satisfaction levels were high (Excellent: 16 [18.82%]; Very good: 38 [44.71%]); Good: 26 [30.59%]; Not satisfied: 5 [5.88%]). No adverse events were noted.
Conclusion. This study demonstrates safety and effectiveness of the studied under-eye serum in patients with pigmentary POH. In addition to clinical improvements noted by the investigators, significant improvements were also noted in colorimeter values, dermoscopy results, and global photographs. Patients exhibited high satisfaction levels with treatment outcomes. No safety concerns were noted.
Keywords. Hyperpigmentation, eye, topical, serum
Periorbital hyperpigmentation (POH), one of the most commonly encountered conditions in dermatology practice, is rapidly emerging as a significant cosmetic concern.1-3 As a result of variable constitutive pigmentation around the world, individuals with darker skin tones, such as those living in India, are more susceptible to hyperpigmentation disorders.4-6 Around 50 percent of Indian women have moderate-to-severe dark circles that increase with age.5
In view of the increasing importance ascribed to physical appearance in today’s world, POH exerts a significant psychological impact on a person’s quality of life, especially among young women, who might be perceived as sad, tired, or stressed due to dark circles. Hence, most people are willing to incur a substantial cost burden to conceal and manage POH.7-9
Though management of POH begins merely with identification of specific etiologic factors,9 treatment is not simple.7 As dermatitis, allergy, systemic disorders, sleep disturbances, or nutritional deficiencies can result in POH, a complete medical history and physical examination is encouraged prior to treating the aesthetic component.10 Among several systemic therapies available for POH, most either lack adequate evidence,1,11 or are associated with adverse effects.1,12 Hence, topical agents that improve blood circulation and/or reduce melanin in the periorbital region are most suitable and convenient as first-line therapy.1, 12, 13 Hydroquinone 4% the most widely prescribed topical anti-pigmentation agent worldwide, is now unavailable in Europe and Asia due to possible carcinogenicity.14 This complicated scenario calls for safe, convenient treatment options, whose effectiveness is demonstrated in well-conducted studies. Therefore, this open-label, single-arm, prospective study was conducted to assess the safety and effectiveness of a topical under-eye serum containing aldavine, tyrostat and lanachrys, in Indian patients with POH.
This was an open-label, single-arm, prospective study, conducted between March 2018 to August 2018 in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, International Conference on Harmonization Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) guidelines and Indian regulatory guidelines (Indian Council of Medical Research and Indian GCP guidelines). The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee (IEC). All patients provided written consent in their patient authorization form prior to participating in the study.
Patient selection. Eligibility criteria. Adults <55 years of age, diagnosed with mild-to-severe (Grade I–IV) pigmentary POH without complications, who had not participated in similar investigations in the preceding four weeks and were willing to comply with the study protocol and refrain from existing active therapy for at least 10 days prior to study serum application were included. Subjects with any systemic disorder or active skin disease other than hyperpigmentation, overt bacterial/viral infection, superficial viral skin infections (e.g., herpes simplex or varicella; active/<6 months history), those perviously on systemic treatment for atopic dermatitis or topical/transdermal treatments on/near the intended site (<14 days prior to first application of study medication), those allergic to any of the study formulation ingredients, those with scars/moles/tattoos/body piercings/sunburn in test areas, pregnant women, lactating women, and fertile women not on adequate contraceptive measures were excluded.
Study procedures and data collection Application of under-eye serum. All subjects were instructed to apply the under-eye serum twice daily for three months. They were allowed to use only their usual cleansing products under the eyes; their usual day and night creams were allowed on the face, but not under the eyes. They were advised to avoid excessive exposure to sunlight.
Study visits. The study participants completed four visits: at baseline (Visit 1), one month (Visit 2), two months (Visit 3), and three months (Visit 4).
Study endpoints. Two independent dermatologists assessed the following primary efficacy endpoints:
Skin colorimeter readings. Change in skin color/complexion around the periorbital region (melanin quantification) was measured using a colorimeter (Dermacatch).
Dermoscopic assessment. Mean percentage improvement in POH lesions via dermoscopy was graded into four classes, as follows:
Grade 1=0%–25% reduction; Grade 2=26%–50% reduction; Grade 3=51%–75% reduction; Grade 4=76%–100% reduction.
Global (clinical) photographs assessment. Mean percentage improvement in global pictures was graded into four classes, as follows: Grade 1=0%–25% reduction; Grade 2=26%–50% reduction; Grade 3=51%–75% reduction; Grade 4=76%–100% reduction.
Patient’s global satisfaction assessment. Patient satisfaction was graded into four classes, as 1) excellent; 2) very good; 3) good; and 4) not satisfied.
Colorimeter readings, dermoscopic assessments and global photographs were taken at all four visits; patient satisfaction was assessed at the final Visit 4 (three months).
Two independent dermatologists also assessed secondary endpoints. Safety was assessed by history and clinical examination. Adverse events, if any, were noted at each visit.
Dermoscopic evaluation method. Dermoscopy was conducted using polarized dermoscope (Fotofinder medicam 800 HD; 20X magnification). Before taking the overview images, we ensured that the room was bright and there were no large light variations. We always checked if additional light was required to prevent shadows on the patient’s images. We also avoided taking pictures of the front window to prevent overexposed images. We used the medicam’s ring flood light for taking overview images. We also switched on the LED light (the video camera is equipped with an integrated LED-floodlight illumination, which allows capturing of excellent overview images up to a distance of 70cm) before starting a record. A distance holder was used, along with the integrated LED-floodlight illumination, for images with a distance from 2cm to 5cm. In order to ensure that the same site was examined each time, we used the “Marker” function on the dermoscopy device’s user interface, which allows the user to add arrows to indicate lesion locations, and to assign these to micro images later. A marker indicates the position in an overview image, where a dermoscopic image of a lesion should be taken.
Statistical analysis. Sample size calculation. The sample size was determined using the following formula:
Here, n represents the required sample size, p represents the estimated proportion of subjects with pigmentary POH among those attending skin outpatient departments in India, ??=1.96 for ?=5%, and e represents the margin of error. Assuming that 30 percent of subjects attending skin outpatient departments in India had pigmentary POH,15 at a 5% level of significance and a 10% margin of error, a minimum of 81 subjects was required. Considering a drop-out rate of 10% we decided to enroll 90 patients.
Statistical methods. All recorded data were summarized using descriptive analyses. Mean, standard deviation (SD), median and range (min-max) were used to describe continuous variables. Categorical values were presented using frequency and percentage with a 95% confidence interval. The paired-T test was used to evaluate the significance of improvements in colorimeter values, while the single-mean T test was used to evaluate the significance of percentage improvements in dermoscopy and global clinical photographs (a mean improvement of 30% in dermoscopy values and global clinical photographs was assumed to be significant).
Among 90 enrolled patients, 85 completed the study. The mean age of patients was 29.68±7.40 years; majority were women (72/85; 84.71%). Most patients (76/85; 89.41%) were in the age group of 20–40 years (Table 1).
Global photographs assessment. At three months, global photographs showed an overall mean percentage improvement of 49.47% (p<0.05) (Figures 1 and 2).
The majority (75/85; 88.24%) of patients showed >25-percent improvement in global photographs. Over one-third (38/85; 44.71%) showed >50-percent improvement in global photographs (Table 2).
Colorimeter values. At three months, melanin values reduced from 708 to 621 (mean reduction: 12.29%; p<0.05). Similarly, erythema values reduced from 450 to 417 (mean reduction: 7.33%; p<0.05) (Table 3).
Dermoscopic results. At three months, mean improvement in dermoscopic assessment was 48.41% (p<0.05) (Figures 3 and 4).
The majority of the participants (73/85; 85.88%) achieved >25-percent improvement in dermoscopic assessment. Over one-third of the patients (31/85; 36.47%) showed >50-percent improvement in dermoscopic assessment (Table 4).
Patient’s global satisfaction. Of 85 patients, 16 (18.82%) patients rated their satisfaction with treatment as “excellent,” 38 (44.71%) patients rated it as “very good,” 26 (30.59%) patients rated it as “good,” and five (5.88%) patients rated it as “not satisfied.” (Figure 5)
Safety. No adverse events were noted.
This open-label, single-arm, prospective study showed that in adults with mild-to-severe (Grade I to Grade IV) pigmentary POH using the investigated under-eye serum for three months, significant improvements were observed in all effectiveness endpoints, including colorimeter values, dermoscopy assessment, global photographs. Most patients were satisfied with treatment. No adverse events were noted.
In our study, a majority (84.71%) of the patients with pigmentary POH were women and most (89.41%) were in the age group of 20 to 40 years. Similar findings were observed in another observational study on patients with POH between December 2010 and June 2012 in, where nearly 80.49% POH patients were women and most (40.2%) patients belonged to the age group of 21 to 30 years.15 Few studies have shown that POH incidence is almost equal between men and women, while, others suggest greater preponderance in women than men.15–17
The deposition of melanin pigment and haemosiderotic pigment are the principal factors in the pathogenesis of periorbital dark circles. Deposition of the melanin pigment is observed when excessive and cumulative exposure to the sun increases the production of melanin. Hemosiderotic deposition, on the other hand, results when intense vascularisation in the palpebral region causes dermal blood extravasation.18,19 Based on pathogenic factors and clinical appearance, POH is classified into the following four types:20, 21 1) pigmented (appears as an infraorbital brown hue); 2) vascular (presents as an infraorbital blue, pink, or purple hue with or without periorbital puffiness); 3) structural (appears as structural shadows of skin color formed by facial anatomic surface contours, and may be associated with infraorbital palpebral bags, blepharoptosis, and loss of fat with bony prominence); and 4) mixed (combines two or three of the above appearances). It is further classified into four subtypes—pigmented-vascular, pigmented-structural, vascular-structural, and a combination of the three.
The above classification can be useful to guide the selection of the appropriate therapeutic modalities, as different types of POH respond to different types of treatment.21
Clinical examination (including manual stretching of the lower eyelid skin) can help to differentiate between true pigmentation and shadowing effect, that may occur due to tear trough. On manual stretching of the lower eyelids, true pigmentation retains its appearance, a shadowing effect improves or resolves entirely, while in case of thin eyelid skin or hypervascularity of lower eyelid, an increase in violaceous discoloration is noted.21, 22
Dermoscopy is a non-invasive diagnostic technique for the evaluation of POH, that better visualises subtle clinical patterns of skin lesions and subsurface structures, not normally visible to an unaided eye. Hence, it can be used to determine if the origin of pigment is due to melanin or due to underlying vasculature i.e. it helps to differentiate the type of POH (vascular, pigmented, mixed).1,8,20,23,24 Likewise, the chromameter is able to characterize skin color and to quantify small skin color changes. A study observed moderate to high significant linear correlations between the chromameter color parameters and the erythema/melanin indices.25 Hence, we used these two diagnostic tests to evaluate the effect of therapy in patients with pigmentary POH.
The eye serum used in our study contains aldavine 5X (1%), tyrostat 09 (2%) and lanachrys 2B (1%), which, according to the manufacturers of these ingredients, stimulate the production of important structural proteins, promote collagen synthesis, maintain microcapillary integrity upon ultraviolet exposure, increase skin elasticity and resilience, and reduce the appearance of dark circles.26–28 According to the manufacturers of aldavine 5X, it mainly targets the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) cytokine, modulates PGE2 activity and inhibits MMP-2 activity. These biochemical mediators associated with microcapillary dilatation and hyperpermeability are up-regulated in the skin with aging, ultraviolet exposure and environmental stress. It is suggested that aldavine 5X inhibits these mediators, potentially promoting dermis matrix integrity and preventing fluid leakage and vasodilatation.26
This open-label single-arm prospective study, conducted to evaluate the use of topical under-eye serum MelaluminTM in POH patients in India, provides valuable data regarding its effectiveness and safety. In view of the limited number of studies exploring POH management options in Indian patients, the study provides crucial insights and lays the foundation for the conduct of randomized controlled trials to better explore effectiveness and safety outcomes in larger population groups. The study met the required sample size, thus confirming the validity of the findings. However, in the absence of a placebo-controlled arm, the study was subject to the inherent shortcomings of observational studies including bias, confounding factors etc. Moreover, the effectiveness of the study drug was not compared to other treatment modalities like chemical peels, lasers, dermal fillers, due to lack of studies exploring other treatments in Indian patients with POH. Despite suggesting the effectiveness of the under-eye serum in Indian patients, the study did not analyze the effectiveness of treatment based on patient profile (demographics, causes, disease severity i.e., mild, moderate, severe), which could have helped determine specific patient profiles where treatment may be most suitable or effective. Also, no follow-up was carried out post three months to ascertain the long-term prognosis or refractoriness of the condition.
Our study demonstrates the safety and effectiveness of this under-eye serum in Indian patients with pigmentary POH. In addition to clinical improvements observed by the dermatologists, patients also exhibited high satisfaction levels with the treatment outcomes. As expected, being a topical application, no safety concerns were noted. However, further large-scale studies in the Indian population may be required to confirm these findings and to elucidate key treatment determinants, such as ideal patient profile and duration of therapy, etc that can optimize treatment outcomes.
- Agrawal S. Periorbital Hyperpigmentation: Overcoming the Challenges in the Management. Nepal Journal of Dermatology, Venereology & Leprology. 2018;16(1):2-11.
- Andrei F, Grujic D, Lazar C, Dragomirescu A. Periorbital hyperpigmentation, a dermatologic condition having a strong geographic and ethnic determinism. 2018.
- Sheth PB, Shah HA, Dave JN. Periorbital hyperpigmentation: a study of its prevalence, common causative factors and its association with personal habits and other disorders. Indian J Dermatol. 2014;59(2):151-157.
- Jablonski NG, Chaplin G. The evolution of human skin coloration. Journal of human evolution. 2000;39(1):57-106.
- Nouveau S, Agrawal D, Kohli M, et al. Skin hyperpigmentation in Indian population: insights and best practice. Indian journal of dermatology. 2016;61(5):487.
- Taylor SC, Cook-Bolden F, Rahman Z, Strachan D. Acne vulgaris in skin of color. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2002;46(2 Suppl Understanding):S98-106.
- Daroach M, Kumaran MS. Periorbital hyperpigmentation? An overview of the enigmatous condition. Pigment International. 2018;5(1):1.
- Gaón NQ, Romero W. Dermoscopy in periorbital hyperpigmentation: An aid in the clinical type diagnosis 2014. 171-172 p.
- Vrcek I, Ozgur O, Nakra T. Infraorbital Dark Circles: A Review of the Pathogenesis, Evaluation and Treatment. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2016;9(2):65-72.
- Roberts W. Periorbital Hyperpigmentation: Review of Etiology, Medical Evaluation, and Aesthetic Treatment. Journal of drugs in dermatology : JDD. 2014;13:472-482.
- Elson ML, Nacht, S. . Treatment of periorbital hyperpigmentation with topical vitamin K/vitamin A. Cosmet Dermatol. Cosmet Dermatol. 1999;1232-34.
- Taskin B. Periocular pigmentation: Overcoming the difficulties. Journal of Pigmentary Disorders. 2015;2(1): 1–3.
- Alsaad SM, Mikhail M. Periocular hyperpigmentation: a review of etiology and current treatment options. J Drugs Dermatol. 2013;12(2):154-157.
- Saad A. News in the Treatment of Periorbital Hyperpigmentation. Journal of Dermatology and Therapies. 2017;1(1):19-23.
- Chatterjee M, Suwal B, Malik A, Vasudevan B. A study of epidemiological, etiological, and clinicopathological factors in periocular hyperpigmentation. Pigment International. 2018;5(1):34.
- Aguilera Díaz L. Pathology and genetics of bipalpebral hyperpigmentation1971. 397-410 p.
- Yaar M, Gilchrest BA. Skin aging: postulated mechanisms and consequent changes in structure and function. Clinics in geriatric medicine. 2001;17(4):617-630, v.
- Al-Shami SH. Treatment of periorbital hyperpigmentation using platelet-rich plasma injections. Am J Dermatol Venereol. 2014;3(5):87-94.
- Souza DM, Ludtke C, Souza E, et al. Periorbital hyperchromia. Surg Cosmet Dermatol. 2011;3(3):233-239.
- Huang YL, Chang SL, Ma L, et al. Clinical analysis and classification of dark eye circle. International journal of dermatology. 2014;53(2):164-170.
- Sarkar R, Ranjan R, Garg S, et al. Periorbital Hyperpigmentation: A Comprehensive Review. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2016;9(1):49-55.
- Friedmann DP, Goldman MP. Dark circles: etiology and management options. Clinics in plastic surgery. 2015;42(1):33-50.
- Ahuja S, Deshmukh A, Khushalani S. A study of dermatoscopic pattern of periorbital hypermelanosis. Pigment International. 2017;4(1):29-34.
- Jage M, Mahajan S. Clinical and dermoscopic evaluation of periorbital hyperpigmentation. Indian Journal of Dermatopathology and Diagnostic Dermatology. 2018;5(1):42.
- Clarys P, Alewaeters K, Lambrecht R, Barel A. Skin color measurements: comparison between three instruments: the Chromameter®, the DermaSpectrometer® and the Mexameter®. Skin research and technology. 2000;6(4):230-238.
- Aldavine™ 5X. Algae Polysaccharides Complex. Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Technical file. Available at https://www.lucasmeyercosmetics.com/sites/lucasmeyer-corp-v2/files/products/pdf/114.aldavine-2015.pdf. Accessed on Feb 14 2022.
- Lanachrys® 2B. Chrysantellum indicum extract. Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Technical file. Available at https://www.lucasmeyercosmetics.com/en/products. Accessed on Feb 14 2022.
- Tyrostat™. Rumex extract. Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Technical file. Available at https://www.lucasmeyercosmetics.com/en/products. Accessed on Feb 14 2022.


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- Editorial Introduction
The common thread underlying this issue of Advertising & Society Quarterly could perhaps be summarized by the title of a hit sci-fi movie from 1985: we are Back to the Future. In 2019, we face anxiety from looking at a future that will result from present elements that are strikingly similar to turbulent times from our collective past: civil rights and identity struggles of the 1950s through the 1970s, a skewed concentration of wealth and consolidation of large corporate powers in the late 19th century, calls for more safety for individuals and society during the Progressive Era of the early 1900s, debates about the need to build or keep social and government programs in the 1930s and 1960s, and calls for more environmental protections in the 1960s and 1970s. Our problems from the past have not gone away, and, in some cases, it feels like we have gone backward in finding solutions.
Throughout these time periods, and especially today, advertising has played a central role in how identities are shaped, communities are formed, and what solutions are pursued for various cultural, economic, environmental, political, and social issues. There has always been hope for a better future, and advertisers have worked to enact particular possible futures, which have had significant consequences.
In this issue, several articles provide insights into potential futures made possible through the work of advertising and branding. Henry Jenkins brings us back to Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth's bestselling 1952 science fiction book The Space Merchants. Pohl and Kornbluth imagined a future where advertising and branding controlled much of society—so much so that people were even willing to kill others to get their companies ahead. The book was written at a time when cultural critics like Vance Packard (The Hidden Persuaders) and Jules Henry (Culture Against Man) worried about the post–World War II rise of consumer culture and advertisers' use of new psychological techniques to convince people to take up new products, services, and ideas. Jenkins details how he uses this dystopian, but sometimes humorous story to teach about advertising's and branding's place in society and culture, and how science fiction writers like Pohl and Kornbluth engaged with media theory to reflect on the unintended consequences of relying on particular communication technologies and practices.
Kim Sheehan explains how companies like CVS and Dove are trying to fight body image problems created by advertisers' longstanding use of photomanipulation. Through companies' creation of self-created seals that indicate that they do not manipulate photos in ads, social media, and packaging, some major brands are expressing their commitment to showing more realistic images of bodies and products. However, Sheehan's research shows how consumers may not recognize the purposes of these seals. Additionally, there are major unanswered questions about the ethics of a company self-promoting its non-manipulated work without outside certification.
Huan Chen and Brittani Sahm's article provides insights into the increased usage of big data and analytics in advertising through their interviews with advertising executives. In the last ten years, the advertising trade press has focused heavily on the need to embrace the digital and data revolutions. Data and analytics are seen as the future. However, Chen and Sahm's interviews reveal, and remind readers, that the future of data and analytics relies on "old-fashioned" human intelligence and know-how that cannot be replaced by an algorithmic robot or the charts and graphs of an Excel spreadsheet. Data and the tools used to understand them are not the be-all and end-all. Rather, the future of advertising depends on the hearts and minds of the humans working with algorithms and big data.
To continue the journal's exploration of masculinities, this issue presents Part II of the Roundtable on Masculinities and Advertising and Kevin D. Thomas' interview of filmmaker and activist Byron Hurt about the ways in which advertising and media have constructed particular notions of Black masculinity. In telling the story of how he became a filmmaker who is sensitive to the issues of intersectional identities and social justice, Hurt offers insights on how media can be used for cultural, social, and political change. He has...

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Okay so I've been writing since I was at least nine and whatever the book is about I do my research about it. By the time I hit ten I stoped writing books completely because I needed to focus more on school. But, I revisited book writing at the age of eleven and got into supernatural myths and folklore which would only make since for me to begin books on werewolves vampires zombies etc.
Most of my characters are based on people in real life and have alot of personality when it comes to my main character conversing with them. Book covers are things I suck at making unless somebody else made it and I really don't like when people bug me about it.
Favorite food: Anything thats has meat
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Vaccinated AF Mask
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A few of us decided to have a small jazz festival in Sherman this year-2018. We brought in the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band, and their director (Alan Baylock) suggested bringing in Doc Severinsen as the guest artist. The concert was on April 12, 2018. I have attached some Youtubes of the concert, and later I post Youtube of the Q&A session at the Sherman Jazz Museum that afternoon with Doc and Alan. A film crew also arrived who were filming a documentary on Doc’s life, along with Doc’s daughter, Nancy. I was honored to give Nancy and Doc a tour of the third floor of the museum.
It was a great start to what I hope to be an annual event in Sherman, which can showcase the museum, and a guest artist.
This is the Ft. Worth Symphony performing at the Fort Worth Main Street Festival 4/20/2018. Because you can’t record their performances indoors, outdoors is the only way to preserve what they sound like. Our society is getting so used to hearing only amateur musicians, it’s nice when the public can hear real professional musicians. It’s a different experience when the pros do it.
The afternoon of the concert on 4/14/2018 we asked Doc and Alan Baylock to come to the museum for an hour to meet the public in a short question and answer session. This is a brief excerpt from that session. I think Doc wants us to open up the ballroom for dances someday, and he said he would be the first to volunteer to play for the dance! My dad actually held a few dances there when his antique museum opened around 1986. However, I don’t plan to hold dances there at this point.
For eight years I wanted to do a jazz concert to go along with our jazz museum in Sherman, and in 2018 we finally did the first one. I wanted The North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band to play and to backup a great jazz artist. I also wanted the director, Alan Baylock, and the band perform with someone they were excited to perform with, so I asked Alan to help choose someone. It was a long shot, but we decided to go with Doc Severinsen, who was 90 years old, but still sounded great. Hopefully, Doc would agree and he did. This was the closing tune of the concert. Doc and the band sounded great! The concert was on 4/14/2018 at Kidd-Key auditorium in Sherman, TX.
Maynard would have been about 41 and living in Europe during this time. The big bands were dying and he would reinvent himself and his music in another year when MF Horn 1 came out.
Here’s my dad’s group playing “Indiana” in September of 1988 in Ft. Worth. Neil Slater-piano, Dr. Gene Hall-clarinet, Jack Rumbley-drums, Jack Petersen-guitar, Perry Sandifur-trombone, unknown bass player.
They were playing for a gathering of UNT people in Ft.Worth, and my dad asked me to video the band. This was one tune they played that day. They played two hour long sets without any music, and this group had never played together before this day. My dad and Gene Hall were 75 at this time. Gene Hall died in 1993, and my dad died in 2008. They were soul mates, having been best friends throughout their lives. My mom was always in the audience to hear him play.

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Hero K9 saves deputy from ambush attack
K9 Lucas of the Hancock County, Mississippi Sheriff's Department rescued his deputy from an ambush attack by three men. Deputy Todd Frazier was beaten and cut with a sharp object by the suspects who got away.


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I painted the board with my pink acrylic paint, then used Mod Podge to glue on the papers from Chantilly (the pink in the background and the little zip strip at the bottom) and For Always (the black flowered paper). Then I mod podged all over it again to seal everything.
The black and white rosette I made with the For Always paper, and the pink ones are with the Chantilly papers. I just love rosettes! See my rosette tutorial here.
Once everything was dry, I stamped using black Staz On ink, using the Tailor-Made stamp set which I absolutely love (retired stamp set but I could probably find one for you if you just HAD to have it!). Since I'm a sewer and quilter, I also added stitching lines using a black Sharpie pen. I can't seem to resist adding some sort of lines or stitching when I do these little canvas boards.
I made this for my sister's birthday, who is an avid quilter. Over 30 years ago, she and I were both sewing for a shop in the Old Town District of Portland, Oregon! She made leather coats and jackets, and I made mens' western shirts. Sewing, and then quilting, is in our blood!
|I am a HUGE fan of Liquid Glass. Besides being an awesome super sticking adhesive for just about anything, it makes a neat shiny look to stamped images and embellishments, and you can make water droplets if you want a wet effect.|


MEDIA – Delaware County Chief Information Officer Frank Bilotta updated county council during its regular meeting Wednesday night on a cybersecurity breach earlier this year.
And, for the first time, officials admitted the county paid a random to have service restored.
“The initial attack occurred in the form of a phishing email to a county employee from an external threat actor received on Sept. 10, 2020,” Bilotta said. “The email contained malware that was downloaded, and once in the system captured credentials and infiltrated the network. During the period between Sept. 10, 2020 and Nov. 21 2020, the threat actor was most likely stealing credentials, identifying sensitive data, and exfiltrating the information from the county’s operating environment.”
Bilotta, who began his employment with the county a few days early to deal with the threat, said the hacker activated a ransomware application sometime between Sept. 10 and Nov. 21, when it was detected by a member of the county’s Information Technology staff. That staff member notified senior leadership and disconnected all servers and computers, Bilotta said.
The county’s elected officials were made aware of the intrusion, as was the Department of Homeland Security and the county’s insurance agent, which provided contacts for a cyber-forensics team and outside legal counsel with expertise in cybersecurity.
“Working with these resources, the county’s IT staff began claiming back the system environment and credentials,” said Bilotta. “The team installed software to protect each computer and to stop the threat actor from communicating into or out from the environment. The focus at this point was to contain the intrusion while evaluating the status of data back-ups.”
Bilotta said the hacker made it known fairly early on that their intent was to hold the county’s system for ransom, with a threat to release data like personal identifying information should their demands not be met.
It was previously reported that the sum sought was $500,000, but Delaware County spokeswoman Adrienne Marofsky did not confirm that figure Wednesday because it remains an ongoing investigation.
Delaware County Executive Director Howard Lazarus recommended that council pay the ransom because working with the hacker would allow for faster system restoration and prevent information from being published. The county was insured for such acts and the deductible would only be $25,000.
“Upon payment of the ransom, the threat actor provided the decryption tool necessary to unlock the county’s systems, a list of the files that were exfiltrated, and a general description of how the cyberattack commenced,” said Bilotta.
Bilotta said all county systems have since been restored and IT staff is pursuing various initiatives to build a more secure network in the future. These include rebuilding server infrastructure, updating operating systems and applying security patches, and removing vulnerabilities identified by outside support agencies.
Bilotta said these actions would require continued use of outside resources, including the cybersecurity firm, upgrading security software, and engaging a third party project manager to supplement existing staff.
To that end, council approved a $254,400 one-year contract with cyber security firm Kroll Inc., paid for out of the general fund, and a $150,000 professional services agreement with Judge Inc. to oversee Kroll and manage other potential technology and security projects, which will come from the IT budget.
Bilotta said the county should also pursue additional measures, such as moving data storage to a more secure, off-site location; continually evaluating back-up systems; ensuring all security applications are systematically upgraded across the network; and providing for cyclic upgrades to old software and hardware through the Capital Improvement Program.
Council and Lazarus thanked Bilotta and IT staff for their work on the issue, as well as the county Controller’s Office for continuing to put out payroll and pay vendors during the attack. Councilwoman Christine Reuther said council decided it could not put those payments at risk in deciding to pay the ransom.
Council Chairman Brian Zidek also addressed concerns council had about acquiescing to the hacker’s demands, such as what the costs might be and what kind of message paying the ransom might send.
“I, for one, don’t welcome the idea of paying a ransom to anybody, but we also have to balance that with the costs to the county if we didn’t pay the ransom, and those costs were going to be significant both in terms of manpower and womenpower and downtime for all departments,” he said. “It’s tough to measure the economic consequence of that, but I know that it would have been a profoundly – even more profoundly – disturbing incident had we not taken the action that we had taken.”
Councilman Kevin Madden indicated council had inherited a “shell” of IT infrastructure and applauded Bilotta and his team for working to rectify that as quickly as possible.
“I think one might look at this and say, ‘Great! This only cost the county $25,000!’ but how do we make sure it doesn’t happen again?” asked Madden. “That’s really what our emphasis is on now.”


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Cool; clean looking; amazing sound balance
No cushion between the headband and yourhead
$270; $330 (with mic)
If you’re a DJ then these are for you, not for just the sound quality but because the TMA-1s were designed for DJs with the help of some big- name DJs. In fact, you’ll love them even if you have no pretensions towards DJ-ing.
Even just looking at the funky box you know the AIAIAI (pronounced eye eye eye) TMA-1s are going to look cool – probably because the Danish have a great sense of style.
It’s clear that DJs played a part in creating these by their design and shape.
They’re rugged, refreshingly clean and all black, with a simple nylon headband. And they’re plain – without one logo or other form of branding on the outside, they could be mistaken for generic headphones. The only AIAIAI logo you’ll find is hidden under the headband, and almost invisible.
The TMA-1s come with two sets of padded earcups – one synthetic and one leather. These are easily adjusted up and down with a simple notch to fit your head size. In the box you will find a coiled cord – easier to use in a DJ booth – and a straight cord, with both having great length. Included is a zippered carry bag.
I found the fairly lightweight headphones to be a firm fit, and they sat naturally around my head and ears. The expandable, bendy frame can easily be twisted and turned, making for easy one-ear use in clubs.
However, after an hour of wearing them it feels like I’ve dropped something on my head. There is
no material or cushion between the headband and your head; even adjusting these did not help and it left my head slightly sore. Now it could just be the shape of my head but after a while you may also notice this.
I’m writing this while sitting on the couch, opposite my partner. I’ve turned up my Mac to the highest volume and he can’t hear a single sound coming his way.
I gave the TMA-1s a real workout with music you would find in a dance club or at a music festival. The sound was loud, clean and clear with little or no distortion, and a pretty amazing balanced listening experience. The only small thing is the treble ranges can be a little piercing.
Macworld Australia’s buying advice
If, in the past, you’ve wanted to pick up headphones of this calibre but could not justify the higher price, than these could be the answer – with the $270 price and high quality they’re the perfect pair.


Gridding UW: A new street plan for the University of Waterloo
In a previous post I described how the University of Waterloo fails its pedestrians. But UW’s problems go deeper. It was built as a suburban campus on farmland in the 1960’s and 1970’s — when it seems planners and architects were intent on planning for the car, even when designing a pedestrian-dominated place. Now that the campus is surrounded by the city on all sides and there is growing recognition that spaces need to be designed for pedestrians, it is important that it integrate well into its environment. However the campus street plan essentially does the opposite.
Currently the main campus road, Ring Road, is accessed by vehicles only through two connector roads on the north and south. There are thus a high number of intersections for vehicles to contend with, and it is a roundabout trip to get in and out of the campus. My estimate is that most of the people travelling by motor vehicle on Ring Road are actually using transit. So the meandering is a waste of time particularly for bus riders and of money for Grand River Transit (as UW is a transit hub). But even though Ring Road is difficult to get to, it is wide open in many parts and even the few speed humps don’t suitably slow down car traffic.
UW can be a pain to get to on foot from some directions, and difficult to navigate once you do. There are barely any pedestrian thoroughfares, mostly just paved paths (if that). In many cases, vehicular access roads serve as makeshift pedestrian corridors. All parking is surface parking, and there are lots right inside the main campus (bounded by Columbia and University).
I propose a new University of Waterloo street plan. With contribution from Sylvan Mably, I’ve drawn what I think to be a much improved version of UW’s campus. The emphasis is on connectivity, navigability, and a street system that fits its use. This alternative street plan is ambitious but firmly rooted in what is actually feasible to do from the current situation.
There would no longer be a Ring Road, and its east and west segments would be through streets. Moreover, both of these streets would connect with Seagram Drive at the south end of the campus, and part of the current Seagram alignment would be turned into a pedestrian thoroughfare (as it would not be a useful vehicular connection). Other notable road changes are an extension of the current St. Jerome’s access road across Laurel Creek to the extended Seagram Drive, and a street connection for the west end of the student village. Good road connectivity would reduce the distance vehicles (including bicycles) need to travel to reach points of the campus.
The solid lines on the map would be streets with wide sidewalks and perhaps bike lanes. As the design of a road dictates how drivers use it, through streets inside the campus would be designed for low speeds (30 km/h). Where possible, they should have street parking with demand-responsive pricing; this would ensure that short-term parking is available when needed. The dashed lines are what I call pedestrian lanes. These are wide thoroughfares laid out with paving stones and designed for pedestrians, but shared with cyclists and the occasional intruding campus delivery van. These lanes should be named, especially the several that provide east-west routes and the north-south thoroughfare (which splits around the Grad House knoll and the Math & Computer building). With naming and a somewhat grid-like network of lanes and streets, the navigability of the campus would improve dramatically. Wayfinding and campus travel would become easier and more pleasant. Thanks to improved connectivity, the campus would be easier to access by walking, cycling, bus, and light rail (which will stop along the east side of campus).
Most of the lanes follow existing paths, but some would need to be graded first and others would need to be created through current parking lots. A connection would be made between Lester and Phillip Streets to make Hickory Street/Lane a useful corridor across UW, through the Northdale neighbourhood, and past King Street. Two buildings would have to be sacrificed to open up the north and south pedestrian gateways to the campus. The more pressing one is South Campus Hall at the south gateway, and the current campus master plan actually calls for it to be demolished for this very reason.
Endless construction has been steadily devouring what little open space UW’s main campus has left. There are currently grand plans afoot to develop distant parts of the University of Waterloo lands, possibly including academic buildings. My plan would allow well-located possibilities for street- and lane-facing campus buildings to accommodate growth, in particular at the parking wastelands in the north and south ends. UW is actually already haphazardly removing lots to put up new buildings. With my street plan there would be opportunities for well-located parking garages, e.g. by St. Jerome’s, off Seagram Drive, or by Columbia Street. It would also open up important possibilities for public space, such as around the south gateway to campus. Eventual demolition of some of the old three-story buildings in the center of campus (and replacement with taller, more compact ones) would allow for some much-needed central public space.
This is intended to be food for thought, and is neither exhaustive nor definitive. However, I strongly believe that a plan along these lines would dramatically improve the University of Waterloo’s walkability, connectivity, campus experience, and safety, and make it a better university overall.
Michael – awesome proposal. You mention that this plan would “dramatically improve the University of Waterloo’s walkability, connectivity, campus experience, and safety”. Just as importantly, though, I think your proposal would make the University more permeable, meaning it would help the students better interact with the community and vice versa.
Ring Road acts like a giant moat, preventing both inflow and outflow, and it acts as a huge barrier to engaging students in our community. I think your proposal would go a long way to helping get the students out into the community, and helping make the city a more vibrant place.
I think it’s some food for thought for sure, but in some way, it is necessary to find a way to connect with the roots of the urban development of the location.
To completely pile roads through waterloo campus would be like making it a suburb. The only thing that sets it apart psychologically is the fact that you can’t drive in and park your car where ever you want as most people want to.
The problem of ring road as a moat is a problem.
I don’t know if this is the solution though. Thanks for putting it out there though, great start to a dialogue.


text: watch 02:27 The Loop (Games) Do you like this video? Scar Face is a face in Bubble Gum Simulator. It can be purchased from the Underworld Store for 150,000,000 coins. Trivia This face can be found in the Roblox catalog here. Retrieved from "https://bubble-gum-simulator.fandom.com/wiki/Scar_Face?oldid=766927" Categories: Faces Underworld Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.

domain: game


text:
This 1986 photograph shows a view of shophouses at Syed Alwi Road (from Jalan Besar towards Rochor). Syed Alwi Road is named after Syed Allie bin Mohamed Al Junied (1814 - 1858), the son of an Arab merchant, who contributed generously to the community. Title devised by Library staff.
All rights reserved. Lee Kip Lin and National Library Board Singapore 2009.

domain: geography


text:
Summer Burkes has written a really good article at The Ladies Guide to the Apocalypse about the interactions between law enforcement and Black Rock City. The general consensus for Caravansary seems to be that Burner/LEO relations greatly improved after BMOrg settled their lawsuit against Pershing County.
We’re proud of our Gate and Rangers for offsetting so many of the more minor duties police are forced to deal with in the real world but not here, such as traffic control and too-drunk people. This shows the real world a different model of non-interference and enhanced social contracts… Law enforcement is certainly enforcing the law, but with an enhanced understanding between the parties. The XRT (External Relations Team) has been working all year with Burning Man’s police and BLM, and no jinx, but our relationship seems to be better than ever…
Cop Whispering is a thing in the Cacophony Society, and a very important thing at that. Cop Whispering is a cute name for a serious skill requiring a sober person with a competent and respectful attitude.
In the Cacophony Society and its outlying (and sometimes unwitting) spokes-shows like Cyclecide and the Life-Size Mousetrap, we always designate a Cop Whisperer. This person is THE person who talks to the cops…
Imagine you’re a police officer answering an unknown-intruder call in San Francisco in the ‘90s. Scenario one: You walk into an abandoned building, where crazy freaks seem to be dining in full formal attire at a candlelight banquet, the contents of which all seem to have been carried in by hand. You, policeperson with off-the-chart adrenaline washing through your system as always, are ambushed by most of these kooks, who all get up from the table to start speaking to you at once, making jokes and snapping flash cameras. Some drunk idiot starts yelling platitudes about knowing his rights. Cringe and duck, right?
Scenario two: You, policeperson, respond to the call in the same abandoned building, where amidst the dust, broken glass, and a strange full-formal banquet table, a group of weirdoes are calmly and quietly sitting in a circle on the ground, with their empty hands resting visibly on their knees. One of these people is in a gorilla suit, inexplicably. You, cop, are approached by one person — the designated Cop Whisperer. You, cop with heart pounding and adrenals pumping, not knowing what you were just walking into, are overjoyed to see a circle of weirdoes? maybe art students? or whatever, AND a gorilla suit guy, sitting in a circle why? are they a weird religion or … ? and for heaven’s sake you, cop, may even be laughing by the time the Cop Whisperer talks to you.
See the difference?
The rules for Cop Whispering are simple. Realize that most cops are sometimes-scared, sometimes-vulnerable, flesh-and-blood people doing their best to serve and protect society. One person talks to the law enforcement and others do NOT gather around — a crowd makes anyone feel outnumbered and threatened. Don’t lie to law enforcement, don’t be nervous, and don’t taunt them (doy). Treat them like humans, not Terminators…
As we continue our policy of being friendly and open to law enforcement out here, let’s not forget to invite them to participate as well. The BLM and local officers are as much a part of the Burning Man community as they want to be. Those who are a part of this community, and not on the outside looking in, are protective of this community…
we — all of us — have been practicing building a brand new society and interaction-based reality out here. What we do and learn and make up at Burning Man radiates out into the larger world, and we’ve got a real chance to show everyone how we shine together. We all want to make America mean something great again.
We know, what lamely sappy notion, but we’re feeling it. Dusty punk rockers, techno-ravers, and machine-art freaks are out here working on it.
Read the full story at summerburkes.com
It’s probably not a bad idea for every camp and every party to designate a Cop Whisperer or two…just in case.

domain: sociology


text:
Faris McReynolds is a Dallas-born, Los Angeles-based artist and musician whose paintings have been shown in Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York City, Berlin, and Antwerp. His work has also been featured in Details, Art Papers, Flash Art Magazine, and ArtWeek. We spotted his work on Artsy and made Colourlovers palettes for three of his works for this week’s CMYLK.
Popular In ArtMore
Wood-carved cityscapes become incredible sculptures in this series by James McNabb.
Richard J. Evans has created this piece “Information Leak,” which includes laser-cut wooden letters. It was his final project wh…
I love typography, graphic prints, and simple messaging, so I really enjoy this poster from BODIE & FOU.


The Sharjah Press Club (SPC) operates under the umbrella of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), established under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
SPC, through its year-round services and initiatives, aims at bolstering continuous professional communication and knowledge development among press and media professionals, in addition to cultivating and exchanging media experience, creating active dialogue platforms, and sustaining the appeal of the press profession.
SPC is keen to deepen its commitment to media and press charters and to carry out its mission based on social and national values. It seeks to motivate press and media professionals and works to spread a culture of excellence among them. Through the regular meetings it organizes, SPC also aims to enhance the positive relationship between journalists and media professionals, and government entities.


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Gabon & Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has tested positive for Covid-19 Gabon coach Patrice Neveu told the press on Thursday just days ahead of their opening Africa Cup of Nations match.
Aubameyang, team-mate Mario Lemina and assistant coach Yala Anicet all tested positive after taking a lateral flow test and are awaiting the results from a PCR one.
“They underwent a PCR test and are isolating in their hotel,” said Neveu, adding they displayed no symptoms.
Aubameyang — who was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy last month — is at risk of missing Gabon’s opening Group C match against Comoros on January 10 in the biennial African showpiece tournament being hosted by Cameroon.
They go on to play further matches against Ghana and Morocco.
Gabon's Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tested positive for #COVID19 as his team touched down in Yaounde, Cameroon, ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations that starts on Sunday.#NBSLiveAt9 #NBSUpdates pic.twitter.com/yohrU1ZYas
— NBS Television (@nbstv) January 6, 2022
Gabon enter the finals on the back of a 3-0 defeat by Burkina Faso in a friendly match in Dubai last Sunday.

domain: news


Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles
Tom Vanden Brook talked about the Defense Department’s Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles program (MRAP), and he responded to… read more
Tom Vanden Brook talked about the Defense Department’s Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles program (MRAP), and he responded to telephone calls and electronic communications. Topics included the MRAP’s design and cost, and the need for more of them in the war in Afghanistan.
This program was part of week-long “Washington Journal” series on defense issues. The product IDs for the other parts are 295139-6, 295168-5, 295213-7, and 295203-6. close
*The transcript for this program was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.
People in this video
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Colonel Robert Sova talked about the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Afghanistan and within the U.S. He also…
U.S. Military Personnel Policies
Bill Carr talked about military personnel policy, which includes military compensation, recruiting, and…
Senator Arlen Specter, a member of the Appropriations Committee, talked about Defense Secretary Gates' plan for cutting…


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text:
- Natural Stone Pearl Retro Bracelet
Natural Stone Pearl Retro Bracelet
AVAILABILITY: In stock (27 items)
You Save: $8.55 (32%)
Hurry up! Sales Ends In
Hurry! Only 27 Left in Stock!
Order in the next to get it around , NOTE: Some items could take 5-10 business days to arrive.
This richly textured bracelet crafted from natural stones and faux pearls is made to create a minimalist and natural vibe.
- Retro, natural vibe bracelet
- Material: Copper, natural stones, pearl
- Bracelet length: 16.3 cm
- Extension Chain: 1.8 Cm
- Weight: 11.3 g
- Craft: Vacuum color preserving electroplating real gold


The promotion is part of an internal management reshuffle following the departure of health and beauty chief executive Andy Gourlay.
Gourlay this month moves to a role as executive vice president at US-based Walgreens, partner in the Alliance Boots merger, while Fagan moves into her international marketing role this week.
Fagan will be responsible for leading the strategic direction of the Boots brand across its health and beauty division, and ensuring brand consistency in its international markets and across digital channels.
She will be replaced in the UK by Andy Ferguson, who was previously managing director of Boots Opticians but has now been appointed director of market for health and beauty in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
She returned to Boots in 2006 as the managing director of its opticians operation, before being promoted to the board to run the company’s marketing activity in 2007.
While in the role, she has focused on Boots’ engagement with customers, launching high-profile campaigns including the "Here come the girls" ads and current strapline "Let’s feel good."


The CERAMICSPEED Cadex-1 Hub Bearings Silver is a high-quality spare part designed specifically for bike enthusiasts who want the best performance and durability for their hubs. These bearings are meticulously engineered by CERAMICSPEED, a renowned company specializing in ceramic bearings, to provide smooth and efficient rotation for your bicycle wheels.The Cadex-1 Hub Bearings are made with precision ceramic balls that are known for their exceptionally low friction and excellent wear resistance. This means that they reduce the amount of energy needed to keep your wheels rolling, resulting in increased speed and enhanced performance. Furthermore, the ceramic balls are also corrosion-resistant, making them highly durable and ideal for a variety of riding conditions.The silver color of these spare parts adds a sleek and stylish touch to your bike’s overall appearance, making them an attractive choice for riders who appreciate both aesthetics and performance. With their precision design and superior materials, the CERAMICSPEED Cadex-1 Hub Bearings Silver have been tested and proven to provide a long-lasting solution for your hub replacement needs.Whether you are a professional cyclist looking to maximize your speed or a recreational rider seeking a smooth and reliable biking experience, the CERAMICSPEED Cadex-1 Hub Bearings Silver spare parts can greatly enhance your cycling adventures. Invest in these top-of-the-line bearings to ensure optimal performance and durability for your bike’s hubs.
Ceramicspeed Cadex-1 Hub Bearings is the perfect product to reach your bike goals. Complete your order with other related Hubs products and enjoy your life like never before. Some of our Spare parts products have a special promotion. Find them at bikeinn! We provide a wide choice from Ceramicspeed who is renowned in the highest quality materials, they never fail to deliver.


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To lose weight in a healthy way, it is first necessary to adopt new food reflexes, by betting, for example, on foods that act as real slimming allies. Among these, there are… Salsify! We grant you, these vegetables are far from being among the sexiest, nor the most appetizing and yet, as reported Cosmopolitan, they have everything to please your line and help you get rid of your excess pounds. This root vegetable, with white flesh, is particularly distinguished by its high fiber content (a 100-gram portion contains no less than 4.5 grams). Enough to maintain the proper functioning of the microbiota, improve digestion, slow down the assimilation of carbohydrates and reduce the absorption of toxins.
Low in calories, (count 57.90 kcal per 100g), salsify is even one of the least caloric vegetables on the stalls. It is also an excellent appetite suppressant, which promotes the feeling of satiety and limits cravings. In addition to its slimming virtues, consuming salsify more regularly will also guarantee you better cell renewal, thanks to its significant contribution of vitamin B9.
Salsify: how to cook them?
To take advantage of all their benefits, however, it will be necessary to be careful to cook them without adding too much fat such as butter or cream. If it is possible to eat them plain, barely blanched in boiling salted water, salsify will be just as good in your gratins, in your soups, as in your salads. They go particularly well with sour flavors like lemon or vinegar. Regarding its flavor, it is similar to that of asparagus or artichoke. Some people find salsify to have a mild, sweet taste, while others evoke a nutty taste. As its season extends from October to March, now is the time to enjoy it!

domain: food


text:
to rate this recipe.
1 pound firm tofu cubes
2 1/2 vegetable stock or water
1 cup water
1/2 cup canned pineapple, unsweetened and diced
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
2 stalk celery, chopped
soy sauce to taste
Fry the tofu in some oil, and set aside. In a soup pot over medium heat combine vegetable stock or water, pineapple pieces, tomatoes, and water. Add the tofu. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add celery, and season with soy sauce to taste. Bring to a simmer for 2 more minutes. Turn off heat. Serve with rice.
Veg Ingredients Glossary of ingredients
used in veg recipes & macrobiotic cooking.
Tips for cooking
vegetarian meals and low fat recipes at home.


text:
WASHINGTON - Congressional negotiators reached agreement Thursday on a compromise spending bill to avert a weekend federal shutdown. They also worked toward a deal renewing the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for another year but prepared a shorter version as a fallback in case talks fell short.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) told reporters he was still optimistic that bipartisan talks on yearlong extensions of the Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment coverage would succeed. But as a "Plan B," he said, they were also working on a two-month extension, which would also prevent cuts in Medicare reimbursements for doctors for that period.
Reid's remarks put a slight damper on a day on which, for the first time, Democratic and Republican leaders expressed optimism at prospects for swift compromise on their payroll tax standoff and a spending battle that had threatened to shutter federal agencies starting Saturday.
A deal on a $1 trillion spending bill was reached after Republicans agreed to drop language that would have blocked President Obama's liberalized rules on people who visit and send money to relatives in Cuba. But a GOP provision will stay in the bill thwarting an Obama administration rule on energy-efficiency standards that critics argued would make it hard for people to buy inexpensive incandescent lightbulbs.
The House is expected to approve the spending measure Friday, and the Senate could follow suit, possibly the same day.
Bargainers were considering the two-month version of the payroll tax cut and unemployment-benefits bill because they haven't agreed on how a yearlong extension would be paid for, said a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks. The two-month bill would cost $40 billion, according to the aide, and would let lawmakers revisit the measure after the holiday season.
Donald Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), said talks aimed at agreeing to a yearlong bill would continue.
"We're 12 hours into this debate, they just started talking," he said. "I wouldn't hit the panic button."
Still another year-end bill, setting new rules for the handling of terror suspects in U.S. custody, won final congressional approval and headed to Obama's desk for his signature.
On the payroll tax cut, the president said: "Right now, Congress needs to make sure that 160 million working Americans don't see their taxes go up on Jan. 1." He was referring to the tax-cut extension at the core of the jobs program he outlined in a speech three months ago.
House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, the most powerful Republican in an era of divided government, agreed. "We can extend payroll tax relief for American workers, help create new jobs, and keep the government running. And frankly, we can do it in a bipartisan way," he said.
The previous day's bristling rhetoric and partisan jabs all but vanished. Republicans agreed to consider changes to a $1 trillion spending bill compromise that they and at least one Democrat said were wrapped up days ago. The White House said it wanted adjustments.
There were separate negotiations on legislation to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Democrats abandoned their demand for a surtax on million-dollar incomes that they wanted to include in the measure, removing a provision that Republicans strongly opposed.
At a news conference, Boehner minimized the concession, noting that Democrats lacked the votes to impose the surtax a year ago when they commanded 60 votes in the Senate. Even so, he said, "there was some movement yesterday from the White House and Democrat leaders" toward a compromise.
Boehner also left open the possibility of a compromise on another issue - a House-passed provision that all but requires construction of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.
Construction "will put 20,000 people to work immediately And there are about 115,000 other jobs directly related to it," he said. Yet he did not to say construction of the project was a nonnegotiable condition as talks on the payroll tax-cut bill proceeded.
Senate defense bill
Obama has threatened to veto the House-passed bill, in part citing the requirement for the pipeline. The project has been studied for more than three years, but the president recently announced he would put off a decision until after the 2012 elections.
The president also wants to leave in place a system that provides aid for up to 99 weeks for the long-term unemployed. The House-passed measure reduces the total by 20 weeks, a step that the administration says would cut off 3.3 million individuals and that Democrats are hoping to soften if not reverse.
Also part of the negotiations was an attempt to head off a threatened 27 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, an item added in the House to appeal to conservatives unhappy at extending the payroll tax cuts.
The separate defense bill covered military personnel, weapons systems, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and more at a cost of $662 billion, $27 billion below Obama's request. The Senate approved it, 86-13.
The main controversy involved a provision to require military custody for foreign terrorist suspects linked to al-Qaeda or its affiliates and involved in plotting or attacking the United States. Under a change made to gain Obama's backing, the legislation would permit the FBI to arrest and interrogate foreign terror suspects, as is now the case.


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Artikelomschrijving BigBlue Cf1300P Duiklamp
The CF1300P is a versatile light for any diver.
The variable 7-37° beam is perfect for divers who may need a narrow beam one day but something softer and wider the next.
From quarry to the Caribbean, this light will give you all the functionality you could need.
1300 Lumens at 6500K color temperature
A variable 7-37° beam angle which can be changed on the fly by twisting the bezel
The rechargeable lithium-ion 18650 battery gives you two hours on the highest setting
Four power settings to reduce the intensity and increase battery life
Anodized aluminum housing means rugged dependability
Color-coded battery indicator
100M depth rating
Package Weight 2 lbs
1300 Lm (level IV) 650 Lm (level III) 325 Lm (level II) 175 Lm (level I)
Adjustable 7° to 37°
2 hrs (level IV), 4 hrs (level III), 8 hrs (level II), 20 hrs (level I)
Rechargeable Li-Ion 18650 Battery
100 Meters Tested
6500K (Cool White)
-117g (including battery)
Anodized Aluminum Alloy
Dia. 39.5 x L. 172.1 mm
250g (including battery)


In this article, we consider the impact of fiscal decentralization on government quality by way of disaggregated measures of the former. Specifically, we break down fiscal decentralization into sub-central expenditure on public procurement and compensation of public sector employees. We find that decentralizing public procurement is bad for government performance while the decentralization of public sector wages improves governance. We relate the negative effect to the rent-seeking activity of interest groups and the positive effect to the informational advantage of sub-central provision. Moreover, we explore the impact of the Great Recession on our results and find that it is associated with stronger negative and positive effects of decentralization on governance, something which is consistent with the observed increased in the degree of decentralization since 2007.
Kyriacou, Andreas P. and Roca-Sagalés, Oriol, "Decentralization and Governance in Europe:
Evidence from Different Expenditure
Components" (2018). ICEPP Working Papers. 166.


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Now in its fifth year, the DawnTown Design/Build competition announced that the international collaboration between Manuel Clavel-Rojo (Murcia, Spain) and Jacob Brillhart (Miami, FL) has been tasked to present their design to the public in the next 30 days. With the challenge of creatiung a low cost, temporary installation on the topic of Evolution in Miami, their winning design will be turned into a reality. ‘Up-Downtown’, the title of the project, is defined by Rojo defines as a metaphor for Miami, “A city is a complex machine, where everything is interconnected and any movement aﬀects the other.” More images and architects’ description after the break.
This concept is taken literally to present an interactive story of Miami’s rise. Miami is not a city that has developed steadily over time, but instead has had rapid growth spurts in generally short periods. The most interesting thing about Up-Downtown is how that intelligently that fact has been captured. The installation is a 10’ x 10’ x 10’ box structure using steel for supports. A mirror sits at its base, with blue and pink neon lights representing the water’s edge and roadways, creating a perimeter of the downtown area. Through an analysis of building footprints and roadways, the design team created a system of wires that map out important buildings from Miami’s past, present, and future above the base.
The wires are then assembled into a system of counterweights and pulleys which link to diﬀerent flat planes that sit on top of the bed of wires. Once assembled, participants can interact with the installation by pulling on diﬀerent wires, watching these flat planes extrude and form the outline of the diﬀerent high rises around downtown Miami. Rojo goes on to state that “downtown needed people to become what it is now”, and without the interaction the installation lays dormant, waiting to be explored. The design is very clever, as it holds a didactic quality that can appeal to adults and children alike.
The installation will be setup at HistoryMiami in early March, and taken down in May, with the possibility of traveling to diﬀerent sites in and around the city. The grand opening celebration will be announced through DawnTown’s and HistoryMiami’s respective websites and social media outlets. The DawnTown Design Build Competition is made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, HisotryMiami, and the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
For more information on Dawntown’s competition, please visit here.
Collaborating Architects: Ricardo Carcelén González, Rafael de Giles González, Diego Victoria García Collaborating Architecture Students: Trinitario Casanova Pujante, Pedro Pablo Ruiz Cubero


A Lakewood, Washington, woman received more than 100 scratches, bites and other injuries when she was attacked by a group of masked bandits on Monday. Twenty-eight-year-old Michaela Lee's attackers weren't people, but rather a pack of raccoons that chased after the jogger, apparently in retaliation for Lee's dog scaring a mama raccoon and her babies up a tree.
"As I was bending down, I saw them coming through the grass," she told KING-TV while showing off her wounds. "You wouldn't believe how fast raccoons can run...I felt like they were hunting me, [a] 'taking me down' pack mentality."
Lee ran for her life, with at least five raccoons chasing her. "They tripped me, they jumped on me, were biting me. It's kind of surreal. The kind of thing you'd see in a movie."
Lee's dog Madison managed to scare the masked animals away. "I think she literally saved my face," said Lee, who managed to make it to a neighbor's house to safety.
Provided by ABC News Radio © 2012


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VAV Life Sciences has offered to support academic research on advanced lipid-based Novel Drug Delivery Systems (NDDS) used in medical, cosmetics and nutritional therapies. The company has announced a slew of research benefits to universities and academic institutions around the world that take up research in lipids, VAV said in a statement.
To foster academic research in lipids, VAV is offering guidance in analytical techniques, research assistance in characterisation and project guidance. Its subject matter experts will assist university research students in selecting the right grade and writing the project protocol and standard operating procedures. In addition to this, the company will provide complementary lipid samples that are otherwise not easily available and are expensive to procure. Universities and research institutes interested in developing and testing lipids can also avail of VAV’s world-class GMP facilities for research and development, the statement added.
Speaking of the company’s decision, Arun Kedia, Managing Director, VAV Life Sciences said in the statement, “Lipid nanotechnology is a niche science that has a huge potential for treating unresolved diseases in healthcare. Diseases like muscular dystrophy, viral infections, genetic and autoimmune disorders can be treated using lipid-based novel drug delivery systems. However, universities do not take up research due to issues like shortage of highly purified lipid samples, high costs of procurement, and lack of scalability. By supporting research in lipid nanomedicine, we want to encourage more students to take up research and foster wider acceptance for PhD topics from universities.”


Buhari Leaves Out Dalung, Dan-Ali, Kachikwu, Others From Ministerial List
President Muhammadu Buhari has released the ministerial list with some cabinet members from his first tenure missing.
Among those missing are; Solomon Dalung, Mansur Dan Ali, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, and Isaac Adewole.
Others include Audu Ogbeh, Okechukwu Enelamah, Abdulrahman Dambazau, Udoma Udo Udoma, Usani Uguru Usani, Adebayo Shittu, Suleiman Adamu and Heineken Lokpobiri.
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It’s back to school time, and I’ve got some great resources related to my books for teachers!
This unique nonfiction picture book highlights 14 women who raised their voices and changed the world! Learn about these heroes and hear their inspiring words in their own voices at the touch of a button. Each entry features discussion questions ideal for the classroom.
Speak Up! Listen Up!: Using She Spoke in the Classroom: guest post at Pencil Tips: Writing Workshop Strategies from Children’s Authors and Illustrators
Nita’s First Signs teaches ten essential signs for every parent and child to know, including eat, more, hungry, milk, all done, ball, play, love, please, and thank you. A simple story about Nita and her parents teaches each sign in context, and repetition throughout each story makes them easy to practice. Even better, each page slides open to reveal accurate instructions on how to make each sign, plus tabs on the side of each page make it simple to locate every sign for later reference.


Eocr-Ss Motor Protector
|FOB Price:||US $7 / Piece|
|Min. Order:||1 Piece|
|Min. Order||FOB Price|
|1 Piece||US $7/ Piece|
|Transport Package:||Box Then Carton|
|Payment Terms:||L/C, T/T, Western Union|
- Model NO.: EOCR-SS
- Trademark: Clin
EOCR series motor protector (hereinafter referred to as the protector) is applicable to the
power supply circuit with AC 50HZ, and the protector works at the rated of below 380V
voltage. The protector and AC contactor or other switches form a motor control circuit.
When the main circuit of motor generates phase failure, overload and other abnormal working
states, the protector will timely break switch contacts, disconnect three-phase power supply
off to make fast and reliable protection for the motor.
Protector using potentiometer quantization setting mode regulates the protector setting current
directly according to the rated current of motor nameplate, which is more convenient and
intuitive than the setting mode which sets without quantization, with starting motor but cannot
set the motor rated current accurately.
Protector using intelligent multisession inverse time limit protection technology controlled by the
current multiplying power, which can meet the requirements of different kinds of motors from
light load to the overload start.
|Working Power||AC220V, AC380V 50Hz|
|Current Range||05 type: 0.5~6.5A; 30 type:3~30A|
|Start Avoiding Time||D-Time:0.2~38s|
|Phase Failure Operation Time||O-Time:2~17s|
|Overload Operation Time|
|Run Stalling Time|
|Start Avoiding Time||"D-Time"+"O-Time":4~57s|
|Reset Mode||panel reset or power off reset|
|Contact Form||1 NC and NO switchover contact|
|Contact Capacity||3A AC380V(resistance)|
|Installation Mode||guide rail type|


In his latest foray, the Tesla and SpaceX founder appeared on Clubhouse -- a social network accessible only by invitation -- to interview the head of online broker Robinhood, who is in the hot seat for his management of the GameStop affair, a chain of video game stores whose share price recently rocketed and is shaking hedge funds.
After discussing his ambitions for the colonization of Mars, as well as cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence, Musk spoke with Vlad Tenev for 14 minutes, offering him the opportunity to respond to his detractors.
Robinhood has been limiting transactions on GameStop shares for several days.
But the gaming company, in fragile financial health, is being propped up by an army of small traders in a crusade against giant Wall Street hedge funds betting on its demise.
"Spill the beans, man," Musk said. "What happened last week? Why can't people buy the GameStop shares? People demand an answer and want to know the details and the truth."
- Contempt - Musk, who last month became the richest man in the world on paper thanks to a Tesla stock market boom, has nearly 45 million followers on Twitter.
Swept on by the success of his companies Tesla and SpaceX, as well as by interest in the electric cars and rockets they manufacture, he is considered by many fans to be a visionary, his slightest word enough to sway some investors.
When he changed his Twitter profile to read simply "#bitcoin" on Friday, the cryptocurrency's price temporarily skyrocketed by around 20 percent.
And the mere mention of the Polish publisher of video game CD Projekt, or the e-commerce platform Shopify or the craft market Etsy -- which apparently delighted Musk with a hand-knitted hat for his dog -- caused their stocks to soar.
The business giant, who has expressed his contempt for investors betting on a decline in a company's shares, waded in on the GameStop affair by tweeting a link to the Reddit group WallStreetBets, which helped stock of the video game specialist take off.
Influential figures jostling the fate of companies is nothing new, said Aswath Damodaran, a professor of finance at New York University.
Comments by banker John Pierpont Morgan more than 100 years ago, or Chrysler boss Lee Iacocca in the 1980s, could move markets. And the pronouncements of investment guru Warren Buffett are still scrutinized by many traders, earning Buffett the nickname "the Oracle of Omaha," the city where he lives.
- 'Outsider persona' - "The fact that Twitter and Clubhouse have replaced traditional media is more a reflection of media than it is of markets," said Damodaran.
But Musk has been "very intentional about creating kind of an outlaw, outsider persona," said Christopher Smith, professor of communications at the University of Southern California.
"And that resonates with the tech bro culture," he said.
In a highly fragmented media landscape, Musk has mastered the art of using new technologies "to really stoke excitement," he said.
Other giants like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos rely on their business portfolio to do the talking, "but Elon Musk is probably more of an attention-seeking narcissist, he's much more of a showman," added Smith.
Musk often uses his personal Twitter account to impart news about his various companies.
But his Twitter presence has caused him some headaches, too. Musk had a serious run-in with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused him in 2018 of misleading investors by tweeting about a possible withdrawal of Tesla from the stock exchange. The tweet forced him to step down as chairman of the automaker's board.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Brands & Companies
- Adani Enterprises Board OKs Raising up to ₹20kcr Via FPO
Adani Enterprises said Friday that the company’s board approved the raising of up to ₹20,000 crore ($2.5 billion) through a follow-on public offering (FPO) by issuing new shares to retail and institutional investors.All Aboard Black Friday Express — From US to India
Samsung, Amazon, Uniqlo and Domino’s were among several companies looking to turn Black Friday, yesterday, into another big sale day in India.Slew of Reforms brings Ease to Insurers
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) allowed private equity funds to invest directly in insurance companies and banks to tie up with as many as nine insurance companies as part of several measures approved at its meeting on Friday that will free up about ₹3,500 crore capital.
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Boutique luxury in the Caribbean…
Enjoy a luxury holiday to a small and stylish hotel in the Caribbean, where fantastic service and dining are guaranteed.
All package prices include flights, transfers and the board basis mentioned. Call us on 01752 880880 or email [email protected] to discuss your next tropical holiday.
Continue reading “Boutique Luxury in the Caribbean”
Swim retreat in Nevis
25 March – 1 April 2020
Enjoy a leisurely holiday on the charming island of Nevis while working on your swimming technique in the warm waters of the Caribbean…
Continue reading “Nevis Swim Retreat 2020”
Take part in a week-long swim retreat based at Nisbet Plantation Beach Club, learning how to become a more efficient swimmer with triple Olympians, Keri-anne Payne and David Carry. The retreat is perfect for swimmers of all abilities, from beginners who wish to learn how to swim front crawl to those who are more experienced and are looking to hone their skills in open water swimming.

domain: travel


FRAMINGHAM 16 FEBRUARY 2011 - Users are complaining that Seagate's Momentus XT hybrid drive, which combines solid-state drive (SSD) technology with a traditional hard drive, has a significant defect that causes it to pause frequently, freeze up and beep a lot.
One user said his drive recorded more than 65,000 spin-downs/spin-ups in its first month of use.
Much of the problem involves a Momentus XT feature called Advanced Power Management (APM), which automatically spins down the hard disk to manage power use and increase mechanical life span. The feature also allows the SSD to take over read requests and serve up the most frequently used data. Users on Seagate's online forum say the problem is that the spin-down feature is too aggressive.
The Momentus XT's relatively low price and its promise of high performance have led to a boom in sales. During a recent conference call about its financial performance, Seagate announced that it shipped about 350,000 units since the Momentus XT was released last spring.
Darren Dittrich, CEO of Sell.com Marketplace, said he was impressed with the concept of the Seagate drive -- a product that cut the high cost of SSD by adding a hard drive for higher capacity. But after purchasing four 500GB Momentus XT drives to use in his personal computers, including a MacBook Pro, Dittrich said the product's shine quickly dulled.
He said he noticed an inordinate amount of spin-downs with the drive. After a couple of weeks, he purchased a SMART (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology) utility to investigate the drive's performance and found that it clocked in 3,200 spin down/up cycles.
"That can't be good for anything," he said.
Dittrich said he replaced his MacBook's Momentus XT with another one that he'd purchased and had in production in another computer a month earlier. The SMART software showed that it had spun down and up 65,535 times.
The Momentus XT is a 7200-rpm Serial ATA hard disk drive combined with 4GB of SSD capacity and 32MB of DDR3 cache memory. Among its advanced software features is the ability for the drive to track use trends and take advantage of its high-performance flash memory to serve up the most frequently accessed data, while storing the bulk of data on its hard drive component.
Seagate said it released a firmware upgrade for the Momentus XT, Version SD24, to address its aggressive APM tool. Dittrich said he installed the firmware upgrade and found that it addressed the frequency of spin-downs, but the drive is still slower than the native hard drive that came with the MacBook and he's still suffering from "odd lagging, and mysterious slowdowns."
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Check here to find out all the latest information on Drought Contingency in the South Ellis County Water Supply Corp. community. To view our Drought Contingency Plan, please click here (if available).
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