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Add some vibrant wall artwork for spring or summer with this selection of printable wall artwork, which include floral prints, watercolors, calendars, and monograms.
Whilst we are enthusiasts of neutral areas and neutral house finishes (like our white entire-height board and batten walls, oak flooring, and grey kitchen cabinets) we are also major enthusiasts of Colour! (like our yellow Swedish Mora clock and inexperienced patio chairs and matching wall) In particular when spring lastly will come to our area in this article in Utah, including some refreshing hues to match the new development outside is a swift and simple way to update spring decor.
Paint is a great refreshing spring update, but these days we’re keeping it even less difficult and highlighting some of our vibrant printables for spring from the new Remodelaholic Shop. Most of these also workwork for yr-round decorating if you’re as sluggish to update decor as I am in some cases 😉
And pssst… be certain to read through to the close to see about the distinctive minimal-time lower price we have just for audience like you!
Colourful Wall Art Printables for Spring and Year-Round Decor
This write-up consists of affiliate inbound links master far more and read through our entire disclosure policy in this article.
Four Seasons Abstract Watercolor Landscape Established
Topping our vibrant printables record: this stunning set of summary watercolor landscapes provides vibrant shades (plus a bit of gold foil bling) whether or not you use a single at a time and swap for just about every period, or exhibit the set of spring, summer, autumn, and winter season alongside one another as a gallery wall. Additionally, you can print these any dimension you’d like, from 4×6 and 8×10 up to 12×16!
Floral Property Sweet Property Arranging Established
For a bit of spring greenery, print this Property Sweet Property typography wall artwork, with matching targets tracker, grocery record, and to do record.
Watercolor Floral Wall Art
This basic white flower artwork printable is a single of my favorites of all time! Very good for every single period, the daring inexperienced leaves give me faith that my grass *will* improve inexperienced once again. (Pictured with the agate wall artwork, which will come in 3 shades.)
Brushstroke Art Duo
Future, this set of two brushstroke summary artwork prints characteristics daring pinks, reds, blue-greens, and yellow. Exhibit alongside one another or on your own, or as part of a gallery wall.
Pineapple Term Art Printable
Welcome spring and your house visitors with this pineapple wall artwork printable. Also great if you are enthusiasts of delectable taste 😉
Gold and Floral Affirmation Printables
Give your self a pep converse with this set of 3 attractive floral estimate prints, featuring some cheerful affirmations: never be like the rest of them darling, be courageous with your existence, and hi there darling.
Relevant: Daring Colourful Affirmation Posters for Young ones
Family Identify and Letter Wall Art Printable
Select your colour and wreath model, then enter you relatives original, relatives title, and established yr in this relatives monogram wall artwork!
Blue Floral Monograms
If you like blue like I do, you are going to be swooning more than these attractive blue floral and gold letter monograms! Pick the letter of your to start with or last title — and these would be great for a housewarming or wedding ceremony gift, way too! Use the drop-down below to opt for your letter and include to your cart.
Pink and Gold Monograms
If delicate pinks are far more your model, then most likely you are going to prefer this pink twig wreath monogram with gold lettering. Or if you can not make a decision, why not each? 😉
Hand-Drawn Feather Art Print Established
For a subtle but stunning pop of spring colour, body a single or far more of our quite favorite hand-drawn feather prints — they are obtainable in turquoise or navy, as properly as a minimalist fashionable black and white. Print as a entire-sized 13×19 utilizing a big-scale house printer like our Canon iP8720 or scale to a smaller sized dimension, these kinds of as 11×17 or 8×10, to suit your house. Perfect to include to a gallery wall body grouping, or do like we did in this article and body the set of four all alongside one another. (See the write-up in this article for how we mounted the prints on boards and framed them ourselves for a tremendous very affordable wall artwork set in our hallway!)The printable set incorporates all four exceptional feather styles, in 3 shades just about every.
Kitchen area Herb Wall Art
Rising herbs is usually in period if you have an indoor herb back garden — but spring is a great time to include some inexperienced kitchen wall artwork to your decor! Print this set of 3 or this set of four kitchen herb artwork prints.
Seasonal Watercolor Art and Calendar Sets
And rounding out our favorite vibrant decor printables: we really just can not converse about printables without the need of highlighting our calendar set and watercolor holiday getaway set! The calendar provides a pleasant bit of colour and model to my desk (even with all the “creative” mess, not pictured…)
and the holiday getaway print set helps make decorating a mantel or shelf as a seasonal exhibit SO simple — just pop the set of ten prints in a body, pair it with an anchor piece like our big gold mirror for the mantel or a neutral carved wooden piece for a shelf, and then swap out a vibrant accent or two for just about every period.
That is my kind of simple decorating! Also, a great housewarming or birthday gift.
For those people of you who read through to the close (or just scrolled this far): here’s the reward you’ve been ready for!
Remodelaholic audience (of course, which is you) get a distinctive lower price on our Colour Me Spring printable wall artwork selection, which incorporates all the prints in this write-up and Extra! Add your favorites from the selection in this article to your cart, and then use code COLORMESPRINGSALE at checkout to get $two off your buy of $9.99 or far more. This sale lasts only until eventually the to start with working day of spring (March 19), so head to the shop to decide your favorites and include some spring colour to your walls.
Want to be notified of new printables and discounts in the shop? Signal up in this article for our “insider” printable e-mail and be the to start with to know!
Colourful Spring Wall Art Printables
Shop the entire selection below or by clicking in this article.


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Objectives:In diet-induced obesity, it is not clear whether impaired glucose metabolism is caused directly by the diet, or indirectly via obesity. This study examined the effects of different free-choice, high-caloric, obesity-inducing diets on glucose metabolism. In these free-choice diets, saturated fat and/or a 30% sugar solution are provided in an addition to normal chow pellets.Method:In the first experiment, male rats received a free-choice high-fat high-sugar (HFHS), free-choice high-fat (HF) or a chow diet. In a second experiment, male rats received a free-choice high-sugar (HS) diet or chow diet. For both experiments, after weeks 1 and 4, an intravenous glucose tolerance test was performed.Results:Both the HFHS and HF diets resulted in obesity with comparable plasma concentrations of free fatty acids. Interestingly, the HF diet did not affect glucose metabolism, whereas the HFHS diet resulted in hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia and in glucose intolerance because of a diminished insulin response. Moreover, adiposity in rats on the HF diet correlated positively with the insulin response to the glucose load, whereas adiposity in rats on the HFHS diet showed a negative correlation. In addition, total caloric intake did not explain differences in glucose tolerance. To test whether sugar itself was crucial, we next performed a similar experiment in rats on the HS diet. Rats consumed three times as much sugar when compared with rats on the HFHS diet, which resulted in obesity with basal hyperinsulinemia. Glucose tolerance, however, was not affected.Conclusion:Together, these results suggest that not only obesity or total caloric intake, but the diet content also is crucial for the glucose intolerance that we observed in rats on the HFHS diet.International Journal of Obesity advance online publication, 17 August 2010; doi:10.1038/ijo.2010.164.
 Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands  Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterd
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: International journal of obesity (2005)
It is recommended that soccer players consume a high carbohydrate (CHO) diet to augment performance. However, growing evidence suggests that there is a link between high free-sugar (FS) intake (>5% to...
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) times the daily rhythms of behavioural processes including feeding. Beyond the SCN, the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC), involved in feeding regulation and metabol...
Prolonged consumption of a palatable, high fat (HF) diet paired with a lack of physical activity can exacerbate the development of obesity. Exercise can facilitate the maintenance of a healthy body we...
While high-caloric diet impairs insulin response to cause hyperglycemia, whether and how counter-regulatory hormones are modulated by high-caloric diet is largely unknown. We find that enhanced respon...
Increasing secretion and production of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) by continuous ingestion of certain food components has been expected to prevent glucose intolerance and obesity. In this study, w...
Dietary consumption of fructose has increased by nearly 50% since 1960. A high fructose diet (HFrD) results in greater visceral adiposity and systemic insulin resistance than a high gluco...
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a condition in which high blood sugar levels occur during pregnancy. GDM increases the risk of medical complications during pregnancy which may harm...
The purpose of this study is to find out how the amount of fat or sugar in a person's diet, or the number of meals eaten each day, affect the amount of fat that people's bodies make, the t...
The investigators evaluated dietary modulation of LIPC rs1800588 (-514 C/T) for lipids and glucose using a randomized cross-over design comparing a high-fat Western diet and a low-fat trad...
BACKGROUND: The treatment with continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) offers improved glycemic control for patients with type 1 diabetes. However, patients with type 1 diabetes usuall...
A glycosidase that hydrolyzes a glucosylceramide to yield free ceramide plus glucose. Deficiency of this enzyme leads to abnormally high concentrations of glucosylceramide in the brain in GAUCHER DISEASE. EC 220.127.116.11.
A course of food intake that is high in FATS and low in CARBOHYDRATES. This diet provides sufficient PROTEINS for growth but insufficient amount of carbohydrates for the energy needs of the body. A ketogenic diet generates 80-90% of caloric requirements from fats and the remainder from proteins.
Liquid chromatographic techniques which feature high inlet pressures, high sensitivity, and high speed.
A non-essential amino acid that occurs in high levels in its free state in plasma. It is produced from pyruvate by transamination. It is involved in sugar and acid metabolism, increases IMMUNITY, and provides energy for muscle tissue, BRAIN, and the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.
A diet typical of the Mediterranean region characterized by a pattern high in fruits and vegetables, cereals and bread, potatoes, poultry, beans, nuts, olive oil and fish while low in red meat and dairy and moderate in alcohol consumption.
Within medicine, nutrition (the study of food and the effect of its components on the body) has many different roles. Appropriate nutrition can help prevent certain diseases, or treat others. In critically ill patients, artificial feeding by tubes need t...
Obesity is the condition in which excess fat has accumulated in the body (mostly in subcutaneous tissues). clinical obesity is considered to be present when a person has a BMI of over 30 (Oxford Dictionary of Medicine). It is becoming increasing common i...

domain: medical


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Yes we've heard this. Low carb works in the short term.
Low-carb diet burns the most calories in small study
By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
A new study is raising questions about the age-old belief that a calorie is a calorie.
The research finds that dieters who were trying to maintain their weight loss burned significantly more calories eating a low-carb diet than they did eating a low-fat diet.
But some experts say these findings are very preliminary.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was designed to see if changing the type of diet people consumed helped with weight maintenance because dieters often regain lost weight.
So scientists had 21 obese participants, ages 18 to 40, lose 10% to 15% of their initial body weight (about 30 pounds). After their weight had stabilized, each participant followed one of three different diets for four weeks. Participants were fed food that was prepared for them by diet experts. The dieters were admitted to the hospital four times for medical and metabolic testing.
Here’s a look at the three types of diets used in the new study:
A low-fat diet, which is about 20% of calories from fat, 60% from carbohydrates, 20% from protein. It emphasizes whole-grain products and fruits and vegetables and cuts way back on oils, nuts, fatty meats and other high-fat foods.
A low-carb diet, similar to the Atkins diet, with only 10% of calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, 60% from fat. This diet emphasizes beef, fish, chicken, eggs, cheese, some vegetables and fruits while slashing the consumption of breads, pasta, potatoes, rice, cakes, cookies and starchy vegetables.
A low-glycemic index diet, similar to a Mediterranean diet, is made up of vegetables, fruit, beans, healthy fats (olive oil, nuts) and mostly healthy grains (old-fashioned oats, brown rice). It gets about 40% of daily calories from carbohydrates, 40% from fat and 20% from protein.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
•A low-fat diet which was about 20% of calories from fat and emphasized whole-grain products and fruits and vegetables.
•A low-carb diet, similar to the Atkins diet, with only 10% of calories from carbohydrates. It emphasized fish, chicken, beef, eggs, cheese, some vegetables and fruits while eliminating foods such as breads, pasta, potatoes and starchy vegetables.
•A low-glycemic index diet, similar to a Mediterranean diet, made up of vegetables, fruit, beans, healthy fats (olive oil, nuts) and mostly healthy grains (old-fashioned oats, brown rice). These foods digest more slowly, helping to keep blood sugar and hormones stable after the meal.
Findings, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association: Participants burned about 300 calories more a day on a low-carb diet than they did on a low-fat diet. "That's the amount you'd burn off in an hour of moderate intensity physical activity without lifting a finger," says senior author David Ludwig, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children's Hospital.
"Participants burned 150 calories more on the low-glycemic index diet than the low-fat diet. That's about an hour of light physical activity," he says.
The reason for the low-carb advantage is unclear, he says.
"We think the low-carb and low-glycemic index diets, by not causing the surge and crash in blood sugar, don't trigger the starvation response. When the body thinks it's starving, it turns down metabolism to conserve energy," he says.
The authors note a downside to the low-carb diet: It appears to raise some risk factors for heart disease.
Ludwig says that restricting carbohydrates over the long term may be hard for many people. If you're trying to lose weight, "you can get a jump start with a low-carb diet, but over the long term, a low-glycemic index diet may be better than severely restricting carbohydrates."
"The low-glycemic index diet seems to be the happy medium," says Cara Ebbeling, associate director of the Obesity Prevention Center. "It didn't slow metabolism as much as the low-fat diet, and it didn't seem to have some of the negative effects on cardiovascular disease risk."
On a low-glycemic index diet, you would avoid highly processed carbs such as white bread, white rice, many snack foods, prepared breakfast cereals, sugary desserts and sugary beverages, she says.
Experts had different responses to the findings.
George Bray, an obesity researcher at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge who has also studied this topic and who wrote the accompanying editorial in JAMA, says that other studies "show that you can do well on any diet as long as you stick to it. Adherence is the major key for weight loss and maintenance. There is no magic in any diet."
Eric Westman, a Duke University researcher who has conducted several studies on the low-carb diet and is co-author of The New Atkins for a New You, says this study documents that the "lower the carbohydrates, the better the metabolic effects. People burn more calories if they eat fewer carbohydrates."
Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University, says longer studies conducted among people in their own environments, not with such controlled meals, have shown "little difference in weight loss and maintenance between one kind of diet and another." More research is needed to show that interesting results like these are applicable in real life, she says.
"In the meantime, if you want to lose weight, eat less."
Yes we've heard this. Low carb works in the short term.
and there's the rub. Trying "to stick to it." trying to maintain fat lose while on a high carb (high GI) diet will make you feel like you're having to starve yourself to keep the weight off.George Bray, an obesity researcher at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge who has also studied this topic and who wrote the accompanying editorial in JAMA, says that other studies "show that you can do well on any diet as long as you stick to it. Adherence is the major key for weight loss and maintenance. There is no magic in any diet."
Would I be putting a grain-feed cow on a fad diet if I took it out of the feedlot and put it on pasture eating the grass nature intended?
In other words a person to whom someone has been imprudent enough to grant a professorship, no less, in what is (ostensibly) a science subject, when confronted with results she doesn't like attempts to brush them aside.
She then repeats her mantra.
She might as well have put her fingers in her ears and chanted, "La, la, la, can't hear you."
The low carb group was the highest in protein which is the most thermogenic macro. It was rigged on the LC side when it wasn't concluded the carb content of diets that made it superior or the higher protein. The low-carb group had 30% protein the other 2 only had 20% protein.
As some even say proteins actual calorie content works out to be about 3 instead of 4. Now lets see them switch the higher protein content to the low fat and Mediterranean diet so we have some proper comparisons.
I saw this earlier from a different source, but no one cited what the "increased risk of CVD" was with low carb... What is it? Where is the data from?
as richard nikoley and evelyn at carb sane have both queried - if the diets are isocaloric, and this was a weight maintenance period (i.e. nobody's weight changed), yet one group had a higher RMR... something isn't adding up. i mean quite literally!
Just saw this Good science, bad interpretation « The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D.
It gives much greater depth to the study (seeing as I couldn't access all the data) showing impact on inflammation, leptin, and other metabolic parameters.


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domain: law


The full 51 page report can be downloaded at the link:
The Future of U.S. Special Operations Forces
Author: Linda Robinson, Senior International Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation
Council on Foreign Relations Press
Council Special Report No. 66
Council Special Report No. 66
U.S. special operations forces are doing more things in more places than ever before. They are now active in some seventy countries and, since 2001, have seen their combined budget nearly quintuple—a trend that seems likely to continue. As the United States seeks ways to tackle a range of security threats worldwide, shore up the resilience of its friends and allies against terrorist and criminal networks, and minimize need for large-scale military interventions, the importance of special operations forces will grow.
Yet, writes Linda Robinson in this Council Special Report, the strategic vision for special operations forces has not kept pace with the growing demands for their skills. Most people—and, indeed, many policymakers—associate the special operations forces with secret nighttime raids like the one that targeted Osama bin Laden: tactical operations against a particular individual or group. The abilities of special operations forces, however, extend much further, into military training, information operations, civilian affairs, and more. As the United States shifts its focus from war fighting to building and supporting its partners, Robinson argues, it will become critical to better define these strategic capabilities and ensure that special operations forces have the staffing and funding to succeed. Robinson further calls on the Pentagon to remove bureaucratic and operational obstacles to cooperation among the special operations forces of each service, and between special and conventional forces. She also recommends that all special operations forces commands work to develop a pipeline of talented, motivated officers with expertise in these issues, and that the role of civilian leadership in budget and operational oversight be reinforced.
The Future of U.S. Special Operations Forces is a timely report on the future of what may become the military's most important troops. It offers a broad set of recommendations covering institutional, operational, and intellectual reforms that could improve the versatility and effectiveness of the special operations forces. As the Pentagon seeks new ways to exert American power in an era of lower budgets and higher aversion to wars on the scale of Iraq and Afghanistan, this report argues that expanding the role of special operations forces can—and should—be high on the agenda.
More About This Publication
Linda Robinson is a senior international policy analyst at RAND. In 2011–2012 she was an adjunct senior fellow for U.S. national security and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and in 2013 she was a public policy scholar at the Wilson Center. A best-selling author and analyst, Robinson has reported on conflicts, political transitions, and other foreign policy issues around the world, including special operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, and elsewhere. Her books include Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq; Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces; and Intervention or Neglect: Central America and Panama Beyond the 1980s. She was previously senior writer for national security and terrorism and Latin America bureau chief at U.S. News & World Report and senior editor at Foreign Affairs magazine. Robinson coauthored a study on special operations command and control for the U.S. government in 2008–2009. She is currently writing a book on special operations in Afghanistan. Robinson has also been a Nieman fellow at Harvard University, senior consulting fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), and author-in-residence at the Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at the John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. She has received the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense and other awards.


The High Priestess' of the Temple of Hymeniaios are reporting that Group Marriages are now beginning to outnumber Monogamous Marriages by three to one.
Whilst such unions have long been legal on Krylos they were not common until the last 2 cycles when a sudden rise in the trend started to appear.
Government figures support this claim and the state of the economy could be the reason for the increase in Group Marriages, with more citizens looking to consolidate their wealth and protect their families' future in these uncertain times.
Whilst such unions are frowned upon by some sectors of the community, studies have revealed that children tend benefit in a number of ways:
- “The children have more individualized time with adults.”
- They “can spend less time in day care because of the flexibility of having multiple parental figures involved in their lives.”
- “…the greater diversity of interests available from adult figures helps children foster a wider variety of hobbies and skills.”
This reporter asked a researcher her views on the impact of Group Marriages on children.
Both parents and kids saw advantages to the Group Marriage as well. For parents, having more than two adults on hand to help with child-rearing could be a lifesaver. Kids also reported liking having multiple adults whom they trusted — though they complained that with so much supervision, they couldn't get away with anything. Children also spoke of the advantages of growing up knowing they could make their own decisions about how to build their families.
The results are likely somewhat optimistic, she said, as dysfunctional families are usually less likely to volunteer for studies. But the lack of widespread trauma among the children of Group Marriages suggests that these unions not, by definition, terrible for kids.
"One of the main things this does indicate to me is that these families can be really good places to raise children," she said. "Not necessarily that all of them, definitely are, but that they may be, depending on how families work it out."


October 26, 2012 BY Brendan Dunne
New Balance has a history of cranking out special sneaker releases to tie in with marathon events, this New Balance 860 being the latest pair to chip in to that tradition. The super bright sneakers sport a brilliant green and blue look, complete with a miniature recreation of the city’s skyline and graffiti font call-outs to the various boroughs. Click through with us to check out the eye popping New Balance runner and be on the lookout for these NYC Marathon release right now from the folks at David Z and New Balance online.
Tags: New Balance 860


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Companies whose employees facilitate tax evasion will be held criminally liable, David Cameron will tell MPs today.
The Prime Minister will address the Commons after a week in which his personal tax affairs came under scrutiny.
Over the weekend, Number 10 published data on his tax and earnings between 2009 and 2015, with a £200,000 gift from his mother attracting attention.
And today he will tell the Commons the government will bring forward plans for criminal penalties to be imposed on companies whose employees facilitate tax evasion.
The government has also announced plans to create a cross-border taskforce to investigate all evidence of illegality that has emerged from the Panama papers.
Cameron said: “This government has done more than any other to take action against corruption in all its forms, but we will go further.
“That is why we will legislate this year to hold companies who fail to stop their employees facilitating tax evasion criminally liable.”

domain: economics


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In the first part of this series, The Informer examined a recent surge among blacks nationwide in gun club memberships as well as a significant increase in gun purchases, also among blacks. Now, we turn to landmark comprehensive juvenile justice reform […]
Over 300 Americans are shot each day and 90 die from gun violence every 24 hours, startling statistics that have spurred a national task force to sponsor a congressional briefing and hold two town halls to address the issue a week before the presidential election. […]
It was a death that dominated the headlines. Jordan Davis, an African-American teenager, and a group of friends were sitting in their parked car in Jacksonville, Fla., playing rap music and, otherwise, just minding their own business.
How dare the President and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton go on the public airwaves and demand changes in gun ownership in America. How dare they take a tragedy, like the recent mass killing in Oregon at Umpqua Community College, where 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, described as an angry, disconnected young man, went on a rampage, killing nine innocent people and injuring others before being shot and killed by law officials, and politicize the situation. […]
By Marian Wright Edelman NNPA Columnist Recently, Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., pastor emeritus at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, and former co-pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s […]

domain: news


The companies have created a system which tracks a device’s location. The technology is intended for Industry 4.0 use cases.
Bosch has implemented a proof of concept for the technology at its production plant in Germany. The companies say extensive tests under realistic manufacturing conditions have shown an accuracy within 50 cm in 90% of the factory footprint.
Traditionally, 5G positioning works by measuring the time it takes for mobile signals to travel from a mobile device to different base stations.
Nokia says it has expanded on this by equipping 5G nodes with multiple receiving antennas. This allows the network to detect the incoming angles of signals to better predict the most probable position of a mobile device. The companies say their proof-of-concept achieves a level of accuracy well beyond current state-of-the-art cellular positioning systems.
According to Nokia, precision localization is important for many applications in industrial environments, such as robot navigation, asset tracking and worker safety.


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For close to two years, a pharmacist fabricated records to hide the fact that he was selling excessive quantities of cough syrup to individuals, and pocketed more than S$200,000 in profits.
On Wednesday (Dec 7), William Woo Tat Meng, 58, was sentenced to eight months and three weeks in jail for selling nearly 2,500L of codeine-based cough syrup illegally — the first pharmacist to be convicted of the offence under the Poisons Act.
He pleaded guilty to three charges, which include providing false information to the authorities.
Under the Act, pharmacists are not allowed to sell more than two bottles or 240ml of such cough syrup at any one time, and are required to record particulars of customers who buy them.
Woo, who owns Community Pharmacy in Bukit Timah Plaza, sold three to 12 bottles of Dhasedyl syrup per customer, charging S$18 to S$20 per 120ml-bottle.
The court charges showed that he dispensed a total of 20,440 bottles between May 7, 2013 and April 23, 2015.
To sell more of the cough medicine and to avoid detection from the authorities, Woo entered false information in his dispensing record books, using fictitious names or re-entering previous customers’ details.
When he was questioned by the authorities, he revealed that he had been carrying out these acts for the past 10 years. He also admitted that about 90 per cent of his records were falsified.
His modus operandi came to light on April 10, 2015, when an enforcement officer from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) conducted a routine audit at his pharmacy. The officer found that Woo’s dispensing records showed an active retail sale of cough syrup, and that his room contained six cartons of the medicine.
Following a surveillance by the HSA later that month, 14 bottles of cough syrup were seized from a customer who left Woo’s pharmacy.
Investigations revealed that the customer paid S$280 for the cough syrup (S$20 per bottle) and that Woo did not ask for his particulars during the sale. He also entered 14 fictitious names for the 14 bottles sold.
The customer, a Malaysian who has been working in Singapore since 2000, told the authorities that he found out from friends that cough syrup may be easily bought from Woo’s pharmacy. The cost was $18 a bottle, but it would go up to $20 a bottle if more than six bottles were bought.
Woo admitted to the authorities that he made a profit of about S$11.45 a bottle, and these sales were not recorded.
During investigations, Woo told HSA that he made between S$10,000 and S$12,000 per month from the legal and illegal sales of Dhasedyl syrup. However, the authorities estimated that the profits made from the illegal sales were between $244,529 and $285,409 for the May 2013 and April 2015 period.
In sentencing Woo, District Judge Jasvender Kaur said that he had abused his position as a pharmacist and was well aware that codeine is a potentially addictive substance that is abused by drug addicts in between their consumption of illicit drugs.
“It is all the more serious as the accused was doing (this) to profit from the illegal sales, which encourage and facilitate codeine abuse,” she added.


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Photo provided by Carrie Favaro
Seven-year-old Hannah Sames, front, with sisters Madison and Reagan, is the namesake for Hannah’s Hope Fund, a nonprofit organization seeking to cure her condition, giant axonal neuropathy (GAN).
Carrie Favaro is once again hoping for the support of the community in helping her niece and children just like her.
Favaro serves as president of the Hannah’s Hope Fund, a nonprofit organization seeking a cure for giant axonal neuropathy, also known as GAN. The foundation, named in honor of Favaro’s niece, 7-year-old Hannah Sames of Rexford, has been raising money for their cause since 2005. Most recently, the foundation has been entered into a contest to be awarded up to $250,000 through the Chase Bank Community Giving Contest, sponsored by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
“We were ranked number three, but we’ve slipped to number five,” said Favaro, referring to the on-line contest found on Facebook.
The contest, said Favaro, is similar to the Pepsi Refresh Project, another on-line contest in which Hannah’s Hope competed last year and was awarded $250,000.
“We’re hoping for another $250,000 miracle,” said Favaro.
Though one-quarter of a million dollars may seem like a lot of money, said Favaro, it’s a drop in the bucket when compared to the thousands upon thousands of dollars it takes to fund research of GAN through the University of North Carolina.
Regardless, the funding has helped the international team of researchers studying GAN to feel confident a potential cure could be ready for clinical trials in humans as early as 2013.
“Our scientists feel ready to go to the [Food and Drug Administration] and, with their timelines, we’re looking at a year from January where the first humans could be treated for GAN,” said Favaro. “Of course, that’s the best-case scenario.”
That’s a long way from where Favaro’s sister and brother-in-law — Hannah’s mother and father, Plattsburgh area natives Lori and Matt Sames — were when Hannah was diagnosed with GAN in 2008.
“We were basically told to go home and enjoy her because there might be nothing done in Hannah’s lifetime to help her,” said Favaro. “Now, here we are, four years later, only about a year away from the first human clinical trial. Everything has happened so quickly.”
The support of people who have raised money and awareness in recent years is what Favaro credits for making that happen, she said.
“We couldn’t have done this without [community support],” said Favaro. “We’re constantly amazed by it.”
And, it’s continued support through efforts like the Chase Bank Community Giving Contest that will get Hannah’s Hope one step closer to curing GAN, said Favaro.
“It’s a great opportunity to help us get some much-needed funding,” said Favaro.
How can I help?
The easiest way to vote for Hannah’s Hope Fund in the Chase Bank Community Giving Contest is through Facebook by visiting http://bit.ly/hannah-chase or by visiting the Hannah’s Hope website at www.hannahshopefund.org and clicking on the voting link.
Those voting for Hannah’s Hope need only to vote once as only unique votes are recorded. Voting ends 12 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22.


The concept of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) technology dates back to the earliest of human history when people used sticks and branches to reinforce mud dwellings.
The oldest known MSE-like structure in the U.S. dates back to the 1880s and can be found along the Mississippi River. Modern MSE structures, as we know them now, have been constructed in the U.S. for almost 50 years starting in the 1970s. Today, we have extensive knowledge on how to design and construct them and comprehensive manuals and books outlining the design and construction details. Additionally, the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has a specific section within its Bridge Design Specifications to address the requirements for designing retaining walls using MSE technology. If properly designed and constructed, MSE technology leads to reliable structures with great load-carrying capacity, tolerance to differential settlement, and, to an extent, resistance against earthquakes.
One of the characteristics of MSE structures is their simplicity in construction. Although expertise is required to construct them, all parts of the structure may be constructed with equipment that is readily available on most earthwork construction sites. Another unique feature of MSE structures is that they are constructed predominantly using backfill, although the backfill has to be properly selected based on certain gradation, plasticity index and soundness requirements, and must be free of organic matter and other deleterious substances. Deviating from these key requirements must be carefully evaluated during design, and unless proper performance can be confirmed should be avoided. On the other hand, certain design requirements may become more important than others, depending on the material available to reinforce the backfill. For example, backfill that may result in a corrosive environment is particularly important for metallic reinforcements, and backfill that may result in high pH is particularly important for certain geosynthetic reinforcements.
In some parts of the U.S., one of the biggest challenges with constructing MSE structures is to find the backfill material that meets all of these requirements. If the owner requires the contractor to meet these requirements and is willing to pay for it, a solution is always available, regardless of what is locally available or not. However, the high cost or the lack of availability of the select backfill may be of occasional issue for selecting to construct MSE walls. In these situations, a potential solution might be an alternative backfill produced from recycled materials as opposed to natural aggregate.
According to the EPA, over 140 million tons of RCA is produced in the U.S. each year. This creates a potential for great economical incentives for both the producers and owners.
Making it attractive
One of the materials of interest is recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) produced from crushed concrete (e.g., curb and gutters, rigid pavement surface, structural concrete from demolished buildings, hardened washout that is left over from recent construction). According to a 2015 Environmental Protection Agency report, over 140 million tons of RCA is produced in the U.S. each year. This creates a potential for great economical incentives for both the producers and owners. By recycling RCA, the producers may save the costs associated with landfilling or storage, and the owners may get a product cheaper than obtaining natural aggregates. Although some owners are still hesitant to use recycled materials, it is a necessity for supporting the sustainable/green infrastructure movement, as recycling these materials saves millions of tons of landfill space. Additionally, we now have the technology to create aggregate from crushed concrete on-site, which would provide additional benefits on transportation costs.
The Sustainable Geotransportation Infrastructure (SGI) Research Group (http://geotrans.vse.gmu.edu/home) at George Mason University (GMU) as well as other universities such as (but not limited to) the University of Wisconsin, Madison (UW), and the Recycled Materials Resource Center (RMRC) and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), have been evaluating the use of RCA in geo-infrastructures for several years. Here are a few properties and strengths researchers have been investigating:
• RCA has the appropriate index and engineering properties to be considered a suitable backfill for MSE. Overall the classification of RCA (in accordance with Unified Soil Classification System [USCS]) ranges from well to poorly graded gravel (GP or GW) to sand (SP or SW) to well graded silty sand (SM-SW). The fines content (passing the No. 200 sieve) of RCA, based on published values, ranges from 3% to 12% and in all cases RCA is characterized as non-plastic. Also similar to natural aggregates with fines, RCA is sensitive to water content changes during compaction and results in bell-shaped water content dry-density curves regardless of the compaction method used (vibratory, modified or standard Proctor). RCA particles are strong enough that they do not break during compaction, and RCA also has reasonable abrasion resistance as defined by micro-deval tests. The published specific gravity of the RCA ranges from 2.2 to 2.7, which varies due to the amount of mortar and the parent rock used in production of the concrete;
• Due to its high water absorption capacity, in general the optimum moisture content of RCA is higher than that of natural aggregates. It is not uncommon to have optimum moisture content at around 12% to 15%;
• Research suggests that in some cases RCA exhibits similar to better resistance to freeze-thaw cycles than natural aggregate with similar gradation; and
• In general RCA produces reasonable interface friction and pullout resistance to reinforcements used in MSE structures.
All of these properties make the RCA an attractive material to be considered for MSE structures. However, RCA is a complex material because it is created from concrete used in a variety of applications. Therefore, the properties of the RCA to be used for a specific project must be verified as opposed to relying on previously published values.
The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC) No. 11 points out two concerns with RCA:
• The potential to produce tufa precipitate from unhydrated cement; and
• The potential to have electrochemical properties that are outside of what is considered acceptable by AASHTO Design Specifications.
The first concern is associated with potentially clogging the drainage systems of the MSE structure, and the second is associated with potentially corroding the metallic reinforcements. Although evidence exists about tufa precipitate and high values for electrochemical properties, currently there is not enough data to confirm the potential adverse effects. Therefore, at this stage, both of these concerns are legitimate but not proven facts.
To understand the complexities of RCA, GMU’s SGI research group has been investigating the chemistry of RCA, the carbonation and aging process, drainage properties, the tufa build up and precipitation of mineral crystals as well as mixing RCA with virgin aggregate. While the research is ongoing, some of the results are already published. The research involved three stages.
The research involves monitoring two piles: one that is placed on the GMU campus and the other placed in the Greenhouse Laboratory, where the temperature and humidity are controlled.
In stage 1, GMU’s team collected RCA from a producer within weeks of production (after the concrete from all sources was mixed, deleterious material was segregated, concrete was crushed and screened to particle size 100% passing a 1-in. opening). The collected material was then used to create two different RCA piles: one that is placed on the GMU campus (outside) and the other placed in the Greenhouse Laboratory, where the temperature and humidity are controlled. Both of these piles underwent wet and dry cycles but the samples in the laboratory were aged with synthetic rainwater and the one outside was left at the mercy of the weather. These experiments provided six important results:
• Chemistry of the RCA changes over time (based on major, minor and trace element analyses) and the changes occur more rapidly within the first couple of months than later on;
• Water leach tests provide means to trace activity of the RCA, which may come in handy if the stockpile of RCA was needed to be evaluated to understand the chemical stage at which the RCA stockpile is at before using RCA in any geo-structure;
• Carbonate content of RCA increases with time and the pH decreases with time;
• Total release concentrations of several elements including alkali metals (e.g., calcium, magnesium) decreases with time due to the aging process and carbonation. In terms of equilibrium chemistry, this may mean reduction in the potential for tufa precipitation;
• Observed behaviors in the laboratory and field match well, although the increase in carbonate content occurs faster with more frequent wetting and drying; and
• Based on equilibrium chemistry, blending as high as 40% freshly produced RCA with virgin aggregate significantly reduces the potential of tufa precipitation compared to 100% RCA. However, because with time the potential to precipitate tufa from RCA reduces (due to aging and carbonation), the effect of further reducing the potential of tufa precipitation is not as pronounced when virgin aggregate is mixed with aged RCA.
In stage 2, samples obtained from laboratory-aged RCA were tested in gradient ratio chambers with geotextile (herein referred to as hydraulic tests). This stage is performed to understand the effects of aging onto hydraulic properties and migration of particles from RCA. Two different geotextiles were used for these tests: a nonwoven and a woven geotextile. Both of these materials are considered to provide worst-case scenarios in terms of clogging. Nonwoven geotextile is typically used to encapsulate drainage systems to create a separation and filtration layer between the backfill and drainage aggregate. If the water is able to pass through this material, then potentially any issues within the pipes of the drainage layer may be dealt with through regular maintenance as the pipes are much more accessible than the geotextile itself. Woven geotextile, compared to all other reinforcement options that may be used in MSE structures, has the highest potential to clog, as most other reinforcement types (e.g., geogrids, welded wire mesh and strip reinforcements) have higher openings for the water to drain.
The RCA samples used in these hydraulic tests were obtained after four, nine and 12 months of aging and each test was conducted for about two months under hydraulic gradients of 1, 2.5 and 5. The hydraulic tests with nonwoven geotextiles were performed by the GMU’s SGI team and the tests with woven geotextile were conducted by the UMD team under the supervision of Dr. Ahmet Aydilek with the same RCA provided to UMD by the GMU team. At the end of each of these tests, the geotextiles were exhumed. Select samples were evaluated in a gradient ratio chamber for changes in permittivity, and the others were evaluated to determine the changes in pore size distribution through an image analyses method developed by Dr. Aydilek. These experiments provided the following important results:
• Tests with nonwoven geotextile showed a reduction of 30% to 60% in permittivity and about 10% to 40% in pore size distribution;
• Tests with woven geotextile showed a reduction of 20% to 40% in permittivity and about 20% to 30% in pore size distribution;
• In most cases the flow characteristics of RCA/geotextile systems were not significantly different than the hydraulic conductivity of the RCA without a geotextile. This is because the permeability of the virgin geotextile is so much higher than the permeability of the RCA. That is why it is not surprising that up to a 50% to 90% reduction in geotextile permittivity is acceptable in practice. Therefore, the permittivity drops observed in these tests also should be acceptable in filtration applications, as the geotextile still has similar hydraulic conductivity than that of sand;
• Aging of RCA did not change the hydraulic conductivity of the RCA. In other words, all aged RCA samples for the purposes of saturated flow characteristics had similar properties and the system was not considered to be clogged;
• In all geotextiles exhumed after the hydraulic tests, the geotextile had white amorphous particles. These results indicate that RCA particles migrate onto geotextile but not at a rate that physically clogs the geotextile. Also the activity measurements (pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved carbon amount, etc.) between the inflow and outflow chambers during the hydraulic tests showed that when compared to what was observed during aging, RCA is not as chemically active under fully saturated flow. This means that in saturated flow, the conditions do not create a strong environment to result in chemical activity, hence chemical clogging; and
• Different blends of RCA (up to 40%) and virgin aggregate showed hydraulic characteristics (including flow rate, permeability values and observed reduction in geotextile permittivity) comparable to 100% virgin aggregate samples.
In stage 3, to investigate the chemical activity, the GMU team has created new experiments where unsaturated RCA is wetted and dried with synthetic rain. The experiments were created in a setup where percolating water goes through a column of RCA and nonwoven geotextile and then discharges into an area underneath the bottom of the geotextile, which is exposed to atmospheric conditions. These tests are ongoing and the results will be gathered in a journal article very soon and submitted for peer review. Similar to stages 1 and 2, mixtures of RCA (up to 40%) also are blended with virgin aggregate. The preliminary results from these mixtures show acceptable filtration performance. However, initial results indicate that there is certainly some growth of tufa (amorphous particles) on top of the geotextile and also growth of calcite-based minerals with crystalline shape underneath the geotextile. The effects of these growths on the reduction of permittivity and pore size distribution are still being investigated.
Based on this research it can be stated that the precipitation of tufa from RCA is certainly a reality but the initial results certainly do not show a clogged system due to tufa build-up under saturated conditions. This is a very promising and exciting finding but it requires further laboratory and carefully designed field testing (e.g., partially and fully saturated flow conditions) before reaching an ultimate conclusion.
In stage 2, samples obtained from laboratory-aged RCA were tested in gradient ratio chambers with geotextile. Two geotextiles were used: nonwoven and woven.
More to be done
The research conducted at GMU did not particularly focus on addressing the second potential issue in FHWA’s GEC 11 related to electrochemical properties. This is because currently there is an ongoing NCHRP study (NCHRP 21-11) under the supervision of Dr. Kenneth Fishman from McMahon and Mann Consulting Engineers, where the researchers are currently investigating developing new or improved laboratory and field test methods to evaluate electrochemical properties. The outcome of this research is very important because at this stage even though we know that RCA does not always meet the AASHTO requirements for electrochemical properties, what that means in terms of corrosion of metallic reinforcements is unknown. More research is certainly needed to address this issue but first we must have reliable methods to test electrochemical properties and then have target thresholds that define acceptable properties. In the near future, GMU’s SGI team will be looking into ways to collaborate with Dr. Fishman to expand the RCA research to also address this issue.
The research suggests that the use of RCA in construction is promising for economical and sustainable solutions, and as with all new material we must take baby steps—but we must move forward. The following steps are recommended at this stage for MSE wall applications:
• RCA can be mixed with virgin aggregate as opposed to being used by itself. Even mixing 20% to 40% RCA with virgin aggregate creates a pathway to move forward;
• It is not advised that RCA/virgin aggregate mixtures be used in high visibility or critical infrastructure without proven field trials that are well designed and implemented;
• Some tufa build-up should be anticipated and the MSE structure should be designed to compensate for this (e.g., drainage systems should have proper filtration systems and clean-outs and regular maintenance should be included in the overall cost); and
• There is previous information in the literature on using RCA in road base course applications and some cases show success and some do not, but the details of these case studies are lacking. These stories create more questions than answers as the devil is in the details. It is very important that the research community pushes forward exploring the use of RCA, but also it must share the details and results of field trials (or large scale laboratory experimentation). More data is definitely great as long as the details of how the data was obtained and the information is clearly shared through journal articles or technical presentations.


text:
Welcome to Astronaut Academy! There are classes in dinosaur driving, speaking in run-on sentences, and advanced heart studies (in Legend of Zelda fashion, you start off with one or two, but can acquire up to eight). The faculty includes an elf, a panda (still not extinct!), and a principal who carries a gigantic Final Fantasy-style sword as a “symbol of instructional excellence.” There are anti-gravity drills and games of Fireball—and there are also parent-teacher nights, best frenemies, adolescent crushes, and some kids who just don’t quite fit in.
Pretty typical middle-school, wouldn’t you say?
Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity collects Dave Roman’s webcomic Astronaut Elementary, and in the process of moving from webcomic to book, Roman has enhanced the art and added some background to the overall story of the Academy and its students. Hakata Soy is the new kid in school, deliberately mysterious about his background in the Meta Team (a superteam that is part Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, part Transformers). He becomes friends with the bookish Miyumi San, who is worst friends/best enemies with Maribelle Mellonbelly, the queen-bee rich girl. Also in attendance at the Academy are Billy Lee, the former alpha-male dethroned by Hakata and by the loss of his hair; Maliik Mehendale, who has a knack for getting crushes on girls who barely realize he exists; Tak Offsky, a Fireball player who hates his name; Scab Wellington, Maribelle’s right-hand tough girl; and my personal favorite, Doug Hiro, who more than anything else would rather spend all his time floating in the vastness of space—and who never takes off his space helmet, ever.
One of the most appealing things about Astronaut Academy is simply how much fun it is. It’s full of silliness and whimsy, delivered with unselfconscious, unironic good cheer. The Spanish teacher is a panda named Señor Panda? Sure, why not? Of course there’s a planet of bunny-people harrassed by Gotcha Birds (with lasers!). And it’s only natural that Hakata would find himself stalked by a robot doppelganger that contains a heart that used to belong to him. The comic is liberally sprinkled with nerdy pop-culture references as well: the Guidance Chancellor (not counselor, Chancellor) bears a striking resemblance to Cobra Commander, for instance; and at one point, for no obvious reason, a character speaks a few sentences made up almost entirely of Tori Amos song titles. Attentive readers may also notice references to FullMetal Alchemist, Metroid, and more.
The book also has a certain “Harry Potter in space” vibe, what with the setting and its eccentric school curriculum and oddball characters. There’s even a plot twist with a time-pausing watch reminiscent of Hermione’s Time Turner in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. But Hakata Soy, despite being the ostensible Potter-esque hero, is almost a side character in his own story; most of the narrative is related by the other kids one episode at a time, each bringing their own distinctive voice to the tale.
Of course, the whimsy works because the artwork is so beautifully suited to the mood, and the characters are thoroughly grounded the emotional realities of middle-school life. It’s a lighthearted take on the subject, to be sure, but any adolescent (or adult looking back) will recognize the changing loyalties, first crushes, and the dread of having something awful happen to your locker. It’s a great book for young readers, and as the saying goes, it’s fun for adults too, and I look forward to Roman’s second volume, already in the works.
Read an interview with Dave Roman here, where he talks about the inspirations and influences of Astronaut Academy. You can also read an excerpt right here on Tor.com.

domain: entertainment


An official leave of those Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has only been leaked. . .by Samsung itself. And it seems much like preceding leaves of this forthcoming top-tier flagship phone.
Leaker Max Weinbach was apparently the first to show a set of graphics, noting that he ’d discovered them on a Russian Samsung site. Other leakers immediately spread the word, together with Ben Geskin even tweeting that a connection — that was still dwell at press time — which pointed into one of those photographs onto Samsung’s official website.
Samsung accidently submitted the Note20 Ultra at Mystic Bronze in their Russian web site. It seems terrific! Pic.twitter.com/irRWVHLq5eJuly 1, 2020
Leaker @OnLeaks noted that the correlation between the new picture and also the unofficial render he’d leaked back May — he’d called it because the Galaxy Note 20 Plus rather than these Note 20 Ultra.
Nothing from the new picture suggests that this is actually the Ultra version, as even the picture ’s connection slug identifies it because the ‘galaxy-note8’, therefore it’s the collection of leakers that are claiming that this really is, in actuality, that the long-rumored Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
- Should you move Ultra? ) Here’s the way the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra in comparison into the S20 and S20 and
- Best mobiles : the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra created the record
- The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 line may possibly be shown in August
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: real or not?
While we’d believed the launch of this Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra suggested that there are a stylus-packing Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, a current tipster said the corporation would just launch a regular and Plus-sized version.
The following look of a Bluetooth SIG certification citing the Note 20 Ultra by title, however, resurrected the chance that people ’d receive a top-specced version from the Note 20 line. An more recent specs flow bolstered the presence of an Ultra version.
Since we’re anticipating that the Note 20 lineup to emerge in August, we’re expecting more rumors and leaks which give us insight to exactly what the Ultra resembles — though a picture off a formal Samsung website is a fantastic beginning.
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Astrology is the Divine science that makes sense of the order of the Universe. In this book you will come to understand how mathematically numbers are the bases of astrology. The houses in astrology are the core essence that will give numbers meaning.
Joni Patry (Born November 8, 1955) is the founder and Director of the Galactic Center in Dallas, Texas, and a teacher and Vedic astrologer.Patry has written several books and articles on the topics of spirituality and astrology. Her book Eastern Astrology for Western Minds: A Compilation of Neo-Vedic Astrology is a complete manual to learn Vedic astrology. In 2013, it was translated into Turkish, where she spends one month each year teaching and doing readings. She has also written How To Make Money Using Astrology (2011), Awaken to The Truth (2009), and Answers (2005). She has a monthly newsletter through her website and also a Japanese website. Her articles are also published in the Indian website Saptarishis Astrology.

domain: literature


Stuck on Instron
by Chris Barnes, Group Leader/Scientist, Chemistry & Container Testing
It’s easy to go into your medicine cabinet and open an adhesive bandage or uncap a bottle without even thinking about how much testing goes into ensuring that those packages work the way they are supposed to work. Amazingly, how much force it takes to open these packages or to operate a device such as a syringe is evaluated through rigorous testing, primarily using equipment such as Instron universal testing systems.
Eurofins Medical Device Testing uses this equipment to perform such force testing services for both our pharmaceutical and medical device clients. We have several 3300 series Instron model force testers to perform various functionality tests so that drug and device manufacturers can be sure that their products function appropriately and are easy to use for their patients.
The Instron 3343 single-column table frame is extremely versatile. With the proper fixtures, many different types of mechanical tests can be performed, such as compression, peel force, and tensile strength testing. In addition, syringeability, break free, glide, and activation force of the needle safety guard for syringes are performed using this equipment. Extensive research and development goes into formulating pharmaceutical products and designing medical devices. Likewise, package development and engineering is an integral part of the overall product.
As part of our one-stop shop, we provide these force testing services along with the physiochemical testing associated with packaging and the full suite of finished product testing to provide the data that will gain regulatory and marketing approval of your product.


External Laptop Battery Charger Compatible with BAT30WL 2127U 8027U 083KV Winbook Z1 Laptops
Item No.: PortaTechs - PLT-BAT30WLWP
Ratings: (0 review).
Availability: In Stock
Ships from U.S Warehouse. Most customers receive within one week.
Note: Order placed before 12:30PM Pacific Standard Time will normally be processed in the same day.
Note: This charger is for Rating:11.1V Battery, not for Rating:14.8V battery.
- Charger Specs.:
- Condition: Brand New. Generic Brand.
- Warranty: 6 Months
- Input Voltage: 100 ~ 240V AC 0.24~0.60A 50/60Hz
- Output Voltage: +12.6V DC
- Output Charging Current: 2.5A
- Color: Black
- P/N: 85-102024-00
- PSU: HES33-S128250
- Cable Model: PLT-IN2650WM.
- Compatible with laptop battery types and part numbers:
- BAT30WL, 2127U, 8027U, 083KV, 1894W, 4127U.
- Compatible with following laptop batteries:
- 5000 Series
- 5000e Series
- WinBook Z1 Series
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Park(ing) Day! The idea was created in San Francisco by a couple of folks that fed a parking meter and created a park in that concrete space for people to enjoy. The park only lasted a few hours and became a global movement. All over the world our urban environments are almost completely paved when we could all use more open spaces.
This is the second time I participated in Park(ing) Day. My city, Tacoma, is graced with the kind peeps from Downtown on the Go, who organize, promote, and host this yearly event.
But, enough of this wordy post. Check out my awesome park in photos:


While Ai Weiwei remains interned by the Chinese authorities, Nicholas Logsdail, director of the Lisson Gallery, talks about a forthcoming exhibition of the artist's work and his growing global influence
We do not publish letters where only an email address is supplied; please include a full postal address, a reference to the article and a daytime telephone number. We may edit letters. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.
From pictures showing a 'five-star jihad' to identifying the most influential sheikhs helping to radicalise foreign fighters, three researchers in a basement at Kings College, London, have tracked and analysed the torrent of social media posts coming from Syria.


The Arizona Cardinals struggled in all phases of the game against the Los Angeles Rams in London, falling 33-0. Offensively, they couldn’t even gain 200 yards of offense. Defensively, they couldn’t stop the Rams. They played poorly on special teams, too.
It started with a missed field goal on the opening drive of the game. After the Cardinals drove down the field, they were in position to get the first lead of the game. The snap for the field goal attempt was low and Phil Dawson kicked it wide left.
Dawson has now missed five field goals this season.
When the Cardinals got the ball on their next drive they were forced to punt. It was a great punt that went 51 yards and Pharoh Cooper fielded it at his own four-yard line. But the punt coverage team couldn’t get him down and Cooper returned it 20 yards.
On two other Andy Lee punts, the coverage team had a chance to down the ball inside the 10-yard line. They failed both times and the punts went for touchbacks.
Listen to the latest from the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.


Accurately tracking the status of your assets is important for operations. That’s why you’ve implemented a Sensaphone® remote monitoring system. It gives you precise, real-time status and alerts on conditions such as temperature changes, equipment status, power failures, and other critical parameters. Getting timely notifications to designated personnel can mean the difference between quickly resolving a problem or extended downtime.
To ensure your remote monitoring solution works optimally, test it and its sensors weekly. Also, keep a log of test results. For your convenience, a test log template is outlined at the back of the product manual.
The tests you should perform depend upon whether your device is Ethernet-based device or uses a phone line and keypad. Here are the steps to test both configurations.
Testing Ethernet-Based Units
All Sensaphone Ethernet-based remote monitoring systems are configurable with different sensors. These sensors enable you to monitor specific operating conditions such as temperature, humidity, pressure, and power failures. It’s important to test the sensors to ensure the units get the accurate input and feedback that is required to monitor conditions.
Start by creating a test alarm on each input and having the remote monitoring device contact programmed telephone numbers (by text or phone call) or email addresses. This test ensures that the device is programmed properly. Testing emergency contacts also prepares personnel to respond appropriately when receiving a call from the system.
Next, test the sensors by forcing an out-of-parameter condition that will trigger an alarm. Here are some suggestions based on your semsor type:
• Temperature sensors: Heat or cool the sensor.
• Motion sensors: Have someone walk in front of the sensor.
• Door/window sensors: Open the door/window.
• Water sensors: Apply a small amount of water beneath the sensor or use a wet towel and touch it to the sensor probes.
• Humidity sensors: Raise the humidity around the sensor by holding a cup of very hot water beneath the sensor.
• Normally open/Normally closed contacts: Open or close the contact.
Once the alarm is tripped, allow the unit to contact all programmed telephone numbers and emails. This is a good time to make corrections and updates to the contact list and ensure phone numbers work according to provider specifications. For example, some landline providers have changed the way to dial a phone number, requiring a (1) before the area code.
Regularly testing alerts from the device enables you to head off unforeseen issues and ensure that your alarm system functions at top capacity. If a sensor is not working, your best bet is to call technical support. They can diagnose and help with repair or replacement if necessary.
Troubleshooting the Problem
If a sensor isn’t reading inputs properly or malfunctioning, visit the site of the Sensaphone installation to determine if there is a physical problem. Check for cracked or undone wires to the sensor, a disconnected phone line, the device being powered off, debris around the sensor, vandalism or signs of tampering, etc. Our remote monitoring systems are robust and rarely stop working on their own.
If there was a bigger issue, such as a lightning strike that caused electronics to stop working, the team can assist with the repair process. In these cases, call technical support that can diagnose the problem or help with repair or replacement.
Testing Phone-Based Units
If using a phone-based monitoring device, call the unit and listen to the status report. This test verifies the unit’s ability to answer the phone and speak a message. It also ensures:
• Proper reading of inputs
• Alarm conditions are neutral
• Electricity is on
• The microphone (if it has one) functions
• Batteries work
If the unit isn’t reading inputs properly or malfunctioning, visit the site where the device is installed to troubleshoot the problem. It could be a physical issue. Make sure the device is powered on. Check phone line connection to the unit. Next check the wiring. A wire to the sensor may have cracked or become undone. If the problem is not obvious, call our technical support team. They can often diagnose problems over the phone and help with repairs.
Testing Battery Backup
If your device is equipped with batteries, test them by unplugging the AC adapter and ensuring that the remote monitoring device continues to function. If the model has a ‘BATTERY OK’ LED indicator, check that it remains on steadily. Then, check the status report by pressing “WHAT IS”, and then STATUS on the keypad. If using an Ethernet-Based device, check the power by logging into the device’s dashboard.
Ensure the report or dashboard states that “Power is Off” and “Battery is OK.” Finally, keep the AC adapter unplugged to initiate a Power Failure alarm. Allow the unit to contact all programmed alarm destinations while running on battery backup. Plug in the AC adapter after finishing the test.
If needed, customers can replace batteries in most products. We also offer replacement batteries through our service department.
Have questions about testing your Sensaphone Remote Monitoring Solution Contact us at 877-373-2700 or send a question to our technical support team.


We invite you to review the following articles and studies on earmarks and government spending.
Earmark Study: Politicians Buy Votes with Taxpayer Dollars
From Americans for Prosperity Foundation: The study “indicates that Washington politicians use taxpayer-funded earmarks to bolster their reelection efforts, with a real effect on voters.”
Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?
From the National Bureau of Economic Research: “This paper employs a new empirical approach for identifying the impact of government spending on the private sector. … We show that fiscal spending shocks appear to significantly dampen corporate sector investment and employment activity.”
The Politics of Congressional Earmarking
From the article’s abstract: “Drawing on the literature on distributive politics, we develop an argument that implies that party leaders will allocate earmarks to advance the electoral goals of the party. We test our expectations using a unique dataset that comprehensively matches legislative earmarks with their individual sponsors for the 110th Congress. The data provide clear support for the argument. Members of the majority party do considerably better than members of the minority party. Moreover, within parties, the distribution of earmarks favors electorally vulnerable members and those holding agenda-setting positions.”
Scholar Chris Edwards wrote in 2009 about the “giant favor factory” that is the federal government. Read his study on special-interest spending, which includes an in-depth look at both corporate welfare and earmarks, at DownsizingGovernment.org – a project of the Cato Institute.
In this 2007 story that aired on PBS, Bill Moyers explores “the most sacred ritual on Capitol Hill — slicing up the pork.”
How 20th Century Politicians Made Earmarking Constitutional
Download this PDF to read Jim Cox detail the initial reaction to earmarks (calling them unconstitutional) and how modern politicians have justified their spending behavior.
Below are links to some organizations’ websites that you might find helpful in your own research about earmarks and government spending.
American Enterprise Institute
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Tax Reform
Center for American Progress
Center for Fiscal Accountability
Citizens against Government Waste
Club for Growth
Congressional Budget Office
Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity
House Ethics Committee
National Taxpayers Union
Office of Mgmt & Budget
Project Vote Smart
Sam Adams Alliance
Taxpayers for Common Sense
The Federal Policy Group
The Sunlight Foundation
Thomas – Library of Congress
US Government Accountability Office
US House Appropriations Committee
US Senate Appropriations Committee
US Senate Select Committee on Ethics


Two lifelong friends, a special FX makeup artist and a local news reporter, shake their fists at movies & TV and whatever else comes up. Formerly called 'The Mobile Horror Companion.'
Mar 29, 2020
You know things are bad when Carlos Danger and Spears finally
get around to talking about 'Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.'
Come on feel the hate.
Movie reviews. TV reviews. Dabbleverse.
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Ling & Wein hope for a strong last junior season
by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman
Angela Ling & Caleb Wein are competing in their final year of junior ice dance eligibility. Next year Wein will age-out and the team will move up to seniors.
“We want to have a strong last season in junior. We’re happy that we’re competing internationally. Our main goal at those events will be to have a good time and skate our best. It was difficult losing a year in junior to Covid, but we’re just trying to set ourselves up as best we can to enter senior next year.”
Each was born in April, but three years apart and in different countries. Ling claims Kitchener, Ontario Canada as her birth city, while Wein was born in Rockville, Maryland USA.
Ling was four years old when she first learned to skate in Canada’s Canskate Program. Three years later she started private lessons in freestyle, adding ice dance shortly thereafter.
“In freestyle, I landed up to a clean triple loop and a cheated flip, but I never did it in competition,” Ling said. “My coach had suggested that I start ice dancing to improve my skating skills for freestyle.”
Ling began focusing solely on ice dance in 2018 when she and her first partner began training at his home rink in Ilderton, Ontario. Olympic ice dance gold medalist Scott Moir’s aunt, Carol Moir coached the novice team.
Angela Ling & Quinn Bisson competed that summer in the North American Series in Toronto, Ontario. After the 2019 Canadian National Championships, they went their separate ways and Ling posted on Partnership Search.
Some of Wein’s earliest skating memories are of going to the local ice rink with his family when he was four. They all took group lessons in the Learn to Skate program. Two years later he joined the Wheaton Ice Skating Academy and began ice dancing.
Wein competed domestically and internationally including several JGP assignments for more than six years with Emma Gunter prior to her retirement in 2018.
“After my partner retired, Elena Novak, one of my coaches at the time, noticed Ling’s profile on the Partner Search website and invited her to Maryland for a tryout,” explained Wein.
“In February 2019, I came a few times before making the ultimate decision, which for me was the craziest and most difficult thing I’ve had to do so far,” Ling revealed. “I had to finish school in Canada for the last two months, but I ended up doing the exams early so I could start training consistently as soon as possible.”
The new team hit the ice and in July competed at the Cannon Texas Open (sixth) and the LPIDI (eighth). In addition they won the Challenge Cup, were second at the Eastern Sectionals and placed sixth at the US Ice Dance Final to qualify for the 2020 Championships. The duo finished sixth at their Nationals’ debut in January.
Then Covid happened. All Maryland ice rinks were locked down March 30, 2020.
“For a few months we really didn’t skate at all,” Ling added. “This was the first time either of us had gone without skating for more than a week or two which definitely felt crazy. We did off-ice classes with our coaches plus ballet, modern, jazz, and hip hop with Meredith Jones, who had [already] been doing classes with us.”
“We had only been skating together for one season and losing that time was definitely difficult,” Wein explained. “That was time we wanted to use to really gel as a team on the ice.”
The competitive 2020-2021 skating season got off to a negative start when most early events were canceled including the entire Junior Grand Prix Series. In January, Ling & Wein finished fifth at the 2021 National Championships – their first in-person event in a year.
Afterwards, the team was anxious to get started on their programs for the upcoming season. Since both Ling and Wein play multiple instruments, they used their expertise to do the musical searches and cuts for both programs.
“On our own time, we would find songs we liked and our entire team including Dima [Ilin] and Greg [Zuerlein] would listen to them with us the next day,” Ling said.
After struggling for several months to find the right Free Dance music, ironically they chose as a closer, “Can’t Pretend” by Tom Odell, a song that Coach Ilin had been playing on the ice every day. Then they needed another piece of music to go with it.
“We were extremely lucky to find “April” by The Lumineers. It matched really well and was even in the same key. The only problem was that it was a little too short, so I used my piano, and we composed 20 seconds off the motif/theme of the original piece to put at the beginning,” revealed Ling.
Next, Ling & Wein went to Michigan for a week to work on choreography with Charlie White, the 2014 Ice Dance gold medalist with partner Meryl Davis.
“Doing choreography with Charlie was unbelievably amazing,” Ling said. “He puts so much thought into the tiniest details – not only how it should look but also why it should look that way. He also takes a lot of effort to ensure that everything flows well and works well from a technical standpoint.”
“We spent a lot of time discussing our characters’ motivations for each movement and how that related to what we were hearing in the music and for the storyline we were creating,” Wein added. “Mostly we worked on the look and feel of the program, and how we could dig deeper into the movement and our characters.
Ling & Wein’s music involvement has also influenced their timing and interpretation of the ice dance choreography.
“Since we’re constantly listening to different pieces, we can more easily pick out details to highlight a certain movement,” Ling noted.
In mid July, only one month after working with White, they introduced the free dance at the Dallas Cannon Classic. At that point, they had no rhythm dance even though Wein had been searching a long time for the music.
“I finally found two pieces that everyone liked,” Wein explained. “We had the music cut and Coach Zuerlein choreographed the program [in two days].”
According to Ling, creating that program was the most fun she’s ever had doing choreography.
“Choreo with Charlie was the absolute coolest; choreo with Greg was by far the most fun.”
The team only had a few weeks to tweak the program before testing the waters at the Chesapeake Open in August.
A week later Ling & Wein won silver with both programs at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts.
The couple made its international debut as a team at the Junior Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Russia in the middle of September and returned home with the bronze medal. They’ll close out the Series at its final event in Linz, Austria.
In addition to their figure skating and music, Ling & Wein’s resumes include other impressive skills and hobbies.
Angela Ling is a multi talented seventeen-year old. She has passed both the level eight RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music) piano and level seven Russian ballet exams. She also plays the guitar and violin.
“I haven’t been doing Russian ballet outside of skating for a bit now, but Caleb and I have been doing private lessons together,” Ling said. “I had an amazing ballet coach who provided me with really good foundations. Since a lot of skating is based on ballet and ballroom, having a ballet background has really helped.”
Caleb Wein’s curiosity has led him down a variety of paths. He’s currently an aerospace engineering major at the University of Maryland. A few years ago he felt his skating was in a rut and wanted to take it in a different direction. That’s where his exploration into dance, especially modern began.
“I’ve taken courses in several different modern dance techniques including [those of] Lester Horton, Martha Graham and José Limón,” Wein said. “I’ve also had the opportunity to be in classes led by choreographers and dancers such as Ronald K. Brown, Matthew Rushing, Charles O. Anderson, Micaela Taylor and Christopher Morgan.”
“This past year, one of the classes I took at the University was about the creative process in dance. There I was able to really explore with my own choreography. I also got to choreograph a solo in collaboration with the lighting design students.”
“All these experiences have really opened my eyes to the different possibilities of dance. In the future, I want to start incorporating more of what I’ve learned in these other experiences and bring something new and fresh onto the ice.”
Ling & Wein love ice dance because they love dance…
“I love the focus on creativity and actual dancing,” Ling said. “I definitely like having a partner too; it helps make both practice and competition less stressful and a lot of fun! It’s cool to have someone going through almost exactly the same thing you are – you understand each other and can talk about anything.”
Wein added, “It’s really the dance part of ice dance that I think is so amazing and is what is so appealing to me. To be on the ice, dancing with another person with the music is such a unique and special thing. There is so much artistry and artistic potential in ice dance.”
Angela Ling shares the positives about ice dance that she would tell a person unfamiliar with the discipline.
“Ice dancers are always trying to convey feelings, emotions, relationships, and/or stories. Our goal is to connect with you whether that is through joy, heartbreak, love, or another universal understanding. Within a single free dance event, you’ll be able to experience multiple different stories, different styles of movement, and different genres of music and dance.”
“There will always be something that you’ll really enjoy. In the rhythm dance, there is a theme but even while there will be a certain similarity between everyone’s programs, the variety of music selections and differences in interpretation keeps it fresh and entertaining throughout the entire event! Ice dance is such a multifaceted event and is continuously evolving. I really hope more and more people can discover it and realize what they’re missing!”
Caleb Wein shares why he thinks a person unfamiliar with ice dance should attend an event?
“What’s so great about ice dance is that it is an art and can be appreciated the same way something like a painting is. A competition is like going to an art gallery. Within a competition, you have a complete range of genres and moods, each its own piece of art. You have emotional routines, exciting routines, entertaining routines, etc.”
“There is something there for everyone. And if you don’t like the current routine, all you have to do is wait for the next team. If you are still not convinced, then at the very least you should watch purely to appreciate the skill it takes, not only to be dancing, but also to be dancing on the ice with another person.”
The Junior Grand Prix Series concludes October 6-9 with Cup of Austria, Linz, Austria. Event information: Ice-dance.com

domain: hobby


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Mangala Vallis — Lycanthrope
(Ma.Ra.Cash Records TAVR 022005, 2005, CD)
by Sean McFee, Published 2006-05-01
From the opening rip of “Watcher of the Skies,” Mangala Vallis is here to tell you they are back and have been listening to their favorite prog albums again. With all the classic sounds akin to Genesis, analog gear, and an acknowledged influence from IQ and Marillion, and even some vintage personnel, Mangala Vallis have almost everything necessary to make Lycanthrope a success. Bernardo Lanzetti of Acqua Fragile and Chocolate Kings-era PFM is the new singer and writes the lyrics, and David Jackson of Van der Graaf Generator also guests. The band can play and put together all the required pieces with unquestioned skill. Their main problem is that their songs sound like rearrangements of already existing classic prog tracks. There aren’t really any interesting and innovative melodies of their own, no signature sound. The lyrics, by Lanzetti, are sometimes pretty terrible, the nadir being the literal spelling out of “Lycanthrope” during the title suite. This puts Mangala Vallis at least a tier below other derivative Italian groups like La Maschera di Cera or La Torre dell’Alchimista, who sing in Italian and avoid the problem. I know there are people out there who will love this, and more power to you, but I wouldn’t personally pay money to see Bernardo Lanzetti dressed up as Marillion’s jester, and I won’t recommend anyone else do so either.
Simeon Coxe RIP – Simeon Coxe, best known for his experimental electronics in the band Silver Apples, has died at the age of 82. The band's 1968 debut album set the stage for both German electronic music and experimental punk music a decade later. Coxe died on September 8 from pulmonary fibrosis. » Read more
Ennio Morricone RIP – Famed composer Ennio Morricone has died at the age of 91. The creator of scores for more than 500 movies, some of his works have become the most recognizable sounds in the history of cinema. His soundtracks for Sergio Leone's Westerns made from 1964 to 1971, are iconic landmarks in film music, but he also composed for dramas, comedies, and other genres. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2016 for The Hateful Eight. » Read more


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Thursday, November 6, 2014
I have water kefirs! These are big and healthy and reproduce well in captivity! I got them from a friend, not a box. Now the reason I am so excited about this is two-fold: 1. my husband will drink finished water kefir and he likes it 2. I had bad experience with last batch couple years ago and didn't want to start again. But, these guys look like they will be fun to work with and any fermented drink I can get my husband to drink will be a winner for me. In a couple weeks I should have enough to start selling them if anyone is interested.
I make water kefir in a 2 quart jar with 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 tsp. dark molasses added to 2 quarts of filtered or chlorine-free water. When the kefirs are added to this mixture with a lid on top, it sits in the fridge for a week then the kefir grains are strained out and put in a smaller jar with more sugar and water and kept in the fridge to await another big batch. The large container of kefir water is then consumed. It can be flavored with added fruit or juice but I wouldn't try essential oils. The lemon essential oil I used on a batch tasted great but it killed off the pro-biotic mirobes that are one of the benefits of drinking a fermented product.
Some fermentors keep the kefir grains going full time from batch to batch and they bottle the kefir water with different flavors and seal tightly so the carbon dioxide gas builds up and causes the opened bottle to fizz, like a soda pop. In fact, many people start fermenting with water kefirs to take the place of soda pop.
I found that my microbes like a chlorine-free water that is slightly more alkaline than neutral ph of 7. I get this by using "Precious Prills" (magnesium crystals) with city tap water. After sitting a few hours in a glass container with these "Prills" the chlorine has escaped and the ph has been raised to a nice 8.5 which my microbes like. ( I sell Precious Prills too or you can look them up online)
I also found out that the microbes, the friendly ones, need minerals, like we do, that is why I add some molasses to the sugar water mixture. It is amazing what the friendly microbes do with just sugar, molasses and water. They turn that bare minimum food into a healthy, pro-biotic liquid that tastes good and is very "gut friendly".

domain: chemistry


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Tyne and Wear HER(4134): Newcastle, Coal Depot - Details
Newcastle, Coal Depot
Coal Mining Site
Historic Ordnance Survey map evidence shows the location of this Coal Depot on the Blyth and Tyne Railway.
<< HER 4134 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey Map, 1864, 6 inch scale, Northumberland, 97

domain: history


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When members of Watershed NOW, a local conservation group, decided to branch out and start a new group, Friends of Big Elkin Creek, and invite landowners along the waterway to join their cause, they were sure what the results would be, but they were hopeful to start new partnerships.
An inaugural meeting of Friends of Big Elkin Creek at Elkin Creek Vineyard proved successful, as 30 landowners not already affiliated with Watershed NOW came out for the gathering to hear what the group is about and to learn how the landowners can partner with the conservation group to secure funding for stream restoration and preservation projects.
Woody Faulk of Watershed NOW reported Monday during the Elkin Board of Commissioners meeting that invitations were sent to 100 landowners, and with the 30 who attended the meeting, “We were excited about the turnout and the quality of interaction.
“We first wanted to introduce ourselves to the landowners as an organization that is actively seeking partnerships in the community that will help preserve and protect Big Elkin Creek. We also wanted to gather more information about the landowners’ hopes and concerns and their thoughts about where we go from here.”
The landowners’ concerns mirrored those of Watershed NOW, with 35 percent of the participants ranking muddy water as a primary concern. Faulk said other concerns mentioned included the impact of fertilizer runoff on safe drinking water.
“Forty-eight percent felt the index of success of our efforts would be clear water, and 26 percent felt it would be safe water. Ninety-five percent wanted Friends of Big Elkin Creek to pursue watershed quality improvements,” Faulk reported.
“Some expressed a strong interest in a consultation regarding the possibility of a stream restoration project of some kind on their property,” he added. “Since the increasing sedimentation problem related to stream bank erosion and stormwater runoff was ranked as the highest concern, we are going to begin working on a priority list of projects that will have the most impact on improving water quality.
“We will seek state funds and local matching monies to assist landowners in addressing these problems as they are identified,” said Faulk.
In addition to the individual projects, he reported that Watershed NOW is preparing to launch a “Stream Watch” program, which will equip volunteers and landowners with tools to test the water quality along Big Elkin Creek where there are areas of concern.
Faulk also announced a new partnership with Elkin High School thanks to a recent $4,000 grant obtained by Watershed NOW.
The organization has received a grant from The Winston-Salem Foundation to offer an arts-based learning experience for Elkin High School students during the 2016-17 school year. The grant is made from funds provided through the Elkin Community Trust.
Part of Watershed NOW’s mission is to educate the entire community about the importance of and need for clean water. In partnering with Elkin City Schools, the organization supports a specific focus on the local watershed through multidisciplinary lessons, including photography, watercolor painting, scientific discovery, music, poetry, stream restoration, and more.
This program is an expansion of a partnership already in existence between Watershed NOW and Elkin Middle School. Throughout the school year, activities are planned at the elementary and middle schools, especially in spring during Creek Week.
Funding from The Winston-Salem Foundation will now provide specific support to high school students as well. The project, conducted by “Authoring Auction!” of Winston-Salem, is designed to help students find their voices for action in the community.
The ninth-grade language arts and ninth-grade science teachers are keen to provide this opportunity to their students as it enhances the required curriculum. “Authoring Action!” will come to Elkin High School for 11 weeks in the fall and 12 weeks in the spring so that all ninth-graders will have the opportunity to experience the power of the arts as a transformational life process. The goal is that these 80-plus students will learn to harness the power of signature creative writing and will find their own unique voices about how they value water personally.
With the Big Elkin Creek running right beside the school’s campus, Watershed NOW recognizes an opportunity to make life changing connections for these young people as they mature into informed responsible citizens. The organization is committed to the goal of protecting the water that runs through the community, indeed that runs through its people, for generations to come.
“Authoring Action!” will provide a unique strategy for teaching the next generation of citizens in the community.
The Winston-Salem Foundation is a community foundation which supports charitable programs in the greater Forsyth County area. Founded in 1919 with a $1,000 gift, it now administers more than 1,300 funds and had total custodial assets of $387.4 million at the end of 2015. In 2015, the foundation granted $26.6 million to charitable causes, $2.4 million of which was through the Community Grants program.
Wendy Byerly Wood may be reached at 336-258-4035 or on Twitter @wendywoodeditor.


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But at a state legislative committee meeting Sept. 17, the head of the Department of Health and Human Services said the agency might consider pushing for expansion.
“We are at a point where we have an ability now to evaluate options for the state,” said Dr. Aldona Wos , secretary of the department, at the meeting .
While the N.C. General Assembly has the power to expand Medicaid, Wos said the department plans to present expansion options to McCrory.
Jennifer James, a spokeswoman for UNC Health Care and UNC School of Medicine, said in an email the hospital system provides more than $300 million in uncompensated care — not covered by insurance — each year.
She said state-supported Medicaid would allow UNC hospitals to do more for the thousands of patients who depend on the program.
“Our state’s academic medical centers, including UNC Hospitals, represent about half of the Medicaid care provided in North Carolina,” she said.
She estimated UNC Health Care is losing between $75 to $85 million in annual revenue because the state has not expanded Medicaid.
But Katherine Restrepo , the health and human services policy analyst at the right-leaning John Locke Foundation, said the organization believes Medicaid expansion would be costly and negative.


Sony’s recent smartphone line is becoming quite impressive and it seems that they are off to a great start in 2013. I recently had some hands-on experience with the new devices and I can attest that Sony has improved a lot, and I am looking forward to some new Sony devices at Mobile World Congress.
One Sony device we might see which has recently been leaked, is code named as Sony C530X HuaShan. The design structure is similar to that of Sony Xperia Z, also it features the signature Power/Lock key on the side as well. It is said that there will be total three phones in this new Sony family: the C5302, the C5303 and the C5306. It seems like Sony will be introducing this series as a mid-range Android powered phones for various markets across the globe.
Overall, it seems like a good Android package. So, are you looking forward to new Sony devices at MWC? Tell us about it in the comment box below.
via: Android Authority