text:
SAM Magazine—Burlington, Vt., Jan. 24, 2020—Fresh snow combined with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day long weekend made for a perfect storm at North American ski resorts, which saw a huge uptick in volume as skiers and snowboarders flocked to the mountains.
In the Northeast, January’s dry streak was broken by several good-sized dumps just before and during MLK weekend. Nearly two feet of fresh snow made for a booming holiday at Stowe Mountain Resort, according to Jeff Wise, senior director of communications for Vail Resorts’ northeastern properties. “Traditionally the most popular ski weekend in January, this annual MLK holiday proved to be an opportune ski and snowboard holiday with great snow conditions here in northern Vermont,” Wise said.
Sugarbush, meanwhile, experienced the busiest day in its 61-year history. “Sugarbush had a record day on Sunday thanks to the timing of the storm for our MLK Weekend guests,” said public relations manager John Bleh. “The snowfall, along with our snowmaking efforts, helped us open a ton of new terrain, which coupled with relatively warmer temps kept crowds nicely dispersed all over the mountain.”
In New Hampshire, Gunstock also enjoyed its busiest day on record. Fresh snow, sunny skies, and crowded lift lines were a welcome present for the new president and general manager Tom Day, taking over after last week’s retirement of longtime GM Greg Goddard. “Sunday was a record day for us, historically a record day in terms of skier visits,” Day said. “The snow and sunny weather got everybody out. Even though it was busy, everybody was happy because it was good skiing. There were a lot of happy, satisfied skiers and riders here.”
Down the coast, resorts in Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains also benefited from new snow and sunshine. At Blue Mountain Resort, lines wrapped around the ticket booths, and ski trails were packed with thousands of skiers and boarders. "It's kind of been a crazy weekend for us, in general,” marketing manager Ashley Seier said. “Holiday weekends always are. We were blessed with natural snow. We had about three inches of natural snow on Saturday night, so it definitely brought out the crowds for this weekend.”
The story was much the same in the Midwest. At Wisconsin’s Mt. La Crosse, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Feb. 29, the belated arrival of winter drew a plethora of shredders to its runs and historic A-frame lodge. “It’s a day away for kids and adults too,” said general manager Darcie Breidel. “They know that they’re going to have this day free, but it’s not quite enough vacation to travel anywhere, so this is the perfect place to come … We have a lot of staff on. We know that our rental shop is going to be busy, we’re selling out on lessons. People are wanting to come out and learn today.”
In Colorado, weekend traffic from the Front Range to the ski resorts was extremely busy despite heavy snow and icy conditions on I-70. On Saturday, a whopping 47,896 total vehicles passed through the east- and westbound sides of the Eisenhower Tunnel.
At Powderhorn in western Colorado, snow, snow, and more snow kicked off the holiday weekend. Spokesman Ryan Robinson said MLK weekend was “by far one of our busiest weekends of the winter. The snow [was] coming down, perfect timing for a long weekend up on the hill.” The mountain typically sees around a 20 percent increase in business on MLK weekend.
The snow gods also blessed California, dumping 16 inches of fluffy white stuff at Alta Sierra, just north of Bakersfield. The resort enjoyed an uptick in visitors thanks to the snow and the holiday on Monday. In Northern California, Mt. Shasta received 31 inches in the storm leading up to MLK weekend and had understandably crowded liftlines on Monday.
Mt. Shasta’s digital media expert Bettina Darger said MLK weekend was “…our busiest this whole season. Last night we actually topped off our lessons. We had 226 in one day, which is super cool. It's awesome seeing people coming up and learning how to ride and enjoying all of our intermediate and backcountry programs.”
Since MLK day is an American holiday not observed in Canada, resorts north of the border experienced a relatively modest increase in business. One Canadian resort, however, was able to draw thousands of visitors keen on skiing as well as celebrating MLK’s civil rights legacy.
The 24th annual MLK Ski Weekend (blackskiweekend.com) was a huge success at Blue Mountain Resort in Ontario. Nearly 3,000 participants took part in a wide variety of events, including skiing/snowboarding, lectures, pool parties, concerts, an underground railroad museum tour, as well as a dedication ceremony to Martin Luther King Jr. himself.
Organizer Shed Amin said visitors were mostly Americans with Monday off, though some attendees had travelled from as far away as the Bahamas, the U.K., and South Africa. Amin said that traveling to Canada to ski made more sense for Americans aiming to capitalize on the favorable exchange rate as well as those trying to dodge holiday crowds.
Besides having a lot of fun, one of the event’s goals was to encourage more African-American and non-Caucasian individuals to get on the slopes. “There’s more and more people of multicultural backgrounds doing outdoor sports,” Amin said. “The ski industry should take notice. They should be targeting multicultural consumers, otherwise they’ll be missing out.”
Due to time constraints, we were not able to reach a wider variety of resorts. We invite you to add your own results in the comments section for this report.
Report by Clint Carrick


text:
In Good Company
Join In Good Company and invest in a child’s future! In Good Company is a group of businesses who actively participate – both financially and in volunteer efforts – to support the fight against child abuse in Northwest Arkansas. It is CASA’s annual corporate sponsorship program that provides yearlong recognition as well as featured sponsorship at our annual Light of Hope events in November.
- Sponsorship of the 2024 Light of Hope
- Employee volunteer opportunities – both individual and group
- Advertising in the Northwest Arkansas Media
- Business listing on CASA website and front lobby as well as the CASA annual Impact Report
- Business listing in monthly e-newsletter
For more information on this opportunity, please contact Development Director Courtney Voigt at firstname.lastname@example.org or (479) 725-2213.
CASA of Northwest Arkansas is grateful to the following companies who have chosen to invest in the most deserving children in Northwest Arkansas:

domain: economics


text:
Mangia Italian Restaurant
2007 Hughes Rd Madison, AL 35758
We serve New York style Italian cuisine. If you had an Italian grandmother or Nona this is what she would make for you. We are known for our home made meatballs, sauces and Ranch dressing. We serve a wide variety of pasta, pizza , calzones, salads, appetizers and desserts all available for dine in or carry out. We also have family style meals to please any crowd. Catering is also available for your event large or small. We have a clean, informal, family friendly environment.

domain: food


text:
North Edinburgh News (NEN) is to lead Contact in the Capital – North, a pilot programme to improve communications across the Forth and Inverleith areas.
A project board, comprising representatives from community councils, the local Young Peoples Forum and Neighbourhood Partnership conveners has met over recent weeks to agree performance targets with NEN, following a recent Neighbourhood Survey on local communications conducted by North Local Office.
The survey found that local people clearly like many different forms of communication, and get their news from a variety of sources! As the survey proved inconclusive, NEN will produce both digital and printed media – we plan to produce three newspapers before the end of this financial year and our digital presence will also be improved and enhanced.
And we’ll be working with community councils. schools, youth groups and community organisations to ensure that what we produce is what the communities of Forth and Inverleith want and need – and that it’s interesting, fun and informative.
We’ll be in touch over the coming weeks – and we’ll keep you updated on the blog – but in the meantime we would love to hear your suggestions, ideas and opinions. Why not comment on this article or email email@example.com?

domain: sociology


text:
Can You Customize the Site Color Scheme?
This article discusses the color theme used in the platform and how the color theme relates to accessibility.
Current platform color theme
Our platform uses a standardized blue color theme, which assists our organization in meeting WCAG compliance for contrast. CorpU also is working to change other platform colors to meet AA compliance. Below are common questions related to the color theme used in the platform.
Frequently asked questions
- Are there additional color options (still WCAG compliant) we can explore beyond the blue for our site? There are not currently any available color options to explore at this time as this is a systematic approach to using WCAG coloration while solving accessibility issues across all clients.
- What is the likelihood of the blue changing to another color in the future? Either resulting from a company decision or an accessibility compliance decision? There are no plans to change the default blue color theme in the future. However, there are several shades of blue used throughout the platform that we will continue to analyze and update accordingly based on WCAG compliance and company branding design standard best practices in the future. For example, color settings can also affect users with light sensitivities, not just those with color blindness.
- How was the color change in the platform to blue determined from an accessibility standpoint? The blue color was selected because it represents our brand family of colors and was the optimized color to use for contrast with respect to WCAG compliance. The blue color was the optimal choice from our style guide that we could apply to all client sites while ensuring accessibility for all users.
We are not planning to add colors based on our existing roadmap. Our primary commitment is full WCAG compliance for all users.

domain: design


text:
If you need cash now, we offer fast payday loans up to $1000. The process takes less than 3 minutes.
Payday advance types of loans usually require the entire amount to be repaid on the next pay period. No credit or faxing needed for loans under $1000. Bad credit OK! Instant Decision; you can start today and have the cash you need quickly
We are an immediate loan specialist in Griffin, and we are quicker and more advantageous than run of the mill retail facade banks since we're based on the web and are open constantly. No compelling reason to sit tight for "ordinary business hours" or invest energy flying out to the store — our short application can be finished in not more than minutes. You can even apply from a cell phone while you're in a hurry!
We can loan up to $500 to Griffin occupants, in view of qualifying elements. On the off chance that endorsed, your credit will be expected on your next payday that falls in the vicinity of 10 and 31 days after you get your advance. Nitty gritty data with respect to expenses and reimbursement is accessible on our Rates and Terms page. As you consider whether an advance is proper for your prompt needs, you ought to likewise investigate other subsidizing alternatives. A payday credit is a genuine budgetary duty, and not an answer for long haul issues. Getting from a companion of relative may be a superior alternative.
AZ's Governor keeps pointing the finger at President Obama saying "he needs to do his job" and that illegals continue to come into Arizona. The President signed a $600M border bill last year, so what did Jan Brewer do with the money? and why is she saying the President isn't helping curb illegal immigration? Before you answer, please note that the President Obama has: 1. Deported more illegals than any other President. 2. Has placed more boots on the ground (border agents). 3. Sent US troops to aid in border surveillance. 4. And signed the huge border bill.
I'd bet that she funneled that money to her private prison buddies too. Griffin Governor Funneling Money to Private Prison Corporation Through SB 1070
Before you post more of your racist rants, please note that we know: 1. Most of the criminal immigrants deported in the last 3 years were caught during the Bush years and were simply waiting deportation hearings. 2. Obama has issued an executive order telling federal law enforcement agencies to stop enforcing immigration laws. 3. ICE & border patrol members had a UNANIMOUS vote of no confidence in Obama's policies.. because they feel that he doesn't care about border security. And FYI none of that ridiculously small security spending was given to Arizona. Is was for federal enforcement.. which have been ordered to essentially stand down. But racists like you will sprew as much nonsense as you can to try to protect a guy who is willing to let members of "the race" break any law in the US they want. And since you didn't get the answers you were looking for.. will you be deleting this question soon as well?
I was wondering about that myself. I remember this story
Did Brewer actually get the money? Don't think so.

domain: finance


text:
Gov. Doug Ducey ordered state health officials to immediately put into effect “emergency rules” to ban the illegal sale of tissue from aborted fetuses.
The Republican governor’s directive Monday came in response to footage released by an anti-abortion group that showed a Planned Parenthood executive discussing procedures for providing fetal body parts to researchers.
The group behind the undercover video, the Center for Medical Progress, has claimed Planned Parenthood violated federal laws by selling fetal tissue of aborted fetuses to medical researchers. Planned Parenthood has said that’s false and criticized the group behind the video, saying the “outrageous claims are flat-out untrue.”
The president of Planned Parenthood of Arizona has said such procedures do not occur in Arizona.

domain: health


text:
The best movie of the year? I don't know, let people who think they are legitimate make those calls. I am here to help you save money, save time and see the movies most worth your money. These are movies that I think warrant your movie dollars, they were in some way so good, either visually or so well put together that even with a full movie theater at home, like I have it doesn't do them justice. These movies justified the full theater experience in some way or another. Some of them you can catch on DVD, but some of them will not be worth it if you didn't catch them in 3-D.
So here in a very specific order are The Top 10 Movies You Should Have Seen In The Theater in 2010.
10. Despicable Me
This is my second favorite animated movie of the year. In a year where I think there were more good animated movies than any other year, that is saying a lot. Despicable Me was in 3D and it was visually amazing. This movie was hilarious, beautiful, and had amazing characters. If you didn't catch it in the theaters, you missed some awesome 3D, a crowd of people all laughing and having an amazing time together, and an amazing movie with a great story. This is still a rentable movie, but you are missing out on some amazing 3D.
9. Step Up 3D
Perfect. This is a single word I would use to describe the blend of music, dance and 3D that Step Up 3D accomplished. You do not pay to see this movie for the story and plot, you pay to see some bad ass dancing, with bad ass music, with bad ass 3D. This is almost my favorite 3D movie of the year, and something that you should have seen in the theater. If you like dancing you can catch it on DVD, but you will have missed a lot of stellar single shot 3D not catching it in the theater.
I loved Kick-Ass. This is a fanboy movie, so if you are a fanboy you probably already saw it. To see this movie with a bunch of other fan boys, and watch Hit Girl kick a whole bunch of ass was awesome. This movie breeds on the fanboy experience. The energy that pumps into the theater when everyone around you is thinking the same thing. Holy crap this is awesome. That is why this movie is on the list. It is pure fanboy awesomeness, it delivers very well with a group in the theater. You can catch it on DVD now, but without that energy it might not be nearly as good.
7. Piranha 3D
I should just say Piranha 3, because the 3D was a waste, but that doesn't mean this movie wasn't still worth your full price dollars at the theater. I am so glad this movie was made. In a time where recession, savings, and the down turn of our country was happening, someone said, I want to make a movie with as much nudity, blood, and death as I can fit into 80 minutes. You have to see this movie on the biggest screen possible. It delivers an unchecked level of gratuity that can truly be felt on the big screen. The only way it could have been better was if I saw it at a Drive-In, to really get that old school B movie feel.
If Kick-Ass was for fanboys, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is for the fanboy is all of us. It is a culmination of 30 years of pop culture put into a 2 hour awesome movie. There is no one out there that will not recognize some part of their lives in this movie or won't love at least 1 little bit of this story. The great thing about seeing this movie in the theater, besides all the awesome visuals is the realization of how joined together all of us are. That there is so much we share, and that we all can get behind this movie and hero. Seeing it with your 250 new best friends is just awesome.
10 Years is a long time for a series of movies. I think the Harry Potter movies have only gotten better. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a terribly sad and dark movie. It is also a beautiful movie. A movie that you must see as big as possible. To hear as clearly as possible. To feel as the characters do. I don't think this can be accomplished as well on your small TV at home. This one is just simply better in a theater.
4. Tron Legacy
This could have been my favorite movie of the year, if the story had been better. But even with the flat story I still think this is a must see in the theater in 3D. This movie pushes forward movie making for 2010. It is a wonderful symphony of light, sound, music, and movement. You could almost get away with not saying anything in this movie and it would still be worth seeing in the theater. You have the chance to still go see this in the theater, go now. Today! Before you party tonight.
3. Black Swan
Black Swan is as terrifying as it is beautiful. A mix of visuals and story that can break your spirit, and tear your mind to pieces. It is best to see this movie in the theater with others. A movie that has so much force that it can make you forget anyone is around you, to have as many people near you as possible to pull you back into reality once this movie ends is wonderful thing. It is very worth every dollar you will spend on it, and you can still see it in the theater now.
The best animated movie of the year. The best animated 3D movie of the year. Only Tron had better 3D than How To Train Your Dragon. If you missed this movie in the theater, you missed one of the highlights of movies this year. It is a fun, wonderful family movie with amazing 3D animation that should not have been missed by anyone. This movie is on DVD now and is very rentable, but you missed out on this on in the theater. Next time I say go see a movie in the theater, I mean it.
My favorite movie of the year, my pick for best movie of the year, the movie I tell everyone that hasn't seen it to go see the most. Inception was the perfect movie. I consider this to be Christopher Nolan's finest movie to date. It is an amazing piece of work, and I think everyone in the world should see it. It is the ultimate movie theater movie. If this ever gets re-released in the theaters, go see it. Even if you have seen it multiple times, go see it again in the theater. It is that good. It is worth full price at a Gold Class theater after having already seen it 5 times. You see and catch more things every time, and if I have the chance to see this again in the theater, I will be first in line.

domain: artistic


text:
Reading is one of the best ways to expand a child's world. Reading helps children explore their imagination and encourages them to dream big. Here are simple ways to expose your child to more reading each day.
5 Simple Tips for Adding More Reading to Your Child's Day
Read while you wait
Life is full of waiting. You wait at the doctor's office, the grocery store, and sometimes at a restaurant. Reading is a great way to spend that time. It helps pass the time quickly and is an opportunity to share a great book too.
Listen to your books
Audiobooks count! Turn on an audiobook while riding in the car, cleaning the house, or taking a walk.
Visit the library often
Most local libraries have a large variety of free activities and resources for the community. Consider getting a library card to gain access to books that can be checked out in person and online for most libraries (using apps like Hoopla and Libby).
Make it fun
Books offer tons of opportunity for fun and when reading is fun, children are encouraged to read more. Act out the stories or make fun sound effects that keep your child engaged. You can even extend the learning by doing an activity based on the story you read.
Keep books nearby
There is no shortage of great books to explore. Grab one, two, or three and keep them nearby (in places like your bag, car, or bathroom). Make reading an easy choice by always having a book in reach.
The Stories Children Read Matters Too
Reading diverse stories opens a child's mind to different people, places, and cultures. It can help build empathy and understanding. We live in a beautifully diverse world and books can help children appreciate the similarities and differences that make living in it an exciting adventure.

domain: literature


text:
Now is the time that you get sweet fruits for your hardwork. You will have to reach the contractor’s warehouse for the Finale of this Heist. Your main aim is to defend all the material that you brought in.
For the final task, divide your team into two parts again. One team will protect from the northern side and other from the southern. The Finale will be active for 03:50 minutes within which you need to kill the enemies that are swarming the warehouse.
Your aim is to help in moving the vans loaded with the material. Using RPG’s will be the most easiest option to deliver high amounts of damage.
When you take down all the enemies coming into the warehouse, get hold of the vans and take them to El Gordo Lighthouse. You must protect these vans by getting inside the Technical.
Now you will have eight minutes to reach the Lighthouse with the vans in proper condition. You will be attacked from nearly all the directions possible, so be prepared. The Finale will end when you park the vans near the El Gordo Lighthouse.

domain: game


text:
Thousands of budding actors are attending auditions for Star Wars at Old Trafford cricket ground this weekend.
Disney released an open casting call for two roles - a teenage girl called 'Rachel' and a young male character called 'Thomas'.
Auditions for the new feature film opened this morning.
More top news
A woman was told she had breast cancer, just months after a scan at a Lancashire hospital had given her the all clear.
Weather details for the long weekend
The Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is praising the ''hunger'' his new signings have brought to Anfield.

domain: news


text:
Gosselin Divorce Final ... Finally
By PopEater Staff Posted Dec 18th 2009 12:08PM
After a well-publicized and scandal-marked separation, the divorce of Jon and Kate Gosselin is final, TMZ reports. Judge Arthur Tilson has signed the papers, making the Gosselin marriage officially over. Kate calls the process "challenging" and says that the family's next step will be "restructuring our lives."
Kate says, "I am very relieved that our divorce has been finalized, and I look forward to the New Year, focusing on our children." Her lawyer adds that Kate "will continue to reside with all eight of her children in the former marital home."
The lawyer, Mark Momjian, says, "We are very pleased with the final outcome."
Judge Tilson signed the documents following an arbiter's decision on dividing the couple's assets, despite a recent statement from Jon's camp suggesting the divorce would not be finalized until early 2010.
A report on MSNBC says that the papers were filed in spite of a last-minute holdup: Jon's gun. He was spotted shooting a .38 pistol on the couple's Pennsylvania property. On Thursday, a judge issued a court order barring the gun from the property; whether the ban remains a part of the final divorce agreement in unclear.
Jon and Kate Gosselin
Jon and Kate Gosselin are finally, officially single. Take a look at the couple who owned the tabloid covers of 2009.
MORE ABOUT Kate Gosselin
Find the latest stories, biography, photos, videos, and more.Read more about Kate Gosselin Li
- Jennifer Aniston
- Paris Hilton
Kate Middleton is officially a princess. She walked the aisle in an Alexander...
According to Denise, she's not sure that her estranged ex is completely sober....
Popeater Hot Topics
- Leonardo DiCaprio Rocks Full Beard, Man Bun as he Receives Clinton Global Citizen Award for Environmental Campaigning
- Emma Watson Makes Impassioned Speech on Feminism and Gender Equality at U.N. Headquarters, Says Feminism isn't "Anti-Men or Unattractive"
- Real Housewives of New Jersey Recap: Teresa Giudice Prepares to Downsize
- ?RHONY' Star Sonja Morgan In Desperate Fight To Keep Her Home In Bankruptcy Battle
- Stay Away! Britney Spears’ Las Vegas Staff Is On ?High Alert' For Sightings Of Her ?Idiot' Ex
- Sloppy Seconds! Joe Jonas Hooks Up With His Brother Nick Jonas’ Ex-Girlfriend, Gigi Hadid ? Brotherly Love?
- 'Big Bang Theory's' Johnny Galecki talks changes, conflicts and wedding plans
- Hilary Duff says new album will reflect Texas roots
- Vince Neil says no more country music for Motley Crue
- Leonardo DiCaprio Raps "Scenario"—Watch Now!
- The Good Wife Bosses Talk Shocking Status Change, Alicia and Kalinda's Friendship and More Season 6 Scoop
- Once Upon a Time's Frozen Premiere: Anna's Insane Voice, Regina's Awesome Twist and Everything You Need to Know!

domain: celebrity


Brass Fittings for Marine Tanks?
I recently noticed that a few filter manufactures use brass fittings which come in contact with the marine water of aquariums (Rainbow Lifegard, ocean clear, nu-clear). These are fittings which attach the filtration system to a pressure guage.
Anyone have any info on the effect of brass on Marine Aquariums?
I have one of these systems and would like to add a 1" long by 1/4" brass nipple to the gauge to extend it to a more visible point and was wondering any opinions on the safety of doing this.
All comments welcome
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)


text:
Franz Liszt wrote some of the most recognizable music of his native land...the rhapsodies. We'll hear one of these in this hour, plus some of the older music of Hungary and also a contemporary piece by Gergely Vajda called Conversations with Children.
Can you manage a mambo? Or perhaps a waltz? The Arts Underground with Beth Norwood takes your mind places it didn't know it wanted to go.
This one-hour, free-form program seeks to delight the senses. You'll hear interviews with artists, poetry, and music from across time and space...and maybe you'll find a few hidden musical treasures.
The Arts Underground airs Saturday from 2-3 PM ... or listen to a podcast below.


text:
When A.J. Preller was hired towards the end of the 2014 season as the General Manager of the San Diego Padres, the Friars hadn’t finished with a record above .500 in three straight seasons and were about to extend that number to four. Under Preller’s leadership, the Padres continued to finish with a losing record up until the 2020 season.
That’s five straight losing seasons under Preller and nine straight overall.
And then came the 2020 magic.
So, let’s address the obvious.
Yes, Preller is most famous for trading for Fernando Tatís Jr., and this alone gives Padres fans a whole lot to be grateful for, but that in itself is not the whole story.
Preller’s often glorified tenure on the Padres has also been speckled with a whole lot of losing, some mistakes, and some wrongdoings to go along with all the good he’s done. To ignore these facts would be to blot out a key part of Padres history.
Will Preller be remembered as the Padres’ savior? Or will his name be tainted throughout history?
Let’s take a look at Preller’s tenure, and in doing so, maybe we’ll start to answer some of these questions.
The Hole He Dug for Himself
Preller became the Padres’ GM on August 6, 2014 and he immediately went to work. Just four months later in December, Preller struck a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for Matt Kemp. That same offseason, he traded for Wil Myers, Justin Upton, and signed then-free agent James Shields to a four-year deal. These players were supposed to be the new faces of the Padres franchise, not at some point in the future, but in the current moment.
And we all know what happens next.
The Padres finished the 2015 season fourth in the NL West with a record of 74-88. Then-manager Bud Black is fired midway through the season and the Padres begin their rebuild again.
But the Padres have a problem this time: their farm system is much depleted. In trading for Kemp, Myers, and Upton, Preller had given up players the likes of Yasmani Grandal, Zach Eflin, Trea Turner, and Max Fried. Baseball Prospectus ranked the Padres farm system 16th in 2015 after ranking them 11th just the year before.
Well, once Preller re-trades Kemp, Myers, and Upton, he’s going to get some of this talent back, right? Eh.
For Kemp, Preller gets… Héctor Olivera. Olivera hasn’t played in a Major League game since 2016.
As for Myers, he makes the All-Star Game in 2016 and Preller gives him a contract extension in 2017. After three down seasons from 2017-2019, Myers had a career revival in 2020 and is off to another hot start in 2021, hitting for a line of .323/.432/.613 to go with his two home runs through his first nine games.
What about Justin Upton? He leaves the Padres as a free agent.
Overall, the Myers trade/extension looks like it’s going to pay off in the long run (although his trade counterpart, Trea Turner, also has had a solid career on the Washington Nationals as well), and the Kemp and Upton deals look bad in hindsight.
So from just looking at these three deals, Preller’s done some good and some bad.
And that’s when we get to the Fernando Tatís Jr. trade.
Preller Saves Himself
Now at this point, like with most prospects, no one exactly knew what type of player Tatís Jr. would become. But also with Tatís, in some ways, it was even harder to project his skillset because at this point in his young career, he had no career. He had not played a single professional game in his life.
By now, we all know how the story goes. Tatís Jr. quickly becomes one of the most highly regarded prospects in the Padres organization, and then becomes one of the most highly regarded prospects in MLB, and then has a solid showing in his 2019 rookie season and then completely takes over the scene in 2020.
This single trade might not just be the trade that defines Preller’s legacy, but might be the best trade in all of Padres history.
But again, this trade should not just be seen as Preller’s glory but also a reminder of his mistakes.
Yes, Preller did extremely well given the situation he was put into. He shipped an aging veteran past his prime for a young kid who might just be a generational talent. But Preller put this situation on himself. He was the one that signed an aging Shields to this deal. He was the reason why he had to make this trade in the first place.
There’s no doubt that the end result is great. If you told me I could sign James Shields and be able to turn that into Tatís Jr., I’d sign Shields immediately, but Preller didn’t know that at the time he signed Shields. Nor did he know the type of player Tatís Jr. would turn out to be.
Preller has put up great results, but the way he got there has been questionable to say the least.
These questionable routes are the reason why Preller is so dang conflicting.
A couple of days later, the Miami Marlins traded Rea back to the Padres for Castillo. What happened?
In case you forgot, after the initial trade, Rea made a start for the Marlins and injured his elbow during the game. He would later go on to have Tommy John surgery.
In a separate but related trade, the Boston Red Sox traded Anderson Espinoza to the Padres in return for Drew Pomeranz. However, the Red Sox grew suspicious that the Padres had withheld medical information about Pomeranz from them. Turns out, they were right.
MLB would later discover that Preller had told Padres’ trainers to create two sets of medical records: one for internal use by the organization and the other to be sent to other teams during trade talks.
Because of this, MLB allowed the Red Sox and the Marlins to rescind their respective deals, which is how the Marlins were able to trade back an injured Rea to the Padres.
Now, what Preller did is already incredibly unethical in regards to competition.
The current process for teams to run “physicals” of prospective trade prospects is through the usage of MLB’s Electronic Medical Records system. This system contains all the medical reports of any current MLB player and teams are given access to these records during trade talks or during free agency. However, these reports are self-reported by the team, meaning you’re banking on the team the player is coming from to be honest, truthful, and thorough.
This is arguably the one part of a trade that isn’t an area a team is supposed to use to get an edge. You can create your own statistics and sabermetrics on evaluating a player’s ability, but you can’t be deceptive with a player’s health.
This means Preller and the Padres cheated.
If you think cheating is too harsh of a word to describe this situation, I would disagree. Preller did something you’re not supposed to do and MLB punished them for it. But, if you disagree with this, then fine, we can agree to disagree.
It doesn’t really matter because Preller did something far worse than cheating: he played around with players’ health and livelihoods.
Colin Rea didn’t play in another Major League game until 2020. Maybe if the Marlins knew about Rea’s health or the state of his elbow they wouldn’t have traded for him. But also, maybe if the Marlins knew about his health, they wouldn’t have pitched him that day even if they decided to go with the trade.
Teams aren’t allowed to use a player’s health to get a competitive advantage in trades because concealing medical information puts the player’s career and life at stake.
We can’t go back in time so we won’t know if the Marlins would’ve been able to save Rea’s elbow. Maybe he was too far gone and this injury was inevitable. Or maybe he was repairable and just needed rest and could’ve had a long and prosperous career. I don’t know what could’ve happened to Rea, but what I do know is that the Marlins could’ve been more prepared and made a more educated decision on how to use him/not use him if they had all the info.
This is the bigger problem: championships and titles can be stripped away, but an individual’s health and career and livelihood are much harder to restore.
Hiding medical information can cost a player like Rea dollars and an elbow, but what if the information was more serious? I don’t know what information was concealed in Preller’s medical reports, but what if there was a lump that was left out of the report. And what if that lump turns into a tumor? Giving the correct information might save a player’s life.
And that’s what’s so conflicting about Preller. In this one moment, his obsession with winning looks like it consumed his sense of morals.
Preller wants to win so badly and he seems to know how to win and the Padres’ future looks real bright right now.
But what did he give up to get here?
Photos by Quinn Harris, Brian Rothmuller, Peter Joneleit & John Cordes/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Michael Packard (@designsbypack on Twitter & IG

domain: sports


Not that Switzerland's recent form under the tutelage of Roy Hodgson's successor bears much evidence of positive thought. Indeed the Portuguese coach brings his contentious selection into this game with the cries of "Jorge out, Hodgson in" still ringing in his ears after the 2-1 defeat by the Czech Republic in Basle last Saturday left Swiss supporters not a little disillusioned with their new full-time appointment. One win in four games? Hodgson could have done better even running the side from his new Internazionale office, Jorge's detractors reckon.
If the writing is on the wall for Jorge-boy, all the more reason then to give it all he has got today. After all, he owes it to himself to get one back on Venables who, when coach of Barcelona, knocked Jorge's Porto out of the European Cup on their way to the 1986 final. Rumour - substantiated yesterday by striker Stephane Chapuisat (if you can believe him) - has it that Jorge will deploy three strikers today, thereby throwing into chaos England's freshly-laid plans of playing with just three at the back.
Looking at ease amid the rich furnishings of their country manor-house headquarters, Chapuisat conceded that they had that option with players of the quality of Kubilay Turkyilmaz, Marco Grassi and, modesty forbid, himself. Jorge, however, was coy about their ability to dictate to England. A multi-linguist with a degree in philosophy, he said: "It's a very difficult match for Switzerland. We are not the favourites and it's important that we know it."
No one would dispute Chapuisat's assertion that attack is Switzerland's strongest suit, particularly now that this Borussia Dortmund striker has apparently recovered his fitness after a cruciate ligament injury, and perhaps Jorge, renowned as a defensive coach at Paris St-Germain, really has had a change of heart since his illness. Their attacking strength might have been stronger still had Jorge selected two more of his country's many German-based players: the prolific Adrian Knup, who scored in the 3-1 defeat at Wembley six months ago, and midfielder Alain Sutter.
The surprise omission of two of "King" Roy's favourites left Jorge open to further criticism that he was attempting to placate the multi-racial Swiss Federation with a polyglot of players from the various regions of the country. Jorge is contemptuous of such claims. "I don't know any coach who makes political decisions," he said, his copious moustache bristling with indignation. "Similarly, I don't choose players by their reputation but by their performance. Two players didn't come because in my opinion they had a very bad season. I frequently went to Germany just to watch Knup but I only ever saw him warming up. He rarely played. You cannot compare him with Chapuisat, who I think can be important for us."
For his part, Chapuisat still appears to be pining for Hodgson. "Six months with Artur Jorge isn't very long," he said. "We used to like to work with Roy Hodgson and a lot of people weren't pleased at the FA's decision."
It is also a much younger squad than that which acquitted itself so creditably at USA 94. Sebastien Jeanneret is one of the younger element. The 22-year- old from Neuchatel Xamax has just one cap to his name, and yet could find himself deputising for the suspended Marc Hottiger, of Everton.Reuse content


text:
Bearded Biz Show - Ep. 17 - Tony Russell - 98.7 The Bull Morning Show Host - Insurance Agent
For Episode 17 of the Bearded Biz Show I spoke with Tony Russell who is part of the morning show at 98.7 The Bull out in Portland Oregon.
I met Tony while we were both still in the Seattle area. Been awhile since I laughed this hard! Check it out!
Be sure to LIKE / FOLLOW Tony Russell -
Be sure to LIKE / FOLLOW Tony Russell Insurance-

domain: entertainment


text:
Nearly six years (to the day) after Grey’s Anatomy fans mourned the loss of Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd, they got a new ending for the beloved TV character. The 55-year-old actor seemingly made his final appearance on season 17 of the ABC medical drama during the Thursday, April 22, episode, convincing Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) to […]
Nearly six years (to the day) after Grey’s Anatomy fans mourned the loss of Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd, they got a new ending for the beloved TV character.
The 55-year-old actor seemingly made his final appearance on season 17 of the ABC medical drama during the Thursday, April 22, episode, convincing Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) to wake up from her coronavirus dream to reunite with their kids. Before she officially left the beach, however, Meredith and Derek finally had a traditional wedding moment.
The iconic onscreen couple previously handed over their church nuptials to Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) during season 5 when the latter was fighting cancer. Meredith and Derek, meanwhile, opted to exchange vows via a Post-it note, making their union legal at a courthouse years later in order to adopt daughter Zola.
“Ellis draws this picture of us,” Meredith told Derek on Thursday’s episode, referring to their youngest daughter. “I’m in a wedding dress, you’re in a suit. I show her the Post-it note, but she just … hates it. She feels robbed.”
While Derek noted that his wife “hates weddings,” the characters changed into the clothes from the picture.
“I hate weddings, but I’d give this to her if I could,” Meredith said. “What do you want me to promise?”
The late neurosurgeon replied, “To torture yourself less.”
While Meredith nearly went in to kiss Derek, she blurted out, “I don’t want to leave the kids,” to which he responded, “I don’t want you to leave the kids.”
When they later changed one last embrace, Derek said, “You have to go. It’s not your time yet. Our kids need you. You have to go.”
Grey’s Anatomy fans have been emotional since Derek’s surprising return in the season 17 premiere, which aired in November 2020, but nothing has wrecked the fandom like Thursday’s episode.
“MEREDITH SAYING ‘WE LOVE YOU. WE LOVE YOU. WE LOVE ZOZO’ BECAUSE HER AND DEREK GAVE UP ON BEING TOGETHER FOR THEIR KIDS I AM GOING TO DYING. #GreysAnatomy,” one fan tweeted.
Another viewer wrote, “I’ll forever cry at Meredith and Derek beach moments #GreysAnatomy.”
A third tweeted a photo of Sandra Oh’s Cristina Yang saying, “Somebody sedate me,” adding, “Apr 23. the day derek died. merder’s beach wedding. the day derek left again. the day mer woke up. #GreysAnatomy.”
“GIVE ME A DAMN SECOND #GreysAnatomy,” a fourth viewer concluded.
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET — with Sarah Drew’s highly-anticipated return and character April’s reunion with Jackson (Jesse Williams) slated to bring fans to tears once again on the May 6 episode.
Scroll through to see photos from Meredith and Derek’s wedding moment:
Source: Us Weekly https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/patrick-dempsey-ends-greys-anatomy-run-with-meredith-derek-wedding/


text:
Massive Disneyland Attraction Database
Deedle's gondola-rumbling photo of Nip and Tail's Bushhouse
Nip and Tail's Bushhouse
May 22, 1980
Avg. queue length:
Nobody can figure out what the goal of Nip and Tail's Bushhouse is. It was once a fun place with stuff to do, but a union representing particularly fragile children had it removed to further inflate their egos.
- Guests traveling with small children should be forwarned that this attraction exits into a large crowd.
- For your comfort, you should be in good health or free from odd tattoos, bad haircuts, or finger, skin, or immunological problems, or other states that could be aggravated by this experience.
- Because this is a stationery attraction, adults are required to buy pirate specticles.
- This attraction is the object of protests significantly more than any other attraction in Disneyland.
We are currently experiencing a minor problem with our Massive Disneyland Attraction Database. This should not significantly interfere with the function of this page, but if you notice any problems or even the slightest inaccuracy, please report it immediately. Thank you for your diamond.


text:
Cheap SIN to St. Moritz flights
Popular Flights from Singapore, Singapore
Top Singapore Flights to US Destinations
Top Singapore International Destinations
Popular Flights from St. Moritz, Switzerland
SIN to SMV Route Map
Singapore to St. Moritz Flights, Stats and Airplanes
Route information for flights from Changi to Samedan.
SIN - Changi Airlines
Browse the most popular airlines servicing the Singapore (SIN) airport. Visit their flights pages to learn more about the most popular routes these carriers fly.

domain: travel


text:
WorleyParsons has built a reputation as a leading provider of quality engineering and project management services to the chemical and process industries.
WorleyParsons' capability in chemicals includes:
- Fertilizers, explosives and related chemicals - ammonia, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphates, urea, melamine, super phosphates, NPK blending
- Mineral acids - nitric, sulphuric, phosphoric
- Carboxylic acids – acetic acid, acrylic acid
- Acrylic esters (acrylates) and polymers (PMMA)
- Titanium dioxide
- Industrial gases – SiH4, H2, Cl2, CO2, N2, O2, Ar
- Polysilicon, trichlorosilane, silicontetrachloride
- Linear alpha olefins and oxo alcohols
- Speciality chemicals including precipitated silicas, carbon black, rubber silanes, polyester resins and amino acids
Our global chemical plant experience has been gained through a diverse range of projects covering both organic and inorganic chemicals. We have had particular success using our multi-discipline engineering expertise in conjunction with international licensed technology.

domain: chemistry


text:
Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is an excellent source of protein and carbohydrates and is also rich in essential trace elements for the human diet. Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for human health and nutrition, providing protection against several diseases and regulating important biological systems. Dietary intake of 55 μg of Se per day is recommended for adults, with inadequate Se intake causing significant health problems. The objective of this study was to identify and map quantitative trait loci (QTL) of genes controlling Se accumulation in lentil seeds using a population of 96 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) developed from the cross “PI 320937” × “Eston” grown in three different environments for two years (2012 and 2013). Se concentration in seed varied between 119 and 883 μg/kg. A linkage map consisting of 1,784 markers (4 SSRs, and 1,780 SNPs) was developed. The map spanned a total length of 4,060.6 cM, consisting of 7 linkage groups (LGs) with an average distance of 2.3 cM between adjacent markers. Four QTL regions and 36 putative QTL markers, with LOD scores ranging from 3.00 to 4.97, distributed across two linkage groups (LG2 and LG5) were associated with seed Se concentration, explaining 6.3–16.9% of the phenotypic variation.
Citation: Ates D, Sever T, Aldemir S, Yagmur B, Temel HY, Kaya HB, et al. (2016) Identification QTLs Controlling Genes for Se Uptake in Lentil Seeds. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0149210. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149210
Editor: Istvan Rajcan, University of Guelph, CANADA
Received: September 3, 2015; Accepted: January 28, 2016; Published: March 15, 2016
Copyright: © 2016 Ates et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: The study was funded by Scientific and Technological Research Foundation of Turkey, with grant number TUBITAK-COST-114O446.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Lentils are grown and consumed in many developing countries and are an important dietary staple because of their high protein content and nutrient density . In particular, lentil is an excellent source of macro and micronutrients and trace elements , including Se . Se is an essential micronutrient for organisms and has beneficial effects on animal and human health , although toxicity can occur with acute or chronic ingestion of excess Se . Se is taken up from the soil by plants in two forms: inorganic (selenate and selenite) and organic (selenomethionine and selenocysteine) . Both inorganic and organic forms can be good dietary sources of selenium for humans . The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 55–200 μg of Se per day for adults is considered essential for healthy living . The recommended daily intake of Se is 55μg in the US  and 60–75μg in the UK , and a single portion of cooked rice provides only 12μg of Se . Low levels of dietary Se have been linked to a number of diseases. In the case of Se deficiency, serious muscle weakness , cardiovascular disruption , delayed child development , reduced eye health , early aging , nervous system disorders, and mental retardation  may be observed.
Se is integrated with selenoproteins (SPs) known as selenocystine (SeCys) residues in polypeptides . Over 25 SPs have been identified in mammals . SPs have antioxidant features that protect cells from free radicals , strengthen the immune system , contribute to proper thyroid gland function, and delay the aging process . SPs help balance cardiovascular health by stimulating tissue flexibility and supporting heart cells [21, 22], and also decrease the effects of toxic substances . Se also plays an important role in the prevention of various cancers, including prostate , lung , colorectal , bladder , and various gastrointestinal cancers . Therefore, developing micronutrient-enriched crop varieties by using genetic and genomic tools is considered a promising and cost-effective approach for controlling malnutrition worldwide  and increasing Se concentration in lentil seed could provide additional dietary sources of daily Se uptake.
One alternative to increasing the level of Se in seed is through conventional breeding and a strategy known as biofortification . The aim of biofortification is to enrich the micronutrient concentration in the edible parts of plants using biotechnological approaches in combination with plant breeding. Development of an effective biofortification strategy is a highly effective way of decreasing the cost of reducing micronutrient deficiencies in the rural population in developing countries. Lentil is a key crop in biofortification efforts as it provides fixed atmospheric nitrogen to plants and plays a role in the management of soil fertility .
Determining the genetic factors controlling micronutrient concentration is useful for map-based cloning and marker assisted selection (MAS). The application of molecular markers for QTL analysis has provided an effective approach to determine these genetic factors. RILs or doubled haploid populations have been used to identify QTLs associated with micronutrient concentration [32–34]. Therefore, identification QTL alleles with micronutrient efficiency, and discovery of tightly linked molecular markers for MAS selection are very important for lentil breeding.
A biofortification approach similar to that proposed for other crops can be used to develop lentil varieties that are enriched with micronutrients [8, 35]. To date, a number of QTL studies have been conducted on micronutrient accumulation in seeds of several cops. For example, Waters et al.  identified several QTLs for accumulation of Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, P, S, and Zn in seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana; Blair et al.  detected 26 QTLs for Fe and Zn concentration in seeds of common bean; Tiwari et al.  reported two QTLs for Fe and one QTL for Zn in wheat; Sankaran et al.  identified 46 QTLs for mineral concentration (Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, P, and Zn) in Medicago truncatula; Tezuka et al.  identified three QTLs for Cd accumulation in rice; Norton et al.  detected six QTLs for Se concentration in rice; and Pu et al.  identified five QTLs associated with Se concentration using composite interval mapping in two different RILs of wheat. However, no studies have been performed to identify QTL controlling Se uptake in lentil seed. Thus, the aims of this study were to (i) determine phenotypic variation among a RIL population and (ii) identify DNA markers linked to the gene(s) controlling Se uptake in lentil seed employing a QTL mapping approach.
Materials and Methods
Soil analyses were carried out in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Ege University in Turkey. Soils were sampled from three experimental fields in Turkey (located at Izmir, Adana, and Sanli Urfa) to determine structural and chemical properties of the soil. Analyses were conducted for soil pH , total soluble salt , texture , organic matter , and CaCO3 . Macro and micronutrient analyses of soil samples were carried out according to Bingham , Pratt , and Linsday and Novell . Total Se concentration of experimental soils was determined as the mean of three replicates with standard error by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Plant material and DNA extraction
The experiment was carried out on a population of 96 RILs of LR-39, which was generated from the cross between “PI 320937” (P1) × “Eston” (P2) developed at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. The population was generated by advancing F1 plants from the simple cross to the F2 generation and then through single-seed descent from the F2 to the F7 generation. The LR-39 population was planted with three replications at each of the three field sites during the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons.
For DNA extraction, young leaves from 4–6 week old seedlings of the 96 RILs and parents were collected in aluminum foil and placed in liquid nitrogen. Leaf tissue from each individual was ground in liquid nitrogen with a tissue lyser. Then, DNA was extracted from 100 mg of fresh leaf tissue using a DNA isolation kit (Plant Genomic DNA Purification Kit Cat no: K0792 Fermentas, Germany). The purified DNA was quantified using a Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer (Invitrogen, CA, USA). The isolated DNA was kept at -86°C in a freezer until use. The stock DNA was diluted for each polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol (AFLP and SSR) as described below.
Sample preparation and analyses were performed according to previously described procedures . A total of 1 g of each ground sample was acid digested with HNO3-HClO4 (4:1) mixed using a heating protocol, increasing from 100 to 220°C for 2 h on a digestion block. The final solutions were diluted with ultrapure water to a final volume of 50 mL. Se concentration was determined by ICP-MS with an Agilent 7700 instrument . A commercially available Se standard solution (Cat no: 1197960100, traceable to SRM from NIST SeO2 in HNO3, ρ = 1000 mg/L Se, Merck, Darmstadt, Certipur®, Germany) was used to prepare calibration curve graphs. Details of this procedure are described by Gupta . Se analysis for each RIL was replicated three times.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out using TOTEMSTAT software  for Se concentrations of the RILs grown in different locations and years. Probability was accepted at the P ≤ 0.001 and P ≤ 0.05 levels.
DNA analysis with genetic markers
For SSR analysis, each 20 μL PCR reaction contained 40 ng of genomic DNA, 10 pmol of each forward and reverse primer, 2.5 mM dNTP, 1X PCR buffer (75 mM Tris-HCl, PH: 8.8, 20 mM (NH4)2SO4, 25 mM MgCl2, 0,1% Tween), and 0.6 U Taq DNA polymerase. PCR was carried out in a thermocycler (MJ ResearchTM, Nevada, USA) with an initial denaturation of 94°C for 5 min, followed by 30 cycles of 94°C for 30 s, 55°C for 35 s, and 72°C for 60 s, followed by a final extension at 72°C for 5 min. The PCR products were resolved using 6% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis on a LI-COR 4300 DNA analyzer (Li-COR Lincoln NE, USA). Forward primers were modified by adding an M13 tail (5ˈ-TGTAAAACGACGGCCAGT–3ˈ) and labelled with IRDye 700 or IRDye 800. The band sizes were analyzed using SagaGT software (Li-COR Lincoln, NE, USA).
SNP analysis was performed using a genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach. GBS analysis followed the procedure described by Raman et al. . Briefly, two different restriction enzymes were used to digest 100 ng of reference DNA. Pst I and Mse I enzymes were applied to the DNA to create overhangs for adapter ligation. A staggered, varying length barcode region, the Illumina flowcell attachment, and a sequencing primer sequence were included in the Pst I-compatible adapter. The Mse I-compatible overhang sequence was included in the reverse adapter along with the flowcell attachment sequence. The following PCR protocol was performed for 30 rounds to effectively amplify only the Pst I/Mse I fragments: 94°C for 1 min, followed by 29 cycles of 94°C for 20 s, ramp at 2.4°/s to 58°C, hold at 58°C for 30 sec, ramp at 2.4°C/sec to 72°C, hold at 72°C for 45 s, extend for 7 min at 72°C, and then finally cool to 10°C. To sequence on the Illumina Hiseq2000, the PCR products were multiplexed in equimolar amounts and a c-Bot (Illumina) bridge PCR was applied. A single read was run for 77 cycles. In a single lane, all amplicons were sequenced and analyzed by proprietary DArT analytical pipelines. To filter away poor quality sequences, the FASTQ files were first processed in the primary pipeline. A Phred pass score of 30 was chosen for the barcode region as a more stringent selection than for the rest of the sequence. Thus, in the barcode split step, very reliable results were obtained during assignment of the sequences to specific samples. In marker calling, approximately 2,000,000 sequences per barcode/sample were identified and used. In the secondary pipeline, these files were used for DArT P/L’s proprietary SNP and Presence/Absence Markers (PAM) calling algorithms (DArTsoftseq). The analytical pipeline processed the sequence data. The parental lines (“PI 320937” × “Eston”) of the LR-39 RIL population generated all polymorphic sequences for the DArT-Seq markers. SNP data was uploaded system as S1 Supporting Information.
Genetic linkage mapping and QTL analysis
Polymorphic bands were scored for each RIL individual and recorded as either type ‘A’ (“PI 320937”) or ‘B’ (“Eston”), evaluated for the presence or absence of bands, and later combined to construct a genetic linkage map. All genotypic marker data were tested for segregation distortion using JoinMap4.0 linkage map software . Distorted markers were eliminated and not used for linkage mapping. Linkage analysis was performed using maximum likelihood mapping algorithm with RIL population type, using Kosambi function, logarithm of the odds (LOD) of 2.0–10.0, and a recombination fraction of 0.35 as mapping parameters. The genotypic and phenotypic data sets were imported into MapQTL software for QTL analyses . The QTL were determined following Simple Interval Mapping (SIM) . The significant LOD scores for detection of the QTL were calculated based on 1000 permutations at P ≤ 0.05 and 0.01 . The proportion of observed genetic variation explained due to a particular QTL was estimated by the coefficient of determination (R2) using maximum likelihood for SIM.
Total Se concentration and phenotypic variation in seeds of lentil genotypes
Mean Se concentration for the RIL parents, “Eston” and “PI 320937”, were 166 and 858 μg/kg, respectively, across the two study years and three growing locations (Table 1). Mean seed Se concentration within the RIL population ranged from 92 to 908 μg/kg (mean 421 μg/kg), and was very consistent across the three growing locations and over both study years (Table 1). Se concentrations in lentil seed from the LR-39 RIL population were normally distributed (Fig 1A and 1B). Soil analyses for Adana, Izmir, and Sanli Urfa indicate high levels of Se at Adana (89 μg/kg) and Sanli Urfa (53 μg/kg) and adequate levels at Izmir (29 μg/kg) (Table 1).
Histograms of seed Se concentration in the lentil RIL population for (a) 2012 and (b) 2013. (a) distribution of lentil seed Se concentration in 2012 and (b) distribution of lentil seed Se concentration in 2013.
The ANOVA for Se concentration for all environments and years (Table 2) shows that genotype, location, year, and the interactions between year × genotype and location × genotype were highly significant (P ≤ 0.001). The interaction between year × location was not significant. Significant variation was detected among the RILs for Se concentration at the three locations and in the two years at P ≤ 0.001.
SSR and SNP marker analysis
To determine whether the DNA markers used in this study show segregation distortion based on the expected Mendelian ratio, segregation distortion analysis was carried out using JoinMap 4.0 software (Table 3). A total of 3,030 markers (30 SSRs, and 3000 SNPs) were analyzed for the mapping of the genome. Of these, 1,784 markers were mapped (4 SSRs, and 1,780 SNPs markers) in the genome (Fig 2), whereas 1,076 (16 SSRs, and 1,060 SNPs) markers remained unlinked. A total of 170 markers (5.6% of the polymorphic markers) showed segregation distortion.
Red bars and vertical letters indicate QTL regions. Left bar of linkage map is cM distance and right bar of linkage map is marker names. Numbers in brackets indicate continue of certain linkage map such as 1.
Linkage mapping results
The map spanned a total length of 4,060.6 cM and composed of seven LGs with an average of 2.3 cM between adjacent markers (Fig 2). The longest LG was LG5 (1,783.4 cM) and the shortest was LG7 (111.7 cM). Average marker distance varied by LG; the smallest distance between markers was noted for LG3 (1.8 cM) and the greatest for LG4 (2.7 cM). SNPs were distributed throughout all LGs; however, SSRs were only mapped on LG5, which contained the most markers (782) with an average distance between markers of 2.3 cM. LG7 contained the fewest markers (42) with an average distance between markers of 2.6 cM (Table 4).
QTL analysis results
A total of four QTL regions identified using SIM were detected for Se concentration in lentil seeds for the LR-39 population and deemed to be of significant importance (Fig 2). LG2 contained only one QTL region whereas LG5 contained three QTLs for Se concentration. The QTL regions for Se located on LG2 and LG5 showed clusters of SNP markers. However, SSR markers did not locate on these regions. A total of 36 putative QTL markers were detected. The markers were only statistically significant in one year and/or in two locations. Because they did not have a stable LOD threshold (some were below LOD 3 in some years and in some locations), they can be considered putative QTL. Four QTL regions and 36 putative QTL markers, with LOD scores ranging from 3.00 to 4.97, were distributed across LG2 and LG5 and were associated with seed Se concentration, explaining 6.3–16.9% of the phenotypic variation (Table 5).
In the current study, LG2 contained one QTL region for Se concentration located between 796.3 and 803.6 cM, covering 7.3 cM and explaining 6.6–11.5% of the phenotypic variance. The QTL region (SeQTL2-1) on LG2 (Fig 2) clustered with five SNPs. LG5 contained three QTL regions for Se concentration. Two QTL regions (SeQTL5-1 and SeQTL5-3; Fig 2) for Se concentration were found close to each other, located between 1500.0 and 1517.0 cM and 1656.4 and 1663.7 cM and explaining 6.4–10.0% and 6.5–16.9% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. SeQTL5-1 clustered with 13 SNPs covering 7.3 cM. SeQTL5-2 (Table 5 and Fig 2) was located between 556.7 and 574.8 cM and explained 6.3–10.3% of the phenotypic variance. SeQTL5-2 (Table 5 and Fig 2) clustered with 8 SNPs covering 18.1 cM.
Breeding for improved Se uptake by lentil may be an effective and sustainable strategy to address micronutrient malnutrition in the long term . QTL studies have been carried out on a number of staple crops to determine micronutrient accumulation in seeds (e.g., [36, 40]). The present work aimed to add to the literature in this regard for Se in lentil, and further bridge the gap between agriculture and human health.
In the current study, mean Se concentrations of LR-39 parents (“Eston” × “PI 320937”) were 166 and 858 μg/kg, respectively, while the range for the RIL population was 119 to 883 μg/kg. Rahman et al.  reported similar results for lentil seeds grown in Bangladesh, with total Se concentrations ranging from 74 to 965 μg/kg (mean 312 μg/kg). Thavarajah et al.  report Se concentrations of 425–673 μg/kg for lentil grown in Canada, which also falls within the range of results obtained here. Se concentrations for lentil seed determined in the current study are higher than values determined for other crops, including wheat , rice , broccoli  and soybean .
The significant effects noted here for genotype, years, location, and interactions between year × genotype and location × genotype agree with results reported by Thavarajah et al. . Rahman et al.  also report that location × genotype effects were significant for seed Se in lentil; however, year × location was not significant in the present study. The lack of significance in the year × location interaction for seed Se can be attributed to the differences between genotypes being consistent across the three locations for two years.
In the current study, a total of 170 markers (5.6% of the polymorphic markers) showed segregation distortion. Similar levels of segregation distortion have been detected in several lentil mapping studies [31, 59, 60, 61]. Segregation distortion can be explained by many factors, such as small chromosomal rearrangements with little impact on fertility, chromosome pairing during meiosis , abortion of the male or female gametes or zygotes, or linkage to a lethal allele in gametes [63, 64]. Chromosomal rearrangements may also lead to segregation distortion .
The current map covers 4,060.6 cM and is composed of seven linkage groups, which corresponds to the haploid chromosome number (2n = 2x = 14) of lentil [59, 66, 67]. Previous studies with lentil using a low number of markers obtained several LGs [31, 59, 60, 61, 67]; however, genome coverage in this study is far higher than many earlier efforts (e.g., 751 cM ; 784.1 cM ; 834.7 cM ; 1396.3 cM ; 2172.4 cM ; 3843.4 cM ). SNP markers were not distributed evenly among LGs and we detected different in length of LGs. Similarly unequal marker distribution among LGs (between 58 and 226cM) was also found by Sharpe et al (2013) . This could be due to variation among physical length of lentil chromosomes. Supporting our results, several karyotype analysis of lentil showed that the physical length of lentil chromosomes showed variation between 8.59μm (chromosome (chr) 1) and 5.59μm (chr7) (Salimuddin and Ramesh 1994; Gaffarzade-Namazi et al 2007; Balyan et al 2002). LG 5 was the longest LG in the current study could be chr 1 according to Gaffarzade-Namazi et al (2007); Balyan et al (2002)’ results.
Among the previously published reports, Sharpe et al. ’s number of markers was the highest to date for lentil linkage mapping and was identified a large collection of SNPs and subsequently developed a genotyping platform to establish the first comprehensive genetic map of the L. culinaris genome. In an LR-18 population of lentil, they mapped six SSRs and 454 SNPs, covering the genome in 834.7 cM. The lentil genome is ~4 GB in size , and therefore our genome coverage is closer to the size of the lentil genome than maps developed in other studies. The average distance between markers in the current map is 2.3 cM, which is shorter than reported for previous maps (6.87 cM ; 8.4 cM ; 15.87 cM ; and 19.3 cM ) and close to that reported by Sharpe et al. (1.67 cM) .
A number of QTL studies have been conducted to date on micronutrient accumulation in seeds of several crops [29, 32, 33, 34, 36, 40, 58]. In the current study, four QTL regions and 36 putative QTL markers controlling Se uptake in lentil seed were identified. LOD scores ranging from 3.00 to 4.97 and distributed across two LGs (LG2 and LG5) were associated with seed Se concentration, explaining 6.3–16.9% of the phenotypic variation. These phenotypic variation results are higher than for Norton et al.’s study of rice  and Ramamurty et al.’s study of soybean . QTL results are similar to studies in other crops, in which Norton et al.  identified six QTLs for Se concentrations in rice and Pu et al.  identified four QTL regions associated with Se concentration in wheat. In Pu et al.’s study , one QTL region for Se concentration located between 129.2 and 161.7 cM explained 23.4% of the phenotypic variance and clustered with three markers covering 32.5 cM. Three QTL regions located between 25.8 and 35.9 cM, 121.7 and 141.2 cM, and 159.2 and 165.9 cM on different chromosomes explained 6.4, 10.1, and 28.5% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. Overall, these studies show that a high level of genetic variation and the use of more individuals can help resolve QTL regions and also allow for the characterization of regions with high LOD scores.
Large phenotypic variation was obtained among lentil RILs in terms of Se accumulation in seed. However, the use of molecular markers for developing maps and other breeding applications has been limited in lentil by the low genetic variation at the species level and the lack of available marker resources. This study addressed the shortcomings of using a large number of SNP markers and reports the first results using QTL analysis for Se accumulation in lentil seed. Data from the current study may help to advance molecular breeding techniques that would allow breeders to develop varieties with higher seed Se concentrations. The use of GBS technology in lentil showed that the marker system could be promising for mapping the lentil genome at a higher density. The markers can be used for QTL analysis. Construction of a linkage map of lentil using a RIL population with variation for Se concentration in seeds enabled detection of potential QTLs controlling Se accumulation. This study also showed that Se concentration in seed was quantitatively inherited. Because RIL LR-39-98 contained the highest Se concentration, it could be used as a donor parent in breeding programs to develop Se-biofortified varieties.
The authors acknowledge support received from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, project #TUBITAK-COST-111O446.
Conceived and designed the experiments: AV AK HO BT. Performed the experiments: DA TS SA AK HO BT AV. Analyzed the data: DA HYT HBK AK HO BT AV. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DA TS SA AK HO BT. Wrote the paper: DA AK HO BT AV. Seed nutrient element analysis: BY. DNA marker analysis: AA.
- 1. Anoma A, Collins R, McNeil D. The value of enhancing nutrient bioavailability of lentils: the Sri Lankan Scenario. African Journal Food, Agriculture, Nutrient and Development 2014; 14(7): 9529–9543.
- 2. Wang N, Daun JK. Effects of variety and crude protein content on nutrients and anti-nutrients in lentils (Lens culinaris). Food Chem 2006; 95(3): 493–502.
- 3. Thavarajah D, Thavarajah P, Wejesuriya A, Rutzke M, Glahn RP, Combs GF Jr et al. The potential of lentil (Lens culinaris L.) as a whole food for increased selenium, iron, and zinc intake: Preliminary results from a 3 years study. Euphytica 2011; 180: 123–128.
- 4. Adams ML, Lombi E, Zhao FJ, McGrath SP. Evidence of low selenium concentrations in UK bread-making wheat grain. J Sci Food Agric 2002; 82: 1160–1165.
- 5. Ellis DR, Salt DE. Plants, selenium and human health. Curr Opin Plant Biol 2003; 6: 273–279. pmid:12753978
- 6. Cakır O, Turgut-Kara N, Ari S. Selenium metabolism in plants: Molecular approaches. Advances in selected plant physiology aspects. ISBN 978-953-51-0557-2. Published in print edition April, 2012.
- 7. Monsen ER. Dietary reference intakes for the antioxidant nutrients: vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and carotenoids. J Amer Diet Assoc 2000; 100: 637–640.
- 8. Broadley MR, White PJ, Bryson RJ, Meacham MC, Bowen HC, Johnson SE et al. Biofortification of UK food crops with selenium. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 2006; 65: 169–181. pmid:16672078
- 9. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 21. Nutrient Data Laboratory Home Page, 2008. Available: http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl. Accessed 28 Jan 2009.
- 10. Gore F, Fawell J, Bartram J. Too much or too little? A review of the conundrum of selenium. World Health Organization 2010. J Water Health 08.03.2010.
- 11. Coppinger RJ, Diamond AM. Selenium deficiency and human disease, In Hatfield DL (ed.), Selenium: its molecular biology and role in human health. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, Mass; 2001. pp. 219–233.
- 12. Lawrence KC, Howard GE. Manifestations of chronic selenium deficiency in a child receiving total parenteral nutrition. Am J Clin Nutr 1983; 37: 319–328. pmid:6401914
- 13. Flett JC, Mayer J. Dietary Selenium repletion may reduce cancer incidence in people at high risk who live in areas with low soil selenium. Nutr Rev 1997; 55: 277–279. pmid:9279064
- 14. Zheng JK, Zhang XW, Yang L, Zhang T. Inheritance of selenium contents and QTL detection in rice grains. Plant Genetic Resources; 2010. pp. 445–450.
- 15. Pitts MW, Byrns CN, Ogawa-Wong AN, Kremer P, Berry MJ. Selenoproteins in nervous system development and function. Biol Trace Elem Res 2014; 161: 231–245. pmid:24974905
- 16. Thavarajah D, Ruszkowski J, Vandenberg A. High potential for selenium biofortification of lentils (Lens culinaris L.). J Agric Food Chem 2008; 56: 10747–10753. pmid:18954072
- 17. Kryukov GV, Castellano S, Novoselov SV, Lobanov AV, Zehtab O, Guigo R, Gladyshev VN. Characterization of mammalian selenoproteins. Science 2003; 300: 1439–1443. pmid:12775843
- 18. Bordoni A, Danesi F, Malaguti M, Di Nunzio M, Pasqui F, Maranesi M et al. Dietary selenium for the counteraction of oxidative damage: fortified foods or supplements? Br J Nutr 2008; 99: 191–197. pmid:17651521
- 19. Broome CS, McArdle F, Kyle JAM, Andrews F, Lowe NM, Hart CA et al. An increase in selenium intake improves immune function and poliovirus handling in adults with marginal selenium status. Am J Clin Nutr 2004; 80: 154–62. pmid:15213043
- 20. Zhang S, Rocourt C, Cheng WH. Selenoproteins and the aging brain. Mech Ageing Dev 2010; 131: 253–260. pmid:20219520
- 21. Flores-Mateo G, Navas-Acien A, Pastor-Barriuso R, Guallar E. Selenium and coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 2006; 84: 762–73. pmid:17023702
- 22. Bleys J, Navas-Acien A, Guallar E. Serum selenium levels and all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality among US adults. Arch Intern Med 2008; 168: 404–10. pmid:18299496
- 23. Navarro-Alarcon UM, Lopez-Martinez MC. Essentiality of selenium in the human body: relationship with different diseases. Sci Total Environ 2000; 249: 347–371. pmid:10813463
- 24. Karunasinghe N, Ryan J, Tuckey J, Masters J, Jamieson M, Clarke LC et al. DNA stability and serum selenium levels in a high-risk group for prostate cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2004; 13: 391–397. pmid:15006914
- 25. Della Rovere F, Granata A, Familiari D, Zirilli A, Cimino F, Tomaino A. Histamine and selenium in lung cancer. Anticancer Res 2006; 26: 2937–2942. pmid:16886617
- 26. Peters U, Takata Y. Selenium and the prevention of prostate and colorectal cancer. Mol Nutr Food Res 2008; 52(11): 1261–1272. pmid:18763256
- 27. Kellen E, Zeegers M, Buntinx F. Selenium is inversely associated with bladder cancer risk: a report from the Belgian case-control study on bladder cancer. Int J Urol. 2006; 13(9): 1180–4. pmid:16984549
- 28. Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Simonetti RG, Gluud C. Systematic review: Primary and secondary prevention of gastrointestinal cancers with antioxidant supplements. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2008; 28: 689–70. pmid:19145725
- 29. Pu ZE, Yu M, He QY, Chen GY, Wang JR, Liu YX et al. Quantitative trait loci associated with micronutrient concentrations in two recombinant inbred wheat lines. Journal of Integrative Agriculture; 2013. pp. 2095–3119.
- 30. Rayman MP. The use of high-selenium yeast to raise selenium status: How does it measure up? Br J Nutr 2004; 92: 557–573. pmid:15522125
- 31. Tanyolac B, Ozatay S, Kahraman A, Muehlbauer F. Linkage mapping of lentil (Lens culinaris L.) genome using recombinant inbred lines revealed by AFLP, ISSR, RAPD and some morphologic markers. J Agric Biotech Sustain Dev 2010; 2(1): 1–6.
- 32. Shi RL, Li HW, Tong YP, Jing RL, Zhang FS, Zou CQ. Identification of quantitative trait locus of zinc and phosphorus density in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rain. Plant Soil 2008; 306: 95–104.
- 33. Peleg Z, Cakmak I, Ozturk L, Yazici A, Jun Y, Budak H et al. Quantitative trait loci conferring grain mineral nutrient concentrations in durum wheat × wild emmer wheat RIL population. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 2009; 119: 353–369. pmid:19407982
- 34. Tiwari VK, Rawat N, Chhuneja P, Neelam K, Aggarwal R, Randhawa GS et al. Mapping of quantitative trait loci for grain iron and zinc concentration in diploid A genome wheat. Journal of Heredity 2009; 100: 771–776. pmid:19520762
- 35. White PJ, Broadley MR. Biofortification of crops with seven mineral elements often lacking in human diets–iron, zinc, copper, calcium, magnesium, selenium and iodine. New Phytol 2009; 182: 49–84. pmid:19192191
- 36. Waters BM, Grusak MA. Quantitative trait locus mapping for seed mineral concentrations in two Arabidopsis thaliana recombinant inbred populations. New Phytol 2008; 179: 1033–1047. pmid:18631293
- 37. Blair MW, Astudillo C, Grusak MA, Graham R, Beebe SE. Inheritance of seed iron and zinc concentrations in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Mol Breeding 2009; 23: 197–207.
- 38. Sankaran RP, Huguet T, Grusak MA. Identification of QTL affecting seed mineral concentrations and content in the model legume Medicago truncatula. Theor Appl Genet 2009; 119: 241–253. pmid:19396421
- 39. Tezuka K, Miyadate H, Katou K, Kodama I, Matsumoto S, Kawamoto T et al. A single recessive gene controls cadmium translocation in the cadmium hyperaccumulating rice cultivar Cho-Ko-Koku. Theor Appl Genet 2010; 120: 1175–1182. pmid:20039013
- 40. Norton GJ, Deacon CM, Xiong L, Huang S, Meharg AA, Price AH. Genetic mapping of the rice ionome in leaves and grain: Identification of QTLs for 17 elements including arsenic, cadmium, iron and selenium. Plant Soil 2010; 329: 139–153.
- 41. Black CA. Methods of soil analysis. Editor: Madison . Wisconsin, USA: American Society of Agronomy Inc; 1965. pp. 1372–1376.
- 42. Richards LA. Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. United States Department of Agriculture Handbook. USA 1954.
- 43. Bouyoucos GJ. A recalibration of the hydrometer method for making mechanical analysis of the soils. Agronomy Journal 1955; 4(9): 419–434.
- 44. Schlicting E, Blume HP. Bodenkundliches practicum. Editor: Parey, VP Hamburg; 1966. p. 94.
- 45. Bingham FT. Soil test for phosphate. California Agriculture 1949; 3(7): 11–14.
- 46. Pratt PF. Methods of soil analysis. Editor: Black CA, Wisconsin, USA: American Society of Agronomy Inc; 1965. pp. 1010–1022.
- 47. Linsday WL, Norvell WA. Development of a DTPA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese and copper. Soil Sci Soc of Amer Journal 1978; 42: 421–428.
- 48. Kacar B. Chemical analysis of plant and soil: II. Plant analysis. Ankara University Press, Publication no: 453, Application book no: 155 Ankara, Turkey 1972.
- 49. Kacar B, Inal A. Plant analyses. Nobel Press, First edition, No: 1241, Natural applied sciences, No: 63, ISBN 978-605-395-036-3 Ankara, Turkey 2008.
- 50. Gupta UC. Handbook of Reference Methods for Plant Analysis. Editor: Kalra YP, Boca Raton; CRC Press 1998; 171–182.
- 51. Acikgoz N, Ilker E, Gokcol A. Computer evaluations of biological research. Ege University Press, 2004, TOTEM, No: 2, Izmir, Turkey.
- 52. Raman H, Raman R, Kilian A, Detering F, Carling J, Coombes N, et al. Genome-wide delineation of natural variation for pod shatter resistance in Brassica napus. PLoS ONE 2014, 9(7): e101673. pmid:25006804
- 53. Van Ooijen JW, Voorrips RE. JoinMap 4.0, software for the calculation of genetic linkage maps in experimental populations. Plant Research International, Wageningen, the Netherlands 2004.
- 54. Van Ooijen JW. MapQTL 6. Software for the mapping of quantitative trait loci in experimental populations of diploid species. Kyazma BV: Wageningen, Netherlands 2009.
- 55. Churchill GA, Doerge RW. Empirical threshold values for quantitative trait mapping. Genetics 1994; 138: 963–971. pmid:7851788
- 56. Rahman WMM, Zaman EMS, Thavarajah P, Thavarajah D, Siddique KHM. Selenium biofortification in lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus subsp. culinaris): Farmers' field survey and genotype × environment effect. Food Res Int 2013; 54: 1596–1604.
- 57. Farnham MW, Hale AJ, Grusak MA, Finley JW. Genotypic and environmental effects on selenium concentration of broccoli heads grown without supplemental selenium fertilizer. Plant Breed 2007; 126: 195–200.
- 58. Ramamurthy RK, Jedlicka J, Graef GL, Waters BM. Identification of new QTLs for seed mineral, cysteine, and methionine concentrations in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Mol Breeding 2014; 34: 431–445.
- 59. Hamwieh A, Udupa SM, Choumane W, Sarker A, Dreyer F, Jung C et al. A genetic linkage map of Lens spp. based on microsatellite and AFLP markers and the localization of Fusarium vascular wilt resistance. Theor Appl Genet 2005; 110: 669–677. pmid:15650814
- 60. Rubeena FR, Taylor PWJ. Construction of an intraspecific linkage map of lentil (Lens culinaris ssp. culinaris). Theor Appl Genetics 2003; 107: 910–916.
- 61. Duran Y, Fratini R, Garcia P, Perez de la Vega M. An intersubspecific genetic map of lens. Theor Appl Genet 2004; 108: 1265–1273. pmid:14676948
- 62. Slocum MK, Figdore SS, Kennard WC, Suzuki JY, Osborn TC. Linkage arrangement of restriction fragment length polymorphism loci in Brassica oleracea. Theor Appl Genet 1990; 80: 57–64. pmid:24220811
- 63. Pillen K, Steinruecken G, Wricke G, Herrman RG, Jung CA. Linkage map of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). Theor Appl Genet 1992; 84: 129–135. pmid:24203039
- 64. Wagner H, Weber WE, Wricke G. Estimating linkage relationship of isozyme markers and morphological markers in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) including families with distorted segregations. Plant Breeding 1992; 108: 89–96.
- 65. Paterson AH, Bowers JE, Burow MD, Draye X, Elsik CG, Jiang CX et al. Comparative genomics of plant chromosomes. The Plant Cell 2000; 12:1523–1539. pmid:11006329
- 66. Sharpe AG, Ramsay L, Sanderson LA, Fedoruk MJ, Clarke WE, Li R et al. Ancient orphan crop joins modern era: Gene-based SNP discovery and mapping in lentil. BMC Genomics 2013; 14: 192. pmid:23506258
- 67. Gupta M, Verma B, Kumar N, Chahota RK, Rathour R, Sharma SK et al. Construction of intersubspecific molecular genetic map of lentil based on ISSR, RAPD and SSR markers. J Genet 2012; 91: 279–287. pmid:23271013


During my early twenties, I used to spend a lot of time hanging out with the music nerds at the local university. As such, I would often find myself hanging out in the little concert rooms the college uses for music majors to perform in as part of their degree requirements. This meant that I would often get to experience very talented young people showcasing not only their skills, but the attributes of instruments that I probably wouldn’t have gotten such a fantastic perspective on otherwise. Like the time I saw a young man putting on a tuba concert, or the bass and double bass duo. It was these odd couple types of concerts which kept me coming back long after I was required to for the class which alerted me to this even happening.
It also helped that due to my time on the stage performing musical theatre, I made lots of friends in the orchestra pit, who were part of the music program at this college, so they would invite me to see them play, bringing me again and again to these tiny little dark rooms with only a handful of other people, getting to appreciate music that I would have never heard otherwise.
I’ve always had a love for the classics, but even more so when presented in new and exciting ways. When I worked as a bagger at a grocery store in South Carolina, where we would take the groceries out to the cars for people, I got to know a young man very well who played his violin for tips outside the business, so he could raise money for going to Julliard. It was because of him that I was first introduced to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, but also the O’Jays, which is who he assumed I was talking about when I jokingly suggested he play Stairway to Heaven.
I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure what my point here is outside, I guess, of how music can be a common language, even if we don’t always have the same songs to talk about. But what I really wanted to talk about is how although I’ve held a deep love for all of which falls under the incredibly large heading we give “Classical Music”, you know, things from the Renaissance, the Baroque Period, chamber music, and honestly, far too many genres of music to classify so broadly, it’s been a long long time since I’ve actually gone to see a symphony.
Technically I went to see Ben Folds perform with a full orchestra a few years back, but considering it was simply an orchestral takes on his hits, it didn’t hit quite the same, although still spectacular.
But, as the local symphony orchestra had a performance coming up, I presented the idea to my kids for them to join me, something I do whenever I’m aware of an upcoming performance, and much to my surprise, all three of them decided to come along.
I’m not going to say they were perfect little angels during the two hour performance, but they actually did about as well as I did with sitting in a chair for that long. Considering the show started at 7:30, and my kids don’t often make it later than 8:30 before they are crashing into their beds, that alone is impressive. But as I sat there having an out of body experience, enjoying the music as it reverberated through me, I took a few glances over at my kids and could see them also being transformed by it. Sure, the youngest may have slept through most of the second half, but coming out of the concert, he told me his review, which was simply all about how much he loved all of it except for the song he considered chaotic. And I had to agree with him, the song which he aptly classified as chaotic was the definite low point in the overall experience.
I’m not sure that when I was their ages I would have been able to sit for that long and simply listened to music without people jumping around and making a show of it, but my three awesome kids sat in that enormous theater and had an experience that, in talking with them afterwards, sounds similar to the experiences I’ve had in my adult years of gaining appreciation of the talent these musicians can present. And I couldn’t be more proud.
And I’m so incredibly excited that they want to join me for the next concert which comes up in a month. I’ve never gotten to hear Tchaikovsky live, so I’m pretty pumped about that as well.
Leave a Reply


4AGE 20V Valve Shims
Share this part with a friend in need!
Genuine Toyota Parts
Below is a list of shims that Toyota manufactures. We keep a small stock with the most common sizes.
- Non-Stocked Shims Lead Time: 6-9 weeks or more
- Orders requiring more than 10 shims: Please contact email@example.com so we may help you with a discounted bulk rate.
The sizes listed below are the individual shim heights listed in millimeters. To calculate what size shim you need, measure the valve clearance, then measure your shim. Use a thicker shim to reduce clearance or use a shorter shim to increase clearance. You can move shims around to minimize the number of shims needed as they are not that cheap.


text:
Affiliation: Helena High School
Team Leader: Cindy Galbavy
Artist(s): Adara Partridge and Sabrina Braden
Description / Inspiration: Our art piece depicts what will happen to a high school student that tries Meth once. You can see them as a happy student and then they did meth and ended up in jail. It destroys you, your family and friends. One try can destroy your life. We used plywood and paint in several colors and a lot of time to create our project. Our teacher said she wanted a group of students to create piece for this contest and she had us look at pictures of Meth users on the computer and it showed how they started out in the court system and then as the Meth destroyed their life with multiple mug shots and how their physical looks had changed. It is so sad to see what it does to people. See what they have lost by using the drug. So that is what inspired us to create this art piece. We also like anime so that is how we created our character.
County: Lewis & Clark
Location: Our art work is displayed in the Helena High School Parking lot on the back of the shed at the Welding shop. You can see it from Montana Ave in Helena and it is just north of the Main building. The coordinates are for HHS main building. View on map
Thank Yous: Helena High School and Helena Public School Maintenance Department.


text:
I’m a photographer and remote location cameraman shooting commercial and editorial assignments for the outdoor adventure industry. Over the past 5 years I have carved out a reputation as one of the top adventure photographers in the world. Living everyday life by my own words that 'This is the most exciting time to be a photographer ever'!
From documenting the efforts of worlds best athletes, shooting portraits of Reinhold Messner at the London's Royal Geographical Society or mountain biking in the Outer Hebrides (cover story of The Guardian Travel) to filming short feature films ('Sub-Zero' EpicTV video series feat. Will Gadd and Raphael Slawinski has reached over 2M views) my work spans across a whole spectrum of outdoor activities. Over the past couple of years I have photographed on 4 continents on assignments for National Geographic, Talisker Whisky, The North Face, WL GORE, Failte Ireland, MARMOT, Mountain Equipment, Petzl and Black Diamond (among others).
LWimages Studio's creative team consist of experienced photographers/cinematographers, creative directors and devoted assistants who work passionately on every project.
We believe in power of non-fiction visual story telling being an innovative, creative and fast growing photo/video production company.
We specialise in delivering top quality visual content for tourism boards, tour operators and travel agencies and other media outlets.